#1
They must have had all kinds of fun putting that one together. Look at what his sidekick is doing with his "good" hand right at the end of the flick! :-)
Taliban rebels who captured a southern Afghan town a week ago were fortifying their positions after rejecting talks, a tribal chief said on Friday as officials played down the situation.
Does that mean we can kill them now?
A tribal elder involved in talks to persuade the insurgents to leave, after warnings they could face more ISAF action, said they had suddenly refused further negotiations. They had said that our leaders have told us to resist, said the elder who spoke by phone from Musa Qala.
The elderly man said there were around 300 Taliban fighters in the town and they had started digging trenches and laying mines to respond to any potential military action by coalition forces.
At the beginning the Taliban had accepted to talk to authorities through tribal elders, the chief said. But suddenly they said they dont want to talk any more.
The elderly man said there were around 300 Taliban fighters in the town and they had started digging trenches and laying mines to respond to any potential military action by coalition forces. Authorities would not confirm the elders information. At this point, things are the same as they were, said Nabi Jan Mullahkhail, police chief for Helmand province in which Musa Qala sits. The government has got its own programmes and were working on it. He would not give details. ISAF would not comment.
A resident said civilians were still leaving, fearing government attacks. ISAF said around 200 people had left but a Helmand refugee official said up to 1,500 families had gone. Many people have left. There are people still leaving the town, the resident said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Why bother fighting 'em? Just Arclight the area and count left ears afterwards.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/10/2007 10:50 Comments ||
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#6
An ARCLIGHT strike is an excellent idea. Give these idiots an idea of what the term "overwhelming firepower" means. Just make sure there's a blocking force between Musa Qala and the Pak border before you go in, and make sure they have very good ear protection and are at least 10 miles away from the town - in all directions. Hopefully the "civilians" have all left by now. Do it right - make it a 12-ship formation, in cells of three. Load them with everything, including the kitchen sink. Do the drop at 2AM, so the entire border is awakened by the sound. We can do a complete rebuild of the town afterwards, with running water and a sewer system, electricity, and a new mosque. What's not to like?
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/10/2007 17:35 Comments ||
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#7
#6 OP: "We can do a complete rebuild of the town afterwards, with running water and a sewer system, electricity, and a new mosque arms depot."
There - fixed that for ya'. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/10/2007 18:11 Comments ||
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#8
I'd feel better if we built a church and synagogue, and exported a couple "Diversity/HR Experts" to them (as bait)
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/10/2007 18:52 Comments ||
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(SomaliNet) An estimated 50,000 asylum-seekers from Somalia have entered neighboring Ethiopia in the past eight months, a UN humanitarian information service has reported, quoting preliminary findings of an assessment team from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
"They are in need of food and other emergency supplies," Millicent Mutuli, UNHCR regional spokeswoman, was quoted as saying by the Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) on Thursday, adding that the UNHCR would work out an assistance plan with the Ethiopian government.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2007 00:00 ||
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SAS soldiers who ran out of camouflage cream have been on secret missions smeared in GRAVY. WARNING! Do not try this in North Korea!
Our elite troops found the meat sauce worked as a skin-darkener after one soldier spilt it on his arm in the mess room. They have nabbed 100 suspected insurgents during raids in the Iraq capital of Baghdad this month while smelling like roast dinners.
Bisto granules are now used regularly instead of MoD-issued Fast Tan. An SAS source said: "Surveillance is very difficult in Iraq. We go to great lengths to change our appearance. "We use cream to darken our face, dye our hair black and use brown contact lenses. "But when Fast Tan ran low, the lads suggested using Bisto after one accidentally discovered it did the trick. "The gravy smell is pretty off-putting but it works."
"Hey Sarge, look at this!" [smears dinner gravy on face]
"Watkins, stop fooling with your dinner -- why, that's rather good camoflauge, I dare say!"
Bisto, popularised by the cartoon Bisto Kids that date back to 1919, has been such a hit that troops have told colleagues at the regiment HQ in Hereford to stock up before flying out. The source added: "Using Bisto is one of those British soldier things. "We're great at finding something cheap and effective to do the job and get on with no complaints." The Sun revealed in 2005 that SAS troops used party aerosol cans of silly string to reveal al-Qaeda booby traps.
An independent Islamic school raided by police as part of an anti-terror operation last year has been closed by the Government, ministers have announced. The Jameah Islameah School in Mark Cross, near Crowborough, East Sussex, was shut down after the school failed to follow an improvement action plan. It is now illegal for the school, which was raided by police last September, to continue to operate, the Department for Education and Skills said.
Schools minister Jim Knight said: "It is important that parents and the wider public are assured that all schools - whether in the maintained or independent sector - provide their pupils with a suitable education, and that we will take strong action against those that are failing."
The DfES said the school had been deleted from the Register of Independent Schools and faces prosecution if it continues to operate. Ofsted conducted a series of inspections at the school after concerns were raised. The school was then required to follow an action plan to address failings. The DfES said the school had failed to meet the action plan and was also struggling through lack of pupils - a situation which was thought likely to continue.
Mr Knight went on: "In the past three years more than 45 independent schools have shut down as a consequence of this Government's tough approach. However, the Government remains keen to support the delivery of high quality education by schools in the independent sector. The recent Education and Inspection Act 2006 will make it easier for independent schools to enter the state sector to improve standards. The Government has funded the Association of Muslim Schools to advise independent Muslim schools interested in joining the state sector."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
The Jameah Islameah School in Mark Cross, near Crowborough, East Sussex, was shut down
I am offended some Orcish entity calling itself the "jameah islameah" - whatever that means in the Black Speech of Mordor - ever existed in the Holy Land of East Sussex.
(Itar-Tass) -- The number of terrorist acts and abductions nearly halved in Chechnya last year, a source at the Chechen prosecutors office told Itar-Tass on Friday. The rate of terrorist acts reduced by 58.9% [39 to 95] and the rate of abductions dipped by 63.7% [61 to 168]. Some 15.2% more crimes were solved, Chechen Prosecutor Valery Kuznetsov said on Friday.
Last August civilian and military prosecutors adopted a comprehensive program for the suppression of abductions and the search for missing people in 2006-2010, he said. The situation in the republic is still complicated, but the general crime rate is down by 7.8%, Kuznetsov said. The general number of serious crimes reduced by more than 25%, including 39.5% less of murders [250 to 414] and 27.5% less of attacks on police officers [166 to 229]. There were 46.4% less of thefts, 16.7% less of robberies, and 50% less of assaults. The suppression of economic and corruption crimes has also intensified. One hundred and two cases of embezzlement and three cases of bribery were exposed last year. Fourteen chiefs of local administrations were put to justice.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2007 00:00 ||
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The proposal being negotiated in Beijing for ending North Korea's nuclear programme would include agreement to turn over all equipment it bought from a disgraced Pakistani scientist, the New York Times reported.
"This is the Libya model," the Times quoted a senior administration official as saying, referring to Libya's decision in late 2003 to turn over all of the equipment it had purchased from the secret nuclear network run by Abdul Qadeer Khan, to produce fuel for a nuclear bomb. In that agreement, both the Libyans and the United States executed a series of steps, in a carefully negotiated order, that rid the country of nuclear technology and ended its isolation, it said.
The newspaper reported that White House and State Department officials were preparing for a major announcement over the weekend.
In Beijing, chief U.S. negotiator Christopher Hill, said one issue remained in dispute. The United States, China, Japan, Russia and the two Koreas have held three days of talks to work through the proposal for Pyongyang to halt its nuclear ambitions, after three years of on and off negotiations.
The New York Times reported administration officials said a second part of the agreement would require North Korea to declare the amount and location of its nuclear material. Benefits for North Korea would come after it agrees to allow inspections, seals its nuclear facilities, and begins to give up weapons, the paper said.
#1
The only applicable 'Libya model' I can think of was an incident involving naval aviation and blowing a bunch of stuff up. Seems to have gotten Kadaffy's attention.
#2
I'll believe it when I see it. OTOH, with the failure of that missle test last summer and the fizzle of the so-called nuke he tested, Kimmie might finally understand that he just doesn't have what it takes to bite our ankle. Maybe he's just getting low on cognac. Could be some of his generals are getting cold and hungry too.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has attacked the United States for what he said was its "almost uncontained" use of force around the world. America's "very dangerous" approach to global relations was fuelling a nuclear arms race, he told a security summit.
Correspondents say the strident speech may signal a more assertive Russia. Mr Putin told senior security officials from around the world that nations were "witnessing an almost uncontained hyper use of force in international relations".
"One state, the United States, has overstepped its national borders in every way," the Russian president said. "This is very dangerous. Nobody feels secure anymore because nobody can hide behind international law," he said, speaking through a translator. "This is nourishing an arms race with the desire of countries to get nuclear weapons."
BBC defence and security correspondent Rob Watson, in Munich, said Mr Putin's speech was a strident performance. It may well be remembered as a turning point in international relations and a sign of a more assertive Russia, our correspondent says.
Western leaders in the audience, including Mrs Merkel, looked decidedly glum-faced when President Putin had finished, our correspondent adds.
Earlier German chancellor Angela Merkel told delegates there was "no way around" the need for Tehran to accept demands from the UN and nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). "What we are talking about here is a very, very sensitive technology, and for that reason we need a high degree of transparency, which Iran has failed to provide, and if Iran does not do so then the alternative for Iran is to slip further into isolation," she said.
Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani is among delegates at the conference. Mr Larijani was set to tell delegates that Iran wants nuclear power, not nuclear weapons. "We believe the Iranian nuclear dossier is resolvable by negotiation," Mr Larijani was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying on the sidelines of the conference.
European diplomats are hoping to hold informal talks with Mr Larijani at the two-day summit. It would be their first meeting since the collapse of talks last year and the imposition of limited UN sanctions on Tehran for its failure to stop the enrichment of uranium.
#6
Putin is very smart and realistic. He he realizes he has an alcoholic, dying population with lots of oil, gas and natural resources. Russian society and culture was not strong enough to withstand 3+ generations of totalitarianism. Life expectancy has plummetted. The birth rate is way too low to sustain their population. They are surrounded by restless Muslims.
Given this reality, he's adopted a strategy based on deriving maximum leverage from Russia's natural resources, selling high tech weapons to enemies of America (and what's left of the West) and rhetoric like this.
#7
What's pootie-mouth going to say when he discovers that the muzzies are less afraid of him than they are of the US, and see Russia as an easy target? An aging, failing population, lots of natural resources, and no political, social, or cultural integrity would be an easier target than the United States, and closer to home. It really sucks to be stuck on stoopid, doesn't it, pootie?
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/10/2007 18:03 Comments ||
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#8
He is smart, but short sighted. His best long term hope for survival would be to lock step with the US and sell them lots of resources and make money.
He is making sure we put him into the "not friendly" column and leave his country to rot.
Lashkar-e-Taiba, alleges a Spanish newspaper monitored here, uses Spain as a logistical and fund-gathering base which is causing concern about the infiltration of extremists from such groups in the Pakistani community.
El Periodico reported on February 5 that Catalonian police have signalled the presence in the region of several highly mobile radical Pakistani groups that are reported to be moving around Spain and other countries.
One blog quoted here carries excerpts from Lashkar founder Hafiz Saeeds address to a large gathering at the Al Qadsia Mosque in Lahore on Kashmir Solidarity Day, in which he said, I want to tell the rulers that we have not started jihad in Kashmir with their approval. It was our own initiative for the cause of Islam and to please Allah. And we are determined to continue it till the last drop of our blood. Musharraf or any other dictator cannot stop jihad in Kashmir. If any such attempt was made, such infidels will be eliminated who will be a hurdle in the way of jihad. Remember my friends, jihad has been ordained by Allah. It is not an order of a general that can be started one day and stopped the other day. Now jihad in Kashmir will end when all the Hindus in India will be destroyed! They have massacred millions of the Muslims during partition. We will take revenge of this massacre. This revenge is obligatory since it is a form of jihad.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2007 00:00 ||
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French intelligence has produced a dossier saying that Al-Qaeda plans an attack on France during the forthcoming presidential elections, the Arabic-language al-Hayat daily reported on Friday.
There were several indications of a plot to copy the Spanish scenario in France, a reference to the explosions which rocked Madrid in March 2004, the London-based daily wrote. It quoted mainly messages posted on Internet sites close to Al-Qaeda carrying threats against France, accompanied by pictures from the campaigns for the presidential elections slated for spring this year. The newspaper said the eight-page intelligence report took three months to prepare and included contributions from the different French intelligence services, which identified four sources of threat.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
There were several indications of a plot to copy the Spanish scenario in France,
The French have somewhere they can retreat from? AQ needs to raise the bar with its war goals when it comes to the Frogs.
#4
Why not? Could boost pépé Le Pen, not that he's the right answer.
Btw, the cheese-eating-surrendering-monkeys bit is equally as lame a our own comedy guys making tv crowds laugh about how the USA got their colective ass handled in Viet Nam (remember, for europeans, it is the US soldier who can't fight).
For what it's worth.
#6
Aw, c'mon anon5089 & tw! You know darned well what'll happen if al Qaeda pulls a Spain in France. They'll roll over the same as the Spanish did.
While to the Europeans it's the US soldier who won;t fight, what's the truth of the matter? Who's doing the fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq and around the world? Spain? France? Who's pulling the load here?
I call a spade a spade and the heck with all the PC BS.
#7
FOTSGreg, I like a good snark as much as anyone. And I'm not arguing that the French government won't roll over should such a thing happen. But there are French Special Forces quietly doing things in Afghanistan, apparently, and several Rantburgers who've had dealings with them have commented positively on their mettle and that of the French Army professionals, if I recall correctly. Look, a5089 has mentioned his discomfort with the theme repeatedly recently, and since he's a friend and on our side, why not? There's plenty else to mock in the doings of the Fifth Republic, or whatever number they're up to now.
#8
I'm with tw here. The Free French in North Africa fought very well. The French troops didn't loose in Vietnam, they were torpedoed at home by the politicians just as we were.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/10/2007 14:37 Comments ||
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#9
#7 tw: "Fifth Republic, or whatever number they're up to now"
Oooo, that's gonna leave a mark! ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/10/2007 17:14 Comments ||
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#10
Forgive me, but the French DID lose in Vietnam. They got their asses handed to them because their generals planned and fought stupidly, and the Viet Minh fought well.
I don't question the military men and women of France -- they're first world, educated, courageous, hard working people who will defend their country.
Their generals and leaders? Feh.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/10/2007 18:12 Comments ||
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#11
Folks, I never said anything about the French military although I did not specify exactly who it was I was aiming at. However, the snark was aimed at the French government which certainly will roll over and surrender if they ever get hit by al Qaeda along the lines of the way Spain did.
In addition, while French SF may be operating in Afghanistan and doing a fine job, it's the French government I have issues with and the European attitude that "for europeans, it is the US soldier who can't fight" and the comment "how the USA got their colective ass handled in Viet Nam".
US soldiers most certainly do fight and the USA won every single battle in Vietnam, but lost the war at home when our own cheese-eating surrender monkeys defunded the troops just like they want to do now.
As to certain people's delicate sensibilities about the "cheese-eating surrender monkeys" comments, well, I did not make that comment and have not used it in quite some time until now and this time it was not used to describe the French.
In addition, anon5089 and tw are members of this online community and thus deserve fair and respectful treatment. At no point did I persnally intend or imply any insult in their particular or specific direction. If insult was taken, I humbly apologize.
Regardless, perhaps I'm being an asshat in this regard, but I'll be saying "I told you so" when the French roll over.
#12
FOTSGreg, I saw no insult to me whatsoever, and still think the world of you. I'm yet recovering from your gallantry at my last tea party, you know. :-)
#13
At my local package store they don't even stock their wine anymore -- there a sense of loathing when it comes to La Belle France. The Islammers are taking over, over there? Faster please. DMFD.
Posted by: regular joe ||
02/10/2007 21:55 Comments ||
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Nobel Peace laureate and Holocaust scholar Elie Wiesel was dragged from an elevator and roughed up, possibly by a Holocaust denier, during a peace conference at a San Francisco hotel last week, police said Friday.
According to San Francisco Police Sgt. Neville Gittens, a man approached Wiesel, the author of Night, a memoir chronicling his time in a concentration camp, in an elevator and requested an interview with the author on the evening of February 1 at the Argent Hotel.
"I had planned to bring Wiesel to my hotel room, where he would truthfully answer my questions regarding the fact that his non-fiction Holocaust memoir, Night, is almost entirely fictitious," Hunt wrote on the site.
When Wiesel consented to talk in the hotel's lobby, the man insisted it be done in a hotel room and dragged the 78-year-old off the elevator on the sixth floor, Gittens said. The assailant fled after Wiesel began to scream, and Wiesel went to the lobby and called police.
Gittens said police are investigating the incident as a crime. Wiesel could not be immediately reached for comment at Boston University, where he teaches, or through his institute in New York.
A posting on a virulent anti-Semitic Web site Tuesday by a person identifying himself as Eric Hunt claimed responsibility.
"I had planned to bring Wiesel to my hotel room, where he would truthfully answer my questions regarding the fact that his non-fiction Holocaust memoir, Night, is almost entirely fictitious," Hunt wrote on the site. The poster also said "I had been trailing Wiesel for weeks" and had hoped to get "Wiesel into my custody, with a cornered Wiesel finally forced to state the truth on videotape."
Gittens said investigators were aware of the posting and declined to comment further on the investigation.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Wiesel didn't detect the odor of peanuts on the assailant, did he?
#2
As I said before, Muslims will NOT hear truth, only their own lies about the Holocaust.
"Don't bother me with the truth, my (their) mind is made up."
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/10/2007 9:14 Comments ||
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#3
lol tu!
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/10/2007 10:56 Comments ||
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... no doubt while many protest that we aren't at war, so why bother, or that since it doesn't provide perfect protection, there's not point. I edited those bits for the sake of my own blood pressure.
New York City is about to become a laboratory to test ways of strengthening the nations defenses against a terror attack by a nuclear device or a radioactive dirty bomb. Starting this spring, the Bush administration will assess new detection machines at a Staten Island port terminal that are designed to screen cargo and automatically distinguish between naturally occurring radiation and critical bomb-building ingredients. Later this year, the federal government plans to begin setting up an elaborate network of radiation alarms at some bridges, tunnels, roadways and waterways into New York, creating a 50-mile circle around the city.
The effort, which could be expanded to other cities if proven successful, is a major shift of focus for the Department of Homeland Security. As it finishes installing the first generation of radiation scanners at the nations ports and land border crossings, the department is trying to find ways to stop a plot that would use a weapon built within the United States.
#1
Nothing like walking around Manhattan and looking at all of the new 'light-poles' they have installed. Except they don't have lights on them... What do they do? Don't know... and I ain't asking.
#3
Sounds like a worthwhile expenditure... many, however, are pork for locals, and need to be better prioritized. San Diego, a critical Naval port, was shortchanged, and had to re-appeal for their share, vs. towns like Indianapolis and Des
Moines...unbelievable
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/10/2007 19:08 Comments ||
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#4
You prevent Nuclear Terror by getting your retaliation in first.
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
02/10/2007 23:20 Comments ||
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MIAMI (AP) - An evaluation of suspected al-Qaida operative Jose Padilla has found him competent to stand trial on terrorism charges, government attorneys said in court documents filed Friday. The U.S. Bureau of Prisons' evaluation was not made public, but if the prosecution's description is accurate and U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke agrees, it removes another major obstacle to Padilla going on trial in April.
Padilla can understand the court proceedings and communicate with his attorneys, according to prosecutors' description of the report's conclusions. ``The BOP report is thorough, detailed and unequivocal in its conclusion that Padilla is competent,'' the government said in its filing.
You can be both competent and crazy.
Three attorneys for Padilla did not respond to after-hours phone calls and e-mails Friday. A fourth, Andrew Patel, said he could not comment on the case.
A competency hearing is set for next Friday.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/10/2007 00:00 ||
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WASHINGTON - A Washington appeals court blocked Friday the US militarys plan to turn a US citizen arrested in Baghdad over to Iraqi authorities to be tried on terror charges. In a ruling that was the most recent setback to US government war-on-terror detainee policy, the district appeals court affirmed a lower court decision that Shawqi Ahmad Omar, born in Kuwait and a US citizen by marriage, is protected by the US constitution from unlawful imprisonment.
Gullible woman marries Omar, Omar tells her he's going out to get milk from his cousin's store, and next thing you know he's in Baghdad. She still loves him, of course.
It accepted that Omar has the right to challenge being held by the military without charges and being summarily handed over to a foreign court without due process.
Other US detainees in Iraq, including deposed dictator Saddam Hussein, previously petitioned US courts to block their transfer to Iraqi hands, but none with success.
US-led multinational forces in Iraq seized Omar, who has dual US and Jordanian citizenship, in 2004 in Baghdad on the belief that he was part of the network of the late Iraq Al Qaeda chief Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, according to court documents. After a military hearing he was declared an enemy combatant in the war on terror, he was held at various detention facilities in Iraq without ever being formally charged or convicted, the documents said.
Hmmm: captured in Iraq in a battlefield environment. If we consider him an 'enemy combatant', we can hold him til the war is over or turn him over to the Iraqis. If we instead consider him an American, the proper charge is 'treason'.
In August 2005 US forces decided to hand Omar over to Iraqi authorities to be tried in the Central Criminal Court of Iraq.
In reaction Omars wife and son petitioned the US District Court in Washington for his freedom by in a writ of habeas corpus, saying his detention violated Omars rights under the US constitution, and that turning him over would amount to an illegal extradition. They also alleged that in Iraqi hands he faced the risk of torture.
If the military would not release him, they added, Omar should be brought into a US court where they should demonstrate why he should remain in detention.
After the lower district court blocked Omars transfer, the government appealed the ruling, arguing the lower court had no jurisdiction in the case and that in fact by freeing him in Iraq his petition for release would be satisfied.
He can buy a plane ticket home, assuming he lives that long.
But in a decision experts said was likely to be challenged to the Supreme Court, the appeals court Friday ruled that the lower court had been correct. Omar has not been charged with a crime related to the allegation now lodged against him, much less convicted of one, the court said. It noted that Omars challenge was not to have his ultimate guilt or innocence declared, but to test the lawfulness of his extrajudicial detention in Iraq, where he has remained in the control of US forces for over two years without legal process.
All military prisoners of war are held that way.
Other US detainees in Iraq, including deposed dictator Saddam Hussein, previously petitioned US courts to block their transfer to Iraqi hands, but none with success.
But the Washington appeals court is now considering the case of another US citizen, Mohamed Munaf, who was convicted and sentenced to death by an Iraqi court for kidnapping three Romanian journalists in Baghdad in 2005.
Convicted by the Iraqis? Let them carry out their sentence. Mind the drop tables.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/10/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
One of those things that keep me laughing is how lefties argue that American laws extend into the territory of other sovereign nations but claim the non-Lefties are imperialists. They just can not connect the dots. Just another one of those "one set of rules for me and another set of rules for thee". It's all about power. Everything else is just self rationalization.
#2
Sees to me several judges need to be hauled up by the scruff of their necks and force-fed a course on the Constitution and the written, enforced laws of the United States. Seems to me I read that fighting as an enemy combattant in a foreign war zone was grounds for stripping one of their citizenship - whether they were fighting against the US and/or its allies or not. If he was captured as an unlawful combattant in Iraq, there can be no doubt he's not unlawfully being imprisoned, regardless of whether any other charges are being brought against him or not. Maybe I need to buy somebody an axehandle or two...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/10/2007 18:22 Comments ||
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JAMMU/SRINAGAR: In a move aimed at mainstreaming personal laws governing Muslims in J&K with those followed by Muslims in the rest of India, the lower House of the state Assembly on Friday passed a Bill seeking to apply provisions of the Shariat to Muslims of the state.
The Bill seeks to replace an earlier code that had been in force since Maharaja Prataps era which contained several local traditions. It now erases those provisions, seeking to bring Kashmiri Muslims under the ambit of Shariat-based laws that were penned with the Arab interpretation of how Muslims should run their lives and codes on weddings, divorce and sexuality.
The Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Bill was moved by leader of Opposition and former National Conference minister Abdul Rahim Rather and adopted unanimously. The Bill will now go to the upper House where it is likely to be taken up on February 14.
"This bill will create uniformity. The law is applicable in other states and will now be made valid in Jammu & Kashmir. The customary laws, which were applicable, used to create contradictions," Rather told TOI.
It erases anomalies with the Shariat on issues like property inheritance for daughters in Kashmiri villages. Under customary laws in the countrys only Muslim-majority state, daughters werent entitled to it, but the new Bill gives them inheritance rights.
"The law will change gender equations because it is applicable to inheritance, transfer of property and succession and guardianship. Its not as if the entire Shariat is being introduced, like chopping of hands or such punishment. It does not pertain to criminal matter," Rather clarified.
He said J&K High Court had asked the Assembly in 2004 to find a way out of the contradictions in the law and thats what prompted him to bring the Bill.
Posted by: john ||
02/10/2007 05:33 ||
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#1
I first read the headline as
"ARMPIT of laws based on shariat"
Seems more accurate than the real headline.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/10/2007 10:08 Comments ||
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#2
A radical thought: make the Muslim and non-Muslim residents of Indian Kashmir subject to the religion-neutral laws of India with no exceptions, along with the Muslims and non-Muslims of the country. If the Muslims individually choose to pile Shariat law on top, they may, so long as it doesn't contradict the laws of the nation of which they are citizens. There is a reason Justice is always shown blindfolded.
No law passed by the Indian parliament applies to Jammu and Kashmir unless it is also passed by the J+K state legislature.
This includes taxes. They have representation without taxation. Their MPs sit in the Indian parliament and are appointed federal cabinet ministers.
No Indian citizen who is not a Kashmiri native may own land or settle in Jammu and Kashmir.
These rights are granted by article 370 of the Indian constitution. You don't have to guess that Pandit Nehru, India's first PM was a Kashmiri.
Bear that in mind the next time you read about people demanding 'autonomy' for Kashmir.
Now... India has a uniform criminal code.
It does not have a uniform civil code however.
While the Indian constitution calls on the parliament to enact a uniform civil law, it has never done so.
Muslims, Christians, Parsees and Jews have their own personal laws that apply to marriage, divorce etc.
The muslims are governed by sharia.
They have resisted having the secular Indian laws being applied to themselves
Posted by: john ||
02/10/2007 16:41 Comments ||
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#4
Darn it, john! It was a good idea, until it crashed headlong into reality!
A group of men seized from a remote Pakistani village during an alleged raid by NATO and Afghan army forces returned to their homes on Friday, an official said. Pakistan officials, citing local residents, said the 11 men were taken on Wednesday morning when troops crossed from Afghanistan into the border village of Qamar Din. The soldiers reportedly shot and killed one villager during the operation.
On Friday, Maulvi Mohammed Sharif, nazim of the Zhob district which lies 210 kilometres from Quetta and where Qamar Din is located, said the men had returned home after being freed. We know that they were kidnapped by NATO and Afghan soldiers, he said. Sharif offered no details to back up his account.
A NATO spokeswoman in the Afghan capital, Kabul, said on Thursday that the multinational force was aware of a number of incidents and was investigating. NATO had earlier denied that its troops were involved.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2007 00:00 ||
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Muslim rulers would be held responsible for any damage to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) president, Qazi Hussain Ahmad said on Friday. Addressing a rally at the Jamat-e-Islamis Mansoora headquarters on Friday, he said the mosque must be protected. The rally protested the demolition attempts. It was attended by Jamat-e-Islami members, parliamentarians and the general public. Jamat-e-Islami leaders, Dr Muhammad Kamal, Dr Farid Ahmad Piracha, and Abdul Ghaffar Aziz were also present.
Qazi demanded the integration of Muslim military resources under the banner of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC). Islamabad should terminate all military cooperation with Washington, he added.
Qazi Hussain demanded the integration of Muslim military resources under the banner of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC). He said this was necessary to put an end to the aggressive designs against the mosque. Islamabad should terminate all military cooperation with Washington, he added.
Hussain said that attacks against religious monuments and symbols of faith qualified as terrorism. General Musharraf was guilty of terrorism for demolishing mosques, he added. He said Palestinians younger than 45 were prevented from visiting Al-Aqsa for offering Friday prayers. Elderly people were searched at military checkpoints before they reached the Al Qudsi, he added. Qazi Hussain Ahmad praised the reconciliation efforts of the Palestinian groups of Hamas and Al-Fatah. He said the signing of the Mecca declaration would help stop fighting between the two groups and unite them.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2007 00:00 ||
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Could we possibly arrange a stick of dynamite inside his microphone?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/10/2007 9:04 Comments ||
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Representatives of the Jamaatud Dawas student wing and Peoples Students Federation (PSF) have issued show cause notices to the Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT) for allegedly beating up and harassing their members at Islamia College Civil Lines and Punjab University. Raheel Shah, the sitting Muttahida Talaba Mahaz (MTM) president, said Dawa members had been beaten up and PSF members had been harassed.
Jamaatud Dawa had started a campaign in the favour of Hudood laws in the country and some members went to Islamia College Civil Lines, an IJT stronghold. Dawa members alleged that the IJT beat up some of them during the campaign at the college. They said they set up a stall away from the IJT, but that was also trashed and members beaten up again.
Also, about a month and half ago IJT activists allegedly harassed a PSF member at Punjab University. The PSF member was also accused of being involved in immoral activity. The Jamaatud Dawa and PSF have taken up the issue at the MTM platform and a report has been sought from the IJT. The Anjuman Talaba Islam (ATI) has also expressed reservation over IJTs attitude. Raheel Shah said, IJT has yet to submit its report and the Mahaz is trying to resolve the issue peacefully.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2007 00:00 ||
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Two attacks against British troops in Basra left one soldier dead and ten wounded yesterday, dealing a serious blow to hopes of bringing home thousands of troops within the next few months. Two of the wounded were in a serious condition and one was in critical.
Although ministers have refrained from giving a withdrawal timetable, expectations have been raised that several thousand could be pulled out by the spring or early summer.
Senior defence sources said that the two attacks, on what was a bad and tough day for the British military, would not change the Governments strategy. A cutback in numbers, they said, depended entirely on conditions on the ground and the ability of the Iraqi forces to take charge of Basras security. The Catch-22 for the Government is that if conditions deteriorate, withdrawing any of the 7,500 troops will be difficult.
In one of the bloodiest recent encounters, a Land Rover on patrol south of Basra was caught by a roadside bomb. The armoured vehicle, which offers limited protection against high explosives, was blown off the road. One soldier was killed and three wounded, one critically. British troops sealed off the area and a helicopter helped to evacuate the injured to the main field hospital at Basra airport. At almost exactly the same time, in an apparently coordinated assault, a mortar or rocket exploded in Britains base in Basra. A spokesman said that seven troops were injured, two very seriously, as well as an Iraqi employee.
The Basra base comes under almost daily attack, and commanders had been expecting a missile or rocket to be fired by the end of the week. The base is protected heavily by concrete blast walls and sandbags. It is rare for so many troops to be hurt by a single explosion.
American and British officials suspect that Iran has been assisting local Shia Muslim militants by arming, training and funding their operations against British forces.
There are plans to reduce the size of the British contingent inside the city and to move most of the troops to the large base outside Basra at the international airport. But there are fears that pro-Iranian groups will try to seize Basra and nearby oil resources.
#2
I don't think the Turkish threat will fly for a few reasons. First of all, because what is being done is relatively democratic, and was decided upon by the government of Iraq, the US will back Iraq's play and tell the Turks to keep out.
As far as the Kurds are concerned, they have made a brilliant offer of creating a large Turkmen buffer zone between Kurdistan and the Arab South. This would enlarge the Turkmen territories, which would encourage them to also tell the Turks to back off.
The two main Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah, reached "full agreement" on a national unity government that will include ministers from both groups during crisis talks yesterday in the holy Islamic city of Mecca. But while the decision on the cabinet posts represented progress, there was no agreement on persuading Hamas to accept existing peace treaties with Israel signed by earlier Palestinian administrations.
Acceptance by Hamas of these accords, with their explicit recognition of the right of Israel to exist, is one of the key demands from the international community if it is to end its financial boycott of the Hamas-led Palestinian government. "We have agreed to form a national unity government. The agreement will be signed very soon," the Palestinian ambassador to Saudi Arabia Jamal al-Shobaki said last night.
You betcha, they'll sign it and then they'll violate it.
One option considered by negotiators yesterday involved Hamas being invited to join the Palestine Liberation Organisation, with the Hamas leader, Khaled Meshaal, becoming deputy PLO leader.
This would imply an acceptance by Hamas of existing peace accords, which were almost all signed by the PLO, although it was unclear whether implied acceptance would be enough to satisfy the international community.
Well, the Euros are gullible in that way, as are the Democrats and the U.N.
Under the preliminary agreement, Hamas would take eight cabinet positions, Fatah five. Three of the most sensitive jobs - finance minister, foreign affairs minister and interior minister - would go to independents.
Who will be under the thumb of one faction or the other, or will be killed because they're independent.
Ziad Abu Amr and Salam Fayyad, both independents, will be foreign minister and finance minister respectively, although there was no agreement on a candidate for the interior ministry. The post of interior minister is crucial as it controls most of the official, government security forces.
The first day of talks dragged on through a marathon session until 3am yesterday. The negotiating teams took a short break before returning for a second day of talks. The effort made by both sides to reach agreement reflected the importance of the talks.
Yup, can't get the money tap opened up til they have an honest-to-goodness Trucefire in place.
Marwan Barghouti, a jailed Fatah leader who enjoys huge support among Palestinians, caught the national mood in an email he sent earlier yesterday from his Israeli cell. "If the dialogue in Mecca fails, history will have no mercy on those who took part, and they will not soon be forgiven by the Palestinian people," he said.
"And I'll sit in a Zionist jail where it's, you know, safe."
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/10/2007 00:00 ||
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And as soon as the money tap opens, they'll have something to fight over . . .
Posted by: James ||
02/10/2007 1:36 Comments ||
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#2
Should we just add new Trucefires to the cron workload?
25 7 * * * fatah test -x /etc/init.d/trucefires && /usr/sbin/invoke-rc.d start >/dev/null
26 7 * * * hamas test -x /etc/init.d/trucefires && /usr/sbin/invoke-rc.d trucefires start >/dev/null
27 7 * * * hamas,fatah test -x /etc/init.d/firefight && /usr/sbin/invoke-rc.d firefight start >/dev/null
28 7 * * * hamas test -x /etc/init.d/trucefires && /usr/sbin/invoke-rc.d trucefires broken_truce >/dev/null
The Islamic Jihad pledged Friday that it would cooperate with the new Palestinian government. "The Islamic Jihad will support the new government so that it can succeed in its task," said Nafaz Azam, one of the organization's leaders in the Gaza Strip, Israel Radio reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2007 00:00 ||
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Hamas urged the West on Friday to accept a new Palestinian unity government but
Leading officials from the Islamist group said they would never recognise Israel nor abide by existing peace accords.
leading officials from the Islamist group said they would never recognise Israel nor abide by existing peace accords.
Hamas and its rival movement Fatah signed a deal on Thursday to end factional warfare that has killed scores of Palestinians and to form a coalition, hoping this would lead Western powers to lift crippling sanctions imposed on the Hamas-led government because the group rejects Israel. Israeli officials said the coalition agreement failed to meet conditions to end sanctions and initial reaction from the United States and Europe was muted. We have agreed with the Saudis to market this agreement internationally. Our (Saudi) brothers are in constant contact with the Americans and Europeans, Hamas government spokesman Ghazi Hamad told Reuters. They cannot ignore this agreement and impose their own conditions, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2007 00:00 ||
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They cannot ignore this agreement and impose their own conditions, he said.
#4
Little Johnnys mother, fed up with the state of his room and his behaviour grounds him and informs him he cannot leave his room until he makes his bed, cleans up his toys and stops fighting with his sister.
Ten days later, Mom checks in to see how hes doing, The bed is unmade, toys are scattered everywhere and his sister has a black eye. Mom reiterates the rules. Johnny says there is no point in making his bed as itll only get mussed again that night; he likes his toys scattered and he hates his sister. Johnny has a hissy fit and demands to be let out of his room.
10 more days go by and Mom checks in on Johnny. Bed is now invisible under rumpled blankets, she cant even get in the room because of the minefield of toys and his sister has a bleeding nose. Johnny says hes been punished enough and should be allowed to leave, cause he likes his bed unmade, theyre his toys and he gets to decide where they belong and he hates his sister. Mom locks him back in the room.
10 more days go by and Johnny yells for his Mom to come see - hes ready to leave his room. Mom chugs up the stairs with the best of hopes and peeks in. The bed has collapsed under the weight of crap piled on it; the floor in covered in toys and debris and his sister is dead. Johnny is standing, grinning from ear to ear, in small strip of cleared floor. What the hell?, says Mom. Look at this place! You havent done a thing I asked and worse, now your sister is dead. What makes you think you can leave your room?
Johnny beams at her and flips over on his back, then up again. Look Mom, I can do a summersault!
#6
Saudi Arabia pledged $1B to the unity government going forward. And it seems like I remember Iran saying they were gonna give a bunch to Hamas (>$1B?).
Couple of questions:
- How much money - from the quartet et al - was cut off in the first place?
- What's the shortfall with regard to running the PA?
Seems like we're moving towards a proxy battle between SA/Iran in Gaza/WestBank, with the rest of us standing on the sidelines, Israel nervously.
Iranian influence over Hamas will preclude the Quartet from approving a Palestinian national unity government, Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter predicted on Thursday.
This agreement violates the Quartet's three principles for recognizing a government which include recognizing Israel, abiding by past agreements between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and renouncing violence.
He spoke just before Fatah and Hamas leaders announced in Mecca that they had struck a deal on a government that would not require Hamas to abide by previous agreements signed between the PLO and Israel. This agreement violates the Quartet's three principles for recognizing a government which include recognizing Israel, abiding by past agreements between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and renouncing violence.
Speaking to The Jerusalem Post on the last day of a four-day North American trip, Dichter said that the Saudi-brokered Palestinian cease-fire talks in Mecca "are one of the main issues" that he discussed with his American counterparts during the less than 48 hours in Washington.
"We have found common ground between America and Israel that the creation of a unity government without accepting the three conditions of the Quartet is meaningless. We are on the right road, but if [they don't accept the conditions], we'll be stuck in the same problems," Dichter explained.
The former Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) head and Brookings Institute fellow said that the Quartet's plans were being derailed by none other than the long arm of Iran, which, according to Dichter, maintained a "northern front" against Israel through Hizbullah and a "southern front" through Hamas.
"Khaled Mashaal, as the leader of Hamas, is coordinating with Iran every step that is happening with Abu Mazen," Dichter explained, adding: "That's why I am not that optimistic about the possibility that after the summit we will see a decision made to accept the conditions of the Quartet."
According to Dichter, both the Democratic-controlled Congress and the Bush administration were interested in hearing about the Iranian connection with both Hamas and Hizbullah. State Department officials and Dichter discussed "Iran as a state of terror that supports Hamas and Hizbullah."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2007 00:00 ||
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The incoming chief of staff, Maj. Gen. Gaby Ashkenazi, won a full four-year term when the cabinet unanimously endorsed him Sunday, Feb 4, instead of the standard 3 years and an optional fourth. He takes the reins from the hands of Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz on Feb. 14. Ashkenazi faces some hard choices before he can settle into the job. The flames of a Palestinian civil war engulfing the Gaza Strip pose a multiple threat to Israel which his bosses, the politicians, persist in brushing aside.
At the cabinet meeting Sunday, vice prime minister Shimon Peres stressed that Israel must not interfere in the Fatah-Hamas factional fight, tossing out typical sound bites: Leave Gaza to the Gazans. We did not pull out in order to return. Our interference would be harmful.
Defense minister Amir Peretz seconded these sentiments.
Neither admits that Israel is already deeply involved in the Gaza war. The new chief of staff will be called upon to judge the situation in the light of national security. If he emulates his predecessor, who slavishly obeyed Ariel Sharon, he will be dismissed as the second political appointee in a row to fill the post of top Israeli soldier.The consequences of Halutzs meekness were plain to see in the Lebanon War last summer and the breakdown of life, law and order in the Gaza Strip, where Israels unilateral pullback left the territory without a Palestinian authority capable of taking charge.
OSLO, Norway (AP) - Norway imposed economic sanctions on Iran on Friday, in line with a United Nations resolution that reprimands Tehran over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment, the Foreign Ministry said. "It is a routine decision. We are complying with the U.N.'s resolution in the usual manner," ministry spokesman Bjoern S. Jahnsen said.
Norway, a member of NATO which has opted to stay out of the European Union, is one of the first European countries to adhere to the resolution.
Funny how the French, Belgians and Germans haven't rallied to the sainted U.N. resolution.
EU foreign ministers have called on all countries to enforce sanctions outlined in the Security Council resolution in December that targeted people and programs linked to Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Foreign ministers of the 27-member bloc were due to discuss the implementation of sanctions over a sumptuous lunch on Monday in Brussels, Belgium.
Norwegian officials said the government "has approved today a regulation on sanctions against Iran, which, among other things, forbids the importation and exportation of sensitive equipment and technology that may be used in Iran's nuclear program." It has also ordered the "freezing of capital assets belonging to persons or entities linked to Iran's atomic program," the statement said.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has threatened to reconsider relations with countries which support sanctions.
Norway, as a major oil exporter, has significant interests in the Persian Gulf's oil and gas reserves. State-owned Statoil signed an agreement with the Iran in October 2002 on the development of the South Pars oil field -- the biggest in the world -- which is shared by Iran and Qatar.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/10/2007 00:00 ||
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Funny how the French, Belgians and Germans haven't rallied to the sainted U.N. resolution.
Probably the same reason they couldn't get behind the UN resolutions against Saddam - nice sweetheart contracts.
The International Atomic Energy Agency on Friday suspended nearly half of the technical aid it was providing Iran, carrying out sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council because Tehran refuses to suspend its uranium enrichment program.
As the agency's director general issued the report to his 35-nation board, Iran's top nuclear negotiator reversed course on a decision to stay away from a security conference in Germany. After telling organizers earlier Friday that he would not attend for health reasons, the negotiator, Ali Larijani, said in the evening that he would go to Munich, said Klaus Treude, a spokesman for the conference.
Treude said he had no details on why Larijani had changed his mind. Larijani has said he planned to use the conference as an opportunity to talk about Iran's nuclear program.
Senior officials expected at the conference include the German chancellor, Angela Merkel; the Russian president, Vladimir Putin; and the U.S. defense secretary, Robert Gates.
The atomic agency, an arm of the United Nations based in Vienna, had already suspended aid to Iran in five instances last month under the sanctions. On Friday, the agency fully or partly suspended an additional 18 projects that it deemed could also be misused for nuclear weapons.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2007 00:00 ||
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The International Atomic Energy Agency on Friday suspended nearly half of the technical aid it was providing Iran
Nearly half? Why are they providing ANY technical aid to Iran?
Spiegel Magazine reports, but still doesn't see the difference between the murderer and his victims. Some wording changed to better reflect reality.
An important bank in the Arab world offers accounts paying a type of life insurance to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers. But now it could soon face a lawsuit from American lawyers representing the victims.
On the morning of the day before he planned to blow himself up, Bassam Takruri wore a freshly ironed shirt, a blazer and polished shoes. At 10 a.m., the student said goodbye to his father, who gave him ten shekels in pocket money. It was a beautiful Saturday in May in the Palestinian town of Hebron.
On the Sunday morning of the day Bassam picked for his terror attack, Steve Averbach strapped on his pistol in a Jerusalem suburb just as he had been doing for years. Averbach was a police officer. It was early, not even 6 a.m. and his two small sons Sean and Adam and his wife Julie were still sleeping. At a stop in the northern part of Jerusalem, he boarded the No. 6 bus, a green accordion-stretch model. At around 5:45 a.m. it reached the stop at French Hill.
Averbach scrutinized each new passenger. After serving in the anti-terrorist unit of the Jerusalem police department, he was now teaching the police, civilians and private security how to handle a weapon. His colleagues even called him "Weapon Steve."
As the bus began to pull away, a man ran up to the side and the bus driver stopped and opened the door. The man was wearing the black suit and skullcap of an observant Jew. But his beard was too thin. Seeing a bulge underneath the man's jacket, Averbach quickly stood up and headed toward the stranger. But Bassam, disguised as a devout Jew, was quicker than Averbach and he ignited his belt of explosives.
Bassam died and Averbach survived seriously injured for life.
A few weeks after the suicide bombing, the phone at the home of Bassam Takruri's parents rang. On the other end of the line was a representative of Muassafat Usar al Shuhada, or "The Organization of Martyr Families." He told Bassam's mother that the family had received money, but that they would have to open an account at the Arab Bank in order to withdraw the first deposit. The Takruris were puzzled, but they did what the man said. Shortly thereafter money was transferred to the new account. From then on, Bassam's family received $200 (152) each month for more than a year.
The Arab Bank is one of the largest and most important financial institutions in the Arab world. The Jordan-based private bank, of which 40 percent is still held by the founding Schuman family, is active in 28 countries. The Jordanian monarchy even awarded Abd al Hamid Schuman a medal for his achievements and services to the country.
But the bank has long directed money used to finance terrorism in the Palestinian Territories. And accounts at its Palestinian branches are also used to pay a type of life insurance to the families of youthful suicide bombers, who blow themselves up with the aim of killing as many Israelis as possible. The blood money paid for a son turned murderer is 20,000 Saudi riyal -- roughly 4,000 or $5,000. The funds take a circuitous route to the accounts of those families that prove the death of their son by showing a death certificate at the Arab Bank branch in the Palestinian Territories. Then monthly deposits are made just like in Takruri's case.
Suicide bombers with foresight can take care of all the necessary paperwork before they blow themselves to smithereens. A so-called Martyr Kit includes everything from a death certificate from the Palestinian Authority to an account card at the Arab Bank.
As the police found Steve Averbach's body inside the bus, his finger was still on the trigger of his pistol. He told them they should be careful since the weapon's safety was off. Then he lost consciousness. He spent five weeks in intensive care. Shards of glass had punctured his lungs and a ball bearing had penetrated his neck to become lodged between his third and fourth vertebrae. Since that day, Averbach has been paralyzed from the neck down.
A year after the attack he got himself an attorney, an American named Gary Osen from New Jersey. He now wants to sue the Arab Bank on the basis of a 1996 anti-terrorism law making it illegal to support terrorists financially. The 37-year-old Osen has plenty of experience in damage compensation cases. In Germany, he represented the heirs of the Jewish-German Wertheim family against major retailer KarstadtQuelle, stolen during the Nazi era. "In our suit we accuse the Arab Bank of supporting the funding of extremist Palestinian groups," says Osen. "Our goal is to make it much more difficult for them to access the money."
His law office represents 200 US clients whose relatives were killed in Israel in terrorist attacks. The law firm of US star attorney Ron Motley, who led a class-action lawsuit for the families of the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, is representing another 700 people seeking compensation. The lawyers are optimistic they can at least reduce the flow of money coming predominately from Saudi Arabia via Arab Bank accounts into the Palestinian Territories.
According to the lawsuit complaint, the blood money was often collected in Saudi Arabia and then sent via the Arab Bank's New York branch in US dollars to either the Gaza Strip or the West Bank. Much financial support is thought to come from the Saudi Committee for the Al-Quds Intifada, a charity headed by Saudi Interior Minster Prince Nayef. "This committee," says Osen, "is nothing more than a fundraising organization to support the Palestinian resistance." A spokesman for the group in the Saudi capital Riyadh denies supporting the families of suicide bombers, claiming the committee only works with official Palestinian organizations and ministries.
An ad published in the Palestinian daily newspaper Al Quds in November 2001 supports the contention of the US attorneys. The committee placed an advertisement listing the names of injured and imprisoned Palestinians, as well as the names of a few suicide bombers. Their families were instructed to go to a local branch of the Arab Bank in order to receive donations from the committee.
In February 2002, a similar ad was placed in another publication, Al Hayat Al Jadeeda, again asking families of "martyrs" to go to the Arab Bank in order "to receive the tenth payment, totaling $5,316 for each family, donated by the Saudi committee." The generous donors ended up giving $1,594,980 to some 300 families in the occupied territories via the Arab Bank.
Representatives of the financial institution deny that the bank knowingly takes part in such transactions. "Our bank has nothing to do with terror financing," says Bob Chlopak, the Arab Bank's spokesman in the United States. "But a bank isn't a law-enforcement agency. It can't google every single one of its clients before they make a transfer. And no bank is perfect."
Apparently not the Arab Bank either, which had its New York branch on Madison Avenue essentially shut down by the US banking authorities for not having sufficient internal controls on money transfers. In 2005, a unit of the US Treasury Department also slapped a $24 million fine on the bank, which can no longer carry out dollar-denominated transactions and international transfers.
The Israeli army also found documents during searches in the West Bank years ago that substantiate charges that the Arab Bank has been used by Saudi organizations to finance terrorism. Funds were transferred to both Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Confiscated Arab Bank documents from 2003 intimate that fund transfers via the New York branch ended up with the Tulkarm Charitable Society, which has ties to Hamas.
The 40-year-old bombing survivor Steve Averbach now lives in Ganei Tikva, "the garden of hope," in a quiet street in a quiet suburb of Tel Aviv. In front of his house is a silver van with a blue wheelchair sticker on the back window. Averbach now needs care 24 hours a day. He can't talk on the telephone without help, nor can he feed himself. He can speak, nod his head, laugh and cry. When he cries his caregiver has to wipe away his tears. Every day he has to swallow 40 different pills and his body slumps in his wheelchair.
"I'm not the victim of terrorism," says Averbach looking at his wife Julie. "The victims are my wife and my children." Julie quit her job as an accountant and the Averbachs are living on his meager police pension. If his lawsuit against the Arab Bank is successful he could end up getting a few million dollars in three or four years.
And then perhaps the families of the bombers will no longer get that monthly reward because their children were murderers.
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.
Taliban rebels who captured a southern Afghan town a week ago were fortifying their positions after rejecting talks, a tribal chief said on Friday as officials played down the situation.
An independent Islamic school raided by police as part of an anti-terror operation last year has been closed by the Government, ministers have announced. The Jameah Islameah School in Mark Cross, near Crowborough, East Sussex, was shut down after the school failed to follow an improvement action plan. It is now illegal for the school, which was raided by police last September, to continue to operate, the Department for Education and Skills said.
Lashkar-e-Taiba, alleges a Spanish newspaper monitored here, uses Spain as a logistical and fund-gathering base which is causing concern about the infiltration of extremists from such groups in the Pakistani community. 
French intelligence has produced a dossier saying that Al-Qaeda plans an attack on France during the forthcoming presidential elections, the Arabic-language al-Hayat daily reported on Friday.
Nobel Peace laureate and Holocaust scholar Elie Wiesel was dragged from an elevator and roughed up, possibly by a Holocaust denier, during a peace conference at a San Francisco hotel last week, police said Friday. 
MIAMI (AP) - An evaluation of suspected al-Qaida operative 
WASHINGTON - A Washington appeals court blocked Friday the US militarys plan to turn a US citizen arrested in Baghdad over to Iraqi authorities to be tried on terror charges. In a ruling that was the most recent setback to US government war-on-terror detainee policy, the district appeals court affirmed a lower court decision that 
Muslim rulers would be held responsible for any damage to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) president, Qazi Hussain Ahmad said on Friday. Addressing a rally at the Jamat-e-Islamis Mansoora headquarters on Friday, he said the mosque must be protected. The rally protested the demolition attempts. It was attended by Jamat-e-Islami members, parliamentarians and the general public. Jamat-e-Islami leaders, Dr Muhammad Kamal, Dr Farid Ahmad Piracha, and Abdul Ghaffar Aziz were also present. 
Representatives of the Jamaatud Dawas student wing and Peoples Students Federation (PSF) have issued show cause notices to the Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT) for allegedly beating up and harassing their members at Islamia College Civil Lines and Punjab University. Raheel Shah, the sitting Muttahida Talaba Mahaz (MTM) president, said Dawa members had been beaten up and PSF members had been harassed.
The two main Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah, reached "full agreement" on a national unity government that will include ministers from both groups during crisis talks yesterday in the holy Islamic city of Mecca. But while the decision on the cabinet posts represented progress, there was no agreement on persuading Hamas to accept existing peace treaties with Israel signed by earlier Palestinian administrations.
Hamas urged the West on Friday to accept a new Palestinian unity government but 
Iranian influence over Hamas will preclude the Quartet from approving a Palestinian national unity government, Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter predicted on Thursday. 
The International Atomic Energy Agency on Friday suspended nearly half of the technical aid it was providing Iran, carrying out sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council because Tehran refuses to suspend its uranium enrichment program.
