Ethiopia said on Saturday its troops backing Somali government forces killed nearly 1,000 insurgents in Mogadishu in March and April during some of the heaviest clashes in the citys bloody history. Some 200 to 300 Al-Shabaab fighters (Somali insurgents) and other extremists died in the fighting in late March and more than 600 in the fighting that ended on April 26, the Ethiopian foreign ministry said in a statement. It said 150 others were taken prisoner, many of them international mujahedeen, but did not indicate where the detainees were being held.
Mogadishus dominant Hawiye clan elders and a local rights panel estimated that at least 1,400 people, mainly civilians, died in the clashes, which drew international condemnation for attacks on civilian targets. Addis Ababa said at least 80,000 people fled the violence, while United Nations agencies said up to 400,000 people were displaced. The numbers of those who had fled from the two or three (Mogadishu) districts where the fighting was fiercest was perhaps as many as 80,000, but this was no more than a fifth of the higher UN estimates, the statement added.
African Union peacekeepers from Uganda are due to take over from Ethiopian forces who helped Somali troops expel the Islamists from southern and central Somalia at the start of the year. Apart from the face-to-face fighting, dozens of people including peacekeepers have been killed and scores wounded in separate attacks since then, mainly by homemade bombs and grenades. Renegade Somali leaders living in Eritrea last month vowed to intensify insurgent attacks despite their retreat following the Mogadishu clashes.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/20/2007 00:00 ||
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The Ethiopians are remarkably effective at battling insurgents, perhaps because they do not have the Donks to contend with.
Chadian President Idriss Deby will visit Khartoum next month for talks aimed at fully normalising frayed ties with neighbouring Sudan, a Sudanese Foreign Ministry official said on Friday.
The two countries, who have long been at loggerheads over military clashes and rebel activity on their volatile desert frontier, signed a Saudi-brokered reconciliation deal on May 3. They have pledged to cooperate in stabilising war-ravaged Darfur and neighbouring areas of Chad.
The visit was part of efforts to implement a Libyan-sponsored deal to end a crisis between the two countries.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Al-Samani Al-Wasiyla said the visit was part of efforts to implement a Libyan-sponsored deal to end a crisis between the two countries brokered in Tripoli in February 2006, the state news agency SUNA said. Wasiyla said he had recently visited Chad to convey a message from Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir to Deby. He did not say what the message was, but said he had discussed with Chadian officials the work of a joint military committee formed as part of efforts to end the border conflict.
United Nations officials said on Friday that the UN intends to send a mission to Chad next week in an attempt to allay government concerns about a proposed U.N. peacekeeping operation in Sudan's western neighbor.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/20/2007 00:00 ||
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No bashfulness here, stand by the flag to be sure the blue Suit that matches the flag is noticed. (Is the yellow on the back?)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
05/20/2007 12:46 Comments ||
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Inspector General of Police (IGP) Noor Mohammad yesterday said police are yet to find any existence of militant outfit "Jadid al Qaeda Bangladesh" that claimed responsibility for the May 1 bomb explosions at three railway stations.
He said this while talking to the reporters at the final match of National Police Hockey Tournament at Rajarbagh Police Lines field in the afternoon. The IGP, however, said the investigation into the May 1 bomb blasts is going on. Bombs were set off at Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet railway station on the day, leaving one person injured. Later, a militant organisation, "Jadid al Qaeda Bangladesh", claimed responsibility for the serial blasts.
Director General of Rapid Action Battalion Hasan Mahmud Khandaker, DMP Commissioner Naim Ahmed and senior police officials were present on the occasion.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/20/2007 00:00 ||
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Gordon Brown is prepared to risk the future of the "special relationship" with the United States by reversing Tony Blair's support for the Iraq war, President George W Bush has been warned.
He has been briefed by White House officials to expect an announcement on British troop withdrawals from Mr Brown during his first 100 days in power. It would be designed to boost the new prime minister's popularity in the opinion polls.
The President recently discussed with a senior White House adviser how to handle the fallout from the expected loss of Washington's main ally in Iraq, The Sunday Telegraph has learned.
Details of the talks came as a close ally of Mr Brown called for a quicker withdrawal of British troops. Nigel Griffiths, a former minister, said: "We should get out of Iraq as soon as is practicable. We should consult the Iraqi government - but they cannot have a veto. This cannot be delayed."
...During a surprise "farewell trip" to Iraq yesterday, Mr Blair suggested that his successor would continue his policy. Speaking shortly after a mortar attack by insurgents on Baghdad's fortified "green zone", the Prime Minister said: "I have no doubt at all that Britain will remain steadfast in its support for Iraq, for the Iraqi people and for the Iraqi government as it tries to make sure it overcomes the threat of terrorism and continues to make progress.
...However, it can be revealed that senior figures in the National Security Council, the Pentagon and the State Department in Washington have expressed fears about Mr Brown.
They believe that cordial relations between the two leaders will be "at an end" if the incoming premier plays "gesture politics" over Iraq.
Mark Kirk, a Republican congressman who discussed Iraq policy at the White House last week, said: "The American view is that he's a much weaker political leader than Blair. There's the fear in Washington that he won't be as strong an ally."
President Bush's aides fear that Mr Brown will boost Democrats' demands for a timetable for a US pullout from Iraq and encourage wavering Republicans to defect - leaving the President more isolated.
Senator John Kerry, the Democratic presidential candidate in 2004 who sits on the Senate foreign affairs committee, said Mr Brown would support Democrats' calls for the Iraqi government to meet "benchmarks" for progress or for war funding to be cut off.
Byebye...
Posted by: Dave D. ||
05/20/2007 17:07 ||
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Most of the expat Brits I've talked to think Brown's a lying Scots thief. If he pulls the troops, which he probably will, I'll probably be hearing that he's a lying, gutless Scots thief.
Posted by: Mac ||
05/20/2007 19:06 Comments ||
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D *** ng it, nothing says victory and assured survival than surrender and self-suicide.
The first Guantanamo Bay inmate convicted of terror charges by a U.S. military court returned to Australia on Sunday to serve out his sentence in a maximum security prison, police said. A government-chartered executive jet bringing David Hicks from the U.S. prison in Cuba landed at an air force base in the suburbs of his Adelaide home, eight years after Hicks left for Pakistan. With Hicks were Australian Federal Police agents, his Australian lawyer David McLeod and prison guards from Adelaide's Yatala Prison, where he will serve out his sentence.Under a deal with U.S. prosecutors, most of his jail term was suspended and Hicks will be able to walk free from prison before January 1, 2008.
Hicks was the first person convicted by a U.S. war crimes tribunal since World War Two and was the first of hundreds of foreign captives, held at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba, to face a military trial. Hicks will complete his sentence under a prisoner exchange agreement between Australia and the United states. He will be placed in the high-security G-division at Yatala, alongside Australia's worst serial killers, a gang of four who murdered 11 people and disposed of several bodies in barrels hidden in a disused bank vault. He will have little or no contact with other prisoners and all of his telephone conversations will be monitored. He will be allowed to meet his lawyers, but all other visits will be strictly controlled and will be limited to non-contact visits.
As part of his sentence, Hicks will be banned from speaking to the media for a year after his March conviction, although Australia raised doubts over whether the U.S. gag order can be legally enforced. Australia's only other Guantanamo inmate, Mamdouh Habib, was released without charge and returned home in January 2005.
Posted by: Captain America ||
05/20/2007 0:53 Comments ||
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Drano enema...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/20/2007 1:50 Comments ||
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He will be placed in the high-security G-division at Yatala, alongside Australia's worst serial killers, a gang of four who murdered 11 people and disposed of several bodies in barrels hidden in a disused bank vault
I think it would be nice to open some of those cells and let the other inmates get to know him on a personal basis. One on one. Throw a few shrimp on the barbie and have a barrels of fun.
White House hits back at Carter remarks
By BEN FELLER, Associated Press Writer
In a biting rebuke, the White House on Sunday dismissed former President Jimmy Carter as "increasingly irrelevant" after his harsh criticism of President Bush.
Carter was quoted Saturday as saying "I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history."
The Georgia Democrat said Bush had overseen an "overt reversal of America's basic values" as expressed by previous administrations, including that of his own farther, former President George H.W. Bush.
"I think it's sad that President Carter's reckless personal criticism is out there," White House spokesman Tony Fratto responded Sunday from Crawford, where Bush spent the weekend.
"I think it's unfortunate," Fratto said. "And I think he is proving to be increasingly irrelevant with these kinds of comments."
That's gotta hurt the old man.
Carter made the comments to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in a story that appeared in the newspaper's Saturday editions.
Carter spokeswoman Deanna Congileo confirmed his comments to The Associated Press on Saturday and declined to elaborate.
#1
Jimmy is trying to dump the label of worst President on someone else. Many of the mideast problems we have today can be attributed to Carter's bungling. He gutted our military. He was weak on Iran. His mission into Iran was a failure. Inflation and interest rates were double digit.
Carter is an embarrasment. If he had just done the Habit for Humanity, most of us would have forgiven him for what was a failed and one of the most inept presidencies in history...and just forgotten.
Instead, he constantly reminds me of Iran and other failed foreign policies, his reposibility for legitimatizing state terrorism, 14% home loans rates and runaway inflation.
Long live the biggest presidential failure of my lifetime.
#3
his Carter foundation is a bought and paid for shill for the Sauds. An antisemitic whore in all derogatory meanings of the words
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/20/2007 19:42 Comments ||
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I was just saying today that I wish a rock would fall from the sky and hit that old bastard in the head...hard. He is an abomination and yes, it was his ineptitude that planted the seeds of the problems we see in the ME today. Turd.
#6
There was a time when former presidents didn't bad mouth the current ones. Carter, obviously has no class and is as bad an ex-president as he was a president. He needs to go off somewhere and croak peacefully. It is better than he deserves.
The menace of terrorism faced by the Muslim world is not only challenging the state writ but also brining a bad name to Islam, said Federal Information and Broadcasting Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani on Saturday. Terrorism is taking human lives and hurting the ongoing development process, and the situation in Pakistan is being further aggravated further by a low literacy rate and rampant poverty, said Durrani.
He was addressing the concluding ceremony of a seven-day training course organised for journalists from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Federally Administered Northern Areas (FANA) here at the Information Service Academy (ISA). He said it was the responsibility of the journalists community to spread awareness about the miserable effects of extremism and terrorism in the countrys remote areas.
Durrani said the people of FATA and FANA had played an important role in the Pakistan Movement and the struggle for Azad Kashmirs liberation. He regretted that successive regimes after independence had ignored the development of these areas. He said, however that the PML government had launched numerous development projects for FATA and FANA. After acquiring the economic turnaround, the PML government decided to concentrate its resources on the economic uplift of the people, and FATA and the northern areas were given priority in this regard, he said.
He said the Information Ministry would try to resolve all issues being faced by the FATA and FANA journalists community, adding that he had already contacted the NWFP governor and other relevant authorities regarding the improvement of the press club in FATA, and that a cohesive plan was being formulated in this regard.
He assured delegates that the ministry would hold more training workshops and courses for improving the skill and capacity building of journalists. Press freedom is an honour and a challenge for the journalists community. Like common citizens, journalists should also promote national security and patriotism while discharging their duties, he said.
He said journalists from FATA and FANA would be allocated special seats in the Media University and that the government would also award higher education scholarships to journalists from far-flung areas. ISA Director General Tahira Zia briefed participants about the course. The journalists present expressed their gratitude for the training facilities, and told the minister about the problems they were facing in underdeveloped areas.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/20/2007 00:00 ||
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Terrorism? Islam?
Ya sayin' some folks are connectin' the two?
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/20/2007 0:03 Comments ||
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...the situation in Pakistan is being further aggravated further by a low literacy rate... He said it was the responsibility of the journalists community to spread awareness about the miserable effects of extremism and terrorism in the countrys remote areas. Yeah, that's the ticket. Write lots of stuff about the 'miserable effects of extremism and terrorism' for the illiterate to read. YJCMTSU
#4
Power hungry diests? Multi pagans with a death wish? Angry sharia thumping warlords? Or banger from the stream that has been the brother who cried wolf?
How about Pious Moslems that try to rebuke the Lord?
#6
I think we should do a straw poll of 3rd graders and see what they think. Then when they draw the right conclussion, tell teachers to put in Muslim-sensitivity courses in kindergarden.
Posted by: Charles ||
05/20/2007 9:31 Comments ||
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Terrorism is taking human lives and hurting the ongoing development process, and the situation in Pakistan is being further aggravated further by a low literacy rate and rampant poverty,
Terrorism, deprivation, illiteracy and poverty, thy name is Islam.
(Oh right, I forgot they can read the Koran, nothing else)
Wrongo, Redneck Jim. Most Korans are in the original "pure" Arabic, which a vast majority of Urdu speaking Pakistanis can neither read nor speak. Much like the "book people" in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, the Koran is more often transmitted through oral tradition.
Make no mistake, it still represents a tremendous diversion of scholastic dedication and resources which the Muslim world suffers for on a daily basis. I can only speculate that such emphasis upon rote memorization may well also breed up a more subservient nature in those forced to undego such automaton-like behavior. It would be quite the perfect template for terrorist programming.
The May 15 suicide attack on the Afghan-owned Marhaba Hotel was the Talibans revenge for the arrest of their senior military operational commander a month ago and the killing of Mullah Dadullah in Afghanistan. The attack on the hotel was planned from inside Afghanistan targeting the owner and his son, highly-placed sources told Daily Times on Saturday.
Around 25 people, including the hotel owner and his son and relatives, were killed when the suicide bomber blew himself up as customers packed the hotel restaurant at lunchtime on Tuesday. The sources said senior Taliban commander Mullah Saeedullah and Qari Rehmat Din, Afghan prayer leader in Mardan district, were picked up from areas close to the hotel and handed over to the United States in April. Both men are with the US at the Bagram airbase (in Afghanistan), they said. It all happened in the first week of last month and the arrest of Mullah Saeedullah was a big setback for the Taliban.
The Taliban believed that Ainuddin, son of hotel owner Sadruddin, who is an ethnic Uzbek, had tipped off Pakistani intelligence about Mullah Saeedullah.
The Taliban believed that Ainuddin, son of hotel owner Sadruddin, who is an ethnic Uzbek, had tipped off Pakistani intelligence about Mullah Saeedullah, said the sources. The suicide bomber had taped a message on his legs warning that US spies will meet the same fate. The Afghan hotel owner, said the sources, had had close contacts with Rashid Dostum and Uzbek Afghan soldiers were involved with US forces in the killing of Taliban military commander Mullah Dadullah in Sangeen Valley of Helmand province on May 12. We believe that the Taliban targeted Sadruddin for two reasons - for Mullah Saeedullahs arrest and the killing of Mullah Dadullah. Uzbek soldiers from the Afghan National Army were involved in the attack on him, the sources added.
But they believed the attacker blew up the hotel up without approval from the senior Taliban leadership. We think the attacker took it on himself to blow up the hotel to avenge the two losses the Taliban suffered. If this was not the case then the Taliban would have killed the hotel owner or his family members in a different fashion.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/20/2007 00:00 ||
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A national jirga of the Saafi tribe will meet on Sunday (today) to discuss the growing Talibanisation of Mohmand Agency, official sources and tribal elders said on Saturday. The jirga has been called to discuss some incidents related to the Taliban, officials at the NWFP governors FATA Secretariat told Daily Times. Security agencies in the agency bordering Bajaur, where Taliban and Al Qaeda-linked militancy is growing, have warned the government of growing Taliban influence in Mohmand Agency. Very few key Taliban leaders have been identified and most have not been pinned down yet, sources close to security agencies said. A tribal elder from Ghalanai, Mohmand Agency regional headquarters, said elders of the Saafi tribe would seek collective efforts to prevent the agency from slipping into the hands of people who could create a Waziristan-like situation in Mohmand. There have been a series of incidents in the agency in the recent past that appear to involve the Taliban. The political administration, however, denied this. We have noticed some Taliban-linked activities. Initial reports reveal that the base or support for the Taliban is thin right now but it might grow if we do not contain them, official sources said on condition of anonymity.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/20/2007 00:00 ||
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I recall a time when Western Civilization was priest-ridden. That was: the Dark Ages.
Lashkar-e-Islam has established a parallel government in Bara and the government should take action against the group to protect citizens from its extremism, Taj Malook, Inayatur Rehman, Waris Khan and Abdul Waheed of Bara told a press conference at Peshawar Press Club here on Saturday.
They alleged that the armed Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) activists had demolished 10 houses in Bara on Friday setting them on fire after looting them for valuable household items. They claimed that the Khasadar force had helped the Lashkar in this matter. The four men said that the LI has established a parallel government in Bara and has also been illegally operating an FM radio station for nearly two years despite a government ban on FM stations. They alleged that LI forced private and public schools to remain closed for days at a time, resulting in a considerable waste of time for the students.
Armed LI activists patrol government roads and set up illegal check posts. No one stops them from such activities. Political authorities depend on the Frontier Corps to provide law and order but Commandant Colonel Mahmud Raza and other high officials are receiving Rs 100,000 to Rs 300,000 in bribes from Haji Amal Gul of Malak Din Khel tribe to smuggle goods through the Sorghar area.
Armed LI activists patrol government roads and set up illegal check posts as well. No one stops them from such activities. They said that during the past year and a half, several people had fled the area due to the LIs activities. They claimed that political authorities depend on the Frontier Corps to provide law and order in the area but Commandant Colonel Mahmud Raza and other high officials are receiving Rs 100,000 to Rs 300,000 in bribes from Haji Amal Gul of Malak Din Khel tribe to smuggle goods through the Sorghar area.
The Bara residents alleged that when the political authorities had ordered the FC to take action against the LI, the Mehsud Scouts had refused to carry out the orders, rendering the political authorities helpless before the FC. They also alleged that some members of the Khasadar force are aligned with the LI. Peshawar is not immune to what is happening in Bara and repercussions will affect the city if the government doesnt put an end to this parallel government, they said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/20/2007 00:00 ||
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The government has decided to include all Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) parliamentarians in the Pakistani jirga being organised to restore peace in Afghanistan, sources said. FATA has 12 MNAs and eight senators.
Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao confirmed the plan to Daily Times. He did not say when a formal notification on the matter would be issued. The government had previously appointed the interior minister as the jirgas chief and Federal Sports and Culture Minister Dr GG Jamal, Federal States and Frontier Regions Minister Yar Muhammad Rind, NWFP Governor Ali Muhammad Jan Orakzai and Balochistan Governor Owais Ahmad Ghani as its members.
Eleven of the FATA MPs to be included in the jirga are MNAs Maulana Ghulam Muhammad Sadiq, Dr Syed Javed Hussain, Munir Khan Orakzai, Maulana Syed Nek Zaman, Maulana Abdul Malik Wazir, Maulana Muhammad Merajud Din, Maulana Muhammad Sadiq, Shahabud Din Khan, Muhammad Noorul Haq Qadri, Maulana Khalilur Rehman and Dr Naseem Gul Afridi. The senators joining the jirga are Abdul Raziq, Abdur Rashid, Hafiz Abdul Malik, Hafiz Rasheed Ahmad, Hameedullah Jan Afridi, Rashid Ahmed Khan, Maulana Muhammad Saleh Shah Qureshi and Syed Muhammad Hussain.
Officials have said that the Pakistani and Afghan jirgas would each consist of 350 members.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/20/2007 00:00 ||
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Front Page WaPo
The movement of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has embarked on one of its most dramatic tactical shifts since the beginning of the war.
The 33-year-old populist is reaching out to a broad array of Sunni leaders, from politicians to insurgents, and purging extremist members of his Mahdi Army militia who target Sunnis. Sadr's political followers are distancing themselves from the fragile Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, which is widely criticized as corrupt, inefficient and biased in favor of Iraq's majority Shiites. And moderates are taking up key roles in Sadr's movement, professing to be less anti-American and more nationalist as they seek to improve Sadr's image and position him in the middle of Iraq's ideological spectrum.
"We want to aim the guns against the occupation and al-Qaeda, not between Iraqis," Ahmed Shaibani, 37, a cleric who leads Sadr's newly formed reconciliation committee, said as he sat inside Sadr's heavily guarded compound here.
"Our retreating from the government while the Sunnis move in is one way to show we are trying to work for the welfare of Iraq and not only for the welfare of Shiites," said Salah al-Obaidi, a senior aide to Sadr. He said the time was "not mature yet" to form a bloc that could challenge Maliki, who came to power largely because of Sadr's support.
In recasting himself, the cleric is responding to popular frustration, a widening Sunni-Shiite rift and political inertia, conditions he helped create. The shift is as much a reaction to U.S. efforts to rein him in as it is an admission of unfulfilled visions. His strategy exposes the strengths and weaknesses of his movement as it pushes for U.S. troops to leave and competes with its Shiite rivals in the contest to shape a new Iraq. More at link
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/20/2007 06:54 ||
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The 33-year-old populist is reaching out to a broad array of Sunni leaders, from politicians to insurgents, and purging extremist members of his Mahdi Army militia who target Sunnis.
Kafkaesque: just as terrorist are now "insurgents" "populist" is the new word for warlord and collaboration w/other terrorists is "reaching out."
Posted by: regular joe ||
05/20/2007 7:37 Comments ||
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#2
note that the Mookster is still hiding in Iran looking into that lapsed dental plan
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/20/2007 8:02 Comments ||
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#3
Come on out and give a speech, chuckles. We dare you, oh brave lion of islam.
#6
He's betting all the relatives of the Sunnis his Mhadi Army offed will forgive and forget. Fat chance, Dickweed.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
05/20/2007 14:38 Comments ||
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Sadr is desperately trying to shed the critical mass of enemies he has accreted since our arrival in Iraq. Someone needs to remind him of the old addage:
FRIENDS COME AND GO BUT ENEMIES ACCUMULATE.
Never is this more true than in the Arab world. Maliki sabotages Iraq from within, Sadr from without. The two of them are millstones around Iraq's collective neck that grind to dust all hope for peace and prosperity. Iraq's sapling tree of liberty needs to watered with their blood.
For many Gaza residents, the chilling point of no return in the struggle between Hamas and Fatah came when some clerics started issuing religious edicts on the radio telling Palestinians it was okay to fight one another.
Two months after ruling Hamas Islamists and President Mahmoud Abbas's secular Fatah faction formed a unity government, any goodwill that existed between the long-time rivals has been replaced with anger and fear. Many Gazans have little faith in the latest ceasefire agreed on Saturday and some openly question whether the factions will ever be able to reconcile their differences, let alone stop the current round of fighting. Even Gazans who have endured years of bloody conflict with Israel were shocked by the extraordinary flashes of brutality exhibited by Hamas and Fatah gunmen over the last nine days of street fighting.
Both sides have accused each other of committing atrocities, including summary executions of the injured and torture. Some dead bodies were found mutilated. It is taboo in the Muslim faith to fight a fellow Muslim. Killing a fellow Muslim, many religious Palestinians believe, means eternal damnation.
That is why all these fatwas are being issued, you empty-headed, taqiyya-spouting Rooters "reporter".
In one recent radio broadcast, senior Hamas lawmaker Younis al-Astal sought to assuage the concerns of Hamas gunmen, saying they could be rewarded by Allah (God) if they confronted the enemies of the Hamas-led government. Al-Astal accused Fatah of conspiring with the United States and Israel against Hamas.
That does it. Ima have to fill my *bathtub* with popcorn...
Fatah officials decried al-Astal's edict, saying it meant Hamas could treat Fatah like "infidels, no different from how Hamas views the Israeli army".
Hint: the only people Hamas hates more than Jooos is everybody else.
Hamas radio stations have taken to openly describing Abbas as a collaborator, comparing him to General Antoine Lahd, who once commanded Israel's proxy army in south Lebanon. "The Zionist-American forces of Abbas ... have executed our fighters," Hamas's Voice of al-Aqsa said in one broadcast.
Fatah's al-Shabab radio accused Hamas of summary killings, dubbing its Executive Force the "black militia" and accusing the group of acting in Iranian interests.
To counter attacks on Abbas, Mohammed Abu Jamea, a pro-Fatah cleric, sought to portray him as the Palestinian "Imam", a term that can mean leader of the nation. For religious Muslims, it is forbidden to disobey an Imam. Palestinian political analyst Talal Awkal said these religious edicts "are like orders to open fire".
Mustafa, who lives in Gaza City, said the intervention of religious leaders on both sides marked "a very grave" escalation. "I view myself as a good Muslim but I disagree with these edicts. They are only meant to fuel hatred among the fighters," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/20/2007 00:00 ||
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The Gaza Strip on Friday endured its sixth day of fighting between Hamas and the rival Fatah groups. The violence has killed at least 50 people and injured about 280.
Israel has launched several air strikes in Gaza on Friday, killing at least three people.
Editor: Sun Yunlong
You'll never get a job in any "western" newspaper, Yunlong.
(Xinhua) -- Israel was not planning to re-conquer the Gaza Strip but limited operations would continue in the coming days, Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz said Saturday. "A large-scale land incursion into Gaza does not serve Israel's security," Peretz told the Israel Radio.
The defense minister rejected the option of striking infrastructure facilities in Gaza, such as electricity, fuel, water and communications, saying such an operation "would cause the entire Palestinian population to unite around Hamas."
The defense minister rejected the option of striking infrastructure facilities in Gaza, such as electricity, fuel, water and communications, saying such an operation "would cause the entire Palestinian population to unite around Hamas."
However, Israel Defense Forces will continue to initiate operations in any scope that the situation would demand " to prevent any of our enemies from harming us," he added. Meanwhile, a report in the Telegraph said Israel is considering giving military support to Fatah, in order to strengthen it in its struggle against Hamas. Peretz responded that Israel had "an interest that the moderates would win," but declined to elaborate any actual measures Israel might take to advance such an outcome.
Meanwhile, Three Qassam rockets landed in the western Negev on Saturday morning. No injuries were reported in all three incidents. The al-Quds Brigades, the Islamic Jihad's military wing, claimed responsibility for the attack. Moments later, Israel Air Force targeted a Qassam launching cell, which fired two Qassam rockets at Sderot moments before. The cell's three members were hit.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/20/2007 00:00 ||
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Israel needs to take a page from chess and learn to stop telegraphing its plans to the enemy. Far better to leave your foe in suspense than with any certainty. IDIOTS!
The U.S. Navy is spending $8 million to charter a 220 foot long offshore supply vessel (for the oil industry) to serve as a "mother ship" for its small patrol boats. The supply vessel MV (motor vessel) C-Courageous will have accommodations for 30 patrol boat sailors, a helicopter pad and repair and maintenance facilities for the 39 foot patrol boats the navy uses in its offshore and river patrol squadrons. The ship will carry supplies for 30 days of operations.
During the Vietnam, the navy used World War II era LSTs as mother ships for patrol boats. These LSTs were larger, 350 foot long, ships, but basically did the same job that C-Courageous will perform, probably in Iraq. The company that built the C-Courageous, Edison Chouest, has previously built support ships for navy SEAL operations.
#1
basically did the same job that C-Courageous will perform, probably in Iraq.
Of course! Iraq has such a LONG coastline.
*sigh*
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
05/20/2007 11:37 Comments ||
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This will be a very interesting experiment to see if such a technique would pay off on a much larger scale for littoral conflict. That is, having mother ships with PBs able to patrol a lot of coastline and waterways.
On a wider scale, several such mother ships would be supported by a second echelon of supply ships and oilers, part of a blue water fleet providing them with rear area security and fire support.
I can also imagine another layer of small multipurpose platform ships, just outside of the PB patrol area, that could provide quick local support to the PBs, such as artillery, AAA, mine sweeping or evac.
#4
Pappy: I know. But has the philosophy been lost in the USN? When I look at those few high priced littoral ships they're developing, it makes me wonder if they've lost touch with reality.
I still hold to the WWII principal that everything destroyer or smaller is an "expendable" vessel. Granted we would *prefer* not to lose them, but the realities of naval war don't care what we would prefer.
In a major naval conflict, numbers balance off quality a lot, as the Japanese learned the hard way. And what with everybody and their brother floating fleets of submarines, I would much prefer, if we are going to lose five ships, that they be five replaceable ships.
To make matters worse, our ships may have to contend with cheap air armadas of drone UAVs, nothing more than flying 1000lb bombs with GPS. Half the countries in the world could crank out such weapons as fast as cars and only twice as expensive.
#5
what? They couldn't deploy it to Afghanistan? Excellent reporting....Jeebus
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/20/2007 13:23 Comments ||
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#6
Don't take this story littorally.
*ducks tomatoes*
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/20/2007 14:28 Comments ||
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#7
When I look at those few high priced littoral ships they're developing, it makes me wonder if they've lost touch with reality.
Your problem is that you are thinking about the Navy, the country and the future. That's the wrong way to look at it. If you think about Trent Lott, Mississippi and shipbuilding, it will all make sense.
The first thing I thought of was defection, but after reading a little deeper into the story... it smells a little fishy.
The FBD Insurance Rás cycling race will start tomorrow minus one team, following the disappearance of what was believed to be an Iranian national selection. Shane Stokes reports.
Following months of negotiations between the race organiser Dermot Dignam and what appeared to be a legitimate vice-president of the Iranian national cycling federation, visas were granted for five riders and four team officials to travel to the race, marking the first entry from the Middle Eastern country.
The first indication that something was amiss was when four of the group arrived a week earlier than scheduled. Mr Dignam arranged for them to check in early to the official pre-race accommodation venue but they did not show up. Two more from the group then flew into Dublin airport on Thursday but were refused entry to the country.
Mahdi Fathi, Mohammad Rastad, Amir Shakeri, Mobin Bagherzadegan and Mahmoud Talei had been entered as the riders for the race.
Mr Dignam believed he had been in negotiations with Ali Zangi Abadi, double bronze medallist in the 1982 Asian games and current vice-president of the Cycling Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran, but it now seems that the person concerned was posing as the former international rider. "Following discussions with the Iranian embassy and immigration officials we immediately cancelled arrangements for the team's participation in the FBD Rás," said Mr Dignam yesterday, confirming that the squad was bogus.
#1
Holy, begorrah - does this mean we have 4 unidentified Iranians loose in borderless Europe? And on bikes? They could be anywhere. Does Dermot remember whether they had special biking vests strapped to them when they checked in?
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
05/20/2007 6:41 Comments ||
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#2
Why had they been refused entry? Did they match a watch list? And how would Iranian intelligence let their officers travel under their own passports?
#3
Interesting - most Division 1 cycling teams have nine riders, not five. This must be a really small-time race; I can't find squat about it at cyclingnews.com, and they cover everything.
Also - were they riding those newfangled Islamic BikesTM?
#4
great, I'm traveling to Ireland in a few weeks for a family reunion. If I drive by any bicyclists I'll be extra careful; driving on the wrong side of the road and the shifter on the left side and narrow roads and all.
Sounds like Ireland is on top of their game with knowing about them in the first place here. Kudos.
Posted by: Jan from work ||
05/20/2007 9:57 Comments ||
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#5
It has been known in the UK whenever a big sports event happens teams from hellholes like Pakistan,Iran and Africa go missing for a better life!!!!
Posted by: Paul ||
05/20/2007 13:05 Comments ||
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From IRNA. Methinks the Mullahs are Most Concerned...
Jordanian King Abdullah II said, "We oppose any possible military attack against Iran because we believe it would be harmful to Jordan, too."
In a meeting with Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on the sidelines of World Economic Forum (WEF) in the resort city of " Bahr ul Meyet" on Saturday afternoon, King Abdullah II said, "We do not allow anybody to use Jordan soil or aerospace to attack Iran."
Referring to the Palestinian issue, the Jordanian monarch said, "Although the Palestinians have been idiots geographical situation has been difficult, we still believe in an independent state of Palestine." He added Iraq is a neighbor of both countries and an ethnic war there is not beneficial to neither of us and we must cooperate for helping Iraq.
#3
Also, IRAN > urges USA to withdraw to "STOP TERROR". Ostensibly referring to IRAQ, but IMO gives subtle quiet warning to potens future terror inside USA.
#7
"We oppose any possible military attack against Iran because we believe it would be harmful to Jordan, too."
Poor widdle Kingy. Finally getting a sense of embrittlement from how fed up the West is with Arab terrorism, are we? FOAD, Abdullah. The clock is ticking down for the entire Muslim world and your stubborn refusal to stop terrorists from pushing its hands forward only hastens your doom. You'll soon enough learn to begin killing the jihadis yourself or watch your entire house of cards come tumbling down around you.
Irans foreign minister said on Saturday that no country could be removed from the map, contradicting a previous statement by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calling for Israel to be wiped out. Oh, yeah? Then where's Dahomey?
Every primary school student knows that it is not possible to remove a country from the map and that is very clear, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told a conference in Jordan when asked about Ahmadinejads controversial remarks. Ha! What happened to Upper Volta? Riddle me dat!
We are not talking about the invasion of any country, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/20/2007 00:00 ||
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Link ||
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#1
What happened to Upper Volta? Riddle me dat!
Fassy Burkas took over. (Burkina Faso in their local parlance).
#2
Check the geography texts used by the Saudi schools and tell me if you can find a map of Israel. Palestine is there, but not Israel. So, they've already wiped Israel off the map or, more likely, never put in on the map in the first place.
#6
Actually they can and are wiped off the map. Just look at Africa and wait five minutes. POP. Ohhh, new country. New countries show up all the time and old ones vanish.
I'd be careful though, since the US could reduce Iran into howling barbarism without even bothering to use nukes or put a foot on the ground. Destroy every powerplant, bridge, railhead, oil facility, etc and the country will fall apart real quick.
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
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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.
Ethiopia said on Saturday its troops backing Somali government forces killed nearly 1,000 insurgents in Mogadishu in March and April during some of the heaviest clashes in the citys bloody history. Some 200 to 300 Al-Shabaab fighters (Somali insurgents) and other extremists died in the fighting in late March and more than 600 in the fighting that ended on April 26, the Ethiopian foreign ministry said in a statement. It said 150 others were taken prisoner, many of them international mujahedeen, but did not indicate where the detainees were being held.
Chadian President Idriss Deby will visit Khartoum next month for talks aimed at fully normalising frayed ties with neighbouring Sudan, a Sudanese Foreign Ministry official said on Friday. 
Inspector General of Police (IGP) Noor Mohammad yesterday said police are yet to find any existence of militant outfit "Jadid al Qaeda Bangladesh" that claimed responsibility for the May 1 bomb explosions at three railway stations.
The first Guantanamo Bay inmate convicted of terror charges by a U.S. military court returned to Australia on Sunday to serve out his sentence in a maximum security prison, police said. A government-chartered executive jet bringing David Hicks from the U.S. prison in Cuba landed at an air force base in the suburbs of his Adelaide home, eight years after Hicks left for Pakistan. With Hicks were Australian Federal Police agents, his Australian lawyer David McLeod and prison guards from Adelaide's Yatala Prison, where he will serve out his sentence.Under a deal with U.S. prosecutors, most of his jail term was suspended and Hicks will be able to walk free from prison before January 1, 2008.
The menace of terrorism faced by the Muslim world is not only challenging the state writ but also brining a bad name to Islam, said Federal Information and Broadcasting Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani on Saturday. Terrorism is taking human lives and hurting the ongoing development process, and the situation in Pakistan is being further aggravated further by a low literacy rate and rampant poverty, said Durrani.
A national jirga of the Saafi tribe will meet on Sunday (today) to discuss the growing Talibanisation of Mohmand Agency, official sources and tribal elders said on Saturday. The jirga has been called to discuss some incidents related to the Taliban, officials at the NWFP governors FATA Secretariat told Daily Times. Security agencies in the agency bordering Bajaur, where Taliban and Al Qaeda-linked militancy is growing, have warned the government of growing Taliban influence in Mohmand Agency. Very few key Taliban leaders have been identified and most have not been pinned down yet, sources close to security agencies said. A tribal elder from Ghalanai, Mohmand Agency regional headquarters, said elders of the Saafi tribe would seek collective efforts to prevent the agency from slipping into the hands of people who could create a Waziristan-like situation in Mohmand. There have been a series of incidents in the agency in the recent past that appear to involve the Taliban. The political administration, however, denied this. We have noticed some Taliban-linked activities. Initial reports reveal that the base or support for the Taliban is thin right now but it might grow if we do not contain them, official sources said on condition of anonymity.
Lashkar-e-Islam has established a parallel government in Bara and the government should take action against the group to protect citizens from its extremism, Taj Malook, Inayatur Rehman, Waris Khan and Abdul Waheed of Bara told a press conference at Peshawar Press Club here on Saturday.
The government has decided to include all Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) parliamentarians in the Pakistani jirga being organised to restore peace in Afghanistan, sources said. FATA has 12 MNAs and eight senators.
The 33-year-old populist is reaching out to a broad array of Sunni leaders, from politicians to insurgents, and purging extremist members of his Mahdi Army militia who target Sunnis. Sadr's political followers are distancing themselves from the fragile Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, which is widely criticized as corrupt, inefficient and biased in favor of Iraq's majority Shiites. And moderates are taking up key roles in Sadr's movement, professing to be less anti-American and more nationalist as they seek to improve Sadr's image and position him in the middle of Iraq's ideological spectrum.
For many Gaza residents, the chilling point of no return in the struggle between Hamas and Fatah came when some clerics started issuing religious edicts on the radio telling Palestinians it was okay to fight one another.
Both sides have accused each other of committing atrocities, including summary executions of the injured and torture. Some dead bodies were found mutilated. It is taboo in the Muslim faith to fight a fellow Muslim. Killing a fellow Muslim, many religious Palestinians believe, means eternal damnation.
(Xinhua) -- Israel was not planning to re-conquer the Gaza Strip but limited operations would continue in the coming days, Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz said Saturday. "A large-scale land incursion into Gaza does not serve Israel's security," Peretz told the Israel Radio. 
Irans foreign minister said on Saturday that no country could be removed from the map, contradicting a previous statement by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calling for Israel to be wiped out. 
