CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. - Much to the dismay of some parents, officials at an elementary school will not discipline Santa Claus for telling kindergartners their teacher doesn't exist.
Santa Claus was handing out toys and making his belly shake like a bowl full of jelly when the students at Forest Hills Elementary School began discussing the existence of teachers, school board spokesman Kirk Engelhard said. "No policies or rules were violated, but he obviously used poor judgment," Engelhard said.
Melissa Shea, whose 5-year-old daughter Hayley is in the class, said school officials refused a request made by some parents that Santa Claus not be allowed back in the class. "I feel like no matter what I do or say now, the seed of doubt has been planted in Hayley's head," Shea said. "I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to undo it, and school is everything in my family."
Santa Claus could not be reached for comment.
School officials said they would send a teacher, complete with birth-control glasses and a pointer, into the classroom Friday to make up for Santa Claus's poor judgment.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/17/2002 09:16 am ||
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NEA is on the hotline to the ACLU as we speak...
A 103-year-old Ecuadorian man has finally married his girlfriend after more than half a century of living together. Jose Domingo Olaya married Melchora Vergara, who is 76, after being together for 53 years. The couple have 14 children, 48 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren. All of them attended the ceremony. I just don't know what to get them. They already have a toaster...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/17/2002 10:16 am ||
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A Serbian Orthodox church pastor was arrested Monday, a week after he allegedly threatened to shoot a parishioner during an apparent dispute over church policy but ended up being shot himself. Looks like Christianity is becoming a religion of peace, too...
The Rev. Filip Velisavljevic, 54, cooperated with police who took him into custody at his home in Lebanon, about 30 miles east of Harrisburg. Police had been looking for him since Wednesday, when they filed charges in the case. "Anybody seen Father Filip?"
"He ain't here, officer. Have you tried his house?"
"Why would he be there?"
Velisavljevic, who has been with the church for 15 years, is accused of threatening Frederick Pantelich during an apparent argument over how church policy might change as a result of Pantelich's recent election as council president. Velisavljevic whipped out a rod pulled out a semiautomatic pistol and pointed it at Pantelich during the alleged confrontation inside the church's social hall. A semiautomatic pistol, huh? Maybe I should get me one of those...
The scuffle continued outside after Pantelich tried to flee. "Cheeze! A heater! Don't shoot, Father! I'm gettin' out of here!"
As the two struggled, the gun went off, grazing the pastor's foot. "Ow!"... No, I don't need one. Too dangerous...
Both men were treated at a local hospital. "He started it!"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"Who you gonna believe? Him or me?"
"I'm a priest, Goddammit!"
A woman answering the door at Velisavljevic's home, who said she was his wife, said her husband wasn't home and declined to comment Monday evening. "He ain't here... That guy in the corner with the bag over his head? No, that ain't him..."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/17/2002 12:17 pm ||
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Ironicly arrested in Lebanon.
They'd been looking for him for 5 days, only just thought to check his house?
Prosecutors said a Kansas City man shopping at a Wal-Mart store grabbed a baseball bat from a shelf and attacked a man who had made a remark about a crying baby. The victim, David Holbrook, 41, of Bonner Springs, suffered head injuries that required 14 stitches, as well as a broken rib and bruised kidney. The store's surveillance camera recorded the attack, authorities said. There goes the "wudn't me" defense...
Jefferson Uta, 26, the bat wielder, declined to talk to detectives without a lawyer, according to court records. And merry Christmas to you, too, you rat bastard. Cheeze, this is so heart-warming... No, wait. It's the chili.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/17/2002 12:29 pm ||
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I'm hoping he'll successfully attempt a "driven mad by crying baby" defense, which is going to be sooooo useful to me.
#2
I read an article in USA Today once that said Walmart was sued 4851 times in 2000, which is like a lawsuit every 2 hours. But that was only good enough for second place behind the U.S. government, checking in with over 7000. Gotta love them lawyers.
#3
Walmart, God Bless them, has a policy of not settling out of court. They fight each and every battle in court. At least that was the policy a few years ago, I can't be positive today.
Bourlard's conclusion â that the tape is probably the work of an imposter â caused a worldwide sensation on Nov. 29 and rekindled the mystery of whether bin Laden is dead or alive.
It also raised questions about U.S. intelligence, which declared the mystery solved by describing the audiotape, broadcast Nov. 12, as "genuine" and recently recorded.
Bourlard stresses he's no political analyst. Still, he wonders if U.S. officials have ulterior motives when they insist it's bin Laden's voice on the tape.
I can think of a number of reasons why we'd continue to pretend he's alive even if we know, for sure, beyond doubt, that he's a fine layer of carbon someplace or a frozen lump of meat in a locker in Langley. The most important reason: announce that he's dead, and 20 minutes later someone â Daschle, al-Gore, Falwell, the SF Chronicle â is going to opine that the War on Terror is over, we won, even though it wasn't an even fight and we cheated and it was all our fault, anyway. Time to go back to lock boxes, Britney's breasts, who killed Chandra and/or Jon Benet, and whether the police in [fill in the blank] are racist or only brutal.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/17/2002 04:13 pm ||
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Bourland's theory on Iraq is wrong. Spreading the word that Binny lives actually gives rhetorical ammo to the 'sequentialists' who think (or at least claim to in order to advocate inaction) we shouldn't deal with Iraq until Binny is gone.
But it makes sense to err on the side of caution when issuing opinions on Binny's continued existence. As Fred says, it keeps people focused. It also avoids the potential for embarrassement should he pop up and provides a ready excuse for aggressive intervention in areas in which he is rumored to be.
BTW, did the government actually say that they authenticated the recording or did they just agree that Binny's voice was on it. It could be that the US assessment of the tape did not directly contradict the recent findings.
Posted by: John ||
12/17/2002 16:33 Comments ||
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Its likely that Al Queda has a contingency plan on who takes over if Binny is dead. By admitting we think he's alive we probably caused and increase in 'traffic' that we can moniter to figure out who is where.
The most reasonable explaination of the whole thing was the one that suggested the CIA released the tape for that very reason.
Once again, we need to be sure that everyone's sensibilities are protected. Except, apparently, for those of Christians who actually celebrate Christ's Mass as a spiritual event, rather than a material orgy of gift giving and over-indulgence.
This behavior just makes me crazy, and I'm a freaking atheist. But, even though I don't believe that a supreme being created the physical universe, I would NEVER try and interfere with someone's right to peacefully follow their faith. Let's remove all semblance of religion from the Christmas holidays, because non-Christians will possibly feel excluded. How about this as a plan: If you aren't Christian, then you don't get to be upset about a holiday that celebrates the birth of Christ. If you want to join in the holiday pageantry, great! You bring the little Christmas tree shaped cookies for the office Christmas party. But if you don't want to participate, then keep your damn hands off of my holiday celebrations.
At some point, this freaking PC bullshit has to end.
Oh, Yeah, MERRY CHRISTMAS!
And to all you cheap, exclusivist Islamic bastards that didn't buy me anything for Eid Fitr â Thhhhhpppp!
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/17/2002 08:00 pm ||
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Not even an Eid Fitr card! How come everyone gets to feel excluded by things I like, but not the other way around. Better yet, how come I don't get to enjoy the things I like because someone who doesn't like what I like feels excluded and doesn't want me to get what I like because he doesn't like it? Yeaaaah, that's what I'm talking about. I think.
Source: Daily Jang, Translated By Jihad Unspun
The Northern Alliance has banned the entry of Tablighi Jamaat (a Muslim organization that preaches Islam) into Afghanistan. It has been reported that Afghan foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah has specially sent orders to all Afghan embassies in Muslim countries not to issue visa to Tablighi Jamaat, saying they are taking this action for security purpose. Sending holy men to Afghanistan is kind of like sending chocolate to Hershey. But the itinerant holy man getup makes a fine disguise for assorted killers and thugs and subversives...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/17/2002 09:25 am ||
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Isn't that how Sean Connery and Michael Caine got through Afganistan in "The Man Who Would Be King"?
Attackers hurled a grenade into a jeep carrying two U.S. soldiers and an Afghan interpreter in the heart of Kabul on Tuesday, wounding all three, the U.S. military said. One of the soldiers was wounded in the head and "in the lower extremities," while the second soldier suffered wounds to the lower right leg, said Lt. Tina Kroske. She did not identify the soldiers or say how serious their injuries were. The interpreter's condition was not immediately known.
Kroske said three suspected assailants were arrested, but Kabul Police Chief Basir Salangi said only two men were in custody.
He identified them as Amir Mohammed, of Khost in eastern Afghanistan, and Ghulam Saki of Jalalabad, the capital of Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province. Home boys
Mohammed was arrested with at least two grenades in his pocket, Salangi told The Associated Press. Pull the pins and put them back in his pocket.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/17/2002 09:47 am ||
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Al-Qaida training camps have recently been reactivated in Afghanistan, and new volunteers are making their way into these camps, a U.N. report said Tuesday. While Osama bin Laden's financial network has been mostly dismantled, the group still has "access to substantial funding from its previously established investments," said the report, which monitors sanctions on al-Qaida. The new camps were "simple," the report by the group led by British expert Michael Chandler said. It said the activation of such camps in eastern Afghanistan was increasing the long-term capabilities of the al-Qaida network.
Chandler was expected to give more details on the findings later Tuesday. "Welcome to Camp Impact Area. Please ignore the X mark in the center of the compound."
Posted by: Steve ||
12/17/2002 11:17 am ||
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Noting that the camps are in EASTERN Afghanistan, it might be high time to put more pressure on Pakistan to tackle their little problem with a porous border.
#2
If the border was one way out of Pakland, the problem would solve itself. Volunteers flock to new camp in Afganistan, bomb same, repeat action.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/17/2002 12:06 Comments ||
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Ignore the problem until after Iraq. By then there will be enough jihadists there to drop a daisy cutter or two on them.It is helpful when they congragate together.
#4
Bush wanted armistices in Pashto-land, while the Northern Alliance wanted to roll over them. An armistice means: beligerent peace. You reap what you sow.
Afghan state-run television and radio reported with great delight news on the Iranian police move in northeastern city of Mashhad to close Afghan Hizbullah offices because of their illegal operations. They quoted Alireza Moayyeri, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Education and Research Affairs, as saying that the measure was taken in line with the Islamic Republic's policy of supporting President Hamid Karzai's government in Afghanistan.
Summing up the reason for the closure, Moayyery was quoted by the same sources, the operation of Afghan jihadi groups in the Islamic Republic of Iran are based on the permits which the Interior Ministry issues under certain conditions and these offices probably did not have such a permit." Moayyeri said earlier, "The Islamic Republic of Iran, according to its policy of helping with stability and security in Afghanistan, considers its central government, led by Hamid Karzai, as the side for negotiations and business."
Tehran has so far closed several offices of Afghanistan's opposition offices in the northwestern city of Mashhad, including those of Afghan warlord and head of the Hizbi-Islami group, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. That's a real friendly action. I don't know anything about the Afghan Hezbollah â I'd guess it's bands of religious fascisti similar to the Iranian domestic Hezbollah.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/17/2002 08:34 pm ||
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You'd a thunk they'd have used the Assad explanation of it only being a "press" office.
Posted by: Jack ||
12/18/2002 5:07 Comments ||
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A Dutch family escaped unharmed when a bomb targeted their car late last month in the Red Sea port of Jeddah, a Netherlands embassy source said Tuesday. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source said the family escaped injury because the device appeared to be primitive and to have been damaged by rain. Shoddy workmanship, can't have been an Islamic terrorist.
The family, long-time residents of Saudi Arabia, appeared to be the latest targets in a series of car bomb attacks that have killed three Westerners and injured a number of others over the past two years. The embassy warned Dutch nationals to check their cars for bombs, avoid appearing in public and to refrain from discussing sensitive issues. You know those Dutch, always causing trouble.
Western analysts linked the bombings to growing hatred of the West, and especially the United States, for support of Israel in its policy toward the Palestinian uprising and out of objections to the presence of Westerners in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi authorities have blamed the bombings on gang rivalry over a illegal traffic in alcohol. Five Britons, a Canadian and a Belgian were arrested on charges of being implicated in bombing operations that targeted Westerners between January and March 2001. I'm suprised they haven't arrested the Dutch family, you know how much those Europeans like to drink.
Tehran Times
A U.S. Army officer has been attacked by knife-wielding South Korean men outside a U.S. base here amid simmering anti-American sentiment, military authorities said Monday. Three South Koreans in their early 20s attacked the unarmed lieutenant colonel late Sunday as he left Yongsan, the main U.S. military base in central Seoul, and was walking to his home, the U.S. military said. Okay. It's time to go. G'bye, Koreas, both of you. This is what our finger looks like...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/17/2002 09:16 am ||
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The United States says it had no intention of attacking North Korea but has rejected Pyongyang's call for negotiations on a nonaggression pact, saying North Korea must first take concrete steps to end its nuclear weapons program. They're making the assumption they're important enough to have a nonaggression pact with.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell called Monday for North Korea to reconsider its decision to resume its nuclear fuel program and to reopen nuclear power facilities it had agreed to shut. Speaking to reporters after talks at the State Department with Japan's foreign and defense ministers, Powell called North Korea's move, announced December 12, "a regrettable step backward." That's the way diplomats say "Those bastards are all crazy."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/17/2002 09:35 am ||
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This is too funny.
After having entered into an agreement previously regarding their nuclear weapons program, and admitted to having violated said agreement, the North Koreans want the U.S. to consider entering into some other agreement?
#4
This was on his list.Sure it was. Right after taking out Bin Laden. Instead he sent over Jimmy Carter....
(http://story.news.yahoo.com/fc?cid=34&tmpl=fc&in=World&cat=North_Korea)
Coalition aircraft dropped precision bombs early Monday on an Iraqi communications site near Al Kut, about 100 miles southeast of Baghdad. It was the third such strike the past three days by U.S. and British warplanes patrolling the southern no-fly zone. U.S. defense officials told CNN coalition aircraft in recent days noticed Iraqis had repositioned three surface-to-air missile launchers in the no-fly zone — the largest number of launchers seen in the area in months. Now they can have the largest amount of wreckage seen in the area in months...
According to the U.S. Central Command, Monday's strike specifically was in response to the movements of a mobile radar into the no-fly zone and the firing of Iraqi anti-aircraft artillery. That continuous popping into the air seems like an exercise in futility, since they never hit anything. Maybe they're having a lot of weddings?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/17/2002 09:42 am ||
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Nope, no material breach here. Sean Penn Everybody move along...
The head of an Islamist group linked to Osama bin Ladenâs al-Qaeda network and operating in Iraqi Kuridstan has been killed in the course of fighting there, according to a Kurdish newspaper report. "The head of Ansar Al-Islam in Kurdistan, Abu Abdallah al-Shafei, who had trained in Afghanistan, was killed in fighting the past two days between elements of his group and PUK (Patriotic Union of Kurdistan) peshmerga" or guerillas, Hawlati daily reported in its Tuesday edition. However, an independent confirmation regarding the aforesaid report was unavailable late Monday. Nice if true, have to wait and see.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/17/2002 10:11 am ||
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I'm standing by to ululate...
Posted by: Fred ||
12/17/2002 10:22 Comments ||
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Iran's reformist-dominated parliament approved a bill Tuesday to lift restrictions on the public's access to most satellite television channels. While the proposal reflects a majority of Iranians' wishes for a more open society, it still must be approved by the hard-line Guardian Council before becoming law. Dead on arrival
The measure was approved after a heated debate broadcast live on Tehran radio in which the measure's opponents said it would "legalize sin." "Lifting the ban on satellite dishes allows people to watch anti-Islamic films," said Mohammad Razavi, a member of the hard-line minority. "Many corrupt deeds take place in secret. There is no reason for us to make it easy for people to sin," "There's a whole lot of sinning going on!"
Another hard-line lawmaker, Hasan Sobhani, said the bill would place Iran under "the control of media and satellite channels that routinely propagate capitalism through its advanced technology and break all cultural resistance to it." He borrowed this line from our Justice departments rejection of the Echostar - DirecTV merger, I think.
But reformist Davoud Soleimani said the measure represented Iran's last, best chance to regulate the inevitable encroachment of broadcasts from the West. "In the next few years, people will be allowed to tune in to satellite channels without a dish," he noted. "...We can't close our eyes to realities." Without a dish? Oh, he must mean that 3G wireless streaming video over the cell phone stuff. I wondered where all those WorldCom people had gone to.
The bill prohibits channels that are anti-Iranian or those that carry pornographic material. But it reverses the outright ban on all satellite dishes passed by a previous parliament in 1995 in an effort to purge the Islamic republic of Western influences. That law is largely ineffective. Rooftops and balconies throughout the Iranian capital have satellite dishes despite threats by the authorities of fines or confiscation. Many residents in Tehran hide satellite dishes under tarps or disguise them as air conditioning units. Sounds like a lot of the condos in the states. Those homeowners associations could teach the Guardian Council a thing or two about oppression.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/17/2002 10:37 am ||
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Iraq canceled a rich oil deal with Russia's LUKOIL because the Russian firm had sought assurances its contract would be honored if Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) were removed as Iraq's president, according to an interview published in a Canadian newspaper on Tuesday. The National Post reported that Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz told it in an interview in Baghdad that LUKOIL had acted outrageously in seeking to hedge its bets. "LUKOIL went to Washington to get assurances that their contract will be implemented after the removal of the Iraqi regime," the newspaper quoted Aziz as saying.
"This is outrageous of them because they signed a contract with us -- such conduct cannot be accepted." That's what we all thought, but it's nice to hear it from the horses, err, mouth.
Baghdad scrapped the $3.7 billion deal to develop Iraq's vast West Qurna oilfield last week. Iraqi officials had said the reason was because LUKOIL had carried out no work on the field since the deal was signed in 1997. LUKOIL had said it had been waiting for the lifting of sanctions imposed on Iraq after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Company president Vagit Alekperov said the reason for the cancellation was that Moscow had backed a U.N. resolution allowing for the return of weapons inspectors.
Alekperov was quoted by the Financial Times in October as saying Russian President Vladimir Putin (news - web sites) had assured the company it would be able to keep its stake in Iraq's oilfields if Saddam were toppled. Putin and Bush made a deal, now there is no reason for Putin to help Saddam. The next big test will be the Russian verdict on the Iraqi U.N. weapons declaration, due this week.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/17/2002 10:55 am ||
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Well, it could hardly be any clearer than that. The Russians ask for assurances that Iraq will honor its side of the deal even if the regime should change, and Iraq responds by breaking the agreement and accusing Russia of welshing by not having done any work. Like I said last week - smooth. Real smooth. And I wouldn't be so astounded as to have my teeth fall out of my head to see a couple of Spetsnaz units show up in Iraq one fine day with instructions to bring Vladimir Putin the head of a certain deal-breaker...
Posted by: Joe ||
12/17/2002 17:30 Comments ||
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The Turkish General Staff says it has ordered all of its troops in the eastern part of the country to be prepared for a possible U.S.-led war with Iraq. The soldiers are later to be moved to the border with Iraq while troops from other units in different parts of the country are then deployed in the eastern part of Turkey. Turkish troops are being trained intensively and the army's needs are being identified and supplied, officials told CNN Turk. The confirmation comes after reports over the weekend that Turkey was moving troops up to its border with Iraq. Heard this, now it seems to be bigger than first reported.
Pentagon sources say Turkey has assured the United States it will have access to air bases and port facilities, and in return the United States promised to provide military and economic aid in addition to supporting Turkey's bid to join the European Union. And the E.U. is pissed that we are pushing the issue.
The United States has also reaffirmed it will not allow the Iraq Kurds to establish an independent country bordering Turkey, which has been the U.S. policy all along. We'll have to see if the Kurds will play along.
Pentagon officials have told CNN that Turkey has expressed concern about the number of ground troops the United States might want based in Turkey, citing public sentiment against a large troop presence, and assured the new Turkish government the United States would work with it on the size of any deployment. Don't worry, they won't be there long. We've got a hot date waiting in Baghdad.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/17/2002 11:06 am ||
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The Kurds have it pretty good just as it is, a tiny U.S. protectorate. We let them play their tribal and clan games, fight eachother occasionaly, and protect them from Saddam's tax men.
#2
AP report: The daily Hurriyet newspaper reported Tuesday that Turkey is planning to deploy 65,000 to 70,000 troops in northern Iraq if there is a massive U.S. assault from the north. A senior Turkish intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that report. He said that Turkey is especially concerned that if Iraq disintegrates, Iraqi Kurds could seize the northern cities of Mosul and Kirkuk. Mosul is a key regional center, and Kirkuk is home to major oil fields. Control of those cities would make the Kurds a significant regional power. It is likely that Turkish soldiers in northern Iraq would secure the area, but would not take part in fighting against Iraqi troops. "The Turkish Armed Forces are making preparations, taking measures considering different alternatives against any kind of development to protect Turkey's interests," the daily Milliyet quoted Prime Minister Abdullah Gul as saying. Asked how Turkey would react regarding Mosul and Kirkuk, Gul said: "We can't remain indifferent. We protect our interests."
Posted by: Steve ||
12/17/2002 13:41 Comments ||
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In regard to what Steve relays from "Hurriyet", there's a good argument to be made that the whole northern area of what is today Iraq should have been left under Turkish rule after World War I. This would, admittedly, have left Ankara in the position of having to deal with a lot more Kurds, but then again it would have removed a lot of the difficulty attendant on having the Kurds split up among several different nations, _and_ it would have given Turkey significant oil reserves of its own. If the Turks want to repair that century-old oversight, that's jake by me - as long as they're ready to take on the burden of administering a couple million more Kurds.
Posted by: Joe ||
12/17/2002 17:27 Comments ||
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Well that is the final nail in the coffin. If I am an Iraqi armed services personnel the last thing I really want are the Turks coming by land to my home. Everyone in the Mid-east fears only 2 entities - Mossad and the Turkish Military. No mercy.
Posted by: Jack ||
12/18/2002 5:14 Comments ||
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The U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet on Tuesday accused a Dubai-based ferry operator of breaking United Nations sanctions by smuggling banned chemicals into Iraq that it said could be used to make high-grade explosives. It said the industrial-grade alcohol and polymers, which have dual uses including for industrial cleaning agents and cosmetics, could also be used to manufacture chemical weapons agents. Fifth Fleet public affairs officer Lieutenant Garret Kaspar said Naif Marine Services had been caught shipping the chemicals aboard ferries it operates into Umm Qasr, close to the Kuwaiti border in recent months.
"In the wrong hands, quantity aside, they can be used to make a bomb," Kaspar said, speaking from fleet headquarters in Bahrain.
He said the company was on an "unofficial list" of some 10 firms that had violated U.N. sanctions and that were being watched closely. "Without getting into intelligence gathering, this company is one of the agencies that has been shipping banned chemical substances into Iraq -- they are blatantly being shipped," he told Reuters from Bahrain. He said the ferries, which operate a regular service between Dubai and Iraq, had been routinely boarded and searched and found to be carrying banned chemicals in 50-gallon drums which did not have official U.N. approval or documentation. Under U.N. rules a manifest specifying goods to be transported must also carry a letter of approval. "These goods were transported to Iraq without official documentation. They are prohibited under U.N. sanctions," he said. He said the navy had photographic evidence and other intelligence about the shipments which he said were conclusive. Need to get some of those forgers who are making phoney identification papers to whip up some official U.N. documents.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/17/2002 12:12 pm ||
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I found that part strange, too. Iraq being a secular moslem counrty does not ban alcohol. One of the first places the U.N. inspectors went to was a distillery. If you can make drinking alk, why do you import industrial alk? FYI, heard that Iraq makes good booze. Services Division can buy locally when they get around to setting up the NCO clubs.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/18/2002 7:39 Comments ||
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British actress Vanessa Redgrave has defended senior Chechen separatist Ahmed Zakayev — who is alleged to have been connected with hundreds of murders in Chechnya — as a "man of peace." Well, we knew that. He's an Islamist, and Islam is a religion of peace, right?
The Russian Federation wants British authorities to extradite Zakayev, 43, based on a warrant that lists several charges against the Chechen envoy, including over 300 murders between 1995-96. But Redgrave, who has posted nearly $80,000 (£50,000) bail for Zakayev following his arrest in London, told CNN she was sure her friend would die if Britain decides to extradite him. She says that like it would be a bad thing...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/17/2002 09:32 am ||
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Salman Raduyev, a Chechen rebel leader who died in a Urals labor camp, was buried Tuesday in a municipal cemetery, Russia's justice minister said. Justice Minister Yuri Chaika, who is responsible for Russia's prisons, said Raduyev's family had been informed of his death but did not request his body within the required three days. "Yo! Salman's toes up! You want the carcass?"
"Sorry. I was in the shower. What'd you say?"
It was unclear whether the body would have been handed over in any case, since parliament has passed legislation providing for terrorists' bodies to be buried in unmarked plots. Russian authorities routinely refer to Chechen rebels as terrorists. Salman took hundreds of people hostage at a hospital. Does that sound familiar? Maybe that accounts for why they call them terrorists...
Raduyev, who led a 1996 hostage raid in southern Russia that left 78 people dead, died of internal bleeding while serving a life sentence in a labor camp in Perm, about 750 miles east of Moscow, officials said Sunday. Chaika said he was buried in a municipal cemetery there. I doubt if they really wrapped him in pigskin...
Russian media reported that prosecutors had questioned the 35-year-old Raduyev several weeks ago as they tried to build a criminal case against Akhmed Zakayev, an aide to Chechnya's elected president and rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov. Maybe that's how he got the thump on the head...
Russian officials have said Raduyev died of natural causes. Chaika said no criminal case had been opened into the death because there was no evidence of a crime. "Insofar as Raduyev died of natural causes, and no signs of violent death were fixed, no criminal case has been opened," he said at a Justice Ministry conference on human rights in Moscow. "I mean, there aren't any bullet holes or anything, so what's the problem?"
The Kommersant daily quoted a prison source as saying Raduyev died after a guard struck him repeatedly. Prison officials denied it, Kommersant said.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/17/2002 12:16 pm ||
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A prime suspect in the November 28 terrorist attacks at the coast has called twice from his hideout in Somalia, his wife says. Mr Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan's wife, Fatuma, told investigators that the wanted man had called her to say he was hiding in the war-ravaged country, police said. Mr Willian Lang'at, the Deputy Commissioner of Police leading investigations into the attacks, said: "She told us her husband had called to say he was holed up in Baidoa town and that he wanted her to join him. She refused to go and opted to stay with her mother." "You stay up all night with your friends building bombs and never talk to me. Then you just vanish and leave me with the kids and then you expect me to drop everything and meet you in that hell hole? I'm going home to mother! She always said you were no good!"
He said Fatuma was picked up from her mother's home in Lamu district on Saturday and taken to the Coast provincial police headquarters for interrogation. Nothing like a wife scorned to spill the beans.
Mr Lang'at also confirmed that Mr Nabhan's 50-year-old mother, Mrs Esha Abdalla Nabhan, and his brother Mohammed Ali were still being held by police, four days after the High Court released them each on a Sh5 million bond with two sureties of the same amount. Relatives said on Sunday the two were missing after they failed to come home, and that a search at police stations had yielded no fruit. Mr Lang'at said: "The two will be released after we receive the court order and they pay the bond." He said Mrs Nabhan had taken the investigators to Lamu where they found Fatuma at her mother's home.
Mr Nabhan, 23, is among five prime suspects being sought by police over the bomb attack, which killed 10 Kenyans, three Israelis and the three bombers at Paradise Hotel. Police say Mr Nabhan bought a Pajero from a Mombasa vehicle dealer, which was used to bomb the hotel, patronised by mainly Israelis. Police have placed a Sh500,000 prize tag on the heads of each of the five most wanted men. Said Mr Lang'at: "When we discovered Nabhan was a prime suspect, we went to his home in Mombasa, but found he and his wife had moved out. Nabhan's mother took us to Lamu where we found his wife." "That slut lead my poor boy to a life of crime!"
Fatuma told the police she went to Lamu two days before the attack and that Mr Nabhan had asked her to stay there until he went for her. "She says her husband went to visit her on December 2. He told her he was going to Baidoa on an undisclosed mission," the officer said, adding that a few days later, Nabhan called his wife. Ah, yes. The old "undisclosed mission" story. My wife wouldn't buy it either.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/17/2002 09:32 am ||
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So, how come, if Somalia is a governmentless mess of tribal and clan and sub-clan fighting, the damn phones still work? WTF?
"A taste for the unexpected" -- so runs a motto of the French Foreign Legion paratroopers rushed into Ivory Coast with orders from Paris to shoot anyone breaking a shaky ceasefire. Their appetite might well be satisfied. For while the last thing France wants is a swashbuckling "Beau Geste" adventure in its ex-colony, analysts warn its biggest intervention in Africa for nearly two decades could easily spiral into anarchy.
"It has put its finger in a trap and got caught," Bernard Conte, an Africa expert at Bordeaux University, said of the French mission."By choosing what side it is on, Paris is taking a huge risk," warned Le Figaro daily in an editorial, saying the new troop deployments made clear France's support for Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo and so risked involving it directly in the fight against rebels.
Once dubbed the "gendarme of Africa" for post-colonial sorties under presidents from Charles de Gaulle to Francois Mitterrand, France has taken a back seat on the continent since a 1994 intervention in Rwanda that failed to halt genocide. The Rwanda experience was hailed by some as the end of "French Africa", the era during which Paris would flex its muscle with missions such as in Chad, another ex-colony where it deployed 3,000 troops in 1983 to fight Libyan-backed forces. But with 20,000 nationals and major commercial interests in Ivory Coast, Paris felt obliged to act after the country split in two following a failed coup attempt in September.
France gradually massed a force of some 1,500 soldiers on the ground with a specific mandate to monitor a fragile ceasefire agreed in October. The arrival Saturday of a company of the Second Foreign Parachute Regiment with upgraded orders to shoot anyone violating the ceasefire upped the stakes, changing the mission from one of monitoring to enforcement. French Foreign Legion Paratroopers with shoot to kill orders. No wonder the rebels are shitting their pants.
The move enraged rebel leaders who accused Paris of blatantly favouring government forces and threatened to fight French soldiers they said were "a true force of occupation". Some observers point to calls by President Jacques Chirac, backed by conservative government allies since June elections, for France to have more say in Africa as proof that Paris was keen to start dabbling in Africa again. But Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin rejected such accusations, insisting in a newspaper interview published on Monday that France's role would remain limited. "This is not about getting cosy with Ivory Coast or getting a foothold in the region," Villepin told La Croix daily.
"Our soldiers are simply there to ensure the ceasefire is respected...If we decided suddenly to pull out French troops, wouldn't there be a risk Ivory Coast would burst into flames?"
Villepin said Paris saw protecting its nationals there as a priority, but insisted it was open to international support and had raised the matter with Washington and in the European Union.
So far, there has been little sign of anyone coming forward to help France in what could be a messy and unrewarding engagement -- not least because its army is still suffering a lack of resources after years of military spending cuts. Don't expect a lot of help from your euro friends.
France repeated on Monday its readiness to host a summit of African leaders in Paris to end the war, together with a separate meeting bringing together domestic Ivorian forces.
Yet already even supporters of Chirac are wondering whether France has bitten off more than it can chew. "Should France really be taking on the burden alone?" asked Le Figaro, suggesting it could soon be time to involve the United Nations. Oh, thats going to help a lot.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/17/2002 03:33 pm ||
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"This is not about getting cosy with Ivory Coast or getting a foothold in the region," Villepin told La Croix daily.
"Our soldiers are simply there to ensure the ceasefire is respected...If we decided suddenly to pull out French troops, wouldn't there be a risk Ivory Coast would burst into flames?"
Ah, the old spontaneous Ivory Coast combustion syndrome, seen it many times.
Posted by: "This is not about getting cosy with Ivory Coast o ||
12/17/2002 15:51 Comments ||
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Well, that ended up being an HTML oddity, didn't it?
#3
Why, how multilateral of them. Sticking to such fine points of internatinal law and U.N. oversight. Wherever would we be if not for the French to keep us on the straight and narrow?
Suspected Al Qaeda members and other alleged foreign terrorists will be automatically eligible to claim legal aid under new government rules, which will make it easier for them to escape deportation. Ohfergawdsake!
The changes, introduced by Lord Irvine, the Lord Chancellor, who was at some point dropped on his head, will immediately benefit 14 suspected terrorists who will now be free to claim millions from the public purse. After all, what's it there for, if not things like this?
The 14, some of whom are detained under emergency powers introduced by David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, in the wake of September 11, are appealing against detention without trial or deportation before the Special Immigration Appeals Commission. Among those who could benefit are Abu Qatada, described as a âbin Laden ambassadorâ. As with all legal aid claims, the foreign suspects will not be eligible if their wealth and income exceed Government limits. But first you've got to prove it, and if all their income is through the back door, you won't.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/17/2002 09:22 am ||
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As an Englishman, you can mark me down as completely pissed off about this.
Thanks for nothing Lord Irvine.
Posted by: Tone ||
12/17/2002 14:47 Comments ||
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French anti-terrorist police have seized chemicals from the home of suspected Islamic militants, amid media reports of a possible chemical attack plot. The liquid and powder substances are being analysed to determine whether they are toxic or could be used in a bomb. One report on the French television news channel LCI, quoting a source close to the case, said the chemicals could have been used to pollute the city's water supplies. Other French media sources also said the men were suspected of planning a chemical attack."When one finds people with this sort of material, one has to arrest them," said French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, describing the affair as "very serious." "This is not a petty affair," he said. "How dare they try that in France! Where do they think they are, America!"
Police who searched the apartment in the northern Paris suburb of La Courneuve also seized $5,000 in cash, Islamist propaganda, and a computer. All three men, arrested in a dawn raid on Monday, are reported to be of North African origin - two with Algerian links and one Moroccan. The French news agency AFP quoted a source close to the investigation, who said that the men had all spent time in both Afghanistan and Chechnya. What a suprise!
The French Government has ordered an additional 1,000 police and troops on to the streets of the capital to provide extra security over Christmas. There have also been a series of arrests in the last few weeks. Monday's arrests were made as part of an investigation by France's leading anti-terrorist judge, Jean-Louis Bruguiere. He was also behind the arrest last month of a group of people in Paris suburbs accused of having had links to the shoebomber Richard Reid - a British man who attempted to blow up a flight from France to the US with explosives in his shoes. If Jean-Louis doesn't watch out, he'll find himself on someones hitlist.
In a separate development on Tuesday, an arms cache - including an M-80 rocket launcher - was discovered in the southern city of Nice. Five people were being held. The haul included assault rifles, pistols, detonators, bullet-proof vests and police jackets, along with a map of Nice's court complex and a plan of the local sewage system. "This arsenal could serve a number of purposes, not necessarily terrorism," prosecutor Eric de Montgolfier told the French news agency AFP. Mr. Montgolfier has a bright future in French politics with that statement.
Posted by: Anonymous ||
12/17/2002 09:53 am ||
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The reason that the French are suspicious of these chemicals is that they are all cleaning products, items unfamiliar to the average Frenchman.
A Spanish civil guard policeman was killed and another wounded on Tuesday in a shoot-out with members of Basque separatist group ETA who were on the way to plant a bomb in the capital, officials said. "A civil guard has died from the shots fired by the terrorists, and there is another (guard) injured," Francisco Javier Ansuategui, government representative in Madrid, told CNN Plus television. "The terrorists are members of ETA," he added. Following the shooting in the town of Villalba in the Madrid region, a bomb squad blew up a car near the scene. "(Security officials) exploded a suspicious vehicle using a small amount of explosive and a (second) substantial amount went off which the terrorists were carrying in the car, presumably meant to explode in the streets of the capital (on Wednesday)," Ansuategui added. The civil guards had stopped a suspicious vehicle and one of them was shot at point-blank range as he approached. Police had arrested one person and were hunting for at least one other occupant of the car. Wouldn't want to be the guy they arrested.
ETA has killed more than 800 people since 1968 to press its demands for an independent state in Basque areas of northern Spain and southwestern France. Listed as a terrorist organisation by the European Union and the United States, the group has claimed responsibility for 42 killings since January 2000, when it resumed violence after a year-and-a-half ceasefire. Another long running terror war that goes on under the radar.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/17/2002 02:00 pm ||
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This is where I have a problem with the war on terrorism. We have to start including these idiots as well as the IRA types if we really want to make a dent. When we can show the Muslim community its not all about them we can win over some support. There are a lot of other terrorist and boomers out there beside the Islamafascist, Hizboolah, Hamas and other jihadist. And that includes the animal and environmental activists that use "terror" to make political statements.
Posted by: Jack ||
12/18/2002 5:25 Comments ||
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Suspected mass murderer Ibrahim Eidarous â held in Broadmoor while battling extradition to the US â was sent to Wexham Park hospital in Slough, Berks, for cancer tests. Eidarous and two associates â one a Saudi Arabian said to be Osama bin Ladenâs top henchman in Britain â are wanted over the devastating 1998 bombings of American embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The atrocities left 223 people dead and more than 4,000 wounded. The trio have been fighting extradition for three years and have run up a legal bill of more than £1 million bankrolled by British taxpayers. That's why we pay taxes, isn't it?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/17/2002 09:38 pm ||
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No Fred, you're off the hook on this one. This time around it's my taxes that are footing the bill.
Posted by: Tony ||
12/18/2002 0:55 Comments ||
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Posted by: Steve ||
12/17/2002 10:23 am ||
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An idiot, useful to Saddam. Gee, he's gonna "convey to the public opinion in US the real situation that the Americans should force the US administration to stop such aggressive campaign."
Public Opinion is over there, near the trash cans, Mr. Penn.
#2
Well, now that Sean has confirmed that Iraq is completely clear of weapons of mass destruction, I guess the inspectors can all go home. When was he appointed Secretary of State? I completely missed that.
#4
We live in a virtual world. West Wing is a "shadow" government ready to take over if the real one fails. Penn is the "shadow" Secretary of Silly Assumptions and Asnine Statements. He is also the Director of Patriotism Through Treason program. Cleese, Palin and the whole crew of Monty Python could not have come up with a more comical, topical or unlikely script of idoicy being perfected like that practiced by Penn, Sheen, Farrell, Asner, et. al.
Posted by: Jack ||
12/18/2002 5:29 Comments ||
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Movie stars get confused. They think they ARE the characters that they play in movies. They think they are MORE informed! I'm ashamed he's Irish.
Men in the United States who are from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan will be required to register with the government under a program intended to fingerprint and photograph those from countries considered high risk for terrorists. The addition Monday of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan brings to 20 the number of countries covered under the registration program, which has drawn sharp criticism from Muslim activist groups as heavy-handed and unlikely to identify any terrorists. Note lack of qoute marks around "activist".
Both Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are considered U.S. allies in the war on terror, but both also have had questions raised about their levels of commitment. Really, I hadn't noticed. Commitment, that is.
In particular, Saudi Arabia recently was put on the defensive against allegations it was doing a poor job of disrupting terrorist financing and even may have inadvertently made payments to one of the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers. Or deliberatly.
The latest registration notice affects males from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan who are age 16 or older and entered the United States on or before Sept. 30, 2002. If they plan to stay in the United States into late February, they will have until Feb. 21, 2003, to register and provide documentation to the Immigration and Naturalization Service about their visit. The announcement coincides with a deadline Monday for registration for a similar program affecting men from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Sudan and Syria. Men from Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Eritrea, Lebanon, Morocco, North Korea, Oman, Qatar, Somalia, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen face a registration deadline of Jan. 10.
Those who fail to register can be deported. The program does not affect permanent residents, men with INS "green cards," or to naturalized citizens from those countries. Oh, that makes me feel good.
Diplomats also are excluded, as well as those seeking or already granted political asylum in the United States.
Women and children were excluded because their numbers would have made the program impossible to administer, Justice Department officials say. As opposed to almost impossible.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/17/2002 11:32 am ||
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The warehouse where Mohamed Albanna was arrested today has been in the news before... and has a connection to a member of Lackawanna's Muslim community. The telephone number of the Clinton Street warehouse being searched this morning traces to Mohamed Albanna. And if that name is familiar, it should be. Mr. Albanna is vice-president of the American Muslim council — and related to three members of the alleged Lackawanna terror cell. Mr. Albanna — and his Queen City Candy Company — have a history of being in the news. A search of Channel 2 news archives shows he was arrested on arson charges for allegedly torching his warehouse exactly 10 years ago this month. Losses were put at over a million dollars. Albanna was acquitted — ironically, his alibi at the time is another name weâre familiar with — his nephew, Jaber Elbaneh. Jaber is believed to be one of the missing Lackawanna co-conspirators currently at large in Yemen. I forget. What's the difference between an Islamist and a crook again?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/17/2002 09:48 pm ||
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Source: Daily Jang, Translated By Jihad Unspun
Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip shot dead two members of Hamas who were trying to plant explosives and a Palestinian man tending to his songbirds in his backyard on Monday, witnesses said. They stomped his baby ducks, too...
Troops killed the two Hamas members as they approached a security fence separating the coastal strip from Israel. Israeli military sources said the men had been spotted in a prohibited area in northern Gaza and troops later found the bodies of two men carrying grenades and a bomb. The military wing of Hamas issued a statement saying the militants had peacefully attempted to plant explosives at the fence to detonate against tanks passing through the area. Witnesses and relatives said Hassan Shalloula, 22, was shot dead by Israeli soldiers when he went outside to check on the songbirds he kept in cages near his home adjacent to an army checkpoint in the central Gaza Strip. I'm not sure what Hassan has to do with the attempted boomers. Was it his fence?
In the West Bank city of Jenin on Monday, Palestinian witnesses said undercover Israeli soldiers grabbed a top militant affiliated with the armed wing of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction while he was in a record shop. The soldiers, dressed as Palestinians, first asked the shop keeper for a cassette of popular Egyptian music, then pulled out guns and dragged Mohammed el-Masri, leader of the city's Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, into their car and drove off, witnesses said. The army had no immediate comment on the incident. "Avner, did you do that?"
"Nope. Wudn't me."
"Moshe?"
"I ain't got him..."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/17/2002 09:16 am ||
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Mo was shopping for "I fought the law and the law won" - guess he found it
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/17/2002 14:37 Comments ||
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Tony Blair said Monday, December 16, he was inviting Palestinian leaders to London for talks, as visiting Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad said he was optimistic that a U.S.-led war on Iraq could be avoided. I'm optimistic that my hair's gonna grow back, too...
Blair - who met earlier Monday with Al-Assad - told the House of Commons that he would in the new year invite Palestinian leaders to discuss progress on reform and to look at how the international community could help. He added that representatives of the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States, together with countries from the Middle East region, would also be invited to attend the talks. It will discuss progress on reform and look at how the international community can help, said Blair, who was reporting back to members of parliament on the outcome of the E.U. summit in Copenhagen last Thursday and Friday. It is in the interests of both the Palestinians and Israelis that these reform efforts succeed, so that we can make a reality of President (George W.) Bushs vision of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security, he said, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported. It was not immediately clear which Palestinian leaders were being invited to London, or whether President Yasser Arafat would be among them. I don't imagine Yasser would be among them. First, it would give him some legitimacy back, at a time when the U.S. and Israel are both refusing to deal with him. Second, if he does go to London, there's no guarantee at all that he'll be allowed back into Paleostine by the Israelis. Third, if he is allowed back into Paleostine, he might get there to find that the Paleostinians have a new administration, headed by Hamas.
FOLLOWUP:
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was back in the spotlight after agreeing to send a delegation to Britain for talks on reforms and urging international powers to relaunch the peace process. Toldja so. He won't be a member of the delegation...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/17/2002 12:48 pm ||
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"Oh, and guys, while you're there; pop in to Sainesbury's and pick up some baby wipes. No, the unscented--and stop at Murphy's Pub in Camden Town for some more Semtex".
Efforts to write down a Palestinian Constitution came under fire Monday, December 16, from a leading resistance group, dubbing the move as pre-mature, while the head of the Constitution Committee defended the project as a counter measure to the U.S. roadmap for the Middle East. Usama Hamid, member of the Political Bureau of Hamas resistance group, said that the problem is adopting a constitution for the Palestinian state constitutes a major demand of the U.S. roadmap. Having a written constitution, even one that's honored only in the breach, is a bad thing from the Islamist point of view; after all, all of men's affairs are governed by the Koran and the Hadith. If you want a caliphate, the last thing you need is a constitutional state.
This puts the Palestinians in a deep problem, as they will have to define the borders and identity of the Palestinian state (the first article of any constitution), as well as the political identity for all Palestinians (under occupation inside, or living as refugees abroad). How could the new constitution define the new state? Will it be the current (supposedly) self-ruled areas, or the West Bank and Gaza Strip, or all the Palestinian lands? If they go for the first option, what about the hopes of all Palestinians to establish their own independent state with east Jerusalem as its capital? Hamid wondered. "No. No. A thousand reasons why we couldn't possibly do it. It's just like those elections..."
He went on to add that adopting a constitution comes naturally after Hamas takes power obtaining independence, not before as the case is now with Palestine.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/17/2002 09:58 am ||
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The trials of those accused of carrying out the Bali bomb attacks will most likely begin in February on the tourist island, the chief investigator said Tuesday. Maj. Gen. I Made Mangku Pastika, who is heading the investigation into the October 12 blasts that killed 192 people, told reporters that the only location possible for the trial is Bali because residents here will not accept any other place. "If the trial were held outside of Bali, the Balinese would riot," he said. They should do the same if the perps' heads don't end up on stakes...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/17/2002 09:38 am ||
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Four men have been arrested for planting bombs aimed at disrupting a South-east Asian ministerial meeting near Cambodia's famed Angkor temple complex, police said on Tuesday.
National police chief Hok Lundy said police found two bombs planted at brothels in the tourist town of Siem Reap while another device was found in a garbage bin on a nearby street. All were safely defused. Brothel Bombers? Now, who do we know who might be against sex and tourists?
'It was an act of terrorism,' he told AFP. 'They wanted to disturb the meeting of the Asean ministers and to scare tourists away from Siem Reap.' Three men were arrested late on Sunday and another was detained on Monday, he said, adding that police were hunting for two or three other suspects. All those involved in the plot were former Cambodian soldiers who deserted from the army many years ago, he said. The bombs were planted around a kilometre from the Angkor Century Hotel where Asean rural development ministers were holding a conference on poverty. The police chief said the suspects confessed they had been hired to plant the bombs by an unidentified third party. JI, perhaps?
'The interior ministry is investigating this case seriously in order to find out who is behind it,' he said. Cambodian truncheons at work
Posted by: Steve ||
12/17/2002 12:32 pm ||
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If bombing a Southeast Asia whorehouse isn't blasphemous, I don't know what is...
Posted by: Fred ||
12/17/2002 14:12 Comments ||
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I can see the "I got bombed in a Southeast Asian Whorehouse" T-shirts now.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/17/2002 15:25 Comments ||
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Wonder if they got a little before they left the cathouse?
Source: National Post
Osama bin Laden sent two operatives to Canada to post bail for a jailed member of his al-Qaeda network, according to the newly released confession of an Egyptian who travelled to Vancouver to act as middleman in the transaction. "I'll talk! I'll talk! Just give me something to drink besides (ugh!) Molson!"
The two al-Qaeda members were dispatched to B.C. with US$3,000 to secure the release of Essam Hafez Marzouk, according to a transcript of the interrogation of Abul-Dahab, the middle-man, obtained last week by the SITE Institute terrorism research group in Washington, D.C. Marzouk, who was arrested in 1993 upon arrival at Vancouver airport, knew bin Laden from the Soviet war in Afghanistan and later ran one of his terrorist training camps. Abul-Dahab, one of the men sent to help him, was a sales representative for a chemical company and described the trip as a "jihad mission" to free Marzouk. "We're gonna bust this guy out! Gimme some dough!"
Abul-Dahab said he was instructed to withdraw the money from a California bank account and give it to another al-Qaeda agent, Ali Mohamed. Both Abul-Dahab and Ali Mohamed travelled to B.C. with the cash "to try and release jihad member Essam Mohamed Hafez Marzouk who had been arrested by Canadian authorities, and to pay his bail," according to the Egyptian police report. He said he was told that "this money was from Osama bin Laden to help Essam Mohamed Hafez who was imprisoned in Canada," according to a transcript of his interrogation. He said bin Laden's money was delivered to Marzouk's Vancouver lawyer. "Okay, Lawyer. Here's the money. If this don't work, we use guns..."
However the lawyer, Phil Rankin, told the National Post he did not recall getting any money from Marzouk's colleagues. "I have no recollection of ever receiving money from anybody but Marzouk," he said. "Maybe his wife brought me some money at some point, I can't recall that even." "I know nossing! Nossing! Tell them, Hogan!"
Marzouk was arrested for carrying a false Saudi passport. He spent almost a year in detention in B.C. but was released and his claim for refugee status was accepted. I don't think there's any such thing as a genuine Soddy passport...
Only later did Canadian and U.S. intelligence agents discover that Marzouk was not only a veteran of the war in Afghanistan but also an active member of the Egyptian wing of al-Qaeda, Al Jihad. He is suspected of involvement in planning the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed more than 200. That certainly wouldn't disqualify him for refugee status in Canada. It ain't like Tanzania's someplace in Manitoba, and even if it was, there weren't all that many killed, and most of them were some sort of Africans...
He left Canada in 1997, reportedly to fight the Serbs in Kosovo, and was later found in Azerbaijan and taken to Egypt, where he is now jailed. Ummm... Azerbaijan is not now and never has been in Kosovo. There aren't any Serbs there, either. There are a few Islamists, though...
Last fall, stationery belonging to his B.C. company, 4-U Enterprises, was found in an al-Qaeda safehouse in Kabul. Oh, shucks. There's a perfectly logical explanation for that. It's, ummm...
Before his arrest on terror-related charges, Abul-Dahab was involved in the financing of al-Qaeda operations. He would receive "jihad money transfers" from bin Laden aides and redirect them to terrorist cells around the world. The money went "to various jihad stations in Pakistan, Egypt, Yemen, Australia and Canada," the Egyptian police report says. One of the transfers to Pakistan "was used to fund the bombing of the Egyptian embassy in Islamabad," it says. Muslim charity dollars at work.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/17/2002 09:16 am ||
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I hate terrorists. They change the spelling of their names to confuse westerners. Some Arab countries balk at putting fingerprints on Visas; they say it will interfere with Arab-American relations. Yeah, right; it will interfere with them conducting clandestine attacks and a clandestine war against against us is the truth of the matter.
I have found several names in Arab government offices connected to terrorists and terrorism.
Jordan's military court convicted a Palestinian Tuesday in the killing of a Jordanian diplomat in Beirut in 1994 and sentenced him to death. Jamal Darwish Fatayer, 35, also known as Rashed Attiyeh, was convicted of conspiring to carry out terror attacks that led to the death of Naeb Imran Maaytah, first secretary of the Jordanian Embassy in Beirut. Maaytah was shot in his car in front of the embassy on Jan. 29, 1994. Fatayer also was convicted of belonging to an illegal group, the Palestinian Revolutionary Council led by the late militant Abu Nidal. Abu Nidal opposed Arab attempts to make peace with Israel. At the time of Maaytah's killing, officials were negotiating the agreement that became the Jordanian-Israeli peace treaty in October 1994. Well, that explains it, then. If you don't agree with something, kill someone.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/17/2002 12:03 pm ||
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New Zealand may find it difficult to deport an Algerian asylum seeker linked to terrorist acts because of a death sentence hanging over his head. Ahmed Zaoui, a member of a fundamentalist Islamic political party and suspected of civilian killings in Europe, arrived at Auckland Airport a week ago from Malaysia. Speaking French, he gave himself up to immigration authorities. He had destroyed his South African travel documents during the flight to New Zealand. It is understood that Zaoui, who has been sentenced to death in Algeria, is seeking political asylum. "Hi! I'm here! Take care of me! By the way, which way to the mosque?"
Zaoui was transferred to Paremoremo prison, where he remains. "Hey! This ain't no mosque!"
Under international conventions that New Zealand recognises, anyone who is party to terrorist acts, including by association to terrorist groups, or poses a risk to national security, need not be accepted as a refugee. Although New Zealand is not allowed to extradite people to their home country if they face the death penalty there, it can expel them to a third country. Which can dump them back to where they can get the old neck stretched...
A University of Auckland apologist specialist in international affairs, Dr Paul Buchanan, believes it could prove impossible to deport Zaoui. He says other countries would not want him as he is a "hot potato". "Nope. Nope. Couldn't do that. We'll have to keep him, even if he does kill babies..."
Zaoui is allegedly linked to the militant Armed Islamic Group (GIA), which has been fighting a bitter civil war to restore democracy in Algeria. GIA has been blamed for terrorist acts, including the 1997 Paris Metro bombing that killed eight people. Zaoui has denied involvement with the group. "Nope. Not me. I wouldn't do that kind of stuff. I got a honest fez, don't it?"
Dr Buchanan said the Algerian Government had tried Zaoui in absentia for terrorism, convicted him and imposed the death sentence. But it had never been proven that he was responsible for any terrorist acts, Dr Buchanan said. "Certainly not to my satisfaction. Those photos were entirely too grainy to be 100 percent sure it was him..."
"There was no proven complicity ... He is tarred by his association with the GIA when there is no proof he committed any terrorist acts." "Besides, the witnesses are all dead, ain't they?"
The United States Government had virtually labelled members of non-government Muslim groups as terrorists but it could be argued in Zaoui's case that he was a freedom fighter trying to restore democracy to Algeria. "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter, after all." Most people wouldn't describe what GAI wants as the restoration of democracy. Not even the people who belong to GAI, in fact...
"My impression is he would not be a threat here and has basically sought refuge from his hell of having a death squad on his trail." "If I'm wrong, it probably won't be me who ends up dead, probably not even anybody I know."
Zaoui was a democratically elected member of the Algerian Islamic Front for Salvation (FIS) in December 1991, but the new Government was overthrown in a military coup in January 1992. Because it was chock full of murderous bastards like him...
Clive Williams, director of terrorism studies at the Australian National University, said it was possible Zaoui had been wrongly accused of terrorism. It's possible the earth is flat, too. They could be lying to us...
The head of the FIS, Dr Mojurad Dhina, told the Herald from Switzerland yesterday that Zaoui was not a terrorist or linked to any crime. He deserved political asylum. "No, of course he's not a terrorist. None of us are..."
Dr Dhina said the terrorist rumours were triggered by the Algerian secret services. "Y'see, they're conspiring against us..."
Unless deported to Malaysia - his last port of embarkation - Zaoui will appear in court next month after his 28-day detention warrant expires.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/17/2002 03:27 pm ||
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#1
Hi, I am a journalist working for the Listener magazine in New Zealand. Does anybody have any hard evidence that Zaoui is implicated in terrorist activities?
I have a lot of evidence that he never has been and am looking for some counterpoint.
Feel free to email me direct.
Cheers, Alistair.
Posted by: Alistair Bone ||
07/22/2003 23:25 Comments ||
Top||
#2
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL MEDIA RELEASE
FOR ATTENTION OF: CHIEFS OF STAFF:
01/08/2003 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
REFUGEE ? NOT "SUSPECTED TERRORIST"
The New Zealand Section of Amnesty International today called for the
immediate release of Ahmed Zaoui, the Algerian detained since December last
year as a "suspected terrorist", following a finding by the Refugee Status
Appeals Authority that he is a genuine refugee.
As Mr Zaoui has been recognized by the Refugee Status Appeals Authority as
a political refugee this means that he has not been found guilty of
terrorism in their eyes.
"The terms of the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees would not
have applied if he had been considered to be guilty of 'war crimes', 'a
crime against humanity', 'a crime against peace', or had committed any
serious 'non-political crime' in Algeria or elsewhere", said Amnesty
International New Zealand Executive Director, Ced Simpson.
"There must be truly compelling evidence to warrant the continued
imprisonment of a refugee who was legitimately elected as a parliamentarian
in a landslide election for his party in 1991, who has been in enforced
exile for a decade since and against whom there has been no clearly
substantiated allegations of criminal behavior. These allegations may well
have originated with Algerian intelligence services that have been
implicated in massive human rights violations since 1992."
Mr Simpson said "New Zealand politicians should reflect carefully on the
fact that a well-respected politician elected in fair elections as part of
a landslide victory in Algeria in 1991 was now being held in maximum
security prison in New Zealand, following a lengthy period of enforced
exile."
It is officially acknowledged that at least 100,000 people ? mainly
civilians ? have died since the election was blocked by the military.
The Algerian authorities have claimed to "have neutralized" 20,000
"terrorists" during that time.
The Appeals Authority has reviewed Mr Zaoui's case extensively in coming to
the decision and the onus is now on the government to publicly justify his
continued detention in a maximum security prison.
enz
Margaret Taylor
Activism Support Manager
Amnesty International New Zealand
Service and Development Office
1st floor, 145 Nelson Street, Auckland
Box 5300, Wellesley Street, Auckland
#3
NZ's Refugee Status Appeal Authority examined the case of Ahmed Zaoui for 5 weeks. Of all the appeals for refugee status they hear, they dismiss more than 80%. In the case of Ahmed Zaoui they found overwhelmingly in his favour. He is a moderate man of peace, and I hope NZ is the place he will find peace and refuge.
Internet rumour is no basis for justice, nor is unsubstantiated intellegence gossip.
See http://www.refugee.org.nz/stats.htm for statistics.
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