KABUL, AFGHANISTAN Taliban insurgents have killed the kidnapped interpreter of an Italian journalist whose own release from captivity followed a controversial swap for Taliban prisoners, an Afghan government official said Sunday.
The death of Ajmal Naqshbandi, who also was a journalist, came on a day of heavy violence in Afghanistan that also saw the deaths of seven North Atlantic Treaty Organization soldiers in roadside bombings in the south.
The government official, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media, confirmed Naqshbandi's slaying hours after a purported Taliban spokesman telephoned news agencies in Kabul, the capital, to say that the journalist had been beheaded. Naqshbandi was working with Italian reporter Daniele Mastrogiacomo in the troubled southern province of Helmand, where the Taliban insurgency is strongest, when the two men and their driver were kidnapped March 5. The driver was beheaded soon afterward. Mastrogiacomo was released March 19 after Afghan President Hamid Karzai agreed to free five Taliban prisoners, including at least two senior members of the fundamentalist Islamic movement.
The swap provoked a firestorm of national and international protest from critics who said the deal would encourage more abductions. Within the last two weeks, at least 13 Afghans and two French aid workers have been kidnapped. Taliban rebels have demanded further releases of their jailed associates in exchange for some of the hostages.
Naqshbandi's captors had offered a similar swap for him, but Karzai on Friday ruled out any more deals. "When we demanded the exchange for the Italian journalist, the government released the prisoners, but for the Afghan journalist, the government did not care," Shahabuddin Atal, a purported Taliban spokesman, told the Associated Press. Atal said that his group beheaded Naqshbandi in the Garmsir district of Helmand province Sunday afternoon.
Karzai said he agreed to a swap for Mastrogiacomo out of gratitude for Italy's commitment of 1,800 troops in Afghanistan and because Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi had called him "several times and asked for cooperation."
Of course he did.
News of Naqshbandi's slaying came as a heavy blow to colleagues and some Afghan officials who had thought some kind of a deal to secure his release might be possible. Last week, journalists rallied in Kabul to press the government to work harder to win their colleague's freedom.
In Rome, where a huge photograph of Naqshbandi has been hanging from the facade of City Hall as a way to press for his release, Mastrogiacomo said he was devastated by the news of his colleague's death. "This homicide was horrible, gratuitous and cowardly," Mastrogiacomo said in a statement. "Ajmal Naqshbandi was a journalist, like me, like so many who practice our craft circulating through the world." The blame for the killing rests squarely with the Taliban, "who have shown their true face to the world," he said. "They are simple murderers." Didn't know that from the beginning? That's okay, Daniele. You have a nice bottle of wine for him tonight, okay, scumbag?
#1
My frustration with the Europeans has reached another high point. (And for the sake of this post I'm including the Brits when I say 'Europeans' here)
#2
How gracious of Mr Mastrogiacomo to feel bad about the murder. After all, it was his own bright idea to go out there and interview the guys who took them hostage.
KABUL, Afghanistan, April 8 Six NATO soldiers were killed in a roadside blast in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, NATO said in a statement issued from the Kandahar air base. All six soldiers were Canadian, according to the Canadian Department of National Defense, which said on its Web site that a roadside bomb had exploded near their vehicle west of Kandahar City and that two Canadian soldiers were also wounded, one seriously.
Canadian troops in the NATO force are mostly based in Kandahar Province and have suffered heavy casualties over the past year from roadside and suicide bombs. British, American, Dutch and Danish troops are deployed in neighboring Helmand Province on an operation to fight Taliban insurgents who control a whole swath of territory there.
The Taliban said Sunday that they had executed the Afghan interpreter kidnapped with an Italian journalist after the government failed to meet its demands for the release of two of their members from prison.
Shahabuddin Atal, who claimed to be a spokesman for the Taliban commander, Mullah Dadullah, told news agencies that Ajmal Naqshbandi, an interpreter from Kabul, had been killed Sunday. There was no independent confirmation of the killing. A presidential spokesman said that the government was looking into the report and that it would not comment until it was confirmed.
Mr. Naqshbandi was working with an Italian journalist, Daniele Mastrogiacomo, and an Afghan driver when they were captured by Taliban insurgents in Helmand Province on March 4. The Afghan driver was beheaded by the group of insurgents, and Mr. Mastrogiacomo was released after President Hamid Karzai agreed to free five Taliban prisoners in exchange for him.
The exchange has been widely criticized, and Mr. Karzai said Friday that he agreed to free the Taliban members after the Italian prime minister, Romano Prodi, had warned that his government, which has 1,800 soldiers in Afghanistan, could collapse over the issue. Mr. Karzai said there would be no more deals with kidnappers. The Taliban spokesman said they had demanded that two more prisoners be released in return for Mr. Naqshbandi, but the government did not care.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/09/2007 07:50 ||
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#1
God rest their souls. And God help the first traitor who raises a voice against them.
#3
No Jackal, they won't. At least not all of them. Most blame the Taliban. Some, just as it is in the US, will blame Bush.
Sweeping generalizations of the thoughts of a nation are not helpful. I'm not the only Canadian who posts here. I'm offended by the broad sweep of your comment. These are our boys who are dead. Bush has little to do with our thoughts at this loss.
#4
Today marks the 90th Anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge. Four Canadian divisions stormed the ridge on April 9th against heavy German fortifications and artillery. By the 12th, Canada had seized the German positions at a cost 3598 dead and over 7000 wounded. Many Canadians see this battle as the event where Canada found her identity, no longer a colony but a nation.
We weep for six in Afghanistan, but they are just a wee drop in the proud history of this nation.
Keep in mind that the United States did not join the war until 1917. Canada was there in 1914. And again, Canada declared war on Germany in 1939, America not until 1941.
Today, Canadians give thanks to our troops for the sacrifices past and present, and for the leadership of George Bush, Stephen Harper, John Howard, and Tony Blair who understand the price we pay to maintain the freedom for which much blood has been shed.
Posted by: john ||
04/09/2007 13:38 Comments ||
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#5
To Thinemp Whimble and all of Rantburg's Canadian friends, we are deeply sorry for your loss, and send our deepest condolences to the families and friends of those brave men.
Canada has shouldered a heavy burden with us in Afghanistan and they deserve our gratitude, and our support.
#7
Ship, FWIW, the French Army lost 150,000 men between 1915 and 1917 trying to take Vimy.
Posted by: john ||
04/09/2007 19:05 Comments ||
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#8
Ship, FWIW, the French Army lost 150,000 men between 1915 and 1917 trying to take Vimy.
Posted by: john ||
04/09/2007 19:10 Comments ||
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#9
Wasn't it actually Germany that declared war on the US (after the US declared that a de facto state of war already existed between the US and Japan due to the attack on Pearl)?
ISAF and Afghan forces were pushing forward in Sangin district of southern Helmand province after regaining control of the district Friday. A force of over 1,000 Afghan and ISAF personnel supported by helicopters, armoured vehicles and infantry, retook the centre of the district and were still engaging the Taleban fighters, who showed mild resistance, Lieutenant Colonel Maria Carl, spokeswoman for the NATO-led international Security Assistance Force (ISAF) told a press conference.
She said the joint forces seized large weapon caches as the militants ran away fled the district. Carl said ISAF also transported some 500 Afghan security personnel to the south to intensify the push to flush out the Taleban from northern parts of Helmand, where they are most entrenched.
Capturing Sangin district was the biggest success for Afghan and ISAF forces since the start of Operation Achilles at the beginning of March. The offensive, mainly focused in Helmand, brings together some 4,500 ISAF and 1,000 Afghan troops for the largest ISAF operation since the ouster of the Taleban regime in late 2001.
On Saturday, ISAF regional commander south, Major General Ton van Loon, visited troops in the centre of Sangin as the forces were still engaging the militants, a military statement said Sunday. We continue to make steady progress in northern Helmand and even though the Sangin District centre is in the control of government of Afghanistan forces, Operation Achilles is not over, Loon said.
Colonel Angela Billings, an ISAF spokesperson said the joint forces engaged the militants six times since the start of the operation to retake the town, and their bases received several mortar attacks but no casualties were caused among the soldiers.
With Sangin recaptured, the Taleban still hold complete sway in three districts in Helmand and employ hit-and-run guerrilla tactics in other districts and the neighbouring southern provinces.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/09/2007 00:00 ||
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KABUL - A soldier from the NATO-led force was killed Sunday and another was injured in a roadside bomb blast in southern Afghanistan, the alliance said. The death brought to 28 the number of NATO-led troops killed this year in violence-plagued southern Afghanistan, said a NATO military spokeswoman, Lieutenant Colonel Maria Carl said.
She did not reveal the location or the nationality of the casualties. There was an improvised explosive device (IED) explosion this morning, killing one (NATO) soldier and injuring another one, she told a news briefing in Kabul.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/09/2007 00:00 ||
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(SomaliNet) WFP welcomed today the release of the hijacked vessel MV Rozen and its crew and urged authorities in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland in northeastern Somalia and the Transitional Federal Government to curb piracy in Somali waters.
WFP welcomes the release after 40 days of the MV Rozen and its 12-person crew on Thursday night and thanks elders in Puntland for their mediation, said WFP Somalia Country Director Peter Goossens. The threat of piracy however is still very much alive in Somali waters and WFP urges the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia and the Puntland authorities to curb this menace, he added. News of the releasewas delayed for security reasons.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
MV stands for Motor Vessel, meaning diesel powered usually., those are medium large
SS stands for Steam Ship, These days that means steam turbines. those are the very large ships, although that's not always true, there are some very big MV's Sailing the seas, but when they get bigger the MV's suffer from poor fuel economy Compared to the SS powered versions.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/09/2007 6:09 Comments ||
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#2
The US needs to station a half-dozen fast frigates at Djibouti, and routinely patrol from there to Mombasa, along with some P-3 air cover. I'm sure the piracy would quickly diminish the first time a P-3 dropped a depth charge pattern around a pirate "mother ship", set to explode at 30 feet.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/09/2007 13:07 Comments ||
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(SomaliNet) Unknown gunmen have wounded the deputy mayor for finance in the Somalia capital Mogadishu on Saturday. Hassan Mohamed Qalad was injured as he was standing in front of the main seaport in Mogadishu yesterday. Witnesses told Somalinet that unidentified gunmen opened fire at him wounding on the leg. Mr. Qalaad was laid on hospital where the doctors said that his injury was not serious.
It is unclear who was behind the attack and no one has claimed responsibility. No comment yet from the transitional government on the attack that Mr. Qalaad was wounded. He is the second man in the government who was injured by unknown militia. Earlier, the citys deputy mayor for security Ibrahim Shaweye was injured in a bomb explosion that hit one his convoys in south of the capital.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
"Deputy mayor for Finance"? How the hell much "finance" could a hell-hole like Mogadishu have?
A Sudanese army truck loaded with munitions exploded on Saturday in the capital, Khartoum, where the nearby airport was closed "as a precaution", an airport official said.
An army spokesperson said the blast had not caused any casualties. "A series of explosions occurred on a truck loaded with munitions, which burned the vehicle," said Brigadier General Othman Mohammed al-Aghbach, adding there had been no "human loss".
So whoever they were aiming for, they missed.
The airport official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: "The airport has been closed until further orders as a precautionary measure, given that it is not far from the munitions depot near where the explosion happened."
Any chance a big cheese just happened to be driving by when the truck blew up?
Aghbach said the munitions went off because of the "shaking" of the truck, which was being driven in an area close to the army headquarters in central Khartoum.
Yup, spend all your money on fancy MiGs and there's no money to fix the potholes.
The area had been evacuated, Aghbach told the official Suna news agency. Witnesses said the explosion caused a fireball, and columns of smoke could be seen rising into the air. Roads leading to the area of the blast were sealed off to traffic and onlookers were barred from approaching.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
It's spelled Khartoum but actually sounds more like Kaboom!
#3
Zenster, Kabul also sounds like "Kaboom" too, but is currently having a respite. Helman sounds like "Hell-man". Simply aptly odd too in "Have-gun-is-stern".
Teheran sounds almost like "Terror". Qom, like "Gone" (soon?)while Damascus, like "Damn-us-curse".
RAFAH, Egypt (AP) - Egyptian authorities uncovered two new tunnels along the border with the Gaza Strip and arrested a Palestinian man trying to cross through one, a security official said Sunday.
Tunnel rats have been busy, haven't they. Must be lots of gardens in Rafah with new soil deposited every day.
Officials found the tunnels in the border city of Rafah in the Sinai Peninsula. Capt. Mohammed Badr of the North Sinai Peninsula police said officials found food and water in the tunnel the man was using. He said the man, in his early 20s, was being questioned.
Another tunnel was discovered inside a residential area in Rafah, according to Badr. He said security forces did not seal off the second tunnel because they hoped to arrest more people trying to sneak into or out of Egypt.
Oh that's going to work well.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Wouldn't want anyone cutting into their take, eh?
#6
Fill them with Nitrogen and see how far they get.
Mix in a little CO2 with that nitrogen and you get a very common mine gas called "black damp." Black damp is the reason coal miners used to take canaries with them. It can kill you.
Posted by: Mike ||
04/09/2007 12:14 Comments ||
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#7
Fill them with Nitrogen and see how far they get.
I'd rather fill them with very wet cement - at about 4000PSI. See where it fountains out in Gaza. Anyone caught IN the tunnel wouldn't stand a chance, and will serve as a reminder for others.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/09/2007 13:17 Comments ||
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#8
That would be a waste of cement. My vote is for a cheap and easy backfill using natural gas. Once pumping conductance indicates a slight back pressure (i.e., tunnel filled), drop in an ignitor.
Have reconnaisance posted to observe which building in Gaza explodes and go from there. When entire city blocks of familes or group dwellings get charbroiled, they'll begin to reconsider the wisdom of allowing tunnel portals in their neighborhood. Charred skeletons left inside the tunnel would serve as grim reminders to anyone entering them.
What I do not understand is why the IDF doesn't used ground penetrating sidescan radar to detect these conduits. It's a no brainer.
(KUNA) -- Nine Algerian soldiers were killed on Sunday in Ain Defla region, 130 km east of Algiers, after their convoy was attacked by unknown gunmen. Algerian security sources said the convoy was attacked as it was heading to one of the area's military stations. They added that the attack was part of attempts to break the siege against the "terrorist" Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), which now calls itself the Armed Branch of Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb. Since beginning operations against the branch 20 days ago, over 20 terrorists were killed in different parts of Algeria, noted the sources.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2007 00:00 ||
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A complaint was lodged yesterday against four people including Rajshahi City Corporation Mayor Mizanur Rahman Minu and former post and telecommunications minister barrister Aminul Huq accusing them of aiding and abetting militants of the banned Islamist outfit Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). The other two accused in the complaint are former deputy commissioner (DC) of Rajshahi Aziz Hasan and then Rajshahi superintendent of police (SP) Masud Miah (dismissed in 2006).
Advocate Moazzem Hossain from Mollahpara of Rajshahi city lodged the complaint with Rajpara Police Station in Rajshahi at 4:00pm. Police officially received the complaint at 7:00pm and sent it for home ministry's recommendation as to whether the complaint can be filed as a regular case. The compliant has many components for it to be filed as a sedition case, said a senior police official.
This is the first complaint filed against mayor Minu implicating him with JMB. In his complaint, advocate Moazzem said on May 23, 2004, assisted by the accused four -- mayor Minu, barrister Aminul, DC Hasan and SP Masud -- JMB leaders Prof Lutfar Rahman, Mahtab Khamaru, Abdus Sattar, Jalil Amin, Natib Lutfar and others gathered around 2,000 militant activists from Rajshahi and its adjacent areas and marched toward Rajshahi city. The militants paraded different city streets and chanted various anti-state slogans that included declaring a war against Bangladesh and vows to form an Islamic jihad group in their bid to establishing an Islamic state in the country.
The JMB militants from the procession also submitted memorandums to the then DC and SP. Later, the JMB militants held a street rally in front of Rajshahi Court. In the rally, many militant leaders boasted that mayor Minu, barrister Aminul, DC Hasan and SP Masud had assured them (JMB) of extending full cooperation and support in JMB's bid to establishing an Islamic state. Militant leaders also declared that they were pledged to "change the map of the country" and both Minu and Aminul would help JMB strengthen by providing the necessary financial and administrative assistance.
Moreover, the JMB leaders announced that they would kill leaders of different political parties as well as journalists who stood in their way. The militants delivered similar speeches from another rally organised later at zero point of Saheb Bazar, the complainant added.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2007 00:00 ||
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Five Turkish troops and two Kurdish rebels were killed at the weekend amid clashes in southeast Turkey as the army launched spring operations against the guerrillas, security officials said on Sunday. At least 3,000 soldiers, backed by helicopters and Turkey's village guard militia, were taking part in the operations in the mountains of Sirnak province, near the Iraqi border. In a clash on Kupeli mountain, an officer from the gendarmerie paramilitary police and a member of the village guard were killed as they fought with militants from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Two PKK rebels were killed in the clash and four soldiers were injured. Several thousand PKK fighters are based in the northern Iraqi mountains and cross the border each spring to launch attacks. Further north in Bitlis province, a sergeant was killed when he stepped on a mine, the second such incident over the weekend. On Saturday morning, two soldiers in a search operation in the Bitlis countryside were killed when one of them stepped on a mine believed to have been planted on the road by the rebels. The PKK launched its armed separatist insurgency in 1984, and more than 30,000 people have died in the conflict.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2007 00:00 ||
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(KUNA) - Four Pakistani soldiers were injured on Sunday in the tribal areas after their vehicle was attacked by suspected local Taliban militants. Speaking to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), security officials said Frontier Core (FC) vehicle, carrying 22 soldiers, hit a roadside bomb in Tank tribal town. They said the explosion wounded two soldiers and badly damaged the vehicle, noting that the bomb was hidden in a plastic bag. In another development, the officials added that two policemen were injured in Bannu after their patrol was targeted by a remote-controlled bomb.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2007 00:00 ||
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Four paramilitary soldiers were injured in two separate bomb attacks in Tank and Bannu on Sunday. Meanwhile, unknown men snatched a government vehicle from the Chakmalai area. Tank police station moharar Noor Aslam told Daily Times that a case had been registered against unidentified criminals and that an investigation was underway. Sources said that unknown men also snatched a government vehicle with record of development schemes from Local Government assistant director Akhtar Munir near the Chakmalai area in Tank. Agencies add: Local police official Abdullah revealed that the bomb attacks had been remote-controlled. He said the officials had been targeted from the nearby mountains.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2007 00:00 ||
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Authorities have entered into negotiations with tribal elders to control sectarian violence in northwest Pakistan, which has already left 40 people dead, officials said on Sunday.
Sectarian clashes between Sunni and Shiite Muslims erupted in the remote tribal town of Parachinar on Friday and spread to nearby villages on Sunday, said officials. An official dealing with security in tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, Arbab Arif said that 40 people had been killed in clashes, but Parachinar administration official Sahibzada Anees stated the death toll was 15. I can only confirm 15 deaths in the clashes so far, said Anees. The fighting has also left over 53 people wounded over the course of the past three days.
The authorities have placed Parachinar under curfew and soldiers in the area have been given shoot-on-sight orders to curb violence in the town whose population is around 70,000. A Kurram Agency political agent said that the administration was trying to secure a ceasefire in the areas through tribal jirga and negotiations. There are also reports that both Sunni and Shiite elders are working for restoration of peace.
Anees said the trouble started because of a Shiite demonstration against local Sunnis on Friday after local Sunnis allegedly chanted anti-Shiite slogans during a religious rally last week. Local Sunni leader Shirin Mengal said the Shiites began burning Sunni-owned shops and homes. He said more than 400 homes and shops of Sunni Muslims had been burned by Shiites.
Permanent secretary at the interior ministry Syed Kamal Shah said, The fighting has been quelled in Parachinar, but the problem still exists in rural areas.
Sahibzada Mohammad Anis, the top administrator of Kurram, said tribal elders were trying to defuse the situation and warned of military action if the fighting did not stop. He said the fighting tribesmen were using heavy weapons including mortars and rocket-propelled grenades.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Finally! Somebody is doing something to stop the violence.
Unidentified men injured 18 people on Sunday at the Kalu Qlandar fair in Chodwan near Dera Ismael Khan, Geo TV reported. The channel reported that the injured had been shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital in Dera Ismael Khan, adding that five men were in critical condition. Aaj TV quoted district nazim Dera Ismael Khan as saying that the organisers of the fair were asked to use police security but they refused. They deployed private security guards instead, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2007 00:00 ||
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(KUNA) -- Multi-National Force (MNF) arrested 12 bodyguards who work for a prominent member of Iraq's Parliament (MP), Khalaf Alayyan, the spokesman of the law enforcement plan, Brigadier Qassem Atta, said on Sunday.
The U.S. military said in a statement that 14 bodyguards of the MP were arrested and described them as terrorists. Atta said in a press conference that the MNF forces surrounded the area and house of the MP after receiving intelligence reports. The forces then raided the house, arrested 12 armed men inside it and confiscated illegal caches of weapons and explosives, Atta added. However, the U.S. military said its raid operation resulted in the arrest of 14 terrorists and confiscated illegal weapons from the Sunni MP's headquarters office in Al-Mansour area west of Baghdad. The statement said the arrested were investigated by the MNF.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#5
"Well if it isn't yours, you won't mind if we blow it up, right? Only that kind of thing is kinda touchy, so we'll take care of it right here in the courtyard... or we could set it off down in the basement. Whaddaya think?"
#7
Ima thinkrn the "special consideration" should be body cavity searchs by Gary "Big Hands" Johnson
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/09/2007 18:47 Comments ||
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#8
As an eighth-grader, he bent to pick up a basketball in a P.E. class in Bossier City, La.
I wanted to play with the basketball, Gary Johnson remembered, and the instructor, Raley Stewart, said, 'Get your big hands off my basketball....
Gary Johnson
The words Big Hands stuck from that moment....
~~~~+++++
MNF arrests 12 bodyguards of Iraqi Parliament member
Mr. "Big Hands", "please distribute all the weapons and explosives between the 12 terrorist bodyguardscavities and then "help" them keister stash the whole lot."
(KUNA) -- Troops of the Multi-National Force (MNF) have recently captured and killed 246 terrorists in Baghdad, an official spokesman said on Sunday. Qassem Atta, the official spokesman of the law enforcement plan, said at a news conference that the MNF troops killed 41 terrorists, arrested 232 others, in addition to 446 suspected insurgents, from March 27 to April 7.
Haitham Abdullah and Haider Rasheed, wanted for killing 900 people and wounding 4,000 others, were among the insurgents who were detained, he said. The forces freed 26 kidnapped people and confiscated 104 chlorine tanks in Alatham area north of the capital. Atta said his forces confiscated a large cache of concealed arms including 518 weapons, 198 explosives and 10 booby-trapped cars.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
What's the point in arresting people you've just killed? KUNA needs some help from the Grammar emergency team.
#3
I'm so depressed. We all know there are no military solutions to these situations. Here we are, trying to win a test of wills and violence by applying our will and using violence. So, so ... unsophisticated.
#7
I wish they were more specific, so these claims would appear accurate. The way this is announced, it seems everyone is counted two or three or four times.
If this is accurate, then it represents a major dent in the insurgency. Let's hope so.
Sponsored by Bulletproof Shoes R' Us...
At approximately 17:50 on Friday, 6 April 2007, a number of unknown gunmen intercepted the car of Rasssem Mahmoud al-Bayari, 52, Head of the Union of Palestine Workers, when he was traveling with his wife, his children and his nephews near the Gaza European Hospital in Khan Yunis. According to al-Bayari, the gunmen forced the family out and got into the car. They ordered him to drive the car, but he refused and got out of it. Soon, a quarrel erupted between al-Bayari and the gunmen, during which one of them opened fire. Al-Bayari was wounded by shrapnel to the neck. The gunmen then took the car and escaped. Do youze know who I am?
BANG!
I guess you don't...
At approximately 07:30 on Saturday, 7 April 2007, 7 masked gunmen intercepted two vehicles of the Palestinian General Intelligence in Nusairat refugee camp. They forced security men out and took over the vehicles. According to information available to PCHR, one of the attackers is a former member of the General Intelligence who was dismissed. In the afternoon, the gunmen released the two vehicles after they had received promises to meet their demands. Stop! Ex-police! We need your cars to get back on the force!
At approximately 17:30 on Friday, 6 April 2007, unknown gunmen traveling in a civilian vehicle with a yellow registration plate kidnapped Jihad Fuad Ziara, 46, when he was near his house in the east of Gaza City. According to Ziaras father, the car passed near the house a few minutes before the attack, and only one person was traveling in it. The car came back to the area then, and a number of masked gunmen were traveling in it. They kidnapped his son. Ziara has been working in Israel for 16 years, and was granted the Israeli citizenship 5 years ago. He came to visit his family in Gaza on Thursday, 5 April. Hey, ain't dat Jihad?
Yeah. Ain't he been working for da Jews?
Let's get da boyz n have a talk wid him.
At approximately 14:30 on Saturday, 7 April 2007, Ali Barjas Sad, 24, a policeman from al-Shojaeya neighborhood in the east of Gaza City, was wounded by a gunshot to the right foot unleashed from his gun when he was on-duty. Is she watchin me?
Yeah, Ali. She is.
Guess I'll impress her with some fancy gunplay.
BANG...
She's laughing now, Ali...
At approximately 10:00 also on Saturday, 4 members of the Erhayem family were wounded by gunshots fired by the Palestinian police in al-Nasser neighborhood in the northern of Gaza City, when they were attempting to help a relative accused of committing a murder to escape. A bystander, 25-year-old Alaa al-Din Ashraf Abu al-Qumboz, was also wounded by shrapnel to the right hand. Accused of murder? We got laws against that?
At approximately 18:45 on Friday, 6 April 2007, Omar Sami Abdullah, 16, from Jabalya refugee camp, was wounded by a gunshot to the chest, when he was in a training site belonging to the Popular Resistance Committees near Shiekh Zayed town in the northern Gaza Strip. Is that weapon unloaded?
I dunno, sir. Lemme look.
BANG...
It is now, sir...
At approximately 17:00 also on Friday, Etaf Saleh Bader, 44, from Jabalya town, was wounded by a gunshot to the left hand from an unknown source, when she was inside her house. Unknown sources? Hokay. Blame the Jews for that one.
At approximately 19:00 on Thursday, 5 April 2007, Naim Mustafa al-Buraei, 17, from Jabalya refugee camp, was wounded by shrapnel to the right foot, when a home-made hand grenade he was checking exploded. Nice, huh? Works just like a real one. Watch...
At approximately 9:30 on Friday, 6 April 2007, armed clashes erupted between Fatah and Hamas gunmen in Abu Jame Quarter between Bani Suheila and New Abasan to the east of Khan Yunis. The clashes were triggered by a dispute over a billboard that Hamas supporters placed near El-Salam Mosque in the area. Thirteen Palestinians, including 2 children and 4 women, were injured by shrapnel. Gunmen also set fire to a car belonging to a Hamas members. The injured were treated in Naser Hospital in Khan Yunis. The injuries were listed as moderate. Hey! Lookit dat billboard. They painted a moustache on Abbas!
I thought he had a moustache?
I don't care! Get da guns!
In the aftermath of the clashes, gunmen deployed in the areas and stopped several cars and searched them. At approximately 13:40 on Saturday, 7 April 2007, gunmen fired at Mohammad Sami Abu Samhan (21), a Hamas supporter. He was moderately injured by bullets in the legs, and was taken to Naser Hospital for treatment. Time to take that Hamas bumper sticker off the car maybe, Mo?
In another incident at approximately 17:00 on Saturday, masked gunmen fired at Khaled Nadi Hamad (38), a Fatah activist, who was heading to his home in Beit Hanoun. He was moderately injured by bullets in the legs, and was taken to Kamal Odwan Hospital for treatment. Bet you're not so "active" anymore, Khaled...
In the aftermath of this shooting, gunmen from Hamad clan attacked the Beit Hanoun Sports club, used as a compound by Hamas gunmen. No injuries were reported in the ensuing clashes. Gunmen from Hamad clan also attacked the house of Raji Khalil Hamdan, a Hamas activist. During the clashes around the house, Jalal Yousef Hamad (31) was moderately injured by a bullet in the left shoulder. He was treated in El-Awda Hospital in Jabalia. The Beit Hanoun Sports club. The Bada Bing Lounge of Beit Hanoun...
Three militant Islamists have been given prison sentences of up to 20 years for the beheadings of three Christian schoolgirls in 2005, welcome news to the Christians in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, according to a report from Christian Solidarity Worldwide. "We are pleased that justice has finally prevailed following the brutal attack on the three schoolgirls in 2005," said Mervyn Thomas, president of CSW. "However, the pattern of violence continues in Indonesia. We urge both the Christian and Muslim communities to work with the authorities in Central Sulawesi to put an end to this cycle of attacks once and for all. "We also ask the authorities to ensure that minorities are treated fairly and equally by the judiciary," he said.
His concerns were echoed by others in the region, where several Christians also now are on trial for alleged terrorist activities, but they are facing a potential death penalty, officials reported. They were arrested for the murders of two Muslim men during demonstrations that followed the executions of three Christians last September, officials said.
Islamist Hasanuddin, the son- in-law of Islamist militant leader Adnan Arsal, reportedly has trained in the Philippines with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. He said the attack on the schoolgirls was in revenge for Christians killing Muslims during the early stages of the sectarian conflict in Central Sulawesi. Hasanuddin was given 20 years in prison for masterminding the attack in October 2005 in which the three girls were beheaded, and a fourth was seriously injured. According to CSW, his accomplices, Lilik Purnomo and Irwanto Irano, each got 14 years in prison. "Whilst the Christian community in the area welcomes the verdict, they are concerned that this and a recent crackdown on militants in the area will result in the authorities imposing harsher penalties on Christians in an attempt to be seen to treat both communities equally," CSW said.
Noviana Malewa, after treatments to minimize scarring from the machete attack
The schoolgirls were attacked while on their way to school that morning. The fourth, Noviana Malewa, was slashed horribly on her neck and face but managed to flee the area and survive. The militants put the heads of the three girls in plastic bags and dumped them in nearby villages with notes stating, "We still need another 100 heads. Blood for blood, a life for life and a head for a head."
As WND reported, Noviana and three of her friends were walking on a school path Oct. 29, 2005, when they were assaulted by radical Islamic jihadists wielding machetes. Noviana fought back as she was struck, then fell to the ground and rolled down into a ravine. Above, she heard her friends screaming. She later had to be hidden in a Christian village and guarded by police because her testimony was needed in court, and the radical Muslims who had killed her friends still were hunting her. Authorities said Theresia Morangke, 15, Yarni Sambue, 15, and Alfita Poliwo, 17, were killed in the attack.
Reports in the Jakarta Post said the Islamic suspects confessed to the fatal attack. Authorities reported the suspects have ties to Noordin Top, considered a key leader of the al-Qaida-linked group Jamaah Islamiyah.
#1
Up to twenty years. For a premeditated campaign of beheading schoolgirls. What, doesn't Indonesia have the death penalty?
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
04/09/2007 16:48 Comments ||
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#2
20 years, huh. Well, there's good behavior and repenting and Ramadan and soooo many of all those other moongod holidays.
So many chances to kick them loose...Inshallah.
#5
Yes Indonesia has the death penalty - but its only applicable to Christians and non-muslims.
Note how they claim that these acts are not the acts of Islam on one hand and then they turn around and refuse to give the death penalty to the perps because... they are muslim.
Who do they think they are? John Kerry?
Didn't some christian parents face the death penalty for the high crime of inviting muslim children to a easter celebration recently?
Manila (BangkokPost.com from agencies) - Three of Southeast Asia's most wanted terror operatives evaded capture Monday when Philippine troops raided the camp of an al-Qaeda linked group on southern Jolo island. Indonesian nationals Dulmatin and Umar Patek, alleged bombmakers for the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terror group responsible for the deadly 2002 Bali bombings, evaded the early morning firefight, as did Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon.
"Curly-toed track shoes, don't fail us now!"
The US government has posted a reward of $10 million for the capture of Dulmatin and $1 million for Patek. But the men, who have been hiding out on Jolo, have managed to evade a massive military operation involving more than 8,000 troops along with US advisers and intelligence officers.
On Monday, a Philippine army unit trained by the US military raided an Abu Sayyaf camp early Monday, local army commander Brigadier General Ruperto Pabustan said. "Three Abu Sayyaf members were captured after a brief firefight," Pabustan said, but added the "high value targets - Dulmatin and Patek - escaped." "Pursuit operations are continuing," he said.
On Sunday, nine soldiers and civilians were killed when Abu Sayyaf militants attacked an army base on Jolo. More than 8,000 Filipino troops are on Jolo on instructions from President Gloria Arroyo to crush the Abu Sayyaf, a small gang of self-styled Islamic militants who experts say once received funding from Al-Qaeda.
The Abu Sayyaf group has been blamed for a series of bomb attacks in the Philippines in recent years, as well as for high-profile kidnappings of foreigners and missionaries. Since the military operation on Jolo began last September the group's top two leaders have been killed and the remaining members, said to number around 400, have splintered into smaller units trying to evade government forces.
Isnilon Hapilon is among the last few senior Abu Sayyaf leaders trying to assert overall command over the group. The US government has offered up to $5 million for his arrest.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/09/2007 07:47 ||
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WESTERN GOVERNMENTS have been accused of "stunning hypocrisy" after it was revealed that Iran has a 10% stake in the world's largest uranium enrichment plant in France.
Tap, tap...nope, still busted. That's what you get for buying Hypocrisy meters from Seimens
All the time that Britain, France and the US have been pressing the Iranian government to cease enriching uranium, the Islamic republic has been reaping multimillion pound dividends from its shareholding in Eurodif, an international enrichment plant at Pierrelatte in southern France.
Because of its involvement, Iran has also been learning more about the latest enrichment technology. It claims that it only wants to enrich uranium to improve its performance as a fuel in nuclear power stations, but Western nations are worried that it will be used to make nuclear bombs.
Iran's stake in Eurodif has been exposed in a report written by a French nuclear expert for the Greens and the European Free Alliance in the European parliament. Documents confirming the connection have also been seen by the Sunday Herald. They show that in 2006, Reza Aghazadeh, Iran's vice-president and the president of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation, was replacing the Iranian representatives on the board of Sofidif, a joint French-Iranian company with a major stake in Eurodif.
According to a meeting of Sofidif in June 2006, the purpose of the company was "to participate in the study, the realisation and the operation of uranium enrichment plants based on the French gaseous diffusion technique". Other papers show that in 2005 Sofidif's investment in Eurodif yielded £12 million in dividends. Eurodif, formed by France, Belgium and Spain in the 1970s and run by French nuclear company Cogema, enriches uranium for 100 reactors in France and worldwide.
At the same time, Iran has been accused of breaching its obligations under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty by enriching uranium at a plant at Natanz in central Iran. Last week, the United Nations discussed moves to toughen sanctions against the country in an attempt to force it to shut the plant.
Mycle Schneider, the Paris-based nuclear consultant who wrote the report for the MEPs, was shocked by what he discovered. "The continuous deep involvement of Iran in the world's largest multinational uranium enrichment plant in France is the perfect illustration of the stunning level of hypocrisy that has governed the non-proliferation treaty," he said. The point was reinforced by Dr David Lowry, a nuclear proliferation specialist based in Surrey. "The hypocrisy of France, as a nuclear technology supplier to Iran, ganging up on its customer client with the other self-appointed permanent bully-boy' members of the UN Security Council would be funny if it wasn't so serious," he said.
Rebecca Harms, vice-president of the Green group in the European parliament, said: "It's time to stop pretending that there is a fundamental difference between the peaceful atom and nuclear weapons. It is not only operating uranium enrichment facilities that provide the basis for a nuclear weapons programme, it is nuclear technology and know-how that paves the way to the bomb."
Posted by: Steve ||
04/09/2007 17:28 ||
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#2
Why is it 'Western governments' accused of hypocrisy and not just the French?
Would the lede writer in WWII accuse all of the allies arrayed against the Nazis of hypocrisy because of the Vichy government's collaboration with Hitler?
#3
Because of its involvement, Iran has also been learning more about the latest enrichment technology....According to a meeting of Sofidif in June 2006, the purpose of the company was "to participate in the study, the realisation and the operation of uranium enrichment plants based on the French gaseous diffusion technique".
OK, you French whores (JFM and A3089 excepted, of course) - does a terrorist states' share ownership in a company usually involve transfer of sensitive technology? Or is this just standard practice with your Islamic overlords. Keeeee-rist!
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/09/2007 18:33 Comments ||
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#4
I'll backtrap that ham-handed slam. The French elitists, corporations, and politicians are whores. I remain ambivalent on the general population for their complacence in light of the creeping Islamization, car-b-ques, et al, but they don't deserve that slam....yet
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/09/2007 18:40 Comments ||
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#5
This is nothing new. The French allied with the Ottomans allowing them to attack on Vienna in 1683. I'm proud they are our oldest enemy.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
04/09/2007 19:56 Comments ||
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#7
I remain ambivalent on the general population for their complacence in light of the creeping Islamization, car-b-ques, et al, but they don't deserve that slam....yet
Nominally, they have the ability to elect a new government.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
04/09/2007 20:09 Comments ||
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#8
And the Brits expected the EU to help out last week? Sheesh
Posted by: Captain America ||
04/09/2007 20:50 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
KABUL, Afghanistan, April 8 Six NATO soldiers were killed in a roadside blast in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, NATO said in a statement issued from the Kandahar air base. All six soldiers were Canadian, according to the Canadian Department of National Defense, which said on its Web site that a roadside bomb had exploded near their vehicle west of Kandahar City and that two Canadian soldiers were also wounded, one seriously. 
ISAF and Afghan forces were pushing forward in Sangin district of southern Helmand province after regaining control of the district Friday. A force of over 1,000 Afghan and ISAF personnel supported by helicopters, armoured vehicles and infantry, retook the centre of the district and were still engaging the Taleban fighters, who showed mild resistance, Lieutenant Colonel Maria Carl, spokeswoman for the NATO-led international Security Assistance Force (ISAF) told a press conference.
KABUL - A soldier from the NATO-led force was killed Sunday and another was injured in a roadside bomb blast in southern Afghanistan, the alliance said. The death brought to 28 the number of NATO-led troops killed this year in violence-plagued southern Afghanistan, said a NATO military spokeswoman, Lieutenant Colonel Maria Carl said.
(SomaliNet) WFP welcomed today the release of the hijacked vessel MV Rozen and its crew and urged authorities in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland in northeastern Somalia and the Transitional Federal Government to curb piracy in Somali waters. 
RAFAH, Egypt (AP) - Egyptian authorities uncovered two new tunnels along the border with the Gaza Strip and arrested a Palestinian man trying to cross through one, a security official said Sunday.
A complaint was lodged yesterday against four people including Rajshahi City Corporation Mayor Mizanur Rahman Minu and former post and telecommunications minister barrister Aminul Huq accusing them of aiding and abetting militants of the banned Islamist outfit Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). The other two accused in the complaint are former deputy commissioner (DC) of Rajshahi Aziz Hasan and then Rajshahi superintendent of police (SP) Masud Miah (dismissed in 2006). 
Five Turkish troops and two Kurdish rebels were killed at the weekend amid clashes in southeast Turkey as the army launched spring operations against the guerrillas, security officials said on Sunday. At least 3,000 soldiers, backed by helicopters and Turkey's village guard militia, were taking part in the operations in the mountains of Sirnak province, near the Iraqi border. In a clash on Kupeli mountain, an officer from the gendarmerie paramilitary police and a member of the village guard were killed as they fought with militants from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Two PKK rebels were killed in the clash and four soldiers were injured. Several thousand PKK fighters are based in the northern Iraqi mountains and cross the border each spring to launch attacks. Further north in Bitlis province, a sergeant was killed when he stepped on a mine, the second such incident over the weekend. On Saturday morning, two soldiers in a search operation in the Bitlis countryside were killed when one of them stepped on a mine believed to have been planted on the road by the rebels. The PKK launched its armed separatist insurgency in 1984, and more than 30,000 people have died in the conflict.
