Posted by: Mike ||
10/06/2008 10:49 Comments ||
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#10
Hourglass figure? Looks more like a super-sized version of daylight savings time t'me.....
(of course she would come in handy in the desert, providing protection from the sun)
#1
Turn over bin Laden and Mullah Omar, provide us Al-Qaeda targeting information, and cease fire in Afghanistan -- then we'll sit down and talk. No, wait, that's pre-conditions. How very un-PC of me!
The big break in Iraq came when AQ's local allies turned on them. It is not impossible for the same thing to happen in Afghan/Pakistan. They are probably tired of seeing their young men tramp off on jihad, never to be seen again.
Fanatics and their western sycophants (ie Robert Fisk) like to recall Afghnistan's "graveyard of empires" apellation. The media culture's compulsive need to romanticise terrorists* notwithstanding, twenty-first century Afghanistan is really the graveyard of impressionable young Muslims.
#7
I think Pakistan is triangulating and trying to get the best of both worlds. Keep their Taliban buddies alive and viable, keep the US from attacking them. If Al Queda has to go, so be it.
#8
A second round of talks is scheduled to take place in two months, the Saudi source said.
I'm willing to wait until the Saudis have facilitated the second round before beginning any discussions. A terrible thing for negotiations, adding another party in the middle.
MUMBAI: In what is touted as the 'biggest manhunt' in India, the Mumbai police on Monday claimed to have nabbed key members of the terror module allegedly responsible for the bomb blasts in Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and planting bombs in the diamond city of Surat.
At a packed news conference, Mumbai police commissioner Hasan Gafoor and crime branch chief Rakesh Maria credited ordinary citizens - more specifically, Muslims - with providing key information that led to the arrest of 11 suspected Indian Mujahideen terrorists from Pune, Mangalore and Mumbai.
The top cops, who were flanked by a team of more than 30 crime branch officials involved in the operation, revealed that three of these suspects were directly involved in sending terror emails that had shocked the country for the past one month. "These are all highly qualified, computer-savvy people belonging to good and educated families. Their families were not aware of their activities," said Maria.
One of the suspects, Mohammed Mansoor Asgar Peerbhoy (31) alias Mannu, a resident of Pune, was employed with Yahoo as a principal software engineer. "He speaks good English and was responsible for finalising the draft emails before they were sent from three different locations in Mumbai. His annual pay package is Rs 19 lakh," said Maria. The two others are Mubin Shaikh (24), a senior technical advisor in an information technology company, and Asif Bashir Shaikh alias Mehmood (22), a mechanical engineer. The police also arrested Mohammed Akbar Ismail Chaudhary alias Yakub who drove them from Pune to Mumbai.
Anti-terrorism squad chief Hemant Karkare said interrogation of an accused nabbed by the Delhi police after the controversial encounter in Jamia Nagar had revealed that IM was planning a blast in Mumbai on October 26. Police sources also claimed that timely action had averted a terror attack in the city during Navratri on October 4.
The Mumbai police, which launched its own anti-terror drive soon after the July 26 Ahmedabad blasts, have arrested 20 persons in all. Gafoor said that these arrests do not mean that the entire IM module has been wiped out. Earlier, on September 23, the crime branch had arrested five members of an IM module - Sadiq Shaikh, Afzal Usmani, Arif Shaikh, Zakir Shaikh and Ansar Shaih.
Maria claimed that interrogation of these accused led to further arrests in Mangalore and Pune. In a joint operation with the Mangalore police, the crime branch last week arrested four persons. One of the main operatives, Riyaz Bhatkal alias Roshan Jamal is still at large. So is his brother Iqbal.
Maria said that they have recovered five laptops, three CPU units, three pen drives, sleep-inducing pills, anaesthetic injections, two bullet-proof jackets, country-made revolvers, a radio and WiFi frequency signal detectors, wireless routers, jihadi literature and provocative CDs during the anti-terror operation.
According to Maria, the IM module which has been active since 2005, has been motivated by jihadi literature and CDs containing inflammatory material on incidents that happened in other parts of the world besides attacks on the minority community in India. "Most of them have undergone training in Pakistan," he added.
Of the arrested, Maria claimed that Ismail Chaudhary drove the vehicle containing explosives from Mangalore to Surat. "Most of the explosives used in the recent blasts have come from Mangalore and another place in south India," he said. Chaudhary identified himself as Yakoob and rented a house, belonging to one Qayamuddin Kapadia in Surat where the bombs used in Ahmedabad blasts and the unexploded ones in Surat were assembled.
The top cops claimed that Chaudhary had also planted bombs in Dilkush Nagar in Hyderabad which did not explode. Hyderabad was rocked by a series of blasts on August 25, 2007. Bhatkal himself planted bombs at Gokul Chaat Bhandar at Hyderabad. "The conspiracy to carry out blasts in Hyderabad was hatched during a meeting in Mumbai, which was attended by IM operative Sadiq Sheikh, Riyaz Bhatkal and Ansar Ahmed," he said.
Another accused, Anique Sayed, placed the bomb in Lumbini Park in Hyderabad. Abubakar transported explosives from Mangalore to Hyderabad. Maria said two of the bombs did not explode in Hyderabad as the digital timers were not functional. Maria claimed that except Bhatkal and Afzal Usmani, the first arrest that led to the busting of the terror module, none of the arrested accused have a criminal background.
On Tauqeer alias Subhan Qureshi, who is part of the terror module, Maria said he paid two visits to Ahmedabad in April 2007 to indoctrinate the other accused. "We are hunting for him," Maria said.
Posted by: john frum ||
10/06/2008 16:05 ||
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#1
His annual pay package is Rs 19 lakh
That's Rs 1,900,000 or $39,660/year. In India. I suspect another poor, oppressed individual of indeterminate religious affiliation.
Posted by: ed ||
10/06/2008 17:16 Comments ||
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#2
Obvously another sad case of the downtrodden masses rising out of anger and hopelessness to strike back at their oppressors. Grapes of Wrath, all over again. No? Pity. It would have made a good movie.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
10/06/2008 18:29 Comments ||
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#3
Shit, it's been years since I earned that much here in the USA... and that's with a University degree + web design/programming background. :-(
Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves are so low that the country can only afford one month of imports and faces possible bankruptcy.
Officially, the central bank holds $8.14 billion (£4.65 billion) of foreign currency, but if forward liabilities are included, the real reserves may be only $3 billion - enough to buy about 30 days of imports like oil and food. Nine months ago, Pakistan had $16 bn in the coffers.
The government is engulfed by crises left behind by Pervez Musharraf, the military ruler who resigned the presidency in August. High oil prices have combined with endemic corruption and mismanagement to inflict huge damage on the economy.
Given the country's standing as a frontline state in the US-led "war on terrorism", the economic crisis has profound consequences. Pakistan already faces worsening security as the army clashes with militants in the lawless Tribal Areas on the north-west frontier with Afghanistan.
The economic crisis has already placed the future of the new government in doubt after the transition to a civilian rule. President Asif Ali Zardari has faced numerous but unproven allegations of corruption dating from the two governments led by his wife, Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated last December.
The Wall Street Journal said that Pakistan's economic travails were "at least in part, a crisis of confidence in him".
While Mr Musharraf's prime minister, Shaukat Aziz, frequently likened Pakistan to a "Tiger economy", the former government left an economy on the brink of ruin without any durable base.
The Pakistan rupee has lost more than 21 per cent of its value so far this year and inflation now runs at 25 per cent. The rise in world prices has driven up Pakistan's food and oil bill by a third since 2007. Efforts to defer payment for 100,000 barrels of oil supplied every day by Saudi Arabia have not yet yielded results, while the government has also failed to raise loans on favourable terms from "friendly countries".
Mr Zardari told the Wall Street Journal that Pakistan needed a bail out worth $100 billion from the international community. "If I can't pay my own oil bill, how am I going to increase my police?" he asked. "The oil companies are asking me to pay $135 [per barrel] of oil and at the same time they want me to keep the world peaceful and Pakistan peaceful."
The ratings agency Standard and Poor's has given Pakistan's sovereign debt a grade of CCC +, which stands only a few notches above the default level. The agency gave warning that Pakistan may be unable to cover about $3 billion in upcoming debt payments.
Mr Zardari is expected to ask the international community for a rescue package at a meeting in Abu Dhabi next month. This gathering will determine whether the West is willing to bail out Pakistan.
Posted by: john frum ||
10/06/2008 15:26 ||
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#1
"This gathering will determine whether the West is willing to bail out Pakistan."
NO.
Ask your friends the Arabs.
Or better yet, ask Allen.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/06/2008 15:40 Comments ||
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#2
Do they mean moral bankruptcy or financial? The article only talks about the money stuff.
A suicide bomber killed at least 12 people and wounded a leading Pakistani opposition politician and member of the minority Shi'ite Muslim community on Monday, police said.
The attack targeted the home of Rashid Akbar Khan Nawani, a member of parliament for former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's party, in the town of Bhakkar, 260 km (160 miles) southwest of Islamabad.
"The bomber blew himself up the courtyard when Mr. Nawani was sitting with his supporters there," Khadim Hussain, a police officer, told Reuters. Shaukat Javed, police chief of Punjab, said 12 people were killed.
Nawani has spoken out in parliament several times recently against growing sectarian violence between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims.
Deep in the central province of Punjab, Bhakkar is in an area where sectarian tensions have run high. "It could a sectarian related attack as he belongs to the Shi'ite community," Khan Baig, a senior police officer in the region said.
Several Sunni militant groups, like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, that regard Shi'ites as their enemy, also share a similar world view to al Qaeda and have forged links with Osama bin Laden's network.
Posted by: ed ||
10/06/2008 09:12 ||
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A tribal jirga in Orakzai Agency has decided that 'outsiders' will not be allowed to enter the area, and anyone found providing shelter to 'outsiders' will be shot dead and his house set on fire, Express News reported on Sunday.
According to the channel, the Ali Khel jirga has also banned the 'brandishing of arms'. It also instructed men to stop hiding their faces behind large cloths. The jirga also constituted a committee to destroy the Taliban training camp in the area, the channel said, adding that the Ali Khel and Feroze Khel tribes had formed a tribal lashkar to combat Taliban.
Taliban had started leaving the area. The local Taliban said they were leaving the area so that peace could be maintained and it should not be taken as their weakness, the channel added.
It said 14 Taliban, including local commander Abdusalam Ali Khel, had been released from Dabori area of Orakzai. Taliban had vacated a high school building and the Tali Fort in Ali Khel, while also clearing the road to Chapri Feroze Khel.
Meanwhile, thousands of tribal elders and ulema belonging to the Mandal, Charmang and Mamond tribes in Bajaur Agency announced their full support to the government in restoring peace in the area. The tribes made the announcement during grand jirgas held in their respective areas on Sunday. The jirgas also decided to form local lashkars to combat Taliban.
Meanwhile, only 15, 000 of an estimated 80,000 Afghans had left Bajaur despite a three-day ultimatum expiring Sunday, AP reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/06/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
So how many houses are they going to burn? Will they need more marshmellows? War is hell without a good supply of marshmellows.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
10/06/2008 8:23 Comments ||
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#2
Wasn't there a kind of Orc in Lord of the Rings called the Fighting Orakzai?
At least five Taliban were killed when security forces targeted suspected Taliban hideouts in Bajaur Agency on Sunday with heavy artillery and helicopter gunships. Eight Taliban were injured in the operation in Tang Khata, Rashakai, Khazana, Kausar and Shinkot. APP quoted a Frontier Corps press release as saying that six Taliban wearing the FC uniform were killed in Khazana.
Meanwhile, seven people were injured when a remote controlled bomb exploded at the hujra (guesthouse) of a tribal elder in Pusht in Salarzai tehsil. The bomb was placed in a plastic bag at the main entrance leading to the hujra of former parliamentarian Shahabuddin Khan. Separately, five people were killed and three injured after clashes between tribal rivals in North Waziristan.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/06/2008 00:00 ||
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Two important Taliban commanders were killed in an exchange of fire with the security forces in Matta tehsil in the restive Swat district on Sunday. A spokesman of the Swat Media Centre told APP that Taliban commanders Ayub and Amir Zaib were killed when they clashed with the security forces during a search operation in Sambat area of Matta. Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) confirmed that a Taliban hideout had also been destroyed in the operation.
Earlier, a remote controlled roadside bomb hit a military convoy in Sambat, injuring two soldiers and a civilian. Official sources told Daily Times that soon after the blast, the troops resorted to firing that killed a man and a woman.
Meanwhile, people are facing acute problems due to the continuous disruption of electricity in different areas of Swat. Locals said WAPDA officials were providing electricity to 13 feeders for only two hours a day. There is also a severe shortage of clean drinking water in the district due to the disrupted electricity.
This article starring:
Matta tehsil
AMIR ZAIB
TTP
Posted by: Fred ||
10/06/2008 00:00 ||
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Police have arrested six suspects for their alleged involvement in the kidnapping of a Polish engineer and for killing his driver and guards, police sources said on Sunday. The suspects are Khalid Ejaz, Rashid Hussain, Tasawar Hussain and Ikram Saeed, all residents of Pind Sultani, and Habibur Rehman and Akhtar Hussain who hail from Pind Sirhal. The Polish engineer was abducted and his driver and guards killed on September 28.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/06/2008 00:00 ||
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Turkey staged retaliatory airstrikes against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq on Sunday as thousands of Turks attended rain-lashed funerals for 15 soldiers killed by the rebels in a cross-border attack from Iraq.
Public anger mounted in Turkey at the inability of civilian leaders to stop attacks by the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK. The group has waged a 24-year guerrilla war for greater autonomy for Turkey's minority Kurds from bases in southeastern Turkey and northern Iraq.
Mourners booed President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan at funerals Sunday for two of the soldiers killed near the border with Iraq on Friday.
Demonstrators elsewhere waved the country's flag in front of parliament and beat and burned effigies of the PKK leader, Abdullah Ocalan.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/06/2008 00:00 ||
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A man detonated a suicide vest inside a home in northern Iraq as U.S. forces were trading gunfire with its occupants, according to the American military. Eleven Iraqis were killed in the operation early Sunday.
No U.S. casualties were reported in the incident in Mosul, where war continues to rage despite a sharp drop in violence in much of the rest of the country.
At least five other Iraqis were killed Sunday in the city, which is about 240 miles north of Baghdad. Four were slain when gunmen opened fire during a funeral in the Zanjili area of Mosul, and an Iraqi police officer was shot by a sniper elsewhere in the city, according to local police and Interior Ministry officials.
The American raid occurred early Sunday morning as U.S. troops sought to capture a wanted man, according to an Iraqi army source and a statement from U.S. forces. People in the residence began shooting and U.S. troops returned fire, the military said. A man in the house then detonated a suicide vest, it said.
Eleven people died during the operation -- five suspected insurgents, three women and three children aged 2 to 4, according to the military.
It was not clear how many died in the firefight and how many perished in the explosion, said a U.S. military spokesman, Tech. Sgt. Chris Stagner.
After securing the house, troops searched it and discovered explosives and small arms, the statement said. Two other children, one of them injured, were found nearby, it said.
"This is just another tragic example of how al-Qaeda in Iraq hides behind innocent Iraqis," said another military spokesman, Rear Adm. Patrick Driscoll, referring to the largely homegrown Sunni insurgent group active here.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/06/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
prolly a good sign they picked the right house
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/06/2008 4:01 Comments ||
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#2
al-Qaeda's thirst for dead children... slacken...ahhhhh
A Sri Lankan suicide bomber killed 26 people at an ancient tourist town on Monday, including a popular retired army general who was the main opposition party's provincial leader. The blast, immediately blamed by the government on the rebel Tamil Tigers, also injured at least 80 people, the military said.
The bomber struck during the opening of a new office for the opposition United National Party (UNP) in the north central town of Anuradhapura, 200 km (124 miles) north of the capital Colombo, attended by retired Major-General Janaka Perera.
"A suicide bomber went inside and exploded. My senior officer there said 22 people were killed, and among the dead were Janaka Perera and his wife," Deputy Inspector General K.P.P. Pathirana told Reuters. Hospital officials later raised the death toll to 26.
Last month Perera unsuccessfully ran to be North Central Province's chief minister, a powerful position that was seen as a stepping stone to help him challenge for his party's leadership. ...
Posted by: ed ||
10/06/2008 08:59 ||
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Government forces neared the Tamil Tiger rebels' main town in new fighting that left 29 guerrillas and five soldiers dead, the military said on Sunday.
The heaviest fighting was very near the rebels' administrative capital of Kilinochchi, where 20 guerrillas and four soldiers died on Saturday, military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said. The army says its soldiers are now only just over two kilometres from the outer limits of the town.
Kilinochchi was the meeting place between the rebels and various visiting diplomats during a Norwegian-brokered peace process that was officially called off early this year. Nanayakkara said four other rebels and a soldier were killed in clashes in the Vavuniya and Welioya regions.
Soldiers overran five rebel bunkers in the Mullaitivu district on Saturday and killed five rebels, the military said. The clashes left nine bunkers in government hands, it said in a statement. Rebel officials could not be contacted for comment because most communication lines to guerrilla-dominated areas have been severed. Most independent observers and reporters are barred from the war zone, making it difficult to verify the military's claims.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/06/2008 00:00 ||
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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.
A tribal jirga in Orakzai Agency has decided that 'outsiders' will not be allowed to enter the area, and anyone found providing shelter to 'outsiders' will be shot dead and his house set on fire, Express News reported on Sunday.
At least five Taliban were killed when security forces targeted suspected Taliban hideouts in Bajaur Agency on Sunday with heavy artillery and helicopter gunships. Eight Taliban were injured in the operation in Tang Khata, Rashakai, Khazana, Kausar and Shinkot. APP quoted a Frontier Corps press release as saying that six Taliban wearing the FC uniform were killed in Khazana. 
Two important Taliban commanders were killed in an exchange of fire with the security forces in 
Police have arrested six suspects for their alleged involvement in the kidnapping of a Polish engineer and for killing his driver and guards, police sources said on Sunday. The suspects are Khalid Ejaz, Rashid Hussain, Tasawar Hussain and Ikram Saeed, all residents of Pind Sultani, and Habibur Rehman and Akhtar Hussain who hail from Pind Sirhal. The Polish engineer was abducted and his driver and guards killed on September 28.
Turkey staged retaliatory airstrikes against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq on Sunday as thousands of Turks attended rain-lashed funerals for 15 soldiers killed by the rebels in a cross-border attack from Iraq. 
A man detonated a suicide vest inside a home in northern Iraq as U.S. forces were trading gunfire with its occupants, according to the American military. Eleven Iraqis were killed in the operation early Sunday. 
