U.S. troops began disarming militia fighters in the town of Spin Boldak. Security men of Gul Agha Shirzai, governor of Kandahar, had also disarmed many of the private militias in the city. A Reuters reporter saw two U.S. soldiers enter a room at a checkpoint set up by a militia group near the border with Pakistan while a third soldier stood guard outside. A few minutes later the soldiers emerged from the room carrying about 16 Kalashnikov rifles that they dumped in their vehicle. Cheese. Next thing you know those guys are gonna have to get jobs.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/11/2002 ||
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The president of Somalia's transitional government said his people had been "terrorized" by a U.S. propaganda campaign portraying the country as a possible haven for Osama bin Laden's followers. President Abdiqassim Salad Hassan said that fears of U.S. military strikes were hindering efforts to bring peace to the country. Abdiqassim said his government had set up a committee to combat terrorism and arrested several suspects, but its efforts were being hampered by a lack of resources. The government still only controls parts of the capital Mogadishu and other patches of territory, competing with warlords who flourished after the fall of military ruler Mohammed Siad Barre in 1991. Gosh. That's really terrible to be so terrorized. Are you having bad dreams of dead warlords' bodies being dragged through the streets of Mogadishu? If the central "government" has so little control, perhaps it should ask for assistance.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/11/2002 ||
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Palestinian security forces arrested three Palestinian officials accused by Israel of involvement in a bid to smuggle a shipload of weapons seized by Israeli commandos last week. An internal panel of inquiry appointed by the Palestinian Authority said the men were called for questioning and then taken into custody. They are Major-General Fuad al-Shobaki, director-general of finance for all the Palestinian Authority's security apparatus; Fathi al-Razen, deputy commander of Palestinian naval police; and Adel al-Mughrabi, a high-ranking officer in the naval police. The announcement was made shortly after Secretary of State Colin Powell backed Israel's demand that Palestinian President Yasser Arafat arrest those responsible for the alleged smuggling plot. Bet that "interrogation" started with the words "What the hell were you thinking?"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/11/2002 ||
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The Singapore government has released two of 15 suspected terrorists arrested last month, but the remaining 13 will be detained for two years under the Internal Security Act. The 13 men are members of the clandestine organization JI, and eight are confirmed to have gone to Afghanistan for training in al Qaida terrorist training camps. Before leaving for Afghanistan, members of JI conducted religious studies and physical training in Malaysia. The ministry claimed the local JI organization is part of a larger JI network with cells in Malaysia and Indonesia. Officials said the group was part of a larger organization called a "shura," which is headed by Hambali Nurjaman Riduan Isamuddin, who is wanted by the Indonesian and Malaysian authorities. The two persons released were not members of JI, but they had donated funds they had collected to the Philippine Moro Islamic Liberation Front purportedly for its welfare organizations. The original UPI article has a good discussion of the structure of the terror network: the "shura" (council) is made up of regional-level organizations like Jamaat Islami, which in turn contain functional arms - "fiahs." The fiahs are made up of a number of cells, consisting of 3 - 5 members each.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/11/2002 ||
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The United States , ending a post-Sept. 11 trend of avoiding criticizing Russia's campaign in Chechnya, accused Moscow of using "overwhelming force" in its battle with Muslim rebels there. The sharp words came a day after Moscow announced results of one its bloodiest crackdowns in the secessionist province for a year, saying it had killed 92 rebels in a month. The US has just used "overwhelming force" in Afghanistan with good results. The Chechens made up a significant portion of the problem we faced there. What makes the State Department think they're "freedom fighters" back home? How can the al-Qaeda ties be ignored? The US should be congratulating the Russians - and expressing sympathy for their dead and wounded.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/11/2002 ||
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The first group of al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners arrived at the U.S. Navy base in Guantanamo under heavy guard, shipped fresh from Afghanistan. The 20 shackled prisoners are the first of at least 371 detainees to be shipped away from the region. Enjoy your Caribbean vacation, boys! You might want to consider taking a cruise next time.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/11/2002 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
