Yemen Foreign Minister Abu Baker Kurbi said Thursday that the U.S. authorities will release seven Yemenis from the Guantanamo Bay military prison. Kurbi was quoted by the weekly "September 26" as saying the government was informed of the imminent release by Washington a few days ago. "There is a special official committee in charge of following up the cases of Guantanamo prisoners and coordinating arrangements for the repatriation of the freed ones," Kurbi said. But U.S. lawyers defending the Yemeni prisoners in Guantanamo expressed fears that once freed, the prisoners might be re-arrested in their home countries.
OK, we'll keep them locked up then.
Quiz for the lawyers and their fellow traveller lefties: you've just been convicted of a serious crime. The judge offers you a choice of where you'll serve your sentence --
a) your state's maximum security prison
b) a Turkish prison
c) Gitmo
Choose.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/28/2005 09:16 ||
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#1
But U.S. lawyers defending the Yemeni prisoners in Guantanamo expressed fears that once freed, the prisoners might be re-arrested in their home countries.
My guess is they want their clients relocated to, say, Alexandria, and given jobs at the Pentagon. Just for safety reasons, y'know.
British authorities denied a U.S. request to apprehend a man believed to have ties to the July 7 London bombings weeks before the deadly attacks, sources familiar with the investigation said Thursday. Haroon Rashid Aswat, 30, a British-born citizen of Indian heritage, is in custody in Zambia, U.S. and Zambian officials told CNN.
U.S. authorities wanted to capture Aswat, who was then in South Africa, and question him about a 1999 plot to establish a "jihad training camp" in Bly, Oregon. According to the sources, U.S. officials had Aswat under surveillance in South Africa weeks before the July 7 attacks that killed 52 commuters and the four bombers. U.S. authorities had asked South Africa if they could take Aswat into custody. South Africa relayed the request to Britain, but authorities there refused because he was a British citizen, the sources said.
The British government has been seeking consular access to "a British national" in Zambia since Saturday, according to the British Foreign Office. FBI officials are in Zambia, and their access to Aswat through the Zambians "is being handled at the highest levels," sources told CNN.
According to U.S. officials, Aswat was an unindicted co-conspirator in the terrorist camp case, which resulted in a guilty plea in 2003 by the main defendant, James Ujaama, of Seattle, Washington. Ujaama struck a plea deal last year receiving a two-year sentence for agreeing to cooperate in terrorism probes.
Posted by: ed ||
07/28/2005 18:41 ||
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Netanyahu changed his plans on July 7, 2005 after receiving a warning before the bombings.
THE Irish Republican Army formally ended more than 30 years of armed struggle in Northern Ireland overnight, pledging to lay down its weapons and fight British rule through purely peaceful means.
The British, Irish and US governments welcomed the statement as "historic" provided the Roman Catholic paramilitary group matched its words with deeds, but the head of the province's main Protestant party was more sceptical.
The IRA's order to abandon their armed campaign to unite Northern Ireland, which is mostly Protestant, with the Irish Republic came into effect at 4pm local time (0100 AEST).
Supporters say the move, which comes against the backdrop of worldwide revulsion over terrorism, is designed to revive the 1998 Good Friday Peace Agreement and the power-sharing institutions that have been suspended.
"All IRA units have been ordered to dump arms," the group said, adding its militants "have been instructed to assist the development of purely political and democratic programs through exclusively peaceful means".
It said that militants "must not engage in any other activities whatsoever" and described the order as compulsory.
But the statement stopped short of disbanding the organisation, as demanded by leading Protestants, and it also omitted any apology for past bombings.
"Our decisions have been taken to advance our republican and democratic objectives, including our goal of a united Ireland," the group said.
"We believe there is now an alternative way to achieve this and to end British rule in our country."
Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Irish counterpart Bertie Ahern released separate and joint statements welcoming the breakthrough.
"If the IRA's words are borne out by actions, it will be a momentous and historic development," the two men said in a joint statement.
"This may be the day when finally after all the false dawns and dashed hopes, peace replaces war, politics replaces terror on the island of Ireland," added Blair in a separate comment. "This is a step of unparallelled magnitude in the recent history of Northern Ireland."
In Washington, US President George W Bush's chief spokesman Scott McClellan called the announcement "an important and potentially historic statement".
But Ian Paisley, the fiery leader of Northern Ireland's main Protestant party, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), was far more cautious, noting that the IRA statement lacked an explicit call to end criminal activity.
"They have failed to provide the level of transparency that will be necessary to truly build confidence that the guns have gone in their entirety," he said, insisting it would delay the whole process.
A comprehensive agreement to reinstate power-sharing between Protestants and Catholics stalled in December after the DUP demanded that disarmament of the paramilitary IRA be documented in photographs.
Today's announcement comes after the IRA suffered major blows to its credibility in recent months, over its alleged involvement in a massive bank heist in Belfast and the murder of an Irish Catholic man earlier this year.
In April, Gerry Adams, the leader of the political wing of the IRA, Sinn Fein, made a direct appeal to the paramilitary group to embrace purely political and democratic activity.
The IRA has held secret consultations with its membership over the future of the movement for months.
Calling the IRA decision "courageous", Adams said it "can help revive the peace process" and challenged the Protestant community to respond.
In an immediate response to the statement, the international commission charged with monitoring disarmament said it had resumed contact with the IRA after having suspended contacts over the bank heist.
Martin McGuinness, the chief negotiator for Sinn Fein, is in Washington to brief those concerned in the US Congress and in New York about developments.
On Tuesday Irish Justice Minister Michael McDowell said Adams, McGuinness and convicted gun runner Martin Ferris - now a member of the Irish parliament - had left the ruling "military council" of the IRA.
The Sinn Fein trio have previously denied that they were on the ruling body of the underground military organisation, which is responsible for dozens of bombings around Britain over the decades.
The IRA declared a ceasefire before the 1998 Good Friday peace deal that largely ended the violence and paved the way for a Protestant-Catholic power-sharing assembly in Belfast.
But that deal was suspended almost three years ago amid allegations of IRA espionage.
Even if the IRA lays downs its arms for good, Northern Ireland could still be bogged down by bickering between Catholic and Protestant parties.
#1
thank God, im very glad that this violence has stopped, The Irish and the English(northern ireish and the rest of europe)should be brothers, and the catholics and the protestants should put their swords aside and see how ridiculus their fight is, we share the same values and we are the same people , we are all christians and should not waste our energy fighting each other.
#2
Supporters say the move, which comes against the backdrop of worldwide revulsion over terrorism, is designed to revive the 1998 Good Friday Peace Agreement and the power-sharing institutions that have been suspended.
So it's not that they regret being terrorist a$$holes, they just don't want the negative PR. How do you say "hudna" in Gaelic?
#4
Is this a realization that, in spite of the fact the two factions have great differences, differences with the folks from the outside, ie Islamoterrorists makes their differences look miniscule?
#8
IRA members have trained Columbia's FARC in advanced bombing and sabotage and are reported to have trained some Palestinians and other Islamacists, as well as running drugs and guns.
I think somebody in the IRA hierarchy realized they were on the verge of suicide by Merkins, if not by Brits, because all it would take would be 1 documented instance and public opinion would support serious and sustained eradication of them.
London's police chief warned Britons on Thursday that more cells of would-be bombers could strike as police made nine arrests in their hunt for the men behind failed attacks on the capital's transport system last week.
Commissioner Ian Blair said the capital had been lucky that bombs on three underground trains and a bus had not exploded fully on July 21. Three men still wanted for the attacks remained a danger and might not be the only threat, he said.
"It does remain possible that those at large will strike again. It does also remain possible that there are other cells that are capable and intent on striking again," he told a police authority meeting.
The failed attacks came exactly two weeks after another team of suicide bombers killed 52 people in the capital. Police say four British Muslims carried out those bombings, which they have linked to al Qaeda.
The two waves of attacks have put London on high alert, with police maintaining a high profile around the city.
"This is not the B-team, these weren't the amateurs," Blair said of the second group of attackers. "They made a mistake -- they only made one mistake and we're very very lucky."
Police arrested nine men in Tooting on Thursday morning, bringing to 20 the number of people being held in connection with the failed July 21 attacks.
Police said the nine did not include the three suspected bombers they are still hunting. They arrested one of the four prime suspects in a dramatic dawn raid on Wednesday.
They hope the arrest of Yasin Hassan Omar, 24, will provide a breakthrough in the search for the three other suspects.
Blair said his force was reviewing 15,000 closed circuit television tapes, had taken 1,800 witness statements and received 5,000 calls to its anti-terrorism hotline.
Police swarmed across the city where residents have become used to the wail of sirens in recent weeks as members of the public report abandoned packages or people acting suspiciously.
Officers, some brought in from outside London, patrolled the streets outside stations, an unusual sight for commuters.
British Transport Police said some leave had been cancelled as the force stepped up its high-profile campaign.
"We are on very high alert. It's part of a continuing effort to have high-visibility policing on stations," a spokesman said.
Opinion polls show a majority of Britons fear Islamist militants could wage a sustained campaign against their country.
Newspapers published front-page pictures of a ready-made nail bomb found in the boot of a car that had been rented by one of the July 7 attackers. They showed a bottle studded with nails to act as shrapnel.
But a police spokeswoman denied a report there were 16 ready-made bombs in the car. Apart from the nail bomb, investigators found bits of explosives and other components.
Omar, who came to Britain from Somalia as a child refugee, was wanted in connection with an attempted attack at the Warren Street underground station on July 21.
Armed police used a stun gun when they arrested him in a raid on a house in the central English city of Birmingham.
Police were under pressure to exercise caution after they shot dead Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes in London on Friday because they mistook him for a suicide bomber.
Newspapers quoted unidentified security sources as saying police thought Omar might have had a bomb in a rucksack in the house but were under orders to capture him alive.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/28/2005 10:10 ||
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#1
Don't worry lads, we'll sic the big wings on 'em.
#3
JFM: That would just Rile up those who are on the edge bewteen terrorism and jew-hating. Better too say that the target is the Saudi Palaces, that would have more of an effect I think.
Posted by: Charles ||
07/28/2005 19:39 Comments ||
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Police arrested nine men in last week's attempted bombings in the British capital in two south London raids Thursday. The men were seized at two addresses in Tooting: six at one location and three at a second. None of those arrested is believed one of the suspected bombers and no explosives were found. Three women were arrested Wednesday night following a raid at an apartment near Stockwell station.
The first of the suspected July 21 bombers, Yassin Hassan Omar, 24, was seized during a raid in the Small Heath area of Birmingham at around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday and taken to London's high security Paddington Green police station for questioning. The arrests came as British Transport Police went on high alert, undertaking what it called the rail system's "largest ever deployment of police." The alert was not in response to any specific information, they said. However, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair warned Thursday more attacks were possible either by the bombers who had not been caught or another cell.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/28/2005 09:18 ||
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Residents in Tooting said police had arrested three Turkish men who worked at and lived above a fast food restaurant selling halal burgers â made with meat slaughtered according to Islamic dietary laws.
Halal is meat from a herbivore slaughtered in a humane way, by cutting their throats while they are still alive. Guess you can't use a nail bomb on a cow.
The restaurant owner, who gave his name as Ali, declined to identify the men but said they were aged about 26, 30 and 40. The oldest man had worked for him for eight years, and the other two had started about two months ago, he said.
Six other men were arrested from a property in nearby Garratt Terrace, a street opposite the Tooting Broadway subway station.
"There were about a dozen armed police officers shouting `Come on out or we'll send the dogs in.' And then I saw one large, older-looking Asian man being led out. He was dressed in a white gown or robe," said local resident Ben Astbury, 25, who watched the raid from his house in Garratt Lane. "After that I saw about three other men but I couldn't see clearly what they looked like. My girlfriend then saw two more."
Posted by: Steve ||
07/28/2005 11:10 Comments ||
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#2
very hard to slaughter an animal thats already dead.
#4
It can't be more human if it's a cow, silly raptor! ;-) But it is more humane than the usual method of slaughter, which involves clubbing the critter just enough to stun it into standing still, then carving it up. That 22 thing isn't commonly used in slaughter houses, I believe. And while I don't know about halal, the rules for kosher slaughter require that the knife be so sharp that the animal can't feel it's throat being cut, and the cut must be deep enough that it bleeds out in moments. Right, Liberalhawk?
British police have arrested three women on suspicion of harbouring offenders in a raid linked to last week's failed attempt to bomb London's transport system. The women were held after an armed raid on a public housing estate in the Stockwell area of south London, close to the underground train station where a Brazilian man was mistakenly shot dead by police as a suspected suicide bomber last week. "The arrests are in connection with the ongoing investigation into the attacks on July 21," a London police spokeswoman said. She declined to give further details.
"I can say no more!"
Witnesses told Reuters police armed with automatic weapons and shotguns handcuffed the women before taking them away.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/28/2005 00:00 ||
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they're probably part of that "moderate muslim" faction -- the ones that don't actually blow themselves up.
At least four policemen died in clashes with gunmen across Russia's lawless Caucasus on Thursday, officials and local media said.
Police battled militants in Makhachkala, capital of the Dagestan region which borders rebel Chechnya, for several hours. They killed three rebels but lost one man, Russian Deputy Interior Minister Andrei Novikov told reporters.
He said the rebels belonged to a local Islamist group responsible for a string of attacks that have killed dozens of police and troops in the region.
Such attacks were once confined to Chechnya but have spread to infect other parts of Russia's volatile and mainly Muslim south. Many of them go unreported, and analysts say Russia loses men daily in Chechnya and neighbouring regions.
Interfax news agency reported two policeman died after their car came under fire in the town of Karachayevsk -- around 320 km (200 miles) east of the Chechen capital Grozny. The attackers stole the police weapons and fled, the agency reported.
The Chechen interior ministry said a policeman died after rebels attacked a police station in the village of Borozdinovskaya -- scene of an army raid two months ago during which 11 people went missing.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/28/2005 10:55 ||
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EXPLOSIVES experts are combing a major Brisbane oil refinery after a bomb threat today forced the evacuation of 700 employees from the plant.
The Port of Brisbane precinct came to a standstill after an emergency was declared, shutting down airspace above the refinery and blocking train lines and nearby roads.
Staff from the Lytton refinery and its adjacent terminal â including the Australian Lubricants Manufacturing Company facility â were evacuated at 10.30am, and sent home just before 1pm.
The bomb squad moved in and just after 1.30pm declared the most volatile areas of the refinery safe. Acting Inspector Duncan Campbell said the bomb squad was now focusing its efforts on the oil tankers and storage facilities.
Caltex Australia refining general manager Eion Turnbull said a few essential operators had been housed in a secure area on site to keep the facility operational. Two firefighting units, ambulance and police are on standby at the scene.
Police said an emergency situation had been declared at the refinery, including an exclusion zone encompassing the whole site, although residents living near the refinery had not been told to evacuate. A full air exclusion zone was put in place over the refinery, police spokeswoman Kim McCoomb said.She said police had "declared an emergency situation under the Public Safety Preservation Act which gives us the power to put in place exclusion zones which we have done.
"Part of the Brisbane river has been closed to water traffic. Part of the rail network has also been closed down and we have also asked for a full air exclusion zone over the refinery."
Mr Turnbull said operations at the refinery had not been affected, but truck access to the terminal had been suspended. He said the fuel supply was not at risk.
The Lytton refinery was commissioned in 1965 and with a crude oil throughput of 16.8 million litres per day is the largest petroleum fuels refinery in Queensland state and fifth-largest fuels refinery in Australia. On average, production at the Lytton refinery is comprised of 45 percent petrol, 35 percent diesel, 13 percent jet fuel, 2 percent fuel oil and 5 percent LPG and other gases.
Authorities in Germany Tuesday said they have deported a radical Islamic cleric to his native Egypt. The unidentified imam was placed aboard a plane to Cairo at Munich airport on Monday evening, said authorities in the southern state of Bavaria.
"You've got five minutes to get your turban and get out."
"But..."
"But nothing. Hans, fetch me my varmint gun."
"I'm going, I'm going."
The Egyptian cleric had been accused of preaching extremist viewpoints during Friday prayers at a mosque in Nuremberg. He became the 14th suspected Islamic radical to be deported from Bavaria since last November.
#1
Where is the wailing and caterwauling that this violates international law, is against the EU human rights charter, laws and treatys, etceteras to infinity. Oh I forgot it's not the UK or the US that has done it. On top of that it's the right thing.
#3
Well it's Bavaria's Interior Minister Beckstein who's doing the hard work. Things he wants to do:
1) Strict control of what's going on in the mosques and koran schools.
2) Deport any Muslim who is propagating things incompatible with the German Basic Law. For example putting the Sharia above the Basic Law, threatening people who want to leave Islam. Radical Islamists should lose obtained German citizenship much easier. (Note that there is no "German birth right", a fact which can be helpful in these cases).
3) Muslims entering Germany to be denied entry to Germany if they have been propagating things mentioned above, have demonstrated for the annihilation of Israel, America etc. Beckstein calls for an international database of islamists to be checked by border officials.
Note that Beckstein is set to become the next German Interior Minister although it's possible that if Stoiber joins the cabinet Beckstein would become Bavaria's Prime Minister.
As for the "guidance"... well... let's say "friendly advice" along with some good glasses of Franconian wine...
#8
Re TGA's comment #3, I can just imagine the shrieking and caterwauling if a U.S. Attorney General proposed those steps as U.S. policy-- the screams from the Donks would be deafening.
As much as we like to bitch and gripe about the Europeans, I think they're WAY out ahead of us on some things...
Posted by: Dave D. ||
07/28/2005 5:32 Comments ||
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#9
TGA
When you have finished with Beckstein send him to France. I have a job for him.
#10
As one of my D.I.'s would say"Beckstien has his sh#t together"!Is't Reisling one of the wines that the ancients use to water down and drink with breakfast?
#11
Dave D. I'd suggest modifying your statement to say that SOME Europeans are way out front. Note that this is the same Germany that won't deport that guy to Spain.
I think that Tom Tancredo would probably get along with Herr Beckstein just fine, don't you?
#12
Shrieking aside, Beckstein's position as laid out by TGA is remarkably straightforward. The essence of it appears to be, "Live by the rules we have chosen for ourselves or you won't be allowed to partake of this society".
#13
Ten years ago there was a French minister who dared to say the unthinkable: that immigrants had to adopt leave behind their fashions like genital mutilation, adopt French ones and integrate. And that those who didn't want integrate had to go out.
The funny thing is that the politically uncorrect minister was Black and born a Togolese.
#15
TGA, woould a Reisling go well with that awesome dish your wife made for the new Pope? Mmmmmmmm. I'm going to a German restuarant in San Francisco Saturday night and I can't wait!
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Yemeni sheikh arrested after an FBI sting operation in Germany in 2003 was sentenced to 75 years in prison Thursday for conspiring to support and fund al Qaeda and Hamas. Sheikh Mohammed Ali Hassan al-Moayad, 56, was sentenced to 75 years and fined $1.25 million in federal court in Brooklyn. For each of five counts, he received 15-year sentences, each to be served consecutively. Prosecutor Kelly Moore said during the trial that al-Moayad had ties to al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, and had bragged about having "taught him about Islamic law."
The sheikh was arrested in Germany in 2003 after telling a federal agent posing as an American businessman that he would help him funnel money to militants, prosecutors said. He was later extradited to the United States. On March 10, after a five-week trial, a federal jury found al-Moayad and his aide, Mohammed Mohsen Yahya Zayed, guilty of conspiring to provide material support and resources to al Qaeda between October 1999 and January 2003, and to Hamas between October 1997 and January 2003. Al-Moayad was acquitted on a separate count of actually providing such support to al Qaeda, but was found guilty of providing material support and resources to Hamas.
During sentencing, al-Moayad insisted, "I have not done anything against the American people and I have no intention of doing anything against the American people." "The American people are the flag of freedom," he said. "God, my witness, I did not support Hamas."
But Judge Sterling Johnson said videotaped evidence used to convict him was "chilling." "He did provide material support, money, weapons and recruits to Hamas and al Qaeda," the judge said. Sentencing of Zayed was delayed until September.
Four days of videotaped meetings between the defendants and FBI undercover agents in a Frankfurt hotel in January 2003 formed the crux of the government's case. In one meeting they were recorded promising more than $2 million to Hamas, the Palestinian militant group sworn to Israel's destruction. Prosecutors had argued the pair were involved in a long-running effort to funnel cash to the groups. Al-Moayad's lawyer, William Goodman, said that in Yemen it was not illegal to support Hamas.
"It's excessive, the arrests, the prosecution, the trial and the sentence all are replete with injustice," he told Reuters after the sentencing.
"Lies, all lies!"
A key informant in the case, Mohamed Alanssi, set himself on fire outside the White House in November in an apparent suicide bid after saying he was mistreated by the FBI. Lawyers for al-Moayad and Zayed, 31, had argued they were entrapped in an "unfair and coercive" situation manipulated by the U.S. government after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Goodman said during the trial that the operation and the case it spawned was like a bad television show. Goodman said his client only listened to the pitches from the undercover officers, who promised money for the sheikh's legitimate charities and for medical treatment for his severe diabetes if he supported Hamas and al Qaeda. The case was closely watched in Yemen, where both men belong to the Islamic opposition Islah party, whose members have denounced their arrests and said the pair had no connection to al Qaeda. Yemen, the ancestral home of bin Laden, has cooperated with the U.S. war on al Qaeda and is trying to rid itself of its image as a haven for Muslim militants.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/28/2005 14:40 ||
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#1
Be funny if it was a scam. Got a little too convincing.
#2
This is a relief after an Indonesian court handed out a two year sentence a few days ago. This is more like it. I still can't fathom why sentences would be anything other than consecutive.
Posted by: Neutron Tom ||
07/28/2005 15:19 Comments ||
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#3
Sad thing is that in the past, we could call on the general inmate population to "take care" of this guy, but not any more. With so many Islamo-fascist, anti-white racist imams running around in the Prislam programs, this guy's liable to be the toast of the town.
#4
So "money bags" gets 75 years. Meanwhile, the day before terrorist Ahmed Ressam with the means and intent to blow up LAX and hundreds of innocent holiday travelers gets only 22 years behind bars. Less time served and time off for good behavior of course.
#5
How many terrorists and terror attacks did Sheikh Moneybags support over the years? Ahmed Ressam only had bad intentions, the Sheikh financed results.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Iranian cadres are training Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon, a State Department official told Congress on Thursday.
Assistant Secretary of State David Welch told the House International Relations Committee the information was provided by "our own sources."
Welch also testified there was "a continuing covert Syrian presence there" despite the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon. And, Welch said, there are armed Palestinian groups in Lebanon, as well. He said the United States would have no contact with Lebanon's energy and water minister, Mohammed Fneish, who is a member of Hezbollah.
Welch reiterated the long-standing U.S. view that Hezbollah is a terrorist organization. The group is known to operate with weapons provided by Iran that are channeled to it through Syria, which borders Lebanon. Asked by Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., whether Iranian cadres were training Hezbollah in Lebanon, Welch replied, "Yes." Welch said the Lebanese army should extend its authority to southern Lebanon and the militia groups should be disarmed. But on Wednesday, the leader of Hezbollah said no one can uproot the Shiite Muslim group. "The resistance in Lebanon is not an armed gang that can be hit or eradicated," he told supporters in Beirut's southern suburbs.
Want to put money on that?
Meanwhile, Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora pledged to protect Hezbollah, saying the Lebanese government considers it "an honest and natural expression" of resistance to Israeli aggression and threats.
Rep. Tom Lantos, D-Calif., called the statement "profoundly disturbing." He said he was not aware of any Israeli threats to Lebanon. Welch agreed. Challenging Saniora, whose government has the Bush administration's support, Welch said, "There is no part of Lebanon occupied by Israel." "I don't know what they would be resisting," he said. "Hezbollah admits its material support for Palestinian terrorist operations, which undermines the Palestinian leadership's goal of stopping violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories," Welch said.
Still, Welch and James Kunder, an assistant administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, said the administration had asked Congress to approve $35 million in U.S. aid and $1.7 million in other support. He said plans would be made for an international donors conference in Beirut this fall.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/28/2005 16:47 ||
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#1
The MM are supporting Hezbollah and this is NEWS in 2005? Where the hell have these people been? Even the NYT reported this over 20 freakin' years ago!
Two Iranian border guards were killed and three wounded in a rocket-propelled grenade attack launched by alcohol bootleggers on the Iran-Iraq border, local media reported.
Do alk runners usually carry RPGs?
"Two soldiers were killed and three others wounded in a rocket-propelled grenade attack at the border post of Chaku," on the border with Iraqi Kurdistan in the west of the country, the conservative Kayhan daily reported. According to Kayhan, the attack followed a tightening of security at the border aimed at thwarting bootleggers coming from Iraq. The paper said that more than 1.15 mln bottles of liquor had been seized in West Azerbaijan province, which abuts both Iraq and Turkey, in the four months from March, more than in all of last year. The manufacture and consumption of alcohol has been prohibited in Iran since the Islamic revolution of 1979 and remains punishable by fines and lashes.On July 5, Iran's conservative-controlled parliament adopted a bill doubling sentences for alcohol manufacturers and smugglers. According to the bill, alcohol manufacturers or sellers are subject to between three and 12 months in prison along with 74 lashes and a fine equivalent to twice the value of the alcohol seized. The law remains unchanged for consumers: two to six months in prison plus lashes.
Update: Alk runners don't carry RPGs, but PKK usually do:
Three Iranian soldiers were killed in an ambush near the Turkish border that the Interior Ministry blamed on Turkish Kurdish rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). "Three soldiers were martyred," Ministry spokesman Jahanbakhsh Khanjani said of Tuesday evening's ambush near the northwestern town of Oshnoviyeh, according to AFP. "It was terrorists from the PKK who carried out the ambush." The spokesman gave no further details of the attack and did not elaborate on why the PKK was held responsible rather than the Iran-oriented Kurdish rebel groups, the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran and Komaleh.
Well, I imagine a lot of the RPG's winding up in Iraq are being donated or sold at well below international market prices, to the point that even the lowly Alk runners can buy them.
OTOH, I've heard that with the standard models of RPG's on the market in Iraq it's rather difficult to hit stuff without a lot of practice. If they're actually hitting stuff, they're practicing. And have space to practice somewhere how to hit stuff with the things, and money to spend on rounds expended practicing.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
07/28/2005 2:23 Comments ||
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#2
Afghanistan had a rep as an arms market as well. If they can smuggle booze in from Iraq, RPGs from the other direction wouldn't be a problem.
#3
From what I recall the tech of producing an RPG round is pretty elementary. Our troops in Iraq are coming up against some indigenous as well as modified RPG rounds. I am no fan of PKK scum but a dead Irainan armed forces member is one less to deal with later. Hope they kill the heck out of each other. If it was booleggers good on them. Any pay back for the MMs support of world wide terror no matter how small is welcome.
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/28/2005 5:29 Comments ||
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#5
From what I read over at"regimechangeiran"things are getting pretty nasty up North.
>http://www.regimechangeiran.com/
I don't know if I embedded the link right,don't wanteat-up Fred's b-widthy posting articles.
#13
Geez... Just do what the bootlegger in Lithuania did to avoid the new EU booze tax. Have a still in Belarus, and run a 2 mile pipe under the border between two sheds... {Snicker} A lot less noisy
#17
On any flight out of The Magic Kingdom, the Stewardess call lights are almost ALL lit up the instant the Pilot announces we are out of Saudi airspace. Now think about that. How many flights have you been on where it would even occur to anyone on the flight that being out of some country's airspace would be worthy of an announcement? Perhaps the old Soviet days were the closest thing.
They begin serving alcohol that instant on outbound flights from TMK. Who's ordering and clamoring for instant service - mainly the Saudis. The expats know to wait and let the stupidity and hollering die down, first, so they're not lumped into the moron group by the stews. Within an hour, the Saudis are the drunkest, loudest, most obnoxious motherfuckers you will ever encounter on a commercial flight. On long night flights you can kiss the notion of getting a little sleep goodbye.
Oh, and immediately after liftoff, all the wymyn head for the john to change into Western clothes - even if the flight is to UAE or Qatar.
Islam. The Religion of Hyposcrisy, in addition to all of their other endearing qualities.
Body Of Another Victim Of Police Torture, Murder Found
The RAB-Iraqi division âpolice shock forcesâ raided the home of Sayf Sulayman ad-Dulaymi near the al-âAsharah al-Mubashsharin Mosque in Baghdadâs al-âAmil neighborhood and arrested him after a fight broke out between he and one of the officers in the puppet police detail on Thursday, 21 July 2005. Two days later, on Saturday, 23 July, his body, with clear signs of torture, was found tossed in a garbage dump.
Ah, it's just like old times
Relatives of the victim confirmed that the so-called police who stormed his home were in fact looking for ad-Dulaymiâs brother.
"Police, Search warrent! Ok, Sayf, where's yur brudder?"
"He ain't here you dirty infidel puppet....say, is that a 9mm?"
When one of the officers tried to barge shamelessly into a bedroom in the house without asking permission, the victim blocked his way, saying that there were women in the room.
"Keep yur grubby hands off our wimmin folk!"
A fight broke out between them and the puppet police threatened that they would kill the man.
"Only way you'll get in there is over my dead body!"
"Ok"
He was then arrested and taken away to an unknown destination, where he confessed and lead police to a hidden arms cache at 2am, with his body found two days later.
Must have gotten caught in one of them crossfire thingee's
In a statement, a copy of which was obtained by Mafkarat al-Islam, the Board of Muslim âUlamaâ [Scholars], the highest Sunni Muslim religious authority in occupied Iraq, whose words must never be questioned noted that the vicious police murder took place in the context of a pattern of criminal abduction, arrest, and torture being carried out by a bunch of Arabs from somewhere else the security apparatus of the puppet regime, with the blessings of the occupation forces, against innocent terrorists Iraqi citizens who refuse to lay down their arms and stop killing people sell out their religion and their country.
It's a start..
Posted by: Steve ||
07/28/2005 13:57 ||
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#1
puppet police detail Is Team America World Police deployed to Iraqistan?
#3
Ah, yes, the Brave Jihadi reverts to form and becomes the usual pissy whiny bitch when caught on the wrong end.
And Mikey? This is how you post Jihad Unspun stories.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
07/28/2005 19:30 Comments ||
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#13
Mike,
I donât really have the time to get into some post-war back and forth discussion with you. But, a few observations:
You incite and inflame with your postings and your comments here at RB, and you are sentient enough to know that you are doing that.
You really donât seem to have anyreasoned counter-point views or information to offer. For awhile, I thought that an attempt to provide a counter-point is what you were trying to do (i.e., offer alternate opinions or information being overlooked), but several of your screeds went so far over the line that even I couldnât rationalize a socially acceptable basis for your posting -- and I have a fair amount of tolerance and a pretty good imagination.
So, my conclusion is that you are so arrogant and self-confident in your intelligence that you are priding yourself on âtoyingâ with the posters at RB, and see each offense taken to your postings as a self-appointed affirmation of your own self-identified smartness and smug superiority.
In other words: Youâre an insecure loser, trying to feel big. Prove me wrong, please (so I can salvage some of my tolerance and imagination), by explaining what useful purpose you intend with your postings.
#14
You legal beagal call arrogant? Where were you when the F11 F12 secret recon planes were being turned down by higher ups FOR REASONS WE CAN'T BEGIN TO FATHOM!
Posted by: Jack Rubenstein ||
07/28/2005 20:21 Comments ||
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#15
nice, Spike
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/28/2005 20:55 Comments ||
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#16
"When I do it my way, I get to watch..."
Actually, MS, you do it your way because it doesn't require any intellect or wit. So I guess you have to do it that way.
Posted by: Neutron Tom ||
07/28/2005 21:03 Comments ||
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#17
Mr. Sylwester: you lost yourself a defender here. You are pathetic.
#18
Several, Pappy. I've been hoping for a serious, well informed regular to balance out the more ranting sides of RB, so we don't drink the kool aid ourselves.
But Mike S. definitely has shown that he's not able or willing to play that role. And that's a shame - because the next 5-10 years are going to present us with some serious, tough decisions and tradeoffs to make. Would be nice - and actually, is important - to talk some of that through, if we can. But the Mike S.'s and our troll yesterday and Boris (if the latter aren't the same) don't begin to rise to the level needed for that.
Posted by: too true ||
07/28/2005 21:26 Comments ||
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#19
When I do it my way, I get to watch...suffer gigantic snit-fits.
Mr. Sylwester, your post reveals a very childish nastiness, or the cavalier attitude of a psychopath, to whom others exist only for his amusement. I am very disappointed, because I've defended you, too. This site, like the American polity, needs a loyal opposition to provide intelligent balance to our discussions. While the snarkiness is fun, that isn't the real point of this site, as well you know.
Get over yourself and grow up. Or, please, go to hell.
#21
Gee, I'm touched by all your concern and desire for proper behavior here at Rantburg!
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
07/28/2005 23:05 Comments ||
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#22
Each community has its own particular culture. Even different divisions within the same corporation. Accept the rules,or be spit out -- it's the same everywhere.
#23
The fact is, though, that you all tolerate and participate in pack-dog attacks on anyone who challenges your narrow opinions.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
07/28/2005 23:08 Comments ||
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#24
And then you're offended when someone doesn't take you seriously.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
07/28/2005 23:11 Comments ||
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#25
woof
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/28/2005 23:15 Comments ||
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#26
Intelligent challenges find themselves argued on the merits... if the challenger consistently avoids baiting and egregious insult. I've argued against the majority opinion on subjects within my own particular expertise, and explained upon what basis my arguments rested. And while there have been those who did not at all like what I had to say, I never felt the object of a pack attack. But this is not a salon, and a lot of the guys have no patience with coup counting, when they're trying to figure out what's going on out there.
#27
Trailing Wife, every time I appear here, I am harrassed by Frank G (Jack Rubenstein). You have never even remarked about that once.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
07/28/2005 23:31 Comments ||
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#28
Every time anyone challenges your narrow opinions, .com attacks him as an attention whore, as someone who posts too much, who is ALL ABOUT MEEEEE. You have never remarked about that once.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
07/28/2005 23:32 Comments ||
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#29
The moderators tolerate that kind of behavior all day every day and then kick off someone like Aris for being "foul and abusive." That's what Rantburg is all about.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
07/28/2005 23:34 Comments ||
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#30
FWIW - Jack Rubenstein and I are not even close to being the same poster. Fred and the mods can verify that. Paranoia runs deep. I'll be off fishing, hiking in the Sierras, and laying on the sandy shore of Lake Tahoe for a week +, Mike, without, I assume, net access. Let's see how many voices and imaginary antagonists you hear. You've already lost 3-4 supporters today with your admission. Nice work :-)
I may be on in the AM, just so you don't think I'm breaking my promise. Make some friends, huh?
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/28/2005 23:42 Comments ||
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#31
Trailing Wife, do you have any comments for Frank G. before he leaves?
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
07/28/2005 23:44 Comments ||
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#32
"The fact is, though, that you all tolerate and participate in pack-dog attacks on anyone who challenges your narrow opinions."
MS, you really must not be very bright.
I don't consider my opinions or that of the majority here "narrow" in the least; in point of fact, your POV is the one I consider narrow and wrong.
Your view is the Leftist/Old Media/MSM view, which is based on half-truths and out-right lies.
The view here at RB (for the most part) is that of truths, facts and informed opinions.
If we we went to DU, our comments would sound like yours do here and we'd get banned.
But we don't go to DU--we come here.
Maybe you should consider doing the reverse.
Trying to browbeat us into seeing the "beauty" of your Leftist position or worse, to make a personal appeal because you want some sympathy is completely misplaced and should be more cause for censure than for pity.
Most of us are concerned with winning this war, not being blown up by IslamoFacists, and preserving the values that made this nation great not with bringing down the Bush Administration and regaining political power.
#34
I don't consider my opinions or that of the majority here "narrow" in the least
Anybody outside your narrow opinions is a leftist.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
07/28/2005 23:53 Comments ||
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#35
Jack Rubenstein and I are not even close to being the same poster
Whoever it is, the moderators tolerate it as fair commentary.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
07/28/2005 23:55 Comments ||
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#36
Mike, you admitted you bait Frank. He doesn't tolerate that kind of thing well. From anybody, not just you. And there have been times when I've told Frank to back off, in other cases. He didn't like it much, I'm afraid. But he seems to like me well enough now, and he's never attacked me for no reason.
BTW, have a good vacation, Frank! When you trade in the beer for an occasional iced tea, think of me. ;-)
#37
"Anybody outside your narrow opinions is a leftist."
We're not talking about just anybody--you asked us all to consider you personally, and if it walks like a duck, sounds like a duck, etc. etc.
In this war that we fight, the Democrats and Liberals (almost all of whom hold views that are strongly Leftist like Hillary, Howard Dean, Al Gore, Kerry, etc.) have joined common cause with Islamist terrorists.
If some us see you as one of the bad guys, well...so be it.
Zambian authorities have detained a man sought in connection with this month's deadly London bombings and for his alleged role in setting up a terrorist training camp in Oregon, U.S. officials said Wednesday.
Haroon Rashid Aswat, 30, a British citizen of Indian descent, piqued the interest of investigators when they discovered that about 20 calls had been placed from his cellphone to some of the four men who set off bombs on London's transit system July 7, killing 52 people and themselves.
Two Pakistani sources said last week that Aswat had been arrested there. But other Pakistani officials subsequently denied that, and in recent days British and Indian officials said the arrest in Pakistan was a case of mistaken identity involving a Briton with a name similar to Aswat's.
Two U.S. anti-terrorism officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation, said Aswat had been arrested in Zambia, but they would not elaborate. Aswat has lived in South Africa and traveled extensively on the continent; Zambia has a sizable Indian community.
One of the U.S. officials said British and American anti-terrorism investigators had gone to Zambia after Aswat's detention last week and were in talks with officials there to determine where it would be best to prosecute Aswat.
Aswat reportedly grew up in the same part of northern England as three of the July 7 bombers. He has been characterized by U.S. law enforcement officials as an emissary of Abu Hamza al Masri, a radical Muslim cleric in London who has repeatedly denounced the United States.
Aswat first came to the attention of U.S. authorities several years ago when he surfaced as a close associate of a Seattle man planning to build a terrorist training camp near Bly, Ore., near the California border.
Court records in New York and Seattle, and interviews with federal authorities in both cities, reveal details about Aswat's alleged activities in the United States and his association with Abu Hamza and his followers.
Visiting New York, Seattle and Oregon, he allegedly boasted that he was the personal "hit man" for Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and that he had been sent to the United States by Abu Hamza to get the camp underway and prepare future militants for attacks in America.
One U.S. federal law enforcement official said of Aswat, "He has gotten around, and he's been someone of interest for some time."
Among Aswat's associates was Earnest James Ujaama, once a community activist in Seattle who became a follower of Abu Hamza, moved to London and ran the cleric's website.
In 1999, Abu Hamza sent Ujaama back to the U.S. to begin setting up the training camp, according to court records. After a remote property was decided on near the small town of Bly, Abu Hamza allegedly sent Aswat to follow up on the progress.
According to court records and interviews, Aswat traveled to New York on an Air India flight from London in November 1999.
U.S. authorities say that in addition to working on setting up the camp, Abu Hamza was interested in fundraising in Manhattan and at a Long Island mosque. He purportedly wanted to raise money for a fund at his Finsbury Park Mosque in London to pay for more missions like the one he had sent Aswat on.
After leaving New York, court documents allege, Aswat traveled to Seattle and met with Ujaama. He then went to Bly and inspected the camp property, "met potential candidates for jihad training," and began working with Ujaama to set up passwords, security patrols and firearms training, the records state.
He appeared in Seattle again in February 2000. For several months, he reportedly lived at the now-defunct Dar-us-Salaam Mosque in the center of the city. By then he was openly referring to himself as Bin Laden's hit man, the documents allege, and he often "expounded on the teachings and writings" of Abu Hamza.
But the Oregon camp never got underway, for reasons that are unclear, and Aswat eventually returned to London. So did Ujaama. U.S. authorities say the cleric next enlisted them in a plan to help the Taliban movement in Afghanistan.
Seattle FBI Agent Frederick W. Humphries II said a prisoner at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, had alerted U.S. authorities to a plan to send computer laptops to the Taliban.
Records suggest that Aswat, using money from Finsbury Park Mosque, traveled from London to Pakistan, then to neighboring Afghanistan. There he allegedly reported to an Al Qaeda training camp.
After the Sept. 11 attacks in the U.S., authorities in the Pacific Northwest began acquiring information about the Oregon training camp plan. Aswat had returned to London, but Ujaama was arrested in July 2002 in Denver.
Ujaama was indicted in Seattle the following month on charges of trying to set up a jihad camp. Sources have identified Aswat as an unindicted co-conspirator in the case.
Ujaama pleaded guilty in April 2003. He had faced up to 25 years in prison but was given a two-year sentence in return for cooperating in the prosecution of others.
Sources said Ujaama testified before a federal grand jury in New York, and in May 2004 federal authorities there unsealed an 11-count indictment against Abu Hamza after British authorities arrested him. The charges relate to the Oregon camp and the alleged plan to deliver computers to the Taliban.
In addition, the cleric was charged with providing satellite phones to a group that took 16 tourists, including two Americans, hostage in Yemen in 1998. When the Yemeni military attempted to capture the kidnappers, four of the hostages were killed.
Abu Hamza could face the death penalty if tried in the United States. That has complicated a U.S. request for his extradition, because British law does not allow for capital punishment, and Britain does not extradite suspects in cases where the death penalty could be imposed.
The Abu Hamza indictment includes numerous references to other "unindicted co-conspirators." But court records in New York show no charges against Aswat. Herbert Hadad, a spokesman in the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan, said Wednesday that the office would have no comment on Aswat.
Once charges were filed against his associates in the U.S. and Britain, Aswat vanished.
Although investigators are investigating the phone records linking him to the London bombers, it remains unclear whether he was making or receiving the calls or whether someone else used his phone, a U.S. anti-terrorism official said.
Aswat's association with Abu Hamza has also raised the possibility that he had contact with members of a second group of plotters that tried to carry out bombings in London last week.
Several members of the second group are believed to be natives of East Africa, including a Somali immigrant who was arrested Wednesday and an Eritrean-born Briton who converted to Islam in prison and remains at large.
Authorities say the men may have been radicalized in the Afro-British extremist circles in London that have ties to Finsbury Park Mosque. Richard C. Reid, a Briton of Jamaican descent who was convicted of trying to blow up a jetliner with a bomb in his shoe in 2001, had ties to the mosque and was a jailhouse convert to Islam.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/28/2005 10:59 ||
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Fascinating - is this the 'mastermind'?
Posted by: Howard UK ||
07/28/2005 11:26 Comments ||
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Supposedly, and another Finsbury mosque alumnus. I thought he was arrested in Pakistan. Mistaken identity? Just how aswats are there in Pakistan?
Posted by: ed ||
07/28/2005 11:44 Comments ||
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That's him. The guy they picked up in Pakistan must've been just some guy named Herb.
Why he's in Zambia is beyond me ...
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/28/2005 12:12 Comments ||
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It's over 50-75% Christian with a healthy Hindu sprinkling, so it certainly doesn't seem like the ideal place to hide ...
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/28/2005 12:29 Comments ||
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Zambia has a sizable Indian community
Not necessarily Al Qaeda. More likely cousins... lots and lots of cousins, who never thought to connect dear, dear Haroon Rashid with those nasty goings on in far away London.
#10
This might be a case of follow the guy and see who he leads to. Once they get all they can from tailing him, they put him behind bars. I can't believe this guy just materialized out of nowhere.
CNN didn't say. Presumably pretty recently. Aswat was an unnamed, unindicted co-conspirator in the Bly, Oregon jihadi training camp case. If I understood CNN correctly, that was the basis on which the U.S. wanted the U.K. to extradite Aswat.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/28/2005 13:50 Comments ||
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ZF:
Aswat has been on the US radar for a couple of years now. The Zambia angle's a new one for me.
Colt:
Herb al-Mujahid then. The Pakistanis now claim it's a case of mistaken identity, though that still leaves questions as to the cash, passport, and bomb belt.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/28/2005 13:58 Comments ||
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Zambia looks like a useful place to hide. Just to the north is the relatively war torn Democratic Congo. I'm thinking diamonds. Just to the south is Zimbabwe, no problems there. To the north a trek through Uganda leads to Sudan while to the west a run through Tanzania and Kenya leads to Somalia. To the south is SA with all the international air links. As a terror master with a British passport, whats not to like?
Posted by: john ||
07/28/2005 14:32 Comments ||
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DD: ZF:
Aswat has been on the US radar for a couple of years now. The Zambia angle's a new one for me.
That's exactly what I meant. I suspect this guy has been followed for a while now. I think the arrest in Zambia isn't just a coincidence - the spooks thought the time was right and reeled him in.
#18
Herb al-Mujahid then. The Pakistanis now claim it's a case of mistaken identity, though that still leaves questions as to the cash, passport, and bomb belt.
The odd thing there is that "passport" is singular.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
07/28/2005 15:24 Comments ||
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"..Britain does not extradite suspects in cases where the death penalty could be imposed."
this is getting very old especially if you live in Colorado.
"..the arrest in Pakistan was a case of mistaken identity involving a Briton with a name similar to Aswat's."
yeah like there are lots of folks named ass-what or ass-wipe. It was very distracting reading his name throughout this piece. More like a different tribe of pak's not wanting him to be caught.
It's really un-nerving to read about how freely these types travel around our country.
Posted by: Jan ||
07/28/2005 18:20 Comments ||
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Asswhat is obviously going for the ObL androgynous prophet look. Guess it appeals to the raisins.
Insurgents launched coordinated attacks Thursday against Iraqi army checkpoints northeast of Baghdad, killing six Iraqi soldiers, police said. Roadside bombs killed two U.S. soldiers and ignited a train carrying fuel in the south of Iraq's capital.
The attacks began about 2:30 p.m. against four Iraqi checkpoints along a road near Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, police Col. Mudhafar Mohammed said.
Attackers fired automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades during the attacks, he said. There was no report of insurgent casualties.
The attacks occurred a day after a total of three American soldiers died in two separate bombings - one in Samarra, 60 miles north of the capital, and the other in northern Baghdad. Two U.S. soldiers died in the Baghdad attack.
On Sunday, four American soldiers from Task Force Baghdad were killed when their vehicle ran over a roadside bomb in southwest Baghdad.
On Thursday, a train carrying fuel exploded when it was hit by a roadside bomb in southern Baghdad, killing two people and wounding six others, police said.
The attack, which sent a massive cloud of smoke over the southern part of the city, occurred in the southern neighborhood of Dora, an area where insurgents are known to be active, police Lt. Thaer Mahmoud said.
The bomb appeared to have targeted a nearby police commando checkpoint, Mahmoud said. One of those killed and four of the injured are security force members, he said. The rest were civilians.
It wasn't clear if the train, which was heading south, also was the target.
Most of the wounded suffered serious burns, Thaer said.
An Internet posting in the name of al-Qaida in Iraq, the country's most feared terror group, claimed responsibility for the train attack.
The violence came a day after al-Qaida said it killed two kidnapped Algerian diplomats because of Algeria's ties to the United States and its crackdown on Islamic extremists.
The diplomats' deaths brought to three the number of foreign envoys reported killed this month as part of a militant campaign to isolate Iraq's embattled government within the Arab and Muslim world. Two other apparent kidnapping attempts against diplomats were foiled.
Algeria opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, although it has in recent years become a close U.S. ally, particularly in investigating and arresting Islamic extremists. Al-Qaida in Iraq, led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, linked the killing of the diplomats to the Algerian crackdown.
Algeria's chief envoy Ali Belaroussi and fellow diplomat Azzedine Belkadi were slain because their government represses Muslims "in violation of God's will," said a chilling Internet statement posted in the name of al-Qaida in Iraq.
The statement provided no photographic evidence of the deaths, and the statement's authenticity could not be confirmed.
Belaroussi, 62, and Belkadi, 47, were dragged from their cars and kidnapped at gunpoint July 21 in Baghdad's upscale Mansour neighborhood. They appeared - blindfolded and in captivity - in a video posted Tuesday on the Internet.
The Bush administration has been eager to maintain political momentum in Iraq, hoping a broad-based government can lure Sunni Arabs guerrillas away from the insurgency. A key step in that strategy is a new constitution, which is to be completed by Aug. 15 and presented to the voters in a referendum two months later.
On Wednesday, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld came to Baghdad to urge the Iraqis to finish the draft charter on time. "People are simply going to have to recognize that (in) any constitutional drafting process, compromise is necessary. It's important. It's understandable. It's the way democratic systems work," he said.
The electricity ministry said six attacks in the last 10 days on the power grid has led to a reduction in the electricity supplies to Baghdad and nearby southern provinces, according to government newspaper al-Sabah. Power in Baghdad is down to a half an hour of electricity followed by a six-hour blackout.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/28/2005 10:39 ||
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The media spotlight may be firmly focused on Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Middle East, but the West should start paying more attention to Somalia because this East African country, torn apart by rival warlords and tribal gangs, provides a logistic centre for al-Qaeda, the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) has warned. The ICG recently published a research report entitled "Counter-terrorism in Somalia. Are we loosing hearts and minds?", edited by Suliman Baldo, the ICG's Africa programme director.
"Away from the spotlight, a quiet, dirty conflict is being waged in Somalia." writes Baldo in the introduction. "In the rubble-strewn streets of the ruined capital of this state without a government, Mogadishu, al-Qaeda operatives, jihad extremists, Ethiopian security services and Western-backed counter-terrorism networks are engaged in a shadowy and complex contest waged by intimidation, abduction and assassination." The United States "has had some success but now risks evoking a backlash." It is not surprising: after the huge failure of the international peace efforts carried out between 1992-1995, Somalia still finds itself in total chaos, despite an October 2004 agreement reached to establish a transitional federal government.
On the contrary, according to the ICG report, with the transitional government's formation "the dirty war between terrorism and counter-terrorist operatives in Mogadishu appears to have entered a new and more vicious stage that threatens to push the country further towards jihadism and extremist violence."
In this context the role of al-Qaeda is increasing since it is in and from Somalia that two of the terror network's alleged masterminds are operating: Fazul Abdullah Mohamed - from the Comoros Islands and with a Kenyan passport - and Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan - also with a Kenyan passport and believed to be the leader of the al-Qaeda "Mombasa Network" operating in East Africa.
The pair are suspected of being behind the 1998 terrorist attacks against the US embassies in Nairobi and in Dar-es-Salaam, which killed 225 people and wounded 4,000.
Fazul Abdullah Mohamed and Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan have also been linked in the 2002 attacks in Nairobi against Israelian targets. Eighty people died in a suicide attack involving a car belonging to Nabhan, which was crashed packed with explosives into a Mombasa hotel. The terrorists also managed to launch two Strela missiles against an airplane filled with Israeli tourists, but missed their target.
"The Somali [al-Qaeda] cell is still considered a security threat," says the the ICG report, adding "the Americans consider that al-Qaeda members in Kenya and Somalia have been highly active ever since the 2002 attacks".
In May 2003 intelligence reports, including reported sightings of Fazul in Mombasa, set off alarm bells, prompting British Airways to halt their flights to Kenya.
In a 2004, another intelligence report, said evidence existed "that the [East Africa-based] network is determined to conduct other terrorist attacks."
"Fazul is believed to be the most dangerous since he is a disguise wizard, an expert in document counterfeiting and a master in building bombs," the ICG report says, citing intelligence reports from Somalia.
In addition according to the reports, Nabhan, who is married to a Somali woman, is still in Mogadishu, together with other suspected al-Qaeda members: Ali Swedhan, Issa Osman Issa, Samir Said Salim Ba'amir and Mohammed Mwakuuza Kuza.
Intelligence services suspect that these al-Qaeda militants have links with the local extremist militias, in particular with the mysterious "Ayro," who is believed to be the leader of a local network responsible for the profanation of the Italian cemetery in January 2005.
As the ICG report's title suggests, Western counter-terrorism activities are seen by the Somali population, which does not believe that the al-Qaeda terrorists are in the country, as an attack on Islam. The issue is critical, since, as Baldo explains - "without help from the local population, even the most sophisticated anti-terrorism efforts are bound to fail."
The consequences are serious, since the terrorist are still at large thanks to the protection given to them by ordinary Somalis, the ICG, report concludes.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/28/2005 10:14 ||
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If only we withdrew from Iraq, everything would be groovy. After all, we withdrew from Somalia in '93 and just look at it: warlordism is dead, representative democracy is in full swing, terrorists can find no shelter, the economy is booming and the citizenry live quiet spiritual lives in peace and harmony with their neighbors. Well done, Bill.
Telephone and power lines haven't reached the villages clinging to the craggy mountainsides of Kunar province. Digital phones and computer chips are even further beyond the shepherds' imaginations.
So when sophisticated bombs detonated by long-range cordless phones began blowing up under U.S. and Afghan military vehicles on mountain tracks, investigators knew they had to search elsewhere for the masterminds.
Afghan officials immediately focused on nearby Pakistan and its military, whose Inter-Services Intelligence agency helped create the Taliban in the early 1990s and provided training and equipment to help the Muslim extremists win control over most of the country.
From Jihad Unspun
.... the Iraqi Resistance had mounted four various attacks on the attacking US forces in the area [Amiriyat al-Fallujah, just south of the city , forcing them to dig in and take cover inside schools and government office buildings. .... at 10am Tuesday morning a bomb exploded [near]by a US patrol that was trying to close the road known as the al-Bu âIsa Road to prevent the people of Fallujah from entering or leaving the city by that route. The blast destroyed a Humvee and reportedly left three American soldiers dead and a fourth wounded. As the âGnawing Ratsâ operation continues, the al-Bu âIsa Road remained closed on Wednesday ....
The second and third attacks coincided with the arrival of US forces in the environs of Fallujah coming from the area of âAmiriyat al-Fallujah. Four Resistance rockets blasted into the Buzaybiz area, an open area in which the US forces were gathering at 12 noon Tuesday. Then at 3pm Tuesday seven powerful Grad rockets slammed into the same area, killing or wounding 13 US Marines, according to a source in the Iraqi puppet army.
During Tuesday-Wednesday night a martyrdom fighter drove an explosives-laden car into the area at the crossroads of the cities of âAmiriyat al-Fallujah and al-Habbaniyah near the cemetery of the martyrs of al-Qadisiyah, destroying two Humvees and reportedly killing or wounding a number of US troops.
Iraqi Resistance forces fired seven heavy 120mm mortar rounds at a concentration of US troops in âAmiriyat al-Fallujah at 8:45pm local time Wednesday night .... About 15 minutes after the attack on the Americans concentrated in âAmiriyat al-Fallujah, the Resistance fired seven more 120mm mortar rounds into the facility for military production now called al-âAmir Facility, but known as the Saddam Facility for Military Production prior to the American occupation. US forces occupied that facility, also located in âAmiriyat al-Fallujah, about two months ago and turned it into a camp. ...
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
07/28/2005 07:38 ||
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#1
More JU nonsense. Kinda curious how they where firing all their weapons in volleys of seven though with a resultant casualty count of thirteen. JU just cannot hide it's fascination with numerology.
#2
Frankly it's diffcult to ignore these numbers, 7x13 is equavalent to 70 plus 21. One is the age of death, the other the age of majority. Together they add up to 91 which is 19 revereed. 91 Is also the number of PAGES CUT FROM THE WARREN COMMISSION.
Posted by: Jack Rubenstein ||
07/28/2005 8:52 Comments ||
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#3
Enough with the JU bullsh*t. Bandwidth-wasting enemy propaganda.
Strange Mikey how your mouthpiece's events and numbers don't match. Now in an open society where troops and family have open access and communication, you'd know if our government was cooking the books. So your little exercise in Sedition during Time of War, seems so .... desperate.
#7
Mike, do us all a little favor and if you must post this sort of crap at least make the effort to go out and find some of the more novel material. There's no shortage out there. Try. After two "reports" JU reads like the same mind-numbing, fatally boring, children's book heard for the 1000th time.
#10
Gotta wonder when Mikey's going to go into full-froth mode.
Maybe when Benon Sevan(sp?) is finally indicted?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
07/28/2005 9:41 Comments ||
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#11
He forgot this part - The correspondent reported that it was impossible to assess the extent of losses incurred by the Americans in the two attacks since US troops were shooting at anyone approaching them.
Which is why I have a hard time with the fact that these Lions of Islam are able to accurately count dead and/or wounded. Unless it's The Little Big Horn*, attackers don't get to count the dead/wounded.
*Or, if you prefer, General George Armstrong Custer's Last Stand, in 1878 - more or less.
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/28/2005 9:43 Comments ||
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#12
I keep telling you -- it's all a Halliburton / Cheney plot. See, they're using the bodies of all those dead troops for experiments into alternate fuels and then using computer simulations to fake emails, sat phone conversations and streaming video with the families back home.
Gets tougher when the units rotate home ... then they have to activate the clones or go whack the families so noone realizes that all those troops are actually dead. Cause it LOOKS as if they're alive all right ....
Fiendish. I wonder if it was Rove's idea or if Robe is Cheney's understudy?
Posted by: too true ||
07/28/2005 9:44 Comments ||
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#13
stfu t boy.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
07/28/2005 9:44 Comments ||
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#14
Anyone notice that the return of a Boris clone coincided with Mikey's return?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
07/28/2005 9:45 Comments ||
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#15
T boy = Tholuns Shomogum7813
not too true RB.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
07/28/2005 9:46 Comments ||
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#16
whew ... I wondered LOL
Posted by: too true ||
07/28/2005 9:54 Comments ||
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#17
Had the friendly fire claims adjuster on the other line.
#18
Don't make me have to setup another detail under your bed to monitor your bed wetting TS. Or should I say, Boris?
Posted by: The Mossad ||
07/28/2005 10:08 Comments ||
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#19
I think most of us would not object about an article of JU say, once a month for a laugh. But that we are sick of having to ciope with such tripe day after day.
#22
The only reason I look at Jihad Unspun is so I don't have to patronize the Boston Globe and I can still read Derrick Z. Jackson's insane blubbering columns.
#23
I think Mike has said before that he posts the JU stuff as humor. I don't think he's one of their fellow travellers at all, and I think we're accusing him falsely. He has the LE mentality for dealing with terrorism, which many here reject, but he's not a fellow traveller.
If I had more time at night, I'd post JU stuff with all the appropriately snarky, salmon-colored commentary. I just don't have the time.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/28/2005 11:14 Comments ||
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#24
Mike, you keep posting this nonsense from J.U.
You do know that this site is suspected to be a CIA trap? Some Web watchers.... believe the U.S. government may be using the Internet jihad to spy. They speculate that Jihad Unspun, an English-language site that appears to promote terror, may be a CIA creation, designed to find out who visits or orders videos glorifying bin Laden.
As often as you visit, the CIA must have "your number" by now. Maybe you'll get a visit from Valerie, the deep cover agent.
#25
Dear F.B.I. - I admit freely that I have visited the JU site from time to time, but only from an upstanding site like Rantburg, just to verify the posting was accurate.
But I don't have any Ossama videos. Anymore.
Posted by: Abu Musab al Dopey ||
07/28/2005 12:49 Comments ||
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#26
Ya know, the Crossfire Gazette is totally repetitive yet I laugh at every single issue. This Jihad Unspun crap is totally repetitive, and I haven't had a laugh in weeks. Maybe it's because the Gazette has hilarious editorial commentary, and this has no commentary at all?
#27
WhiteCollarRedneck -- it's also because the Crossfire Gazette is about thieves and murderers getting justice. Rough and ready justice, admittedly, but justice all the same. Quite a few of those articles have had bits about the locals being relieved and happy that someone got caught in a "crossfire".
The Jihad Unspun claims, though, are from evil men claiming to have killed American soldiers trying to rebuild a nation crushed by tyranny and bloodied by terrorists. And for all their claims of attacking American soldiers, we know they're more likely to be killing ordinary Iraqis trying to get through their lives.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
07/28/2005 13:02 Comments ||
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#28
MODS - or .com...
PLEEEEEASE get a picture of Baghdad Bob to post as the graphic at the top of EVERY JU post, no matter who puts it up here. This stuff from JU is of the same quality and truth as ol Baghdada Bob's stuff.
#29
I *like* the Crossfire Gazette. Reminds me of reading Dick Tracy in the comics on Sunday with Dad. JU, however, is as dull and plodding as anything Karl Marx ever wrote.
#34
Old Spook
Here are som classics from Baghdad Bob...
The Collected Quotations of "Baghdad Bob," Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf: The Iraqi Minister of DisInformation
Mocking the Coalition's Attempt To Target Saddam Hussein:
Attempting to Acknowledge What Was Happening Militarily Beyond Baghdad:
March 22, 2003 "Maybe they will enter Umm Qasr and Basra, but how will they enter Baghdad? It will be a big oven for them. They can penetrate our borders but they cannot reach Baghdad. They will try to pull our army and troops out but we are well aware of their plans and they will fail."
March 23, 2003 "In Umm Qasr, the fighting is fierce and we have inflicted many damages. The stupid enemy, the Americans and British, failed completely. They're not making any penetration."
As Televised Reports of U.S. Forces Approaching the Outskirts of Western Baghdad Are Shown: "They are not any place. They are on the move everywhere. They are a snake moving in the desert. They hold no place in Iraq. This is an illusion."
After U.S. Forces Seized Baghdad's Airport: "We butchered the force present at the airport. We have retaken the airport! There are no Americans there!"
After U.S. Troops Penetrated Central Baghdad:
April 5, 2003 "Nobody came here. Those America losers, I think their repeated frequent lies are bringing them down very rapidly.... Baghdad is secure, is safe."
April 5, 2003 "They are not near Baghdad. Don't believe them.... They said they entered with... tanks in the middle of the capital. They claim that they - I tell you, I... that this speech is too far from the reality. It is a part of this sickness of their plan. There is no an... - no any existence to the American troops or for the troops in Baghdad at all."
April 6, 2003 "Whenever we attack, they retreat. When we pound them with missiles and heavy artillery, they retreat even deeper. But when we stopped pounding, they pushed to the airport for propaganda purposes."
April 7, 2003 "The Americans are not there. They're not in Baghdad. There are no troops there. Never. They're not at all."
April 7, 2003 "U.S. forces learned a lesson last night they will never forget. We slaughtered them and will continue to slaughter them."
April 7, 2003 "There is no presence of American infidels in the city of Baghdad."
With Media Pictures of U.S. Troops Being Shown Standing Under the Giant Crossed Swords in Saddam's Favorite Parade Grounds in Baghdad, While Giving a Press Briefing Around the Corner: "There you can see, there is nothing going on."
After U.S. Missiles Destroyed His Office in the Information Ministry and He was Forced to Give Press Briefings on the Street: "They will be burnt. We are going to tackle them."
Disputing His Own Assertions of No Coalition Troops in Baghdad: "We blocked them inside the city. Their rear is blocked.... They pushed a few of their armored carriers and some tanks with their soldiers. We besieged them and I think we will finish them soon."
While American Soldiers Are Showering in Saddam's Bathroom Nearby Presidential Palace: "We have killed most of the [coalition] infidels, and I think we will finish off the rest soon."
After Being Shown Footage of Iraqi Soldiers Surrendering: "Those are not Iraqi soldiers at all."
April 7, 2003 "This invasion will end in failure."
April 8, 2003
"Baghdad Bob" disappeared, perhaps forever. On the other hand, perhaps he will return as Minister of Information for France or be awarded a drive time show on the new liberal talk radio network.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
07/28/2005 15:35 Comments ||
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#35
my favrit wuz wen he saisd our troops were linen up to comit sooiside rathere then fasen teh iraqi forses
"I can say, and I am responsible for what I am saying, that they have
started to commit suicide under the walls of Baghdad. We
will encourage them to commit more suicides quickly."
"Their infidels are committing suicide by the hundreds on the gates of Baghdad. Be assured, Baghdad is safe, protected."
"Today I have visited whole Baghdad city, no invaders found. You go and see how we have ousted them from this city. They are cying outside and waiting to receive bullets. They will be killed shortly."
"These images are not the suburbs of Baghdad. From what I glimpsed, these gardens with rows of palm trees on the side, which you saw in the images, are located in the south of Abu Ghreib, where we have surrounded the Americans and British."
From Jihad Unspun According to a report from Urdu Afghan News, Arab fighters have named Abu Ikhlas al-Misri as their new commander for the eastern Kunar province, citing a knowledgeable source. Abu Ikhlas al-Misri's nomination came in line with a recent decision of the Arab Mujahideen's Kunar-Nooristan Council, Abu Taib al-Jazairi, a representative of foreign fighters said in a telephone call from an undisclosed location. ...."
Abu Ikhlas al-Misri has three daughters and two sons of his wife from Nooristan," al-Jazairi said, adding the man was long known to residents of Kunar and Nooristan, where he had played a proactive role in the jihad against the Soviet forces. Al-Jazairi went on to say "At the moment, more than 170 Arab mujahideen are fighting against the enemy in Kunar and Nooristan." Legions of Arab warriors had converged on this landlocked country in the 1980s at the height of the Afghan jihad against the erstwhile Soviet Union. He quoted the new commander as inviting Arab fighters in the region to shift to the two provinces and swell the ranks of Mujahideen that include Libyans, Egyptians, Iraqis and Yemenis.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
07/28/2005 07:34 ||
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#1
Who the hell cares about yet another Abu being named Lord High Commander for the Province of Dungistan?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
07/28/2005 7:43 Comments ||
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#2
Connect the dots Mr. Crawford, connect the dots, follow the money, eat well washed organic vegetables, look both ways, avoid Federal Reserve Banks, keep your assets in solid investments such as Emu eggs or Ostrich thigh futures.
Posted by: Jack Rubenstein ||
07/28/2005 9:12 Comments ||
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Posted by: Red Dog ||
07/28/2005 9:32 Comments ||
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#5
He played a proactive role in the fight against the Soviets
In the fight against the Soviets the only thing the Arabs did was to sit along women and children in Pakistan, handle money and perform sickeninng (sickening by Afghan standards) tortures on captured Soviet soldiers and government partisans.
#6
Many of the Arab fighters / would-bes have fled Iraq and moved back to Pak/Afghan territory -- especially those who are figuring that Zarqawi's tactics are losing and that they might get a deal out of the ISI if they stir up enough trouble there again.
Note that the Arabs are naming their own leaders without reference to - or deference to - the local Muslims. The disdain on the part of many Arabs for anyone else, especially darker people, is blatant and pervasive.
Posted by: too true ||
07/28/2005 9:47 Comments ||
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#7
In the fight against the Soviets the only thing the Arabs did was to sit along women and children in Pakistan...
Actually, the Arabs did have to fight - once. The Russians stumbled on a forward supply base in far eastern Afghanistan. I don't remember the outcome.
When sophisticated bombs detonated by long-range cordless phones began blowing up under U.S. and Afghan military vehicles on mountain tracks, investigators knew they had to search elsewhere for the masterminds.
...
Anwar said reports from intelligence agents across the border and 50 captured prisoners describe an extensive network of militant training camps in areas of Pakistan's federally administered North Waziristan tribal area where government forces are firmly in control.
Tauda China, a village in the area, which is home to Pushtun tribes, is the site of one camp where Inter-Services Intelligence agents trained militants, Anwar said. He alleged that there were as many as six other camps in the surrounding valley, which is closed to outsiders and guarded by Pakistani troops and armed Afghans.
"Our agents have been there," Anwar said. "They tried to enter the valley and the soldiers didn't allow them."
Zulfiqar Ali, a Pakistani journalist who freelances for the Los Angeles Times, recently reported that at least some training camps that were closed on Musharraf's orders have been reopened.
The government denies that there are training camps. But Ali, who also writes for the Pakistani magazine the Herald, visited one camp and found armed militants with fresh recruits as young as 13 undergoing 18-day "ideological orientation" and weapons training. Several sources said 13 militant camps had been reactivated in the Mansehra region alone in the first week of May.
Posted by: john ||
07/28/2005 06:58 ||
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Al-Qaida in Iraq says it has killed two kidnapped Algerian envoys because of their government's support for the United States, according to an Internet statement. The statement was posted on a website on Wednesday often used by the group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Its authenticity could not be immediately verified. But the killings were confirmed by the office of Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
Al-Qaida's statement said: "Your brothers in the al-Qaida Organisation in Iraq ... have killed Ali Belaroussi, the chief of the Algerian mission, and diplomatic attache Azzedine Belkadi." It was not accompanied by a video or pictures. "It (Algeria) had sent these two apostates as allies to the Jews and Christians in Iraq," the group said. "Iraq will not be safe for God's enemies. Haven't we warned you against allying yourselves with America?" the group said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/28/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi??? Who is this non-believer? Nobody but a blasphemy to God our creator. Satan was tossed from heaven and God's presence for his evil doings, lies and aim of becoming equal with God. Take heart true believers, this pretender of Islam failed when he first associated himself with the Iraqi neighbors to the East. He fleed the slums that he was bred in, committed petty crimes to get by in, and judged God's creations in his ummah as unworthy and in contempt to include the pack he was given birth to. Zarqawi held his family and ummah in contempt and does so to this day for the global ummah. Zarqawi elevates himself above his ummah, above his alleged group and above God humself. Zarqawi speaks words of piety to lure the naive to his traps and then takes them into his nest of evil doers to contaminate and pervert their innocent souls. Zarqawi is an agent of Satan among the lost. The West is not pure as virgin wool and has a history of shame as well as a history of accomplishment under God's guiding hand. There has always been a struggle between good and evil. God's guiding light will draw the lost from the darkness of evil when we surrender to his being. There is only one God and the names that mankind give him are many but only God has the right to know his true name. Zarqawi serves the dark lord of Hell and it is only too evident by the works of his blood cult. God guides us to know men of God and men of Satan by the words they speak, the friends they keep, and work and deed. God created us all as he deemed fit. He gave us the choice of good and evil. When we stand before him in judgement... who can say what he truely values out of a blood-soaked darkened heart or a man just struggling to survive and get by and trying to do the right thing? Man judges one way and God another way. What man steps up and beats his breast with his nose in the air and claims to be right with God and God with him in all things and deed? That man elevates himself above God and damns himself and those that support him. Truely it is better to follow a man of God than one who is Godless. However... a false bearer of God's word and a false prophet are worse. Zarqawi takes it further than being a false bearer of God's word.. he is a false soldier too. Too waste my time explaining every grain of fault in the empty desert that occupies his heart and mind would be to give him too much credit. He is a cockroach needing exterminated. But... then who am I? It's God's will to plan what will be done with Zarqawi,UBL, Zawahiri and the rest of the pack. I am no one but what God wills. Praise God and bless everyone, keep us true to his word, and keep us strong.
Algerian police have arrested a former leading member of an Islamic group for voicing support for Iraqi fighters as the country mourned the death of two of its diplomats killed in Iraq. Ali Belhadj, formerly deputy head of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), was arrested at his home on Wednesday and taken to a central police station after making the comments on Aljazeera television, his brother Abdelhamid said, on the same channel. His arrest came as the country mourned the deaths of two of its diplomats murdered in Iraq. The group linked to al-Qaida in Iraq led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi said in an Internet statement it had killed the head of Algiers' diplomatic mission in Baghdad, Ali Belaroussi, 62, and attache Azzedine Belkadi, 47, in line with the verdict of an Islamic tribunal. In his interview Ali Belhadj said he "saluted the mujahidin on the soil of the resistance in Iraq ... may God help them face with firmness and determination, the looting occupier, his agents and acolytes ... inasmuch as history has taught us that jihad (holy war) and resistance are the only answer to occupation."
When you're an Islamist, jihad's the only answer you've got for every question, to include "what's for breakfast." Presumably the Algerians are tired of that nonsense by now.
He said that the two kidnapped diplomats had been seized in their capacities of diplomats and ambassadors. "Now, in accrediting ambassadors and diplomats (their) state only legitimises this occupation, which is unacceptable on the levels of sharia (Islamic law) and politics."
I've noticed, in my perusal of such vaporings and posturings, that pretty much anything you want is unacceptable on the levels of sharia and politix, unless you want them to be acceptable, in which case a fatwah might be called for. My friend Humpty Dumpty said something to the same effect, in fact. At least, I think that was what the words meant.
However, the leader of the National Reform Movement in Algeria denounced the killing of the two Algerian diplomats. Sheikh Abdullah Jab Allah said in a statement - a copy of which was obtained by Aljazeera - that "this illegitimate act does not fall within the norms of resistance, but would confuse the legitimate resistance and defame and distort its image before the Arab and Islamic public opinion, and the rest of the world as well."
As I've pointed out before, killing diplomats is a piece of barbarity that's beyond any pale of civilized behavior. The lefties and the Emma Goldman crowd are niggling over hair-splitting interpretations of international law, while Zark and his savages are indulging in behavior that Gilgamesh would have found primitive.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/28/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Right you are,Fred.pissed off gengis khan enought to destroy a country.murdering diplomats is an "Act of War"How about it Egypt,Algeria?
I don't really have a lot of confidence in the Egyptian coppers actually breaking up this nest of vipers. If they were capable of doing that, they'd have done it after the Taba bombings, almost a year ago. There's an AP article that I'll probably post that says the Egyptians are "questioning" the "culture-extremism link," but I'm guessing it'll be somewhat less effective than the measures Perv is taking in Pakistan. There's too much inertia there, and there are too many people like Makram Mohammed Ahmed, writing in Al-Ahram, who's still describing al-Qaeda as "the Mossad's toy." When they decide to get serious they can wipe it out in short enough order, or at least cause it to spend another 15-20 years rebuilding, but they simply aren't going to do it. Too much of the rest of their cultural underpinnings are nailed to it.
Security forces said yesterday they were looking for 15 Egyptian militants suspected of carrying out the series of blasts that rocked the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh and claimed the lives of 88 people. The security forces along with terrorism combat units, backed by aircraft, have been deployed to Sinaiâs valleys and mountainous areas to search for the suspects. Sources at the state security in the resort said that the 15 men, many of whom are from local tribes in the north of Sinai, helped in smuggling around 500 kilograms of TNT and explosives into Sharm El-Sheikh. âWe have also identified four bodies we found at the scenes of the blasts and we believe that they were the perpetrators of the attacks,â said one security source who asked not to be identified. âThe four men who have been identified so far are Moussa Badran, Ihab Muhammad Rabia, Osama Al-Nakhlawi and Khaled Musaid and they are all of Bedouin origin,â he told Arab News.
Police also identified the suicide bomber who blew up Ghazala Gardens Hotel in Naama Bay as Moussa Badran. The 30-year-old bomber, a resident of Sheikh Zawaid, a town near Al-Arish in northern Sinai, fled his family house soon after the Taba attacks in October. Many of his relatives were rounded up by the Egyptian police after the Taba attacks, and his brother is still in custody. âWe believe that there is a strong connection between the October Taba bombings and the recent bombings because we found out that Badran was a friend of Muhammad Fulayfel who is the brother of one of the Taba bombers and who also helped in preparing the attacks,â said another security source. While Badranâs family said he abandoned them five months ago and he was mentally retarded, police said Badran became very radical recently.
The other link to the Taba attacks are the material used in the two incidents. Police said most of the explosives used in Sharm El-Sheikh were consistent with the ones used in Taba and a similar strategy for the attacks was followed in both incidents in terms of the timing of the explosions and the location.
On Tuesday, a third group called Egyptian Tawhid and Jihad claimed in an Internet statement responsibility for the bombings, saying they were in response to US military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq and to the mass arrests of thousands of innocent people in Al-Arish following the Taba blasts. As of press time forensic experts were trying to identify the head found at Ghazala Gardens which is said to belong to one of the suicide bombers.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/28/2005 00:00 ||
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I'll bet the Zionists are just tickled pink about having them, too...
CAIRO: Six Pakistanis who had been suspected of involvement in Saturday's deadly bombings in Sharm el-Sheikh were illegal immigrants believed to have crossed into Israel to seek work, the government daily Al-Ahram said on Wednesday.
Quoting a senior security source, the newspaper said the six Pakistanis entered Egyptian territory on July 5 and checked into a hotel in the southern Cairo suburb of Maadi, where their passports were later found. "We know they never went to Sharm el-Sheikh," the source told Al-Ahram. Egyptian security sources had said two days after Egypt's deadliest attacks that a group of six Pakistanis was suspected of links to the bombings. The news increased pressure on Pakistan, following the July 7 bombings in London, where three of the bombers were found to be of Pakistani origin and suspected of ties with Osama Bin Laden's Al Qaeda network.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/28/2005 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
olice arrested nine men in last week's attempted bombings in the British capital in two south London raids Thursday. The men were seized at two addresses in Tooting: six at one location and three at a second. None of those arrested is believed one of the suspected bombers and no explosives were found. Three women were arrested Wednesday night following a raid at an apartment near Stockwell station. 
British police have arrested three women on suspicion of harbouring offenders in a raid linked to last week's failed attempt to bomb London's transport system. The women were held after an armed raid on a public housing estate in the Stockwell area of south London, close to the underground train station where a Brazilian man was mistakenly shot dead by police as a suspected suicide bomber last week. "The arrests are in connection with the ongoing investigation into the attacks on July 21," a London police spokeswoman said. She declined to give further details.
Authorities in Germany Tuesday said they have deported a radical Islamic cleric to his native Egypt. The unidentified imam was placed aboard a plane to Cairo at Munich airport on Monday evening, said authorities in the southern state of Bavaria. 
Two Iranian border guards were killed and three wounded in a rocket-propelled grenade attack launched by alcohol bootleggers on the Iran-Iraq border, local media reported.
Telephone and power lines haven't reached the villages clinging to the craggy mountainsides of Kunar province. Digital phones and computer chips are even further beyond the shepherds' imaginations.
According to a report from Urdu Afghan News, Arab fighters have named 
Al-Qaida in Iraq says it has killed two kidnapped Algerian envoys because of their government's support for the United States, according to an Internet statement. The statement was posted on a website on Wednesday often used by the group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Its authenticity could not be immediately verified. But the killings were confirmed by the office of Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
Algerian police have arrested a former leading member of an Islamic group for voicing support for Iraqi fighters as the country mourned the death of two of its diplomats killed in Iraq. 
Security forces said yesterday they were looking for 15 Egyptian militants suspected of carrying out the series of blasts that rocked the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh and claimed the lives of 88 people. The security forces along with terrorism combat units, backed by aircraft, have been deployed to Sinaiâs valleys and mountainous areas to search for the suspects. Sources at the state security in the resort said that the 15 men, many of whom are from local tribes in the north of Sinai, helped in smuggling around 500 kilograms of TNT and explosives into Sharm El-Sheikh. âWe have also identified four bodies we found at the scenes of the blasts and we believe that they were the perpetrators of the attacks,â said one security source who asked not to be identified. âThe four men who have been identified so far are Moussa Badran, Ihab Muhammad Rabia, Osama Al-Nakhlawi and Khaled Musaid and they are all of Bedouin origin,â he told Arab News. 
