Hi there, !
Today Thu 05/06/2010 Wed 05/05/2010 Tue 05/04/2010 Mon 05/03/2010 Sun 05/02/2010 Sat 05/01/2010 Fri 04/30/2010 Archives
Rantburg
531702 articles and 1855993 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 56 articles and 228 comments as of 14:46.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Somali rebels seize pirate haven of Haradhere
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
1 00:00 tu3031 [] 
2 00:00 JosephMendiola [] 
12 00:00 Besoeker [] 
0 [] 
4 00:00 Alaska Paul [] 
9 00:00 JosephMendiola [] 
0 [] 
2 00:00 Besoeker [] 
0 [] 
40 00:00 trailing wife [] 
4 00:00 lex [1] 
0 [1] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
1 00:00 Glenmore [] 
1 00:00 746 [] 
1 00:00 746 [] 
0 [] 
0 [1] 
0 [1] 
1 00:00 Glenmore [] 
0 [] 
1 00:00 JosephMendiola [] 
12 00:00 JohnQC [] 
Page 2: WoT Background
1 00:00 Procopius2k []
11 00:00 gorb [1]
0 []
2 00:00 JohnQC []
10 00:00 SR-71 []
1 00:00 Spot []
0 []
0 []
1 00:00 Swanimote []
3 00:00 JosephMendiola [1]
1 00:00 chris []
4 00:00 mojo []
0 []
4 00:00 chris []
0 []
5 00:00 SteveS []
2 00:00 rjschwarz []
2 00:00 JosephMendiola []
Page 3: Non-WoT
5 00:00 Barbara Skolaut []
15 00:00 JosephMendiola []
4 00:00 phil_b []
0 []
12 00:00 Dash Riprocker [1]
0 []
17 00:00 Bright Pebbles []
4 00:00 Sgt. Mom []
Page 4: Opinion
1 00:00 JosephMendiola []
1 00:00 JohnQC []
8 00:00 tipper []
Page 6: Politix
12 00:00 746 []
9 00:00 Bright Pebbles []
2 00:00 Critter Control []
Africa Horn
Somali rebels seize pirate haven of Haradhere
Somali insurgents have taken control of one of the main pirate havens in the south of the country. Residents said several hundred rebels of the group Hizbul Islam had taken over the coastal town of Haradhere and that the pirates had fled.
It seems to me this has happened there before...
Hizbul Islam wants to establish Sharia law and order and grab their share of put an end to the pirate trade in the town, the leader of the insurgents told the BBC.

"Around 200 heavily armed militants... moved into the town early this morning and took up strategic positions, such as the police station and some former government premises," Haradhere resident Aden Jim'ale said.

"We are in Haradhere now, we came here after we received a request from the local people to help them provide their security," Hizbul Islam chief of operations Mohamed Abdi Aros told the BBC.
Really? Did they actually ask aloud, or did you read their unspoken thoughts and deepest wishes?
Hundreds of pirates could be seen leaving Haradhere in luxury cars hours before the insurgents moved in, local resident Suleyman Gadid told the BBC.

One report citing an unnamed pirate said that a Hizbul Islam delegation had visited the town several days ago and demanded a share of the piracy trade. There is no confirmation.

Hizbul Islam and the Islamist group al-Shabab have a common agenda in fighting the UN-backed interim government and have previously shared control of the southern Somali port of Kismayo. But in 2009, Hizbul Islam was ousted from the lucrative harbour-town by al-Shabab.

Since losing Kismayo, they have been keen to gain a foothold in Haradhere before al-Shabab moves in, says the BBC's Mohammed Olad Hassan in Mogadishu.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/03/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  the plot thickens........
Posted by: 746 || 05/03/2010 11:45 Comments || Top||


French Frigate La Fayette Interdicts Pirate Action Group
EU NAVFOR interdiction efforts paid off with another interdiction of a pirate vessel group Saturday, according to a EU NAVFOR press release. This was the second pirate interdiction in a single day, closely following the interdiction by the French vessel Tonnerre.

The French frigate La Fayette intercepted a pirate action group in the Indian ocean between Mogadishu and the Seychelles. The group consisting of a whaler and a skiff was spotted by helo patrol, according to the news release. The pirates tried to escape and was observed pitching gear overboard. After the helo fired warning shots, the group stopped.

The crew of the La Fayette performed an unopposed boarding of the whaler and found evidence of intended piracy. The whaler was sunk at the scene and the skiff was taken aboard the La Fayette to be held as evidence. Nine members of the group were also detained.

According to the news release maritime aerial patrol based out of the Seychelles also assisted in spotting pirate groups Saturday. The primary maritime patrol aircraft is the P3 Orion. The aircraft and crews are contributed by the German, Portuguese and Spanish military.
Posted by: badanov || 05/03/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ION TOPIX > [SecDef] GATES SAYS BIG CHANGES IN STORE FOR NAVY. Gates indics reassessment of USN-USMC basic Missions as Armed/Uniformed Services???

E.G. DOES THE USN NEED SUPER-COSTLY, SUPER-AEGIS WARSHIPS TO HANDLE TECH-PRIMITIVE SOMALI PIRATES? WILL THE MARINES CONDUCT AMPHIBIOUS OPER(S) EVER AGAIN?
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/03/2010 23:24 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
9 BDR mutineers of 12 Rifles Btn in Rangamati get prison
A special court on Sunday convicted nine BDR mutineers of Rajnagar 12 Riffles Battalion in Rangadu upazila and sentenced them to various prison terms in a BDR mutiny case.

Special Court-4, headed by outgoing BDR chief Major General Mainul Islam, sat at 2:30pm and handed the verdict before ending its proceedings at 2:45pm in the district BDR headquarters.

The convicted mutineers were identified as Moha-mmad Shamsul Haque, Havildar M Shibrir Ahmed, Havildar M Sohrab Hossain, Signal Man Mohammad Abdur Rahman, Sepoy Abul Kalam Azad, Sepoy Mohammad Sakhawat Hossain, Sepoy Mohammad Russel Kabir, Sepoy Mohammad Zahir Uddin and Sepoy Mohammad Sarwar Kamal.

Of them, only Shamsul Haque was given the highest seven years rigorous imprisonment while three others were given six years, one sentenced to five years, another sentenced to three years and three others given two years RI. The court also fined all the convicts Tk 100 each and ordered that the convicts serve their imprisonment in the local jail.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/03/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Caribbean-Latin America
15 More Die in Juarez and Camargo, Tamaulipas
Mexican violence news roundup
Nine people died in Cuidad Juarez Saturday and Sunday, victims of ongoing violence attributed to the illegal drug trade, according to Mexican press reports.
  • In Camargo, Chihuahua, five patrons of the bar The Goodbye near the intersection of Felipe Ãngeles y Avenida Juärez, which is near the city center, were killed and a sixth was wounded.

    The sixth victim was reported to be in a coma.

    The shootings occurred at about 2310 Saturday night. Mexican press reports say the victims were machine-gunned.

    The murders caused several social events to be cancelled including a wedding.


  • Three unidentified young people were found at noon Sunday shot dead at the soccer fields near the intersection of Cuaco and Tabaco.

    The corpses were said to be riddled with bullets.


  • A corpse, said by witnesses to be female, was found inside a burned out vehicle near Pine Street.

    Police could not identify the victim nor confirm the gender.

A Sonoran newspaper reports that a confrontation in Camargo, Tamaulipas, between armed civilians and elements of the Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional (SEDENA) has left six dead. No other details were available. The official notice posted by the official website of the government of Tamaulipas gave no other information.

The press report noted a number of past problems including arson of residences and cars.

Two other violent events were reported by the state government of Tamaulipas.

  • In Reynosa on Sunday, three men and two women were injured by an unidentified explosive device, probably a hand grenade. Reynosa has has had two other events in the last week involving fragmentary hand grenades, including an apparent attack.


  • In Altamira on Saturday an unidentified victim was found shot to death inside a vehicle, according to the state of Tamaulipas website.


  • No other information was available.
Posted by: badanov || 05/03/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  A WaPo review of recent events in Mexico
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 05/03/2010 2:03 Comments || Top||

#2  Can someone please remind us why the war on drugs - a big government obsession intended to prevent stupid people from abusing themselves - is a good thing? Is Mexico paying the price to maintain a drugs-free USA? Are the people who would take drugs in the US unable to get hold of them?

Prohibition doesn't work. It's a classic - the classic - example of paternalist policy failing catastrophically in the face of reality.

From Anguper's link:

"In Ciudad Juarez, which is across the border from El Paso and is considered the capital of drug violence, gunmen ambushed two police vehicles at a busy intersection last week, killing seven officers and a 17-year-old passerby."

Isn't it time to stop decent people dying in futile attempts to save deadbeats from themselves?
Posted by: Bulldog || 05/03/2010 3:56 Comments || Top||

#3  Can someone please remind us why the war on drugs

There is "no war on drugs." Illicit drugs and prostitution are at all levels, staples of the urban economy.

How many times have you heard our president speak openly about a drug problem? Oh, seldom, or never.... well, I guess you may have put your finger on the new reality.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/03/2010 5:03 Comments || Top||

#4  It would certainly be interesting to know how many politicians on both sides of the border get how much money from their drug lords.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 05/03/2010 7:14 Comments || Top||

#5  Can someone please remind us why the war on drugs - a big government obsession intended to prevent stupid people from abusing themselves - is a good thing?

Let us rephrase the concept. With our prisons bulging and 'catch and release' practiced by liberal judges to maintain humane confinement conditions, why does society continue to enforce standards against murder, robbery, rape etc? Once the facilities are overloaded, just stop the whole process. Obviously, you can't stop the destructive behaviors. How about the principle that a society has both the power and right to set such standards, particularly if you subscribe to the concept that government derives its power from the concept of the governed. You can't stop it, but you can mitigate it. Keep it down to a background noise.

As far as 'stupid people from abusing themselves', they don't just abuse themselves. These are people who could not hold a job to sustain their habits. Daily confrontations of robbery, assault, and resultant death are rewards to the good citizenry at the hands of far too many addicts. Not just for the immediate fix, but years later in the delirium of so many of the 'homeless' that make local news when they take out another father or mother or someone else of promise.

It's gone on too long now. The money and power accumulated by the players is not going to go away with a simple declaration of 'legality'. Just as congresscritters whore for any other business to make sure that those that have get to keep, these interests will just add further fuel on to the fire to maintain their market just as they did in Mexico. If you think politically tolerated union thuggery is unpleasant, you are in for real show when the drug boys move in to protect their part of action in a legalized environment.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 05/03/2010 9:03 Comments || Top||

#6  Can someone please remind us why the war on drugs - a big government obsession intended to prevent stupid people from abusing themselves - is a good thing?

Self abuse is not the problem. If the damage were limited there, I say go ahead, knock yourself out and commit suicide one hit at a time. It's the mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, cousins, friends, coworkers, vulnerable strangers that we want to protect. Legalize drugs (esp cocaine and meth) and we will see skyrocketing murder and mayhem of those who are closest to the addict.

The first line of defense against drug addiction is to control the borders. Something neither political party wants to touch. First reduce the supply and addict population, then reducing demand becomes a much easier job. While I am not in favor of jail for possession, I do favor removing them from their environment for detox, education and manual labor. Let them rebuild the parks, cut passes through the Rockies, dig the CA-TX sea level canal.
Posted by: ed || 05/03/2010 9:27 Comments || Top||

#7  Mexican violence news roundup

Looks like this is gonna be a recurring feature now. Sad.

And, yes, Bulldog. I'll give it a try as ed and P2K seem to have done as well. The bad guys are not going to limit themselves to selling cocaine, heroin, meth, ecstasy and whatever other substance they can find to just adults. They're gonna sell it to school children who lack the maturity and wisdom to resist the temptation. These children will be far more susceptible to peer pressure and addiction than adults. If you think our society is in decline now just wait until half the population is snorting oxycontin.

But you're right about one thing: The so called War on Drugs in this country is a joke. Our government has never been serious about it. Maybe they're afraid that if they secure the border they'll also stem the flow of illegal aliens and we all know we can't have that, can we? Or maybe there are just too many people of influence in this country who are making too much money peddling drugs to children. If I had my way anybody who tried to step across that border without going through a proper port of entry would be shot and anybody who wants to protest should have their papers checked. I'm sick and tired of these people who try to justify the Mexican invasion of the United States. They want our country. They want to turn it into the same kind of Third World hell hole that Mexico is. I think we should at least put up a fight.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 05/03/2010 10:15 Comments || Top||

#8  Or maybe there are just too many people of influence in this country who are making too much money peddling drugs to children.

I suspect it's that there are too many influential people who don't want their personal recreational supply disrupted.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/03/2010 12:03 Comments || Top||

#9  Controlling the borders is imperative. We need politicians with the political will to do something about the borders. Both parties have been trying to capture the Hispanic vote and have neglected the problem. The result is that most of our major cities have drug gangs connected to the Mexican cartels peddling their poisons to anyone who will buy it.

Another observation, there is a considerable amount of marijuana grown in the U.S. It was and probably still is the number one money crop in Kentucky and Tennessee. Some of it is cartel related some of it good ole boy farming. Not too long ago I came across an article in our local paper where the police found a marijuana growing camp up near Big South Fork. The growers took off but left behind various things like empty food cans and magazines all in Spanish. There is a lot of that going on. Mexicans are stuck out in National Parks and Forests and other wilderness areas and told to grow marijuana.

Meth comes in from Mexico but is also being made in the back of cars traveling down the road--mobile labs. Some of the problem is domestic some cartel-related.
Posted by: JohnQC || 05/03/2010 13:39 Comments || Top||

#10  As far as 'stupid people from abusing themselves', they don't just abuse themselves. These are people who could not hold a job to sustain their habits. Daily confrontations of robbery, assault, and resultant death are rewards to the good citizenry at the hands of far too many addicts. Not just for the immediate fix, but years later in the delirium of so many of the 'homeless' that make local news when they take out another father or mother or someone else of promise.

Precisely. Alcoholics can hold down jobs and pay their bills (including rent, utilities, food, etc). Drug addicts cannot, and thus would resort to crime even if the drugs were free.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 05/03/2010 16:02 Comments || Top||

#11  Alcoholics can hold down jobs and pay their bills

You've got to be kidding me! I've been involved in the termination of two high level people who were sent to farms to dry out, came back sober and within two years had resumed destructive behavior that rendered them unfit for continued employment.

Our drug saturated prisons prove beyond doubt that the problem cannot be solved by an exclusive focus on supply.

And one nation did substantially reduce its drug use. Red China. And they did it by draconian penalties for users. Including the death penalty.

If you aren't ready to reduce demand through draconian measures, you aren't serious about a war on drugs, so legalize them, take out the profits and accept the cost of countless shattered lives.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 05/03/2010 16:44 Comments || Top||

#12  Bali, Singapore, Malaysia also come to mind as harsh. Capital punishment for drugs.
Posted by: JohnQC || 05/03/2010 17:31 Comments || Top||


Europe
German Islamist said killed in Pakistan
German Islamist terrorist Eric Breininger has reportedly been killed in a battle against Pakistani soldiers in the Waziristan region, a media report said on Monday.

According to news magazine Der Spiegel, the Uzbekistan-based terrorist group the Islamic Jihad Union has issued a statement announcing that Breininger and the group's webmaster were killed on April 30. German intelligence sources believe the webmaster may be a Lower Saxony-born man called Ahmet M. who was deported to Turkey seven years ago.

Breininger, a Saarland native and member of IJU, had repeatedly appeared on terrorist videos calling for holy war against Germany. He is also suspected of having ties with the Sauerland cell terrorists sentenced in March for poltting to attack US diplomats, soldiers and civilians.

The statement sent to the magazine said the two were killed near the city of Mir Ali, but Ahmet M. was allegedly able to kill four soldiers with a grenade “despite his severe injuries' before he died.

If the deaths are confirmed, Breininger, who changed his name to Abdulgaffar Almani, would be the fourth German Islamist to be killed in the region.
Posted by: ryuge || 05/03/2010 07:26 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  And a good time was had by all.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 05/03/2010 17:06 Comments || Top||

#2  Der Spiegel mit lekker video.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/03/2010 17:22 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Officials Reportedly See Foreign Plot Behind Times Square Car Bomb
Will update if more info becomes available
The car bomb planted in Times Square appears to be the work of an international terrorist plot, The Washington Post reported Monday, citing Obama administration officials.

The report comes after the White House for the first time clearly declared the incident a terrorist act.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the SUV loaded with explosives was "intended to terrorize."
Gibbs reminds me of Jimmy Olson in the first Superman movie.
Posted by: Sherry || 05/03/2010 15:18 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  One could define jihad as an international -- or transnational, anyway -- terrorist plot. But I would be quite impressed if the Times Square bomb could be definitively tied to a particular organization and persons so quickly.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/03/2010 15:31 Comments || Top||

#2  Have they looked into the possibility of foreign tea-bag cults being involved in this? That would help to explain the white guy.

Posted by: Goober Goobelopolous || 05/03/2010 15:59 Comments || Top||

#3  There are foreign international "terrorists." Who would have known?
Posted by: JohnQC || 05/03/2010 16:24 Comments || Top||

#4  #2. All the "Tea Baggers" are on the left. They are the ones obsessed with such sexual imagery. I hear the term being used by Maher, Matthews, Maddow, Olbermann.
Posted by: JohnQC || 05/03/2010 16:30 Comments || Top||

#5  It's a 40 year old white guy. Probably obese, with a Sarah Palin tattoo on his right shoulder and the stars and bars on the left.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 05/03/2010 16:47 Comments || Top||

#6  SJS - (Sudden Jihadi Syndrome) from a resident Muslim/convert, in response to the South Park "insult" to MO, the car was parked in the loading zone directly in front of the Viacom building. All the speculation is to try and figure out how to describe this from the White House. If it looks bad, NYPD gets the lead, if its a white guy, Oblahblah is front and center.
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 05/03/2010 17:31 Comments || Top||

#7  These attackes appear to oftentiimes come in groups of two and three. I hope someone is attempting to determine the next potential target.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/03/2010 17:34 Comments || Top||

#8  Attempts were made to remove the VIN on the Nissan. The Nissan has the VIN in several locations on the vehicle. Also, it is somewhat like trying to remove the serial number from a firearm. Often, it can be retrieved even though thought to be removed.
Posted by: JohnQC || 05/03/2010 18:10 Comments || Top||

#9  See FREEREPUBLIC > [Zombie Hakeemullah Mehsud]TTP DECLARATIONS: TARGETING AMERICAN CITIES [+ US STATES, etc.].
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/03/2010 18:55 Comments || Top||

#10  as of this evening, perps may be ethnic pakistanis
Posted by: lord garth || 05/03/2010 20:47 Comments || Top||

#11  Suspect is naturalized citizen, just returned from Pakistan. Vehicle purchased with cash from Craig's list.
Posted by: Lumpy Elmoluck5091 || 05/03/2010 21:48 Comments || Top||

#12  #11 Suspect is naturalized citizen, just returned from Pakistan. Vehicle purchased with cash from Craig's list. Posted by Lumpy Elmoluck5091

And all of this withing the last 24 hours? That really is some absolutely amazing... I say again, amazing police and phone and foreign travel intel work... one more time... absolutely amazing.

Could it be that the perp has been (like MAJ Hasan) under surveillance for quite a while now and the administration wants to get ahead of the type of situation and embarrassment they recently had at Fort Hood? Just saying.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/03/2010 22:12 Comments || Top||


Bomb "revenge" on South Park
DRAMATIC new footage emerged today of the Times Square car bomb as it spewed out smoke and flames in one of the busiest streets in the world.

A college student filmed firefighters yelling "Back up!" to bystanders as colleagues gingerly approached the Nissan SUV packed with petrol and fireworks.

You can see the footage - revealed by the New York Post - by clicking [on the link and then in the article].

The nearby offices of Viacom - the firm behind TV cartoon South Park - are feared to have been the main target after the show enraged Muslims by portraying the prophet Mohammed in a bear suit.
Posted by: tipper || 05/03/2010 11:53 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Times Square bomb round-up
From FoxNews:
MYFOXNY.COM - Investigators tell me the Times Square bomb does not match any other bomb they have come across. There is a database that describes each one. Professional terrorists tend to use the same "bomb signature" over and over again. The Times Square device does not match any bomb or a signature in the database.
From the Wall Street Journal (check out their interactive graphic, a timeline of terror attacks and attempts on New York City since 9/11):
"It appeared that [the bomb] was in the process of detonating and malfunctioned," said police spokesman Paul Browne.

The Middle East Media Research Institute first reported the discovery of an online video claiming responsibility for the attempted car bombing in Times Square. The video shows a montage while an unseen person speaks in Urdu. The speaker is allegedly Qari Hussain Mehsud, a spokesman for the Pakistan Taliban, formally known as the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan. The video does not specifically refer to the Times Square incident, describing it only as "this attack."

Marc Sageman, a terrorism expert and former Central Intelligence Agency officer in Pakistan, said the Pakistan Taliban has a history of claiming responsibility for events they had nothing to do with. He said the group falsely claimed credit for a series of blackouts that hit the northeast several years ago and for a mass shooting in upstate New York last year.

Over the past year, on at least eight different occasions, people linked to radical Islamic thought attempted to carry out or carried out attacks on targets inside the U.S. That includes the failed Christmas Day bombing on board a Detroit-bound airliner, the shooting rampage at Ft. Hood in Texas, three separate bomb plots foiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation last September, and a handful of earlier plots broken up last spring and summer.

Investigators said that the vehicle's Connecticut license plates didn't match the make of the car. The license plate's last known location was Kramer's Used Auto Parts in Stratford, Conn., according to a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation. No one answered the phone there Sunday.
And from the New York Times (check out the 19 second video of the suspect changing his shirt before walking off):
Asked if he considered the failed bombing the work of terrorists, Police Commissioner Kelly said: "A terrorist act doesn't necessarily have to be conducted by an organization. An individual can do it on their own."

F.B.I. agents and detectives had identified and were seeking to interview the owner of the Pathfinder, which was traced to Connecticut. The owner's name was not made public.

The license plate on the S.U.V. was connected to a different vehicle that was awaiting repairs in Stratford, Conn., where F.B.I. agents and the local police awoke the owner of the repair shop at 3 a.m. Sunday. The shop owner, Wayne LeBlanc, who runs Kramer's Used Auto Parts, said that the authorities had seized a black Ford F-150 pickup truck. "We're trying to help them identify who took the plates," he said.

The S.U.V. had no E-ZPass, but license plate readers and cameras at the area's tollbooths were being checked to determine where the car had entered Manhattan, one official said.

Investigators were reviewing similarities between the incident in Times Square and coordinated attacks in the summer of 2007 at a Glasgow airport and a London neighborhood of nightclubs and theaters. Both attacks involved cars containing propane and gasoline that did not explode. Those attacks, the authorities believed, had their roots in Iraq.
Posted by: || 05/03/2010 07:15 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Description of bomb--parts of bomb sounds amateurish.
VIN history of ownership of vehicle. Any reports that it was stolen?
Physical evidence in vehicle; prints, etc.?
Components of vehicle, tires, service stickers, records?
Source of components in bomb?
Going to be a lot of camera info to plod through. Tourists cameras/witnesses info?
Posted by: JohnQC || 05/03/2010 9:08 Comments || Top||

#2  Also it was reported that there were lots of keys in the ignition. The keys might be a source of info.
Posted by: JohnQC || 05/03/2010 9:11 Comments || Top||

#3  Keyring of keys was reported found--corr. only one in the ignition.
Posted by: JohnQC || 05/03/2010 9:13 Comments || Top||

#4  A '93 Nissan with about 19-20 keys on the ring sounds like its from a used car lot.
Posted by: Lumpy Elmoluck5091 || 05/03/2010 10:42 Comments || Top||

#5  Police search for second man over New York car bomb
Posted by: tipper || 05/03/2010 16:22 Comments || Top||

#6  A '93 Nissan with about 19-20 keys on the ring sounds like its from a used car lot.

Sounds about right,

You've never seen MY keyring, 20 keys easy, but they're door, toolbox and car, I'd NEVER leave them, I'd be a fool, I'd never get any toolboxes open again.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 05/03/2010 16:57 Comments || Top||

#7  Clicked too soon
I don't know ANYBODY that runs a car lot that way, the keys are individualy tagged and locked in a safe, NOT all on a ring, what happens if Two folks need to test ride at the same time
Sounds like a diversion, scrap keys for the feds to search all over finding non-existing vehicles.

Muddy the waters, so to speak.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 05/03/2010 17:01 Comments || Top||

#8  It was sold on Craiglist for $1300...original owner said purchaser was either middle eastern or hispanic...
Posted by: crazyhorse || 05/03/2010 17:55 Comments || Top||

#9  DAILY TIMES.PK > "HAKEEMULLAH" NEW VIDEO > HAKEEMULLAH warns that Taliban fighters had successfully penetrated into the "Terrorist AMERICA", + "WILL GIVE PAINFUL BLOWS" agz same.

ALso warns or threatens that Amer's NATO ALLIES will SUFFER A "HUMILIATION, DESTRUCTION, + DEFEAT" "WORE THAN THE USA"???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/03/2010 21:28 Comments || Top||


Ammonium Nitrate in NYC Car Bomb Was Not Explosive Mix
Ay-Pee:
A large amount of fertilizer rigged with wires and fireworks was found with the bomb, but police said it was not the ammonium nitrate grade that can explode.
Multiple choice for the Obambi administration:

1) We got lucky
2) The system worked
3) Both 1 & 2
4) Present
5) All of the above
6) None of the above
7) We'll get back to you later because we're still trying to spin this
8) We need to reach out to our enemies
9) Let's go insult another ally again
10) Blame it on political polarization
11) Who'da thunk it?
12) Let's see if we can get Puerto Rico to give us a few more votes
13) Let's see if we can get illegal aliens to give us a few more votes
14) Let's let Iran have the bomb so they can have terrorists threaten us with it for them
15) The voters will see the light and be happy by November
16) Admit that W was right when he said "That boy is clueless!
Posted by: gorb || 05/03/2010 00:27 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "
Posted by: gorb || 05/03/2010 0:46 Comments || Top||

#2  ION ISRAELNN > JEWS, MUSLIMS CLASH AT WISCONSIN UNIVERSITY [UW-Milwaukee].

*** cough *** YOUNG SOLDIER-KAY-Y-Y-DET HUGO, ETC. + L'BERET ROUGE ***cough....D *** NGED ALASKAN, RUSSIAN VOLCANOES [Kuriles].
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/03/2010 0:59 Comments || Top||

#3  I expect that they will find that this was perpetrated by people sympathetic to the Taliban but not directly under their control - otherwise their training program needs work.
Posted by: Super Hose || 05/03/2010 1:09 Comments || Top||

#4  INDIA VISION > US SHOPES TO DEVELOP SPY PLANES [UAVS = "Mini-Me"]THAT CAN LAND VERTICALLY, MOVE AND CLING ALONG WALLS.

Like GARGOYLES, BATMAN andor YOUR-FRIENDLY-NEIGBORHOOD = HE-LOVES-HIS-MARY-JANE-AKA-KIRSTEN-DUNST SPIDEY???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/03/2010 1:11 Comments || Top||

#5  This is bullshit, I wish I could explain why.

BUT:

I don't want rantburg to become a useful site wrt "Fix my bomb" help.

So keep hitting that crack pipe, guys, maybe we'll keep being lucky.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 05/03/2010 1:11 Comments || Top||

#6  ION WORLD NEWS > IRAN SAYS IT CAN PROVE US LINKED TO GLOBAL TERRORISM [Moud's visit to NPT Summit].

Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/03/2010 1:29 Comments || Top||

#7  exactly my reaction Thing...
Posted by: abu do you love || 05/03/2010 1:40 Comments || Top||

#8  Yeah, Snowy, we do not want to be like the engineer, who got his head saved from the guillotine malfunction, looked up and said, "I think I know where the problem is with this machine."
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 05/03/2010 2:31 Comments || Top||

#9  The surveillance video shows an unidentified white man apparently in his 40s

I am delighted to see the descriptor "white man" is still permissable.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/03/2010 3:03 Comments || Top||

#10  Fireworks detonator??? Totally amateur work, I think it's just a screw-up wanna-be.
Posted by: Scooter McGruder || 05/03/2010 3:37 Comments || Top||

#11  I don't want rantburg to become a useful site wrt "Fix my bomb" help.

Mods:

Any recommendations in cases like these?

My thoughts are:

For posters, we might have a check box to click to "Have Mods Approve Before Posting".

For the mod side, maybe a warning that the mods could turn on that would say "Don't feed the terrorists" or something like that if a mod decides that an article might invite comments that in turn might help the bad guys.

And maybe we need some kind of guidance built into the posting rules.

Or maybe this is all nothing to worry about.

I think it might help minimize this kind of problem since we do seem to get some sympathizing lurkers here that now and then can't help but spew some "extremist" comments.
Posted by: gorb || 05/03/2010 4:10 Comments || Top||

#12 
Preliminary ruling: Let those who know leave it at "Oh shit, we got lucky!" or "Stupid amateurs." I agree, we don't want to teach the vicious how to be more effective. We've got some honest-to-God experts in this area here at Rantburg, not to mention those of you with a strong enough background to figure it out. Please do not publicly share what you know.

-- tw
I agree with TW. Rantburg University is a treasure, but we need not offer advanced degrees in kabooms at our extension school.

Loose lips sink ships and all that.

--AoS
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/03/2010 5:26 Comments || Top||

#13  Can we rule out "It was SUPPOSED to be a fizzle?"
I know, 'don't attribute to malice that which is easily explained by stupidity,' but....
Posted by: Glenmore || 05/03/2010 7:42 Comments || Top||

#14  Please do not publicly share what you know. TW

A much easier task for me than for most here on campus.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/03/2010 7:59 Comments || Top||

#15  Of course if you want to make a REALLY SUPER GOOD FERTILIZER BOMB mix super phosphate and epsom salt with a little Black Cow manure. This makes one of those white phosphorus bombs. Another way Rantburg can help by supplying the right amount of bovine excretment.
Posted by: Throper Forkbeard7372 || 05/03/2010 8:19 Comments || Top||

#16  Bomb making advice is widely available on the internet and some of it a simple Google search will find.

I'm more concerned about giving terrorists new ideas.
Posted by: phil_b || 05/03/2010 8:51 Comments || Top||

#17  Apparently, this device had four or five varieties of explosives and two or three detonators. Each one of the ingredients had to have been purchased so each one represents a path to identifying and apprehending the perp (or more likely the perps).
Posted by: lord garth || 05/03/2010 9:06 Comments || Top||

#18  I'm more concerned about giving terrorists new ideas.

We had the shoe bomb, underwear bomb and the anus bomb. I have it on good authority the next craze will be the ear bomb: two M80s stuck up the auditory canal with an Ipod detonator. It's the new millennium's boom box.
Posted by: ed || 05/03/2010 9:07 Comments || Top||

#19  unidentified white man

I'd be concerned that trained Western (unidentified white man) muslims are amongst us who might be behind this. Turned Americans?

Sounds a little like the Scotland bomb at the airport.
Posted by: JohnQC || 05/03/2010 9:21 Comments || Top||

#20  #17) Blame Bush
Posted by: DarthVader || 05/03/2010 9:35 Comments || Top||

#21  I'd be concerned that trained Western (unidentified white man) muslims

You mean like those nice boys turned frothing muslims behind the South Park/Viacom murder threats at revolutionmuslim.com? BTW, they are the American branch of the UK muslims responsible for the London subway bombings.
Posted by: ed || 05/03/2010 9:39 Comments || Top||

#22  White, balding slender male + cluelessness on bomb-making points toward a leftie/PETA/GLBT/Kossack nut who hates South Park.
Posted by: lex || 05/03/2010 9:53 Comments || Top||

#23  Speaking as someone who had the enjoyable job of fabbing up some "Things that make you go boom", a few observations.

First, most amateurs are lazy and stupid. They want to make explosives for bragging rights, but they won't follow recipes.

Second, publishing recipes in open forums is a bad idea, because sooner or later some idiot who actually will follow a recipe will read it.

Third, fortunately there are a lot of police and ordinary citizens who can smell a bomb maker a mile away, and once under the gaze, it is game over.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 05/03/2010 10:07 Comments || Top||

#24  Please do not publicly share what you know.

Loose lips sink ships and all that.


Mods:

So it makes sense that we think twice before posting advice that might improve the terrorists' game.

How about posting articles like this that are commonly available in the public domain? What about those that are in the public domain that are not so common?
Posted by: gorb || 05/03/2010 10:30 Comments || Top||

#25  And: Thanks for the response!
Posted by: gorb || 05/03/2010 10:31 Comments || Top||

#26  I am pretty sure that regardless of the actual motives and background of the dumbass that did this, the MSM will report it as a disaffected tea-bagger with a racist axe to grind.

the actual attempt at 'boom' is reminiscent of something teenagers with too much time on their hands might try out on the back 40 or out in the woods (malice factor aside)

i would look for a sexually repressed and emotionally stunted guy who still lives with his mom if i was hunting our perp.
Posted by: abu do you love || 05/03/2010 10:46 Comments || Top||

#27  How about posting articles like this that are commonly available in the public domain? What about those that are in the public domain that are not so common?

gorb, if it's about the hunt for the bombers, yes please. If it's about what the bombers did to make it go fizzle instead of boom, I'd rather not. You may know about the latter sites, but the idiots that come to Rantburg from the Land of the Pure or the Magic Kingdom probably don't. No need to make their search easier.

/moderator mode
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/03/2010 12:23 Comments || Top||

#28  I have worked occasionally trying to analyze photographs and surveillance and other video. These often suck as far as being useful. Frame images from such video are often not well-defined and grainy; sometimes because of a lower frame rate, motion, and low frame resolution.

There are a couple of guys who have developed a computer technique that integrates multiple frames into stills. It is called VISAR technology. NASA and FBI are use this technique. This technique would be helpful to improve the quality of the Times Square captured frames. They have probably done this already.
Posted by: JohnQC || 05/03/2010 13:05 Comments || Top||

#29  There are a couple of guys who have developed a computer technique that integrates multiple frames into stills. It is called VISAR technology. Before I got eyeglasses to correct my nearsightedness, I developed my own technique for recognizing people by the way their fuzzy, blurry outlines moved as they walked. Got very good at it, too. I'm sure there are lots of ways to extract data from those video cams, as poor as they are.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 05/03/2010 13:20 Comments || Top||

#30  From what I've read in online sources I've managed to tap, I can figure out about eight or nine things these perps did VERY wrong in their bomb, so I doubt they were part of a well-developed terrorist group. They were either rank amateurs, or this was strictly an attention-getter or distraction. I also agree with TW and others that we don't want to become terrorist U. Let's just leave it at they screwed up, big-time, in many different ways.

Several possibilities: this was a trial run to test police response, this was done by a non-muslim terrorist group (we have quite a few of those, some QUITE clueless), this was done by a group of terrorist wannabees, or this whole thing was a set-up - take your pick. The New York police reacted well, a New York street vendor reacted well, and many visitors to New York got an extra thrill.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 05/03/2010 13:32 Comments || Top||

#31  I wanted to make a suggestion about eating plenty of beans and using a detonator disguised as a suppository but it seems a bit mal à propos.
Posted by: Willy || 05/03/2010 15:09 Comments || Top||

#32  Fox reporting vehicle was purchased on Craigslist by a mideast man.
Posted by: JohnQC || 05/03/2010 16:56 Comments || Top||

#33  Via DrudgeReport, the Craigslist story:

Sources tell CBS News the last registered owner of the 1993 Nissan Pathfinder - found in Times Square Saturday night - told authorities he recently sold the vehicle to a "Middle Eastern" or "Hispanic" looking man for $1,300 cash in $100 bills on Craigslist.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/03/2010 17:19 Comments || Top||

#34  The NY vendor, there were two involved, both Viet Nam vets. Vets get priority license to sell on the street. Guess stuff like that does stick with you even after 40 or so years.
Posted by: Flapper Scourge of the Algonquins4926 || 05/03/2010 18:20 Comments || Top||

#35  Car bombs just don't cause that many casualties, at least in Western countries. I was referring to other types of terrorist acts that are technically much easier and potentially kill many more people and would be hugely economically disruptive.

BTW, the deadliest 'car'* bomb in history in a Western country was just a few blocks away.

1920: The Wall Street bombing — Italian anarchist Mario Buda (a member of the "Galleanists") parked a horse-drawn wagon filled with explosives and shrapnel in the Financial District of New York City. The blast killed 38 and wounded 400.

* 'car' being a derivation of carriage.
Posted by: phil_b || 05/03/2010 20:27 Comments || Top||

#36  ION NEWS KERALA > QUEENS ISLAMIC GROUP DENIES INVOLVEMENT IN NEW YORK CAR BOMB PLOT.

They hate DANISH CARTOONS, NOT NYC Autos.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/03/2010 20:40 Comments || Top||

#37  hmm ..
Frame images from such video are often not well-defined and grainy; sometimes because of a lower frame rate, motion, and low frame resolution.
hmm..
maybe my cohorts and I should come out with an infrared 3D surveillance camera...
hmm...
Posted by: 3dc || 05/03/2010 21:31 Comments || Top||

#38  This reminds me of a song I learned when I was 10 years old:

It's Sister Jenny's Turn to Throw the Bomb

In an anarchist's garret, so lowly and so mean
Oh, smell the pungent odor of nitro-glycerine.
They're busy making fuses, and filling cans with nails
And the little Slavic children set up this mournful wail.
Oh, its Sister Jenny's turn to throw the bomb;
The last one it was thrown by Brother Thom.
Poor Mamma's aim is bad and the Copskys all know Dad,
So it's Sister Jenny's turn to throw the bomb.

Sister Jenny took the bomb and started off.
"Oh, mind you now," said Mamma, "to blow up Templehoff."
And so the party waited, while the dawn turned into day,
And the little Slavic children set up this mournful lay
Oh it's Brother Ivanovitch's turn to throw the bomb.
Sister Jenny's gone the way of Brother Thom;
Poor Mamma's aim is bad and the Copsky's all know Dad,
So it's Brother Ivanovitch's turn to throw the bomb.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 05/03/2010 22:06 Comments || Top||

#39  gorb, if it's about the hunt for the bombers, yes please. If it's about what the bombers did to make it go fizzle instead of boom, I'd rather not.

Thanks, TW! If this isn't posted policy it will probably rear its head again as new readers join in.
Posted by: gorb || 05/03/2010 22:17 Comments || Top||

#40  Always glad to be of service, gorb dear.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/03/2010 23:29 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Kasab's home village slams Mumbai conviction
FARIDKOT: Farmers in the remote impoverished home town of the surviving gunman of the Mumbai massacre angrily denounced his conviction as a travesty of justice at the hands of “infidel' India on Monday.

The town of Faridkot in the Pakistani farming belt of Punjab province has become notorious as the home of Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, convicted of taking part in the November 2008 bloodbath that killed 166 people in Mumbai.

Power supplies were down due to Pakistan's dire electricity crisis, but the verdict was the talk of the town as people sat in shops and small restaurants along the main road awaiting news of his fate.

Minutes after the power spluttered back and as children in shabby clothes tussled in the unpaved road, news channels announced that the 22-year-old had been pronounced guilty of murder and waging war against India.

“This is all against Pakistan. Ajmal is a child and he cannot commit this incident,' said Muhammad Iqbal, a farmer in his late 50s. He was also angry at the acquittal of two Indian suspects.

“Why was there no equal sentence for all the culprits and why has only Ajmal been declared a criminal?' His small group were defensive, even outraged. Around 10,000 people live in the town, most of them labourers and farmers, few of them literate.

“It is discriminatory and it would be better to hand him over to Pakistan,' said another farmer, Muhammad Yasin, 46. “Neither should he be given the death
sentence.'

At one restaurant featuring a traditional tandoor oven, more than a dozen people sitting on benches and a large couch entered into a heated debate.

“This is wrong. India is biased,' said Muhammd Akram, 33, a local farmer, in between sipping a cup of tea.

Although he had no answer to who was responsible for the militant attack that plunged Indian-Pakistani relations to new depths, he said Kasab should be released. “He has done nothing. He was wrongly involved in the attacks.'

The previous day, a hawker in Faridkot distributed a weekly newspaper published by Jamaat-ud-Dawa, believed by Indian and US officials to be a front for the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group blamed for the attacks.

“Are they talking about our Ajmal?' 45-year-old Noor Ahmed asked, interrupting fellow residents who were discussing the case.

“No. No. We don't know him,' he said, sitting on a dirty couch in a small brick-and-clay room on the banks of the local canal.

“But we have sympathies for him being Muslim.'Some residents said Kasab, like other young men dragged into the shadowy underworld of militant Islam, should be seen as a pawn, brainwashed by powerful jihadi groups.

“Look, don't blame him. There is nothing wrong if he did it with good intentions against an infidel country like India,' said Amjad Ali, a 60-year-old farmer with white hair.

“India is doing bomb blasts in Pakistan and it has also blocked Pakistan's water,' he said -- echoing the belief of many in Pakistan that its arch-rival is behind suicide attacks in the country and siphoning off of water resources.

One student claimed Kasab was a childhood friend who was in a group that used to swim in Faridkot's polluted canal and liked to throw other boys into the water. He believes Kasab was brainwashed.

“Definitely, the (Mumbai) incident created a bad impression for Pakistan and especially Faridkot,' the student said.

He called for the massacre's masterminds to be punished, and said it would be better if India extradited Kasab to Pakistan
Posted by: john frum || 05/03/2010 17:40 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
Posted by: tu3031 || 05/03/2010 18:52 Comments || Top||


Mohammed Kasab Guilty; 2 Indians Not
MUMBAI: On Monday, the fastest verdict on any terror trial in India ended in Kasab's conviction, the acquittals of Faheem Ansari and Sabahuddin Ahmed, and egg on the police's face. The acquittals, particularly, were significant: If they exposed the inability of the Mumbai cops to produce a watertight case even in a trial of this magnitude, they also spoke of the independent-mindedness of the Indian judiciary, which weighed the evidence and pronounced what is being seen as a carefully-considered judgment.
But don't worry, we can try terrorists in US domestic courts and not have any of these problems ...
Ansari and Ahmed were alleged to have been the local connection in a plot hatched in and executed out of Pakistan.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 05/03/2010 15:49 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Looks like a job for the "encounter specialists"...
Posted by: tu3031 || 05/03/2010 18:54 Comments || Top||

#2  Pray tell, how does MOUD, KIMMIE, HUGO,......@ETC. + HAKEEMULLAH intend to respond to this???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/03/2010 20:43 Comments || Top||


Hakimullah threatens, jibbers at US
ISLAMABAD (AFP) – Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud has vowed to attack major US cities in two purported new videos released months after his reported killing in a US missile strike. Mehsud threatened to retaliate against the United States for the killing of Islamist militant leaders, appearing in a nine-minute video allegedly made on April 4, after his supposed death in January.

The videos emerged after an attempted car bombing in New York City, for which his faction claimed responsibility in a third video, and provided the most substantial evidence so far that he survived a US attempt on his life. The videos spotlight the Islamist militant threat in nuclear-armed Pakistan, which the United States has put on the front line of the war on Al-Qaeda and where Pakistani troops have waged multiple offensives against the Taliban.

"The time is very near when our fedayeen will attack the American states in the major cities," said Mehsud, who was seen flanked by two armed and masked men in the video released by the SITE and IntelCenter monitoring groups.

The video is the first showing Mehsud since January and was issued on the heels of a claim by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan that it was behind the attempted bombing in New York's Time Square on Saturday.
May not be true but it's great PR for them ...
US officials believed Mehsud was likely killed in a US drone strike in northwestern Pakistan on January 14, but the Taliban denied his death and Pakistani intelligence officials said last week that he had survived.
The Islamist leader, who took over leadership of the TTP last August, rubbished reports of his death as an "open lie and propaganda".

"Inshaallah (God willing) very soon in some days or a month's time, the Muslim ummah (world) will see the fruits of most successful attacks of our fedayeen in USA," Mehsud said.

He made similar remarks in an audio message in another TTP video that was apparently recorded on April 19 and features Mehsud's face next to a map of the United States showing multiple explosions across the country.

IntelCenter, a US-based group that monitors Islamist websites, said it believed all the TTP videos issued since the New York bomb scare were credible and said there was a "high threat of further attack" in days and weeks ahead.

But the authorities in New York discounted an Al-Qaeda link and police said they were hunting a white man seen near the bomb in Times Square.

The TTP claim of responsibility also met with scepticism in Pakistan, where the military has claimed the faction's capability was dented following an offensive against its South Waziristan nerve centre last year.

If the allegation -- made by the TTP's master trainer of suicide bombers Qari Hussain and broadcast in a video on YouTube -- was authenticated, it would be the first attack by the TTP against a target in the United States.

Mehsud, believed to be aged about 31, also warned members of NATO and other allies to abandon the United States, telling them: "You will face even worse humiliation, destruction and defeat than America itself."
Posted by: Steve White || 05/03/2010 11:20 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  this SOB is harder too kill than a cockroach
Posted by: chris || 05/03/2010 14:39 Comments || Top||

#2  What an apt comparison ...
Posted by: Steve White || 05/03/2010 17:24 Comments || Top||

#3  Several Guam locals I've talked to opine that the instigator(s) of this NYC Car Bomb is ONLY "TOYING/PLAYING" WID POTUS BAMMER, FED-STATE GOVT = PUBLIC AUTHORITIES; + THAT SOMETHING BIGGER + BADDER IS GOING TO OCCUR IN NYC OR ELSEWHERE IN THE USA IN THE NEAR FUTURE???

WHERE COMMIES-SOCS + GOVTISTS GO, ISLAMISTS + MILTERRS FOLLOW???

STAY ARMED.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/03/2010 19:04 Comments || Top||

#4  Translating Joe M's comment to Dylanesque speech:

You know some thing is happening
But you don't know what it is
Do you, Mr. Jones?
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 05/03/2010 22:10 Comments || Top||


Afghan envoy's kidnappers break silence
The mysterious kidnappers of Afghan ambassador-designate to Pakistan, Abdul Khaliq Farahi, have broken their silence after almost a year-and-a-half to claim that the diplomat is alive and in their custody. In a videotape made available on Sunday, the grey-bearded Afghan ambassador has been shown wearing trousers and a half-sleeved shirt. Three well-built, masked Taliban fighters, armed with AK-47 assault rifles, are standing behind the handcuffed Afghan envoy in the video.

Before his kidnapping, Farahi's beard was black and he was always seen dressed in a Western suit. Since his kidnapping from Peshawar's posh Hayatabad Town on September 22, 2008, there was no clue until now about his whereabouts and the identity of the men holding him hostage. On Sunday afternoon, a previously unknown militant organisation, Kateeba Salahuddin Ayubi, released a videotape of the Afghan envoy and claimed responsibility for his kidnapping. It was the first time that a militant group made such a claim.

Narrating his ordeal in the videotape, the Afghan diplomat, in Pashto language, said: “I am Abdul Khaliq Farahi. Dear listeners, as you know a year-and-a-half ago, the Mujahideen arrested me from Peshawar. For the past one year and six months, I have been spending my days and nights in a very critical condition. I appeal to my government and the Afghan nation as well as the international community to make their last attempt to save my life. These people (Taliban) have accused me of working with the misled and the US-sponsored government of Afghanistan and the punishment of this crime is death sentence. This is my first and last statement. After this, these people may execute me. Once again, I appeal to the Afghan people and all communities of Afghanistan to make a last attempt and help me out of this danger.'

After Farahi, an armed Taliban fighter standing behind him began to deliver his statement in an aggressive tone. Besides highlighting so-called successes and achievements of the Mujahideen, he said it was the blessing of Almighty Allah that the Mujahideen had captured Farahi. “This man, Abdul Khaliq Farahi, is an Afghan national. He is in our jail now. He was Afghanistan's ambassador to Pakistan when captured by the Mujahideen. Pakistan too is a renegade state and is helping the US as a frontline state,' the Taliban militant alleged. He said the Afghan envoy was in their custody for the past year-and-a-half but they did not make it public as they were holding secret talks with the Karzai government.

“We were holding negotiations with the Karzai government and forwarded our demands for his release. Our demands were legitimate and in the interest of Islam, Mujahideen and the Afghan people. A week before issuing this video, the Mujahideen suspended their talks as Karzai and his government did not show any seriousness in the negotiations and refused to answer questions. The Karzai government used delaying tactics and tried to further extend the negotiations. It didn't feel any mercy on this prisoner. Many people approached us for this prisoner and we informed them about our demands,' he explained.

He said they were disappointed due to the delaying tactics of the Afghan government and had, therefore, decided to break their long silence and inform the media through the videotape. “After this, people should not blame us as we waited for a year-and-a-half. We wanted to wait and see if Almighty Allah could have mercy on this poor prisoner and people could seek pardon for him so that nobody could align and work with the US in future. The people should not blame us afterwards,' he warned in a forceful voice.

Farahi, who belongs to Farah province in Afghanistan, served as the Afghan consul general in both Quetta and Peshawar. He had been promoted as Afghanistan's ambassador in Islamabad but had not yet taken over the charge. He had fought in the Afghan Jihad against the Soviet occupying forces. Once after his kidnapping, officials had confirmed that he had been recovered from Khyber Agency, but this proved false. There had been rumours that Farahi had been executed by his kidnappers or that he had been severely tortured.
Posted by: ryuge || 05/03/2010 07:35 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Surviving Mumbai gunman convicted over attacks
A Pakistani national has been convicted over his role in the deadly Mumbai (Bombay) attacks by an Indian court.

Mohammad Ajmal Amir Qasab, 22, the sole surviving gunman, was found guilty on charges including murder, waging war on India and possessing explosives.

The attacks in November 2008 left 174 people - including nine gunmen - dead, and soured ties between India and neighbouring Pakistan.

India blames Pakistan-based militants Lashkar-e-Taiba for the attacks.

After initial denials, Pakistan acknowledged that the attacks had been partially planned on its territory and that Qasab was one of its citizens.

Two Indian men - Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin Ahmed - who were accused of helping the gunmen plan the attacks, were acquitted by the presiding judge at the court in Mumbai.

The judge will begin hearing arguments about sentencing on Tuesday. The prosecution is seeking the death penalty for Qasab.

Qasab's 271-day trial was conducted amid tight security in a purpose-built court on the jail premises in Mumbai where he was being held.

Closed-circuit TV evidence showed Kasab and an accomplice opening fire on passengers at one of Mumbai's busiest train stations, an assault that left dozens of people dead.

Over the past 14 months, the trial witnessed a number of twists and turns.

Qasab originally denied the charges against him but last July, in a dramatic outburst in court, he admitted his role and asked to be hanged. He later retracted this plea, saying he had been tortured by police into making it, and the trial continued.

In November, the main lawyer representing Qasab - who was arrested on the first day of the attacks - was removed from the case after the judge said he was delaying proceedings.

Late last year, Pakistan charged seven people in connection with the attacks, including the suspected mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, who is alleged to head Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Posted by: john frum || 05/03/2010 06:57 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Rise in target killings adds to Balochistan unrest
QUETTA: Targeted killings happen so often in Quetta that they have become almost a routine. Assassins drive up, fire a hail of bullets and melt into shadows as their victims bleed to death.

Heading to and from work, or nipping to the shops, fear grips professional men and women in Balochistan, where a sharp increase in assassinations is being blamed on separatist militants. An upsurge in killings threatens to ignite the southwestern tinderbox, with possible consequences for neighbouring Iran and Afghanistan, and heavyweight allies China and the United States.

Last week, Nazima Talib became the most high-profile female victim, shot dead at point blank range as she got into a rickshaw to go home after another long day teaching mass communication at Balochistan University. A mother of one, she was the third member of staff killed in the past two years. Now others wonder whether they will return home at the end of a day's work.

Police say sectarian and ethnic targeted killings in Balochistan have claimed 87 lives and injured 303 people in 168 incidents so far this year.

The killings embarrass the police, who concede that none of the assassins has been arrested, have forced some teachers to flee and fanned insecurity.

Hundreds of people have died since Baloch militants rose up in 2004 demanding independence and control of profits from natural resources in their region. For decades, its people have felt excluded or marginalised by the central government and the province has long been a fertile breeding ground for Taliban and al Qaeda-linked terrorists as well as separatist militants.

The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a banned group fighting for an independent Balochistan, claimed responsibility for Talib's death, threatened more killings and accused security forces of mistreating Baloch women. The group says its assassinations of Punjabis avenge the deaths of Baloch militants and civilians at the hands of the military, whose ranks and top brass are dominated by Punjab.

Although the weak civilian government has sponsored a reconciliation process with Baloch nationalists, it has limited control over the powerful military, blamed for the disappearance of hundreds of Baloch activists.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/03/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


One killed, three injured in Swat grenade attack
SWAT: A woman was killed and three persons were injured in a grenade attack at a house in Kabal tehsil of Swat, police said on Sunday.

According to details, the house of Roshanzada, member of a local peace committee came under attack at night, killing his daughter-in-law Gul Begum, while injuring three other family members.

Investigation Officer Assistant Superintendent (ASI) Sher Gul Khan said that the incident was a result of an old enmity. He said, Roshanzada had named Mian Said Bacha and others in the FIR. Khan said that they have started investigations and are conducting raids to arrest those nominated in the FIR.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/03/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


2 boys' schools blown up in Bajaur Agency
Ran out of girls' schools?
KHAR: Taliban blew up two more boys' schools in Khar tehsil of Bajaur Agency, increasing the number of schools so far destroyed in the agency to 82.

Recently, unidentified men had blown up a boys' primary school in the Zirgiray area of Nawagai tehsil in Bajaur. This was reportedly the first such incident after the peace deal there. According to reports, such attacks have affected the education of around 50,000 children in the region.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/03/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


21 killed as choppers bomb Taliban hideouts in Orakzai
HANGU/PARACHINAR/ KHAR: Helicopter gunships bombed Taliban hideouts in Orakzai Agency on Sunday, killing 21 terrorists and injuring 29 others, while seven hideouts were also destroyed in the airstrikes.

Sources said helicopter gunships shelled Taliban hideouts in Kool area of Upper Orakzai, killing eight Taliban and injuring 25 others, while three hideouts were also destroyed. The sources said the helicopters also pounded Taliban hideouts at Ghilju, Ghundaki and Khadezai areas, killing 13 Taliban and injuring four others, as four hideouts were destroyed in the attack.

Meanwhile, according to AP news agency, government official Samiullah Khan said the hideouts hit were in the Dabori area and its neighbouring villages of Orakzai. He added the aerial strikes also destroyed six Taliban compounds.

Separately, AFP said three fighter jets participated in the attack and destroyed four Taliban hideouts in Orakzai, where Pakistani troops have been pursuing an anti-Taliban offensive since late March, a military spokesman told AFP.

“Jets targeted militants in Dabori, Ghiljo and Khadezai towns,' he said.

Local administration official Sajjad Ahmed confirmed the casualty numbers and said eight Taliban wounded in the airstrikes had been captured. The toll might rise as other suspected hideouts were also pounded, he added.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/03/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The Pakistanis must not be as accurate as we are - they never manage to hit any of those elusive innocent civilians.
Posted by: Glenmore || 05/03/2010 7:47 Comments || Top||


Maoist-led general strike shuts down much of Nepal
A general strike today shut down much of Nepal as communist activists intensified their pressure on the prime minister to resign. Thousands of Maoist supporters were on the streets of the capital, Kathmandu, to ensure that shops remained closed and buses were not operating amid fears that Nepal would descend again into civil strife. Few vehicles were about and people were forced to walk to their destinations. The international airport remained open.
Reminder: the Maoists are the largest party in the parliament in Nepal. They're on strike to grab the rest.
The government provided foreign tourists with free shuttle buses from the airport to their hotels. Tens of thousands of Maoist supporters poured into the capital from the countryside for a rally to demandthe dissolution of a cabinet propped up by an alliance of 22 parties.

As thousands of police in riot gear watched today's protesters, there were scattered reports of vandalism against vehicles and shops that defied the strike. A Maoist coordinating the protests in Kathmandu said the protesters were prepared to shut down the country for days until their demands were met."We are protesting peacefully. But if the authorities try to provoke us in any ways we are ready and prepared to retaliate," said Chandra Bahadur Thapa.

Karin Landgren, chief of UN's peace mission in Nepal, said she met Maoists leaders to appeal for a peaceful resolution to the crisis. The US embassy in Kathmandu issued a statement that appealed for the parties to exercise restraint and work toward consensus. Travel advice from the Foreign Office warned that political tensions in Nepal are currently high.

In 2006, the Maoists agreed to end a decade-old insurgency that left more than 13,000 people dead and went on to lead a coalition in 2008 after a surprise win in the election for a constituent assembly. But the coalition collapsed this time last year, when the Maoists, who have the largest party in parliament, walked out of the government after their failure to get the head of the army dismissed.

The prime minister, Madhav Kumar, has refused to bow down to Maoist pressure. "One should not resign from the government in the midst of confusion ... government changes can be made through constitutional and parliamentary procedures and not from the streets," he said.

The constituent assembly is unlikely to meet its deadline target of drafting a new constitution by 28 May 28 and the deadline cannot be extended without the support of the Maoists, who hold about 40% of the assembly's 601 seats.

Analysts say consensus has steadily given way to a polarisation that has fed the more hardline elements on both sides. At the time of the fall of the Maoist-led government, the International Crisis Group think tank warned: "Only concerted efforts to re-establish a minimal working consensus and a national unity government including the Maoists can avert the likelihood of a more dangerous erosion of trust. Strong international backing, with India eschewing short-term interference in favour of longer-term guardianship of the process it itself initiated, will be essential."
In other words, the ICG, progressives to a person, want the Maoists to get everything they want and for the Indians to stay out of the way. Birds of a feather, as they say ...
Posted by: Steve White || 05/03/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  OK, now lets call them what and who they really are,
Maoists in Nepal = Chinese Communist scum.
Posted by: 746 || 05/03/2010 9:03 Comments || Top||


Iraq
5 wanted men surrender to police in Diala
DIALA / Aswat al-Iraq: Five wanted men turned themselves in to Iraqi police in Diala on Sunday, only one week after 27 others had done the same thing, according to the province's police chief.

"Five men wanted by judicial authorities in accordance with Article 4 of the law on terror surrendered voluntarily to the police," Maj. General Abdulhussein al-Shimari told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

"The men are local residents of al-Wajihiya area, al-Muqdadiya district, (45 km) east of Baaquba," he said.

Shimari said the province's police department called on all wanted men all over Diala to turn themselves in so that court rulings to be handed down against them may be extenuated.

Baaquba, the capital city of Diala province, lies 57 km northeast of Baghdad.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/03/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Mosul blast casualties up to 95
NINEWA / Aswat al-Iraq: One person was killed and 94 others wounded in a final count of casualties from a blast earlier on Sunday that targeted two buses carrying Christian students east of Mosul, a local official said.

“The final count of casualties from a blast of a car bomb and an improvised explosive device that targeted two buses boarding Christian students from Mosul University residents of al-Hamdaniya district, east of Mosul, was one death and 94 wounded,' Abdulrahim al-Shimari, the chairman of the Ninewa Provincial Council's Security & Defense Committee, told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

“The wounds of about 10 of them are critical and were rushed to the Arbil hospital for treatment,' Shimari added. He noted security forces had been escorting the buses “in light of operations that targeted Christians in Mosul in the past'.

Earlier, a police source in Ninewa had said a civilian man was killed and 90 others wounded in a blast from a car bomb and an IED that went off Christian university students in the area of Kokgli, east of Mosul.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/03/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Lawyer shot dead near Kirkuk
KIRKUK / Aswat al-Iraq: A lawyer was killed and another wounded when unidentified gunmen opened fire on them south of Kirkuk city on Sunday, a police source in al-Touz district said.

“Unidentified gunmen in a vehicle opened fire on a civilian vehicle carrying two lawyers in the area of Qader Karam intersection on the main road linking Kirkuk to Touz, (80 km) south of Kirkuk, killing one and wounding the other,' the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

“The incident is being investigated,' the source added, not giving further details.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/03/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Saving Iraq, one lawyer at a time.
Posted by: Glenmore || 05/03/2010 7:49 Comments || Top||


Wanted man arrested, cache seized in Mosul
NINEWA / Aswat al-Iraq: Police forces captured a wanted man whose confessions led to seizing a weapons cache in western Mosul city on Sunday, a local police source in Ninewa said.

"The cache was seized upon confessions by a wanted man arrested earlier on Sunday (May 5) at a checkpoint in New Mosul area in the western part of the city," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

"The cache contained three mortar shells of 60 mm. caliber and an RPG shell," he added, not giving further details.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/03/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Good morning
Posted by: Steve White || 05/03/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Happy Birthday

Mary Astor aka Sandra Kovak in "The Great Lie", Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress (Died 1987 at age 81)

Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 05/03/2010 2:41 Comments || Top||

#2  Thanks GB. I am a big Alison Krauss fan.
Posted by: JohnQC || 05/03/2010 9:23 Comments || Top||

#3  so am I, but Dr. Steve gets the pic credit
Posted by: Frank G || 05/03/2010 9:44 Comments || Top||

#4  yawn
Posted by: lex || 05/03/2010 9:54 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
56[untagged]

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio

Merry-Go-Blog











On Sale now!


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.
Click here for more information

Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2010-05-03
  Somali rebels seize pirate haven of Haradhere
Sun 2010-05-02
  Pakistani Taliban claim credit for failed NYC Times Square car bombing
Sat 2010-05-01
  Explosions inside a Somali mosque kill at least 30
Fri 2010-04-30
  Two New York men charged with trying to help al Qaeda
Thu 2010-04-29
  Hakimullah Mehsud no longer dead
Wed 2010-04-28
  Egypt court convicts 26 men of links to Hezbollah
Tue 2010-04-27
  French cops seize five jihad suspects
Mon 2010-04-26
  Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri Nabbed?
Sun 2010-04-25
  AQI confirms death of Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayyub al-Masri
Sat 2010-04-24
  DR Congo: Lord's Resistance Army Rampage Kills 321
Fri 2010-04-23
  50 killed, 85 wounded in series of Baghdad blasts
Thu 2010-04-22
  First Navy Seal tried in Baghdad found innocent
Wed 2010-04-21
  Algeria sez Qaeda in North Africa emir ''cornered''
Tue 2010-04-20
  Iraq announces killing of another senior al-Qaida leader
Mon 2010-04-19
  Abu Ayub al-Masri, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi: dead again

Better than the average link...



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.
44.205.3.18
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Background (18)    Non-WoT (8)    Opinion (3)    (0)    Politix (3)