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Today: 51 articles and 72 comments as of 15:50.
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Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion           
Five Killed In Bali Terror Raids
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
4 23:02 JosephMendiola [1] 
4 16:08 g(r)omgoru [] 
1 13:38 Anguper Hupomosing9418 [1] 
4 20:28 JohnQC [] 
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Page 2: WoT Background
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Page 3: Non-WoT
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Page 4: Opinion
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4 19:09 SenatorMark4 [1]
Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 03/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Mandy def had staying power.
Posted by: Titus Bluetooth7929 || 03/18/2012 1:02 Comments || Top||

#2  Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot

Danneel Harris (Ackles) aka Tish in "Ten Inch Hero (2007)" aka Vanessa in "Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008) & A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas (2011)" aka Bianca in "Fired Up! (2009)" aka Sara Maxwell in "Friends with Benefits (TV Series 2011)" aka Erica in "Mardi Gras: Spring Break (2011)" (age 33)



Platinum Triple A Road Service
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 03/18/2012 3:13 Comments || Top||

#3  Comments test.
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 03/18/2012 10:27 Comments || Top||

#4  Never had any road service provided by someone like Ms. Harris.
Posted by: JohnQC || 03/18/2012 20:28 Comments || Top||


--Tech & Moderator Notes
Sunday Mod note: In case you missed it -- Did you do an Amazon order today? Did you order through Fred?
Can't do a "shame on you" if you didn't, 'cause you prolly don't know, when you click through to Amazon from our favorite 'Burg, Fred gets bucks. Doc Steve didn't know. And it seems Apple isn't into the graphic that is Fred's graphic for the click through to Amazon.

So, it looks like this:



Scroll down, paying attention to the right hand column, and you will find that Amazon click through. Trust it...

Support your Rantburg U --- you're gonna place that order anyway, so be sure to include our favorite Fred.

I promise, you'll smile when you do that click!
Posted by: Sherry || 03/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  That's what I always do, Sherry. Every little bit helps....
Posted by: Barbara || 03/16/2012 0:11 Comments || Top||

#2  For some reason Amazon has been tardy about opening an Australian operation. A pity because I would buy quite a lot of stuff from Amazon, if I didn't have to pay for shipping from the USA.

But if I do, I'll do it through here.
Posted by: Phil_B || 03/16/2012 4:23 Comments || Top||

#3  I didn't use Amazon to buy anything but I kicked in a few bucks to support the Fred/Rantburg cause.
Posted by: JohnQC || 03/16/2012 7:48 Comments || Top||

#4  Oops!, next time Sherry.
Posted by: Dale || 03/16/2012 9:08 Comments || Top||

#5  I've been using Amazon to order vintage sci-fi magazines, so it's nice to know there's a link here.
Posted by: Korora || 03/16/2012 9:09 Comments || Top||

#6  I just did a donation through Paypal.

What separates us from the Lefties, Libs, Dems, and jihadists is gratitude.
Posted by: Ptah || 03/16/2012 9:26 Comments || Top||

#7  Just a note,

AdBlocker kills the Amazon button. I didn't see it before, turned it off on Rantburg, reloaded and oh, there it is! I'll use it in the future.
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/16/2012 10:40 Comments || Top||

#8  Glad you brought this up, Sherry. I've wondered why Fred didn't have an Amazon link (other than the contrib) but never got around to asking. Apparently, Firefox config was hiding it. D'oh! Next time...
Posted by: SteveS || 03/16/2012 22:29 Comments || Top||

#9  always do
Posted by: Frank G || 03/17/2012 15:08 Comments || Top||

#10  And something special to note at Amazon:

$10 for $20 gift cards.
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/18/2012 8:11 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
U.S. Extremist in Somalia Fears for Life from Fellow Fighters
[An Nahar] A U.S.-born Islamist fighter viewed as a key foreign leader within Somalia's al-Qaeda allied Shebab militia has said he fears his life is now in danger from fellow krazed killers.

Omar Hamami -- better known as Abu Mansoor al-Amriki -- gave the warning in an undated video posted on several Somali websites and YouTube Saturday.

"To whomever it may reach from the Moslems, from Abu Mansoor al-Amriki, I record this message today because I feel that my life may be endangered by Harakat Shebab Al-Mujahedeen due to some differences that occurred between us regarding matters of the Sharia (Islamic law) and matters of the strategy," he said, speaking in English.
Dang, the chili I had for dinner must really be getting to me...
The bearded Amriki, dressed in a black top and with a checked scarf, posed in front of the Shebab's black flag and beside an automatic rifle in the minute-long video, but did not provide a location.

He provided no further details about the threats or differences with other Shebab commanders, who have been battling to topple the weak Western-backed government, which is propped up by over 10,000 African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
troops.

The video adds weight to reports of growing divisions within the Shehab, who face pressure on three fronts by regional forces and pro-government forces.

Amriki had previously been seen as a key leader for imported muscle in the Shebab, alongside top Somali commanders Muktar Robow and Sheikh Hasan Dahir Aweys.

Some suggest Somali Shebab fighters view the foreign gunnies as a liability -- even as potential spies -- while missile strikes have targeted the foreign krazed killers.

However,
women are made to be loved, not understood...
the Shebab dismissed the Amriki's concerns in messages posted Saturday on Twitter.

"We assure our Moslem brothers that al-Amriki is not endangered by the mujahedeen, and our brother still enjoys all the privileges of brotherhood," the Shebab said.
Including the right to an Islamic death either by his brother Muslims or by an American drone...
"A formal investigation is just underway and HSM (Shebab) is still attempting to verify the authenticity as well as the motivations behind the video," it added.

Alabama-born Amriki, who has reportedly been based in anarchic Somalia since late 2006 and is wanted by the United States on terrorism charges, has issued previous videos calling for foreign recruits, including singing rap songs praising jihad.

Britannia's security think tank, the Royal United Services Institution, estimates the total number of imported muscle within the Shebab to be around 200.

AU military commanders say they have reports some imported muscle are fleeing Somalia for Yemen.

The hardline Shehab last month lost control of their strategic base of Baidoa to Ethiopian troops and pro-government Somali forces, the second major loss for the rebels in six months after the majority pulled out of the capital Mogadishu.

However,
there is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened...
experts warn the Shebab are far from defeated and remain a major threat, especially now they have switched to guerrilla tactics in many areas after leaving fixed fighting positions.
This article starring:
Abu Mansoor al-Amriki
Omar Hamami
Posted by: Fred || 03/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab

#1  AWwwwwww! Such a life, such a life....
Posted by: tipover || 03/18/2012 0:09 Comments || Top||

#2  Well,he went to Somalia seeking martyrdom. Looks like he may get it, although not in the way he hoped for.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 03/18/2012 0:18 Comments || Top||

#3  Doing a helluva job, Omar. Next time you want the drones, just give us a yell on the special freq. We'll be monitoring as usual.
Posted by: Super Secret US Govt Agency Beginning With "C" || 03/18/2012 0:24 Comments || Top||

#4  Dude, that town Baidoa has changed hands probably 40 times since 1991. I'll bet the Baidoan roadside fruit vendors have seen some shit in their days (and fruit is probably not one of them...)
Posted by: Kentucky Beef || 03/18/2012 9:37 Comments || Top||

#5  He better hope the drones get to him first. If his collegues do him there are no virgins in the afterlife.

Al
Posted by: Frozen Al || 03/18/2012 11:48 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Gunmen Kill 10 in Christian Village in Northern Nigeria
[An Nahar] Gunmen raided a mainly Christian village in Nigeria's restive Kaduna State, killing 10 people, including a pastor and injuring four others, police said Saturday.

"Ten people were killed in an attack on Nayi village in Chikun local government by unknown gunnies," state police front man Aminu Lawan told Agence La Belle France Presse.

"Four other people were maimed in the attack. The gunnies raided homes of their victims on Thursday night. A pastor was among the dead," he said.

He said police had deployed to Nayi outside the town of Zonkwa in the mainly Christian-dominated southern Kaduna where hundreds were killed in violence which erupted following the April 2011 election victory of President Goodluck Jonathan
... 14th President of Nigeria. He was Governor of Bayelsa State from 9 December 2005 to 28 May 2007, and was sworn in as Vice President on 29 May 2007. Jonathan is a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP). He is a lover of nifty hats, which makes him easily recognizable unless someone else in the room is wearing a neat chapeau...
The violence turned sectarian with fighting between Christian and Moslem youths. Human Rights Watch
... dedicated to bitching about human rights violations around the world...
says at least 800 people were killed in the unrest that gripped several of Nigeria's northern states.

Since then, there have been spates of sporadic nocturnal attacks on Christian villages in the area in what seemed to be reprisals for the post-election mayhem.
Posted by: Fred || 03/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram

#1  Kaduna State is the state directly north of Abuja. It's pretty far from Maiduguri. I don't know that I can, in good conscience, call Kaduna "Northern Nigeria." Kaduna is central Nigeria. So, Bokoboys are striking pretty damn far from Maiduguri. 486 miles, according to Google Maps. That's a long drive on shitty African roads.
Posted by: Kentucky Beef || 03/18/2012 10:13 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Swiss language teacher kidnapped in Yemen
[Yemen Post] A Swiss language teacher
I've always wanted to learn to speak Swiss...
was kidnapped on Thursday by gunnies in the Red city of al-Hodieda.

The English language
That's not Swiss!
teacher was moved to the southeastern province of Shabwa, an AQAP stronghold, security sources told Yemen Post on condition of anonymity.

Sources close to AQAP denied their responsibility for the incident, saying the krazed killer group had nothing to do with it.

The Swiss government confirmed the kidnapping on Friday and said it was contacting with the Yemeni authorities in order to negotiate a safe release of the Swiss hostage.

Kidnapping incidents have increased in the last ten years, with rustics resorting to abduct foreigners to force the government to release their imprisoned relatives, or blackmail it for money.

Earlier the year, a UN Norwegian worker was snatched by rustics from central province of Marib in one of the busiest streets at al-Musbahi roundabout,about two blocks away from the Presidential Palace where there is constant heavy security presence, in the Yemeni capital of Sana.

As usual, the Norwegian was freed unharmed after the rustics had struck a deal with the government, which has agreed to release some of thier prisoners.

Ahmed al-Alfi, a senior employer in the Ministry of Tourism, attributed the low revenues from the tourism sector in the country, where there is many historic, old , beautiful, and natural places to visit and enjoy, to the frequent kidnappings of westerners.

"Such incidents shows ignorance, indifference, and stupidity, as well as negligence on the part of authorities which should have raised awareness among the people of the danger and bad effects on the national economy by such reckless, uncalled for acts." He said.
Posted by: Fred || 03/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia

#1  I've always wanted to learn to speak Swiss...

It is quite similar to Austrian, I understand.

Personally, I've never understood why all these foreigners just don't speak English like everyone else.
Posted by: SteveS || 03/18/2012 0:15 Comments || Top||

#2  "Swiss" can mean many things. Some Swiss speak Italian, others French, whilst most speak Swiss German. And, of course, a very high proportion of Swiss speak English. Almost every person in Switzerland speaks more than one language, and it is not uncommon for educated Swiss to speak fluent French, Italian, German, English and one other language of their choice. They have a pretty badass reputation, man-for-man, in the world of linguistics/foreign languages.
Posted by: Kentucky Beef || 03/18/2012 10:24 Comments || Top||

#3  Travel to Yemen and see quaint locals as they go about their happy lives, armed to the teeth.

Posted by: Gleath Slaviling4141 || 03/18/2012 16:57 Comments || Top||

#4  #2

They're being "dry" and gaff-specific re: POTUS, KB.
Posted by: Gabby Cussworth || 03/18/2012 18:54 Comments || Top||


Yemen army takes strict precautionary measures after targeted by al-Qaeda
[Yemen Post] Yemeni government confirmed on Saturday that it had taken precautionary measures to protect its security and army troops from the suicide kabooms, which has sharply increased lately.

Ministry of Interior said it had instructed security and army personnel across the country to take precautionary measures and to be on the highest level of alertness of potential suicide kabooms.

The soldiers were deployed in a way that will help foil any attack and minimize the losses in case a bombing occurs, according to the statement.

Since February last year, al-Qaeda, which has taken over some swathes of land in the south of the country, has carried out several car boomings, targeting army and security troops in southern and southeastern provinces. The attacks left hundreds of soldiers killed and hundreds others maimed.

The ministry raising level of vigilance coincided with media reports that gang suspected to be linked with the transnational terror network in the southern Yemeni province of Taiz, the cradle of the uprising against the 33-year-rule of President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh
... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it...
. Local media outlets reported that gangs believed to be linked with al-Qaeda are increasingly noticed in Al-Rahda area of Taiz, which is a province in the former north Yemen.

Residents of Taiz voiced their concerns that the same scenario of Abyan, al-Qaeda stronghold, would be repeated in their city, calling on the authorities to shoulder its responsibility and force the beturbanned goons out of Taiz.The interim government announced on Friday that the police had managed to arrest some dozens of Africans suspected of being al-Qaeda recruits in the central province of Dhamar, some 90km south Sana'a, the Yemeni capital.
Posted by: Fred || 03/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia


Caribbean-Latin America
5 bad guys die in Zacatecas

For a map, click here. For a map of Zacatecas state, click here

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

A total of five armed suspects were killed by units of the Mexican Army in separate encounters in Zacatecas state since Wednesday, according to Mexican news accounts.

Saturday morning around 0900 hrs armed suspects attacked an army patrol detachment with the Mexican 11th Military Zone in Concepcion del Oro municipality.

Two suspects were killed and one was wounded. The wounded suspect along with two other male suspects and two woman were detained following the encounter.

Soldiers seized four rifles and two vehicles as well as an undisclosed quantity of contraband.

In Valparaiso municipality, another army unit came under small arms fire near the Hotel La Laguna early Wednesday morning.

The unit was apparently on road patrol around 0300 hrs when the encounter took place. Army return fire killed three armed suspects.

Three women were detained who were apparently prostitutes. Three rifles were also seized by elements of the army patrol.

A relief element with the Mexican 52nd Infantry Battalion had apparently been dispatched from its base near Fresnillo, which was attacked by an unknown number of armed suspects. Reports say the attack was intended to prevent the relief element from reinforcing the fight of the unit in Valparaiso.

The attackers apparently fled into the night, ending the battle. No casualties from either side were reported in the second encounter. It is unclear from report exactly where the relief element was attacked since Fresnillo is more than 80 kilometers from Valparaiso to the southwest.

The Mexican Secretaria de Defensa Nacional (SEDENA), the controlling agency for the Mexican Army has not to date released any information on its website about any of the armed encounters.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
Posted by: badanov || 03/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Four schools blown up in a single day
[Dawn] Continuing to do violence to child education in the province, Death Eaters blew up four government-run schools in Lakki Marwat, Swabi and Kohat districts early on Friday.

In Lakki Marwat, two schools for boys were destroyed by bombs in Dhoda and Zer Janu villages, which are 15 to 20 kilometres away from Lakki city.

An official of the education department told Dawn that over 115 children were enrolled in Dhoda primary school, while Zer Janu middle school had over 160 students.

Villagers said the bombing of schools, which were the only sign of development in their areas, had instilled fear into their children, who were reluctant to go to the destroyed buildings to continue with their studies.

In Swabi, a government high school was destroyed in Kaddi village after two bombs went off.

The incident occurred only a day after district police officer Abdul Rashid announced during a function of station house officers that police would ensure peace in the district at all costs.

Watchman Haroon Mohammad was present on the premises when bombs went kaboom!. He, however, remained unhurt.

Soon after the incident, officials of Zaida cop shoppe reached the schools and began investigation.

Executive district officer (education) Abdul Salam, provincial president of Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf
...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations....
Asad Qaisar and politicians visited the place and inspected the destroyed building.

In Kohat, Death Eaters blew up a primary school for boys in remote area of Kotangi Marchoongi.

Sub inspector of the bomb disposal squad Akbar Khan told Dawn over the telephone that a time bomb of high intensity was used in the incident, which caused complete destruction to two classrooms and partial damage to one.

He said four more rooms of the buildings developed cracks and that more than 20kg kaboom was used in the blast.

The administration announced indefinite holidays in the school and said classes would resume once rooms were repaired.

The Bilitang cop shoppe started the paperwork but haven't done much else against unidentified Death Eaters and began investigation. However,
today is that tomorrow you were thinking about yesterday...
no arrests could be made until the last reports came in Friday night.

Meanwhile,
...back at the bunker, his Excellency called a hurried meeting of his closest advisors. It was to be his last. They discussed the officers's efficiency rating system...
a former peace committee member`s perforated carcass was found in the fields near a tube well in Shiekhabad village in Tank district early on Friday.

Wife of the dead person, Nasrullah, told Gomal police that unidentified people knocked at the main door of their house Thursday night and took away her husband and later locals found his body at a deserted place near a Shiekhabad tube well.

Gomal police seized the body, fulfilled legal formalities and handed it over the dead person`s family.
Posted by: Fred || 03/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


15 extortion complaints lodged
[Dawn] Additional IG Akhtar Ghorchani has said that so far 15 extortion complaints have been reported at the newly established Anti-Extortion Cell headed by a DSP. Speaking at a press conference at the CIA Centre here on Friday, he said that eight of these complaints had been addressed and two suspects had been arrested.
So they're actually 2 for 15. That's a .133 average. Never make it to the majors that way...
Posted by: Fred || 03/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Activists of banned outfit remanded
[Dawn] Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Rawalpindi on Friday gave custody of banned Hizbut Tahrir
...an al-Qaeda recruiting organization banned in most countries. It calls for the reestablishment of the Caliphate...
(HuT) activists to police.

Industrial Area police produced the activists of HuT, who were placed in long-term storage from I-9/4 during a raid, in the ATC to seek their physical remand.

After hearing the argument the judicator gave them in police custody on three-day physical remand.

Earlier, Industrial Area police had booked the 19 HuT activists under anti-terrorism act.

During investigation it was revealed that the house on street 35 in I-9/4 was hired eight months back at Rs37,000 per month rent. It was owned by Raja Bashir, a resident of Sector I-9.

Although the police cordoned off the house and the area, one of the activists managed to escape and avoid arrest, the police added.

During the raid some maps were also recovered from the house, the sources said, adding, however, the nature of the maps was being kept secret.
Posted by: Fred || 03/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hizb-ut-Tahrir


Swiss hostages arrive home after Pakistan escape
[Dawn] A Swiss couple said to have beat feet after being held captive by the Pak Taliban for more than eight months arrived home Saturday, Switzerland's
...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell...
foreign ministry said.

Policeman Olivier David Och, 31, and Daniela Widmer, 28, were welcomed at Zurich airport by family and friends, the ministry said, adding that they were in good health under the circumstances.

They also met members of the government team that had worked for their release in the eight months since they were kidnapped at gunpoint on July 1 last year in Pakistain's southwestern province of Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
, apparently on holiday.

They were quoted as saying they were happy to be free again and back in Switzerland, after an ordeal during which they feared for their lives.

They said they had decided to try to escape, despite the risks, after thinking about it for a long time.

Pak officials said Thursday they were found at a checkpoint in the tribal belt, a Taliban and al Qaeda stronghold on the Afghan border, but exactly what happened was clouded in mystery.

Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter said in Bern on Thursday they had shown "great courage." He said no ransom was paid for the couple as Switzerland does not pay to free hostages.

The Pak Taliban had claimed the abduction, demanding that the hostages be exchanged for Aafia Siddiqui
...American-educated Pak cognitive neuroscientist who was convicted of assault with intent to murder her U.S. interrogators in Afghanistan. In September 2010, she was sentenced to 86 years in jug after a three-ring trial. Siddiqui, using the alias Fahrem or Feriel Shahin, was one of six alleged al-Qaeda members who bought $19 million worth of blood diamonds in Liberia immediately prior to 9-11-01. Since her incarceration Paks have taken her to their heart and periodically erupt into demonstrations, while the government tries to find somebody to swap for her...
, a Pak neuroscientist placed in durance vile in 2010 in New York for the attempted murder of US government agents in Afghanistan.

A video emerged in October of the couple flanked by four masked gunnies pointing rifles at their heads.

Balochistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, attracts few tourists because of separatist violence and Taliban activity.

Switzerland has advised against non-essential travel to Pakistain since 2008, citing risks including the threat of kidnapping.

Five foreigners remain kidnapped in Pakistain: an American, a Briton, a German, an Italian and a Kenyan, all aid and development workers.
Posted by: Fred || 03/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


India Issues Warrant for Another Iranian over Blast
[An Nahar] An Indian court issued on Saturday an arrest warrant against another Iranian suspect in an attack last month on an Israeli diplomat in New Delhi, a report said.

Israel has accused Iran of criminal masterminding the attack.

But India has held back from blaming traditional ally Tehran although the Indian police's probe appears to be focused on Iranian nationals and those with ties to the Islamic Theocratic Republic.

Delhi Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vinod Yadav issued the warrant against Masod Sedaghatzadeh, an Iranian who has been jugged in Malaysia, after police alleged he was also involved in the Delhi blast conspiracy, the Press Trust of India said.

"You (police) are hereby directed to arrest him," Yadav was quoted by the news agency as saying.

The warrant was issued a day after Indian police said arrest warrants were being drawn up for three men of Iranian origin identified as suspects in the New Delhi attack that severely injured the Israeli diplomat.

Delhi police commissioner Brijesh Kumar Gupta also said Friday investigations had established a clear link between the February 13 attack and a similar alleged plot targeting Israeli diplomats in Bangkok.

Gupta said the arrest warrants would be issued soon against the three suspects named as Houshang Ashfar Irani, Sayed Ali Sadr Mehdian and Abolghasemi Mohammed Reza. They are all now believed to be in Iran, police said.

In the Delhi attack, a hitman on a cycle of violence attached a magnetic bomb to the back of an Israeli embassy car carrying the 42-year-old diplomat, who was also the wife of the defense attache at the embassy.

Last week, a veteran Indian freelance journalist called Syed Mohammed Kazmi who worked part-time for Iran's news agency IRNA became the first person to be tossed in the calaboose in connection with the attack.

Gupta said interrogation of Kazmi, who denies involvement, had led to the "unraveling of the conspiracy."

The Delhi bombing came on the same day as another attempted attack on an Israeli embassy car in Georgia.

Thai police have tossed in the calaboose two Iranian men in Bangkok who are suspected of planning the separate attack on Israeli diplomats.

Delhi police commissioner Gupta said one of the three named in the Delhi attack, Irani, had been in touch with Sedaghatzadeh, "thus establishing his links with the terror module in Bangkok."
Posted by: Fred || 03/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Iraq
American captured by militia in Iraq released
Wearing a U.S. Army uniform and flanked by Iraqi lawmakers, an American citizen announced Saturday that he was being released from more than nine months of imprisonment by a Shiite militia that for years targeted U.S. troops.
Anybody???
The man did not identify himself. But at a bizarre press conference outside the Green Zone in Baghdad, lawmakers showed U.S.-issued military and contractor ID cards that identified him as Randy Michael Hultz.
Photos at link. Do our readers have any thoughts on their probable validity?
Hultz said he deployed to Iraq in 2003 as an active-duty soldier but left the military after 15 months. At that point, he said, he worked in a "civilian capacity" until his kidnapping on June 18, 2011. He did not wear any patches on his Army green digitalized camouflage uniform that would identify his rank or what unit he may have served with. According to the two ID cards displayed at the press conference, he was active-duty military from January 2004 to February 2005, and a U.S. contractor from December 2005 to November 2007.

Even Iraqi security forces were taken aback at the announcement. A senior Iraqi security official said intelligence indicated that the Promised Day Brigade had captured an American, but did not have enough reliable information to confirm it.
Posted by: tu3031 || 03/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  NYTimes: Militants Free American No One Knew Was Missing
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 03/18/2012 13:38 Comments || Top||


Qaida Claims Iraq Police Academy Attack
[An Nahar] Al-Qaeda's front group in Iraq has claimed a suicide car booming at a Storied Baghdad
...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate...
police academy a month ago that killed 15 people and maimed 21 others, a U.S. monitoring group said on Saturday.

The February 19 bombing was the deadliest attack in the Iraqi capital in weeks, and was claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) in a statement posted on a jihadist forum on Friday, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors bad boy websites.

"The operation targeted the headquarters of the general police academy... where tens of the graduates of the officer training program were gathered," the forum post said, according to a translation provided by SITE.

"These graduates are qualified by the Safavid government to periodically control land in the Sunni areas and impose the reality of the situation in strengthening the rule of the (Shiites) in the land," it said.

Sunni forces of Evil often invoke Iran's Safavid past, referring to the Shiite dynasty that ruled Persia between the 16th and 18th centuries and conquered part of Iraq, when denouncing the Storied Baghdad government, which they say is controlled by Iran.

The posting also included a list of 29 operations carried out by the ISI in Storied Baghdad between February 13 and February 29.
Posted by: Fred || 03/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq


Southeast Asia
Five Killed In Bali Terror Raids
Indonesian counter-terrorism forces have shot dead 5 suspected militants believed to have been planning a series of attacks in Bali.

Heavily armed officers from Indonesia's crack anti-terror unit stormed two separate addresses, in Denpasar and in Sanur, on Sunday night where they shot and killed 5 men.

Witnesses have told AAP that gunshots could be heard for several minutes as officers raided the Lhaksmi Hotel in the Sanur area.
Yay.
Excellent work!
Posted by: Oztralian || 03/18/2012 16:26 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Bali should declare independence from Indonesia.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 03/18/2012 18:50 Comments || Top||

#2  Not if the result would be another East Timor...
Posted by: Steve White || 03/18/2012 20:21 Comments || Top||

#3  Its not clear they were terrorists. Could have been run of the mill bandits.

OTOH one of them was from Aceh.
Posted by: Phil_B || 03/18/2012 20:47 Comments || Top||

#4  D *** NG IT, HOW CAN WE HAVE "BALI HAI" WIDOUT BALI???

[DOROTHY LAMOUR'S "FRUIT" HIGH HAT + "ROAD TO SINGAPORE/MANDALAY" Movies here].

As per TOPIX, maybe Indonesia could do a Thailand hwere the Govt-Army repor is "blacking out" + suppressing any + all Media reports of rampaging Jihad that is taking place???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/18/2012 23:02 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syria Death Toll Now over 11k (Civilian and Defectors)
That's 11k updated through March 15, 2012. The date of the beginning of the death count of the current uprising was March 15, 2011 (although anti Assad protests began in late Jan 2011).

In comparison, the Hama Massacre is estimated at 10k to 40k deaths but was in only a single month (Feb 1982)

The Black September Massacre is estimated at 3k to 10k deaths with most of the fatalities in Sept 1970 but others up until July 1971.

Of course, these are all 'internal'. The Iran-Iraq war of 1980 to 1988 produced 500k to 1M deaths.
Posted by: Lord Garth || 03/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  His dada would do it in a week---assuring 40 years of peace & quiet.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/18/2012 3:58 Comments || Top||

#2  Did his Dada spend that forty years doing peace and quiet, or did he use it to turn Lebanon into a satellite to use in proxy wars against Israel?
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 03/18/2012 11:14 Comments || Top||

#3  Green on Green.
Posted by: Hellfish || 03/18/2012 14:03 Comments || Top||

#4  The point is he had peace & quiet at home.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/18/2012 16:08 Comments || Top||


Iran Protests Azerbaijani 'Terrorist' Allegation
[An Nahar] Iran on Saturday formally protested against an accusation by Azerbaijan that it ordered "terrorist acts" in the neighboring republic against Western and Israeli targets.

Azerbaijan's ambassador to Tehran, Javanshir Akhundov, was summoned to the foreign ministry to hear an official denial that Iran was involved in plots Baku claimed were criminal masterminded by Iran's Revolutionary Guards, the state news agency IRNA reported, quoting a ministry statement.

Baku made the charge on Wednesday.

Its national security ministry said that 22 Azerbaijani citizens had been tossed in the calaboose on suspicion of cooperating with the Revolutionary Guards "to commit terrorist acts against the U.S., Israeli and other Western states' embassies and the embassies' employees."

The Azerbaijani ministry said a Revolutionary Guards officer named Akbar Pakravesh gave the Azerbaijani recruits equipment and money and met them in Damascus
...Capital of the last remaining Baathist regime in the world...
and Moscow to avoid suspicion.

IRNA said the Azerbaijani ambassador was "reminded" of efforts by Israel to discredit Iran through staged events.

Iranian officials, it said, "are not pleased and are extremely regretful that the brotherly and friendly government of the Azerbaijani republic has entered into such a game."

Tensions between Tehran and mainly Moslem but officially secular Azerbaijan have risen in recent months, with a series of arrests in Baku of attack plot suspects with alleged links to Tehran.
Posted by: Fred || 03/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Five Syrian Opposition Groups Form New Coalition
[An Nahar] Five Syrian opposition groups on Saturday announced the formation of a new coalition, a sign of how difficult opponents of the Damascus
...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world...
regime find it to cooperate, a year after the start of the protest movement.

The five groups, meeting here, said their yet unnamed coalition would act independently from the Syrian National Council (SNC), the main opposition coalition which was set up in August to fight Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad's
Light of the Alawites...
regime.

The new group is made up of the liberal National Movement for Change, the Islamist Movement for the Fatherland, the Bloc for Liberation and Development, led by Nawaf al-Bashir, a tribal chief, the Turkmen National Bloc, and the Kurdish Movement for a New Life.

Asked about relations between the new coalition and the SNC, Ammar al-Qurabi, leader of the National Movement for Change, told Agence La Belle France Presse his "coalition was not set up in opposition to anyone, other than Assad's regime, but rather to unite the opposition outside the SNC."

"We see the SNC as a temporary structure which will disappear with time, while our own coalition is a more long-term entity that will be there after liberation" in Syria, according to Imamduddin al-Rashid, head of the Movement for the Fatherland.

The SNC has emerged as one of the main voices of the opposition, but is often criticized by activists inside Syria who say the mostly exiled leadership has little connection to protesters on the ground.
Posted by: Fred || 03/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria



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Two weeks of WOT
Sun 2012-03-18
  Five Killed In Bali Terror Raids
Sat 2012-03-17
  Qaeda suspects kidnap Swiss woman: Yemeni officials
Fri 2012-03-16
  Philly man arrested on charges of supporting Uzbeki terrorists
Thu 2012-03-15
   Karzai orders NATO out of all Afghan villages
Wed 2012-03-14
  Leon Panetta unhurt after suspected attack
Tue 2012-03-13
  U.S. Drone Attack In Pakistan Reportedly Kills 15 Suspected Militants
Mon 2012-03-12
  Army airstrikes kill 20 al-Qaeda militants in south Yemen
Sun 2012-03-11
  Syrian Ground Forces Storm Rebel Stronghold of Idlib, 62 Killed in Violence
Sat 2012-03-10
  Air strikes in Yemen kill suspected al Qaeda militants
Fri 2012-03-09
  13 Dronezapped in South Wazoo
Thu 2012-03-08
  British and Italian hostages murdered by captors in special forces rescue bid in Nigeria
Wed 2012-03-07
  Suicide bomber kills four in southern Russia
Tue 2012-03-06
  Nigerian Army Says Killed 3 Islamists Trying to Burn School
Mon 2012-03-05
  Gunmen massacre 21 policemen in Iraq attacks
Sun 2012-03-04
  Sherpao escapes suicide attack in Charsadda

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