Security agents have captured the mastermind of the April 12 suicide bombing on Jerusalemâs Jaffa Road near the Mahaneh Yehuda market. Six died and 84 were wounded in the attack. Security sources said Moataz Abdullah Himoni, 21, a member of Fatahâs Aksa Martyrs Brigade from Hebron, was captured on April 25 during Operation Defensive Shield.
He told interrogators he recruited the suicide bomber, Andaleeb Taqataqah, 17, of Beit Fajar, between Bethlehem and Hebron. He said that he recruited her through a member of a terror squad he had assembled. Himoni told interrogators that Marwan Zaloum, a senior Tanzim leader in Bethlehem, supplied him with the bomb.
A few days before the bombing Himoni videotaped Taqataqah. She wore black and held a Koran. Himoni said he told his fellow cell members the bombing would take place in Haifa, but his true intention was to dispatch her to Jerusalem. Two days before the bombing, Himoni and Taqataqah met with Zaloum, who explained to her how to operate the bomb, which was made up of three plastic pipes and a battery. Zaloum hid it inside a womanâs purse.
Zaloum was killed killed two weeks ago in a targeted killing. He's now trying to explain to Andaleeb why Paradise is so blasted hot, and he's trying to figure out why each and every one of his 72 virgins has teeth where he never expected teeth to be. Sharp ones, too. And big. Very big...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/07/2002 10:48 am ||
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I saw Sharon on FoxNews this evening. He's headed back to Israel to meet with the cabinet. He mentioned Israel's right to defend herself. If the boomer came from Gaza, Kofi'd better buy some hand cream.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/07/2002 09:39 pm ||
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Interesting thing about this was the "timing." The bomb went off, right after the international feed of Bush and Sharon was fed of them doing the White House Photo Op' in the WH Front Yard.
I was watching this while gettting BombBoy Tidbits. Mary Lu
Posted by: Mary Wehmeier ||
05/08/2002 2:06 Comments ||
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I'm convinced it was timed to go off precisely then. For one thing, remember Sharon was lugging all that evidence that Yasser and his people are describing as forgeries around with him.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/08/2002 7:12 Comments ||
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Two more pipe bombs were found in mailboxes in Nebraska and Colorado on Monday. Fifteen pipe bombs were found in rural areas of three Midwestern states on the three previous days. Taking a crosss country drive west, probably in Mom's car...
The U.S. Postal Service said a pipe bomb was found on Monday in the mailbox of a home near the town of Hastings, Nebraska, by a resident who had been away during the weekend. Authorities concluded it was similar to the bombs found in Iowa, Illinois and Nebraska. In Colorado, a resident in Salida found a pipe bomb in his mailbox. Leaving his droppings along the way...
Jim Mruk, a U.S. Postal Service spokesman in the Chicago area, said investigators have discovered that the Nebraska bombs were "rigged differently" than those in Iowa and Illinois and may not have gone off because they did not have duct tape holding the trigger mechanism in place in the mail boxes. One possibility, he said, is that the person responsible for the bombs ran out of duct tape while moving across country. "Ran out of duct tape"? I've got duct tape that I've had for ten years. And if you do run out, you can stop at most convenience stores and buy a roll. Is he out of money? Allowance ran out? Does he not want to show his face? Is he (cue "Music of the Night" here) deformed or somethin'?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/07/2002 07:05 am ||
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A pipe bomb was found Tuesday morning in a mailbox near Amarillo, Texas, and FBI officials said it was similar to 17 others found since Friday in Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska and Colorado. "It's another pipe bomb. It looks similar to the others," said FBI agent Larry Holmquist in Omaha. "Upon our initial inspection, it appears it would be from the same source." That would appear to bruise the Lone Boomboy theory. Amarillo's a pretty long drive from Salida. Suppose he could have looped back east as soon as he dropped his Colorado load, though.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/07/2002 08:36 am ||
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#1
They are looking for a blue or gray 1992 4 door Honda (Accord?). Minnesota licence plate. EZL 783. Name: Luke John Helder.
22 years old, 5'9", brown hair green eyes.
(you win on the age -- probably origin too)
#4
Betcha he write bad poetry and the other kids picked on him, too.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/07/2002 12:34 Comments ||
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Kathy has the details on his homepage: "I'm a huge Nirvana fan. I really am quite infatuated with this band. I know everything about Kurt...."
He's in a (heh heh) band, too. So lemme qualify my last statement to read "Betcha he write bad songs, too."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/07/2002 13:06 Comments ||
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I think my "s" key is sticking. Normally I can type the word "writes" with the "s" on the end...
Posted by: Fred ||
05/07/2002 13:09 Comments ||
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I think I'm your guest reporter today. FBI had a conference and corrected some things -- license plate is EZL 873 (not 783 as media were reporting). Car is black or dark gray.
Helder, a junior at the University of Wisconsin-Stout in Menomonie, is described as armed and dangerous... He said Helder is a junior at the college, majoring in art with an industrial design concentration.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/07/2002 13:56 Comments ||
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Fred: I'm putting up the picture of the little snotnosed troublemaker on my site in about 4 minutes. Get this.. he turned 21 on Sunday. Nice work Fred. Mary Lu
Posted by: Mary Wehmeier ||
05/07/2002 15:22 Comments ||
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Fred- Something isn't adding up. The Fox News and other news is saying he's been in Southern Utah, as well as the little packages he dropped off in Salida, CO-- And now he's in Amirillo area? May be he got lost? Made a wrong turn? He's got to be on meth' and driving faster than the speed limit-- you'd think a highway patrol might spot him. Amarillo is a small town. He should stick out like a sore thumb. Mary Lu
Posted by: Mary Wehmeier ||
05/07/2002 16:02 Comments ||
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I saw the Utah report, too - too busy at work to update. A kopycat kiddy? False alarm? Dunno yet. They say they have "reasonable grounds" but no explosives have been found. My guess would be that they plotted him on a map, thought he was headed for Utah, and it's a false alarm. Either than or you're right, he's a meth freak driving 110 miles an hour and nobody's noticed, which doesn't seem likely...
Posted by: Fred ||
05/07/2002 16:16 Comments ||
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Depends on when he left that Colorado 'info'. He did have Sunday off, so to speak. If he left the Colorado bomb Saturday (the Nebraska one was almost certainly left Friday), he could have hit Utah, gone back to Texas and even got a few hours sleep.
#14
It appears he didn't take Sunday off, but kept on moving like a bat out of hell. (sortaspeak) Now the other question is, did he put the pipebombs in the mailboxes in Texas or do we have a copycat?
Posted by: Mary Wehmeier ||
05/07/2002 18:51 Comments ||
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My best guess is that he did the one in Texas. I think we may find a few more, even now that he's been caught.
Posted by: Kathy K ||
05/07/2002 19:05 Comments ||
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Also The University of Wisconsin - Madison, student newspaper THE BADGER HERALD received a letter from Helder postmarked from Omaha on Friday. The contents of the letter are over here. The Newspaper turned over the contents of the letter which was recieved on Tueday (today) to the FBI. It's also noted in the letter Helder "may have had a drug problem." I have the links over on my site.
Posted by: Mary Wehmeier ||
05/07/2002 19:26 Comments ||
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Really nice wrapup, Mary Lu and Kathy. It was a little drug-sodden, bad poetry-writin' snot, barely old enough to vote, ending up with a gun pressed to his head at the end but without the nerve to pull the trigger. Yuck.
Now the little brat can live with the consequences for the rest of his life, like his victims will have to. I'll probably feel like mocking him again tomorrow, but tonight I feel more like taking a shower.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/07/2002 20:20 Comments ||
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One tiny little correction, the reference to his drug habit is in the ARTICLE not the letter. My guess he's on meth'. It's the cheap drug of choice out there. Another thought-- His folks appear to be farmers as well-- or at least they live out in the country. My guess is our bomber had issues at home, and thought his folks (and all adults) weren't listening to him. Like Fred I want to take a shower, but first I need to call tonight to see if one of the people who got hurt by this little bastard is going to get her hearing back.
Posted by: Mary Wehmeier ||
05/07/2002 20:50 Comments ||
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Looks a bit confused. wuz the othez makin fun?
#20
I'll have a wrap up and time line done on MailBombBoy by morning. It appears he had a couple firearms and more bombs inside the car. It appears it was a call on his cell phone from the FBI and his folks that got him to stop his 100+ mph car chase. Well that Honda's engine is toast. Too bad the stupid kid hadn't watched more LA car chases. Honda engines always blow up if they drive them too hard for too long. Jeeze. Mary Lu
Posted by: Mary Wehmeier ||
05/08/2002 2:13 Comments ||
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Fred: Here's a giggle for the morning. I ran across the ATF's Official: ATF BOMB THREAT CHECKLIST at http://www.atf.treas.gov/explarson/information/bombthreat/checklist.htm
Here's a read... everyone needs one of these for the office kitchen refridgerator. ;-) Mary Lu
Posted by: Mary Wehmeier ||
05/08/2002 5:22 Comments ||
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I'll print it and hang it on my fridge, next to the pizza delivery number. I think ABCNNBCETC should hire us as profilers next time. No wonder that ex-FBI guy's an ex-.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/08/2002 7:11 Comments ||
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The Indiana State Police are investigating why a man killed in a car crash was carrying three identifications and four checkbooks with different names. Police initially thought there were two occupants in the car that crashed late Sunday, killing Q. Naim Abdullah, 24, of Plainfield. Yuck. That's pretty messy. Three IDs? That's kind of an Arab thing, isn't it? Even they aren't too sure who they are...
State police troopers and volunteer firefighters searched the high weeds and mud at the scene of the crash on I-65 in southern Bartholomew County, but no one else was found. Or whoever was with him got away unscathed...
Abdullah was traveling northbound at a high rate of speed, swerved to miss a tractor trailer and lost control, striking the median and rolling the vehicle several times, police said. He was not wearing a seat belt.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/07/2002 01:00 pm ||
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The suspected killer of Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn is a vegan animal rights activist who declares on the Internet that "protecting animals is civilising people", a source close to Fortuyn's party said on Tuesday. He civilized the poor man by ventilating him? Are we missing something?
A 32-year-old man from the staunchly religious central Dutch town of Harderwijk is being held for Monday's shooting, and justice officials said bullets and environmentalist material were found during a search of his home. "Staunchly religious central Dutch town", huh? Well, that sounds significant. Prob'ly them Christians. And he had bullets, too...
The man, in custody but not identified by police, says on the Internet he is a member of a small, little-known animal welfare group fighting to stop the expansion of factory farming in a country which boasts a big intensive agriculture industry. So he killed somebody? Another one who writes bad poetry...
And still more...
The man was allegedly well known to authorities, but had never been arrested. Hofstee said police discovered material in the suspect's house allegedly indicating he was involved in environmental activism.
A spokesman from the Vereniging Milieu-offensief (Environment Offensive Association) in Wageningen confirmed that the suspect, Volkert van der Graaf, was an employee of the organisation. The spokesman was quick to distance the organisation from the suspect and the assassination of Fortuyn. "Uh, no... We don't do assassinations. We're into urine-soaked cream pies..."
Van der Graaf wrote in his Internet-published biography that he had studied in Wageningen, near Arnhem, and was focused primarily on fighting intensive cattle breeding and the fur trade. That's what he studied? He had a degree in protest?
The suspect wrote that he waged his campaign by fighting permit procedures and that he was opposed to the morality of the bio-industry in regards its treatment of animals. He claimed to have initiated many successful protest actions in 2000 and was primarily concerned about fighting the most serious environmental breaches and causes of animal sorrow. And that was what he did for a living. Wotta contribution to society. His Mom must be so proud...
In a possible link to his assassination, Fortuyn had recently announced that if he won power he would not be in favour of placing a ban on using animals for the production of fur. Since there's no other way to get fur, that makes sense. It's a hell of a thing to get killed over, though.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/07/2002 12:52 pm ||
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I might say, Fred, that this is the logical culmination of radical environmentalism. Ever since Ingrid Newkirk's infamous declaration "A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy", animal-rights extremists have been engaging in a particularly poisonous species of moral equivalence that even goes so far as to place the lives of non-sentient animals ahead of human beings. I'm sure you're familiar with the case of Earth First out in the Northwest, and the radicals who endangered the lives of loggers by hammering metal spikes into trees in such a position that they would splinter into shrapnel when the loggers did their jobs. Not to mention, of course, the notorious incidents in which laboratories conducting medical experiments with animals - often very delicate and critical experiments, sometimes experiments in which it's _dangerous_ to let microorganisms or chemicals out into the general population - have been raided by animal-rights types who are intent on the "liberation" of the experimental subjects.
If there's any surprise at all to this tragedy, it's not that it happened, but that it hasn't happened before. The danger is that a deadly precedent has been set. For example, _any_ fashion designer who works in fur or leather must now really look over his shoulder, because there might be a PETA freak with a gun coming for him.
Posted by: Joe ||
05/07/2002 17:18 Comments ||
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The "moral equivalence" is envisioned as bringing animals up to the same level as human. Instead it puts humans into the same category as animals. It's a lot easier to kill an animal than it is to kill another person.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/07/2002 20:43 Comments ||
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The first post I made on the second day of my blog concerned how the tactics of radical enviros/animal rights activists would eventually evolve to murder. And that they would find a way to justify it. The "cause" is much more important than any person, especially an infidel.
Israeli and Indian strategists agree that Pakistan is angling to become the next strategic ally of Middle East nations. The strategists, meeting for a dialogue in Israel's Bar-Ilan University last month, said Pakistan seeks to become a supplier of intermediate-range missiles for such countries as Iran, Libya, Saudi Arabia and Syria. They said Saudi Arabia would play a major role in financing such deals. Wotta surprise that is. (Yawn!) They're training the Saudi army, too...
"Pakistan will sell missiles to Middle East states through fronts," K. Santhanam, director of the Indian Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses, said. "Syria is interested in obtained the Ghauri missile." The Ghauri, developed in the 1990s with Chinese help, has a range of up to 1,500 kilometers and can be tipped with a nuclear warhead. Arabs can't have "dignity" without a delivery system.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/07/2002 05:52 pm ||
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Israel and the Palestinians on Tuesday agreed on broad terms for ending a 36-daystandoff at the Bethlehem church, including the deportation of 13 suspected militants, but said a few technical problems still needed to be resolved. One sticking point was where to send the deportees. Negotiators had named Italy as the destination, but a U.S. diplomatic official acknowledged that the Italians had largely been kept out of the loop. Israel later said that no country was willing to take in the Palestinians. They were supposed to be dumped in Italy, but nobody asked the Italians if they could use some gunnies. My suggestion would be to Fedex them to Brussels. They seem to be fond of crazed Palestinian killers there. Or France. Say, maybe they could move in with the Vedrines until they get settled.
Italy said it would consider taking the 13 men if such a request were made. "There are still things to clarify: for example, in what capacity would they come to Italy?" said Italian Defense Minister Antonio Martino. Bank robbers? Assassins? Church burners? (Lotsa churches in Italia.)
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/07/2002 09:27 am ||
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Bank robbers? Assassins? Church burners? (Lotsa churches in Italia.)
How about "coffin fillers"? Gotta be a market for that somewhere.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/07/2002 13:30 Comments ||
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In Washington, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was to meet later Tuesday with President Bush, who has been pushing for an Israeli withdrawal from all Palestinian-run areas.
"Big lies," Yasser Arafat told NBC's "Today" when shown a document that Sharon was to present to Bush accusing the Palestinian leader of directly funding terrorist operations. "Give me one evidence," Arafat said. "I challenge you! I challenge you with all this trifle, issues was written in this book, to give me one evidence. You are now asking me why I am giving money to my people who have lost for more than 19 months, their jobs because the Israelis have kicked them out?" Well, y'see, the Israelis, for not reason at all, fired all the Palestinians and hired Samoans because they were so much more convenient and would work for higher wages. Well, what was Yasser to do? He couldn't just stand there and watch his people suffer, so he gave them all jobs. As crazed killers.
Yasser doesn't seem real coherent lately, does he?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/07/2002 09:33 am ||
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The only reason Clinton continued inviting Arafart back to the White House is directly related to those very moments the Noble Terrorist opens his mouth - Clinton thought he was being teased.
Those slated for deportation came under some last-minute pressure not to accept. The leader of the Islamic militant group Hamas, Sheik Ahmed Yassin, called one of his followers in the compound, Aziz Abayat, and told him that in going into exile, he would not have the group's backing. "Sheik Yassin told us that ... anyone who accepts exile does not represent the movement's position," Abayat said. That position involves fighting to the last man, the last bullet, except for Sheikh Yassin, of course. He's to valuable to the Movement to explode.
A senior leader of Arafat's Fatah movement in the West Bank, Hussein al-Sheik, criticized the Palestinian Authority for accepting exile as an option, saying it set a dangerous precedent. And killing them sets a better precedent? Oooh. Great Minds of the 21st Century at Work!
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/07/2002 09:38 am ||
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An international military force including Americans should be sent to the Middle East to end the conflict in the region, former president Bill Clinton told 2,000 students, faculty, and alumni at Hunter College in New York yesterday. This man is a Rhodes scholar?
"If there is going to be anything like a lasting settlement," Clinton said, "I believe it will require international forces â Americans, Europeans, Russians, and others, and I think we should show up and do it." Did he get that from some poll? Where? The Gaza Strip?
Clinton urged the students to support his stance. He said Israel would reject an international force that did not include Americans, explaining, "The Israelis believe that America is the only great country that cares whether they live or die... You should be for it. We have to do it." We've already discussed this, and we're pretty much all agreed that it's a marvelously bad idea. In fact, it stinksout loud. You can't have "peacekeepers" when there's no peace. When Israel isn't grinding through Palestinian streets in tanks and APCs, the Palestinians are swarming around Israelis and exploding. That doesn't sound an awful lot like peace. So what's to keep? And even if there was, why use Americans? The PA sees the U.S. as supporting Israel. The Israelis would be just as unhappy seeing Iranians as "peacekeepers." What about Samoa? Vanuatu? Peru? Mongolia? Kyrgyzstan? Estonia? How about Costa Rica? Think at least a little outside the box, Captain Happy Bill. You should be for it. We have to do it.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/07/2002 10:37 am ||
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Two Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH) observers killed in Hebron on March 28 were shot by gunmen belonging to Islamic Jihad, Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said yesterday. Speaking to the ambassadors of the countries contributing observers to TIPH, Ben-Eliezer promised Israel will spare no effort to bring those responsible for the killings to justice. And then the ambassadors' countries and NGOs can spare no effort in trying to spring them... Just for curiosity's sake, howcome they were killed on the 28th and Rantburg picked it up on the 26th? Am I getting clairvoyant?
On March 28, a gunmen opened fire on a car driven by TIPH members, killing Maj. Turgut Cengiz Toytunç from Turkey and Catherine Berruex, an office worker from Switzerland. Capt. Hussein Osam Salam was wounded. TIPH has condemned the shooting, but TIPH officials would not indicate who they were accusing of shooting their members.
Ben-Eliezer met with the ambassadors of Norway, Turkey, Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, and Italy in his Tel Aviv office yesterday. TIPH is the only international observer force in the territories. But the PA and Kofi and Clinton all say we should have more...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/07/2002 10:35 am ||
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A Palestinian suicide bomber exploded in a billiard club south of Tel Aviv, killing at least 15 people and wounding at least 60 others. Reports indicate nearly the entire building in Rishon Lezion's new industrial area has collapsed as a result of the blast. Police report at least 15 people were killed. Firefighters are on the scene and are reporting at least 60 casualties.
According to the Qatar-based al-Jazeera television news network, Hamas has claimed reponsibility for the Rishon Lezion bombing. However, a conflicting report indicates Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction has claimed responsibility for the attack. Sharon's out of the country, visiting Bush. We knew it would come, if Hamas could pull it off... Will they go into Gaza now? Or later? Or will they hit al-Aqsa again?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/07/2002 04:11 pm ||
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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.
