An Afghan court sentenced a border police official to 20 years in prison for possessing 40 tonnes of hashish, the tribunal said on Wednesday. The 37-year-old lieutenant colonel was convicted in Kabul on Tuesday, said the Criminal Justice Task Force, a special tribunal that tries drugs-related cases. The man, identified as the commander of the quick reaction battalion of border police in the southern province of Kandahar was arrested in June after drugs were found in his home, the tribunal spokesman, Khalil-Ul Rahman Mutawakil said. "The said person was sentenced to 20 years in jail and fined two million afghanis (40,000 dollars) for possessing 40 tonnes of hashish," the court said. Four other men described as "his accomplices" were also convicted. One was sentenced to 20 years and the others to five years in prison. Destitute Afghanistan is a major producer of the world's illicit drugs. It is the source of around 90 percent of the world's opium, used to make the heroin sold on the streets of Europe and central Asia, with profits helping to bankroll the Taliban in an eight-year insurgency.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2009 00:00 ||
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Photojournalist Nigel Brennan and Canadian freelance reporter Amanda Lindhout have been released in Mogadishu after 15 months of captivity.
The journalists were freed on Wednesday night and were with police and Somali lawmaker Botan Isse Alin in a hotel in Mogadishu, the Press TV correspondent reported, noting that it is unclear whether the ransom was paid for their release. There is an unconfirmed report that a ransom of $1million had been paid to the hostage-takers for the two journalists.
In August 2008, Brennan and Lindhout were kidnapped along with their Somali driver and two Somali guards while traveling southwest of Mogadishu.
Brennan told Reuters by phone from the hotel that he had been tortured physically and mentally. He said that after a failed attempt to escape, he was kept in chains and had been totally isolated from Lindhout for the past 10 months.
Journalists and humanitarian workers are frequently abducted for ransom in Somalia, one of the world's poorest countries.
Yet they keep going there ...
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Yet they keep going there ...
Well, yeah. Ever since the media manipulated the UN and NATO into going to Somalia and the Balkans (respectively), they've been trying to repeat those coups.
Problems are the quantum of solace is nearly gone (especially for Africa), and the media is shunning other deserving places because the return-on-investment isn't good enough.
Five Yemenis died when security forces clashed with southern separatists on Wednesday, as southerners began more protests against a government already facing a revolt in the north that has drawn in Saudi Arabia.
Witnesses said security forces tried to break up a demonstration by around 1,000 southerners in the city of Ataq in Shabwa province after a rally in favour of the former south Yemeni state that united with Sanaa in 1990. They said three protesters and two members of security forces died when shooting broke out, while 10 protesters were wounded. South Yemen has seen a series of such incidents this year as southerners complain about marginalisation, but this was the first time Shabwa saw clashes.
Yemen faces a revolt by Huthi rebels in the north while Al Qaeda militants have regrouped on Yemeni soil and carried out attacks in the last two years. In Sanaa, a group of 200 chanted slogans such as "No to the plot of Persian expansion" and "Yemen will remain free and independent" and called for the expulsion of Iran's ambassador over alleged backing for the northern rebels.
Though the protest was organised by a non-governmental group, such events are unlikely to take place without official sanction. Yemen accuses Iranian figures of funding the rebels - known as the Huthis - who have been locked in battle with government forces in north Yemen since August. But the government has stopped short of accusing Iran's government of backing them and Iran has denied any involvement.
Hospital closed: Yemen said on Wednesday it has ordered the closure of the Iranian hospital and clinic in Sanaa due to what it said was Iran's support of the facilities and lack of transparency in their accounts. Both facilities are run by the Iranian Red Crescent. "The interior ministry has decided to close the Iranian clinic and hospital because of lack of transparency of their accounts and... Iranian financial support to these two institutions," said a ministry statement.
The hospital, a five-storey building which is staffed by 120 employees including eight Iranians, has been operating in the Yemeni capital for four years, while the clinic has existed for 15 years. The decision to close them came as a demonstration was set to be staged on Wednesday outside the Iranian embassy to protest against "foreign interference," state media said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2009 00:00 ||
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Saudi fighter jets continue to hit Houthi strongholds in Hasama, Malahidh, Dhahyan, Razih and Ashaeesh areas, local sources from the Sa'ada governorate said, adding that the airstrikes coincide with heavy mortar and rocket shelling by both Yemeni and Saudi armies in other areas.
In a statement distributed to the various media outlets, Houthi followers said that Saudi forces began on Monday advancing toward Yemeni lands from various border fronts, using all types of ground and aerial weapons. Houthis accused both armies of using excessive force against citizens.
The statement added that the Saudi army uses tanks, heavy mortars, Apache helicopters and F-15 jets in the operation, pointing out that "clashes are still going on in various fronts at the Yemeni border in Malahidh, Shadha and Hasama districts."
Spokesman for the Houthis, Mohammed Abdussalam said in a telephone conversation with the Iranian Al-Alam channel that Saudi jets launched 35 raids Monday on various Sa'ada villages, confirming that dozens of civilians were killed in the raids, particularly in the Yemeni Najain city, which is 200 km away from the border of Saudi Arabia. He noted that the situation was calm in the majority of fronts.
A Saudi military source said from the battleground that "offensives launched by Houthis are direct suicide operations, which makes it impossible to achieve a military victory.
The source added that Houthis attempt to cause human losses among the Saudi troops.
Another Saudi senior military official told Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper that Houthis have no fixed plans, adding they most often change them. "They sometimes hide among internally displaced persons (IDPs), fire bullets from behind IDPs or hide inside homes in border villages and launch offensives overnight."
Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported that there is an exchange of fire between Houthis and Saudi troops in various fronts including the Dukhan Mountain and Jalah village, adding that Houthis hide during daytime and launch their attacks overnight. As a result, Saudi forces resorted to removing any old homes in villages near its border with Yemen.
The newspaper added that Houthis succeeded to launch operations with RPGs and Katyousha missiles, and they engaged in gunfire inside Saudi territory.
According to the newspaper, the Saudi forces, backed by Apaches, eliminated a Houthi group that was entrenching in the Saudi Ain Harah area, near the Command of Saudi Operations, as it was plotting to destroy mortars belonging to the Saudi army.
The newspaper went on to say that hundreds of Houthis launched surprise attacks against Saudi troops after midnight and at down times early this week.
Somalis involved
Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper published a report revealing that Somali fighters have been involved in supporting Houthi rebels in their fight against the army. It said that those Somali fighters receive money in exchange for their support for Houthis.
Arab League Secretary-General Amro Musa received a report from Ambassador Ibrahim Al-Shuaimi, the Arab League Delegate in Mogadishu, in which the latter didn't rule out the possibility of Somali refugees being involved in the Houthi-led rebellion in north Yemen.
"There are some Somali mercenaries who back Houthis in their rebellion against the state," the report said. "Those mercenaries may include leaders belonging to the armed Islamic groups that oppose foreign military presence in the Somali land and the interim authority led by Sheikh Shariff Sheikh Ahmad.
The Yemeni Defense Ministry-affiliated 26sep.net quoted a Yemeni official military source as saying on Monday that the army thwarted Houthis' attempts to sneak into strategic positions used by the army in Sa'ada hills.
The source added that the army carried out qualitative operations in Sa'ada, destroying several Houthi posts in Gharaz, Gufl and Tamalus areas and hitting Houthi targets in Jabal Qais and Mazram areas.
During his talk with the Aljazeera satellite channel on Monday evening, Parliament Member Yahya Badraddin Al-Houthi, who is currently living in Germany, denied that his men accepted the five terms listed by the government as a condition to stop its operations against Houthi followers.
This came after a Yemeni official source declared last Thursday that Houthis field leader Abdulmalik Al-Houthi accepted the five terms, announced by the government as a condition to stop the war.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Excessive force? In a war?
I am not sure that isnt a non sequitur.
All war IS excessive force. Violence is the name of the game, Deception and murder are the definition of war. The object is to win, there is no other option at ALL. You squash people and shoot the dog on the way out. You sucker the other guy whenever you can, and you dont care how bad it hurts. You dont know morality from a flamethrower. Jesus who?
You gang up on cripples and shoot them in the back. You prefer to get them while they are asleep.
If there was any "other" way to do the thing you wouldnt be at war. You poison the wells and leave them to starve. Then you lie about it and blame them for everything. Later on you write the history book and tell everybody who will listen, that it was forced on you and the carpet bombing was "necessary". No one complains...they are all dead.
We all have it coming, dont kid yourself. You absolutely dont want what's "fair". Trust me.
Carry a wirecutter and and a screw driver in your back pocket for their gold teeth and rings.
Posted by: Perry Stanford White ||
11/26/2009 7:23 Comments ||
Top||
#3
I find it hilarious to see these folks trying the same "guilt trip our opponents" strategy on each other, thinking it will work like it does with the softies in the west.
#5
Excessive force? Anyone knows that there is no such thing as long as it doesn't involve Jooooos losing patience after 8000 (eight thousands) missiles fired upon their civilians.
#6
A Saudi military source said from the battleground that "offensives launched by Houthis are direct suicide operations, which makes it impossible to achieve a military victory.
The source added that Houthis attempt to cause human losses among the Saudi troops.
The irony is very, very rich... Reminds me of that saudi prince who gloated that the US army was a paper tiger way back in the beginning of the US occupation of iraq, claiming that th eUSA should be "worried about getting ran over by mexico"... and, here, we have... the Mighty Saudi Army in action... methinks they're less impressive than the "Lions" they fancy themselves to be...
Oh, well, they will resort to blind application of firepower and wipe them out through vastly superior tech (and probably, numbers).
[Al Arabiya Latest] Around 200 protesters gathered outside the Iranian embassy in the Yemeni capital on Wednesday, shouting slogans against what Yemen says is Iranian backing for northern rebels, as Yemen has ordered the closure of the Iranian hospital and clinic in Sanaa due to security concerns.
The group of 200 chanted slogans such as "No to the plot of Persian expansion" and "Yemen will remain free and independent" and called for the expulsion of Iran's ambassador.
Though the protest was organized by a non-governmental group, such events are unlikely to take place without official sanction.
Shiite Muslim rebels -- known as the Houthis -- have been locked in battle with government forces in north Yemen since August.
Closure of Iranian hospital, clinic
Yemen accuses Iranian figures of funding the group though it has stopped short of accusing Iran's government of backing the rebels, who say they are fighting social, economic and religious marginalization by the Sanaa authorities and accuse Sunni neighbor Saudi Arabia of backing the government.
Iran has denied any involvement.
Saudi Arabia launched an assault on the rebels earlier this month after the Houthis staged a cross-border incursion that killed two Saudi border guards.
Yemen, meanwhile, said it has ordered the closure of the Iranian hospital and clinic in Sanaa due to what it said was Iran's support of the facilities and lack of transparency in their accounts.
Both facilities are run by the Iranian Red Crescent.
"The interior ministry has decided to close the Iranian clinic and hospital because of lack of transparency of their accounts and... Iranian financial support to these two institutions," said a ministry statement.
Yemeni security forces had on Oct. 13 sealed off the hospital when staff were suspected of aiding Shiite rebels fighting the government in the country's north.
Yemen, an impoverished country of 23 million, also faces a separatist movement in the south while Saudi and Yemeni al-Qaeda militants have regrouped on Yemeni soil and carried out attacks in the last two years.
Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, fears the growing instability in neighboring Yemen could turn into a major security threat for the kingdom by allowing al-Qaeda to gain a stronger foothold in the impoverished country.
Global aid organizations have voiced deep concern at the escalation of the conflict in north Yemen, where the United Nations now says 175,000 people have been displaced by the fighting.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2009 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Prosecutors in the United States on Wednesday accused 10 people of having supported the Shiite armed group Hezbollah with weapons, fake passports, counterfeit money, stolen laptops and game consoles.
Four of the men were indicted on Tuesday -- three from Lebanon and a fourth, Moussa Ali Hamdan, from New York -- on charges of "conspiring to provide material support to Hezbollah." They faced 15 to 30 years in prison. Another six were charged with related crimes.
It was the second set of such charges to be brought in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in as many days.
According to the indictment, Hassan Hodroj and Dib Hani Harb of Beirut sought to export to the Port of Latakia in Syria about 1,200 Colt M-4 machine guns in June at a price of some $1,800 a piece with the help of a contact who was in fact an undercover federal agent.
With the help of Hamdan and fellow Lebanese Hassan Antar Karaki, Harb is also accused of having sought to support Hezbollah using proceeds from the sale of fraudulent passports, stolen money and about $9,200 dollars in counterfeit U.S. currency hidden inside a photo album.
Harb told the undercover agent that the genuine stolen money came from a string of robberies led by Hezbollah supporters and later smuggled into Lebanon to raise funds for the group.
He also claimed that "Iran manufactured high-quality counterfeit U.S. currency for the benefit of Hezbollah," the indictment said.
Hamdan and three others -- two Americans and a Venezuelan -- were charged with having spearheaded the trafficking of over 1,500 cell phones, nearly 150 laptop computers, 400 Sony PlayStation 2 systems and three cars starting around late 2007.
The goods -- which the undercover agent presented as stolen and sold to the defendants for a total of over $153,000 in New Jersey and Pennsylvania -- were transported to New Jersey, New York, Benin, Lebanon and Margarita Island, Venezuela.
Hamdan, Hamza al-Najjar and Alaa Allia Ahmed Mohammed of Brooklyn, New York, Moustafa Habib Kassem of Staten Island, New York, Maodo Kane of the Bronx, New York and Michael Katz of Plainsboro, New Jersey were charged with having purchased several thousand dollars worth of purportedly counterfeit goods.
Among the merchandise were over 5,500 pairs of Nike shoes and 334 Mitchell & Ness sports jerseys.
"Today, through the well-coordinated effort of all involved agencies, a blow has been struck to Hezbollah's efforts to fund its terrorism activities," said Special Agent-in-Charge Janice Fedarcyk of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Philadelphia division.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security David Kris noted that "the allegations contained in this complaint demonstrate how terrorist organizations rely on a variety of underlying criminal activities to fund and arm themselves."
Five Lebanese nationals were charged on Monday for engaging in similar trafficking activities, including dual Slovakia and Lebanon resident Dani Nemr Tarraf, who allegedly sought to ship anti-aircraft Stinger missiles and about 10,000 Colt-M4 machine guns to Syria and other ports.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
game consoles? Those bastards!
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/26/2009 9:14 Comments ||
Top||
#2
game consoles
The riddle of what Nasralla is doing all day long in his bunker is solved.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/26/2009 10:06 Comments ||
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#4
Besides Hezbollah's playground, Latakia is where OBL's mother is from; it was his favorite childhood summer vacay on the beach, riding horses. One of his wives was also Yemeni, just a boatride from Somalia, and sent back to her father's clan in the north,(Huthis?) where they support AQ against the Yemeni and Saudi govt. A lot of action seems to be migrating out of Afghanistan--bet we get a new tape from Binny soon.
Security forces killed nine Taliban in air and ground strikes in Hangu and Orakzai Agency on Wednesday as troops continued a search operation in Shahukhel area for the third day. Residents of Hangu and Orakzai are migrating to safer places, and -- according to reports -- around 30,000 displaced people have left their houses. Separately, security forces fired at a suspected vehicle in Darwaiza Palosi area of Hangu, killing a suspect. Another passenger in the vehicle was arrested.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2009 00:00 ||
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Security forces on Wednesday killed three terrorists in Swat. According to an ISPR statement, "Security forces carried out a search operation at Bar Kandao and killed three terrorists."
The forces, on a tip-off, carried out a search operation in Gumbat Maira near Kokarai and apprehended four terrorists, while another five surrendered in Roringar.
During a clearance operation in Bangi Wala, security forces defused 10 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and also seized a heavy cache of weapons. They also defused 12 IEDs along the Tanai-Jandola Road.
Security forces completed a search operation of area around Khasadar Ridge near Barwand.
Security forces carried out a search operation in village Nishpa and Salari Shaga near Kandai Sar and seized jihadi literature from a 'training centre'.
Separately, terrorists fired several rockets at Behrani and Ladha Fort.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2009 00:00 ||
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Two bombs within minutes of each other exploded at a restaurant early Wednesday in Iraq's shrine city of Karbala, wounding at least 26 people, police and medical officials said.
The first bomb targeted diners inside the restaurant in the heart of the city, located 110 kilometres south of the capital Baghdad, around 9:00 am (0600 GMT), causing several injuries, police said.
However, a second bomb minutes later, after an ambulance and medics had arrived to help the wounded, caused most of the casualties.
A senior health official for Karbala province told AFP that at least 26 people had been wounded in the attacks.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2009 00:00 ||
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An IDF bomb squad detonated a 15-kilogram explosive seized during a search conducted along the Egyptian border on Thursday.
Late Wednesday night, IDF troops on a routine patrol of the border area spotted a suspicious figure carrying a bag containing what was later discovered to be a 15-kilogram bomb.
The soldiers ordered him to stop and fired several shots in the air. However, the man fled the scene back into Egypt, dropping the bag in his haste.
IDF sources said it was possible that the suspected terrorist was from the Gaza Strip and had crossed into the Sinai Peninsula with the intention of then crossing into Israel to carry out an attack.
The military has been following attempts to carry out attacks through the 'U-route', where Gazan terrorists travel to Egypt, then turn back upon reaching Sinai and infiltrate Israel via the more penetrable Israel-Egypt border.
Channel 10 quoted security officials as assessing the device was either meant to be used in Eilat, Israel's southernmost city, or in another major Israeli city to which the suspect would have been driven, in order to perpetrate a multiple-casualty attack.
OC Southern Command Maj. Gen. Yoav Galant praised the soldiers' alertness and quick response.
Suspected Islamist terrorists insurgents have shot dead three Muslim civilians in Thailand's troubled south, the latest attacks in a nearly six-year separatist rebellion, police said Wednesday.
The bullet-riddled body of a 47-year-old man was found at his house in Narathiwat province early Wednesday. Police said he was probably attacked after returning home from a visit to a tea shop the previous night. Separately, gunmen killed a 25-year-old Muslim in an ambush in neighbouring Yala province on Tuesday night. Another Muslim, aged 25, died in an attack the same night in Pattani province, said police.
A Buddhist man was shot three times in a drive-by attack in Narathiwat on Tuesday but survived with serious injuries, they added.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Iranian authorities arrested seven alleged members of the Sunni militant group Jundallah and will put them on trial, a judiciary official said on Wednesday, as a human rights group said that scores of Iranian students have been detained to avoid new protests during the annual Student Day.
"The charges against these seven people are that they are mohareb (fighters against God) and belong to the terrorist group of Abdulmalek Rigi," Ibrahim Hamidi, head of the Sistan-Baluchestan province judiciary, told Fars news agency.
Rigi heads the Jundallah (Soldiers of God) group which is engaged in an insurgency against Tehran's Shiite rule in southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan province bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan.
"The files of these defendants... with their indictments have been sent to the court. Their trial will soon be held and the court of first instance will issue its verdict," Hamidi said.
Iran has regularly accused Jundallah of launching attacks in Sistan-Baluchestan province.
It also accuses the intelligence services of Pakistan, the United States and Britain of providing aid to the group so it can launch attacks inside Iran.
Jundallah claimed an Oct. 18 suicide bombing in the province which killed more than 40 people, including 15 members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards.
Iran said those responsible for the bombing were based in Pakistan and also demanded that Islamabad hand Rigi over.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2009 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
An Afghan court sentenced a border police official to 20 years in prison for possessing 40 tonnes of hashish, the tribunal said on Wednesday. The 37-year-old lieutenant colonel was convicted in Kabul on Tuesday, said the Criminal Justice Task Force, a special tribunal that tries drugs-related cases. The man, identified as the commander of the quick reaction battalion of border police in the southern province of Kandahar was arrested in June after drugs were found in his home, the tribunal spokesman, Khalil-Ul Rahman Mutawakil said. "The said person was sentenced to 20 years in jail and fined two million afghanis (40,000 dollars) for possessing 40 tonnes of hashish," the court said. Four other men described as "his accomplices" were also convicted. One was sentenced to 20 years and the others to five years in prison. Destitute Afghanistan is a major producer of the world's illicit drugs. It is the source of around 90 percent of the world's opium, used to make the heroin sold on the streets of Europe and central Asia, with profits helping to bankroll the Taliban in an eight-year insurgency.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Prosecutors in the United States on Wednesday accused 10 people of having supported the Shiite armed group Hezbollah with weapons, fake passports, counterfeit money, stolen laptops and game consoles.
Two bombs within minutes of each other exploded at a restaurant early Wednesday in Iraq's shrine city of Karbala, wounding at least 26 people, police and medical officials said. 
An IDF bomb squad detonated a 15-kilogram explosive seized during a search conducted along the Egyptian border on Thursday. 
