I'm sorry, Fred, I'll understand if you delete this, but I just can't take it anymore. Too much senseless killing, genocide, rape, mutilation, cannibalism, AIDS and destruction. And for what?
Chuckie, Bob, Saddam, boy soldiers....aggghhh. Just make them all go away. This is for those of you who need to go to a happy place.
Afghanistan, Pakistan and Turkmenistan have approved the route for a trans-Afghan pipeline, the Turkmen energy minister said on Friday. At a meeting in the Turkmen capital Ashgabat, the pipelineâs steering committee said the 1,650-kilometer project would travel through Herat and Kandahar in Afghanistan, and on to Quetta and Multan, according to Tachberdyi Tagiyev.
Now that's gonna be a project â laying a pipeline through rugged country, surrounded by savage tribesmen, while wild-eyed Islamists wave guns in front of them and swarm behind them to blow up what they've done, beturbanned warlords and holy men line up demanding rake-offs and "transit taxes"...
The Asian Development Bank, which is sponsoring a series of feasibility studies on the project, had pushed instead for a northern route through the Afghan cities of Shibergan and Kabul, then Islamabad and Lahore. But Afghan and Pakistani representatives rejected that route because it would take the pipeline over Afghanistanâs mountains and the treacherous Salang Pass. The project was originally contemplated in the 1990s but abandoned when the US fired cruise missiles into Afghanistan in 1998 in pursuit of Al Qaeda network. The US strongly backs the pipeline, and is also hopeful India will be enticed to join and be added to the route â so that it will also help quiet tensions between India and Pakistan.
See that? See that? I was all about gas, all along!
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/28/2003 09:28 ||
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KUWAIT CITY : Mohamed Hayef Al-Mutairi, contesting parliamentary elections, recently praised what was published in an Arabic daily a few days ago regarding the comprehensive American plan, as part of what they call âreform political and developmental projects in the Gulfâ, to intervene in the internal affairs of all Gulf countries.
He's praising the publication, not the plan...
Speaking at his election seminar, Al-Mutairi said, âSuch American policy in Iraq means the US is planning to stay in Iraq at least for ten years... This can be seen from the two huge buildings which they are going to construct in Iraq for âintelligenceâ purposes. The aim is to intervene in the affairs of neighbouring countries and control their fortunes. We must be aware of our foreign policy which is an important factor that affects all our affairs. I wish all newspapers were interested in our foreign policy which has social, political and economical effect on our citizensâ Al-Mutairi warned of the dangers threatening the area because of the American plans which best suit the American policy.
No way American plans can benefit both the U.S. and the Gulf nations, if you're an Islamist...
He also warned against the privatisation law. âThis is one of the plans, which was not recommended by the Americans on behalf of peoples of the area,â said Al-Mutairi. âItâs a Jewish plan because there are certain Jews who devise such political and economical plans for the US to seize the wealth of the Gulf region,â he added.
Yep. Them Jews is everywhere. Found one under my bed, just last week, in fact...
Al-Mutairi explained so far he sees no Kuwaiti investors who possess fortunes to buy health, education or other sectors. âHowever, the Jews, who control the funds all over the world, can afford these sectors and pay such money,â said Al-Mutairi. He called on all the educated people in the area to oppose such American plans which he calls most harmful to the region and its wealth. Al-Mutairi says he is astonished at the American call to âfreeâ the Arab women and give them political rights. âHowever, according to US statistics the American women are suffering from all kinds of oppressions â rape, exploiting, beatings, suicides, etc.,â said Al-Mutairi.
"That sort of thing never happens here, by Gawd!"
âSuch practices against the American women,â he says, âhave shattered families and the American society. This has led to loss of principles and values in their society. Do they want the Muslim women to reach this stage?â he wondered. Al-Mutairi called new members to the National Assembly to concentrate on foreign affairs, especially "if the US manages to achieve its dangerous objectives in the area."
"Yes! We must oppose their nefarious schemes!"
Speaking about the best way to achieve economic reform, since privatisation is not the best policy, Al-Mutairi said, âwe have to stop monopoly, repair our ports, facilitate trade and offer privilege and licences to Kuwaiti investors.â Al-Mutairi pointed out privatisation amounts to âsellingâ the country. âPrivatisation,â he said, âaims at harming the citizensâ income by imposing taxes and wasting the Stateâs wealth, which will render citizens jobless.â He called for increasing the number of specialised applied institutes, particularly those related to the oil sector as well as the establishment of a specialised university in this area.
Right. The gummint knows best. We've seen that working well, over and over...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/28/2003 10:28 ||
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Sources say the BBC has taken many hits lately for biased reporting. ;->
On the positive side is Tim Sebastion's ‘HardTalk’ which offers up solid issue depth - with the occasional jewel of insight - and only a few rhinestones. As an example of the best, here is Sebastion's interview with Abdul Rahman Al Matroudi, the Saudi Arabia's Deputy Minister for Islamic Affairs. The Minister denies everythingâhe denies that Wahhabism is the mainstream Saudi version of Islam, he denies that extremism is preached in the mosques, he denies that the religious police enforce the laws against women driving, he denies there is religious discrimination, and then suddenly he admits ... that hatred of Jews is taught in their school textbooks. But he justifies this stunning admission by saying that the Jews do it too. This interview shows the truth about whatâs happening in Saudi Arabia, in direct contradiction of the smooth lies of mouthpieces like Adel al-Jubeir, as Al Matroudi squirms and weasels and tries to evade every question.
(hat tip: LGF)
On the other side of the coin, the BBC has so often presented information with an anti-Israeli spin that they've finally exhausted the Israel goverment's reservoirs of patience and good will. That takes some doing, but a recent 'documentary' was the straw that broke the camels back: âThe BBC will discover that bureaucracy can be applied with goodwill or without it. And after the way that they have repeatedly tried to delegitimise the state of Israel, we, as hosts, have none left for them,â Daniel Seaman, director of the government press office, told The Times.
âWe see the well-known pro-Arab touch of the Foreign Office and the traditional anti-Semitism of parts of Britainâs Establishment in the way they are acting against us.â
Of course you can (and will, as long as you are free) decide for yourself... unless you're in the UK, in which case you will be charged a hefty 'fee' for connecting to the cable service, and this 'fee' funds the BBC. So, if you want access to Sky News, for example, you will have to pay for and support the BBC just for the privilege.
The Federal Opposition says the Government's criticism of the United Nations has called into question the long-term stability of the region.
"Telling the Emperor he has no clothes just threatens everyting!"
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer says plans to send troops to the Solomon Islands signal a new approach whereby Australia will use more "coalitions of the willing" to sort out international troubles. The Government says it supports the UN but does not have "blind faith" that it can solve all the world's problems.
"Not even near-sighted faith!"
Mr Downer has said multilateral bodies such as the United Nations are increasingly unfocused and ineffective. Labor's foreign affairs spokesman, Kevin Rudd, says Mr Downer's comments are a turning point in the history of Australian foreign policy.
Gawd! I hope so! For awhile there, I was afraid they were gonna become New Zealand...
"Other great powers in our region may use this new doctrine to in fact justify intervention against this country," Mr Rudd said. "Mr Downer's statement yesterday represents a fundamental breach in bipartisanship on national security policy," he added.
Funny thing, that. I have precisely the same bitch. But the solution's not to keep puttering along with the same old ineffectual policies from the UN. The solution is for the UN to either fix itself or to go out of business. Soon.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/28/2003 10:08 ||
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Where's Walter Duranty when you need him?
KIEV - Officials across Ukraine announced plans Friday to buy grain abroad to allay fears of shortages in the former breadbasket of the Soviet Union. "Make bread, not crashing planes!"
Frantic hoarding has been reported across the country of 48 million, with Ukrainians snapping up flour, buckwheat, sugar and pasta - sometimes intercepting the staples as they are unloaded from trucks. Ukraine's harvest is expected to plunge some 40 percent this year. The hoarding began after reports of market manipulation. Yuriy Rossada, deputy mayor of the capital Kiev, said the city would buy at least 165,350 tons of grain from Russia, Poland, Hungary and Kazakhstan. Some 44,100 tons have already been imported after an extraordinarily harsh winter weather and a dry summer that wiped out much of the country's crops. Officials in the western city of Lviv will buy 330,695 tons of grain from Hungary. From "breadbasket" to "basketcase."
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/28/2003 10:29:20 AM ||
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Turkish Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu has announced a draft bill aimed at encouraging Kurdish rebels to lay down their arms, including outright pardons and sentence reductions. "This is a new and very serious step by the government to establish social peace," Mr Aksu said. The draft bill envisages outright pardons for militants who have not committed crimes other than being members of outlawed groups, and who have surrendered to authorities. The sentences of those who have committed violent acts will be significantly reduced if they supply authorities with information about their underground activities. However, the Minister says senior leaders and commanders are excluded from the scope of the legislation.
Gotta give them credit: They're at least trying to fix their Kurd problem. I don't think this measure goes far enough, but they're trying...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/28/2003 10:16 ||
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Powerful Islamic parties voiced fury on Friday at President Pervez Musharrafâs conditional pledge to send Pakistani troops to Iraq on the request of the United States, adding to opposition from lawyers and secular parties.
But then, they're usually voicing fury over something, so what else is new?
Gen Musharraf, during this weekâs visit to the US, reiterated that he supported âin principleâ sending Pakistani troops to join a post-war peacekeeping force, provided it was under the auspices of the United Nations, the Organisation of Islamic Conference or the Gulf Cooperation Council.
"We lack the sufficient number and size of testicles to support Our Friend and Ally⢠on our own..."
President George W Bush had personally conveyed the request to his Pakistani counterpart during their talks at his private Camp David retreat on Tuesday, Mr Musharraf told Americaâs ABC television channel. âThis is an alarming situation,â Prof Khurshid Ahmad, a federal Senator from the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) party, said. âIt seems that America is trying to press Pakistan to send its forces to Iraq,â he said in a statement.
I think we just did that to get a rise out of the JI turbans...
The JIâs Ahmad accused the US and Britain, whose forces are suffering almost daily fatal attacks in the post-war Iraq, of âtrying to draw in other countries to face the consequences of their illegal occupation... America has not brought freedom or security to Iraq. It is [a] simple occupation and Pakistan cannot and must not be a party to it.â Political commentators and other opposition parties were scathing of the potential deployment to Iraq, saying they would be equal to âmercenariesâ cleaning up after the US. âWe will not allow the Pakistani army to become mercenaries. We oppose the idea of sending army troops to Iraq,â Tehmina Daultana of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz told a press conference.
Good. We wouldn't want an army we might have to fight someday to actually have any combat experience...
Analyst Muhammad Afzal Niazi said Pakistan was being âsucked into the quagmires of both Afghanistan and Iraq... From a national army, the Pakistan army is to become a US-surrogate mercenary force.â
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/28/2003 09:48 ||
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Karachi: The federal government has formed a Special Investigation Group (SIG) to track down members of the Al Qaeda network in Pakistan and help extradite them to the US. The SIG, which would gradually be given the status of an investigation agency, will initially comprise 50 persons.
Approximately half will probably be informants...
The organizational structure of the group has not yet been finalized but a director will be responsible directly to the interior minister who would be its head. The training of the first batch of SIG was scheduled to start from July 15 in the United States. However, during the recent visit of President Pervez Musharraf it was agreed between the two governments that the FIB [FBI?] would impart training to SIG personnel in Pakistan where it already had a temporary office in the FIA Headquarters in Islamabad. Now the training would start in Islamabad in the first week of July. In the selection of the members of the SIG, their past experience of working with US authorities and their atttitude towards Americaâs policy of fighting against terrorism globally was given priority. 17 officers belonging to FIA Headquarters Islamabad, FIA Lahore, FIA Karachi and FIA Peshawar had been picked for training in the first batch.
Somebody send Perv a few copies of The Untouchables...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/28/2003 09:20 ||
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BAGHDAD: The pictures of Saddam Hussein have been stripped from the yellowing walls of Baghdad's cafes where men still getting used to the idea of life without his regime sit and discuss the "New Iraq." One question comes up time and time again: Who was worse, Saddam or the Americans?
My guess is, since the Arab attention span is actually shorter than the American attention span, that Sammy will look better the further he recedes into the past...
The ancient cafes have become the pulse of political life in the city, and through a haze of smoke rising from cigarettes and water pipes, men pass the time with talk of the bad old days and what the future will bring. In the Al-Mustansirya cafe, built in 1587 on the banks of the Tigris River and restored in the 1960s, the walls are dotted with old photographs of poets and long-dead Iraqi singer Mohammed al-Qobbanji. Men play backgammon. Unemployed, like half of the city's population, they mull their future.
I notice none of them seem to have gone into business for themselves...
The cafe is now alive with political debate. Different corners are occupied by journalists, poets, artists and founders of the myriad political parties that have sprung up since the old regime was ousted.
Ah! Innalekshuls! That explains why none of them have gone into business...
Above the chatter, one of the poets picks up a snippet from one of the journalists' conversations and cuts in: "No, it was not the poets, but the journalists who glorified Saddam. You were supposed to tell the truth but you just misled people," he insists, visibly upsetting the press camp.
"Wudn't me! It was you! You, I tell yez!"
The waiter intervenes, bringing tea to cool the heated debate. "With no authority, things can rapidly get out of hand, and we don't want the chairs going flying," he explains. One of the clients, Mustafa al-Chujairi, describes how attention after the end of the war initially focused on former Iraqi dissidents who returned to the country after Saddam's fall. "Talk turned to their credibility and whether the Americans would accept those chosen by Iraqis" to lead the country, he says. "Today, the power cuts, the lack of security, unemployment and the general chaos are what people talk about. "Iraqis are trying to decide which is better: to be able to eat, even if not a lot, under Saddam, or to be able to talk, perhaps too much, under the Americans."
See what I mean about attention span?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/28/2003 11:23 ||
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Two US soldiers missing in Iraq for three days after apparently being abducted have been found dead northwest of Baghdad. "The bodies of two soldiers who were missing since June 25 were recovered," Lieutenant Colonel Martin Compton said. He said the bodies were found on Saturday around 35 kilometres north-west of Baghdad. The Pentagon named the two men as Sergeant First Class Gladimir Philippe, 37, of Lincoln, New Jersey, and Private First Class Kevin C. Ott, 27, of Columbus, Ohio. They were both assigned to the 18th Field Artillery Regiment. The US military had earlier said the two soldiers were "reported missing from their security post at the rocket-demolition site near Balad", north of Baghdad on Wednesday. They were thought to have been abducted along with their Humvee light armoured vehicle by Fedayeen militia wanting to use the vehicle to get close to US troops for an attack. A US spokesman said Friday that three Iraqi nationals had been arrested in connection with the abduction.
I hope to hell there's somebody gouging information out of the bastards...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/28/2003 09:54 ||
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Thailand says it has been warned by international intelligence agencies of potential suicide bomb attacks on its territory, but authorities did not say who has been cited as suspects.
"Hey, Mahmoud! I'm bored."
"Me, too, Ahmed. Let's go screw up somebody else's country."
"Hokay."
The country's police chief, General Sant Sarutanond, says police have told postal workers to be on the alert after one explosive device was discovered. "We have been regularly warned by various countries of possible suicide bombs, and we have acted accordingly," General Sant said. "So far we've found one device but have no suspects, but we have tightened our search on parcels via all channels." The comments follow local media reports that Burma's military government has warned Thailand of a suicide bomb threat to its embassy in Bangkok by exiled dissidents angry with Rangoon's detention of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
I'd find that very surprising. It ain't their style. I'd guess this was a propaganda move against them...
But Thai security forces are also on the alert for Muslim militancy. Police arrested four suspected members of the Jemaah Islamiah network last month, charging them with planning attacks on embassies and Thai beach resorts popular with Westerners.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/28/2003 10:12 ||
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Burma can no longer afford to ignore appeals from its south-east Asian neighbours for the release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the United Nations special envoy to the country said. "I don't see how Myanmar (Burma) can turn a deaf ear to the appeal of the ASEAN countries," Razali Ismail said after meeting Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda, who chairs the 10-member regional grouping which includes Myanmar. Mr Razali says he met for one hour with Mr Wirayuda to learn about the steps being considered by the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to deal with the issues of national reconciliation and democracy in Burma. "It was a very helpful discussion over breakfast. As I understand it, all things are being considered," he said.
"We're working on the paperwork now..."
"My purpose here... is to underline how seriously the UN looks at the continued detention of Aung San Suu Kyi."
... he said, wrinkling his noble brow.
ASEAN foreign ministers meeting this month called for Aung San Suu Kyi's release, breaking a decades-old convention of non-interference in members' internal affairs. Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa says Mr Wirayuda briefed Mr Razali on discussions held at this month's ASEAN annual ministerial meetings in Phnom Penh. At that meeting the foreign ministers discussed sending an ASEAN team to Burma in an attempt to meet directly with Aung San Suu Kyi. However Mr Natalegawa says Burma's foreign minister must deliver that proposal to his government. "To date we have not heard from them," he said.
"They're ignoring us. I wonder if they got our note?"
Mr Razali says he will return to Malaysia on Sunday before going on to the United Nations. On Wednesday Mr Razali told Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi that Aung San Suu Kyi was being detained in poor surroundings at a Yangon prison when he was allowed to meet her on June 10.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/28/2003 10:03 ||
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TEHRAN - Iran has been locked in highly secretive and complex extradition talks with Egypt, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia over detainees it holds and are widely believed to be top members of Al-Qaeda. Iran could deal the biggest blow to Al-Qaeda since the U.S.-led war on Afghanistan by handing over some of bin Laden's closest aides. But government spokesman Abdollah Ramezanzadeh told Agence France-Presse many of the detainees were still being identified, adding that is was unlikely their names would ever be officially released. "We have not been able to identify all Al-Qaeda members, and even if we did there is no reason for us to give their names to the press. This is a security issue, and this is how security apparatuses work," he said.
Ummm... Actually, it's not.
Iran has also pointed to its extradition of some 500 fugitives from Afghanistan in the wake of the U.S. ouster of Taliban, a figure that has been independently confirmed by well-kept sources. But diplomats here said they have "firm reason" to believe that three top Al-Qaeda fugitives have been detained in Iran. One is Egyptian-born Saif al-Adel, thought to have taken over as Al-Qaeda's number three from military operations chief Mohammad Atef, who was believed killed in Afghanistan in late 2001. The second is Saad bin Laden, one of Saudi-born Osama bin Laden's eldest sons. In his early 20's, Saad is thought to have taken a senior position in the family business running of Al-Qaeda. The third believed to be in Iranian custody is Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, a Kuwaiti-born Al-Qaeda spokesman. "But the negotiations to hand them over are very delicate, so for the moment there has been no official word on who they are," one diplomat said.
"We know we gotta do somethin', but we don't want to do somethin' that'll help The Great Satanâ¢..."
On May 18, U.S. officials said that Saif al-Adel, who allegedly helped organize the triple bombings in Riyadh that killed 34 people last week was hiding in Iran. Iran, for its part, gainsaid on May 30 U.S. allegations that al-Qaeda members in the country played a role in the Riyadh bombings. Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazzi averred that the suspected al-Qaeda members, already in custody, were arrested before the May 12 attacks on western targets in Saudi Arabia and could not, therefore, had been involved in the planning of the blasts.
"Nope. Nope. Wudn't them. Musta been somebody else..."
Diplomats said negotiations to extradite the detainees have been running for several weeks but were hitting snags, given that Iran has only low-level diplomatic ties with Egypt. Furthermore, diplomats point out that bin Laden's son has been stripped of his Saudi nationality, while Abu Gaith has been stripped of his Kuwaiti nationality. Those problems were believed to have dominated discussions during recent flying visits by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal and Kuwaiti Interior Minister Sheikh Mohammad Khaled al-Sabah, although it remains unclear if any extradition deal has yet been worked out. The Dubai-based satellite television news channel Al-Arabiya, quoting Western diplomatic sources, said Friday, June 27, the detainees may also include Ayman al-Zawahiri, bin Laden's Egyptian-born number-two and head of the outlawed Egyptian Jihad group.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/28/2003 12:59 ||
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In the first confirmation by an actual militant leader, a top Islamic Jihad member says the radical Palestinian group has accepted a conditional cease-fire with Israel. Mohammed al-Hindi says the agreement is for a three-month halt to attacks on Israelis. Al-Hindi says intensive meetings Saturday between Islamic Jihad, the larger militant group Hamas and Yasser Arafat'sFatah faction are working out the final wording of an official cease-fire declaration. Al-Hindi says he thinks the declaration will come Monday or Monday at the latest. Hamas leaders had indicated that they've agreed to the truce, but they were waiting to declare formal acceptance in the joint declaration with all the parties. None had gone on the record to say so.
"So it's not official yet, y'see? So if we bump anybody off, it don't count..."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/28/2003 12:48 ||
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I think I'm going to add another section for Central and West Africa, even though it's mostly not terrorism. It's... ummm... something else. Maybe "horribalism."
FREETOWN - The UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone has indicted two former leaders of a disbanded pro-government militia movement for crimes against humanity committed during the country's 10-year civil war. These ranged from unlawful killings to human sacrifice, cannibalism and the use of child soldiers.
"Cannibalism"? "Human fergawdsake sacrifice"? See what I mean?
The Special Court published on Thursday an indictment against Allieu Kondewa, the Chief Initiator of the Civil Defence Force (CDF), whose fighters were also known as the Kamajors, and Moinina Fofanah, the CDF's Director of War. Both men were detained on May 27. They have been charged with crimes against international humanitarian law and violations of the Geneva Conventions which govern the international rules of war for their conduct during Sierra Leone's 1991-2001 civil war. The eight counts against them include unlawful killings, terrorising civilians, causing physical and mental suffering, looting, burning and using child soldiers.
Good thing I'm not in charge. They wouldn't be coming to trial...
The CDF was formed to help the army fight against rebels seeking to overthrow President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah's first elected government in the 1990s. The Special Court has now indicted three of its leaders for war crimes. On March 7 it charged and arrested Sam Hinga Norman, a former army captain who became CDF National Coordinator and subsequently interior minister in Kabbah's present government until his arrest.
"G'morning, Mr. Minister. Stick 'em up! Yer under arrest!"
The court has so far indicted a total of 12 people for war crimes. Most are former leaders of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebel movement, which became notorious for killing civilians and hacking off the arms and legs of thousands of others. However, the court has also brought charges against Johnny Paul Koroma, who led the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), a military junta which deposed Kabbah's first government in 1997 and sought a rapprochement with the RUF, and one of his lieutenants, Brima "Bazzy" Kamara. It has also indicted Liberian President Charles Taylor, who is accused of arming and supporting the RUF in exchange for a cut of the swag contraband diamonds. The indictment against Kondewa and Fofanah said: "Civilians, including women and children, who were suspected to have supported, sympathised with, or simply failed to actively resist the combined RUF/AFRC forces were termed as collaborators and specifically targeted by the CDF... These 'collaborators' and any captured enemy combatants were unlawfully killed." The indictment went on: "Victims were often shot, hacked to death or burnt to death. Other practices included human sacrifices and cannibalism." Court officials said the two men were expected to plead not guilty before Special Court judge at a hearing next week.
"Y'see, yer honor, it wudn't exactly human sacrifice. There's rules that govern that sorta thing, and we don't obey no rules, so y'gotta throw that one out..."
Nine of the 12 people so far indicted by the court are in custody, one is dead and two are still at large. Sam Bockarie, the former military commander of the RUF, was killed in Liberia by forces loyal to Taylor in Liberia in early May. Taylor, who is fighting to survive a rebel onslaught on the Liberian capital Monrovia, is still free. Koroma disappeared from his Freetown home in January and the court now believes that he has been living in Liberia under Taylor's protection. The Liberian government has denied that he is in the country.
"Nope. Nope. Ain't nobody here by that name. We checked."
Earlier this month, the Special Court's chief investigator, Alan White, said he had received credible information that Koroma may have been killed on Taylor's orders in northwestern Liberia, where he was believed to be training a new military force for the Liberian leader.
"Lookee here, Norbert. They're closin' in on this cannibalism thing. Old Johnny Paul's about outlived his usefulness, and all he's doin' is training militias in arm hacking. Dispose of the body someplace, wouldja?"
But David Crane, the court prosecutor, said on Thursday he was keeping an open mind about Koroma's fate. "We are carefully investigating the reports that Johnny Paul Koroma may have been murdered by Taylor, but at this time we have nothing that confirms that definitively," Crane said. "He is an indicted war criminal and will remain so until we have confirmation that, one, he is alive and, two, that he is turned over, or that he is actually dead."
"Mildred, is that man over there wearing a false nose and glasses?"
"I can't tell, Elbert. I can't see past his phony chin whiskers."
Diplomats in Freetown said they expected the Special Court, which is working with a US $60 million budget provided mainly by the United States and Britain, to indict about 15 people altogether.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/28/2003 12:38 ||
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MONROVIA - As a fresh ceasefire took hold in the Liberian capital Monrovia on Friday, the mortuary at the city's main hospital overflowed with corpses from the latest four-day battle between government and rebel forces for control of the city. Hundreds of sick and wounded people milled helplessly round the corridors of the John F Kennedy hospital. Overworked doctors and nurses said they had virtually run out of supplies of medicine and blood to treat the human tide of suffering. Soldiers arrived constantly with more bodies from the frontline, but overwhelmed hospital staff told an IRIN correspondent who visited the scene that they could not accept any more cadavers unless somewhere could be found to bury the heaps of corpses that already clogged the mortuary. By Friday, supplies of food and drinking water at the stadium had run out completely. Several displaced people there told IRIN they had not eaten since Monday. Children cried with hunger as their helpless parents watched, unable to do anything. Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said the few health facilities in Monrovia that were still functioning had been stretched to their limits, prompting MSF to turn two of its compounds in the Mamba Point diplomatic quarter into emergency hospitals with out-patient and in-patient facilities. On Wednesday 150 wounded came to seek treatment. On Thursday a further 50 turned up.
But remember, the important thing is getting a ceasefire, not ending the conflict. And Chuck still has a job...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/28/2003 11:49 ||
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Zimbabwe's ruling party has reacted angrily to a call by US Secretary of State Colin Powell for the urgent removal of President Robert Mugabe and his "cronies".
Colin can't say it, 'cuz he's a diplomat, so I'll say it for him: "React and be damned."
The official Herald newspaper on Thursday reported that Minister of State for Information Jonathan Moyo had called Powell's statements false, and linked the US call for a regime change in Zimbabwe to its invasion of Iraq. "The use of lies and deception by Powell and [US President George W] Bush has not worked in Iraq, where he wanted to mix it with oil. It will never, ever work anywhere else, and will certainly not mix with land in Zimbabwe," Moyo was quoted as saying.
"Lookitdat! My lips are moving, words are coming out, but they don't make any sense!"
Powell wrote in the New York Times this week that Mugabe's government held a "monopoly of coercive power, but no legitimacy or moral authority". He also put pressure on Zimbabwe's neighbours to become more active on the issue. "South Africa and other African countries are increasingly concerned and active on Zimbabwe, but they can and should play a stronger and more sustained role that fully reflects the urgency of Zimbabwe's crisis," Powell wrote. He placed the blame for Zimbabwe's current political and economic woes on Mugabe's regime and warned that a deterioration of the situation in that country would threaten the region.
Fairly succinct statement of the obvious. And the rejoinder is...
However, regional power-house South Africa on Thursday maintained that it was only the people of Zimbabwe who could find a solution to the country's problems, South Africa's Independent Newspapers group reported.
"And they're all in jail, so don't expect anything from there. The status will remain quo."
South African government spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa was quoted as saying that South Africa would resist efforts to impose a solution on Zimbabwe. This view was echoed by Moyo. "We in ZANU-PF have always held that we are our own liberators, first politically, and now economically," he was reported as saying in the Herald.
Its actually no skin off our collective fore if Zim does "liberate" itself "economically," so all Powell's really doing is expressing an opinion. They really don't have to worry about being invaded unless they're providing safe haven to al-Qaeda or a similar knock-off.
The fact that the country used to be the "Breadbasket of Africa" and now they'll lining up with all the other failed states when the groceries are handed out really has nothing to do with us â their thump is not our bruise. It's only the fact that we find rule by bully boys in the service of blantant kleptocrats morally distasteful that causes us to have any opinion at all. That's why we're not going to do anything about Zim except hope it's all over soon. And the very same thing applies to Liberia, Niger, Ivory Coast, and a host of other countries. Sudan, Somalia, Djibouti and Eritrea are a different story...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/28/2003 11:43 ||
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BUJUMBURA - The first group of 22 fighters of the Forces Nationales de Liberation (FNL) rebel faction led by Alain Mugabarabona were cantoned on Thursday at Muyange, 30 km northwest of the Burundian capital, Bujumbura, a military official told IRIN. The commander of the African Union (AU) unit guarding the cantonment site, Maj Piet Meiring, said only 10 of the fighters had guns when they arrived at the camp set aside for them by the AU force, known as the African Mission in Burundi. He said the fighters were accompanied by their commander and FNL Vice-President Leandre Ntahimpera, who monitored their registration. "They came on their own waving a white flag," Meiring said. "Others will be assembled from Monday; we would like them to stay in their pre-assembly areas so that we can bring them to the cantonment zone."
A senior FNL official who accompanied the fighters, "Commander" Paul Bugabo, told IRIN that they had come to implement a ceasefire agreement between the faction and the government. "If the army refuses to implement it, we will take up arms again," he said. The FNL had taken up arms because a part of the population was oppressed, he said, in reference to the Hutu. "FNL fighters came first to be cantoned, then afterwards they expect to enter the army which is now dominated by Tutsis," he added. "We want the army, which is the source of all problems Burundi is undergoing, reformed."
That can't be a genuine liberation movement. The source of all the problems isn't the U.S.A...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/28/2003 11:28 ||
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VLADIKAVKAZ - Chechen rebels ambushed and killed five Russian troops and pro-Moscow policemen responding to an emergency call about the shooting of a village elder. In a separate incident, two Russian servicemen were killed and two others wounded by a land mine in the Chechen capital, Grozny. Russian planes also bombarded suspected rebel positions in the Nozhai-Yurt district, and artillery was used in several other districts. Just another day in Paradise.
The ambushed troops and policemen were responding to an emergency call in Vashindaroi, where about 20 unidentified, camouflaged men dragged the chairman of the council of elders, Alavdi Alsabayev, from his house and killed him, said an official in the Moscow-backed administration. Was he insufficiently holy?
The ambush victims included Said-Ibragim Shamayev, son of Chechnya's chief mufti, or Muslim spiritual leader. He certainly was insufficiently holy.
Also Friday, the Chechen prosecutor's office said it identified the suicide bomber who blew herself up at a religious ceremony in May, killing 16. Larisa Musalayeva, 26, and another female suicide bomber are suspected of trying to kill Akhmad Kadyrov, the head of Chechnya's Moscow-backed administration, at the gathering, the Interfax news agency said. Chechen Prosecutor Vladimir Kravchenko said Musalayeva's brother also was behind several terrorist attacks. Sent his sister instead of himself. Rat bastard.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/28/2003 10:39:39 AM ||
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JPost - Reg Req'd; I couldn't make this up, really ;-)
Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi called Friday for a complete overhaul of the 'road map' peace plan, saying it did not live up to the needs of peace in the Middle East. In a speech delivered via satellite link from Tripoli to academics in London, Qaddafi called for the establishment of one unified state for the Palestinians and the Israelis. Qadaffi said that the territory of Israel and the Palestinian territories was insufficient to accommodate two countries. "The territory is too narrow to accommodate two states, and they would fight," said the Libyan leader. Gaddafi said he already has a name for this new country, "Israteen." Isn't he supposed to be dying from cancer? what a flake
If he is, which I'm starting to doubt, it's brain cancer...
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/28/2003 10:26:40 AM ||
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Public opposition to Iran's ruling clerical establishment is deepening, a student leader said Saturday, as officials reported that more than 4,000 people were arrested during this month's pro-reform protests. Tipping point is getting closer.
The count of arrests was dramatically higher than authorities' earlier reports, which had only 520 people - mostly ``hooligans'' - as a result of the June 10-14 protests against the hard-line clerics. "Hooligans" â did the turbanned set buy an old Bolshevik dictionary?
Among the 4,000 arrested were about 800 students and 30 key student leaders, Iran's prosecutor general, Abdolnabi Namazi, said, according to the state-run daily Iran. Namazi said about half of those detained were almost immediately freed, while some 2,000 remained in jail. ``The confirmation of 4,000 arrests shows how insecure insincere the rulers are and how the crisis has deepened in Iran,'' student leader Saeed Allahbadashti told The Associated Press. The protests, which were the largest in months, began as students demonstrations against plans to privatize universities and snowballed into broader displays of opposition to Iran's hard-line clerical establishment, led by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The demonstrations largely ended after the deployment of hundreds of foreign security forces and unleashing of pro-clergy thugs â armed with knives and batons â to attack protesters. Allahbadashti, one of few student leaders not imprisoned during the protests, said the establishment has lost its legitimacy through its crackdown on the protests. ``The judicial authorities are openly lying to the nation. First, they said few hooligans been arrested. Now, they confirm the arrest of 800 students. They are buying only greater hatred from the people whose call for change has been ignored,'' he said. Smart fella -- must have a college ed-u-kay-shion!
Meanwhile, authorities are trying to prevent a new round of student protests to mark the fourth anniversary of a July 9, 1999 attacks on Tehran University dormitories by pro-clerical militants. Those attacks killed one student, injured at least 20 others and triggered six days of nationwide anti-government protests, the worst since the 1979 Islamic revolution that toppled the pro-U.S. Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Authorities have banned any marches to remember the raid. ``An uprising incident took place a few years back and there is every no necessity to mark the anniversary,'' the Iran quoted Namazi, the prosecutor, as saying. Students have vowed to defy the ban and warned that their accumulated wrath was about to explode. Turbans atop nooses, details at 5.
Protesters have long focussed their anger toward Iran's unelected hard-line dictators clerics, while not quite supporting President Mohammad Karensky Khatami, who was elected by a landslide on promises of delivering social, political and economic reforms. But this month's student-led protests not only called for the conservative establishment's ouster but also denounced Khatami for failing to fulfill his promises. Political analyst Mostafa Kavakebian said the government's iron-fisted approach to dealing with pro-reform students would make matters worse. ``History shows that use of force against civil protests only backfires. It's not logical for the establishment to get harsh with students,'' said Kavakebian, who also heads a reformist political party. There's a fellow angling for some student support.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/28/2003 10:16:13 AM ||
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The French Foreign Minister, Dominique de Villepin, has called for the deployment of a multi-national force to Liberia to end fighting in the West African nation.
"Just like we have in the Congo..."
The BBC reports, a ceasefire in the country appears to be holding after two days of clashes between government and rebel forces for control of the capital, Monrovia. As many as a quarter of a million people are living rough in the centre of Monrovia; those who fled their homes and got trapped between the frontline and the ocean. The Liberian Government says it will begin to bus thousands to the area around the main sports stadium which has become the focus of aid activities. It hopes to start food handouts there. The Information Minister, Reginald Goodrich, says another team are looking for sites for new refugee camps. Tens of thousands of refugees from other wars fled their temporary homes on the edge of the city as the fighting moved through that area.
My personal preference would be to see LURD win and Chuck doorknob dead. Get rid of one problem before dealing with another. But if the avoidance of war is a goal in itself, then you're really into ceasefires; that way the agony can be drawn out for years and years, with the final result being the same thing, only with a higher corpse count...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/28/2003 09:59 ||
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North Korea said on Friday the proposed realignment of US forces in South Korea was a prelude to Washingtonâs plan to launch nuclear war against the communist country. Rodong Sinmun, Pyongyangâs ruling party newspaper, said the US plan to relocate American troops away from the heavily fortified inter-Korean border is a strategic move to evade North Koreaâs heavy artillery retaliation in the event of war. âThe redeployment of the US forces in South Korea is a very dangerous military measure prompted by the US imperialist attempt to use nukes in the second Korean war,â Rodong said in a statement. Pyongyang has hundreds of artillery pieces deployed close to the border that can easily strike Seoul. The planned redeployment would take US troops out of range of North Korean guns. âIt is the view of US military strategists that when a war starts in Korea, Seoul and areas north of it will turn into sea of fire in a matter of a few days due to North Koreaâs strong artillery fire power and none of the US troops within its firing range will be able to survive,â it said.
The view probably isn't that dramatic, but it reflects good sense on the part of our planners. 2nd Infantry Division should be something more than a mass human sacrifice on the altar of commitment. Perhaps the NorK should consider pulling most fo their own troops back from the 38th parallel? That way they won't be lost in a "sea of fire" in the first few hours after the festivities begin? As far as I know, artillery travels both south and north, and our planes work...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/28/2003 09:39 ||
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US National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice has indicated that the United States is ready to act alone against Iran and North Korea if European countries do not cooperate in stopping them from developing nuclear weapons, the Daily Telegraph reported on Friday. âIf we do not want a âMade in Americaâ solution, letâs find out how to resolve the issues of North Korea and Iran,â the paper quoted Rice as saying during a visit to London on Thursday.
That's diplotalk for... ummm... That's not diplotalk. It's a polite way of saying "defecate or decommode."
Rice sought to play down the prospect of a war against Iran, saying: âWe do not ever want to have to deal with the proliferation issue as we did in Iraq.â However, according to the Telegraph, her comments had echoes of the blunt talking that surrounded the debate before the Iraq war. Rice accused Iran of seeking secretly to build nuclear weapons, and vowed that North Korea would not be allowed to blackmail the world with threats to resume its nuclear programme. But she said the US sought international cooperation and that Iranâs programme was best dealt with by convincing Tehran to agree to intrusive inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Addressing the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, Rice said North Korea was best addressed by regional powers exerting pressure. But she did not rule out military action. âThe avoidance of war is not in itself a final goal,â she said. âSometimes one has to fight wars to deal with tyrants.â Later she added: âWe want a multilateral solution. But we do want a solution."
"The avoidance of war is not itself a final goal"... That's a statement of the obvious that's managed to escape both the UN and the EU. And some of our own diplos...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/28/2003 09:34 ||
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Israel and the Palestinians reached a disengagement deal in the Gaza Strip and Hamas said it decided to suspend attacks on Israelis â dramatic moves driven by U.S. pressure to bolster a Middle East peace "road map." More Hamas posturing...
The deal on an Israeli troop pullback in Gaza was announced before Saturday's visit to the region by national security adviser Condoleezza Rice as Israel and the Palestinians jockeyed for pride of place in pushing forward the U.S.-backed peace plan. Jockeyed for pride of place ... Jeebus!
Rice, viewed in Israel as one of its strongest backers in Washington, was likely to press Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas in talks in the West Bank Saturday to dismantle Hamas and other militant groups as mandated by the road map. Against the backdrop of U.S. pressure and Israeli attacks on it senior militants, Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin told Reuters his group "has reached a decision to call a truce, or a suspension of fighting activities." The Israeli attacks we can handle, but that U.S. pressure, aieee!
But he said a truce would carry conditions and be declared only after Hamas and other militant groups agreed on a joint statement in a 33-month-old Palestinian uprising for statehood. Oh ... so there's not going to be a truce after all...
A senior Israeli government source said a Hamas cease-fire would not be "worth the paper it's written on." The group, on the U.S. list of terrorist organizations, has killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings it calls resistance to occupation. Secretary of State Colin Powell said the United States would withhold judgment until Hamas formally declared a truce. But he hailed the deal on Gaza. "This is a very positive development," Powell said in Washington Friday "It reflects the kind of movement that the president and the other leaders called for." Positive development ... diplospeak for "BFD."
A senior Israeli political source said soldiers would start withdrawing Monday in the Gaza Strip and open its major roads to free Palestinian movement in return for Palestinian forces ensuring militants did not attack Israeli targets. Yeah, sure.
However troops will remain around Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip, where buffer zones are to be set up between the Israeli army and Palestinian security forces, the source said after talks mediated by U.S. Middle East envoy John Wolf. The source also said Palestinian forces would be given a chance to act on Israeli tips on any pending attacks by militants before Israel launched "track-and-kill" operations. OK â you had your chance: BOOM!
Either that or: "Can it, youse guys! They're on to you! Try it next week, instead!"
The United States also accelerated a diplomatic drive against Hamas, calling it an "enemy of peace" and urging the international community to block any funding for the group. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said earlier that a truce would be a useful first step toward peace but must be followed by the dismantling of militant groups. Palestinian officials have said a confrontation with Hamas, an Islamic organization widely popular with Palestinians feeling the brunt of Israeli military action, could start a civil war. They say that like it's a bad thing.
At least 2,129 Palestinians and 760 Israelis have been killed since the uprising began after peace talks collapsed in 2000. "Uprising" ... I hate Rooters.
Posted by: JP ||
06/28/2003 8:38:24 AM ||
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Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has settled on a fresh bright baby-blue hue for eyes in recent photoshoots and public appearances â a dramatic transformation from her natural hazel tint! The former first lady opted for baby-blue eyes last month when she was captured exclusively for TIME magazine. The cover shot marks a dramatic departure from Clinton's appearance during her Arkansas years. "She started experimenting with different blazing blue colors at the White House," an insider confided to the DRUDGE REPORT. "She even tried turquoise contact lenses once, but it was not a great look for her." Check out the link and see the pix...
Posted by: PD ||
06/28/2003 4:14:49 AM ||
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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.
