The latest weapon against the Taliban has been revealed - and it's not a new type of gun, bomb or hi-tech missile system ... It's the humble mobile phone. The Government is mooting using mobiles in a bizarre bid to beat the militants in a battle for the hearts and minds of ordinary Afghans.
The scheme has been dreamed up after the Taliban circulated anti-Western films on Afghanistan's six million mobiles and the internet, seizing a virtual monopoly on propaganda in the war-torn country. The films include footage of the bodies of Afghans killed in an August raid by U.S. forces. Video from a mobile showed rows of corpses, including at least 11 children - seemingly refuting Pentagon claims that only seven civilians died.
Now, under an attempt to undermine the powerful Taliban propaganda, ordinary Afghans would be equipped with mobiles so they could film their own 'video diaries'. The end result would be 100 short films for screening at a film festival next year.
It is not clear how a film festival - a concept that evokes cocktail parties and Hollywood glamour on the Riviera - might achieve a propaganda victory. Nor is it known whether any measures are being considered to stop the freebie mobile phones from being used to produce yet more pro-Taliban footage.
Nevertheless, the Foreign Office is said to think the uncosted plan, devised by outside consultants, 'has merit'.
It's not the first time that hi-tech phones have been used in the Afghan war. Taliban fighters have adopted Skype internet-based phones - which are heavily encrypted, unlike normal mobiles - to communicate in secret between cells strung across the country, it was revealed last month.
So they think ...
The idea of using mobile phones against the militants was revealed today as Nato chiefs urged defence ministers to let troops attack another pillar of Taliban power - the opium trade.
If we're handing out all these mobile phones, fine, but shouldn't we be able to download messages into them? Imagine the possibilities ...
The Taliban have agreed to sever ties with Al Qaeda in talks backed by the United Kingdom and hosted by Saudi Arabia, according to a commentary released here on Thursday.
Stratfor, the news intelligence service, reports that the assurance from the Taliban benefits Saudi Arabia, since it has a key interest in bringing an end to the Osama Bin Laden chapter. The Saudis could also use an Afghan state with a major Taliban presence to counter the rise of Iran. The talks, hosted by Saudi King Abdullah himself, were held from September 24 to 27 in Mecca and involved 11 Taliban delegates, two Afghan government officials, a representative of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and three others. Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Omar has made it clear that he is no longer allied with Al Qaeda.
According to Stratfor, Mullah Omar likely is in the Pashtun corridor of Balochistan province and Osama Bin Laden and Ayman Al-Zawahiri likely are in the Dir/Malakand region. The Afghan Taliban movement has splintered into three groups: Taliban forces linked to Omar but based in Afghanistan and engaged in the fighting; Taliban elements allied with Pakistan, and Taliban fighters connected to Al Qaeda. The analysis predicts that ultimately there will be a negotiated settlement with a new leadership that will retain its ideology but within the confines of the Afghan nation-state and will abandon not just Al Qaeda but also its transnational objectives of a supranational caliphate. The Taliban leadership knows it paid a heavy price for its unwillingness to part ways with Al Qaeda. The Taliban leaders have also noted that Al Qaeda has lost appeal among the locals and realise that if they do not change, they could be sidelined by more pragmatic elements.
Riyadh's ability to significantly neutralise jihadists at home has given the Saudis great influence over the Taliban's thinking. The Saudis have an interest in laying Bin Laden and the core Al Qaeda group to rest. Also, Pakistan, which used to work in tandem with the Saudis on the Taliban issue, is in disarray. With Islamabad fighting its own Taliban insurgency, the Saudis have taken the lead in Afghanistan. It is also quite likely that the Pakistanis need the Saudis to use not only their financial clout but also their political clout with Washington as relations between Islamabad and Washington deteriorate. Facilitating a new power-sharing arrangement in which the Taliban return to power in significant ways could serve as a major check on growing Iranian regional influence. Saudi Arabia already has Pakistan as a regional ally and has used it to block Iran from expanding its influence eastward. With the return of the Taliban to power in Kabul, Riyadh hopes to reverse the inroads Tehran has made there during the last seven years.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/10/2008 00:00 ||
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#5
Saudi Arabia really knows how too neutralize the extremists at home all right. they send them abroad
Posted by: chris ||
10/10/2008 10:03 Comments ||
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#6
That's a feature, not a bug Chris. It's how the royal family avoids outright warfare between the religious extremists among the senior princes and their more secular brothers.
The big issue that's hidden behind that is the huge growth in royals and others for whom there are no jobs.
Routing out insurgents from Afghanistan and rebuilding the war-torn nation has so far cost Canada an estimated 10.5b dollars (Canadian). That amount is expected to nearly double to 18.1 billion dollars (15.8 billion US), or about 1,500 dollars (1,309 US) per Canadian household, by the mission's end in 2011, parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page said in a report.
"This is the first comprehensive costing of Canada's Afghanistan mission covering military operations, development aid and reconstruction costs, and the long-term costs of taking care of Canada's veterans," he told reporters.
Military operations accounted for much of the costs, at up to 7.42 billion dollars (6.47 billion US), followed by veterans' benefits at 2.08 billion dollars (1.81 billion US), and 0.97 billion dollars (0.85 billion US) in aid for Afghanistan. The study does not include the cost of diplomatic efforts, nor does it presume to "put a monetary value on the heroic efforts of brave Canadian soldiers who have given up their life in service to Canada," said the report.
Accelerated procurement of military equipment and danger pay for soldiers was also excluded from the final amount "due to lack of reliable data," it said. "This suggests that the estimates provided may understate the costs of Canada's mission in Afghanistan," Page said in his report.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/10/2008 00:00 ||
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A spokesman for the group of pirates holding an arms-laden tanker off the coast of Somalia has threatened to blow up the ship in three days if no ransom is paid.
No need, the U.S. Navy will be happy to do it for you. You just have to be aboard when the Harpoons come in ...
Sugule Ali tells The Associated Press that the bandits who have been holding the MV Faina for the past two weeks met Friday and decided they will blow up the ship along with themselves and the crew, if they don't get the ransom.
Ali was speaking by satellite telephone from the ship.
The pirates had said Thursday they were willing to negotiate their ransom demand of $20 million, after nearly two weeks of insisting they would never lower the price.
#2
if they blow it up, they will not be on it; but i don't know if they would take the crew off. if they didn't the boats they are in should become so much flotsam and jetsam ( one floats, one doesn't, but i never can keep them straight)
Pirates also released 29 Iranian seamen and their cargo ship hijacked in July, Iran's official IRNA news agency said Friday.
More...
TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's official news agency says pirates have released 29 Iranian seamen and their cargo ship hijacked off Somalia's coast in July.
The report Friday by IRNA quotes the Iranian shippping agency as saying the crew are safe and their vessel is sailing home.
The agency did not say if any ransom was paid for the release of the ship, Iran-Dianat, and the crew. The vessel was carrying mineral and industrial products from China to the Netherlands when it was hijacked in late July.
So that's the stuff that was killing pirates? I'd track this bad boy all the way to wherever it's going.
#4
Flotsam floats, USN, Ret. Jetsam was jettisoned, or thrown overboard.
From a google search:
Goods that remain floating on the surface after a shipwreck or accident are called flotsam (or floatsam or flotsan), while jetsam refers to goods thrown overboard, or jettisoned (see jettison), by a vessel in distress.
#6
The pirates had said Thursday they were willing to negotiate their ransom demand of $20 million, after nearly two weeks of insisting they would never lower the price.
It's a small world - selling panic is even setting in offshore Somalia.
#10
I'm still waiting for the ARCLIGHT strike on the nearest port. Follow up with a low-level spraying job from a C-130 using fire retardant on the ship (that stuff'l kill ya if you're not careful). What happens after that is kinda up to the players involved, but I'd suspect the world would have a few less pirates to deal with.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/10/2008 20:52 Comments ||
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In a major shift in stance on registration with the Election Commission (EC), Jamaat-e-Islami yesterday said it will get registered as a political party within the stipulated time, and if necessary amend its constitution for that.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/10/2008 00:00 ||
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Bangladesh Bank (BB) has sought directions from the foreign ministry in regard to the suspended bank accounts of the International Islamic Relief Organisation (IIRO), which has an alleged link with the al-Qaeda. The BB in a letter apprised the foreign ministry last month of the requests made by the two private commercial banks to resume the bank accounts of IIRO.
The US Embassy in 2006 requested Bangladesh to provide information about some alleged terrorist organisations and the IIRO. Following the allegation of the IIRO's link with the al-Qaeda, the Bangladesh Bank suspended its bank accounts in Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, Islami Bank earlier this year informed the BB in a letter that the IIRO has been involved in health, education and socio-economic development programmes of the country since 1990 and neither the BB nor the NGO Affairs Bureau has taken any regulatory measurers against the IIRO so far. It also mentioned that the NGO Affairs Bureau has recently approved a Tk 60 crore 'Health, Education, Socio-Economic Development' project for the years 2007-12.
The IIRO has already allocated Tk 10 crore for the first phase of the project and asked the project officials to withdraw the fund from Islami Bank, Gulshan Branch. Following the approval of the fund Islami Bank sought permission from the BB to re-activate the frozen account of IIRO so that it can withdraw the fund.
The IIRO has a fund of Tk 26.56 lakh with the Bahrain-based bank, the Bank Alfalah, and IIRO requested the bank to resume the operation of its account. Following the request Bank Alfalah requested Bangladesh Bank to provide it with the information about the present condition of IIRO bank account.
Earlier, Bangladesh Bank following the reports of alleged link of the IIRO with the al-Qaeda halted two bank accounts of the IIRO at Islami Bank and Social Investment Bank Ltd (SIBL) with whom IIRO had 50,445 shares worth Tk 1,000 each. The BB suspended distribution of dividend against the shares of the IIRO with the SIBL while the Islami Bank voluntarily froze bank accounts of IIRO.
A high official of the Bangladesh Bank said the US Embassy had sought account information of IIRO under an UN resolution. But as the government currently is undertaking a project funded by the IIRO, the BB is seeking information from the foreign ministry regarding the status of the IIRO bank accounts.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/10/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
TWO men who tried to carry out car bombings in central London last year escaped the scene in rickshaws, Woolwich Crown Court has been told. Bilal Abdulla, 29, and Kafeel Ahmed, 28, took the pedal-powered cabs after they had left two Mercedes cars packed with gas canisters, fuel containers and nails outside a club and at a bus stop nearby.
CCTV caught Ahmed dumping an umbrella he was carrying in an apparent attempt to shield his face from cameras, prosecutor Jonathan Laidlaw said. He then took a rickshaw from Piccadilly Circus while Abdulla was also seen using the same method to get away, the court heard. The two men then met up in Edgware Road shortly after 2 am, 30 minutes after the attempted bombings.
Mr Laidlaw said the first car bomb was discovered by staff at the Tiger Tiger nightclub, where there were 556 revellers inside, after paramedics were called to treat a customer. A doorman and the club's general manager then noticed gas vapour and smelt liquid petroleum gas. A fire officer called to the scene pulled one of the large gas canisters from the car and realised there was another inside with wires and mobile phones attached.
"At that point the potential seriousness of the situation emerged and the Bomb Squad were called to the scene," Laidlaw said.
Meanwhile the second car was given a parking ticket and then towed away to a nearby pound. Police made it safe after realising it too had been rigged with bombs.
The court heard there had been repeated attempts to set off the bombs remotely using the mobile phone detonators, and although one of the initiators had undergone a slight explosion, neither main device had exploded. This was because the fuel to air ratio in the cars had probably exceeded ignitable limits, Mr Laidlaw said.
On Thursday, the court was told Abdulla and co-defendant Mohammed Asha, 28, were part of a small Islamist cell that had planned a series of car bomb attacks in revenge for Britain's treatment of Muslims in countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan.
The day after the London bombings failed on June 28, Abdulla and Ahmed drove to Scotland and tried to drive a Jeep Cherokee, packed with fuel containers and gas canisters, into the international terminal at Glasgow Airport. The Jeep became trapped in the terminal doors and Ahmed later died from burns he suffered as he tried to set the car alight.
Abdulla, an Iraqi, and Jordanian national Asha, who are both doctors, deny conspiring to murder and to cause explosions likely to endanger life.
The Bush administration is nearing a decision to remove North Korea from a terrorism blacklist and may do so as early as Friday in a bid to salvage faltering nuclear disarmament talks, The Associated Press has learned.
U.S. officials said Thursday that no final decision had been made but diplomats briefed on the matter told the AP that they believe an announcement that North Korea will be tentatively taken off the State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism is imminent.
The delisting depends on North Korea agreeing to a plan to verify an account of its nuclear activity that it submitted over the summer, the diplomats said. North Korea would be put back on the list if it doesn't comply with the plan and abandon nuclear arms, they said.
The diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of an expected announcement, which would follow meetings last week in Pyongyang between North Korean officials and U.S. envoy Christopher Hill as well as days of intense debate in Washington. ...
Posted by: ed ||
10/10/2008 07:48 ||
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#1
Jesus, why doesn't he just give him a hand-job too?
They just kicked the IAEA inspectors out of their nuke plant, and shot off a couple of missiles this week and Bush is putting together a nice fruit basket for them.
#2
Yeah, appeasement has worked so well for over half a century. And thanks in advance, Mr. Hill, for all the great work you have done.
/vomit in the back alley
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/10/2008 8:32 Comments ||
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#3
Missiles fired into the sea, removal from the list .... maybe Kim's dead after all, or so close as to not make a difference, and this is the transition dance.
#4
we need too just start doing our own missile test. The ICBMs' probably have a lil dust on them. And i know but that will affect Seoul.Screw them too
Posted by: chris ||
10/10/2008 12:13 Comments ||
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North Korea's naval command on Thursday accused South Korean ships of violating its territorial waters in the Yellow Sea and warned that escalating tensions could lead to a clash.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/10/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
See also TOPIX > NORTH KOREA WARNS SOUTH NOT TO PROVOKE A WAR.
#4
Wow, they must really be looking at empty larders this year. They're doing pretty much everything short of standing on the DMZ making faces en masse.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
10/10/2008 10:45 Comments ||
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In secular France, it is illegal for hotel owners to turn away women wearing Muslim headscarves but OK to ban those wearing head-to-toe burqas from state-sponsored French language classes.
Two recent decisions have demonstrated how tough and touchy it is to legislate religious expression in a country that has a long-standing separation between church and state and an increasingly multicultural society with a growing Muslim population.
"Religious freedom is not absolute," the head of France's government anti-discrimination agency, Louis Schweitzer, said in an interview with the Catholic daily La Croix, published Thursday. He said authorities are trying to find "the most reasonable compromise."
His agency ruled last month that it was acceptable to ban women wearing the burqa and niqab billowing clothes that cover the body and face worn by pious Muslim women from state-sponsored French language classes for immigrants.
Under French law, such classes are sometimes required in order to apply for French residency or citizenship.
Earlier this year, a national agency responsible for dealing with new immigrants complained that the presence of the veiled women "hinders the proper functioning" of the language classes and asked the anti-discimination agency, known as Halde, to examine the matter.
In its Sept. 15 decision, Halde called the burqa a symbol of "female submission that goes beyond its religious meaning" and said it is "not unreasonable, for public security requirements ... or the protection of civil liberties" to bar it from the publicly funded language classrooms.
Schweitzer said the decision came down to a practical question: Language teachers cannot provide proper phonetic instruction without seeing their students' faces.
The National Federation of French Muslims condemned the decision.
"I'm against bundling women up but I am also against those who prevent other people for learning," spokesman Elbekkay Merzak said in a telephone interview. "How can you bar someone from getting something so fundamental as language instruction?"
A French appeals court ruling this week showed that limits on the veil can only go so far.
On Wednesday, the appeals court in the northeastern city of Nancy confirmed a decision against the owner of a bed and breakfast inn who refused to board two veiled women. The court fined inn-owner Yvette Truchelut $6,000 over the 2007 incident.
Several decisions in recent years have sought to define how much religious expression is acceptable in France's public realm.
A controversial 2003 law banned students from wearing apparel with religious connotations, like the Muslim headscarf, Jewish skull cap and large Christian crosses, in public schools.
Some critics complained that the law which allows for discreet religious signs, like small crosses specifically targeted Muslims. France has an estimated 5 million Muslims the largest such population in Western Europe.
Many of those are immigrants from former colonies in North Africa. The state-sponsored language classes are part of revamped immigration procedures aimed at attracting better-skilled workers and better integrating newcomers. Conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy was elected last year in part on pledges to tackle illegal immigration.
During his September 16-17, 2008 visit to Lebanon and Syria, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos praised "the positive and helpful role that Syria has played in Lebanon" and called on the E.U. to strengthen its ties with Syria. He added that E.U.rope wished to play a role in the Muddle East, alongside the U.S. and other countries, as part of a new, multipolar world order that will be taking shape over the coming years. He called the issue of Hizbullah's weapons an internal Lebanese affair, and accused Israel of violating U.N. Resolution 1701.
Following are excerpts from his statements to the media:
#1
Only to be expected from People who gave us both Limpieza de sangre and equal rights for apes. Wish I could insert the pic from Cabaret ("I'm in love with a gorilla---but at least she's not a Jew")
#2
A creepy country's creepy Star Chamber lets one of the West's best minds off on a technicality. Happy for Steyyn, but despairing for what Mark so rightly called the thin and fragile veneer of civilization
Posted by: regular joe ||
10/10/2008 20:15 Comments ||
Top||
#3
"Steyn; not guilty this time"
There - fixed.
/leftists assholes
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/10/2008 20:40 Comments ||
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More comment to follow once Ive read the thing, but be clear on this: it is no victory to be told by a shadowy government agency that you will be permitted to publish. This ruling only preserves the tribunal from utterly discrediting itself, and as such keeps alive the possibility that some other complainant can drag Macleans or any other media organization through yet another travesty half-a-continent away, at great expense of time and money. It also prevents Macleans from appealing the tribunals decision to an actual court, wherein it might have had the relevant section of the B.C. human rights laws thrown out on constitutional grounds. (Or does it? Can you appeal when you win?)
#5
I read about 25 pages of the 50 page doc before I grew too disgusted to continue. The long and short of it is that the HRCs will decide whether what anyone says will be "discriminatory" and will "expose them to hatred and contempt." They need to do this, they say, because, "presented properly, individuals can be made to "believe anything."" These people don't think anyone should be able to write anything bad about any issue at all because it's so terrible to expose them to "hatred and contempt."
That means that when there really is something worthy of hatred and contempt--like murderous Islamic fascism, for example--no one can really tell the truth about it for fear of being charged by the HRC.
Pakistan has made public its casualty numbers in the war on terror. In the last seven years, their security forces have lost about 1,400 dead and 3,400 wounded, mainly fighting the Taliban and al Qaeda along the Afghan border. The Pakistanis believe they have killed 2,244 hostile Pakistanis (mainly Taliban) and 581 foreigners (al Qaeda). The terrorists have also suffered at least 1,400 wounded. Several thousand Taliban, and about 600 al Qaeda suspects have been arrested.
Counter-terror operations have greatly increased in the last year, with nearly half the Taliban and al Qaeda casualties occurring in that period. Pakistan has tried, without success, to negotiate agreements with the tribes (most of whom are hostile to the Taliban and al Qaeda). Meanwhile, the terrorists continued to make attacks outside the tribal areas, including many assassination attempts on Pakistani leaders. This reached a point where Pakistan largely dispensed with the carrot, and went in big time with the stick.
Posted by: ed ||
10/10/2008 07:42 ||
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#1
In seven years they have lost less than half of what we lost on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.
Why am I not that impressed by these numbers.
Rhetorical question- Because they spawned that filth, now they should clean it up.
ISLAMABAD Commenting on references to Pakistan by the two US presidential hopefuls in their debate in Tennessee on Tuesday the Pakistan government reiterated that if it will take action on its own on reports of Osama bin Ladens presence within its border.
If we have any knowledge of Osamas location within our borders it goes without saying that, we will take action ourselves, Information Minister Sherry Rehman told reporters here.
Uh-huh. Just getting around to finding out that Binny is hiding out near Peshawar, are you ...
She asked Pakistans allies to share intelligence over any high-value targets. We will pursue them on the ground. However, we will not allow anyone to challenge our sovereignty and no country should violate Pakistans territorial integrity, she said.
"Nope, nope, can't do that, nope, nope ..."
Though media reports highlighted Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obamas statement with headlines that the US forces will launch strikes inside Pakistan, officials here said Obamas remarks have been twisted by a section of the Pakistani media as well as his Republican rival John McCain even though he made it conditional to Pakistani response. Despite sparring over Pakistan in their second debate, the two candidates ended up saying the same thing, though in somewhat different words, an official here said.
While Barack Obama said the United States should only take action inside Pakistan if the government there was unable or unwilling to do so, Republican Senator John McCain was more conciliatory, recommending that the US used soft language with Pakistan but carry a big stick.
Obama was at pains to establish that contrary to McCains charge, he had never threatened to invade Pakistan. He said: I want to be very clear about what I said. Nobody called for the invasion of Pakistan. Senator McCain continues to repeat this.
Because Senator McCain is correct ...
Both candidates favoured working with Pakistan in the hunt for Al Qaeda and other groups allegedly operating out of Pakistans tribal areas into Afghanistan. They were both equally determined as to how they would deal with Osama bin Laden.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/10/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Islamabad to Take Action on its Own Over Osama Presence
Sure they will: they will move him to a safer place.
(AKI) - Since the Pakistani border city of Chaman and the Afghan city of Kandahar play a pivotal role in financing the Taliban's operations in southeastern Afghanistan, there is growing speculation that the Taliban is funnelling money through hawalas or money brokers in the United Arab Emirates where Chaman and Kandhari businessmen trade.
Many Chaman businesses have offices in Dubai and the port city and free trade zone of Jebel Ali, and insiders say that the Taliban have convinced local businessmen to move their money through hawalas to Taliban leaders including Mullah Abdul Razaq, Mullah Abdul Rahim and Mullah Rozi, and several others.
Mullah Abdul Razaq, a resident of the Pakistani town of Chaman and former minister of interior affairs in the deposed Taliban regime, is considered a key player in the suspected money trail from the region to the Middle East.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
10/10/2008 00:00 ||
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Tehreek Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad said that he will persuade his 'warring fellows' to disarm in case shariah is implemented in the North West Frontier Province, Aaj TV reported on Thursday. According to the channel, Sufi Muhammad was addressing a gathering at the Timergarah Rest House ground in Lower Dir where he and his supporters are staging a sit-in. He said he would not end the sit-in unless the government fulfilled its promise of enforcing shariah in Malakand division. He said he would launch a movement to disarm his 'annoyed fellows' after the implementation of shariah in the NWFP. The TNSM chief has rejected the draft law for implementation of shariah in Malakand prepared by the NWFP government, saying that the government should enforce shariah in the division, the channel reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/10/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Arabs and their goddamned shariah. They're wearing me out with it.
Iraqi Premier Nouri al-Maliki vowed on Thursday to capture the assassins of a Shiite MP, the first lawmaker to be killed in 18 months, and ordered a top-level investigation. Maliki said he appointed a panel headed by Interior Minister Jawad Bolani to probe the assassination of Saleh al-Ogayly, 41, in Baghdad's Sadr City district, a Shiite stronghold.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/10/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Mahdi Army
#1
"arrest the usual suspects!"
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/10/2008 20:51 Comments ||
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JERUSALEM - Israel's most famous missing soldier escaped from captivity in Lebanon and probably died 20 years ago while trying to make his way home through difficult terrain, Hezbollah told Israel's government, according to a newspaper report Wednesday.
The Lebanese guerrilla group submitted the report on airman Ron Arad's fate to the Israeli government as part of a July prisoner swap in which Israel freed five Lebanese militants for the bodies of two Israeli soldiers. Israeli security officials confirmed that the Maariv daily accurately summarized Hezbollah's account. However, they dismissed Hezbollah's claim, noting that the group provides no evidence that Arad died.
Arad's plane was shot down Oct. 16, 1986 by Lebanese militiamen. The plane's pilot was rescued by helicopter and the Israeli military believed Arad, the plane's navigator, was captured alive. Arad was initially held by Amal, a Shiite Muslim group and Hezbollah rival. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah suggested in a 2006 speech that Arad may have died in the late 1980s, after managing to escape.
In its report to Israel, Hezbollah was more specific. "The Israeli pilot escaped from his holding cell on the night between the fourth and fifth of May 1988, and headed south toward the (Israeli) occupied security zone," Maariv quoted the Hezbollah report as saying.
The guerrilla group said Arad may have died from a number of causes in the remote, mountainous area, including fever, thirst or falling off a cliff. Hezbollah said it believes Arad is dead, but acknowledged that his remains were never found.
The Israeli officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the classified nature of the information, said they believe Hezbollah submitted the report in a halfhearted attempt to meet Israel's demand for information about Arad as part of the prisoner swap.
(AKI) - Tehran's City Council has voted unanimously for a proposal to dedicate a street in the Iranian capital to slain Lebanese militant Imad Mughniyeh. Imad Mughniyeh was the intelligence chief and commander of Hezbollah's secretive military wing, the Islamic Resistance. He was killed in a bombing in Syrian capital Damascus on 13 February 2008.
Hezbollah and Syria have blamed Israel for assassinating him and Hezbollah has repeatedly vowed dire revenge for the killing.
Imad Mughniyeh Street will replace 'Baharan Street' which means, spring. The naming of the street follows a stamp issued by Iran in March to commemorate Mughniyeh (photo), described as an 'ambassador of the culture of martyrdom' by former Iranian commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Gen. Rahim Safavi.
Mughniyeh was considered the mastermind of several hijackings and other terrorist acts, including bombings against French and US military barracks, that resulted in the death of 58 French soldiers and 241 US Marines in 1983. He was on the FBI's top ten most wanted list with a five million dollar reward for his capture.
He was wanted by Israel and the US due to his alleged role in the bombings of the Israeli embassy and the Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires in 1992 and 1994, as well as a wave of abductions of westerners in Lebanon in the 1980s.
This article starring:
Imad Mughniyeh
Posted by: Fred ||
10/10/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#12
RENSE > IRAN: IRAQ MUST RID ITSELF OF ALL US TROOPS; + REDDIT > MULLAH OMAR: THE US MUST WITHDRAW ALL OF ITS TROOPS OR FACE THE SAME FATE AS THE SOVIETS.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
The Taliban have agreed to sever ties with Al Qaeda in talks backed by the United Kingdom and hosted by Saudi Arabia, according to a commentary released here on Thursday.
ISLAMABAD Commenting on references to Pakistan by the two US presidential hopefuls in their debate in Tennessee on Tuesday the Pakistan government reiterated that if it will take action on its own on reports of Osama bin Ladens presence within its border.
