Ismail Khan, the governor of this western Afghan province, said that agents of the Taliban and al-Qaeda, based in the Kandahar province, were trying to undermine the interim government as well as peace and stability in Afghanistan. "Agents of the Taliban and al-Qaeda, who have changed their identities, are trying to deal blows to peace and stability in Afghanistan by infiltrating the interim government," he said.
He described the Kandahar province, governed by Gul Agha, as a haven for the Taliban agents. A missile attack on the Kandahar airport on Sunday was carried out by Taliban, Ismail Khan said. "The spread of baseless rumors about alleged Iranian interference in Afghanistan's internal affairs and Kandahar governor's provocations for military action on Herat are conducted by the Taliban agents," he said. Hundreds of people, suspected of cooperating with Taliban and al-Qaeda, are currently held in the Herat prison, Khan said, adding those found guilty would receive punishment. Wotta surprise. Who'da thunk it? You'd think that Gul Agha would be the mortal enemy of the Taliban; after all, they got their start chasing him out of Kandahar, to the wild cheering of the populace. Yet somehow Mullah Omar mysteriously escaped, along with his fellow Ãbermullahs and the contents of the national bank. Gul Agha tries to put the fix in for Mullah Muttawakil. Somehow Bad Guys keep driving by the airport and popping off a rocket here and there. And Gul Agha's guys are gonna arrest them any time, now.
Meanwhile, poor old Izzie is in Herat, cleaning up the mess the Talibs left behind, putting flowers on the mass graves and starting up the educational system again. And the rumors keep flying that he's playing footsie with the Persians, anti-Karzai, and never changes his underwear. Golly gee, I dunno why, but I just find Izzie more trustworthy than Gul Agha.
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02/25/2002 ||
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The FBI has known for more than three months that the person responsible for sending the letters was a U.S. citizen and, according to the sources, probably a former scientist connected to the government's biodefense program. The government's chief suspect is believed to have worked at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Md., which has maintained stores of weapons-grade anthrax â commonly known as the Ames strain of Bacillus anthracis. The former scientist is now employed as a contractor in the Washington area. The unidentified scientist was twice fired from government jobs and, after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon that killed more than 3,000 people, reportedly made a threat to use anthrax. Give him the blindfold, I suppose, but no cigarette. It'd be bad for his health.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/25/2002 ||
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The Communist Party of India (Marxist) charge the US with playing a 'dangerous game' over Jammu and Kashmir because of its strategic location. Party General Secretary Harkrishan Singh Surjeet said in Kolkata that the 'US is using very dangerous words, in the pretext of solving the problem in the strife-torn state, by stating that the problem should be clinched as per the wishes of the people'. He alleged that the US was working on its long-term strategy that was chalked out in 1952 to make J&K an independent country. Addressing a seminar on 'Kashmir: Indo-Pak relation', Surjeet said America was well aware that Kashmiris will not fall prey to Pakistan game-plan of joining with that country and if it could keep the state away from India, J&K could one day become an independent state from where it could keep a tab on Russia, China, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The CPI(M) leader warned the political leadership in the country to be aware of the US 'designs' and help maintain J&K's integrity with India. Does anyone else find commies as boring as I do? Humorless, turban-wearing, gun-waving, screaming, shrieking jihadis at least have some amusement value, when they're not raping, looting and killing. The humorless, polysyllable-drooling Vanguard of the Proletariat simply represents an alternative to Sominex when they're not raping, looting and killing. I would venture to guess that, far from having a master plan worked out in 1952 except in some broad and dust-covered outline, most of the administration knows nothing about the intricacies of J&K politix, cares about the same, and merely wants the problem to go away because it draws fundo nuts (and now communists) like cheese draws mice. We always say we want the inhabitants to decide what they do with where they live. That's democracy, which (it sez here) is a Good Thing. Even commies are supposed to be in favor of it. Comrade Surjeet has enough of a puffed-up ego to believe that the issues that are important in his life merit more than passing consideration from others.
You're just displaying your position as a running dog lackey of the Capitalist Bosses. If you had any historical consciousness you would realise that the proletarian aspirations of the Kashmiri working classes are integral in solidarity with their Socialist brethren throughout South Asia.
In all seriousness, the Communists in India are not a negligible political force in many of the other states. The one reason why they may be finessing this subject, is that its one in which they can plausibly say that they are aware of foreign affairs without actually meddling in foreign affairs [Indian Lefties just love to be "non aligned"]. Posted by Tom Roberts 2/26/2002 10:15:26 AM
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/25/2002 ||
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PRESIDENT MUGABE is said to be secretly planning his escape route out of Zimbabwe after his private polling predicted he could be defeated in next monthâs elections. The ailing 78-year-old has been sounding out some of his African neighbours and his dwindling number of friends abroad about providing him with a safe haven. Fearing that his opponents might try to jail him before he had a chance to slip into exile, Mr Mugabe reluctantly agreed that overtures should be made to opposition rivals. He is said to have asked President Obasanjo of Nigeria to arrange a deal about his future at an extraordinary late-night meeting in Harare last month. Went to compare notes with Savimbi, and suddenly no Savimbi?
If things get nasty do we get the Marcos option, finding his way to a friendly country, or the Romanian lead poisoning option? If the true polls border on 70-30 against, he'll likely head for the exits.
If it's closer to 60-40, he'll try and fight it out and may even stay in power for a while until the forces against him get stronger. Posted by Mark Byron [markbyron.blogspot.com] 2/25/2002 3:47:53 PM
I'd go for the Romanian lead poisoning, if I was his opposition. Looks like he might have that in mind for his opponent. Posted by Fred 2/25/2002 4:02:01 PM
Maybe he can hang out in Saudi Arabia with fellow former Big Man Idi Amin. Posted by eakawie 2/26/2002 11:20:38 AM
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02/25/2002 ||
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Georgia "is ready to take part in any operations against international terrorism being carried out by friendly countries on its territory, should this prove necessary", the head of the department for public relations and information of the country's Foreign Ministry Kakha Sikharulidze said. The official was commenting on remarks by US ambassador in Tbilisi Philip Remler on the presence of Afghan rebels in the Pankisi gorge. "Georgia has collaborated and will continue to collaborate with the antiterrorist coalition, and the country will take concrete steps as part of these joint efforts," the spokesman said.
The head of Georgia's Intelligence Department, Avtandil Ioseliani, told journalists that his agency has no information about Afghan separatists hiding in the Pankisi gorge. "If anybody has such information, he should share it with the Georgian special services," Ioseliani said. They'll probably welcome any help they can get, in fact. Ioseliani is probably plausibly denying knowledge.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/25/2002 ||
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Georgia's top security official committed suicide on Monday amid allegations of involvement in undercover dealings. Nugzar Sadjaya, Secretary of the National Security Council, was found in his office with two bullet wounds to the head. He was taken to hospital but died on the operating table.
Sadjaya was often referred to as a ''grey cardinal'' because of his closeness to President Eduard Shevardnadze. He was thrown into the limelight last week when an opposition parliament deputy accused him of involvement in a series of high-profile assassinations. His reputation in traditionalist Georgia suffered a further blow when a former defence minister said Sadjaya was homosexual. TWO bullet wounds to his head? And it was a suicide? One of the wounds musta been pretty light. Or maybe he had help.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/25/2002 ||
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Israeli President Moshe Katsav invited Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz to Jerusalem to discuss a peace initiative proposed by Saudi Arabia which is gaining increasing support. The crown prince's initiative involves the Arab world normalising ties with the Jewish state in return for a full Israeli withdrawal from occupied Arab lands. Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said the plan was "new, interesting and fascinating," while specifying that the Jewish state "would welcome a direct negotiation with the Saudis with no conditions. "For the first time we can see the readiness on the part of a very important Arab country to take a position to encourage peace, and that we welcome."
Although no formal proposal had yet been received, the Israeli government was trying to weigh up the nature of the Saudi initiative, said the foreign minister ahead of a visit to France. The English-language daily Jerusalem Post, meanwhile, said Sharon had asked the United States to help organise a meeting with Saudi officials to discuss the plan, for which most Arab states have now expressed their backing. "Under the assumption that what has been published is correct, it must be said that we're speaking of a positive trend," cabinet secretary Gideon Saar said on army radio. Thought the peace lobby might would go for it. Yeah, buddy. "Peace in our time." Keep a real close eye on the silverware, Moshe.
Next move to the Saudis-their bluff has been called. Either they agree to meet face-to-face with the Israelis and draw the rath of al Qaedi crowd or back off on the gambit by making additional demands that Israel can't match.
The possibility of Sheikh being extradited to America is worrying some Pakistani officials who fear that he may reveal links between Pakistan's intelligence service and Islamic extremist groups currently fighting in Kashmir. Sheikh has spent time in al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan and is close to Maulana Masoud Azhar, the founder of one of Pakistan's recently banned militant groups, the Jaish-e-Mohammad.
American investigators also want to know more about the week Sheikh spent being questioned by unidentified Pakistani officials at a secret location in Lahore. Sheikh originally surrendered to Brig Ejaz Hussain Shah, the former head of Pakistan's intelligence service, on February 5, a week before he was officially handed over. There are suspicions that he may have been briefed by Pakistani intelligence agents on how much to reveal to police after his subsequent arrest. Throughout his interrogation, Sheikh has appeared remarkably confident that he would be released, as well as aggressive and unapologetic. I wonder if it's only in Jammu and Kashmir that ISI has its tentacles? These boys have been accused in some fairly unlikely places. I'd guess they're in even more places, and nobody's said anything because they don't expect them that far afield. Places like Indonesia and the Philippines, where there have been hints, and maybe a few networks in Uzbekistan and Tadjikistan - and Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan? Wonder what their relationship is with Saddam's Mukhabarat? And Jund-e-Islami?
At least at the muckety-muck level they seem more like a secret society than an intel service, and they seem to entrench themselves pretty comfortably in the upper echelons of Pak society even when "sacked." Hamid Gul doesn't appear to be in any kind of financial trouble, and Ejaz Hussain Shah's the Punjab Home Secretary.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/25/2002 ||
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Pakistani police said Sunday three of the suspects hunted in connection with the kidnapping and murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl are Arab nationals thought to be members of al Qaida. "They are among a dozen or so al Qaida terrorists who slipped into Pakistan after the collapse of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan," a senior security official said. The official said security along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan slackened after the Dec. 13 suicide attack on the Indian parliament building in New Delhi. "It wudn't us, see? It was Arabs. Yeah, that's it! They wuz Arabs! An' they snuck into the country, see? When we wudn't lookin'!"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/25/2002 ||
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The Islamic organizations Muslim Brotherhood and al-Qaeda are trying to set up terrorist bases in Georgia, a representative of Russia's law enforcement agency in Chechnya said. These organizations are trying to turn Georgia into a stronghold for preserving the combat and ideological potential of international terrorism, the official told Russian news media in Grozny.
He noted Georgia is being used as the main training and trans-shipping center. "Territories are being seized and Wahhabite (Chechen warlord) enclaves are being created in Georgia. The same was observed in 1997-1999 in the Kadar zone of Dagestan," he said.
Citing words of Saikhan Khamzatov, a captured aide of Chechen rebel leader Khattab, the official said that "a Chechen autonomous district," with its center in the village of Dunisi in the Pankisi Gorge, where Chechen rebels and foreign mercenaries are based, may be proclaimed. The demand to establish a Chechen autonomous district in Georgia is being voiced at rallies of Chechen refugees organized by rebels in the Pankisi Gorge, while the Muslim Brotherhood are financing the rallies. This would make a great deal of strategic sense, given the level of support - ranging from lukewarm to negative - the US gives the Russians on the subject of Chechnya. Chances of the Russians and the US coordinating joint operations in the area if probably pretty low. If bin Laden and al-Zawahri really are "masterminds," they'll light on this fault line to allow them to do some serious regrouping while the US and Russia alternate between scratching their heads and giving each other the hairy eyeball.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/25/2002 ||
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Aftab Ansari has confessed he got training in terrorist and subversive activities in Pakistan. He also had close links with heads of some terrorist outfits. He got terrorist training with Faud Ulla, a member of the Lashkar-e-Taiba in the Bahabulpur area near Rawalpindi. He visited the camp in the deserts on many occasions. In these camps, he had seen many Kashmiri Muslim youths taking training, he told the police. It'll be interesting to know how much of what's coming out is 100% true and how much is the result of "Hit him again, Mukkerjee." If it's all true, the ISI head cheeses must be lining up to take the gas pipe. With the loss of Omar Sheikh (assuming he doesn't walk) and the loss of Ansari, they've got some pretty big dents in their operation and a lot of dirty underwear showing before the world.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/25/2002 ||
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Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, the prime suspect in the kidnapping of murdered US reporter Daniel Pearl and two accomplices complained that police were pressuring them to make confessions. Sheikh Omar told Justice Shabbir Ahmed, Administrative Judge of the Anti-Terrorism Court, that police were pressuring him for a confession and had obtained his signature on a blank sheet of paper. Sympathy meter reading: 0.00000. Maybe it's busted?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/25/2002 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
