Sanaa, 26 Sept. (AKI) - The Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh has announced a general amnesty for the hundreds of Zaidi Shiite rebels in jail for clashing with the security forces in April this year. The prisoners - followers of radical cleric and former MP Hussein al-Houthi, who was killed in clashes a year ago after a three month uprising - will be pardoned and released, according to Saudi newspaper Arab News. President Saleh made the announcement in a speech marking the celebration of the 26th September revolution which ended religious rule in Yemen, turning it into a republic.
"We have declared an amnesty for the supporters of Hussein al-Houthi," Saleh said in the speech, which was broadcast by state television. "We have pardoned them, despite the blood that has been spilt from 700 young men who were killed because of al-Houthi."
Hundreds of al-Houthi's followers and members of the security forces died in the three month uprising in the north of Yemen in summer 2004, which ended with al-Houthi's death. However, violence flared up again when his 81-year-old father Badruddin al-Houthi led another rebellion against government forces earlier this year. It was put down mid-April, though there is reported to be continued violence in the northern Saada province, where residents say thousands of homes have been destroyed in the fighting. There are mixed reports over Badruddin's fate. The government said he had agreed to stop fighting, but there were also rumours that he died after being injured in a gun battle in June.
Influential Shiite leader Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has accused the Yemeni government of waging "a kind of war" against the Zaidis. In addition to the violent put down of the rebellion, the government has also closed down 4,000 "underground" Zaidi schools, branding them breeding grounds for extremism.
Yemen's Zaidi Shiites are thought to make up around a third of the country's approximately 20 million population, while moderate Shafi Sunnis make up the rest. Al-Houthi was said to have wanted to install Shiite clerical rule in Yemen, and was also deeply opposed to Israel and America. Yemen is a key partner in the 'war on terror' and has received US help in its effort to rid itself of its reputation as a haven for Islamic extremists.
Preachers Yahya Hussein al-Dailami and Muhammad Ahmad Muftah are both included in the amnesty, government officials said. They were sentenced at the end of May to death and a ten year jail sentence respectively for supporting al-Houthi's rebellion. Judge Muhammad Ali Luqman, who was also given a ten year sentence last year on the same charge.
President Saleh also announced that the government will compensate the family of Zaidi Imam Ahmed Hameed al-Deen, Yemen's last Islamic leader. His assets were seized after the army coup on 26 September 1962 which ended 44 years of Zaidi rule in the country. He died in exile around three years ago, and the rest of his family is scattered throughout the Middle East and Britain.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/26/2005 10:48 ||
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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (UPI) -- Saudi security forces stormed a hideout north of Riyadh believed to have been used by wanted Saudi terrorists.
A security source was quoted Monday as saying by daily Okaz that police stormed the hideout in the province of Moujamaa`, 93 miles north of Riyadh, on the weekend after receiving tips about the hideout.
Looks like they weren't the only ones being tipped
The source said the suspects using the hideout are believed to be Abdel Rahman Meteeb, Mohammed Suweilami, Abdullah Tuweijeri and Ibrahim Matir. They are all included in an official list of 36 most wanted terrorists made public by the Saudi authorities last June. No suspected terrorists were found in the raid but police reported taking a large amount of hand grenades and automatic rifle magazines.
"Missed them by that much."
Posted by: Steve ||
09/26/2005 10:27 ||
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It's fare easier to create an air tight cordon around a terrorist hideout when ther's no one left in it.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
09/26/2005 10:52 Comments ||
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My question is how many casulties amoung the Saudi security forces? They can't do a 'storming' without someone getting hurt.
Can I get me a... unlikely license here? Irish Republican Army gives up entire arsenal, disarmament commission says
By Shawn Pogatchnik, Associated Press Writer | September 26, 2005
BELFAST, Northern Ireland --The Irish Republican Army has given up its entire arsenal of weapons, demonstrating that its 35-year campaign to overthrow Northern Ireland by force is really over, the Canadian general who supervised the tortuous process said Monday.
"We are satisfied that the arms decommissioning represents the totality of the IRA's arsenal," said John de Chastelain, a retired Canadian general who since 1997 has led efforts to disarm the outlawed IRA.
The material included ammunition, rifles, machine guns, mortars, missiles, handguns and baby carriages explosives, and all were rendered "permanently inaccessible or permanently unusable," de Chastelain told a news conference.
The IRA followed up the announcement with a brief statement of its own that concluded: "The IRA leadership can now confirm that the process of putting our arms verifiably beyond use has been completed."
Ian Paisley, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, which has resisted dealing with the IRA's political allies, was not persuaded.
While he accepted that the IRA had disposed of some weapons, Paisley said the process was not transparent and gave no assurance that all the weapons were gone. Trust, but verify...
"You can't build the bridge of trust with the scaffolding of lies and underhand deals," Paisley told a news conference. He accused of the British and Irish governments of "duplicity and dishonesty" in accepting the IRA's assurances.
"I think once they make sure there are no firecrackers left in Belfast, he might be satisfied," U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., who co-chairs the Ad Hoc Committee on Irish Affairs in Congress, said in Springfield, Mass. "But his political party, particularly those who are 25 or 30 years younger, see this as the way forward. And my hunch is that the Rev. Paisley, perhaps by December or January, will see this as the way forward as well."
The IRA permitted two independent witnesses -- a Methodist minister and a Roman Catholic priest close to Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams -- to view the secret disarmament work conducted by officials from Canada, Finland and the United States.
"Successive British governments have sought final and complete decommissioning by the IRA for over 10 years," British Prime Minister Tony Blair said. "Failure to deliver it had become a major impediment to moving forward the peace process. Today it is finally accomplished. And we have made an important step in the transition from conflict to peace in Northern Ireland."
Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern said he accepted the word of de Chastelain and his colleagues.
"These are men of integrity. Their words are clear, and they are welcome."
Earlier in the day, De Chastelain gave representatives of the British and Irish governments a confidential report on his work.
He said the decommissioning was completed Saturday and that he had checked and counted all the weapons involved. Rest of story at link...
Two powerful bombs slammed into the armoured convoy of Ingush Prime Minister Ibragim Malgasov as he headed for his Magas office on Aug 25, killing one bodyguard and sending Malgasov to hospital.
A week later, the republic's security chief narrowly escaped when a gunman opened fire on him.
Kidnappings, bombings and assassinations have become routine in Russia's southern republic of Ingushetia, where an increasingly bold Islamist insurgency has killed more than 100 police and officials over the past two years and dragged the tiny mountainous region to the brink of anarchy.
"These attacks against me and my officials are the work of desperate men who want to destabilize the situation in southern Russia," says Ingushetia's pro-Kremlin president, Murat Zyazikov, who survived a suicide bombing last year.
"They want to create chaos here, but they are bound to fail."
As the war in Ingushetia's neighbouring Chechnya grinds into its seventh year, conflicts are spreading around the north Caucasus, a mountainous wedge between the Black and Caspian seas that has been a zone of tension since being conquered by Russia in the 19th century.
The region is a crazy quilt of warring ethnic groups and rival religions that makes Europe's other tangled knot, the Balkans, look tame by comparison.
Many experts say Moscow's grip, iron-hard in Soviet times, has slipped disastrously in recent years.
"The Chechen conflict is spilling into neighbouring republics, escalating the process of destabilization," says Alexei Malashenko, an analyst with the Carnegie Center in Moscow.
"A big explosion across the north Caucasus cannot be excluded."
At the Caspian edge of the north Caucasus arc is Dagestan, with 32 constituent ethnic groups, where Islamist rebels stage almost daily bombings and ambushes against Russian security forces.
To Ingushetia's south are two breakaway republics, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which are locked in long-simmering wars of independence against the post-Soviet state of Georgia.
To the west is traditionally-Christian North Ossetia, hereditary enemy of the mainly-Muslim Ingush, with whom they fought a savage border war in 1992.
The Kremlin has tried to maintain its authority by easing out "unreliable" local leaders, such as former Ingush president Ruslan Aushev, and replacing them with loyalists like the KGB veteran Zyazikov.
"This tactic is not working," says Alexander Iskanderyan, head of the Yerevan-based Center for Caucasian Studies.
"Moscow imagines that exchanging 'bad' officials with 'good' ones will change things, but the main trend we see is a steady loss of control."
Passions in Ingushetia and North Ossetia are still seething over the Beslan school massacre a year ago.
On Sept. 1, 2004, a squad of 32 terrorists, most of them ethnic Ingush, drove from Ingushetia and seized 1,200 hostages in Beslan's School No. 1, just across the border in North Ossetia.
Three days later, amid circumstances that remain murky, Russian security forces launched a massive assault of the building, leaving 331 people dead, half of them children.
Zyazikov and other pro-Kremlin officials deny any local causes and blame the outrage on "international terrorism" imported into the region by al-Qaida-linked Islamic extremists from the Middle East.
But North Ossetia's acting president, Taimuraz Mamsurov, says the Beslan school siege was a deliberate attempt by "certain forces" to stir up ethnic war between Ingush and Ossetians.
"Tensions have increased (since Beslan), that's natural," he says. "But I think we've succeeded in restraining our people from fulfilling that scenario."
Others doubt the danger has passed.
"Everyone here is always talking about getting ready for war with the Ingush, to get even with them," says Madina Pedatova, a teacher at Beslan's newly built School No. 8.
"I'm terrified of it, but I'm sure it's coming."
If all-out Ingush-Ossetian war transpires, there will be no shortage of weaponry. Many men in the region privately admit to owning a Kalashnikov assault rifle; some speak of hidden stashes of heavier ordnance.
"It's no secret that when the U.S.S.R. was falling apart and the army was weakened, many people acquired guns," says Larissa Khabitsova, chairwoman of North Ossetia's parliament.
At stake, experts say, is Russia's fragile post-Soviet unity.
"When you look at the spreading instability across the region, it's hard to escape the feeling that we're living in a slow-motion collapse," says Malashenko. "And it's speeding up."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/26/2005 00:26 ||
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When we think of Sweden, we donât often affiliate the country with Mujahideen training camps. Indeed, as the jihad against America goes global, one group operating as the Army of Ansar Al-sunnah in Sweden have headed the call to defend the Ummah by establishing a small isolated training camp inside the country where brothers are trained before heading to Iraq and Afghanistan. The group recently released training videos which sent schock waves throughout Sweden, with fears that the country was becoming a target. Now the Mujahideen have issued a statement to assure the Swedish public to clarify their intentions and make their training activities known. We remind our viewers that the opinions and points of view expressed in this statement are those of the author and shall not be deemed to mean that they are necessarily those of Jihad Unspun, the publisher, editor, writers, contributors or staff.
Statement From The Army Of Ansar Al-Sunnah On Training Activities In Skane, Sweden
In The Name Of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
We wish to inform the Ummah that the Army of Ansar Al-Sunnah in Sweden are well trained to defend our holy countries and the greatest prophet 'Mohammed' "peace be upon him" having established a Mujahideen training camp located in Skane, Sweden.
We claim responsibility for the Skane training camp "demonstration videos" that have circulated recently throughout Sweden. As our videos show, we have a small isolated training camp in southern Sweden.
We wish to assure the people of Sweden that they should not fear our activities in the country as we operate only training facilities here in order to prepare our great and Holy Mujahideen for combat. We train all our Mujahideen with the help from Allah, who later travel as volunteers to countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq to fight the enemies of our Ummah.
This country has proven to be a strategically good choice as, if we had training camps in Afghanistan, Iraq or Bosnia for example, the US military would bomb it immediately however America will not bomb Sweden! This provides us with a safe haven for our training exercises.
The only person in Sweden that we want to capture and punish is Runar Soogard, may Allah give him the hardest punishment. Runar made a very nasty and derogatory speech about our Holy prophet 'Mohammed' (peace be upon him) and we put Runar on notice that his acts will not go unpunished. We will capture him sooner or later and he will get the hardest punishment in the name of Allah (SWT); we never forget our enemies!
Our training videos can be viewed at http://sunnahserver.x10hosting.com/ where our media division will upload videos and statements from us from time to time.
Please disregard the error made by an overzealous former member of our group who failed to follow our instructions not to intimidate the Swedish people in the text of these videos. May Allah (SWT) punish him for spreading false information in the name of Allah. This will not happen again and do not be afraid of any attacks in Sweden.
In closing we ask Allah to accept our work and grant victory to the Mujahideen and the Believers. Ameen.
Wa Assalamaleikum Wa Rahmatu Allahi Wa Barakatu!
Abi Abdillahi Dahir, Member
Army of Ansar Al-Sunnah, Sweden
Shaâban 20th 1426
September 24th 2005
Sleep well, Sweden. They're not coming for you. Yet.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/26/2005 14:25 ||
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however America will not bomb Sweden
Don't count on it.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
09/26/2005 14:45 Comments ||
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I did take exception to Runar's remarks also. He was too polite.
#10
This looks like a job for the Swedish Swim Team. The sight of their decadent sinful bodies should drive the pious ones back to their land of virtue where we can kill them.
#11
"When the Swedish Bikini Team parachuted in and stripped off their burkhas, it got a little better . . . ."
Posted by: Mike ||
09/26/2005 17:52 Comments ||
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OK, I have an interest, as, having lived there, learnt their language and worked there as a pleb, then been deported. It seemed, even then, strange they would rather have Turks and 'ranis sitting round drinking coffee all day. Reap what you sow, it's been a while coming.
Who is running that place? Last I heard it was 12 families, and a few companies, one a major security orginisation at Boston airport way back then, mistakes are made. With this going on now, unless it's scrappleface, this needs sorting, now.
#13
If the Swedes don't shut this camp down immediatly then they are activly aiding and abetting an enemy of the coalition and should be treated as such.
#17
This violates the neutrality of Sweden. If the camps are not found and closed down they should start watching their colective asses. Stuff they value could start blowing up.
Via FrontPage
Iranâs quest to become a nuclear power has galvanised the Balkan mafias, security sources have warned following the discovery of potentially lethal nuclear enrichment mat erial in the region.
Last week, Bulgarian customs officials prevented a car from crossing into Romania after discovering 3.5kg of hafnium, a metallic element that is used in the nuclear enrichment process and which could potentially be employed in the manufacture of radioactive âdirty bombsâ.
According to General Veleri Petrov, the Bulgarian police chief, the hafnium consignment, discovered at the Ruse border crossing point, was destined for a Romanian mafia with Middle Eastern connections. One Bulgarian and three Romanian nationals in the car were arrested. A Bulgarian police spokes man said the consignment of the rare metal was concealed on the person of the Bulgarian driver of the car.
On its own, hafnium is not radioactive. The consignment was âvirtually 100% pureâ and suitable for use in nuclear reactors as a control material.
Apart from its use in the nuclear industry, hafnium can also be transformed into a powerful explosive â one gram of hafnium having the potential, after sophisticated and expensive treatment, to emit gamma rays equivalent in power to 50 kilos of TNT. Because of this it is highly sought after by Middle Eastern terrorist armourers.
Hafnium is difficult and very expensive to refine. Bulgaria does not possess the technology to produce pure hafnium, the spokesman said, adding that the origin of the consignment was unknown. But, clearly, money is no object for the shadowy end-users .
The Sunday Herald has learned from Romanian sources that an Arab-dominated Bucharest mafia was the intermediary in the hafnium deal. The sources could not give the intended final destination of the consignment, but the âworking hypothesisâ of Balkan police forces is that âit is linked to Iranâs nuclear questâ. Then again, there are always al-Qaeda armourers keen to buy dirty bomb material.
Professor Marina Nizamska, head of the Bulgarian Atomic Energy Commissionâs special measures department, said hafnium, though not radioactive, is on the UNâs proscribed list of double- purpose materials that have both military and civilian uses. It has special uses in making rockets and bombs, as well as in the manufacture of television tubes. Rest at link.
Posted by: ed ||
09/26/2005 09:36 ||
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French police on Monday detained nine people suspected of ties to a fundamentalist Algerian militant group possibly planning to attack France, officials said. In Italy, police searched some 20 apartments and offices around the city of Milan that may be linked to 11 Algerians suspected of sending money to the same militant organization, the Salafist Group for Call and Combat. The Algerian-based group has declared its allegiance to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network. No one was arrested in the Italian raids and it was not immediately clear whether the raids in the two countries were coordinated.
French television station LCI said the group, known by its French initials GSPC, was suspected of planning attacks in France. The GSPC is the most structured group among Algerian Islamic insurgents battling the North African state since 1992 in a bid to topple the government. In recent years, it has turned its sights on jihad, or holy war, beyond Algerian borders. The French sweep was part of an investigation opened in July by anti-terror judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere, said judicial officials who will only speak on condition of anonymity.
The 11 Algerian suspects in Italy are under investigation for international terrorism, said Mariano La Malfa, an official with the Milan financial police who led the operation. He said four of the 11 suspects are already in prison on arms trafficking convictions.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/26/2005 08:55 ||
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A Spanish court has jailed a man accused of heading a Spanish al-Qaeda cell for 27 years for helping to organise the 9/11 attacks in the US.
Imad Yarkas was jailed along with 17 other men convicted on charges of aiding al-Qaeda. Two others accused of involvement in the attacks were among six cleared in Europe's biggest terror trial. A journalist for Arabic TV network al-Jazeera was also jailed for seven years for collaborating with al-Qaeda. The 17 men convicted were sentenced to between six and 11 years in jail for a range of offences. But the judges dismissed evidence of recorded telephone calls used by the prosecution, saying they were misleading and often based on misunderstandings of the Arabic language.
The case pre-dated the Madrid bombing in March 2004 that killed 191 people and has been seen as a testing ground before the trial of those suspected of involvement in the bombing begins next year. The defendants included Syrian-born Imad Yarkas, the alleged head of an al-Qaeda cell in Spain. Yarkas, 42, was accused of heading a cell that allegedly provided funding and logistics for the people who planned the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Along with co-defendant Driss Chebli, he is said to have set up a meeting in June 2001, which was allegedly attended by at least one of the attack ringleaders, Mohammed Atta.
The third, Ghasoub al-Abrash Ghalyoun, was accused of filming the twin towers and other targets, material which was passed on to al-Qaeda operatives. Yarkas has dismissed the trial as a farce, denied knowledge of al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden and condemned the 11 September attacks.
The other defendants - mostly men born in Syria or Morocco - were charged with belonging to a terrorist group, but not of planning for 11 September. They faced sentences of nine to 21 years if convicted. Among them was a journalist from the Arabic TV station al-Jazeera, Tayssir Alouni, who interviewed Bin Laden after the attacks, jailed for seven years for collaboration.
Throughout the trial defence lawyers argued that the case consisted of doubts and suspicions but little concrete evidence. All the defendants were part of a group of 41 suspects indicted by Judge Baltasar Garzon.
Judge Garzon has said that Spain was a key base for hiding, helping, recruiting and financing al-Qaeda members in the lead-up to the attacks on New York and Washington.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/26/2005 08:42 ||
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Yarkas wasn't just jailed. That still implies the presumption of innocence. He was convicted and sentenced to 27 years for conspiracy and leadership of a terrorist organization. Same for the other scum.
Posted by: ed ||
09/26/2005 9:09 Comments ||
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A key suspect in the Madrid train bombings was yesterday extradited to Spain from Serbia. Abdelmajid Bouchar, 22, a Moroccan, arrived at Getafe air base, near Madrid, guarded by four Interpol agents.
He escaped from a flat in Madrid three weeks after the bombings as police closed in on a group of prime suspects.
Bouchar, a competitive distance runner, was taking out the rubbish when he noticed the police, shouted a warning to the others and fled, according to an anti-terrorism judge.
When police surrounded the suburban flat, seven suspects inside blew themselves up with a batch of the stolen dynamite used in the bombings, investigators said. The blast also killed a police special agent.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/26/2005 00:09 ||
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(CNSNews.com) - An Islamic advocacy group is urging American Muslims "and other people of conscience" to contact their elected representatives and urge them to sign a House resolution recognizing the upcoming fast of Ramadan -- and commending Muslims for their faith.
The Wahabi Lobby Council on American-Islamic Relations calls the resolution an important tool for encouraging dialogue between Muslims and their elected officials, as well as enhancing understanding of the Islamic faith. The resolution, which expresses the opinion of Congress, mentions threats and attacks conducted and funded by directed at members of the Islamic faith since the 9/11 terror attacks.
It then resolves that:
"(1) during this time of conflict, in order to demonstrate solidarity with and support for members of the community of Islam in the United States and throughout the world, the House of Representatives recognizes the Islamic faith as one of the great religions of the world; and
"(2) in observance of and out of respect for the commencement of Ramadan...the House of Representatives acknowledges the onset of Ramadan and expresses its deepest respect to Muslims in the United States and throughout the world on this significant occasion."
Ramadan is expected to begin on October 4 or 5 this year, depending on the sighting of the new moon. It is the month in which Muslims kill infidels abstain from food, drink and other sensual pleasures from dawn to sunset for the sake of killing infidelsspiritual renewal.
CAIR said it is asking mosques and Islamic centers nationwide to host a "Sharing Ramadan" Iftar, or fast-breaking meal, to enhance understanding of Islam and to encourage Americans of all faiths meet their Muslims neighbors.
Go ahead Congress, we'll be watching
It's different for Moose-limbs, ya know.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/26/2005 08:45 ||
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Does Michael A. Newdow, know about this? If he can win his case with the 9th circuit, then this should not even be addressed.
Posted by: John D. Government Worker ||
09/26/2005 13:19 Comments ||
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I got your recognition right here, beauzeaux.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/26/2005 15:38 Comments ||
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For the past few years, we've already done a combo Ramadan/Mohammed's birthday recognition every year on Sept. 11.. Any more recognition may force us to bring out the fireworks.
Posted by: ed ||
09/26/2005 15:47 Comments ||
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Like it Ed, Ramadan fireworks. Yeah. Seriously, 1 National Salute at the sighting of the new moon would be good clean American Fun.
#7
Maybe Congress should establish Ash Wednesday (the beginning of the Christian Lenten season) as a National Holiday. Plus the Jewish equivalent, if they have one. And the Hindu festival. And Buddhist, and Wiccan,...
Otherwise, it seems to me they are just establishing a religion, or at least recognizing one more than others.
Seems to me there is something in the Bill of Rights against that, but who cares about that old thing?
(CBS/AP) The No. 2 al Qaeda leader in Iraq was killed Sunday night, U.S. officials say. Abu Azzam, reportedly the deputy to Abu Musab al Zarqawi, was shot during a house raid in Baghdad, according to Pentagon officials. As the aide to Zarqawi, Azzam was reportedly in control of financing foreign fighters coming into Iraq, CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports. Read the rest
Army Pfc. Lynndie England, whose smiling poses in photos of detainee abuse at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison made her the face of the scandal, was convicted Monday by a military jury on six of seven counts. England, 22, was found guilty of one count of conspiracy, four counts of maltreating detainees and one count of committing an indecent act. She was acquitted on a second conspiracy count.
The jury of five male Army officers took about two hours to reach its verdict. Her case now moves into the sentencing phase, which will determined by the same jury. She faces a maximum 10 years in prison.
Fort Leavenworth is lovely this time of year.
England's trial is the last for a group of nine Army reservists charged with mistreating prisoners at Abu Ghraib in Iraq. Two others were convicted in trials and the remaining six made plea deals. Several of those soldiers testified at England's trial.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/26/2005 16:04 ||
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Must have been a Special Courts Martial rather than a General Courts Martial. Wonder why? Lesser penalties? England could have requested a General instead, but took the Special, maybe she already anticipated the outcome.
Fort Leavenworth is lovely this time of year.
So, so. Its that seasonal change period that is accompanied by the potential for tornados. Sort of nasty when you watch the clouds building strength above the Missouri sucking water out of the river. Most of the time, they usually just drift towards North Kansas City and the trailer parks. Unfortunately, by the time they process her through classification, it'll be too late to issue her a orange jumpsuit to join the grounds keeping teams from the USDB to police all that nice fall leaf collection.
#3
Bad move Lyndie, never should have turned down the offer for a lesser sentence. She will get an appeal because her lawyer is clearly stupid. But by that time she will have had a few months in the brig. She would not have gotten better treatment in a General Courts Martial, even if she had enlisted on the panel. Everyone in uniform hates these yahoos for making their job in the middle east that much harder. I will be surprised if she doesn't get close to the max sentence.
Insurgents dragged five Shiite Muslim schoolteachers and their driver into a classroom, lined them against a wall and gunned them down Monday _ slayings in Iraq's notorious Triangle of Death that reflect the enflamed sectarian divisions ahead of a crucial constitutional referendum. The shooting was a rare attack on a school amid Iraq's relentless violence, and it was particularly stunning since the gunmen targeted teachers in a school where the children were mainly Sunnis.
Why are you stunned? Can't have those icky Shiites teaching Sunni children, why they might grow up liking them.
Elsewhere Monday, a suicide attack and roadside bombings killed 10 Iraqis and three Americans, bringing to at least 52 the number of people killed in the past two days. The Iraqi and U.S. governments have warned that Sunni Arab insurgents are likely to increase their attacks ahead of the Oct. 15 national referendum.
Shiite leaders have called on their followers to refrain from revenge attacks against Sunnis, fearing a civil war could result, though Sunnis have accused Shiite militias of carrying out some killings of Sunni figures. But in one of the first public calls for individual Shiites to take action, a prominent Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Mohammed al-Yaaqubi, issued a religious edict Monday allowing his followers to 'kill terrorists before they kill.' 'Self-restraint does not mean surrender. ... Protecting society from terrorists is a religious duty,' al-Yaaqubi said. He also called on Shiites to 'deepen dialogue with Sunnis' who are not 'terrorists or Saddamists.'
Earlier this month, al-Qaida's leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, declared 'all-out war' on Shiites and vowed to kill anyone participating in the referendum. Leaders of Iraq's Sunni minority are calling on their followers to vote against the constitution and defeat a charter they believe will fracture the country and seal the domination of the Shiite majority. U.S. and Iraqi officials tried to rally Sunni support for the referendum by releasing 500 detainees from Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad to mark the coming Islamic holy month of Ramadan, a step called for by Sunni leaders.
There have been few attacks on schools in Iraq, which have little protection _ though children are constant witnesses to, and sometimes victims of, the violence. Classes had just ended at the Al-Jazeera Elementary School in the village of Muelha, 30 miles south of Baghdad, when the shooting took place at about 1:15 p.m. Police Capt. Muthana Khaled said that as five Shiite teachers got into a minivan to head home, two cars pulled up carrying gunmen wearing police uniforms as a disguise. The nine gunmen forced the teachers and their driver out of the van in front of students who were milling outside the school. The attackers dragged the six men into an empty classroom, lined them against a wall and shot them to death, Khaled said. The gunmen escaped.
Muelha is a Sunni-majority community in a region of villages with mixed Sunni-Shiite populations. The mix has made the area south of Baghdad a tinderbox of frequent shootings and bombings, mostly by Sunni insurgents targeting Shiite civilians. As a result, the region is sometimes called the Triangle of Death. In the same region, a suicide attacker detonated his car in a market in the town of Iskandariyah hours after the school shooting, wounding six people, Police Capt. Adel Ketab said. A day earlier, a bomb on a bicycle ripped through a market in Musayyib, just south of Muelha, killing at least six.
Farther south, gunmen on Monday assassinated a senior Shiite official from the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq in the town of Qurna, near Basra, said Haytham al-Hussein, an aide to the leader of the party, one of the main factions in the government. The gunmen kidnapped Azhar Qassem Abdul Wahid as he was leaving SCIRI headquarters, Police Cap. Mushtaq Kadhim said. His bullet-riddled body was found handcuffed and dumped by a roadside.
In other violence Monday, a suicide car bomber in Baghdad attacked a police checkpoint guarding the oil ministry and several other government buildings, hitting a private bus carrying 24 ministry employees to work, said police Capt. Nabil Abdel Qadir. The blast killed at least seven policemen and three people on the bus and wounded 36 people, Qadir said
A roadside bombing in western Baghdad killed two American soldiers, and a third U.S. soldier was killed in a bombing about 50 miles southeast of the capital, the military said. The deaths raised to 1,917 the number of U.S. service members who have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
In the north, a top aide to al-Zarqawi surrendered to police in the city of Mosul, Iraqi army Brig. Gen. Ali Attalah said. The aide, Abdul Rahman Hasan Shahin, was one of the most wanted figures in Mosul, Attalah said.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/26/2005 15:52 ||
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U.S. and Iraqi authorities freed 500 detainees from the notorious Abu Ghraib prison which is less notorious than when Saddam ran it on Monday in a goodwill gesture to Sunnis ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. After a brief ceremony outside the prison on the outskirts of Baghdad, the 500 freed detainees left the area on public buses. They were the first of 1,000 to be freed before Ramadan begins next week, the U.S. military said. ...
Posted by: ed ||
09/26/2005 09:16 ||
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#1
"Release the cabin boys"...now there's the ticket. Allowing the terrs to reload prior to the election on the constitution doesn't make sense to me. But hey, what do I know? I just want to see 'em dead. (I hate reading stories that say 10 killed and 50 captured. I'd prefer to read 50 killed and 10 captured.)
#4
As a goodwill gesture ahead of Ramadan? Just because this is a tradition amongst the various sultans and caliphs does not mean Americans should do it. After all, we don't courtesy to the Queen of England, being as we have no Sovereign, which makes us equal to her.
#5
Wonder what LTC Erik Kurilla thinks about this? Recommend any uniforms involved have the LTC made their senior rater. Can't wait to read the 'judgement' section of the eval. "God, only knows how the poor creature even got a commission.
The U.S. military has determined that 80 percent of the Al Qaida network has been captured or killed.
Officials said the breakthrough against Al Qaida took place over the last four months. They said a series of strikes in northern and western Iraq have eliminated senior Al Qaida commanders as well as disrupted the flow of insurgents and weapons from neighboring Syria.
Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner, deputy commanding general of Multinational Force-Northwest in Iraq, told a Defense Department teleconference on Sept. 23 that U.S. and Iraqi troops have disrupted about 80 percent of Al Qaida's network. Bergner, an army officer, based his assessment on the detention and killing of the leadership as well as the disruption of the group's resources.
"Eighty percent of the network has been affected by our operations, and when I say affected I mean in terms of either disrupting the flow of resources to them, disrupting the flow of people that participate in those terrorist acts, disrupting the leadership, and so forth," Bergner said. "Now the challenge is, you've got to keep them from reconstituting and continue to keep that pressure on."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/26/2005 00:24 ||
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After all these body blows, it's time to go for the head.
#2
We'll be able to judge by the level of attacks over Ramadan.
It is, however, interesting that Sadr is acting up again. It may be an indication that he believes Al-Qaeda is on the ropes and he can now make his own moves.
U.S. troops clashed with Shiite militiamen, rekindling tensions between coalition forces and followers of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, as bombers killed at least 24 in other attacks.
Nine people were killed, including five police commandos from the anti-terrorist "Wolf Brigade," when a suicide bomber drove an explosives-laden car into a police convoy in southeastern Baghdad. Twelve people were wounded.
The Al-Qaeda Organization in the Land of Two Rivers, the group headed by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, claimed responsibility for the attack in an unverified statement posted on an Islamist Web site.
Seven others, two of them children, were killed and four wounded when two mortar shells exploded in a commercial street in the center of Samarra, north of Baghdad, police said.
"The attackers apparently targeted a nearby Iraqi base but missed," said police captain Akram Kamel.
Two civilians were also killed and another 68 wounded when a bicycle bomb exploded in a busy street in the mainly Shiite town of Hilla south of the capital.
Later in the day, six civilians were killed and 19 others wounded as a car bomb exploded in the town of Musayyib, 55 kilometers south of Baghdad, local police said.
Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy called for "an international conference on Iraq with all the political parties in Iraq, to be able to think of tomorrow so that Iraq remains one country and there will not be any partition by one side or the other."
British Prime Minister Tony Blair admitted that the insurgency was proving more ferocious than he had anticipated, but nevertheless vowed to keep British troops in the country until they end their mission.
"I didn't expect quite the same sort of ferocity from every single element in the Middle East that came in and was doing their best to disrupt the political process," Blair told BBC television.
The prime minister however refused to confirm a newspaper report that Britain and the United States would present a blueprint to the Iraqi Parliament next month for British troops to begin withdrawing as early as May.
"The time scale [for withdrawal] is when the job is done," Blair said.
Clashes erupted in Baghdad's Shiite bastion of Sadr City overnight, with an Interior Ministry official saying 10 militiamen loyal to Sadr had been killed after Iraqi-U.S. forces entered the impoverished district in search of Mehdi Army leaders.
The fighting follows a week of rising tension in the southern city of Basra between British forces and Sadr's outlawed Mehdi Army militia after the dramatic arrest and release of two British undercover soldiers.
A U.S. military statement said the clashes lasted 90 minutes and Iraqi and U.S. forces killed "five to eight" armed assailants. No U.S. forces were hurt.
"I am concerned about the events early this morning, but I do not believe this action reflects a pattern of change leading to more violence," U.S. Colonel Joseph DiSalvo, Commander of coalition forces in East Baghdad said in a statement.
"I am working with Iraqi leaders in Sadr City to keep the situation calm," he added.
"We're not confronting the enemy without orders from Najaf," he added, referring to the holy Shiite city which is home to Sadr, who launched two uprisings last year against U.S. forces in which hundreds of his militants were killed.
In another incident involving the Mehdi militia, demonstrators gathered outside a courthouse south of Baghdad, calling for the release of 17 arrested Mehdi Army members, a lawyer said.
U.S. forces also raided a Sadr office in the northern town of Kirkuk, according to sources close to Sadr.
In other violence, gunmen in Baghdad got away with $850,000 dollars after holding up a Finance Ministry bus and killing two police guards, an Interior Ministry official said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/26/2005 00:17 ||
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I heard that al-Sadrites lead with their faces in street-fights. However, one at a time isn't enough. Bring out the napalm.
Posted by: Vlad the Muslim Impaler ||
09/26/2005 2:29 Comments ||
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I heard that al-Sadrites lead with their faces in street-fights. However, one at a time isn't enough. Bring out the napalm.
Posted by: Vlad the Muslim Impaler ||
09/26/2005 2:30 Comments ||
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Ouch! That double post is a mystery. It usually happens when I hit the "back" button instead of the Rantburg logo, after posting. Sorry for using a Mac (POJ).
Posted by: Vlad the Muslim Impaler ||
09/26/2005 2:31 Comments ||
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It's long past time for Tater to join the ranks of the dear departed. Kill him--and do it openly, just as the Israelis do with Hamas leaders. Send a LOUD message to the Shia bastards associated with this pig that the adults won't tolerate his brand of obstruction anymore.
Posted by: mac ||
09/26/2005 5:46 Comments ||
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my dell does the same thign with the back button and double posting
#7
Kill Sadar already. Hang his corpse from a streetlamp and show we mean fucking buisness. Enought of this State department nice, nice crap! We get more of our own people and good Iraqis killed that way!
Iraq's Al Qaeda wing says it carried out Sunday's suicide car bombing, which killed 13 Iraqi police commandos. "A lion brother of the martyrs brigade on Sunday launched a heroic attack on a convoy of apostate commandos," a statement, posted on a website previously used by Iraqi militant groups, said. The statement could not be immediately authenticated.
Iraqi police say the car bomber targeted the police commando patrol as they travelled on a highway in the east of the capital. Police say 10 commandos were also wounded.
The bomb followed clashes between US troops and Shiite militiamen in the eastern Baghdad district of Sadr City. Police say eight militia fighters were killed and five were wounded in the fighting.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/26/2005 00:04 ||
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This whole car-bombing thing worked out so well in the end for the Palestinians. It's no wonder that Zark wants to copy their success.
A suicide car bomber attacked an elite Iraqi police unit in Baghdad on Sunday and killed 13 people in the worst of several outbursts of violence to hit the country. Iraqi police said the car bomber targeted a patrol of specialist police commandos as they were traveling on a highway in the east of the capital. All those killed were from the commando unit and 10 others were wounded, police said.
The bomb followed clashes overnight between U.S. troops and Shi'ite militiamen loyal to cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in the eastern Baghdad district of Sadr City. Police said eight militia fighters were killed and five wounded in the fighting.
South of the capital, in the city of Hilla, a bomber on a bicycle rode into a crowded fruit and vegetable market and blew himself up, killing four, including a woman and child, and wounding 48, police said. The string of attacks comes three weeks before Iraq holds a referendum on a new draft constitution and amid a general increase in unrest both in central areas and in the southern city of Basra, where Shi'ite militia have fought British troops. The U.S. military has said it expects a surge in violence in the run-up to the referendum, set for October 15, with Iraqis strongly divided over a document that was supposed to unite them and lay the foundations for a more stable future.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2005 00:00 ||
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The Multi-National Force (MNF) on Sunday announced the arrest of more than 80 suspected terrorists and seized a number of weapons caches in northern Iraq. An MNF press release said that the Iraqi and US forces seized four weapons caches, arrested 13 suspected terrorists, killed one terrorist, and wounded two others in several operations on Friday and Sunday. It added that the Iraqi Police on Friday clashed with gunmen and wounded two of them in Mosul, noting that one of them managed to escape, while the other was transported to hospital.
It also said that the US forces on Sunday seized four weapons caches in a burst and search operation in Tal Afar, noting that the caches included detonators, shells, gas cylinders, mortar rounds, mines, grenades, machineguns, explosives, remote detonators, protection masks, various types of ammunitions, rocket-propelled grenades, rockets, and medical supplies. The press release said that the MNF killed three insurgents and arrested 72 others since Wednesday in Tal Afar nearby the Syrian-Iraqi borders and in Mosul.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2005 00:00 ||
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Burst and search?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
09/26/2005 14:28 Comments ||
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A group of unknown gunmen on Sunday killed two security guards and stole USD 850,000 in western Baghdad. Iraqi Police sources told reporters that the gunmen ambushed a convoy of armored vehicles transporting money for the Finance Ministry in the area of Al-Mansour in western Baghdad, killing two security guards and stealing 850, 000 US dollars. The source added that the gunmen fled the scene, while the Iraqi Police executed a burst and search operation to arrest the gang.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2005 00:00 ||
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this is no good. iraq needs the money to rebuild infrastructure, pay police and army
Six Iraqi soldiers were wounded last night when their patrol was ambushed north of Baghdad, said the Iraqi Army on Sunday. An Iraqi Army source told reporters that a roadside bomb exploded on Saturday, targeting a moving Iraqi Army patrol nearby the town of Al-Tooz north of Baghdad, noting that gunmen opened fire on the patrol after the blast. The source added that six soldiers were wounded in the attack, noting that the Iraqi forces cordoned off the area and executed a burst and search operation to arrest the attackers, who fled the scene.
Meanwhile, an Iraqi Police source said that four dead bodies of Iraqi citizens were found in the area of Shu'lah in Baghdad. The source said that the bodies were handcuffed and shot in the head.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2005 00:00 ||
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Maybe we should have a mildly overweight lady graphic for this kind of operation...
An Israeli air strike has killed the top leader of Islamic Jihad in the southern Gaza Strip along with his bodyguard, signalling a return to Israel's policy of assassinations, Palestinian and Israeli officials say. Also on Sunday night, a senior Hamas leader announced a halt to attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip.
"We quit! Don't kill us all! We wuz just a-funnin'!"
The assassination came after Israel launched a massive arrest campaign and an air strike that damaged a school in Gaza City and wounded 15 people, including children.
In response to how many Qassam rocket attacks, al-Jizz?
Sunday night's air strike targeted a Mercedes driving along a coastal road in Gaza City carrying Islamic Jihad leader Muhammad Khalil, said Muhammad Dahdouh, another leader of the group. The attack was at least the fourth Israeli attempt to kill Khalil in recent years.
As we've pointed out on numerous occasions, you only have to succeed once. Unless he's a Hindoo, of course. They keep coming back, but maybe you'll be lucky and it'll be as a dragon fly or something...
The group called for revenge™ and its members threatened to abandon a ceasefire in effect since February, Reuters reported.
What do you call a ceasefire where one side makes free to launch missiles, however inaccurately, at the other side at will?
Khalil's car was destroyed. A large crowd swarmed around the remains, and several people, including a man with medical gloves, dug through the charred wreckage.
"CAR SWARM! Get the kids!"
The army said Khalil was responsible for several deadly terrorist attacks, including the 2 May 2004 shooting attack that killed Tali Hatuel, a pregnant Israeli settler, and her four young daughters as they drove along the main road to Israel's main bloc of Gaza settlements. Khalil's bodyguard was also killed in the attack, according to health officials. Four bystanders were slightly wounded. Atef Qatrous, 22, said he was leaving work when he saw a missile hit the car. One of those inside was decapitated and the other was badly wounded, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2005 00:00 ||
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Fred---Maybe a dead skunk in the middle of the road pic will do for the Paleo snuffies.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/26/2005 0:45 Comments ||
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They keep coming back, but maybe you'll be lucky and it'll be as a dragon fly or something...
Yeah, that would be good for everybody. But unfortunately, all the bad ones get sent to Pakistan, the equivalent of "hell", which ultimately ends up being bad for us.
/reincarnation theory
Posted by: Rafael ||
09/26/2005 1:20 Comments ||
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Atef Qatrous, 22, said he was leaving work when he saw a missile hit the car.
Yo Atef, was it a Have Light, Popeye, or one of the ol' standbys? The kid's got good eyes.
Posted by: Rafael ||
09/26/2005 1:34 Comments ||
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A large crowd swarmed around the remains, and several people, including a man with medical gloves, dug through the charred wreckage.
Only one of them had gloves on?
God, I hope one of the recently smeared had a nasty, blood-borne disease.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
09/26/2005 7:47 Comments ||
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i'm sure alot of them had some sort of life shortening disease
#7
An Israeli air strike has killed the top leader of Islamic Jihad in the southern Gaza Strip along with his bodyguard, signalling a return to Israel's policy of assassinations, Palestinian and Israeli officials say.
#8
Israel is wasting time taking the Paleos out one at a time. Need to start an artillery barrage, march it from one end of Gaza to the other, then from the Israeli "blue line" to the Med. Anything still breathing should be shipped to Nepal as slave labor.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/26/2005 21:12 Comments ||
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The Israeli occupation army has arrested two Palestinian journalists in the West Bank. Israeli troops on Sunday arrested Nizar Ramadan, 38, a journalist from Hebron, Ramadan's family members said. Ramadan writes for the Jerusalem-based Arabic daily Al-Quds newspaper, IslamOnline and Aljazeera's Arabic website. "They (Israeli soldiers) came around 3:30am - they banged on the door violently," said Ramadan's oldest son, Muntasir Ramadan, 14. "And when we opened, they herded all of us into the small veranda. Then they thoroughly searched all the rooms, including my father's office-room, but found nothing."
"Wot the hell is this?"
"Nothing, effendi! It is nothing!"
"They handcuffed my dad and dragged him with them," Ramadan said. "We don't know where he is now."
My guess would be in jug. What's yours?
Nizar Ramadan had been arrested several times in the past in connection with his political activities and alleged relationship with the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas.
So it wasn't really that much of a surprise...
In Jenin, in the northern West Bank, the Israeli army arrested Nael Mahmoud Nakhleh, from the village of Shagba near Jenin. Nakhleh works for a number of publications, including the Al-Quds newspaper and the Saudi newspaper Al-Jazeera. An Israeli army spokesman declined to say why the two journalists were arrested.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2005 00:00 ||
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I'm a journalist. Here's my press card. I'm a journalist, I tell you --- bomb making is just a hobby.
Israeli has launched another series of rocket attacks on militant targets in various parts of the Gaza Strip. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
I trust Moshe and Avie are good shots.
Earlier, missiles hit an open area in the northern Gaza Strip and buildings in the south of the territory, from which Israel pulled troops two weeks ago.
The assault follows dozens of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel in the last few days. The latest attacks come after the most senior leader of the Islamic group Hamas said gunmen in Gaza will stop attacking Israel and abide by a de facto truce. "The movement declares an end to its operations from the Gaza Strip against the Israeli occupation, which came ... in response to the assaults by the enemy," Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar said.
Mr Zahar also called for an end to all rocket attacks on Israel from Gaza.
Especially when he's nearby ...
A senior Israeli official says Israel still considered Hamas - which is sworn to Israel's destruction - "an enemy" and that the group will only prove its intentions to stop attacks by disarming and dismantling their operations. "We take what they say very seriously," the official said. "The proof will be in the performance. As long as Hamas remains an armed group and is sworn to the destruction of Israel, it will remain an enemy and will be treated as such."
Posted by: Oztralian [AKA] God Save The World ||
09/26/2005 00:00 ||
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Hamas seems to be under the impression that they can declare a bilateral truce any time, especially after they have attacked and don't want to be attacked back. "No fair hitting girls!"
#7
Israel's taking the initiative and deciding how much hurt and how long the smackdown lasts. I like it. Hamas seems to have forgotten they really didn't push the Jooooos out, they left on a strategic decision, and have a lot more smack where this came from.
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/26/2005 19:25 Comments ||
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GAZA -- Israeli Army General Israel Zief announced on Sunday that the Israeli forces may execute a ground operation in Gaza Strip. Zief told the Israeli Radio that the operation may target Palestinian groups firing missiles toward the Israeli cities. He added that the Hamas members entered the areas evacuated by the Israelis, which increased the range of their missiles. He also accused the Palestinian Authority of not exerting any efforts to end missile strikes. On using artilleries against Palestinians, the general said that the Israeli forces will do everything possible to stop missile strikes.
Earlier today, The Israeli forces detained more than 150 Palestinians in the West Bank, including two leaders in Hamas movement. The forces also invaded the city of Ramallah and burst into residential buildings and commercial stores to search for any wanted individuals. In the city of Nablus, the Israeli forces arrested a number of Palestinians, among them was Hamas leader Dr. Mohammad Ghazal. The forces also invaded the city of Tulkarem and its neighboring villages and arrested 13 members of Hamas. According to Palestinian sources, Hamas Representative Fathi Al-Qaran was among the detainees. Israeli warplanes continued to bomb Gaza Strip, targeting houses and Palestinian authorities.
Palestinian sources said that the Israeli F-16 warplanes bombed a school in northern Gaza Strip, wounding 22 Palestinians. The Israeli government announced on Saturday night that it decided to launch a military campaign, dubbed "First Rain" on Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Israeli media said that Sharon, by escalating military campaigns against the Palestinians, aims at gaining more support from his party.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2005 00:00 ||
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Hmmm... without any settlers around, I guess Gaza can be a free fire zone now.
Palestinian Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades announced responsibility on Sunday for shelling the Israeli city Sderot with three "Shehab 3" type missiles. The brigades said in a press release that the shelling comes in response for the Israeli massacres against Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and the Israeli assassination attempt of brigades' members in Khan Younis.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2005 00:00 ||
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Fierce tensions were rekindled in the Occupied Palestinian Territories on Sunday amid Israeli raids and attacks and mobilization on the part of Palestinian factions. Fateh's military wing Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades for one urged military response to Israeli violations against Palestinian civilians "in all territories where Israelis are present." A statement today also declared full mobilization and readiness to respond directly and immediately to any Israeli attack.
Israeli air forces had this morning launched a series of missile attacks on sites in Gaza Strip and injured 27 people. One of the missiles hit a house where two of the armed group's leaders in Khan Younis had just left. The brigades considered this 'an assassination attempt.' Meanwhile, Hamas' Ezziddine Al-Qassam Brigades declared today that its operatives this morning attacked Israeli Army locations with 10 Qassam missiles. A statement today said Qassam operatives bombarded the settlements of Netiv Haasara and Shaari with two missiles each in addition to launching four missiles on Abu Mutaibaq area east of Al-Bureih and another four on Kissufim Crossing. The brigades stressed this comes in retaliation over continued Israeli violations against the Palestinian people and, most recently, the assassination attempt in Gaza on two members yesterday.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2005 00:00 ||
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Holding hands is the new secret to small unit cohesion.
The government has agreed to halt offensives in two southern towns aimed at capturing Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani to allow displaced villagers and guerrillas to return home, officials and the rebels said Sunday.
Hundreds of soldiers, including US-trained commandos, have scoured the mountainous hinterlands of Talayan and Guindolongan towns in Maguindanao since July, but have failed to capture Janjalani, wanted by Manila and Washington for involvement in deadly terror attacks.
Officials and Moro Islamic Liberation Front guerrillas, engaged in talks with the government and helping in the search for Janjalani, said Philippine troops would stop fighting and withdraw by the end of the month to allow villagers to return home and MILF guerrillas to reoccupy their camps.
Hundreds of villagers abandoned their homes and MILF guerrillas withdrew from their camps to allow government troops to pursue Janjalani and his armed followers who were sighted in the area along with a number of suspected militants belonging to the al-Qaeda-linked Jema'ah Islamiyah. The MILF twice extended a deadline for the troops to end the assaults, according to both sides.
"Itâs important to put an end, a timeframe to these operations, because many villagers have been suffering and wanted to go back to their homes and farms," MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said.
Agreement in principle was forged by the government and the MILF during a Malaysian-brokered peace talks in Kuala Lumpur two weeks ago.
Both sides agreed to provide relief and livelihood to displaced villagers.
Silvestre Afable, chief government peace negotiator, said the troop withdrawal would allow villagers and MILF rebels to observe the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The militaryâs "high-value targets are no longer there," suggesting Janjalani was no longer in the area, he added.
Afable and Kabalu said the military could continue offensives elsewhere in the province, about 900 kilometers (560 miles) south of Manila.
Kabalu said Janjalani, along with two other Abu Sayyaf leadersâAbu Sulaiman and Isnilon Hapilonâhave reportedly split into small groups to avoid detection, never staying in the same spot longer than a week.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/26/2005 00:21 ||
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Damascus, 26 Sept. (AKI) - Syrian security forces first surrounded then raided a house where pro-democracy activists were meeting on Monday, destroying documents and ordering the gathering's participants to disperse. The broken-up meeting had been organised by the Commission for the Defence of Democratic Freedoms and Human Rights and was being held in Khan al-Shaykh, some 20 kilometres south of Damascus.
Human rights organisations in the country condemned the authorities' action. The president of the Syrian Centre for Judicial Research, Anwar al-Bunni joined the criticism, denouncing what he said was "the excessive means with which the Syrian government imposes its iron fist on Syrian society and uses force agains human rights and civil society activists. ""Syria is showing the world it has two faces, one: Islamic extremism, the other: the regime of the government," Bunni told Adnkronos International (AKI).
Posted by: Steve ||
09/26/2005 10:45 ||
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Human rights organisations in the country condemned the authorities' action.
And Human Rights Watch will be condemning it too, right?
#3
"Syria is showing the world it has two faces, one: Islamic extremism, the other: the regime of the government," Bunni told Adnkronos International (AKI).
This is the face I've always seen from Syria, however has a Bashir face that's hard to take seriously from a distance and the MSM has watered it down over the years. Syria/Iran are major dictator/terrorist countries, and that shouldn't be forgotten.
BEIRUT - Lebanese Interior Minister Hassan Sabaa warned on Monday that the countryâs prominent anti-Syrian figures could be targeted by the bombers behind Sundayâs attack on television journalist May Chidyac.
âAs long as we did not catch any of these attackersâŠall the options are open and more attacks are expected,â Sabaa was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile security chiefs met with Prime Minister Foaud Seniora early on Monday to review safety measures in the aftermath of Sundayâs attack, the latest in a spate of such bombings since the February 14 assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri. Chidyac, 40, a Christian news presenter and political talk show host with the Lebanese Broadcast Corporation (LBC), was maimed when a bomb exploded in her car in Jounieh, north of Beirut. The Hotel Dieu Hospital in Beirut, where Chidyac was transferred for surgery, said Monday in a statement that it could not save Chidyacâs left hand. âBoth her left leg and left hand were amputated,â the statement said. The statement added that Chidyac suffered a fractured right leg and pelvis, and extensive burns. âShe is still in a delicate condition âŠâ the statement added.
The Hariri family has sent a French medical team to oversee Chidyacâs condition while Saudi billionaire Prince Al Walid bin Talal, an LBC shareholder, has offered his private jet to fly Chidyac abroad for medical treatment. Meanwhile, sit-ins to condemn the attack were held on Monday outside Saint Josephâs University in Beirut where Chidyac teaches. Protests are scheduled to be held late on Monday in Beirutâs Central Martyrsâ Square - the scene of massive demonstrations following Haririâs assassination.
Chidyac is the first female public figure to be targeted in Lebanon, where even during the darkest days of the 1975-1990 civil war, attacks on women were considered off-limits. âWe believe that this attack is aimed at terrorizing the Lebanese through targeting a face that reaches them everyday...and is also a message to LBC and to the Christian Lebanese forces whom Chidyac strongly supports,â said Faisal Salman, a journalist with the daily As Safir newspaper.
The boomers only plan here seems to be to kill anyone who speaks out against them hoping to scare the oposition into backing down.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/26/2005 10:16 ||
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Pure selective terror. Wonder who's handiwork it was? Hmmmm.
Iran has warned that it would view the UN atomic watchdog's adopting European proposals to bring it before the Security Council as a "confrontation," in comments by a senior Iranian official.
The European Union has two draft proposals being circulated at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) which is to meet later Friday.
If either is adopted: "We consider them a confrontation because in both texts there is a reference and room for the Security Council," Iranian National Security Council deputy chief Javad Vaidi told reporters on Friday.
But Vaidi said the EU, and the United States, are have a "serious difficulty" winning a consensus for either measure at the IAEA's 35-nation board of governors which is meeting in Vienna this week.
"It is the issue going out of the IAEA that we will consider the track of confrontation," Vaidi said, adding that Iran wants "peaceful resolution of this issue and dialogue and of course negotiation."
The Security Council could at first urge cooperation and then impose sanctions to get Iran to stop work on the first steps of making nuclear fuel that has raised fears it might be secretly developing atomic weapons.
Iran insists its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only but has said it will react to Security Council referral by limiting cooperation with IAEA inspections and carry out the final steps in making nuclear fuel.
In Tehran, the head of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards warned Friday that the imposition of sanctions on the Islamic republic over its nuclear programme could push the price of oil to 100 dollars a barrel.
"Any sanction against Iran can make the oil price reach 100 dollars a barrel," General Yahya Rahim Safavi said in a speech to worshippers attending Friday prayers in Tehran.
Iran is OPEC's second largest producer.
"Any economic and political pressure on Iran from any power ... will result in a harsh reaction from Iran," he added.
The Islamic republic, the general asserted, "has a solid and unbeatable defence potential (and) can retaliate and attack the interests of the enemies in remote places."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/26/2005 00:33 ||
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The Islamic republic, the general asserted, "has a solid and unbeatable defence potential (and) can retaliate and attack the interests of the enemies in remote places."
I look forward to the upcoming DOD issue playing cards--Mad Mullah edition. This clown will surely rate a spot.
#2
I find them morbidly fascinating. As transparent as glass, as belligerent as it is possible to be, pre-attack, anyway, and "apparently" supremely confident that they will prevail. Are they insane? I think it's pretty clear they are - they "apparently" believe their own incessant bluff, bluster, and bullshit.
Is this the most dangerous moment freedom has ever faced? Yes, I believe so. Imagine the world with the MM's sitting atop most of the world's oil supply with deliverable nukes - and endless hard currency to buy any and all other forms of terror, with willing ChiComs plus Puttyputz & His Puppet Masters holding triangulation auctions.
We're in a race. Not just with preparing ourselves with high-probability action plans and accumulating and positioning the resources needed to execute them, but with our own failure of will from a thousand subversive cuts - before that moment of truth arrives.
#3
The Iran(t)ian is no different than the two bit thug, Saddam, when he used to go off pre-Gulf War I. Same ole threats, same outcome?
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/26/2005 6:10 Comments ||
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As transparent as glass, as belligerent as it is possible to be, pre-attack, anyway, and "apparently" supremely confident that they will prevail. Are they insane?
No, they're making a rational assessment.
Immediately after 9/11, the US was attacked with anthrax. The obvious source of the anthrax particularly since they freaking bragged about it was Saddam's Iraq. Yet we still waited for two years to do anything about it and let the press and a pack of incompetents at the FBI ruin the life of an innocent man rather than admit the obvious.
Our previously announced policy was "if we're hit by WMD, we retaliate with WMD -- nukes". We were hit. We didn't retaliate.
The mullahs saw Saddam call our bluff. They know we won't do squat, regardless of what happens.
They also know they can count on the press and Democrats to play the perfect useful idiots and block any attempt to defend ourselves -- or even retaliate -- against the mullahs. They've seen what a clear and obvious case for war has turned into -- remember, the Democrat base is against Afghanistan, too -- and they know we haven't the will to fight them.
They also know our "allies" are nothing of the sort, and they have nothing to fear from them no matter what happens.
Mark my words -- a mullah could give a speech at this Friday's prayers, announcing a "new sun rising for Islam against the tyrant Crusaders", followed in an hour by a nuke going off in a US city, and we'd spend the next four years trying (and failing) to get a UN resolution considering an investigation into who might have been behind it.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
09/26/2005 7:57 Comments ||
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#5
Basically the mullahs have responded, "I fart in your general direction."
David Hicks, the only Australian held at Guantanamo Bay, will be tried before a special US military commission on November 18, the Pentagon says.
Hicks, 30, will be the first Guantanamo detainee to be tried by the commissions.
He faces charges of conspiracy, attempted murder by an unprivileged belligerent and aiding the enemy.
"The presiding officer has set the date for the first hearing in the Hicks commission for November 18," Pentagon spokesman Major Michael Shavers said.
The first phase of the trial is expected to last three to five days and deal with motions filed by the defence.
A federal appeals court ruling in July reaffirmed US President George W Bush's authority to order trials of "war on terror" detainees by the special military commissions.
Hicks was captured in Afghanistan while allegedly fighting alongside the radical Taliban Islamic militia against US-led forces who invaded after the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.
Three other detainees at Guantanamo face charges and trial by military commission: Salim Ahmed Hamdan, Ali Hamza al Bahlul of Yemen and Ibrahim al-Qosi of Sudan.
Hicks's lawyers have lodged an application for Hicks to obtain a UK passport after recently learning that his mother is British.
With Britain refusing to recognise the United States military commission system, Hicks's lawyers are hopeful he could be released if his citizenship application is approved.
All nine British Guantanamo inmates were freed when their Government decided they would not receive a fair trial under the military justice system.
The citizenship application is not expected to be processed before the trial.
Posted by: Oztralian [AKA] God Save The World ||
09/26/2005 18:29 ||
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#1
I doubt he will garner much sympathy from the British public after the bus/train bombings so we could convict and dispatch with Mr. Hick with nothing more than a whimper.
Pirates who have held a UN-chartered ship and its crew hostage for nearly three months have captured a second vessel carrying cement from Egypt, days after the collapse of efforts to release the first merchant ship and its load of food aid.
The pirates hijacked the second vessel while it was sailing from El Maan, a port north of Somalia's capital of Mogadishu.
Local authorities expelled the Somali hijackers from the port on Thursday after they raised fresh ransom demands and refused to meet the deadline to release the ship, its crew and cargo.
"The hijackers contacted us only this morning, telling us that the ship ... was under their control," said Abdi Rahman Kariin Olow, a Mogadishu-based businessman who owns part of the cement shipment.
"The hijackers let us speak with the captain of the vessel who also confirmed they had been taken hostages," he said.
Olow could not immediately name the number and nationalities of the crew.
The two vessels have now weighed anchor off the coast of Harardhere, central Somalia, residents said by telephone.
The UN-chartered ship was carrying 937 tons of rice donated by Japan and Germany for 28 000 Somalis who had been affected by the Asian tsunami, whose force was powerful enough to inundate parts of this Horn of African nation.
The gunmen boarded the MV Semlow, registered in St Vincent and the Grenadines, on June 27 and had at first kept it near Harardhere. They arrived at El Maan last weekend.
In August, the WFP said an agreement had been reached to release the ship, its 10-member crew from Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Kenya and the cargo, but the hijackers then reportedly disagreed over whether to see through the release without demanding a ransom.
On Tuesday, warlords controlling El Maan struck a second deal guaranteeing the safety of the pirates once they released the ship.
The deals unraveled after the pirates, estimated to number dozens, raised fresh ransom demands. The second ship was hijacked as the vessel sailed from El Maan.
Somalia has not had an effective central government since clan-based warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. Warlords then turned on each other, plunging the country of 7 million into chaos.
A transitional government formed after lengthy peace talks in Kenya raised some hope, but its members have been fighting among themselves in recent months.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/26/2005 00:28 ||
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#1
Why would they seize a ship full of cement from Egypt, unless it had missiles or explosives concealed under it, as I believe the Israelis discovered last year?
AUSTRALIAN special forces have joined the hunt for terror mastermind Osama bin Laden in a vast area of southern Afghanistan.
Based in the heart of a rebel "sanctuary", the 190-strong force is combing the mountainous region for rebel bases and ammunition dumps. They are on the lookout for bin Laden, other senior al-Qaeda leaders and Taliban remnants.
SAS and other special forces are conducting long-range patrols, sometimes stretching for several days, using specially modified Land Rovers. Suspected Taliban forces have fired on the Australians twice in the past week, with one soldier suffering minor shrapnel wounds during a rocket and grenade attack on Thursday. He is now back on duty.
The Australians have been involved in combat only twice so far, although they have been relatively close to randomly fired rockets which were not considered to be directly targeting them. A Special Operations Task Group spokesman said the Diggers ranged far from base. "That's what we provide to this area of operations - the ability to get out for long periods of time over long distances to report back on what's happening," he said. "You're in a part of Afghanistan where everyone carries their own weapon, everyone protects their own patch of dirt.
"But just because someone has got a gun doesn't mean they're hostile. We watch routines so you can . . . pick out the good guys from the bad guys."
The patrol area spans mountains in the north, stretching to tablelands in the south. It includes "ratlines" used to smuggle rebels and equipment. The Diggers provide covert surveillance, help secure humanitarian projects and establish links with villagers.
Defence Minister Robert Hill visited their base yesterday. Camp Russell is named in honour of Sgt Andrew Russell, an SAS soldier who died in a mine explosion during Australia's previous Afghanistan deployment, which ended in 2002. "While I was at the camp a group of Special Forces returned from about two weeks in the field where they encountered gun fire attempting to save the lives of a group of local police who were under serious attack," Senator Hill said. "They did a remarkable job in difficult circumstances and were highly praised by the local community.
"I was pleased to be able to personally thank the soldiers for their efforts and to pass on the Government's appreciation and the support of the Australian community for the work they are doing to fight terrorism.
"It is clear that our Special Forces are working in a highly volatile and dangerous environment, but it was good to see they are upbeat and enthusiastic about the work they are doing."
The heavily fortified base houses the SAS, commandos, logistics experts and signallers. They operate in thick dust, temperatures up to 50C and high winds, although air-conditioned accommodation tents provide some relief.
The Diggers are joined on patrols by Afghan soldiers from a base near Camp Russell. Surveillance patrols feed information into the coalition forces' intelligence gathering system, enabling them to plan joint missions to strike at rebels. Australia is considering sending another 200 soldiers next year to join the reconstruction effort. Senator Hill said Cabinet was expected to consider a proposal in November.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/26/2005 00:19 ||
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#1
If they catch binny do they get the bounty?
also: I went for SWANNIES they're my team I'm from Sydney (in reply to yesterday's threads) Cheers to the red and the white, honour the name by day or by night...
An internal debate within the Taliban - whether to launch increasingly aggressive attacks against the US-led coalition or to allow the insurgency to bleed the Afghan government over time - has been settled this year, according to a rebel commander and Afghan security officials.
In the most violent year of their insurgency to date, the Taliban have gone on the offensive, launching more pitched battles in an effort to persuade the international community and Afghans that this remains very much a nation at war, says Mullah Gul Mohammad, a front-line commander for Jaish-e Muslimeen, a recently reconciled Taliban splinter group.
"For the past many days we [the Taliban and the Jaish] have been fighting together against our common enemies," says Mullah Mohammad, who says he traveled from Afghanistan to Chaman, Pakistan, for an interview. The insurgents are flush with new weapons - including surface-to-air missiles - and cash, he says, and are pausing only to see if the US military decides to draw down forces following the Sept. 18 parliamentary elections. "If they stay, we would launch our attacks anew."
In the four years since the fall of the Taliban government, there have been many moments when it appeared that the Taliban insurgency had breathed its last breath. But this year was different. The Taliban have launched a series of attacks that has raised this year's death toll - 1,200 civilians and military personnel so far - to a wartime high. Their attacks show increasing sophistication, US and Afghan officials say, and a UN report now warns that the Taliban may be receiving tactical training from jihadists returning from Iraq.
With an apparently revitalized Taliban insurgency, the American military and its NATO allies must now decide whether their strategy needs retooling, and American diplomats could have increasing difficulty convincing NATO allies to take over leadership of the Afghan counterinsurgency campaign. It could be a hard sell, indeed. Even US military commanders say it is too soon to count the Taliban out.
"I'm not ready to sign up to the fact that Taliban are crumbling," said Gen. Jason Kamiya, operational commander for the US-led Combined Forces Command, at a recent press conference at Bagram Airbase. "There still will be an enemy insurgency next spring."
At first glance, the Taliban appear to be a weak force. US military estimates suggest there may be only 800 Taliban fighters left, many of them holding out in villages along the Afghan-Pakistan border, and in rugged mountainous regions of south and central Afghanistan. One clear sign of Taliban weakness was seen on election day, where no significant incidents of violence disrupted voting, despite a call for a boycott by Taliban spokesman Abdul Latif Hakimi.
Yet, US and Afghan intelligence sources suggest that the Taliban have shown recent signs of confidence - or desperation. Roadside bombings have increased 40 percent this year over last year, according to a report by the UN. These bombings have become increasingly effective, using "shaped" explosives used by Iraqi militants against US forces there, set off by sophisticated remote-control devices.
Perhaps more important, the Taliban are sticking around to fight US forces after they detonate roadside bombs, using heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, and Kalashnikovs to pin down US troops and increase casualties.
When they are captured, the Taliban often carry high-tech radio equipment, and are even wearing new sneakers, all signs that the insurgents have found new financial support.
"They are updating their technology," says Gov. Mirajuddin Pathan, governor of Khost Province, which shares a 110-mile border with Pakistan's tumultuous Waziristan district. "They have new remote-control devices, new explosives. They never stay quiet. But now, we have better intelligence of what they are planning."
Just last week, national intelligence police swept through the dormitories of Khost University and arrested eight people. The leader appears to have been a third-year engineering student from Afghanistan's central Wardak Province. He and the other suspects were captured with 200 pounds of explosives and two sophisticated remote-control systems.
The simplest of the two was designed to set off one land mine in an urban area to attract a crowd. Once a sufficient crowd had gathered, and police officers had arrived to investigate, a second larger explosion would detonate, inflicting a heavy death toll.
"This has become rather ordinary technique," says a senior officer for the National Directorate of Security, Afghanistan's intelligence agency, based in Khost.
He picks up a black box of circuit boards, wires, and a battery. "The technique is very old, it belongs to Gulbuddin Hekmatyar," he says, referring to the commander of Hizb-e Islami, a radical Islamist party that fought against the Soviets. "The technology is new, from Japan and China. The training is Al Qaeda."
Pakistan, which many Afghan officials believe is continuing to support the Taliban movement, says that it has killed 353 militants in its border tribal areas since March 2004. Some 175 of these militants have been foreigners such as Uzbeks, Tajiks, Turkmens, Chechens, and a few Arabs.
This month, Pakistani authorities also announced a major haul of explosives and weaponry after an early September raid of a madrassah near the Waziristan town of Miranshah. The madrassah, run by a relative of Taliban commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, had become a storage depot for weapons. Twenty-one suspects, 11 of them foreigners, were arrested.
Among the items found at the madrassah was a small battery-operated remote-control plane with a wide-angle camera lens, apparently used to track US military troop movements inside Afghanistan.
US military commanders admit that 2005 has been the bloodiest year yet in the Afghan campaign - with 82 US military fatalities this year. But they insist that the higher death toll comes from a more aggressive US strategy to take the war to the enemy.
Taliban commanders and their allies say that it is their own strategy that has changed, and they boast that they now have the finances, equipment, and motivation to fight on for years, or even decades.
"Both the Taliban and Jaish have weapons and arsenal which were being piled up in the past several decades; we have enough for centuries to come," says Gul Mohammad, one of a few top commanders for Jaish-e Muslimeen. He is on Pakistan's most wanted list.
Mohammad says the Jaish, with help from Hizb-e Islami, have recently uncovered a large cache of old weapons, including American shoulder-fired rockets that are capable of shooting down US military planes and helicopters.
In 2002, US forces found an old cache of 30 such rockets as part of a wider effort to collect any US-made Stinger missiles leftover from the anti-Soviet jihad. Over 2,000 Stingers were sent to Afghanistan via Pakistan in the 1980s, and the weapons proved extremely effective against Soviet airpower. As of early this year, no US aircraft has been shot down by a Stinger.
"We have found a new depot of weapons in Afghanistan and we can now strike down American aircraft and helicopters," Gul Mohammad declared enthusiastically. A US Chinook helicopter crashed Sunday in southern Afghanistan, killing all five crew members. The Taliban claim to have shot it down, but the US military said that did not appear to be the case. The crash remains under investigation.
Aside from weapons, Gul Mohammad says the broader insurgent movement is now adequately funded through zakat, the traditional tithe that Muslims pay to their mosques as charity for the poor and disadvantaged.
Khost officials such as Governor Pathan say that the peaceful elections are a sign that the Taliban are disorganized, weak, and on the run. It is certainly true that the Taliban have had an ongoing debate about how aggressively they should fight against the US, whose airpower killed hundreds if not thousands of Taliban fighters with high-flying B-52 bombers in October 2001.
But while the Jaish recently broke with the Taliban in Oct. 2004 - with its brazen kidnapping of three UN election workers in the middle of a Kabul traffic jam - Gul Mohammad says that these differences have been settled for now.
"Our differences were based on some principles, but even those were just for a temporary phase," Gul Mohammad says. "We are fighting a common enemy."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/26/2005 00:11 ||
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#1
This has some half-truths in it. The "Chinese made" drone was a model airplane, made in China, but sold retail in Pakistan toy stores. And the US Stinger missiles are worthless, their specialized batteries and electronics having long since given up the ghost. Even the "new sneakers" bit sounds contrived, in that the region is known as a major outsourced shoe manufacturing area--getting several hundred pair cheap would not be a major endeavor.
Osama bin Laden is hiding out with a small core of mainly Arab supporters, and the al-Qaeda leader now only sends messages by courier because his communications network has been destroyed, senior Pakistani military and intelligence officials said Sunday.
There have been no fresh clues to bin Laden's whereabouts, but he generally is believed to be in the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
"In our opinion, the reports on the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden are more speculative stories rather than based on accurate intelligence," said Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan, chief spokesman for Pakistan's army.
Pakistan has deployed some 80,000 troops to its rugged border regions running along Afghanistan, fighting intense battles with al-Qaeda-linked militants.
CBS' 60 Minutes will report Sunday that Pakistani officials believe bin Laden may be hiding in Afghanistan, where he is protected by a very small number of people to keep a low profile.
A Pakistani intelligence official in the northwestern city of Peshawar, near the Afghan border, said bin Laden probably is accompanied by "dozens" of mainly Arab supporters. He spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the secretive nature of his job.
Security officials in Pakistan â Washington's front-line Muslim ally in the war on terrorism â also believe bin Laden's communications network has been destroyed.
"For a very long time there are no intercepts about Osama bin Laden giving instructions to his regional commanders, either through radio, telephone, satellite phone or the Internet," a senior security official said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the subject.
"If he is unable to give orders physically or otherwise, it clearly indicates that his communication has been severed."
In the past, bin Laden would be surrounded by up to 500 people, the Peshawar-based intelligence official said, adding that his communications network has been reduced to human couriers, where a message "changes several hands" between its point of origin and final destination.
"This is a very slow and exposed way of communicating," the official said.
Security forces seized a letter from bin Laden during a raid in Rawalpindi in 2003 in which al-Qaeda's then-No. 3 leader Khalid Shaikh Mohammed â a suspected planner of the Sept. 11 attacks â was captured. Mohammed is believed to have received the letter via the courier network, the official said.
Pakistani officials say more than 700 al-Qaeda suspects, including senior figures like Mohammed, have been arrested.
Officials also say that information gleaned from al-Qaeda has led to the arrests of militants outside Pakistan and helped prevent terrorist attacks abroad.
"The arrest of Naeem Noor Khan led to the arrest of a big gang ... ahead of the British elections," Sultan said, claiming that the people arrested in Britain planned to attack Heathrow Airport.
There were media reports that Mohammed Sidique Khan â one of the suspected bombers in the deadly July 7 explosions in London â may have had ties with members of an alleged terrorist cell that matched information from Noor Khan's computer.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/26/2005 00:07 ||
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Osama bin Laden did so enjoy playing the open-handed, simple living Caliph to his ever-changing audience. How he must be suffering to have to play the "Hidden Mahdi" now... especially as that is a Shiite concept. And all those millions of inherited money -- useless to change his situation!
The police have arrested two men and a couple in connection with the September 22 âbicycleâ bomb explosions in Lahore, which killed seven and wounded many. It is thought these persons âmay lead the police to the bombersâ. We hope so. But the bomb explosions raise several issues.
First, two men were arrested in Sadiqabad in southern Punjab with explosives and other bomb-making material on Friday night. On their information, a man and a woman were arrested from Lahore. The couple, originally from Jacobabad in Sindh, had been living in a rented house near Lahoreâs Data Darbar shrine. Police say they found some âimportantâ telephone numbers on them and seized Rs 200,000 in cash. The police also said the face of the husband resembled the witnessesâ description of the suspect in the second blast.
Are the police onto something? A video of the man caught from Data Darbar was shown to the wounded victims of the second blast but no one could recognise him. After that the police spread its net throughout Punjab and arrested several others, including members of some âmilitant groupsâ. Around 35 people were arrested from Lahore, some of them activists of the âmilitant groupsâ. The police arrested, for good measure, 30 beggars, who were later released. A senior police officer revealed that the two men arrested from Sadiqabad were very poor and unemployed and could have been paid by India to âcreate mischief in Pakistan because of its recognition of Israelâ. He also said that religious terrorists did not in principle (sic!) attack the âcommon publicâ indiscriminately and that this attack could only have been the work of some âforeign handâ. This is nonsense.
The âforeign handâ theory should be discarded promptly. In all the cases where we employed it starting 2003 - when massacres of the âcommon publicâ took place in Quetta and Karachi â it was proved wrong. Unfortunately, the more it is used and refuted the more it remains handy for incompetent or secretive government officials and politicians. As for its application to the Lahore blasts, the âseniorâ police official perhaps forgot that in the mid-1990s the âcommon publicâ was decimated at the lower courts in Lahore by a âbicycle bombâ planted by a religious terrorist settling sectarian scores. The massacre of the Hazaras in Quetta was officially assigned to the âIndian consulatesâ in Afghanistan despite the fact that the Hazaras kept pointing to the real culprits, which were located inside Pakistan and were well known.
There are many candidates for the blasts, most probably all of them Pakistani. (There is ample ground for India to create mischief by fishing in the troubled waters here, but these days India has little cause to stir the pot.) If India is riled to such an extent by Pakistanâs opening of channels with Israel, which it is not, there is much more public anger in all sorts of quarters inside Pakistan to attract our suspicion. The religious parties and all the unaffiliated mullahs are calling down curses on the government for talking to Israel. Our parliament has rung to the angry speeches delivered by the combined opposition, and articles about it have been written in intemperate language in the newspapers. There is also Osama Bin Ladenâs army in Waziristan, which kills the innocent âcommon publicâ as a part of its terrorist strategy. Last week ANP leader Lateef Afridi said on TV that Al Qaeda commander, Qari Tahir Yuldashev, had held a large gathering in the wilds of North Waziristan, which was attended by some members of the NWFP cabinet. Osamaâs cause is also directed at Israel.
Of course, there is so much general resentment that the finger might point not just at the extremist religious groups but at Sindhi or Baloch sub-nationalists as well. The Sindhis are up in arms against the proposed Kalabagh Dam while the Baloch are actually running a so-called liberation army that has been going around attacking pipelines and installations. They have just rejected the Mushahid Hussain Parliamentary Committee on Balochistan even though it recommended that the plan to build new cantonments in Balochistan be laid aside. There is also a very intense reaction against the recent generally âun-transparentâ local bodies polls in the provinces, with the result that there is enough anger around to convince someone to âshake upâ the Punjab a bit. Both the Punjab governor and chief minister have been targeted recently with small homemade explosive devices discovered by the police along the routes to be taken by the two VIPs. Those could have been the two warning shots across the bow before the September 22 âbicycleâ blasts.
Whatever the cause, it wonât be too long before we know who is behind it and why. Meanwhile, we should be prepared for the worst. The police have traditionally been shown to be wiser after the event since they are not equipped to stop terrorist attacks in the first place.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/26/2005 00:06 ||
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Pakistani military officers battling Al Qaeda militants along the border with Afghanistan believe that Osama bin Laden is hiding with a small cadre in Afghanistan and is no longer an effective leader for the terrorist group, CBS television reported on Sunday. According to the TV programme, the counter-terrorism head of Pakistanâs intelligence service, a brigadier who identified himself as Ali, told a CBS correspondent that intelligence forces had reduced Osamaâs power by capturing 594 Al Qaeda members and crippling the groupâs communications network.
âWe have been able to effectively break the communications network from top to bottom. We do not allow these people to communicate with each other,â said Brig Ali. âI think now [Osama] is being protected or assisted by a very short number, which keeps his profile very low.â
Brig Ali believes that Osama is still at some place along the border, probably in Afghanistan.
âThe information gleaned from captured Al Qaeda members and given to coalition officials has helped prevent planned terror attacks against financial buildings in the US, and planes and buildings at Londonâs Heathrow airport.â It also helped capture Al Qaeda operatives in Great Britain, according to CBS.
Finding Osama doesnât matter at this point, according to Lt-Gen Safdar Hussain, the in charge of anti-terrorism operations along the Afghanistan border. âIf [Osama] is hiding in a hole, neither the electronic nor the human intelligence can find him,â he told CBS.
The CBS correspondent also spoke to President Gen Pervez Musharraf. âThese troops are not certainly on the trail of one man, and thatâs all they are doing,â noted the president. âWe are fighting terrorism wherever it is. If Osama happens to be there incidentally, he will be killed or captured,â he said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/26/2005 00:05 ||
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LAHORE - Police have arrested seven suspects in two recent bombings that left eight people dead in Pakistanâs eastern city of Lahore, an official said on Sunday. The suspects, including a woman and her husband, were picked up in separate raids in Lahore over the past two days, said Chaudhry Shafqaat Ahmed, a senior police investigator in the city.
None of those arrested has yet been identified or charged in the case, and Ahmed would not say what roles they were suspected to have had in the bombings, which took place on Thursday.
"I will say no more!"
One of last weekâs bombs went off near a public park, and another exploded about 90 minutes later in a crowded Lahore bazaar. No one has claimed responsibility. The death toll in the explosions rose from seven when a man, injured in one of the blasts, died at a hospital on Sunday. Twenty-four others were injured.
Police are also questioning more than 30 other people, but none is a suspect or has been formally arrested, Ahmed said on Saturday.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/26/2005 00:00 ||
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KABUL - Five crew members were killed when a US military helicopter crashed on Sunday in strife-torn southeastern Afghanistan, but there were no indications hostile fire brought the chopper down, the US military said.
The cause of the crash in insurgency-hit Zabul province was unknown but there were âno indications of hostile fire involved at this time,â it said in a statement. The CH-47 Chinook was supporting operations in the area at the time of the crash, the military said. US ground forces were at the scene providing security for the recovery operation, it said.
Deh Chopan has been the scene of some of the fiercest clashes between US and Afghan government forces and their opponents from the hardline Taleban regime, which was ousted in a US-led campaign in 2001.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/26/2005 00:00 ||
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May they all meet at that small corner of Heaven that Jesus retires to when he feels like changing water into wine.
Suspected Baluch nationalists Sunday fired two rockets near a United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) office and a police station in Southwestern Pakistani province of Baluchistan but there were no casualties, said police. One rocket landed near Sadar police station and one near UNHCR office in Quetta, the provincial capital, about 400 kilometers southwest of Islamabad, a police official told KUNA.
He said there was no casualty, adding that the rockets exploded with a huge bang in nearby empty fields, panicking people and leaving 2-3 feet deep pits in the grounds. No group immediately took responsibility of the latest attack in the insurgency-hit in Pakistans largest but poorest of the four provinces, but authorities blame nationalist elements for most of such attacks.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2005 00:00 ||
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Intelligence and Law-Enforcement agencies have nabbed two alleged Al-Qaeda linked militants in the city of Rawalpindi, said sources on Sunday. Two militants of banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi (LJ) extremist group were arrested last week in a raid, sources told KUNA. They said forces also recovered arms, ammunition, a laptop, few computer disks, a satellite telephone set and other important documents in their possession. Sources added that investigations are underway to ascertain the Qaeda link.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2005 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.
Sanaa, 26 Sept. (AKI) - The Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh has announced a general amnesty for the hundreds of Zaidi Shiite rebels in jail for clashing with the security forces in April this year. The prisoners - followers of radical cleric and former MP Hussein al-Houthi, who was killed in clashes a year ago after a three month uprising - will be pardoned and released, according to Saudi newspaper Arab News. President Saleh made the announcement in a speech marking the celebration of the 26th September revolution which ended religious rule in Yemen, turning it into a republic. 
French police on Monday detained nine people suspected of ties to a fundamentalist Algerian militant group possibly planning to attack France, officials said. In Italy, police searched some 20 apartments and offices around the city of Milan that may be linked to 11 Algerians suspected of sending money to the same militant organization, the Salafist Group for Call and Combat. The Algerian-based group has declared its allegiance to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network. No one was arrested in the Italian raids and it was not immediately clear whether the raids in the two countries were coordinated. 
(CBS/AP) The No. 2 al Qaeda leader in Iraq was killed Sunday night, U.S. officials say. Abu Azzam, reportedly the deputy to Abu Musab al Zarqawi, was shot during a house raid in Baghdad, according to Pentagon officials. As the aide to Zarqawi, Azzam was reportedly in control of financing foreign fighters coming into Iraq, CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports. Read the 
Army Pfc. Lynndie England, whose smiling poses in photos of detainee abuse at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison made her the face of the scandal, was convicted Monday by a military jury on six of seven counts. England, 22, was found guilty of one count of conspiracy, four counts of maltreating detainees and one count of committing an indecent act. She was acquitted on a second conspiracy count.
A suicide car bomber attacked an elite Iraqi police unit in Baghdad on Sunday and killed 13 people in the worst of several outbursts of violence to hit the country. Iraqi police said the car bomber targeted a patrol of specialist police commandos as they were traveling on a highway in the east of the capital. All those killed were from the commando unit and 10 others were wounded, police said.
The Multi-National Force (MNF) on Sunday announced the arrest of more than 80 suspected terrorists and seized a number of weapons caches in northern Iraq. An MNF press release said that the Iraqi and US forces seized four weapons caches, arrested 13 suspected terrorists, killed one terrorist, and wounded two others in several operations on Friday and Sunday. It added that the Iraqi Police on Friday clashed with gunmen and wounded two of them in Mosul, noting that one of them managed to escape, while the other was transported to hospital.
A group of unknown gunmen on Sunday killed two security guards and stole USD 850,000 in western Baghdad. Iraqi Police sources told reporters that the gunmen ambushed a convoy of armored vehicles transporting money for the Finance Ministry in the area of Al-Mansour in western Baghdad, killing two security guards and stealing 850, 000 US dollars. The source added that the gunmen fled the scene, while the Iraqi Police executed a burst and search operation to arrest the gang.
Six Iraqi soldiers were wounded last night when their patrol was ambushed north of Baghdad, said the Iraqi Army on Sunday. An Iraqi Army source told reporters that a roadside bomb exploded on Saturday, targeting a moving Iraqi Army patrol nearby the town of Al-Tooz north of Baghdad, noting that gunmen opened fire on the patrol after the blast. The source added that six soldiers were wounded in the attack, noting that the Iraqi forces cordoned off the area and executed a burst and search operation to arrest the attackers, who fled the scene.
An Israeli air strike has killed the top leader of Islamic Jihad in the southern Gaza Strip along with his bodyguard, signalling a return to Israel's policy of assassinations, Palestinian and Israeli officials say. Also on Sunday night, a senior Hamas leader announced a halt to attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip. 
The Israeli occupation army has arrested two Palestinian journalists in the West Bank. Israeli troops on Sunday arrested Nizar Ramadan, 38, a journalist from Hebron, Ramadan's family members said. Ramadan writes for the Jerusalem-based Arabic daily Al-Quds newspaper, IslamOnline and Aljazeera's Arabic website. "They (Israeli soldiers) came around 3:30am - they banged on the door violently," said Ramadan's oldest son, Muntasir Ramadan, 14. "And when we opened, they herded all of us into the small veranda. Then they thoroughly searched all the rooms, including my father's office-room, but found nothing." 
Israeli has launched another series of rocket attacks on militant targets in various parts of the Gaza Strip. There were no immediate reports of casualties. 
Palestinian Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades announced responsibility on Sunday for shelling the Israeli city Sderot with three "Shehab 3" type missiles. The brigades said in a press release that the shelling comes in response for the Israeli massacres against Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and the Israeli assassination attempt of brigades' members in Khan Younis.
Fierce tensions were rekindled in the Occupied Palestinian Territories on Sunday amid Israeli raids and attacks and mobilization on the part of Palestinian factions. Fateh's military wing Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades for one urged military response to Israeli violations against Palestinian civilians "in all territories where Israelis are present." A statement today also declared full mobilization and readiness to respond directly and immediately to any Israeli attack.
AUSTRALIAN special forces have joined the hunt for terror mastermind Osama bin Laden in a vast area of southern Afghanistan.
KABUL - Five crew members were killed when a US military helicopter crashed on Sunday in strife-torn southeastern Afghanistan, but there were no indications hostile fire brought the chopper down, the US military said.
Suspected Baluch nationalists Sunday fired two rockets near a United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) office and a police station in Southwestern Pakistani province of Baluchistan but there were no casualties, said police. One rocket landed near Sadar police station and one near UNHCR office in Quetta, the provincial capital, about 400 kilometers southwest of Islamabad, a police official told KUNA.
Intelligence and Law-Enforcement agencies have nabbed two alleged Al-Qaeda linked militants in the city of Rawalpindi, said sources on Sunday. Two militants of banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi (LJ) extremist group were arrested last week in a raid, sources told KUNA. They said forces also recovered arms, ammunition, a laptop, few computer disks, a satellite telephone set and other important documents in their possession. Sources added that investigations are underway to ascertain the Qaeda link.
