A message posted on a jihadist message board, al-Islah, a website for The Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia (MIRA), headed by Saudi dissident and designated terrorist entity Dr. Saad al-Fagih, speculated that Saleh al-Oufi, emir (prince) of al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia, could be amongst those dead in battles that concluded today between security forces and militants on the Saudi Arabian peninsula.
Corroborating with the Ministry of Interior statement of fourteen mujahideen dead, four injured, and one surrendered, the message states that "there are some indications that one of the people killed could be Saleh al-Oufi." The presence of a dead body with an amputated leg in a wheelchair led to speculation that the body was indeed that of al-Oufi, however, "the body was completely burnt and it was impossible to be sure until after the DNA test that had taken place by the authorities."
This article starring:
al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia
SAAD AL FAGIH
Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia
SALEH AL UFI
al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia
al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia
Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/06/2005 5:16:23 PM ||
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body was completely burnt
Did Soddy security overdo 'pressure' during investigation? I envision them running in circle and instead of "Allahu Ackbar" intoning "Burn baby, burn!", perhaps trying to convey what is to be expected on the other side.
SANAA - More than 30 people were killed or wounded Wednesday in fierce clashes between security forces and supporters of a slain rebel preacher who have been locked in fighting in northwest Yemen, military and tribal sources said. Heavy fighting pitted army troops and counter-terrorism units against the rebels in the Al-Shafia and Wadi Nushur (Nushur Valley) areas of Saada province, the sources said.
Once the Yemeni's get their teeth in ya, they don't let go.
Government forces were trying to advance toward the Wadi Nushur stronghold of the father of slain preacher Sheikh Hussein Badr Eddin al-Huthi, who was killed by the army last year. Authorities say Badr Eddin al-Huthi has become the spiritual leader of his son's followers from the Faithful Youth movement.
Dad took over sonny's business, normally it's the other way around.
Both military and tribal sources said at least 30 people from both sides were killed or wounded in Wednesday's fighting, but could not give a more specific breakdown. Around 110 people had been reported killed, and dozens more wounded, since the violence erupted in the mountainous region on March 28. The deputy governor of Saada, Hassan Mannaa, escaped an ambush laid by the rebels in the town of Saada Wednesday, a source close to Mannaa said. But five of his bodyguards were seriously wounded when his car came under fire. The government announced last September that the army had killed Hussein al-Huthi, a radical preacher from the minority Zaidi community, nearly three months after he started a rebellion in the mountainous northwest. The uprising, near the border with Saudi Arabia, triggered clashes which left more than 400 people dead. The Zaidis are a moderate Shiite Muslim sect dominant in northwest Yemen but in the minority in the mainly Sunni country.
So they'd be getting support from Iran then?
Authorities had accused Huthi of seeking to foment sectarian strife, but he said last July the conflict was a result of his anti-US stand.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/06/2005 1:36:02 PM ||
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In the clashes that have continued for the last three days in Saudi Arabia between the security forces and Al-Qaeda militants, the Saudi Arabian Al-Qaeda Chief has reportedly been killed. The Islamic opposition confirmed in a statement broadcast on an Internet site that Salih Al-Ufi, the Al-Qaeda Chief in Saudi Arabia, was among those killed.
This article starring:
SALIH AL UFI
al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/06/2005 9:39:32 AM ||
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#1
I have to ask: Did they use the wooden stake this time?
#2
DUBAI - The suspected chief of the Al Qaeda cell in Saudi Arabia was among 14 wanted militants killed in three days of fierce clashes in the kingdom, the exiled Islamic opposition said on Wednesday. Saleh al-Oufi, a former police officer who was number four on Riyadhâs most-wanted list, took over as Al Qaeda commander in Saudi Arabia in June last year.
âOne of the dead, who had an amputated leg, was found in a wheelchair,â the Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia said in an Internet statement.
âAccording to information available to the security services, it is Saleh al-Oufi. But the body was burnt and it is not possible to be certain of his identity before a DNA analysis.â
Oufi, who had previously been reported dead, resurfaced recently in recordings attributed to him on an Islamist website voicing support for the networkâs Iraqi branch and call for attacks on âcrusaderâ targets in the region.
At least 14 militants, including a number of most-wanted Al Qaeda suspects, were killed in the fierce fighting with Saudi security forces in the north of the kingdom. Several Saudi newspapers have reported that Oufi was among the dead.
Maybe yes and maybe no. Have to wait for DNA.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/06/2005 9:56 Comments ||
Top||
#3
If someone is "killed" enough times, sooner or later they'll actually turn up verifiably dead. At least, that's how it should work... ;)
Saudi forces killed a wanted militant and wounded another in a raid in southern Riyadh on Wednesday, the Interior Ministry said.Abdulrahman al-Yazji, one of four remaining fugitives on Saudi Arabia's list of 26 top militant suspects, was killed after opening fire and throwing a hand grenade at security forces, the ministry said in a statement.
The clash occurred in the Sina'iyah district of southern Riyadh when security forces, who had been monitoring the building where Yazji was staying, arrived on the scene at 9 a.m. The Riyadh raid followed three days of fighting north of the capital in which Saudi forces killed at least 14 gunmen, including a senior al Qaeda suspect thought to have masterminded bombings in Casablanca in May 2003. Security sources said the unidentified man wounded alongside Yazji was in hospital in serious condition.
ADDITIONAL:
Several al Qaeda "big fish" were among the 15 terrorists killed and seven captured in a series of gun battles and raids in and near Riyadh since Sunday, Saudi security officials say. Sources in the Saudi government have said four of those killed or caught were on the list of 26 most-wanted terrorists, leaving just two of those on the list still at large. The Saudi Interior Ministry is expected to announce DNA test results Wednesday afternoon to confirm the identities of the suspected al Qaeda militants killed and captured during a three-day stand-off and gun battle northwest of Riyadh and another gun battle Wednesday morning in an industrial area in southern Riyadh.
Several Saudi sources told CNN that Abdul-Rahman Mohammed Mohammed Yazji, one of the 26 most-wanted, was killed in the Wednesday morning gun battle. The sources would not confirm or deny reports that Saleh Oufi, head of al Qaeda in the Arab peninsula, was seriously wounded and captured in that battle. He is also on the list of 26.
That would be too much to hope for.
Thought he was mangled beyond recognition, sitting in a wheelchair?
Investigators were also trying to determine whether two senior al Qaeda figures -- the suspected leader of the Islamic terror group in Saudi Arabia and a man linked to the March 2004 Madrid train bombings -- were among 14 militants killed in a battle that began Sunday and ended Tuesday, said Brig. Mansour Turki, an Interior Ministry spokesman. Five militants were wounded and captured, and one surrendered, he said. DNA tests are being conducted to determine whether two of the bodies are those of Saud Humud al-Utaibi and Abd al-Karim el-Mejjati, two of the most-wanted al Qaeda suspects in the kingdom.
So we don't have confimation yet on those two.
This article starring:
ABD AL KARIM EL MEJJATI
al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
ABDULRAHMAN AL YAZJI
al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
ABDUL RAHMAN MOHAMED MOHAMED YAZJI
al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
Brig. Mansour Turki
SALEH UFI
al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
SAUD HUMUD AL UTAIBI
al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
Posted by: Steve ||
04/06/2005 8:43:11 AM ||
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A three-day armed stand-off between Saudi security forces and armed militants ended yesterday after up to 18 militants were killed, Saudi officials were reported as saying. Commandos stormed a villa in which the fighters had barricaded themselves for two days following a firefight on Sunday at al-Ras, a town 355km northwest of the capital, Riyadh. The dead are said to include two leaders of an al-Qaeda cell whose names appear on the country's most-wanted list.
Reports quoting unnamed security sources have identified them as Saud al-Otaibi, a Saudi, and Moroccan Abdel Karim al-Mojati, who is believed to have masterminded the Casablanca bombings in 2003. The stand-off at al-Ras was the longest-running battle between the security forces and Islamic militants since al-Qaeda took its fight to the kingdom two years ago. Police had chased a group of militants to a building under construction in a residential quarter of al-Ras on Sunday morning. Security forces cordoned off the area and laid siege to the building, but the militants responded with grenades and automatic rifles. Staff and students at a nearby girls' school were locked in for 12 hours until they could be evacuated to safety. Thirty-five members of the security forces are reported to have received treatment for injuries.
The Interior Ministry said the battle had ended, but declined to give a casualty estimate. News reports quoted officials saying 18 militants had died. The killing of Mojati and Otaibi will provide a further boost for the Saudi security forces, who appear to have succeeded in curtailing the militants' ability to strike in recent months. In 2003 Saudi security was caught unawares when militants linked to al-Qaeda staged their first devastating attack in the kingdom - three suicide bombings targeting compounds housing foreigners in Riyadh. Only three of 26 militants on the country's most-wanted list remain at large. The violence peaked last year, but since the killing in June of one of the group's leaders - Abdul Aziz al-Muqrin - attacks have become far less frequent. "Al-Qaeda is no longer strong in the kingdom," said Mshari al-Zaydi, a Saudi analyst. "It can still do damage, though nothing substantial. However, one can't say that it has disappeared or that all sympathy for it has completely evaporated."
As many as 14 suspected terrorists, including most wanted Al-Qaeda leaders, have been killed and five others have been wounded in three days of fierce clashes, which ended here yesterday, the Interior Ministry said. Crown Prince Abdullah commended the bravery displayed by the security forces in their fight against terror. "Our security men will remain a thorn in the throat of every aggressor who tries to undermine the country's security and stability," he said in a message to Interior Minister Prince Naif. "Until the time of preparing this statement, 14 terrorists have been killed and five others have been wounded and arrested," a ministry official said, adding that one gunman had surrendered to police.
The official said the security forces had successfully completed their mission in Al-Rass, 320 km northwest of Riyadh, where the clashes started on Sunday. Only 14 security men were wounded and hospitalized, the official said. Most of them, except two, sustained minor injuries, he said, adding that the injuries sustained by the two were not life threatening. Earlier, Interior Ministry spokesman Brig. Mansour Al-Turki said security forces were still combing the area after the end of the battle to evacuate casualties and collect evidence. It was the longest and toughest battle with the terrorists who used rocket-propelled grenades, hand grenades and machine guns against security forces.
It was unclear whether Saleh Al-Oufi, commander of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, was among the killed in the Al-Rass battle. However, some sources said Saud Al-Otaibi, a Saudi, and Abdul Kareem Al-Majati, a Moroccan, both on the most wanted list, were among the dead. One militant belonging to the Onaiza cell surrendered to authorities, the sources said. The faces of three dead terrorists were disfigured beyond recognition and their true identity can be established only after DNA tests, a source said. Security forces were cleansing the scene at the time of going to press and the sound of helicopters disturbed the tranquility of Al-Rass city that was awake for three nights. "Thank God the siege is over. It is a great moment to see these terrorists vanishing from our sights," said Abdullah Al-Ruwais, a resident of Al-Rass.
Continued on Page 49
This article starring:
ABDUL KARIM AL MAJATI
al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
Abdullah Al-Ruwais, a resident of Al-Rass
Brig. Mansour Al-Turki
SALEH AL UFI
al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
SAUD AL OTAIBI
al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
Posted by: Fred ||
04/06/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
Any Clerics killed? Until then, don't call me, Nayef
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/06/2005 0:03 Comments ||
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#2
Let's see the bodies. Talk is cheap, and this is Soddyland...
#4
these morons keep getting killed, keep losing ground. yet they don't "get it" - that they are losing. badly. sorta reminds me of Monty Python and the Holy Grail: the knight has lost both legs and an arm and he's calling his opponent a chicken. "It's just a flesh wound. come back and fight like a man!"
The southern branch of the Russian Interior Ministry has neutralised more than 40 active members of bands since the beginning of this year. A source in the Interior Ministry told Itar-Tass on Wednesday that the number did not include gunmen who were captured or killed by local police or in special operations of troops. Workers of the operational search bureau of the Southern Federal District "work not simply on so-called infantry; a main goal of operatives are medium and top level commanders".
The source cited as example the liquidation of Rizvan Chitigov in Chechnya's capital Grozny two weeks ago. He was involved in the murder of four nationals of Britain and a New Zealander. Chitigov was a so-called emir of the council of mujahiddins of Chechnya and Dagestan. Captured militants have been cooperating with law enforces recently, disclosing sites of arms caches and addresses of members of their bands. Law enforcement agencies are of the opinion that this indicates that most of militants realise uselessness of the armed struggle. "Work to clear the region of so-called diehards will be continued," the source said.
This article starring:
RIZVAN CHITIGOV
Chechnya
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/06/2005 5:41:50 PM ||
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Interior Ministry has neutralised
"Sergei, do you think that the Jihadis are alkalic?"
"Volodya, I dunno, but let's drop them in acid to see if they would be neutralized!"
Two militants were killed by Dagestan and Chechnya policemen in a special operation conducted in Khasavyurt, Dagestan republic. The two gunmen barricaded themselves in a flat in a house at Rechnaya Street in the city. Tenants of a neighbouring flat were hurt in the exchange of fire between police and militants. A three-year-old boy died of a gunshot wound to the head and his mother was wounded in the leg. A Chechen police officer was also wounded.
A duty officer of the Khasavyurt municipal department told Itar-Tass the 32-year-old Anvar Visayev who was shot dead by policemen was a member of illegal armed groups. He was a member of a bandit group of field commander Magomed Nauzov. Visayev has been on the federal wanted list since November 2003. He was charged with terrorism and banditry. The identity of the second killed gunman is being established. In the flat from which the militants opened fire at policemen the officers confiscated two Kalashnikov assault rifles and magazine cases with 37 cartridges. The owner of the flat where the militants found shelter is now checked for complicity in the crime. Criminal proceedings have been instituted under three articles of the Criminal Code (infringement on life of police officers, murder and illegal keeping of arms).
This article starring:
ANVAR VISAIEV
Chechnya
MAGOMED NAUZOV
Chechnya
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/06/2005 5:38:59 PM ||
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Russian security forces said on Wednesday they had arrested a suspect in the 1998 murder of three Britons and a New Zealander who were kidnapped and beheaded in the violent Chechnya region. The suspect, Adam Dzhabrailov, told police under questioning he was a member of the armed gang that killed the four, General Ilya Shabalkin, spokesman for Russian security forces' command in Chechnya, told Reuters by telephone. Britons Darren Hickey, Rudolf Petschi and Peter Kennedy and New Zealander Stanley Shaw were abducted while on a contract to install a mobile telephone system in Chechnya. Their severed heads were found on a road in Chechnya. Their bodies were not recovered until weeks later.
This article starring:
ADAM DZHABRAILOV
Chechnya
Darren Hickey
General Ilya Shabalkin
Peter Kennedy
Rudolf Petschi
Stanley Shaw
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/06/2005 5:37:09 PM ||
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THE Multiplex extortionist has struck again, threatening to shoot crane drivers in Australia and Britain from April 18 until the company pays $50 million or goes bust.
It has also emerged the extortionist, who originally threatened to have crane drivers shot on March 1, had set another deadline of March 19 but Multiplex did not reveal this to workers or to the public.
The Daily Telegraph has obtained a copy of a letter sent to the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union and now being held by police.
The author of the letter presents themselves as a middle-man between Multiplex and people who are owed money by the construction giant.
The letter warns of a series of killings in Australia and Great Britain if Multiplex does not pay up or unless the company is destroyed.
It says the group will select the sites to be targeted and, for the first time, makes particular reference to London's Wembley Stadium development.
"We're serving notice that there's money owing to clients of ours," it reads.
"We're going to commence sniper attacks on selected sites in Australia and Great Britain (and specifically Wembley) and we'll continue until either Multiplex pays or are out of business permanently.
"We gave opportunities to Multiplex to fix this on the 1st of March and the 19th of March. Multiplex haven't co-operated so we are now prepared to attack.
"This is a formal warning. we've given time to warn all those involved. The location will be of our choosing.
"The shooting will continue until such time as they are paid.
"Multiplex is playing with the lives of workers. there will be no further warning. This warning remains until there's a retraction in writing."
The letter was sent to CFMEU leaders in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne.
It was typewritten and, in the case of the Sydney letter, carried a Sydney postmark.
The extortionist or extortionists sent their first threat to Multiplex in early February, saying a crane driver would be shot on March 1 unless the company paid $50 million.
It followed that threat with a similar letter to the CFMEU, urging the union to warn its workers.
Multiplex has also received further correspondence from the extortionist leading up to both the March 19 and April 18 deadlines. The company never revealed publicly or informed the CFMEU of the March 19 deadline.
The company has communicated with the culprit via at least one message in The Weekend Australian newspaper via a 400-year-old code.
The keyword to decipher the code, which was cracked by The Daily Telegraph, was "Destroy Multiplex".
The NSW CFMEU will hold meetings across Sydney today to discuss the latest threat.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
04/06/2005 7:09:11 PM ||
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Spanish judge released nine suspects in the Madrid train bombing investigation from detention on Wednesday, ruling there was insufficient evidence to remand them, a court official said. The judge, however, said they were suspected of collaboration with an armed group and ordered them all to report to court weekly. The nine men were part of a group of 13 arrested on Friday on suspicion of ties to prime suspects in the March 11, 2004 attacks that killed 191 people and wounded 2,000. The other four have already been released from detention.
All 13 -- six Moroccans, four Syrians, an Egyptian, a Palestinian and an Algerian -- are still accused of collaborating with Islamist militants who carried out Europe's most devastating al Qaeda-linked attack. The nine freed on Wednesday, and one of the men freed earlier this week, must report to the court weekly.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/06/2005 5:26:58 PM ||
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#1
Did the judge ever heard of deportation? Mind boggles.
I could understand the judge's apprehension about my idea whereabout they should be released.
A Berlin court sentenced Ihsan Garnaoui, 34, a Tunisian Islamist, to three years and nine months imprisonment on Wednesday, but acquitted him of trying to set up an al-Qaeda terrorist cell in the city. Instead he was convicted of illegal possession of weapons and tax evasion. The Berlin state court judge Frank-Michael Libera said Garnaoui was no harmless man. He had moved back to Germany from Afghanistan with the intention of using violence for the jihad (holy war) and of staging a bomb attack. But under the laws of evidence, this did not suffice to prove he had actually tried to set up a freelance terrorist cell in the city or laid the groundwork for terrorist bomb attacks. The presiding judge said he was obliged to acquit if there was any doubt.
At the end of the year-long trial, federal prosecutors had demanded a full conviction and a six-year prison term, saying Garnaoui was planning to bomb both Jewish and US facilities in the country when he was arrested in March 2003. Garnaoui, who did insurgency training in one of al-Qaeda's former camps in Afghanistan and met Osama bin Laden, returned to Germany without a valid visa and tried to recruit friends at Berlin's al-Nur Mosque for a new terrorist group that he would lead, prosecutors say. But the German secret services, who rate Islamists as the highest priority threat since the 11 September 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, were keeping a close eye on the mosque, which had a reputation for militancy. Some of the evidence against Garnaoui was given by undercover informants whose identities were concealed in court. The defence lawyers said the claims were hearsay and not proven, and the judges made plain they had not been convinced. The tax evasion charges related to Garnaoui's income from trading in jewellery.
This article starring:
IHSAN GARNAUI
al-Qaeda in Europe
judge Frank-Michael Libera
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/06/2005 5:17:53 PM ||
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A Dutch court on Wednesday acquitted teenager Samir Azzouz of plotting terrorist attacks against Dutch landmarks and ordered his release. The 18-year-old was sentenced to three months for illegal possession of firearms, but will be released because he has already served 10 months in detention. Upon hearing the decision, Azzouz, who was dressed in white Islamic garb, looked over his shoulder and smiled at his defense lawyer and at his wife, who was sitting in the public gallery. He had been in custody since June 2004, when police found detailed maps of Parliament, the Intelligence Service, Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport and a nuclear reactor at his home. At his trial last month, prosecutors called on the three-judge bench to sentence Azzouz to seven years' imprisonment and revoke his voting rights for 12 years.
This article starring:
SAMIR AZZUZ
Hofstad Group
Posted by: Steve ||
04/06/2005 8:58:45 AM ||
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#2
Three month for an ilegal firearm? Posession in Holland is strictly controled. If he had been a european dutchman he would have been give years!
More insanity.
#4
c'mon, guys. you mean to tell me you don't have detailed maps of Parliament, the Intelligence Service, Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport and a nuclear reactor in your house?
#5
Just as he left the court house he knocked down a journalist outside. One of his cohords threatened an other journalist with a knife......the journalist will press charges......
#6
We need to do something about this terrorist. lets get madders in our own hands and kill this bitch! before he kills us. this fucker needs to be stopped.
Posted by: Kill terror ||
04/06/2005 18:12 Comments ||
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A Tunisian man accused of planning attacks in Germany for al-Qaida was acquitted of terrorism charges Wednesday but found guilty of illegal weapons possession and tax evasion. He was sentenced to three years, nine months in prison. The verdict marked another setback for the German government, which has had difficulty making charges stick in several post-Sept. 11 terror cases. Federal prosecutors alleged that Ihsan Garnaoui, 34, planned attacks on U.S. or Jewish targets to coincide with the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. They had sought a six-year prison sentence on charges that included attempting to form a terrorist group. The Berlin state court found Garnaoui guilty only of the lesser charges, which also included immigration violations.
Garnaoui was arrested in Berlin on March 20, 2003, the day the invasion began. Prosecutors had claimed he started training at one of Osama bin Laden's camps in Afghanistan in 2001 and later received orders from an unknown al-Qaida member to plan attacks in Germany and recruit others. The court said there was evidence that he went abroad to train for terrorist attacks and endorsed violence in discussions with others, but that prosecutors failed to prove he was recruiting for a terror group. "General discussions about the question of whether one may take violent action against 'nonbelievers' does not constitute (attempted) creation of a terrorist group," the court said in a statement. He allegedly returned to Germany in January 2003 with the help of a forged passport after a journey through South Africa and Belgium. Garnaoui's lawyers maintained there was no proof he was ever in Afghanistan. In other cases, German prosecutors are retrying Mounir el Motassadeq, a Moroccan student, for allegedly helping the Hamburg-based Sept. 11 hijackers. An appeals court threw out his 2003 conviction and ordered the retrial, ruling he had been unfairly denied the testimony of al-Qaida suspects in U.S. custody. Abdelghani Mzoudi, a fellow Moroccan who was tried on the same charges, was acquitted in February 2004 by a Hamburg court.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/06/2005 8:52:31 AM ||
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#1
Another reason for jury trials and not "judical pannels" as are common in Europe and else where.
Many judges lack any common sense, they are after all lawyers, a class of humans just above pond scum.
Avowed white supremacist Matthew Hale was sentenced to 40 years in prison Wednesday for trying to have a federal judge killed — the same judge whose husband and mother were murdered five weeks ago by a deranged man with no connection to Hale. Hale, the 33-year-old leader of a group that preaches racial holy war, was sentenced after a rambling, two-hour speech in which he claimed he was the victim and even recited part of "The Star Spangled Banner." He showed no emotion and sat staring at the defense table as the sentence was handed down.
Prosecutors argued for the maximum sentence, saying Hale's crime amounted to an act of terrorism, and the judge agreed. "Mr. Hale is not concerned about taking someone's life, but rather how to do it without getting caught," U.S. District Judge James Moody said in imposing the sentence. "I consider Mr. Hale to be extremely dangerous and the offense for which he was convicted to be extremely egregious." Hale was convicted in April 2004 of soliciting an undercover FBI informant to murder U.S. District Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow of Chicago in retaliation for her ruling against him in a trademark dispute.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/06/2005 5:07:39 PM ||
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#1
Maximum f*ck-tard. Hope he meets some nice, big, very friendly, inmates.
In its second day of operations, the civilian volunteer Minuteman Project claimed to have aided the Border Patrol in the apprehension of 141 illegal aliens along the Arizona border and deterred many more from attempting to cross from Mexico.
With the project gaining favorable attention, a city official from New Mexico announced he would like to expand the project to his state.
"It has been successful," said Chris Simcox of Civil Homeland Defense, a group aiding the Minuteman Project. "No one has come across."
While President Bush and other officials have characterized the Minutemen as "vigilantes" and Mexico's President Vicente Fox has threatened them with prosecution, the group is getting more favorable attention from some media outlets and radio talk-show hosts impressed with their composure, discipline and orderliness.
Meanwhile, Albuquerque City Councilman David Pfeffer said he wants to bring the Minuteman Project to New Mexico. Pfeffer said he wants to be personally involved in the volunteer effort to patrol the border for illegal immigrants and smugglers.
"I would be willing to get involved with an effort along New Mexico's borders," Pfeffer said.
Pfeffer said he attended a gathering Friday of Minuteman volunteers in Tombstone and that the meeting helped persuade him to support the effort.
"What I understood from their message ... was that we have a serious problem at the border," Pfeffer said.
Pfeffer said he would "absolutely" be willing to get involved with a New Mexico citizen border-patrol project.
As for carrying a weapon, Pfeffer said he "wouldn't go out there unarmed."
"There is a Mexican drug cartel that has threatened peoples' lives because of this," Pfeffer said. "The smugglers that come across the borders will shoot at you. So no, I don't think it's unreasonable to think that some people have armed themselves."
Pfeffer said some residents of Santa Fe, New Mexico, were also present in Tombstone for the purpose of learning from the experience to expand the effort to their state.
Meanwhile, in Tombstone, Simcox said the effort has exceeded his expectations so far.
"I'm just ecstatic with how successful it's been," Simcox said.
Hundreds of the citizen volunteers, armed with binoculars and radios, are casting themselves as the eyes and ears of the Border Patrol, whose top officials have also denounced the action, though rank-and-file agents have been spotted thanking the Minutemen for their presence.
"We want to continue through the summer until the government caves," Simcox said. "Our president and Congress have continued to ignore this issue, the most serious threat to national security is this border."
The Minutemen, named after U.S. War of Independence militia group in New England, is made up of civilians from across the United States, many of them retired servicemen or law enforcement personnel.
The Minutemen are guarding a 23-mile stretch of the border where one out of every five of the 1.1 million illegal immigrants arrested last year crossed into the U.S., according to Border Patrol statistics.
The volunteers report illegal crossers to the Border Patrol rather than confront or detain illegal aliens themselves.
"Our aim is to send a message to Mr. Bush and Congress that they have not listened to the demands of citizens," said Simcox. "We are modeling what homeland security should look like. There should be National Guardsmen every 2,000 yards from the Pacific to the Gulf of Mexico. You can't find a greater threat to the U.S. than right here."
So far, more than a thousand Americans have descended on a remote stretch of the U.S.-Mexican border to join the Minuteman Project.
The Minuteman Project is having an impact. Smugglers have told the Mexican press that crossing in the area where the Minutemen are patrolling is now virtually impossible and they have to go elsewhere or wait 30 days until the Minutemen are gone.
But Simcox is hoping more volunteers will join the effort and sustain it through the summer.
About 66,000 illegal immigrants were caught last month in one area where the Minutemen are now patrolling. Border Patrol officials admit many more evade capture.
Besides deterring illegal immigration and helping capture some aliens, the Minutemen believe their action is raising awareness of the border problem and may force Congress and Bush to rethink the guest worker plan many of his core supporters oppose.
Rep. Tom Tancredo, leader of the House Immigration Reform Caucus, and a supporter of the Minuteman Project says the Department of Homeland Security's decision to send 500 more Porder Patrol agents to the troubled area last week is no coincidence.
But he points out those agents were transferred from other parts of the porous Mexican border.
"If we secure the Arizona border, then we will see a massive shift ... to New Mexico border," he says. "And then if we secure the New Mexico border, we'll see a massive shift to the Texas border. So it goes until you actually seal the border."
Tancredo says a security fence, like that built by the Israelis and many other countries, is a "perfectly acceptable, low-tech method of trying to stop people from coming into your country without your knowledge." Tancredo says even though Congress has passed legislation authorizing 2,000 more agents per year for the next five years, the Bush administration does not want to hire them.
#1
Tancredo says a security fence, like that built by the Israelis and many other countries, is a "perfectly acceptable, low-tech method of trying to stop people from coming into your country without your knowledge."
TWO fences, with the space between them populated with razor wire.
#2
Not too worried about the New Mexico section of the border. As soon as any illegals cross the border they head due west into Arizona or due east into El Paso, Tx. New Mexico terrain forces travel right up I25 with a sustained BP station astride it. The only other route runs you through the backcounty and does not get you to spots for quick transport elsewhere in the country. Any attempt to evade these routes puts you right in some of the most inhospitalable land in the country in a state with the unofficial motto of the Land of the Flea and Home of the Plague.
anti matter mines...moat with salt water crocs and sharks(water non-potable)...guard towers to pick off ACLU asshats.
Posted by: Zone Defence ||
04/06/2005 18:01 Comments ||
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#4
I suggest to replace sharks with gators. Sharks need a bit of headroom in water body, and they need salty environ as well. Gators are well adjusted to shallow pools.
#5
Gators are well adjusted to shallow pools
True but the water wings take the edge off their fierce quotient. Especially when mom arrives in the John Deere to pick them up.
Posted by: The English ||
04/06/2005 19:40 Comments ||
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#7
shoot, in Chula Vista sector, 141 wouldn't make a good hour's work. Obviously the fence and the desert work, especially with citizens and BP and the media paying attention
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/06/2005 20:04 Comments ||
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#8
The English, well then, how about them piranhas?
A UN envoy carried out a first inspection yesterday to verify Syria's pullout from Lebanon as US President George W. Bush threw his weight behind opposition calls for elections to go ahead on time. Terje Roed-Larsen visited a seafront apartment block in west Beirut occupied by the dreaded Syrian military intelligence until it was evacuated on March 16.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/06/2005 11:42:58 PM ||
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#1
he then appropriated it for UN use and hung a red lamp at the doorway
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/06/2005 0:00 Comments ||
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#2
FRANK! So CYNICAL! Are you SURE you're an engineer?
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/06/2005 0:26 Comments ||
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#3
Bobby---It's just Socialist Realism.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/06/2005 0:27 Comments ||
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#4
UN Dink-at-Large "Terje Roed-Larsen visited a seafront apartment block in west Beirut occupied by the dreaded Syrian military intelligence until it was evacuated on March 16."
Cuz the hookers and little boys are still there, waiting for the UN.
Al Qaida has employed Iraq as a safe haven for insurgency operations in Saudi Arabia. Islamic sources said Al Qaida has brought thousands of Saudi fighters to Iraq for training and eventual return in a military campaign against the kingdom. They said the operatives have been shuttling between Iraq and Saudi Arabia, bringing weapons, funding and orders for insurgency attacks in both countries. "The [Saudi] security forces have succeeded in making life difficult for them," Saudi opposition leader Saad Al Faqih said. "But this has been counterbalanced by the fact that Iraq is acting as an effective shelter for about 3,000 Saudis opposed to the government." Other analysts assert that as many as 2,500 Saudi nationals have entered Iraq since 2003 to fight the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq. More than 350 Saudis were said to have been killed in the fighting.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/06/2005 5:30:51 PM ||
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#2
If I was an Iraqi any Saudi I caught not carrying a diplomatic passport would be shot. There is really no reason for any Saudi to be in Iraq otherwise. Being a "merchant" isn't a good enough excuse.
AL-QAEDA'S wing in Iraq said today it was behind the kidnapping this week of an Iraqi army general, according to an internet posting.
The group, led by Jordanian-militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi posted pictures of an Interior Ministry badge bearing the name of Brigadier General Jalal Mohammed Saleh, who police said was taken from his car in western Baghdad.
Al-Qaeda Organisation for Holy War in Iraq said in a statement posted on an Islamist website that it also abducted two of Brig-Gen Saleh's companions.
It posted what appeared to be an identification card for one of them, Bashar Mohammed Daham.
The authenticity of the posting could not be verified.
"We tell the agent of the Jews and crusaders that they will not get away with their crimes and that the hands of the mujahideen (holy fighters) will reach them," the group said.
Brig-Gen Saleh was the commander of a special armoured division, one of the first armoured units in the re-formed Iraqi army.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/06/2005 5:18:45 PM ||
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#1
Don't Iraqi officers have a sidearm? If not, they should. And the 'companions' should be well trained in self-defence.
#2
Why show the card if you have the people you could show? I think the General and his companions are already dead, but the Mujahideen killed them before realizeing who they were. This is just an attempt to salvage propoganda.
Posted by: Charles ||
04/06/2005 17:45 Comments ||
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#3
Isn't Saleh the 'Brain' who headed up the hardened Fallujuah Brigade? Seeing as they nabbed him and his bodyguards, it's more like one big carpool really. Of course, if Charles is on to something, then it's a work accident.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
04/06/2005 18:23 Comments ||
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#4
I suspect he has. But more will be along to finish the job.
Posted by: Michael ||
04/06/2005 19:06 Comments ||
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India's prime minister pledged that the first trans-Kashmir bus service in almost 60 years would go ahead as planned despite a bloody attack by militants on a complex housing passengers. Two militants were killed and eight people -- seven civilians and a policeman -- were injured when the guerrillas attacked and torched the heavily guarded complex. Rest at link
Posted by: ed ||
04/06/2005 2:33:55 PM ||
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A 19-year-old Tibetan from Virginia has been killed in combat in Iraq, less than one month after deploying there. Cpl. Tenzin Choeku Dengkhim died as a result of "hostile action" April 2, the Pentagon said. He appears to be the first Tibetan-American killed in combat in Iraq. "He was a very good boy, deeply religious, and [he] talked of serving Tibet as a soldier after he completed his military career as U.S. Marine," his mother, Radio Free Asia (RFA) Tibetan service broadcaster Rinzin Choedon, said.
"He was very devoted to his grandmother, who lives in Dharamsala [northern India]. He made sure that his grandmother was present at his Marine graduation ceremony." "He was very fond of playing basketball every Sunday with other Tibetans," Choedon said. Dengkhim graduated from George Marshall High School in Fairfax, Virginia, after moving with his mother and brother from Utah, where the family first settled in the 1990s.
#4
Thanks. Immigrants live here and should pitch in too. Should bring their communities honor. Thanks and may God bless you, young Marine Tenzin Choeku Dengkhim.
#6
Salutes to a world where an American hero is a Marine killed in Iraq with the Tibetan named Denghkim. The world is a village, and America a bizzare baazar!
Posted by: Cyrus ||
04/06/2005 23:05 Comments ||
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Soldiers from the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team) killed a terrorist and injured a reporter today during an incident in northeastern Mosul, Iraq, military officials reported.
A news release from Multinational Force Iraq said soldiers from 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, killed a man waving an AK-47 rifle and inciting a crowd of civilians at the site of an earlier suicide bombing. "During the engagement an individual appearing to have a weapon was standing near the terrorist and was shot and injured. This individual turned out to be a reporter who was pointing a video camera," the news release reported.
The reporter was taken to a military hospital for treatment with minor wounds and is expected to recover, the news release said, calling the incident a "complex and volatile situation." The incident is under investigation.
#3
NEW YORK (Reuters) - An Iraqi freelance cameraman who works for CBS News was shot and wounded on Tuesday in northern Iraq by U.S. troops who mistook his camera for a weapon, the U.S. military and CBS News said. The cameraman and reporter suffered minor injuries when he was shot while covering a firefight for CBS in Mosul, CBS News said. It asked that the man's name not be reported for his protection.
A CBS reporter, so does that count as a enemy combatant?
Posted by: Steve ||
04/06/2005 11:23 Comments ||
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#4
Why do these guys keep pointing objects at our troops engaged in a firefight? Is this what Darwin was talking about?
Posted by: Matt ||
04/06/2005 11:26 Comments ||
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#5
Tne news last night said he was an Iraqi free-lancer working for CBS
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/06/2005 11:26 Comments ||
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#6
U.S. troops who mistook his camera for a weapon,
#8
We need the Sympathy Meter graphic for this post; mine's registering zero.
Or a Darwin graphic, as this seems to be natural selection at work: pointing anything even remotely resembling a weapon at soldiers during a firefight is pretty stupid.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
04/06/2005 11:49 Comments ||
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#9
A CBS reporter, so does that count as a enemy combatant?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
04/06/2005 12:39 Comments ||
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#11
#7 Why not paint the video gear DayGlo?
Because then they'd paint RPGs DayGlo to match making things more dangerous for our troops. Better to get tripods and tell them if they're gonna point the camera they better get away from it rather than keeping it on their shoulder pointed at the troops.
If I was a reporter I would get the hell out of dodge when the bullet start flying, the guy is more accurately described as a propagandist if he was a freelancer for Cee Bee S
#18
The cameraman and reporter suffered minor injuries when he was shot while covering a firefight for CBS in Mosul, CBS Newssaid. It asked that the man's name not be reported for his protection.
Two U.S. servicemembers were killed during military operations in Iraq, military officials in Baghdad reported today.
A soldier assigned to Task Force Baghdad was killed today when his patrol hit an improvised explosive device in southern Baghdad. Four other soldiers were wounded by the blast and were evacuated to a nearby coalition treatment facility.
Also, a Marine assigned to the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force was killed April 4 during combat operations in the Anbar province. No further details on the cause of the Marine's death were provided due to security reasons.
The names of both servicemembers are being withheld pending notification of next of kin. Military officials also reported that a detainee who was being treated for gunshot wounds at a military treatment facility died of injuries April 4. The detainee was wounded in an attack on coalition forces two weeks ago.
In other developments, Task Force Baghdad soldiers detained nine suspected terrorists during early-morning raids on several objectives south of Baghdad April 4.
The military said one detainee is a suspected leader of a terror cell. Another is believed to be an improvised explosive device engineer for another terror organization. Weapons and bomb-making materials, as well as materials used for recruiting and training terrorists were also confiscated during the raids, the military reported.
"Anti-Iraqi forces have taken a major hit here," Army Lt. Col. Clifford Kent, a Task Force Baghdad spokesperson, said in a statement. "Through continued cooperation from the public, Iraqi police and the Iraqi army, combined with Task Force Baghdad soldiers, we are stopping violence at the source, before it spills into the streets."
Elsewhere, coalition forces and Iraqi army soldiers met resistance from dozens of insurgent fighters during a search for weapons east of Baghdad in the lightly populated Diyala province April 4.
During an ensuing firefight, coalition forces, including Army and Air Force aviation assets, provided fire support to Iraqi soldiers. A quick response force from Task Force Liberty's 278th Regimental Combat Team supported the Iraqi army attack on the ground.
The military did not say whether injuries or deaths occurred during the attack.
Also today, the military reported that an uprising at a coalition internment facility at Camp Bucca April 1 ended with only minor injuries to four guards and 12 detainees. The Camp Bucca facility houses some 6,000 detainees.
Military officials said the disturbance began when detainees protested the transfer of unruly prisoners to another compound. The protesters began chanting, throwing rocks and setting several tents on fire, the military said.
April 6, 2005: Of the 1,100 American M-1 tanks to serve in Iraq, about seven percent have been badly damaged, at least enough to get shipped back to the factory for rebuilding. Only about 30 percent of the Iraqi based M-1s have not been in combat. As infantry have known since World War I, tanks draw fire. But they are well protected, and fewer than twenty of the 4,400 tank crewmen involved have been killed, two thirds of those while standing up in a turret hatch, with at least head and shoulders exposed.
The main cause of lost tanks is, as it has been since World War II, is mines and bombs. A few tanks have rolled over particularly large bombs, which in some cases flipped the tank. But other times, mines blow off one of the tracks, immobilizing the tank and making it the center of a fierce fight. But the terrorists and anti-government forces have come to avoid American tanks.
Yes, these 69 ton behemoths can be hurt, but only at great risk and cost to the attacker. In addition to the M-1s three machine-guns, the 120mm gun has special shells for urban warfare, shells that are particularly deadly against gunmen trying to hide in buildings.
"special shells for urban warfare", are they talking about a larger HE round than the normal anti-tank ammo?
Posted by: Steve ||
04/06/2005 9:07:22 AM ||
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I've read that they want to give the Hellfire missile a fuel-air explosive (FAE) warhead for urban targets as the building will contain the blast reducing damage to nearby buildings and personnel while the overpressure will kill the occupiers in nearby rooms. I imagine the 120mm is probably too small for such a device, but maybe a delayed-action warhead will be implemented to let the shell penetrate a wall or two before exploding?
Posted by: Dar ||
04/06/2005 9:36 Comments ||
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#2
"A moving foxhole attracts the eye" Willy or Joe, circa WWII
#3
Here it is: A new generation of tank gun ammunition is proving very useful in Iraq and Israel. The new shells are better at killing infantry, and destroying bunkers and buildings, rather than destroying tanks. In the 1990s, new shells were developed for this, but in the last few years, 19,000 M830A1 multipurpose 120mm tank gun rounds were modified (to become M908 shells), to make them more lethal against bunkers, buildings and unarmored vehicles. In addition, there is the M1028, which is a 120mm shotgun shell (containing 1100 10mm tungsten balls, that can kill or wound at up to 700 meters from the tank), that began production in 2002. This shell, and the M908, are what American M-1 tanks use nearly all the time in Iraq. Israel pioneered both types of tank ammunition, and has been using their versions heavily in Palestinian areas during the last four years. These two shells make tanks much more useful in urban fighting. Hostile gunmen often take cover in buildings, or trees and crops. The M908 can knock down buildings, and the M1028 can clear out anyone sniping at you from lighter structures or vegetation.
Picatinny Arsenal, N.J.: The Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center's 120mm M908 ammunition cartridge was recently deployed to the Middle East to support Operation Iraqi Freedom. The M908 is fired from the M1A1 and M1A2 Abrams tanks and is used to destroy concrete obstacles, permitting the rapid advance of infantry and armor.
The M908 was developed in response to an urgent requirement from Korea in 1996, when the M728 Combat Engineer Vehicle and its 165mm M123 demolition round was removed from the Army's inventory, an action that threatened to leave combat engineers without a means to destroy or "rubble" large obstacles that would otherwise impede friendly troops.
In late 1996, the center conducted tests using several 120mm ammunition items in inventory. The tests revealed that modifying the M830A1 high explosive, multi-purpose cartridge performed just as well, if not better, at reducing obstacles than the 35-pound M123 warhead. The modification also proved effective against bunkers, concrete walls and light armored vehicles.
As a result of successful testing, the M830A1 was modified to produce the M908. Specifically, the M830A1's proximity switch nose (used to defend against attacking helicopters) was replaced with a hard steel nose. The steel nose allows the projectile to "burrow" itself inside an obstacle before the warhead functions. This fractures the concrete block from the inside out and is more effective than detonating a large explosive on the block's surface. To date, Alliant Techsystems and General Dynamics-OTS have converted more than 19,000 M908s.
"The M908 met an urgent Army requirement for Korea, and now, with other contingencies, has become a highly desirable item in our Abrams inventory for bunker defeat and urban battle," said Bill Sanville, project manager, Maneuver Ammunition Systems.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/06/2005 10:13 Comments ||
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#4
120mm shotgun shell (containing 1100 10mm tungsten balls, that can kill or wound at up to 700 meters from the tank),
How deep can an M1 wade? A little Maryland autumn green and some moss and you've got yourself a mighty fine mobile duck blind. Game wardens would think twice too.
#5
I was infantry and only stood next to a M1 once, but the top of the tread came to just below my chin (about 5') and the top towered over my head and I stand at 6'2". So, at least 5' without a snorkle. (can a M1 use a snorkle?)
#6
Ha! No LeClerq has ever been damaged in battle.
Posted by: Jacques Chirac ||
04/06/2005 10:59 Comments ||
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#7
Certainly not in the forward profile.
Posted by: G. S. Patton ||
04/06/2005 11:07 Comments ||
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#8
It eese de uparmored butt protekshion dat makes all de differ-ance in our superior AFV's. When one must, let us say "fight", provi-sion must be made for the traditional French retreat and rout phase of tactical operations.
Posted by: Charles DeBile ||
04/06/2005 11:36 Comments ||
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#9
Ha! No LeClerq has ever been damaged in battle.
Posted by: Matt ||
04/06/2005 15:01 Comments ||
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#12
The Hellfire was tested out during a SINKEX a little while back. Interesting little beastie...
Posted by: Chap ||
04/06/2005 16:09 Comments ||
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#13
"I've read that they want to give the Hellfire missile a fuel-air explosive (FAE) warhead for urban targets as the building will contain the blast reducing damage to nearby buildings and personnel while the overpressure will kill the occupiers in nearby rooms. I imagine the 120mm is probably too small for such a device, but maybe a delayed-action warhead will be implemented to let the shell penetrate a wall or two before exploding?"
The thermobarid Hellfire has already been used. I believe that the Russians successfully used thermobaric artillery shells in Afghanistan. The muj called them "devil sticks" or something like that. I also believe that thermobaric payloads has been tried on small projectiles, 40mm grenades or something, so 120mm should be doable. If there is a need, I am not sure.
The Masked Marauders™ resort to violence against most things, don't they?
Militants opposed to a bus link joining parts of Kashmir controlled by rivals India and Pakistan set off bombs and fought gunbattles with troops yesterday, two days before the service was due to start. The bus service, due to be launched tomorrow, is the most visible sign of progress in a slow-moving peace process between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan, who have fought two wars over Kashmir in the last half a century. But militants fighting against Indian rule in the disputed territory have repeatedly threatened to sabotage the service and kill passengers, saying the transport link served India's aim to hold on to Kashmir.
Any sort of normal life seems to serve India's aim to hold onto Kashmir...
Nine militants and two Indian soldiers were killed separately across the region in the last 24 hours, security officials said, adding that they expected militants to mount more attacks to intimidate people and derail the service.
There's lots more cannon fodder to be burned. Nine's not much of a dent...
Separatist violence had dipped in Kashmir over the last year, coinciding with peace talks between India and Pakistan. But over the last 10 days at least 57 people - mostly guerrillas - have been killed and another 50 people wounded as violence has increased. Suspected militants set off a home-made bomb on the route of the cross-border bus service, wounding seven road workers digging by the highway near Pattan town. The bomb went off less than an hour after soldiers defused two powerful land mines a few miles away on the same mountain road, causing security forces to further intensify patrols even as militants issued a fresh threat. "A major tragedy was averted," Neeraj Sharma, a Border Security Force (BSF) spokesman, said referring to land mines defused by BSF soldiers.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/06/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
Militants opposed to a bus link joining parts of Kashmir controlled by rivals India and Pakistan set off bombs and fought gunbattles with troops yesterday, two days before the service was due to start.
"Onlee an eenfeedel would send thees bus along that route!!!"
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.
A message posted on a jihadist message board, al-Islah, a website for The 
Heavy fighting pitted army troops and counter-terrorism units against the rebels in the Al-Shafia and Wadi Nushur (Nushur Valley) areas of Saada province, the sources said. 
A three-day armed stand-off between Saudi security forces and armed militants ended yesterday after up to 18 militants were killed, Saudi officials were reported as saying. Commandos stormed a villa in which the fighters had barricaded themselves for two days following a firefight on Sunday at al-Ras, a town 355km northwest of the capital, Riyadh. The dead are said to include two leaders of an al-Qaeda cell whose names appear on the country's most-wanted list.
As many as 14 suspected terrorists, including most wanted Al-Qaeda leaders, have been killed and five others have been wounded in three days of fierce clashes, which ended here yesterday, the Interior Ministry said. Crown Prince Abdullah commended the bravery displayed by the security forces in their fight against terror. "Our security men will remain a thorn in the throat of every aggressor who tries to undermine the country's security and stability," he said in a message to Interior Minister Prince Naif. "Until the time of preparing this statement, 14 terrorists have been killed and five others have been wounded and arrested," a ministry official said, adding that one gunman had surrendered to police.
Russian security forces said on Wednesday they had arrested a suspect in the 1998 murder of three Britons and a New Zealander who were kidnapped and beheaded in the violent Chechnya region. The suspect, 
Spanish judge released nine suspects in the Madrid train bombing investigation from detention on Wednesday, ruling there was insufficient evidence to remand them, a court official said. The judge, however, said they were suspected of collaboration with an armed group and ordered them all to report to court weekly. The nine men were part of a group of 13 arrested on Friday on suspicion of ties to prime suspects in the March 11, 2004 attacks that killed 191 people and wounded 2,000. The other four have already been released from detention.
Avowed white supremacist 
A UN envoy carried out a first inspection yesterday to verify Syria's pullout from Lebanon as US President George W. Bush threw his weight behind opposition calls for elections to go ahead on time. 
Al Qaida has employed Iraq as a safe haven for insurgency operations in Saudi Arabia. Islamic sources said Al Qaida has brought thousands of Saudi fighters to Iraq for training and eventual return in a military campaign against the kingdom. They said the operatives have been shuttling between Iraq and Saudi Arabia, bringing weapons, funding and orders for insurgency attacks in both countries. "The [Saudi] security forces have succeeded in making life difficult for them," Saudi opposition leader Saad Al Faqih said. "But this has been counterbalanced by the fact that Iraq is acting as an effective shelter for about 3,000 Saudis opposed to the government." Other analysts assert that as many as 2,500 Saudi nationals have entered Iraq since 2003 to fight the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq. More than 350 Saudis were said to have been killed in the fighting.
A 19-year-old Tibetan from Virginia has been killed in combat in Iraq, less than one month after deploying there. Cpl. Tenzin Choeku Dengkhim died as a result of "hostile action" April 2, the Pentagon said. He appears to be the first Tibetan-American killed in combat in Iraq. "He was a very good boy, deeply religious, and [he] talked of serving Tibet as a soldier after he completed his military career as U.S. Marine," his mother, Radio Free Asia (RFA) Tibetan service broadcaster Rinzin Choedon, said.
Militants opposed to a bus link joining parts of Kashmir controlled by rivals India and Pakistan set off bombs and fought gunbattles with troops yesterday, two days before the service was due to start. The bus service, due to be launched tomorrow, is the most visible sign of progress in a slow-moving peace process between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan, who have fought two wars over Kashmir in the last half a century. But militants fighting against Indian rule in the disputed territory have repeatedly threatened to sabotage the service and kill passengers, saying the transport link served India's aim to hold on to Kashmir.
