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US and Pakistani agents interrogate Taliban leader
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 4: Opinion
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Afghanistan
Ambush, Firefight, Mob Protests in Afghanistan
Afghan, U.S. reports on firefight differ By RAHIM FAIEZ, Associated Press Writer
Well, that source makes the whole story perfectly credible.

JALALABAD, Afghanistan - U.S. Marines fleeing a suicide bomber and militant ambush on Sunday opened fire on civilian cars and pedestrians on a busy highway in eastern Afghanistan, wounded Afghans said. Up to 10 people were killed and 35 wounded in the violence, officials said.

A suicide attacker detonated an explosives-filled minivan as the American convoy approached, then militant gunmen fired on the troops inside the vehicles, who returned fire, the U.S. military said.

As the Americans sped away, they treated every car and person along the highway as a potential attacker, said Mohammad Khan Katawazi, the district chief of Shinwar. But Maj. William Mitchell, a U.S. military spokesman, said those killed and injured may have been shot by the militants.
And those who were not the attackers were more than happy to conceal, or at least avoid revealing, the actual attackers.

More than a half dozen Afghans recuperating from bullet wounds told The Associated Press that the U.S. forces fired indiscriminately along at least a six-mile stretch of one of eastern Afghanistan's busiest highways — a route often filled not only with cars and trucks but Afghans on foot and bicycles.

"We certainly believe it's possible that the incoming fire from the ambush was wholly or partly responsible for the civilian casualties," Mitchell said.

Interior Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary said the chief of the Interior Ministry's criminal division would lead a delegation to Nangarhar province on Monday to investigate. Bashary said it appeared that gunfire from the U.S. soldiers caused most of the casualties.

The gunfire from Americans prompted angry demonstrations in the region — just 30 miles west of the Pakistan border. Hundreds of Afghans blocked the road and threw rocks at police, with some demonstrators shouting "Death to America! Death to Karzai," a reference to President Hamid Karzai.
'Rent-a-mob' should be pretty easy in this part of 'stan.'

At the Jalalabad hospital, several victims said the American convoy approached them on the highway and opened fire. As the convoy neared, many cars pulled over to the side of the road, but were still hit by gunfire.

The U.S. forces involved in the attack and ensuing gunfire were part of the U.S.-led coalition, not NATO's International Security Assistance Force. An official who asked not to be identified said the troops were Marine Special Forces.
Then I call BS on the 'indiscriminate firing' accusation.

A man claiming to speak for Hezb-e-Islami, a group he said is linked with the Taliban, claimed responsibility for the bombing and identified the attacker as an Afghan named Haji Ihsanullah in a telephone call to AP. The spokesman said that the attack was carried out by a breakaway faction of Hezb-e-Islami that was once led by Younis Khalis, a former mujahedeen commander who died last year. The group is now believed to be led by a son of Khalis.
Posted by: Glenmore || 03/04/2007 13:23 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Revised Headline:

Marines Sprung Bad Guy Ambush; One Marine Wounded.

See how easy that was?
Posted by: badanov || 03/04/2007 13:36 Comments || Top||

#2  RAHIM FAIEZ, Associated Press Writer

sure asshole..
Posted by: RD || 03/04/2007 18:41 Comments || Top||

#3  Here how the NYT titled it:
16 Civilians Die as U.S. Troops Open Fire in Afghanistan
Link:http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/04/world/asia/04cnd-afghan.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
Posted by: Unique Battle || 03/04/2007 19:01 Comments || Top||

#4  You have to understand that anyone not wearing a military uniform is a civilian.

Of course, an alternative definition is anyone not helping you against the enemy IS the enemy (G. W. Bush, 9/01).
Posted by: Glenmore || 03/04/2007 19:09 Comments || Top||

#5  Once again, folks in a Pashtun Taliban-supporting district making a stink.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 03/04/2007 22:56 Comments || Top||


Another Taliban Commander Seized in Pakistan (Sarhadi)
Taliban sources in the North West Frontier Province have confirmed to NBC News that two Taliban commanders were arrested more than a week ago in southwest Pakistan. Pakistani security forces raided at the Gul Park Hotel in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, and arrested Ameer Khan Haqani, commander of Zabul province in Afghanistan, and Jaland Abdullah Sarhadi of Kandahar.
Haqqani isn't Jalaluddin Haqqani, of course. He'd be too much of a catch.
Sarhadi had been detained for more than three years in Guantanamo Bay after the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001. He was later released by U.S. authorities.
Sarhadi had been detained for more than three years in Guantanamo Bay after the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001. He was later released by U.S. authorities.
... as part of the catch and release program. He was innocent as a babe, pure as the driven snow...
It is widely believed among the Taliban rank and file that it was the information extracted from these two men that led to the capture of Mullah Obaidullah, the former Taliban defense minister and close confidante of Taliban leader Mullah Omar on Monday.
That's the way intel is supposed to work. Of course, in this case they coulda just looked in the phone book. It's not like Obaidullah was an unknown quantity.

Continued on Page 49
This article starring:
AMIR KHAN HAQANITaliban
JALAND ABDULLAH SARHADITaliban
MAULVI JALILTaliban
QARI MOHAMED YUSEFTaliban
Mullah Omar
Quetta Council
Posted by: Gromogum Elmereter5708 || 03/04/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Wonder if Cheney mentioned to Perv how we expected the Taliban's offensive to play out.
Posted by: Danking70 || 03/04/2007 0:39 Comments || Top||

#2  Taliban haven't caught on to the old Pakistani custom of fake passports.
Posted by: ed || 03/04/2007 2:21 Comments || Top||

#3  Perv really wants that US aid.
Posted by: gromgoru || 03/04/2007 3:22 Comments || Top||

#4  Totally shocked they would find some of the Quetta Council in....Quetta. Shocked
Posted by: Frank G || 03/04/2007 6:33 Comments || Top||

#5  From a Radio Free Europe interview a year ago:

Even as Karzai was meeting with Rumsfeld on September 25, Musharraf was staking out his position -- which he made public in a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. Musharraf told that audience that it is impossible for Taliban leaders to have their headquarters in Quetta.

"Quetta is the capital of Baluchistan," Musharraf said. "Quetta has today a provincial assembly functioning. We have a military corps headquartered there with two divisions there. There is no question that any Taliban headquarters there. This is the most ridiculous statement and it is the most ridiculous that the Taliban headquarters can be in Quetta."
Posted by: John Frum || 03/04/2007 7:33 Comments || Top||

#6  Let Sarhadi go again. Make them think he, as well as others coming from Guantanamo Bay may be on the take.
Posted by: plainslow || 03/04/2007 8:47 Comments || Top||

#7  Dick Cheney should visit Pakistan more often, eh?
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/04/2007 9:17 Comments || Top||

#8  The only good thing I learned from a boss who was otherwise a force of evil is that you get what you inspect, not what you expect.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 03/04/2007 10:17 Comments || Top||

#9  Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/04/2007 12:58 Comments || Top||

#10  He was one of four in the Taliban leadership, known as the Quetta Council

More proof that there is no Taliban in Quetta???????!!!

I hope there are CIA operations going on in quetta???!!!!
Posted by: Kojo Chomock4440 || 03/04/2007 13:59 Comments || Top||

#11  Eggolump has a new name!!!!??!!
Posted by: Frank G || 03/04/2007 15:21 Comments || Top||

#12  Good read below on Pakistans motives-
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/IC01Df03.html
Posted by: Kojo Chomock4440 || 03/04/2007 15:48 Comments || Top||

#13  interesting read, Kojo, but I don't believe that AQ and the Taliban have parted ways like it says - that's spin for PR consumption.
Posted by: Frank G || 03/04/2007 16:00 Comments || Top||

#14  Frank

As you worked out Kojo/Eggo isnt my real name.I will use my real name Paul from now on.Excellent site is Rantburg. I have learned alot especially in Regard to Pakistan and Saudi (Sunni Threat) and Iran and Syria(shiite Threat)to the West!!!!

Living in the UK there is so much apathy/ignorance towards the muslim threat!!!!
Posted by: Paul || 03/04/2007 16:16 Comments || Top||

#15  no problem - I just like to tease... :-)
Posted by: Frank G || 03/04/2007 16:59 Comments || Top||

#16  welcome Paul..
Posted by: RD || 03/04/2007 17:00 Comments || Top||

#17  btw - there are quite a few Brits on RB, and they all seem quite aware of the threat. Our French contributors, JFM and A3089 are also well versed. Good on all of ya's and spread the word!
Posted by: Frank G || 03/04/2007 17:01 Comments || Top||

#18  re the enemy threat: Paul we have a special squad here at the 'Burg..Its members are to numerous to list, but the retrograde types really don't stand a chance...

No blood spilled usually.. we just put a few lumps on 'em and then cart 'em off to the dump.
Posted by: RD || 03/04/2007 17:20 Comments || Top||

#19  I'm so glad you finally decided to take a real name, Paul. I apologize to all of you who have one of the really cool names generated by Fred's anonymizer (and they are cool! Soooo much better than the Anonymous1234, Anonymous1235, Anonymouse1236 that we had before), but with my poor memory I can't remember which one of you is who.

And a big hurrah! for all our British correspondents -- we are fond of the cousins. The rest of y'all too, of course, but just now we're celebrating an official addition to the British contingent. ;-)
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/04/2007 19:45 Comments || Top||

#20  I dunno - 'Kojo Eggo' has a certain panache.
Posted by: Pappy || 03/04/2007 20:43 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan: US forces attack suspected al Qaeda hideout
For the past two days, U.S. and NATO forces have been conducting a major attack against a compound in a remote area of Eastern Afghanistan where Osama bin Laden or another senior al Qaeda leader may be hiding, ABC News has learned. According to eyewitnesses and local reporters in Kunar province, Coalition forces launched a fierce attack on a small enclave in the village of Mandaghel, approximately 17 miles from the border with Pakistan, on Friday afternoon. Warplanes pounded the positions; U.S. special forces and Afghan National Army soldiers moved in shortly afterwards.

Though sealed off from outside access, the area now appears to be under coalition control. U.S. officials declined to identify who the operation was targeting, but indicated they were after a "High Value Target" (HVT) . Official sources would not rule out that al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden himself was the intended victim.
The assault appeared to meet stiff resistance from militants at the compound. Heavy artillery and gunfire could be heard for hours, local witnesses said . A handful of civilians were reportedly wounded in the strike. Though sealed off from outside access, the area now appears to be under coalition control. U.S. officials declined to identify who the operation was targeting, but indicated they were after a "High Value Target" (HVT) . Official sources would not rule out that al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden himself was the intended victim. Afghan officials said the target could be another senior ranking al Qaeda leader.

According to a local official, the compound under attack belongs to an Islamic militant and suspected drug trafficker named Haji Aminullah. The area of Kunar province is known as a stronghold of Wahabbists—followers of the strict sect of Sunni Islam practiced in Saudi Arabia, according to Barnett Rubin, senior fellow at New York University. Since the 1980's, the area has been a haven for Arab militants, including Osama bin Laden.
This article starring:
Barnett Rubin, senior fellow at New York University
HAJI AMINULLAHal-Qaeda
Posted by: Fred || 03/04/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This village that we attacked is only 35 miles from Damadola...this has the feel of an operation to get Zawahiri.
Posted by: Chenter Unimp7361 || 03/04/2007 5:07 Comments || Top||

#2  Cheney: "Look for an asshole with a big lump on his forehead. Bring me the lump"
Posted by: Frank G || 03/04/2007 6:35 Comments || Top||

#3  Why artillery , why not a nice fat juicy MOAB followed by a 'clean up'. Anyway , us outside the intel world will just have to wait to see ..
Got some nice sticky toffee popcorn and a small dram of firewater on hand .
Posted by: MacNails || 03/04/2007 7:51 Comments || Top||

#4  Afghanistan: US forces attack suspected al Qaeda hideout

First map: Eastern Afghanistan, Kunar province

Then using the next map down, click the zoom feature on Kunar province area until you see the Mandaghel complex of villages.

2nd Map: A-Stan, Kunar province, village of Mandaghel
Posted by: RD || 03/04/2007 8:13 Comments || Top||

#5  Took a long time, but finally found the village complex. You'd think there would be better maps of that whole area at this point. Then again if there were we probably wouldn't have access to them. I would love to see this pan out and nail that fugger. After Saddam I wonder if the order is to NOT take him alive.
Posted by: Unique Battle || 03/04/2007 13:15 Comments || Top||

#6  Oh, forgot to say thanks to RD for the instructions, would not have found it otherwise.
Posted by: Unique Battle || 03/04/2007 13:16 Comments || Top||

#7  no probs UB, ...seems like there are fewer public A-stan & Iraq map resources on line today than only 3 years ago. If it helps our men and women stay a bit safer, it's a good move.
Posted by: RD || 03/04/2007 16:56 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Soldiers escape from execution in Mogadishu
(SomaliNet) Two of three soldiers who were sentenced to death after murder cases have escaped on Saturday from an execution that would happen today in the Somalia capital Mogadishu, the deputy defense minister Salad Ali Jelle confirmed to the reporters. The murderers were prepared to be shot dead today at Ground Square behind the former police academy. “The killers have jumped from the car they boarded and run away as the car approached where they would be put on death, one of them was wounded by the security forces,” Jelle said.

The escapees had been found guilty for killing other government soldiers. Mr. Jelle blamed the escape of the murders on the government forces saying it was inability and negligence done by the forces. “It would never be possible to give up the death penalty and the government would pursue them and I hope they will be found sooner,” Jelle said.

Jelle denied reports on that the soldiers’ escape was intentional saying that his government would launch investigation over how these soldiers ran away. It was for the first time that government soldiers accused of murder escape from an execution, since the formation of the transitional federal government in 2004. Earlier, the interim government had carried out death sentences on nine soldiers in Baidoa after they were convicted of murder cases.
Posted by: Fred || 03/04/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Morocco: 12 convicted for terror-related charges
Twelve Islamic militants were convicted of terrorism-related charges, including eight with alleged ties to al-Qaida who had volunteered to fight in Iraq, Morocco's official news agency reported.

The appeals court in Sale, outside the capital, Rabat, on Friday handed down prison terms of two to 15 years in the separate cases, with the stiffest, 15-year sentence for a Tunisian, Mohamed Ben El Hadi Messahel, the MAP agency reported. Messahel, a 37-year-old former restaurant worker in Milan, Italy, was the main defendant, and had allegedly made contact with seven other defendants in Sale and the city of Casablanca after entering Morocco in January last year, according to a police report, MAP said.

The seven others, all Moroccan, were convicted on charges of "organizing a criminal group preparing and committing terror acts" and lesser counts, and received prison sentences of two to 10 years. One defendant was acquitted.
This article starring:
MOHAMED BEN EL HADI MESAHELal-Qaeda
Posted by: Fred || 03/04/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Arabia
Yemen releases 100 Arab extremist prisoners
A hundred jailed Muslim extremists, including some who were imprisoned for allegedly fighting under the command of al-Qaida in Iraq, have been released by authorities, a Yemeni security official said on Saturday.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to media, said the release the 100 Islamic prisoners had been carried out in parts, with the last batch set free in late February. The official added that 19 of the released fought under the command of al-Qaida in Iraq's previous leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, prior to his death in a US airstrike last June. The 19 nineteen had been handed over to Yemen by Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and other countries. There was no information as to what had prompted the release.
Posted by: Fred || 03/04/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  What was the reason for this? Did they forget to lock the doors , what happened here?
Posted by: Flolumble Elmuling1667 || 03/04/2007 0:04 Comments || Top||

#2  have been released by authorities

It sounds like this was an official decision, Flolumble Elmuling1667.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/04/2007 9:11 Comments || Top||

#3  Yemen is frigging enigmatic. Half their population is under the age of 15. Their government is generally very friendly to the US Navy. They have a crazy as hell, Shining Path-style fanatic army living in their mountains.

I strongly suspect that the US will have to become involved with them in the future.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/04/2007 9:14 Comments || Top||


Kuwaiti court clears ex-Guantánamo captives
A criminal court on Saturday acquitted two former Guantánamo Bay prisoners of joining al Qaeda or the Taliban. Omar Rajab Amin and Abdullah Kamel al Kundari denied any terror connections at the start of their trial. Their lawyers argued there was no evidence against them and the case was ''political.'' Defense attorneys said the accused were in Afghanistan for charity work -- not to fight.

Details of the ruling, which was announced by a court clerk, were not immediately available. Their lawyer, Thikra al Majdali, said she expected them to be released from custody by tomorrow. The prosecution can appeal the ruling, but it was not clear Saturday if it would do so.

Amin, 41, and Kundari, 32, were held for nearly five years at the prison camps in remote southeast Cuba until their release in September. They were detained by authorities for questioning upon their return to Kuwait. The prosecution claimed the pair had harmed Kuwait's political image by becoming members of Osama bin Laden's terror network and joining the ranks of Afghanistan's ousted Taliban regime that hosted al Qaeda and fought U.S. forces.

The two had ties to charities which were linked to terror groups and their names had been found on the hard drive of a computer seized from a suspected al Qaeda member.
Six other Kuwaitis formerly held in Guantánamo have been acquitted here of terror charges. Another four are still imprisoned there. ''We call on the United States to either give our four sons a fair trial in America or any other place in the world, or to hand them to Kuwait so that they can be . . . given their legal right to defend themselves,'' said Khaled al Odah, who heads a private group that lobbies for the release of the Kuwaiti prisoners -- including his son -- from the U.S. Navy base in Cuba.

The U.S. military did not charge Amin or Kundari with any crimes. According to military documents and David Cynamon, their U.S. attorney, the two had ties to charities which were linked to terror groups and their names had been found on the hard drive of a computer seized from a suspected al Qaeda member.
This article starring:
ABDULLAH KAMEL AL KUNDARIal-Qaeda
David Cynamon, their U.S. attorney
Khaled al Odah
OMAR RAJAB AMINal-Qaeda
Their lawyer, Thikra al Majdali
Posted by: Fred || 03/04/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  We wuz charity woikers. Yeah, that's right, charity woikers.
Posted by: treo || 03/04/2007 10:55 Comments || Top||

#2  treo seen these guys woik before..
Posted by: RD || 03/04/2007 17:02 Comments || Top||

#3  Can we at least have a policy of anyone released from our custody, if caught again, is immediately executed? Please?
Posted by: Jackal || 03/04/2007 20:01 Comments || Top||

#4  No need for a stated policy that is black letter law.

It's called battlefield interdiction.
Posted by: badanov || 03/04/2007 20:06 Comments || Top||


Down Under
Australian Forces hunting East Timor Rebel leader
A MANHUNT is under way in mountainous East Timor for rebel leader Alfredo Reinado, who escaped a clash with Australian forces early today.

Four of the fugitive's supporters were killed after Australian troops attacked his stronghold in the town of Same, south of Dili, in a pre-dawn raid.

However, Reinado escaped and had fled into the mountains, Australian Brigadier General Mal Rerden said.

A massive search involving helicopters, road blocks and vehicle and foot patrols was under way this evening.

Australian troops had been locked in a tense stand-off with the rebel leader and his supporters for most of the week, after Reinado stole a large haul of automatic weapons from East Timor police posts last weekend.

The troops had made several demands he surrender or face the consequences, prior to the assault on his hideout which was launched around 2am local time (4am AEDT) and continued for two hours, without casualties on the Australian side.

Brigadier Rerden, who heads the international forces in East Timor, vowed to continue hunting the rebel leader until he was in custody.

"The purpose of the operation was to reduce the risk to Timor-Leste's stability and to apprehend Alfredo Reinado and his associates," he said.

"At this stage we have not apprehended him. The operation will continue until such time as we do.

"We can't confirm at this stage if he was alone or accompanied by others when he left Same.

"Nor can we confirm which members of his group are armed."

One of the renegade soldier's men told the wire service AFP he was no longer in touch with Reinado.

"We have lost contact with Major Reinado since yesterday evening when we had clashed with the Australian troops," he said.

"They attacked us first at around 2am. They fired tear gas and flares to light the area."

Brigadier Rerden confirmed shots were fired during the operation, but said the full details were yet to be confirmed.

"The ISF (International Security Force) are currently conducting searches that include helicopter, road blocks, and vehicle and foot patrols.

"I can confirm that ISF has been augmented by some additional forces from Australia.

"However, I will not at this stage provide further details about these forces for operational reasons."

He labelled the operation a success, despite the escape of Reinado.

"The situation in Same is peaceful now.

"The threat of Reinado and his men has been removed from Same.

"Reinado has now been reduced to foot and is a fugitive.

"There's still an opportunity for Reinado to surrender."

It's understood a number of people were captured in the raids, but it was unknown whether there were any injuries other than the four deceased.

Earlier today, President Xanana Gusmao announced Reinado's escape, saying: "If he surrenders, the country will treat him well."

East Timor had asked for Australia's help to capture Reinado.

There are fears any explosion in violence could derail East Timor's presidential elections, set for April 9.

But Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said: "I've no reason to believe that they (the elections) will not go ahead."

He would not be drawn on whether the escape of Reinado was embarrassing to the Australian defence forces.

"Let's make an evaluation of the operation when it's complete," he said.

He described today's operation as a "difficult situation" and called for the fugitive to hand himself in.

"You can't have a situation where in the face of the strongly expressed preference of the prime minister (of East Timor) ... a renegade former military officer is able to raid police stations, take weapons from police stations, which he's done.

"Obviously they will endeavour to capture him alive but the best advice I can give Major Reinado is to surrender.

"He can hide in a jungle for only so long."

Reinado is wanted for leading a band of breakaway soldiers last April and May, when battles between security factions degenerated into rampant gang violence in East Timor.

He has been on the run since leading a mass breakout from Dili's prison last August.
Posted by: Snuling Gloling9123 || 03/04/2007 06:04 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Good hunting, Diggers.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/04/2007 19:53 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Hafiz Saeed's brother awaits deportation hearing in US
Imam Muhammad Masood, the brother of Hafiz Saeed of the Jamaatud Dawa who was arrested by federal immigration agents for visa violations and then released on bail, still does not know when his deportation hearing will take place.

According to Masood, deportation could be a matter of life or death for him and other family members because his home country is “very dangerous now”, with widespread sympathy for a host of Islamic extremist groups – among them, one founded by his own brother, Haifz Saeed. “I have been a high-profile imam and I have rejected violence. That is not a very popular stand to take in some parts of Pakistan. Things have drastically changed ... radicalised,” he told the Patriot Ledger, a Boston newspaper.

Asked how long it had been since he spoke to his brother – who founded the banned terrorist group Lashkar-e-Tayyaba – he said, “I don’t even remember.”

Until his case is resolved, the 48-year-old Pakistan-born cleric can’t lead worship services at the Islamic Centre of New England, where he had been the imam since 1998, according to a report in the Patriot Ledger. With no passport, visa or income, he is not even sure how long he and his family may be permitted to live on the mosque property. “I cannot travel. I cannot work. What do they expect me to do? It has been very stressful for me and my family,” he told the newspaper.

In his first interview since his November 15 detention, the imam said he was anxious to disprove the government’s two main charges of not returning to Pakistan in 1991, as required by a student visa, and committing fraud in applying for a later visa with help from a Brooklyn imam. “I do have faith in the American court system. All we’re hoping is that they give us a chance,” he said. The imam’s detention was part of a multi-state sweep by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Most of the 33 people picked up on November 15 are Pakistanis, many of whom got fraudulent religious worker visas through a Brooklyn imam who is now in prison for fraud.

Imam Masood’s son, Hassan Masood, and Imam Abdul Hannan of Chelmsford were also picked up in the November sweep. They’re awaiting deportation hearings, as are Imam Masood’s wife and four of their daughters.

Imam Masood told the newspaper’s Lane Lambert that his family’s cases were doubly distressing because his four adult daughters were already scheduled for hearings later this month – and thus could be deported even sooner – while three younger daughters born in the US were not subject to immigration, and so could see their parents and siblings sent away while they stayed here. Imam Masood’s counsel is asking the immigration court to cancel the deportation case on the grounds of “extreme and unusual hardship” to the three American-born children.
Posted by: Fred || 03/04/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  According to Masood, deportation could be a matter of life or death for him and other family members because his home country is “very dangerous now”, with widespread sympathy for a host of Islamic extremist groups – among them, one founded by his own brother, Haifz Saeed. “I have been a high-profile imam and I have rejected violence. That is not a very popular stand to take in some parts of Pakistan. Things have drastically changed ... radicalised,” he told the Patriot Ledger, a Boston newspaper.

and a hearty fuck you Haifazz Saeed, forever.

don't you just hate it when you can never finalize the decision as to which assholes are worser... Pakis or Paleos..
Posted by: RD || 03/04/2007 1:04 Comments || Top||

#2  Imam Masood’s counsel is asking the immigration court to cancel the deportation case on the grounds of “extreme and unusual hardship” to the three American-born children

"where will the children learn to hate and sponge off the infidels if we are not here to teach them. It's a hardship, your honor!"
Posted by: Frank G || 03/04/2007 6:41 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Taliban threaten to kill three 'spy' journalists
The Tribal Union of Journalists asked the government on Saturday to protect three journalists in Kohat after the Taliban in Darra Adam Khel threatened to kill them on Friday. Munawar Afridi of The News, Nisar Afridi of Khabrian and Wazir Afridi of Daily Akhbar were threatened by a little-known militant organisation – Islami Mujahideen – TUJ President Sailab Mehsud told Daily Times. Meshud said the death threats came in the form of pamphlets calling on the “faithful to kill the trio” that were distributed in Darra Adam Khel Bazaar and surrounding areas, he said.

“We are like dead people now after the distribution of he Pamphlets,” Nisar Afridi told Daily Times over the telephone from Darra Adam Khel. The pamphlets accused the three journalists of “having links with intelligence agencies”, but the TUJ president said they had been threatened because of their coverage of militant activities in Darra Adam Khel. One of the three journalists said the “government knows who distributed the pamphlets, but it is still not taking action”.

The militant group also accused Khasadar Pasham Khan, tribal elder Malik Sanauddin, Tablighi Jamaat worker Naveed Khan and five shopkeepers of the Darra Bazaar of having links with intelligence agencies. It called for a social boycott of these men if they were to be saved from harm.

Meanwhile on Friday, militants beat up a cameraman working for Pushto TV channel AVT Khyber in Swat valley, detaining him for more than three hours. Shaheen Buneri, the bureau chief of AVT Khyber in Mingora, told Daily Times that cameraman Taj Rehman was covering a demonstration by supporters of cleric Maulana Fazlullah when he was taken away. He said that Taj was badly beaten up by the supporters. Fazlullah led a successful campaign against TVs in the district by paying people who brought their TV sets to him to be trashed. Buneri said the bureau was closed after supporters of the cleric tried to damage the building.
Posted by: Fred || 03/04/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I don't know who these journalists are, but they're definitely not employed by the AP, Rueters, BBC, ABC, MSNBC, NBC, CBS, CNN, Guardian, Independent, NYT, LAT, Star Trib, WaPo, or CSM.
Posted by: Mark Z || 03/04/2007 18:58 Comments || Top||


Militants send 'clear' message to barbers
DARA ADAM KHEL: Suspected pro-Taliban militants blew up a barber’s shop and injuring relatives of MNA Dr Nasim Afridi in separate incidents on Saturday, tribal sources said. Barber Abdul Salam’s shop in Raheem Kalay near the main Dara bazaar was damaged in a bomb explosion at 2:00am on Saturday. “The explosion damaged the shop, but no one was injured since the shop was empty when the bomb went off,” tribal police sources told Daily Times. Barbers are the latest group to be targeted by militants, who earlier targeted video stores and music shops and businessmen dealing in prize bonds. Militants in Bajaur had already warned barbers against shaving men’s beards. Meanwhile, two unidentified motorcyclists shot and injured relatives of MNA Dr Nasim Afridi late on Friday night in the Dara bazaar. Farooq, nephew of the tribal parliamentarian, and Moin Khan, another close relative of Dr Nasim, were walking in the bazaar at 8:00pm when unidentified motorcyclists approached them and shot at them from close range, injuring them both.
Posted by: Fred || 03/04/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The Daily Times headline may be a very subtle mock of the Koranic expression

as in this 6:157

--------
Or lest ye should say: If the Scripture had been revealed unto us, we surely had been better guided than are they. Now hath there come unto you a clear proof from your Lord, a guidance and mercy; and who doeth greater wrong than he who denieth the revelations of Allah, and turneth away from them? We award unto those who turn away from Our revelations an evil doom because of their aversion.
Posted by: mhw || 03/04/2007 0:20 Comments || Top||

#2  Maybe there wouldn't be such a fuss if those barbers just used their straight razors to slit a few Taleban throats.
Posted by: Zenster || 03/04/2007 18:10 Comments || Top||

#3  Z-man be back!

Sighting at JW confirmed.

(omvi)
Posted by: Mark Z || 03/04/2007 18:40 Comments || Top||

#4  “The explosion damaged the shop, but no one was injured since the shop was empty when the bomb went off,”

Now, THAT was a close shave!
Posted by: WTF || 03/04/2007 19:18 Comments || Top||


US and Pakistani agents interrogate Taliban leader
US and Pakistani agents were interrogating the Taliban’s former defence minister on Saturday in the hope that he can help them hunt down other militant leaders, security officials said. Mullah Obaidullah Akhund, who had a one-million-dollar bounty on his head posted by the US Central Intelligence Agency, was arrested with four other suspects on Wednesday in Quetta.

Pakistani officials said Akhund, a key aide to Taliban supremo Mullah Mohammad Omar and an insurgent commander in southern Afghanistan, was flown to the capital Islamabad by helicopter after his capture. “He is being interrogated by a joint team of Pakistani and US officials in Islamabad,” a senior security official said on condition of anonymity. He did not specify which US agency the officials were from.

“Obaidullah is an important figure in the militant network and the authorities will want to know the strength of the group and its tentacles in Pakistan,” the official added.

Akhund was arrested at a Quetta hotel on the basis of “very solid” intelligence, officials said. Plain-clothes agents picked him up when he arrived at the hotel where the other four suspects were already staying. “It is a major breakthrough and we hope he can lead to the arrest of a few other of the most wanted Taliban commanders,” the security official said. He did not say which other Taliban militants were under scrutiny.

A Taliban spokesman on Friday denied that Akhund had been captured, saying that he was still in Afghanistan. The Pakistani government has yet to officially confirm the arrest. Officials said Akhund would likely have played a key part in Taliban’s spring offensive. A senior government official said there was a greater focus now on Balochistan to flush out Taliban militants hiding in the region. “The law enforcement set-up in the province has been beefed up in the past few months and there is a greater intelligence focus on the Taliban activities in the area.”
Posted by: Fred || 03/04/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq
Abu Omar al-Baghdadi Busted Near Tikrit
A suspected leader of the group Islamic State in Iraq, which has ties to the al-Qaeda terrorist network, was detained in northern Iraq on Sunday, Iraqi security forces reported. Muharib Mohammed Abdullah, aka Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, was arrested in a joint raid by Iraqi and US soldiers in the city of Duluiya. "This is a great success for the Iraqi security forces, comparable to the killing of Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi," the Salaheddin provincial administration in the town of Tikrit said in a statement.

Abdullah is a former legal expert from the city of Balad, north of Baghdad. The Islamic State in Iraq organization claimed responsibility Saturday for the murder of 18 policemen.
Picked up this link from FreeRepublic
This article starring:
ABU MUSAB AL ZARQAWIIslamic State in Iraq
ABU OMAR AL BAGHDADIIslamic State in Iraq
MUHARIB MOHAMED ABDULLAHIslamic State in Iraq
Islamic State in Iraq
Posted by: Glenmore || 03/04/2007 15:21 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Good catch! It seems many of the AQI leaders are in Diyala.
Posted by: Brett || 03/04/2007 15:45 Comments || Top||

#2  Good news! Keep him pickled in giggle juice and drain of knowledge - discard husk
Posted by: Frank G || 03/04/2007 15:47 Comments || Top||

#3  News too good to be true?

I'm invoking the 48 hour rule. Sorry to be a soil sport on a Sunday.
Posted by: Mark Z || 03/04/2007 15:51 Comments || Top||

#4  ...cough...that should be " a spoil sport on Sunday"...
Posted by: Mark Z || 03/04/2007 15:52 Comments || Top||

#5  thanks - I was getting ready for an "eewwwwww!" :-)
Posted by: Frank G || 03/04/2007 16:01 Comments || Top||

#6  YES!!!!!
Posted by: Chenter Unimp7361 || 03/04/2007 16:05 Comments || Top||

#7  Frank G: When it's official, should I post that "torsion" picture?
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/04/2007 16:40 Comments || Top||

#8  yep :-)
Posted by: Frank G || 03/04/2007 16:58 Comments || Top||

#9  Smile Baghdaddy, claiming diplomatic immunity?
Posted by: Phineter Thraviger || 03/04/2007 17:15 Comments || Top||

#10  how about a 50,000 volt enima?
Posted by: anymouse || 03/04/2007 18:01 Comments || Top||

#11  It's about 4:30 AM in Iraq as I type this. I would imagine that we will be getting some confirmation one way or the other in the next 4 to 6 hours.
Posted by: Omang Chusong9072 || 03/04/2007 20:28 Comments || Top||


Sects slice up Iraq as US troops 'surge' misfires.
Ahmad Hamad al-Tammimi used to live in the village of Quba. Before Iraq descended into sectarian war it was home to around 700 families. The vast majority were Sunnis. Tammimi, spiritual head of Diyala province's Shias and a follower of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's most important religious leader, was the imam at the local mosque.

Balance at the link.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/04/2007 06:22 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The surge was designed to secure Baghdad and stop the killings. It could not, and was not intended to, stop sectarian rearrangement.

Much of this was artificial in the first place and had been forced by Saddam, and had not been done with an eye to integration, but as reward and punishment.

So what is the end result? Cities that are far more homogeneous. But this may not be a disaster in itself, as long as there is still loyalty, after a fashion, to the central government.

The one place that must continue to represent both Sunni and Shiite is Baghdad. But the city itself is subdivided into homogeneous neighborhoods, and has been for a long time.

So if the killings have been significantly reduced, and security increased, then the surge has been successful. The rest is for the Iraqis to figure out.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/04/2007 9:02 Comments || Top||

#2  They should call it the United Tribes of Iraq, and seperate powers similar to States.
Posted by: Jesing Ebbease3087 || 03/04/2007 10:47 Comments || Top||

#3  The United Intolerant Sects of Iraq would be even more appropriate.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 03/04/2007 11:49 Comments || Top||

#4  I'd prefer the Confederation of Stupid Dysfunctional Muslims - but to each his own.
Posted by: Broadhead6 in Iraq || 03/04/2007 13:20 Comments || Top||

#5  I heard a blippet on NPR about some Sunnis killing other Sunnis because they had talked to rival Shia to stop the violence. Not a rosy outlook for this place.
Posted by: Unique Battle || 03/04/2007 13:24 Comments || Top||

#6  1400 years... and counting...
Posted by: Spats Thating3337 || 03/04/2007 15:28 Comments || Top||


Islamic State of Iraq' airs murders
An al-Qaida-affilated organization posted an online video Saturday of the execution-style shooting of 18 Iraqi security troops kneeling on the ground near a citrus grove. The three-minute video, on a Web site previously used by the Islamic State of Iraq, claimed the 18 kidnapped government security forces were slain in retaliation for the alleged rape of a Sunni woman by members of the Shiite-dominated police. The video's authenticity could not be immediately verified.

The tape firsts depicts the 18 men, some in Iraqi military uniforms, blindfolded, hands tied behind their backs and lined up in three rows before a screen. The men in the front row are kneeling. Armed masked men were seen pointing machine-guns at the captives. Male voices chant repeatedly in Arabic during the video: "At your service, sister" — a likely reference to the revenge for the allegedly raped Sunni woman.

Another male voice is heard reading from the Islamic State of Iraq's statement posted on the same Web site Friday, saying the group's court has ordered the 18 security troops executed because Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government failed to meet the group's demands to hand over the officers who allegedly assaulted the Sunni woman in Baghdad last month, and to release all Sunni women detainees from Iraqi prisons.
Continued on Page 49
This article starring:
ABU AIYUB AL MASRIIslamic State of Iraq
ABU HAMZA AL MUHAJERIslamic State of Iraq
ABU OMAR AL BAGHDADIIslamic State of Iraq
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki
al-Qaida in Iraq
Islamic State of Iraq
Posted by: Fred || 03/04/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  That makes total sense to me. Go round up random shia cops, and execute them while the alleged culprits escape. Must be muzzie logic....from an alternate universe.
Posted by: anymouse || 03/04/2007 1:15 Comments || Top||

#2  A-mouse...muzzie logic? LOL. Check this out:

There is a thread over at Jihad Watch I've been reading since this morning (scroll way down into yesterday's postings) where Robt. Spencer takes on a semi famous self proclaimed moderate muzzie named Ali Eteraz. Eteraz takes the position that moderate muslims are all around us. How do we know? He says we know this because we never hear from them. He actually argues that moderate muslisms are delibrately silent and their silence is an active protest against the extremists among them. He says the proof of the existence of moderate muslims is that they are deliberately SILENT and inactive in the face of the extremists. Ali believes inaction = action on the part of the moderates.

And all this time you were worried the infidel were outnumbered by the muzzie extremists. Feel better now?

Posted by: Mark Z || 03/04/2007 15:02 Comments || Top||

#3  PS....love the new Uruk-Hai gif. IIRC, this is the scene where Boramear takes the third or fourth arrow into his chest. (Great movie. Instructive for those interested in the War on Jihad or in the Defense of Civilization.)
Posted by: Mark Z || 03/04/2007 15:13 Comments || Top||

#4  Way OT...

Some, not many, but some on this board have asked - from time to time - about the whereabouts of Zenster.

I had a Zenster sighting today at Jihad Watch.

I THINK it was "our" Zenster. I think it was Z-man because he signed off as Zenster. What tipped me off is that - God love 'em, - he was "bolding" the names of those he specifically addressed in like fashion to RB's Zenster. A quirk, but a Zenster quirk.

For what it's worth, he also making strong and cogent arguments against islam: Almost as if he had been trained in his formative years at RB.

FYI...
Posted by: Mark Z || 03/04/2007 17:58 Comments || Top||


U.S. Airstrikes Hit Qaeda Post in Iraq
The United States military said Saturday that an airstrike north of Baghdad had killed several insurgents with Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia who were using heavy artillery and machine guns to fire at American helicopters. The strike occurred Friday west of Taji, where several American helicopters were shot down in recent weeks, and the American assault destroyed at least two pickup trucks with mounted machine guns, said Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a military spokesman in Baghdad.

He said the strike did not appear to eliminate the threat to American aircraft because other weapons had been used against helicopters in Falluja and other parts of the country. “We have seen other systems,” he said. “When the other helicopters were shot down, it wasn’t always heavy machine guns that did that. Part of the assessment we’re doing now is trying to figure out where in the network these weapons fit in.”

Military authorities on Saturday night were still investigating the identities of the gunmen and how many men were killed. An American military statement said, “Coalition forces believe key terrorists were killed during the airstrike.”

The attack was the latest effort to eliminate an emerging threat to American troops. At least eight American helicopters have crashed or been shot down since January. Military officials have said that Sunni insurgents might be especially motivated to shoot down helicopters as a way of discrediting the new American and Iraqi security plan and undermining military transportation.

Helicopters have also become ever more important over the past few years as ground convoys became increasingly vulnerable. Army helicopters logged 240,000 hours in 2005, 334,000 hours in 2006, and are projected to log 400,000 hours in 2007, the military said. And in a sign of what officials have described as an increased use of offensive air power in Iraq, a second airstrike destroyed a car bomb factory on Saturday in southern Baghdad, the United States military said. Two precision-guided bombs destroyed a building and killed at least seven people suspected of being insurgents who had been firing at American troops in the area, an American military statement said.

Colonel Garver said that the announcement of two airstrikes on the same day did not necessarily mean that more bombs were being dropped, but that it did reflect a broadened presence of American air power over Iraq, with more jets in the air flying closer to American troops on the ground. “The role has expanded to include other missions that we maybe have not used it for in the past, such as a show of force,” he said.
Posted by: Fred || 03/04/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  400,000 hours in 2007
Damn!

365, 3 hr. sorties a day? we don't fight on the cheap. Spare parts must be a bear.
Posted by: Shipman || 03/04/2007 7:30 Comments || Top||

#2  Ship,
The standard for air-to-mud units (F-16 and A-10) is 4.0 sorties/day, so at 16-18 aircraft per squadron you can imagine what we're capable of cranking out. For B-52, B-1, and B-2 units it's 1.0 - but when you consider that you're talking about 20 to 80 bombs per aircraft, you can see the difference.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 03/04/2007 7:58 Comments || Top||

#3  killed several insurgents with Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia????

The New Joke Times refuses to acknowledge we're killing by the thousands AQ in Iraq, the same AQ that brought down the Twin Towers in their very own neighborhood. So what indeed was the price you sold your soul for?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/04/2007 16:56 Comments || Top||

#4  So what indeed was the price you sold your soul for?

stock futures....that isn't working out so well for them, is it?
Posted by: Frank G || 03/04/2007 17:24 Comments || Top||

#5  Procopius2k, the Iraqi branch of Al Qaeda calls itself "Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia" for some reason. Not that I'd argue about the New York Times having sold their collective soul, or denying bits of reality critically important for their readers to know about, but this isn't evidence of it.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/04/2007 20:00 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Unknown militant may lead al-Qaida-linked group in Philippines
JOLO, Philippines: A little-known Filipino militant is being considered to lead the violent al-Qaida-linked group Abu Sayyaf after U.S.-backed troops killed its two top leaders, security officials said Saturday.

Citing intelligence information, Philippine Army Lt. Gen. Eugenio Cedo said Yasser Igasan has been tipped as a possible replacement.

Cedo is overseeing a massive U.S.-backed offensive against the Abu Sayyaf on the southern Philippine island of Jolo.

Igasan, who had been to Libya and the Middle East, was being considered because of his terror training abroad, his good education and his crucial connections with possible foreign financiers — traits which other Abu Sayyaf commanders lack — two security officials told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, citing policy.

The Abu Sayyaf, which is on the U.S. list of terrorist organizations, has been blamed for deadly bombings, beheadings and high-profile ransom kidnappings, including of Americans.

Not much is known about Igasan's background.

His name cropped up during intelligence operatives' monitoring of goings-on within the Abu Sayyaf following the separate killings of its chieftain, Khaddafy Janjalani, and presumed successor, Jainal Antel Sali Jr. or Abu Sulaiman, the two security officials said.

Igasan, an explosives expert, may have already returned to Jolo island in Sulu province, Cedo told The AP. "He's from abroad," Cedo said. "He has the connections."

Military and police intelligence officials have speculated that the next most likely leader of the Abu Sayyaf would be chosen from among its most senior commanders, led by Radulan Sahiron, a one-armed militant based in the mountain jungles near Jolo's Patikul town.

Despite the emergence of possible successors, it may take time for the Abu Sayyaf to anoint a new leader because its remaining 400 armed members, mostly on Jolo and in nearby Basilan island, were struggling to run away from relentless military assaults, the two security officials said.
Posted by: Sherry || 03/04/2007 15:15 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


4 Muslim militants killed as US troops end Philippine exercises
Four Muslim militant Abu Sayyaf gunmen were killed in fresh fighting in the southern Philippine island of Jolo, officials said on Saturday, as US troops prepared to conclude joint exercises here. “Based on intelligence reports on the ground, four rebels were killed and six of my soldiers were wounded,” in fighting on Thursday, said local army commander Colonel Mark Supnet. “We will continue with our relentless effort against the Abu Sayyaf until they are wiped out,” Supnet said, vowing to press the offensive against the Al Qaeda-linked group, which has carried out the worst terror attacks in this country.
Posted by: Fred || 03/04/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka finds bodies of five victims killed execution-style
The bodies of five men shot in the head with their hands tied together and blindfolded were found Saturday by Sri Lankan police, who called the deaths an apparent “execution-style killing”.

The grisly find in a marsh at Kandana, 15 kilometres (10 miles) north of the capital, was made after a child spied one of the bodies in the marsh, a police spokesman said. “We suspect the men may have been killed about a week ago and dumped there,” the spokesman said, adding forensic tests would be carried out later on Saturday. “We don’t know who the victims are,” the spokesman said, adding that the men had their hands tied behind their backs and were blindfolded. “It appears to be an execution-style killing,” the spokesman said.
Posted by: Fred || 03/04/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran Has Planted Fifth Columnists Throughout The Gulf States
Iran has trained secret networks of agents across the Gulf states to attack Western interests and incite civil unrest in the event of a military strike against its nuclear programme, a former Iranian diplomat has told The Sunday Telegraph.

Spies working as teachers, doctors and nurses at Iranian-owned schools and hospitals have formed sleeper cells ready to be "unleashed" at the first sign of any serious threat to Teheran, it is claimed.

Trained by Iranian intelligence services, they are also said to be recruiting fellow Shias in the region, whose communities have traditionally been marginalised by the Gulf's ruling Sunni Arab clans.

Were America or Israel to attack Iran, such cells would be instructed to foment long-dormant sectarian grievances and attack the ex-tensive American and European business interests in wealthy states such as Dubai and Saudi Arabia. Such a scenario would bring chaos to the Gulf, one of the few areas of the Middle East that remains prosperous and has largely pro-Western governments.

The claims have been made by Adel Assadinia, a former career diplomat who was Iran's consul-general in Dubai and an adviser to the Iranian foreign ministry. They came as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, made a formal visit to Saudi Arabia yesterday in what was widely seen as an attempt to defuse growing Sunni-Shia tensions in the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia has accused Iran of backing Shia death squads killing Sunnis in Iraq, and of backing the Lebanon-based Hezbollah militia in its efforts to bring down the government in Beirut. Meanwhile, a US naval build-up has continued in the Gulf waters south of Iran, a move intended to show Washington's readiness to strike against Teheran's nuclear installations for defying UN orders to cease uranium enrichment.

Mr Assadinia, who fled Iran after whistle-blowing on corruption among the country's all-powerful theocrats, said: "The Iranian government believes that to survive it needs permanent bases throughout the Middle East. Anybody who contemplates threatening or invading Iran will have those cells unleashed against them."

Mr Assadinia, 50, served for two years at the Iranian consulate in Dubai, which he says was also used as a conduit for illicit funding of Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based Shia militant group that waged a six-week war with Israel last summer.

Iranian foreign ministry agents would regularly pass through with suitcases containing up to £11 million, using diplomatic baggage channels to bypass customs scrutiny.

"The amounts varied, but it would come through on average twice a month," he said. "I would see it sometimes. As far as I know, that money always went to Hezbollah."

His consulate, he said, was a hub for regional intelligence operations because of the huge number of Iranians working in Dubai, which is the main trade port for the Middle East. Its skyscrapers and industrial estates are home to 4,000 Iranian businesses, providing easy cover for espionage.

Other intelligence activities included running nightclubs and prostitution rings, where carousing officials and diplomats could be lured into "honey trap" blackmail operations, and organising Iranian expatriates - there are an estimated 500,000 in the Gulf - to act as double agents.

"People were encouraged to tell the Europeans that Iran wanted a good relationship with them, when in fact Iran was involved in terrorism," said Mr Assadinia. Asked whether it was an attempt to divert attention from a covert nuclear weapons programme, he replied: "Precisely".

Of greatest potential concern is his claim that Iran has established networks of agents to liaise with Shias across the Gulf, particularly in Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Saudi Arabia.

Politically disfranchised Shia communities exist throughout the region. Teheran has backed their claims for more power ever since the Iranian Islamic revolution in 1979, but could now also mobilise them as a way of deterring the Gulf's Sunni rulers from supporting American efforts to stop Iran's nuclear programme. Although most of the Gulf states oppose US intervention against Iran, privately they fear that a nuclear-armed Teheran would dominate the Middle East.

Allegations of Iranian agents operating in the Gulf have surfaced before, but it is rare for them to be spelt out in detail by a former regime official. Mr Assadinia named a hospital in Dubai - which The Sunday Telegraph has not identified for legal reasons - as one place where many doctors and nurses also worked for Iranian intelligence.

He left his post in Dubai in 2002 and was granted asylum in Europe a year later, having undergone "intimidating" interrogations by Iranian intelligence agents in Teheran. Mr Assadinia plans to give more detail of his claims at a meeting later this month at Westminster, organised by the British Awhazi Friendship Society, which lobbies Parliament, the European Union and the United Nations. He hopes his disclosures will encourage other Iranian officials to follow suit.

"The government sees itself as strong, but in fact it is like Saddam Hussein before he was overthrown - very fragile and brittle within," he added.

A spokesman for the Iranian embassy in London described Mr Assadinia's claims as "baseless and fabricated". He said the Iranian diplomatic presence in the Gulf was entirely legitimate and described the friendship society as an "illegal" organisation dedicated to stirring up trouble between Iran and its neighbours.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/04/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  and one of every five columnists for al-Guardian, etc. is a Mullah sympathizer

(maybe 4 of 5)
Posted by: mhw || 03/04/2007 0:05 Comments || Top||

#2  They'd tried to infiltrate the NYT, but they weren't anti-American enough to get hired.
Posted by: DMFD || 03/04/2007 0:22 Comments || Top||

#3  From Global Security's page on the IRGC:

The Office of Liberation Movements has established a Gulf Section tasked with forming a Gulf Battalion as part of the Jerusalem Forces. Tehran's objective was to destabilize Arab Gulf states by supporting fundamentalists with military, financial, and logistical support. Members of these and other organizations receive military training at a Guardians of the Revolution facility some 100 kilometers south of Tehran. A variety of of training courses are conducted at the facility for fundamentalists from the Gulf states, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, and Lebanon, including naval operations, mines, and diving operations in a special camp near the Orontes River.
Posted by: Pappy || 03/04/2007 0:34 Comments || Top||

#4  Iran Has Planted Fifth Columnists Throughout The Gulf States

active measures from the top then:

Yep it's right season and the ground is certainly fertile for the crop to germinate in but what shall we harvest, will it be the Weeds or what we want, the Seeds?
Posted by: RD || 03/04/2007 0:46 Comments || Top||

#5  Iran Has Planted Fifth Columnists Throughout The Gulf States

active measures from the top then:

Yep it's right season and the ground is certainly fertile for the crop to germinate in but what shall we harvest, will it be the Weeds or what we want, the Seeds?
Posted by: RD || 03/04/2007 0:46 Comments || Top||

#6  I can see that dumb-ass Ray Nagin being an Iranian tool.
Posted by: SteveS || 03/04/2007 1:30 Comments || Top||

#7  SteveS In all seriousness i think you give Ray Nagin too much credit, no way he could be a tool cause he ain't smart enough.. Try Iranian dirt-clod.



Posted by: RD || 03/04/2007 1:39 Comments || Top||

#8  Fifth columnists also planted in US, UK, Australia, Canada and other western nations.

Saddam had fifth columnists agitating against Iraq war. I know this to be true as i met one.

I went to an anti war rally with a megaphone and shouted "you're wrong, it's not about oil'' when they screamed 'no blood for oil'.

At end these people tried to hassle me and my friend. One was an Iraqi man who had hooked up with the green-left members of Resistance.

He tried to tell me how life was grand under Saddam, no such things as torture and executions. When I became suspicious and asked him if he was a Ba'athist, or connected to the government, he became very defensive.

All the little lefties were videotaping/photographing me and my friend.

Then some bloody Palestinian women started screaming and running at me and my friend to attack us. The police had to hold them back and we had to move on or we'd be arrested for disturbing the peace/causing riot/affray.

So much for *my* democratic right to protest. It's ok if you're "anti war" but look how they act!

The fifth column agitates with the left wing and at universities to get the impressionable.
Posted by: anon1 || 03/04/2007 2:47 Comments || Top||

#9  Iran has trained secret networks of agents across the Gulf states to attack Western interests and incite civil unrest in the event of a military strike against its nuclear programme

Two for price of one.
Posted by: gromgoru || 03/04/2007 3:21 Comments || Top||

#10  And US Gulf States, despite the article???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/04/2007 3:23 Comments || Top||

#11  Iran Has Planted Fifth Columnists Throughout The Gulf States [Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Saudi Arabia, Qatar ..]

The article itself sounds a little to pat, like disinformation.

Sure Iran has agents wherever they set up business and I do trust that they'll be predictably sneaky, But "trained secret networks of agents across the Gulf states ready to to attack Western interests and incite civil unrest.."

pffft they Leapt outta the woodwork and attackt-ted us.

If they did I can also picture the Soddies turning the Shia comunities red, with Shia blood.

..wheat from the chaff
Posted by: RD || 03/04/2007 5:58 Comments || Top||

#12  Such a scenario would bring chaos mass detention and expulsion of Shiites to from the Gulf, one of the few areas of the Middle East that remains prosperous and has largely pro-Western governments.

Fixed.
Posted by: Excalibur || 03/04/2007 7:56 Comments || Top||

#13  Can't say a whole lot, but this isn't a surprise. We've known about Iranian Revolutionary Guards infiltration of Iranian refugee groups throughout the West since at least 1983. I'm sure we know who MOST of the ones in the US are. I HOPE the Saudis and the rest of the Gulf States have kept track of their own fifth columns. I think Iran is in for a surprise if they "activate" these "sleepers". It won't make any difference to the bombs dropping on Iranian nuclear production facilities, military compounds, ports and harbors, and other military and economic targets.

Our worst mistake in dealing with Middle East terror outfits was in NOT being nasty enough. All we had to do was to pick out ONE TARGET and show what an ARCLIGHT strike can do. The Iranian mullahs would be whimpering under their beds for the rest of their lives, and we wouldn't have so much trouble in places like Ramadi and Fallujah. The threat of that kind of total destruction would have made a great difference. Whoever made the decision to "play nice" needs to be stripped of whatever rank or position they had and kicked out the door - no pension, no retirement, no severence, no anything. We're paying for it now, and will continue to pay until we "get mideival" with these a$$hats.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 03/04/2007 13:47 Comments || Top||


Good morning
40 killed, dozens missing in Indonesian landslidesU.S. Airstrikes Hit Qaeda Post in IraqUN official optimistic about SomaliaIsraeli PM faces tough rebuke on Lebanon warNations fail to agree on Iran sanctions US and Pakistani agents interrogate Taliban leaderMale Egyptian judge says women judges un-Islamic
Posted by: Fred || 03/04/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  incredibly stupid accessories

yet beautiful anyway
Posted by: mhw || 03/04/2007 0:09 Comments || Top||

#2  Da hat is over the top.
Posted by: twobyfour || 03/04/2007 1:08 Comments || Top||

#3  Halp me Jon Carry! I'm stuck in a Bob Maqi quagmire.
Posted by: ed || 03/04/2007 2:14 Comments || Top||

#4  Halp me Jon Carry! I'm stuck in a Bob Maqi quagmire.
Posted by: Gene || 03/04/2007 2:14 Comments || Top||

#5  Never mistakenly hit Ctrl-G in comments.
Posted by: ed || 03/04/2007 2:16 Comments || Top||

#6  One can only hope she has pretty underthings to make up for it -- she looks lovely but not happy about the situation.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/04/2007 5:18 Comments || Top||

#7  I expect the cuffs also match the collar.
Posted by: Excalibur || 03/04/2007 7:57 Comments || Top||

#8  "Does this hat make my head look fat?"
Posted by: Frank G || 03/04/2007 7:58 Comments || Top||

#9  That reminds me of the Monster hats that women used to wear in theaters.
Posted by: SwissTex || 03/04/2007 8:50 Comments || Top||

#10  [SPAM DELETED]
Posted by: Gonzadexproshoot TROLL || 03/04/2007 9:20 Comments || Top||

#11  So Hollywood star inspired the asshat movement?
Posted by: JohnQC || 03/04/2007 10:04 Comments || Top||

#12  Th' hat an' the pois were no doubt inspired by USN camouflage patterns.
Posted by: mrp || 03/04/2007 10:12 Comments || Top||

#13  [SPAM DELETED]
Posted by: somesaynop TROLL || 03/04/2007 11:23 Comments || Top||

#14  Is KOS down again? I notice a troll infection. Glad the Mods are on top of it. What do you use for an antibiotic, Doc? I recommend 10-gauge Double-00 buckshot at 20 inches.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 03/04/2007 12:44 Comments || Top||

#15  tw One can only hope she has pretty underthings to make up for it

thanks tw for getting my mind right.

;-)
Posted by: RD || 03/04/2007 16:22 Comments || Top||

#16  Oh, goodie! It's troll hunting season again! Lessee'...trusty idiom-generator, cluebat #4 grade, cliched accent - check, check, and check!

A hunting I will go!
A hunting I will go!
Hi ho the merry oh,
A hunting I will go!

Posted by: FOTSGreg || 03/04/2007 17:27 Comments || Top||

#17  #12re: mrp: " Th' hat an' the pois were no doubt inspired by USN camouflage patterns."

Yeah, but didja notice that one is a right hand thread and the other a left hand one ( to counteract each other)
And gloves too.
Posted by: USN, ret. || 03/04/2007 20:09 Comments || Top||

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Two weeks of WOT
Sun 2007-03-04
  US and Pakistani agents interrogate Taliban leader
Sat 2007-03-03
  Chechen parliament approves Kadyrov as president
Fri 2007-03-02
  Dozens of al-Qaeda killed in Anbar
Thu 2007-03-01
  Judge rules Padilla competent for trial
Wed 2007-02-28
  Somali police arrest four ship hijackers
Tue 2007-02-27
  Taliboomer tries for Cheney
Mon 2007-02-26
  3 French nationals murdered in Soddy ministry
Sun 2007-02-25
  Boomer tries for Abdul Aziz al-Hakim
Sat 2007-02-24
  3 Pak bad boyz dead when their package blows up
Fri 2007-02-23
  U.S. bangs five bad boyz in Iraq gunfight
Thu 2007-02-22
  Another poison gas attack in Iraq
Wed 2007-02-21
  Brits to begin withdrawing troops
Tue 2007-02-20
  USS Stennis Now On Station
Mon 2007-02-19
  64 killed in Delhi-Lahore train boom
Sun 2007-02-18
  Iraqi, Coalition forces detain 21 suspected terrs

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