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Egyptian envoy to Baghdad kidnapped
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 2: WoT Background
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Page 4: Opinion
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Afghan Blogger Gets Death Threats from BBC Hack
Afghan Lord blogs from Kabul. I know we normally don't post blog items, but this is newsworthy in and of itself.
Sunday, July 03, 2005
Receiving threat messages from B.B.C
-----------
Since a week ago i am receiving threat messages to my personal safety from B.B.C journalist in Kabul, I can not continue updating this page for a few days. I found his computer address (IP) I gave the IP to tracker machine (IP tracer) and found the result here:



I am in tension and in a very bad condition mood.

contacts: afghanlord@yahoo.com, kabuli_2005@yahoo.com
My Farsi blog: http://kabul2.blogsky.com "Shared Pains" (freedom of_expression prize winner in international comptetition blog awards among 7 others selected from 60 blogs in world read more in Reporters Without Borders)
I'm really not sure what to make of this. It's not too much of a stretch, though, given the agenda and some of the past antics of the Beeb.

inetnum: 132.185.0.0 - 132.185.255.255
netname: BBC
descr: British Broadcasting Corporation
descr: *******************************************************
descr: * This address space is used for BBC Staff members *
descr: * accessing the internet. In case of any problems *
descr: * with users of this address space (spam, attacks, *
descr: * illegal activity, etc) please email abuse@bbc.co.uk *
descr: *******************************************************

I think it'd be a great idea for all of us to forward this to abuse@bbc.co.uk.
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy || 07/04/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I'm sure the BBC management will do their utmost to ensure that their staff use anonymous email services when sending death threats in future.
Posted by: Strange Religion || 07/04/2005 1:08 Comments || Top||

#2  I'm sur Scotland Yard would interested in this,too.
Posted by: raptor || 07/04/2005 6:51 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
US and Iraqi Troops Celebrate the 4th: Arrest 100 Bandits
Posted by: RG || 07/04/2005 17:19 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Arabia
Detail on Hayeri's departure from the gene pool
The man alleged to be the leader of Al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia, Younus Mohamed Al-Hayari, was shot dead by security forces in Riyadh yesterday. Al-Hayari, a Moroccan, was No. 1 on the Interior Ministry’s recently issued list of 36 wanted terrorists. He was killed “during a gunbattle with security forces after they raided his hide-out in an eastern neighborhood of Riyadh,” an Interior Ministry official said. Six policemen were slightly wounded in the clash.

Security forces conducted two raids in the Al-Rawda district after learning that Al-Qaeda members were using houses there as hide-outs. During the first raid, two suspects were arrested without any struggle, the ministry said. “In the second raid, security forces were shot at and exchanged fire with the militants,” the statement said, adding that the militants threw a hand grenade at security forces following the gunbattle. Two suspects were killed in the gunbattle, the ministry said. Forensic reports later established the identity of one of them as Younus Mohamed Al-Hayari, believed to be the leader of the terror network in the Kingdom. A suspect arrested in the second raid sustained serious injuries and was taken to a local hospital, sources said. The ministry said it would not reveal the identity of the three arrested suspects until after interrogations have been completed. Police also seized a large cache of weapons, ammunition, communication devices, computers and documents, which they found in the neighborhood.

Interior Minister Prince Naif said the operation was the result of extensive surveillance by the security forces, and pledged to pursue other terrorists. “What happened today was the result of the effort of the previous period and, God willing, we will reach the rest using the same method,” he told reporters after visiting the wounded policemen in hospital.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 07/04/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  But realistically, what are the chances that he didn't dump in the gene pool at least 8 times before his departure?
Posted by: Strange Religion || 07/04/2005 0:58 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Help From France Key In Covert Operations
French intelligence has a looong working knowledge of the arab world, and has been working on sunni islamists since the 90's (not to mention the 1986 iranian-based bombings).
Paris's 'Alliance Base' Targets Terrorists
By Dana Priest
When Christian Ganczarski, a German convert to Islam, boarded an Air France flight from Riyadh on June 3, 2003, he knew only that the Saudi government had put him under house arrest for an expired pilgrim visa and had given his family one-way tickets back to Germany, with a change of planes in Paris. He had no idea that he was being secretly escorted by an undercover officer sitting behind him, or that a senior CIA officer was waiting at the end of the jetway as French authorities gently separated him from his family and swept Ganczarski into French custody, where he remains today on suspicion of associating with terrorists.

Ganczarski is among the most important European al Qaeda figures alive, according to U.S. and French law enforcement and intelligence officials. The operation that ensnared him was put together at a top secret center in Paris, code-named Alliance Base, that was set up by the CIA and French intelligence services in 2002, according to U.S. and European intelligence sources. Its existence has not been previously disclosed.
Why disclose it now, then?
Funded largely by the CIA's Counterterrorist Center, Alliance Base analyzes the transnational movement of terrorist suspects and develops operations to catch or spy on them. Alliance Base demonstrates how most counterterrorism operations actually take place: through secretive alliances between the CIA and other countries' intelligence services.
There are routine alliances between European and Anglosphere countries that don't involve the CIA, too...

Continued on Page 49
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 07/04/2005 07:15 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The CIA arranged for an asset to suggest that Mehdi stop in Paris on his way to Reunion to surveil targets.

Hmm, one of the few public pieces of evidence that the CIA has something useful to offer to the WoT.

A background concern for me is how much the French are learning about our operations that will be useful for their spy activities against the U.S.
Posted by: Carl in N.H. || 07/04/2005 10:01 Comments || Top||

#2  Carl in N.H. The CIA uses a technique that is universal to those a-holes, they pay them. That is one thing anyone can be turned with, money. Jihad is fine, but surely allah wouldn't begrudge a man from scoring a little scratch.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/04/2005 12:33 Comments || Top||

#3  Indeed I hold with make scratch for all, I will have my 25 percentum tho.

Peace Be Upon Me.


Posted by: Allah || 07/04/2005 15:00 Comments || Top||

#4  WaPo Francophile Alert
By Dana Priest
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday

"John E. McLaughlin, the former acting CIA director who retired recently after a 32-year career, described the relationship between the CIA and its French counterparts as "one of the best in the world. What they are willing to contribute is extraordinarily valuable."
The rarely discussed Langley-Paris connection also belies the public portrayal of acrimony between the two countries that erupted over the invasion of Iraq. Within the Bush administration, the discord was amplified by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who has claimed the lead role in the administration's "global war on terrorism" and has sought to give the military more of a part in it.

But even as Rumsfeld was criticizing France in early 2003 for not doing its share in fighting terrorism, his U.S. Special Operations Command was finalizing a secret arrangement to put 200 French special forces under U.S. command in Afghanistan. Beginning in July 2003, its commanders have worked side by side there with U.S. commanders and CIA and National Security Agency representatives."


Posted by: Red Dog || 07/04/2005 22:23 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
'Ex-Saddam guards' in Syria clash
A Syrian security officer has died in a shootout with an armed group that includes former bodyguards of Iraq's ex-leader Saddam Hussein, reports say. The clash erupted early in the morning on Mount Qassioun, which overlooks Damascus, the Sana news agency reports. Two members of the group are said to have been arrested in the fighting, in which four policemen were also hurt. According to the official Sana agency, two Syrian security personnel and a militant were killed in a gunfight along the Lebanese border on Sunday. Last month, Syria said it killed two militants and foiled a bombing plot after a raid on a house in Damascus. A Syrian security official has been quoted as saying that Monday's clash took place with a "group of people wanted for terrorist crimes... some of whom were former bodyguards of Saddam Hussein". It is not known if any of those arrested had served the former Iraqi leader.

A Syrian official quoted by Sana identified one captured militant as a Jordanian citizen, Ayed al-Semadi. Police also reportedly arrested his wife's brother, who is said to have been on the run. Security officials are continuing their operation against the militant group, the official said. He said the militants - who are also suspected of armed robbery - had been under surveillance for some time. Mount Qassioun offers scenic views over Damascus and is favoured as a picnic spot by city dwellers.
Posted by: Fred || 07/04/2005 12:22 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Baathists go home?
Posted by: Shipman || 07/04/2005 15:28 Comments || Top||

#2  Syrian government a little concerned?
You know when you allow the paramilitaries on your soil, not only can they plan to carry out attacks on your neighbor, they can also plan on who's going to be the next leader of the country they're in. Particularly when its becoming tougher to survive next door. There are easier and equally satisfying targets closer.
Posted by: Whomoting Shomp1655 || 07/04/2005 15:35 Comments || Top||

#3  latest check must not've cleared
Posted by: Frank G || 07/04/2005 15:58 Comments || Top||

#4  baathists vs baathists

I guess both got invites to the NCAA men's division one terrorism tournament
Posted by: mhw || 07/04/2005 16:43 Comments || Top||

#5  I don't buy this report. It appears contrived to throw off the pressure on Asshad and thugs.
Posted by: Captain America || 07/04/2005 16:46 Comments || Top||

#6  You might be right Capt. it does ring a little of that car bomb episode a few months back.
Posted by: Shipman || 07/04/2005 17:23 Comments || Top||


Al-Qaeda mentor freed
MUSLIM cleric who moulded the militant Islamic views of al-Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, sworn foe of US forces in Iraq, has been freed from prison in Jordan, Islamist and security sources said overnight.
Issam Barqawi, better known as Sheikh Abu Mohammad al-Maqdisi, 43, was released on June 28 after a six-month detention at intelligence headquarters following his acquittal at a trial of Jordanian and Saudi sympathisers of al-Qaeda.

Political sources were uncertain what prompted the release of Maqdisi, now under close surveillance by authorities at his house near Zarqa, east of the capital, where fellow Jordanian Zarqawi was born.

"Maqdisi now has an ability to move more freely and reach out to his followers. This could pose a security risk and galvanise fundamentalists especially since Zarqawi remains at large," said one official who requested anonymity.

Muslim scholars who follow Zarqawi's religious utterances on the internet say Maqdisi's teachings have had a profound influence on the militant's mindset ever since they shared a jail cell in Jordan from 1995 to 1999.

"Zarqawi was a student of Sheikh Maqdisi, who was a source of inspiration for him in jihad (holy war)," said Mohammad Najjar, an Islamist scholar familiar with Maqdisi's background.

Both men were freed in 1999 under a general amnesty issued by Jordan's King Abdullah. Maqdisi was later detained in another case, while Zarqawi left Jordan for Afghanistan.

Some activists suggested Maqdisi's release could play a moderating role on Zarqawi, whose Tawhid and Jihad group is seen by US commanders in Iraq as the deadliest threat they face following a string of bombings, kidnappings and beheadings.

The activists cited Maqdisi's letters to Zarqawi - published earlier this year on websites - that urged him "to avoid car bombings in public places and spare the blood of Muslim civilians as much as possible".

"The letter sought to tell Zarqawi he agreed with him in the general goal of jihad in Iraq but was against his tactics, especially car bombings," Najjar said.

Activists say the letter sought to advise Zarqawi to step up attacks on the US military but avoid bombings in populated areas that eroded popular support for the insurgency.

Maqdisi, whose 19-year-old son Omar died in Iraq fighting US forces, called on Zarqawi not to alienate Iraq's majority Shi'ite Muslims, only those collaborating with US troops.

The Sunni fundamentalist has long been accused by US military and Iraqi officials of seeking to provoke a sectarian civil war in Iraq.

"Maqdisi told Zarqawi he shouldn't widen the circle of enemies and that the battle was not with all Shi'ites but collaborators, whether Sunni or Shi'ite," Najjar added.

Zarqawi was said to have responded to Maqdisi's appeal by hinting that his advice was highly valued.

Postings on websites affiliated to Zarqawi's group publicise Maqdisi's teachings along with his picture as a hero among jailed militants.
Posted by: tipper || 07/04/2005 13:11 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Now lead us to your dog.
Posted by: Whomoting Shomp1655 || 07/04/2005 15:36 Comments || Top||

#2  al-Maqdisi is one of the spiritual leaders of the Salafist-Jihadist strem in Islam.
Clerics like him and Abu Qatada legitimise rebellion against the (Muslim) state, which is what seperates them from most other radical clerics.
Posted by: Paul Moloney || 07/04/2005 21:23 Comments || Top||


Syria Kills Militant, Arrests 34
Syrian forces yesterday killed a terrorist and arrested 34 others who were trying to illegally cross the border into neighboring Lebanon. According to the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), two Syrian security officers were also killed in the gunbattle. The agency did not reveal the identity or nationality of the slain terrorist nor did it say when the incident happened. “The Syrian security forces have killed a militant holding an Arab nationality as he tried to illegally cross the border into Lebanon. He was among other members of a radical group which he led,” the agency said, giving the initials of the killed militant as M. Z.

It said that M.Z. opened fire at the security patrol near the Syrian-Lebanese border and killed two of its members. “He was finally gunned down and his companions were arrested at the end of the armed clash,” SANA said. “Investigations have led to the arrest of 34 members of the radical group. Forged passports and other documents, including photos, personal belongings and other items were seized in a house used by the same militants,” the agency reported.
Posted by: Fred || 07/04/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Rats:Ship
Posted by: mojo || 07/04/2005 11:36 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
Book claims Pakistan hid Osama in ‘98
Pakistan hid Osama Bin Laden from the United States in one of its military camps in 1998 after a US missile strike failed to kill the militant leader, according to a new book. The cruise missile barrage hit Bin Laden’s mountainous camp just hours after he had left.

In days after the strike, it was unclear whether Bin Laden had survived. During that time, Pakistan spirited him across the rugged border to one of its military camps, Kathy Gannon writes in “I Is for Infidel,” due out next month.
Posted by: john || 07/04/2005 15:40 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If true -- a big if -- it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest.
Posted by: Jonathan || 07/04/2005 17:40 Comments || Top||

#2  No big revelation. Paki was hiding OBL in late 2001. The Pakis' continued to hide him in 2002, 2003, 2004, and continue to hide him even as I type this. Oh, and by the way, they did it knowingly.
Posted by: Mark Z. || 07/04/2005 20:39 Comments || Top||


Iraq-Jordan
US delight as Iraqi rebels turn their guns on al-Qa'eda
Posted by: tipper || 07/04/2005 14:05 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  WHY THE HELL ISNT THIS ARTICLE ON THE FRONT PAGE OF YAHOO NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IF IT WAS REMOTELY NEGATIVE I BET YOU IT WOULD BE.
Posted by: bgrebel9 || 07/04/2005 14:20 Comments || Top||

#2  Ouch.
Posted by: .com || 07/04/2005 14:25 Comments || Top||

#3  Because it was filed April 7th?
Posted by: Bobby || 07/04/2005 14:33 Comments || Top||

#4  Bobby, "04/07/2005" is UK convention for "4 July 2005".
Posted by: GK || 07/04/2005 14:40 Comments || Top||

#5  I imagine there's a fair bit of Iraqi delight as well.
Posted by: Mike || 07/04/2005 14:50 Comments || Top||

#6  I'm embarrased, GK. I used to know that. I was confused by the deja vu phenomena - and is was a few weeks ago - June 21st , to be exact. See http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.asp?HC=&D=6/21/2005&ID=122181
Posted by: Bobby || 07/04/2005 14:52 Comments || Top||

#7  Man than dejua view is bad shit, shit

Peace be upon me
Posted by: Allah || 07/04/2005 15:03 Comments || Top||

#8  I have complained about 3 or 4 times to Yahoo about the slanted nature of their "headlines". I have never received anything but a canned electronic response. Twits.
Posted by: Remoteman || 07/04/2005 15:20 Comments || Top||

#9  well Yahoo had the 100 bandits captured in Iraq headline up for a bit today
Posted by: mhw || 07/04/2005 20:41 Comments || Top||


Red on Red Continues
EFL Hat tip Michelle Malkin
American troops on the Syrian border are enjoying a battle they have long waited to see - a clash between foreign al-Qa'eda fighters and Iraqi insurgents. Tribal leaders in Husaybah are attacking followers of Abu Musab Zarqawi, the Jordanian-born terrorist who established the town as an entry point for al-Qa'eda jihadists being smuggled into the country.

The reason, the US military believes, is frustration at the heavy-handed approach of the foreigners, who have kidnapped and assassinated local leaders and imposed a strict Islamic code. Fighting, which could be clearly heard at night over the weekend, first broke out in May when as many as 50 mortar rounds were fired across the city. But, to the surprise of the American garrison, this time it was not the target. If a shell landed near the US base, "they'd adjust their fire and not shoot at us", Lt Col Tim Mundy said. "They shot at each other."

Following al-Qa'eda's seizure of the main buildings a number of residents fled. Arkan Salim, 56, who left with his wife and four children, said: "We thought they were patriotic. Now we discovered that they are sick and crazy. "They interfered in everything, even how we raise our children. They turned the city into hell, and we cannot live in it anymore."
Posted by: Matt || 07/04/2005 12:22 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I'm sure I saw this article before about a week or two ago.
Posted by: mhw || 07/04/2005 13:51 Comments || Top||

#2  "They interfered in everything, even how we raise our children. They turned the city into hell, and we cannot live in it anymore."


That alone is good enouhg reason to kill the useless pig feces. Happy Independence Day.
Posted by: Sock Puppet 0’ Doom || 07/04/2005 14:34 Comments || Top||

#3  Go Tigers! (See Comment #13 here.)
Posted by: Mike || 07/04/2005 15:05 Comments || Top||

#4  Now,why oh why does this gladden my black little heart?(LOL)
Posted by: raptor || 07/04/2005 18:39 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
Second Team Member Found - Alive!
Fox News just reported this - no details as yet. Plz help follow up with links when available.

W00t!

From Rooters...
A second American soldier missing in Afghanistan for the past week has been located, a provincial governor said on Monday, adding that 17 civilians died in a U.S. air raid last week during a search for the missing troops.
Toldja it was from Rooters...
After declining to comment over the weekend about reports of civilian deaths in Friday's air strike in Kunar province, the U.S. military said on Monday it had killed an "unknown" number of militants and civilians and regretted the loss of innocent life. Kunar Governor Assadullah Wafa told Reuters earlier an investigation by Afghan security forces showed 17 civilians had been killed in the air raid on a village during a search for a small group of U.S. soldiers missing since last Tuesday. He also said Afghan forces received information on Sunday night that a wounded American was being treated by villagers in a remote mountainous part of the province.
So they're not that cheesed...
"Our troops are trying to reach the place," he said. "Villagers have him and are treating him for wounds. But the soldier has not been handed over as yet. He is safe and there is no danger to his life. This is a very difficult terrain -- big trees and mountains."

Wafa said the soldier was in the same area where a U.S. helicopter sent to rescue the troops was shot down by militants last Tuesday, killing all 16 U.S. Special Forces soldiers aboard. U.S. military spokesmen in Kabul have declined to confirm reports quoting unidentified Pentagon officials as saying one missing Special Forces soldier was rescued on Saturday after evading militants for five days. Wafa said he had no information about two other Special Forces soldiers believed to be missing.
Posted by: .com || 07/04/2005 11:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  amen! Link
Posted by: Frank G || 07/04/2005 11:03 Comments || Top||

#2  Thx, FranG.

And, BTW, Kunar "Gov" Asadullah Wafa can shine my knob, the fucking wanker TaliSymp asstard. Should've bombed his ass, too.
Posted by: .com || 07/04/2005 11:08 Comments || Top||

#3  Duh, FrankG - sorry!
Posted by: .com || 07/04/2005 11:08 Comments || Top||

#4  Excellent
Posted by: mmurray821 || 07/04/2005 11:12 Comments || Top||

#5  The killing comes after an unprecedented spate of rebel attacks across Afghanistan that have left about 700 people dead and threatened three years of progress toward peace since the ouster of the Taliban.

Progress? Towards peace? For three years? Why is this the first I've heard of it? Oh, yeah, because it's now slipping away from us, that's why.
Posted by: Bobby || 07/04/2005 11:14 Comments || Top||

#6  Ima gonna keep drinking and doing fireworks, seems to be working.
Posted by: Shipman || 07/04/2005 11:23 Comments || Top||

#7  The statement added that U.S. forces "regret the loss of innocent lives and follow stringent rules of engagement specifically to ensure that noncombatants are safeguarded. However, when enemy forces move their families into the locations where they conduct terrorist operations, they put these innocent civilians at risk."

When the families of the enemy willingly allow themselves to be put into harm's way like that, "innocent" and "noncombatant" are terms I'd be using very sparingly.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 07/04/2005 11:25 Comments || Top||

#8  "innocent" is a phrase used too freely. Michael Jackson was "not guilty" according to a jury, not "innocent". These deaders are "not guilty" of carrying an AK47 (allegedly), but are likely not "innocent" :-)
Posted by: Frank G || 07/04/2005 12:02 Comments || Top||

#9  Frank the BBC is reporting that two of the missing Seals have been found dead. I just saw the report posted over on another site.
Posted by: Grins Sluper5274 || 07/04/2005 13:59 Comments || Top||

#10  Beeb article.
Posted by: .com || 07/04/2005 14:22 Comments || Top||

#11  2 dead is bad, but about half what I expected.
Posted by: Shipman || 07/04/2005 14:57 Comments || Top||

#12  well, they "are dead" in Beeb language is like "militants". so maybe they're fine....doubt it tho'. True warriors and Americans, my prayers go out to their families
Posted by: Frank G || 07/04/2005 15:08 Comments || Top||

#13  Why would US mil sources break the news to the Beeeb, anyway? Why not Al-Jizz? Ima thinkr I'll wait on this report. Does this make sense?:

Two of the three US special forces soldiers missing in eastern Afghanistan for almost a week have been found dead, US government sources tell the BBC.
The whereabouts of the other team member remains unclear, while a fourth soldier was found alive on Saturday.



New math?
Posted by: Frank G || 07/04/2005 15:13 Comments || Top||

#14  math OK - my bad, but I can't believe the news breaks with the Beeb
Posted by: Frank G || 07/04/2005 15:14 Comments || Top||

#15  In a footrace yesterday,
Chairman Gorbechov finished 2nd,
"President" Reagan finished next to last.




















Posted by: Shipman || 07/04/2005 15:24 Comments || Top||

#16  Damn, Sorry! automatic line feed?
Posted by: Shipman || 07/04/2005 15:25 Comments || Top||

#17  DEBKA reports the bodies of two of the missing SEALS have been recovered. Sad end, but better than being dragged through the streets or hanged from a bridge.
Posted by: Glenmore || 07/04/2005 17:51 Comments || Top||

#18  true
Posted by: Frank G || 07/04/2005 19:56 Comments || Top||

#19  Very bad news, guys. The BBC is now reporting the fourth and final member of the missing team has also been found dead, in addition to the two announced earlier today.
Apparently Governor Loose-lips had confused an earlier report about the SEAL who was rescued with one who had not yet been found.

Honor their sacrifice, and let it not be in vain.

The fight goes on. I believe now that Continental Europe and probably Canada will be lost to Islamic infiltration and fifth column treachery, with the horrors of shariah law to follow.

Many will never surrender, however, and we will stand with them until victory is achieved and the hellish alliance of medieval barbarism and elitist treason is utterly destroyed.

Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy || 07/04/2005 23:15 Comments || Top||

#20  "the hellish alliance of medieval barbarism and elitist treason"

And there it is, in a nutshell - you nailed it, AC.
Posted by: .com || 07/04/2005 23:22 Comments || Top||

#21  How very tragic. I was so hopeful. My heart goes out to these families. And yes we do need to honor these brave men and hold strong.
Posted by: Jan || 07/04/2005 23:46 Comments || Top||

#22  I wish you were wrong AC, but I do agree with you that there is a definite influx of islamic influence in Europe. Scary to think that Canada too, being so close to us. Here I thought we needed to watch out for the southern border.
Posted by: Jan || 07/04/2005 23:57 Comments || Top||


Africa: North
Leader of Algerian Salafi Movement Urged Al Zarqawi to Kidnap French Citizens in Iraq
Chesnot and Malbrunot ("the pal of the arabs") : 6 millions dollars (alleged); Florence Aubenas : 15 millions dollars (alleged); the next one : ???
Note that the last permanent french journalist in Iraq (working for a communist paper) was expelled at the request of french authorities... that's a shame, she was safe, she "never left her hotel", as she acknowledged...


By Bu 'Allam Ghemrasah

Algeria, Asharq Al-Awsat- French diplomats living in Algeria asserted that the French government is concerned about a possible alliance between the Algerian fundamentalist organization, Salafist Group for Call and Combat and Al-Qaeda in Iraq led by Abu Musab Al Zarqawi. According to the sources, the alliance will target French citizens who live in Iraq and French interests in general all over the world. French diplomats expressed the concerns of their intelligence services to Asharq Al Awsat saying that the Algerian Salafist Group for Call and Combat wish to integrate with global Jihad.
I think Dan posted that about six months ago...
According to the French sources, intelligence reports say that there has been communication between the Algerian group, the most active now in Algeria, and Al-Zarqawi who was the leader of the Tawhid and Jihad group before he became committed to Bin Laden and became the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq.
Reading back over Rantburg the past few years, it's pretty obvious that Zarq was affiliated with AQ almost from the first. I think the name change was merely a matter of going public. I'll admit that things were simpler in those days, since anybody with "Tawhid" in their names who boomed stuff could be assumed to be him...
The French security agencies have information that communication between the two parties intensified since Abdel Malik Daroqedel (Abu Musab Abdel Wadoud) took over leadership of the Algerian Group in the autumn of 2004 succeeding Mustafa Abu Ibrahim (Nabeel Sahrawi) who was killed by the Algerian army in East Algeria. Confirming the ties between the two groups, French Security refers to a letter from Abu Musab of Algeria to Abu Musab of Iraq in which the former requests the latter to intimidate the French government by kidnapping a potentially large number of French hostages in Iraq.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 07/04/2005 07:09 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq-Jordan
Militants Groups in Iraq Name Spokesman
Two militant groups said Sunday they have named a new spokesman to silence those who claim to speak for the insurgency. In a joint statement posted on an Islamic Web site, the Islamic Army in Iraq and the Army of Mujahedeen said they had chosen Ibrahim Youssef al-Shammari as their spokesman. The little-known al-Shammari appeared on the Arab satellite channel Al-Jazeera on Sunday "to silence all those who talk in the name of the mujahedeen," the groups said in a statement posted on an Islamic Web site.

During an appearance on Al-Jazeera, al-Shammari said the resistance "has a realistic and truthful political project," adding that the groups were in talks with other armed factions to come up with a unified position. He did not elaborate. Al-Shammari argued that sectarian problems were created after the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq in order to prolong the presence of foreign troops. Last week, a Web statement issued in the name of The Islamic Army in Iraq, the Army of Mujahedeen and the Ansar al-Sunnah Army threatened the life of a Sunni Arab politician, Ayham al-Samarie, who announced the formation of a political group he claims represents the demands of an umbrella organization of insurgents. The three groups accused the dual U.S.-Iraqi national of spreading lies.
Posted by: Fred || 07/04/2005 00:13 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Everybody else took one giant step back...
Posted by: mojo || 07/04/2005 11:27 Comments || Top||

#2  LOL!
Posted by: Shipman || 07/04/2005 18:45 Comments || Top||


Jordan Upholds Convictions of 8 Militants
A military court on Sunday upheld the conviction of eight Jordanian militants for possessing explosives, and government officials said a man considered the spiritual mentor of terror mastermind Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi was freed earlier in the week.

The eight were among 11 militants charged with possessing explosives and conspiring to commit terrorist acts against the U.S. Embassy in Amman and Jordanian military bases near the eastern Iraqi border. The 11 men, including three Saudis tried in absentia, were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 7 1/2 to 15 years for possessing explosives in a trial that ended Dec. 27, 2004. They were acquitted of the conspiracy charge for lack of evidence. On Sunday, the military judges upheld the verdicts against the Jordanians. "This court insists on its previous ruling," said Col. Fawaz Buqour as the eight defendants shouted from the dock the Islamic battle cry of "Allahu fubar akbar," or Holy Shit God is great. Defense lawyer Hamad Emoush said he will appeal.

In a related development, a man considered the mentor of al-Zarqawi, the chief of al-Qaida in Iraq, was freed from jail on Tuesday, government officials said Sunday, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. Isam al-Barqawi had been acquitted by the same court that sentenced the 11 militants in December, but he remained in jail without explanation. The government officials who announced al-Barqawi's release declined to provide other details on the militant who shared al-Zarqawi's jail block for four years, between March 1995 and 1999. Both men were then freed under a general amnesty issued by Jordan's King Abdullah II.
That worked well, didn't it?
Al-Barqawi, also known as Abu-Mohammed al-Maqdisi, was later detained for another case, while al-Zarqawi left Jordan, the officials said. Al-Barqawi lead prayers and issued directives to al-Zarqawi when both were in jail, said ex-con Yousef al-Rababaa, who was imprisoned with both men for three years in a separate matter. From his cell in Jordan al-Barqawi wrote to al-Zarqawi last October asking al-Qaida's point man in Iraq to "spare the blood of fighters and Muslim money" until a more appropriate time to wage an all-out war. Al-Barqawi's message was posted on the Internet. Al-Rababaa and another prisoner familiar with al-Barqawi's writing style said the text could be attributed to him.
Posted by: Fred || 07/04/2005 00:06 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Egypt top envoy to Baghdad kidnapped
Egypt's top envoy to Iraq has been kidnapped in Baghdad just weeks after arriving in the country, Egyptian diplomats said Sunday. Two diplomats, speaking in Cairo and Baghdad to The AP, said Ihab al-Sherif was kidnapped late Saturday in the Iraqi capital.

Al-Sherif had arrived in Baghdad on June 1. In mid-June, the Egyptian government said it would upgrade ties with Iraq to full embassy status headed by an ambassador, but it was not immediately clear if al-Sherif currently held the title of ambassador. In a message relayed by a deputy, Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said al-Sherif was "Egypt's representative to the whole Iraqi people and that his legal status is the chief of the diplomatic mission and not ambassador."

Egyptian deputy foreign minister Hani Khallaf also said he hoped the kidnappers would appreciate that al-Sherif had gone "to serve the interests of the Iraqi people and we expect them to deal with him in a way compatible with his national, pan-Arab and humanitarian mission."
Oh well. He's dead.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/04/2005 00:15 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Welcome to the party, pal.
Posted by: John McClain || 07/04/2005 21:04 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
Tales from the Crossfire Gazette (holiday edition)
A listed criminal was killed in ‘crossfire’ between the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and his minions accomplices at Amin Bazar in Savar in the small hour of yesterday. The dead was identified as Nazrul Islam alias Bombay Nazrul alias 'Nazrul the Stiff' and a resident of Barodeshi village at Amin Bazar under Savar police station. He was an accused in six criminal cases including three murder cases.
Wonder if his mother still loved him.
She's dead. He killed her.
The RAB personnel also recovered an Arges hand grenade, a one-shutter gun, one pipe gun and six rounds of bullet from the spot.
They have brand names for hand grenades?
I think "Arges" is Bengali for "Acme."
Earlier a squad of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB-4) recovered an Arges grenade from Barodeshi village, Aminbazar at Savar and arrested Amzad Hossain alias Anju, an alleged sidekick of Nazrul Islam in this connection on June 16.
Pop the bad guy and the sidekick doesn't know what to do.
Earlier, on January 10 this year, the RAB-4 team raided the same village and recovered another (Arges) grenade and an ivory piece.
An ivory handled shutter gun?
The special presentation version, with the Koranic engraving...
A RAB official said, the recovered grenade is similar to those recovered from capital's Kuril area under Badda Thana in November 30 last year. According to intelligence sources, the grenades used in the attacks on the Awami League rally on August 21 and British envoy to Bangladesh Anwar Choudhury last year are very similar to the recovered grenade.
They say "Arges" on the spoon; that's how they know.
RAB sources said that Savar Thana police arrested Nazrul Islam from Barodeshi village at Amin Bazar in Savar on June 24.
"Nazrul! Long time no see! Start blabbing!"
The RAB personnel conducted a drive at Shalipur, Amin Bazar under Savar police station and recovered a grenade following "confessional statement" of Nazrul.
"I'll talk! I'll talk! Put that down!"
"Mahmoud, give him his testicle back!"
"Can I have my kneecap, too?"
"Don't push it, tough guy!"
According to RAB sources, A team of RAB-4 along with Nazrul started for Amin Bazar to recover more grenades and to nab the accomplices of the criminal.
And we all know what happens when the RAB takes a criminal on a field trip ...
As they reached the spot the criminals opened fire on them.
"Get your shutter guns ready, men!"
"The RAB's got Nazrul! Let's open indiscriminate, inaccurate fire!"
The RAB members returned fire. Nazrul was caught in a crossfire while trying to flee from the spot.
"Don't shoot, I'm on the spot!"
He died on the spot.
"Rosebud!"
That big red spot right there, in fact.
But the accomplices of Nazrul managed to flee from the scene.
"Hokay, we ran away! Who wants to be grand leader now?"
RAB sources said, the recovered hand grenade was made by Arges group in 2001 and Gren A Pers, 2001, was inscribed on it. The olive green grenade is capable of destroying targets within 15 to 20 metres.
Unless you've been trained to throw it by Hek or by a Pakistani, in which case, who the hell knows.
The grenade has 4,000 to 5,000 steel balls, which act as splinter after explosion. The grenade generally explodes within four or five seconds after its pin is pulled off.
Yes sir Senator, grenades'll do that, whether you want them to or not.
The country of its origin could not be known.
It's an Arges. Did they check the Targé?
Posted by: Steve White || 07/04/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  A special 4th of July version with hand grenades! WHOOT!
Posted by: Sock Puppet 0’ Doom || 07/04/2005 3:24 Comments || Top||

#2  Superior tag-team effort. Hollywood still needs good dialogue writers, not certain of the pay or if you get screen credit tho.
Posted by: Shipman || 07/04/2005 7:05 Comments || Top||

#3  These stories crack me up - keep 'em coming!

Happy 4th to all you Americans out there, I'll be having a beer after work with a great American lass who works here - although she was horrified when she found out I was a Bush supporter! ;)

(Can't wait till she see's my eagle standard 'e pluribus unum' cufflinks - snigger...)
Posted by: Tony (UK) || 07/04/2005 9:37 Comments || Top||

#4  The grenade generally explodes within four or five seconds after its pin is pulled off.

Well, which is it, four or five? It does make something of a difference, y'know...
Posted by: mojo || 07/04/2005 11:33 Comments || Top||

#5  especially if you throw like a little girl. I should know
Posted by: Hek || 07/04/2005 11:40 Comments || Top||

#6  If you need to know, mojo, just consult the Book of Armaments.
Posted by: Jackal || 07/04/2005 14:39 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine
One Hizbullah terr, one Israeli soldier killed in border clash
One Israeli soldier was killed and four were wounded as Hizbullah terrorists fighters slammed mortar bombs into military outposts on the Israel-Lebanon border Wednesday afternoon. At least one Hizbullah terrorist fighter was killed in the clashes. Meanwhile, news agencies reported that Israeli aircraft hit Hizbullah sites.

According to Israel Radio, a cell of Hizbullah terrorists fighters infiltrated into Israeli territories under the cover of the mortar fire. One of its members was shot dead by Israeli troops. The report said that the goal of this cell was likely to capture an Israeli soldier. In 2000, the Lebanese resistance movement kidnapped three Israeli soldiers whose bodies were exchanged for Lebanese terrorists prisoners Israel has been holding.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/04/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq-Jordan
US attorney general makes surprise Iraq visit
BAGHDAD - US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales made a heavily guarded surprise visit to Iraq on Sunday, praising the government’s commitment to democracy in the face of sustained deadly attacks by insurgents.

Gonzales, on his first trip to Iraq, said he chose the weekend of the US Independence Day holiday to show support for US troops and Iraq’s nascent government. “We are doing a lot to promote democracy and the rule of law,” Gonzales said aboard an Air Force plane en route to the Middle East.

Gonzales was meeting with US soldiers, Justice Department officials working in Iraq and his counterparts in the Iraqi government. A handful of senior department officials accompanied Gonzales, including Max Wood, the US attorney in Macon, Georgia, who is beginning a posting as the senior US law-enforcement official in Iraq.

More than 400 Justice Department employees and contractors are working to train Iraqi judges, prosecutors, police and prison guards. A separate unit is working with the Iraqi tribunal preparing to try Saddam Hussein and other former Iraqi officials. Some five-dozen FBI agents and analysts are also on assignment in Iraq investigating roadside bombings and other attacks against US-led coalition forces.

Gonzales said the work sends a strong message that the United States is determined to find those responsible for the attacks, even in difficult conditions. “If that follow-up work is not done, you can’t promote the rule of law in that environment,” he said.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/04/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Troops, when it goes boom, say "Ariba Ariba Andale Andale" and run like mice!
Posted by: HumZ || 07/04/2005 4:47 Comments || Top||

#2  Feeling like a little racist twat this morning
Posted by: Shipman || 07/04/2005 7:08 Comments || Top||

#3  ? Hummm?
Posted by: Shipman || 07/04/2005 7:08 Comments || Top||

#4  Get your cartoon characters straight, loser. If we are Speedy, then your implication would be that we are being chased by Sylvester the "Greengo Poosygato," who is the main chaser of Speedy. The Greengo Poosygato spends his entire career trying various methods of mouse catching, but all would eventually fail.
Posted by: 2b || 07/04/2005 8:46 Comments || Top||

#5  Fear not Mr. Ship there are anti-HumZ helpers close by.

Posted by: Oso Negro || 07/04/2005 11:11 Comments || Top||

#6  HumZ is just hoping to paint Gonzales with the Vicente Fox racist brush. He obviously thinks he's a clever fuckwit... Nah, just a plain old run-of-the-mill boring fuckwit. Gonzales is doing his job - something fuckwits don't comprehend.
Posted by: .com || 07/04/2005 11:20 Comments || Top||

#7  Yeah, over-reaction, but the little fella tried to slip in under the troll-line yesterday too.

Hairless black bears? LOL! Been around couple undred years now, the Ocala NF is in...... FLorida! Yes, they're nudist bears.
Posted by: Shipman || 07/04/2005 11:28 Comments || Top||

#8  does a hairless black bear shave in the woods?
Posted by: Frank G || 07/04/2005 11:34 Comments || Top||

#9  and does his razor (cordless, of course, lol) make a buzzzzing sound?
Posted by: .com || 07/04/2005 12:23 Comments || Top||

#10  :)
Posted by: Spelet Chaiter4591 || 07/04/2005 22:31 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
Kashmir Korpse Kount
SRINAGAR, India - Two senior state ministers in Indian Kashmir narrowly escaped a landmine blast which injured six policemen while 11 people died in militant violence in the revolt-wracked state, police said on Sunday.

Rural development minister Peerzada Mohammed Sayeed and roads and buildings minister Ghulam Ahmed Mir missed the blast by seconds as their convoy passed a village near the northern town of Sopore, police said. Six policemen, including a senior officer, travelling in an escort vehicle behind the ministers’ cars were injured in the blast.

Sayeed is the head of India’s ruling Congress party in the state, and Mir is from the same party. Police said two more Congress legislators were travelling in the convoy.

Meanwhile seven terrorists militants were killed late Saturday and Sunday in three separate gunbattles in the southern districts of Anantnag and Pulwama and Baramulla in the north, a police spokesman said. “All the three clashes erupted when troops laid siege to terrorist militant hideouts on a tip-off from intelligence sources,” the spokesman said. The spokesman said large caches of arms and ammunition were recovered from the scene of the clashes.

In Baramulla a civilian died during an exchange of fire between terrorists militants and troops, while in the southern town of Tral a civilian was shot dead by suspected terrorists militants, police said.

A police officer from a bomb disposal squad was killed and another injured when they were trying to defuse a roadside bomb planted by terrorists militants in southern Udhampur district on Sunday, police said.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/04/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Suspected extremist slaughtered in Jhenidah
Jhenidah, July 3:–A suspected extremist was shot and slaughtered at Natkundu village in Sadar upazila on Saturday night, says UNB. Police said unidentified assailants picked up Sagor, 32, from his house and shot and slaughtered him on a nearby road. Sagor, accused in a number of cases, was a member of Biplobi Communist Party (ML), the sources said. Police recovered the body and sent to the Sadar Hospital morgue for autopsy. A case was filed.
"Here's another one, Dr. Quincy, but it shouldn't take too long, they did all the prep work in the field."
"Thanks Sam!"
Posted by: Steve White || 07/04/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Taleban Kill Pro-Govt Islamist in South
Taleban insurgents gunned down a pro-government Islamic scholar in Afghanistan's southern province of Kandahar yesterday in the second such attack in less than two months, officials said. Maulvi Mohammad Musbah — a leading member of the Kandahar Islamic Council, a pro-government Islamic party — was ambushed and shot outside the city, police chief Mohammed Ayoub Salangi told AFP. He later died in hospital at the US military base in Kandahar, Ahmed Wali Karzai, head of the Kandahar tribal council and President Hamid Karzai's brother told AFP. The attack comes a month after militants assassinated Maulvi Abdullah Fayyaz, the leader of the same council, for speaking out against Taleban fugitive leader Mulla Mohammad Omar.
Posted by: Fred || 07/04/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:



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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has dominated Mexico for six years.
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Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2005-07-04
  Egyptian envoy to Baghdad kidnapped
Sun 2005-07-03
  Al-Hayeri toes up
Sat 2005-07-02
  Hundreds of Afghan Troops Raid Taliban Hide-Out
Fri 2005-07-01
  16 U.S. Troops Killed in Afghan Crash
Thu 2005-06-30
  Ricin plot leader gets 10 years
Wed 2005-06-29
  The List: Saudi Arabia's 36 Most Wanted
Tue 2005-06-28
  New offensive in Anbar
Mon 2005-06-27
  'Head' of Ansar al-Sunna captured
Sun 2005-06-26
  76 more terrorists whacked in Afghanistan
Sat 2005-06-25
  Ahmadinejad wins Iran election
Fri 2005-06-24
  132 Talibs toes up in Zabul fighting
Thu 2005-06-23
  Saudi Terror Suspect Said Killed in Iraq
Wed 2005-06-22
  Qurei flees West Bank gunfire
Tue 2005-06-21
  Saudi 'cop killers' shot dead
Mon 2005-06-20
  Afghan Officials Stop Khalizad Assassination Plot


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