In a bold and risky move that could stoke ethnic conflict in his divided country and weaken his already shaky administration, Afghan President Hamid Karzai is attempting to assert his authority in Afghanistanâs Pashtun areas where Taliban and al Qaida fugitives still run freely. At the weekend, he sacked at least 20 provincial officials - many of them warlords or militia commanders - in the Pashtun-dominated provinces of Kandahar, Logar, Nangarhar, Paktia and Paktika. Changes were also made in Nimroz, a province bordering Iran where ethnic Baloch chieftains have their own tribal militias. Although ethnically different, the Baloch often side with the majority Pashtuns in ethnic conflicts. Good move. It's also a move he couldn't have thought about making six months ago. Hope things keep coming together like this...
Apparently to dispel the impression that he was only acting against Pashtuns, Karzai also fired some security officials in Mazar-i-Sharif, a city dominated by Tajik, Hazara and Uzbek ethnic groups. Fair's fair...
But this move may not be enough to head off perceptions that Karzai - initially chosen to head the interim government precisely because of his appeal to his fellow Pashtuns - has now turned against his ethnic kin. That's because Pashtuns, as a group, think it's fine and dandy to crack down on other ethnic groups, but doing the same thing to Pashtuns is unacceptable. The inflated sense of self-worth appears to be a tribal trait...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
11/07/2002 02:05 pm ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Essentially, He's telling them that the country's got to get their sh*t together...
(P.S. I used to post as "G" (I hail from South Georgia, US of A), but decided today to come "out of the closet")
#2
Termination of the Northern Alliance war, by armistice, in Pashto areas is the cause of the lack of federal authority in this region. Pashtos have leverage in Pakistan, after the successes of the terrorist MMA in the recent elections. The MMA appears to want to restore the "Pakistan-in-Depth" strategy of the old PML government in Pak. That would put them on a collision course with the USA. Wouldn't it?
Source: NNI Qaed Salim Sinan al-Harethi, al-Qaida's top man in Yemen who was killed in a US air strike, had eluded capture for months by hiding in the desert and remote villages. He was among six members of al-Qaida who died the other day when a Hellfire missile, believed to have been fired from a CIA aircraft, struck their car in the province of Marib, about 100 miles east of the Yemeni capital San'a. He was one of the main targets of US counter-terrorism efforts because of his alleged role in the 2000 bombing of the US destroyer Cole in Aden, in which 17 American sailors were killed. "Kefiyeh?"
"Check."
"Bandolier?"
"Check."
"Grenades?"
"Check."
"Gun?"
"Check."
"Camel?"
"Check."
"Okay. You're ready to hide out in the desert..."
Al-Harethi was a long-time figure in the Islamic movement. He was among hundreds of former fighters who returned to Yemen in the 1990s from Afghanistan, where some of them fought alongside bin Laden in a "jihad," or holy war, against the Soviet army. Also known as Abu Ali, he was a close associate of bin Laden in Sudan in the early 1990s before the Saudi fugitive millionaire moved in 1996 to Afghanistan. Yemeni officials say al-Harethi went into hiding in 2001 after being tipped off that he was wanted for questioning by US investigators in the Cole bombing. Between August and November of last year, al-Harethi spent several months in Hosun al-Jalal, a poor village in Marib â a region of gun-toting tribesmen where government forces venture only with permission of local chiefs. Think Arab Pashtuns...
Al-Harethi lived in the village along with Mohammed Hamdi al-Ahdal, another al-Qaida suspect who is also wanted for the Cole attack. Last December, Yemeni special forces, trained by US instructors, moved into Hosun al-Jalal to search for al-Qaida suspects. In the clash that followed, 18 soldiers and six tribesmen were killed, the government said. "One man's terrorist is another man's star border..."
The two al-Qaida suspects got away. Yemen's foreign minister, Abubaker Al-Qirbi, said earlier this year that al-Harethi and al-Ahdal took refuge in the Rub al-Khali or Empty Quarter, the world's largest sand desert which straddles Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Oman and the United Arab Emirates. And now he's nothing but a smear on the desert sands and a lingering odor. Goodbye, Qaed.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
11/07/2002 01:44 pm ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
A little more about one of his victims on the USS Cole.
One of the six al-Qaida suspects killed in a car blast in Yemen at the weekend carried U.S. nationality and all were âdangerousâ members of the extremist network, a Yemeni official said on Thursday. MSNBC uses scare quotes becaue they make them look "objective."
âInvestigations by Yemeni authorities found that Harthi was accompanied by five dangerous members of the al-Qaida network who were not ordinary passengers,â the official told Reuters. He said that one of the six, identified by a government newspaper as Ahmed Hijazi, had U.S. nationality, but it was not clear if he was of Yemeni origin. Bumping off a traitor makes it twice as satisfying...
Yemeni authorities found personal documents, weapons and satellite telecommunication devices in the shattered car, the official said. The government September 26 weekly newspaper said the group had taken part in âplanning and executing acts of sabotage that harmed Yemeni national interests. Like cheesing off the U.S. enough that we might lose the distinction between the Yemeni government and some of its more lawless inhabitant...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
11/07/2002 01:49 pm ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
A draft U.N. resolution to restore Iraqi arms inspectors which should go before the Security Council on Friday aims to provide a basis for an attack on Iraq, Iraq's ambassador to the United Nations said Thursday. "The main issue is how the Americans would use that resolution for their own purposes. This is the most important issue. We find the whole resolution constitutes a trigger to wage war against my country," Mohammed Aldouri told Reuters in an interview. I'd say forget the UN involvement and just ask Congress for a declaration of war. I think Bush has let this sideshow go on just to burn time — and to sort out who's on our side and who's on Sammy's side...
The United States, in what it calls Iraq's last chance to disarm or face war, is pushing the Security Council to adopt a tough resolution by Friday, and veto-holders France and Russia are edging closer to agreeing. The horse trading should be just about done behind the scenes now, and the election's out of the way...
Baghdad was not ready to say how it will react if the resolution is passed, Aldouri added. "We have to wait for the resolution and wait for the amendments. If there is no change and if the Americans stick to their position, at that time Iraq certainly will react after studying carefully the provisions of the resolution," he said. Maybe they should just go ahead and declare war on us. Sammy could go on Iraqi national teevee and tear up the ceasefire agreement like he did his treaty with Iran...
The six-page draft gives U.N. arms inspectors far-reaching powers, including unrestricted rights to enter Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's palace compounds. "Hey, Willi! Look what I found in Sammy's underwear drawer!"
The resolution, the result of eight weeks of negotiations on scrapping any chemical, biological or nuclear weapons of mass destruction Iraq may have, was formally presented to council members on Wednesday and will be reviewed again on Thursday. After which it will either be voted upon or discussed for another few months, because there's no hurry, right?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
11/07/2002 01:44 pm ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- The United States and France have agreed on the final language for a U.N. resolution on Iraq, a diplomatic source involved in the negotiations told CNN. The agreement paves the way for a vote in the Security Council on Friday, the source said.
Text of final resolution will be out later today.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/07/2002 15:02 Comments ||
Top||
#2
The Iraqi resolution that Congress passed is a declaration of war. I don't think that it needs to literally say "Declaration of War" on it.
Posted by: Annoying Old Guy ||
11/07/2002 16:45 Comments ||
Top||
U.S. and British jets bombed two Iraqi air defense and command facilities near Al Kut Thursday, the fifth time that area has been fired on since September by aircraft enforcing the southern no-fly zone. Al Kut is about 95 miles southeast of Baghdad. The jets fired precision-guided weapons at an air defense operations facility and integrated operations center at around 1:20 p.m. after Iraq engaged in unspecified "hostile acts" toward the aircraft. That probably included turning on their radars. Pilots consider that a hostile sort of thing to do, since it's often followed by firing missiles.
Coalition aircraft struck two surface-to-air missile sites in Al Kut Wednesday, marking the first time F/A-18E Super Hornets have seen combat. The strike-fighters flew from the USS Abraham Lincoln. Welcome to the theater, guys! Good luck to you!
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld directed his commanders this year to target not just the tactical weapons sites threatening aircraft in Iraq but the higher-value command facilities that provide targeting coordinates. Since Sept 16, when Iraq President Saddam Hussein said he would allow U.N. arms inspectors access to his country to search for chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, Iraq has fired on U.S. and British aircraft enforcing the no-fly zones more than 125 times, predominantly in the southern no-fly zone. To date, he hasn't hit anything. Any one of those 125 could have consitituted a legitimate excuse to shut down Sammy's whole operation — if Bush had wanted to.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
11/07/2002 01:44 pm ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
Pakistan's military regime last night abruptly postponed the inaugural meeting of the first parliament since the 1999 coup as an anti-army coalition of parties looked like forming a government. "The government is considering the proposal of some political parties to postpone the national assembly's inaugural session," Gen Pervaiz Musharraf was quoted on state-run television as telling a cabinet meeting yesterday. "A decision in this regard will be taken in the best interests of democracy." Under normal circumstances, I say, in a voice dripping with sarcasm, "Yeah. Shutting down parliament is just the thing to serve the best interests of democracy." Since this is Pakland we're discussing, my response is, "Yup. You're right."
Three years after the military seized power, the country was expected to return to a semblance of democracy tomorrow when the 342-seat National Assembly was scheduled to meet and choose a new prime minister. The military has set no new date for the assembly to meet. With the prospect of a government by an alliance of nutcases and crooks, the sweet by-and-by will do...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
11/07/2002 01:57 pm ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
The official Palestinian Authority newspaper has accused the CIA of masterminding the Muslim Chechnyan terrorist siege of a Moscow theater that resulted in the deaths of at least 118 hostages. Fits right in with the pattern, right? We're accused of blowing the Bali beer joint, and of flying our own planes into the Twin Towers...
Fuad Abu Hajleh, senior columnist for the PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadidah, wrote on October 29 that the CIA masterminded the attack in response to Russia's opposition in the UN to American policy concerning Iraq. Abu Hajleh writes, "The CIA will never acknowledge its responsibility for this operation which claimed over 170 lives, including those of the perpetrators," and implies that France, which also opposes American policy, may be next to suffer a similar "bloody scene." That's because Washington is the secret control behind the Chechen terrorists. And behind Washington are the Learned Elders of Zion. And behind the Learned Elders are the Illuminati. And the Illuminati are wholly owned and operated by the Bilderberg conspiracy... Or maybe it's the Masons. I forget...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
11/07/2002 02:10 pm ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
You forgot to mention the Rosicrucians and the Ladies' Temperence Union....
#2
There must be the Mossad somewhere too. PA is becomming sloppy in their reporting.
Posted by: marek ||
11/07/2002 16:33 Comments ||
Top||
#3
You forgot the Knights Templar. They're behind all of it, the Illuminati, the Freemasons, the Learned Elders of Zion, Skull and Bones, Will & Grace, all of them. Everyone knows that.
Posted by: Christopher Johnson ||
11/07/2002 17:19 Comments ||
Top||
#4
You forgot about the oooiiiiiiillllll corporations. And big rice.
Israeli undercover units abducted Thursday, November 7, Abdel-Nasser Sweiss, local political leader of the resistance Islamic Jihad movement in Tulkarem, in the northern West Bank. Sweiss, 38, was caught inside his brothers' downtown supermarket in Tulkarem by Israeli special forces dressed in civilian clothing, Palestinian witnesses told AFP. Sweiss is on Israel's wanted list. His resistance movement's military wing has claimed numerous anti-Israeli retaliatory attacks. An Israeli army source confirmed the abduction, saying Sweiss had been taken away for questioning. That might be because military wings take their orders from political wings...
They also abducted 11 members of a "Tanzim" cell linked to Fatah movement, who were allegedly accused of shooting dead five Israelis near Al-Khalil (Hebron) in the southern West Bank. That sounds like something they might want to discuss...
The Israeli occupation army also abducted two fighters of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) near Bethlehem. They were no doubt just standing around, minding their own business, when the IDF swooped down on them for no reason...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
11/07/2002 02:43 pm ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
Indonesian police say a man they are questioning has admitted involvement in the bomb attack that killed nearly 200 people at a Bali nightclub last month.
National police chief Da'i Bachtiar said the man, whom he identified only as Amrozi, was the owner of the minivan used in the 12 October attack on the holiday island. Asked if Amrozi had parked the minivan packed with explosives outside the Sari Club, Mr Bachtiar said: "The group has several people with a division of labour, certainly including Amrozi, who admitted going there and dividing up tasks". The BBC's South-East Asia correspondent Jonathan Head says Amrozi appears to have acted as a field coordinator in the bombing. Wonder if he's a runner or a controller? If he's a controller, he's a pretty good catch. If he's a runner, the controller behind him will be the good catch...
Amrozi was flown to Bali from East Java on Wednesday for questioning. Mr Bachtiar said he had provided "lots of information". "Lots of information" can be his shoe size and whether he likes cherry pie — or he could be singing like Pavarotti. Hope it's the latter...
According to a local television report, Amrozi was arrested at an Islamic boarding school in the town of Tenggulun. The head of the school, Dzakaria, said Amrozi had attended a speech at the school by the 64-year-old radical Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, who is now being held at a police hospital in Jakarta. Natch. But he's not involved, of course...
Amrozi "sometimes came to my school to conduct prayer with us," said Mr Dzakaria. With close to 200 dead, he's obviously a very devout Muslim... Thanks to Steve for the link...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
11/07/2002 01:44 pm ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"Indonesian police say a man they are questioning has admitted involvement..."
Indonesia, purveyors of fine mustaches and truncheons. Ask about our group discounts!
Thailand denied a report in the Asian Wall Street Journal (AWSJ) which claimed Thursday, November 7, that Al-Qaedaâs top South-east Asian operative, Riduan Isamuddin Alias Hambali, earlier this year planned last month's Bali bombing from locations in southern Thailand. Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra dismissed the report, saying it was not based on facts, defending his countryâs intelligentsia in the process. He probably means his country's intelligence agencies...
His denial of the report also indicates that Thailand is not ready to accept that separatists in Patani, a southern province, are linked to the Al-Qaeda as suggested by the newspaper. I've noticed that tendency by the Thais. It probably stems from thinking that as Buddhists, they don't have a dog in the Islamist-Western fight. I imagine the illusion will wear off abruptly at some point not far in the future...
Confusion and an attempt to blame the Bali bombing on Muslims are running high among Western-owned media and intelligence, a member of the Indonesian Mujahideen Movement (MMI) told IslamOnline in response to the article published in the Wall Street Journal and carried by Agence France-Presse (AFP). âThey are plotting everything against Muslims to the extent that such accusations are being made against Mujahideens knowing they cannot reply since they are in hiding from injustices,â Abdullah Ahmad said. The confusion appears to us to be on the Indon side. They suspect the West of plotting against them, so in response they hatch their own plots. The poor, poor Mujahideens can't reply, because they're hiding from injustices — which are defined as the punishments associated with blowing people up or cutting their heads off...
According to the Hong Kong based newspaper, Asian intelligence officials believe that Riduan, an Indonesian Islamic militant, urged Arab and Southeast Asian militants attending a January meeting to attack nightclubs and restaurants in the region. That's because people go to that sort of place to laugh and flirt and drink beer and have fun, and do other un-Islamic things...
The paper did not reveal the source of its information and did not produce any factual evidence to support its assertions, the MMI member said. âLikewise the accusations by a U.S. official that Al-Qaeda is threatening to undermine Indonesian democracy is a fallacy and is not supported by any factual evidence,â he added. None that the Indons are willing to believe, anyway...
United States Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz told Indonesia to stop pretending that it does not have a terrorist problem, claiming in an interview with CNN that Al-Qaeda's prime target was Indonesian democracy. He acknowledged in an interview Tuesday, November 5, that Jakarta was now more serious and focused about the problem since the October 12 Bali bombings. But he added: "I still think there are far too many Indonesians who haven't quite heard the call yet. In many ways, the prime target is Indonesian democracy." The reason they "haven't heard the call" is because they don't want to hear it. Many of those who are comfortably ensconced in the power structure are part of the problem, not part of the target...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
11/07/2002 03:00 pm ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Hmph. They can't "hear the call" because they've got their heads in the sand.
Islamic militant group al Qaeda has claimed responsibility for the bomb attack on a Bali nightclub in which more than 180 people died. The group said it had targeted "nightclubs and whorehouses in Indonesia" in a Web site message which also boasted of its aim to hit inside Arab and Islamic countries which are part of a "Jewish-Crusader" alliance. But... But... I'm so confused! Hamzah Haz says Indonesia doesn't have an al-Qaeda problem. And the Paleos are saying the U.S. was behind the whole thing. And "the accusations by a U.S. official that Al-Qaeda is threatening to undermine Indonesian democracy is a fallacy and is not supported by any factual evidence," right?
The al Neda Web site has been used in the past by al Qaeda to claim responsibility for attacks, including the synagogue fire in Tunisia in which mainly German tourists died, and strikes on two ships in Yemen. The Web site's address has been moved repeatedly. The al Qaeda message read: "By attempting to strike a U.S. plane in Saudi Arabia and by bombing a Jewish synagogue in Tunisia, destroying two ships in Yemen, attacking the Fialka base in Kuwait, and bombing nightclubs and whorehouses in Indonesia, al Qaeda has shown it has no qualms about attacking inside Arab and Islamic lands... This is provided that the target belongs to the Jewish-Crusader alliance." It will be almost amusing to watch the Indonesia denial machine turn itself inside out in the next few days. If al-Qaeda admits they did it, and they've got a guy in custody who's connected with Bashir, that should by rights send Bashir up the river...
Thanks to Paul for the link!
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
11/07/2002 09:25 pm ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
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.
