Sanaa, 13 Oct. (AKI) - Two Yemenis who died in a suicide bombing in Baghdad in July were among hundreds of Islamic extremists released from prison in Yemen since 2003 under a "dialogue" programme run by a senior judge, Yemeni newspapers report. More than 360 prisoners have been released under Hamoud Abdulhamid al-Hitar's initiative, which involves holding sessions designed to change the mindsets of militants by showing that their violent actions are at odds with their faith, in return for provisional release. Commenting on claims that prisoners released under his scheme went on to become suicide bombers, al-Hitar said there was no proof the men have carried out any suicide attacks. However, he did admit that the security forces had caught dozens of young Yemenis heading to Iraq in the last two months alone.
Last month a study by the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) stated that even though "no one knows the number of active and part-time insurgents, paid agents and sympathisers," they estimate there to be around 30,000 insurgents in Iraq, of whom some 3,000 are foreign fighters. They believe 500 of these are Yemeni. "We are not interested in dealing with issues in Iraq," al-Hitar said of his dialogue programme, but added, "We try to tell them that it's not a duty to go to Iraq."
Al-Hitar has become renowned for the methods of "peaceful persuasion" he has used with al-Qaeda militants and is even reported to have been courted by European police in their bid to find successful strategies against Islamic terrorism. Explaining his strategy, al-Hitar says that as many militants were ordinary people who had been led astray, he believes that just as they have been brain-washed with al-Qaeda doctrines, they can be taught more moderate ideas.
However, one politician from the opposition Yemeni Socialist Party, Mohammed Salah, criticised the Yemeni government's handling of terrorists, saying it uses the dialogue programme to "get people to support and work for the authorities." "The government deals with terrorists in a way to keep them under their control, to use them when it needs to," he said.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/13/2005 11:32 ||
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More than 360 prisoners have been released under Hamoud Abdulhamid al-Hitar's initiative, which involves holding sessions designed to change the mindsets of militants by showing that their violent actions are at odds with their faith, in return for provisional release.
And upon their release, they go right back to the mosque they went to before and all efforts are for naught when the imam radicalises them. Again.
Outlaw killed in Pabna
Slaughtered body of an activist of Purba Banglar Communist Party (ML) was recovered from a field at Debottarpara village in Ataikula Upazila on Wednesday. The dead was identified as Tutul, 40, son of Mahram Pramanik of Alokdia village in Santhia Upazila. Police and family sources said some armed men picked up Tutul from his residence Tuesday midnight. They took him to the area and slaughtered him.
"Who were those masked men?"
"I don't know, but they left this silver shutter gun"
In the morning, local people found the body of Tutul and informed Santhia police. Police later recovered the body and sent it to Pabna General Hospital morgue for autopsy.
"Doctor Quincy, we got another stiff"
Police said Tutul, earlier expelled from the party, was wanted in a number of criminal cases.
Why, it's almost like a "crossfire" incident, without any messy reports to fill out
56 suspected pirates held
The joint forces arrested 56 suspected pirates from char areas in Bhola and Lakshmipur on Sunday and Monday. The forces comprising the police and the coastguards raided Gazariar Char, Teliar Char, and Char Jahiruddin.
"Yar, we be the Dread Char Pirates!"
Seventeen of the arrested were sent to the jail and the rest released after interrogation. Ansars men held for eating puja bananas
Four members of Ansars, who were placed on duty at the puja mandap, were sent to jail on Tuesday on charge of eating bananas from inside the mandap in Sirajganj town.
I have no idea, so don't ask....
Locals said a priest on Tuesday morning found bananas missing from inside the mandap at Marwari Patti in Sirajganj town. Finding the bananas missing, the priest suspended the usual puja ritual.
"Yes, we have no bananas.."
Later, the members of the puja committee informed the police of the incident.
"We have no bananas today.."
Soon after, the police super and the officer-in-charge visited the spot and held the four Ansars men.
"What youse in for, Ali?"
"Eating bananas without a permit"
Three suspected robbers beaten to death
Three suspected robbers were beaten to death in Brahmanbaria and Chittagong on Tuesday.
Citizens on patrol
BDNEWS, a private news agency, said: A mob beat two suspected robbers to death at Chargash Bazar under Kashba upazila in Brahmanbaria early Tuesday. Witnesses and the police said a group of 20 to 25 armed robbers made employees of a Krishi Bank branch, two jeweller shops and some other adjacent shops hostage at gunpoint and looted Tk 79,000 in cash and gold ornaments and tried to flee the scene firing blank shots.
"Feet, don't fail me now!"
Local people chased the robbers and managed to catch three of them. The mob beat them up resulting two of the miscreants died on the spot and left another injured seriously.
Bangla mobs take their duties very seriously
The people recovered a gun and three rounds of bullets from the robbers and handed those over to the police. The identity of the robbers could not be known immediately.
New Age Chittagong correspondent reports that a suspected robber was beaten to death in the Dakshin Demsha area under Satkania upazila on Tuesday morning. The police and locals said the mob caught Abdul Mazid, 27, of the Napiterchar area under Dakshin Demsha at about 5:00am when he returned home after a long hiding. The mob beat him up on charge of robbery leaving him dead on the spot.
"Hey, long time no see, Abdul! WACK SLAM THUD ..."rosebud"..
According to the police, Mazid was an accused of seven cases including robbery. Clandestine biscuit factory unearthed
Oct 12 : A mobile court unearthed a clandestine biscuit factory at Jhumjhumpur area in the town on October 6.
Yes, you read that right..
The mobile court led by first class magistrate Azimuddin Biswas and Sanitary Inspector Abdus Sabur raided the area and unearthed the factory named Meghna Factory. The officials recovered 30 kilograms of poisonous amobium bicarbonate substances for producing biscuits and fined its owner Tk. 7600.
The factory was accused of producing sub-standard foods and selling those in the areas for long much to the injuries to the health of the people. The sanitary inspector said, the amobium bicarbonate substances are very harmful chemicals causing harms to the human kidneys.
Found a cheap subsitute for baking soda?
Woman arrested for rejecting lover
Oct 12: The Kotwali thana police on 9 arrested a woman from Shankarpur area in the town on charge of her being responsible for the death of a police official. The arrested was identified as Nazma Begum, daughter of Abdul Mannan of the area.
Police said Nazma fell in love with ASI Abul Kashem, in-charge of Phulbari Camp under Sadar thana. The love matter continued for a long time and at one stage Nazma rejected the proposal of Abul Kashem, father of two children hailing from Jhalakathi district to marry her.
"Nazma, I can't live without you. Will you marry me?"
"No"
Abul Kashem at the rejection of marriage proposal got shocked and ended his life by taking poison on October 8.
Well, we said he couldn't live without her
Beauty Begum, wife of Abul Kashem filed a case with Kotwali thana accusing Nazma Begum.
So, Abul had a wife with the same last name as his girlfriend?
Posted by: Steve ||
10/13/2005 11:44 ||
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From Foodreference.com
"Ammonia powder is ammonium bicarbonate, a leavening agent that is a precursor of today's baking powder and baking soda; it must be ground to a powder before using. It is also known as hartshorn, carbonate of ammonia or powdered baking ammonia. It is still called for in some recipes especially for cookies.
I would suggest substituting an equal amount of double acting baking powder for the powdered ammonia (hartshorn) in a recipe. (Your kitchen would stink of ammonia while the cookies baked, but the cookies would not taste or smell of ammonia.)"
Posted by: john ||
10/13/2005 19:12 Comments ||
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Immigration police at Zia International Airport (ZIA) have barred eight Bangladeshi students having madrasa background from boarding Libya-bound flights. Intelligence sources said the eight students, who received scholarship from the Libyan government for higher studies, were brought down from two flights of Qatar Airlines "on suspicion" on Saturday and Tuesday.
Hummmmmm, maybe that story about Thai islamists training in Libya does have merit
They are Akram Hossain, 21, Mahmudul Huq, 18, Jubair Hossain, 21, Zaber Al Mahmood, 25, Belayet Hossain, 19, Kamrul Islam, 18, Nurul Karim, 21, and Abdul Hafiz, 19. Akram was brought down on Saturday evening and the rest on Tuesday evening. However, the consulate office of Libya discussed the matter with the high officials and the immigration authorities returned their passports yesterday.
Greased a few palms, maybe?
Posted by: Steve ||
10/13/2005 11:38 ||
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Mufti Mohammad Abdul Hannan, the mastermind of the assassination attempt on Sheikh Hasina and a top leader of Harkat-ul-Jehad, an Islamist militant group, was placed on a further 5-day remand by the court of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) on Wednesday in the incident of countrywide August 17 serial bomb blasts. On the other hand, Deobandh schholar Mufti Hannan told the court that he was not involved in August 17 bomb blasts incident and he was implicated unlawfully in August 17 incident.
Cordoned by Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), the Detective Branch (DB) police on Wednesday produced the main planner of Kotalipara incident, Hannan before the court after a 10-day police remand in the case of Tejgaon police station relating to detonated bombs on August 17. In a fresh prayer by the Detective Branch (DB) police, he was shown arrested in the incident of bomb blasts at Supreme Court premises under Ramna police station. After showing him arrested in the incident at Supreme Court premises bomb blast, the Detective Branch (DB) police made a plea before the court to grant a 10-day police custody. After haring, the Metropolitan Magistrate Shamsul Alam put him on a five-day police custody for ineterrogation.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/13/2005 00:00 ||
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50 rebels of those approximately 200 who took part in Thursday raid on Kabardino-Balkarian capital Nalchik were killed by Russian troops, the head of Russiaâs General Staff, General Yury Baluevsky was quoted by Interfax as saying. The General Staff also dismissed reports about the killing of Russiaâs most wanted terrorist Shamil Basayev, who was reportedly involved in the attack, saying they do not have evidence of his presence in Kabardino-Balkaria.
Drat.
Yury Baluevsky said that according to the rebelsâ tactics their aim was âto attract the attention of Russian and international communityâ. Meanwhile, two centers of resistance remain in Nalchik, RIA Novosti reported. Guerillas have taken hostages in a police station and are currently holding several people there. Local media reported earlier that three women managed to escape while terrorists were praying. Another group is defending itself by shooting from a shop. Many shops are currently closed in the city, public transport work was suspended. People, however, gather on quite streets to discuss the attack. A deputy state prosecutor Vladimir Kolesnikov said earlier that a total of 12 civilians and 12 policemen were killed when Chechen rebels launched attacks on police and army buildings in Nalchik. Many media, nevertheless, say the death toll amounts up to 60 people.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/13/2005 14:25 ||
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Local media reported earlier that three women managed to escape while terrorists were praying.
Gee, I bet I know which direction they were facing while they were praying.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
10/13/2005 14:37 Comments ||
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Scuttlebutt on various Net milforums is that the police were waiting and that it was an inside job, including but not limited to BASAYEV himself.
EFL.
Kolesnikov also said that the masterminds of the attack on the city had been identified. "They are Anzor Astemirov and Ilyaz Gerchikhayev," he said. "They are prominent wahhabites and are wanted in Karabdino-Balkariya and Ingushetia for particularly serious crimes." Kolesnikov also said that the masterminds of the attack on the city had been identified. "They are Anzor Astemirov and Ilyaz Gerchikhayev," he said. "They are prominent wahhabites and are wanted in Karabdino-Balkariya and Ingushetia for particularly serious crimes."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/13/2005 14:24 ||
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Scores of Islamic militants launched simultaneous attacks on police and government buildings in this city in Russia's turbulent Caucasus region Thursday, sparking battles that killed at least 49 people. Chechen rebels claimed responsibility for the attacks, which forced the evacuation of schools and left corpses littering the streets of Nalchik, the capital of the republic of Kabardino-Balkariya. President Vladimir Putin ordered a total blockade of Nalchik, a city of 235,000, to prevent militants from slipping out, and he said armed resisters would be shot, according to Russian Deputy Interior Minister Alexander Chekalin. Military and police reinforcements were being sent to the city; a truckload of soldiers heading for Nalchik overturned, injuring 18 servicemen, a duty officer for regional road police said.
Estimates of the number of militants involved ranged from 60 to 300. The attacks began with heavy arms fire and explosions, and sporadic shooting continued for four hours afterward. Officials gave conflicting casualty figures, ranging from 49 to as many as 63. Fyodor Shcherbakov, a spokesman for presidential envoy Dmitry Kozak, said 49 were killed â 25 rebels were killed, 12 police officers and 12 civilians. He said the number was constantly rising as bodies were being discovered. Hours earlier, officials said 63 people had been killed. Chekalin said that figure included 50 militants and at least 10 police officers. Local Health Ministry spokesman Stepan Kuskov said at least three civilians were among the dead, and 84 people were wounded. The ITAR-Tass news agency quoted Dr. Asker Zhigunov as saying 15 civilians' bodies had been brought in to a city hospital. Dmitry Kozak, Putin's envoy to the southern region, said Thursday's attackers were holding hostages at a police station, but he did not specify whether they were civilians or officers. A spokeswoman for the republic's Interior Ministry, Marina Kyasova, said police on the upper floors of the building were battling attackers on the ground floor, and denied that hostages had been taken. Deputy Russian Prosecutor General Vladimir Kolesnikov told the Interfax news agency that 12 militants had been detained. His estimate for the number of militants involved was 80 to 100, the news agency reported.
The Kavkaz-Center Web site, seen as a voice for rebels loyal to Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev, said it had received a message on behalf of the Caucasus Front. It said the group is part of the Chechen rebel armed forces and includes Yarmuk, an alleged militant Islamic group based in Kabardino-Balkariya. Chekalin said Thursday's fighting began after police launched an operation to capture about 10 militants in a Nalchik suburb, and that the attacks were aimed at diverting police. All 10 suspected militants were killed, he said. Gunmen launched simultaneous attacks against three police stations, the city's airport and the regional headquarters of the Interior Ministry and Federal Security Service, police said. The attack at the airport was repelled, the facility was placed under military control and all flights were canceled, news reports said. The militants also attacked the regional headquarters of the Russian prison system, the Emergency Situation Ministry's press office said. Interfax said a border guards' office also came under attack. A teacher from School No. 5, who gave only his first name, Spartak, said children had been evacuated from the building, which is near a police station and an anti-terrorism office at the center of the attacks. Black smoke billowed from the building as panic-stricken parents searched for their children in the school yard. Windows and doors at the local Federal Security Service office were smashed. Snipers crouched on the building's roof, and masked soldiers were in the streets, where two armored personnel carriers were parked. A crowd of bystanders stood about 100 yards from the building, with no cordon keeping spectators away. In December, gunmen raided the Drug Control Agency branch in Nalchik, killing four employees, looting an arsenal and setting the office ablaze.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/13/2005 14:19 ||
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Russiaâs most-wanted Chechen terrorist Shamil Basayev was killed by Russian forces in Thursdayâs firefight in the Kabardino-Balkarian capital Nalchik, a source in the local branch of the FSB (the Federal Security Service) told the Chechen Society newspaper. Officials are remaining silent until a full identification procedure has been completed. According to the source, the raid on Nalchik that resulted in the deaths of 60 people began in the early hours of Thursday. Rebels were reportedly trying to seize the local airport to hijack a military plane. The source believes the rebels intended to fit it out with explosives and fly it to Moscow. The plane would have stood more chance of passing military identification systems, as it is equipped with a friend-or-foe identification system, the source explained. Sounds pretty far-fetched to me. They weren't trying to sieze the airport, they were attacking government buildings.
But the seizure of the airport failed and the group of rebels led by Basayev was surrounded. To divert the attention of the Russian military, another group of rebels launched attacks on government buildings and Russian army units, but Basayev and his comrades were nevertheless killed, the source said. Sounds like typical Russian wishful thinking.
The General Staff says, however, it does not have information about involvement of Basayev in the raid. Haven't they killed this guy 3 or 4 times by now?
MOSCOW : At least 20 people were killed and 40 others wounded in attacks on Thursday by gunmen on government installations in the southern Russian city of Nalchik, a local hospital spokeswoman told the Echo Moskvi radio station. The spokeswoman said two of the dead appeared to be from among the gunmen who launched the attacks, but provided no further information on the identities of the other victims.
The attacks centred on local offices of the Russian FSB federal security service and the interior ministry, while Interfax news agency said the militants had attempted to attack the Nalchik airport but that effort was repulsed.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks in the city, which bore all the hallmarks of an operation by Chechen rebels who have vowed to continue attacks on Russian federal security installations in the volatile North Caucacus region where Chechnya is located.
There is now: Chechen rebel forces took responsibility Thursday for a coordinated attack on the southern Russian city of Nalchik, and regional President Arsen Kanokov said about 50 militants had been killed in the fighting, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.
The Kavkaz-Center Web site, seen as a voice for rebels loyal to Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev, said it had received a short message on behalf of the Caucasus Front. It said the group is part of the Chechen rebel armed forces and includes Yarmuk, an alleged militant Islamic group based in Kabardino-Balkariya. The group's members have allegedly been involved in several attacks against police in the region, but Yarmuk chief Andemirkan Guchayev dismissed the allegations earlier this week, saying it was not involved in any illegal activities. Guchayev accused authorities of spreading false information about the group in order to justify repression against its members.
One report described the gunmen as "religious extremists" while Interfax quoted an official as saying that the attacks were in reprisal for the recent arrest in Nalchik of a group of Islamic radicals, whom the attackers attempted to free from the facility where they were being held.
In an image reminiscent of last year's Beslan school hostage siege, children were seen fleeing from a primary school building while gunfire erupted nearby and smoke hung over the area. One girl who ran out of the school said armed men were firing inside the building, but security officials later made clear that armed police had entered the school because to ensure its emergency evacuation due to its close proximity to the site of one of the buildings under attack.
Russian media said gunbattles occurred at a number of locations in Nalchik and the city centre was saturated with security forces while gunfire could be heard nearby. Police cars equipped with loudspeakers circulated in parts of the city advising local residents to evacuate the area.
The attacks in Nalchik on Wednesday were the most spectacular since the Beslan school hostage seizure last year, but came amid a steady stream of smaller-scale incidents that occur on an almost daily basis in Chechnya and adjacent provinces in the volatile north Caucasus region.
Two police officers were killed in a shootout with gunmen early Tuesday in the province of Dagestan while two other security personnel and four rebel fighters were killed in a fire-fight last Sunday. Russian troops and pro-Russian Chechen security forces have been fighting a war in Chechnya for the past six years, the second war there in a decade.
Russian officials insist the conflict is winding down and the situation normalising, but Chechen rebels have vowed to keep up attacks in Chechnya and elsewhere in Russia until Russian forces leave the republic. - AFP/de
#2
This post from some local boy at RFERL quoted a local hospital as saying that at least twenty cops were dead, but I notice the link has since been yanked from their front page. Still, the current post makes it sound like hundreds of turbans were involved in this.
Posted by: The Caucasus Nerd (Rex Rufus) ||
10/13/2005 6:46 Comments ||
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Ol' Puttyputz doesn't need to go looking for terrorism, to lampoon his infamous tough-guy blather, it's right there under his nose, stompin' on both feet and thumpin' his family jewels at will. The Russians' record sucks. I keep hearing defenses of Puttyputz, but see nothing, zero zip zilch nada, that would make me a believer that he's anything but a media creation and thug of the same sort as his Chechy opposition, except less capable. Hell, his own people killed more Russian civilians (at the Moscow theater) than the Chechens.
#4
The attacks in Nalchik on Wednesday were the most spectacular since the Beslan school hostage seizure last year
A sane world would call it "the Beslan massacre", but then that would be taking a side.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
10/13/2005 8:23 Comments ||
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Old nasty Pegleg Basayev may have had a hand in this but it seems to lack his single minded sociopathic focus on pure mass brutality. Kavkaz claims the thugs as their own but no direct credit is attributed. Putin's going to have a busy week.
ARMED men had entered a school in Nalchik, capital of the Russian republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, where shots had been heard, a witness told AFP by telephone.
The witness said he had seen several children running out of school number five in Nalchik and one of the children, a girl about seven years old, said that gunmen were inside the school and that gunfire had occurred there.
Central Nalchik was sealed off and police cars equipped with loudspeakers circulated in the area broadcasting messages to local residents to evacuate the quarter.
The school was behind a police headquarters building and smoke hung over parts of the city.
Russian news agency Interfax, quoting police sources, said clashes had occurred in several parts of the city.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/13/2005 02:33 ||
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The school was behind a police headquarters building and smoke hung over parts of the city
another inside job?
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/13/2005 9:47 Comments ||
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Gunmen attacked a police headquarters and other government buildings in a Russian province near rebel Chechnya on Thursday and a battle was raging in the town, Russian news agencies reported.
Several simultaneous attacks were launched in Nalchik, main city of the Kabardino-Balkaria region, and fighting was going on in several parts of the town, Interfax reported, quoting local police.
News agencies had no details about the numbers of the attackers but described them as "religious extremists".
"At the present moment, federal forces have clashed with certain armed bands. Steps are being taken to eliminate the bandits," Nikolai Shepel, deputy state prosecutor for the region, was quoted as saying by Interfax.
Agencies said automatic firing resounded around the town and smoke was rising from the main police building that had come under attack.
Children were being evacuated from a school nearby, the agency said. Extra security forces were being drafted into the town.
Itar-tass news agency quoted police sources as saying three attackers had been killed and firearms and explosives had been seized.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/13/2005 02:32 ||
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Police, gunmen in Russia shootout
(CNN) -- Police in southern Russia fought an unknown number of gunmen following "guerrilla" attacks on government facilities -- including police stations -- early Thursday, Russian news agencies reported.
An official told Interfax news agency that battles were currently under way "virtually everywhere" in the town of Nalchik -- the capital of the southern Russian region of Kabardino-Balkariya.
"Security forces are conducting an operation to eliminate the guerillas," the news agency reported, quoting a high-ranking Kabardino-Balkarian Emergency Situations Ministry source.
Authorities said children were being evacuated from a number of schools in the city center. The rebels were repelled from attacking Nalchik airport, Interfax reported.
Itar-Tass news agency reported security forces had killed three gunmen, confiscating a number of weapons and grenades. At least one member of the police force was wounded in the fighting.
There were civilian casualties as well, but exact numbers were not known, said Interfax, quoting army headquarters in Nalchik.
Federal forces are said to be surrounding the city, located in a majority Muslim area.
"A law enforcement source earlier said that the gunmen launched the attack after security forces detained a group of Wahhabites, who their supporters are currently trying to release," Interfax reported. The Wahhabites are a sect of Islam.
Among the government facilities attacked were the Kabardino-Balkarian Interior Ministry and the Federal Security Service (FSB) department, Interfax reported.
Black smoke could be seen pouring out of a police station at the Interior Ministry. Other fires were reported in Nalchik.
Police in the Russian region of Daghestan said today military engineers have defused a powerful explosive device in the regional capital Makhachkala.
Regional Interior Ministry spokeswoman Irina Volkova said the device, packed with TNT with a grenade attached, was found around midnight not far from the regional training site for the Federal Security Service in Makhachkala.
Violence from war-torn Chechnya regularly spills over to neighboring Dagestan. In Ingushetia, which borders Chechnya to the east, a bomb exploded as a car carrying a federal communications officer and other military personnel was passing. No one was injured.
In Ingushetia's Malgobek district, an explosion hit a gas processing plant today, killing one person. Authorities said the blast appeared to be an accident.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/13/2005 00:43 ||
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The Brussels official charged with selling the European Union to voters said yesterday it had - to date - been the creation of a "small elite" and failed to connect with the public.
Margot Wallstrom, the European Commission's vice-president for communication, said: "This has been a project for a small elite, a political elite. That has worked - until now."
The Swede babe continued in the same confessional vein as she launched a commission campaign to improve Europe's image after this year's No votes in France and Holland on the draft EU constitution.
"Has it ever been alive, European democracy? That is a very good question," she said.
Posted by: Captain America ||
10/13/2005 21:25 ||
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Wonder how long she will last in office with comments like that. Hey, she has a blog . It ain't Rantburg by a long shot, but check it out. Sorry, she is not into snarky comments.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/13/2005 21:42 Comments ||
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#3
I thought Bush's Fault was somewhere in California?
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
10/13/2005 22:15 Comments ||
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#4
selling the European Union to voters said yesterday it had - to date - been the creation of a "small elite" and failed to connect with the public.
Margot - Master of the Obvious!
"That has worked - until now."
And delusional.
"Has it ever been alive, European democracy?"
No. Whatever made you think it was?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/13/2005 22:24 Comments ||
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>> The Brussels official charged with selling the European Union to voters said yesterday it had - to date - been the creation of a "small elite" and failed to connect with the public.
#6
The EU has made the same mistake the fledging USA made after its Revolution from England, arguing for feel-good CONFEDERATISM when what it wanted was FEDERALISM. No sane Euro founding father/-erette is going to put the fate of his-her entire nation and society in the hands of a small weak committee or extra-national layer of weak bureaucracy where its dubious iff the Euros could even afford said layer right now.
Cosenza, (AKI) - A North African man, detained in a southern Italian prison for minor offences, has revealed that he came to Italy to 'carry out a suicide attack in a big city, a symbolic location'. The man, whose name and nationality have not been revealed, began collaborating with the authorities recently, but news of this only emerged in the Italian media on Wednesday. Senior anti-terrorism police, magistrates and intelligence officials are meeting in the southern Calabrian region on Thursday to discuss the implications of his confessions.
The news was broken by a local newspaper, Il Quotidiano della Calabria, on Wednesday and confirmed by investigators who said the man was cooperating with them, but declined to give details of his identity or the credibility and timing of his confesssion.
"I entered Italy so I could blow myself up. I came via the sea. I was supposed to strike a symbolic city," the young Muslim man reportedly told the regional head of the DIGOS, Italy's main anti-terror police.
Vatican City comes to mind as a symbol
For security reason, the man has been transferred from the jail in the town of Paola, Calabria. Police have been combing the local area, interviewing many immigrants, including five owners of Internet points, where e-mails in the memory of on a dozen computers have been checked.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/13/2005 11:35 ||
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He be one of those presbyterian suicide terrorists we hear so much about.
Posted by: john ||
10/13/2005 19:23 Comments ||
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THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- A Dutch court on Wednesday blocked the extradition of a Dutch terror suspect to the United States, saying his legal rights in U.S. custody could not be guaranteed.
The man, who is of Egyptian descent and was identified only by his initials M. A., is wanted on charges of fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud, apparently to help the al-Qaida terrorist network. He has been in custody in the Netherlands for around eight months.
The ruling by the Hague District Court said the suspect's "fundamental right" of unlimited access to a defense lawyer and immediate access to a judge may be compromised in the United States.
Last month, the court sought guarantees from U.S. prosecutors that the detainee would be afforded those basic rights if he were extradited. In Wednesday's ruling, it rejected a U.S. submission that "the United States views such a request as unwarranted and unnecessary."
The ruling is a setback for efforts by the two countries to strengthen trans-Atlantic cooperation in the fight against terrorism. The Dutch Justice Ministry, which had already approved the extradition, said it was studying the decision and could not comment in detail.
"We are considering ways to advance the case. We don't rule out an appeal," said spokesman Arnaud Strijbis.
The court also ordered the government to pay the defendant about $1,300 to cover his legal fees.
The defendant's lawyer, Bart Nooitgedagt, called the decision a major victory for his client. He said he would seek the suspect's release, although he still could face prosecution by Dutch authorities for the alleged crimes.
"This ruling is unique in Dutch legal history. Never before has a judge ruled that an extradition to the United States could not take place because the rights of a defendant could not be guaranteed," Nooitgedagt said.
Nooitgedagt said U.S. prosecutors sought to question his client in relation to the so-called Detroit sleeper-cell case from 2003 against four North African immigrants, the first U.S. prosecution of an alleged terror cell detected after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
The case fell apart over prosecutorial misconduct and earlier this year the chief prosecutor resigned and a federal judged apologized to the defendants.
U.S. authorities sought to prosecute the Dutch suspect on charges of telecommunications fraud related to the Detroit case, but Nooitgedagt feared they would use interrogations tactics banned under international law.
Posted by: DanNY ||
10/13/2005 00:00 ||
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THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- A Dutch court on Wednesday blocked the extradition of a Dutch terror suspect to the United States, saying his legal rights in U.S. custody could not be guaranteed.
#2
The ruling by the Hague District Court said the suspect's "fundamental right" of unlimited access to a defense lawyer and immediate access to a judge may be compromised in the United States.
A valid point when at least one American lawyer has been convicted in participating with her client in terrorist operations. We probably won't allow 'unlimited' access. We will allow 'reasonable' access. Hell, it appears illegal combatants get access to lawyers in Gitmo. Just not unlimited.
(CNSNews.com) - A new book by a former chief weapons inspector for the United Nations lashes the Bush administration and the Central Intelligence Agency for engaging in an "intelligence conspiracy to undermine the U.N. and overthrow Saddam Hussein." In authoring "Iraq Confidential," pedophile former weapons inspector Scott Ritter alleges that the Bush administration knew there was no evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq or ties between Saddam and terrorist organizations.
When Ritter resigned his position with the United Nations Special Commission in August 1998, he actually warned about a looming threat from Iraq. "The sad truth is that Iraq today is not as disarmed anywhere near the level required by Security Council resolutions," Ritter said at the time. "As you know, UNSCOM has good reason to believe that there are significant numbers of proscribed weapons and related components and the means to manufacture such weapons unaccounted for in Iraq today."
But by the time the U.S. invaded Iraq on March 20, 2003, with the goal of ousting Saddam and eliminating his allegedly illegal weapons cache, Ritter had changed his mind and was aggressively criticizing the position of President Bush and American allies known as the "Coalition of the Willing." Ritter had directed, written and starred in a 2001 documentary called "Shifting Sands," in which he contradicted his own 1998 warnings about Iraq's potential supply of weapons of mass destruction. Instead of the Iraqi weapons continuing to pose a threat, Ritter claimed in the documentary and in a later news column that 90 to 95 percent of them had been disarmed by 1995.
The funding for Ritter's documentary -- $400,000 - had been supplied by Iraqi-American businessman Shakir al Khafaji, who had used his connections with Saddam's regime and the United Nations Oil for Food Program to pocket $1.1 million, according to the Financial Times of London.
One wonders how much money Ritter got under the table
Ritter's new book, released this week, alleges that the Bush administration was interested only in advancing an agenda of invading Iraq and had no interest in listening to Ritter's opinions on the progress of Iraqi disarmament.
However, Ritter's claims are "intellectually dishonest," according to Laurie Mylroie, author of the book "Study of Revenge: Saddam Hussein's Unfinished War against America." "For Ritter to say that people knew there weren't weapons but claimed there were is just intellectually dishonest," Mylroie said. "I have never in my entire professional life ... seen a situation in which people had such a blatant disregard for known truth."
Mylroie told Cybercast News Service that Americans should remember that the original information about Iraq possessing weapons of mass destruction (WMD) came from Ritter while he served as an inspector for the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) after the first Persian Gulf War. Mylroie added that other world leaders, including Jordan's King Abdullah, had verified Saddam's possession of WMD and warned of his desire to use chemical and biological weapons. "There was a consensus internationally that Iraq had a significant amount of weapons," Mylroie said. "No one doubted it."
As for why coalition forces have yet to find Saddam's WMD after searching for more than two years, Mylroie said there are a number of possibilities. "The Iraqis did something with them," she said, "moved them to Syria, they destroyed them in part, they hid them in part, some combination of that." She added, "It's not clear that we were fooled" by bad or manipulated intelligence.
Last year, Mylroie analyzed 42 pages of Iraqi Intelligence Service documents that a senior government official provide to Cybercast News Service and which showed the Iraqi regime's purchase of mustard gas and anthrax as well as its extensive ties with the world's most dangerous terrorist organizations, including al Qaeda. The subsequent Cybercast News Service article, authored by Scott Wheeler and published on Oct. 4, 2004, quoted Mylroie as saying that the Iraqi papers represented "the most complete set of documents relating Iraq to terrorism, including Islamic terrorism" against the U.S.
Representatives from Nation Books, publishers of "Iraq Confidential," did not return calls requesting comment from Scott Ritter for this report. Ritter did, however, attend a National Press Club discussion about his book earlier on Wednesday.
No doubt he'll also be appearing on "60 Minutes Book Of The Month Club"
Posted by: Steve ||
10/13/2005 10:10 ||
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Iraq Confidential?
What's his next work going to be - Scott Does Little GirlsBaghdad?
#6
You may disagree with Scott Ritterâs fiery rhetoric regarding the neo-con agenda. If you believe he is an attention whore looking to sell booksâ¦thatâs fair. Hell, call him a crackpot and move on. But the insinuation that Scott Ritter is a Pedophile, a Left-Wing Operative, or a man on the take is nothing less the shameful.
#7
But the insinuation that Scott Ritter is a Pedophile, a Left-Wing Operative, or a man on the take is nothing less the shameful.
How can the truth be "shameful" of anyone but Ritter?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
10/13/2005 14:40 Comments ||
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"How can the truth be "shameful" of anyone but Ritter?"
That's my point RC, correct me if I'm wrong (and I often am) but there seems to be alot of speculation and no facts to support the attributes assigned to Ritter. Typically disparaging remarks about the messenger without refuting the message amount to nothing more then a smear.
#9
But the insinuation that Scott Ritter is a Pedophile, a Left-Wing Operative, or a man on the take is nothing less the shameful.
The police seem to think differently:
"The Schenectady Daily Gazette and New York Daily News originally reported Ritter allegedly had an online sexual discussion with someone he thought was an underage girl. The "girl," however, turned out to be an undercover police investigator, according to the Daily News, whose sources spoke on condition of anonymity. WTEN-TV, the ABC affiliate in Albany, is reporting that Ritter contacted the "teen-age girl" twice in the spring of 2001, and that he has since undergone court-ordered sex-offender counseling from a psychologist in New York's capital.
Sources also tell the Albany Times-Union that Ritter actually had two run-ins with police.
The first occurred in April 2001, as the former Marine reportedly drove to a Colonie business to meet what he thought was a 14-year-old girl with whom he had chatted online. Instead, he reportedly was met by officers, who released him without a charge.
Two months later, the source told the paper, Ritter was caught in the same kind of sex sting after he tried to lure a 16-year-old girl to an area Burger King restaurant.
An attorney for Ritter confirmed that the ex-inspector, who says President Bush should be impeached for his Iraq policy, was arrested a year and a half ago.
Norah Murphy said Ritter was arrested in the upstate New York town of Colonie in June 2001, but she would not respond to allegations that he was charged with soliciting an underage girl on the Internet. Ritter lives in the Albany suburb of Delmar."
Posted by: Steve ||
10/13/2005 15:26 Comments ||
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The funding for Ritter's documentary -- $400,000-had been supplied by Iraqi-American businessman Shakir al Khafaji, who had used his connections with Saddam's regime and the United Nations Oil for Food Program to pocket $1.1 million, according to the Financial Times of London.
Just me, but I'd say that covers the "man on the take" angle...
#11
That's my point RC, correct me if I'm wrong (and I often am) but there seems to be alot of speculation and no facts to support the attributes assigned to Ritter. Typically disparaging remarks about the messenger without refuting the message amount to nothing more then a smear.
My point, DepotGuy, is proven in the above two comments. Ritter's a diddler and a fiddler.
("fiddler, v. intr... 3. To alter or falsify (accounts, for example) for dishonest gain.")
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
10/13/2005 15:38 Comments ||
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and IMHO a traitor for $/blackmail
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/13/2005 15:43 Comments ||
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The police seem to think differently:
The Schenectady Daily Gazette- The powerhouse of investivagtive journalism article is filled with alot of:
âRitter allegedlyâ⦠âcondition of anonymityâ⦠âreportedly droveâ âSources also tellâ âhe reportedly was met by officers, who released him without a charge.â â the source told the paperâ âallegations that he was chargedâ
"court-ordered sex-offender counseling"? - For What charge?...What Conviction? Isn't that public information? Shouldn't he be on a sex offender list? Show me the police blotter.
I'm sorry I don't see any shred of evidence that he is a sex offender. But I see plenty of innuendo from unidentified sources.
#14
There is no doubt Shakir al Khafaji is a crook. Itâs also not a giant leap to think he had ulterior motives for funding Ritterâs film. Keep in mind Ritterâs 2000 documentary was about the ineffectiveness of the UN sanction Policy. I dare say by that time it was obvious Saddam was no longer âIn the Boxâ and the sanctions were having the opposite intentions. Whether you agree with that or not, to imply guilt by association is one of the oldest propoganda ploys in the book. Try it...it's easy.
Tom Delay is charged with money laundering and is a good friend of Jack Abramoff
Jack Abramoff is a crook guilty of financial fraud..
Tom Delay must be guilty of money laundering.
#15
Jesus, DepotGuy, what part of "court-ordered" is unclear?
Why do you think Ritter changed his mind?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
10/13/2005 19:20 Comments ||
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"Jesus, DepotGuy, what part of "court-ordered" is unclear?"
Has Ritter been officially charged with a sex offense?
Has Ritter been officially convicted of a sex offense?
Did Ritter make a plea agreement without any formal charges?
Are court proceedings private in Albany, NY?
If the answer to the above questions are no, then how the hell can the court order Ritter to go to counseling?
Really...I'm not being sarcastic. Show me something other then heresay and I will gladly STFU.
Baghdad, 13 Oct. (AKI) - The leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, claims the letter found by US soldiers in Iraq, which is said to be written by al-Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahiri, is false. In a statement released over the Internet he denies the authenticity of the letter, and accuses the US forces of making up the story as a slur on al-Qaeda. In the letter the Pentagon says al-Zawahiri warns that the tactics used by insurgents in Iraq risk alienating the wider Muslim population. He also writes that they have lost many of their key leaders.
"Everything in the letter attributed to Ayman al-Zawahiri is false," al-Zarqawi's statement says. "We don't know where they found it or when they found it. We from the al-Qaeda organisation announce that this news is completely unfounded. It is a lie which comes from the military camp of the infidels, from the Green Zone and the command of the crusader campaign, whose news are always far from the truth of the battlefield."
"Lies, all lies!"
In the letter from al-Zawahiri to al-Zarqawi, the Egyptian doctor defines the American occupation as "an historic opportunity" for the Islamic militants to win popular support. "Our plans must aim to involve the Muslim masses and lead the Mujahadeen movement [of fighters in the holy war] towards the masses, and not to distance the battle from them," said the letter, which is dated July 9, but was first made public last week.
US intelligence sources say there is no doubt as to the letter's authenticity. It also alludes to the difficulties the leaders of al-Qaeda face, and among these is what al-Zawahiri defines "the real danger" represented by Pakistani troops searching for wanted militants along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The letter also issues a warning to al-Zarqawi, who, in a letter to Osama bin Laden in January 2004, defined the use of attacks on Iraqi Shiites useful to the cause. But al-Zawahiri is very clear about his view on this subject, saying such attacks are "actions which the masses neither understand nor approve of."
Harking back to the fall of the Taliban regime following the US invasion in autumn 2001, al-Zawahiri warns al-Zarqawi "not to repeat the mistakes of the Taliban, who limited participation in government to only students and the population of Kandahar. The result was that the Afghan people quickly felt distanced from them. Even the most faithful limited themselves to watching and, at the moment of the invasion, the emirate collapsed in just a few days, because the people were passive or hostile."
"Because of this, I stress again to you and all your brothers the need to lead the political as well as the military action through union, cooperation and the bringing together of all the leaders who exercise influence in the Iraqi political arena."
In the letter, al-Zawahiri also refers back to the US defeat in Vietnam and urges al-Zarqawi to "get ready now, before you are overtaken by events, and before you are surprised by the conspiracy of the Americans and United Nations and their plans for filling the void when they leave [Iraq]."
Posted by: Steve ||
10/13/2005 11:12 ||
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I don't think this letter is false in any way, but I wonder why we don't make up things like this. Then again, I am sure we are doing just those type of things - we're probably just a lot better at making it seem believable. The propaganda war is tough to win in this case with the other side much more ready to believe anyone else except us.
#3
This is good news. Will help split AQ cuase internal dissent. Besides the fact that Zawahiri is more PR and realistic sounding were as Zarqawi a good foot soldgier but a Zealot that believes his own hype and pursuit of that with a brutality that is rather phychotic. Personally I like Zark in charge he is emotional and that is a weakness we can play on. Our boys been doing a good job so far too.
#4
I'd be slipping out rumors that Bin laden's syphalis is acting up again. That he's alive, and can speak a paragraph or two but is generally bat-shit insane and may have led the entire movement to destruction but that Al Queda will continue to hide that fact (as was done with Arafat) for now.
That and a picture of Bin Laden or two with a carefully placed, subtle, bottle of wine nearby.
#7
is it really possible to slur Al-Qaeda? Buncha pussies and cowards who hide in women's clothes, partake of each other's bodies, kill and torture innocents and civilians....and their mothers were whores too.
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/13/2005 15:29 Comments ||
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#8
C'mon, Frank. There's no way their mothers were whores. No one that diseased and ugly could make a living walking the streets.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
10/13/2005 15:35 Comments ||
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#9
ergo the burqas :-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/13/2005 15:44 Comments ||
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#10
Here - let me translate that for you:
Everything in the letter attributed to Ayman al-Zawahiri is false
"Shit! Caught again!"
get ready now, before you are overtaken by events, and before you are surprised by the conspiracy of the Americans and United Nations and their plans for filling the void when they leave
"I'm afraid we won't be able to depend on our supporters in Hollywood and the Democrats to force American forces to leave on our timetable."
Geez, this is incredibly easy. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/13/2005 18:56 Comments ||
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This letter is the work of the infidel Al Capone goverment. This Bush will soon feel our wrath.
The trial of Iraq's ex-leader Saddam Hussein is to go ahead next week as planned and proceedings will be televised, the chief judge says. Whether Saddam Hussein faces the death penalty if convicted "will be decided at the last minute," the judge said. The ex-leader and his aides have been accused of many crimes against humanity - the first charge concerns a massacre in the Shia village of Dujail in 1982.
Cool! Content for my new video iPod!
Saddam's defence team have repeatedly challenged the legitimacy of the trial. They have said there has been insufficient time to prepare. They have also accused the trial judges of bias.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/13/2005 10:07 ||
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Never mind the trial, will the execution be televised?
Iraqi lawmakers yesterday endorsed last-minute changes to the new constitution in a bid to ease damaging ethnic divisions just three days before the charter is put to a national vote.
But insurgents who have vowed to disrupt Saturdayâs referendum wreaked more bloodshed as a suicide bomber killed 30 people at an army recruitment centre in of Tal Afar.
The attack, claimed by Al Qaeda, came as political leaders hammered out concessions over the constitution in a bid to win over the ousted Sunni elite, which has threatened to reject the charter or even boycott the vote altogether.
Under the deal, Shiâite, Sunni and Kurdish leaders agreed to several new elements and modifications for the draft and to the creation of a panel to consider further revisions once new legislative elections are held in December.
âThese amendments open new horizons and give everyone the chance to participate in the political process and in the building of the second Iraqi republic,â parliament speaker Hajim Al Hasani, a Sunni, told lawmakers. âToday is a day for national consensus,â added Iraqâs Kurdish President Jalal Talabani.
The assembly gave its seal of the approval to the revisions, which serve to reiterate the countryâs unity and Arab character. However, a number of Sunni parties remain hostile to the constitution, reflecting the friction that has marked the long and tortuous negotiations on the document that lays out the future for a post-Saddam Hussein Iraq.
The draft constitution will be adopted if a simple majority of voters approve the text and if two thirds of voters in three or more provinces do not reject it. In Washington the White House hailed the accord, but a top State Department official said: âI donât think the whole thing is conclusive at this point.â
Attacks have continued despite security being strengthened nationwide for the vote, with the partial closure of some international borders, air and sea ports, traffic restrictions and a weapons ban.
Iraqi leaders voiced confidence that the charter would win the backing of the people, with Sunni Vice President Ghazi Al Yawar telling reporters: âIt was done in haste... but it is the best we can do.â
An Al Qaeda-linked militant group threatened to kill the partyâs leaders over its stance, according to an Internet statement. In other attacks Wednesday, three soldiers and one policemen were killed, while a gas and two oil pipelines were set ablaze in northern Iraq.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/13/2005 00:25 ||
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The Iraqi armed group âThe Geish al-Taifa al-Mansuraâ (army of the victorious confession) has threatened to kill prominent Sunni leaders for having called for a âyesâ vote for the new Iraqi constitution. In an Internet statement released by the group, which has connections with the terrorist organization al-Qaeda, they threatened the leaders of the Iraqi Islamic Party, the main Sunni Arab party of the country, for making the call for a âyesâ vote in the referendum on the new Iraqi constitution on October 15. âThe Geish al-Taifa al-Mansura (army of the victorious confession) has decided that apostates (Iraqi Islamic Party leaders) Mohsen Abdel Hamid and Tareq al-Hashemi are the targets of the mujahedeen (fighters) no matter where they are,â said the statement.
A spokesperson for the Iraqi Islamic Party led by Abdel Hamid announced that a consensus had been reached in the negotiations on the constitution and called for a âyesâ vote in the referendum.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/13/2005 00:16 ||
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This could prove to be very interesting - if the main Sunni party decides to stand its ground and fight these thugs. Very interesting, indeed. Now let's see if they scamper for cover or stand up on those hind legs.
Are you men or are you frightened little moskkk mice?
The Iraqi parliament approved last-minute amendments to the constitution designed to win Sunni support for Saturday's referendum on the document. The amendments made some key concessions to Sunni Arabs, who fear that the draft as it stands will fragment the country. The amendments will allow the next parliament to consider changes to the constitution four months after a December election.
Iraqi leaders, including the Kurdish president, Sunni Arab vice-president and Shia prime minister, lined up on a stage before the National Assembly to laud the deal. "We have the right to be proud in saying that today was a day of national consensus," President Jalal Talabani said. "So congratulations to our people for their constitution."
MANAMA: For the Australian frigate HMAS Newcastle as for other coalition warships guarding Iraqi oil terminals in the northern Gulf, boredom and routine are proving more of an enemy than Al-Qaeda militants.
Captain Trevor Jones, commander of the guided missile frigate, worries that "a sense of complacency" might set in, prompting his crew to let down their guard. "You're not up against a conventional threat," he explained.
But "every time we come across a dhow, you've got to expect the unexpected," he said, referring to the traditional wooden boats of the region.
The mission of the task force comprising three warships from Australia, Britain and the United States, in addition to four or five US Navy and Coast Guard patrol boats, is to enforce an exclusion zone of 3km around the terminals of Khor Al-Amaya and Basra and inspect any suspicious dhow.
In April 2004, eight American seamen aboard a Zodiac boat tried to board a dhow heading to Khor Al-Amaya. The dhow blew up in a suicide attack which killed three US military personnel and wounded four others.
The attack with an explosives-laden boat was attributed to Al-Qaeda militants given its similarity to the bombings of the destroyer USS Cole in the southern Yemeni port of Aden in October 2000 and the French supertanker Limburg, also off south Yemen, two years later.
But there has since been no repeat strike, and coalition warships have not had to open fire. "This is the true measure of success," said Jones.
But routine also carries risks. "Life can get quite boring," confided leading seaman Stewart Pinder, a 40-year-old Australian who has just ended a firing exercise on the Newcastle designed to keep shooters in top form during missions that can stretch several months.
The Newcastle, which sailed from Sydney on May 23, is on its third tour of duty in the Gulf, where it will remain until Nov 22. "This is the last patrol," Jones said.
Captain Adrian Bell, commander of the British frigate HMS Campbeltown, also put what he called "the mundanity of reality" at the top of issues that need to be resolved.
"You've got to fight that battle internally to make sure you're as alert on day 17 as on day one. You can't ease off," he said.
Everyone is convinced that the danger is there, even if all seems quiet. "There is a present threat, but we've nullified their ability to act," Jones said in a reference to insurgents.
The fact that no attack was attempted since April last year shows "they've recognized just how hard a target this is.
"It would be a very stupid brave individual who would try to attack these platforms," he said.
Jones said the Newcastle, which has a crew of 228 including 35 women, will be replaced next month by another frigate, the Parramatta, Canberra having committed to maintain a warship in the northern Gulf in addition to a 900-strong contingent in Iraq.
"I do get the impression ... that they (Australian government) support the force up here and that they are very supportive of what we're doing here," he said. - AFP
Posted by: DanNY ||
10/13/2005 00:00 ||
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Coming up: Sailors bored while at sea.
And this just in: Water is wet.
#2
Lol! They're in Manama, Bahrain, fer crying out loud! That's where we went for a breath of freedom. Page 3 girls. Real restaurants. Movie theaters with real first-run movies. Actual sorta normal people walking around being sorta normal. Starbucks with available chairs. Malls with music stores where the labels aren't blackened with Magic Markers cuz there was a woman's likeness on it. Same for magazines - oh, I already mention the Page 3 girls, sorry. Wymyn driving cars! A whole 'nuther WORLD!
It was frickin' HEAVEN compared to SaoodiLand.
These crybaby wimps make me laugh, lol. See? I told you, lol. :-)
You know the drill.
Palestinian gunmen briefly kidnapped an American and a British journalist on Wednesday as the pair drove through the central Gaza town of Khan Younis.Dion Nissenbaum, an American reporter for the Knight Ridder newspaper chain, and British photographer Adam Pletts, who was working on contract for Knight Ridder, were freed Wednesday night after several hours in captivity, Nissenbaum said. "They have been released by their captors to the Palestinian Authority and are being transported back to Gaza City," Knight Ridder said in a statement. "They are safe and unharmed." The men were abducted by a renegade group of militants who had formerly belonged to the ruling Fatah group, said Palestinian police chief Brig. Gen. Ala Husni. The kidnappers demanded that they be given jobs as officers in the Palestinian security forces, Husni said. Palestinian officials refused to negotiate and the journalists were eventually freed after one of the kidnappers turned himself in for questioning, he said...
Posted by: ed ||
10/13/2005 00:00 ||
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The kidnappers demanded that they be given jobs as officers in the Palestinian security forces
#4
LOL I am the worlds WORST speller! I can hear you all snicker over my use of the word 'here'. But lets try to keep what we here hear stays hear. ;-) Yes English is my native tongue. Comes from righting two much pseudo code.
Some of the insurgents blamed for a spiral of violence in southern Thailand were trained in Libya, a senior Thai defence official has claimed. General Pallop Pinmanee said the militants then used this training to teach many others in the south. But Thailand's defence minister said there was still no concrete evidence any insurgents had been trained abroad. He said Mr Pallop's comments were based on "information", not "intelligence information".
The continuing unrest in Thailand's Muslim-majority south has led to the deaths of about 950 people since the beginning of 2004, and shows no signs of abating. Analysts have long speculated that militants in the region had received outside support. The Thai government has repeatedly insisted that the insurgency is a local issue, not linked to foreign Islamic groups.
In a telephone interview with the Associated Press on Thursday, Mr Pallop said a group of 20 Thai militants had spent four years in Libyan camps, being trained in combat and bomb-making techniques before returning to Thailand three years ago.
Let's see, this is 2005. Three years ago would have put their return in 2002. That means they would have started their training in Libya around 1998. Colonel Gaddafi was still causing trouble, but he was trying to settle the Lockerbie problem. It doesn't smell right to me. Too many places closer to Thailand to train, plus Gaddafi has his own "issues" with the islamic crowd.
He said the 20 had then trained many more people in the southern provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat.
But Mr Pallop - deputy head of Thailand's Internal Security Operations Command - denied local media reports quoting him as saying 3,000 Thais had received Libyan training. Mr Pallop, who is an adviser to Defence Minister Thammarak Isarangkura na Ayudhya, did not explain how he obtained the information. Mr Thammarak refuted his colleague's comments on Thursday, and so too did US ambassador to Thailand Ralph Boyce. Mr Boyce told local TV that he saw no evidence of outside funding for the ongoing unrest.
Still hoping for that Saudi pension, Ralph?
But he warned that the situation could intensify if international militants joined the insurgency. "Both Thailand and the US have concerns that the situation will develop in such a way, but today we still see the situation as an internal problem," Mr Boyce told reporters after a meeting with Thai Deputy Prime Minister Chitchai Wannasathit.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/13/2005 09:38 ||
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There were 33 Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) members operating in the country as of the end of last year, according to a report that Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz has submitted to the House appropriations committee.
"All of the JI were Indonesians," Cruz told the committee chaired by Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr. on Tuesday night, when the panel heard the proposed P45.1-billion budget of the Department of National Defense (DND) for 2006.
He said the JI cell in the country is called "Wakalah Hedeibiah" and is led by a certain "Mantiqui 3."
Quoting Cruzâs report, Andaya said the military was able to monitor the entry routes of the JI terrorists that led to the arrest of some of its members.
Two of those arrested were identified as Sammy Abdulgani, alias "Harrison," and one Abdullah Jordan, he said.
Andaya said he and members of his committee did not press Cruz for the identities of the JI operatives "as it might jeopardize ongoing operations against the group and unduly tip off the targets."
"We took their assurance that they have a profile on these terrorists and that they are pursuing them. We are interested in the end result, not in works in progress," he said.
To encourage citizens to report on the activities of terrorists, the appropriations committee, as with previous budgets, would include a provision in the 2006 outlay that would authorize the chief of the staff of the Armed Forces, upon recommendation of the defense secretary and subject to the approval of the President, to allocate savings to pay rewards to tipsters.
Jemaah Islamiyah has been tagged as the Southeast Asian network of Osama bin Ladenâs al-Qaeda terrorist organization and is reported to have links with armed groups in Mindanao and even training grounds in the island.
JIâs latest attack was the Oct. 1 bombing of the Indonesian holiday island of Bali, the second such attack since 2002.
It was reported that two Bali bombers were hiding in camps controlled by the Abu Sayyaf in Mindanao. The United States is offering $10 million for information leading to the arrest Dulmati, one of the two suspects.
It was also reported recently that a suspect in the London train and subway blasts had visited Mindanao.
It was not clear from Cruzâs report whether the suspects were among the terrorists that the military is monitoring.
The DND budget includes a P5-billion "modernization fund," but Andaya said none of the money for now would be set aside to purchase new jets to replace the grounded fleet of the Philippine Air Force, which has retired its 1960s-era F-5s.
"Our Air Force will continue to be all air, no force. They intend to use the modernization fund to modernize the equipment of our foot soldiers," he said.
Approval of the combined budget of the DND and the military was nearly derailed when Negros Oriental Rep. Jacinto Paras threatened to block its passage.
Paras complained that last Tuesday, he was on his way to the Batasan area in Quezon City from Makati when he encountered traffic along EDSA near Camp Aguinaldo.
To skirt the congested road stretch, he wanted to make a short cut through the military camp, but the soldier manning the side gate along White Plains Avenue would not let him in despite introducing himself as a congressman because his car did not have a Camp Aguinaldo sticker.
It was only when Cruz promised to personally look into the matter that an angry Paras relented.
But committee members told journalists later they would have voted down their colleagueâs proposal as derailing the DND-military budget approval over such a small matter would have embarrassed them all.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/13/2005 00:34 ||
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Two Philippine soldiers and a civilian were killed when Al Qaeda-linked Muslim militants opened fire on a military patrol on a southern island, a military commander said on Thursday.
Two other troops were injured in the attack on Wednesday in a remote village near Sumisip town on Basilan island, about 950 kilometers south of Manila, a stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf guerrillas.
The soldiers had been patrolling the village when the militants opened fire, triggering a firefight that lasted more than one hour, before the rebels retreated, said Brig. Gen. Raymundo Ferrer, the Basilan military commander.
Two soldiers and a civilian were killed in the battle, he said.
A unit commander - a lieutenant - was among the two wounded, Ferrer said.
Casualties on the rebel side could not be immediately confirmed, although Ferrer said villagers saw the rebels dragging away at least three bodies.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/13/2005 00:20 ||
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#1
A firefight lasts more than one hour, and the "soldiers" are unable to get any of the hostiles (don't believe Ferrer's villager-account, he was doing basic CYA) ... they should be thankful they don't have to face a real enemy army anytime soon ...
Frustrated with the sluggish progress in the implementation of the death sentence for three of the 2002 Bali bombers, hundreds of angry Balinese protesters stormed and vandalized a prison on Wednesday where several convicted Bali bombers were being held. The protest had little political repercussions but it sent a clear signal to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono that, for the Balinese, enough was enough. The bombers are asking for presidential clemency.
The first group of protesters arrived at around 4 p.m. Initially, there were only 30 of them. Thirty minutes later the number grew to around 400 protesters."By 5:30 p.m, the number was somewhere between 1,000 to 1,500 protesters," a police officer said. The protesters came from as far as Beraban village in Tabanan regency. Yet, the majority of the protesters came from several traditional customary villages of Desa Pekraman in the Kerobokan area.
The two iron gates that stood between the prison's outer yard and the road were the first victims of the angry protesters. They shook the gates violently until both collapsed. The mob later threw the gates into a narrow gutter after jumping and stamping on them repeatedly.
They then tore down the low concrete fence that connected the two broken gates before hurling stones and pebbles onto the prison's roof. A few protesters who tried to calm the mob were soon out-shouted by their raging colleagues.
"Bali has already been destroyed. It will make no difference if we raze this prison to the ground," a protester yelled before hammering a long iron pole into a concrete slab in front of the prison. By that time, all the shops around the prison had been closed and the police closed off all roads leading to the area. "It is a natural response from a wounded community that has been treated insensitively by the central government. In fact, it is a mild response compared to the anger that is seething in our heart," a protest leader Madra Adnyana said.
The protest was held just hours after sombre ceremonies to mark the third anniversary of the bombing. The solem occasion was marked by 202 seconds of silence to honor the dead from 20 nations.
The protesters did not try to storm the prison's main gate, which was cordoned off by at least 300 riot police and dozens of plainclothes officers from the Denpasar and Badung Police.
Wearing Balinese headbands and sarongs, the crowd repeatedly yelled "kill Amrozi, kill Amrozi" during the protest held hours after the 2002 bombing survivors held a commemoration of the terror attack three years ago that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians. Amrozi was the most sought after bomber by the angry Balinese due to his demeanor in the courtroom, which gained him the title "the smiling bomber". The first of the three militants arrested, Amrozi was sentenced to death after the 2002 Bali bombings, which dealt a huge blow to Bali's tourist industry, the backbone of the island's economy.
Due to security concerns, the three convicts on death row, Imam Samudra, Amrozi and his brother Mukhlas, also known as Ali Gufron, had been transferred on Tuesday to Nusa Kambangan prison in Central Java. But, several other convicts responsible for the 2002 bombing are still being kept at Kerobokan Prison. Amrozi, Imam Samudra and Mukhlas have not been executed pending their request for clemency.
The incident at Kerobokan Prison was a culmination of anger and frustration of the Balinese after the island was hit by another bomb attack on Oct. 1. The bombing in Jimbaran and Kuta Square, which took place hours after the government increased fuel prices by 126 percent, killed 23 people.
Fortunately, the protest did not turn into an all out riot as police personnel succeeded in persuading the protesters to not resort to violence.
Bali is a Hindu province in a predominantly Islamic Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation.
Posted by: DanNY ||
10/13/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Odds on them being moved so they can get clemency?
#2
According to Shariah a Muslim cannot be put to death for killing a non-muslim. Anyone ever heard of a terrorist being ever put to death in a Muslim country? Or even of not walking free after a couple years?
Syrian Interior Minister Ghazi Kanaan committed suicide on Wednesday with his own gun shortly after a brief visit home, an official inquiry has found. After examination of the body and questioning witnesses the case has now been closed, the chief prosecutor said.
"Nothing to see here. Move along"
Kanaan's body has now been taken from Damascus to his home town for burial. A low-key funeral is planned for the former intelligence chief who for years was the most powerful figure in Lebanon after it fell under Syrian domination. An ambulance decked with flowers and followed by a dozens of official cars carried the coffin to the western village of Bhamra. There was a wreath from President Bashar al-Assad's office, but no Syrian flag draped over the coffin.
Sounds like they are all ready to lay the blame on him for the assassination of Hariri
"Examination of the body and fingerprints as well as testimony from employees, including senior aide General Walid Abaza, indicated that it was a suicide by gunshot," Prosecutor Muhammad al-Luaji said quoted by the official news agency. "It was established that the cause of death was suicide using General Kanaan's personal revolver, a .38 calibre Smith and Wesson. [He] put the barrel of his gun in his mouth and fired a bullet," he said.
Shortly before, the minister had spent 45 minutes at his home, although it has not been reported what he did there. Correspondents say the investigation by Syria's notoriously opaque regime will do little to dampen speculation about the circumstances of Kanaan's death.
One of the leaders in Lebanon of the anti-Syrian opposition, Walid Jumblatt, said on Thursday that if Kanaan had been involved in the assassination of Hariri, he had been a "brave man" to kill himself.
"If Gen Ghazi Kanaan is responsible somehow or somewhere for the assassination... then he did well, if I may say, by committing suicide," Mr Jumblatt said.
Took one for the team, so to speak
The death came a week before the UN is to publish a report into the killing of Lebanon's former Prime Minister, Rafik Hariri, which many Lebanese blamed on Syria although Damascus denies it.
Washington described Kanaan as a "central figure in Syria's occupation of Lebanon for many years" but has declined to comment on the circumstances of his death. "I don't believe it was a suicide," said former US Mid-East mediator Dennis Ross, in remarks quoted by Associated Press. If the UN report pointed to Syrian involvement in Hariri's death, Mr Ross said, Kanaan was likely to be implicated because of his seniority and prominence.
Kanaan, 63, was Syria's top security official in Beirut from 1982. He returned to Damascus in 2002 as political intelligence chief and went on to join the cabinet in 2004.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/13/2005 09:57 ||
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Part 2 in the CSM Monitor series on the 82nd Airborne in Afghanland.
It has not been an auspicious start to the morning. The heavy weapons squad has just been dropped into the wrong field of mung beans. "Man, one of these days we'll be dropped in the right place," Pvt. Mike Patraw says, voicing everyone's thoughts. Being out of position means not only a longer walk, but possibly not being able to provide covering fire for units in the valley below as they search a village. By the time they reach the village of Kunlalan, Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers and other members of the US 82nd Airborne are already going house to house looking for signs of Taliban weapons or support. Any Taliban who might have been in the village would have hid their Kalashnikovs at the first sound of the Chinook helicopters. The 40-odd men of the 82nd Airborne - on a five-day mission with ANA troops in the mountains of northern Zabul province - know that their chances of facing an armed encounter with the Taliban are not great. But from a military standpoint, it has been foot patrols and air assaults like this that have produced a year of the most serious fighting with insurgents since the fall of the Taliban government in 2001. The key, US commanders say, is sending a message to the Taliban that their havens are no longer safe, and to Afghan villagers that they can begin to trust that the Afghan Army will be there to protect them.
Hearts and minds, one mung bean field at a time. Read the rest at the link.
#1
My guess is that Scott Baldauf is just another "objective journalist" still polishing apples for his lefty "Journalism" profs, fellow travelers at the bar and other Pulpuditzer Prizers.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
10/13/2005 14:36 Comments ||
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A woman was blown to pieces when an improvised explosive device she was suspected to be carrying exploded in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday morning. The woman was passing through a by-lane, on Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, when the explosion took place blowing her into pieces, official sources said. They said several residential houses including one belonging to former Special Secretary Ghulam Mohammad Bhat suffered damages in the explosion. Source said that the target seemed to be the National Highway.
[Click!] "Awshit!" [KABOOM!]
Posted by: john ||
10/13/2005 06:23 ||
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#1
Bombing the main highway when it is mainly being used by army and civilian convoys carrying relief aid to mainly muslim victims.
Being a woman, does she get 72 virgin girls? Is the islamic heaven lesbian?
Posted by: john ||
10/13/2005 14:45 Comments ||
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72 pawing pimply-faced 5 second trigger teenage boys
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/13/2005 15:30 Comments ||
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I thought she gets to be the most beautiful of one set of 72 virgins (not my idea of a reward -- there is always another one more clever, or with a better personality, or...)
The Punjab Police has been directed to check vehicles with tinted windows and the Home Department has extended Section 144 for another one month after reports of terror attacks, especially on worship places, a highly placed police official told Daily Times on Wednesday. Police officials have been directed to enhance security at worship places to foil attempts by suicide bombers. They have been directed to make parking arrangements away from worship places to foil car bombings attempts, the official said.
âWe have information that terrorists can carry out attacks in Punjab, especially at places of worship, therefore we have taken security measures,â the official added. A Home Department official admitted that there was a possibility of terror attacks. âAs the focus is on the earthquake relief activity, there are strong chances of a terrorist attack in the province,â the official said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/13/2005 00:00 ||
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Armed men hijacked a ship carrying food aid Wednesday as it was unloading at a port in the strife-torn African country of Somalia, said the United Nations food relief agency, marking the second such incident in recent months. This is separate from the hijacking 2 days ago of the MV Torgelow, carrying fuel and food to the Hijacked aid ship, the MV Semlow.
The St. Vincent and Grenadines-registered MV Miltzow was stormed by six gunmen who forced the ship's 10-member crew to leave the port of Merka, 60 miles southwest of the capital of Mogadishu, the World Food Program said in a statement. Nearly half the total cargo of 850 tons of WFP food aid was on board at the time of the hijacking. "It is scandalous that a small number of profiteers would once again hijack humanitarian food supplies destined for fellow Somalis," said WFP Country Director Robert Hauser. Somali officials were not immediately available for comment. But WFP said in its statement that the governor of the Lower Shabelle region, Yusuf Indha Adde, had sent two small boats to pursue the vessel. No further details were provided. On June 27, gunman hijacked the MV Semlow and held the vessel for 100 days before it was released Oct. 4. The latest ship hijacked was carrying 703 tons of corn, 108 tons of beans and 39 tons of vegetable oil destined for some of Somalia's most vulnerable people in the country's Lower Juba Valley, said Hauser. The WFP suspended food aid to Somalia on July 4 and refused to pay a ransom demanded by the pirates who seized the MV Semlow, but resumed deliveries in August. What is it with Somalis and Russian named ships?
Somalia's 1,880-mile coastline is Africa's longest and the country has had no effective central government since opposition leaders ousted dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. They then turned on each other, transforming this nation of 7 million into a patchwork of battling fiefdoms ruled by heavily armed militias.
Posted by: ed ||
10/13/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Kind of hard to run a food-for-nookie program without food....
#3
Heh, 2 or 3 hundred more and perhaps the MultiCultis will begin to ask if these people can be "saved", er, civilized. I'm thinking no, but that's just me. :)
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, 13 Oct. (AKI) - Two Yemenis who died in a suicide bombing in Baghdad in July were among hundreds of Islamic extremists released from prison in Yemen since 2003 under a "dialogue" programme run by a senior judge, Yemeni newspapers report. More than 360 prisoners have been released under Hamoud Abdulhamid al-Hitar's initiative, which involves holding sessions designed to change the mindsets of militants by showing that their violent actions are at odds with their faith, in return for provisional release. Commenting on claims that prisoners released under his scheme went on to become suicide bombers, al-Hitar said there was no proof the men have carried out any suicide attacks. However, he did admit that the security forces had caught dozens of young Yemenis heading to Iraq in the last two months alone. 
Outlaw killed in Pabna
Mufti Mohammad Abdul Hannan, the mastermind of the assassination attempt on Sheikh Hasina and a top leader of Harkat-ul-Jehad, an Islamist militant group, was placed on a further 5-day remand by the court of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) on Wednesday in the incident of countrywide August 17 serial bomb blasts. On the other hand, Deobandh schholar Mufti Hannan told the court that he was not involved in August 17 bomb blasts incident and he was implicated unlawfully in August 17 incident.
50 rebels of those approximately 200 who took part in Thursday raid on Kabardino-Balkarian capital Nalchik were killed by Russian troops, the head of Russiaâs General Staff, General Yury Baluevsky was quoted by Interfax as saying. The General Staff also dismissed reports about the killing of Russiaâs most wanted terrorist Shamil Basayev, who was reportedly involved in the attack, saying they do not have evidence of his presence in Kabardino-Balkaria.
Scores of Islamic militants launched simultaneous attacks on police and government buildings in this city in Russia's turbulent Caucasus region Thursday, sparking battles that killed at least 49 people. Chechen rebels claimed responsibility for the attacks, which forced the evacuation of schools and left corpses littering the streets of Nalchik, the capital of the republic of Kabardino-Balkariya. President Vladimir Putin ordered a total blockade of Nalchik, a city of 235,000, to prevent militants from slipping out, and he said armed resisters would be shot, according to Russian Deputy Interior Minister Alexander Chekalin. Military and police reinforcements were being sent to the city; a truckload of soldiers heading for Nalchik overturned, injuring 18 servicemen, a duty officer for regional road police said. 
All 10 suspected militants were killed, he said. Gunmen launched simultaneous attacks against three police stations, the city's airport and the regional headquarters of the Interior Ministry and Federal Security Service, police said. The attack at the airport was repelled, the facility was placed under military control and all flights were canceled, news reports said. The militants also attacked the regional headquarters of the Russian prison system, the Emergency Situation Ministry's press office said. Interfax said a border guards' office also came under attack. A teacher from School No. 5, who gave only his first name, Spartak, said children had been evacuated from the building, which is near a police station and an anti-terrorism office at the center of the attacks. Black smoke billowed from the building as panic-stricken parents searched for their children in the school yard. Windows and doors at the local Federal Security Service office were smashed. Snipers crouched on the building's roof, and masked soldiers were in the streets, where two armored personnel carriers were parked. A crowd of bystanders stood about 100 yards from the building, with no cordon keeping spectators away. In December, gunmen raided the Drug Control Agency branch in Nalchik, killing four employees, looting an arsenal and setting the office ablaze.
Russiaâs most-wanted Chechen terrorist Shamil Basayev was killed by Russian forces in Thursdayâs firefight in the Kabardino-Balkarian capital Nalchik, a source in the local branch of the FSB (the Federal Security Service) told the Chechen Society newspaper. Officials are remaining silent until a full identification procedure has been completed. According to the source, the raid on Nalchik that resulted in the deaths of 60 people began in the early hours of Thursday. Rebels were reportedly trying to seize the local airport to hijack a military plane. The source believes the rebels intended to fit it out with explosives and fly it to Moscow. The plane would have stood more chance of passing military identification systems, as it is equipped with a friend-or-foe identification system, the source explained.
The trial of Iraq's ex-leader Saddam Hussein is to go ahead next week as planned and proceedings will be televised, the chief judge says. Whether Saddam Hussein faces the death penalty if convicted "will be decided at the last minute," the judge said. The ex-leader and his aides have been accused of many crimes against humanity - the first charge concerns a massacre in the Shia village of Dujail in 1982. 
The Iraqi armed group âThe 
A woman was blown to pieces when an improvised explosive device she was suspected to be carrying exploded in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday morning. The woman was passing through a by-lane, on Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, when the explosion took place blowing her into pieces, official sources said. They said several residential houses including one belonging to former Special Secretary Ghulam Mohammad Bhat suffered damages in the explosion. Source said that the target seemed to be the National Highway. 
The Punjab Police has been directed to check vehicles with tinted windows and the Home Department has extended Section 144 for another one month after reports of terror attacks, especially on worship places, a highly placed police official told Daily Times on Wednesday. Police officials have been directed to enhance security at worship places to foil attempts by suicide bombers. They have been directed to make parking arrangements away from worship places to foil car bombings attempts, the official said. 
Armed men hijacked a ship carrying food aid Wednesday as it was unloading at a port in the strife-torn African country of Somalia, said the United Nations food relief agency, marking the second such incident in recent months.
