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Army Helicopters Bombard Jordanian Town
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Arabia
Soddy Shoura Council Seeks More Powers
The Saudi Shoura Council has sought more powers from the government in an attempt to activate itself. “The Shoura seeks to have more powers to cope with modern developments and make it highly effective,” Council President Saleh ibn Humaid told a special Shoura session attended by Prince Sultan, second deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation. “The Shoura Council represents a cornerstone in the country’s development process in the planning, organizational and supervisory aspects,” said Humaid, a former imam and khateeb of the Grand Mosque in Makkah.
Isn't it a comfort, having the shura fill of pious holy men? They're so reasonable. It's high time they were given more power...
He emphasized the council’s role in frankly debating all issues concerning the Kingdom and its people. “It covers political, economic, social, educational, civilian and military issues,” he pointed out.
Probably to include the financing of the international terror machine...
“Shoura (consultation) is a fundamental principle of the Islamic rule. It is an important system that aims at achieving justice and realizing a balance between the rights of individuals and the state,” Humaid said.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 11/12/2002 07:59 am || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Axis of Evil
Galloway lashes out at West silence
INA
British Labor Member of Parliament George Galloway has affirmed that the silence of the West, particularly the US, on Zionist entity disapproval of UN Security Council resolutions, its possession of mass destruction weapons and West endeavor to punish Iraq under pretexts of possessing mass destruction weapons reflect the double standards policy in dealing with the Zionists entity, which was and still is part of Western alliance.
This tactic is known as "changing the subject." Galloway is the Labour MP who thinks Sammy and his regime are just ducky, the put-upon victims on International Jewry. His constituency appears to reside in Baghdad...
Interviewed by Ad-Dustor newspaper, Galloway said, “Targeting Iraq comes due to Iraq’s capabilities before the 1991 aggression. Further it threatens of being the source of unity of Arab nation”. He thought neither Blair nor British foreign policy support bombing Iraq.
He also doesn't appear to make much sense — dunno if he's incoherent or if the translator's having a bad day. "The 1991 aggression" refers to the response to Iraq's gobbling up Kuwait...
Responding on anti-war activities regarding Iraq, Galloway made it clear that slogans of non-attacking Iraq and Victory to Intifadha been raised during the demonstrations reflect the fact that Iraq and Palestine’s cause is one.
That's a conclusion I've come to long since, too. A thump to Iraq is a thump to Hamas and Islamic Jihad...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 11/12/2002 07:59 am || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Take a pill, George.

We're not going to force the "Zionist entity" to give up their "Sampson Option" until the Arabs get a clue.
Posted by: mojo || 11/12/2002 11:46 Comments || Top||

#2  Isn't it interesting how all the left-wingers [and Georgieporgie is one of them]are the new anti-semites? That use to be the province of the KKK, Nazis and the Muslims.
Posted by: Jack || 11/13/2002 10:59 Comments || Top||


Iraq Parliament Votes “No” on UN Resolution
The Iraqi Parliament recommended, following a heated session in Baghdad, the rejection of a UN resolution, ordering Baghdad to eliminate its alleged weapons of mass destruction, and threatening a tough response if Iraq fails to do so. The open session, aired at Iraqi television and satellite TV station negated assurances by Arab officials that Iraq will accept Resolution 1441, which was drafted jointly by the United States and Britain.
Most people are under no illusions as to what Arab officials are full of...
Parliament speaker, Sa’doun Hamadi opened the special session saying, “The ill intentions in this resolution are flagrant and loud in ignoring all the work that has been achieved in past years.”
The issue will now be passed up the line to the Revolutionary Command Council and Sammy himself. He can make his own decision. He describes the Gulf War to himself and to the Iraqi people as a victory — by convoluting logic and reality you can make yourself believe anything. If, in the course of ten years, he's come to really, truly believe his own propaganda line, he'll decide to whip us again...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 11/12/2002 07:59 am || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Thank you sir, may I have another?"
Posted by: mojo || 11/12/2002 17:54 Comments || Top||

#2  Government's reply was telling.

"Assume the position!"
Posted by: Tripartite || 11/12/2002 18:51 Comments || Top||

#3  Simple Solution:

If Iraq obstructs the entrance of inspectors to a facility, bomb that facility. If they delay the entrance to a facility, bomb the trucks that are sneaking the CW and BW out the back. Maybe if Sammie knows we are going to bomb any facility he obstructs on, then he will allow inspectors in?

Posted by: Anonymous || 11/13/2002 13:15 Comments || Top||


France threatens war on Iraq...
WARNING: Don't read this if you're drinking coffee...
France has made its strongest statement of support yet for military action against Iraq. French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said that if President Saddam Hussein fails to comply with the Security Council resolution on inspection and disarmament, force will inevitably be used against Baghdad.
Did he say by whom?
During more than four weeks of argument with the United States about the resolution, France consistently argued that it should not give automatic authorisation for military action. In an interview on France Inter radio, Mr de Villepin noted that Saddam Hussein now knew perfectly well what would happen if he did not comply with the resolution. Despite Mr de Villepin's comments, it is still presumably the French Government's position that the Security Council should take the final decision on military action. Washington's view is that that isn't necessary, and indeed the resolution doesn't say it is.
Funny, how they forgot to put that in...
See? I warned you about drinking coffee. You can get a new keyboard fairly cheap here. Thanks to Jussi for the headzup!
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 11/12/2002 10:53 am || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Fuckin' frogs...
Posted by: mojo || 11/12/2002 11:44 Comments || Top||

#2  They're just trying to keep their money. Much easier to keep all those debts and contracts when you're a Bonafide Ally than when you're a backstabbing opportunist.

Nothing to see here, move along.
Posted by: Tripartite || 11/12/2002 14:15 Comments || Top||

#3  If I were Franks, I'd put them in front of the US advance directly into Baghdad. That way, we can have them do the urban warfare. When the body bags return home, there goes NATO! Sacrebleu, it's brilliant.
Posted by: Brian || 11/12/2002 19:33 Comments || Top||

#4  Nice idea, Brian, except that the French idea of "urban warfare" was to declare Paris an open city.
Posted by: Steve White || 11/12/2002 21:32 Comments || Top||

#5  Their idea of "force" is to suspend Sammies subscription to Le Monde and reduce his ration of Gauloises to a pack a day. Give me a break, a Frog talking tough? Must be bad cork.
Posted by: Jack || 11/13/2002 10:56 Comments || Top||


Iran Student Protests Grow
Thousands of Iranian students ignored official warnings and demonstrated for the fourth day running Tuesday against a dissident's death sentence and to demand freedom of speech and political reform. Some 5,000 students gathered at Tehran University, once the hotbed of revolutionary fervour that overthrew the shah two decades ago, in support of academic Hashem Aghajari, sentenced to hang for questioning clerical rule in the Islamic Republic. ``The execution of Aghajari is the execution of the university,'' demonstrators chanted. ``Political prisoners should be freed.''
Is it time yet?
The momentum of protests appeared to be growing, with bigger crowds in Tehran each day and demonstrations spreading to the provincial cities of Tabriz, Isfahan, Urumiyeh and Hamedan. Following their rally in Tehran, students marched through the vast university campus, holding hands and singing ``Ey Iran'' — a popular nationalist song that pre-dates the 1979 Islamic revolution. When they reached the locked university gates, some tried to force them open and shouted at police and passers-by on the other side. ``Nation, shame on you for your silence. We don't want spectators, join us.'' Despite the unusually bold slogans, which included insults against top political figures such as powerful former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, watching police did not intervene.
When the coppers start joining them, then it'll be time...
Thanks to Steve for the link!
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 11/12/2002 12:28 pm || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It's almost time: the coppers did nothing, which IS an improvement.
Posted by: Ptah || 11/12/2002 14:40 Comments || Top||


Arab League wants Arabs on inspection teams...
CAIRO, INA
Arab League chief Amr Moussa said he would ask UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Monday to include Arab nationals on arms inspection teams being sent to Iraq under new resolution. Moussa was acting on a statement issued Sunday by Arab foreign ministers who called on the UN Security Council's permanent members to respect assurances not to use its new resolution as a pretext for a war against Iraq. The ministers asked for Arabs to join the inspectors after Syria warned that a report from them of Iraqi failure to cooperate could "spark" military action. “I will convey this demand today," during a telephone conversation later Monday with Annan, the League's secretary general told journalists in Cairo where the organisation is based. “Having Arab inspectors or observers would enhance the credibility of the inspections."
"Having a few Muslims in the College of Cardinals will enhance its credibility, when it comes time to elect a new Pope, too..."
“I understood that out of the 250 members" of the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC), "there are only four Arabs, all translators; there are no Arabs among the inspectors," he said.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 11/12/2002 02:53 pm || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The lack of Arabs on the UNMVIC is understandable. You must have expertise in NBC weapon systems to qualify as an inspector and we all know that there are no Arab countries with these type of weapons, therefore no expertise, right, Mr. Moussa? Or are you implying that there are Arab experts with hands on experience?
Posted by: Jack || 11/13/2002 10:52 Comments || Top||


Solana affirms EU rejection of military action against Iraq
Brussels, INA
In a debate at the general session of European parliament, Senior Representative of Foreign Policy and Security at the European Union Javer Solana has confirmed EU rejection to any military intervention in Iraq under alleged pretexts. He added that European Union attention concentrates on getting rid of mass destruction weapons, repeating that the fifteen countries do not go in conformity with US aim in changing political government in Iraq, and the matter must be confined to disarm Iraq of mass destruction weapons only.
"I mean, without Sammy, where would we be? Answer me that, hah?"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 11/12/2002 02:55 pm || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Gee Fred, you cut out the detailed plan that Solana outlined that would force Iraq to disclose and then destroy all those weapons of mass destruction.

Oh, right, there wasn't a detailed plan. Solana's statement didn't even qualify as wishful thinking.
Posted by: Steve White || 11/12/2002 21:28 Comments || Top||

#2  Par for the course with the Euros. No wonder Hitler and Bismark had it easy. These countries only know capitulation as an offense/defense. They are a joke. I am married to a Belgian and she has no answer for their [Euro] political behavior and defense philosophy. Well, at least she isn't French!
Posted by: Jack || 11/13/2002 10:37 Comments || Top||


Caucasus
Putin suggests Dane ''get circumcized''...
The Kommersant business daily reports President Putin was asked by a Danish reporter why Russia was using mine warfare in the separatist North Caucasus republic and exterminating Chechen civilians.
"How could you be so mean?"
Reports say Mr Putin became infuriated by the question and launched an unprecedented defence of the three-year Chechen war that at one stage went off on a tangent. "You, if I am not mistaken, represent an ally [of the US war on terror] and are therefore in danger," Mr Putin told the reporter, according to a transcript that appeared in the Vremya Novostei daily. "They [the Chechens] talk about killing non-Muslims and if you are a Christian, you are in danger. And even if you are an atheist, you are in danger... If you decide to become a Muslim - even then you are not safe, because traditional Islam contradicts the conditions and goals that they [the Chechens rebels] set.
Couldn't have explained it better myself!
"But if you are prepared to become the most radical Islamist and prepared to get circumcised - I invite you to Moscow. We have specialists that deal with this problem. I suggest that you do such an operation that nothing grows out of you again."
I think he's referring to one of Moscow's anesthesiologists...
Mr Putin is known for his tough talk that at times becomes interlaced with slang used by criminals and the military. He launched the war in the predominantly Muslim Chechen republic in October 1999 by threatening to "waste [the Chechens] while they sit in their outhouses".
"Heh heh! Of course, is fonnier in Rossian!"
Russian military slang has more words to describe poop, genitalia, and general conditions of having one's ass in a sling than I can count. This is in contrast to formal military Russian, which consists for the most part of a single sentence: "Vypolnite postavlennuyu zadachu," which translates as "Carry out your assigned mission."

Russian media say a Kremlin aide explained to reporters after the Brussels press conference that Mr Putin was tired during the summit after a hectic working schedule.
"The President doesn't suffer fools gladly when he's tired..."
Thanks to Steve for the link!
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 11/12/2002 12:30 pm || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Now that did cause me to choke (luckily I'd swallowed before beginning reading). Especially: "I suggest that you do such an operation that nothing grows out of you again."

Snort. Snicker.
Posted by: Kathy K || 11/12/2002 13:53 Comments || Top||

#2  When do you know you're living in Bizzaro World? When you go to a KGB man for straight talk.

"Shto mi delayem is yaitz? Yaishnetzu..."
Posted by: Tripartite || 11/12/2002 14:19 Comments || Top||

#3  Can you imagine Don Rumsfeld and Putin doing an interview together?

obossat's'a mozhno
Posted by: Chuck || 11/12/2002 15:06 Comments || Top||

#4  He's giving Emperor Misha a run for his money.Way to go,Putin!
Posted by: El Id || 11/12/2002 16:14 Comments || Top||

#5  Mine warfare was generally deemed repugnant after WW2, but was revived when guerrilla and terror war was initiated. Mine fields force guerrillas to infiltrate through narrow spaces, which make targeting them much easier. In other words: terrorists made this bed and they can sleep in it.
Posted by: Anonymous || 11/13/2002 1:50 Comments || Top||

#6  Considering the reporter is French, I only hope that the doctor performing the operation has a SEM to assist. [Scanning Electron Microscope].
Posted by: Jack || 11/13/2002 11:12 Comments || Top||


Middle East
Army Helicopters Bombard Jordanian Town
Jordanian army helicopters are reportedly shelling a neighborhood in the town of Maan, as authorities claimed that it's trying to flush out accused Muslim militants.
They learned their lesson with the Paleostinians. They're not going to screw around with these guys. Maybe they thought King Abdullah isn't as tough as his old man...
Riots started Sunday in Maan, in response to a severe governmental crackdown on political opposition in the country, following the killing of an American diplomat in Amman.
They were also chasing Bad Guys...
News reports from the city, under strict military curfew, say that Jordanian army helicopters are bombarding the town, particularly the Tur neighborhood. The government claims that a gang or Jordanians and foreigners, referring to a small Islamic group, is refusing to surrender. In turn, Jordanian authorities are accused of using the assassination of a top US official to crackdown on political opposition in the country, as the intense clashes began Sunday between hundreds of armed men and Jordanian police.
Assassinations are usually a symptom of the presence of Islamists...
Opposition sources in Amman fear that the security sweep is an attempt to silence the opposition ahead of an anticipated US war on Iraq. One Jordanian soldier was reportedly killed and several others were wounded, mostly civilians and police officers, witnesses say.
Or it could be another of those little warnings Sammy's so subtle about...
The Islamic Action Front (IAF) who has been trying to avoid a confrontation with the government, decided to come out strong against the clashes, warning of an escalation in the situation and widening the repercussions that could endanger national security. The Islamic Brotherhood, another powerful party in Jordan, criticized the government in a statement, saying that the government can deal with any wanted fugitive without this violence or by terrorizing innocent people.
They could, ummm... uhhhh... call the cops?
Residents say that the army and police were clearly planning to storm the city as armored vehicles and Armored personnel Carriers (APC) were arriving from the capital Amman to take positions in and around Maan. An unnamed Jordanian official told Reuters by phone that the operation was aimed at putting behind bars suspects and extremist individuals who might cause trouble and attempt to act of sabotage amid a tense domestic situation in the events of a US war against Iraq. He was quoted as saying, the security operation mounted in Maan is a precautionary step to ensure that the situation on the ground does not get out of hand in the event of war.
As long as the Bad Guys are rioting and rebelling, the gummint might as well go ahead and take care of the rest of it...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 11/12/2002 07:59 am || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The Jordanians do love to kiss ass and take names. Too bad they're rarely on our side, but I have to cheer this.

Didn't they also kick some Syrian armored butt back in the 70's?
Posted by: Chuck || 11/12/2002 10:05 Comments || Top||

#2  I read that many years ago some Palestinians hijacked and blew up a few Jordanian jetliners. Jordan responded by firing heavy artillery on the Palestinian refugee camps where the terrorists had been based, driving thousands deep into Lebanon and killing more Arabs in a matter of days than Israel has over the course of decades.

So, no... Jordan don't screw around with internal dissent!
Posted by: Aracona || 11/12/2002 11:04 Comments || Top||


Sirhan Sirhan is the suspect in Metzer attack...
The prime suspect in the Metzer attack is an Arab called Sirhan Sirhan from the Tulkarem refugee camp in western Samaria, adjacent to the densely populated Sharon region. Sirhan is a member of the Arafat lead Fatah-Tanzim terror gang. Sirhan Sirhan is also the name of the Arab (who originated in Samaria) who murdered Robert F. Kennedy in 1968. It is not known whether there is any connection between the two names or the two men.
Homicide runs in the family? Or did he take the name in emulation of a national hero?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 11/12/2002 03:04 pm || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I always thought Sirhan Sirhan was a Pakistani. And (at least born) Christian at that.
Posted by: Herman || 11/12/2002 16:41 Comments || Top||

#2  Herman, I think you're mistaken. My research indicates that he was born in Jerusalem and claimed Palestinian nationality. He was reportedly disturbed by Kennedy's pro-Israel positions, hence the assassination. I don't know what his religious affiliation was, but I strongly doubt it was Christian of any kind!
Posted by: Aracona || 11/12/2002 17:31 Comments || Top||

#3  From the Jerusalem Post: "According to reports, Sirhan, a resident of the Tulkarm refugee camp, carried out the attack and Palestinian reports claimed that his uncle was among those arrested on Tuesday by security forces. The suspect is related to Sirhan B. Sirhan, the east Jerusalemite who assassinated US Senator Robert Kennedy in 1968." It does seem like being a homicidal maniac runs in Islamic families.
Posted by: Steve || 11/12/2002 18:36 Comments || Top||

#4  Fair enough. Must have misheard "Palestinain" for "Pakistani."

As a Christian it pains me to say it but he still might have been, nominally, Christian. Twenty-percent of the Paleos (when in Rome...) at one point were Christian, and I think the PFLP was founded by one as well. Lady Arafat in Paris is one.
Posted by: Herman || 11/13/2002 15:22 Comments || Top||


IDF in Tulkarm; Shechem's next...
The IDF's expected retaliation for the slaughter of five Jews, including a mother and her two children, in Kibbutz Metzer on Sunday night began this morning in the Tul Karem area. Israeli forces razed the home of the terrorist who sent the murderer - and who carried out many shootings himself in the past - although he is still at large. Thirty tanks, accompanied by infantry, entered the Tul Karem slums where Jordan relocated Arabs who left Israel in 1948, and spent a few hours there early this morning. Three terrorists were arrested in the region.
"I mean, it was just a mistake, guys! A mistake! Anybody can make a mistake, can't they?"
The PA-controlled city of Shechem will be next, as decided in a meeting yesterday of Defense Minister Mofaz, Chief of Staff Yaalon, Shabak chief Dichter, Intelligence Head Ze'evi-Farkash, OC Central Command Kaplinsky, and OC Home Front Command Mishlav. The army began enhancing its forces around Shechem yesterday afternoon, and is continuing to do so. Arab sources say that many tanks are surrounding the city and have closed off most of its main entrances.
I hope they surrounded the city and sealed off all its exits before announcing it was next on the list...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 11/12/2002 03:32 pm || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Southeast Asia
Indon coppers looking for Amrozi's brothers...
Indonesian police have named two brothers of a man who admitted involvement in the attack on Bali last month as additional suspects over the bombings. Police said that they were searching for the two men - Ali Imron and Ali Fauzi -after finding a cache of weapons hidden in East Java that the authorities believe the men buried. Major-General I Made Mangku Pastika, in charge of the Indonesian investigation into the Bali attack, said the men had been given the weapons by their brother and prime suspect, Amrozi.
Knowing the way they do things in Indonesia — and learning more every day — I'd guess Amrozi admitted to giving them the weapons, but they'll deny receiving them, so there won't be enough evidence, certainly not enough for the Indon parliamentarians...
Police found the stash of weapons which they believe were hidden by the suspects on Monday near the home of Amrozi, according to the Jakarta Post. Kompas daily reported that the police found at least five rifles, including two M-16s as well as two FN pistols, along with ammunition, packed into six plastic pipes. Police also said they had found TNT - used in at least one of the Bali bombs - at an apartment and hotel room in Denpasar, Bali, where Amrozi is alleged to have stayed before the attack.
It sounds so... so... Islamic!
Two other arrests were made on Monday. Police detained a former forest ranger known as Komarudin in Amrozi's home village of Tengallun in East Java whom they believe stored weapons and explosives for Amrozi. They also seized Amrozi's driver, a man named Tafsir.
It sounds like the cops are taking it seriously, but the politicos are still trying to explain the whole thing away...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 11/12/2002 11:01 am || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Bashir not at Surakarta meeting, Amrozi tells police
The key suspect in the Bali bombing on Oct. 12, Amrozi, told the police on Tuesday that Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir did not take part in a meeting in Surakarta, Central Java to discuss plans for the attack. "Amrozi did not name the founder of the Indonesian Mujahidin Council (MMI) (Bashir) as attending the meeting in Surakarta to prepare for the Bali bombings," Insp. Gen. Made Mangku Pastika, head of the joint Bali bombing investigative team, said as quoted by Antara. He said Amrozi, 40, had only admitted to having a close relationship with Bashir.
"Yes! YES! He vass my BOYFRIEND!"
Amrozi said apart from having a teacher-student relationship with Ba'asyir during their stay in Malaysia, he had often invited Ba'asyir to give religious lectures at the Al-Islam boarding school in Lamongan, East Java.
He's a particular expert on the Koranic verses covering detonators...
Besides holding a meeting in Surakarta, Amrozi and his accomplices also met in Bali before and after the blasts. Made said the police had found bomb residue at the meeting places, indicating that the bombs had been assembled in Denpasar.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 11/12/2002 11:05 am || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Yes! YES! He vass my BOYFRIEND!"

Shit, now I need a new keyboard.

Bastard...
Posted by: mojo || 11/12/2002 11:51 Comments || Top||


Indon politicos starting to back off from Bashir?
Legislator Ahmad Sumargono, who chairs the Crescent Star Party (PBB) faction at the House of Representatives, strongly denied on Tuesday an allegation that he was a supporter of terrorist suspect Abu Bakar Bashir. The allegation was contained in an "intelligence report", which someone delivered to him by hand after the legislator gave a lecture at a mosque in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta, on Sunday. "I strongly deny this document because its content is misleading and malicious slander, which a certain party has disseminated on purpose to put me in a difficult position," Ahmad was quoted by Antara as saying. According to him, the "intelligence report" was astounding because it claimed, among other things, that he was involved in mobilizing people to demonstrate against Ba'asyir's arrest on the grounds that it was a violation of human rights. He was also accused of having drawn a plan to stage rallies in various provinces.
"No! No! I never liked the man, never agreed with what he stood for. I never really wanted to join the party, but you know, the business contacts..."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 11/12/2002 11:10 am || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Police to lodge case against Bashir
Police said on Tuesday they would finish their investigation into Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir and lodge his case with state prosecutors. Bashir, the leader of Indonesia Mujahidin Council (MMI), has been hospitalized with a convenient illness since Oct. 8, both in Surakarta and Jakarta. He has refused to answer questions over a series of bombings here in 1999 and 2000 as well as a plot to kill President Megawati Soekarnoputri. Sr. Comr. Prasetyo, a police spokesman, told a news conference that police were completing Bashir's dossier. Asked if this would occur without questioning Ba'asyir, he said: "Yes, without the questioning. If... he does not want to be questioned, we will just finish the dossier and lodge it with the court system."
"Screw him. We've got enough evidence now..."
Ba'asyir's has refused to answer questions unless the police confront him with Omar al-Faruq, who was arrested in Indonesia.
"How's a simple holy man to defend himself against these baseless charges if the witnesses can't be assassinated examined?"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 11/12/2002 11:15 am || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I'm sure we'd be happy to allow the Indonesians to fly him over here to talk to Omar al-Faruq. In fact, I'm sure the Australians would be happy to fly him over if Indonesia can't afford it. They might take a turn south on the way back, but Canberra's pretty nice this time of year.
Posted by: Kathy K || 11/12/2002 14:22 Comments || Top||

#2  "lodge his case"

Where?

I have a suggestion.
Posted by: Chuck || 11/12/2002 15:00 Comments || Top||


Muhammadiyah Youth support their local police...
The Muhammadiyah Youth, a youth wing of the Muhammadiyah Islamic organization, vowed that it would not blindly defend any member proven to be involved in terrorism, including in last month's Bali bombings. A statement released Tuesday, signed by chairman Abdul Mu'ti and its secretary Izzul Muslimin and delivered to Indonesian Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar, was issued in connection with the police examination of Mukhsan, 31, a Muhammadiyah youthleader from Nganjuk district, East Java. Mukhsan was summoned by police investigating the Bali bombings. In the statement, the organization endorsed police efforts to solve the attack and to fight terrorism — including the trial of the culprits. "If any Islamic believer or Muhammadiyah member is suspected on involvement in terrorism, the police should not hesitate to take them to court," it said as quoted by Antara.
Well... fry... me... for... an... egg! Maybe the "moderates" weren't just mouthing platitudes. Maybe the Bad Guys' support isn't as deep as they thought it was. [Insert boilerplate about "only time will tell"]...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 11/12/2002 11:24 am || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I think this is more like a "please don't hook my balls to the magneto" type of thing...
Posted by: mojo || 11/12/2002 11:48 Comments || Top||

#2  SE Asian Muslims are not happy with the Saudi-funded Wahhabi incursions. They may well mean exactly what they say.
Posted by: Kathy K || 11/12/2002 14:25 Comments || Top||

#3  And they say, "please don't hook my balls to the magneto".
Posted by: Tripartite || 11/12/2002 19:05 Comments || Top||


Terror Networks
Binny sez he's alive...
Intelligence analysts are studying a tape-recorded message to determine if it contains the voice of Osama bin Laden praising recent terrorist activities, government officials said today.
Sould be fairly easy to authenticate — voice printing isn't new technology, and new technology's probably made it more accurate...
If the voice is authenticated as that of Mr. bin Laden, the references to recent events, including the Oct. 12 Bali bombings, would be persuasive evidence that the terrorist leader of Al Qaeda survived American air strikes in Afghanistan last year. The voice purporting to be that of Mr. bin Laden was on an audiotape broadcast to the Arab world today by Al Jazeera, the Arabic satellite television channel. Experts who have heard Mr. bin Laden's voice said the taped message sounded very much like him.
I used to be able to do Jimmy Stewart, but I'm not him...
Intelligence officials in Washington were not ready this afternoon to declare that the voice was that of Mr. bin Laden. But the officials were taking seriously the possibility that the words are indeed those of the man widely believed to have been the mastermind behind the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. "Our people in Palestine are being killed, are being subjected to the worse kind of suffering for almost a century now," the speaker on the tape said in Arabic. "If we defend our people in Palestine, the world is disturbed and allied against Muslims under the banner of combating terrorism."
Don't we hope so...
The Associated Press reported from Cairo that in addition to referring to the Bali bombings, the voice on the tape mentioned last month's killing of an American marine in Kuwait, the bombing of a French oil tanker last month off Yemen and the bloody hostage-taking in Moscow by Chechen extremists. Those attacks were "undertaken by sons who are zealous in the defense of their religion," the voice declared. The speaker on the tape said those attacks and others were "only a reaction in response to what Bush, the pharaoh of the age, is doing by killing our sons in Iraq and what America's ally Israel is doing, bombarding houses with women and old people and children inside with American planes."
Tough nails, ain't it, Binny? If you are Binny...
As I commented a few months ago, lacking a corpse, and lacking verifiable activity, the likelihood of him being titzup can keep going up, but can't quite reach 100 percent — it would take only a single appearance to make the probability zero. It'll be interesting to see if this is really his voice; if not, we can peg the likelihood of decomposition at 99 percent. If it is, why no video? Was he maimed? So deathly sick-looking that he'd scare women and children?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 11/12/2002 08:00 pm || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:



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Two weeks of WOT
Tue 2002-11-12
  Army Helicopters Bombard Jordanian Town
Mon 2002-11-11
  Bashir to be deported if stripped of Indonesian nationality
Sun 2002-11-10
  Tunisia blast order came from Karachi
Sat 2002-11-09
  Iraq has seven days to respond...
Fri 2002-11-08
  Bahraini Royal Being Held in Cuba Camp
Thu 2002-11-07
  Al-Harethi: The Obituary
Wed 2002-11-06
  Paleoboomer nabbed near Ben-Gurion Airport...
Tue 2002-11-05
  Today's election day...
Mon 2002-11-04
  Six Qaeda boomed in Yemen...
Sun 2002-11-03
  Binny's kid detained in Iran?
Sat 2002-11-02
  Basayev Claims Responsibility For Moscow Theatre Seige
Fri 2002-11-01
  Qazi to lead MMA parliamentary party...
Thu 2002-10-31
  North Korea Claims Right to Nuclear Weapons
Wed 2002-10-30
  Indon coppers release drawings of Bali suspects...
Tue 2002-10-29
  Yasser has a new cabinet...


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