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Al-Oufi throws his support behind Zarqawi
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
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Lä Fhéile Phädraig Sona Dhaoibh!
(That's "Happy St. Paddy's day, y'all!")
I'll raise a glass to our warriors tonight...even the diplo warriors! Slainte!
Posted by: mojo || 03/17/2005 2:51:30 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Top o' the (evening) to you, mojo! ;)
Posted by: Desert Blondie || 03/17/2005 18:05 Comments || Top||

#2  Er, could you give a pronounciation guide for that? (Something like "La, or Leh, or Lay," etc.)
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/17/2005 18:17 Comments || Top||

#3  you start with 4 quick draft beers and then it just flows....
Posted by: Frank G || 03/17/2005 18:24 Comments || Top||

#4  La Ayla Hedrig So-nah Ghee.
Posted by: Jules 187 || 03/17/2005 18:39 Comments || Top||

#5  Obviously.
Posted by: .com || 03/17/2005 18:42 Comments || Top||

#6  Oops.

Its La Ayla Fedrig So-nah Ghee/Ghwee.

.com :)
Posted by: Jules 187 || 03/17/2005 18:43 Comments || Top||

#7  Sheesh!

First time I can remember beating FrankG, Ship, AP, Mrs D, tu, mojo, and B-a-R to the perfect one-word snark and you say "Oops"?

I'm crushed, lol!
Posted by: .com || 03/17/2005 18:49 Comments || Top||

#8  er...obviously LOL
Posted by: Frank G || 03/17/2005 19:22 Comments || Top||

#9  I never understood how it is possible that Baile Atha Cliath can be pronounced Dublin. ;-)
Posted by: Sobiesky || 03/17/2005 21:42 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Al-Oufi message also praises Kuwaiti al-Qaeda
A 7.5 minute audio message, from Saleh al-Oufi, the leader of al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia, to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, congratulates Zaraqawi and his group for their achievements and promises to assist the mujahideen's struggle against the "Jewish-Crusader war." This message by al-Oufi seems to a response to the March 14, 2005 "Statement from al-Qaeda in Iraq to the Brothers of al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia Promoting Support and Unity" that embraced al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia and invited their mujahideen to join those in Iraq.

The audio message, swearing allegiance to al-Zarqawi, states that: "our necks are for you" and pledges to "send you the fighters and the 'suiciders' whenever you need
 We will let them know well enough the meaning of the word terror
 and they will not find a meaning for it except that of the support and capability of this religion."

Furthermore, Saleh al-Oufi states he will not "allow a place for the crusaders on the land of Mohammad" and to sabotage America' efforts to launch forces into Iraq from Saudi Arabian bases, he will instruct his mujahideen to "attack what there is on its territory from soldiers, military vehicles, bases, planes and oil that belong to the crusaders to expand the tear so that it can be wider than the patch." Also, al-Oufi praises the mujahideen in Kuwait saying: "On this occasion, it did not pass me (to remember) to bless the Kuwaiti Lions who started to shake off the dust of shame from their weapons to support you."
This article starring:
ABU MUSAB AL ZARQAWIal-Qaeda
SALEH AL UFIal-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
Posted by: Dan Darling || 03/17/2005 2:26:55 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Al-Oufi throws his support behind Zarqawi
Notice that he's no longer threatening attacks against the princes, just US targets in the Kingdom. There has been a lot of speculation and reporting that al-Oufi is dead, guess now we know that isn't the case.
A man who claims to be al-Qaida's leader in Saudi Arabia has promised to dispatch "fighters and martyrs" to join the Iraqi insurgents led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Reached a deal with the princes, did they?
The speaker on the audio tape, which surfaced Thursday on Islamic Web sites, claimed to be Saleh al-Oufi, a fugitive who is high on Saudi Arabia's most wanted list of militants.
He's the guy with the head in his fridge...
Um. I don't think I want to see what he keeps in his medicine cabinet either...
It was not immediately possible to verify the authenticity of the tape, posted on an Islamic Web site run by Mohammed al-Masaari, the head of the Saudi opposition group called the Committee for the Defense of Legitimate Rights in Saudi Arabia. If the voice is al-Oufi's, it would be the first known audio recording by the Saudi militant. Al-Oufi, a former prison guard in his late 30's, is among five militants who remain at large on the Saudi list of the 26 most wanted terror suspects. The Saudi authorities have killed and arrested many of the suspects. "This is a message to the holy fighters in the land of the two shrines (Saudi Arabia), to our brothers and beloved ones in the land of the two rivers (Iraq) and to the brother, the fighter, the leader, the brave lion Abu Musab al-Zarqawi," the speaker said. "We will not let the crusaders (Americans) stay in the land of the Prophet Muhammad (Saudi Arabia) to plan attacks against you," said the speaker. "We will not let a plane attack you ... or a safe route be used to take fuel and water to their soldiers," said the speaker. The speaker promised to send Saudi suicide bombers to join the Iraqi insurgents. "We will send you the fighters and the martyrs whenever you need ... by God, we will make them know the meaning of terrorism," said the voice. The speaker also vowed to attack US military targets in Saudi Arabia.
This article starring:
MOHAMED AL MASAARICommittee for the Defense of Legitimate Rights in Saudi Arabia
Committee for the Defense of Legitimate Rights in Saudi Arabia
Posted by: Dan Darling || 03/17/2005 1:27:41 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Reached a deal with the princes, did they?"

Bingo. Thats the story I am thinking. That is why so few al-Qaida members wrapped up and none I know of tried and executed in the happy kingdom? Open state support soon to follow. It's the will of allen.

Instead of worrying about Baseball players on steroids maybe the federal legislature should be coming up with a policy for a program husbanding the development of energy independence. Maybe they should be figuring out how to block Saudi support for US Wahabi's. How about cutting off the flow of Saudi money, media and Wahabi Imams to US mosques. All so we can tell these farking gay princes to FOAD.

Oh yes, and there are SO many US military targets in Saudi Arabia these days. Ass clowns.
Posted by: Sock Puppet 0’ Doom || 03/17/2005 15:09 Comments || Top||

#2  And just why did this hero wait so long to answer Zark's pleas for assistance? What's he been doing for the last few months? Training?
Posted by: Bobby || 03/17/2005 15:16 Comments || Top||

#3  Playing hide'n'seek with the Saudi security forces and police, I think. At any rate, there have been a bunch of reports of shoot'em ups around the country, as reported here at Rantburg.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/17/2005 21:45 Comments || Top||

#4  So mebbe he's lookin for an excuse to go to Iraq?
Posted by: Bobby || 03/17/2005 22:20 Comments || Top||


Yemen closes down 1,400 unlicensed religious schools
Yemen, Osama bin Laden's ancestral home, has shut down nearly 1,400 unlicensed religious schools in the last two months for promoting militant ideology and hatred towards the West. Sheikh Yahya al-Najar, an official at the Religious Guidance and Endowments Ministry, said that a government committee had investigated 4,000 religious schools and centres and found that 65 per cent of them violated education laws. He said authorities had shut down around 1,400 of them over the last two months and would carry out more closures.

There are hundreds of religious schools in Yemen, many of them unlicensed. Reformists and some officials say these institutions promote fundamentalism in the impoverished country, which is a staging ground for al Qaeda militants. Last June, the government ordered the closure of religious schools deviating from formal education as part of its drive to fight militants and teach moderation and tolerance.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 03/17/2005 12:23:52 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  But will they stay closed? Thats the question.
Posted by: Sock Puppet 0’ Doom || 03/17/2005 2:25 Comments || Top||

#2  ah, like what Yemen does with prisoners. Sure, so they reopen some of them, as a "concession" still it puts pressure on them, weakens them. Still a good thing.
Posted by: liberalhawk || 03/17/2005 9:28 Comments || Top||

#3  1400 unlicensed schools shut down? That's what, 5% of the total? 2%?
Posted by: Steve White || 03/17/2005 10:35 Comments || Top||

#4  government committee had investigated 4,000 religious schools and centres and found that 65 per cent of them violatededucation laws. He said authorities had shut down around 1,400 of them over the last two months and would carry out more closures.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/17/2005 13:55 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
RAB withdrawn from Chuadanga, Kushtia
"Crossfires" on hold till further notice
Mar 16: All RAB personnel have been withdrawn from Chuadanga yesterday. Earlier, two members of RAB-6 were arrested on Tuesday night. The arrested persons are Havilder Zakaria and SI Salam. They were sent to jail yesterday. They were arrested while demanding a toll of Taka one lakh from a syndicate that was engaged in selling roadside trees illegally, sources said. RAB detained three Jubodal activists namely Saiful, Jahidul and Bilas on March 8 while they were trying to sell roadside trees of Roads and Highways department with false document. But later the two RAB members allegedly received Taka 30,000 from them as bribe. But when the incident was leaked concerned authorities started investigation and later the commanding officer of RAB, Chuadanga has recovered Tk 30,000 from the arrested RAB personnel. Both the arrested persons were sent to Chuadanga sadar police station Tuesday night and later sent to court yesterday.

It is also learnt that the RAB camp in Chuadanga was withdrawn yesterday and the RAB members deployed there were asked to report to Khulna Battalion office. Meanwhile, it is also learnt that the RAB was also withdrawn from Kushtia district yesterday but the reason for the withdrawal was not disclosed. Sources said that the head of the Kushtia RAB was asked to report to the Battalion office in Khulna with his team yesterday. When contacted the Police Super of Kustia told The Independent that he was informed that RAB was withdrawn from their camp but he added that it was a temporary withdrawal. "This might be a part of their strategy. Earlier they were also withdrawn in this way but to be deployed again. So people should not be worried in this regard," he said.
Rest, reorganize and reload
Posted by: Steve || 03/17/2005 9:23:25 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Our work here is done."
Posted by: Seafarious || 03/17/2005 10:19 Comments || Top||

#2  Oh, dang! I so enjoyed the Crossfire Gazette! Will they be releasing Season One on DVD soon by any chance?
Posted by: Steve White || 03/17/2005 10:34 Comments || Top||

#3  Umm, give them 2 more days to fix a new knot to their badly tied bandana ...we have the poor mans Rambo back in action..........

Heard from Bangladesh that RAB will be given night vision goggles,(the sun shades they wear even at night are Chinese fakes.) The 'terrorist' by the way have them NVG's, for imagine the deadly accuracy by which they manage to shoot their 'leader' while out on arms search. Big deal that they have locally made rifles?

Meanwhile bossman Babar is is dead beat heat...as somebody very silly let it be known that his antecedents was that of a petty cell-phone smuggler in Chittagong, before he joined the BNP initially as an extortionist ...and rest is history.
Posted by: Cyrus || 03/17/2005 13:45 Comments || Top||

#4  Whoa Cyrus! Sounds like you have an "in". :)
Posted by: Shipman || 03/17/2005 14:53 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Russian security sweep in northwest Caucasus
Russian authorities say strongarm police operations in two North Caucasian republics west of Chechnya have struck a vital blow against radical extremists, but many local people are drawing unfavourable comparisons with the heavy-handed tactics used by security forces in Chechnya itself. Armed men in flak jackets and camouflage appeared on the streets of Nalchik, capital of Kabardino-Balkaria, in the early hours of March 10. Teams of three or four policemen stood at every intersection in the city, stopping and searching practically every car and checking the documents of those inside. Simultaneously. a massive sweep operation was also taking place in villages in the mountainous south of the republic and in neighbouring Karachai-Cherkessia. Like Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachai-Cherkessia has been increasingly linked with extremist violence over the past year. On February 20, a militant named Issa Akbayev, reported to have links to Chechen rebels, was killed in the town of Karachayevsk.
Just some background: all four of these tribal groups are traditionally Muslim, but the Karachays and especially the Balkars (both of Turkic ethnicity, both temporarily deported to Central Asia by Stalin) lean toward Islamic fundamentalism and hostility toward Russia. The Cherkess and Kabardins (both of Circassian ethnicity, both treated as "loyal minorities" by Stalin) are generally pro-Russian. When drawing local borders, the Kremlin deliberately mismatched the four groups following the usual Soviet "divide and rule" minority policy. Ethnic-themed politics and occasional violence within each republic have been increasingly common since the late 90s, especially after Karachay-Cherkessia's 1999 presidential election. Balkars and Karachays tend to favor splintering off into ever smaller and smaller autonomies, whereas the two Circassian groups prefer keeping close ties to Russia.
Posted by: Rex Rufus || 03/17/2005 4:20:20 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Hunt is on for Chechen leaders
A large-scale special operation is on in Chechnya's capital Grozny to catch leaders of bandit groups and prevent terrorist acts, said the regional headquarters for the counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus. "Chechnya's secret services have information obtained from earlier detained militants that extremist warlords Shamil Basayev and Abdul Khalid Saidulayev, whom Basayev named the successor to Aslan Maskhadov, intend to stage a series of major terrorist acts in the capital of Chechnya," a source in the headquarters said. He said Basayev and Saidulayev are demanding that their henchmen carry out terrorist attacks in the immediate future, because they fear being left without financial backing from foreign extremist organizations.

At present special and preventive operations are being conducted in various parts of Grozny to wreck the militants' plans. The spokesman also indicated that the last terrorist act, which took place in Grozny on March 14, when the military commandant's office was fired on, with 17 law enforcement personnel wounded, testifies to the intention of the warlords to step up terrorist activity. "It is already established beyond any shadow of a doubt that this firing was done by militants from a passing car. Currently the car from which the commandant's office was fired on is being looked for, and the names of the militants being established," the spokesman noted.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 03/17/2005 12:29:44 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Europe
Islamic 'radicals' arrested in Lyon
French intelligence agents on Tuesday detained two suspected Islamic radicals in connection with an investigation into groups that were allegedly planning attacks in France, sources close to the probe said. The two men - one Algerian, the other French - were placed in preventive detention in the central-eastern city of Lyon, the sources said. Their identities were not immediately revealed. France set up an inquiry in November 2002 to investigate groups suspected of recruiting fighters to take part in the war in Chechnya between separatist rebels and the Russian army. In the course of that investigation, police uncovered an underground group apparently composed of Islamic radicals in a Paris suburb. Authorities believe members of that group were planning attacks on French soil in 2002. A suspected militant told investigators that the Eiffel Tower, Israeli interests in the French capital, police stations and a major clothing retailer in the downtown Les Halles shopping complex were all possible targets.
Posted by: seafarious || 03/17/2005 00:00:00 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Let'em eat stanky French cheese for life in the basement/Bastille.
Posted by: Pierre Salinger || 03/17/2005 0:26 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Man arrested for sending funds to Syria
Federal agents yesterday arrested a Virginia man on charges of operating an illegal Vienna-based money transfer firm that routed $23 million to Syria.
That'll buy a lot of IEDs and attacks on Coalition forces. So do we try him here or give him to the Shia?
I'm a fair and ecumenical guy. I say, split the difference. Literally.
Cross cut or rip?
I'm partial to chainsaws, myself
Dunno much about saws 'n' such; just wanted to join the Rainbow Coalition. Power to the people!
U.S. Attorney Paul J. McNulty said Louay Habbal, 45, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Syria, was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at Washington Dulles International Airport after his arrival on a flight from Damascus, Syria. Mr. Habbal is charged in a federal indictment with operating Mena Exchange, an unlicensed money transmittal business at his Vienna, Va., home. He is accused of routing millions in money transfers to Syria between November 2001 and last July.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Liam O'Grady in U.S. District Court in Alexandria yesterday ordered Mr. Habbal released from custody but ordered him to wear an electronic monitoring device. According to the indictment, Mr. Habbal received funds from customers nationwide and deposited the funds in bank accounts in Virginia and elsewhere. After taking a fee, the indictment said he transferred the remaining funds to others for further transfer to persons overseas that his U.S. customers had designated. Mr. McNulty said ICE agents seized more than $100,000 from the company's bank accounts. The indictment said Mr. Habbal advertised his business through a Web site called MenaExchange.com, which described the firm as a service provided by Mena First Capital, which transmitted funds between the United States, the Middle East and North Africa. "Money is the lifeblood of terrorism and that is why we have made the prosecution of illegal money transmitters a priority of this office," Mr. McNulty said.

ICE agent Allan Doody, who heads the Washington field office and oversaw the investigation, said the case demonstrated that "any criminal or terrorist can come to these underground businesses and have their millions wired anywhere in the world in a matter of seconds with no questions asked."
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/17/2005 1:40:09 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  U.S. Magistrate Judge Liam O’Grady in U.S. District Court in Alexandria yesterday ordered Mr. Habbal released from custody but ordered him to wear an electronic monitoring device.

"Swallow this pill, Mr Habbal. It should pass in several years."
Posted by: Charles || 03/17/2005 17:44 Comments || Top||


Friend of DC Snipers indicted for buying a rifle for them
A man was indicted Wednesday for allegedly buying a rifle for the Washington, D.C.-area snipers - though not the weapon used in the 2002 random shooting spree. A federal grand jury indicted Earl L. Dancy Jr., 36, of Tacoma on one count of making a false statement in connection with the acquisition of a firearm. He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted. On a federal form when Dancy bought a .308-caliber Remington rifle from a Tacoma store, Dancy claimed he intended to use the weapon himself, the U.S. attorney's office said. During the November 2003 trial of John Allen Muhammad, he admitted under oath he bought it for Muhammad.

Muhammad, 44, and his teenage accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, lived in the Tacoma area before heading east and beginning a terrifying string of random sniper shootings that left 10 dead in October 2002. Muhammad is on Virginia's death row after being convicted of the Oct. 9, 2002, murder of Dean Harold Meyers. Malvo, 19, admitted being the trigger man and has been sentenced to life in prison for two of the killings. He cannot face the death penalty because the Supreme Court recently barred the death penalty for juveniles; Malvo was 17 at the time of the slayings. The Remington .308, model 700, is not believed to have been used in any Washington, D.C. area shootings. However, in 2002, two men found it sitting - loaded - on a bipod, pointed toward an apartment building in Tacoma. Dancy testified he reported the rifle stolen, at Muhammad's request, after it was found. Dancy was a friend of the pair when they lived in Washington state.

Bull's Eye Shooter Supply, where Dancy bought the Remington, is the same store where authorities believe Muhammad and Malvo stole the Bushmaster rifle they used in the shooting spree. A federal investigation determined the Bushmaster was one of 200 or more guns missing from Bull's Eye that the owner at the time, Brian Borgelt, could not account for. Bull's Eye agreed to pay $2 million to settle a lawsuit filed by victims and victims' families in the sniper shootings.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/17/2005 1:44:38 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Alleged Taliban Gets Guantanamo Hearing
A detainee who allegedly fought for the ousted Taliban regime appeared Wednesday before a U.S. military hearing in Guantanamo Bay to determine whether he still poses a threat or has intelligence value. The 28-year-old was accused of receiving weapons training in Pakistan and fighting against the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan, said Navy Lt. Terry Green, a spokesman for the Administrative Review Boards. His name was also found on files seized during raids on suspected al-Qaida safehouses in Pakistan, Green said.
I think we got a good one!
Green said the detainee had been in Guantanamo since 2002 but could not say where he was initially captured. His name and nationality were not disclosed. His case was the 60th to go before the review boards, which are meant to determine whether almost 550 prisoners at the U.S. Naval base in Cuba still pose a threat to the United States and its allies or have intelligence value, Green said. Those who do not could be freed. Although the panels began in December, the military did not open them to the media or provide details until this week. It was not immediately possible to determine what the prisoner said at his hearing. No transcript of his testimony was released.

The military has freed 146 prisoners outright, including three who were released to Afghanistan, Maldives and Pakistan last week after U.S. military review tribunals determined they were incorrectly held as enemy combatants. Sixty-five others have been transferred to the control of other governments and are currently thinking that Gitmo wasn't so bad after all.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/17/2005 00:00:00 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Southeast Asia
Al-Qaeda member arrested at Filippino airport, coming in from Soddy Arabia
Airport officials arrested Wednesday afternoon a suspected al Qaeda member who flew in from Saudi Arabia on board a Philippine Airlines plane.

Immigration authorities refused to reveal the man's identity, saying that it might compromise ongoing operations against other alleged terrorists the suspect might reveal.

An airport official, however, said the man is 34 years old and holds a Saudi Arabian passport. He said the suspect came from Riyadh aboard flight Philippine Airlines Flight 659.

While the man's passport was being checked, his name appeared on the list of blacklisted individuals.

Immigration agents immediately arrested the man and brought him to the Immigration headquarters for interrogation.

Immigration officials admitted that INTERPOL has given them names and identities of people suspected to be members of terrorist organizations.

More than 100 people are blacklisted by the immigration bureau although not all are terrorists.

Airport officials have been on high alert for possible terrorist infiltration.

It was not yet clear whether the alleged al Qaeda member assumed a different name or if he was with other militants when he arrived in the country.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 03/17/2005 2:31:26 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  a Soddy, ya say?
Posted by: Frank G || 03/17/2005 18:03 Comments || Top||

#2  Somebody's gotta tell the faithful in which direction to seethe.
Posted by: Seafarious || 03/17/2005 18:36 Comments || Top||


Abu Sayyaf vows Dire Revenge™
The Philippines police and military are on heightened alert, following threats of retaliatory attacks by the Abu Sayyaf rebel group after several of its members were killed in a prison revolt. The 29-hour uprising at a high security prison in the capital, Manila, began on Monday when a group of inmates overpowered the guards and holed themselves up in the building. During an operation to end the uprising, police shot dead 22 inmates, including three Abu Sayyaf leaders.

Our correspondent in Manila, Shirley Escalante, says Abu Sayyaf spokesman, Abu Solaiman, has warned the group will carry out bolder and wider attacks than in the past. The spokesman says the Abu Sayyaf leaders who died in the prison revolt acted on orders from the group's leaders in the jungles. The prison's warden and five other jail officers have been relieved from their posts, as an investigation into the revolt gets underway.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 03/17/2005 12:20:52 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Yeah, now that some of our leaders have been waxed, we're really gonna get tough!
Posted by: Bobby || 03/17/2005 21:10 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Hezbollah for Arab probe of Hariri slaying
Lebanon's Shiite militant group Hezbollah has called for an Arab investigation team to probe into the Feb. 14 slaying of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Hezbollah's chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said late Wednesday that he opposed an international investigation into the assassination "because one cannot trust the Security Council or any institution controlled by the U.S. and reeling under its whims."

The multi-sectarian Lebanese opposition as well as Hariri's family and followers have been pressing for an international probe. Nasrallah also called for the trial of Lebanese security chiefs on charges of negligence, instead of dismissing them as demanded by the opposition. The chief of the pro-Syrian group also said that if Syria and the Syrian-backed Lebanese regime proved to be involved in Hariri's assassination "Hezbollah will be the first to confront Syria and the Lebanese authorities." He was responding to opposition claims that Syria and the Lebanese authorities were behind the slaying.
Posted by: Steve || 03/17/2005 8:58:09 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "all evidence must be disregarded. Listen to us!"
Posted by: Frank G || 03/17/2005 10:38 Comments || Top||

#2  The Joos done it.
Posted by: gromgorru || 03/17/2005 11:05 Comments || Top||

#3  ...Ya know, MY whims include an Arc Light strike. Perhaps they'd like that instead.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 03/17/2005 19:01 Comments || Top||


Iranian fascisti beat up revelers
Iranian authorities beat up and tear gassed exuberant young revellers as they breathed new life into a pre-Islamic fire festival with a night of dancing, flirting and fireworks. The Islamic Republic, which has an awkward relationship with its ancient Zoroastrian religion, only gave guarded recognition to the "Chaharshanbe Souri" festival last year.

Hundreds of people poured onto the streets in Tehran and other cities for a rare night of partying. Public revelry is unusual in Iran where the authorities consider it to be at odds with the country's strict moral codes. The IRNA news agency said police used tear gas in more than four places in Tehran. Vigilantes were also seen beating up a group of boys in the central city of Isfahan. "Anti-riot forces dispersed hundreds of young girls and boys who had gathered on ... streets neighbouring Mohseni Square," IRNA reported. "Special police forces on motorbikes attacked the crowd. While escaping, women and children fell and some were injured," it added, in unusually frank language for the state news agency.

Some 50 people were arrested in the capital, according to the semi-official ISNA students' news agency. But for the most part, Tuesday night's celebrations passed off peacefully in a carnival atmosphere. Iranian cities crackled and flashed with bangers and fireworks as warring gangs of 10-year-olds terrified pedestrians with exploding pellets. Flirtatious young men lobbed firecrackers at delighted girls, mimicking their shrieks. Teenagers drew sparkling shapes in the night sky by whirling charcoal burners on chains. "Hundreds of young people are celebrating and dancing on the streets ... while letting off firecrackers," IRNA reported from Tehran.

Chaharshanbe Souri is thousands of years old, but was pushed underground after the 1979 Islamic revolution. The purification festival, which is meant to dispel evil spirits, is celebrated on the last Tuesday night of the Persian year. But Islamists see the ceremonies as a pagan relic.

In Isfahan, a Reuters witness saw men in black leather jackets seize a group of nine boys and young men playing with firecrackers, ram them against a wall and smash their faces and shoulders with batons. A woman screamed hysterically as one of the religious vigilantes in a motorcycle-helmet dragged a battered teenager into an unmarked car. A regular policeman drove by without stopping. Most people in Isfahan chose to celebrate the festivities in the city's maze of backstreets, some lighting fires in old tyres and deep cooking pans. Blaring pop music wafted from high-walled gardens. Leaping over the flames, many chanted an ancient prayer invoking the fire -- the Zoroastrians' most sacred element: "Give me your red colour, take away my sickly pallor."

But Behrouz, an elderly bystander, thought the firecrackers and flirting missed the point. "For the Zoroastrians this festival focused on taking purity from the fire, now the fire seems to bring out the worst in people," he said.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 03/17/2005 12:43:19 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Sounds like a fun Holiday. I've always enjoyed throwing firecrackers at girls.
Posted by: Shipman || 03/17/2005 9:51 Comments || Top||

#2  Of course I always hated it when the girls lit them and threw them back.
Posted by: Shipman || 03/17/2005 9:52 Comments || Top||

#3  ROFL!!!

Ship, you rock, bro!
Posted by: .com || 03/17/2005 10:04 Comments || Top||

#4  We used to do something like this in my reenactment company. It involved imbibing the beverage of your choice and then walking barefoot across the campfire. Theirs sounds more fun, though. Wasn't Freddy Mercury Zoroastrian?
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 03/17/2005 14:27 Comments || Top||

#5  ass-oriented maybe, but zoroastrian? Don't think so...
Posted by: Frank G || 03/17/2005 14:29 Comments || Top||

#6  Freddie Mercury was born Farrokh Bulsara on September 5th 1946 in Zanzibar, to parents Bomi & Jer Bulsara. Freddie moved to India in 1947. He attended boarding school in Panchgani, just outside Bombay. Whilst there he began his piano lessons, reaching Grade 4 in practical and theory. The family, with the addition now of younger sister Kashmira, moved to England in 1963.
Mercury was born Farrokh Pluto Bulsara in Stone Townor Mji Mkongwe, in Swahili, is the old part of the capital of the island of Zanzibar, a part of Tanzania. To parents Bomi and Jer Bulsara. He had a sister, Kashmira Bulsara-Cooke. His parents were Parsis a person from Pars (the middle-Persian word for Fars), a region now within the geographical boundaries of Iran, and is roughly the original homeland of the Persian people. The word Persia itself derives from Persis, the Greek form of Pars. A member of the close-knit Zoroastrian community from/in India, and are descendants of people who, in the 8th century, emigrated to India from Persia to escape religious persecution.
http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Freddy+Mercury
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 03/17/2005 15:57 Comments || Top||

#7  I stand rebuked and corrected
Posted by: Frank G || 03/17/2005 20:34 Comments || Top||


Hezbollah sez that 30 Syrian workers were killed
BETWEEN 20 and 30 Syrian workers in Lebanon have been killed in anti-Syrian attacks in recent weeks, Hizbollah's chief said today. "I have information that 20 to 30 Syrian workers have been killed recently... This is a disgrace," Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah told the Shiite Muslim group's television station al-Manar. Since Mr Hariri's killing some Syrian workers complained they had been harassed by anti-Syrian Lebanese, but Sheikh Nasrallah's comments were the first word on any Syrians being killed. Tens of thousands of Syrian workers have fled back to Syria since Mr Hariri's death.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 03/17/2005 12:41:09 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I know I repeat myself, but don’t the Islamofacists sound exactly like the Democratic Party? Does that mean one of them is evolving or de-evolving? Either way I would: “I have information that 20 to 30 Syrian workers have been killed recently..." (no details), sounds almost like “I have reports of One Million Black voters were disenfranchised.” (No Details). Well if Hizbullah is reduced to propaganda and not violence, which tells how strong they aren’t (Ex: See Democrats and Senate).
Posted by: Cyber Sarge || 03/17/2005 11:58 Comments || Top||

#2  sounds like they're building an argument for Hezbollah to remain armed after the Syrians have fled
Posted by: Frank G || 03/17/2005 12:29 Comments || Top||

#3  Hezabollah will never give up their weapons. At least, not voluntarily. Some one will probably have to pry them from their cold, dead hands.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 03/17/2005 14:29 Comments || Top||

#4  I hope Hezballah is disarmed. And dis-emboweled.
Posted by: Jackal || 03/17/2005 17:03 Comments || Top||


Hoss urges security officials to resign
Former Prime Minister Salim Hoss urged security officials to take responsibility for their failure to prevent the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and resign from their posts to prevent the country from descending into conflict. In a statement issued Wednesday, the former premier said that disagreements between the government and the opposition were no longer insurmountable, as both parties had agreed on the Taif Accord as a basis to resolve their issues. Hoss called on security officials to step down "as soon as possible" in response to the popular demands of the people and to save the country from a serious crisis. He asked: "Is it too much for them [security officials] to make a brave step and resign in order to meet a national demand?" He added: "Lebanon's fate should not remain in the hands of a bunch of employees."

Concerning the Syrian withdrawal, Hoss said it was no longer an issue as Syrian troops and intelligence forces have already begun to leave the country in compliance with the Taif Accord. He said: "The withdrawal has become a fact, especially since the Higher Syrian-Lebanese Council has approved it and UN Middle East envoy Terje Roed Larsen was satisfied with Syrian President Bashar Assad's decision."
Posted by: Fred || 03/17/2005 00:00:00 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  A Hoss of different color.
Posted by: gromgorru || 03/17/2005 11:06 Comments || Top||


Syria evacuates last intelligence posts in North Lebanon
Posted by: Fred || 03/17/2005 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine
5 Israeli Arabs planned to attack the Knesset, join al-Qaeda
Ten days after Ynetnews exposed a terror plot to attack the Knesset, indictments were handed down in the Jerusalem District Court against five Israeli Arabs suspected of involvement in a terror cell.

The suspects range in age from 19 to 23.

The main suspect is 19-year-old Murad Alian from Ras-al-Amud, from East Jerusalem. Other group members are Hussam Marisat, Bahjat Hashim, Marwan Abu Laban and Shaaban Hamad.

Alain is charged with collecting deadly material intended to spread on car doors. He is suspected of frequenting internet sites related to both international and anti-Israel terrorism, and of establishing a terror cell to stage an attack in Israel in 2004. The group hoped an anti-Israel attack would serve as its initiation into the al-Qaeda organization.

Two members of the group planned a shooting attack near the West Bank town of Anata. Marisat even told Alian he intended to start work as a builder at the Knesset in order to spend more time together and advance planning, and to gather information about the structure of the Knesset in order to plan an attack.

Another suspect, Hamad, told cell members he thought an appropriate place for an attack would be the IDF checkpoint near the entrance to the Shuafat refugee camp. Alain asked group members to find him an axe in order to rob and murder a gas station attendant in order to finance the group's terror activities.

According to the indictment, Alain and Marisat spoke about making bombs and even discussed different possibilities of obtaining guns to stage attacks. Marisat proposed to murder a Druze IDF soldier, steal his gun and deliver it to the group.

Ilain is charged with treason, providing support to an enemy during wartime and, and has been charged separately. The four others have been charged with one count of conspiring to provide support to the enemy, intention to commit treason, and attempted armed crimes.
This article starring:
BAHJAT HASHIMal-Qaeda
HUSAM MARISATal-Qaeda
MARWAN ABU LABANal-Qaeda
MURAD ALIANal-Qaeda
SHAABAN HAMADal-Qaeda
Posted by: Dan Darling || 03/17/2005 2:25:33 PM || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  wannabe's who should be imprisoned then jettisoned to live with their fellow Paleos in the "Paleo People's Wasteland"
Posted by: Frank G || 03/17/2005 22:49 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
Pakistan troops fight Bugtis
Three paramilitary troops have been killed and eight injured as Pakistani security forces battle tribesmen in the south Balochistan town of Dera Bugti. Helicopter gunships and heavy weapons are reportedly in use as government forces try to rescue 40 paramilitary troops surrounded by tribesmen. The clashes began when a paramilitary convoy was ambushed by tribesmen. A spokesman for the Frontier Corps, the main paramilitary force in Balochistan, confirmed the casualties in fighting that has lasted several hours. But he had "no idea" of the number of tribesmen killed or injured, he said.
"Don't care, neither!"
The Associated Press news agency has quoted an unnamed Pakistani official saying several tribesmen may have been killed. The chief of the Bugtis - the main tribe involved in the clashes - told the BBC that over 50 civilians had been killed in rocket and mortar attacks in the area around his house. Blaming Bugti tribesmen for the clash, an official spokesman said they have been guilty of similar attacks on security forces and government installations in the past. He said the fighting began on Thursday morning when Bugti tribesmen fired at a paramilitary convoy carrying 40 troops in the southern mountains of Sangseela near Dera Bugti. At least four troops were injured in the attack, he said.
Posted by: Fred || 03/17/2005 2:37:31 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Must have been a wedding going on.
Posted by: Tom || 03/17/2005 15:33 Comments || Top||


Iraq-Jordan
US to reduce troops in Iraq to below 138,000
The Army expects to begin cutting troop levels in Iraq as soon as this year, a move that would reduce the level of U.S. forces there to below 138,000, an Army general said on Thursday.
Teddy Kennedy's a genius. Right before the Iraqi elections he said he would bring home 12,000 US troops, right away. Leaving, um (carry the four, round off to three decimal places)...138,000!
"I think for the next force rotation, we'll start seeing that (the) force rotation coming in will be smaller than the force that's in there," said Gen. Richard Cody, the Army's vice chief of staff. "I know you're all waiting for a number here, and I'm not going to give you one because I don't know," Cody added in an interview with defense reporters. The annual U.S. force rotation for "Operation Iraqi Freedom 3" is already beginning and Cody said that troops sent into the rotation in the coming year are likely to be smaller in number than the soldiers coming out of the country. There are 150,000 American troops in Iraq -- most of them Army soldiers -- but the number will go down to 138,000 before the end of this month. The force was increased by 12,000 in December to provide security for the Iraqi elections in January.

But U.S. defense officials have said the number will likely begin falling below 138,000 as the Iraqi army and security forces are trained to take over security in the country. Cody's comments came as Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was accused in his country on Thursday of bowing to pressure from the United States after he apparently backtracked on an announcement that Italian troops would start withdrawing from Iraq in September. Berlusconi said on a television talk show this week that he wanted to begin reducing Italy's 3,000-strong contingent in September, but he later said he never set a fixed date for any pullout. Italy has the fourth-largest foreign contingent in Iraq after the U.S., British and South Korean forces and any eventual withdrawal before other main partners would leave a hole in Iraq's international security network. British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Wednesday he would not set any timetable for withdrawal of British troops.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 03/17/2005 1:31:37 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Quagmire!
Posted by: Frank G || 03/17/2005 14:30 Comments || Top||

#2  Is there a faint smell of napalm in the air this St. Pat's Day?
Posted by: Shipman || 03/17/2005 15:00 Comments || Top||

#3  Looks like the Italian press is similar to our MMM...
Posted by: Bobby || 03/17/2005 15:12 Comments || Top||


Dept. of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms to aid Coalition forces in Iraq
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/17/2005 01:35 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The Mullahs better start to worry now. Next comes the FBI and HRT.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 03/17/2005 8:25 Comments || Top||

#2  HRT? I dunno, Mrs. Davis ... (I know what HRT is, but ...)
Posted by: Edward Yee || 03/17/2005 8:34 Comments || Top||

#3  Their bomb disposal guys are good. They have to be. It's an unforgiving profession.
Posted by: Chuck Simmins || 03/17/2005 8:37 Comments || Top||

#4  Lon Horiuchi ring a bell? Hostage Rescue Team sniper who was Janet Reno's shooter of enemies.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 03/17/2005 8:38 Comments || Top||

#5  Chuck Simmins, you mean this?

Mrs. Davis, yes he does. Chris Whitcomb defends him though in Cold Zero, as a fellow sniper at both Ruby Ridge and Waco ...

And for that matter, HRT coming to Iraq is something for the Mullahs to worry about??
Posted by: Edward Yee || 03/17/2005 9:01 Comments || Top||

#6  Maybe the HRTs will get lost and wander over the border (heh).
Posted by: too true || 03/17/2005 9:04 Comments || Top||

#7  Lol, if only ...
Posted by: Glosing Slang5997 || 03/17/2005 10:46 Comments || Top||

#8  Now the Iraqis can learn to hate them as much as I do.
Posted by: Secret Master || 03/17/2005 11:37 Comments || Top||

#9  The only difference between the old Iraqi regime and the ATF is that the ATF feels the need to use entrapment before they kick in the door and kill everyone inside.
Posted by: Psycho Hillbilly || 03/17/2005 12:26 Comments || Top||

#10  Janet Reno:
I hope to live long enough to see her "take responsibility".

ATF:
How wise or courageous do you have to be to purposely kill a woman holding her her child ?
Posted by: Joe Average || 03/17/2005 13:28 Comments || Top||

#11  correction: FBI
Posted by: Joe Average || 03/17/2005 13:29 Comments || Top||

#12  When I googled HRT, everything came up Hormone Replacement Therapy, which, after I thought about it, also seemed a major threat to the MM....
Posted by: RWV || 03/17/2005 14:08 Comments || Top||

#13  "... courage. What courage? I'm a sniper!"
Posted by: Hupereger Ebbavigum6429 || 03/17/2005 14:16 Comments || Top||

#14  ATF was a loser agency even before their showboating invasion of the Davidian compound with TV cameras in tow. What idiots they were. They had lots of female (barf) agents in on that raid where they got a few of their own plugged. They were squalling like little girls over the ATF dead and wounded.

ATF must have gotten better since I don't hear bad things about them these days.

Posted by: sea cruise || 03/17/2005 14:47 Comments || Top||

#15  I didn't want comment before this. I didn't want to seem like a flake. But I had a friend who "committed suicide" during a ATF raid. As far as I can tell they have very few agents that could keep a job in any other law enforcement agency. I haven't heard of one that I would work with at any job. None of my friends in Law enforcement have either. They do a good job in collecting taxes on Tobacco and Booze apparently. That is what they should stick to. Let the FBI, DEA, Secret Service and US Marshals enforce a few fire arms laws after they are all mostly repealed. Take the "firearms" part off their name. Well will all be provably safer if that happened.

FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi should be a convicted felon. His supervisors should have been fired. Instead they retired. I see them as "experts" on FOX. Fox needs to get it's head out of it's arse on these clowns.
Posted by: Sock Puppet 0’ Doom || 03/17/2005 15:31 Comments || Top||

#16  #10.Janet Reno: I hope to live long enough to see her "take responsibility".
Joe, are you planning on being a modern day Metheusela?
Posted by: GK || 03/17/2005 21:17 Comments || Top||

#17  I'm with you GK....we're watching you Joe!
Posted by: Janet Reno || 03/17/2005 22:37 Comments || Top||


Iraqi government meets, gets mortared by al-Qaeda
Iraq's new parliament met for the first time Wednesday more than six weeks after elections, but rival blocs failed to agree on a government and al Qaeda insurgents targeted the meeting with a mortar barrage. During the two-hour inaugural ceremony, politicians pledged stability in Iraq, after windows rattled and lights flickered when mortars struck the fortified Green Zone compound. No damage or casualties were reported in the attack claimed by al Qaeda's wing in Iraq.

President Bush, who led a war to oust Saddam Hussein in 2003, called the session a "hopeful moment." Commenting on the parliament session, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan called it "an important step in Iraq's political transition process" -- a view echoed by Iraqi politicians despite the failure to appoint a government. "We are part of history," said Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum, a candidate for oil minister. "This assembly has to succeed in charting the principles of a democratic, united Iraq."

But without a government in place, the parliament cannot yet draft legislation to try to bring normality to a country plagued by relentless violence. The Shi'ite Islamist alliance that won 140 seats -- just over half of the 275-member National Assembly -- and the Kurdish coalition that came second with 75 seats are deadlocked in negotiations over a government that have dragged on for weeks. There is tentative agreement that Ibrahim Jaafari of the Shi'ite Dawa party will be prime minister and Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani will be president, with a Sunni Arab candidate probably being offered the job of parliament speaker. But talks have stalled over Kurdish demands to expand their northern autonomous zone to include the strategic oil city of Kirkuk and over the fate of the Kurdish peshmerga militias, which Shi'ites want absorbed in Iraq's official security forces. The Kurds also want guarantees Iraq will remain secular. Jaafari said a deal would be reached soon. "Within two weeks you will see the birth of a new government," he told reporters after the parliament meeting.

Politicians had hoped for a deal before parliament sat, but one Shi'ite official described recent political bargaining as "arguments of the deaf." Under Iraq's interim constitution, parliament must agree on a president and two vice presidents by a two-thirds majority. Those three will then appoint a prime minister. The assembly must also oversee the writing of a permanent constitution. Current Prime Minister Iyad Allawi and President Ghazi al-Yawar, both of whom keep their jobs until a new government is agreed, told the assembly the process must be inclusive and involve Sunni Arabs, who have little parliamentary representation after many of them stayed away from the polls.

The delay in forming a government has angered many Iraqis, after more than eight million people defied suicide bombers and mortar attacks to vote in the Jan. 30 elections. They want urgent action to improve security and restore basic services. Some Iraqis say the deadlock is playing into the hands of insurgents determined to wreck the political process. The elections were a cornerstone of U.S. plans to hand more responsibility to Iraqi politicians and security forces so foreign troops can eventually leave. But many U.S. allies are cutting troop numbers faster than Washington had hoped.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 03/17/2005 12:16:16 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine
Israelis Hand Over Jericho to Palestinian Control
Posted by: Fred || 03/17/2005 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The farce must be played out.
Posted by: gromgorru || 03/17/2005 10:58 Comments || Top||

#2  I'll be back, as per usual in me TR4
Posted by: J Oshua || 03/17/2005 18:22 Comments || Top||

#3  I will return in my TR-6.
Posted by: Josh || 03/17/2005 15:02 Comments || Top||


Iraq-Jordan
Historic Opening of Iraqi Parliament
Iraq's first freely elected Parliament in half a century began its historic opening session yesterday after a series of explosions targeted the gathering. The Parliament's 275 members, elected during Jan. 30 balloting, convened in an auditorium amid tight security in the heavily guarded Green Zone with US helicopter gunships hovering overhead. Minutes before the assembly convened, at least half a dozen explosions detonated a few hundred meters away. The US military said two mortar rounds landed inside the zone but caused no injuries. After yesterday's session ended, another mortar shell hit an empty building in central Baghdad's Karradah neighborhood, setting the two-story structure on fire, police and witnesses said. There were no reports of injuries.

The lawmakers opened with a reading of verses from the Qur'an. Iraqi Chief Justice Medhat Al-Mahmoud then administered the oath to the assembled deputies. "It is a great day in Iraqi history that its elected representatives meet," said Fuad Masoum, a Kurdish delegate. "This day coincides with a painful memory that has many meanings. ... Today, on this occasion, we celebrate the inauguration of Parliament after the fall of this regime."
Posted by: Fred || 03/17/2005 00:00:00 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hail and welcome to the new Iraqi parliamentarians.

Tigerhawk has some interesting thoughts on the dangers faced by a legislative body in a fledgling democracy.
Posted by: Seafarious || 03/17/2005 0:32 Comments || Top||

#2  The lawmakers opened with a reading of verses from the Qur’an.
Where the hell is thier version of the ACLU?
Posted by: plainslow || 03/17/2005 7:11 Comments || Top||



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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.
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Two weeks of WOT
Thu 2005-03-17
  Al-Oufi throws his support behind Zarqawi
Wed 2005-03-16
  18 arrested in arms smuggling plot
Tue 2005-03-15
  Commander Robot titzup in prison break attempt
Mon 2005-03-14
  Abdullah Mehsud is no more?
Sun 2005-03-13
  1 al-Qaeda dead, 5 Soddy coppers wounded
Sat 2005-03-12
  Last Syrian troops leave Lebanon
Fri 2005-03-11
  Al-Moayad guilty
Thu 2005-03-10
  Local Elder of Islam to succeed Maskhadov
Wed 2005-03-09
  Nasrallah warns U.S. to stop interfering in Lebanon
Tue 2005-03-08
  Toe tag for Aslan
Mon 2005-03-07
  Operations stepped up in Samarra to find Zarqawi
Sun 2005-03-06
  Hizbollah Throws Weight Behind Syria in Lebanon
Sat 2005-03-05
  Syria loyalists shoot up Beirut Christian sector
Fri 2005-03-04
  Pro-Syria Groups in Lebanon Press for Unity Govt
Thu 2005-03-03
  Lebanon Opposition Demands Total Syrian Withdrawal

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