Maulvi Mohammed Nabi Mohammedi, an Afghan militia leader who battled the Soviets and visited the White House in the 1980s, died Monday in Pakistan. He was 82. The Afghan Islamic Press said Mohammedi will be buried Tuesday. Mohammedi's group, Harakat-e-Inqilab Islami Afghanistan, was one of seven Afghan guerrilla groups supported by the United States and other Western nations to wage an independence war against the invading Soviet Union during the 1980s. In 1996, the Taliban threw out the guerrilla government. Mohammedi, a conservative Islamic leader, maintained good relations with the Taliban although he never joined their government.
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04/23/2002 ||
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A romantic novel apparently written by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has been adapted for the stage and will be performed this week in the Iraqi National Theater's biggest ever production. "Zabibah and the King," published over a year ago to rave reviews from the local press, is a tragic tale of a ruler who falls in love with an unhappily married woman. The novel has been adapted by Palestinian-born poet Adeeb Nasir. "It took me one year to read the epic novel ... but I made it into a play in 15 days," Nasir was quoted as saying in an information pack distributed by the Ministry of Culture ahead of Friday's performance. The rapturous reception given by Iraqi media to the book and a second novel, "The Fortified Castle," left few in doubt as to who penned the anonymous works. The heroine Zabibah, who separates from her husband but refuses to marry the king, is raped on Jan. 17 -- the same day U.S.-led forces launched the 1991 offensive that drove Iraq out of Kuwait. The king dies after capturing the rapists and avenging Zabibah's honor. What's next? Hollywood, of course. Can't wait to see it on the big screen!
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04/23/2002 ||
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India's western state of Gujarat braced for fresh religious clashes on Tuesday as parliament prepared for a vote of censure of the national coalition government over its handling of the violence. The vote in parliament cannot topple the fragile 20-party coalition of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, which is under enormous pressure over its failure to contain the riots in which over 850 people, mostly Muslims, have been killed.
But it would amount to a condemnation and embarrassment for Vajpayee's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which leads the coalition, if it were to lose the vote over India's worst religious violence in a decade. The decision of deputy speaker P.M. Sayeed to allow the vote came after a renewed upsurge in violence in Gujarat. Police said on Tuesday two men had died of injuries suffered in Hindu-Muslim clashes, taking the death toll since Saturday to 27. Violence continued in the city late on Monday night as mobs of Hindus and Muslims hurled petrol and stones at each other. The fighting first started after a Muslim mob torched a train carrying Hindu activists on February 27, burning 59 to death and triggering brutal reprisals against Muslims. Vajpayee is reaping what his backers have sown, which is too bad for him. If you lie down with skunks, you've got to be prepared for the smell.
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04/23/2002 ||
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The first direct talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators on a standoff at Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity ended Tuesday, and Palestinian negotiators said they had made progress. "We are close to an agreement, we hope," Palestinian legislator Salah Taamari told reporters after the talks. "The talks were constructive," Bethlehem mayor Hanna Nasser said. "We heard many offers. They will be materialized at 6 o'clock," he added without elaborating. "Constructive" means the Israelis brought lunch. With no chow on the premises, why are they bothering to negotiate?
Israeli and Palestinian officials met twice Tuesday near the Bethlehem church marking the birthplace of Jesus Christ, where hundreds of Palestinians, including around 30 militants wanted by Israel, have been under siege since April 2. But they failed to make tangible progress after Israel rejected a Palestinian proposal to send suspected militants for trial in the Gaza Strip. The two sides agreed to meet again Wednesday at 4:00 pm (1300 GMT) and the Palestinians said they would release four civilians for medical treatment. They also requested that the Israelis supply food and water to the church, a request Israel quickly rejected, chief Palestinian negotiator Salah al-Taamari said. "Duh. Okay. We'll give 'em food and water. Duh, when do you think they'll be ready to come out?" They buy that one, betcha they'd pull Yasser's finger, too.
Shortly before the first meeting, two Armenian monks and a priest made a daring escape from the church, where food and water are said to have run out, according to the Armenian patriarchate. Army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Olivier Rafowicz told AFP the three men reported the situation inside the church as "terrible," adding that many civilians wanted to escape but were being held hostage by the militants. Terrible, the way those priests and monks and nuns took those men hostage.
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04/23/2002 ||
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Hooded gunmen on Tuesday shot dead three men suspected of collaborating with Israel at the scene of an overnight Israeli missile strike that killed two Palestinian militants in Hebron. About 20 gunmen brought the Palestinians to the wrecked car hit overnight by an Israeli helicopter gunship and killed them. The shootings of the suspected collaborators took place hours after Marwan Zuloum, the local commander of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, and his bodyguard were killed in a helicopter missile attack on their car. "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter." Guess that's life in a psychopathocracy.
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04/23/2002 ||
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The Bush administration has established guidelines for the deployment of an international peacekeeping force in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Officials said the administration has agreed to the deployment of several hundred troops from several countries who would serve as monitors of any ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. They said the peacekeepers would begin as a small force of about 100 and then expand according to circumstances on the ground. "We're not talking large numbers of troops," U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said. "We're talking about some small numbers of people that we would draw, perhaps from our diplomatic presence there, or send in some other individuals from the State Department and/or other government agencies." Powell has obtained pledges from several European Union countries to participate in the peacekeeping force. This includes military personnel from Britain and Germany. Can't see why they'd want to waste good British and German troops in such a project. The PA has been wanting something like this for awhile, looking for something like UNIFIL in Lebanon. They're looking forward to blowing up some barracks.
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04/23/2002 ||
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The Iranian-backed Hizbullah has resumed the use of anti-aircraft missiles against Israel. Lebanese sources said Hizbullah fired SA-7 missiles for the first time since Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon in June 2000. Hizbullah fired the missiles toward Israeli fighter-jets that attacked targets in southern Lebanon on April 8. The sources said the Hizbullah use of SA-7s appear to mark a new stage in its military campaign against Israel. So far, Hizbullah had deployed anti-aircraft artillery against Israeli fighter-jets but had refrained from using heat-seeking SA-7 missiles. The sources said the missiles were being operated by Iranian military personnel in southern Lebanon. Israeli warplanes released red balloons to divert the missiles. No aircraft was struck. Hizbullah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah said the movement has numerous other weapons that could be used against Israel. SA-7 is pretty old technology. They were replaced in the Soviet inventory by the SA-14 in the early to mid-80s. They're shoulder-fired heat seekers. It looks like Hezbollah's trying to increase it's martyr count. The use of napalm, for instance, will cause the SA-7 to wander off-course.
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04/23/2002 ||
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Ariel Sharon may be planning a military offensive against the Gaza Strip, the heartland of anti-Israeli militancy. The Israeli Prime Minister told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee that "terror" in the Gaza Strip was "ongoing", remarks that will seen by many Israelis as an indication that tanks and troops are poised to strike. Gaza is said by sources to be "wired" for an attack, raising the possibility of a battle that could dwarf the nine-day conflict that led to the devastation of Jenin refugee camp. Ominously, a senior Israeli army officer reported to the same committee yesterday that there had recently been 250 terror attacks in the strip. Amid international concerns there may soon be another stage of Mr Sharon's war on terror, efforts continued to try to resolve the stand-off that resulted from the first phase. Toldja so. You heard read it here first.
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04/23/2002 ||
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Israel officially notified the United Nations overnight it had changed its mind about the U.N. mission and would not admit the team to Jenin unless it included military and counter-terrorism experts. In response, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the team might be expanded "as deemed necessary" but he expected the mission to be in the Middle East by Saturday. Had a feeling that might happen, especially when Google tossed up
'Particularly upset was Cornelio Sommaruga, then president of the ICRC. In a private meeting after her speech, and in the presence of several witnesses, he said to [ARC President Dr. Bernadine] Healy: "If we're going to have the Shield of David, why would we not have to accept the swastika?"'
I'm sure Israel can expect to get a fair hearing from him and that the deck's not stacked. We can also expect my hair to grow back and my waistline to shrink any minute now.
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04/23/2002 ||
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Israel took its first judicial step on Monday towards putting senior Fateh leader Marwan Barghouthi on trial for masterminding the killing of scores of Israelis in Palestinian suicide attacks. Israeli Attorney General Eliyakim Rubenstein set up a team of senior legal and security specialists to oversee the case of Barghouthi. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has vowed to try Barghouthi, a top official of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fateh faction, but Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat has said that would violate interim peace accords. Mohammad Rashid, a senior aide to Arafat, said: âIsrael knows full well that Marwan Barghouthi is a political leader and has no relation whatsoever to so-called terrorism. âHe had been directly engaged in the political process and the future of peace in the region.â He's done this using Tanzim. Calling Tanzim "political" is stretching the definition a bit, isn't it?
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04/23/2002 ||
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Six Egyptians, including a woman with explosives, were arrested last week trying to sneak into Israel to help the Palestinians fight Israeli occupation, security sources said on Monday. All six were arrested in the border region and admitted they were planning to cross over to fight with the Palestinians, Egyptian police said. It's significant that the Egyptians caught them. They're trying to stay out of the fray.
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04/23/2002 ||
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Philippine police on Tuesday filed charges against two Muslim rebels linked to weekend bomb blasts in the south as the United States deployed more troops in the country to help repel terror strikes. "Our investigation showed that they were trained in making bombs in Malaysia by Malaysian and other foreign trainers. There were six other Filipino Muslims with them during the training and we are now looking for them," Baluyot said by telephone. Baluyot said police were not ruling out possible links between the General Santos bombers and the Jemaah Islamiah. A man who said he was speaking for the local Muslim Abu Sayyaf guerrilla group told local radio on Monday the group was responsible for the bombings. Yesterday they said the guys were MILF. My guess is that MILF, the Saudis' pet terror organization, and Abu Sayyaf, which was originally a breakaway from MNLF, either share the same pool of warm bodies or are both arms of Jemaah Islamiah, which amounts to the same thing.
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04/23/2002 ||
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A general strike ordered by Maoist rebels shut down Nepal on Tuesday, highlighting a pervasive fear of the guerrilla group which is fighting to topple the monarchy. Even in the normally bustling capital Kathmandu, streets were empty of traffic and those daring to leave their homes had to walk. Businesses and schools were closed and shops shuttered at the start of the strike the rebels say should last five days. Police said there were two small bomb explosions in Kathmandu on Monday night, but there no signs of trouble early on Tuesday. Troops, carrying assault rifles and wearing camouflage, guarded the streets and occasionally checked passers-by. But despite the heavy security presence, Kathmandu residents said they feared retribution later if they defied the Maoists -- who operate mostly from the countryside but also run a shadowy network of sympathizers and activists in cities. What's the difference between these guys and gangsters, other than a liking for polysyllables?
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04/23/2002 ||
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Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams will announce on Tuesday whether he will attend a U.S. Congressional hearing into alleged links between his party's Irish Republican Army (IRA) ally and Colombian FARC guerrillas. Adams, who has kept the inquiry guessing about whether he will give evidence following the arrest in Colombia last year of three suspected IRA men charged with training FARC rebels, met senior party members on Monday night to debate the issue. A Sinn Fein spokesman told Reuters Adams would inform the House International Relations Committee in Washington of his intention before going public. Adams has said his "instinct" is to attend the hearings, due to begin on Wednesday, but that he was being pressed by his party not to go in case the inquiry prejudiced the trial of the three Irishmen being held in Colombia. That means they don't know just what kind of surprise incriminating evidence the committee might have. But he thought about it real hard, we're sure, and then decided, well, maybe next time...
Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams has turned down a request to give evidence to a US Congressional committee investigating links between the IRA and Colombian rebels. Adams told a news conference in Belfast on Tuesday he had offered to meet the committee the next time he was in Washington.
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04/23/2002 ||
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Saudi Arabia has failed to provide its intelligence agencies with sufficient assets and instruction to help the United States in its war against terrorism, a new report says. The report by the Washington-based Center for Strategy and International Studies said Saudi Arabia has succeeded in protecting the kingdom from internal threats. But Saudi intelligence agencies have failed to stop the funding of groups listed on the State Department list of terrorist organizations or links between Pakistani religious seminaries that produced Islamic insurgents and Saudi sponsors. "Saudi intelligence activity has been far weaker in dealing with the financial aspects of intelligence and internal security, and has done comparatively little to monitor the role of Saudi charities, religious organizations, and individuals in financing extremist groups -- other than those that posed a direct threat to the rule of the Saudi royal family," the report, authored by senior fellow Anthony Cordesman, said. Cordesman, a former senior Pentagon official, said Saudi intelligence agencies have been effective in monitoring opposition groups overseas and pressuring foreign governments to curb insurgency activities. The report said the kingdom has often been far more effective in using such non-violent means than more violent and aggressive governments like those of Iran and Iraq. First you have to assume that they want to combat terror. If they're maintaining a sham operation with one hand while actually controlling an international network it's supposed to be chasing with the other, then it makes sense to put somebody's brother or brother-in-law in charge, especially if he's old and his mind's starting to go.
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04/23/2002 ||
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#1
I think "sufficient assets and instruction" here means they didn't give the guy assigned to counterterrorism the key to the filing cabinet down the hall. Or let him borrow his officemate's rolodex.
One person was slightly injured Tuesday when a bomb exploded in a working class district in the east of Algiers. The home-made bomb exploded in a pedestrian subway in the Belcourt district. Last week, a blast outside a mosque in the Algerian capital sparked panic but claimed no victims, police said. Press reports have blamed the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) for the attacks.
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04/23/2002 ||
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Spanish police have arrested a man thought to be a key figure in financing Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network. Syrian-born Spaniard Muhammad Galeb Kalaje Zouaydi, also known as Abu Talha, was detained in the Spanish capital, Madrid. The arrest follows the detention in Barcelona last week of Algerian Ahmed Brahim, who is suspected of being al-Qaeda's chief accountant in Spain. The capture brings to 16 the total number of al-Qaeda suspects arrested in Spain since the 11 September attacks on the US. Abu Talha is believed to have channelled money to a number of countries including Germany, where the suicide bomber, Mohammed Atta, had been operating before 11 September. There should be a lot of these investigations going on behind the scenes, without much publicity.
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04/23/2002 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
