Two policemen and one child have been killed in a shooting in the Chechen capital of Grozny, the local Ministry of Internal Affairs said Friday. "Yesterday at 5:40 p.m. [1:40 GMT] unidentified assailants in three automobiles opened fire on a Zhiguli [car], in which a local police officer and a police department head were traveling," a source said. Both police officers were killed, as was the daughter of one of the officers. A woman who was also in the car at the time of the shooting was hospitalized.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/30/2005 02:47 ||
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#1
Nope, we are from the party who doesn't send KKK people to the senate.
President Bush's latest statements about U.S. military strategy against insurgents and terrorists in Iraq have provoked more debate between Democrats and Republicans in Congress, and others about the best course for the United States.
President Bush warned Wednesday that there may be an upsurge of violence in the weeks before a referendum in Iraq on a new constitution, but added, "Our troops are ready for it." The president and members of his administration sought to reinforce their main message that the United States will not draw down its forces, and will continue building Iraq's military and police in the battle against insurgents.
U.S. officials, including Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and top military commanders, have been on Capitol Hill over the past week briefing lawmakers as part of the administration effort to raise the level of confidence about the direction of the Iraq effort.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan says the president wants to make sure that Congress understands the stakes in Iraq: "I think Congress understands the importance of succeeding in Iraq," Mr. McClellan says. "They have shown a strong commitment to what we are working to achieve there, and the President is greatly appreciative of that. It's also important to keep members of Congress informed about what our strategy is and how we are adapting to defeat the enemy.
However, the president faces continuing criticism from congressional Democrats who assert there is no clear plan for prevailing in Iraq, or getting out.
A small number of Republicans have joined Democrats supporting a bipartisan resolution calling on the president to announce a plan for beginning the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq.
He already did: we'll leave when the job is done. Our military will tell us when the job is mostly done from their standpoint, and the State Dept types will tell us when the job is done from theirs.
Congressman Walter Jones, who broke with the House Republican leadership earlier this year on Iraq, recalls a statement in 1999 by George W. Bush when he was governor of Texas, urging then President Clinton to put forward a plan for withdrawing U.S. forces from Kosovo. "That is all we are doing with this bipartisan resolution, Republican and Democrat. We are saying to the president, we are asking you to do the same thing that you asked President Clinton to do in 1999," Mr. Jones says.
Supporters of the resolution have managed to gather backing from only about 60 House members, most of them Democrats.
However, they were joined at a Capitol Hill news conference by retired Lieutenant General William Odom, a former director of the National Security Agency. He asserts that a continuing, long-term U.S. military presence in Iraq, with no specific timetable for withdrawal, prevents the United States from getting the support it will need from others to address broader security concerns:
"We need a broad coalition of Europeans and our allies in Asia to put things in order from the eastern Mediterranean to the eastern borders of Afghanistan," Mr. Odom says. " We need a lot of strong countries on our side. We cannot do that as long as we are in Iraq. The precondition for a serious and effective strategic engagement to stabilize this region requires withdrawal and admittance to others that we may have made an error.
Since they're not going to help us anyway it doesn't matter. The Euros are playing with 'Lucy-with-the-football' with us.
Also at the news conference was Chris Prebble, Director of Foreign Policy Studies at the CATO Institute in Washington: "For many Americans, as long as necessary has proved too long. Numerous polls now show waning public support for the war in Iraq," he says. "And I think it is important that the public senses a strategic reality. It is not in our interest to sustain an indefinite military presence in Iraq.
And no one from the MSM asked her to defend that statement. Why is it not in our best interest?
President Bush still has strong support for his position on Iraq among most Republicans, although public opinion polls are a worrying aspect for many members of Congress.
In remarks on the floor of the House, Republican Congressman Joe Wilson, a strong supporter of Mr. Bush, had this reaction to British Prime Minister Tony Blair who reiterated his government's commitment to Iraq: "Although some war cynics continue to call for a retreat and defeat policy [in Iraq], Prime Minister Tony Blair has proven that he is committed to finishing the mission in Iraq," Mr. Wilson says.
The bipartisan resolution being pushed by Democrats, with a few Republicans on board so it's really not bipartisan, calls for President Bush to present a plan for U.S. military withdrawal by the end of 2005, and urges that U.S. troops begin coming home by October 2006.
Posted by: Oztralian [AKA] God Save The World ||
09/30/2005 03:30 ||
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#1
Mao said :"Victory belongs tothe one who is able to suffer a quarter hour longer". If you publish a schedule of how long you are wanting to suffer it only encourages the bad guy to hold until then even if he is suffering far much than you. And the bad guy wins.
#2
Only 60 of 435 House members? You could get more support for a resolution to have Helen Thomas strip naked and commit seppuku on the steps of the Capitol building.
Posted by: ed ||
09/30/2005 6:58 Comments ||
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#3
Jeez ed, now I wish I could poke out my minds eye,thanks for the visual.
#4
Even if they were six instead of 60 they (and the academic morons who asked for nagotiating with Al Q) are still sending a signal to Zarkawi and Osama that they are winning
#5
"Over my dead body". And for those out there who think about that line as an invitation, go read William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. None of the opposition made it to the end alive.
An executive with his family's lighting company, Jones was elected as a Democrat to the North Carolina House of Representatives in 1983 and served for five terms, until 1992. He unsuccessfully sought the Democratic Congressional nomination for his father's seat in the 103rd United States Congress of 1992 (losing to Eva Clayton) before switching parties and winning in the 3rd district in the 1994 Republican takeover of Congress, defeating incumbent Democrat H. Martin Lancaster. Jones has been reelected every two years since. He has never faced a serious or well-funded opponent, largely because his father was a legend in Eastern North Carolina.
His successful campaign for a sixth consecutive term in the 2004 Congressional elections earned him 71% of the popular vote while defeating Democrat Roger Eaton. Jones serves on the Armed Services, Financial Services, and Resources Committees.
He's a nobody with a career less impressive than my own, very unimpressive hack of a Congressman, John Peterson (Fifth PA, so forgettable I had to google his first name). I'm amused that Jones was the only Republican they could get to support the motion publically. I wonder if there are any others, or if Jones is the whole and total of this "bipartisan" effort's Republican element.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
09/30/2005 9:33 Comments ||
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#7
Exactly what is these people are trying to accomplish. If we withdrawl to early in this one, we might as well disband 90% of the military (we need the other 10% for natural disaters apparentley), because if you never fight, you don't need it, and just go completley nuclear. Then when someone pisses us off, nuke em. Won't have to fight the MSM and the Left wing nuts through the course of any battles.
#9
"That is all we are doing with this bipartisan resolution, Republican and Democrat. We are saying to the president, we are asking you to do the same thing that you asked President Clinton to do in 1999," Mr. Jones says.
And if he pays no friggin attention to you, like Clinton did in 99, will that piss you off?
#10
President Bush's latest statements about U.S. military strategy against insurgents and terrorists in Iraq have provoked more debate between Democrats and Republicans in Congress, and others about the best course for the United States.
[...]
A small number of Republicans have joined Democrats supporting a bipartisan resolution calling on the president to announce a plan for beginning the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq.
Apparently, none of these people seem to have any strategic vision themselves.
#11
This same group of 60 also want the Boxing Commission to add a rule that boxers must announce each punch prior to throwing it. While they admitted the whole "mouthguard" thing would potentially make those announcments difficult, they nevertheless felt that giving the opposing boxer time to duck was an important goal!
#12
I'm calling for an immediate RB ban on Helen Thomas naked references...for the love of GOD!
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/30/2005 11:11 Comments ||
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#13
Disbanding 90% of our military would please them greatly, plainslow. Or at least crippling our ability to use the military in any effective way.
lotp, doncha know that our military should only be used to evacuate American cities after hurricanes? And they'd better be johnny on the spot at that, too.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/30/2005 11:13 Comments ||
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#14
abu au natural, actually I'm quite free and sensuous.
Posted by: Helen Tomas ||
09/30/2005 11:58 Comments ||
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#15
Yeah, well keep it to yourself lady, all right?
Yeeeeeeeesh!
Low Carb Diets Are Manditory...
All Poodles Are to be Dyed Blue...
On Half of Sets of Twins are sent to nunnery...
(GWB won't go for this)
All Ciries must be reconstructed BELOW sea Level...(Affirmitive Action Requirement)
Posted by: Helen ||
09/30/2005 13:34 Comments ||
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#19
Poll: Most Americans Not In Iraq
by Scott Ott
(2005-09-23) -- Hours after a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll revealed that fewer than half of respondents believe the U.S. can win the war in Iraq, a second survey showed that more than 99 percent of Americans are not in Iraq, and almost as many form opinions about the war based exclusively on what they learn from CNN, USA Today and other news organizations.
Of the 818 Americans telephoned by pollsters, according to an unnamed Gallup spokesman, roughly zero percent are currently stationed in Iraq, where about 150,000 U.S. troops spend their days providing security, hunting down terrorists, training Iraqi police and soldiers and rebuilding schools, water systems and other infrastructure elements.
Almost 97 percent of those surveyed answered "strongly agree" to the statement: "Every single thing I know about U.S. efforts in Iraq, I learned from news reports in the mainstream media."
Of those people, the vast majority said they believe U.S. troops spend their days "driving around in Humvees, trying to detonate improvised explosive devices with their tires."
A unnamed CNN reporter, stationed in a Green Zone hotel lounge in Baghdad, said the new surveys "simply reinforce what I've known for two years -- the war in Iraq is unwinnable. For some reason, America seems to have lost her will to fight for freedom."
#21
You're bound to have a small percentage of spineless fools in the House. The donk senators (Clinton, Kerry, et al) will stay the course --while carping about execution -- because they don't want to look too stupid after the troops are drawn down (within two years) and victory is declared.
Iraq is a huge victory in the WoT
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/30/2005 23:26 Comments ||
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#22
Oh yeah, the Lefties want SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS SSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHH, Capitalist Federalist Republic = Socialist America to have a female POTUS or female POTUS-VPOTUS so bad they're willing to let the Japs bomb Pearl Harbor again, and risk new 9-11 ags America. Why, its worth 100K to 100M dead and wounded so that another Clinton whom happens to be a Woman, "W-O-M-A-N, I'll say it again" [song], can make history - iff eight years of Bill Clinton Rightism-Republicanism absolutely, undeniably and unconditionally justified Leftism-Socialism once, before, and forever, eight years of Hillary's FASCISM = COMMUNISM = FEDERALISM =......... will surely justify once, tomorrow, and forever. I DEMAND THAT TRUE PRESIDENTS GORE-KERRY-DEAN CALL IN UNO "PEACE-KEEPING" FORCES TO SAVE MOTHER SHEEHAN AND "OCCUPIED" NOLA FROM REPUBLICAN INVADERS, D*** YOU.
Baghdad, 30 Sept. (AKI) - A senior source at the international tribunal handling the trial of Saddam Hussein says the former dictator has admitted having carried out mass killings in the city of Dujail and in other locations. "These confessions made by Saddam during interrogation sessions have been recorded in both video and audio form, and corroborate the testimony of some of the top figures in his regime who accuse him," the source told Adnkronos International (AKI), speaking on the condition of anonymity. "During the trial [due to start 19 October] the tribunal will confront him with these testimonies," the tribunal official declared.
Sammy always did like to brag
Saddam Hussein and eight of his aides will be brought to trial on charges of killing 143 Shiites - including the elderly, women and children - in Dujail village in north Baghdad in 1982. The massacre followed a failed assassination attempt against him.
The tribunal official dismissed statements to the media by two of Saddam's lawyers, Khalil al-Dulaymi and Khamis al-Ubaydi, in which they said they had not read the documents backing up the charges against the former leader and had not been informed of the trial starting date.
He told AKI the two men had been informed according to procedure, but were trying to invent an excuse to not follow the proceedings, noting that "the two lawyers have little experience in similar questions of extreme importance at both local and international level". The source also said that "the trial of Saddam will be public and will be transmitted live on television".
Hopefully, so will the execution
Earlier this month, Iraqi president Jalal Talabani told state television that Saddam had confessed to some crimes committed under his regime. Talabani said he had been told by a judge that "he was able to extract confessions from Saddam's mouth" about crimes "such as executions" personally ordered by the dictator. The Iraqi Special Tribunal has decided to try Saddam separately for different offences, rather than bring them all together in one trial. The Dujail case is the only one referred to trial so far. He could get the death penalty for that alone if found guilty.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/30/2005 09:43 ||
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#1
Nice, but academic. He's gonna swing from a lampost anyway, so...
#4
If they do hang him, and I hope they do, it will be one of the most significant events in the middle east since Moses brought down the Ten Commandments.
Folks in Syria, Iran, and Egypt (and propably a lot of other places) are all going to start wondering if there why not here.
Unfortunately I expect the islmaofascists are going to be trying to kill everyone in sight during the trial.
I hope the Iraqi people are up to the challenge.
Come to think of it, I hope the American people are up to the challange.
Posted by: Kelly ||
09/30/2005 15:03 Comments ||
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Exclusive to Rantburg--the next in a continuing series of reports from a Marine on the front line in Iraq. Semper Fi, Broadhead6!
All my Marines are safe. We're pushing a lot of supplies out on convoys right now in anticipation of the constitutional referendum.
September was hot over here, about 105 average temp.
October should be cooler. When I get back I'll attach pix for your perusal of the base and where I lived at.
We had bad and good news this week. Bad: we lost an Army guy on a convoy. I can't go into it too much, but it was a sad deal. The terrorists had access to Iraqi Police uniforms and made it a bad day.
Good News: We broke up an IED making facility in a nearby town. Arrested some assholes and shot up a car full of islamonuts. Again, I'm trying to be careful about giving away too much info, so I will tend to generalize. I'm not sure what the enemy figured out after we zapped some of their goons and took their goodies.
I also have limited access to the MSM - not really a bad thing but I can't tell what their picking up on or not. Most of us older guys hate reporters anyways. We are very apprehensive of talking to them because they invariably say what they want anyways.
The bottom line is that the MP Marines are doing phenomenal work out. They lead convoys and screen for IEDs. They are also augmented w/supply & maintenance-type Marines who are also doing great things. It's amazing the maturity level my young lads are displaying out in injun country. I'm very proud. Sometimes I'm jealous because I want to get outside the wire and help out - but there's no mission imperative for an over-30 officer running amok on convoys. It would kind of look like Larry Bird trying to coach and play forward. The mother of my child is happy about that so right now I just do whatever I'm told & keep my trap shut. I promised her that since we have the kid now - no more volunteering for 'adrenaline fixes.'
Another quick story, one of my buddies was coming back from another base north of here on a CH-46. It was early in the a.m. - he started receiving small arms fire from a small village. Apparently the pilot wasn't too concerned and just gained altitude and kept going. My buddy was praying on his rosary hard because he could see the muzzle flashes - he was a little shook up for about a day. I empathized w/him, heck, if you've ever had the pleasure (sarcasm) of riding in a phrog in the first place - that's bad enough. Add to that having some douche bag taking pot shots at you and that's what I call having your wheaties pissed in. I asked him if they lit up those fuckers. He said no, apparently there was a door gunner on board but he didn't fire back. I am not sure on the ROE for pilots out there - so maybe they decided not to engage because it was against the ROE for them. (Too many huts close by w/non-combatants maybe). Or, could be they were low on fuel and couldn't waste the time on a fire team of dune jockey assholes. I'm sure they called it in for the direct action lads to handle. I heard nothing more on that though. Take care guys and I'll be in touch.
#1
Here's hoping you get a good OPSEC editor soon so you don't have to censor yourself. Remember that your words are worth their weight in gold back in the home front. When I used to write, I'd always throw in big blocks of stuff just for my editor to cut. Keeps 'em entertained.
We can't see what you're seeing, so draw us a picture in words of what it's like over there. And there's lots of room for "color", too. I know you're in a very serious situation; but ironically, sometimes that's the best place to see the funny side of things.
What kind of rations they giving you? What're the biggest comfort items you guys want? Give us some top ten lists, they're always good icebreakers. Tell us about the natives, as characters, not just as "the crowd". What do Marines do off-duty?
Personally, I want to know if "camel spiders" are for real.
I know a lot of this sounds frivolous, but it really helps those-of-us-who-aren't-there figure out the big picture. And remember that pictures and artwork are always good.
#2
Good luck, good hunting, get home safe, and write lots in the meantime!
Posted by: Mike ||
09/30/2005 11:41 Comments ||
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#3
Hey, welcome to the sandbox. If you think it's hot now, wait till next july! 130F during the day, typicly. Be safe. I'm at [DELETED], and I am glad it is relatively quiet now. (Watches with horrified fascination as the MWR laptop bounces in time to the outgoing 155's) Anyway- be safe and you can tell Mrs. BH6 that the danger here is greatly overblown.
Posted by: N guard ||
09/30/2005 11:43 Comments ||
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#4
the danger here is greatly overblown.
It's a consequence issue, not probability. The negative consequences are so great that no one really cares what the probability is. Sort of like living within a mile of a nuclear reactor. Irrational, perhaps, but human. One of those things we have to accept in others as is.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
09/30/2005 11:56 Comments ||
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#5
It's a consequence issue, not probability.
Well said, Mrs D. Also explains the fear of flying vs. driving.
BH6: your reports are invaluable. Give yourself and all your people my deepest gratitude. I wish you all Godspeed.
#6
Thank you, Mrs. D. Never thought of it exactly that way, but it is a perfect encapsulation of waiting at home. My dad told me when I left for SE Asia that it is much easier to go than it is to stay at home and wait. Never really understood what he meant until my son went to Iraq. Again, thanks.
#7
Well said, Mrs. D. We who are far away take the possibility of danger to our loved ones and friends much more personally, often enough, than do the participants involved.
Glad to hear from you, Broadhead! It sounds like you've got your Marines very well trained, indeed -- no less than we expected, of course, but always good to know. Give my love to Mrs. Broadhead; I hope the little guy is moving smartly through the Terrible Twos, and will soon be easier for her. It really is easier once they understand enough for explanations and choices ("Do you want A or B?") to work. And all our pride to the men and women of your unit -- we appreciate the good work they are doing, even if we can't know exactly what and where it is. ;-)
A CAR bomb exploded in a crowded vegetable market in the southern Iraqi town of Hilla today, killing at least seven people and wounding 30, police said.
The attack came one day after three car bombs killed at least 60 people in the town of Balad, just north of Baghdad.
Insurgents are waging a relentless campaign of suicide bombings, shootings and assassinations in a bid to topple Iraq's US-backed government.
On February 28, a suicide car bomb attack on a crowd of people in Hilla killed 125 people.
Posted by: Oztralian [AKA] God Save The World ||
09/30/2005 03:24 ||
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Iraqi and coalition forces detained 10 suspects and seized weapons and ammunition in operations across Iraq on Sept. 28, military officials reported.
Iraqi soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 1st Iraqi Intervention Force, were conducting targeted raids in conjunction with coalition troops in Ramadi when they detained four men. The troops believed the men might have been involved with a previously discovered cache in central Ramadi.
Elsewhere, Iraqi troops from the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 1st Iraqi Intervention Force, and coalition troops conducting combined entry-control-point operations detained a man with suspected false identification documents in Fallujah.
In Balad, a patrol from the 4th Iraqi Army Division captured five military-aged males in the act of unraveling a length of detonation cord attached to a bomb, which was buried in the shoulder of a nearby road.
Iraqi explosive ordnance disposal experts responded and cleared the hazard, consisting of two 130 mm Chinese-made illumination artillery rounds. The detainees were taken into custody for further questioning, and no injuries or damages were reported.
During operations in Mosul, Iraqi police found and seized an ammunition cache consisting of 30 152 mm rounds and two rocket-propelled-grenade rounds. Iraqi EOD team discovered and disposed of the cache.
While recovering the ordnance, the officers came under small-arms fire but finished the operation with no injuries.
Iraqi army troops also located a large quantity of unexploded ordnance buried near Nasiriyah. The ordnance dump was believed to be a remnant of the former Iraqi regime and deemed unusable. Officials don't believe the site is linked with any currently active insurgent groups in the area.
In other news from Iraq, an investigative hearing for a soldier charged with murder in Iraq has been rescheduled.
An "Article 32" investigation hearing for Army Staff Sgt. Alberto B. Martinez, formerly of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 42nd Infantry Division (Mechanized), has been rescheduled for Oct. 31 to Nov. 2 in Kuwait, according to a Multinational Force Iraq news release.
Martinez is charged with two specifications of premeditated murder. An Article 32 hearing is a pre-trial investigation and is mandated by the Uniform Code of Military Justice before court-martial proceedings take place. The purposes of the hearing are to inquire into the truth of the charges, to consider the form of the charges, to recommend disposition of the charges and to provide the accused and his or her counsel an opportunity to see the prosecution evidence before trial.
Martinez is in pretrial confinement in Kuwait.
Coalition aircraft flew 36 close-air-support and armed-reconnaissance sorties Sept. 28 for Operation Iraqi Freedom. These missions included support to coalition troops, infrastructure protection, reconstruction activities, and operations to deter and disrupt terrorist activities, officials said.
Coalition aircraft also supported Iraqi and coalition ground forces operations to create a secure environment for ongoing Transitional National Assembly meetings.
U.S. Air Force F-15s and F-16s provided close air support to coalition troops near Asad and Balad. In addition, 11 U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft flew missions in support of operations in Iraq. United States Air Force and British Royal Air Force fighter aircraft also performed in a nontraditional ISR role with their electro-optical and infrared sensors.
(Compiled from Multinational Security Transition Command Iraq and Multinational Force Iraq news releases.)
Posted by: Oztralian [AKA] God Save The World ||
09/30/2005 03:29 ||
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#1
Well, so the Iraqi Army now has EOD experts involved in their own arms demolition. All these items listed destroyed by IA EOD. Maybe progress hasn't been so lame after all.
Just before sunset, the first blast ripped through an open-air market crowded with Iraqis buying vegetables for dinner. The next bomb exploded moments later at a bank just yards away, followed swiftly by a third on a nearby street of clothing shops.
Thursday's co-ordinated string of suicide car bombings killed at least 65 people and wounded at least 80 in Balad, an overwhelmingly Shiite town in the largely Sunni region north of Baghdad.
The attacks targeting Shiite civilians added to a new surge of violence ahead of an Oct. 15 referendum on Iraq's constitution, whose passage is crucial to prospects for starting a withdrawal of American troops.
Sunni insurgents have vowed to wreck the vote, with al-Qaeda in Iraq declaring âall-out warâ on the Shiite majority that dominates Iraq's government. Moderate Sunni Arab leaders called on their community to reject the charter, saying it will fragment Iraq and leave them weak compared to Shiites and Kurds. The U.S. ambassador was struggling to negotiate changes to the charter in hopes of winning Sunni support.
Also Thursday, the U.S. military announced the deaths of five U.S. soldiers Wednesday in a roadside bombing during combat in Ramadi, west of Baghdad, a hotbed of Iraq's insurgency.
Until Thursday, however, Balad â north of Baghdad and the site of a major U.S. military air base â had seen few major attacks.
The blasts left downtown streets strewn with body parts and wounded as emergency vehicles rushed in. The attackers detonated their explosives-packed cars within minutes of each other, starting at 6:45 p.m. local time at the Masraf Street market, then at nearby Bint al-Hassan Street, a major commercial avenue, said Police Lt. Ghafil Hassan.
Most of the 65 fatalities were civilians, though among the 80 wounded were the police chief and four officers, said Dr. Bassim al-Baldawi of Balad Hospital. Another doctor there, Khaled al-Azawi, said the toll could reach 75 dead and 100 wounded.
In Washington, the top American commander in Iraq said Thursday that the process of withdrawing U.S. troops depends greatly on the results of the referendum and elections set to take place if the constitution passes.
âThe next 75 days are going to be critical,â Gen. George Casey told the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee.
Sunni Arab success in rejecting the draft constitution would set back the political process for months, prolonging Iraq's political instability.
Sunnis make up only 20 per cent of the population, but they could defeat the constitution because of a loophole in voting rules: If two-thirds of voters in any three of Iraq's 18 provinces vote âno,â the referendum fails â even if an overall majority approves. There are four provinces where Sunni Arabs could potentially cross that margin.
U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad has been shuttling between all sides, trying to secure last-minute changes to the draft, which parliament approved Sept. 18 after tough negotiations.
He has met rejections from Shiites and Kurds on some proposed changes, and some Sunni officials said the proposals were still not enough.
Further straining the process, Sunni officials said U.S. forces raided the Baghdad homes of Adnan al-Dulaimi and Harith al-Obeidi, senior officials in the Conference for Iraq's People, a prominent Sunni political group.
Mr. al-Dulaimi, 73, said soldiers in tanks and Humvees broke into his home at 2:30 a.m. local time, put him and his family in a guest room and searched the house, arresting four of his bodyguards and confiscating weapons he said were licensed.
âIt was if they were attacking a castle, not the home of a normal person who advises Iraq's interim government and has called for reconciliation and renounced sectarianism,â said Mr. al-Dulaimi, his group's secretary-general and an adviser to the Iraqi president on religious affairs.
Mr. al-Dulaimi said the Americans were acting on a false tip that his bodyguards had links to insurgents. The U.S. military said it conducted several raids Thursday in the areas of Baghdad where the leaders live but could not identify the homes involved.
Sunni leaders complain the constitution does not emphasize Iraq's unity and Arab character. They say its federal system â which would allow Shiites in the south and Kurds in the north to form mini-states â will isolate Sunnis in a weak middle region, cheated of oil resources.
Mr. Khalilzad met with the top Kurdish leaders, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Massoud Barzani, on Wednesday and conveyed three changes sought by Sunnis, said Fuad Massoum, a Kurdish member of the constitutional commission.
Mr. Massoum said the changes concern: confirming the use of Arabic along with Kurdish in the northern Kurdistan region; adding a clause stating that âIraq is a single nation, and the constitution guarantees its unityâ; and allowing parliament to alter the constitution by a two-thirds vote rather than requiring a referendum.
Mr. Khalilzad earlier presented the same proposals to Shiite leaders, said Humam Hamoudi, the Shiite head of the constitutional committee.
Both Kurds and Shiites rejected the third proposal, Mr. Massoum and Mr. Hamoudi said. The Kurds want the second proposal rephrased to âfederal nationâ instead of âsingle nation,â though they accept the first provision, Mr. Massoum said.
Even so, one of the main Sunni Arab parties, the Iraqi Islamic Party, said that acceptance of all three changes would not be enough for some Sunni leaders.
Party official Nasser al-Ani said his side had put forward 12 proposals, including changes in the federal system that Shiites and Kurds have insisted cannot be altered.
âIf the American ambassador revealed only three of our 12 demands, this would not be satisfactory,â he said.
A U.S. official confirmed that Mr. Khalilzad was seeking âtweaksâ in about a half-dozen points in the draft âto maximize the public support.â He said agreement was closest on the use of Arabic in Kurdistan and on âIraq's identity as a nation stateâ but would not discuss the other points.
The changes âwill absolutely help, because the Sunni Arabs' main concerns have been the unity of Iraq,â he said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussion.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/30/2005 02:38 ||
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#1
thank you Janice
Your celebration of the cold blooded murder of civilians speaks volumes.
#3
The attacks targeting Shiite civilians added to a new surge of violence ahead of an Oct. 15 referendum on Iraq's constitution, whose passage is crucial to prospects for starting a withdrawal of American troops.
Could someone please give me a link to the actual referendum on October 15th? I haven't been able to find it to know what they are actually voting on.
Posted by: Jan ||
09/30/2005 10:45 Comments ||
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A blue sign with yellow writing stands along the highway leading into Qaim, in Iraq's western desert, warning citizens not to cooperate with the Americans. It is signed by al Qaeda in Iraq. Marines remove it.
Col. Stephen Davis, commander of the Marines Regimental Combat Team 2, whose forces operate in western Anbar, tells CNN that Marines have received reports of fliers going up in many of the cities in the Qaim region.
The fliers also bear messages from al Qaeda in Iraq. They urge citizens to rise and fight the holy fight. They condemn Iraq's government and last year's offensive into Falluja. Fliers also promote attacks allegedly carried out in the region and claim the killings of dozens of U.S. forces at a time and the shooting down of military aircraft.
The U.S. Marines also have received reports of fliers telling residents of Sa'dat, just west of Qaim, to leave the city or face death at the hands of the insurgents -- and they have seen civilians leaving the area.
The Marines, stretched thin in this vast expanse of land, have played a game of cat and mouse with the insurgency up and down the Euphrates River valley for months. Forces invade a city and take it back from the insurgents, only to have the insurgents return once they have withdrawn.
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, claims his group has taken over the Qaim area, hailing it "The Islamic Republic of Qaim."
"We do not have a permanent presence there, and insurgents have removed any representative government," Davis says. "But, we go in where we want, whenever we want, and do whatever we want."
Numerous airstrikes in the Qaim region have eliminated many of the insurgent leaders in the area and caused significant damage to the networks, Davis says.
He says the Marines have been launching targeted attacks, raids, and airstrikes on known insurgent strongholds up and down the Euphrates River, eliminating bomb-making factories and cells, weapons caches, car bomb storage and assembly facilities.
They also have bombed strategic bridges that were believed to be used as crossing points for a flow of fighters and weapons. Not only are Marines targeting the physical infrastructure of the insurgency but also the organizational one, he says.
"We are dismantling the network," the colonel says. "We are taking out the leaders, the facilitators, the financiers, the operational guys, and the foot solders."
Still, he acknowledges that there is an abundance of individuals willing to fill in the gaps for those insurgents that the coalition has killed or captured, but he says the replacements coming in do not have the same experience nor are they of the same quality as their predecesors.
Recently, U.S. and Iraqi forces have been building up in an effort to secure the highly volatile and strategic Euphrates River valley, though specific numbers of troops are not being released at this time.
Davis says the build-up is an acknowledgement of an insurgent threat that allowed for the reallocation of forces. "The build-up is driven by the fact that intelligence pulls us where the threat is. We always go where the intel drives us."
More than a thousand insurgents are believed to operate in the valley. They are a combination of three main elements -- a tribal element deeply embedded with criminal ties, "homegrown" elements of the former regime and Ba'athist Party, and the foreign fighter/al-Zarqawi network. These elements will at the same time fight each other and work together.
The only city in the area with a permanent U.S. and Iraqi presence is Hit -- only after coalition forces took control about two months ago without firing a single shot -- and is being hailed as a success story.
But that comes at a price to civilians. While U.S. and Iraqi forces patrol the city to keep it safe, many civilans say the security conditions are not better because they fear being caught in the crossfire should the forces come under attack.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/30/2005 00:42 ||
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#1
Why post this kind of BS from CNN? If you want to to know what's really going on, go to billroggio.com.
CNN isn't anti war; they're on the other side.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
09/30/2005 14:34 Comments ||
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Some 85 people were killed and over 100 injured in three car bombs in northern Baghdad on Thursday, a police source said. He told KUNA the number of wounded out of bombs caused by three booby-trapped cars in Balad town was near the 112 digit. "Apparently a coordinated attack was carried out by three booby-trapped car against an Iraqi police station and a popular market in Balad in the governorate of Tekrit north of Baghdad," added the source. Two of the cars blew up at the police station and was followed by the third bomb near the popular market. A large number of policemen are among those killed, said the source.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/30/2005 00:00 ||
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Unidentified gunmen shot dead Thursday municipal council chief of the northeast Baghdad "Khales" province Sadeq Al-Saadi and his son. Police sources said in a press statement that the gunmen opened fire at Saadi and his son while they were attending a condolences meeting and killed them instantly. According to the sources the shooting ended up also with the injury of two others who were rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment.
Does anybody ever shoot back at these bastards?
Posted by: Fred ||
09/30/2005 00:00 ||
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Two senior policemen escaped death on Thursday in the Kirkuk district while a Humvy vehicle, owned by the US army, was destroyed by fire due to a bomb attack in the "Tawz" locality in the Kirkuk province. Speaking in a news statement, the Iraqi police confirmed that Kirkuk's chief of police, Colonel Burhan Tayyeb Taher escaped a roadside car bomb, which exploded near him as he was driving in the proximity of Kirkuk's fourth bridge. According to the statement, the incident left one policeman injured and caused material damage to one of the vehicles in the chief's convoy.
Another senior policeman, this time the head of the Howeija town in the Kirkuk district, also escaped death when his home was attacked by unknown gunmen early on Thursday. The home was riddled with bullets. Two of the policemen, who were with the chief sustained injuries. But the home was significantly damaged.
Meanwhile, a roadside bomb exploded near a US army patrol as it was driving on the outskirts of the town of Tawz, in the Kirkuk district. According to the statement, the attack resulted in a Humvee vehicle that was burned down. But there was no immediate report of any injuries or death among the soldiers of the patrol.
Moreover, Iraqi forces together with soldiers from the Multinational Force have arrested about 49 armed men in Iraq and confiscated weapons and ammunition in various parts of Iraq. According to a statement by Iraqi Defense Ministry, nine gunmen were arrested while an arms cache was found in the city of Mosul in Northern Iraq. Seven other gunmen were arrested in the city of Tal Afar, north-west of Mosul. An arms and ammunition cache was also found in that locality, the statement said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/30/2005 00:00 ||
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I'm not a zionist or a neocon, but yes, I
am sick of you. You are disrupter of reasoned conversation, a troll. Your hatred is only exceeded by your stupidity.
The blast caused by an explosive device on Wednesday in the city of Najaf came from inside a house suspected of being used for making bombs, said the Iraqi Army on Thursday. A statement issued by the army said that the explosion claimed the lives of two people and wounded eight others in the house. News sources had quoted Shiite cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr's aide Saheb Al-Ameeri as saying that the house belonged to one of Al-Sadr's bodyguards.
Meanwhile, the statement said that ten suspected terrorists were arrested near the Abu Haneefa Mosque in the Athamiya district, western Baghdad. It added that those arrested were found in possession of grenades, Kalashnikovs, protection masks, binoculars, communication equipment and material used in the making of bombs.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/30/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Red wire/ Blue wire time again?
I wonder...
Posted by: N guard ||
09/30/2005 9:45 Comments ||
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#2
...the house belonged to one of Al-Sadr's bodyguards.
The smart one or the stupid one? This could go either way...
US troops on Thursday stormed the house of Adnan Al-Duleimi, advisor of the Iraqi president for religious affairs, arresting four of his bodyguards and seizing their weapons. Al-Duleimi, said in a statement that US paratroopers landed on rooftops of nearby houses while other troops stormed the house, arrested the bodyguards and seized their weapons. The US army has not yet commented the reports.
"We advise him to get a new advisor. This one's dirty."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/30/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Interesting trend - the latest in a string of swoops. I wonder about the intel sources leading to targeting these "official" mooks - and what they're finding... must be paying off. More. Melike.
#2
There was a joint press availability with this guy and Amb. Khalilzad a few weeks back. It was hilarious and interesting in various ways. First Duleimi detonates on-stage, ranting and raving and denouncing the draft const. and accusing the MoI of death squad activity against the Sunnis. Our ambassador stands next to him, smiling weakly. The worst public affairs meltdown I've ever seen is followed by questions from the press.
The nitwit Reuters guy, having just witnessed the most spectacular PR disaster in recent memory, proceeds to ask a "question" (more a snitty outburst full of incorrect implications and lots of attitude) about Reuters stringers shot/detained by Coalition forces. Khalilzad and Duleimi (and the Iraqi media present) all look puzzled at the non-sequitir; Khalilzad mumbles something about investigating all incidents, and they move on. An Iraqi reporter asks an excellent question of Duleimi about his position on the Coalition and constitution -- Duleimi, displaying fine authoritarian/fascist form, angrily dismisses the question and refuses to answer it, saying it "smells of sectarianism".
Next the totally hot but clueless CBS babe asks ANOTHER question about detained reporters. More exasperated looks from Iraqi reporters, some forgettable non-answer from Khalilzad.
As I said, hilarious. And greatly revealing of all involved. Only the Iraqi journalists came out looking like sane, intelligent adults.
#6
Read a few of hercomments and you'll conclude it's either chemically induced or congenital idiocy.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
09/30/2005 8:01 Comments ||
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#7
Fred,
Do monosynaptic scatterbrains like Janice count like real trolls ??
I suggest we leave her droppings here as they are for their amusement value
#10
Her IP address says she's in western Australia. I'm guessing she's a freshman at a remedial education college.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/30/2005 9:52 Comments ||
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#11
How do they train them to spout those slogans, anyway? Do they give 'em a food pellet each time they recite one correctly? Or a mild electric shock every time they get one wrong?
Posted by: Dave D. ||
09/30/2005 9:57 Comments ||
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#12
I sure hope our guys went after the right guy and arent being played by the Minister of the Interior. Dot com has said in the past that he mistrusts Sistani - with some reason, I think. All the more we need to be careful in our trust of some of the more hardline Shiite pols from SCIRI, of whom the Minister of the Interior is one, IIRC. Just cause theyre pushing hard against the Sunnis, doesnt mean we should buy off on everything they say.
.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
09/30/2005 9:57 Comments ||
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LH,
I'm with you. We shouldn't trust Sistani as far as we can throw him.
Sistani and his boyz are not positioining themselves to help America's position, that's for damn sure. They help us only as long as it benefits them, then when they have enough of their own power without us, bam.
I'm just waiting for the night of death that is surely to come for the Sunni.
#15
They help us only as long as it benefits them, then when they have enough of their own power without us, bam.
This is true of everybody in the world except Oz and maybe UK. And it's true of us from the perspective of every other country in the World. Bismark said it over a century ago, countries have no permanent allies, just permanent interests. Why does it always seem to come as a shock to people.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
09/30/2005 12:18 Comments ||
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#16
Not a shock Mrs D, and dont confuse my position with Elvis's. Quite frankly I think Sistani is a huge part of the reason things have gone as well as they have in Iraq in the last 18 months. But I dont think it wise to dismiss every Sunni Arab claim about the Interior Minister, and alleged abused by security forces - whatever shadenfreude we may feel at the turn of the tables. We're in Iraq to win - and letting US forces get turned into the army of particular SCIRI politicians is NOT going to help us win. There has been some evidence that our troops have in the past made arrests based on tips from informants with their own agendas. (im not blaming the troops, theyre doing their best with the intell available)
Basically all im saying is I dont know whats happening here. Its certainly possible the Centcom has independent, solid rationale for these raids on prominent Sunni figures. If so, good for them. But lets hope theyre being careful, cause if they DONT, their risking alienating some of the few people who can help achieve the kind of political progress with the Sunnis that would considerably ease the military problem. IE lets not become captive to our local allys agenda, just cause theyre currently our allies.
I'm just restating the obvious, and I am sure our negotiations with him reflect this reality, but my distrust is deeper than most as it concerns the new "Islamic" leadership of Iraq and its supposed embrace of democratic processes.
I can't see Sistani and the Shiia allowing any major role for the Sunni in their new government minus our insistence. My friends in country reflect these sentiments, and agree that if we weren't present to keep them from it the Shiia would eradicate the Sunni insurgency and eventually the entire Sunni apparati in Iraq once and for all.
The near-final results of local Palestinian Authority elections that took place on Thursday indicate a major win for Fatah. The organization won 61 of the 104 local councils which held elections, while Hamas won 28 councils alone. Around 70 percent of eligible voters took part in the elections. Only 82 councils actually held elections, after 22 councils were set up following agreements between clans and various parties. Fatah won most of those councils through agreements rather than competition. It should also be noted that Hamas only ran for 56 councils, and therefore won 50 percent of the councils it contested.
Hamas officials said statistics show that the organization fared better than initially announced by the Palestinian elections committee, and that its performance was from being considered a failure. The gap between the Hamas and Fatah is not as large as first though, in light of the fact that Fatah obtained a significant amount of councils through agreement, said Hamas sources. Hamas also claimed that its decision to run for a small number of councils stemmed from a wish to avoid contesting the smaller councils, where politics were shaped by clans and their interests.
Analysts in the Palestinian Authority said the results projected a small advantage for Fatah over Hamas, which they said would repeat itself during the Palestinian general elections in January. At the same time, some Palestinian analysts claimed that a continued Israeli counteroffensive against Hamas would aid the terror group.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/30/2005 12:09 ||
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Here is some interesting background regarding the elections and Hamas's position in the West Bank.
I was surprised the Fatah, especially with Abu Mazen's horrible record thus far, did so well until I read this article.
from the September 30, 2005 edition - http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0930/p06s02-wome.html
Surprise there are rational Palestinians! is what I thought after reading this guy's quote-
"Launching the Kassams is a mistake, for sure," says Jameel Saafi. "We have to maintain the state of calm in order to acquire our rights. How can Hamas think it can compete with Israel's power and force? People are fed up, that's for sure. People are not happy with the consequences of such attacks."
#2
Mr. Jameel Saafi will be dead within a week as a "collaborator"
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/30/2005 18:57 Comments ||
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#3
Of course, Elvis. The local West Bank/Gaza Strip Palestinians were doing fine under Israeli stewardship until Israel made the mistake of letting Arafat and the PLO come back from Tunisia (whence they'd gone after Lebanon/Jordan). And who do you think made those quick phone calls to let the IDF know which terror group leaders where going where, and when? There is a reason why so many Palestinians have been dragged from their homes and executed in the streets for "aiding the enemy."
Wanted members of the Palestinian Al-Aqsa brigades, military arm of mainstream Fatah, are clashing with Israeli occupation forces in Kafr Qalil town close to here, eyewitnesses said Wednesday. The added in a telephone call to Kuna that the Israeli occupation forces stormed a home where wanted Palestinians were hiding and clashed with them for two hours. They added that Israeli ambulances arrived at the site of the fight and surrounded the house. No further details were disclosed.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/30/2005 00:00 ||
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The Palestinian police chief said Thursday his forces have begun enforcing a ban on public displays of weapons, a key step toward imposing order in the chaotic Gaza Strip. "Today we started to implement a decision taken by the president and national forces," police chief Ala Husni told a news conference. He said police confiscated weapons from three people who violated the ban.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas announced the ban on weapons displays last week, saying it was a first step toward imposing law and order in Gaza. Israel says Abbas must dismantle the many militant groups and armed gangs operating in Gaza in order to resume peace talks. Abbas says all weapons should be under the control of the Palestinian Authority and urged militants to disarm, but he has rejected Israel's calls to confront the militants.
Husni said that following Israel's recent withdrawal from Gaza, there is no longer any need for people to carry weapons, unless they are members of security forces. "The role of resistance weapons has ended in the streets. They should go back into storage and they should not show up in the streets," he said. "Any weapon now in the street is a criminal weapon." He said all of the Palestinian factions have accepted the decision. The militant group Hamas, the largest Palestinian opposition group, said last week it would honor the ban.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/30/2005 00:00 ||
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Like all things Palestinian: Big talk, no followthrough.
#4
"Abbas says all weapons should be under the control of the Palestinian Authority and urged militants to disarm, but he has rejected Israel's calls to confront the militants."
What a coward !
* Israel became a nation in 1312 B.C.E., two thousand years before the rise of Islam.
* Arab refugees in Israel began identifying themselves as part of a Palestinian people in 1967, two decades after the establishment of the modern State of Israel.
* Since the Jewish conquest in 1272 B.C.E. the Jews have had dominion over the land for one thousand years with a continuous presence in the land for the past 3,300 years. The only Arab dominion since the conquest in 635 C.E. lasted no more than 22 years.
* Jerusalem is mentioned over 700 times in Tanach, the Jewish Holy Scriptures. Jerusalem is not mentioned once in the Koran.
* King David founded the city of Jerusalem. Mohammed never came to Jerusalem.
* The Arab nations initiated all five wars against Israel and lost. Israel defended itself each time and won.
* Of the 175 Security Council resolutions passed before 1990, 97 were directed against Israel.
* Of the 690 General Assembly resolutions voted on before 1990, 429 were directed against Israel.
* The U.N was silent while 58 Jerusalem Synagogues were destroyed by the Jordanians.
* The U.N. was silent while the Jordanians systematically desecrated the ancient Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives.
* The U.N. was silent while the Jordanians enforced an apartheid-like policy of preventing Jews from visiting the Temple Mount and the Western Wall.
Posted by: Oztralian [AKA] God Save The World ||
09/30/2005 3:20 Comments ||
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#8
Magnificent, Oztralian! Only one quibble: King David didn't found the city of Jerusalem. It had been a small Canannite city that he took over and made his own. Followed by King Solomon, who was as serious a builder as King Herod a millenium or so later. The current Temple Mount was a Herod construction -- the Romans completely destroyed the Temple he'd built atop it, which was where Jesus had a small dispute with the moneychangers.
#9
abbas is no brave hero, but hes no Yasser Arafat either. Better someone who will take baby steps to disarm the terrs, while fearing confrontation, than someone who supports the terrs.
This is a first step. Lets see if Hamas resists it. If they dont, theyve lost one of their key propaganda tools.
Jerusalem Post:
Israel's response to the recent Kassam rocket attacks on Sderot has been measured and appropriate, Kim Howells, Britain's Minister of State for the Middle East, told The Jerusalem Post, disregarding Palestinian appeals for the world to rein in the IDF.
Howells, on a three-day visit to the region, hinted in an interview Wednesday night that financial aid to the Palestinian Authority might be withheld if the PA did not seriously begin tackling the terrorism in its midst
#13
Howells, on a three-day visit to the region, hinted in an interview Wednesday night that financial aid to the Palestinian Authority might be withheld if the PA did not seriously begin tackling the terrorism in its midst
Until that word is replaced with "will", there's not a lot of confidence there.
I mean, I buy lottery tix every now and then, so that means I might win, right?
#15
The simple method:
"Ok, lissen up, you monkeys! From now on, anybody without a PA police uniform carrying a weapon in public is subject to being shot without warning. Have a nice fucking day."
A security adviser to the prime minister said Thursday that Indonesian fighters are involved in Thailand's Muslim insurgency, contradicting government insistence the bloody separatist movement is a homegrown affair unconnected to Southeast Asia's al-Qaida-linked terror network.
"I have warned the authorities concerned several times about Indonesian fighters sneaking into the region but they have ignored it," Gen. Kitti Rattanachaya told The Associated Press, saying the militants infiltrated from the Indonesian province of Aceh.
His assertion comes amid rumors of Indonesian Muslims joining the fight in Thailand's southernmost provinces. No substantial evidence has emerged to back the claim, and Rattanachaya gave few details of the infiltration. Most analysts regard the insurgency as domestic but with a strong potential to attract foreign Muslim militants - including members of the Jemaah Islamiyah network, blamed for deadly attacks including the 2002 Bali bombings and a 2003 blast at Jakarta's J.W. Marriott hotel.
In a recent AP interview, a veteran Thai rebel leader warned that militants from Indonesia and Arab nations might join the Thai fight for a separate Muslim homeland if the government continued a crackdown that is provoking a new generation of fighters.
Lukman B. Lima said the 21-month-old insurgency is getting moral and financial support from abroad, especially from Islamic sympathizers in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. But he said weapons are being obtained locally and wielded by Thai Muslims.
"I assure you that many among the young generation are being trained to use the weapons to defend themselves. We train them in the mountains, jungles and sometimes in villages but only inside Thailand," Lukman said in a Sept. 23 interview.
The government repeatedly has denied there are rebel training camps in Thailand.
Kitti, a security adviser to Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and former army commander in the restive region, said officials "don't accept the truth that we are facing the problem of separatist insurgents supported by fellow Muslims in the region."
Also Thursday, Thaksin dismissed local media reports that Washington was concerned about international militants joining with Thai Muslims. The Thai-language daily Matichon said U.S. Ambassador Ralph Boyce met with the interior minister recently to ask about possible foreign involvement.
"Not true. I don't believe the report (of foreign militants) is true because even when I met with President Bush he did not bring this up," Thaksin told reporters when asked about the meeting.
Thaksin met Bush in Washington earlier this month.
Boyce told AP: "We still view the situation as homegrown."
In another interview earlier this week, a Thai Muslim who fought with the mujahedeen in Afghanistan and who has close contacts with the Thai insurgents said he believed fighters from Aceh with superior training have been operating in southern Thailand for some time.
Thai insurgents, mostly recruited from religious school and given just rudimentary training, were not good enough to carry out some of the attacks witnessed in the south, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity out of concerns for his safety.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/30/2005 02:53 ||
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JI sucks ! Indonesian government sucks ! The Indonesian judicial system sucks ! Aussies rule ! JI stinks !!
ner ner ner ner :P
Posted by: Oztralian [AKA] God Save The World ||
09/30/2005 3:33 Comments ||
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The authorities in the southern Philippines arrested four suspected members of the Jemaah Islamiyah militant organization while they were on their way to carry out a bombing mission, officials said Thursday.
The capture of the four men followed a week of similar arrests of members of Abu Sayyaf, another insurgent group.
Police officials in North Cotabato Province said they had found on one of the men an explosive rigged with a mobile phone as a triggering device. The police said the suspects were in a minibus headed to Cotabato City when apprehended by officers on Wednesday.
Terrorists have attacked North Cotabato Province, Cotabato City and other parts of the southern Philippines in the past. Crowded markets and passenger buses were the usual targets.
The Associated Press identified one of the suspects as Kasan Datukon, whom the military identified as a bomb expert trained by Jemaah Islamiyah. The group, which originated in Indonesia, has expanded its operations in the Philippines in the past five years, officials said.
Major General Agustin Dema-ala, a military commander, said the explosive, which was fashioned from a 60-millimeter mortar, was like those used by Jemaah Islamiyah and Abu Sayyaf in previous attacks.
According to Filipino and foreign authorities, Jemaah Islamiyah penetrated groups like Abu Sayyaf and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the main Muslim separatist group in Mindanao, a major island in the south where most of the country's Muslims live.
Filipino and foreign officials had warned this month that Jemaah Islamiyah remained active and could target public places in the capital and other key cities. A military intelligence report said Jemaah Islamiyah had been recruiting more young men, even Christians.
Last week, Philippine marines arrested seven alleged members of Abu Sayyaf in Tawi Tawi Province, a group of islands near Malaysia.
Also last week, soldiers killed two Abu Sayyaf terrorists during a firefight on the island of Sulu, another Abu Sayyaf refuge. That same week, the Philippine Navy intercepted a cache of explosives and weapons, said to be for Abu Sayyaf.
"We have prevented the possibility of a large-scale bombing in the south," said Vice Admiral Ernesto de Leon, the chief of the Philippine Navy.
The U.S. National Counterterrorism Center said in a report this month that the Philippines had become a terrorist refuge in the region. The center said it had found that as many as 10 terror groups operated in the country and that there had been 25 terror attacks in the first half of this year alone.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/30/2005 02:51 ||
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Suspected Abu Sayyaf bandits have threatened to kidnap traders if they fail to pay illegal taxation in the southern Philippines, officials said.
Officials said the bandits were demanding as much as P1 million and those who refused to pay were threatened with harm.
Extortion letters purportedly from the Abu Sayyaf group and the notorious Pentagon kidnap gang have been sent to many traders in Maguindanao province, where troops are battling militants tied to al-Qaeda.
"It is dangerous now. Many groups are demanding money, some are telling us to pay one million pesos in exchange for our lives. They would kidnap us or bomb our place if we don't pay.
"We will not give money to these people. The authorities can handle this problem and we will just take precautions, like hire additional security guards and limit unnecessary travels," one trader said.
The bandits also threatened to bomb or burn public transportation and communication signal relays if their executives do not give illegal taxation.
The police and military said they would provide protection to traders who are receiving death threats. But many traders were afraid to cooperate with the authorities for fear of reprisals.
"We are appealing to traders to report to us any threats, so we can take the necessary actions. Right now, the operation against terrorists is going on," Del Prado said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/30/2005 02:51 ||
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BEIRUT, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Lebanon's army has tightened controls around the posts of a pro-Syrian Palestinian guerrilla group which faces pressure to disarm under the terms of a U.N. Security Council resolution, security sources said on Thursday.
Army units erected checkpoints and beefed up its presence around the positions of Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) in al-Naemeh, just south of Beirut, and the Bekaa Valley, the sources said. They were speaking on condition of anonymity and did not give further details. Palestinian sources said the army's move was unusual and described it as politically motivated.
"We're being oppressed!"
The Security Council's resolution 1559 demands the disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militia, a reference to the Hizbollah guerrilla group and Palestinian factions. U.N. special envoy Terje Roed-Larsen discussed the issue of Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Cairo on Wednesday in relation to resolution 1559, a U.N. official in Beirut told Reuters. He gave no further details on the meeting's outcome.
"I can say no more"
Resolution 1559 was passed in 2004, demanding the withdrawal of all Syrian troops and intelligence from Lebanon and the disarmament of all militia gropups. Syria pulled its troops out in April 2005, 2 months after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri which sparked a wave of protests.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/30/2005 09:37 ||
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PFLP GC will be a lot easier to take down than Hezbollah, but establishes a precedent. And will isolate Hezb if they go for civil war. Very interesting.
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - An American supervisor for a U.S. security firm allegedly shot to death his Afghan interpreter after a quarrel this week, Afghan officials said Friday.
I hate it when I have to shoot employees, all those forms to fill out. Then there's the problem of interviewing replacements.
Noor Ahmad, 37, was shot in the head late Tuesday at a compound of his employer, U.S. Protection and Investigations, at Tut village in Farah province's Gulistan district in western Afghanistan, the officials said. The American reportedly worked as the local supervisor for USPI, a Houston-based company that provides security for foreign contract workers in Afghanistan, including on construction of a U.S.-funded road between the cities of Herat and Kandahar.
"An American guy shot his translator. Next morning, a helicopter came and took the foreigner to Kabul," provincial police chief Allah Udin Noorzai told The Associated Press. Noorzai had no details about who had taken him away, although other officials in the province claimed they were Americans. The Interior Ministry in Kabul confirmed that a foreigner allegedly had shot an Afghan working for USPI and had been brought to Kabul, but gave no further details, including whether he was in custody or still in the country. Noorzai said he had sent a criminal investigation team to the USPI compound after the shooting, but his men were blocked from entering by its security guards.
Rent-a-cops having more guns.
Bill Dupre, USPI's country operations manager in Kabul, said: "USPI does not want to release any statement on this incident at all." The U.S. Embassy said it was looking into media reports about the case. The American military said it had no information.
Ahmad's relatives claimed the American had shot the Afghan during a late-night party because of a personal grievance against him. "We want our government to avenge my brother," said Fazel Ahmad, 45, a bank worker in the western city of Herat. "They shouldn't let him (the American) escape. Americans and all other foreigners are here to help us, not to kill us," he told AP.
Syedo Jan Agha, a local militia commander who is paid by USPI to help provide security for the Herat-Kandahar road with his 250 forces, claimed Ahmad had a reputation for aggressive behavior and drunkenness.
"We had previously complained to USPI about Noor Ahmad. All the time he was drinking. He disturbed bus drivers on the road and even fired his gun," Agha said.
Pity he's dead, I hear there are openings in the NOPD
Recounting the incident, Agha said he heard three shots about midnight Tuesday and knocked on the door of the USPI compound but was told to come back the next morning as the presence of troops would only make the situation worse. When he returned the next morning, he said he saw Ahmad's body.
Plenty of time to "tidy up" the crime scene
Another foreign USPI employee told him that Ahmad, drunk and armed, had walked into the room of the American while he was sleeping and that there had been an exchange of fire in which the American shot Ahmad.
Could have happened that way, I suppose.
Foreigners working on civilian projects are generally subject to Afghan law, but the legal status of security contractors is a gray area. U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan come under American military jurisdiction.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/30/2005 11:43 ||
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conflict between armed, drunk, angry men? Whoda thunk it? Must be a cultural thang
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/30/2005 20:21 Comments ||
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Two terror suspects were killed Thursday while another was arrested in a police operation to arrest suspects believed to have links to the Sharm El-Sheikh deadly bombings, which took place last July. A press release issued by the interior ministry said the dead were Khaled Msaed Muslem, a dentist, and Talab Murdi Suliman, jobless. The detained suspect was identified as Yunis Muhammad Alian. The three are believed to have taken part in the execution of the bombings which claimed 64 lives, mainly Egyptians.
They have escaped following the attacks, to a mountainous area in the Sinai peninsula. The statement said three policemen, including an officer, were injured during the clash. It explained that the three suspects were trying to escape arrest using a car and started firing at the police forces. Quantities of arms and explosives, a video camera, a forged documents and car number plates were found in the suspects' car. The arrested suspect gave details on the perpetrators of the bombings, according to the statement.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/30/2005 00:00 ||
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Pakistani security forces in an operation Thursday arrested wanted Taliban leader, said an intelligence source. The source revealed to KUNA that the arrested Taliban leader, being identified as Ahmed, is relative of Jalal-ud-Din Haqani, former military leader of the radical Islamic group and militia of Pashtun resistance to the Soviet-leaning communist government in late 1980s. Jalaluddin Haqqani and his guerrillas are believed to have taken shelter in the mountainous terrain of Paktia province bordering Pakistan. The source said that the operation is still underway, adding that at least nine troops and three civilians sustained injuries. Pick up the previous.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/30/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Is the DU site down again? I need to send them some more donations in order to keep the loonies in the asylum.
BTW - It's okay to not like the Prez and express that opinion, however, you should contain your comments within the parameters of the respective thread. Other wise you just look stupid, juvenile, and moronic. Case in point - see the above post.
#2
Hey BH6. Good to see you here. Hope you and your Marines are doing well at TQ? Janice serves a useful purpose: to illustrate the stupidity, illogic, sloganeering, sedition, antisemitism, and racism of the hard left.
Posted by: ed ||
09/30/2005 6:27 Comments ||
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#3
Capasso,BH6.Hope your trip was uneventfull.
Ok J,and Hillary is a bitch so whats your point.
#4
Thanks Guys, everything's fine, we only received IDF once since Sep 11. All my Marines are safe. We're pushing a lot of supplies out on convoys right now in anticipation of the constitutional referendum.
September was hot over here, about 105 average temp.
October should be cooler. When I get back I'll attach pix for your perusal of the base and where I lived at.
We had bad and good news this week. Bad: we lost an Army guy on a convoy. I can't go into it too much, but it was a sad deal. The terrorists had access to Iraqi Police uniforms and made it a bad day.
Good News: We broke up an IED making facility in a nearby town. Arrested some assholes and shot up a car full of islamonuts. Again, I'm trying to be careful about giving away too much info, so I will tend to generalize. I'm not sure what the enemy figured out after we zapped some of their goons and took their goodies.
I also have limited access to the MSM - not really a bad thing but I can't tell what their picking up on or not. Most of us older guys hate reporters anyways. We are very apprehensive of talking to them because they invariably say what they want anyways.
The bottom line is that the MP Marines are doing phenomenal work out. They lead convoys and screen for IEDs. They are also augmented w/supply & maintenance-type Marines who are also doing great things. It's amazing the maturity level my young lads are displaying out in injun country. I'm very proud. Sometimes I'm jealous because I want to get outside the wire and help out - but there's no mission imperative for an over-30 officer running amok on convoys. It would kind of look like Larry Bird trying to coach and play forward. The mother of my child is happy about that so right now I just do whatever I'm told & keep my trap shut. I promised her that since we have the kid now - no more volunteering for 'adrenaline fixes.'
Another quick story, one of my buddies was coming back from another base north of here on a CH-46. It was early in the a.m. - he started receiving small arms fire from a small village. Apparently the pilot wasn't too concerned and just gained altitude and kept going. My buddy was praying on his rosary hard because he could see the muzzle flashes - he was a little shook up for about a day. I empathized w/him, heck, if you've ever had the pleasure (sarcasm) of riding in a phrog in the first place - that's bad enough. Add to that having some douche bag taking pot shots at you and that's what I call having your wheaties pissed in. I asked him if they lit up those fuckers. He said no, apparently there was a door gunner on board but he didn't fire back. I am not sure on the ROE for pilots out there - so maybe they decided not to engage because it was against the ROE for them. (Too many huts close by w/non-combatants maybe). Or, could be they were low on fuel and couldn't waste the time on a fire team of dune jockey assholes. I'm sure they called it in for the direct action lads to handle. I heard nothing more on that though. Take care guys and I'll be in touch.
#5
BH6: thanks so much for the update, and I agree with you, generalities are okay. Don't give nuttin' away. What I'd love to hear is just what life is like, how the Iraqi people are, etc.
Take care, stay safe, and our best to you and your people.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/30/2005 11:02 Comments ||
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#6
Broadhead6 tx for the report. drive safe.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
09/30/2005 11:48 Comments ||
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Pakistani security forces bombarded on Thursday militant hideouts in two remote areas of North Waziristan tribal agency, bordering Afghanistan, wounding more than five people, said locals and officials.
How many more? One more would make six. 100 would make 105.
Hundreds of troops backed with gunship helicopters launched the operation in Dutta Khel, Qutab Khel, and Khattai areas of the agency on a tip-off that foreign militants had taken refugee in the areas, a security official told KUNA on the condition of anonymity. He said the operation was still continuing and it had been expanded to adjacent villages. He added that two troops and three militants had been wounded in exchange of fire. Locals said there was heavy exchange of fire between the security forces and militants.
That's because you usually don't get anything done with a light exchange of fire except to scare the chickens.
A local said he witnessed two dead bodies but this was not officially confirmed. He said military and political administrations had directed the locals to evacuate the area immediately. The operation is part of the series of military operations launched since last month to wipe out terrorist elements from the agency. On Wednesday, forces had arrested 11 militants and recovered a large quantity of arms and ammunition. Earlier this month forces in an operation in Dutta Khel stormed the largest Al-Qaeda den in the agency. They seized 15 truckloads of arms and ammunition and arrested 21 militants, including 11 foreigners believed to be of Uzbek, Tajik and Arab origins. Meanwhile, according to security sources, suspected Islamic militants shot and killed four low-ranking security officials and a senior officer in neighboring South Waziristan tribal agency.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/30/2005 00:00 ||
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Is that you, antiwar? Got a new alias?
Posted by: Fred ||
09/30/2005 8:01 Comments ||
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Maybe Boris finally got that "gender correction" surgery?
Twenty-nine people were reported killed in an unprecedented attack on a refugee camp in the north-west of the Sudan region of Darfur, the United Nations said yesterday. According to initial reports, the Aro Sharow camp was attacked by 250-300 "armed Arab men on horses and camels" late on Wednesday, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a statement. Another 10 people were reported to have been seriously wounded and the nearby village of Gosmeina was also believed to have been attacked and burned, the agency said. The death toll referred only to camp dwellers. The camp, home to between 4,000 and 5,000 people, lies 16 km north of the town of Saleah in an area that has been regarded as a no-go zone for the UN for months because of continuing violence.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/30/2005 00:00 ||
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Posted by: Darth VAda ||
09/30/2005 6:25 Comments ||
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#2
Whoops, that was >Oink<
Posted by: Darth VAda ||
09/30/2005 6:25 Comments ||
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The Rapid Action Battalion on Wednesday midnight arrested the owner of a printing press, where the leaflets of the banned Islamist outfit, Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh, were printed. The battalion said it arrested the press owner, Jewel Khan, based on the statements of his 14 workers detained on September 16. Jewel was arrested from Basabo area for his links with the militant outfit. The battalion also seized some CDs and documents related to Mujahideenâs militant activities from the press, Colour City. The officials said Jewel admitted printing the leaflets and booklets at his press.
"I confess! I dunnit! Don't take me to the abandoned warehouse at 3 a.m.!"
The battalion also seized a large number of documents from another press Daud Modern Printers at Prasanna Poddar Lane at Tantibazar of old Dhaka on September 16 and arrested eight workers from there. All 22 press workers are detained in jail.
"Into the paddy wagon wit' yez!"
Both the presses have printed the Mujahideenâs leaflets, booklets and handbills in Bangla, English and Arabic and the work order was given by a Mujahideen computer operator, Akramul Islam. Akram was arrested from a ground floor flat of a six-storey building at East Basabo on September 8 and he made his confessions before the court on Wednesday.
"Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'!"
"Yer honor, we'd like to take the defendant to the abandoned warehouse. We think he might have an arms cache there!"
"When do you want to do that, officer?"
"Prob'ly around 3 a.m. That's the best time."
"I confess! I dunnit! I killed Jon Benet, too!"
A team of RAB-7 recovered two sacks of bomb-making materials from an inaccessible area of Idgor forest under Ramu upazila in Coxâs Bazar early Thursday. Two local guns were also recovered during the pre-dawn raid. The battalion members detained a man, Nurunnabi, from the house and they were interrogating him whether he has links with the banned militant outfit.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/30/2005 00:00 ||
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The season opens tomorrow on Trolls and Moonbats, guys. Only capture is allowed. They must be housed in an empty metal barn, with Lawrence Welch music playing on a continuous loop inside. Two meals will be served each day: Nuocmam & rice at 10:00 AM, Kimchee and baked dog at 7:00 PM. Sanitation is the responsibilities of all captured moonbats. Other cleanup and food service is the responsibility of trolls. All barns must be surrounded by razor-wire (three "strand"), and the smell of ripe rice paddies will be emitted at random places and times. Minimum capture time is 30 days. Repeat offenders will be "repatriated" to Lesser Diomede, Alaska, for life.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/30/2005 16:53 Comments ||
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Security agencies on Thursday morning foiled an attempt by an alleged activist of a banned militant organisation to explode a remote control bomb near the sessions court. Police arrested Zahid, 35, while planting the bomb at around 7:30am and seized sixty yards of wire, electric gadgets and two hand grenades from him. Zahid of Rawalpindi obtained terrorism training from Afghanistan, District Police Officer (DPO) Dr Muhammad Naeem Khan told reporters. The DPO said that police had also recovered terrorist literature from Zahid showing other cities and important personalities on the hit list of the banned outfit. He said that police was fearing bomb blasts during Ramadan and the security had been beefed up, enabling them to arrest the terrorist.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/30/2005 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.
Two policemen and one child have been killed in a shooting in the Chechen capital of Grozny, the local Ministry of Internal Affairs said Friday. "Yesterday at 5:40 p.m. [1:40 GMT] unidentified assailants in three automobiles opened fire on a Zhiguli [car], in which a local police officer and a police department head were traveling," a source said. Both police officers were killed, as was the daughter of one of the officers. A woman who was also in the car at the time of the shooting was hospitalized.
Some 85 people were killed and over 100 injured in three car bombs in northern Baghdad on Thursday, a police source said. He told KUNA the number of wounded out of bombs caused by three booby-trapped cars in Balad town was near the 112 digit. "Apparently a coordinated attack was carried out by three booby-trapped car against an Iraqi police station and a popular market in Balad in the governorate of Tekrit north of Baghdad," added the source. Two of the cars blew up at the police station and was followed by the third bomb near the popular market. A large number of policemen are among those killed, said the source.
Unidentified gunmen shot dead Thursday municipal council chief of the northeast Baghdad "Khales" province Sadeq Al-Saadi and his son. Police sources said in a press statement that the gunmen opened fire at Saadi and his son while they were attending a condolences meeting and killed them instantly. According to the sources the shooting ended up also with the injury of two others who were rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment. 
Two senior policemen escaped death on Thursday in the Kirkuk district while a Humvy vehicle, owned by the US army, was destroyed by fire due to a bomb attack in the "Tawz" locality in the Kirkuk province. Speaking in a news statement, the Iraqi police confirmed that Kirkuk's chief of police, Colonel Burhan Tayyeb Taher escaped a roadside car bomb, which exploded near him as he was driving in the proximity of Kirkuk's fourth bridge. According to the statement, the incident left one policeman injured and caused material damage to one of the vehicles in the chief's convoy.
The blast caused by an explosive device on Wednesday in the city of Najaf came from inside a house suspected of being used for making bombs, said the Iraqi Army on Thursday. A statement issued by the army said that the explosion claimed the lives of two people and wounded eight others in the house. News sources had quoted Shiite cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr's aide Saheb Al-Ameeri as saying that the house belonged to one of Al-Sadr's bodyguards.
US troops on Thursday stormed the house of Adnan Al-Duleimi, advisor of the Iraqi president for religious affairs, arresting four of his bodyguards and seizing their weapons. Al-Duleimi, said in a statement that US paratroopers landed on rooftops of nearby houses while other troops stormed the house, arrested the bodyguards and seized their weapons. The US army has not yet commented the reports.
The near-final results of local Palestinian Authority elections that took place on Thursday indicate a major win for Fatah. The organization won 61 of the 104 local councils which held elections, while Hamas won 28 councils alone. Around 70 percent of eligible voters took part in the elections. Only 82 councils actually held elections, after 22 councils were set up following agreements between clans and various parties. Fatah won most of those councils through agreements rather than competition. It should also be noted that Hamas only ran for 56 councils, and therefore won 50 percent of the councils it contested. 
Wanted members of the Palestinian Al-Aqsa brigades, military arm of mainstream Fatah, are clashing with Israeli occupation forces in Kafr Qalil town close to here, eyewitnesses said Wednesday. The added in a telephone call to Kuna that the Israeli occupation forces stormed a home where wanted Palestinians were hiding and clashed with them for two hours. They added that Israeli ambulances arrived at the site of the fight and surrounded the house. No further details were disclosed.
The Palestinian police chief said Thursday his forces have begun enforcing a ban on public displays of weapons, a key step toward imposing order in the chaotic Gaza Strip. "Today we started to implement a decision taken by the president and national forces," police chief Ala Husni told a news conference. He said police confiscated weapons from three people who violated the ban.
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - An American supervisor for a U.S. security firm allegedly shot to death his Afghan interpreter after a quarrel this week, Afghan officials said Friday. 
Two terror suspects were killed Thursday while another was arrested in a police operation to arrest suspects believed to have links to the Sharm El-Sheikh deadly bombings, which took place last July. A press release issued by the interior ministry said the dead were Khaled Msaed Muslem, a dentist, and Talab Murdi Suliman, jobless. The detained suspect was identified as Yunis Muhammad Alian. The three are believed to have taken part in the execution of the bombings which claimed 64 lives, mainly Egyptians.
Pakistani security forces in an operation Thursday arrested wanted Taliban leader, said an intelligence source. The source revealed to KUNA that the arrested Taliban leader, being identified as Ahmed, is relative of Jalal-ud-Din Haqani, former military leader of the radical Islamic group and militia of Pashtun resistance to the Soviet-leaning communist government in late 1980s. Jalaluddin Haqqani and his guerrillas are believed to have taken shelter in the mountainous terrain of Paktia province bordering Pakistan. The source said that the operation is still underway, adding that at least nine troops and three civilians sustained injuries. Pick up the previous.
Pakistani security forces bombarded on Thursday militant hideouts in two remote areas of 
Twenty-nine people were reported killed in an unprecedented attack on a refugee camp in the north-west of the Sudan region of Darfur, the United Nations said yesterday. According to initial reports, the Aro Sharow camp was attacked by 250-300 "armed Arab men on horses and camels" late on Wednesday, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a statement. Another 10 people were reported to have been seriously wounded and the nearby village of Gosmeina was also believed to have been attacked and burned, the agency said. The death toll referred only to camp dwellers. The camp, home to between 4,000 and 5,000 people, lies 16 km north of the town of Saleah in an area that has been regarded as a no-go zone for the UN for months because of continuing violence.
The 
Security agencies on Thursday morning foiled an attempt by an alleged activist of a banned militant organisation to explode a remote control bomb near the sessions court. Police arrested Zahid, 35, while planting the bomb at around 7:30am and seized sixty yards of wire, electric gadgets and two hand grenades from him. Zahid of Rawalpindi obtained terrorism training from Afghanistan, District Police Officer (DPO) Dr Muhammad Naeem Khan told reporters. The DPO said that police had also recovered terrorist literature from Zahid showing other cities and important personalities on the hit list of the banned outfit. He said that police was fearing bomb blasts during Ramadan and the security had been beefed up, enabling them to arrest the terrorist.
