As rivers of lava poured down its slopes, Mount Etna spewed thick clouds of ash and magma for a second day Monday, prompting officials to close some schools as the air turned sooty over much of eastern Sicily. Kids today have it easy. Why, back in my day, we don't close down the schools just for a few volcanic eruptions. We just brought the brontosaurs inside and kept on studying...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
10/28/2002 11:17 am ||
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Hope you removed their reins from the hitching posts first.
Posted by: Kathy K ||
10/28/2002 16:06 Comments ||
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Suman notes that Mexico has aligned itself with the Frenchies on the question of Iraq. Is there a quid for the quo?
Mexican officials acknowledge this move as an attempt to open up the Mexican border with France for migrant workers looking to load up crates of wine and fat-butt geese at marketplaces France-wide. This is seen as a latest attempt by Vincente "Foxy" Fox to exert economic pressure over the United States refusal to tear down the already porous US-Mexican border...
It is rumored that France will allow unlimited immigration from Mexico, in part to boost their sagging economy, and in part to shame their Muslim minorities, while respecting the sanctity of euro-bashing political correctness. "The Mexicans will bring their work ethic, their love of salsa, their very large-.. er, well-proportioned women, their cheerful love of life and commerce." gasped the breathless spokeswoman as she gamely fought off several new insta-fatwas lobbied her way by the local county Shariah process servers. "We hope they can confuse and entice our other, more beleaguered minorities who seem to have tired of life and our paradise welfare state. We have been unable to make them feel good about themselves and neither can we feel good about ourselves any more. "
Are there mariachi bands in the future of Lyons and Marseilles? Stay tuned...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
10/28/2002 06:58 pm ||
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It'd be a damn fine improvement...
Posted by: G ||
10/28/2002 19:31 Comments ||
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Ole! Use the Mexicans to chase the AIG back to the arms of the Algerian government, and solve Mexico's unemployment problem at the same time. I'm all for it.
#3
I wonder if Presidente Fox would welcome tearing down the 'already porous US-Mexician border' if it meant we could send our marshals, police, and soldiers into the lairs of their corrupt politicos and drug money pits. I suspect there would be a scream about respecting national sovereignty, theirs, not ours.
Posted by: Don ||
10/29/2002 9:35 Comments ||
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Fox is worried about a drop in oil prices, and wants to keep Iraq's wells off the market. France wants to keep buying cut-rate oil from Iraq under the "oil for food" program.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
10/29/2002 10:17 Comments ||
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On the 5th of May 1862, General Ignacio Zaragoza, named Major General of the Army by the government of Juárez, obtained victory in the Battle of Puebla against the French.
Should we send this to "Foxy" and remind him that (to paraphrase the Gipper) getting in bed with Chirac may be more than a good night's sleep.
#10
Everyone says this is a US war for oil, but they have it wrong. It is a French/Russian/Mexican non-war for oil.
Come to think of it, its not even a war, its enforcing the peace that came after the last war. The current peace movement movement makes me embarassed to be a pacifist.
The United States has partially withdrawn crucial reconstruction aid to Afghanistan in an effort to force regional warlords to end disputes which threaten the country's stability, U.S. officials said Monday. U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Robert Finn said aid programs around the principal northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif had been suspended because of repeated outbreaks of violence in the area. But that... that sounds like sanctions! We can't have that! What about all the little babies and puppies and kittens and baby ducks that'll starve. Best to keep giving them money and just go on talking, isn't it?
His comments came a day after Finn and U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad traveled to the city for talks with rival warlords Abdul Rashid Dostam and Atta Mohammad, who jointly control the country's strategic northern zone. Although Dostam and Mohammad claim to enjoy cordial relations, troops under their command have continued to clash, straining their uneasy alliance and taking the region to the brink of open conflict. They get along, their troops don't. I hate it when that happens...
At least six people were killed in the latest bout of fighting just 25 kilometers (15 miles) from Mazar, the stronghold of Mohammad. Yep. That's what not getting along looks like...
Despite the uneasy security situation, Khalilzad said both regional leaders pledged to crush the violence and throw their weight behind the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai. When they start hanging a few of their own gunnies — not each other's gunnies — then it'll stop.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
10/28/2002 12:10 pm ||
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This does illustrate one of my many pet peeves. News reports describing "fierce" fighting with six killed.
How would they have described Gettysburg?
Six killed. Guys, you aren't really trying, are you?
The three main factions in Afghanistan's volatile north have reached an agreement to disarm their fighters. The deal came after several hours of talks between the Shi'ite Hezb-i-Wahdat faction, the Jamiat-e-Islami group of Ustad Atta Mohammad and representatives of Uzbek warlord, General Abdul Rashid Dostum, Wahdat spokesman Sardar Sayedi told reporters. Wonder if they'll knock it off this time?
He said U.N. officials witnessed the agreement — the second of its kind this year. "A decision was made to stop the fighting here," Sayedi said. "Agreements were made that police should be based in the cities and all armed men must either withdraw or join the army." That sounds fair...
The agreement was reached in the key northern town of Mazar-i-Sharif a day after the U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan Zalmai Khalilzad met Dostum and Atta in Mazar to express concern about recent fighting between their factions, which have clashed repeatedly since U.S. air power helped topple the Taliban regime last year. "You guys are acting like a bunch of Pashtuns and it's embarrassing..."
The earlier U.N.-brokered disarmament deal never got off the ground and news of the latest agreement came amid reports of fresh fighting. "... so we're turning off the money until you get your guys under control. If you can't do that, too bad."
Sayedi said there had been clashes Monday between Dostum and Atta's forces in the Sholgara area about 25 miles southwest of Mazar-i-Sharif. Residents of the area said seven people had been killed. Sunday, Atta's deputy Abdul Saboor told Reuters six people were killed in fighting the previous day in the Char Kant area a similar distance southeast of Mazar. Maybe somebody should remind them that you stop being a tough guy when you're dead. And when you're no longer a tough guy, you don't get a share of the booty...
Sayedi said details of how the agreement would be implemented still had to be worked out. Khalilzad's visit to Mazar came days after U.S.-backed President Hamid Karzai warned he would strip regional warlords of their power unless they fell in line with his government. Khalilzad said he had made clear to Dostum and Atta they had to decide whether they want to support Karzai's government. Both Dostum and Atta are members of Karzai's weak coalition government but have declined to move to Kabul. Life's safer for Afghan warlords when they don't get too far from their infantry...
Mazar is controlled largely by Atta, who fought against Dostum for its control in the 1990s. The three groups expended a lot of blood to take Mazar, and now they can't stop fighting to see who's in charge.
Dozens of fighters and non-combatants have been killed in the clashes between their forces since then and several hundred ethnic Pashtuns, a minority group in the area but the majority in Afghanistan, have been forced to flee. I'm sure they're all non-combatants, but I still can't work up much sympathy. Pashtun treachery threw the city to the Talibs, way back when.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
10/28/2002 06:24 pm ||
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I think the main impetus here was the MMA triumphs in Porkistan. The real Northern Alliance will have to unite, because the MMA-Talibanis are about to be armed and dangerous. Karzai's authority doesn't exist outside of his shoes. Afghanistan has always been a dog's breakfast country, and it should break up.
The US military has freed the brother of anti-Taliban commander Haji Roohullah and his seven companions after keeping them in custody for two months at the Bagram airbase north of Kabul. Roohullah, who was a member of the Afghan Loya Jirga from the eastern Kunar province and a supporter of the US and President Hamid Karzai, was arrested due to suspicions about his links with Arab fighters in Afghanistan. Sounds typically Pashtun...
His brother Abdul Qayyum and some of his companions and bodyguards were also apprehended. Two of his bodyguards were freed sometime back while Qayyum and seven others were released a few days ago. The freed men have now returned to Kunar. Roohullah belonged to the Jamaat-ud-Da'awa, a party of Ahle Hadith followers, also known as Salfis. The party has pockets of support in Kunar and Nangarhar provinces and had close ties to the Arab fighters and donors during the years of the Afghan "jihad". Roohullah was accused of facilitating the escape of Arabs linked to al-Qaeda from Afghanistan in the wake of the US military operation late last year. I presume this is the same Jamaat ad-Dawa that's active in Pakland, or a branch of it. It's the legit front for Lashkar e-Taiba. The Ahle Hadith is a Salafist movement, one of many subtly-flavored Saudi fronts...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
10/28/2002 06:34 pm ||
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This is one of the few occasions where I disagree with Bush. The U.N. doesn't need Sammy's help to look foolish...
Turning up pressure on skeptical U.S. allies, President Bush said Monday that Saddam Hussein ``has made the United Nations look foolish'' and demanded anew that the international body disarm Iraq. ``Either the United Nations will do its duty to disarm Saddam Hussein or Saddam Hussein will disarm himself,'' Bush said, apparently leaving open the possibility that Saddam could avert an international conflict. I suppose he could also become a Shriner and raise money for little kids, wear a funny hat, and ride a motorcycle in parades. But I doubt that he'll do either...
``In either case, if (U.N. nations) refuse to act - in the name of peace, in the name of a security tomorrow, in the name of freedom - the United States will lead a coalition and disarm him,'' Bush said, drawing huge cheers at a political rally eight days before the Nov. 5 elections.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
10/28/2002 11:11 am ||
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The United States won key support Monday from chief weapons inspectors who told the Security Council they would be better off with a new resolution that warns Iraq of consequences if it fails to cooperate. "I think it is desirable that Iraq understands that any lack of cooperation or violation ... will call for reactions on the part of the council," said Hans Blix, the top U.N. inspector. He means reactions other than just more talking...
But Blix and Mohammed ElBaradei, who heads the International Atomic Energy Agency in charge of nuclear inspections, questioned several details in the U.S. proposal and said it was up to the council — not them — to decide whether Iraq was in compliance. "It has been suggested that we hold war and peace in our hands (and) we decline that statement," Blix told journalists after discussing the U.S. proposal inside the Security Council. "Our job is to report." Okay, then. Report. We'll take it from there...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
10/28/2002 06:01 pm ||
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A Chechen rebel envoy expressed willingness Monday to start unconditional peace talks with the Russian government over ending the war in the breakaway republic. "Please don't kill us all!"
The overture, made at a conference that has sparked a diplomatic row between Russia and Denmark, comes just days after Chechen rebels stormed a theater in Moscow, an attack that ended with more than 100 deaths after Russian forces pumped in sleeping gas and captured the building. ``We urge and we are asking (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, and we declare our readiness, to start peace talks without any preliminary terms,'' said Akhmed Zakayev, a representative of separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov. "Really. We're not that bad, after all. You don't need to use carpet bombing..."
Russia, which has so far insisted on a military solution in Chechnya, sharply criticized Denmark for holding the World Chechen Congress after the theater attack. Chechens at the two-day conference distanced themselves from the hostage crisis in Moscow. ``We have no relations with terrorists,'' said Osman Ferzaouli, a Copenhagen-based Maskhadov representative. "No, no! It wasn't us! It was... ummm... somebody else!"
About 100 Chechens, Russian human rights activists and lawmakers from Russia and other European countries gathered at a Copenhagen hotel Monday to discuss ways to end the fighting. "They're really cheesed this time! We better do something..."
Delegates, including former speaker of the Russian parliament Ruslan Khasbulatov, who is an ethnic Chechen, and former Lithuanian President Vytautas Landsbergis, called for a dialogue with Moscow that could lead to independence for the Caucasus republic. What part about "piss off" don't you understand?
The Russians have refused to negotiate with the rebels, who they say have links to international terrorism. Thanks to Steve for the link...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
10/28/2002 11:06 am ||
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Sorta reminds me of the way Arafat does business.
Russia began a day of mourning Monday, October 28, for the victims of last week's hostage drama in a Moscow theater in which 117 people died, amidst mounting criticism of Russia's "callous" use of a mystery gas which experts believe may have been a chemical weapon developed during the Cold War. A blind man could have seen that one coming. As I've said before, it was less callous to gas them and rescue as many as they could than it would have been to allow the crazed killed to slaughter them all by dropping the building on them, or by shooting them one at a time...
One hundred and fifteen people died during the special forces operation to rescue more than 800 people taken hostage by a group of Chechen terrorists fighters, who seized a Moscow theater Wednesday, October 23, during a performance of a hit musical. One hundred and forty-five people are still in intensive care in hospitals around the city, 45 of them in serious condition, suffering from the after-effects of the gas. Russian officials have refused to provide details of the gas, which experts believe may have been a chemical weapon of a non-lethal nature developed during the Cold War. That would make it a handy thing to have for antiterror operations, too. Sounds like it still needs work, though...
A Russian expert on Moscow Echo radio said that the dosage of the gas used in the rescue operation had not taken into account the weakened condition of most of the hostages, and the fact that many of them would have been middle-aged, elderly or in uncertain health. On the other hand, the majority are still alive. Had it not been used, chances are they'd all be dead now. Y'pays yer money, and y'takes yer chance.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
10/28/2002 12:18 pm ||
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Quite so. That Russian expert failed to note that the dosage did take into account the fact that those strapped with bombs could have brought the building down if not immediately disabled.
If I were in that situation I'd rather take my chances with the gas (though I wouldn't have been in that situation -- I would probably have been dead, along with a few terrorists).
Arm the Russian people, and this won't happen again! (Nah, they won't listen, but I had to say it anyway.)
Posted by: Kathy K ||
10/28/2002 16:15 Comments ||
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If 50 Bad Guys take 750 real people hostage, and then later discover that 200 of the hostages are packing heat, guess who's gonna be unhappy?
Posted by: Fred ||
10/28/2002 16:22 Comments ||
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At the end of the day, most observers will oppose the use of gas in what turned out to be fatal concentration, and not the use of gas in itself. Putin's hand was forced. God bless anyone else who is put in the same position.
President Vladimir Putin said Monday he will give the military broader power to strike against suspected terrorists "wherever they may be" after a hostage siege at a Moscow theater ended with 118 captives dead, most from a knockout gas used by Russian authorities. In televised comments, Putin said "Russia will not ... give in to any blackmail. International terrorism is becoming more impudent, acting more cruelly. Here and there around the world threats from terrorists of the use of means comparable to weapons of mass destruction are heard," Putin said at a meeting with government ministers. "If anyone even tries to use such means in relation to our country, Russia will answer with measures adequate to the threat to the Russian Federation. In all places where the terrorists, the organizers of these crimes or their ideological or financial sponsors are located. I emphasize: wherever they may be." I'd say he's cheesed, and justifiably so. There are powers outside his borders who are interfering inside his borders, the while standing around looking blandly innocent. If I was a Saudi prince, I'd be leaving for Monaco or Lichtenstein about now, or at least forging a Qatari or Bahraini passport...
Putin has sought to portray the Chechen conflict as a battle with international terrorists, partly to get broader support abroad. But mostly because it's true. Where do they get these Associated Press journalists?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
10/28/2002 12:28 pm ||
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One recalls how they handled the kidnapping of a Soviet intelligence officer in Beruit. Oddly they only ever had one kidnapped.
#2
Putin sounds like a logical reasonable man, especially if he follows up his rhetoric with action. I wish the USA had a leader like that! Bush can barely even talk a good fight. And don't even get me started on our traitorous State Department.
#3
How did they handle the Soviet Intelligence Officer in Beirut?
Posted by: Brian ||
10/28/2002 16:08 Comments ||
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They grabbed a towelhead and sent him back to the kidnappers in pieces, bit by bit. IE they proved they were nastier than the kidnappers.
Posted by: Andrew Ian Dodge ||
10/28/2002 16:21 Comments ||
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The towelhead in question was the brother of the head of the group that grabbed the Ruskie. I heard that they sent a finger to the brother, threatening to forward the "family jewels", detatched, next...
Posted by: G ||
10/28/2002 19:37 Comments ||
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#6
Some of our lovely politician could learn a lesson or two here. Or, they could ask the citizens of Carthage.
The head of the Moscow-backed administration of Chechnya said Monday the safety of rebels who disarm and surrender will be guaranteed if they have not been involved in terrorist acts. "I guarantee your safety on behalf of the country's leadership if you do not have blood on your hands," Akhmad Kadyrov said. He said those who give up the separatist war against Russian forces would be given help finding jobs. "If you do not surrender, you will be killed because terrorism will be fought by the toughest possible method," Kadyrov said. Sounds like a good statement of principle. Now let's hope they stick with it.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
10/28/2002 12:31 pm ||
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Over a hundred Dalits (low-caste Hindus) converted to Buddhism, Islam and Christianity, Sunday, October 27, in protest against the inequality in Hindu religion, which treats Dalits as sub-human, even less important than cattle. The new converts included families of the five Dalits lynched on October 15 for skinning a dead cow. For hundreds of generations these people have been skinning dead animals. High-caste Hindus worship the cow as âmother,â and are generally anti-cow slaughter. However, they have traditionally allowed skinning of dead animals, including cows, and their trade. On October 15, a mob of 2000 upper caste Hindus lynched five Dalit young men for having âkilledâ a cow barely 60 kilometres from the national capital as 50 policemen and senior government officials watched silently. Families of victims say that their relatives were actually killed by the police for refusing to pay high bribes. The latest round of conversions has come in response to that event. And with good reason...
Dalits are aggrieved not only about the continuing harassment and humiliation at the hands of high-caste Hindus, but by the justification of such harassment by religious leaders. Soon after the lynching, a high-profile Hindu religious leader, Giriraj Kishore, told newspersons in Delhi that as per Hindu scriptures, âthe life of a cow is more precious than a manâs.â That's a nice little reminder that ignorance and brutality aren't the exclusive province of Islamism. I always found it interesting that the "export version" of Hinduism, being closer to the Vedic forms, didn't include the caste system. It managed to flourish for several hundred years alongside Lesser Vehicle Buddhism in Cambodia, large parts of what's now Indonesia, Champa (southern Vietnam) and a few other places. If the Indos are going to do real "Hinduvta," maybe they should scrub the caste system â which is, after all, a relatively recent development in their religion.
Dalit leader Udit Raj, himself a convert from Hinduism to Buddhism, said Sunday that Hindu religious and ultra nationalist organizations like âthe VHP, Bajrang Dal and RSS and their so-called leaders are forcing the Dalits across the country to convert to different religionsâ. He said that the guilty had been allowed to go scot-free which meant that the government was anti-Dalit. And he's probably right. The Hinduvta bunch is trying to pass laws making it illegal proselytize other religions, and if they manage that they'll try to make it illegal to convert. That's the sign of a religion on the decline, not resurgent.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
10/28/2002 11:58 am ||
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Here's the marketing problem for the caste-style Hinduism. Compair their approact to the Dalits:
Hinduism-"You're behind the rest of us on the road to spiritual fulfillment. It's your lot in life to get crapped on by us. If you take getting crapped on well, you might move up a rung on the ladder in your next life."
Christianity-"You're a child of God. Jesus died for your sins. Accept him as Lord and Savior and you're heaven bound after this life."
Which one is the easier sell?
Posted by: Mark Byron ||
10/28/2002 12:11 Comments ||
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Actually, most Hindutva supporters oppose the caste system. At least on their websites, if not on the streets. I believe that Indian Muslims pose an internal threat to India, that should be dealt with. Gujurat's Modi for one, wants to outlaw teaching of "jihad." I think that he is coming to America in a couple of weeks. I hope the media takes interest.
A U.S. embassy employee was killed Monday, October 28, in the Jordanian capital, Jordanian Information Minister Mohammad Adwan said. âThe American citizen has been identified as Lawrence Foley, an employee of USAID,â the United States Agency for International Development, Adwan told Agence France-Presse (AFP). âAn unidentified gunman fired at him, killing him on the spot as he prepared to leave his home (in western Amman) early this morning to go to work,â the minister added. Sounds like a causus belli to me...
Describing it as a âcriminal and treacherous assassinationâ, Adwan said the killing âregardless of its motives is an attack against Jordan and its national security.â He said that the authorities had immediately launched an investigation, and pledged that the perpetrator âwill get his fair punishment.â We'd like his head on a plate, with at least four of his friends and relatives as garnish, please.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
10/28/2002 11:06 am ||
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Israel decided to ban 13 Palestinian deputies from attending a parliamentary session Monday in Ramallah where Palestinian President Yasser Arafat is to name his new cabinet. The 88 MPs are to convene in Arafat's battered Ramallah headquarters and vote on a confidence motion on the new cabinet. "For reasons of security, 13 Palestinian deputies will not be authorized to attend the parliamentary session in Ramallah on Monday," an Israeli government spokesman, Ofir Khakham, told Agence France-Presse (AFP). Tough, when you have to worry about the occasional MP exploding. More likely they're worried about them meeting face-to-face with the guys who organize other people exploding...
But he did not identify those refused authorization, and did not elaborate on those reasons of security. The announcement comes a day after Palestinian deputy speaker Ibrahim Abul-Naja said Israel had promised to allow all Palestinian deputies to attend Monday's session. Guess he meant all of them who aren't on the list...
Israel banned 14 Gaza deputies from attending a previous session last month, but the Palestinian parliament still met Monday, September 9, in Ramallah, despite the Israeli attempt to foil the session by denying the 14 Gaza-based members of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) passes to travel to the West Bank. The 14 banned Gaza members included late MP Wajeeh Yajee and another resigned MP. The Gaza deputies instead participated by video link-up. If Wajeeh's dead, I guess it's understandable they banned him.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
10/28/2002 11:06 am ||
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Israeli security forces have captured 175 bombing suspects, Israel's Defense Ministry confirmed Monday. In an interview with the Maariv daily, Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said the security forces recently captured six Palestinians believed to be on their way to carry out suicide bombings. ``Up to now we have in our hands 175 male and female suicide terrorists,'' he told the newspaper. The question now is, what do they do with them? If they take them out in the middle of a field and detonate them all Mary Robinson will come down with the vapors, and we wouldn't want that...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
10/28/2002 11:13 am ||
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I think I'd like seeing Mary Robinson have the vapors. At least it would be a step up from her usual idiotarianism.
#2
Maybe they're building a stockpile of suicide bombers to distract the world from its nuclear weapons program? "Hey, forget the nukes... we got suicide bombers, darnit!"
Posted by: Laurence Simon ||
10/28/2002 16:46 Comments ||
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#3
Hmmm... You might have a point. Suicide bombers dropped from 30,000 feet would do considerable damage...
Posted by: Fred ||
10/28/2002 23:24 Comments ||
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#4
By talg in Jerusalem
Sunday's Islamikaze attack in Ariel was carried out by Hamas, not by Fatah as was originally thought.
After Fatah mistakenly announced that Muhammed Shakir had carried out Sunday bombing, the IDF found would-be-bomber Shakir and arrested him
Posted by: marek ||
10/29/2002 12:36 Comments ||
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The White House said Monday terrorism was not being ruled out in the slaying of Laurence Foley, a U.S. diplomat in Amman, Jordan. Spokesman Ari Fleischer said "the investigation is just getting under way. We don't rule that out, but we won't go beyond that at this moment." In another news flash, Fleischer said Catholicism can't be ruled out in Vatican City. He won't rule it out, but he won't go beyond that at this moment...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
10/28/2002 05:57 pm ||
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Police in Solo, Central Java clashed with angry supporters of the alleged terror leader Abu Bakar Basyir while he was being removed from his hospital bed, news agencies reported Monday. Hundreds of supporters of Basyir, an elderly criminal mastermind Muslim cleric of 64, flew stones wounding one policeman while some 150 police officers tried to clear the hospital grounds of the supporters. Basyir later reached the police headquarters at Bandara Ahmad Yani, Semarang under heavy police escort. Basyir was accompanied by three police officers fully armed to the teeth, his doctor and a member of his entourage. I'm snowed. I didn't think they'd actually take him in. I thought the Indons would back down because they're scared of his thugs...
According to the latest reports, Basyir is already in Jakarta where he is jailed in maximum security in order to prevent any âmishap and unnecessary grouping of crowds if he was to be in a hospital again,â IslamOnline was told. Wonder if the Indons thought of that, or the Aussies and Americans?
Basyir, who has been hospitalized for the last two weeks with acute hypochondria respiratory problems, was escorted in a wheelchair to a waiting police motorcade that drove him to a nearby airport, then to Semarang. That made the best picture for the propagandists...
Observers say the Basyir case is being treated with caution by the entourage of President Megawati Sukarnoputri, who want a full report on the situation in Solo and in Jakarta after the arrest of Basyir. That's another way of saying they're scared spitless...
His arrest, linked to the âconfessions of a Kuwaiti citizen who bought fake Indonesian Identification papers,â a member of the Indonesian Mujahideen Council (MMI) told IslamOnline in an online chat on Monday, is bound to create troubles for the Megawati regime. Umar Al-Faruq, the Kuwaiti citizen arrested in June in the city of Bandung, confessed in Washington to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) that he knew Basyir and that the latter was the leader of the âterroristsâ in South East Asia. The Reformed United Development Party (PPP Reformasi) has joined calls for a probe into the extradition of terror suspect Omar Al-Faruq to the U.S. and demanded that he be returned to Indonesia, the Jakarta Post wrote on Monday. They want him returned to Indonesia so he can be assassinated. "Whoops! The witness is dead! Too bad. I'd like my acquittal now, please..."
This is the third political party that has now called for the return of the extradited Kuwaiti, whom several observers and politicians in Jakarta say is a CIA agent who infiltrated the country to seek information on Basyir and other Mujahideen groups in Indonesia. âFind out who was responsible for the âescapeâ of Al-Faruq to the United States,â deputy secretary-general of the party Miqdad Husein said on Sunday, October 27, putting more pressure on Megawati to reveal how Al-Faruq was sent to the U.S. and why. This is called "attacking the messenger," in case you hadn't noticed. Since there's not a gram of subtlty here, you probably did...
He also urged the government to bring Al-Faruq back to Indonesia where he could be killed to confront Basyir, who rejected all the allegations against him and said he never met Al-Faruq. Basyir risks the death penalty if he is found guilty. Police arrested him on the basis on accusations made by Al-Faruq who said Basyir participated in the 2000 bombing of several churches in Indonesia. "What's wrong with that? They were just infidels..."
During the meeting with the clerics, police asked them to control Basyirâs supporters so the inquiry team could do their job. Worked well, didn't it?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
10/28/2002 11:06 am ||
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The Indonesian governmet has awakened (albeit reluctantly). The Bali attack made them lose a lot of face.
Face (for the gov't and military) is far more important than numbers dead. I suspect they'll handle it.
Posted by: Kathy K ||
10/28/2002 17:17 Comments ||
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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.
