Tony Blair and Peter Hain, the Northern Ireland Secretary, faced a fierce and emotional backlash from MPs yesterday over legislation to allow fugitive terrorists to return without having to serve prison sentences. The Bill will allow those wanted by police for some of the most heinous atrocities during the IRA's 30-year campaign to have their slate effectively wiped clean.
Mr Hain looked lonely and uncomfortable as he faced a series of highly emotional interventions from MPs, including the Rev William McCrea (DUP Antrim S) who described seeing his two young cousins after they had been blown up by the IRA. He faced angry protests from Tory MPs when he disclosed that members of the security forces, including serving British soldiers, would also be able to take advantage of the new procedure.
Iain Duncan Smith, the former Conservative leader, who served with the Army in Northern Ireland, accused the Government of using the inclusion of British soldiers in the procedures as a "shield" for a "grubby and reprehensible" piece of legislation. The Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and all the Northern Ireland political parties apart from Sinn Fein, the political wing of the IRA, served notice that they opposed the Bill. A procession of MPs from all parties rose to condemn the legislation, which they claimed was part of a "secret stitch-up" between Mr Blair and the IRA leadership.
During the debate Mr Hain acknowledged that the agreement to provide an effective amnesty for "on-the-run" terrorists was necessary to ensure that the IRA gave up violence, even though Sinn Fein had given a commitment to exclusively democratic and peaceful means when it signed the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.
Mr Blair, who yesterday met the widows of murdered RUC officers, admitted the legislation would cause "pain and anguish" to victims, but said it was vital to the Northern Ireland peace process. He faced criticism from one Unionist MP who compared the actions with offering an amnesty to those who shot PC Sharon Beshenivsky in Bradford on Friday.
Mr Hain insisted that the Northern Ireland (Offences) Bill was necessary to bring closure to the IRA's "awful and murderous" campaign. It would at least ensure that terrorists, some of whom had been on the run for decades, would get a criminal record, he said.
The amnesty would apply to up to 150 people wanted by police for offences committed before the Good Friday Agreement was signed in 1998. Paramilitary figures who returned would have their cases heard by a special tribunal - not the normal courts. They would not have to appear in person, but if they were convicted, they would have a criminal record, be required to give DNA and fingerprints, and could be subject to recall to prison for their crimes if they broke the conditions imposed on them.
Mr Hain said the procedure would "bring closure" and ensure that the IRA's armed campaign was over. At present, people on the run were outside UK jurisdiction, and the fact they would get a criminal record if the tribunal convicted them, "ought to be some comfort to the victims concerned".
But faced with accusations that the Bill was "insulting" to victims, Mr Hain conceded: "The legislation is hated by victims".
In Northern Ireland, victims of the Troubles accused the Government of hypocrisy over its handling of terrorism. Aileen Quinton, who lost her mother Alberta, 71, in the 1987 Enniskillen Poppy Day massacre, described the Bill as an "absolute disgrace". The terrorists behind the IRA bombing, which killed 11 people, are believed to be among around 150 people able to take advantage of the legislation. Miss Quinton said that the Government was guilty of double standards when the Northern Ireland situation was compared with the anti-terrorism measures introduced following the London bombings.
"It seems my mother was murdered by cuddly terrorists and not the bad terrorists," she said.
The road to the âAmerican Dreamâ for many illegal immigrants usually leads from home countries through Mexico and then into the U.S. Although almost all of these illegal immigrants are merely looking for a better life for themselves and their families, world-wide human trafficking routes provide ample opportunity for those wishing harm to the U.S. easy access into America. In spite of international efforts in the Americas to break up these human smuggling routes, there are still a number of avenues available whereby the potential terrorist can enter the United States.
During 2004 and 2005, a number of individual Muslim and Middle Eastern illegal immigrants were captured in Central and South America. Some of the more unusual cases include:
- A Turkish citizen with a false Dutch passport is arrested in Managua, Nicaragua on September 22, 2004. He had lived in Costa Rica for ten months and entered via Russia and Cuba. While attempting to board a flight to Canada, he was arrested by Nicaraguan authorities. [1]
- In early 2005, Spanish and Italian intelligence and police agencies informed Argentine authorities that members of the fundamentalist Jamaat Tabligh Movement were in Argentina after having attended a meeting in Chile. Spanish authorities believe that members of the European wing of the Movement had been recruited by al-Qaeda to participate in the Madrid bombings. The arrival of 26 members of the movement was confirmed by Argentine Muslim authorities. Members who had entered Argentina included citizens of Malaysia, Syria, Egypt, Qatar, Pakistan and South Africa. Argentine authorities believe that the Islamic fundamentalists are in Argentina in order to recruit members with Argentine passports. When traveling, such individuals will receive considerably less scrutiny by security personnel than those from obviously Muslim countries.
Mexican, Honduran, and Peruvian authorities were able to break up three major human smuggling rings. The Mexican and Peruvian rings specialized in transporting Middle Easterners and the Honduran Ring specialized in transporting Chinese into the U.S. All of these individuals were brought into Central or South America and then through Mexico into the U.S.
In mid-2003, one of the Mexican smuggling rings was run by an individual named Salim Boughader Mucharrafille. Boughader is identified only as an Arab. The ring worked primarily out of Tijuana, Mexico. Mexican authorities believed that the ring consisted of 14 individuals, seven of whom have been captured. The Mexican Foreign Ministry employee Imelda Ortiz allegedly worked with this gang while stationed with the Mexican Consulate in Lebanon. She is alleged to have provided a visa to Mexico for Al Afani Sghir, an alleged Shiâite extremist [3].
In late 2003, the second Mexican ring was run by a Pakistani National Ali Ganzafar Houssein. Ganzafarâs ring operated from the Mexican Southern states of Chiapas and Tabasco through Veracruz up to Matamoros, Tamaulipas on the border with Brownsville, Texas. Ganzafar is alleged to have had numerous connections to Central and South American human trafficking rings. In November 2003, he was arrested at the Mexico City International Airport attempting to board an aircraft for Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
In April 2005, the Honduran Director for Immigration Affairs was arrested for involvement in human trafficking. He worked with Chinese âmafiasâ to smuggle Chinese, Afghan, and Pakistani citizens into Honduras and then into the U.S. One of the most common routes for the illegal aliens was through Havana, Cuba where they would be provided with false documents such as Honduran or European passports [4].
In September 2005, Peruvian and U.S. authorities were able to smash a human smuggling ring which ran from Peru to the U.S. A Jordanian citizen was apprehended in Peru and three Iraqi-born U.S. citizens were arrested in Chicago. The Jordanian arrived in Peru from Amsterdam in June 2004. This ring allegedly specialized in smuggling Arab and Middle Easterners into the U.S.
The chart below compares the number of illegal immigrants detained in Mexico by the Instituto Nacional de Migración (INM - Mexican National Immigration Institute) in 2004 and 2005.
In 2004, the number of Ethiopians was not significant enough to be on the official statistical chart; yet in 2005, there were a total of 128. In addition, Eritreans are known to use Ethiopian passports. The number of Chinese detained in 2005 nearly doubled from 2004. The number of âall othersâ increased by more than 100. Statistics for the capture of illegal immigrants in other Central and South American countries are not available.
In May 2004, Said Ould Bah, representative of the Islamic Organization for Culture, Science, and Education in Honduras sponsored a meeting of Muslims from 24 Latin American nations. The original meeting was to have taken place in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. However, for reasons of âpressure in Hondurasâ from unidentified sources, the meeting was moved to Guatemala City and scheduled for late June 2004 [7].
In late June 2004, Omar Weston scheduled an international meeting with Islamic speakers from all over the world to include the UK, Pakistan, Panama, and the U.S. at the retreat on Lake Tequesquitengo. The meeting was originally scheduled for late June or early July 2004. The meeting was postponed until July 24 through August 8, 2004 [8].
According to Central American authorities, the transnational gang Mara Salvatrucha may have become involved with Islamic militants [9]. The Mexican train routes (both east and west) are the primary means for illegal immigrants to transit Mexico on their way to the U.S. Up to 99% of these are freight and not passenger trains. The Mara Salvatrucha are controlling the eastern Mexican train route Transportación Ferroviaria Mexicana (TFM - Mexican Rail Line Transportation) which runs from Chiapas to Tabasco through Veracruz to northern Mexico. Rumors are that they are also beginning to control the west coast train route Transportación MarÃtima Mexicana (TMM - Mexican Maritime Transport) [10]. Salvatrucha members extort sexual favors or money from the illegal immigrants in order to allow them to board the empty freight cars. If the âtaxesâ are not paid, the immigrant could be beaten, thrown off the train, or even killed [11]. In addition to their control of the train routes, Salvatrucha members are known to be working as protection for drug cartels as they smuggle their contraband into the U.S. [12].
A number of Arabs, Middle Easterners, and other Muslims are still using Central America and parts of South America as jumping off points. With the break-up of a number of human trafficking organizations specializing in Middle Easterners and Arabs, illegal immigrants (to include potential terrorists) have had to look for other avenues for entering the U.S. Two conceivable avenues of entry are: 1) the current Salafi network in Mexico which currently runs from the southernmost state of Chiapas to the northern Mexican border (many of the elements of this Islamic network are located at or near the train lines of the TMM and the TFM. These elements could provide any needed support to potential terrorists traveling via rail); and 2) The Mara Salvatrucha are a violent gang with no allegiance to any country or cause except their gang. As they control the rail lines through Mexico, terrorists wishing to use the trains as a way of entering the U.S. would have to do via the Mara Salvatrucha.
Of further interest was the postponement of the two international Islamic conferences. Both conferences took place in rather isolated areas and occurred approximately one month before the al-Qaeda operative Adnan El Shukrijumah was alleged to have been seen in the northern Mexican state of Sonora. Part of the Salafi network includes several Muslims in Hermosillo, Sonora, not far from the U.S. Border [13].
The number of illegal immigrants detained by Mexican authorities in 2005 decreased as compared to 2004. However, the number of South Americans, Ethiopians, Chinese, and âall othersâ increased significantly. This increase, in all probability, included a significant number of Arabs. South America, especially in the Tri-Border area, has a very large Arab/Muslim population. This combined with the recruitment efforts of the Jamaat Tabligh Movement in Argentina and the significant increase of Ethiopians and âall othersâ increases exponentially the possibility that terrorists are making their way from South and Central America through Mexico and into the U.S.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/24/2005 13:04 ||
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The Chechenpress website on November 15 posted what it said was the Russian-language translation of an interview given by Chechen rebel president Abdul-Khalim Sadulaev to the Chechen-language service of Radio Liberty. Sadulaev said the reason why rebel "mujahideen" had begun launching attacks in neighboring republics, and particularly Kabardino-Balkaria, was because "the Russians" had begun "terrorizing people" in those republics without any reason.
"They did not like the beards of the men and the Muslim appearance of the women, they did not like the mosques where people pray to God and they did not like the shops selling the Koran and Islamic literature, the Islamic schools where people studied Islam and also young people visiting Islamic-language sites on the Internet," Sadulaev said. "And so, last year in Ingushetia all the actions of the Russian authorities were aimed at destabilizing the situation in this republic where, as we know, a secret agent was placed at the head [Ingushetian President Murat Zyazikov is a former FSB general]. The terror against the population reached such a scale that we were forced to carry out a special operation there and to punish those who were torturing and murdering people. [This refers to the June 2004 raid on Ingushetia]
"The same thing happened in Dagestan, although they had their own combat groups there, and we created a Dagestani front and the mujahideen are controlling the situation there to a considerable degree," Sadulaev continued. "We managed to do the same in Adygea and [North] Ossetia, and the same sort of work is being carried out in Karachaevo-Cherkessia. But in Kabardino-Balkaria the brutality of the authorities against the people exceeded all limits and reached the point where in September the Russian media published a letter addressed to Putin signed by over 400 people in which they asked the Russian president to grant them freedom to worship, and if this was impossible, then allow them to resettle in any another state where it would be possible. The Russian authorities had the opportunity to understand then that this was a sign that the people's patience was exhausted and that they would no longer tolerate the brutality and injustice against them. But the authorities, who were constantly coming out with their slogans "Destroy!" and "Crush!" could not listen to and understand these people. And so our Caucasian Front carried out certain work thereâcarried it out successfully, punishing the butchers with death and seizing many weapons and ammunition as trophies." Sadulaev vowed that the Chechen resistance would continue to assist rebels in other republics and that "military installations" would continue to be "the target of our attacks."
Sadulaev also raised doubts about Shamil Basaev's responsibility for the October 2002 Nord-Ost and September 2004 Beslan hostage seizures, despite the rebel warlord's own claims of responsibility for those actions. "As we already know, structural changes have taken place in the government of the ChRI," Sadulaev told Radio Liberty. "Many questions have arisen in connection with the decree on the appointment of Shamil Basaev to the post of head of the military bloc, who is my naib [deputy] and head of the State Defense Committee of the Majlis ul-Shura of the ChRIâthis is, essentially, one and the same post. And Basaev is coping with his duties very well. As for the accusations against Basaev of organizing the events at Nord-Ost and in Beslan, it should be noted that this is not the outcome of an investigation by an independent international commission, but merely charges by the Russian press. And the fact that he does not deny his participation in these actions and refuses to identify with the lying leaders of the Russian government is not a bad thing. We have law and order in our country, and we can punish anyone who is guilty but, as we all know, a man is innocent until proven guilty. It should be noted that Shamil did not fire a single shot and did not kill a single person there, but all of this requires a thorough investigation. And if international organizations come to an agreement on a joint investigation into these matters, then our government will assist this in every way."
Sadulaev said the rebel government's priorities would remain "peacefulness" and "reconciliation (maslaat)." "We have always been prepared for reconciliation and have never rejected peace, but the enemy must know that we will respond to him with his same methods, and that we will not give up our gazavat [holy war] or the path leading to peace and freedom," he said. "And this is the main goal of everything we are doing both inside the country and beyond its borders."
Sadulaev specifically accused the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) of considering arguments only from the Russian side. "Russia, trying to escape responsibility and guilt for the lives of the 250,000 men, women and children killed by them in Chechnya, started to create bandit groups headed by [the late pro-Moscow Chechen president] Akhmad Kadyrov in order to divide the Chechens, to make them enemies of one another, which is called the âChechenization of the conflict.'" he said. "In that way the Russians are trying to present the situation in such a way that the war in Chechnya is ostensibly going on only between Chechens, and Chechens are killing one another, and Russia is only a peacemaker in this situation. And those organizations that in the past worried about us and tried to help us, it seems, has been led astray by the Russian side. We have been asked if we are prepared to sit down at a round table meeting in order to state our position and listen to the opposite side. Yes. We have always been prepared for negotiations, but we do not agree to participate in the kind of puppet show that Russia organizes. Our people, and now other peoples of the North Caucasus as well, are not fighting kadyrovtsy (they are merely agents of Russia), but are fighting Russia, which from the very beginning created this conflict and started the war, and which is still financing and continuing this war. We are prepared for a peaceful settlement of the conflict, but one in which the interests of our country are not infringed, just as we will not offer them conditions that will infringe upon their side."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/24/2005 13:21 ||
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Early in November, the Kavkazcenter website posted a short video film showing Chechen rebel president Abdul-Khalim Sadulaev visiting secret bases in the mountains to meet with rank-and-file guerrillas. One can see Sadulaev sitting and eating together with mujahideen and answering their questions. The most surprising aspect of the visit was that Sadulaev speaks with the militants in Russian, which means that the group of militants with whom he was speaking did not consist of Chechens alone. It is the first clear confirmation of information suggesting that an increasing number of non-Chechen fighters are joining the insurgency. In his speech on the video, Sadulaev Abdul-Khalim speaks not only about Chechnya but also about Dagestan. Sitting in the center, he has the commander of the Chechen Eastern Front on his left and Rappani Khalilov, the leader of the Dagestani insurgency, on his right. It can be inferred from Sadulaev's speech that, in addition to Chechens, his audience included Avars and Laks, two minority groups in multiethnic Dagestan.
Another interesting aspect of the film lies in its title: "Sheikh Abdul-Khalim Sadulaev visits bases in the south of Chechnya," with no mention of Sadulaev's title as the separatist Chechen government's president.
Almost simultaneously with the release of the film, a group of radical ChechensâMovladi Udugov, the rebel spokesman; Saad Minkhailov, a political scientist; and Usuf Ibragim, a journalistâheld an Internet session to discuss the future of Chechnya and the North Caucasus after "the expulsion of the occupiers." The main theme of their discussion was that it was useless now to talk only about independence. Kavkazcenter posted the exchange on November 7.
"The issue has already left the borders of Chechnya," said Usuf Ibragim. "One should understand that not only the problem of Chechnya, but the problem of the whole North Caucasus will have to be resolved. Our enemies speak for us, saying that we are talking about a territory from sea to sea. And we, too, recognize that it would not make sense to limit ourselves to 17,000 square kilometers [the area of Chechnya]." Ibragim added that it was not only the opinion of the separatists, but also of the Muslims of the North Caucasus, who "demonstrate their choice by organizing military jamaats."
Following Ibragim, Movladi Udugiv raised the issue of Abdul-Khalim's status. "Mujahideen of Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachaevo-Cherkessia had given an oath to Sheikh Abdul-Khalim. It is well known that Abdul-Khalim is the president of Ichkeria. In this case one can ask: if the Muslims of the Caucasian regions gave an oath to Sheikh Abdul-Khalim, does it mean that he is the Emir (the ruler) of these territories? If it is so, his power cannot be limited to the Chechen leadership."
Udugov's words explain why the session was organized: to prepare public opinion for declaring Sadulaev the leader of the Caucasus rather than of Chechnya alone.
It is likely that this is not simply Udugov's idea, but a new strategy of the Chechen separatists. In a statement posted by the separatist Chechenpress website on September 17, Sadulaev openly declared: "Russia will not only leave Chechnya, but also the Caucasus."
The rebels explain the legitimacy of Sadulaev's new status by Sharia Islamic law. "Sheikh Abdul-Khalim has become the most legitimate leader of Chechnya and of the North Caucasus since the time of Sheikh Mansur, Imam Shamil, and Sheik Uzun-Khadzhi [leaders of the anti-Russian rebellions in the Caucasus in the 18th and the 19th centuries]," Udugov declared. "The Muslims of the Caucasus have reconstructed the Sharia legitimacy of the Islamic state de-facto and de jure." According to the Islamic doctrine used by the rebels, Sadulaev's legitimacy as a Caucasian leader is based on his status as Sheikh, the highest religious position in the Muslim world, and all the Muslims of the region should obey him because he is directing a jihad against the enemies of Islam.
Clearly, the separatists no longer see any sense in claiming that they have spread the war beyond Chechnya in order to force the Kremlin to negotiate with them about the status of the republic. Even if they wanted to do so, their allies in other Caucasian regions would not let them do this. In Shamil Basaev's letter to Vladimir Putin, which was handed over to the Russian authorities by the terrorist group that had seized the school in Beslan, the Chechen warlord offered to stop the rebels' armed struggle in the republics of the North Caucasus in exchange of for recognition of Chechen independence. The commanders of the non-Chechen rebel groups were furious at Basaev' proposal. They did not like the idea that the Chechens just wanted to use them to achieve their personal goals. Clearly, the insurgency in Kabardino-Balkaria or Dagestan will not just give up after the end of the Chechen war.
At the same time, the Chechen rebels do not want to look like imperialists who fight to control new territories and impose their leadership on neighboring nations. They want the situation to look as if the spread of the war was provoked by Russian policy in the Caucasus. "Today the nations of Russia are awake," Sadulaev declared in a statement posted by Chechenpress on November 11. "Having no other methods to fight Russian policy, the uprising groups have become comrades-in-arms of the Chechen fighters." However, the rebel leader did not hide the leading role of the Chechen resistance by saying that the Chechen militants will help the insurgents in other regions of Russia by all means. We can see now that this assistance is not confined to the military sphere, but goes wider, with Sadulaev becoming the political leader of the North Caucasian anti-Russian resistance.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/24/2005 13:18 ||
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#1
Yea, push and poke the drowsy bear. Let's see what comes out of it.
The US government is poised to propose rules that could restrict the ability of Chinese and other foreign nationals to engage in high-level research in the country, a plan that is generating fierce opposition from companies and universities.
The move comes amid growing fears in the US that its relatively open rules allowing foreign nationals to work with sensitive technologies leave the country open to espionage.
Law enforcement and intelligence officials fear China in particular could be using some of its more than 150,000 students in the US to spy on behalf of Beijing.
In a few weeks, the commerce department is expected to respond to a report by its inspector-general, which warned of the espionage risks last year. The inspector-generalâs proposal called for an expansion of the rules that restrict the sharing of advanced technologies with foreign nationals.
Under existing law, companies or universities are required to seek a government export licence if they allow citizens from controlled countries, most prominently China, to engage in research involving technologies with potential military uses.
But licences are not required if a Chinese national becomes a citizen or a permanent resident in another country â such as Canada or the UK â which is not subject to stringent US export controls.
There are particular concerns about the tens of thousands of Chinese who have taken out citizenship in countries that exchange technology freely with the US... About damn time. For years, Chinese who already hold advanced degrees have been coming to the US and taking the same or lesser degree here to get into a school's research graduate program. Many of these high tech programs have become "fully Chinese", and no longer allow in non-Chinese graduate students. From there, they have access to tons of proprietary and classified documents, much of which is pipelined to China. And unlike other foreign students, only a small percentage of them remain in the US, unless they get work in some highly sensitive technology in a university, a corporation, or the US government.
#1
Excellent! Someone, Bush of course, taking the threat seriously. I'll bet ol' Dollar Bill is beside himself. Expect some sort of drivel speech. The outcry is wonderful, IMHO - especially that portion emanating from the Universities who would sell your grandmother, and theirs, for a buck.
Should this be applied to certain Olde Europeans, Russians, etc. as well?
A former top intelligence official killed himself just days after being questioned about his involvement in a South Korean wiretapping scandal, police said yesterday. Lee Soo-il, 63, who worked as deputy chief of the National Intelligence Service from 2001 to 2003, was found hanging Hara-Kiri is soooo Japanese these days on Sunday evening at his home in Gwangju -- about 330km south of Seoul -- said Chung Yong-min, an officer at the Gwangju Seobu police station. Heâs dead, Kim.
An autopsy on Lee's body showed the only cause of death was suffocation, Chung said. Really...no bullet or stab woundsâŠhonest
His death comes less than a week after two former chiefs of the country's state intelligence agency were arrested and charged with overseeing the illegal wiretapping of cellphone conversations of about 1,800 of South Korea's political, corporate and media elite. Lim Dong-won, 71, and Shin Gunn, 64, headed the agency successively between December 1999 and April 2003 under former president Kim Dae-jung. They have denied the charges. We did no such thing!
Police declined to comment on why Lee might have taken his own life and no suicide note was found. We can say no more.
But local media speculated that his death could be linked to his involvement in the scandal. DamnâŠYa really think so?
Prosecutors questioned Lee on three occasions, most recently on Nov. 11. Newspapers have reported that Lee's remarks to investigators helped prompt the ex-chiefs' arrests and that he had been tormented by psychological distress ever since. Pretty much sets the stage for a suicide Iâd say.
Former president Kim -- a Nobel Peace Prize laureate -- has protested the arrests as "unreasonable." His spokesman, Choi Kyung-hwan, has claimed their arrests were politically motivated.
North Korea also denounced the arrests yesterday, calling the move a US-instigated attempt by the South's political opposition to "bury key figures" who contributed to inter-Korean rapprochement.
In a statement carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, the North's Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland Cool name but it doesnât fit on a bumper-sticker condemned the South's conservative opposition Grand National Party for the arrests, claiming they were politically motivated and aimed at the "suppression of progressive and reformist forces."
The former spy chief Lim had been a leading proponent of reconciliation with North Korea under Kim's "sunshine policy" of engaging the communist state. Pay no attention to that nuclear weapons program.
These efforts earned him the nickname as the "preacher" of the sunshine policy. The Preacher preaches no mo.
France is viewed as a target by a number of terrorist organisations, with several groups known to be planning attacks against the country, France's head of domestic intelligence warned on Wednesday.
The terrorism threat in France is "unfortunately a real concern," Pierre de Bousquet de Florian, the director of the DST domestic intelligence agency, told RTL radio, as France's parliament prepared to examine a new anti-terrorism law.
He said this was "because a certain number of organisations have singled us out as an enemy, and also because our own investigations reveal day after day that networks already in place are working to set up terrorist projects hostile to our
country."
Part of the current threat could be traced to Iraq, Florian said, warning that the conflict was acting as a "magnet for would-be holy warriors" from other countries, including France, to create a new generation of Islamic extremists.
"For the past two years, at a fairly regular pace, we have seen young French nationals and French residents leaving for Iraq," Florian said, adding that his services had identified 22 such youths so far.
"When they return, if they return, they are experienced and determined enough to represent a threat on our territory. We do not want France to become a land of jihad," he said.
Florian said the French intelligence services were aware of, and were monitoring some of the channels used to recruit young Islamic warriors in France and tried to prevent youths from leaving for Iraq whenever possible.
Florian ruled out any involvement by Islamic extremists in the recent wave of rioting in high-immigration French suburbs, saying that although some extremists were thought to have supported the rioters, "it is not their fight".
France's parliament was on Wednesday to start debating a new anti-terrorism law, inspired in part by British police's success in identifying the London suicide bombers using video-surveillance footage.
The new legislation, drawn up following the July bombings in London and approved by the French cabinet last month, aims to give the authorities greater access to modern technological tools in investigating terrorism cases.
The law's most visible outcome is likely to be a big increase in the number of video cameras installed in public places in France, which currently has only some 60,000 cameras compared to four million in Britain.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/24/2005 00:33 ||
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#1
France - the Cindy Sheehan of countries : "It's all about meeeee"
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/24/2005 1:09 Comments ||
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#2
The terrorism threat in France is "unfortunately a real concern,"
Yup. Despite @ss-kissing at an Olympic medal winning level, the French must reconcile themselves to being waxed by a bunch of ungrateful Islamofacist nutjobs.
Florian ruled out any involvement by Islamic extremists in the recent wave of rioting in high-immigration French suburbs, saying that although some extremists were thought to have supported the rioters, "it is not their fight".
"Our blindness transcends that of bats and cavefish with unparalleled European expertise!"
The law's most visible outcome is likely to be a big increase in the number of video cameras installed in public places in France, which currently has only some 60,000 cameras compared to four million in Britain.
Ah, yes. Slap another CCD on a sucking chest wound. Post facto enforcement is worth all of jack sh!t.
#3
Frog Florian takes the charge of responsibility down another notch:
Part of the current threat could be traced to Iraq, Florian said, warning that the conflict was acting as a "magnet for would-be holy warriors" from other countries, including France, to create a new generation of Islamic extremists.
Part of the current threat could be traced to Iraq, Florian said, warning that the conflict was acting as a "magnet for would-be holy warriors" from other countries, including France, to create a new generation of Islamic extremists.
"For the past two years, at a fairly regular pace, we have seen young French nationals and French residents leaving for Iraq," Florian said, adding that his services had identified 22 such youths so far.
"When they return, if they return, they are experienced and determined enough to represent a threat on our territory. We do not want France to become a land of jihad," he said.
Florian said the French intelligence services were aware of, and were monitoring some of the channels used to recruit young Islamic warriors in France and tried to prevent youths from leaving for Iraq whenever possible.
yyeeeaaahhrrriiiggghhhttt its a Bush fault thingy.
they're still burning cars every nite and the no go zones are still operational.
LOL, the French have got to do better than Jacques-strap and Frog Florian types to even have a have a chance.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
11/24/2005 2:22 Comments ||
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#4
But, but, sacre bleu! Zey opposed ze war een Eeraq!!
See guys? Appeasement didn't get you a damned thing, did it?
#5
See guys? Appeasement didn't get you a damned thing, did it?
The hell it didn't! Why, they've got thousands of Car-B-Ques⢠to show for it. Citroen Schwarma, Roast Renault, Parbaked Pugeot, take your pick! It's all good.
#6
What I understand is that l'Ami de Florian knows the channel used to recruit islamic terrorists, knows when they leave for Irak, knows when (if) they come back and ... what?
#8
France is viewed as a target by a number of terrorist organisations, with several groups known to be planning attacks against the country, France's head of domestic intelligence warned on Wednesday.
#11
Speaking of Corsica :
There wasn't a single torched car in Corsica - there never was, there never is, despite the high muslim pop... there are LOTS of (minor) booms (about 100-150 for this year, compared to 600 a year in the late 90's, I kid you not), and some of theses bombings are directed against north-african estates, as a reminder of what a vendetta, in true corsican style (traditional pre 20th century vendetta meant a deatholl among young males higher than during WWI, theses guys were quite serious about it), could be if they behaved the same way they do on continental France...
The fact that a whole lot of corsicans are packing not only handguns and shotguns, but sometimes smgs and assault rifles also certainly help to keep the situation very, very quiet...
The Basque french country has been quiet too, for about the same reason, lol. Dialog works!
Angela Merkel reached out Wednesday to the United States in her first foreign trip as German chancellor, saying it was time to heal the trans-Atlantic rift caused by Germany's opposition to the U.S.-led war in Iraq. After meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Merkel praised the alliance's role in solving world problems and spoke of closer relations with the Bush administration. "I believe the ties between the United States and Germany can be developed further," she said.
However, she also said she would not allow Germans to train Iraqi troops inside Iraq, sticking with the policy of her predecessor, Gerhard Schroeder, who was a strong foe of the war. She said Germany would still provide such training in other countries in the Middle East.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/24/2005 00:00 ||
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Yes her first foreign trip a Chancellor, to France, to kiss Chirac's ass.
Sorry Angela, you must do better than that. We still remember how Gerd could have kept his mouth shut but went out of his way to make trouble for this nation. Nice try.
France's interior minister presented a tough anti-terrorism bill to lawmakers on Wednesday as he warned of the threat of attack by globalized terrorists who exploit Islam in an "odious and injurious way."
"I tell you with gravity: The ingredients of the threat exist; scenarios of violent action on our soil are real," Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said. Sarkozy has led efforts to strengthen France's laws against terrorism in response to the deadly July bombings in London. He and other top officials have countered speculation that Paris' opposition to the U.S.-led Iraq invasion might make it less of a prospective target for Islamic extremists.
The bill would allow mosques and department stores to install surveillance cameras and stiffen prison terms for terrorists and those providing support. It would also strengthen controls on movements of certain people and on their telephone and electronic exchanges and enable police to monitor citizens who travel to countries known to harbor terror training camps. Sarkozy sought to assure lawmakers the bill would not trample on civil liberties as some groups fear. Critics have even suggested the measures would turn France into a police state — a claim Sarkozy has dismissed as a "habitual argument."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/24/2005 00:00 ||
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"...and we have better hair!"
Posted by: John Kerry ||
11/24/2005 10:07 Comments ||
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STRASBOURG - The Council of Europe said on Wednesday it was opening a probe into reports that the US spy agency CIA used European airports to transit suspected terrorists held secretly outside US territory.
The pan-European body said it was opening âa formal inquiry into recent reports suggesting that terrorist suspects may have been secretly detained in or transported through a number of ... member states with the possible involvement of foreign agenciesâ. The Councilâs members have until February 21 next year to provide information to the inquiry, it said in a written statement.
The inquiry will look at governmentsâ compliance with European human rights law and whether officials had been involved in âunacknowledgedâ detentions or transport of detainees, including âat the instigation of any foreign agencyâ, the statement said.
If our CIA is really any good at all, no one in Europe should know a thing.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/24/2005 00:00 ||
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Every time I think CNN has hit a new low, they come up with another bigoted stunt. What next? CNN headquarters is moving to Berkley?
Posted by: 49 pan ||
11/24/2005 9:50 Comments ||
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The guy on the tape sounded like a politicized college student working the phones who had no idea about (a) what happened with the 'x' (b) how companies and the media work (c) how to keep his job.
He'd probably worked the phones for Moveon.org and CNN never put him through any kind of customer training. I suspect whatever company provides the phone screeners for CNN will be dumped over the public embarassment this has caused. I don't know if the x was intentional (I think that's likely) but attempts at damage control were totally blown by this phone clown.
#5
I bet it won;t be long before they show the President speaking and they use the title "President and Accused War Criminal" and call that freedom of speech. But then they consider themselves in the mainstream. I like to consider them a very small tributary that often poisons the mainstream.
The Bush administration decided to charge Jose Padilla with less serious crimes because it was unwilling to allow testimony from two senior members of Al Qaeda who had been subjected to harsh questioning, current and former government officials said Wednesday.
The two senior members were the main sources linking Mr. Padilla to a plot to bomb targets in the United States, the officials said.
The Qaeda members were Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, believed to be the mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and Abu Zubaydah, a top recruiter, who gave their accounts to American questioners in 2002 and 2003. The two continue to be held in secret prisons by the Central Intelligence Agency, whose internal reviews have raised questions about their treatment and credibility, the officials said.
One review, completed in spring 2004 by the C.I.A. inspector general, found that Mr. Mohammed had been subjected to excessive use of a technique involving near drowning in the first months after his capture, American intelligence officials said.
Another review, completed in April 2003 by American intelligence agencies shortly after Mr. Mohammed's capture, assessed the quality of his information from initial questioning as "Precious Truths, Surrounded by a Bodyguard of Lies."
Accusations about plots to set off a "dirty bomb" and use natural gas lines to bomb American apartment buildings had featured prominently in past administration statements about Mr. Padilla, an American who had been held in military custody for more than three years after his arrest in May 2002.
But they were not mentioned in his criminal indictment on lesser charges of support to terrorism that were made public on Tuesday. The decision not to charge him criminally in connection with the more far-ranging bomb plots was prompted by the conclusion that Mr. Mohammed and Mr. Zubaydah could almost certainly not be used as witnesses, because that could expose classified information and could open up charges from defense lawyers that their earlier statements were a result of torture, officials said.
Without that testimony, officials said, it would be nearly impossible for the United States to prove the charges. Moreover, part of the bombing accusations hinged on incriminating statements that officials say Mr. Padilla made after he was in military custody - and had been denied access to a lawyer.
"There's no way you could use what he said in military custody against him," a former senior government official said.
The officials spoke a day after Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales repeatedly refused at to address questions a news conference about why the government had not brought criminal charges related to the most serious accusations. The officials, from several agencies, sought to emphasize that the government was not backing off its initial assertions about the seriousness of Mr. Padilla's actions.
The officials were granted anonymity, saying to be identified by name would subject them to reprisals for addressing questions that Mr. Gonzales had declined to answer.
In an interview on Wednesday, a British lawyer for another man accused by the United States of working as Mr. Padilla's accomplice in the bomb plot also accused American officials of working to extract a confession. The lawyer said the United States had transferred the man to Morocco from Pakistan, where he was captured in 2002, in an effort to have him to sign a confession implicating himself and Mr. Padilla.
"They took him to Morocco to be tortured," said Clive A. Stafford Smith, the lawyer for the suspect, Binyan Mohammed. "He signed a confession saying whatever they wanted to hear, which is that he worked with Jose Padilla to do the dirty bomb plot. He says that's absolute nonsense, and he doesn't know Jose Padilla."
Officials said the administration had weighed the lesser criminal charges against Mr. Padilla for months before its announcement as a way of extricating itself from the politically, and possibly legally, difficult position of imprisoning an American as an enemy combatant.
Mr. Padilla was an unindicted co-conspirator in a case last year in Miami in which several men were charged with operating a "North American support cell" to support jihad causes overseas, the case in which Mr. Padilla has been ultimately charged.
Officials said they had considered bringing criminal charges against Mr. Padilla in the case and releasing him from military custody as early as last spring, after intercepted communications pointed to his role in the cell. But officials faced time pressures in bringing the criminal case, and when the Florida judge delayed proceedings against the men already charged, the administration decided to hold off charging Mr. Padilla.
The bigger factor driving the decision on whether to continue holding Mr. Padilla as an enemy combatant was the question of how federal appeals courts would rule on whether President Bush had the authority to hold him and Americans like him as enemy combatants without charges.
Mr. Padilla's case has languished in the federal appeals system for years, in part because of jurisdictional questions. In September, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, in a strong affirmation of the administration position, said Mr. Padilla was being held legally. With that precedent in hand, administration officials said they believed it was not worth the risk of having the Supreme Court overturn the lower court.
"If we'd lost the Fourth Circuit," the former senior official said, "we would not have let Padilla go criminally. We would have insisted on going to the Supreme Court" to affirm the right to hold combatants.
It was Mr. Zubaydah, who was captured in March 2002, who provided his questioners with the information about a plan to use a radiological weapon often called a "dirty bomb" that led to Mr. Padilla's arrest in Chicago less than two months later, the officials said.
It was Mr. Mohammed, who was captured in March 2003, who linked Mr. Padilla to a plot to use natural gas lines to bomb American apartment buildings, the officials said.
In the interviews on Wednesday, American officials from several agencies said they still regarded those accusations as serious, particularly the one described by Mr. Mohammed. Officials said they were deeply concerned about reports that Mr. Padilla, trained by a Qaeda bomb maker who is at large, might seek to rig an explosive to the natural gas system of an apartment building in New York, officials said.
They said any effort to introduce testimony by Mr. Mohammed and Mr. Zubaydah against Mr. Padilla could have opened the way for defense lawyers to expose details about their detention and interrogation in secret jails that the Central Intelligence Agency has worked hard to keep out of public light.
The fact that the evidence against Mr. Padilla in connection with the bombing plot depended so directly on prisoners from Al Qaeda meant that the obstacles to bring charges against him were even higher than those that prosecutors have confronted in their case against Zacarias Moussaoui, who has pleaded guilty to his role in the Sept. 11 hijackings.
Where prosecutors were able to bypass allowing Mr. Moussaoui to confront his accusers directly, the evidence that Mr. Zubaydah and Mr. Mohammed could potentially have brought against Mr. Padilla was widely seen as far more central to the bombing case against him, and prosecutors apparently thought that it would be nearly impossible to bring a criminal case based on that evidence as a result.
The C.I.A. has not acknowledged that it holds Mr. Mohammed and Mr. Zubaydah, and the locations of their prisons remain unknown. The two were identified in the report completed in 2004 by the Sept. 11 commission as being among a small group of so-called high-value terror suspects held at undisclosed sites overseas. The C.I.A. has in custody two dozen to three dozen such prisoners, and more than 100 others have been transferred by the agency from one foreign country to another, a process called rendition, officials have said.
The United States has never publicly identified Mr. Mohammed and Mr. Zubaydah as having provided the critical information against Mr. Padilla. A seven-page statement that the Justice Department declassified in June 2004 identified the two main witnesses only as "senior Al Qaeda detainee No. 1" and "senior Al Qaeda detainee No. 2."
But the statement provided detailed information about the interactions of Mr. Zubaydah and Mr. Mohammed with Mr. Padilla in Pakistan and Afghanistan after Sept. 11, and the current and former officials said the unnamed detainees were in fact those two senior Qaeda officials.
The fact that the C.I.A. inspector general's report criticized as excessive the use of interrogation techniques on Mr. Mohammed had not previously been disclosed. A spokesman for the C.I.A. declined on Wednesday to comment on any inspector general's report describing him.
A senior American official said, "There has been no reason to doubt that the accusations against Padilla in relation to the bombing plot were genuine."
The official said the administration had determined that concerns about subjecting Mr. Mohammed and Mr. Zubaydah to cross-examination by defense lawyers would be insurmountable.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/24/2005 00:08 ||
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Jose Padilla, whose newly unsealed indictment on conspiracy charges signals a marked change in the Bush administration's legal approach to dealing with terrorism suspects, is mentioned only sparingly in the government's account.
The indictment, announced Tuesday by the Justice Department, portrays Mr. Padilla as a distinctly minor though thoroughly willing player in a scheme run by others to support radical Islamic fighters in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya and elsewhere.
The four other defendants charged in the 30-page indictment are pictured as active conspirators setting up bogus charities and businesses to raise money to support those combatants. Mr. Padilla, a 34-year-old former Chicago gang member, is accused of being a kind of courier for the four others, someone eager to play a role somewhere on the battlefront.
The other defendants were indicted on the same charges last year, attracting only modest attention, apparently because there was no indication then that the case involved Mr. Padilla.
He, on the other hand, had by that time become widely known, an American citizen arrested in Chicago in 2002 after arriving on a flight from overseas and detained since then at a Navy brig in South Carolina as an unlawful enemy combatant. In the earlier indictment, a person who turned out to be Mr. Padilla was identified only as an unnamed co-conspirator.
The government charges that three of the defendants - one based in Canada, another in California and a third in Florida - were the principal figures in the money-raising effort. Much of the indictment is based on what it describes as taped conversations among those three and a fourth defendant.
Although the indictment does not say so, officials confirm that the conversations are from wiretaps authorized by a special court that reviews law enforcement applications to eavesdrop on foreigners suspected of intelligence activities.
In the indictment's recounting of the conversations, the principals converse in what officials describe as code, referring to arms shipments and attack plans as sporting events or, on some occasions, as vegetables.
But any such efforts to conceal the nature of the subjects discussed were seemingly clumsy. In one conversation, for instance, Adham Amin Hassoun talks with another defendant, Mohamed Hesham Youssef, about soccer equipment. The indictment says that Mr. Hassoun later told investigators he had indeed been referring to sports equipment, but that he was unable to explain why he had then asked Mr. Youssef if he had enough "soccer equipment" to "launch an attack on the enemy."
In other talks, reminiscent of tape recordings of organized crime figures, the defendants appear to use a code involving vegetables, the indictment says. They sometimes talk about zucchini and "green goods," which the government has suggested could mean weapons.
Mr. Padilla's role, however, appears limited. Among the overt acts that the government says demonstrate his participation in the conspiracy is his 1996 application for a passport. The other defendants are overheard in the apparent wiretaps saying Mr. Padilla would be getting money, had traveled to Egypt and Afghanistan and had considered visiting Yemen. He also "filled out a 'mujahideen data form' in preparation for violent jihad training in Afghanistan," the indictment charges.
Lawrence Barcella, a former federal prosecutor, said some overt acts cited in a conspiracy indictment might often seem innocuous, as in the case of applying for a passport.
"There's nothing illegal in applying for a passport, but it's the prosecutor's burden to show that an overt act like that had some connection to the conspiracy," Mr. Barcella said.
"A conspiracy is an agreement to commit a crime," he said, "and an overt act can be a relatively benign event that shows agreement to further that conspiracy."
Mr. Padilla is charged with two counts of conspiracy: to further murder and kidnapping outside the United States and to provide material aid to terrorists. He is also charged with directly providing material aid to terrorists.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/24/2005 00:22 ||
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There is no small treason during time of war. Its like being a little pregnant. Either you are or you are not.
Jose Padilla was recruited into an Islamic terrorist support cell that sought money and fighters for violent struggles abroad, the government says in its indictment. However, over nine years the group raised less than $100,000 and recruited just a handful of people, including Padilla, according to federal prosecutors.
Held as a suspect in a "dirty bomb" plot for more than three years without charges, Padilla at one point in 2000 apparently was headed to Chechnya, where rebels in the mostly Muslim region have been fighting the Russian government, the prosecutors say. Padilla was one of at least two American converts to Islam who agreed to fight overseas, they say.
Those details come from an FBI agent's affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint against two other men who have been charged in the same indictment: Kassem Daher, a Lebanese who has lived in Canada, and Kifah Wael Jayyousi, a Jordanian and U.S. citizen who was a former public school official in Detroit and Washington.
Five people in all have been charged in the alleged conspiracy to kill, kidnap and injure people abroad and provide material support to terrorists. The others purportedly in the cell are Adham Amin Hassoun, a Lebanese-born Palestinian who lived in Broward County, Fla., and Mohammed Hesham Youssef, an Egyptian who also lived in Broward County.
Hassoun and Jayyousi have denied the charges. Daher is believed to be in Lebanon and Youssef is in an Egyptian prison for an unrelated terrorism conviction.
The indictment was unsealed Tuesday in Miami and makes no reference to any specific terrorist act or killing.
Top Justice Department officials have publicly described Padilla as an al-Qaeda-trained terrorist who plotted terror attacks in the United States. He remained in a Navy brig in South Carolina on Wednesday, awaiting transfer to Justice Department custody and a trip to a federal jail in Miami.
But the alleged plots and al-Qaeda ties are not part of the indictment. In fact, despite the description of the group as a North American support cell, its achievements were rather modest, according to the government.
Hassoun, who worked as a computer programmer, wrote checks totaling $53,000 between 1994 and May 2002 to charities and individuals with ties to terrorism, the indictment says. While the indictment gives no precise figure, it mentions promises and discussions of another $20,000.
The term "cell" wasn't used in earlier versions of the indictment, including one returned in April that is identical in its charges and scope but identifies Padilla and Daher only as unidentified coconspirators.
The inclusion of the word "cell" in the latest indictment is inflammatory and inaccurate, Hassoun's lawyers said in interviews Wednesday.
"All of a sudden this word has surfaced to try to describe the appearance of some subversive terrorist activities. It certainly is not factually based," said Ken Swartz, one of the lawyers representing Hassoun.
The money raised was sent to Muslim charities doing humanitarian work in war-torn regions with significant Muslim populations, including Bosnia, Chechnya and Kosovo, Swartz said.
Some of those organizations, including the Global Relief Foundation, have since been designated by the government as terrorism financiers.
Hassoun and Jayyousi each recruited at least two people, according to the affidavit by FBI Special Agent John T. Kavanaugh Jr.
Padilla was recruited by Hassoun and trained at a camp in Afghanistan "in preparation for fighting in Chechnya," Kavanaugh said, calling Padilla by one of his aliases, Ibrahim. Prosecutors have previously said Padilla attended an al-Qaeda camp but the only mention of al-Qaeda in the indictment is as part of a list of violent groups.
Another Hassoun recruit, who is not named, also was preparing to fight in Chechnya, he said.
One of Jayyousi's recruits delivered satellite phones to Chechen commanders and the other, like Padilla an American convert to Islam, fought in Bosnia and Chechnya, Kavanaugh said.
In the mid-1990s, Jayyousi was the publisher of Islam Report, an electronic newsletter that said supporting jihad is a religious obligation and appealed for donations for mujahedeen, or Muslim "freedom fighters," in several countries and legal costs for blind sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman. He was on trial for plotting to blow up New York landmarks, for which he is now serving a life prison sentence.
The indictment describes the men as followers and supporters of Abdel-Rahman, who also conspired to assassinate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
The indictment also links the men to Mohamed Zaky, who prosecutors say created three Islamic organizations â the Islamic Center of the Americas, Save Bosnia Now and the American Worldwide Relief Organization â to "promote violent jihad." Zaky was killed in fighting against Russian troops in Chechnya in 1995.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/24/2005 00:14 ||
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Washington and its European allies, in a diplomatic coup, are gradually enlisting Chinese support on how to deal with Iran and its suspicious nuclear activities, U.S. and European officials said Wednesday. Beijing's backing before a key meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency on Thursday adds additional clout to an ambitious international Iran strategy that has recently seen Russia join the Americans and Europeans in pressuring Iran to give up technology that could make nuclear arms.
For months, Iran has relied on Beijing and Moscow to fend off a U.S.-backed push to have it hauled before the UN Security Council. While the Americans and Europeans have opted not to lobby for referral at the meeting of the 35-country IAEA board, they could resume their efforts at a later session if they judge that the Russians, Chinese and other key countries will not stand in their way.
A European official told The Associated Press that "the Chinese are very, very constructive and on board with the (U.S.)-European position," engaging Iran on giving up uranium enrichment, while indirectly keeping the possibility of Security Council action alive. A U.S. official suggested the Americans had started sharing intelligence on Iran's nuclear program with Beijing. While still opposed to Security Council referral, the Chinese were "moving closer to the European and U.S. position," he said.
Currently, Iran's enrichment program is frozen. But negotiations between Iran and France, Britain and Germany - the so-called "EU-3" - broke off in August after Iran restarted a linked activity: the conversion of raw uranium into the gas that is used as the feed stock in enrichment.
While the Americans and Europeans publicly insist they want a negotiated solution with Iran on enrichment, they have acknowledged in background conversations that they would expect additional support from countries now opposed to Security Council referral if Tehran continues to dig in its heels. Looking ahead to Thursday's board meeting, diplomats in Vienna said the European Union would likely directly mention the threat of referral in a statement listing recent IAEA findings that have added to concerns about Tehran's nuclear ambitions, and urging Iran to end foot-dragging that has hampered IAEA inspectors. A European diplomat described the language of the text as "hard" and said that as of late Wednesday there was still disagreement among the "EU-3" over whether to include the offer of new talks in the statement.
Among new revelations of concern contained in a report drawn up for the board meeting by IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei is a finding showing the Iranians in possession of what appeared to be drawings of the core of an atomic warhead.
Russia, Iran's key partner in building Tehran's first nuclear power plant, and China, a longtime trading partner and political backer, have considerable clout with Tehran. As veto-wielding members of the Security Council, they are also crucial players if Iran is referred to the UN's highest decision-making body for possible sanctions.
Yeah, can't wait till the Chinese start to get excited not over their assistance, technical and diplomatic, supporting North Korean and Iranian nuke development, but when the Japanese decide to join the club too. Considering the Americans are sharing their ABM technology with Tokyo, they should be concerned.
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is attaining legendary status. Glorified by militant Salafists and jihadists the world over as an invincible warrior and vilified by Western governments as the most dangerous terrorist on the planet, Zarqawi currently occupies commanding heights among jihadi networks. While the Zarqawi phenomenon is largely a product of the invasion and occupation of Iraq, his disproportionate influence on the Iraqi insurgency is detrimental to the long-term interests of the Iraqi nationalist âresistance.â
The Zarqawi network in its latest incarnation, namely the âQaedat al-Jihad fi Bilad ar-Rafidainâ (al-Qaeda in the Land of the Two Rivers) is often assumed to be the core component of the Iraqi insurgency. This erroneous assessment is largely due to the organizationâs carefully calibrated operations that are marked by suicide bombings (against hard and soft targets alike) that claim many victims and indiscriminately target civilians, high-profile kidnappings and the slaughtering of members of the new Iraqi security forces and any elements that are connected to the coalition presence in Iraq.
This article attempts to understand the Zarqawi networkâs size in relation to the overall Iraqi resistance by analyzing the movementâs military operationsâits strategies and tactics and linking these to the organizationâs literature and Zarqawiâs speechesâin order to shed new light on the motives and goals of Salafi-jihadists in Iraq.
Being a Salafi-jihadist movement, al-Qaeda in the Land of the Two Rivers considers its struggle in Iraq as a cosmic conflict between âgood and evil.â Their strategic vision includes the creation of a safe haven for al-Qaedaâs operations in the region and beyond, which indicates that they have much more than political objectives in Iraq.
According to Zarqawi: âWe do not fight for a fistful of dust or illusory boundaries drawn by âSikes-Picotâ. We are not fighting so that a Western evil would replace an Arab evil. Ours is a higher and more sublime fight. We are fighting so that Allahâs word becomes supreme and religion is all for Allah. Anyone who opposes this goal or stands in the way of this aim is our enemy and will be a target for our swords, regardless of their name or lineage ⊠a Muslim American is our dear brother: an infidel Arab is our hated enemy, even if we both come from the same wombâ [1]. He also says, âWe have revived the jurisprudence of our good ancestors in fighting heretics and enforcing Allahâs law on them. Jihad will be continuous, and will not distinguish between Western infidels or heretic Arabs until the rule of caliphate is restored or we die in the process.â
In order to develop a better understanding of al-Zarqawi's "enemies" and his organizationâs military strategies, this article makes use of reliable information from different sources on the experience of two years of American occupation of Iraq (April 10, 2003 â April 10, 2005) [2]. There are eight types of tactics used by the Iraqi resistance: general attacks, arson attacks, bombings, shootings, suicide attacks, car bombs, assassinations and abductions [3].
Table 1 and Chart 1 (see below) provide several indications: Zarqawi and his faction constitute only 14% of the total Iraqi resistance, which clearly indicates that the networkâs size is limited and the international media is largely responsible for exaggerating their role. In addition, Zarqawiâs tactics are dramatic as his faction routinely resorts to suicide attacks. Suicide bombings by the Zarqawi network, which make up 42.2% total suicide attacks in Iraq, have many advantages, the most important of which are low cost, lack of need for escape plans and media coverage. The percentage of suicide attacks perpetrated by Zarqawiâs faction to the overall number of victims of other operations is 70% dead and 83.7% injured (see table 2). The high rate of victims apparently proves the effectiveness of the terrorist act (table 2 indicates that civilian victims of this tactic are as high as 80%) and achieves a large media coverage.
There are two main indicators that illustrate the real objectives of Salafi-jihadists in Iraq: namely identifying the targets of the attacks, and the movementâs literature, which reveals its vision for Iraq and the broader region in light of the American occupation. Each factor supports the other analytically.
49% of Zarqawiâs targets are military (see chart 2). In addition, 76.2% of the overall military targets were Iraqi and only 23.8% were American. On the other hand, political targets (including national political figures, local officials, political offices such as embassies and UN facilities) come second to military ones (36.2%), followed by economic targets (collaborators and companies)â14.1%, and finally ethno-religious targetsâ0.6%.
Such quantitative data reveal that the âinternal agendaâ is of great significance to the network. Naturally, the âoriginal enemy,â according to Salafi-jihadists, is the United States; however, attacking internal targets (Iraqi security forces, Iraqi politicians, collaborators, etc.) is also of great importance, as indicated by the growing number of civilian victims.
Zarqawi believes that by establishing an Iraqi government and training Iraqi police, the Americans are aiming to âkeep themselves from being killedâ and indirectly âoccupying the nation and robbing its richesâ [4]. In his letter, which was leaked by the American forces and published by the London-based Hayat newspaper, Zarqawi asserts that the âenemiesâ are the American forces and the Allianceâthe Shiâite (whom they call the Rafida, or renegades)âand the Kurds, who are represented by Talabani and Barazani. In that letter, Zarqawi calls for targeting the Shiâites âbecause they have put on the military uniforms,â a direct reference to the domination of the new Iraqi security forces by the religious Shiites. Zarqawi sees the Shiites as a graver danger than the Americans and believes that this threat can most effectively galvanize Iraqâs embattled Arab Sunni community against the new Iraq [5].
Establishing a safe haven for al-Qaeda depends on foiling the American plan that aims, according to Salafi-jihadists, to plant âpuppetsâ in the new Iraqi government. As a result, the Zarqawi network has identified a range of targets that consist mostly of collaborators and companies (transport and contractors), which contrasts sharply with the targets of the nationalist Iraqi âresistanceâ that focus on oil facilities and the broader economic infrastructure that aim to show that the American project in Iraq is failing [6]. The divergence in tactics is rooted in wholly divergent strategic objectives. The nationalist Iraqi âresistanceâ has a realizable political aim: they want to end the occupation and participate in ruling the country. Meanwhile, al-Qaeda in Iraq sees the Iraq conflict as a temporary (albeit the most important) arena in which the greater struggle between the Salafi-jihadists and the United States unfolds.
In regards to targeting Shiâites and Kurds, it is clear that despite the networkâs literature, which is full of extreme threats against Shiites and to a lesser extent the Kurds, the declared operations against the former are almost non-existent. It is important to understand that in their public literature, al-Qaeda in Iraq justify targeting Shiâites on the basis of this communityâs open and wide-ranging cooperation with the occupation, and not on their supposedly âhereticalâ beliefs. This is the case with the religious Shiâite political organizations, whose militias, in particular the highly effective al-Badr paramilitary organization (labeled as âal-Ghadr,â or âtreacheryâ by the Salafi-jihadists) largely dominate the new Iraqi security structures. The Zarqawi network is mindful of the harmful effect of targeting Shiâites insofar as global Muslim public opinion is concerned, and hence it tries to justify the targeting of Shiâite security elites on political rather than religious grounds.
The Zarqawi network is also mindful of the level of support it enjoys amongst local Iraqi communities. This not only creates problems insofar as targeting Shiâites is concerned, but also has implications for targeting the new security forces in their entirety. Zarqawi mentioned this point in his letter and talked of the difficulty of inciting people to fight the police, with whom they share kinship and have other relationships. This creates a dilemma for the faction: they either force their local Iraqi recruits to fight their relatives or âpack their bags and search for another land that would repeat the sad story in the fields of Jihadâ [7].
Irrespective of these daunting challenges, Zarqawi still declared war on the Iranian-backed Badr Brigades (better known as the Badr Corps and now formally referred to as the Badr Organization) and even proposed establishing âOmarâ Brigades to assassinate the leaders of the Badr paramilitary organization and the skilful and influential politicians of Hizb ad-Dawa, thus masking his war against the rising religious Shiâite power in Iraq with overly-ambitious political goals.
While the Salafi-jihadists have inevitably become embroiled in the treacherous politics of occupied Iraq, they have not retreated even an inch from their ideological beliefs and strategic objectives. The Salafi-jihadists in Iraq, led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, see the Iraq conflict as part of their jihad, first and foremost, and secondly as a springboard for a wider regional conflict that has as its central aim uprooting the current political order in the region. This clearly demonstrates how the Salafi-jihadist¬ way has a radically different agenda from that of national- or ethnic-based resistance movements in unstable regions in which they have arrived (usually uninvited), thus imposing a daunting burden on these local resistance movements. Whether the wider nationalist Iraqi âresistanceâ can overcome the challenge of the Salafi-jihadists and reach some form of truce with the new Iraqi state remains to be seen.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/24/2005 12:59 ||
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#1
Doomed to failure by his groups violent acts against the very people his group should be winning over 'hearts and minds' hehehehehe, why is this absolutly gigantic stratigic blunder not attracting any media coverage at all?? hearts and minds was according to the all knowing media the key to winning over the Iraqi people, hell even if a coalition soldier looked at an Iraqi the wrong way the media would cry hearts and minds so why not now eh. I seriously beleive that the media is the key eneamy in this war for the the way they aide the eneamy and acts as thier propaganda is seriously disturbing, the BBC and C4 are the worst offenders in this country with an over whelming anti bush/blair pro terrorist news agenda. these 'news' companies need taking down perminantly!
Posted by: Shep UK ||
11/24/2005 15:01 Comments ||
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TOKYO - Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari urged Japan on Thursday to continue its deployment of several hundreds ground troops to Samawa in southern Iraq to help rebuild the war-torn country.
The troopsâ current mandate expires on Dec. 14, a day ahead of Iraqâs parliamentary election. âNaturally, the time will eventually come for the multinational forces including Japanâs Self-Defence Forces to end their activities,â Zebari told Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso, according to Japanese Foreign Ministry officials. âWe are at a crucial period now and we need their continued engagement.â
In his reply, Aso said Tokyo would make a decision âsoonâ on whether to extend the mandate.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/24/2005 12:17 ||
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Al Qaeda in Iraq offered personal details Tuesday about the man it said was the mastermind behind two of its first and most notorious homicide attacks â the August 2003 bombings of the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad and the main Shiite shrine in Iraq.
The planner of the attacks, Thamir Mubarak Atrouz, was killed by U.S. forces in April 2004, the group said in a "distinguished martyr's biography" posted on an Islamic radical Web forum.
Al Qaeda occasionally posts such biographies of its slain fighters, usually long after they are killed. Their authenticity cannot be independently confirmed.
The U.N. and Najaf bombings are seen as the first major attacks of Iraq's insurgency, which has continued unabated.
The Aug. 19, 2003, bomb attack on the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad killed 23 people, including the top U.N. envoy to Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello. More than 150 people were wounded.
Ten days later, a car bomb exploded outside the Shrine of Ali in the town of Najaf, south of Baghdad â one of Shiite Islam's holiest sites â killing more than 85 people, including the Shiite leader Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim.
Al Qaeda in Iraq, led by the Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has previously claimed responsibility for the attacks. But the Web biography was the first time it gave details of who was purportedly behind it.
It said Atrouz, from the town of Khaldiyah in the Sunni Arab province of Anbar west of Baghdad, was an officer in Saddam Hussein's army who fled Iraq to Saudi Arabia because of opposition to the Iraqi leader. He returned home just before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003 to fight the Americans.
"You need only to know about Hajji Thamir that he was directly in charge ... of two of Iraq's greatest operations in that year," it said, referring to him by the title given to Muslims who have made the pilgrimage to Mecca.
Atrouz was killed when U.S. troops attacked the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah in April 2004, after four U.S. security contractors were killed by a mob in the city.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/24/2005 00:06 ||
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#1
How do you know that "zark" said anything....
Why hasn't "zark" come forward with a voice on a tape saying "nana na naana you missed me again!!"
I don't think can say anything now, me thinks he was scooped up with a stick and a spoon and is now under the microscope.
Why post a eulogy 1.5 years later? What the hell is the big deal with this?
Excerpted from a much larger post by Evan Kohlmann fisking the press for attempting to "debunk" the issue of foreign fighters in Iraq.
My respected colleague in Europe, Jean-Charles Brisard, has weighed in on the issue of foreign fighters in response to my recent posts. I asked JCB for permission to repost some of his comments, which I regard as highly relevant:
"You're right to challenge the WP assessment on foreign fighters. According to the latest figures I've obtained from a European intel agency, as of September 2005, 150 European fighters had been located, arrested or killed in Iraq... 90% of the terrorist attacks in Iraq were carried out or led by foreign fighters. Adding to that the fact that the CIA, as quoted in my Zarqawi book, assesses that Iraq is the scene of a major shift from charities and various religious organizations previously identified for their support to terrorist networks in Pakistan and Afghanistan, it's an obvious mistake to downplay the foreign influence and presence in the Iraqi insurgency."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/24/2005 00:01 ||
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Hazem al Shaalan, the former Iraqi defense minister, signaled his intention to return to Baghdad and stand for election after meeting with his supporters and representatives from across the Iraqi political spectrum. Speaking to Asharq al Awsat from his home in London, the head of the Parliament of National Powers list said, âI will return to run my election campaign in collaboration with othersâ and indicated he would to form an alliance with liberal political forces in the next parliament.
Last month, Iraqi authorities issued arrest warrants for 27 senior officials from the interim government, including al Shaalan, for their role in the embezzlement of more than 1 billion dollars. The former defense minister dismissed the allegations said he would fight to clear his name. He blamed pro-Iranian elements in the new government who wanted to discredit him. Earmarked for weapons purchases, the money is believed to have been taken from the defense ministry to fund corrupt deals. Shoddy and outdated military equipment was purchased that seriously impaired the fight against insurgents.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/24/2005 00:00 ||
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BAGHDAD, Iraq, Nov. 23, 2005 (AP Online delivered by Newstex) -- U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman told Iraq's prime minister Wednesday that U.S. forces will remain in Iraq until their mission is complete, despite growing unease in Congress about the progress of the conflict here. "We cannot let extremists and terrorists, a small number, here in Iraq deprive the 27 million Iraqis of what they want which is a better freer life, safer life for themselves and their children" Lieberman said after his meeting with Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari.
The Connecticut Democrat, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the cost of success in Iraq would be high "but the cost for America of failure in Iraq would be catastrophic: for America, for the Iraqi people and I believe for the world."
Lieberman, who ran unsuccessfully for vice president with Al Gore in 2000, arrived in Iraq on Wednesday to meet with Iraqi officials and spend Thanksgiving with American troops.
Lieberman told a group of reporters that he was convinced progress was being made in building a democratic Iraq despite rising U.S. deaths and the continuing insurgency. He acknowledged growing concern within Congress over the Bush administration's Iraq policy but said there was little support in the Senate and the House for Rep. John Murtha's call for an immediate pullout of U.S. troops.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/24/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
If Algore had been elected, then committed to the insane asylum, this guy would be acting POTUS. Alas.
#2
Poor Joe. It's gotta be lonely for him these days, one of only a half-handful of sane voices in a party that's gone stark, raving mad and has, for its National Chairman, a lunatic whose guiding philosophy is "I hate Republicans, and everything they stand for."
Posted by: Dave D. ||
11/24/2005 8:55 Comments ||
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#3
He blew most of his credibility when he tossed his convictions over for the VP candidacy.
Amid the chaos in Iraq, one company of U.S. Special Forces achieved what others have not: a functioning democracy. How? By relying on common sense, the trust of Iraqis, and recollections from Political Science 101. Now, their commander reveals the gritty reality about nation-building in Iraq, from the ground up.
Long piece from Foreign Policy magazine, and one that should be thrown at every moonbat progressive who says that we can't succeed in Iraq. Hat tip to Orrin Judd.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/24/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Ar Rutbah could be a case history in miniature of what would happen in Iraq as a whole if the US et al pull out too soon.
#2
Steve - 'progressives' could use the Ar Rutbah results back at you; our guys seemed to have set the place up for success, but after we left the insurgents came back and took over. They could say the same thing would happen in the whole country, so we should go ahead and leave now.
A prominent politician from the moderate Labor Party joined Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's new party Wednesday, the first such defection, adding impetus to a movement that could break a decades-long electoral stalemate over peace policies. The move by Cabinet minister without portfolio Haim Ramon came hours after President Moshe Katsav signed a decree for the dissolution of Parliament, paving the way for a general election on March 28. For procedural reasons, the order will only take effect on December 8. Sharon will stay on as prime minister until elections and should have a free hand to change his Cabinet before then. Turning away from the Labor Party, Ramon said he decided on his move after representing the dovish party for 23 years in Parliament because "there must be a party in the center which reflects the views of the majority of Israelis."
Sharon's former colleagues in Likud were meanwhile gearing up for their own leadership primary on December 19 with a bout of mud-slinging. Former Premier Benjamin Netanyahu is the clear favorite but one of his challengers, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, lambasted him for disregarding the impoverished victims of his right-wing policies when he was finance minister. "I don't think he has ever suffered from want in his entire life, and so the matter of poverty and compassion is far from his heart and also from his policy," Mofaz told army radio.
Ramon also took the opportunity to open fire on new Labor leader Amir Peretz. Ramon disparaged Peretz as inexperienced, since he has never served as a Cabinet minister. Peretz "has good intentions, but these paths lead to hell," said Ramon, "and if we would have adopted them, then we would still be in Gaza." Ramon said he supported Sharon from the day he presented his plan to pull out of Gaza and part of the West Bank, a task he completed in September.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/24/2005 00:00 ||
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The crisis in southern Thailand took an ominous turn with the announcement on November 3 that martial law has been declared in two districts of the province of Songkhla. This is the first extension of martial law beyond the three troubled provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala (where a state of emergency is already in force). In effect, this is a tacit admission that Bangkok has been unable to stop the almost 2-year insurgency and halt the spread of Muslim secessionist violence.
Martial law has also been declared along the border zones with neighboring Malaysia in an attempt to stem infiltration of militants. This latest decree follows a declaration on November 1 issued by the Pattani United Liberation Organization (PULO), a Thai Muslim separatist group, calling for self-government in the southern provinces of Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat. The statement warned that the conflict could degenerate into a war between religions in the kingdom unless Bangkok grants the region the right to self-government. In response, the military has set up a website (www.southpeace.go.th) to counter PULOâs âpsychological warfare through the internet,â according to a report in the Bangkok Post (www.bangkokpost.co.th).
The rate of violence in southern Thailand is now virtually daily, and so far over 1,100 have been killed. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatraâs administration responded by ruling out autonomy for the southern region, which is mainly Muslim and Malay speaking in majority Buddhist country, but the Thai military has underlined their incapacity to douse secessionist flamesâand the rise in common criminalityâby having recourse to the formation of civilian militia groups. So far the number of recruits has topped 2,000, but both training and armament remains rudimentary. Recently the military has announced plans to offer weapons training and spying techniques for up many thousands more villagers, to combine with vocational skills for a jobs program, due to start as soon as next month. These are to counter the estimated 4,000 to 5,000 insurgents in the three southern provinces âor two for each village in ⊠areas most heavily infiltrated by separatistsâ (www.bangkokpost.co.th).
Further evidence of the mounting threat is found in a new trendâdemonstrating sophistication and organizationâthe use of coordinated attacks. On November 2, a series of blasts near electricity poles and a transformer substation detonated at intervals of 10 minutes for over an hour, and resulted in a total loss of power in Narathiwat town. In late October, a similar series of coordinated attacks targeted at least 43 security posts over the three provinces of Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala. In one spate over the night of October 26-27, militants carried out at least 20 attacks, mostly targeting the new civilian militias. Seven people were killed and dozens of weapons seized. Prime Minister Shinawatra himself nearly fell victim to this new tactic when militants marked his November 7 visit to Narathiwat province with a series of coordinated attacks against over 20 government targets, including police stations, check points and school buildings (www.bangkokpost.co.th). At one point Shinawatraâs motorcade was forced to make a detour when security forces found a 22-pound bomb planted in a tree located about 200 yards from a restaurant scheduled for his visit.
While increasing sophistication in terror methods automatically signals the possibility of outside influence, both the government at Bangkok and the PULO have so far downplayed this interpretation. However, Lukman Lima, the acting head of the Pattani United Liberation Organization, in an interview with AP has warned that âIf the government opts to kill, and kill without reason, perhaps fighters from Indonesia and Arab countries will help us⊠to join the struggle for an independent homeland,â and has already referred to financial support for the insurgents arriving from âIslamic sympathizers in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia.â
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/24/2005 12:58 ||
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Indonesian counter-terrorism officials announced a conspicuous success on November 9 with the cornering and subsequent suicide in East Java of Azahari Husin, the top militant and fugitive suspected of involvement in the 2002 and 2005 Bali explosions and the 2004 bombing of the Australian embassy in Jakarta. According to The Jakarta Post, they also came within a whisker of arresting his colleague Noordin Top and have spread the net across Java island, motivated by evidence that the two fugitives were about to launch further bombing attacks (www.thejakartapost.com). This followed news that anti-terror police had reported the discovery on November 8 of a recently abandoned jungle training camp on Seram Island in Maluku province, one of several in the region, illustrating how terrorists have been able to maintain their training networks despite a nationwide crackdown.
However, Indonesiaâs terror threat profile is more ominously illustrated by an event that occurred a week earlier in central Sulawesi province. On October 29 three Christian schoolgirls were beheaded near the city of Poso, one of the severed heads being subsequently deposited outside a church (www.thejakartapost.com). This was followed on November 8 by attempted killings of two further schoolgirls in Poso, shot from a passing motorbike. The clear incitement to religious conflict occurs in the area of Indonesia which, untypical for this overwhelmingly Muslim nation, has a Muslim/Christian ratio almost evenly balanced. This, and its remoteness from central control, has made it a target for militants who have identified it as a military theater and a potential cornerstone of an Islamic state. The last attempt at provoking a religious conflict occurred over several months in 2001-2002 during which over 1,000 people were killed before a government-brokered truce doused the flames. The violence, however, has continued fitfullyâlast May over 20 people were killed from bombs placed in a market in the Christian town of Tentenaâand many of the Islamic militants drawn from all over Indonesia who participated in the major hostilities are believed to have remained in the area.
This incident comes at a time when Indonesian security authorities are claiming that the Muslim terrorists are finding it harder to recruit from their traditional pool of radical students at Islamic colleges in Central Javaâthe source of militants such as Amrozi, Mukhlas and Imam Samudra who were key figures in the October 2002 blastsâand are shifting their interest instead to âcriminals and drug addictsâ to carry out suicide attacks (www.antara.co.id/en). If this claim has any substance, then the igniting of a sectarian conflict will render this recourse unnecessary. As government delicacy in the handling of the prosecution of alleged Jemaah ideological leader Abu Bakar Baâasyir indicates, Indonesia remains highly volatile to reaction against perceived threats to matters of Islamic identity, and a sectarian conflict is a more effective recruitment vehicle.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/24/2005 12:57 ||
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Government and MILF negotiators have agreed to submit to a plebiscite any peace settlement they may sign on the establishment of a separate Muslim homeland in the southern Philippines, a rebel leader said yesterday. Eid Kabalu, spokesman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), said the plebiscite is to ensure that the peace agreement is acceptable to majority, if not all, of the residents of provinces, cities and towns proposed to be covered. âWe will consolidate and review the agreements, and then ratify them. After that a peace accord will be signed and a plebiscite for the establishment of a separate Muslim homeland shall be held in the southern Philippines,â Kabalu said in an interview.
Peace talks are expected to resume in Malaysia, which is brokering the political settlement of one of the worldâs longest-running Muslim insurgency problem. In September, the negotiators signed several agreements centered on ancestral domain â its concept, territories and resources â and how the MILF would govern these places. Ancestral domain refers to places that have been traditionally Bangsamoro (Filipino Muslim) territory. For the rebel group it is the single most important issue in the peace negotiations before it can reach a political settlement.
Both sides have agreed on several crucial issues, including the coverage of a proposed ancestral domain in the five Muslim autonomous provinces of Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao. Also included are communities or towns the provinces of Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani provinces, which have large Muslim populations and indigenous tribes.
The MILF is the countryâs largest Muslim separatist rebel group, which had been fighting during the past three decades for an expanded Muslim autonomous region. âEverything in the peace agreement will be submitted to the people and there is nothing to hide because we really want peace to reign,â Kabalu said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/24/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Mistake! If they go to plebiscite, the Saudis will funnel millions in partisan campaign aid aimed at setting up a Wahabi base in the country. Phillipinos are generally poor, so some might vote away their sovereignty for quick money, without considering Wahabi payback leverage (invest your sons in jihad).
#2
The Ben Laden strategy of estabishing operations in 'failed countries'. Certainly fits the mode.
Hell, if you're going to surrender sovereignty then just give them independence and then turn around and tell the US government to go ahead and clean up the place like Afghanistan. Going to end up doing that anyway, just be done with it.
#5
Anything Kabalu, AKA Lipless eddie, says is a lie. He is only in power because Hashim died of wounds and no one else would take over. I doubt GMA will give into allowing a part of that country to break away. She knows it will become a terrorist state very quickly. Not only the soddies but Lybia will pour millions into building a Morro army. If this happens our "second front" will eventually becom center of Gravity on this WOT.
Posted by: 49 pan ||
11/24/2005 20:06 Comments ||
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Muslim or non-Muslim, the Mabuhay boyz are all future Chicoms/Chinese citizens and expendable Socialist economic units anyways iff the USA loses the WOT.
After four months of bad-tempered diplomacy, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has sidestepped a fight with the rest of the world over his country's nuclear plans that was due to come to a head today. Today's meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN's nuclear watchdog, was to be a showdown at which the board of governors referred Iran to the UN Security Council. Instead, Britain, France, Germany and Russia have set aside December 6 to meet Iranian leaders in a move aimed at breaking the deadlock over Tehran's disputed nuclear program. The new talks would be the next step, after the US and the EU-3 - Britain, France and Germany - put off calling on the IAEA to send Iran to the Security Council, in an effort to give Russia time to get Tehran to agree to a compromise.
Under the Russian proposal, Iran would be allowed to prepare uranium in the form of gas, but enrichment of uranium into reactor fuel and reprocessing of fuel rods - another way to produce a bomb - would be carried out in Russia. The US hopes that getting countries such as Russia, an Iranian ally, involved in talks will get Tehran "off the dangerous course it's on", said Gregory Schulte, US envoy to the IAEA.
A European diplomat said next month's meeting would be to "talk about talks" between Iran and the EU trio on guarantees Tehran would not make nuclear weapons. Previous discussions broke off in August when Iran resumed its suspended uranium conversion.
#1
So the Mad Mullahs will be allowed to become 62.47% pregnant, with the World-Renowned Peace Specialist Dr Puttyputz attending to the blushing, er, brooding, um, bellicose, uh, belligerent bastards.
I am sooo relieved. I was afraid that President Ahmedjihadi and His Merry Band of Turbans were going to receive a strong-worded letter - or worse! Whew!
Bring on the deliverable nukes for hard currency electricity!
As Syria asked UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Wednesday to intervene and help broker a âcooperation protocolâ between Damascus and the probe team into the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, Paris signaled âtime was running outâ for President Bashar al Assad. A high-ranking French official told Asharq al Awsat UN investigator Detlev Mehlis âmight not wait until 15 Decemberâ to present his findings to the Security Council and inform it the Syrian authorities have not cooperated with the probe and that he would be taking the necessary steps in that regard.
France âwants the Syrian President to stop his delaying tactics⊠the interest of Syria requires him to cooperate and to cut off the rotten branches even if this is a painful operationâ, in reference to the request by Mehlis to question six officials in Syria including the presidentâs brother in law, Asef Shawkat. He described the Syrian regimeâs behavior as âcommitting mass suicideâ by âletting time pass and playing tricksâ on Mehlis and on the Security Council and ârefusing to cooperateâ to uncover the truth about who killed Hariri on 14 February. He blamed Assad for âputting forward proposals he knew in advance it would be difficult to consider.â
The French source warned that Paris, Washington and the international community would not hesitate to ask the Security Council to impose sanctions on Damascus if they discovered that âthe final warningâ given to the Syrian authorities with the adoption of Resolution 1636 âwas not taken seriouslyâ.
On French policy regarding Lebanon and Syria, the source said Paris âunderstood the fears of Saudi Arabia and Egypt and other countries which did not want to see a new conflict emerge adjacent to Iraq and this is also one of our concerns.â Syria, however, âshould not rely on this fear to refuse to actâ and should realize that âno other options are available except real cooperationâ with the UN probe team. The source rejected Syrian protestations that the investigation was an excuse and that the target was the regime in Damascus. In fact, the regimeâs reservations were âthe excuse of someone who did not want to actâ.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/24/2005 00:00 ||
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A prominent Lebanese anchorwoman who was maimed by a bomb has made her first televised appearance almost two months after the blast, looking tired but upbeat and promising a quick return. Wearing a trademark pink-colored top and with her voice breaking at times, May Chidiac on Wednesday spoke to viewers of the private Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation of her suffering since the 25 September bomb that blew off her left arm and leg. "I cannot tell you about my journey of suffering. Perhaps the country was in need of a leg with which to kick all those evil people who do not love this country and who are working against it, and a hand with which to lift the weights off the back of this country," she said in the brief appearance from her hospital room. "Perhaps it was my fate to be a part of this big sacrifice."
Chidiac recalled the bomb that exploded under her car seat north of Beirut - the latest in a series of mysterious attacks targeting politicians, journalists and commercial and residential areas in Lebanon since the 14 February assassination of former prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri. "I flew ... and found myself on the backseat, dragging myself to get out (of the car). I saw my severed arm in front of me, praying they would be able to sew it back. What I didn't realize was that I had also lost my leg," she said.
The camera did not show Chidiac's injuries or her amputated arm and leg. The station said she has undergone about 20 operations since the attack. The bombings, which terrorised Lebanese and claimed the lives of an anti-Syrian journalist and politician, began after Syria withdrew its troops from Lebanon in April, ending a 29-year-military presence. Syria, which was blamed by many Lebanese for al-Hariri's assassination, was forced to withdraw under international pressure. Chidiac, a longtime anchorwoman at the leading anti-Syrian LBC, promised to be back on screen soon. "I am going to get ... an arm, a leg, whatever ... and I can tell you that I will be back," she said. "I miss you, and it won't be long before I return to you."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/24/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
"I cannot tell you about my journey of suffering. Perhaps the country was in need of a leg with which to kick all those evil people who do not love this country and who are working against it, and a hand with which to lift the weights off the back of this country," she said in the brief appearance from her hospital room. "Perhaps it was my fate to be a part of this big sacrifice."
#2
I didn't realize that she had been wounded that severely. I don't know much about her but she should be an inspiration for other Lebanese, a blooded vet for liberty.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
11/24/2005 3:01 Comments ||
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TEHERAN - Iranâs parliamentarians piled further embarrassment on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday, overwhelmingly rejecting his third nominee for oil minister of the worldâs fourth biggest crude producer.
The second biggest exporter in the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has been rudderless since August, and parliamentary hostility to Ahmadinejad is exposing bitter rifts in the conservative camp.
Hostile? Wasn't he the chosen son?
Out of 254 parliamentarians who cast votes, only 77 voted in favour of Mohsen Tasalloti, a veteran of the petrochemicals industry. Lawmakers heartily congratulated each other when the results of the vote were read out. âThis vote of no-confidence should carry a message to Ahmadinejad about his method of choosing his oil ministers,â conservative lawmaker Ali Riaz told Reuters after the vote.
Lawmakers accused Ahmadinejad of only consulting with a small number of his close allies instead of with them. âAhmadinejad has a slogan of co-operation between parliament and government, but it would be better if he actually conferred with his lawmakers,â Sattar Hedayatkhah said in the debate before the vote. âThis delay is wasting Iranâs huge oil and gas assets and damaging its economy,â said Manouchehr Takin from the Centre for Global Energy Studies.
Conservative parliamentarian Kazem Jalali told Reuters a competent manager had to be found soon. âThe current situation weakens our stance in OPEC and will diminish our chances of co-operation with foreign companies because it indicates instability,â he said.
Lawmakers rejected Ahmadinejadâs first nominee in August. The second candidate pulled out of the race earlier this month, moments before lawmakers were due to cast their votes.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/24/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
ROFL.
"parliamentary hostility to Ahmadinejad is exposing bitter rifts in the conservative camp"
Scott Ott has serious competition!
Rhetorical question: How many of the mooks "opposing" Ahmedjihadi will be alive at the next election?
The United Nations Chief Kofi Annan will not act as "a negotiator" between Damascus and UN chief investigator Detlev Mehlis, said Annan's spokesperson Stephane Dujarric on Wednesday.
Good idea, Kofi. You've already been splattered with excrement. You don't need any more of it from taking sides against your own investigator.
"[Annan's] goal is to get Syria to cooperate but he is not acting as a negotiator on behalf of Mehlis," said Dujarric. He added Annan "has also made it very clear Syria must cooperate with UN Security Council Resolution 1636. But as far as it comes to Mehlis' discussions with the Syrians, it is up to him alone to take decisions on where to conduct the interviews." U.S. Ambassador to the UN John Bolton reiterated on Wednesday: "Syria should start cooperating with the Mehlis investigation and take matters more seriously. What is happening so far is unacceptable."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/24/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
I always thought of Kofi as more of a bagman than a negotiator.
#3
UN chief Annan not 'a negotiator' between Mehlis and Syria
No, no, your status as El Supremo de los Multinationals might be tainted if you actually intervened in something of serious importance. Better that Darfur and Iran be left alone to rot and fester than risk the least unrest by them. @SSHOLE!
On Friday, November 18, the New York Times published a full page statement of nuclear intentions by the Islamic Republic of Iran, which will likely serve as a key point of reference in the on-going debates on Iranâs nuclear program.
Maybe a key point of reference for the Medes and the Persians and their fellow travellers here. Maybe not for the rest of us.
Titled âUnnecessary crisis - setting the record straight about Iranâs nuclear programâ, the narrative (see appendix) was subsequently described by CNN as a âdetailed, point-by-pointâ discussion of the nuclear negotiation process during the past couple of years.
We've been reading about those points for the past couple years. Unlike the intended audience of the ad, we've been watching the hands and the lips. It hasn't been a pretty picture.
It debunked the myths about oil-rich Iranâs lack of need of alternative sources of energy, defended Iranâs negotiation postures and reiterated Iranâs willingness to continue negotiations.
What's it say about Iran's truculence and the occasional remark about dropping nuclear bombs on Israel?
In light of the gravity of the issue and the coming showdown at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) meeting on November 24, where the US-European Union coalition will be pushing for Security Council action, it is important to reproduce the Iranian nuclear statement to provide a modicum of balance in the global mediaâs coverage of the subject, dominated as it is by a negative image of Iran as irrational, dogmatic and incapable of rational discourse.
And truculent. Don't forget truculent.
The US position is opposed by the dissenting voices of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) countries, which prefer an IAEA-based resolution of the contentious issue. The potency of Iranâs nuclear statement lies precisely in its effective debunking of its negative image, by presenting a detailed and comprehensive argument, backed by facts, invoking an image of Iran that the West, particularly the US, is often inclined to ignore. This alone, perhaps, may signal a major difference between Iran and pre-invasion Iraq, that is, Iranâs ability, and diplomatic sophistication, to launch an effective communicative counterpunch vis-a-vis the avalanche of Iran-bashing discourse, sometimes planted by the powers that be, seeking to manufacture a global consensus on Iranâs nuclear threat. ...
Having read the advertisement, I'd say its coherence and reliance on facts is a matter of opinion. I don't think anyone here was particularly impressed. But we weren't predisposed to be impressed.
#1
I don't see Israel anywhere in this article.
So...
Did Israel have tomahawk missiles in their subs 25 years ago? Do they have them now? Bunker Buster Tomahawks? If I am Israel I don't wait for the US and Russia to finish their circle jerk with these assholes. Especially after that talk about eliminating Israel from their Prez.
#2
I don't think anyone here was particularly impressed.
Heh, classic understatement, Fred.
My Cognitive Dissonance Meter pegged. Hard. I've got to upgrade to the digital model - the little needle of my analog gauge is all bent and funny-looking, now.
#3
Great image, .com. What's more to say about Iran that hasn't already been said? They'll have to come up with something really innovative to muster any further comment. Until then, it's SSDD. Decap the mullahs now and get it over with.
#4
These jerks started the WOT back in 79. Raghead as they may seem, they are mastering the art of survival watching us Obliterate all the enemies, IE Iraq, they could not do themselves. I still feel the day we turn the guns on Iran will be the beginning of the end of this war. When we destroy them it will be over.
"Made in America, Tested in Japan, We know the damn thing works, Lets use it on Iran!
Posted by: 49 pan ||
11/24/2005 20:37 Comments ||
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IslamabadâAlthough Pakistan has kept on hold the much awaited F-16 deal with USA in order to divert resources to the rehabilitation and reconstruction of earth-quake areas, a decision at the highest authority has been taken to acquire 26 F-16s from Holland and Belgium soon after the Congressional seal. The 26 F-16 A & B are part of the package of 76 fighters that was announced by President Bush on March 26 this year after US Secretary of State Ms Riceâs South Asian visit. The US Administration after announcing the sale of F-16s to Pakistan notified its decision to Congress which will approve the deal. The 26 F-16s were to be sold to Pakistan by Holland and Belgium after the US Congress allows third country sale of these planes.
Top official sources told Pakistan Observer that while the deal with US for F-16 is on hold, 26 F-16s will be available to Pakistan Airforce in a matter of months. Officials said that Pakistan has also received a firm commitment from the US Administration that the remaining F-16s will be available to PAF whenever the country decides to revive the deal. Holland and Belgium under their force reduction have put on sale their surplus F-16s and have agreed to sell them to Pakistan at the probable price tag of about 10 million US $ per piece.
Sources said that Belgium could release some surplus F-16A/B to the PAF, most probably airframes with 2,000-3,000 hours of service left in them and without the MLU (Mid Life Update) features. The only real PAF modification would be to the radio and other systems for compatibility with PAF C3 (Command, Control, Communication) systems.
Regardless, the provision of such F-16s would improve the PAFâs capability substantially, even a force of 26 surplus F-16A/B would make a notable difference to the PAFâs capability. The price of surplus F-16A/B is likely to be in the reign of $10 million to $15 million per unit. This makes it on par with the FC-1/JF-17 in price, and would remain superior at field performance.
If no political strings attached used F-16A/B, is the best option. Logistically it would be feasible to incorporate the type, as Pakistan could easily train enough crews to accommodate a larger F-16A/B force. With upgrades, this option would make a lot of sense, especially if the upgrades could be carried out in Pakistan by PAC Kamra. The additional F-16s would also allow the PAF to phase out a large number of aircraft such the F-7P and concentrate its force to become smaller, leaner, and meaner.
While it is not clear what will be the breakdown of 26 F-16s between Belgium and Holland, the Belgium F-16s are believed to be equipped with BVR capabilities.
PAF sources say that surplus F-16 A/B from Holland and Belgium have been upgraded but it is still not clear if they have gone through MLU (Mid-life Upgradation). Some of the Hollandâs F-16s have certainly gone through MLU but again it is not clear if these are available for sale to Pakistan. Once the US Congress clears the sale PAF will sign a bilateral agreement with the two countries for these fighters for sale as well as the logistic support including the supply of spares.
PAF has been very frustrated for not having been able to induct front-line fighter for last 15 years. It operates a fleet of 32 F-16s as a mainstay for air defence. The Force had taken a sigh of relief after the US decision to sell F-16s to Pakistan. But President Musharrafâs decision to postpone the acquisition came as a rude shock. Sources close to President however claim that the President had taken the decision with a heavy heart. And this is the reason that President will be pushing the acquisition of 26 F-16s from Europe on a fast track.
Even though CBMs with India are gaining pace with the opening of five points for the movement of Kashmiris, there is no let off in Indian belligerence towards Pakistan. Only last week on the 18 Nov, Indian Air Chief Air Marshal SP Tyagi said, in âspite of the confidence-building measures, Pakistan would remain a primary threat to India.â Delivering a lecture at the BC Joshi Memorial Pune University, Indian Air Chief said. âThough things have changed a great deal in the last three years between the two nations, the security dimension remains the same, terrorist infrastructure still exists in Pakistan and there is no reduction in cross-border terrorismâ. He went on to say that, âPakistan would remain a major threat and we cannot assume that the peace process is firmly entrenched. Terrorist threats and attacks continue to be regular phenomena indicating that the infrastructure for terrorism in Pakistan is still very activeâ.
The very aggressive statement by the Indian Air Chief has definitely sent alarms in Pakistani security circles. The government of Pakistan also feels that Pakistanâs security concerns have not changed with the CBMs. Therefore there is a need to review Pakistanâs decision to withhold F-16 deal with USA.
The Indian Air Chief during his lecture also announced that IAF is buying 80 helicopters and contemplating joint production of a 15 tonnes transport aircraft. Besides the IAF, is in the process of acquiring improved sensors that include AWACS, by 2007, five aerostats and air defence missiles. MiG21, MiG 27 and Jaguar have been upgraded while upgradation of Mirage was in pipeline. He said when India enhances its strategic boundaries, the role of IAF would grow and in such situation it must look to increase its strategic reach through flight refueler aircraft. The IAF has acquired six aerial refuelers and have immediate plans of acquiring six more.
Posted by: john ||
11/24/2005 18:44 ||
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#1
Meanwhile, a 5 star hotel amid the quake survivors and the rubble
5-star hotel to be built in Muzaffarabad
LAHORE: A five-star hotel is due to open in Muzaffarabad on March 31. âThe 200-room state of the art facility will be inaugurated on March 31 and it will be the first ever five-star hotel in Kashmir,â Jamil Khawar, the media advisor to the group building the hotel, told Daily Times on Wednesday. âWe want to put the smiles back on the faces of people of the area who are hard hit by the calamity and we hope that this effort would lead the way in reconstruction and rehabilitation of the quake-hit area,â said Khawar. Work on the project began about a year and a half ago. âWe are not looking at what we can earn from the project. Itâs our way of starting the reconstruction,â said Khawar. He did not say how much the project would cost. The hotel chain has four other hotels in Pakistan and another planned in Gwadar. mohammed rizwan
Posted by: john ||
11/24/2005 18:52 Comments ||
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#2
I am reminded of a Greg Brown song:
It's a boom town
Got another boom town
It'll boom
Just as long as the boom has room
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/24/2005 19:23 Comments ||
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#3
According to the author:
there is no let off in Indian belligerence towards Pakistan
This "belligerence" being
Indian Air Chief Air Marshal SP Tyagi said "the security dimension remains the same, terrorist infrastructure still exists in Pakistan and there is no reduction in cross-border terrorism"
What is it about Pakistanis that they refuse to connect the dots?
Do they have some God given right to be terrorists?
Perhaps they would not need the F-16s if they simply dismantled the terror camps.
Their purchases of F-16s have loosened the purse strings of the Indian Finance Minister.
It seems that instead of 125 fighters, the tender will be for 200 fighters, perhaps from two vendors- 100 F-18 Super Hornets and 100 Mig-35s (Mig 29 airframe with thrust vectoring engines, and Israeli/Indian/French avionics).
Posted by: john ||
11/24/2005 19:35 Comments ||
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#4
Or 100 super hornets and 100 Mirage 2000-5s.
Even EADS is in the mix now, trying to get their Eurofighter Typhoon added to the Indian RFP.
Posted by: john ||
11/24/2005 19:37 Comments ||
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#5
Not exactly a homogenous mix of aircraft/doctrine.
#6
No.
Indian Ministry of Defence Babus have always distributed the contracts whenever possible. This pleases friendly governments and avoids over-reliance on any one country or vendor.
So the IAF has Anglo-French Jaguars (coated with Russian radar absorbing paint, French Mirages, Russain Migs - (Mig 21, Mig 23, Mig 27 (soon to be upgraded with new avionics and Al-31 thrust vectoring engines used by the Flankers), Mig-29, Sukhoi 30 MKIs.
The Russian aircraft have been modified with Indian radars and Israeli weapon targeting pods. The western aircraft to fire Russian missiles.
A very bizarre mix.
The IAF chief has resigned himself to further confusion. While the IAF originally asked for 200 Mirage 2000s, the MOD cut it down to 125 and demanded international tenders. Now they have the original 200 but the PM office wants to buy American aircraft - preferably the F-18 SH if the US allows export of the AESA radar and all the standoff ground attack weapons.
Russia and India will reconstitute the Russian GLONASS nav sat system so a number of weapons may be modified to use GLONASS as well as GPS.
Posted by: john ||
11/24/2005 20:12 Comments ||
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Since the onset of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), the activities of foreign jihadists in Pakistan have been a major source of concern for both Washington and Islamabad. However, an equally if not more serious problem that has emerged over the last four years has been the progressive reorientation of Kashmiri Islamist tanzeems (organizations) toward an increasingly explicit anti-Musharraf agenda. These developments not only directly threaten the stability of a key U.S. ally in South Asia, but also appear to raise serious concerns about wider regional and even global security.
Historically, jihadist tanzeems operating in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) have fallen into two categories: (a) those that are comprised of primarily Kashmiri cadres, for example Al Badr and Hizbol Mujahadeen (HM); and (b) those that are predominantly non-Kashmiri in composition, including, the Ahle-e-Hadith tanzeem Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), and the prominent Deobandi groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), Harkat-ul-Mujahadeen (HuM), and Harakat-ul-Jihad-e-Islami (HUJI). While most of the indigenous groups have retained their focus on Indian-administered Kashmir, many of the Deobandi outfits are now targeting Musharraf and other elements of the Pakistani state. This recent reorientation of prominent jihadist tanzeems constitutes a serious threat to Islamabad and is a phenomenon that stems from two main factors.
First was the Government of Pakistan (GOP)âs decision to ally itself with the United States in the Global War on Terror (GWOT). JeM was one of the earliest Kashmiri outfits to bridle at this relationship and, in fact, specific elements within the group wanted to immediately attack American interests in Pakistan after the launch of OEF in Afghanistan. This internal demand was initially denied by Jaishâs then-chief Masood Azhar, who favored compliance with the GOPâs new policy direction as politically expedient. Other group leaders such as Maulana Abdul Jabbar (alias Umar Farooq) vociferously disagreed, however, and have since managed to seize the reins of power within the organization. These militants are currently at the forefront of many of the anti-government attacks [1].
Second is what Pakistan-based analysts describe as the GOPâs adoption of a âmoderated jihadâ strategy, which has involved the imposition of tighter limits upon Islamists seeking to operate in J&K and the Indian hinterland. In large part, pursuit of this calibrated approach stems from external compulsions that became increasingly prominent in the wake of the JeM- (and possibly LeT-) backed assault on the Indian National Parliament (Lok Sabba) in December 2001. Prompting a yearlong standoff with Delhi, this attack brought Pakistanâs policy of proxy warfare under renewed scrutiny, not least because it raised the potential to spark a full nuclear exchange in South Asia. Reflecting western concerns, then-Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage went to Islamabad in June 2002, during which he managed to extract a promise from the GOP to both abandon its reliance on Kashmiri militants and cease their infiltration across the Line of Control (LoC).
According to commentators in Islamabad, the strategy of a moderated jihad approach has acted as a double-edged sword for Pakistan. On the positive side, it has significantly reduced international pressure on the GOP as well as allowed Musharraf to continue the peace process with Delhi while simultaneously giving him the option of resuming militant activities should negotiations collapse or fail to produce tangible results. On the negative side, however, moves to limit jihadist attacks have clearly been interpreted by groups such as JeM and HuJI as a sell-out of the Kashmiri cause and confirmation that Islamabad, under the present government, is no more than a puppet of Washington. Certain analysts also believe that the strategy has prompted renegade factions within the armed forces and intelligence servicesâwhose raison dâetre for most of their existence has been wresting control of J&K from Indiaâto side with and actively support organizations seeking to redirect their ideological fervor against the Pakistani state.
The reorientation of Kashmiri groups toward an internal agenda has been particularly apparent with JeM and HuJI. As noted, Jaish was one of the first tanzeems to advocate the targeting of American interests in Pakistan and over the last four years has systematically moved to expand this focus to an explicit anti-GOP footing. This evolutionary tract has been mirrored by HuJI, which now routinely defines its operational priorities in terms of overthrowing the incumbent Musharraf regime. Both organizations have been directly implicated in high-level attacks on institutional pillars of the Pakistani establishment, including assassination attempts against the President (December 14 and December 25, 2003), Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and the Karachi Corps Commander General Ahsan Hayat [2].
Somewhat more worrying are indications that JeM and HuJI are acting in concert with enlisted cadres as well as junior and non-commissioned officers in the armed forces. The December 2003 attack on Musharraf, for instance, is widely thought to have involved lower ranking members of the military in addition to at least one commando drawn from the Special Services Group (SSG). Moreover, one of the key persons who infiltrated the army and trained the hit-men for the earlier attempt on the Presidentâs life was Amjad Hussain Farooqui, a former member of JeM who is known to have sheltered Khalid Sheikh Mohammad until his capture in March 2003 [3].
Besides JeM and HuJI, U.S. officials have further suggested the possibility that âglobalizedâ elements within LeT have taken on explicit non-Kashmiri designs and are moving to extend their operations beyond this theater and India proper. If confirmed, this would represent an especially dangerous development given that Lashkar has traditionally been one of the strongest and disciplined groups operating in J&K.
American concerns are predicated upon, inter alia, recent Pakistani reports of the groupâs annual three-day ijtimah (convention), during which speakers are described as making virulently anti-Western proclamations as well as the âinternationalistâ content of LeT web-based materials. U.S. commentators fear these rhetorical signposts may be indicative of Lashkar leaning toward a more explicit global jihadist outlook, which, at least certain analysts assert, has been reflected in the establishment of residual logistical contacts with al-Qaeda, facilitation with Islamic recruitment drives for the Iraqi insurgency and readiness to provide military training for foreigners wishing to carry out attacks well beyond the Kashmiri theater (for example, Jack Roche, who has been linked to alleged terror strikes in Australia, and Shehzad Tanweer, one of the British Muslims involved in the July 7 bombings in London).
Long-time observers of the LeT, however, believe U.S. concerns are misplaced, arguing that Washingtonâs current perception of the group is based on a fallacious understanding of its historical lineage and reflects more post-9/11 biases than any genuine reorientation of the organizationâs intentions. Analysts within Pakistan similarly reject the notion of a globalized LeT, noting that Lashkar is one of the more ideologically unified groups that has fought in J&K, and is therefore not as prone to the type of wider, non-Kashmiri metastasization that JeM and HuJI have undergone. They also point out that there is currently no evidence to substantiate claims about LeTâs supposed internationalist activities, further arguing that anti-Western rhetoric is nothing new and certainly not something that has translated into assaults outside J&K and India [4].
Yet it is important to stress that LeT does not have to be global to be of great significance for South Asia and beyond. The group is known to have been behind the attack on Indiaâs Red Fort in December 2000 and it may have been deeply involved in the strike against Indiaâs parliament in December 2001âan event that nearly precipitated all-out war between India and Pakistan. The potential to initiate such conflict, with the attendant specter of nuclear escalation, readily underscores the latent threat LeT poses to regional and international security that is irrespective of the actual bounds of its physical presence. Most recently, Indian officials believe that LeT may have been involved with the October 2005 serial blasts in New Delhi. The Islamic Inquilabi Mahaz (Islamic Revolutionary Movement) claimed responsibility for the blast, but some Indian analysts speculate that the Mahaz is tied to LeT.
The reorientation of Kashmiri Islamist terrorism has had a decisive impact on Pakistanâs internal stability. As noted, President Musharraf has already been the target of two concerted assassination attempts. Moreover, many Pakistanis believe entities such as JeM and HuJI are directly contributing to a noticeable expansion of radical Islamist sentiment across the country and that, unless constrained, will result in a highly polarized state that lacks any effective middle ground of political compromise. The 2002 elections that brought the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) to prominence in the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) and Baluchistan are often singled out as a salient case in point. This multi-party religious alliance, which is vigorously opposed to the GWOT and the modernist leanings of the Musharraf regime, has caused Islamabad a number of problems, not least by undermining efforts aimed at reforming madrassas and curtailing the activities of militants on the ground.
Beyond these national considerations, the various machinations of JeM, HuJI and LeT have significantly complicated Islamabadâs external relations. This is particularly the case in relation to India, which has repeatedly portrayed Pakistan as a bastion of Islamist extremism that poses a fundamental threat to the stability of South Asia and even the world. More seriously, attacks such as Lok Sabba in December 2001 clearly underscore the potential of these groups to trigger a wider inter-state conflict on the sub-continent. That a situation of this sort should arise is especially unnerving given that both countries possess nuclear weapons and that India has pursued an explicit war doctrine since 1999 and a âcold startâ doctrine since 2002.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/24/2005 13:02 ||
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#1
However, an equally if not more serious problem that has emerged over the last four years has been the progressive reorientation of Kashmiri Islamist tanzeems (organizations) toward an increasingly explicit anti-Musharraf agenda.
One would have thought that Perv might take a page from America's experience in Afghanistan and realized that any support given to radical Islamist groups will always be turned back against you at the earliest opportunity.
Moreover, many Pakistanis believe entities such as JeM and HuJI are directly contributing to a noticeable expansion of radical Islamist sentiment across the country and that, unless constrained, will result in a highly polarized state that lacks any effective middle ground of political compromise.
Despite all my hopes for the emergence of a vocal moderate Muslim majority (spit), there has been none to date. In light of that, polarization is a good thing. If al Qaeda wants the West to declare all out war on Islam, Muslims must either vehemently reject this notion or settle for being viewed as favoring such an idea.
The thundering silence from Islam as a whole invites, nay (in view of their perfidy and constant atrocities), demands they be acted against as a whole. Once some sort of divergence manifests, only then can the West bother to distinguish between Islamic factions.
There has been much hue and cry about the mistake of treating Islam as a monolithic group. I had previously resisted such an inclination. Now I do not. It is time for Islam to fragment itself along clearly delineated lines of pro and anti-terrorism. If they will not or cannot, they deserve no such benefit of the doubt.
On September 29, Algerians voted in an unprecedented referendum to approve a charter for âpeace and national reconciliation,â offering amnesty to Algerian insurgents in exchange for laying down their arms. The charter also extends the same offer of clemency to police and security agents involved in crimes during Algeriaâs turbulent civil war. The charter marks a turning point in resolving Algeriaâs conflict, as it recognizes for the first time the numerous claims of Algeriaâs âdisappearedâ and considers reparations for relatives of those who suffered from to the violence.
At least 150,000 Algerians are believed to have died during the countryâs more than decade-long conflict, ignited in 1992 following nullification of the countryâs first multiparty elections in which the populist Islamist party, the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) would likely have been victorious after a second round. Islamist oppositionists responded with brutal violence that was met with similar ferocity by the Algerian authorities. While those killed were mostly civilians, as many as 10,000 are among âthe disappeared,â kidnapped by the security services or Islamic insurgents.
The peace plan, called the Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation, was overwhelmingly approved (97 percent) in a referendum marked by high turnout (80 percent). The plan is a cornerstone of Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflikaâs political agenda, which seeks to end Algeriaâs insurgency. Bouteflika assumed power in 1999, and pledged in October 2004 to submit an amnesty plan that would facilitate a reconciliation process first initiated by the 1999 Civil Harmony Law. Yet the amnesty is as much an effort to close the wounds of the insurgency, as it is a test of Bouteflikaâs legitimacy. He was re-elected for a second term in 2004 in a landslide victory, and hopes to win a third election. Bouteflikaâs political fortunes are firmly tied to the amnesty.
The charter ends judicial proceedings against Islamist insurgents, including those who disarm, who live abroad and are complicit in terrorism within Algeria, and who were convicted of crimes in absentia. The plan also offers reparations for families of the disappeared. Excluded from the amnesty are individuals involved in massacres, rapes, or bombings.
Yet the accord is not without controversial features. State assistance to insurgentsâ families, rejection of claims that security forces participated in disappearances of Algerians, prohibition on disparaging Algerian institutions, and restrictions on political activity by perpetrators of terrorism have been lightening rods for commentary. Critics question whether the charterâs compensations will translate into justice for Algerian victims, asserting the amnesty lacks adequate mechanisms for debate, punishment and justice [1].
Islamist violence has continued to subside since Bouteflikaâs inauguration, even in areas such as Sidi Rais, known as the Triangle of Death at the height of the insurgency. Approximately 4,000 insurgents surrendered from 1995 to 1998 under the clemency of former president Liamine Zeroual, with an additional 6,000 after Bouteflikaâs 1999 amnesty [2]. Tallies on active insurgents vary, but Algerian officials estimate that as many as 800 to 1,000 recalcitrant insurgents have managed to sustain operations throughout the country. This represents a notable decrease since the 1990s when insurgents possibly totaled 28,000. Improved ability of Algerian intelligence and security forces to eliminate insurgents, previous amnesty initiatives, and international assistance has contributed to the depletion in the ranks of violent Islamists.
Despite the decline in violence, Algeria is still plagued by bouts of attacks that continue to pose a challenge to national security. Significantly, the weeks preceding and following the charter referendum have been punctuated by a surge in insurgent violence that is attributed to the Salafi Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), an organization that remains in a bitter struggle with the state. The GSPC, now perhaps Algeriaâs most fortified Islamist group, has vehemently rejected the peace plan and vows to continue hostilities against the Algerian state.
Algerian security officials say remnant insurgents predominantly belong to the GSPC and they expect most members to accept the new amnesty. One prolific affiliate may include former GSPC leader Hassan Hattab, who has been negotiating with the Algerian government over his surrender. Hattabâs compliance with the charter reportedly depends on a fatwa from a Saudi imam who would authorize Hattab to bargain with a government he considers impious. Rather than judge the legitimacy of surrender, the fatwa would only address whether Hattab can negotiate with a former enemy in a way that protects his credibility vis-Ã -vis his cadre of current supporters. If successful, Hattab could both come away with his position intact and with supporters willing to surrender under the amnesty [3].
Ultimately, however, Algerian officials offer tempered assessments of whether all violent Islamists will surrender under the charter. âThe most important thing is to bring down their numbers,â Prime Minister Ahmed Ouhiya told Algerian daily, LâExpression. âWe donât have any illusions. âŠThere will always be the hard core who will never take up the offer of peaceâ [4].
Indeed, such words appear to be backed by actions, which suggest the GSPC intends to follow through with its goals. In the weeks leading up to the referendum, the mayor of Ammal was allegedly killed by GSPC insurgents [6]. These attacks were accompanied by assaults on Algerian soldiers in the countryside. The aftermath of the vote has been even deadlier, as some 60 Algerians died during October in an escalation of hostilities that coincided with the holy month of Ramadanâ20 people were killed in two days alone. On October 17th, security operations east of Algiers resulted in the deaths of eight GSPC militants and four soldiers [7]. The next day, GSPC insurgents killed four militia members west of Algiers, according to El Watan, and three civilians were killed by a bomb left at a GSPC hideout [8].
GSPC activities abroad also speak to the groupâs viability and capabilities. Evaluating GSPC activities in the West African Sahel, Nigerian authorities in October discovered an underground terrorist gang reportedly 10,000 strong in the Niger Delta that they say is linked to the GSPC. Nigerian intelligence officials assert that the GSPC, also an al-Qaeda affiliate, is involved in the ongoing recruiting and training of Nigerians in an effort to attack Nigerian interests [9]. The GSPC has also maintained ties in Europe, the U.S. and the Middle East.
However, the strength of the GSPC has eroded considerably over recent years, due to internal divisions and government efforts that have successfully localized and contained insurgents. Once boasting 4,000 members, the organization has been reduced to 300.
Other violent groups on the Algerian landscape are less active. The Armed Islamic Group (GIA), once the major terrorist entity in Algeria, has been substantially weakened by internal fracturing and surrenders under the earlier 1999 amnesty. The Arme Islamiques du Salut (AIS), the armed wing of the FIS, declared a cease-fire in 1997. The Free Salafist Group (GSL), which also opposed the amnesty, is active, but has been predominantly involved in crime and trafficking, rather than terrorism.
Against the backdrop of changing developments in Algeria, it is difficult to precisely predict the future of legitimate Islamist politics. The civil war has produced rejectionists unwilling to cooperate with the establishment and advocate the use of violence against the state. Yet the conflict has, likewise, created a government deeply wary of Islamists. Algerian officials vowed that insurgents will never again be able to bring instability to the country and groups involved in the violence, chiefly the FIS, have been banned from participating in politics.
The isolation of the FIS also has important implications for the fate of moderate Islamist parties. Moderate groups have suffered a noticeable decline in popular support, a phenomenon that may be a consequence of FISâ call to boycott elections and Algerian disaffection with Islamists after years of conflict. For example, the Movement of Society for Peace (MSP) and Movement for National Reform (MRN), each with former FIS members, did not fare well in the recent 2002 election. MSP support dropped by half from 14 to 7 percent between the 1997 and 2002 votes, while the newer MRN earned 10 percent. The Islamic Renaissance Movement received four percentâhalf its previous share [10].
Critics of the stateâs staunch approach fear the restrictive policy toward political Islam does little to engender confidence in the government or in the future of democracy in Algeria. Some argue that the governmentâs stance may only exacerbate discontent fanned by the war. With the existence of growing unemployment and poverty, the ground may once again become fertile for extremism.
Therefore, the extent to which political Islam will be kept at the periphery of Algerian politics and in what form are now unresolved issues. Algeriaâs mainstream party, the National Liberation Front (FLN) could adopt some moderate Islamic principles and bring select Islamist moderates into their fold. Since the banner of the amnesty is to encourage harmony, such a strategy may present some opportunities. However, it is a path that needs to be considered carefully as Algeria braces for the long-term impact of the amnesty.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/24/2005 13:00 ||
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Hassan Hattab founded the GSPC in 1998. According to his interview, after serving as âemirâ (commander) under Djamel Zitouni in a sector to the east of Algiers for a few years during the 1990s, Hattab formed his breakaway group. The group was formed, he says, due to revulsion at the GIAâs âdeviation from the salafist doctrine to that of al-Takfir wal-Hijra (excommunication and exile),â a doctrine that licensed the âkilling of innocents and denunciation of scholars unjustly,â in particular the denunciation of the leading shaykhs of the Front Islamique du Salut (FIS), Abbasi Madani and Ali Belhadj.
Having served as leader for three years, news began to emerge of Hattabâs resignation from the GSPC in 2001 over ideological differences. During the interview, Hattab referred to the increasing influence of bin Laden over the movement at that time as causing rifts in the membership, and one of the factors behind his own decision to leave (these rifts were likely behind the confusion surrounding the GSPCâs support, or criticism, of bin Laden at the time of the 9/11 attacks). In general, Hattab emphasized bin Ladenâs influence on strategy, such as the decision to inaugurate activity in the African sahel, and post-dated his involvement with the group. âWhat had made things worse,â Hattab claims, âwas that I had decided to place limits on the [form the] struggle [should take].â Disappearing subsequently from the scene, in summer 2003, reports from mujahideen âpenitentsâ began to emerge saying that he had been killed in confrontations either with the Mali military or with members of the GSPC, who by August of that year had officially appointed Nabil Sahraoui as its new leader.
In the interview Hattab explains his disappearance as a deliberate decision âto organize my affairs to facilitate activity and communicate with the brothers in the mountains.â He maintains that far from difficulties with former colleagues, he was ânot confronted with anything unpleasant, and was able to circulate among them.â The point Hattab appears to be making here is one of continuity in his role in contradistinction to the lack of continuity demonstrated by the present leadership. This conflict came out into the open at the beginning of this year when, following a trenchant criticism of the group by leading militant strategist Abu Musâab al-Suri, the current GSPC leader Abu Musâab Abd al-Wadoud posted a fatwa on February 9 on the GSPC website [www.jihad-algeria.com] against Hattab and his âprostration to the tyrantsâ (see Terrorism Focus, Volume II, issues 7 and 20). Hattab responded on February 17 via the Algerian Arabic daily El-Khabar, accusing Abd al-Wadoud of policies reminiscent of former GIA leaders Djamel Zitouni and Antar Zouabri [www.elkhabar.com]. The accusation Hattab made at the time, of GIA infiltration into the GSPC, he expanded in the al-Hayat interview, arguing the domination of infamous GIA group figures âwho carry the ideas of the GIA, using taqiyya [dissimulation] due to their numerical inferiority.â
Despite the February 9 declaration, Hattab maintains that he is still the official leader of the GSPC: âI consider myself its founder and leader, since the leadership is conferred as a duty⊠the brothers have entrusted me this task.â As for the resignation reports, Hattab maintains, despite the August 2003 declaration by Nabil Sahraoui, that âthe GSPC has no document or audio tape to confirm it.â
Since his 2001 withdrawal from the GSPC, Hattab has been gaining a progressively higher profile as a campaigner for an end to the armed struggle. In the interview he openly admits communicating with Algiers and to exchanging mutual aid in ensuring the success of the amnesty project initiated by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. He justifies his position by referring to âguaranteesâ received from Algiers, and to optimistic âdevelopments in the authoritiesâ treatment of elements of the Islamist armed groups.â Although at the time of the September 29 referendum on the proposal the number of recorded âpenitentsâ hardly topped two dozen, Hattab maintained that Bouteflikaâs initiative âactually has wide support among the activists in the mountains.â As to the threats voiced by Abd al-Wadoud against members taking up the offer, Hattab remains unfazed: âGSPC does not have the means to liquidate the overwhelming majority who are convinced of the initiative.â The delay, he maintains, is due simply to some reservations on details of the proposal, notably the rejection of âthe accusation of terrorism to the brothers who took up arms against the revolution,â and objections to âthe removal of the FIS from the political arena.â
The interviewer, Muhammad Muqaddam, spoke of Hattabâs judicious caution in his responses, in order to avoid any mistakes at a delicate stage in what he termed âhistoricâ negotiations. This may account for Hattabâs carefully sketched chronology on his ownâand bin Ladenâsâmutually exclusive involvement in the GSPC, as an attempt to present a âclean recordâ vis-à -vis the war on terror. It may also account for an interesting omission, namely his earlier accusations of GIA infiltration by the Algerian secret services. His role as catalyst for the surrender of Algerian militants leaves Hattab highly exposed, but up in the hills near Tizi Ouzou from where he is co-ordinating his work, there is no more talk of the âmilitancy option,â which he retained even up to a year ago. Meanwhile, Abd al-Wadoud maintains his irredentist struggle up in the mountains of the Akfadou region of Bejaïa province ânot for the restoration of their economic circumstances [under the amnesty], nor for the restoration of social rights or confiscated political gains, nor to return to the year 1991 [before the suspension of the election results that sparked the civil war], but for a return to the first three centuries, for nothing less than the [establishment of] the Caliphate.â
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/24/2005 12:56 ||
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A strong showing by the Muslim Brotherhood in parliamentary elections has caught Egypt's rulers off guard and could shake up politics in the biggest Arab country, analysts say.
The Brotherhood has won 47 of parliament's 444 elected seats with more than half of the places still to be decided in voting which lasts into December. The ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) has won about 120 seats.
While independent monitors say the NDP has widely resorted to bribery and coercion to get out the vote, the Brotherhood has shown the depth of its support by mobilizing thousands of activists and winning seats despite a crackdown.
The Muslim Brotherhood will not turn its back on other opposition parties in Egypt after its success at the polls, according to Dr. Issam al Aryan a prominent member. Speaking to Asharq al Awsat, he sought to assuage the fears of opposition parties and indicated that the Brotherhood will continue its coordination to achieve reform. At a meeting of the National Front, a coalition including 11 opposition parties and groups, where he represented the Brotherhood, al Aryan indicated, âWe discussed together and how to set up a program to push for political reform in the upcoming period.â He reaffirmed that the Brotherhood did not intend to form a government or take part in one âbecause we want this period to be a transition period and we want our representatives in parliament to work alongside opposition members and independents to press for reform.â
Commenting on the future of the Brotherhood and whether it would transform itself into a political party, al Aryan indicated the groupâs next move would be based âon the principle of the freedom to establish political parties for all without condition and the annulment of the Political Parties Committeeâ which currently licenses new parties. Only then, he added, âwill the Brotherhood form a political party, but we will never request a license from the Political Parties Committee.â
Posted by: Fred ||
11/24/2005 00:00 ||
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One person has been killed in Egypt following a dispute that began after this week's parliamentary elections between supporters of a failed ruling party candidate and the independent winner, police say. In northwestern el-Gharbiya province on Sunday, supporters of the National Democratic Party candidate, Mustafa Mohammed Kamal, allegedly blocked the roads in the village of winner Sayyed Jabur Habayeb, preventing students from going to school.
"Yar! Block the road! Keep the kiddies from goin' to school! They don't need no damned school!"
A rumour that Kamal's supporters had kidnapped five schoolgirls led the independent supporters to attack Kamal's village on Wednesday.
"Mahmoud! That daggone Kamal's kidnapped a schoolgirl!"
"I heard she was four!"
"So this one makes five!"
"Get a rope!"
They reportedly kidnapped 25 men, dragging one of them behind a tractor until he died, said a police official who did not want to be named because he is not authorised to speak to the media.
"Ow!... Ow!... Ow!... Rosebud!"
Police intervened and controlled the situation after arresting 75 supporters of Habayeb, the official said.
"Into the paddy wagon wit' yez!"
Posted by: Fred ||
11/24/2005 00:00 ||
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UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Cultivation of opium poppies decreased in Afghanistan this year for the first time since 2001, a success that saw one in every five farmers abandon the drug-producing plant for legal crops, a United Nations report said Wednesday.
The decision by some 50,000 farmers to give up the highly lucrative poppy was undercut by the 2005 crop being one of the best in years. As a result, production declined just 2.5 percent, with Afghanistan still accounting for 87 percent of the world's supply, the U.N. Office for Drugs and Crime said.
Still, even that shift suggested Afghanistan's drug-eradication program, begun in 2004, is having some effect on poppy production and legal sectors of the economy are expanding, the report said. "It may seem that in a country where reality is so stark, opportunities for the poor so limited, and consequences so dire, that there is not a great deal we can do to stop people from engaging in such a lucrative, albeit illegal, activity," it said. "That, however, is not what this year's survey results reveal."
The report said Afghan farmers devoted 256,880 acres to poppies this year, down from 323,500 acres in 2004. But because of good weather and low disease, average yield rose 22 percent, meaning 4,100 metric tons of opium were produced. That was barely down from last year's 4,200 metric tons. The report also found 309,000 Afghan households were involved in opium cultivation, down from 356,000 in 2004.
In figures released separately Wednesday, the U.S. government reported a similar trend. It estimated Afghan poppy cultivation dropped nearly half from last year and said total opium production fell only 10 percent, to about 4,500 metric tons. The U.S. report estimated Afghans grew 265,278 acres of poppies this year, down from 510,549 acres in 2004, but still above pre-U.S. invasion levels. Some 150,670 acres were in cultivation in 2003, 75,900 acres in 2002 and 4,160 acres in 2001.
John Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, called the drop in poppy acreage welcome news. But, he added, "the overall scope of the drug threat in Afghanistan remains unacceptably high."
U.N. anti-drug chief Antonio Maria Costa said the prospects for 2006 were not good because of several worrisome indicators. Those include reports of drug traffickers distributing poppy seeds for free and farmers complaining of a lack of help from the international community. Also, Costa said, many farmers didn't grow poppies this year because of fears of the government's eradication campaign, but might go back if they saw the program hadn't worked. "As a consequence, there is a risk that opium cultivation may not decline in 2006," he said.
The report highlighted just how tempting opium cultivation can be for farmers in Afghanistan. A farmer earns nearly $2,200 for an acre of opium poppies, while those growing wheat make about $220 an acre.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/24/2005 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Tony Blair and Peter Hain, the Northern Ireland Secretary, faced a fierce and emotional backlash from MPs yesterday over legislation to allow fugitive terrorists to return without having to serve prison sentences. The Bill will allow those wanted by police for some of the most heinous atrocities during the IRA's 30-year campaign to have their slate effectively wiped clean.
France's interior minister presented a tough anti-terrorism bill to lawmakers on Wednesday as he warned of the threat of attack by globalized terrorists who exploit Islam in an "odious and injurious way."
STRASBOURG - The Council of Europe said on Wednesday it was opening a probe into reports that the US spy agency CIA used European airports to transit suspected terrorists held secretly outside US territory.
Washington and its European allies, in a diplomatic coup, are gradually enlisting Chinese support on how to deal with Iran and its suspicious nuclear activities, U.S. and European officials said Wednesday. Beijing's backing before a key meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency on Thursday adds additional clout to an ambitious international Iran strategy that has recently seen Russia join the Americans and Europeans in pressuring Iran to give up technology that could make nuclear arms.
A prominent politician from the moderate Labor Party joined Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's new party Wednesday, the first such defection, adding impetus to a movement that could break a decades-long electoral stalemate over peace policies. The move by Cabinet minister without portfolio 
Government and MILF negotiators have agreed to submit to a plebiscite any peace settlement they may sign on the establishment of a separate Muslim homeland in the southern Philippines, a rebel leader said yesterday. 
As Syria asked UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Wednesday to intervene and help broker a âcooperation protocolâ between Damascus and the probe team into the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister 
A prominent Lebanese anchorwoman who was maimed by a bomb has made her first televised appearance almost two months after the blast, looking tired but upbeat and promising a quick return. Wearing a trademark pink-colored top and with her voice breaking at times, 
TEHERAN - Iranâs parliamentarians piled further embarrassment on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday, overwhelmingly rejecting his third nominee for oil minister of the worldâs fourth biggest crude producer.
The United Nations Chief Kofi Annan will not act as "a negotiator" between Damascus and UN chief investigator 
On Friday, November 18, the New York Times published a full page statement of nuclear intentions by the Islamic Republic of Iran, which will likely serve as a key point of reference in the on-going debates on Iranâs nuclear program.
The 
One person has been killed in Egypt following a dispute that began after this week's parliamentary elections between supporters of a failed ruling party candidate and the independent winner, police say. In northwestern el-Gharbiya province on Sunday, supporters of the National Democratic Party candidate, Mustafa Mohammed Kamal, allegedly blocked the roads in the village of winner Sayyed Jabur Habayeb, preventing students from going to school. 
