Pirates captured a South Korean-flagged fishing vessel off the coast of Somalia on Tuesday and efforts by a U.S. Navy ship and a Dutch vessel to intervene were abandoned when members of the South Korean crew were threatened with guns and the ship slipped into Somali territorial waters, the Navy said. Cmdr. Jeff Breslau, spokesman for the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet in Bahrain, said he did not know the number of crew aboard the South Korean vessel, the Dong Won.
It was the latest in a series of incidents off the coast of Somalia. On March 18, two U.S. Navy ships exchanged gunfire with suspected pirates, killing one and wounding five. No U.S. sailors were injured. Somalis involved in that incident later claimed they were patrolling Somali waters to stop illegal fishing when the U.S. ships fired on them.
On Tuesday morning, naval ships patrolling international waters in the Persian Gulf region as part of an international Maritime security mission received a radio distress call from the Dong Won, which reported that it had been fired upon about 60 miles off the coast of Somalia, according to a statement issued by 5th Fleet. Some hours later the guided missile destroyer USS Roosevelt and the Dutch ship HNLMS Zeven Provincien arrived at the scene. Apparently, by that time the pirates had taken control of the fishing vessel.
Breslau said that when the Dong Won turned toward Somali territorial waters, one or both of the U.S. and Dutch ships tried to intercept it and fired warning shots in its direction. Members of the South Korean crew were seen on the deck of the Dong Won with guns pointed at them, so the intercept effort was broken off, he added. "The top priority is the safety of innocent lives," the 5th Fleet statement said. Breslau said the U.S. and Dutch ships remained in the area in international waters to monitor the situation.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/04/2006 15:10 ||
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A dozen heavily armed pirates have hijacked a UAE-registered oil tanker along with 19 Filipino crew members off the coast of Somalia, an international piracy watchdog said. "Twelve pirates armed with machine guns, AK47 rifles and sidearms boarded the tanker off Mogadishu during daylight," Noel Choong, head of the Piracy Reporting Centre of the London-based International Maritime Bureau, told AFP.
Choong said the United Arab Emirates oil tanker had earlier discharged its cargo at Mogadishu port and was hit on March 29 after leaving port. Maritime officials identified the ship as "Lin 1." Choong said the pirates are holding the ship off the coast of Somalia and are demanding "a huge sum of money" from the owners for its release.
The international coalition forces consisting of US, British and Dutch warships that are helping to police the area have been informed of the latest hijack, he said. Choong said the pirates were holding the ship inside Somalia's territorial waters and this could pose a problem should the foreign ships want to intervene.
Since March 15, 2005, pirates have hit 40 ships off Somalia but many more attacks have gone unreported, he said. Choong urged ship captains to keep their vessels at least 200 kilometres (125 miles) away from Somalia's coast to avoid pirate attacks. "The pirates are armed and they will not hesitate to fire to stop ships," he warned.
In a recent incident, pirates fired at a UN food aid ship in an attempt to hijack it. Pirates had hijacked an Indian ship, the Bhakti Saga, on February 26. Its 25-member crew was only freed on March 29. The waters around Somalia are among the most dangerous in the world, with heavily armed gangs prepared to venture far offshore to attack vessels.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2006 00:00 ||
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Choong said the pirates were holding the ship inside Somalia's territorial waters and this could pose a problem should the foreign ships want to intervene
because we all respect Somalia's central gov't sooooo much. Kill them. String them up on Mog's docks as a warning
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/04/2006 0:09 Comments ||
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Blackwater has announced an openly mercenary division of their company recently. I'm pretty sure it includes ex-SEALs. Perhaps the UAE would like to hire them.
Egyptian security forces have detained eight more members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood in the southern city of Al-Minya, the Islamist movement's spokesman told AFP. "Eight members of the Brotherhood were arrested in Al-Minya, one of whom is the son of a Brotherhood member of parliament," said Issam al-Aryan. "It is clear that this is a reaction to the Brotherhood's activities in parliament which cause embarrassment to the goverment," said Aryan.
The Islamist movement which is officially banned in Egypt fielded candidates as independents in the country's November parliamentary elections and holds 88 out of 454 seats in the People's Assembly. The fresh wave of arrests comes just days after security forces arrested 10 Brotherhood supporters in the northern city of Alexandria and brought to 45 the total number of those currently behind bars. Aryan said that the presence of the Islamist bloc in parliament and its aggressive challenge to the regime had rejuvenated the People's Assembly. He accused the government of backtracking on its promises of reform. "It's the first time the government feels that the assembly wants to exercise its legislative rights, and this worries them," he said.
Security forces in Morocco are holding nine suspected al Qaeda activists, whom local newspapers said were part of a ring that plotted bomb attacks in France, Italy and Morocco, state news agency MAP said on Monday.
Morocco has been on alert since 2003 when suicide bombers killed 45 people in Casablanca, the country's financial capital. More than 3,000 people have been arrested since on suspicion of having terrorist connections. Many have been released but hundreds have been jailed after trials, officials said.
That's what usually happens after a trial in which one is found guilty.
Local newspapers said the nine suspects planned to participate in a larger plot to blow up a church in Bologna and a commuter train station in Milan, the headquarters of French intelligence services in Paris and the U.S. consulate in Rabat. "The nine suspects, arrested and brought before Rabat appeals court recently, are accused of setting up a criminal gang in view of preparing and carrying out terrorist attacks within the framework of collective plot," said MAP, quoting an unnamed judiciary source.
MAP did not give more details. Government officials were not immediately available for comment.
"We can say no more!"
Police sources said the nine were arrested early last week and that they were being held after appearing for questioning before an investigating judge at Rabat appeals court.
Pro-government daily al Alam, one of the dailies that had reported extensively on the case, said a Tunisian, named as Mohamed Benhedi Msahel, traveled from Italy, where he lived, to Algeria and Morocco to recruit bombers for the plots. It said al Qaeda network leader Osama bin Laden endorsed the planned attacks. Al Alam said the attacks in Italy were modeled on the Madrid train bombings on March 11, 2003, in which 191 people were killed and more than 2,000 injured.
In Algeria, Msahel met a leader of the country's largest outlawed Islamic militant Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), which is aligned with al Qaeda, to review details of the planned attacks before returning to Morocco. He had planned to return to Italy, but was arrested, the newspaper added.
An European Muslim convert was due to join five Jihadist bombers recruited in Italy, the daily added but gave no details about who was due to carry out the four attacks in France.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/04/2006 00:39 ||
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Security forces in Morocco are holding nine suspected al-Qaeda activists who were part of a ring that plotted bomb attacks in France, Italy and Morocco, the state news agency MAP has said quoting local newspapers. Newspapers in Rabat said the nine suspects planned to participate in a larger plot to blow up a church in Bologna and a commuter train station in Milan, the headquarters of French intelligence services in Paris and the US consulate in Rabat. "The nine suspects, arrested and brought before Rabat appeals court recently, are accused of setting up a criminal gang in view of preparing and carrying out terrorist attacks within the framework of collective plot," MAP said on Monday, quoting an unnamed judiciary source.
MAP did not give more details. Government officials were not immediately available for comment. Police sources said the nine were arrested early last week and that they were being held after appearing for questioning before an investigating judge at Rabat appeals court. Pro-government daily Al Alam, one of the dailies that had reported extensively on the case, said a Tunisian, named as Mohamed Benhedi Msahel, travelled from Italy, where he lived, to Algeria and Morocco to recruit bombers for the plots.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2006 00:00 ||
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Charles Taylor, Liberia's former president, has pleaded not guilty to charges of crimes against humanity during years of atrocities in Sierra Leone. He was remanded in custody to a date yet to be fixed. He did not apply for bail during the landmark hearing on Monday, but said he preferred to be tried in Sierra Leone. "Most definitely, I'm not guilty," Taylor told Judge Richard Lussick at the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone.
"I didn't dunnit, and besides, I won't do it no more. Now back off!"
Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2006 00:00 ||
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Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States Turki al-Faisal expressed support for Israel's strike on the Iraqi Osirak nuclear facility in 1981.
Al-Faisal said that the destruction of the Iraqi nuclear reactor by Israel was certainly a positive step, during a speech on foreign relations in San Francisco.
Hummmmm. Ambassadors chose their words very carefully. And saudi ambassadors would be speaking for the ruling princes. Wheels within wheels.
The prince said that a region clear of nuclear weapons would also serve Israel and increase its security. He said that it was known that Israel had nuclear weapons, and that that Arab world felt threatened by Israel, rather than the other way around. Faisal added that Israel possessed the best army, air force, and navy in the Middle East, and that these have been well used in the past.
Is he hinting they should be well used in the near future?
After becoming aware that Iraq was planning to construct nuclear weapons, Israel launched a surprise aerial attack on June 7 1981 on the Osirak facility near Baghdad, and destroyed the Iraqi reactor. The move was initially widely condemned, but was widely supported in subsequent years.
Is this a sign that an attack on Iranian facilities would be quietly supported?
Posted by: Steve ||
04/04/2006 12:41 ||
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"Is this a sign that an attack on Iranian facilities would be quietly supported?"
It seems that way to me. The surprising thing is that this was said publicly. It may be a slip by the ambassador, if it was entirely deliberate thats even more significant.
#2
Bottom line is the Sunnis fear an Iranian Shia dynasty. In spite of the "enemy of my enemy" cooporation between the Black Hats and AQ...that Brokeback SandDune lovefest would disentegrate overnight if Iran were to dominate Iraq overtly through Tater and his ilk.
#6
US will be there to help. It is US strategy to keep the sea-lanes open and no one power dominant over global petroleum reserves. So, ungrateful and obnoxious as they are, the US will defend SA.
#8
Trust Turki al-Faisal to do one thing and one thing only, and that is cover his @ss until he's farting through silk. Turki cannot be trusted, his prior ties to mullah Omar and al Qaeda have totally compromised him. I doubt that the State Department would trust him with more than a fountain pen. None of this changes the fact that the Saudi Arabia remains the real enemy in the Gulf region. Iran is merely a festering boil that needs to be lanced. The Saudis represent a metastasized Wahabbist cancer that will require excision.
#11
The Israelis crossed Saudi territory both ways to hit the Osirak reactor. Undoubtedly it was at very low levels (50 feet, probably), but that doesn't mean the Saudi radar couldn't or didn't pick them up. At the same time, the Saudis were the most vocal in attacking Israel after the attack.
NOBODY, even the Russians, really want a nuclear-armed Iran. The Russians also need all the foreign currency they can get, and will sell Iran ANYTHING to earn it - even the most sophisticated weapons in their arsenal. China needs Iranian crude, and will stand in the way of anything that threatens their supply.
Iran needs to be dealt with, and harshly. They're involved in Iraq and in Afghanistan, they're behind the trouble in Baluchistan, I wouldn't be surprised to learn they're aidng the pirates off the Somali coast, and they're certainly funding terrorism - Hisbollah, probably Hamas and the PFLP as well.
The Saudis may want Israel to do the dirty work, the condemn them again for their "unilateral" attacks on Islamic states. Israel, however, doesn't have the resources to do what really needs to be done - destroy the military capability of the Mad Mullahs. The United States does, but needs a few more assurances that Russia and China won't come to Iran's defenses if we attack. The Saudi comment may be a subtle signal that they will make a few offers China shouldn't resist.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/04/2006 14:54 Comments ||
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One ccountry at a time Zenster, we deal with Mad Mullahs then onward to SA.
Works for me. Iran's Mullahs are like a pack of Rottweilers in the front yard of the Saudi crack house. Certainly a problem and something that must be dealt with first, but not the real threat.
Riyadh, 4 April (AKI) - An internet site purporting to represent the al-Qaeda terror network's branch in Saudi Arabia has denied claims made by the Saudi authorities last week that 40 al-Qaeda linked militants had been arrested. It also announced that the group plans to post video and other propaganda material on the site in the coming days - a move that would appear to contradict reports by analysts who maintain that authorities have crushed al-Qaeda's Saudi cells.
"As for the arrest of 40 people who are allegedly members of al-Qaeda in the Arab peninsula, and that the group also included some who have been responsible in distributing our messages - we say that all this is false. It is all propaganda by the blasphemous Saudi government because our information office is still operational and no one has been arrested," the Internet message said.
"So there!"
In the statement, the group also denied that people linked to the Islamist Internet portal, al-Hesbah.org, which has been shut down by Saudi authorities, had been arrested. It said that militants operating the site had managed to thwart attempts by authorities from several Arab states to infiltrate the site.
On 30 March the Saudi interior ministry announced that security forces had arrested 40 suspected terrorists in three different operations carried out around the Kingdom. Those arrested were believed to be members of al-Qaeda terrorist cells, some of whom may be linked to a foiled attack on the Al-Abqaiq oil refinery in the Kingdom's Eastern Province on 25 February, the ministry said. It did not release the names of any of the detained suspects. According to a ministry statement, the sweep followed investigations by security forces tracking a number of people who were stockpiling weapons, providing material and financial support for the activities of the suspects, and using the Internet to spread "subversive propaganda" and promoting acts of violence.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/04/2006 11:24 ||
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A former senior official of Sinn Fein recently exposed as a British spy was found fatally shot in northwest Ireland, police said Tuesday. Denis Donaldson, Sinn Fein's former legislative chief in the failed power-sharing government of Northern Ireland, admitted in December he had been on the payroll of the British secret service and the province's anti-terrorist police for the previous two decades. He then went into hiding because the traditional Irish Republican Army punishment for informing is death.
Sure and the boys are very big on tradition in Ireland.
But Ireland's national police said it was not clear whether Donaldson, 55, had been killed or committed suicide. In a statement, the force said the scene around his body in Glenties, County Donegal, was cordoned off for a forensic examination planned for Wednesday.
CSI - Donegal is on the case
Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern condemned what he called the "brutal murder" of Donaldson. The IRA said it was not involved in the death.
Yeah, right. You're just a peaceful, albeit heavily armed, social club
A Roman Catholic-Protestant power-sharing administration for Northern Ireland — the central goal of the British province's 1998 peace accord — fell apart in October 2002 because of an IRA spying scandal with Donaldson at its heart.
Donaldson, his nephew and a British civil servant all were charged with pilfering documents from inside the power-sharing government that identified potential targets of the outlawed IRA and detailed political opponents' private conversations. Protestants at the time accused the IRA of plotting a potential resumption of its violent campaign to oust Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom.
But British prosecutors mysteriously dropped all charges against the trio in early December. Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams initially defended Donaldson and the others — but a week later announced that Donaldson had confessed, under questioning by Sinn Fein officials, to being a paid British spy. Within hours, Donaldson admitted this was so in an interview with RTE, the Irish state broadcasters.
The IRA last year declared it was renouncing violence for political purposes and backed the pledge by handing over its weapons stockpiles to disarmament chiefs. Both moves were supposed to spur a revival of power-sharing involving Sinn Fein, the IRA-linked party that represents most Catholics in Northern Ireland. But Protestant leaders have refused to cooperate with Sinn Fein, citing the IRA's refusal to disband and its alleged involvement in a range of criminal activities.
If police determine that Donaldson was killed, it would be certain to fuel the hostility of the major Protestant party, the Democratic Unionists, to cooperating with Sinn Fein. British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Ahern are expected Thursday to announce a new blueprint for reviving power-sharing.
That blueprint looks a lot like a certain roadmap we all know
The joint governments' proposals, which have been 3 1/2 years of diplomacy in the making, recommend that Northern Ireland's legislature reconvene in May and face a Nov. 24 deadline to elect an administration jointly led by the Democratic Unionists and Sinn Fein.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/04/2006 14:51 ||
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Ratted out the boyos did he?
Looks like "natural causes" to me...
The alleged leader of a plot to bomb Britain boasted he was in a video with Osama Bin Laden, a jury has heard. Omar Khyam, 24, of Crawley, West Sussex, said his masked face was seen in the video, the Old Bailey was told. But the main prosecution witness, American supergrass Mohammed Babar, 31, added he did not believe the claim. Seven men, who all come from London and the south-east of England, deny conspiracy to cause explosions between January 2003 and March 2004.
Babar told the jury he had also discussed plots to attack Big Ben and New York's Times Square on New Year's Eve with a British man not on trial, Ansar Butt. The defence says any discussions of plots were "all talk" and there had been no intention of going through with them. But Babar told the jury Mr Khyam "was saying he wanted to do multiple bombs in Europe". The trial has heard that the men were planning to bomb nightclubs, pubs, trains and shopping centres including Bluewater in Kent.
Babar has been flown from prison in the US to give evidence against the Britons.
Waheed Mahmood, 34, Jawad Akbar, 22, Mr Khyam and his brother Shujah Mahmood, 19, all of Crawley, West Sussex, each deny a charge of conspiracy to cause explosives. Denying the same charge are Salahuddin Amin, 31, from Luton, 23-year-old Anthony Garcia - also known as Rahman Adam - of Ilford, east London, and Nabeel Hussain, 20, of Horley, Surrey. Mr Khyam, Mr Garcia and Mr Hussain each deny possessing ammonium nitrate fertiliser - a chemical that can be used in bomb-making. Mr Khyam and Shujah Mahmood deny possessing aluminium powder, also used in bomb-making. The trial continues.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/04/2006 01:37 ||
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Pure fantasy - give em all 30 years tho...
Posted by: Howard UK ||
04/04/2006 6:58 Comments ||
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Hiding deep in Tora Bor, wait for the next bomb
And I'm feeling nearly as choked as my schmock.
Binny thumbed rose water down just before bombs did come,
It rode us all the way to Kabul Town.
I pulled my Uzzy gun out of my dirty black turban,
I was playing soft while Binny sang of Jihad.
Dust clouds swirlin' slapping time, Loadin' BinnyÂ’s pipe with Hash,
We sang praises for that seventy-two.
Freedom is just another word for martyrdom this way,
Nothing means blow-ups for Jihad, or else you're gonna lose, now now.
And feeling good was easy, Allah, when Jihad blues were sung,
You know feeling good was good enough for me,
Good enough for me and my man, Sheikh Binny.
The palace where Arthur sought the Grail
Is the resting home of the weak and frail
And the knight who challenged death on its trail
On the ocean of death forward must sail
Chasing the temporal is to no avail
As soon as you go through deathÂ’s dark veil.
Hmmm...
Where Arthur sought the grail?...
Weak and frail?...
They are delusional!...
SAN DIEGO - A Pakistani man was sentenced on Monday to nearly five years in prison for his role in a plot to obtain and sell Stinger anti-aircraft missiles to the Taleban and Al Qaeda. Muhamed Abid Afridi, 32, pleaded guilty in federal court in March 2004 to one count of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and one count of conspiracy to distribute heroin and hashish.
Two other men pleaded guilty to the same charges. Sentencing for Syed Mustajab Shah, 57, also of Pakistan, is set for June 19. Ilyas Ali, 58, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in India, is scheduled to be sentenced April 10.
Afridi admitted that he tried to sell five tons of hashish and a half-ton of heroin to undercover U.S. law enforcement officials in exchange for cash and four shoulder-fired Stinger missiles, which he and the other defendants intended to sell to members of the Taleban. Such missiles could be used to shoot down airplanes, including commercial jets, flying at low altitudes.
Afridi knew at the time of the TalebanÂ’s ties to Al Qaeda, prosecutors said.
The defendants were arrested in 2002 by police in Hong Kong. The three had been secretly videotaped in meetings with undercover FBI agents at a Hong Kong hotel.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/04/2006 08:18 ||
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5 YEARS ??????????????????????????????
five tons of hashish and a half-ton of heroin sell Stinger anti-aircraft missiles to the Taleban and Al Qaeda
#4
According to the article, two of the gentlemen in question are Pakistainis, one a naturalized American citizen of Indian extraction. As I recall, all three were settled in the U.S. with their families at the time of the arrests. So, five years in the calaboose, followed by immediate deportation, along with the families no longer having visible means of support. The wives and children (not to mention the extended family whose lives had been so much more comfortable on the remittances they'd been receiving from their Stateside relative these many years), deprived forever of the lifestyle to which they were happily accustomed, should be enough to make the gentlemen long for their prison days the rest of their sorry lives.
#5
Among drug dealers in the 70s it was a known fact that $20k would get them a lot of drugs in South America but $20K in weapons would get a whole lot more. Then the problem was how to consumate the deal without the weapons being turned on the dealer afterwards.
The interesting twist here is the drugs are delivered in the US. The story doesn't explain where the weapons were to be exchanged. Drug suppliers don't usually show that much savy. By already having smuggled the drugs into the US they could ask for way more weapons per unit of drugs.
That should have raised red flags to them. (they were a bit greedy.) If a dealer had weapons to sell, they are easier to export than drugs are to bring in. A sharp dealer would have just made the deal in Pakistan. (His return would have been so much better.)
They were idiots that they didn't suspect this.
(maybe using their product?)
The Lahore High CourtÂ’s Rawalpindi bench on Monday allowed four convicts to appeal their death penalty awarded for their involvement in the murder attempt on President General Pervez Musharraf in 2003. A military court had awarded death to six people for their involvement in the murder attack on December 25, 2003, which killed 14 people. The court has also awarded life imprisonment to two other men and freed one in the same case.
The military court had dismissed the appeals of Zubair Ahmed, Rashid Quraishi, Ghulam Sarwar Bhatti and a Russian national Ahmed Ikhlas against their death penalty last month. The Lahore High Court in its earlier hearing dismissed their appeals on the ground that appeals against the death sentence awarded by the military court was beyond their jurisdiction. However the convictsÂ’ lawyers, Col (r) Muhammad Akram and Hashmat Habib, argues that LHC judge Justice Akhtar Shabir had dismissed the High Court registrarÂ’s objection and accepted their appeals for regular hearing.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2006 00:00 ||
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Police arrested Mohammed Junaid, allegedly the operations chief of Harkatul Mujahideen Al-Almi, on Monday after a gun battle here, said a senior police official Raja Omar Khitab. Police launched a raid as Junaid and an accomplice were shifting weapons from a hideout in the city. The two militant suspects traded fire with police, before Junaid was captured while the other man got away. Police confiscated one AK-47 assault rifle, two grenades and a pistol.
Khitab said Junaid was wanted in connection with several attacks on police and a 2003 bombing at a private club in Karachi that injured nine people. The government had offered a reward of Rs 500,000 for information leading to his arrest. Harkatul Mujahideen Al-Almi emerged as an offshoot of Harkatul Mujahideen, a banned militant group that fights against Indian security forces in Kashmir and is suspected of ties with the Taliban militia in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2006 00:00 ||
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A paramilitary mine clearance soldier was killed and two others injured Monday in separate blasts in Balochistan, officials said. The soldier was critically wounded when he stepped on the landmine in Taraman village near Kohlu district and later died of injuries, a spokesman for the Frontier Corps said. Separately a water tanker belonging to paramilitary forces hit a landmine near a gas field in Loti area and two soldiers were injured, the spokesman said. Ten people including five tribal police were killed in landmine and bomb blasts at the weekend in the region and the officials have blamed the attacks on tribal militants.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2006 00:00 ||
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I'm not generally fond of the soldiers of Pakistan's army, but this one dedicated his life for Good. May he be pleasantly surprised to be met by a full set a houris and a seat at God's right hand when he arrives in Paradise. And may the wounds of his comrades be those from which full recovery is rapid and painless (Yes, I'm stretching here, but one can hope.)
What part of Pakistan is not in the 'restive tribal belt'?
The Al-Q training camp run by the ISI in Rawalpindi, of course.
MIRANSHAH, Pakistan - Five people were killed in a landmine blast and two pro-Taleban militants died in a clash with security forces in PakistanÂ’s restive tribal region on Monday, officials said. The incidents occurred in the North Wazoo Waziristan tribal region, where around 200 tribesmen were killed in clashes with security forces last month. They were answering a call to arms by militant Muslim clerics following a special forces assault on an Al Qaeda camp.
"Come to prayer! Come to armed prayer! Come to fight infidels in armed prayer!"
The landmine victims were travelling in a vehicle in Dattakhel area near North Waziristan’s main town of Miranshah when it struck a landmine. “Five people were killed on the spot, while the sixth is in critical condition,” said an intelligence official.
In the second incident, two pro-Taleban terrorists militants were killed after militants attacked a paramilitary patrol in the town of Mir Ali. The terrorists militants had hurled hand grenades on the troops, wounding three of them, another intelligence official said.
Troops shot back, did they?
The incidents took place a day after one soldier was killed and 10 people wounded in clashes in the region, which is heavily infested with roaches Al Qaeda and rats Taleban terrorists fighters and their local rubesfoolsstoogessyncophants sympathisers.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/04/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
A restive tribal belt is needed to contrast with your doilly hat.
#5
That "restive tribal belt" needs greasing. I suggest tactical nukes from 40,000 feet. That should be enough grease to remove the "restive" for a looooonnng time - not to mention the "tribal belt" itself.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/04/2006 15:05 Comments ||
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#6
Is there something opposite of Pakistan's "restive tribal belt?" Like a calm, serene, and peaceful spot of pure bliss?
Eight people including two foreign militants were killed Monday in a bomb explosion and clashes with security forces in North Waziristan tribal agency, bordering Afghanistan, according to military sources.
Sources told KUNA that a passenger van was coming to Miramshah, the main headquarters of North Waziristan agency, when it hit a landmine near Dattakhel area. The sources indicated that the explosion killed five people, including two women and wounded four others. They added that the van was completely damaged.
Meanwhile, sources noted that three militants, including two foreigners were killed and three Frontier Core (FC) personnel were wounded during clashes between suspected militants and FC forces. The sources indicated that an FC force raided a suspected arms and ammunition depot in Mir Ali village of North Waziristan agency during which armed militants opened fire against them, wounding three FC personnel. The Sources said that three militants were killed during an exchange of fire, two of them of foreign origin. The sources noted that a search operation was carried out during which two foreign militants were arrested. These incidents come a day after one soldier was killed and 10 people were wounded in clashes that occurred in the agency.
Suspected Islamic militants beheaded a tribesman after kidnapping him for spying for the US military.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2006 00:00 ||
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ISLAMABAD: Police on Monday registered a case against a seminary cleric for allegedly keeping a student in illegal confinement and forcing him to go abroad for jihad training.
Musaddiq Malik, 14, suffered multiple injuries in an abortive attempt to escape. However, his parents succeeded to get him freed on Monday after searching for him for two days. The cleric, Qari Fazal, is still on the run.
Malik was admitted to Madrassa Taleemul Quran, located in Sector G-7/3, two years ago. Fazal was his teacher but the madrassa’s management sacked him because of his dubious activities. Fazal later opened his own seminary named Madrassa Khalid bin Waleed in Sector I-8/3. Police sources said Fazal “developed relations” with Malik and “hypnotised” him to go abroad for jihad training. They said that Malik took Rs 200,000 from his parents and gave to Fazal for the “holy cause”.
On Monday, Malik managed to escape and Fazal chased him. While running on a road in Sector I-8/3, Malik was hit by a car and was caught. Fazal took him to a hospital and again confined him. Later, his parents freed him. Malik told police that he had given Fazal Rs 200,000 to send him to Afghanistan for jihad training. He said that Fazal tortured him when he asked for his money back.
Industrial Area Police Station House Officer Liaqat Ali Langah told Daily Times that several complaints had already been lodged against Fazal. He said Madrassa Khalid bin Walid was formed without approval from the authorities. He said police had registered a case against Fazal and was searching for him.
Posted by: john ||
04/04/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
1) The cleric, Qari Fazal, is still on the run.
2) Police sources said Fazal “developed relations” with Malik
3) ...several complaints had already been lodged against Fazal.
BTW- I was wondering what did the army ever do with those wood chippers that Saddahm used to grind up his political opponents? Just curious.
Back on topic. This guy Qari Fazal needs to meet the 72 succubi a little early...
Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is to be charged with genocide over a 1980s campaign against the Kurds, an Iraqi tribunal has announced. Saddam Hussein and six others face new charges over a crackdown known as the Anfal campaign, which included the gassing of the Kurdish town of Halabja. Human rights groups say 180,000 civilians died in the Anfal campaign. Saddam and seven others are already on trial for the deaths of 148 people in Dujail after an assassination attempt.
"We declare the investigations are completed in the case called the Anfal campaign in which thousands of men and women were killed. The accused are being transferred to the criminal court," court spokesman Raid Juhi said as he made the announcement.
Saddam's co-accused include his cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as Chemical Ali for his role in the poison gas attack on Halabja in 1988, in which 5,000 people died. The others facing charges are former defence minister Sultan Hashem Ahmed and high ranking Baathists Saber Abdel Aziz, Hussein Rashid al-Tikriti, Taher Mohammed al-Ani and Farhan al-Juburi.
Mr Juhi said the charges against the former president and his co-accused had been filed with a judge, who will review the evidence and order a trial date. Correspondents say it is not clear whether the trial will run in parallel to the Dujail trial or after it. The announcement comes a day before the Dujail trial - over the killing of 148 people in the Shia village of Dujail in 1982 - was set to resume.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/04/2006 08:07 ||
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EFL: On March 17, DEBKA-Net-WeeklyÂ’s intelligence sources in Baghdad revealed as a result of a discreet scan that almost 130 of the 275 candidates the Shiite Alliance posted for the December election were connected in some way or other with, or on the payroll of, the Iranian bodies pulling the wires of Iraqi politics from across the border.
Six Iraqi lawmakers elected on the United Iraqi Alliance ticket were identified as undercover “amid” officers – brigadier-generals - of the Iranian revolutionary guards and intelligence service. They used political fronts to disguise their undercover missions on behalf of the Islamic republic.
DEBKA-Net-Weekly reveals the names and functions of those six Iraqi politicians-cum-Iranian brigadier generals.
Abu Muchtabi Sari – former secretary general of the Iraqi Hizballah.
Abu Hassan Al Amari – the last commander of the Badr Force at its base in Iran.
Abu Mahdi al Muhandis – former Badr Force officer.
Rajah Alwan - former Badr Force officer.
Dager Moussawi – Head of the Lord of the Martyrs Movement, which Iran’s military intelligence established in the Shiite regions of central and southern Iraq. (Lord in the Shiite sense refers to the holy Imam Hussein)
Tahsin Aboudi – a high-ranking Iraqi interior ministry official, under which cover - and as an Iraqi member of parliament - he is aan undercover brigadier general of Iran’s external intelligence service, which is operated by the foreign ministry in Tehran.
Given the subversive nature of the high and mighty of Shiite politics, it is hardly surprising that obstacles are being piled up against the formation of a Shiite-led coalition government. The problem runs a lot deeper than sectarian disagreement over a prime minister. Most of the key players know exactly whom they are dealing with, behind the facades of Shiite Iraqi politicians and officials. Their resistance is not just focused on prime minister Jaafari, but aimed at thwarting the rise in Baghdad of a government that is a stooge of Iranian intelligence. It is no secret to BaghdadÂ’s political insiders that the Iranians are in the middle of an artfully contrived program to exploit IraqÂ’s democratic process for the capture of positions of political influence in Baghdad and the southern Shiite regions of Iraq.
#1
If we are as certain of our information as DEBKA is, arrest the gentlemen with great fanfare, publicize their connections, and immediately hold a vote for their replacements. If it's good enough for Chalabi, it is certainly good enough for such as these.
Iraq's interior ministry is refusing to deploy thousands of police recruits who have been trained by the US and the UK and is hiring its own men and putting them on the streets, according to western security advisers.
The move is frustrating US and British efforts to build up a non-sectarian Iraqi police force which would not be infiltrated by partisan militias.
The disclosure highlights growing US and British concern about the role of militias in sectarian killings, and their links to senior Iraqi politicians. "You can't have in a democracy various groups with arms - you have to have the state with a monopoly on power," Condoleeza Rice, the US secretary of state, said at the end of her two-day visit to Baghdad yesterday.
"We have sent very, very strong messages repeatedly, and not just on this visit, that one of the first things ... is that there is going to be a reining in of the militias... It's got to be one of the highest priorities."
The interior ministry, which is controlled by the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution (SCIRI), has not deployed any graduates of the civilian police assistance training team (CPATT), a joint US/UK unit, for the past three months.
The CPATT was designed to put the police on a fair footing after Saddam Hussein's 30-year dictatorship. Its goal is to train 134,000 officers by the end of the year and ensure an equitable ethnic and sectarian balance.
The ministry's refusal to use the new graduates is causing alarm. "There are concerns about the infiltration of the police by extremist groups and the coalition is right to be concerned about transparency," a western security adviser told the Guardian.
Senior ministry officials say they refuse to deploy the graduates because they have no control over the CPATT's selection process.
Sunni politicians and residents of Baghdad have claimed that the ministry supports several "death squads" which are said to be responsible for abducting and murdering hundreds of Sunnis in recent weeks.
In one incident last week, men dressed in the camouflage uniforms of police commandos drove up in three vehicles and stormed into an electrical appliances store in Mansour, a middle-class Sunni district of west Baghdad. They rounded up three young women employees and five males in a room and shot them dead.
It emerged late last year that the interior ministry has been running secret detention centres. US troops discovered two prisons in which more than 800 men and boys, mostly Sunnis, were held in shocking conditions. Under the Iraqi constitution only the ministry of justice is allowed to run prisons.
Many Sunnis now say they would rather be detained by the Americans than the Iraqi police.
No figures are available for the police's religious and ethnic make-up outside Kurdistan, partly because there is no central data base, but estimates put it at 80% Shia. Until recently the special police and commando units were 99% Shia, according to a CPATT spokesperson.
Charges that the police were becoming partisan developed after Bayan Jabr, a SCIRI leader, became interior minister last April. The SCIRI's powerful armed wing, the Badr organisation, was founded in Iran during the supreme council's 20-year exile from the Saddam Hussein regime.
According to the International Crisis Group thinktank, Mr Jabr worked with the commander of the Badr organisation and its intelligence chief to give Iraq's police and paramilitary forces a sectarian thrust.He infiltrated Badr militia members into the commando units set up in 2004 to fight the anti-occupation insurgency.
Mr Jabr has denied that commando units have been involved in murders and says criminals use police uniforms to hide their identity.
Sectarian violence continued yesterday with a car bomb exploding near a Shia mosque in north-eastern Baghdad, killing at least 10 people and wounding 30.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/04/2006 02:00 ||
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#1
Housecleaning time. Enough of this shit. Jabr, Jaafari, throw the entire lot out and start over. No apologies.
#2
Obviously the Mullahs succeeded in planting agents and subverting the election - recall the tankers filled with phoney ballots, the millions ($70M, wasn't it?) spent every month for the militias and agents - and they bought the SCIRI party leaders outright. We should've taken those reports seriously and acted. Damn. I'm afraid we're just not devious enough or paranoid enough to do business with Arabs.
Take down the Mullahs and eliminate Sadr and his militia both with extreme prejudice, and then see if the assholes can win without the money and dirty tricks. If they do, then fuck em.
#3
I agree. With great misgivings and deepest regrets to the world community, we should decisively imprison or shoot all the throwbacks to the dark ages of history, disband SCIRI, and insist that modern, civilized, and approximately "neutral" professional forces hold all the power in Iraq.
Hey - it's not goung to be idealistic democracy, or open-minded tolerance of another culture - but, well, we live in an imperfect world, and everyone is just going to have to get used to a secular Iraq.
Weeping, gnashing of teeth, and howls of frustration will be allowed - but - to a certain extent, the fate of the world as we know it depends on Iraq not turning into a wellspring of the Caliphate, and if it takes an arrogance similar to that which spawned the "Monroe Doctrine", so be it.
I cannot friggin' believe that the lessons of just 60 years ago have been completely forgotten. In those days, no one involved in rebuilding Germany or Japan would have given ANY consideration WHATSOEVER to allowing remnants of the former population to resist establishment of a stable nation, with strong rule of law.
"Tolerance of different viewpoints and perspectives" - that sounds good in parlour arguments. But - forget about that on the ground.
Time to lay out the choices : either get with the modern program that runs most of the succesful part of the world, or become a revered ancestor - like, immediately.
We don't need to apologize, or squirm in embarrassment. Just get it done - carrying a bigger stick that the gangster militias. They don;t have to like it - they just have to live with it.
#5
It's going to be hard because of the publicity. Perhaps the shakeup could be done under cover from a monthlong bombardment of Iran's defence and nuclear facilities.
#7
Despite Jabr, SCIRI seems to have been more cooperative than the other Shiite parties. You can support having Jabr fired - but you cant just go in and disband Iraqi political parties. Not if you expect to have an Iraqi army and police force fighting by your side in large numbers. And if you dont want them, you need a lot more American forces. the 133,000 who are left are not enough. Does the admin have any appetite for a significant buildup in Iraq? I dont think so.
#8
You seem to forget, we just conquered this country. We'll conquer it again if necessary. We should dictate the removal of all things Iranian, period. All those not in favor, line up against the wall.
#10
In those days, no one involved in rebuilding Germany or Japan would have given ANY consideration WHATSOEVER to allowing remnants of the former population to resist establishment of a stable nation
Seems to me that Lone Ranger's never heard of Hirohito (and his successors). Oh wait, that'd just contradict you, now wouldn't it?
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
04/04/2006 13:02 Comments ||
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#8
we conquered it 3 years ago. And we never really conquered the Sunni triangle, not till the last few months. We didnt really conquer the Iraqi Shia, either, cause contrary to the MSM and the left, they DID welcome us (though not with flowers) What we did was destroy Saddams army. With the force we have in Iraq, we've only managed to really be able to hold gains in the Sunni Triangle since weve trained up enough Iraqis to give us more boots on the ground. Now I suppose we could play a game of terr hunting in the Sunni triangle indefinitely, with our current forces alone. I dont think anyone serious thinks thats a very good idea.
#12
Edward - You better go study the transcripts of Hirohito's radiu broadcast to the nation of Japan - explaining the decision to surrender -which was the first time a Japanese Emperor's voice had ever been heard by most Japanese citizens. After the surrender, Hirohito was completely cooperative with the true decision-maker in post-war Japan - GEN Douglas MacArthur.
Had MacArthur felt that Hirohito was an impediment, Hirohito would have been hung the next day.
You need to spend more time studying.
My father - an officer in the 11th Airborne Division - accepted the Japanese surrender in Sendai - and then served another year in the occupation forces. He was a minor player - but clearly understood that the Japanese Emporer had proclaimed cooperation - albeit at peril of utter destruction.
Nine more American troops died in Iraq, the U.S. military reported Monday, five of them in a vehicle accident in a remote, rain-soaked western area. Their deaths brought the number of service members killed so far this month to 13 — nearly half the number who died in all of March.
Three more Americans — two Marines and a sailor — were missing in the Sunday accident in which a truck overturned near Asad air base, a U.S. statement said. All the dead were Marines, the statement added.
It gave no reason for the accident except that it was not a result of hostile fire. Heavy rains fell over the area during the weekend.
Also Sunday, three Marines and a sailor were killed by "hostile fire" in Anbar province, which includes the Asad base, the military said. No further details, including the precise location, were released.
It was the first time that four American troops had been killed in a single attack since Feb. 22, when four soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division died in a bombing in northern Iraq.
Thirty-one U.S. troops died in Iraq in March, the lowest monthly death toll for U.S. forces since February 2004. But the relatively good news quickly became worse on the first day of April, when four troops were killed including two pilots who died when their Apache helicopter crashed.
U.S. officials said the helicopter was probably shot down. The militant al-Rashideen Army claimed responsibility, and Al-Jazeera television aired footage Monday provided by the insurgents which they claimed showed parts of the wreckage.
Although U.S. casualties have been on the decline, deaths among Iraqis have increased because of rising tensions between Shiite and Sunni Muslims. At least 1,038 Iraqi civilians died last month in war-related violence, according to an Associated Press count.
The AP count showed at least 375 Iraqi civilians killed in December, 608 in January and 741 in February. Most of the increase appeared a result of a sharp rise in the number of civilians found dead throughout Baghdad — apparent victims of sectarian reprisal killings.
The alarming rise in civilian toll has put new urgency into efforts by Iraqi politicians to form a new national unity government following the December elections. That message was delivered by Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw during a two-day visit that ended Monday.
"First and foremost, the purpose of this trip is to encourage and to urge the Iraqis to do what the Iraqis must do because the Iraqi people deserve it," Rice said. "But yes, the American people, the British people ... need to know that everything is being done to keep progress moving."
During their visit, Rice and Straw avoided any public call for Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari to step aside as the Shiite nominee for a second term — a key demand of Sunni and Kurdish politicians before they will join a new government.
Nevertheless, the visit clearly increased pressure on al-Jaafari, and for the first time officials of his own Shiite bloc called for him to step down.
Following the visit, al-Jaafari's supporters scrambled Monday to try to rally support for him, even as other politicians sought ways to remove him if he refused to step aside.
"We're waiting to hear the final position of the other blocs," al-Jaafari ally Ali al-Adeeb said. "Then we will study their position and decide. It is still to early for the (Shiites) to decide whether al-Jaafari's nomination should be withdrawn."
Al-Jaafari's critics accuse him of failing to curb the Sunni-dominated insurgency and calm tensions between Sunnis and Shiites. The Feb. 22 bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra triggered a wave of sectarian attacks that threaten to plunge the nation into civil war.
In the latest violence, at least 12 Iraqis were killed Monday in three vehicle bombings in mostly Shiite areas of the capital, police reported.
Ten of the victims died when a suicide driver detonated a truck filled with dates as worshippers were leaving the al-Shroofi mosque after evening prayers. Another 38 people were wounded, police and hospitals said.
Two others, including a 9-year-old boy, were killed in a car bombing in the Sadr City area. The third bomb exploded in the central district of Karradah, wounding six, police said.
Late Sunday, four Shiite civilians died when gunmen burst into their home in the religiously mixed Dora district of southwestern Baghdad. Police said the assailants lined up a brother, two sisters and an uncle against a wall and killed them.
The mother of the family was visiting relatives at the time. Police said the father, a grocery shop owner, had been killed six months earlier by gunmen in the same neighborhood
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/04/2006 01:41 ||
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#1
We need to cut and run redeploy to improve our security.
Think how many people would have lived if we had pulled out of Omaha beach.
Baghdad, Apr. 03 – Five Iranian agents attempting to cross into Iraq illegally have been arrested, according to a television report.
Iraqi border security forces arrested the group in the town of Halabja close to the Iranian border, the television station al-Sharqiya reported on Sunday. The United States and Iraqi officials have accused IranÂ’s radical Islamic government of sending agents and arms into Iraq to assist the insurgency.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/04/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
tourists
Posted by: Captain America ||
04/04/2006 0:38 Comments ||
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#9
Consider it an act of war and take out Iran's air force.
Iran leads with a pawn move....USA counters with a massive air strike on Irans rooks.
Faster please.
#10
"...IranÂ’s radical Islamic government of sending agents and arms into Iraq to assist the insurgency."
Using the catch-all phrase of "insurgency" to describe any and all groups that are resistant of an Iraqi representative government or want to drive out the occupying coalition forces confuses the understanding of the conflict. Such broad defintions make it difficult, if not impossible, to determine a precise composition. Which makes reports like this equally difficult to determine capabilities, funding, and goals. It seems to me, for purposes of discussion, there needs to be a distinction made between insurgents and common crimminals or opportunists. Furthermore, it would be helpful to avoid lumping in the militant Shia militias as part of the insurgency. ItÂ’s hard enough trying to figure out the alliances and degree of cooperation between Saddam loyalists, BaÂ’athists, and Iraqi nationalists with the foreign Jihadists.
Posted by: house of salads ||
04/04/2006 19:30 Comments ||
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#14
They wuz trying to smuggle HGH to Barry Bonds
Isn HGH the Klear or the Cream? Opppps never mind. HGH.... different stuff. Barry got loads of human grow harmine. Luckily there's a huge suppy of HGN so kidz wont be affected. Itz cool.
Unknown gunmen on Monday assassinated the imam of the Al-Quds Mosque in the northern city of Kirkuk. A police source told KUNA the gunmen opened fire at the imam Omar Abdulrazzaq Mohammad in central Kirkuk, killing him instantly.
Meanwhile, the Multi-National Forces (MNF) said an insurgent was killed and eight others were detained near Kirkuk. An MNF source told KUNA that MNF soldiers saw a number of gunmen unloading vehicles filled with weapons, and started shooting killing one of them and detaining eight. Mortar shells and some light weapons were also seized during the operation.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2006 00:00 ||
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Ten Iraqis were killed tonight and 30 others wounded when a booby-trapped car exploded near Al-Sharoufi religious mourning house (known locally as Hussainiya) in Al-Shaab area north of the capital. A security source told KUNA that the blast caused damage to the mourning house and that rescue teams are continuing their rescue operations. The mourning house is located in heavily-populated area near Al-Sadr city.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2006 00:00 ||
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A REAL embed deployed with a local unit. I find these are the only reliable reporters in Iraq. What I really like is the amount and type of information the "local" news guy was able to get. I am sure they would be very leery of sharing anything with the MSM. HUNTING FOR INSURGENTS IN SHADOWS By TOM ROEDER - THE GAZETTE
A firefight in Baghdad this week thrust Fort CarsonÂ’s most shadowy unit briefly into the spotlight. The Green Berets of the 10th Special Forces Group advised Iraqi troops who opened fire on suspected insurgents in what some Iraqis are calling a mosque complex.
The attack, which left 34 suspected insurgents killed or captured, ... Booyah!
... sparked controversy in Baghdad, with Shiite religious leaders boycotting meetings with Americans amid claims that the raid targeted civilians at a religious service. Soldiers with 10th Group said that no mosque was entered and that the raid was a success, netting insurgents and a stockpile of weapons.
The raid was not a first for 10th Group soldiers. Even before they returned to Iraq this winter, they had killed or captured 3,800 suspected insurgents in clandestine efforts, many aimed at leaders of terrorist groups, the unit has confirmed. They just donÂ’t usually make headlines. Booyah!
The unit of highly trained soldiers selected for their intelligence, physical abilities and language skills has never publicly revealed what itÂ’s doing in Iraq. Instead of deploying with fanfare for one-year stints, the soldiers simply disappear for a while. Often, they donÂ’t even tell their wives where theyÂ’re headed.
In interviews days before their most-recent departure, some soldiers from 10th Group discussed past missions in Iraq in general terms. The unit is credited with helping make the 2003 invasion of Iraq successful and helping Iraqi units root out insurgents and secure polling places for elections.
Continued on Page 49
#14
Why doesn't the link buttone work?
Because the Colorado Springs Gazette doesn't archive their pages in a way that outsiders can retrieve them. That's one reason I don't post much from their newspaper (my local paper). It's part of the "Freedom" newspaper chain, so it's not quite as leftist as most - which is good, since about half of Colorado Springs is either military, military retirees, former military, or contractors WITH and TO the military.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/04/2006 23:48 Comments ||
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Israeli warplanes fired three missiles into the presidential compound of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday, wounding two people and leaving deep craters in the ground. Abbas was not there at the time.
Bet they knew that. This would be an "attention getter".
The Israeli airstrike came in response to homemade Palestinian rocket attacks on southern Israel, though it was not immediately clear why Abbas' compound was targeted. Abbas has been a strong critic of the rocket fire and has urged the new Hamas Cabinet to accept peacemaking with Israel. The missiles landed at Ansar 2, a largely abandoned base of the presidential guard and about 100 yards from Abbas' office. The Palestinian leader was at his main office in the West Bank.
Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rdeneh called for the United States and other Western powers to intervene. 'This escalation will lead the area to more violence and instability,' he said.
The Hamas-controlled Interior Ministry, which oversees some of the Palestinian security forces, condemned the Israeli 'aggression' and threatened to retaliate.
'For every action, there's a reaction,' ministry spokesman Khaled Abu Hilal said. 'The occupation must understand that our people have the ability to be steadfast in confronting acts of occupation.'
The Ansar 2 compound, formerly used by Palestinian security forces to store equipment, has been largely abandoned due to previous Israeli attacks. During five years of fighting, Israel repeatedly attacked the site, most recently in 2004. The missiles fired Tuesday landed on an abandoned helicopter landing pad. Israel destroyed the Palestinian presidential helicopter in December 2001.
The Israeli airstrike came in response to homemade Palestinian rocket attacks on southern Israel. The army said it had attacked an empty building in a residential area and open fields in northern Gaza used by militants to fire rockets. Militants fired four homemade projectiles into Israel earlier Tuesday. There were no reports of injuries.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/04/2006 09:57 ||
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#1
"'For every action, there's a reaction,' ministry spokesman Khaled Abu Hilal said."
Well, he's got the basic concept. Now he just needs the insight that it works both ways and Israel has the superior weapons.
#2
The IDF needs to take a lesson from the US and do some bunker busting modeling. Maybe a 250 pounder to model the effects of the 5000 pounder. This would also send a message, kill noone and make me smile. Here's the target....
#4
They really need to stop sending messages, and start actually breaking things and people. They've sent too many messages, which are clearly not being taken seriously.
Posted by: Mike ||
04/04/2006 8:36 Comments ||
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#4
I've read Debka for years and find they are ahead of the news curve and generally accurate (and they may well be right about Saddam's WMD going to Syria).
#5
Debka is full of $%!#. I don't fall for wishful thinking. Someone ought to keep track of these types of predictions. 3 years ago I fell for a rumor that Iran was on the brink of a counter-revolution. Never again.
#6
thats the thing with DEBKA, never beleive it 100% but don't discount what they say as twaddle either, they come up trumps a fair few times if you keep a close eye on them.
#7
It makes sense for al-Qaeda to move into Gaza. They are an entity that cannot thrive outside of chaos, and even Somalia has proven too orderly for them.
In Gaza, they can join the table as the junior partner, taking advantage of the Fatah, Hamas, and Hizbullah split. Remember they have no compunction against attacking Shiites of which there are many in the area.
Importantly, al-Qaeda in Gaza have a different focus: for now, they actually do not care very much about Israel. They want a headquarters, a base of operations for attacks outside of the Paleo territories, not including Israel, who would immediately retaliate.
They can guess that if they limit themselves to slaughtering Paleo opposition and setting up an "Emirate", the Israelis might actually leave them alone. Of course, the Paleos are like dogs to them, but useful dogs. Like other Arabs, they hope to use the Paleos to their own ends.
This is not a bad strategy. There are many Paleos who would be more than willing to commit terrorist acts somewhere else just for the chance to be somewhere else.
And, if al-Qaeda actually *stopped* the Paleo attacks against Israel, Israel might in turn be so tired of the whole thing they would leave al-Qaeda alone. Israel might actually accept the idea of Gaza being used as a base to attack other Moslem countries, as long as those other countries didn't retaliate against Israel.
#8
I wonder how many more of these thugs will be invited to the party before the Palestinians finally realize that they are the party. The Palestinians are like prostitutes invited to a convention. They think there's something to gain, when in reality, they're nothing more than a tawdry amusement to be passed around until tired of.
As to DEBKA, salt liberally and make sure you only pay heed to their less outlandish story lines. They are the ones that usually bear out in the long run.
#9
Israel might be satisifed if Al Queda removed the Paleo attacks but they'd probably be really happy for US involvement in the occupied territories and the reverse in international public opinion that would result if major Al Queda folks were shown to have been sheltered by the Palestianians.
The other thing is Al Queda might hit Israel hard enough hoping to provoke Holy War that they begin the displacement of Arabs from East Jerusalem or even the entire West Bank.
All in all I'm not sure the value for Al Queda or the Palestinians.
#12
Still seems very strange. Unless the threat of Al Q setting up shop, or heaven forbid, attack Palestinians is supposed to rally the the world around Hammas and turn the money spigots back in because it's supporting the WOT.
I'd rather believe in a plan for a huge hit on Israel, that cannot be be blamed on the poor, innocent Pals. If a few H and F honchos have to die to prove the "takeover", so be it.
They really think the world is backing Palestine and plan on claiming this as theirs, post Israel. Irans ready to back the draw the hit on troops sent to Israel and Palestine to counter Al Q. I dunno. Weird movements and allliances and rhetoric. Something's afoot. But nothing sounds right in speculation yet.
Two Kassam rockets were launched out of the ruins of Dugit, the northern Gaza Strip settlement that was evacuated in last year's disengagement.
The IDF revealed that one of the rockets landed at sea and the other fell near the southern coastal beach Zikim. None were reported wounded, nor was there any damage, according to Army Radio. "Runnnn Aawwwwaaaayyyyyy"
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/04/2006 00:00 ||
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Two suspected Muslim Abu Sayyaf rebels and a pro-government militiaman were killed in a clash in the southern Philippines, an army official said Tuesday.
Colonel Edgardo Gidaya said the fighting erupted late Monday when patrolling troops encountered about eight al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf rebels in Sacol Island off Zamboanga City, 875 kilometres south of Manila.
Gidaya identified the slain rebels as Romy Akilan and his brother Patta who were suspected to be involved in several kidnapping and extortion operations of Abu Sayyaf rebels in the nearby province of Basilan.
'They (Akilan brothers) have a string of kidnapping and extortion cases in their area,' Gidaya said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/04/2006 01:24 ||
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CAIRO, Egypt - Iran has unveiled with great fanfare a series of what it portrays as sophisticated, homegrown weapons — flying boats and missiles invisible to radar, torpedoes too fast to elude. But experts said Tuesday it appears much of the technology came from Russia and questioned Iran's claims about the weapons' capabilities.
Still, the armaments, tested during war games by some 17,000 Revolutionary Guards in the Persian Gulf, send what may be Iran's real message: its increased ability to hit oil tankers if tension with America turns to outright confrontation. To underline that message, the maneuvers — code-named "The Great Prophet" — have been held since Friday around the Strait of Hormuz, the 34-mile-wide entrance to the Gulf through which about two-fifths of the world's oil supplies pass.
Throughout the war games, Iran has touted what it calls technological leaps in its weapons production. In recent years, Iran revved up its arms programs after long relying on purchases abroad to keep up its aging arsenal, hampered by U.S. sanctions and Washington's pressure on other countries against selling weapons to Tehran. The head of the Revolutionary Guards, Gen. Yahya Rahim Safavi, proclaimed Tuesday that Iran was now able to defend itself against "any extra-regional invasion."
It was a clear reference to Iranian worries of potential U.S. military action to stop its nuclear program, which Washington claims is intended to produce nuclear weapons. Iran says it aims only to generate electricity, but has so far defied U.N. Security Council demands that it give up key parts of its program.
The new weapons, many of them shown on Iranian state TV during their tests, have come with impressive claims:
• A missile, the Fajr-3, that is invisible to radar and able to strike several targets with multiple warheads.
• A high-speed torpedo, the Hoot, able to move at some 223 mph, up to four times faster than a normal torpedo, and fired by ships cloaked to radar.
• A surface-to-sea missile, the Kowsar, with remote-control and searching systems that cannot be scrambled.
• A "super-modern flying boat," undetectable by radar and able to launch missiles with precise targeting while skimming low over the surface of the water at a top speed of 100 nautical mph.
There are questions over Iran's claims. In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said "the Iranians have been known to boast and exaggerate" their weapons capabilities. And some experts cast doubt on just how radar-evading Iran's ships and missiles are.
Iran's radars are not as advanced as those of Israel, for example — meaning that perhaps the weapons can avoid the radar that Iran has access to, but not more advanced types, said Meir Javedanfar, an Iranian-born, Israel-based analyst. "The question here is, what radar did they test their own weapons against? If it's the radar they've been using for all these years, then that's not saying 100 percent that these things are undetectable," he said. Others questioned if Iran developed the weapons on its own.
The Hoot torpedo — the name means "whale" — closely resembles the Russian-made VA-111 Shkval, the world's fastest known underwater missile, developed in 1995, said Ruslan Pukhov of Moscow's Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies. The Shkval attains high speeds by coating itself in a cocoon of air bubbles, reducing friction, and Pukhov said its technology was too sophisticated for the Iranians to produce themselves. "Hypothetically, they could get access to the Shkval technology, but if so, I don't think they got it through Russian channels," he said.
Pukhov noted the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan once had a Soviet torpedo testing center on the remote mountain lake of Issyk-Kul. And he said that in the turmoil that followed the Soviet breakup, Kyrgyz authorities sold Shkvals to the Chinese, a major importer of Iranian oil. Kanybek Tabaldiyev, a senior official with a Kyrgyz company that makes torpedo and other military hardware at Issyk-Kul, denied his company transferred sophisticated technology to Iran. He said it was possible weaponry had been acquired through other means. Chinese officials had no immediate comment on whether their country provided Iran with Shkvals.
China has been pursuing closer relations with Tehran in hopes of help in meeting its energy needs, and the United States has sanctioned Chinese companies in the past, accusing them of violating international controls on transfers of weapons technology to Iran. Beijing has protested the U.S. sanctions and in 2003, it issued its first regulations controlling exports of missile, nuclear and biological weapons technology.
Whatever the Iranian armaments' capabilities — or origins — they likely won't greatly affect the military balance of power in the Gulf, where the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet is based, operating out of the island nation of Bahrain. For example, the Hoot torpedo — if indeed based on the Shkval — has too short a range, about 7,500 yards, to be militarily significant, said Pavel Felgenhauer, a Russian analyst.
But Iran may be aiming to show the world, and its people, that it has options if the standoff over its nuclear program escalates. That could boost its hand in negotiations with the United States and Europe. "They know they are inferior to the U.S. Navy in the Persian Gulf, so this is their way of telling Americans .... we are not the only ones who would lose out if talks regarding the nuclear program fail," Javedanfar said. The torpedo tests in particular are significant, he said. "They know that if you sink one tanker in the Strait of Hormuz you can stop all shipping there, because the waters are quite shallow," he said.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/04/2006 15:21 ||
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#1
"...Iran may be aiming to show the world, and its people, that it has options ..."
Or it may be that they bought a good sales pitch from the Russians for some hardware that looks more important than it is.
#3
The Russian equipment didn't help Saddam. Its still Iranians that are gonna operate it. Their last big war was against Saddam. Massive suicide waves left that war at a stalemate. The best that they could do is make a big mess with shipping if they get the first shot off. I don't think that's gonna happen. JMO
#8
And the Bear is back. Let's see all the Putin-lovers defend his record since becoming Tsar, that's always worth some major laughs. Makes me dizzy. In the last 20 years, the outcome there since the fall of the Soviets is definitely one of the greatest disappointments from my point of view. So much potential totally wasted. The Russians dropped a huge opportunity, just as the Iraqis are doing today.
I'm learning. Lesson of the last few decades is: You just can't fix stupid. It isn't some surface condition, it's through and through. Brain-dead to the bone.
#11
RUSSIA > it was with Iraq during OPERS DESERT SHIELD/STORM and IRAQI FREEDOM, so why should Iran be any different, espec since the Russkis are already strongly believed by many to had de facto helped Saddam hide + transfer his WMD caches to various ME countries, includ but not limited to Iran per se. The Iranians know the Perfectionism-happy, agenda-less, Fascists = [imperfect] mere HalfCommies/Socialists Lefties will blame-and-constrain Dubya-America for everything anyways, and that the Clinton-led/centric USDemoLeft wants the Fed and only the Fed to expand and take over everything and anything domestically, while simul ensuring Dubya and America fail overseas. The Left > America voluntarily giving up its sovereignty and endowments = same as America being militarily forced to. We know why the RINO-CINO Failed/Angry Left wants America under anti-sovereign Socialism and OWG circa 2015-2020, becuz Russia itself now finally admits that it may likely be too costly or cost(s)-prohibitive for them to maintain any sort of effective mil-nuclearized counter arsenal against America's.
Tehran, 4 April (AKI) - The Iranian government is reported to have withdrawn its financial deposits from Swiss banks after the decision by the UN atomic watchdog to refer Iran's nuclear case to the UN Security Council over Western fears that Tehran is trying to build nuclear weapons. Anonymous sources say that in the past few weeks, Iran has withdrawn 700 tonnes in gold reserves and 26 billion euros. The gold reserves were transferred to the Markazi bank, the central bank of the Islamic Republic, while the cash was deposited in banks in the United Arab Emirates.
Tehran decided to withdraw the deposits fearing that the UN Security Council might impose an international embargo on the country. Iran has rejected a Security Council statement approved on 29 March which called on Tehran to halt all its uranium enrichment activities, claiming its nuclear programme is solely for civilian use. The Council has the power to impose sanctions, though two veto-wielding members of the UN body - China and Russia - oppose the measure.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/04/2006 11:33 ||
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Interesting. That is actually/possibly a rational act. So from where I stand, it clearly identifies a weakness. The MM's don't want to lose their hard-earned stolen cash.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
04/04/2006 11:50 Comments ||
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#2
The Swiss bankers must be crying in their fondue over this. I seem to be suffering from a major case of Schadenfreude over this -- I apologize to you all.
#4
In WWII, Swiss bankers bought gold from Germany in exchange for convertible currency (Germany's currency was not accepted in international markets). I guess the WOT isn't working out well as WWII for the Swiss bankers.
#9
Jimbo, are you suggesting that the Dubai Ports deal was wrong to block because, supposedly, now we won't have as much "leverage" and "influence" with Dubai? I'll trade both for REAL homeland security any day...not the illusionary kind that comes from investing billions in a plaqued missile defense system that only serves Bush's buddies in the defense industry, and prompts countries like Russia to improve their missile systems (Topol-M). And in the end, who helped broker the Dubai Ports deal? Bush's dadddy. And he and HIS buddies stood to make millions from the deal. This administration must be tired from washing each other's backs all day and night. And by the way, this wasn't partisan politics, either. There were many, many Republicans opposed to this deal...ones who don't fly around the world trying to score their next cash fix. If the Iranians want to invest in Dubai, let them. I'm grateful that we're not.
Posted by: Matt ||
04/04/2006 18:55 Comments ||
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#10
Matt, how do you feel about Mother's too much or too good?
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran successfully tested a "super-modern flying boat" on Tuesday and the land-to-sea Kowsar missile that military analysts say is designed to sink ships in the Gulf, state media reported. The tests came in the middle of Gulf war games that started on Friday. Iranian state radio said the Kowsar could evade radar and that its guidance system could not be scrambled.
The Defense Ministry was not immediately able to give details of a "flying boat" that was shown on television. The small propeller-driven aircraft floated on a trimaran hull until it took off and flew low over the surface of the water. State television said it could reach speeds of 100 knots.
"A super-modern flying boat was successfully tested in the 'Great Prophet' war game in Persian Gulf waters," state television said. "Because of its hull's advanced design, no radar at sea or in the air can locate it. It can lift out of the water. It is wholly domestically built and can launch missiles with precise targeting while moving."
Iran Focus has a picture. Looks like a kit plane, could be mass produced for suicide attacks. Doesn't look big enough to carry the super torp.
An aviation web site showed the vessel shared features with WIGE vehicles, known to Russians as ekranoplanes.
Winged In Ground Effect (WIGE or WIG) The WIG vehicles take advantage of an additional lift provided by cushion of dense air trapped between large wing of the craft and the surface. Induced drag (drag due to the lift) of wing is considerably reduced if the altitude of the aircraft is similar to the chord of the wing. Ground effect provides a considerable fuel economy and increase of range than convenient flight. WIG can operate over water, flat surfaces of Earth (shallows and wetlands), ice and snow. The major application of WIGs is anti-submarine warfare (ASW), search and rescue, sealift, amphibious assault and coastal defense. This class of vehicles is commonly known as "ekranoplanes" in Russia. It is believed that Russia is far ahead of the West in air-cushion vehicle technology and in WIG in particular.
Earlier in the war games, Iran said it had tested a radar-evading rocket and the Hoot (whale) underwater missile which could outpace any enemy warship. On Monday, Iran's Revolutionary Guard test-fired a torpedo it said was being mass-produced in Iran. State television said another missile would be tested on Tuesday afternoon.
Iran rarely gives enough details of its military hardware for analysts to determine whether Tehran is making genuine advances or simply producing defiant propaganda while pressure ratchets up on its nuclear program. Although Iran can draw on huge manpower, its naval and air-force technology is largely dismissed as obsolete. The United States said it was possible Iran had developed weapons that could evade sonar and radar but warned the Islamic Republic had a tendency to "boast and exaggerate".
Although Iran's military technology might not be highly advanced, analysts say Iran would not need much know-how to cause chaos in vital oil shipping channels.
They say Iran could be testing arms in the Strait of Hormuz, a key tanker nexus, to dissuade Israel and the United States from taking military action against Tehran's nuclear program. Iran has been referred to the UN Security Council after failing to convince the world its atomic scientists are working exclusively on power stations and not branching into weapons.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/04/2006 10:00 ||
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From Jan 2005: TEHRAN, Jan. 22 (MNA) -- A number of Iranian engineers have designed a two-seat flying boat in the Malek Ashatar University of Industry in Shiraz which is able to fly over water for 1-4 meter distance and even 50 meter distance in emergency to jump over obstacles, according to a report released in the Persian Gulf exhibition that wound up on Jan. 21 in Kish.
That's a WIGE plane.
The flying boat is in final stages to be produced massively.
Gearing up asembly line for mass production.
It speeds as fast as 160 km per hour and can be continuously driven for two hours with a fuel tank of 60 liter. The boat is fully made by composite and is equipped with an Austrian-made 110 horse piston engine.
That matches the photos. 160 km at 2 meters off the water will make it difficult to hit with normal anti-aircraft missiles.
Less than ten countries such as Russia, Germany, China, the U.S., and Australia have so far been able to obtain the production technology of this sort of boat in the world.
Russians have been working on WIGE planes for years.
Meanwhile, the managing director of Fajr Air Industry Co., said that his company has produced four fully composite-structure planes entitled “Fajr 3” so far but the figure will reach 11 by next year and 15 soon after that.
Einollah QalÂ’eh added that Fajr 3 plane is mainly used for training, traffic control, and mapping. It might be used as an air taxi or for private flights. The minimum price of the planes stands at 2,700 million rials (300,000 dollars) and cost owners some 1,500 rials per hour flight which is much cheaper than helitaxis that cost 5,000 rials per hour flight, he said.
Cheap, mass-produced suicide planes, perfect for the Iranian jihadi corp.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/04/2006 10:52 Comments ||
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#2
I give up. They are way to advanced for us. Before they kill us all, let's give in. I want to live in a world where a earthquake kills 44,000 people, but they are far superior to us militarily.
Either that or just nuke them.
#4
Also testing new deep fry technology stolen from internship at American McDonalds. Can quickly heat oil to 350 degrees to pour on special forces infidals trying to breech the castle walls.
#5
The Iranian military better have enough gasoline stored for those Rotax engines. Domestic gasoline production will be a goin' down.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/04/2006 11:20 Comments ||
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#6
Smacks of an extra-terrestrial intelligence being at work.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
04/04/2006 11:23 Comments ||
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#7
That flying boat is pie in the sky. I don't see it's weapons capability. No armor, no lifting capability, probably doesn't manuver very well, and needs highly trained operators, but Iran feels a need to boast of it's superior technology.
I think we should hold manuvers called the Cartoon Strikes Back. We can feature those air colume thingys; a Mohammed with swinging swords trying to stand straight, weaving and bobbing, thrashing about with bloody swords.
#8
"...Back off, man - we've got super-advanced flying boats..."
No probs, guys. Our TARGET drones have better performance than that. Oh, and by the way, for people who are so obsessed with history, you should look up what happened to the Japanese when they mass produced special one-off suicide planes.
Mike
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
04/04/2006 11:36 Comments ||
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next up?....a flying carpet! Something "nice" with great patterns and a fringe to die for
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/04/2006 11:42 Comments ||
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#10
That WIGE should be meat on the table for the R2D2's
#11
What do people know about the Kowsar? I googled it and have come up the Shahab-6 ICBM. But given its purported role and capabilities, this doesn't mesh. Could it be the AS-15 they got from Ukraine, or the C-802 they got from China and further developed with North Korea? Or a reversed engineered, indigenously produced variant of either?
#19
Re # 13: the Russian craft is a pure WIG while the P6M was designed to be the USN's sea-going equivalent to the B-52: rotary bomb bay, 4 J-79's w/ AB (think F-4 Phantom) and the abiltiy to ride rough seas for mid-ocean refueling from tanker subs. Depending on which version of history you read, it fell victim to either budget cuts of USAF-USN in fighting and the AF won. All tooling and remainging aircraft were cut up and sold as scrap ( 2 crashed during tests and one story still circulating says that one of the engineers on the project saved a set of the wing tip floats and made a houseboat from them).
#23
I guess it's just coincidence that ALL the Russian WIG testing was done on the Caspian. The Russians began testing WIG aircraft in the mid-1960's, and had built several dozen different designs. Many of them failed, some spectacularly.
I see Iran boasting of devices that the Russians designed and built five, ten, twenty years ago, and which they had very little success with. Are the Russians selling Iran all their junk? Seems like it...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/04/2006 15:39 Comments ||
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#24
All this publicity is Irans pitch to hugo chavez aka bobo. who needs new arms suppliers to put expropriated oil money to work? bobo.
who is building a million man army as a substitute for jobs and free enterprise? bobo is. The world as we'v known it has changed, the disentagled left has found its new useful idiots and the whole damn thing is being orchestrated by one vladimir putin.
#26
The Iranians might want to paint concentric circles on the craft with numbers increasing towards the center. Make it more challenging for our military.
#27
Hell, all I asked for was a flying Persian rug
Posted by: Captain America ||
04/04/2006 20:42 Comments ||
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#28
It still has to survive both US-Allied air strikes
+ US Navy defenses-in-depth - its still slowewr than the Navy's curr missle systems, plus lest we fergit the Navy's PHALANX-based CIWS can take out. i.e. SHRED TO PIECES, ANY MULTIPLE AIR-SEA THREAT(S) within its scopes. This "flying boat" is likely most useful in night-time suicide attacks and where Iran still holds any beach area(s) near enuff to US naval units - in end, it still comes down to the Mullahs wilfully engaging US milfors in pre-planned, PC, asymmetric warfare, aka "People's War", to includ nuclearized suicide attacks.
EFL. Woo hoo! Look for more begging letters between various branches of Al Qaeda, as the home office find itself in ever more straitened circumstances. Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau has shut down a massive terror-finance pipeline in which a whopping $3 billion in profits from drug deals and other crimes flowed through a major New York bank to Middle East fanatics terrorists. The DA said his office is pursuing a settlement involving possible penalties against one of the largest and most prominent banks in New York - which he declined to identify - for maintaining an account where funds that originated in South America's notorious "tri-border region" were rerouted to suspect accounts in the Middle East.
Evidence developed in the course of a three-year probe, which has already resulted in charges against other New York-based financial institutions, revealed that about $3 billion that flowed through the account over a two-year period was going to terror groups Hamas, al Qaeda and Hezbollah, Morgenthau said.
"I can't go out and arrest Osama bin Laden. But I can try to cut off his money," Morgenthau said of his massive probe.
He said most of the $3 billion in suspicious funds were generated, through criminal enterprises, in the lawless tri-border region of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. Over a two-year period, the $3 billion was sent to the New York bank account by a shadowy money-transmittal company in Montevideo, Uruguay. The money then flowed into bank accounts in the Middle East locations including Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Beirut, Lebanon, and Ramallah in the Palestinian territories.
The probe of the New York bank grew out of the Manhattan DA's previous 2004 prosecution of the Beacon Hill Services Corp., an Upper East Side money transmitter that moved more than $9 billion in suspect funds through accounts in Chase Manhattan Bank and other institutions.
#3
I suspect that until the settlement is signed, sealed and delivered Morgenthau will keep his mouth shut. It isn't clear to me why they announced what they did unless it is a negotiating ploy. There is little doubt that we would see the biggest run on a bank since 1932 if the name of the institution were made public regardless of how obscure the bank is.
#4
There is always more to this than meets the eye. Remember that such transactions leave very detailed fingerprints hither and yon. Part of the deal means that we now own the information that had previously been secret.
We might decide to keep some of the pipelines open, to see who uses them; or to provide marked cash to the end users. We might fudge some of the accounts, so right after a major transaction suddenly funds are "not available", leading to much bad feelings.
In fact, this thing is only probably being closed down now that we have squeezed every drop of blood out of it.
#8
I just Googled LARGEST BANK NEW YORK and got a list
Top 150 Largest Banks
Source: American Banker, 9/05.
Rank Name Headquarters Deposits (billions) Assets (billions)
1 Bank of America Charlotte, NC $630 $1,214
2 Citicorp New York, NY $569 $1,490
3 JP Morgan Chase New York, NY $531 $1,179
4 Wachovia Charlotte, NC $299 $507
5 Wells Fargo San Francisco, CA $273 $435
6 Washington Mutual Seattle, WA $172 $337
Note only Citicorp and J P Morgan are NY based
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/04/2006 20:15 Comments ||
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#9
Great News, but how come it took so long..RB has touched on this scandel before. Looks like an inside help thingy.
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.
Pirates captured a South Korean-flagged fishing vessel off the coast of Somalia on Tuesday and efforts by a U.S. Navy ship and a Dutch vessel to intervene were abandoned when members of the South Korean crew were threatened with guns and the ship slipped into Somali territorial waters, the Navy said. Cmdr. Jeff Breslau, spokesman for the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet in Bahrain, said he did not know the number of crew aboard the South Korean vessel, the Dong Won.
Egyptian security forces have detained eight more members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood in the southern city of Al-Minya, the Islamist movement's spokesman told AFP. "Eight members of the Brotherhood were arrested in Al-Minya, one of whom is the son of a Brotherhood member of parliament," said Issam al-Aryan. "It is clear that this is a reaction to the Brotherhood's activities in parliament which cause embarrassment to the goverment," said Aryan.
Security forces in Morocco are holding nine suspected al-Qaeda activists who were part of a ring that plotted bomb attacks in France, Italy and Morocco, the state news agency MAP has said quoting local newspapers. Newspapers in Rabat said the nine suspects planned to participate in a larger plot to blow up a church in Bologna and a commuter train station in Milan, the headquarters of French intelligence services in Paris and the US consulate in Rabat. "The nine suspects, arrested and brought before Rabat appeals court recently, are accused of setting up a criminal gang in view of preparing and carrying out terrorist attacks within the framework of collective plot," MAP said on Monday, quoting an unnamed judiciary source.
Charles Taylor, Liberia's former president, has pleaded not guilty to charges of crimes against humanity during years of atrocities in Sierra Leone. He was remanded in custody to a date yet to be fixed. He did not apply for bail during the landmark hearing on Monday, but said he preferred to be tried in Sierra Leone. "Most definitely, I'm not guilty," Taylor told Judge Richard Lussick at the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone.
Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States Turki al-Faisal expressed support for Israel's strike on the Iraqi Osirak nuclear facility in 1981. 
A former senior official of Sinn Fein recently exposed as a British spy was found fatally shot in northwest Ireland, police said Tuesday. Denis Donaldson, Sinn Fein's former legislative chief in the failed power-sharing government of Northern Ireland, admitted in December he had been on the payroll of the British secret service and the province's anti-terrorist police for the previous two decades. He then went into hiding because the traditional Irish Republican Army punishment for informing is death. 
The Lahore High CourtÂ’s Rawalpindi bench on Monday allowed four convicts to appeal their death penalty awarded for their involvement in the murder attempt on President General Pervez Musharraf in 2003. A military court had awarded death to six people for their involvement in the murder attack on December 25, 2003, which killed 14 people. The court has also awarded life imprisonment to two other men and freed one in the same case. 
Police arrested Mohammed Junaid, allegedly the operations chief of Harkatul Mujahideen Al-Almi, on Monday after a gun battle here, said a senior police official Raja Omar Khitab. Police launched a raid as Junaid and an accomplice were shifting weapons from a hideout in the city. The two militant suspects traded fire with police, before Junaid was captured while the other man got away. Police confiscated one AK-47 assault rifle, two grenades and a pistol.
A paramilitary mine clearance soldier was killed and two others injured Monday in separate blasts in Balochistan, officials said. The soldier was critically wounded when he stepped on the landmine in Taraman village near Kohlu district and later died of injuries, a spokesman for the Frontier Corps said. Separately a water tanker belonging to paramilitary forces hit a landmine near a gas field in Loti area and two soldiers were injured, the spokesman said. Ten people including five tribal police were killed in landmine and bomb blasts at the weekend in the region and the officials have blamed the attacks on tribal militants.
Eight people including two foreign militants were killed Monday in a bomb explosion and clashes with security forces in 
ISLAMABAD: Police on Monday registered a case against a seminary cleric for allegedly keeping a student in illegal confinement and forcing him to go abroad for jihad training.
Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is to be charged with genocide over a 1980s campaign against the Kurds, an Iraqi tribunal has announced. Saddam Hussein and six others face new charges over a crackdown known as the Anfal campaign, which included the gassing of the Kurdish town of Halabja. Human rights groups say 180,000 civilians died in the Anfal campaign. Saddam and seven others are already on trial for the deaths of 148 people in Dujail after an assassination attempt. 
Ten Iraqis were killed tonight and 30 others wounded when a booby-trapped car exploded near Al-Sharoufi religious mourning house (known locally as Hussainiya) in Al-Shaab area north of the capital. A security source told KUNA that the blast caused damage to the mourning house and that rescue teams are continuing their rescue operations. The mourning house is located in heavily-populated area near Al-Sadr city.
Tehran, 4 April (AKI) - The Iranian government is reported to have withdrawn its financial deposits from Swiss banks after the decision by the UN atomic watchdog to refer Iran's nuclear case to the UN Security Council over Western fears that Tehran is trying to build nuclear weapons. Anonymous sources say that in the past few weeks, Iran has withdrawn 700 tonnes in gold reserves and 26 billion euros. The gold reserves were transferred to the Markazi bank, the central bank of the Islamic Republic, while the cash was deposited in banks in the United Arab Emirates. 
