A representative of Chechnya's rebel leadership called Saturday for an international administration that could govern the breakaway Russian republic of Chechnya until a political solution is reached. Umar Khambiyev, a leading spokesman abroad for rebel leader and former Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov, said the only way to end the war in Chechnya is to have three-way talks between Russia, Chechen separatists and an international body, such as the United Nations or the European Union. "We're ready to sit down at the negotiating table at any time," Khambiyev said at a conference in Stockholm on how to bring peace to Chechnya. "Thirty minutes with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin is all it would take to stop the war and solve all the problems." He added that "Chechens are ready to forgive and forget everything that's happened. But we cannot lose our native land. We will always fight for that."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/01/2004 3:07:52 AM ||
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Yeah, the UN could contribute its good offices, thereby bringing a sense of good will and honesty to the talks. After the Beslan massacre, talks are a waste of time. The Chechen rebels offer to negotiate must indicate some kind of weakness. You do not negotiate with child murderers.
I am still wondering what Russia is going to do with the scum that murdered the Beslan schoolchildren. Have not seen anything yet. It is either do nothing or they are building up for a big strike or series of strikes.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/01/2004 10:27 Comments ||
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I'm starting to suspect they're going to huff and puff and do nothing. Give it time and attention span kicks in...
Posted by: Fred ||
11/01/2004 12:14 Comments ||
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the only way to end the war in Chechnya is to have three-way talks between Russia, Chechen separatists and an international body, such as the United Nations or the European Union
Ah, the liberal's favorite silver bullet: an international conference. Has it occurred to these jokers that in the past few years, the forces behind most of the slaughter in Chechnya are those who have no interest in peace?
The best way to end this war, like so many wars, is for one side to win it. This is a problem that can only be solved by a reformed and competent Russian military.
Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev, who claimed responsibility for last month's Beslan school hostage-taking, warned Sunday that he was ready to fight Russia for a decade and insisted civilians remained a fair target. But Basayev also said the rebels would observe "international law" if Russia also made such a commitment. The Chechens have accused the Russians of human rights violations and war crimes. "If (President Vladimir) Putin doesn't want peace, we'll wait until he leaves or if we can we'll send him directly to hell," Basayev said in an interview published on Chechenpress.com, a Chechen Web site. "Five years of war have gone quickly, another five or ten years will go just as fast."
Basayev has claimed responsibility for some of the most audacious terror attacks inside Russia, including the Sept. 1-3 hostage-taking in North Ossetia which left more than 330 people dead, half of them children. The Federal Security Service has offered a reward of $10.3 million for information that could help "neutralize" him. The interview dated from Oct. 14 featured Basayev's responses to e-mail questions posed by Toronto's the Globe and Mail newspaper to another Chechen Web site, the site said. There was no way to independently confirm the authenticity of the interview, although it did feature some hallmarks of Basayev's style. "Our aim isn't to kill people, especially children, but to stop the genocide of the Chechen people and defend freedom and independence," Basayev reportedly wrote. "Therefore, we are forced to resort to extremes, which we are not ourselves happy with."
Basayev said that "if Putin would begin to observe international law, then we would automatically begin to observe it." He added that such a move would "even be advantageous for us," but stressed the rebels wouldn't do that "unilaterally." He also insisted that most Chechen rebels fight independently in small groups and organize their own financing, saying that his presence in Chechnya was rarely required. In 2003, Basayev said he was only in Chechnya for two weeks "and the majority of the mujahadeen didn't even notice."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/01/2004 2:58:08 AM ||
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In 2003, Basayev said he was only in Chechnya for two weeks "and the majority of the mujahedeen didn't even notice."
Which brings to mind the question, where was he, and why was he there instead of Chechnya?
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
11/01/2004 8:43 Comments ||
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Putin's old pals in the KGB can't find Basayev? The world talks about Osama still being on the run, this guy has been in the southern Caucasus sine the early 1990's & remains there? Maybe they need to send in the Bulgarians.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/01/2004 12:35 Comments ||
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The US decision to cut and relocate its troop contingent in South Korea while bringing in high-tech armaments is a madcap ploy that shows a second Korean War is imminent, North Korea said on Friday.
'Madcap'? Looks like the first team is writing for KCNA!
The United States and South Korea signed a landmark deal on Tuesday under which a base in Seoul will be vacated and other camps relocated. Washington will also withdraw 12,500 troops by 2008 and move units south away from the fortified Demilitarised Zone border with the North. General Leon LaPorte, commander of US Forces in Korea, said the key was to ensure North Korea did not misunderstand the US plan, which is part of a global realignment of its forces. North Korea has long argued all US forces should withdraw but has taken a different line now that some are actually pulling out.
"The US madcap arms build-up of an unprecedented scale now under way in South Korea under the pretext of the cut down of its troops and their relocation is a dangerous military action," said the North's main newspaper, Rodong Sinmun. "The second Korean War which would bring a nuclear holocaust to the Korean nation is neither hypothesis nor a far-off event but imminent," the communist daily said in a commentary published by the official KCNA news agency in English. North Korea often uses goofy inflammatory rhetoric to criticise the United States.
LaPorte told the seminar new weaponry and faster mobilisation from overseas bases would easily offset the withdrawal of a third of the 37,500 troops under his command. "I would not support any efforts or any programmes that put the security of South Korea in jeopardy," he said. "The key question is to ensure North Korea does not miscalculate and perceive a weakness or a vulnerability first of all in the US presence and commitment in Northeast Asia and also a split in the ROK-US alliance," the general said. "We are working on that very hard." He said the military rationale behind the changes was sound but it needed to be explained clearly to the South Korean public. South Korea's parliament has to ratify the US troop agreement by the end of the year. It is expected to do so because the ruling Uri Party has a majority. Â
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/01/2004 12:10:33 AM ||
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The KCNA is like the DNC, the only thing President Bush could do to make them happy would be to die.
Posted by: Random thoughts ||
11/01/2004 0:23 Comments ||
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Springtime for Bush.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/01/2004 7:49 Comments ||
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Chicago Tribune. I posted it all because you have to register to read it.
Speaking to the camera in a videotape aired Friday, Osama bin Laden stood before a plain brown curtain and offered his thoughts on America's presidential election. No, he didn't endorse either of the two major-party candidates. Instead, he tried to intimidate U.S. citizens into changing their government's policy of relentlessly pursuing Al Qaeda.
Bin Laden was blunt: That policy of pursuit, of taking a U.S.-led war on international terrorism to his domain, must change. "Each state that does not mess with our security has naturally guaranteed its own security," he said, adding later, "To the American people, my talk to you is about the best way to avoid another Manhattan. . . . As you undermine our security, we undermine yours." In short, you can avoid more days like Sept. 11, 2001, if you stop menacing us.
Americans are unaccustomed to seeing mass murderers comment on presidential elections. One likely impact of that commentary is to focus Americans on something this page trusts most of them already realized: How aggressively to pursue global terror networks, and how resolutely to squeeze their state sponsors and financiers, is the most important issue that faces this nation. How aggressively? How resolutely? Not at all, bin Laden demands.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: tu3031 ||
11/01/2004 10:19:42 AM ||
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October 31, 2004 -Osama bin Laden doesn't seem nearly so cocky in the unedited version of a videotape aired on al-Jazeera, complaining that the manhunt against him has hampered al Qaeda. Osama bin Laden's newest tape may have thrust him to the forefront of the presidential election, but what was not seen was the cave-dwelling terror lord talking about the setbacks al Qaeda has faced in recent months.
Officials said that in the 18-minute long tape — of which only six minutes were aired on the al-Jazeera Arab television network in the Middle East on Friday — bin Laden bemoans the recent democratic elections in Afghanistan and the lack of violence involved with it. On the tape, bin Laden also says his terror organization has been hurt by the U.S. military's unrelenting manhunt for him and his cohorts on the Afghan-Pakistani border. A portion of the left-out footage includes a tirade aimed at President Bush and his father, former President George H.W. Bush, claiming the war in Iraq is purely over oil. The tape also sparked some concern that an attack aimed at disrupting Tuesday's election may be planned. But those who have seen the tape have said there was no specific information regarding an attack.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/01/2004 7:07:16 PM ||
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If this is true, why is it not bigger news and why is it not released in its entirety? It would be huge for Bush.
#4
Did al J pass unedited copies of the tape on to other agencies? If not, you can't blame the rest of the MSM for not using the good-for-Bush bits, only al J.
Posted by: sKerry John ||
11/01/2004 8:40 Comments ||
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Don't know about the full transcript, but here's the link for the MEMRI article.
Posted by: jawa ||
11/01/2004 9:32 Comments ||
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I would say that Al-Jitzz may have consulted the american MSM about which parts of the tape to broadcast and which to 'filter out' and the MSM said to leave out the anti-bush and 'we are getting out asses kicked' portions because they would draw people to Bush.
Why else would they filter out just about everything which might draw people to Bush?
#8
al-Jazeera just posted a english translation of what they say is the full transcript here. Oh, and Binny sez Robert Fisk is neutral, so lay off him, ok?
Posted by: Steve ||
11/01/2004 14:54 Comments ||
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Read that one a couple of times and it must be the edited version as well. No mention of getting their asses kicked. It doesn't read like any of Binny's other speeches, it sounds like it was written by a westener for him.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/01/2004 15:02 Comments ||
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Osama testing his brand new explosive.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/01/2004 16:49 Comments ||
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My take too, steve. Sounds too western and very liberal-asshat...
#13
If the MSM have access to the full tape and have refused to report on it-- esp the part about Afghanistan being such a huge success for us and a disaster for AQ-- then this is a major scandal, bigger than Rathergate.
#14
Unfortunately lex this would not be anything new.
Notice how much coverage the MSM gave to those forged CBS documents while they entirely ignored as 'partisan' the eye-witness accounts of the swiftvets (from both parties). Hell they are still claiming (without any evidence) Bush missed a few national guard dates while entirely ignoring Kerry's giving aid and comfort to the enemy during time of war.
The MSM months-on-month-long coverage of the prison scandal (which was already being investigated) which only involved a few malcontents for 2-3 nights while they entirely ignore the rapes and outright murders still occuring in western Sudan. Their absolute refusal to label the russian-school 'militants' as Islamic -- or even as 'terrorists' as well as their refusal to mention the cold blooded murder (and rape) of children and babies by these 'brave freedom fighters' (cough cough).
I think the MSM has been spreading this shit for a long time and only now, with the blogsphere, are they being held to account.
Didn't Cronkite (and friends) proclaim the Tet offensive a huge disaster for the US?
#15
OBL lamenting our guys making life difficult for him. Tough shit. Bush said what he was going to do. He did what he said he was going to do. That is a pretty fair basis for leadership. Good reason to vote Bush in my mind.
#16
Easy on the automatic transmission bike Shipman. I am IN that infomercial! (And no I did not get paid.) I am the one having trouble shifting on the ten speed. Tragically, this did not launch either my small screen or big screen career.
Posted by: remote man ||
11/01/2004 19:05 Comments ||
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Good Heavens RM! I'm going to have to TiVo an infomerical!
Monday, November 1, 2004: China has signed a $70 billion deal for the development of Iran's energy sector. China's state-owned Sinopec Group has signed a deal to develop oil fields and liquefied natural gas in Iran. The memorandum of understanding, signed on Oct. 28, called for Sinopec to purchase 250 million tons of LNG from Iran over the next 30 years. Another element of the MoU was that Sinopec would develop the Yadavaran oil field. Officials said Iran was committed to sell Sinopec 150,000 barrels per day for 25 years at market prices. Iran has been the leading oil supplier to China, Middle East Newsline reported. Officials said Iran was negotiating a similar oil development and LNG contract with China National Petroleum Corp.
Makes you wonder what else is in that deal?
Posted by: Steve ||
11/01/2004 3:06:47 PM ||
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China has signed a $70 billion deal for the development of Iran's energy sector. And enabling of the Mad Mullahs
China's state-owned Sinopec Group has signed a deal to develop oil fields and liquefied natural gas in Iran. The memorandum of understanding, signed on Oct. 28, called for Sinopec to purchase 250 million tons of LNG from Iran over the next 30 years. Export the natural gas and generate electricity and plutonium from the nuclear reactors
Another element of the MoU was that Sinopec would develop the Yadavaran oil field. Officials said Iran was committed to sell Sinopec 150,000 barrels per day for 25 years at market prices. Iran has been the leading oil supplier to China, Middle East Newsline reported. Officials said Iran was negotiating a similar oil development and LNG contract with China National Petroleum Corp. Don't expect any help from the Chicoms over the MMs. What's a few nukes in Europe or the US to the Chicoms?
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/01/2004 2:00:02 PM ||
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Oh, is that the new price for a favorable UN Security Council vote?
Posted by: Capt America ||
11/01/2004 19:36 Comments ||
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Iran said yesterday the winner of US presidential elections, Democrat or Republican, had to ease Washington's critical stance towards the Islamic state and stop using threats to force policy decisions. Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said Washington's approach since the 1979 Islamic revolution that toppled the US-backed shah had not been successful. "The winner should learn from the past and understand that using threats and forceful language is not effective for Iran," Asefi told a weekly news conference.
Funny, they don't seem to understand anything else.
Democratic challenger John Kerry is certain unlikely to ease pressure on Iran, which will remain a key US foreign policy challenge whoever wins Tuesday's vote. But he has signalled an interest in greater engagement with Iran. Asefi said Iran did not favour either candidate. "Based on our experiences, they both have been in favour of pressuring Iran," he said.
"And that Kerry guy, offering uranium to us that we don't even need! The pressure is enormous!"
Asefi denied US media reports that it has given shelter to Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, saying the charge was nothing more than pre-election hysteria. "Neither bin Laden nor any other extremist member of Al Qaeda is present in Iran, except a few middle-ranking members who are being held in prison," he said. "It seems that as we reach the high point in the US election, that country's papers have the duty to fabricate news ... It is only to cover up the US shortcomings in fighting terrorism," he said.
"No, no! Certainly not!"
The spokesman also rejected recent EU criticism of a deteriorating human rights situation in the country as "unreal, biased, hasty and undocumented." "The declaration is politicised, unreal and biased, hasty and undocumented, showing the European Parliament's ignorance of the Islamic Republic," he said.
"Fools! They know us not!"
The European Parliament on Thursday passed a motion voicing alarm over the deteriorating rights situation in Iran, especially that of Press freedom and death penalty.Â
Finally noticed the mullahs executing the little girls, did they?
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/01/2004 12:31:57 AM ||
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OK we will stop using threats against the MMs. We will just do it.
I've got a visual on the EU parliament passing a motion voicing alarm over human rights:
**best Elmer Fudd voice**
"Uh... uh... we are vewwy vewwy wowwied over the human wights situwation in Iwan. You've got to cease and desist in this nefawious entehpwise wight now, you heaw?"
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/01/2004 0:58 Comments ||
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Yea we are supposed to like them when the parliment passes a law requiring the enrichment of uranium shouting "death to amarica". You can't make this stuff up. Too bizarre.
Information from a captured fighter now in Algerian custody may help authorities there mop up the remnants of the country's leading Islamist militant group, a senior US military official said.
Neighbours of the North African nation will also take a close interest in whatever intelligence Algeria can obtain from Amar Saifi, whom it accuses of "numerous terrorist crimes".
Saifi was number two in the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), which has pledged allegiance to Al Qaeda and is listed by the US as a terrorist organisation. He is also wanted in Germany in connection with the kidnapping of 32 European tourists in the Sahara last year.
The ex-paratrooper had been held since March by a Chadian rebel group but Algeria announced last Thursday it had taken him into custody after he was intercepted in Libya.
"He obviously not only knows a lot, he probably holds the key to the kingdom — if he were willing to talk, he could probably tell them everything they needed to know to roll up most of the remaining folks," the US official said.
He said nations like Mali and Niger, Algeria's neighbours in the largely desert Sahel region of north Africa, would also be keen to learn who Saifi was working with in their countries.
He declined to answer directly when asked if the United States itself would seek access to Saifi, also known as Abderrezak Al Para. "Obviously we're interested but that is strictly an Algerian affair."
The military official said Saifi's handover was an "enormous victory" for the region, where US Marines and special forces have trained local armies in four nations this year as part of a strategy to help Africa boost its defences in the war on terror.
Its name means "the Arab one," but that didn't spare Al-Arabiya television from attack by insurgents who perceive it as pro-Western. The Saudi-owned satellite station lost five Iraqi employees when a car bomb exploded Saturday at its Baghdad bureau. It was one of several recent operations — militant groups have also kidnapped women and killed Muslims — that are drawing criticism as "un-Islamic."
"Such operations are 100 percent wrong," said Adel Zeyada, 27, a Palestinian engineer who's been living in Iraq for 12 years. "Even since the days of the prophet, Islam has ... always advised against harming women, children and the innocent. Evidently these groups have a deformed perception of Islam." In most claims of responsibility for attacks, militants attempt to link Arab and Muslim targets to the U.S.-run coalition. However, many Iraqis and other Arabs believe the motive is to bring political pressure. Some think the militants have lost focus.
The attack on Al-Arabiya in particular raised questions. The pan-Arab network, which is based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, is one of the leading sources of news for people in the Arab world. In a region where freedom of speech is not universally accepted, Al-Arabiya has broadcast statements by militants and has drawn criticism from U.S. officials for alleged anti-American bias. Soon after the Saturday car bombing, an Islamic militant group claimed responsibility for the attack, calling the network "the mouthpiece of American occupation in Iraq." Islamist Web sites heralded the attack, some calling the channel "Al-Ibriya" — the Hebrew One — instead of Al-Arabiya. Of the five dead and 14 injured employees, all but one were Muslims. One of the dead was an Iraqi Christian.
Saudi columnist Khaled al-Maeena said some of the actions of militant groups in Iraq "are alien to the very ideology they profess to possess." Evan F. Kohlmann, a terrorism expert in Washington, called recent attacks "a bizarre escalation of violence."
"They are taking their anger out on anything they can find," Kohlmann said of the insurgents. "I don't know where it's coming from, but it's horrifying when it's unleashed. It's like they are so enraged that they've lost total focus on who's the enemy."
Under Islam, women are supposed to have a protected status in war. So many moderate Muslims were shocked when British aid worker Margaret Hassan, 59, who is married to an Iraqi, was kidnapped Oct. 19. No group has claimed responsibility for her abduction. However, Hassan's appearance on videotapes begging for British troops to leave Iraq suggested she was taken by insurgents. "The whole Iraq issue is becoming strange. The situation has deteriorated so badly that it's beyond rational explanation," said Abdel Khaleq Abdulla, a political analyst in the Emirates. "These groups have one thing in their mind: making life difficult for everybody — the Americans, Iraqis and others," he added. "The goal is to make Iraq unbearable, to make it hell, to make it miserable so that it falls in their hands." Abdulla said it appeared the shadowy groups were aiming for "soft targets" like women and children, "because it's shocking and they are after more exposure and publicity. The cost is minimal and the payoff is huge."
Zeyada, the Palestinian engineer, questioned whether Muslims were even behind all the attacks and speculated that some were so un-Islamic that they must have been carried out by "people who deliberately want to harm the image of Islam."
Diaa Rashwan, an Egyptian expert on Islamic militancy based in Cairo, blamed the U.S.-led occupation for feeding "inexplicable extremism." Even though the Americans transferred sovereignty to the Iraqis in June, the presence of about 140,000 U.S. troops makes that move appear hollow. "We should not be all too surprised," Rashwan said. "Occupation is always equated with violence, which merits reaction in return. Occupation does not pat people on the back, so in turn, people are not kind to it."
For Inas Abdel Razzaq, a 31-year-old Iraqi housewife, "all lines are now blurred. When you enter the Islamist Web sites and you find those militants saying 'In the name of God and Islam,' what Islam are they talking about?"
Posted by: Fred ||
11/01/2004 2:54:38 PM ||
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Guess these lugnuts don't read history books.
The Night of the Long Knives came before Kristallnacht by 4 years.
Zanies enforce ideological purity within their own ranks first. Then they attend to the infidels.
#3
One hit of the clue bat. Will it become a mere bump on the head of the Arab street, or will it become a clue? These terrorists hurt the Arabs, too. They are everybody's enemy, like it or not.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/01/2004 16:19 Comments ||
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Zeyada, the Palestinian engineer, questioned whether Muslims were even behind all the attacks and speculated that some were so un-Islamic that they must have been carried out by "people who deliberately want to harm the image of Islam."
#5
seems these people have it backwards. They think the "militants" don't understand islam. perhaps it's the other way 'round -- islam really is a religion of violence, and these folks are the "extremists"
KARACHI - A raid on an apartment complex in the port city of Karachi on Monday was a training exercise carried out by anti-terrorist forces, the interior minister said. Witnesses saw a military helicopter landing at a complex under construction in Karachi's eastern Gulistan-e-Johar neighbourhood as troops cordoned off the area and prevented people from entering. "It was a mock exercise," Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao told Reuters. "It is an anti-terrorist exercise carried out by law enforcement agencies."
"Just a exercise. Nothing to see. Move along."
Provincial government spokesman Salahuddin Haider had said "a major operation" had been carried out by the military, but later clarified that it had been an exercise. An intelligence official said earlier the raid could have been aimed at trying to capture an important Al Qaeda figure, but gave no details.
Either it was a exercise, or they just bagged a really big fish and are trying to keep it quiet.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/01/2004 12:39:14 PM ||
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Osama-who?
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/01/2004 14:13 Comments ||
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Given the Pakistan political climate, the best we can hope for is a body bag tossed over the American Embassy wall containing Osama with a Musharraf pistol bullet lodged in his head.
Posted by: Tom ||
11/01/2004 15:08 Comments ||
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Elders of the Mehsud tribe have said that the military should adopt a cautious approach for moving troops to forward positions in the troubled South Waziristan Agency against the backdrop of the killing of tribal volunteers during a search operation on Oct 26. The killing of the volunteers, the elders told Dawn, adversely affected the military's ongoing operation in the South Waziristan Agency in general and in the Mehsud tribesmen's area in particular. "It affected the credibility of Pakistan army in the eyes of the Mehsud tribesmen," said Maulana Saleh Shah, an elder of the Mehsud tribe belonging to the Tiarza area of the troubled region.
Fifteen people were killed and several injured when a group of tribal volunteers helping the administration in the search operation in the Sheikh Ziarat village near Spinkay Raghzay came under artillery fire. "The incident has shattered the tribesmen's confidence in the military, hence a much more cautious approach needs to be adopted while moving troops to Kotkai and other forward positions to avoid a larger conflict between the army and tribesmen," said Maulana Saleh, who is a member of the 21-member peace committee the government has constituted to negotiate the registration and surrender of foreign militants.
Similar views were expressed by another member of the peace committee, Masood Khan, from the Makin area of the South Waziristan agency. Talking to Dawn from Dera Ismail Khan by phone, he said that though the incident was not likely to create serious problems for the government, it had undermined the military's campaign in the region. "Now they would need to do something to restore tribesmen's confidence before moving troops further deep in the Sarwekai sub-division of the agency," said Mr Khan. He said that the military should take members of the Balolzai tribe into confidence before starting its forward movement towards the Kotkai area.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/01/2004 12:08:23 PM ||
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As Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat waited for results of tests conducted on him by French doctors, his senior aides have resumed contact with Israel to revive the US-backed road map for peace. Senior Palestinian and Israeli leaders held separate meetings yesterday to plan a path forward in Arafat's absence. Palestinian officials have been convening a series of top meetings in recent days to show that their institutions continue to function, while Israeli officials scrambled to plan for the possibility that the West Bank and Gaza could erupt into chaos if Arafat dies. At the same time sources close to the Palestinian leadership said a bitter fight had broken over who should control the ailing leader's fortune estimated to be between $4.2 billion and $6.5 billion.
Now I see what I did wrong with my life. I shoulda been a revolutionary. That's where the money is!
Sources said Arafat has written a will transferring control of his assets to members of his wife's family. Some of his aides, including former Premier Mahmoud Abbas who has stepped in as interim leader, however, believe the fortune belongs to the "beit al-mal" (public treasury), and should be transferred to the Palestinian Authority. The controversy started last week when Suha, Arafat's wife, asked Muhammad Rashid, Arafat's confidant and adviser, to prepare a list of the ailing leader's fortune. According to Palestinian sources Rashid has said he would furnish the list only to the Palestinian Authority.
Identifying Arafat's personal fortune and separating it from numerous secret bank accounts that he maintains in the name of the Palestine Liberation Orgaization and Al-Fatah is no easy task. According to Jean-Claude Robard, a Swiss investment adviser, Arafat opened his first secret bank account in 1965 with a $50,000 check from the emir of Kuwait. Since then he has set up other accounts in Switzerland, Austria, Luxembourg and the Cayman Islands. Arafat also owns a number of hotels and holiday resorts in Spain, Italy, France, Switzerland, and Austria. He is the main shareholder in two cellular telephone companies operating in Tunisia and Algeria. Some of Arafat's businesses are in partnership with Arab politicians, former officials and entrepreneurs, including Rifaat Assad, a brother of the late Syrian President Hafez Assad, and Barzan Al-Takriti, a half-brother of deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. Al-Takriti is now under arrest in Baghdad.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath said yesterday that Yasser Arafat's condition had improved markedly since Friday, when the Palestinian leader was rushed to a French hospital after being ill for two weeks. Doctors were trying to determine whether Arafat has a viral infection or some form of cancer after ruling out leukemia as the cause of his health problems, aides said. According to French sources, one possibility was that Arafat might have been poisoned. But Palestinian sources denied an American television report that Arafat may have been the victim of an assassination attempt, through slow poisoning, by Mossad, the Israeli secret service.
In Israel, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said yesterday that Arafat would not be allowed burial in Jerusalem. Arafat has said he wants to be buried at the Jerusalem holy site known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Haram As-Sharif, or Noble Sanctuary. But Sharon said that would not be allowed. "As long as I am prime minister, Arafat won't be buried in Jerusalem," he told a Cabinet meeting, according to participants. Israel has marked a burial site for Arafat in the Jerusalem suburb of Abu Dis, security officials said. Though hard-line ministers at the meeting asked Sharon to refuse to allow Arafat back into the West Bank, the premier said he was sticking by the commitment to allow Arafat to return from France after treatment.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/01/2004 3:10:03 AM ||
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the fortune belongs to the âbeit al-malâ (public treasury)
Well, that's where he stole it from, though it would be a shame to see it go back to the PLO. How about to the people (long as they're not terrorists).
#2
The controversy started last week when Suha, Arafatâs wife, asked Muhammad Rashid, Arafatâs confidant and adviser, to prepare a list of the ailing leaderâs fortune.
Surprise, surprise, surprise! My bet would be that she would not be in favor of the âbeit al-malâ option.
#3
I'm starting to think the best thing might be a relapse to death's door long enough for every one's true colors to come out followed by a quick recovery.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/01/2004 9:37 Comments ||
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#4
as Suha now finds: he who controls the dreaded Red Binder⢠controls the money
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/01/2004 9:58 Comments ||
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#5
that Abbas is willing to contest Arafats will is a very good sign that Arafat is really quite sick.
#6
as someone else (Fred?) here noted - teh mortality of Arafat has been made apparent, and allowed for the power grab ahead of his actual demise. Abbas is just the early bird (see picture above) going for the worm
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/01/2004 10:17 Comments ||
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#7
And he's out of Ramallah, AND out of the area. He might not find it so easy to return.
#8
Take a look at the Arafish's business holdings, to wit:
According to Jean-Claude Robard, a Swiss investment adviser, Arafat opened his first secret bank account in 1965 with a $50,000 check from the emir of Kuwait. Since then he has set up other accounts in Switzerland, Austria, Luxembourg and the Cayman Islands. Arafat also owns a number of hotels and holiday resorts in Spain, Italy, France, Switzerland, and Austria. He is the main shareholder in two cellular telephone companies operating in Tunisia and Algeria.
All that EU and arab money came rolling in and the Arafish built a personal business empire on misappropriated and/or laundered money. And the plight of the Paleos is in a desparate state and the UN needs more money? There is plenty of money. Ask the 'Fish for some, or grab the Red Folder and look up some assets, ass-hats.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/01/2004 10:37 Comments ||
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#9
Dear Mr. Arafat,
You know me not but I am told you are honest man by business contacts here in Lagos. I am Chucko Simminsescu, accountant for large company doing business in Nigeria but forced to have bank accounts held by political connections. If you please to send me all contact and bank information, I will certain to handle your affairs in a dignified manner. For only ten percent and five percent for expenses. This will be engaged in confidence and without political connections here in Lagos. Thank you very lovely.
#10
I wonder how soon I'll be getting an e-mail from Suha wanting my help moving some of that fortune to a U. S. bank?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/01/2004 14:03 Comments ||
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#11
Funny how this unfavorable article comes from a "staff writer" of the Arab News. I figured an Israeli paper befor going to the link. No adjectives or vituperation. Just look at the amount of his fortune divulged, plus hotels in Europe. Couldn't be plainer than day.
This article might show that more than a few Arab govts. might be willing to part with Arafat under the pretext that he needs to stay permanently in France to be close to his doctors, national unity, or some such other reason.
Posted by: chicago mike ||
11/01/2004 14:08 Comments ||
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#12
CinGold, do you know anything about pali probate? I want my share and I'm willing for you to get it, I'll split 30-70, out of pocket is your problem. What ya say?
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/01/2004 17:29 Comments ||
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#14
Whhhaaaaaa? You mean Arafatwa wasn't working on behalf of Palestine and the poor and downtrodden? You mean he was feathering his pockets. That is a shock to one's sensibilities.
#15
Whhhaaaaaa? You mean Arafatwa wasn't working on behalf of Palestine and the poor and downtrodden? You mean he was feathering his pockets. That is a shock to one's sensibilities.
Sudan expressed optimism Sunday on reaching a long-term political solution to the crisis in its Darfur region after listening to a rebel group's proposals. The smaller of the two rebel groups represented at the African Union-brokered talks in the Nigerian capital Abuja made a "declaration of principles" at a session on Sunday, calling for greater representation at the national level and more local powers for Darfur. The Justice and Equality Movement's proposals went further than plans presented earlier in the week by the government. Justice and Equality Movement spokesman Ahmed Hussain Adam said his group's proposals concentrated "on the real issues: the political marginalization, the economic marginalization and the social marginalization" of ethnic groups from Darfur. He said the government's proposals for transferring powers to Darfur's three states — including their own elected parliaments — were "empty statements." He called for Darfur's ethnic groups to be represented in Sudan's presidency, and for the restructuring of the army and the civil service to include more people from Darfur and other regions.
"I think the demands being made are all reasonable and acceptable," said Abdel Rahim Kalil, the Sudanese ambassador to Nigeria and a member of Sudan's delegation at the talks. "We believe all the regions of Sudan need to be adequately represented at the federal level," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/01/2004 2:53:59 AM ||
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A double car-bomb attack, timed to kill hapless victims and then the rescue workers, struck in Grozny, capital of the Chechen republic on Sunday. The first car bomb struck a vehicle carrying members of the Chechen security forces on a highway outside the city. When the rescue workers and victims approached the nearby hospital, a second explosion went off in proximity. One person was apparently killed and seventeen injured in the blasts.
In Afghanistan, Islamist hostage-takers released a video of three foreign election workers they are holding. The terrorists have threatened to kill them in three days unless Britain and the United Nations - one of the hostages is working for a British organization and the other two are UN employees - withdraw their presence from Afghanistan. The footage of the three was shown yesterday on Al-Jazeera.
15 Iraqis were killed and eight wounded last night when terrorists fired a rocket into a hotel in the town of Tikrit. In addition, Iraqi insurgents clashed with US troops in Ramadi, where seven Iraqis were killed.
Although not a terrorist conflagration, in China's central Henan province, members of the Hui Muslim Chinese minority violently clashed with members of the Han Chinese majority. The New York Times reported that as many as 148 died in the weekend violence, including 18 police officers dispatched to quell it. The violence is apparently continuing. The Hui are the descendants of merchants from the Middle East who settled in China.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/01/2004 1:50:51 AM ||
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An American woman was shocked to learn that a photo of what appeared to be her old driver's licence showed up on an Islamic website along with a claim that she had been captured in southern Iraq and slain. Dawn Marie Perryman, who is not in the military, found out about the internet posting after an Associated Press reporter called and talked to her husband about the claim. "It's kind of scary," Ms Perryman said.
The posting claimed that an American officer named Dawn Marie Stone, which is Perryman's maiden name, was captured about three weeks ago. The claim was accompanied by a photo of the driver's licence, which had her maiden name, her birth date and a previous address in Michigan. "I have no idea as to how it would get into Iraq," Ms Perryman said. Ms Perryman said the only link she had to the Middle East was a relationship she had with a man from Kuwait in the 1980s who served in the Kuwaiti military. "I know he had pictures of me," BINGO!
she said. "I don't think the guy would have had my driver's licence." Ms Perryman said she was last in touch with him about 1988, when she married. Oh, lady you are something else!
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/01/2004 1:39:52 AM ||
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#1
Well, folks, that mystery was solved in five minutes. Next!
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/01/2004 11:02 Comments ||
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#2
I don't get it? What was the point? Did they pretend to kill someone so they could get publicity? Or, did some unfortunate someone, who was falsely using her ID card, get murdered?
#12
Muslims are all the same - it doesnt matter what color they are - Mohammad surely did make them all retarded just like he was. What a race of ugly illiterate uneducated sand niggers. Thieves & Murderers = ISLAM.
As soon as you turn your back the mud monkey muslims stab u in it. The only good muslim is a dead or dying one. ALLAHU FUCKBAR - pig shit be upon the sand faggot. [ meta http-equiv="refresh" content="2">
#13
[meta http-equiv="PICS-Label" content='(PICS-1.1 "http://www.rsac.org/ratingsv01.html" l gen true comment "RSACi North America Server" for "http://webdesign.about.com" on "2001.01.02T14:28-1900" r (N 0 S 0 V 0 L 0))'>
#16
My typing isnt showing up!!!!!!!!![body onLoad="alert(WELCOME TO MY WEBSITE YOU FAGGOTS & FAGETTES - MUSLIMS SHOULD DEPART NOW OR DIE A HORRIBLE DEATH BY THE HANDS OF A INFIDEL - ALLAHU FUCKBAR')">
Iraq's interim vice-president yesterday said the government was drawing up a state of emergency law which it may implement ahead of national elections set for January. "The law to create a state of emergency has been submitted to the cabinet and the presidential council for approval," said Ibrahim Al Jaafari, after a meeting with Shia religious leader Grand Ayatollah Al Sistani in the holy city of Najaf, south of Baghdad. He said the daily violence and insecurity in Iraq justifies the legislation. "Every country should have access to an emergency law when the security situation demands it," the vice-president told a group of reporters in Najaf. If such a law entered into force "it would only be applied in unstable regions for limited periods of time," said Jaafari.
"Only until the bad guys are dead," he added.
Al Jaafari also sought to dismiss fears that elections in Iraq would not be held on time because of the daily bloodshed. "This is an Iraqi affair and we are working hard to improve the security climate," he said. Leaders from Iraq's Shia majority want the landmark polls to take place on time, by January 31, as they are eager for a slice of political power that was deprived from them during the former regime of Saddam Hussein, a Sunni. In contrast, many influential Sunni Muslim figures have threatened to boycott the upcoming vote if US and Iraqi forces resort to further military offensives to end the insurgency in Iraq.
I'd like to see Allawi call them on that.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/01/2004 12:36:40 AM ||
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#1
...many influential Sunni Muslim figures have threatened to boycott the upcoming vote if US and Iraqi forces resort to further military offensives to end the insurgency in Iraq.
Up to you, but I don't think you'll be happy with what the Shi'a hand you.
#3
They are losing their privelaged position and its not easy on them, as they are in denial, Sock. Like the old saying:
When a dog dies
A dog dies hard
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/01/2004 1:28 Comments ||
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#4
I hope that their end comes with terrific violence so as the memory will linger like vomit on a dry mouth. That those who preach their style of "Mr Rogers Neighborhood" will cause that gag reflex.
#5
Your gift for other dimensional expression seems to be intact Lucky. Do colors look the same? Seriously... I've heard they can change, I figure that would be mighty weird.
MODERN technology, a mounting tide of anti-Americanism and the religious fervour inspired by the holy month of Ramadan have come together in a Nigerian bid to seek divine intervention in the US presidential election. Throughout the first two weeks of their annual month of prayer and fasting, Nigerian Muslims have been bombarded by mobile telephone text messages urging them to pray for US President George W. Bush's defeat. "A few days to US presidential elections, join us in praying for the defeat of Bush, an arrogant bigger evil and enemy of Islam and Muslims. Please pass to 10 others," one of the messages read.
It is a campaign more likely to boost the profits of Nigeria's South African-run mobile telephone networks than unduly worry White House strategists, but the response on the streets of the northern city of Kano underlines the depth of anti-American sentiment. Kano has recently been the target of US investment in educational and economic projects designed to win over Muslims and counter the effect of the anti-US sermons in the city's mosques. But, in attacking Mr Bush, the mystery authors of the texting frenzy have been preaching to the converted. "Nobody needs to tell me to pray for Bush's defeat in the election in this holy season when prayers are most answered," said Nasiru Abdullahi, a 34-year-old tyre mechanic in the ancient trading city. "I have been praying for the defeat of Bush since Ramadan started and I will not stop until the elections are conducted. I am confident Allah will answer our prayers because it is a prayer against His enemy," he said.
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#2
"I have been praying for the defeat of Bush since Ramadan started and I will not stop until the elections are conducted. I am confident Allah will answer our prayers because it is a prayer against His enemy," he said.
aaah the good old tyre mechanic .. I guess he just isnt praying hard enough , or Allah has had enough of whining , inbred , Muslims throughout the world
#5
As far as fasting is concerned, I'm planning to go 48+ hours straight, starting from when I went to bed last night, through to Wednesday morning, with not a bite. Only liquids.
And considering who Allah REALLY is, and based on what he commands his followers to do, it shouldn't be a problem to hogtie my quota of demon imps. Combine that with my answered-prayer track record, and I think I can hold one wall of the fort singlehandedly against the entire Muslim Section of Nigeria.
Hmph. Amateurs. No f*ckin' idea who they're f*ckin' with...
#6
"A few days to US presidential elections, join us in praying for the defeat of Bush, an arrogant bigger evil and enemy of Islam and Muslims. Please pass to 10 others." And also please to transfer immediately the sum of $50,000 US to the bank account of the most gracious Mr Olotunde Afonja of Nigerian Eagle Bank, Lagos. Kindly pass this message as well to the most holy and generous believers.
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.
As Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat waited for results of tests conducted on him by French doctors, his senior aides have resumed contact with Israel to revive the US-backed road map for peace. Senior Palestinian and Israeli leaders held separate meetings yesterday to plan a path forward in Arafat's absence. Palestinian officials have been convening a series of top meetings in recent days to show that their institutions continue to function, while Israeli officials scrambled to plan for the possibility that the West Bank and Gaza could erupt into chaos if Arafat dies. At the same time sources close to the Palestinian leadership said a bitter fight had broken over who should control the ailing leader's fortune estimated to be between $4.2 billion and $6.5 billion.
