(Xinhua) -- The African Union's Special Representative for Somalia, Nicolas Bwakira, said on Wednesday in Mogadishu that the Peace and Security Council of African Union was concerned about the "tension" within the Somali transitional government and called for unity among Somali leaders.
Speaking at a news conference in Mogadishu, the Somali capital, Bwakira, who is currently visiting the country, said he came to Somalia to hold consultations with senior Somali leaders including the President Abdullah Yusuf Ahmed and the Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein.
Differences between the two leaders have recently emerged after the Somali Premier sacked the mayor of Mogadishu Mohamed Omar Habeeb, a close ally of the Somali President late last month.
"The Peace and Security Council of African Union was concerned about what seemed to be a tension within the Transitional Government," Bwakira told reporters in Mogadishu.
The disagreement intensified after eleven ministers allied with Yusuf resigned over the dismissal of Habeeb but the Somali premier named six ministers to replace them.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2008 00:00 ||
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Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has briefed Crown Prince Sultan, deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, on terrorist plots against Saudi Arabia uncovered after police raided an Al-Qaeda hideout in southeastern Yemen, official media reported yesterday.
Saleh told Prince Sultan in a telephone conversation late Tuesday that an Al-Qaeda cell dismantled by security forces in the Hadhramout province on Monday had plotted terrorist attacks in Yemen and Saudi Arabia.
The Yemeni leader said police had seized documents containing "dangerous information unveiling a plan by Al-Qaeda to carry out terrorist acts in Yemen and Saudi Arabia," according to the state-run Al-Thawra daily.
Authorities said on Tuesday that a key member of Al-Qaeda in Yemen was killed in Monday's gunbattle in the Hadhramout province. They said Hamza Al-Quaiti, believed to be the mastermind of several terrorist attacks that hit Yemen in recent months, was among five Al-Qaeda suspects killed as police stormed their hide-out in Tarim, 900 km southeast of Sanaa. Two police officers were also killed and five others, including two policemen, injured in the shootout.
The Defense Ministry on its website quoted unnamed official sources as saying police seized a cache of explosives, including 40 bags of gunpowder, explosive devices, hand grenades, machine guns and gas cylinders.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
In the "southeast"? The strongholds are in the north. Yemeni police are so afraid of captives escaping - usually from bribery - that they tend to murder suspects. Any known contact of this group is dead-meat.
They're coming to the homeland, most likely. There will in any event be attempts which may or may not be intercepted.
Seems like the feds are distributing the planning process - Houston is working out IED responses, NYC area is deploying radiation scanning, other exercises have shaken out reponse to bio attacks.
The kind of homemade bombs being used against U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan will likely be the weapon of choice in the event of a terrorist strike in the Houston area, officials with the Department of Homeland Security said.
"They're easy to build (and) they're difficult to defeat," said Robert Stephan, assistant secretary for infrastructure protection at DHS, who called such improvised explosive devices "a tough nut to crack."
On Wednesday, Stephen announced that Houston is the test site for a plan to gauge the vulnerability of potential targets, like oil refineries and chemical plants, against attacks from IEDs.
"We see this as the number-one-utilized terrorist tactic," Stephan said.
Because potential targets in the Houston area cross several jurisdictional boundaries, a variety of agencies both local and federal will take part in the study, officials said.
"This is a more coordinated process. We'll do it as a region and provide a report," said Dennis Storemski, the city of Houston's director of public safety and homeland security.
The study will identify targets throughout the Houston area considered at risk and make security recommendations to prevent terrorist attacks.
Also, the plan will create a single database of resources, ranging from police bomb squads to hazardous materials teams, that are available to respond to the scene, officials said.
"It allows you to take an inventory of personnel," Storemski said.
U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston, said it was critical for local and state official to collaborate with the federal government to make sure Houston is prepared for any potential terrorist attack.
"This is a wake-up call for the city of Houston. It is a reality that we have to address," Jackson Lee said.
The Houston region study, which will be continually updated, is expected to be a template for similar examinations in other large urban areas, officials said.
#1
Mexican illegals (and even legals*) have found the combination of increased scrutiny here and improved conditions back home an inducement to cash in their chips and leave. How would the Muslim communities respond to the kind of increased scrutiny likely after the first round of IEDs? Just look at the turnover of the Obama campaign's Muslim advisers because each seems to have contacts to terror organizations.
* the green card-holding family of a classmate of the trailing daughters sold their lovely house, packed up their possessions, and moved back to Abuela's dusty village this summer. Papa was required to renew his green card from the Mexican side of the border, and we all know how long that takes, these days. Daughter is looking into the possibility of a "year abroad" program so that she might graduate with her class here, but the odds are low. She mourns, because the school in the dusty village is dreadful.
#5
Chem plants have a major security issue. Some of these chem plants represent a far greater potential danger to surrounding populations than do nuclear plants, but the security disparity between the two facility types is enormous. There is much work that the chem industry has to do to come up the security curve and they need to get on it post-haste.
#6
Remoreman, I work in a Chemical plant. A big one and you are right. Unfortunately, there is not much that can be done. We used to have a road running through the middle of the plant but that was closed off and all but 4 vehicle gates have been closed. The fence is easily breached but there really isn't much that can be done there.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
08/14/2008 14:20 Comments ||
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#7
This is nonsensical. IED's get planted in Iraq because of the cooperation of passers-by, who either support or are neutral towards the IED planters. The moment support for the insurgency died down, IED planters started being scooped up by the bushel.
#9
Deacon, I fear you are correct about the level of things that can be done. The chem plants, unlike the nuke sites, don't usually have an open perimeter surrounding the plant ie the plant effectively goes right up to the perimeter fence. Hard to defend that.
#10
There is a very low profile group working domestic counterIED at the highest level of the federal govt.
They don't find it nonsensical.
The Federal government has low profile groups monitoring bovine flatulence. But the likelihood is low, which is why it's low profile. Hijackings are likely, which is why we have tens of thousands of airport screeners employed by the Federal government, and air marshals on board thousands of flights a day.
#12
But the likelihood is low, which is why it's low profile.
I beg to differ. They have already found some in San Jose, San Fransisco and other parts of the USA. Those are the ones they tell us about. Imagine what we don't know.
Posted by: Big Slaish5309 ||
08/14/2008 18:49 Comments ||
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#13
ZF, I'm talking about a group that meets in a white building in DC with columns and a well known garden.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Faced with desertions by his political supporters and the neutrality of the Pakistani military, President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan, an important ally of the United States, is expected to resign in the next few days rather than face impeachment charges, Pakistani politicians and Western diplomats said Thursday.
His departure from office would be likely to unleash new instability in the country as the two main parties in the civilian government jockeyed for the division of power.
The details of how Mr. Musharraf would exit, and whether he would be able to stay in Pakistan -- apparently his strong preference -- or would seek residency abroad were now under discussion, the politicians said.
Mr. Musharraf was expected to resign before the governing coalition presented charges for impeachment to the Parliament early next week, said Nisar Ali Khan, a senior official in the Pakistani Muslim League-N, the minority partner in the coalition government. Similarly, Sheikh Mansoor Ahmed, a senior official of the Pakistan Peoples Party, the major party in the coalition, said Thursday that the president would probably leave in the "next 72 hours."
Inexorable pressure has built on Mr. Musharraf, a member of the military by profession and often impetuous by nature, to take a way out from the current crisis that would save him from embarrassing disclosures during impeachment procedures and that would protect the nation from a prolonged political agony.
The United States and Britain sought last year to put a democratic face on the unpopular Mr. Musharraf -- who was then also chief of the army -- by engineering the return of the opposition leader Benazir Bhutto as his partner in a putative power-sharing arrangement. Now the two countries are virtual bystanders as Mr. Musharraf's rule seems to be coming to an end.
Not so smart in retrospect, was it ...
Ms. Bhutto was assassinated in December, and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, now the leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party, emerged as a major force urging Mr. Musharraf's ouster last week. The two major political parties in the coalition said last week that they would seek to remove Mr. Musharraf, and that the grounds for impeachment included mismanagement of the economy, his imposition of emergency rule in November and the firing of nearly 60 judges.
The American ambassador to Pakistan, Anne W. Patterson, met with senior officials of the political parties seeking Mr. Musharraf's ouster in the past few days, and a senior diplomat in the British Foreign Office, Sir Mark Lyall Grant, met with Mr. Musharraf here this week, Pakistani officials and a Western diplomat said. The envoys did not argue against Mr. Musharraf's departure but rather stressed that he should be granted as dignified an exit as possible, the Pakistani officials said. The officials and diplomats spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
"The United States is now accepting Musharraf's removal as a fait accompli," Mr. Khan said. "They just want that he should not be humiliated. We don't want his humiliation either."
The Bush administration's continued support of Mr. Musharraf, anchored by the personal relationship between the two presidents, has infuriated the four-month-old civilian coalition, which routed the president's party in February elections. "Now the reaction from the American friends is positive," Mr. Khan said.
While Mr. Bush has kept up his relationship with Mr. Musharraf -- including regular telephone conversations -- the administration has also been trying to build its relations with the new Pakistani government, as it demands greater action against militants based in Pakistan.
The coalition parties said that the impeachment charges would be presented to Parliament early next week, and that the charges would be far-ranging and touch on, among other things, Mr. Musharraf's decision to suspend the Constitution last November and to introduce emergency rule. The leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-N, Nawaz Sharif, has demanded that if Mr. Musharraf is impeached, a trial must follow, a proceeding that would be very messy, and could rip the country apart.
Nothing is going to stop Nawaz from getting his pound of flesh ...
In his hour of need, as the politicians move against him, Mr. Musharraf has been greeted by silence from the military, his former power base.
As army chief of staff, Mr. Musharraf grabbed power in October 1999, overthrowing Mr. Sharif, who was then prime minister. Mr. Sharif has maneuvered for Mr. Musharraf's ouster since returning to power after the February elections.
As president and army chief, Mr. Musharraf worked hand in hand with the United States against terrorism until last November, when he handed the army post to Gen. Ashfaq Parvaz Kayani, who promised to keep the army out of politics. Since assuming the army leadership, General Kayani has remained true to his promise.
Just waiting for the right moment, and in the meantime being quiet as a graveyard ...
The neutrality of the military has actually tipped the scales against Mr. Musharraf, said Arif Nizami, editor of the daily newspaper The Nation. "They are not even putting pressure on the civilians" to stop the president's ouster, Mr. Nizami said of the military. "They are saying, 'If you do it according to the book, it's none of our business.' They have pushed against Mr. Musharraf."
Mr. Musharraf gave a routine but subdued national day address on Wednesday, calling for reconciliation. But by then many of his supporters had left him. He was seeking solace from "only a handful of people," most of whom harbored personal interests in Mr. Musharraf's survival, according to an account in a national newspaper, Dawn, by Zaffar Abbas, a respected political journalist.
Many members of Mr. Musharraf's political party have deserted him, although a powerful political group, Muttahida Qaumi Movement, which is based in Karachi, still supports him, Mr. Abbas wrote.
One prominent supporter, Aftab Ahmed Sherpao, who served as the interior minister in Mr. Musharraf's government, said Thursday that he could no longer justify his allegiance to the president. Mr. Sherpao represents a parliamentary constituency in the North-West Frontier Province on the edge of the tribal area, where the Taliban are winning control of village after village with little opposition from the military or government forces.
After consulting "with every friend" in his area, "not a single person was in favor of Musharraf," Mr. Sherpao said. "With one voice they said: 'This is the time you have to be with the democratic forces.' "
While it appeared almost certain that Mr. Musharraf would leave before facing impeachment, there was great uncertainty over what would follow. "Everyone feels that the Musharraf era is over," the Daily Times wrote in an editorial on Thursday. "But no one is actually in the mood to see what it is going to be like to be in the post-Musharraf era."
Many Pakistanis believe the country could suffer even greater instability after Mr. Musharraf goes. The coalition partnership between Mr. Zardari and Mr. Sharif became troubled by deep suspicions between the two sides soon after the February elections, and the current accord on ousting Mr. Musharraf is likely to fragment as soon as he is gone, politicians say.
There is little agreement, for example, between the two men on the choice of the next president. That question is a subject of almost as much jockeying within the coalition as the plan to get rid of Mr. Musharraf.
Mr. Zardari, a highly controversial figure in Pakistan who was jailed on corruption charges for more than eight years, would like the post, according to his party supporters and senior members of the Pakistan Muslim League-N. The charges against Mr. Zardari were dismissed as part of an amnesty agreement when Ms. Bhutto returned to Pakistan.
Mr. Sharif is opposed to Mr. Zardari's ascendancy to the presidency, but would go along with it if the presidency were stripped of many of its current powers, Pakistan Muslim League-N officials said.
According to the Constitution, an election for the president by the national Parliament and four provincial assemblies must be held 30 days after the office becomes vacant. Mr. Sharif and Mr. Zardari agreed last week that the choice of a presidential nominee would be made by a consensus between them. "We very, very strongly feel it has to be a man of national consensus, a man of stature, a man everyone looks up to as a head of state," Mr. Khan said.
Posted by: john frum ||
08/14/2008 16:46 ||
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#1
As president and army chief, Mr. Musharraf worked hand in hand with the United States against terrorism until last November, when he handed the army post to Gen. Ashfaq Parvaz Kayani, who promised to keep the army out of politics.
Sounds like it was all over at this point. But exactly why would Kayani make such a promise? Could it have had something to do with all those billions the US government gives them or was it just the goodness of his heart?
#2
The day Musharrif resigns, Pakistan needs to move from the "ally" column to the "terrorist facilitator" column. If things don't turn around in the FATA, then move pakistan into the "enemy" column, and dispose of it.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/14/2008 19:27 Comments ||
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#3
Someone explain to me how we move supplies to Afghanistan after Perv is gone.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/14/2008 20:10 Comments ||
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Chief of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Qazi Hussain Ahmad has said that President Musharraf should be put on trial under Article 6 of the Constitution.
Talking to journalists at his party's headquarters before joining a protest rally here on Wednesday, the JI chief said the ruling alliance had the requisite number of parliamentarians to expel Pervez Musharraf. The real thing was to put him on trial after impeachment, he added.
Qazi said the ruling alliance should give a second look to the country's internal and external policies. He said the removal of Pervez Musharraf would do no good to the country or the system if the government continued with the pro-American policies of their predecessors.
He said the ruling alliance should have restored the deposed judges before the impeachment of the president. Had they restored the judges, the impeachment process would have no snags, said Qazi. The JI chief was in Peshawar to lead a protest demonstration against price hike, lawlessness and the ongoing military operations in Swat and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).
Participants of the rally gathered at Hashtnagri Chowk. Carrying banners and placards inscribed with anti-government and anti-America slogans, the protestors converged on Suekarno Chowk in Khyber Bazaar after passing through Firdaus, Ashraf Road, Qissa Khawani and Kabuli bazaars.
Addressing the gathering at Suekarno Chowk, the JI chief slammed the government for the prevailing lawlessness in the country, the sky-rocketing prices of daily commodities and the military operations in tribal and settled areas of the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2008 00:00 ||
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The NWFP Assembly condemned the United States-led NATO forces through a unanimously passed resolution on Wednesday for violating Pakistan's border in the Tribal Areas. Tabling the joint resolution, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) parliamentary leader Pir Sabir Shah said NATO forces had directly attacked Pakistan's border areas in the Kurram and Waziristan agencies. "We condemn the NATO steps," he said. The PML-N leader demanded the government take action against NATO as no country had the right to interfere in the internal affairs of another.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Oh, well, when a recognized political bulwark like the NWFP Assembly condemns you, your credibility must really be shot.
Al-Qaeda has exploited recent political turmoil in Pakistan to strengthen its foothold along the country's border with Afghanistan, a top U.S. counterterrorism official said yesterday in an assessment that also warned of a heightened risk of attack during the upcoming U.S. election season.
Despite the loss of key leaders to U.S. strikes, Osama bin Laden continues to enjoy a haven in the border region and has managed to deepen alliances with a wide range of Islamist groups from South Asia to the Middle East, said Ted Gistaro, the national intelligence officer for transnational threats and an al-Qaeda expert. With the help of such allies, al-Qaeda is seeking to position terrorist operatives in the United States and other Western countries, Gistaro said. "We assess that al-Qaeda's intent to attack the U.S. homeland remains undiminished," Gistaro said in a speech at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Gistaro was the principal author of a "National Intelligence Estimate" report last August that described a resurgent al-Qaeda rebuilding its network inside the autonomous tribal lands in Pakistan's northwestern frontier. Such estimates represent the consensus view of U.S. intelligence agencies.
In the year since the report's release, bin Laden has been dealt numerous setbacks, particularly in Iraq, where al-Qaeda's local affiliates suffered repeated military losses as well as declining popular support. But in Pakistan, al-Qaeda's position is stronger than ever, as its Taliban allies have undermined local government forces to extend its control over the region, Gistaro said.
Al-Qaeda "now has many of the operational and organizational advantages it once enjoyed across the border in Afghanistan" before the U.S.-led invasion of that country seven years ago, Gistaro said.
The group's relative freedom has allowed it to train a new generation of recruits, including mid-level lieutenants who are moving through the ranks to replace killed or captured veterans, he said. Bin Laden appears particularly interested, Gistaro added, in finding recruits of Western origin who possess travel documents and language skills that allow them easy access to Europe and the United States.
While intelligence officials are unaware of specific plans for attacks inside the United States, they expect an increase in threats in the run-up to U.S. elections, Gistaro said. But although al-Qaeda may use the election as an excuse for an attack, there is no evidence that bin Laden hopes to tilt the race in favor of either of the two major presidential candidates, he said.
To bin Laden, "there is no difference between Democratic and Republican candidates," since, to him, both are backed by global corporations whose values al-Qaeda opposes, Gistaro said.
Gistaro's remarks coincided with an unconfirmed report of the death of al-Qaeda's top commander in Afghanistan. Mustafa Abu Al-Yazid, commonly known as Sheik Saeed, was reported by Pakistani news outlets to have been killed in a clash with Pakistani soldiers. U.S. intelligence officials said they could not confirm the report.
Also yesterday, intelligence officials were analyzing the latest audio recording from al-Qaeda's No. 2 commander, Ayman al-Zawahiri. In a rare English transmission, a man identifying himself as Zawahiri accused Pakistan's leaders of subservience to the United States. "Let there be no doubt in your minds that dominant political forces at work in Pakistan today are competing to appease . . . the modern-day crusaders in the White House and are working to destabilize this nuclear-capable nation under the aegis of America," the recording stated.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2008 00:00 ||
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By Syed Saleem Shahzad
When several hundred Pakistani troops backed by paramilitary forces on Friday launched an operation against militants in Bajaur Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan on the border with Afghanistan, they received a most unwelcome surprise.
News of the offensive, which proved to be the most bloody this year in Pakistan, had been leaked to the Pakistani Taliban and al-Qaeda militants by sympathizers in the security forces, and the army walked into a literal hail of bullets.
Contacts familiar with the militants told Asia Times Online that every hill had observers as the first military convoys entered Bajaur - the main corridor leading to the Afghan provinces of Kunar, Nooristan, Kapisa and the capital Kabul - and they were quickly under attack. In just a few hours, 65 soldiers were killed, 25 were taken prisoner and scores more were wounded. Under air cover, the soldiers retreated, leaving behind five vehicles and a tank, which are now part of the arsenal of the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
On Tuesday, the Pakistan Air Force, whose air power played a central role in the Bajaur operation, was on the receiving end. Once again on the basis of precise information, eight airmen were killed in a suicide attack near Peshawar, the capital of North-West Frontier Province (NWFP).
Limited fighting continued on Wednesday. The government said that 200 militants had been killed, but a Taliban spokesman confirmed only seven dead. The remainder, he said, were civilians killed during aerial bombardments.
Unconfirmed reports said leading al-Qaeda military commander Abu Saeed al-Masri had been killed. He is said to be number three in the group behind Ayman al-Zawahiri and Osama bin Laden, and if indeed he is dead it would be a major setback for al-Qaeda.
The fierce militant response against the army, which is under heavy pressure from the United States to be more proactive, was under the unified command of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, whose base is in the South Waziristan tribal area. The hardline Baitullah does not believe in "limited war" - his goal is full-scale war across the country. Bajaur could be the beginning of this.
Pakistani Taliban spokesman Maulvi Omar issued a statement claiming responsibility for the Peshawar attack and warned of more across the country in reaction to the Bajaur offensive.
However, the militants' current tactics are different from those of previous years when they reacted within a few hours or days. Now, the militants spend more time waiting for information on their "daunting foe", the Pakistani security forces and the government, so they can decide on their targets and cause maximum damage. Much of this information comes from informants in the security forces.
In the broader picture, al-Qaeda decides when to switch on the attacks or switch them off in their own version of war and peace. This is the new face of the neo-Taliban - more radical and more strategic - raised on al-Qaeda ideology.
These neo-Taliban don't forget, either. On Wednesday morning, Haji Namdar, the chief of the "Vice and Virtue" organization in Khyber Agency, a tribal region on the Afghan border, was gunned down in his office by Baitullah's men. Although Namdar supported the Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan, he was a strategic asset for the Pakistani security agencies trying to wipe out al-Qaeda-influenced radicals and the neo-Taliban.
In April, he sold out the Taliban after initially agreeing to help them target the North Atlantic Treaty Organization supply lines passing through Khyber Agency. Namdar had survived an earlier suicide attack in which about 30 people died. Namdar's death leaves the Pakistani security agencies and the government with only one "precious asset" - Haji Nazeer in South Waziristan. Other than him, they have no choice but to deal with Baitullah's radical face.
Economic and political chaos
Apart from the Peshawar Valley, the whole Pashtun-dominated region of NWFP is effectively under the control of the Taliban and their al-Qaeda allies. The chaotic state of the economy plays into their hands as people become increasing disgruntled.
Inflation is running at 25% a year, the Karachi stock exchange has lost 35% of its value since April, there are frequent electricity shutdowns and foreign exchange reserves have fallen from US$17 billion last year to $9 billion, barely enough to cover imports for three months.
These economic woes are compounded by an ongoing political crisis which al-Qaeda is already exploiting. Zawahiri has issued an audio message critical of President Pervez Musharraf, who is under pressure to resign or else face impeachment. A leading militant from the Swat area, Muslim Khan, has issued a statement that anyone who supports Musharraf during an impeachment process would become the Taliban's enemy. Musharraf is the United States' point man in the South Asian theater of the "war on terror".
In a similar manner, when a military junta recently ousted Mauritania's president Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, al-Qaeda immediately called for a jihad in the North African country to establish Islamic rule. As with Pakistan, this is a bid by al-Qaeda to pitch itself as the only viable choice in Muslim countries.
The Bajaur showdown plays into this scenario. The Pakistani military, as it has every time in other operations in the tribal areas over the past few years, will pull back. Prisoners will be swapped and a hollow ceasefire will be agreed on, backed by cash inducements for the militants and more military aid for Pakistan from the United States. Battle will break out again. In the meanwhile, the Taliban will increase their strength and boundaries, and al-Qaeda's ideology will draw in new recruits.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
The Mighty Pak Army.
And they're going to take us on if we try to invade?
#4
Obviously, the Pak military needs to learn how to both sequester personnel prior to a mission, and to monitor communications looking for spies. And then to immediately shoot any spies it captures.
In a revelation that exposes deep roots of terror in India, national security advisor M K Narayanan confirmed the unearthing of 800 terror cells by intelligence agencies. These terror units, he said, were operating with external support -- an apparent reference to ISI-backed terror outfits like the LeT, Jaish e Mohammad and Huji (Bangladesh). "We are concerned that there is a great deal of external inspiration and support, we are also concerned and are looking at a mastermind within the country," Mr Narayanan is quoted as having told a Singapore newspaper in an interview. The reference to the 'local mastermind' is significant in the backdrop of investigations into the recent Bangalore and Ahmedabad blasts pointing to the role of home-grown jihadi organisations like Simi.
The assessment that the blasts may have been carried out by a local terror module is based on findings pointing to the use of locally-sourced and assembled explosives and absence of any radio intercepts of conversations between bombers and their possible handlers in Pakistan or Bangladesh.
Mr Narayanan said intelligence agents had disrupted several modules, some of which are "not entirely foreign." "Clearly, there is some kind of organisation we have to find out if that organisation is localised or there is an external group or module operating," he said.
Although he did not elaborate, the security agencies believe that Indian Mujahideen, the outfit that owned up to the blasts in Ahmedabad and Jaipur, may just be another name for Simi. Simi, banned under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, has a trackrecord of having extended logistical support to LeT, Jaish and Huji for several terror attacks over the last few years, including the 7/11 Mumbai local train blasts.
Though agency reports on Mr Naryanan's interview were silent on the time- period over which these 800 terror modules were busted, the figure is nevertheless shocking as even the NDA government, which had tougher laws to deal with terror, had busted no more than 300 ISI-backed terror modules during its rule between 1996 and 2004.
On February 8, 2008, this year, minister of home for state Sriprakash Jaiswal had, in reply to a question raised in Parliament, put the number of total terror modules busted across the country over the last 3 years at 30. Of this, 10 were busted in his home state of UP.
Speaking on the new trends in terror acts here, Mr Naryanan pointed to bombing of a hospital in Ahmedabad during the serial blasts that rocked the city last month.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2008 00:00 ||
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A large number of United States and European academics, writers, artists and human rights workers have written a letter to the Geneva-based United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Justice Navanethem Pillay, asking him to take immediate steps to ease the plight of the beleaguered Kashmiris of the Indian-held valley and the Muslims of Jammu who are being subjected to ethnic cleansing.
The signatories, who include Prof Angana Chatterjee from California, point out that the profound humanitarian crisis is continuing in the Kashmir Valley on account of the ongoing blockade of the Srinagar-Jammu highway by religious nationalist groups from India. This has resulted in severe shortages in the Kashmir Valley of food and vital provisions. Petrol and essential medical rations, including blood, are in critically short supply. So is newsprint, while communication services and infrastructure are severely disrupted. The situation in Jammu, where the Muslim minority is facing violence on a scale that can be described as "ethnic cleansing", is alarming. The Government of India and the military and paramilitary forces have shown themselves unable and/or unwilling to take any effective action, either to end the blockade or to stop the violence against Muslims in Jammu. Meanwhile, military and paramilitary forces have opened fire on counter-demonstrators in Kashmir, using live bullets and mortar.
The letter notes that about 95-97 percent of the population of the Valley is Muslim, which has made Indian-held Kashmir the target of increasingly aggressive campaigns by Hindu nationalist groups since 1947.
The letter notes that about 95-97 percent of the population of the Valley is Muslim, which has made Indian-held Kashmir the target of increasingly aggressive campaigns by Hindu nationalist groups since 1947, despite guarantees of autonomy written into the Indian Constitution. The Government of India has failed to take measures to prevent these campaigns, consisting of marches and demonstrations, and culminating in the current blockade. To a population suffering the effects of 19 years of armed conflict, the economic crisis caused by the blockade comes as the last straw.
The signatories recommend that the Government of India should immediately end the economic blockade and ensure that goods and services, including emergency medical and food supplies, can move in both directions along the Srinagar-Jammu border. The Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road should be opened, as it would ensure that the current crisis situation is not repeated. It will also be a step forward in the peace process. Immediate action should be taken to stop the violence against the Muslim minority in Jammu and bring those responsible to justice. There should be an end to ongoing human rights abuses by Indian forces and pro-India militias, something repeatedly promised by the Indian prime minister. Steps should be taken top hold the Indian state accountable under the provisions established by the constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, the constitution of India, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and international laws and conventions.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
What a crock of BS. Hindus have been in the area since the beginning of time. Indian leaders are well aware of both Pakistan's ethnic cleansing of Hindus, and the fact that a half million Kashmiris are currently under internal exile in India. Muslims are the majority in Kashmir, but not to the extent stated in the article.
#2
McZoid, I agree that its a crock, I also agree that Indians have been there since the beginning of time. But so have many Muslims, that is Indian's that converted to Islam somewhere along their family tree.
What is really pathetic about this bulletin though is that Kashmir and Palestine were two of the UN's first tasks long ago and neither one is in any better shape. Why does anybody expect the UN to solve military problems. The UN allows a smaller nation to provoke a larger one and then hide rather than being stomped on.
ISLAMABAD: The embattled President Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday waded into the heightening rhetoric in Pakistan on the unrest in Kashmir, condemning what he said was "state terrorism" by India and calling for a negotiated settlement.
The Foreign Ministry said separately it would approach the U.N. and Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) to ask India to "exercise restraint" and "rein in extremist elements" who were destroying the Kashmiri economy with their blockade of the Valley.
The Associated Press of Pakistan reported that the retired General Musharraf, who faces an impeachment motion by the ruling coalition, "strongly condemned" the killing of Hurriyat leader Sheikh Abdul Aziz by Indian security forces, and called it an act of "state terrorism." He said this in a meeting with Raja Zulqurnain Khan, president of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, who called on him on Wednesday.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: john frum ||
08/14/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
You would think Perv has other stuff to worry about...
Posted by: john frum ||
08/14/2008 8:29 Comments ||
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#2
If India waits a little while, they may get the whole thing for free. Wakiland looks like it is on the edge of turning itself inside out.
The Arab resident of east Jerusalem who carried out the second of two back-to-back bulldozer attacks in the city was buried early Wednesday in his village, police said.
Ghassan Abu-Tier, 22, rammed his construction vehicle into a city bus and several cars on Jerusalem's central King David Street on July 22 injuring fifteen people, before being shot dead by a civilian passerby.
The pre-dawn burial in the village of Umm Tuba, which was attended by several family members, passed without incident, Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said. Police had held the body of the attacker until now.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Load him in a homemade rocket and shoot him over the barrier into Gaza.
#3
The Israelis should let it be known that they will put the really infamous terrorists in a special "defiled" grave, full of pig entrails. They don't actually have to do this, just let it be known that it has been done.
#1
It means he thinks people will be impressed by an Oxford degree.
Impresses the hell out of me, I can tell you.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
08/14/2008 9:35 Comments ||
Top||
#2
In the Third World you aren't anybody until you can put Dr. in front of your name, even if it's purchased. That's true in much of Europe, too, although there the degrees are usually genuine. Oxford ought to publish a list in the Times of those whose claims are fraudulent. It would be quite amusing, I'm sure.
#4
What he really meant is that he got his degree out of his Oxfords. Really! He looked in his shoes one morning and there it was!
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
08/14/2008 12:34 Comments ||
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#5
I'd figure an Oxford degree over there would get you the serious stinkeye. Better to have one from Jihadi State or University of Mo...and I don't mean Missouri.
Iran now claims it has developed and manufactured a UUV (Unmanned Underwater Vehicle). Iran regularly claims to have developed new military technology.
In time, either nothing more is heard of it beyond the initial press release, or the Iranian wonder weapons turns out to be a crude knock off of some foreign technology the Iranians either stole, or bought and smuggled in.
As for UUVs, there are some excellent models available on the civilian market. Take, for example, the Remus 100. This is an 80 pound vehicle that looks like a small torpedo. It is 5.4 feet long and 190mm in diameter. Carrying a side scanning sonar, and other sensors, a Remus 100 can stay under water for 22 hours, traveling at a cruising speed of five kilometers an hour (top speed is nearly twice that.)
The UUV can operate up to 100 kilometers from its operator, and dive to 300 feet. The Remus keeps costs down by using GPS, in addition to inertial guidance. The UUV surfaces every hour or two to get a GPS fix, and then goes back to doing what it was programmed to do.
Remus 100 was designed mainly for civilian applications (inspecting underwater facilities, pollution monitoring, underwater survey or search). But there are similar military and police applications, like searching for mines, or other terrorist activities. The U.S. Navy uses Remus, as do many others. This is in addition to many civilian users.
Australia and New Zealand also use Remus 100, and over 120 are in use. Depending on sensors carried, each Remus costs $350-500,000. The Iranian tech theft and smuggling network would have no problem getting one of these for reverse-engineering. The components are off-the-shelf stuff.
Last year Iran announced a new miniature submarine design, which it called the Yono class. The Iranian Navy did not provide much in the way of details. From available information, this appears to be an Iranian version of the Italian MG110 mini-subs. Some of these boats were sold to Pakistan years ago. The Iranians and Pakistanis have been known to exchange information like this (on foreign weapons) before.
The MG110s are 85 feet long, displace 105 tons and have a crew of six. These boats are designed to also carry eight combat scuba divers. These subs can carry two torpedoes or mines externally. Top speed on the surface (using the diesel engine) is 16 kilometers an hour. The sub can stay at sea for about five days. It can stay under water for up to eight hours at a time (on batteries).
These subs are hard to detect, but it remains to be seen if the Iranian boats are as reliable and capable as the Italian ones they are modeled on. The Iranians love to talk up new weapons they developed themselves, but when the stuff is actually put to use, the performance tends to be dismal.
Iran has bought mini-subs from North Korea, which has been designing and building these for decades. These UUVs and minisubs are mainly useful for commando type operations. I wonder if it would be worth their while for the USN to create a 'Small Diameter Torpedo", designed specifically to take out pissant targets.
#7
What I was pondering was something like a "Gatling" torpedo. The same size as a MK-48 (19' x 21"), it would be a low speed, quiet ''carrier' device with, say, 6 small diameter torpedoes inside it.
When launched, the carrier would slowly and quietly approach a coastline where several mini-subs or small littoral surface ships are located. Then its side panels would fall off, and each of the SDTs would independently target and attack the "pissant" targets.
The warheads on the SDTs could be very small, only 1-5 pounds, but that would be enough to blow a basketball sized hole in a mini sub or small surface ship.
#8
That sounds like it would be perfect in a large bathtub. Should I get one for Mr.Wife for Christmas? I can afford the $350 if I save out of my grocery budget...
(Xinhua) - Iranian Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar said on Tuesday that the Iranian armed forces are ready to counter any surprise attack by the enemies with a crushing response, the official IRNA news agency reported.
The vigilant Iranian armed forces are now monitoring all military movements in the region round the clock, Najjar was quoted as saying.
Iran is a powerful country is the region with high military might, he said, adding that recent war games conducted by the armed forces have demonstrated the capabilities of Iranian forces for the world.
Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) completed military maneuvers in the Gulf called Payambar-e Azam 3 (Great Prophet 3) in mid July to improve combat readiness and capability. Iran successfully test fired new long- and medium-range missiles in the drills.
"The enemies try to conduct a psychological warfare to intimidate us but to no avail," he said.
Najjar comments follow western media reports about an armada of U.S. naval battle groups heading toward the Persian Gulf with the aim of reinforcing U.S. strike forces in the region.
Iranian armed forces are self-sufficient in the production of defense soft and hardware, Najjar added.
IRGC Commander Brigadier General Mohammad-Ali Jafari said last Monday Iran has tested a new advanced naval weapon, which is "unique in the world" and can target the enemy at the range of 300 km.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Iran is a multiplicity of ethnicities, most of which are resentful of the top twelve Ayatollahs and the billions pilfered through sweetheart deals with the government they control. Hypocrisy is so pervasive that religious leaders use nominal devout supporters (Basij) to break strikes. I think its a stack of cards that can be toppled. However, it would the annihilation of Qom to start the downfall.
#5
For some reason unknown to us, I think the Bush Administration has concluded that it doesn't *need* to attack Iran. An "ace in the hole" so definitive that they don't even want Israel to attack Iran.
As a pure thought problem, it boggles the mind as to what could possibly be so definite, so undeniable, that it could give such confidence. So much more so that they don't even want Israel to waste its resources.
Even a science fiction super weapon couldn't give this much confidence. Maybe two or three independent such weapons might, but so uniquely powerful that even the other major powers couldn't stop them.
Even back when the US had a monopoly on nuclear weapons we didn't have this much confidence. So what could possibly give it to us now?
#6
Ooh, a "crushing response"! My bowels are all 'aquiver now.
Does Iran have a Baloon Corp? They have enough hot air to power it. And it would probably be more effective than the rest of their trash (Photoshop excluded).
I'm about tired of their willful ignorance, and they can be EXTREMELY glad I'm not the Prez. It's time for the bunker busters to do a series of surgical strikes, and bugger waiting on Israel. I guess I'd still wait for after the November elections, but there'd be no question about going in, and I'd tell Israel to sit this one out.
I forget who said it but the truth remains that "Diplomacy is the art of saying 'nice doggy' while reaching for a stick".
#7
Make no mistake. Iran will get nukes, if they don't already have them. This administration is hoping for internal rebellion, but that's not going to happen. A dictatorship with a strong police element is very stable as long as it can pay it's attack dogs. And the ayatollahs pump money out of the ground.
Posted by: ed ||
08/14/2008 11:30 Comments ||
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#8
Is it a coincidence that there is a Meet Persian Women ad on this page and Meet Russian brides on some of the Russian pages?
(Xinhua) -- Lebanese President Michel Suleiman arrived in Damascus on Wednesday for a groundbreaking visit to Syria.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his wife received their Lebanese counterparts at the Damascus International Airport, according to the official SANA news agency.
This is Suleiman's first visit to Syria after he took the presidency and also the first by a Lebanese president to Damascus since March 2005 when then Lebanese President Emile Lahoud came here.
Suleiman told the Lebanese newspaper As-Safir on Wednesday that his visit to Syria, in response to an invitation of Assad, is a "turning point" to restore the situations to the normal position between the two sisterly countries, according to SANA.
Suleiman also described his relations with Assad as "fraternal and distinguished", saying preparations for the visit from both sides are "positive and good".
During his two-day stay here, Suleiman will discuss with the Syrian senior officials "issues of common interest and the latest developments on the regional and international levels," said SANA.
The establishment of diplomatic ties and the opening of embassies were expected to top the agenda of the meeting between Suleiman and Assad, analysts said.
Last month, Assad and Suleiman announced in Paris after a meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy that they agreed to establish diplomatic ties and open embassies in each other's territory.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
This is Suleiman's first visit to Syria after he took the presidency and also the first by a Lebanese president to Damascus since March 2005 when then Lebanese President Emile Lahoud came here.
Let's hope Emile passed the Presidential Syrian Kneepads onto his successor. One less thing for Michel to worry about.
(Xinhua) -- The Cairo-based Arab League (AL) and Egypt on Wednesday condemned the explosion in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli that killed at least 17 people and injured 40 others.
In a statement issued hours after the blast, AL Secretary General Amr Moussa termed the event as "terrorist act" and expressed his strong condemnation.
The criminal event aims at destabilizing the political, security situation and the new government in the country, said Moussa.
The AL chief called on all Lebanese political factions to close ranks to fight against terrorists and criminals, who are seeking to plunge Lebanon into riots and political instability once again.
Meanwhile, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit also condemned the blast in northern Lebanon that is seeking to destabilize the country, according to the Egyptian MENA news agency.
It's regrettable that these events occurred at a time when Lebanon is witnessing positive political developments, said Abul Gheit.
On Wednesday morning, an explosion took place in Tripoli, killing 17 people and injuring some 40 others, the LBC TV reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2008 00:00 ||
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Syrian President Bashar Assad and Lebanese President Michel Suleiman agreed on Wednesday to establish full diplomatic relations at ambassadorial level, a Syrian official said.
The two countries announced last month that they intended to open diplomatic relations for the first time. Wednesday's agreement formally set those ties on the highest level. "The two presidents... have instructed their foreign ministers to take the necessary steps in this regard, starting from today," Buthaina Shaaban, an adviser to President Assad said.
Suleiman met Syrian President Assad in Damascus on Wednesday in a visit to improve bilateral ties that have thawed since the recent end of a political crisis in Lebanon. It was Suleiman's first visit to Syria since his election in May as part of a Qatari-mediated deal that defused a bitter political conflict between an anti-Syrian majority coalition and an alliance of groups backed by Damascus. It was also the first time a Lebanese leader has visited Damascus in over three years.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem told Lebanon's as-Safir newspaper that Suleiman's visit was "a starting point and a true foundation for future relations."
Suleiman, who had been army chief before his election, was received at a hilltop palace overlooking Damascus. He was appointed head of Lebanon's military when Syria still controlled the country and describes his ties with Damascus as excellent.
Syria's opponents in Lebanon, including Saudi-backed politician Saad al-Hariri, have accused Damascus of assassinating Rafik al-Hariri and other anti-Syrian figures and fomenting instability since its withdrawal. Syria denies the allegations.
This article starring:
Buthaina Shaaban
Saad al-Hariri
Walid al-Moallem
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Lebanon and Syria agree to establish full diplomatic ties
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.
(Xinhua) -- The African Union's Special Representative for Somalia, Nicolas Bwakira, said on Wednesday in Mogadishu that the Peace and Security Council of African Union was concerned about the "tension" within the Somali transitional government and called for unity among Somali leaders. 
Al-Qaeda has exploited recent political turmoil in Pakistan to strengthen its foothold along the country's border with Afghanistan, a top U.S. counterterrorism official said yesterday in an assessment that also warned of a heightened risk of attack during the upcoming U.S. election season. 
The Arab resident of east Jerusalem who carried out the second of two back-to-back bulldozer attacks in the city was buried early Wednesday in his village, police said. 
(Xinhua) -- Lebanese President Michel Suleiman arrived in Damascus on Wednesday for a groundbreaking visit to Syria. 
(Xinhua) -- The Cairo-based Arab League (AL) and Egypt on Wednesday condemned the explosion in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli that killed at least 17 people and injured 40 others. 
Syrian President Bashar Assad and Lebanese President Michel Suleiman agreed on Wednesday to establish full diplomatic relations at ambassadorial level, a Syrian official said. 
