More than 100 people, including prominent academics, are being held in Oman following a wave of arrests earlier this month, relatives of the detainees said Thursday.
"Several professors from the education and Islamic studies faculties of Sultan Qaboos University are among more than 100 people who were arrested on January 9," one family member confirmed.
His account was corroborated by the testimony of relatives of other detainees.
Family members said those arrested were followers of the Ibadi Muslim sect dominant in the small Gulf sultanate, not Sunni Muslims like Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his militants.
Relatives said the security forces gave no reason for the arrests but added that they came amid rumours of a plot by Islamists to sabotage the Muscat Festival, a month-long shopping and cultural event which opened last Friday.
Security forces had intercepted an arms shipment from neighbouring Yemen, bin Laden's ancestral homeland where US special forces have been operating against Sunni militants since the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, family members said.
But they strongly denied any link between their detained relatives and the arms shipment or Al-Qaeda.
"We were astonished by father's arrest in his Muscat home at dawn on January 9," said Taleb al-Abri, son of Islamic studies professor Ali bin Hilal al-Abri.
Taleb acknowledged that, like many Muslims, his father oppsed the US-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq but insisted his father had no connection to terrorist activity and no connection to Al-Qaeda.
He said police had seized six computers as well as cameras from family homes in Muscat and in the Al-Hamra region southeast of the capital.
The Saudi-owned daily Al-Hayat reported Wednesday that some 300 suspects, including "military officials", had been detained in a wave of arrests this month. It too said the crackdown followed an arms seizure near the Yemeni border.
Sunni militants loyal to Al-Qaeda generally regard other Islamic sects as heretical.
But last year, Yemeni security forces launched a months-long campaign in the northern mountains against a preacher from the Shiite Zaidi community, whom it accused of leading a radical anti-US uprising.
Oman has largely been spared the Islamist unrest that has rocked neighbouring Saudi Arabia and Kuwait further north.
But last September a Briton was wounded in a shooting in an upmarket residential district of Muscat.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/27/2005 3:43:48 PM ||
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Saudi Arabia has accepted the resignation of the kingdom's intelligence chief Prince Nawaf bin Abd al-Aziz, state television reported. King Fahd issued a royal decree removing Prince Nawaf from his post "based on his request" and appointing him as an adviser at a ministerial level, the television said on Wednesday. The decree did not say who would replace Prince Nawaf, who has been suffering from poor health, as head of the intelligence service of the Gulf Arab state, which has been battling a wave of al-Qaida linked violence for nearly two years. Prince Nawaf, one of King Fahd's half-brothers, had undergone surgery in 2002 after suffering a brain haemorrhage. they're all half brothers. same rich daddy, virtually anonymous mommy.
He took over the post from Prince Turki al-Faisal shortly before the 11 September 2001 attacks, carried out mainly by Saudis. coincidence? hmmmmm . . .
Prince Turki, a senior member of the Saudi royal family, had overseen the intelligence apparatus for 25 years.
Posted by: PlanetDan ||
01/27/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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How many times are they each their own cousins, too? On average, I mean.
#3
Speaking of poor health, hasn't King Fahd been at death's door for the last few years?
Posted by: Steve ||
01/27/2005 8:18 Comments ||
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The guy had a brain haemorrhage and was named Chief of Intelligence after that? That explains a lot of what is going on in that country, doesn't it?
Omani police have arrested some 300 suspects, a number of them Islamists, who were planning attacks in the sultanate, where a cargo of arms was also seized, Al-Hayat newspaper reported Wednesday. Citing "information" and "rumours" circulating in Oman, the pan-Arab daily said that "social and military officials" were known to be among "some 300 people arrested ... last week."
Nice going, Mossad.
Arms were discovered when a truck transporting them had an accident, "which led to (the dismantling) of the group," it said. The information, published on its front page and attributed to the paper's correspondent in Muscat, also said there were "rumours of explosions on the first day of Eid Al-Adha", which began last Thursday. Those arrested planned "explosions targetting the Muscat Festival, which was boycotted by Islamists who deem it against the precepts of Islam," the daily said.
Having fun usually is.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/27/2005 11:56:46 PM ||
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"Arms were discovered when a truck transporting them had an accident, âwhich led to (the dismantling) of the group,â it said"
Omani drivers are among the worst in the world. I guess they are also going to have to hire foreigners to do the driving while on terror missions. Why not? They hire them for everything else!
When I lived there (1999-2002) it was illegal for foreigners to own a truck and to drive a truck as a profession - part of the Omanization process. I don't know about hiring foreigners to drive on terror missions though...hmmm...probably illegal.
The drivers there are a sight to behold. They tend to drive in what we called the "Insh'allah" mode.
Kuwaiti society is against terrorism and extremists who don't listen to true religious scholars, says Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Abdullah Al-Matooq. The image of Islam and Kuwait is beyond everything and nobody has the right to damage it, he adds. Addressing top officials of the Awaf Ministry at the Grand Mosque Tuesday, Al-Matooq accused religious fundamentalists of creating an Internet website to propagate their perverted ideas, adding "such people won't have a place in mosques." He urged Imams to focus their Friday sermons on "faith and values," saying "Kuwaitis are known for their moderate ways and tolerance of others. Our country has never witnessed a sectarian or religious war which proves we are peace loving people."
Describing his meeting with the officials of the ministry as a part of a strategy to stress the importance of values and transparency, Al-Matooq said "the Awqaf Ministry is proud of its scholars and Imams who give sermons every Friday to remind people about values." Kuwaiti mosques are free of terrorist activities and the number of complaints received by the ministry against mosques is decreasing, he added. Al-Matooq went on to say the Awqaf Ministry is planning to establish an institute to educate Imams in social subjects, such as psychology, and other religious subjects. Stressing the importance of supporting civil authorities in creating awareness on the dangers of terrorism among people, the minister said "the Cabinet has decided to establish an anti-terrorism committee comprising of representatives from the Ministries of Awqaf, Information, Education and Social Affairs."A team headed by Undersecretary of Awqaf Dr Adel Al-Falah will concentrate on anti-terrorism activities while another team under the leadership of Maj. General Mohammad Al-Sabae will warn on protecting youth, he continued. The parent and sub-committees have held several meetings to chalk out programmes aimed at educating different segments of people, Al-Matooq concluded.
You might consider divorcing the state from the holy men and doing away with the Awqaf. Decide you're a modern state and not a quasi-theocracy and let the individual mosques and preachers stand or fall on their own. And hold the holy men responsible for their actions and words.
But that's just my thoughts. I'll admit that I've got a soft spot for Kuwait, left over from the first Gulf War.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/27/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Wonder if Prince Nawaf's "resignation" has anything to do with the Kuwaiti interrogation?
Security sources say weapons which were reportedly found buried in a garden in Sabahiya belong to some of the persons who are in police custody. The sources added Shaikh Hamed Al-Ali was expected to be charged with persuading youths to attack United States forces in Kuwait and Iraq, spreading radical ideas and explaining the manufacturing of explosives on his website.
... and the Kuwaitis seem to take these things more seriously than the Soddies do.
In another development, Nasser Kh. A., the preacher's brother who allegedly shot dead a Kuwaiti police officer in the Maidan Hawalli clash is believed to have sneaked into Iraq to fight against American forces. Al-Qabas reported that the preacher's wife was also interrogated for allegedly hiring cars for the militants but was released. It said investigations revealed the suspects have links with radical groups in Saudi Arabia, Syria, Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi and Al-Qaeda.
... but I repeat myself.
The investigations also revealed some MPs, leaders of religious organizations and preachers had met the militants before the two incidents. The militants are said to be well organized and have several sources of funds.
So we can expect a political housecleaning, as well? That'd be nice...
Posted by: Fred ||
01/27/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Kuwaiti security men have arrested a 28-year-old female employee of the Ministry of Information identified as Hadiba S.K Al-Harbi for pasting leaflets on a wall in the ministry that described Osama bin Laden as a warrior who fights for the sake of Allah. Other leaflets called on the government to release those arrested for their involvement in the twin shoot-outs. A security source said the police were alerted after the lady, who works in the transport department was caught on a security camera. She is said to have been transferred from the finance department of the ministry after a disagreement with her supervisor due to her radical religious ideas. Police confiscated a laptop computer which was found with her. "The interrogations lasted until 3:30 am Tuesday morning. A 'buffet' was ordered from a local restaurant in preparation for the marathon interrogation," sources privy to Monday's interrogations of the suspects told the Arab Times.
"Mahmoud! Call out for Chinese! This is gonna take awhile!"
The men were charged with hiding information on the absconding suspects, possessing unlicensed arms and ammunition and facilitating the escape of fugitives. However, the Public Prosecution has released M. Al-Enezi, brother of Amer Al-Enezi, the main suspect in the case after interrogating him for two weeks following the Maidan Hawalli incident. The Arab Times learnt that Bander Shimmari, a Kuwaiti national was charged with being a key member of the Mutlaa Cell that planned the shoot-outs; Mohammed A.B. Al-Azmi, also a Kuwaiti, was charged with taking part in the planning; Bandar Shimmari, a bedouin was charged with being a member of the cell and being aware of the shoot-out plan; Sultan Sahli, Kuwaiti, was charged with possessing cell phones used by the planners; Mohammed Dhafeeri, a Kuwaiti, was charged with knowing where the weapons were hidden; Mishaal F. Al-Ajmi, a Kuwaiti, was charged with possessing 8 Kalashnikov rifles without license; and Jaber J was charged with promoting radical ideas. The charges against Fawaz Mohammed, Khaled Sh. and Saud Z were not specified. Two others whose names were not mentioned were accused of encouraging the militants, knowing their intentions and the places where weapons were hidden. Seven militants who are still at large were identified as Amer Kh. A., Nasser Kh. A, Mohammed A. Sh., Mohammed S.A., Mohammed J.A., Ahmed M.M., and Salah S. A security source said among the seven fugitives were four bedouns working for a charity society who are believed to have left the country.
"Our work here is done! The needy have been provided with arms and ammunition! Time to move on, Ahmed!"
"I'll pack..."
"Don't bother packing! It's time to move on!"
Meanwhile, Al-Watan said the police are looking for Mohsen Al-Al-Fadhli who was earlier released after providing the police with information that led to the arrest of the suspects. It was revealed during the interrogation of the other suspects that he helped in planning the shoot-outs.
Bad Mohsen. Playing both ends against the middle, were you?
Posted by: Fred ||
01/27/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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The interrogations lasted until 3:30 am Tuesday morning. A 'buffet' was ordered from a local restaurant in preparation for the marathon interrogation," sources privy to Monday's interrogations of the suspects told the Arab Times.
Ha! you just cant make stuff like this up! I hope the interrogators enjoyed their meal, and I hope what they came up with made it worth it.
THE Australian Government has warned Australian travellers that terrorists may be planning attacks on cinemas, theatres and pubs in the UK. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has updated its travel advice for the UK, urging Australian tourists to be alert to suspicious activities. The advice said while there was no specific information to suggest a terrorist attack was imminent in the UK, police and politicians there believed there was a high probability of some kind of attack being attempted.
"Police have warned the public to be vigilant at cinemas, theatres, pubs and nightclubs and on all types of public transport, including the London Underground system and buses," the advice said. "Australians in the United Kingdom are advised to be alert to their own security. "As you would in Australia, use common sense and be alert to suspicious activities."
The advice also alerts Australian tourists to a spate of assaults which have occurred late at night on public transport in the UK. Pickpocketing and street theft at tourist spots and on public transport was also on the rise, while sexual assaults had occurred in unlicensed taxis, it said. DFAT also warned Australian travellers to be careful using automatic teller machines (ATMs) in the UK because of the number of card scams being carried out there.
"Prior to travel, Australians should ensure they have a variety of financial options available to them including credit cards, travellers' cheques and cash," it said.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
01/27/2005 1:36:35 AM ||
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Essentially, when in London if the muslims don't get you, the natives will... mwahahahahaa!!!
Posted by: Howard UK ||
01/27/2005 8:43 Comments ||
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My God! And I was contemplating going to the Post Office this afternoon...
Nicaraguan police, with U.S. assistance in a sting operation, thwarted black marketeers trying to sell SA-7 shoulder-fired missiles capable of downing commercial aircraft earlier this month, raising fears that some missiles already have been sold to terrorists, The Washington Times has learned. U.S. officials think the missiles are being provided by elements of the Nicaraguan military. One official said intelligence reports suggest Nicaraguan army elements are keeping a secret stash of SA-7s not inventoried by international inspectors. The sellers in the sting demanded several hundred thousand dollars for each missile, said an administration official who discussed the operation on the condition of anonymity. It is not known if the black marketeers had been successful in selling other SA-7s before they were arrested.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/27/2005 11:39:42 AM ||
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nice grab
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/27/2005 12:13 Comments ||
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I wonder how many aircraft/heliocopters have actually been shot down by SA-7s. Under 50? Under 25?
Security forces have stormed an apartment building in southern Russia, ending a two-day standoff and killing seven suspected Islamic extremists. Thursday's assault in the capital of Russia's republic of Kabardino-Balkaria led to a gun battle lasting several hours. Smoke billowed from the upper floors, which were gutted by fire. At least two police officers were reported wounded. Russian authorities had surrounded the building Tuesday and opened negotiations with the suspects seeking their surrender. Officials say the extremists belonged to the radical Islamic Yarmuk group, which they link to Chechen separatist fighters. The group was also blamed for an attack on a local drug enforcement office last month. Weapons were stolen and four agency employees were killed in that attack.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/27/2005 3:24:25 PM ||
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note to Saooodis: this is how you "surround" somebody
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/27/2005 19:20 Comments ||
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All the armed militants barricaded in a house in the city of Nalchik during a three-day standoff in the Russian internal republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, North Caucasus, are thought to have been killed, a source in the local operation headquarters was quoted by Russian Information Agency Novosti as saying. Bomb disposal experts are searching the house for booby traps set by the gunmen.
Two policemen were wounded in the standoff with the gunmen. There were seven militants in the house, four of them women. A local interior official quoted by Interfax said that according to preliminary information, they were the gunmen's wives and sisters.
The group of gunmen could be linked to the radical Islamic organization "Yarmuk" that claimed responsibility for an attack on the republic's Drug Control Service headquarters on Dec. 13. Four servicemen were killed in that incident and a large amount of weapons were stolen. One of the killed militants was identified as the head of "Yarmuk", Muslim Atayev, Interfax reported. UPDATE: NALCHIK, January 27 (RIA Novosti) - Three out of seven terrorists eliminated in Nalchik have been identified. They come from the village of Kendeler of the Elbrus district in Kabardino-Balkaria (a constituent republic in the North Caucasus), a source in the investigation group told RIA Novosti.
Among them is Muslim Atayev, the leader of the so-called Yarmuk jamaat which assumed responsibility for the attack on the State Drug Control department of Kabardino-Balkaria in December 2004 when four drug policemen were killed and many weapons stolen. According to the source, women who stayed with the militants in the house in Nalchik's outskirts also rendered active armed resistance. They shot Kalashnikov assault-rifles.
Three men and four women were killed, the source said adding that the apartment where the terrorists had been hiding supposedly belonged to one of these women.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/27/2005 12:24:57 PM ||
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Perhaps we ought to tell Putty we have similar probelms so they quite selling weaponry to Syria. Guess what Vlad the Syrians will stab you in the back as well. Wonder how many of their jihadies are operating on Russian soil.
North Korea appears to have bought a complete nuclear weapon from either Pakistan or a former Soviet Union state, a South Korean newspaper said on Thursday quoting a source in Washington.
Most likely Pakistan, they've been real cozy
Seoul Shinmun quoted the source as saying the United States was checking the intelligence. The purchase was apparently intended to avoid nuclear weapons testing that could be detected from the outside, the source was quoted as saying. North Korea is believed to have one or two nuclear weapons and possibly more than eight. U.S. Congressman Curt Weldon said after a visit to the North this month that its second-ranked leader had told his delegation that it possessed nuclear weapons. Pyongyang has declared that a nuclear reactor at Yongbyon, sealed under a 1994 agreement with the United States, had been restarted. Spent nuclear fuel from that reactor could be converted to weapons-grade material. North Korea has never officially declared that it possessed atomic weapons, speaking instead of its "nuclear deterrent." U.S. experts who visited the Yongbyon facility said spent plutonium previously stored there had been removed. North Korea is suspected of running a separate program based on uranium enrichment technology, assisted by a former top Pakistani nuclear scientist.
All together now; "Khaaaaaaannnnnnnnn!"
Posted by: Steve ||
01/27/2005 8:52:12 AM ||
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But what about ongoing maintenance? Rantburg experts have assured us that without very frequent and persnickety maintenance, the thing quickly becomes useful only as an expensive, and radioactive, paperweight.
#2
They'll bring in Syrians with hammers to test for duds, just like in Ryongchon.
Posted by: ed ||
01/27/2005 11:03 Comments ||
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If it is one that uses tritium then the tritium has to be changed on a schedule depending on when the tritium was first made. It degrades over time. The bomb will still explode but will not be nearly as powerful. It's called a fizzle in the bomb society.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/27/2005 11:39 Comments ||
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or, as Ed so slyly noted? A "train accident"
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/27/2005 11:43 Comments ||
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"The purchase was apparently intended to avoid nuclear weapons testing that could be detected from the outside"
Would this be to disassemble the bomb to reverse engineer a proven design? But why would they need an actual weapon instead of just the plans, which Kahn was so freely selling? Perhaps this weapon is not the Kahn design.
Posted by: DO ||
01/27/2005 12:31 Comments ||
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Don't bug us, Americans, or you go kaboom!
Posted by: Kim Jong Hung Low ||
01/27/2005 14:44 Comments ||
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Unfortunately tritium boosters are good for around 4-7 years (4 if booster types are of very crude design and capability). But yeah you usually don't need to change the tritium for about 7 years which is a long time.
The Rotterdam international film festival has pulled the last contentious work by Dutch film-maker Theo Van Gogh at the eleventh hour, amid fears that the screening might trigger further acts of religious violence. The short film, Submission Part One, was due to form the centrepiece of a debate on freedom of speech on Sunday night. It will now not be shown.
Submission Part One is a ten-minute film about a Muslim woman forced into an arranged marriage where she is beaten by her husband, raped by her uncle and finally accused of adultery. Explaining the decision to withdraw it, the film's producer Gijs van de Westelaken said: "We do not want to take any chance of endangering anyone else who participated in the film."
Posted by: growler ||
01/27/2005 10:46:32 AM ||
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Thus proving that speech there is, indeed, not free. What a dramatic way to win debate points.
#6
It's amazing Muslims can cry about discrimination and PC Police will give you a citation if you criticize them but if you disagree they kill you.
Round two goes to the Muslims as well. My opinion compulsory viewing for all graduating High Schoolers. Let them know the threat islam is to the World.
Today was the first pro-forma trial day of Mohammed Bouyeri, the terrorist who slaughtered Theo van Gogh on 2 November.
* The assassination was planned; ten witnesses claim they have seen surveillances by the terrorist on different location on van Goghâs regular route to his office.
* The night before the attack, 1 November, two other members of the Hofstad terror group met Mohammed Bouyeri (Jason W. and Ismael A).
* AIVD taped phone conversations of the, now detained, Hofstad cell members. They recorded them saying: âWe have conform the authentic Islamic way, slaughtered the lam. This will be the punishment for each person that will offend Allah or his prophet. O you, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, tomorrow if Allah wants it, itâs your turn.â In the same phone conversation the caller claimed to belong to the group of Mohammed Bouyeri "the brigade of the Islamic Jihad". The phone conversation was made from the address in Den Haag (Antheunisstraat), where a week after the murder Jason W. en Ismail A. where arrested. The AIVD has still 20 hours of tapes, but did not have the time yet, to process them.
* The prosecutor only questioned Mohammed Bouyeri right after his arrest. At that time he did not wanted to cooperate. No further attempts where made.
* An AIVD (Dutch inteligence service) transcript of a conversation of Mohammed Bouyeri, was found in the house of Mohammed Bouyeri (See also: The Secret Service Mole story).
* Achmed H. (26), who lived at the same address as Mohammed Bouyeri, worked in a building opposite to where Theo van Gogh lived. He also has no albi for the time around the murder. Witnesses declare that they have seen him, together with two others, near the crime scene.
* The prosecutor knew on 2 november of the threats made against Wilders and Hirsi Ali, but waited to inform other services that handle the securiy (DKDB) of Wilders and Hirsi Ali. He says he first wanted to do some research and forwarded the information on 3 november. Strangly enough, Aboutaleb and burgomaster Cohen received protection that same day, but Wilders and Hirsi Ali only days later.
* The pro-forma trial date for the Hofstad terrorist trial in set on 7 february.
* The public prosecutor asked 3 months delay to finish his investigation.
The Charges
1. Murder on Theo van Gogh with terrorist intentions
2. Attempted murder of 8 police officers with terrorist intentions
3. Attempted murder on 2 bystanders with terrorist intentions
4. Making death threats to Ayaan Hirsi Ali with terrorist intentions
5. Obstructing Ayaan Hirsi Ali to attend a parliamentary meeting with terrorist intentions.
6. Membership of a criminal organisation with terrorist intentions
7. Conspiracy to murder with terrorist intentions
8. Illegal possession of firearm and ammunition
The arrest
Regarding the murder on Theo van Gogh, they have 53 eyewitnesses. Only some minor details where not reported earlier. New was that he gave more details on how the arrest took place.
After the slaughter Mohammed Bouyeri calmly walked through the park. When he wanted to leave the park, he walked into a police car. He walked to the car. The police officers in the car stayed passive. When Mohammed Bouyeri is only a few meters away from the car, he starts shooting on them. In panic the police car tries to flee, but crashes into a wall. Mohammed follows them calmly and continues shooting and hits one officer in the chest (he was wearing a bullet proof vest). When other police cars arrive, he shoots at these cars too. In all cars bullet holes where found.
----
All this from a Dutch blogger who's following the trial. [hat tip: Roger Simon]
#9
My favorite detail is that Bouyeri intended to martyr himself but the cops just winged him and took him to hospital. No virgins for you, Mo!
The part that sux is that Mo is still intending to martyr himself via the Dutch courts. His lawyer is consistently refusing any psychiatric or other evaluations that would delay trial and harsh punishment. Dunno if Holland has death penalty or not.
#11
The Rotterdam international film festival has pulled the last contentious work by Dutch film-maker Theo Van Gogh at the eleventh hour, amid fears that the screening might trigger further acts of religious violence.
The Dutch need to step hard on these terrorists. Deal with it now or deal with it later.
If it's in the EU, it has no death penalty. Condition of entry. It's also one of the reasons why British prisons are filling up with death-penalty exiles who would be shot on arrival if they were repatriated but who we can't repatriate because we're prevented from deporting anyone who faces a death penalty, either convicted or not - even to the US.
An Italian court acquitted three north Africans of international terrorism charges linked to the alleged recruitment of suicide bombers to be sent to Iraq, ruling that the men were guerrillas, not terrorists. Deputy Premier Gianfranco Fini, who is also foreign minister, expressed "anger and incredulity" over what he said was a "distortion of the reality before the entire world." The men had been accused of association with the aim of international terrorism, a charge introduced in Italy after Sept. 11, 2001, as part of Premier Silvio Berlusconi's government's war against terrorism. Judge Clementina Forleo convicted the men, Tunisians Ali Ben Sassi Toumi and Bouyahia Maher, and Moroccan Mohamed Daki, of assisting illegal immigration and dealing in false documents, Toumi's lawyer Sara Fardella said. The Tunisians were sentenced to three years in prison and the third defendant to 22 months. RAI state TV showed portions of Forleo's written ruling, which said the defendants were guerrillas, not terrorists, and that there was no proof they were planning attacks.
They must have promised to kill Judge Forleo last...
The trial of two other defendants Nourredine Drissi of Morocco, and Kamel Hamraoui of Tunisia has been transferred to the northern Italian town of Brescia, Fardella said, because the two are suspected of being part of a terrorist cell located in the nearby town of Cremona. All five were arrested in 2003.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/27/2005 00:00:00 ||
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I read this at the BBC and was incredulous! This is actually true. This $%&&^%$ leftist "Judge" turned 4 terrorist recruters loose! Someone needs to come down hard on this dumb spiteful overbearing woman. A hard slap is in order. Meh
Four more people were detained in Paris Wednesday by anti-terrorist agents looking into the recruitment of Islamic extremists to join the insurgency in Iraq, bringing to 11 the number of arrests this week.
Nice work, French intel services.
The four - all young men - were being held at the headquarters of the domestic intelligence service DST, along with six of the seven people detained on Monday in the working-class 19th arrondissement of the capital. The identities of the detainees were not disclosed, but officials said that eight of the nine men - all aged between 20 and 24 - were of north African origin with French nationality. The other was a French convert to Islam.
Cue suprise meter.
They were arrested as part of an anti-terrorist investigation launched last September after evidence emerged of a so-called "Iraqi network" recruiting Islamic militants to fight US forces there. The foreign intelligence service DGSE has identified a French man, named only as Fawzi D., at the head of a group of some 20 Islamic militants in Iraq, officials said. The nine young men detained this week have known each other since childhood and attend the same prayer-halls and sports clubs, investigators said. They also have links with two brothers - Redouane and BoubakeurEl-Hakim - who played a key role in organising recruits for Iraq. Redouane, 19, was killed in July during the US bombardment of the Sunni town of Fallujah, and Boubakeur is being held in Syria after being caught trying to cross to Iraq.
"Whoops. Ya got me, coppers."
The Hakim brothers frequented a prayer-hall in the northern Paris suburb of Levallois-Perret which has been shut down. The men held this week moved around the ad-Da'wa mosque in the 19th arrondissement, which officials said has become an important recruiting centre. The other three French nationals killed in Iraq were named as Tarek N. , Karim - also known as Abu Salman - and Abdelhakim B. They were killed in September and October in the so-called Sunni triangle to the north and west of Baghdad.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
01/27/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Further gist for that relative-tracing program the Army has been using so successfully in Iraq?
A friend in England informs me that the police just released the 4 Gitmo returnees. They are free to cause more terror.
Time to spread stories about who they spilled the beans on so that their days are shorter....
Posted by: 3dc ||
01/27/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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I have already started to spread the "news" these guys gave people up. I don't know if the BBC will post any of my comments or not but I gave it my best shot.
No one seems to understand the reason these men were allowed to go free is that they gave up all the information they had. That information led to the arrest of bigger fish. After all the information they gave was verified and all the arrests were made that could be they were let go. In short they made a deal.
I wish those who keep bringing up the Geneva Conventions here in their comments actually knew something about the ones that the US has signed on to. The US has not signed on to and ratified all the protocols the UK has. These persons are not covered under the protocols the US has signed. Those captured on the battle field are quite lucky not to have been shot on the spot which is legal under Geneva. My impression is that 99% of the people who bring up The Geneva Accords have no idea what is covered by them at all. Whom is covered by what Conventions and even when they apply.
For those insisting that these person where held in horrid conditions here are the following facts. These persons had adequate food, health care, clothing and the freedom to practice their religion while in detention. In fact they may have had better treatment then a regular criminal in a UK prison. According to this very website abysmal conditions and abuse exist in some UK prisons.
You can spread the "news" here at BBC's "HAVE YOUR SAY." Perhaps they will publish you. I know that they won't likely publish me but they have in the past.
#2
Be prepared to be horribly misquoted or ignored. eg. Those captured on the battle field are quite lucky not to have been shot on the spot - Mr Doom, USA.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
01/27/2005 8:32 Comments ||
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#3
Howard, yes that would be misquoting SPOD, but the actual quote is quite true considering the circumstances.
I agree that most folks who claim to know Geneva do not. I recently gave a class to a bunch of my Marines on the law of war, code of conduct, and rules of engagement. It seems that most of the world does not understand that we are actually going above and beyond Geneva for *detainees*, we've given them *pow* treatment in a sense that they do not rate. Summary execution of out of uniform combatants is allowed for these folks.
Posted by: ed ||
01/27/2005 09:16 ||
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#1
Just what we need: naked jihadis.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/27/2005 10:44 Comments ||
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#2
Aargh!!! Now I have that image haunting me for the rest of the day ....
Posted by: too true ||
01/27/2005 10:45 Comments ||
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#3
It is a good thing the clothing was discovered and brought to the authorities attention...What else crossed the border and who does the jacket really belong to??
Andrea
Posted by: Andrea ||
01/27/2005 11:06 Comments ||
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#4
this sounds weak.....
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/27/2005 11:24 Comments ||
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#5
I can't recall ever having seen a terrorist shoulder patch before.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/27/2005 11:30 Comments ||
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#7
Hebbronville is in Jim Hogg County about 30 miles east of the border. My guess: some Mumia-cong asshelmet got the patches by mail-order and had them re-worked locally as a prop for campus demonstrations. If they really want to pursue this, they could start with hippy-boutiques that do custom embroidery work in Austin and San Marcos.
#8
To continue....
The asshelmet may simply have forgotten the jacket. It is also possible that he/she was rebuked by fellow peace-hypocrites for being too obvious about the real agenda, or simply have thought better of it, and decided to abandon the jacket to rile Homeland Security. In that case, it seems to have worked.
The No. 3 man at the Pentagon, Douglas J. Feith, undersecretary of defense for policy, is resigning his Pentagon position, FOX News learned Wednesday. Feith's reasons for resigning are unclear, but Pentagon sources say the undersecretary will offer "family reasons" as his explanation. His last day will come at some point in the summer, the sources said. Feith has not submitted a letter of resignation, but he verbally informed Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld of his intentions. "He has had that discussion with me. I am hopeful he'll stay until we are able to find an appropriate successor, which we've not started looking for," Rumsfeld said in an evening press conference. Pentagon spokesman Larry DiRita said Feith was weary of missing events in the lives of his children and wanted to spend more time with them.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/27/2005 00:00:00 ||
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#1
I am delighted that Feith is leaving. He is bad baggage for Rumsfeld and for GWB. I hope he doesn't get any golden parachute send off this summer. The guy screwed up. Condi Rice is taking heat for the incompetence of Feith, Tenet, and Wolfowitz. Wolfowitz should go as well. I'm surprised Rumsfeld kept either of them on considering that Rumsfeld was back stabbed recently by neocon standard bearers.
Is it Feith who the FBI are investigating on the qt along with Larry Franklin for possibly sharing sensitive US policy material with an Israeli lobby group? What an idiot if it's true. More bad karma for the WH. Give Feith the pink slip asap.
#3
So I'm guessing the first commentor's pseudonym stands for "twice as stupid as standard".
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
01/27/2005 8:21 Comments ||
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#4
You just noticed?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
01/27/2005 8:22 Comments ||
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#5
Unlike 2X sub-standard, Doug Feith is a big loss in the WoT. He was the whipping boy for the likes of Tubby Ted, Leaky Leahy, and the other leftist baboons, but I am certain he was no friend to our enemies.
Posted by: Captain America ||
01/27/2005 9:34 Comments ||
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#6
My thoughts are mixed. I dont know WHO was responspible for those mistakes which were made (and I wont bother naming them, cause I know we dont all agree on precisely what they are) - only someone whos privy to the memos and private conversations between Rummy, Wolfie, Feith, etc can really say who directed whom to do what, based on what advice, etc. My own inclination has been to blame Rummy rather than Wolfie or Feith, but I will freely admit that theres an element of ideological preference in that - I think 2x is expressing, without admitting it, a reverse of that preference. I would say that Feith is closer to the challenged policies than Wolfie, but then that depends much on which policies are challenged, which gets to CA's point.
So instead of arguing ideology and blame, heres my qs.
1. Did he jump or was he pushed?
2. Who takes his place?
#7
2X did manage to get that Joooo-bash in though...points for obsession perseverance
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/27/2005 10:26 Comments ||
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#8
The only thing I know about Feith is General Tommy Franks called him the "Fucking stupidest person on the face of the earth". I must say I repect General Franks' opinion. He thinks very highly of Condeliza Rice.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/27/2005 12:08 Comments ||
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#9
DB - don't doubt ya, but would LOVE to see a link on that? Is it in his book? If Franks said that, then I'm glad he's gone too
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/27/2005 12:11 Comments ||
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#10
p. 281 in Bob Woodward's book "Plan of Attack".
http://slate.msn.com/id/2099277/
Posted by: Tom ||
01/27/2005 12:38 Comments ||
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#11
cool, thx!
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/27/2005 12:41 Comments ||
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#12
Bob Woodward. There's a guy who provides links to everything.
Mistakes were made by those who tried to do things. That's why the Clinton administration made no mistakes in the war on terror.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
01/27/2005 12:56 Comments ||
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2X did manage to get that Joooo-bash in though...points for obsession perseverance
You own the obsession, Frank, not me.
I have never supported people holding important positions in private enterprise or in government based on of their religion nor do I fear criticizing people who are incompetent because of their religion. I don't intend to change my direct and honest approach to evaluating people to please you, Frank.
If you would take your anti-semitic baiting glasses off, you might notice that I faulted 4 people in total for incompetence, people who have been/should be fired. You would know better than I, Frank, since you seem to be an expert on Judaism and its membership - what about Tenet and Franklin - are they Jews as well?
in Bob Woodward's book "Plan of Attack". http://slate.msn.com/id/2099277/
Exactly. I remembered that but did not have the book handy. Feith has been an embaressment to this Administartion since day 1. I think Feith was the guy who was quoted a short while after 9/11 happened that since Afghanistan had such a challenging geography, the US might bomb Southeast Asia instead to drive home the point. Whatever the exact wording was, Feith made the Admin. look like irresponsible "let's bomb them all" jerks.
And the fact that he is being investigated by the FBI about sharing sensitive policy material along with Franklin with a foreign country's lobby group is inexcusable. Feith brings bad publicity to the DOD and this investigation is not flattering to Israel either.
That's why the Clinton administration made no mistakes in the war on terror.
How did Clinton get into this discussion? Feith's mistakes are under discussion. If you want to deflect judgement of Feith's goof-ups, we can go back to Carter's Admin, Reagan, Bush 41, if that would make everyone happier.
It is a pity that Feith is allowed to formulate the plan for re-designing our active military troop levels, considering his incompetence and considering that he has never served in the military himself. It's like me re-designing the military. What makes a civilian like Feith any more knowledgeable than the next guy on the street? Pathetic. I stand by my evaluation. The guy should have been fired yesterday.
#14
Frank, the quote is in Bob Woodward's book, "Plan of Attack". Actually, a very good read, as is General Franks' book "American Soldier". As I said I don't know anything about Feith. I'll have to get educated. http://slate.msn.com/id/2100899/
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/27/2005 14:12 Comments ||
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#15
Feith may be a complete incompetent. I just find it strange that you brought up a suggested link to the Israeli lobbying group link. LH is much more an expert on Judaism than I, a Catholic. I based my characterization from repeated readings of your comments. I stand by my evaluation.
Oh, and thx all for the links/info - if Tommy Franks has no use for Feith, I say fire him asap too.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/27/2005 15:07 Comments ||
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#17
What LH said. Feith is a lightweight. Woflowitz is a brilliant man with a string of policy successes to his credit, not least of which were singlehandedly convincing the Reagan foreign policy team to dump Ferdinand Marcos and embrace Aquino's candidacy in 1986 and warning of the Iraq threat many years before 1991 (Wolfowitz had done his PhD thesis on this topic, some twenty years earlier).
1. Did [Feith] jump or was he pushed?
2. Who takes his place?
Any time a Washington official or a business exec says he's quitting "to spend more time with his family," you know he was pushed. If they had wanted more time with their families they never would have sacrificed same for so many years to their great struggle to climb to the top of the pyramid.
#18
What lex said....pushed. Real question is why? What will be gained, moving forward?
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
01/27/2005 15:52 Comments ||
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#19
id rather NOT go into detail here about AIPAC, as Im personally an acquintance (not close) of a key AIPAC person.
I would suggest googling on say, Franklin, FBI, investigation - toss in some terms like witch hunt, or antisemitism, and you may find some very interesting things about a particular FBI official. My take is that someone with an ax to grind went after Franklin for some run of the mill info sharing.
#20
"The Spies Who Aren't
By Joel Mowbray
FrontPageMagazine.com | September 17, 2004
The past couple weeks have seen a swirl of anonymous allegations of supposed spying and espionage, including implications that the Pentagon civilian staff might be teeming with double agents for the Jewish state.
Thing is, almost none of it is true.
Beyond mishandling of classified documentsânot an inconsequential offense, to be sureâevery other accusation leveled by unnamed State Department and intelligence officials appears part of a carefully calculated campaign to question the loyalty of several Pentagon civilian employees by name, as well as a much larger group by implication.
According to someone with intimate knowledge of the draft presidential directive that low-level Pentagon Iran analyst Larry Franklin allegedly leaked to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the document contained no sources and no methods. It had no sensitive material of any kind. It was nothing more than a policy paperâjust a few pages that resembled an opinion-editorialâadvocating tougher diplomacy, not war, in dealing with Iran.
Why was it marked âsecret?â Nearly every document emerging out of that Pentagon office was stamped secretâthe lowest grade of secrecy. A memo about an office Christmas party would probably be classified secret too.
If guilty, Franklin should be appropriately punished. But what about others who are inexplicably being lumped into the same smear campaign?
Bandying about words like âespionageâ and âspying,â as many news outlets have, serves the goals of the State Department and the CIA, the mortal policy enemies of the hawks at the Pentagon. But unlike previous leak campaigns, State and CIAâs latest effort may have crossed into dangerous territory.
Most politically appointed administration officials on the foreign policy team who support President Bushâs agenda seem to have at least an uneasy feeling that the anonymous smear campaign flirts dangerously close to classic anti-Semitic libels.
Others are of decidedly less mixed opinion. Says one official, âIt is not a witch hunt; it is a pogrom.â
Looking at the media coverage, particularly that of the Washington Post, and the reported conduct of the investigation, it is not difficult to understand the officialsâ concern.
Though Franklin is Catholic, few articles mention that he is not Jewish, and none from the Post do so. He is far down the food chain, yet almost every story identifies him as an employee of Feith, who is Jewish, even though the undersecretary for policy is some six levels removed and oversees over 1,000 subordinates.
Tarring specific so-called neoconservatives, a September 4 Post story with no other clear purpose identified by name five other Pentagon officials about whom âinvestigators have asked questions.â All five individuals are Jewish, and according to the piece, âhave strong ties to Israel.â
Driving home the smear, the story informs readers that three of them âwere co-authors of a 1996 policy paper for then-Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.â The paper in question, however, was neither commissioned nor funded by Netanyahu or the Israeli government. It was unsolicited advice, no different than the papers and op-eds written by thousands of Washington policy wonks attempting to persuade various individuals or entities, including foreign leaders or governments.
The reported track record of the FBI agent in charge of the investigation, FBI assistant director of counterintelligence David Szady, is also troubling. Szady has for years âled investigations into Jewish American CIA employees believed to be spying for Israel that have also failed to persuade the Justice Department even to investigate the cases,â reports Eli Lake of the New York Sun.
Thatâs not all. Stephen Green, who reportedly was interviewed by the FBI for four hours relating to this case (the FBI refused comment), is a free-lance writer on a two-decade long quest to prove that Paul Wolfowitz, Doug Feith, and other Jews are actually embedded Israeli spies. Some twenty years of futility later, Green is suddenly all the rage with leftist blogs and ânewsâ sites, as well as (frighteningly) some mainstream news outlets.
Until his newfound popularity on the left and in the Arab press, Greenâs staunchest support had come from Institute of Historical Review (IHR), which is perhaps best known for its denial of the Holocaust. Greenâs two books that purport to document Israelâs vast network of Jewish spies working in the U.S. government have received rave reviews from the Holocaust deniers.
And now Green is being utilized by the FBI.
For those curious about the origins of this seemingly sprawling investigation, a quote in the September 4 Post story seems particularly revealing: âThe initial interest was: Do you believe certain people would spy for Israel and pass secret information?â which was attributed to âone source interviewed by the FBI about the defense officials.â
In other words, it appears that this investigation started without a scintilla of evidence, and it was sparked solely because of âbeliefs.â
Two days earlier, the Post reported that this investigation is âmore than two years old.â Yet in those two years, the Post reported on September 4, all investigators have on the five named Jews in the Pentagon are âsuspicions,â which the Post also noted may not even be âspecific.â
What those five officials have (courtesy of the Post), however, is a taint that will not soon disappear, regardless of their actual innocence."
#21
I think General Frank's remarks were made in the context of Feith trying to tell him how to plan Operation Iraqi Freedom more than anything else. Franks delt with him one to one a couple of times and found his knowledge of military strategy very wanting. General Franks is now retired. As for the assertion that General Franks didn't get the number of troops he requested, he states in his book that Rumsfield asked him quite often if the number of troops alloted was sufficient. General Franks was never, by his own admission, denied the troops he requested. There was a lot to do with the logistics of staging through Kuwait that also determined the number of troops.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/27/2005 16:35 Comments ||
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#22
thx LH - I remember Mowbray's article now
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/27/2005 17:21 Comments ||
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#23
Sorry, lh, I think Mowbry's defense that it's a witch hunt is bull. And what does Mowbry, a journalist, know what constitutes everyday how hum policy documents and what constitutes serious breeches of security. Give me a break.
If it were a ME lobby group and Muslim gov't officials being investigated, Mowbry would be leading the charge on automatic guilt based on the investigees Muslim religion and no one here would be calling it witch hunts/foul play.
Arguing Nazi witch hunts is getting old. It's 2005 - let's all move along and get over the they're out to us mindset. Questionable behavior regarding our national security should be investigated to the fullest degree. People in positions of power should conduct themselves in a manner that is above reproach. And Joel nobody Mowbry is a bit too full of himself after his Visa Express expose. Joel is not a lawyer with the Justice Department. Joel is not an FBI agent. Thanks but no thanks I don't need Joel the Journalist telling citizens like me with his all knowing journalistic confidence what constitutes criminal action and what doesn't.
Feith, Wolfowitz, Tenet, Franklin are all EMPLOYEES of the US taxpayer. They are not elected to office for 4 year terms and therefore do not have the confidence of an electorate. They should be held accountable for their errors in judgement and fired accordingly regardless of whether they are Jewish, Muslim, Christian. Were these US gov't EMPLOYEES hired because of their religion? The answer is "no" so religion should be a zero factor in their evaluations or their defense.
Some of you had no problem criticizing Rumsfeld in the past. I didn't hear any apologies about your remarks being misunderstood as being a religious witch hunt.
If the aforesaid US gov't EMPOLYEES were so worried about pogroms/witch hunts then they should have stayed home hiding in their paranoid little closets and not taken gov't jobs where they would have public profiles and hence be open to public scrutiny.
As for who should replace Feith, is there a need? Whose position did Feith fill? Why do we have 1500 employees pushing pencils in the DOD under his position and coming up with war plans and occupation plans that are so filled with holes that we needed to spend more millions of $ on the grand standing 9/11 commission to publish a 1000 page book on all the errors? Fire the whole works of Feith's incompetent pencil pushing minions. Would we miss any of them? I doubt it.
#25
Why are we arguing with a troll who's left droppings all over the blogosphere?
Right, moron, I mean "someone."
As for your self-important comment about not being able to "forgive" Tommy Franks, what a joke. You should be so lucky to even shine Tommy Franks shoes. Crawl back under your pathetic rock.
And by the way, "someone", aren't you being rather anti-semetic in criticizing Tommy Franks?
ONE of the two bomb-makers behind the 2002 Bali nightclub attacks was believed to have been killed yesterday in a targeted air strike. The strike came after spies tracked him to a meeting with terrorists from the southern Philippines-based militant group Abu Sayyaf, the Philippines military said last night. Philippines officials said they were confident that Dulmatin, one of the most wanted men in Southeast Asia, was at a meeting bombed by fighter jets and attack helicopters in an Islamic stronghold 900km south of Manilla.
Don't get your hopes up, no body parts, yet
The Australian Federal Police last night said it had received no information from the Philippines and was unable to confirm the development. If true, however, the attack has killed one of Jemmah Islamiah's most capable bomb-makers at the gathering with two acolytes and Abu Sayyaf chief, Khadaffy Janjalani, who had evaded the military for five years. The meeting was being held in a marshland hut in Mindanao Province, a notorious heartland of Islamic rebels. Two bomber aircraft dropped 100kg bombs and attack helicopters followed up with six rockets. "We had six targets, and they were all hit in the bombing runs," said the Philippine military's Southern Command chief, Colonel Domingo Tutaan.
Dulmatin's assassination would be the biggest breakthrough in the hunt for the remaining Bali bombers in the past two years. Like his mentor Dr Azahari, who remains on the run in Java, Dulmatin is Afghanistan-trained and one of the few JI militants able to assemble and explode large chlorate and nitrate bombs. Police allege he was the man who mixed and assembled the 500kg bomb that destroyed the Sari Club, claiming most of the 202 lives lost during the Bali blasts of October 2002.
He's a dangerous guy, hope they got him this time.
The International Crisis Group's Sydney Jones claimed earlier this month that Dulmatin had been the target of a similar, failed strike in the same area on November 18. JI is believed to have formed links with the Abu Sayyaf up to five years ago. Abu Sayyaf rebels once claimed to have fought for an Islamic state in the south of The Philippines, but won infamy around the world for the repeated kidnapping and killing of tourists. Both groups are alleged to enjoy the ongoing support of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which has been semi-legitimised by the Philippine Government as an autonomous group representing Muslims in the largely Islamic south of the country. Meanwhile, another of the Bali bombers, Mubarok, yesterday refused to give evidence at the terrorist trial in Jakarta of Jemmah Islamiah's alleged spiritual leader Abu Bakar Bashir. Mubarok, who is serving life in prison for aiding the bombers, said he could shed no light on whether Bashir had given several of the bombers, including Amrozi, his blessing before the deadly attacks.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/27/2005 11:25:49 AM ||
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#1
'hope they got him' is right
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/27/2005 12:00 Comments ||
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The Philippine military said on Thursday it had attacked a group of renegade Muslim rebels as they met two Indonesians suspected of taking part in the Bali bombings in October 2002 that killed 202 people. There was no immediate information on casualties after artillery, aircraft and helicopter gunships pounded a marshy area near Datu Piang town on the southern island of Mindanao. The military said two Indonesians from the regional militant network Jemaah Islamiah (JI) -- Umar Patek and Dulmatin -- were with rogue rebels from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) who broke a truce by attacking an army outpost this month. Khadaffy Janjalani and Abu Sulaiman -- two leaders of Abu Sayyaf, a smaller group of Philippine Muslim rebels -- were also there, the military said. "The intelligence operation had determined the exact lair of this group of renegades and ranking leaders of the Abu Sayyaf and JI who were holed up in several houses," Lieutenant-General Alberto Braganza of the army's southern command told Reuters.
Sounds like they found a high command meeting. Be still my beating heart.
Philippine officials say there are nearly three dozen Indonesian and Malaysian militants hiding and training with some MILF factions. The rebels deny having any formal ties with JI, which is associated with al Qaeda.
"Oh, sure, we know them, and get together for drinks, but it's nothing formal. I mean, it's not like we get dressed up or anything."
The government and the MILF, the largest Muslim rebel group in this mainly Roman Catholic nation, are due to resume informal peace talks in Malaysia on Feb. 1 to try to end a 35-year insurgency that has claimed 120,000 lives. Eid Kabalu, a spokesman for the MILF, said the rebels would protest over Thursday's military strikes. "This is a clear violation of the ceasefire agreement," he told Reuters by phone. "I checked with our truce panel and there was no prior coordination."
Like even the Phillipine Army was going to tell you they were going to attack. Who do you think they are, Saudi?
The military said in a statement it had informed the MILF prior to the attack and assured the rebels it was aimed at the JI and Abu Sayyaf members suspected of being in the area.
OK. So. I was wrong. They are that stupid.
Kabalu said Wahid Tundok, the commander of the rogue band of rebels, was not in Datu Piang town after being sidelined by the MILF leadership over the attack on the army outpost on Jan. 9 and 10 in which 13 soldiers and 15 militants were killed. Officials in the Philippines and Malaysia said at the time they did not expect that clash to derail the peace talks. But the attack by the rogue rebels, the worst violence during a 17-month truce, exposed weaknesses in the ability of MILF leaders to control their forces. Earlier this month Sidney Jones, Southeast Asia director for the International Crisis Group, cited Indonesian intelligence sources as saying Umar Patek and Dulmatin were the targets of a Philippine air force strike on Nov. 18 in central Mindanao. Jones said the two suspected Bali bombers were not JI members but belonged to a little-known Indonesian group called Banten that operated independently of the regional network. Beyond Umar Patek and Dulmatin, Philippine security forces are searching for two other unnamed Indonesian terror suspects. "There is an ongoing manhunt operation in central Mindanao," Chief Superintendent Ismael Rafanan, head of the national police intelligence group, said on Monday. "We're after the big fish."
Posted by: Steve ||
01/27/2005 10:46:54 AM ||
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Communist rebels yesterday warned it would target US forces secretly operating in the southern Philippines if it do not pull out from the strife-torn region, where Filipino troops are battling Maoist guerillas and terrorist groups tied to the Al-Qaeda network. A rebel spokesman Gregorio Rosal accused President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of collaborating with the United States when she allowed US military advisers and combat troops to clandestinely operate in areas in the south where the New People's Army (NPA) is actively operating.
Aside from the NPA rebels, the Abu Sayyaf group and Jemaah Islamiya militants, listed by the US as a foreign terrorist organizations, the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and other kidnap gangs are also active in the southern Philippines. "US military advisers who participate directly in the AFP's war efforts will be regarded as members of an armed adversarial force. The New People's Army is likewise ready to face interventionist US military advisers and troops in the battlefield. We will hold the Bush and Arroyo regimes responsible for the consequences," Rosal said in a statement.
Occasionally, even when you're paying attention, you can forget what a cesspool much of the world is.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/27/2005 00:00:00 ||
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With Iraq's election only three days away, insurgents bent on wrecking the poll killed 19 Iraqis and a US Marine on Thursday and bombed polling stations in the country's Sunni heartland.
The flurry of attacks, including the execution of four Iraqi National Guards, came as US investigators probed a helicopter crash that killed 31 US troops on Wednesday, the deadliest day for American forces since the war began.
But the jihadist Army of Ansar al-Sunna issued a "final warning" to stay away from the polls, saying anyone who voted would be marked for death, either during or after the election.
"Those who don't pay heed will have only themselves to blame," the group said in a statement on an Islamist website.
Gunmen abducted and executed four National Guards in the western city of Ramadi, an officer in the US-trained force said. Notes were found pinned on the four bodies warning against collaboration with American troops.
In Samarra, north of Baghdad, a roadside bomb killed three civilians and another explosion near an Iraqi army patrol took the lives of a soldier and two bystanders.
Insurgents blew up a school administration building designated as a polling station in Samarra after ordering workers out, officials said. At least five other sites slated for voting were bombed in neighbouring towns.
Late on Thursday, explosions hit four polling places in schools in the western city of Ramadi, destroying one of the buildings, police said. No casualties were reported.
In Mahmudiya, an insurgent stronghold south of Baghdad, a car bomb killed three policemen and an Iraqi soldier.
The US military said one Marine was killed and four others wounded in an attack in the same area.
A car bomb exploded near a US base in Ramadi but no casualties were reported. Two bystanders were killed earlier in crossfire between gunmen and US troops in the western city. It was not clear which side shot them.
In Baquba, northeast of Baghdad, a suicide car bomb killed a policeman, and in Saddam's hometown of Tikrit a translator working with US forces was killed by a roadside bomb. Three other policemen were killed in a series of separate attacks.
While US-led forces worked to quell the insurgency, a US transport helicopter went down in the desert of western Iraq on Wednesday. Thirty Marines and a sailor were killed.
Investigators were trying to find the cause of the crash. But there were signs that bad weather may have been a factor.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/27/2005 3:33:43 PM ||
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From Geostrategy-Direct, subscription req'd.
The Iraqi embassy in Syria facilitates the flow of insurgents to fight the coalition in Iraq, U.S. officials have determined.
They said the Iraqi embassy in Damascus has refused to submit to the authority of the interim government in Baghdad. The embassy has provided passports at sharply reduced costs to Islamic volunteers who have joined the Sunni insurgency movement. Iraqi passports---cheap---inquire within
The embassy in Damascus is one of at least two embassies that have refused to come under the authority of the Foreign Ministry in Baghdad and remains aligned with Saddam Hussein loyalists. The other such Iraqi embassy is in Libya.
Officials said the embassy in Damascus issues passports for a range of Arab nationals who seek to join the insurgency. For $95, or 5,000 Syrian pounds, applicants can receive a passport within a day.
The passports have been issued to Iranians, Lebanese, Palestinians and Syrians. Officials said embassy staffers have been offered financial incentives to provide the passports to the insurgents.
Iraq and the United States have warned Syria to stop the operations of the Iraqi embassy in Damascus. But the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad has refused to intervene. I think that we have given way too many warnings. Something to make the Syrians think about the price of such nefarious activities is in order now.
The Iraqi embassy could be overseeing the activities of five insurgency centers to recruit volunteers to fight the coalition in Iraq, officials said. Some of the centers have been sending at least 30 insurgents a month to Iraq since April 2003.
The U.S. military learned of the role of the Iraqi embassy following the capture of Fallujah in November 2004. Iraqi passports were meant to conceal the identity of foreign Arab nationals, particularly Syrians.
"Some of the Syrians captured in Fallujah and amongst the insurgents have been caught with Syrian identity cards," the opposition Reform Party of Syria said. "The distribution of free Iraqi passports out of Damascus can, in the future, conceal the real identity of insurgents."
Over the last week, Iraqi authorities have captured more than 100 Sunni insurgents. Officials have not ruled out that among them were senior operatives. But the detainees have benefited from changes in identity that make it difficult to determine their names and countries of origin. Culturally sennnnsitive interrogation by Iraqis should get the answers forthcoming, IMHO. [snip]
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/27/2005 10:47:27 PM ||
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From Powerline: translation of an article that appeared in today's Arabic-language newspaper alsharq Alausat:
Iraqi police forces in Alkoot [southern Iraq near Basrah announced they arrested yesterday a member of Al Zarqawi's group in the city of AlKoot.
The chief of police said that the suspect is 29 years old and has confessed to murdering a number of police and national security men, and confessed to participating in a number of car bombings in Baghdad and other provinces. The police chief added that the suspect, who will remain anonymous due to ongoing interrogations, carried forged Iraqi documents and speaks in an Arabian Gulf Dialect [i.e. a dialect of the Arab countries on the Persian gulf] and had met with a number of armed terrorist cells that used to be in Felujah.
#2
The Iraqis have him, so they will interrogate him in a manner befitting the customs of that country and region. [just being culturally sennnnnnnsitive]
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/27/2005 16:11 Comments ||
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An Afghan soldier fired on fellow troops Thursday, killing five and wounding six, before he was shot and killed by other Afghan soldiers, the U.S. military said. Elsewhere, Afghan police killed a Taliban commander and captured his deputy in a shootout. The motive for the soldier's shooting spree was unclear. It took place inside a coalition base in southern Helmand province early Thursday. "The soldier who initiated the shooting was returning from guard duty at the time of the incident and, currently, no information is available as to his motives," a statement issued by the U.S. military said. The wounded were evacuated to the main American base in southern Afghanistan at Kandahar for treatment. The statement said five Afghan National Army soldiers were killed and six wounded before other soldiers shot the attacker. "No evidence indicates this attack was conducted by any anti-coalition militia forces," it added. A spokesman for the Afghan Defense Ministry confirmed the incident and said officials were traveling their to investigate.
Maybe he was just having a bad day?
Coalition forces often operate alongside the U.S.-trained Afghan army, which currently has 18,000 soldiers. It plans to recruit and train 70,000. The captured Taliban commander, Mullah Mohammed Ullah, and his deputy Mullah Mohammed Ghafar were cornered as they traveled by motorbike in a village in Musa Qala district of Helmand province on Wednesday, an official said. They opened fire when police tried to stop and arrest them, sparking a shootout in which Ullah and one policeman were killed and three other officers wounded, said Mohammed Wali, spokesman for the provincial governor. Ghafar was wounded. Wali said that the two men were Taliban leaders in Musa Qala, and had led an attack on the district chief's office last year that left at least four Afghan soldiers dead.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/27/2005 9:09:20 AM ||
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#1
Wow--I'm impressed by the Quisling stamp! That's got to be 50's vintage--not much support for capital punishment nor much disgust with those who support murderous tyrants can be found in Norway (or most of Europe for that matter) any more.
Posted by: Dar ||
01/27/2005 16:12 Comments ||
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#2
Actually, after further reflection, he looks like the guy on "Scooby Doo" who always gets busted at the end and mutters, "And I'd have gotten away with it if it weren't for you meddlesome kids!"
Posted by: Dar ||
01/27/2005 16:34 Comments ||
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Family that slays together, stays together SHERPUR, Jan 26:— Eight members of a family were today awarded life imprisonment for murder of a teenage boy at Hati Agla in Sadar upazila more than four years ago, reports UNB. The convicts are Abdus Salam, Alaluddin, Bahezuddin, Ahezuddin, Armanuddin, Shahin, Shoel and Suruzzaman. According to the prosecution, Abdul Mannan Alias Miskin, son of a poor peasant, used to offer love to a girl of the family. This earned him wrath of the well off family, which planned his murder. The boy was called out of his home late in the evening of August 14, 2000. He was taken to a nearby jute field and slaughtered. After lengthy hearing and examining prosecution witnesses District and Sessions Judge Ashish Ranjan Das pronounced the verdict in a crowded court.
Infamous dacoit dies in 'crossfire'
NAOGAON, Jan 26:—An infamous dacoit leader, Jamir Uddin, 38, died in a crossfire between the members of police and his accomplices here in the early hours of Wednesday.
"Crossfire" being the leading case of death for captured dacoits
Police said Jamir Uddin, an absconding being sought in four robbery cases, was one of the suspects in the triple murder that occurred very recently at a wholesale rice depot in the town. According to police, being received a secret information, a team of Naogaon Police arrested Jamir Uddin from his residence at Hajir Bagan area in Chaktakaru village under the Sadar upzila on Tuesday noon.
"You're under arrest, Jamir! We got a date in a dark alley."
When interrogated, Jamir informed the police that a 12-member armed gang is going to gather at Taratbari village of Mahadevpur upazila of the district to commit robbery in the village. As per his confession, police went to the village along with Jamir to arrest the gang members.
Been nice knowing ya, Jamir
As soon as they reached near the village, the accomplices of Jamir opened fire on them at 3 pm. The police also encountered them that resulted in a crossfire.
Just like it was planned, or something. From additional source: Police earlier nabbed bandit leader Jamiruddin alias Jamir from Hajirbagan area in Sadar upazila on Tuesday afternoon. Acting on his statement, police along with Jamir went to an abandoned house near a primary school at Taratbari at 3 am today (Wednesday) to arrest the other members of his gang.
Jamir Uddin, in handcuff, received bullets and died on the spot while trying to escape the police custody during the crossfire.
Sure. Right. Whatever you say.
Police, later, recovered a 12-bore pipe gun, one shutter gun, three rounds of bullet, four large ramdaos, two chapatis, one knife, one kirich, a box of Chrispy Cream doughnuts and two rounds of empty cartidges from the spot. The police sent Jamir's body to hospital morgue for autopsy.
"He's dead, Jim"
Terrorist held with arms in Keraniganj
KERANIGANJ, Jan 26:—Police arrested a terrorist along with a pistol from Nazirbag area of the upazila on Tuesday. The arrested was identified as Pintu Ranjan Sarker, 20, follower of infamous terrorist Siddartha Sarker, who was killed recently. Police said acting on a tip off they raided the area and arrested him in the morning adding that Pintu was wanted in a number of murder and other criminal cases. A case was filed against him under Arms Act.
"Crossfire" to be scheduled at a later date.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/27/2005 8:29:35 AM ||
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received bullets and died on the spot
I love that phrase. It's... poetic.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
01/27/2005 9:12 Comments ||
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#2
Variety or a typo? Jamir was arrested at noon, not midnight, and subsequently the accomplices of Jamir opened fire on them at 3 pm.
Soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division's 2nd "Commando" Brigade Combat Team prevented an apparent kidnapping of eight Iraqis Jan. 26 in western Baghdad. During a patrol in Baghdad's Khadamiyah district, the Soldiers noticed a suspicious vehicle about 8:30 p.m. They stopped the vehicle and found three Iraqis bound and gagged. They detained five suspects in possession of four pistols, an AK-47 assault rifle and a sub-machine gun outfitted with a silencer. The kidnap victims included a sheik and an administrator from the Iraqi Ministry of Oil. No shots were fired. The suspects detained are being held for further questioning.
Posted by: JackAssFestival ||
01/27/2005 8:20:36 AM ||
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#1
Should get a roll up out of this, follow that thread to other 'nappers.
Posted by: Hillary Clinton ||
01/27/2005 8:50 Comments ||
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Jerusalem, Jan 26 : Agreeing to a key Palestinian demand, Israel has decided to halt its policy of "targeted assassinations" after Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas reached a breakthrough deal 'in principle' with militant Hamas faction.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has also decided to resume political contact with Palestinian leaders, which was frozen on January 14 following an attack in the Gaza Strip, public radio announced today. The contact with Israeli officials will re-start "very quickly", notably through Dov Weisglass, one of Sharon's main advisors, it said.
Israel informed the PA about its decision to stop "targeted" killings, which was taken after generals from the two sides met yesterday to plan deployment of the Palestinian policemen in central and southern Gaza, security officials told Ha'aretz daily.
Abbas yesterday reached an agreement 'in principle' with Hamas leaders in Gaza over the militant faction's participation in the PA's diplomatic decision-making and in a future Palestinian government, sources involved in Abbas' talks were quoted as saying in the local media. The agreements were reached in Abbas' meetings with top Hamas leaders in the territories -- Mahmoud al-Zahar and Ismail Haniyeh.
Both sides had their fingers crossed.
A "supreme diplomatic authority" will be established as per the agreement, which will include participation from all factions, to replace PLO as the key body responsible for approving any diplomatic agreements with Israel, the sources were quoted as saying.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/27/2005 12:12:16 AM ||
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Israel has decided to halt its policy of "targeted assassinations"
Bomb's away, eh?
#3
While I do hope Israel continues (or increases, even) a rigorous intelligence-gathering effort, I do hope Israel doesn't employ any military activity that would be viewed as breaking the agreement.
But, I think a real concern is that Hamas/IJ will continue to build infrastructure and capability for killing while this hudna is in effect. It's not like they finally accept the existence of Israel. That puts Israel between a rock and a hard place: What does Israel do when it finds a bomb making or rocket making factory? What does Israel do when it uncovers plans for attacks?
Given the current dynamics, all Israel would be able to do would be to contact the PA to deal with the threat. That pits pali vs. pali, one faction of which is service to the Jews.
If you mean "why should anyone care about the palis," I would suggest they shouldn't. But I would love to see progress made, which requires that palis start to trust Israel and hamas is marginalized. If Israel were to strike first, it would give great comfort to hamas and would give palis reason to blame Israel for the breakdown of the process.
#7
..which requires that palis start to trust Israel..
You're kidding, right? Israel has provided more than enough reasons for anyone to believe that they can honor their end of an agreement. It's the Paleos, not the Israelis, that need to prove something. The Paleos need to prove they can police themselves. The Paleos need to prove they can honor agreed-upon deals. And most of all, the Paleos need to prove that they can fix what's wrong with their society.
#8
I agree that they need to prove they can police themselves. In fact, I really believe they won't be able to (too much corruption, too many people benefit from the conflict and not enough capability exists). But that's why Israel needs to be pristine in this -- any first-strike military action on the part of Israel would be a pretext for Hamas to say that Israel broke the accord and they'd have an excuse to not police themselves and not fix what's wrong with their society. The bottom line is: it's easier to blame Israel than to actually do the real work that needs to be done. I simply don't want to give them any reason to do that, forcing them to fix the real problems.
At least seven security personnel including an army major and a police inspector were killed and four were wounded in a Maoist guerrilla ambush in Parbat district west of Kathmandu Wednesday, the state run Nepal Television reported. It quoted security sources as saying a 30-minute gun battle between the security forces and the Maoists erupted after the initial explosion. Two civilians - a taxi driver and a passenger - were missing following the clash. The television report said the injured were undergoing treatment at Kushma, the headquarters of Parbat district.
The television also reported that the Maoists abducted over 500 students and teachers from various schools from eastern villages of the far-western Kanchanpur district Wednesday. Local radio reports said the Maoists abducted the students and teachers to involve them in indoctrination sessions.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/27/2005 12:03:23 AM ||
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Its been a while -- Bangladeshi crossfire just isn't the same ;-)
#2
The television also reported that the Maoists abducted over 500 students and teachers from various schools from eastern villages of the far-western Kanchanpur district Wednesday
RAMALLAH, West Bank - Three Palestinian terrorists militants were shot dead Wednesday by a unit of undercover Israeli troops operating in the northern West Bank town of Qalqilya, Palestinian security and medical sources said. The three were killed in an alleyway in the city by a group of undercover Israelis dressed as Palestinians.
Their identities were not immediately known, nor was it clear to which terrorist militant group they belonged. There was no immediate comment on the shooting by the Israeli army.
There was, however, the unmistakable sounds of clinking glasses at the enlisted mens' club.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/27/2005 11:54:15 PM ||
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If they were dressed as Palestinians, how can we be sure they weren't actually...wait for it.... Palestinians? Say, from a rival gang organization?
Israel accused a Danish-Palestinian detainee on Wednesday of videotaping its security installations and trying to recruit Israeli Arabs on behalf of the Lebanese guerrilla group Hizbollah. A police statement said Lebanon-born Iyyad al-Ashuah, 39, was taken into custody on Jan. 6 after guards aboard a cross-country train he was on noticed him filming out of the window. Under interrogation by internal security agents Ashuah said Hizbollah paid him $2,000 to come to Israel, gather footage of its security installations and recruit members of the minority Arab community to carry out attacks. Two Israeli Arabs were also detained. Israeli media said Ashuah could be charged on Thursday. Hizbollah declined comment. "(Ashuah) was motivated by ideology," police investigations chief Amichai Shai told Israel's Army Radio. "Money was not the main factor here."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/27/2005 00:00:00 ||
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Where the hell are you getting all these lurid dime-novel covers, Fred?
A truck bomb attack in northwest Iraq has killed up to 15 people on a day that has seen fighters attack the offices of three political parties northeast of Baghdad. A truck bomb exploded near the offices of a major Kurdish party in the Iraqi town of Sinjar on Wednesday, killing at least 15 people and wounding 30, the local mayor said. Kurdish official Dakhil Kassim Hassun said the blast targeted the offices of the Kurdistan Democratic Party in Sinjar, close to the Syrian border in northern Iraq. The group led by al-Qaida's leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, said in an Internet statement that it had carried out the attack.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/27/2005 00:00:00 ||
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Posted by: Fred ||
01/27/2005 00:00:00 ||
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Yet voter turn out could be blunted by the release of the new book- "Swift bomb terrorists for piss and blasting be upon you infidel democracy is evil how miny times I gotta tellya" . The book is a bombshell attack on the notion of freedom, liberty, and government by the consent of the people, and includes a forward by Peggy Noonan. The indictment of democratic government is expected to be the source of low voterturnout in an election that won't happen until Sunday and is also said to be a source of recent evidence of pessimism and apathy about the as yet unoccurred elections to many experts in the MainStreamCreepia. further exasserbating the decision making process of doom and gloomers everywhere blah blah blah etc etc
Posted by: an dalusian dog ||
01/27/2005 5:46 Comments ||
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#2
Yes, and in case you haven't got the message from the MSM, low voter turnout in the Sunni areas could UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMACY OF THE ELECTION RESULTS. At least that's what the MSM is hoping. I stress the word "could", an important word in any MSM "factual" analysis, which specializes in worst-worst case scenarios.
#4
The Iraqis are about to learn the best part of democracy...you can lose an election and not be summarily shot by the victors. In fact, you can lose an election and get even more face time on US teevee and call the winning team big fat liars...and be taken seriously.
#5
See, #3, according to the Euros nothing is legitimate unless everyone agrees to it. Of course, "everyone" doesn't include Americans, or conservatives ... but on the other hand, no one has to ABIDE by their agreements, just make them.
For the shining example to follow and live by see: Brussels, EU etc.
Posted by: too true ||
01/27/2005 10:44 Comments ||
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Renewed fighting in Sudan's Darfur region may have killed up to 105 civilians and displaced more than 9,000 last week, the United Nations said yesterday. "It has been confirmed that the village of Hamada was nearly totally destroyed and that up to 105 civilians may have been killed, with the majority of victims being women and children," UN spokesman George Somerwill told a news conference.
A UN assessment team was sent last week to the area of Hamada, Juruf and Gemeiza villages in South Darfur state, where the government launched a military campaign in December it said was to clear the roads of banditry. Aid community sources and rebels have said government planes bombed the area on Jan. 19. Somerwill did not know how the people were killed, who the fighting was between or if aerial bombardment had caused the high number of casualties in Hamada. Aerial bombardment would be a direct violation of security protocols signed between the government and the two main Darfur rebel groups in November.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/27/2005 00:00:00 ||
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The Pakistan Army has set up a new military base near the Sui gas field, where thousands of forces were deployed after a deadly rocket attack this month that disrupted fuel supplies, officials said on Wednesday. The move will anger tribesmen who have strongly opposed government plans to establish new military garrisons in the region.
But then, most things anger the tribesmen, so what the hell can you do?
Colonel Mazhar Masood said that a military cantonment is being established in Sui, a town near where rocket and mortar attacks on January 7-11 killed at least eight soldiers and civilians and forced a temporary shutdown at a gas plant and pipeline, disrupting supplies across the country. "A new cantonment has been set up in Sui over 400 acres of land. Primarily, a battalion of army soldiers with tanks and other military equipment has been taken there," Masood, who is in charge of the garrison, told reporters.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/27/2005 00:00:00 ||
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There were five rocket attacks all over Balochistan on Wednesday night, ARY news channel reported. Three rockets, fired from an unidentified location, struck close to Sibi Police Station, but caused no loss of life, it said, adding that police said they heard the explosions but could not confirm whether rockets had caused them. A rocket damaged an electricity transmission line in Kohlu, suspending electricity in the area, it reported. Another rocket struck an unidentified area in Dadar without causing casualties, it said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/27/2005 00:00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Saudi Arabia has accepted the resignation of the kingdom's intelligence chief 
Omani police have arrested some 300 suspects, a number of them Islamists, who were planning attacks in the sultanate, where a cargo of arms was also seized, Al-Hayat newspaper reported Wednesday. Citing "information" and "rumours" circulating in Oman, the pan-Arab daily said that "social and military officials" were known to be among "some 300 people arrested ... last week." 
Kuwaiti society is against terrorism and extremists who don't listen to true religious scholars, says Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs 
The Public Prosecution headed by 
Kuwaiti security men have arrested a 28-year-old female employee of the Ministry of Information identified as 
Security forces have stormed an apartment building in southern Russia, ending a two-day standoff and killing seven suspected Islamic extremists. Thursday's assault in the capital of Russia's republic of 
North Korea appears to have bought a complete nuclear weapon from either Pakistan or a former Soviet Union state, a South Korean newspaper said on Thursday quoting a source in Washington. 
The Rotterdam international film festival has pulled the last contentious work by Dutch film-maker Theo Van Gogh at the eleventh hour, amid fears that the screening might trigger further acts of religious violence. The short film, Submission Part One, was due to form the centrepiece of a debate on freedom of speech on Sunday night. It will now not be shown.
An Italian court acquitted three north Africans of international terrorism charges linked to the alleged recruitment of suicide bombers to be sent to Iraq, ruling that the men were guerrillas, not terrorists. Deputy Premier 
Four more people were detained in Paris Wednesday by anti-terrorist agents looking into the recruitment of Islamic extremists to join the insurgency in Iraq, bringing to 11 the number of arrests this week. 
The No. 3 man at the Pentagon, 
ONE of the two bomb-makers behind the 2002 Bali nightclub attacks was believed to have been killed yesterday in a targeted air strike. The strike came after spies tracked him to a meeting with terrorists from the southern Philippines-based militant group Abu Sayyaf, the Philippines military said last night. Philippines officials said they were confident that 
Communist rebels yesterday warned it would target US forces secretly operating in the southern Philippines if it do not pull out from the strife-torn region, where Filipino troops are battling Maoist guerillas and terrorist groups tied to the Al-Qaeda network. A rebel spokesman 
An Afghan soldier fired on fellow troops Thursday, killing five and wounding six, before he was shot and killed by other Afghan soldiers, the U.S. military said. Elsewhere, Afghan police killed a Taliban commander and captured his deputy in a shootout. The motive for the soldier's shooting spree was unclear. It took place inside a coalition base in southern Helmand province early Thursday. "The soldier who initiated the shooting was returning from guard duty at the time of the incident and, currently, no information is available as to his motives," a statement issued by the U.S. military said. The wounded were evacuated to the main American base in southern Afghanistan at Kandahar for treatment. The statement said five Afghan National Army soldiers were killed and six wounded before other soldiers shot the attacker. "No evidence indicates this attack was conducted by any anti-coalition militia forces," it added. A spokesman for the Afghan Defense Ministry confirmed the incident and said officials were traveling their to investigate. 
SHERPUR, Jan 26:— Eight members of a family were today awarded life imprisonment for murder of a teenage boy at Hati Agla in Sadar upazila more than four years ago, reports UNB. The convicts are Abdus Salam, Alaluddin, Bahezuddin, Ahezuddin, Armanuddin, Shahin, Shoel and Suruzzaman. According to the prosecution, Abdul Mannan Alias Miskin, son of a poor peasant, used to offer love to a girl of the family. This earned him wrath of the well off family, which planned his murder. The boy was called out of his home late in the evening of August 14, 2000. He was taken to a nearby jute field and slaughtered. After lengthy hearing and examining prosecution witnesses District and Sessions Judge Ashish Ranjan Das pronounced the verdict in a crowded court. 
At least seven security personnel including an army major and a police inspector were killed and four were wounded in a Maoist guerrilla ambush in Parbat district west of Kathmandu Wednesday, the state run Nepal Television reported. It quoted security sources as saying a 30-minute gun battle between the security forces and the Maoists erupted after the initial explosion. Two civilians - a taxi driver and a passenger - were missing following the clash. The television report said the injured were undergoing treatment at Kushma, the headquarters of Parbat district.
RAMALLAH, West Bank - Three Palestinian 
Israel accused a Danish-Palestinian detainee on Wednesday of videotaping its security installations and trying to recruit Israeli Arabs on behalf of the Lebanese guerrilla group 
A truck bomb attack in northwest Iraq has killed up to 15 people on a day that has seen fighters attack the offices of three political parties northeast of Baghdad. A truck bomb exploded near the offices of a major Kurdish party in the Iraqi town of Sinjar on Wednesday, killing at least 15 people and wounding 30, the local mayor said. Kurdish official Dakhil Kassim Hassun said the blast targeted the offices of the 
Renewed fighting in Sudan's Darfur region may have killed up to 105 civilians and displaced more than 9,000 last week, the United Nations said yesterday. "It has been confirmed that the village of Hamada was nearly totally destroyed and that up to 105 civilians may have been killed, with the majority of victims being women and children," UN spokesman George Somerwill told a news conference.
The Pakistan Army has set up a new military base near the Sui gas field, where thousands of forces were deployed after a deadly rocket attack this month that disrupted fuel supplies, officials said on Wednesday. The move will anger tribesmen who have strongly opposed government plans to establish new military garrisons in the region. 
