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Chechen boom mastermind no longer ticklish
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-Short Attention Span Theater-
Deceased Kangaroo "may have trusted humans"
I hope this isn’t an abuse of the Short Attention Span Theater, ’cause my attention span is about as short as ... where was I, now?

A giant kangaroo was killed with an axe after it attacked two couples in a central Queensland town. NSW holidaymaker John Crouch was forced to use an axe to kill a two-metre high kangaroo which pounced on him outside the annexe of his caravan parked in the yard of his in-laws’ house in the town of Monto, 400km north-east of Brisbane. Mr Crouch killed the kangaroo after it had attacked him before turning on his wife Helen.
A very confusing sentence, that...
The animal inflicted scratches to her face, back, and groin and kicked her in the stomach before her husband managed to pull the enraged animal off her. Mr Crouch suffered a badly sprained hand, scratches and bruising.

"It was killed or be killed," Mr Crouch told the Bundaberg News-Mail. "I’m absolutely sure it would have killed us if it could. "It was completely crazy and became enraged without provocation." Police and local parks and wildlife officers said the animal may have been the same one which attacked a local motel owner and his wife in Monto last month. Doug and Pauline Lawson were left with minor injuries after the kangaroo knocked them to the ground in an unprovoked attack.

Wildlife officers believe it was an animal which had become dangerous after being released or escaping from the captivity of a previous owner. Idiotic Kangaroo owner Colin Candy, who makes no secret of keeping a kangaroo without a permit in his own backyard at Hervey Bay, said the roo may have just been hungry. "The animal might have just been looking for something to eat because they trust humans," Mr Candy said.
They trust humans to do what -- not defend themselves against Kangaroo attacks? Jeebus.
Posted by: JP || 07/13/2003 10:40:21 PM || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Animals. Never trust 'em.

If it's not a Warlike Wallaby it's an UberBadger.
Posted by: mojo || 07/13/2003 23:21 Comments || Top||

#2  mojo, I'm reminded of an Ed Bluestone quote from the old National Lampoon: "National parks are just another example of the Federal Government mollycoddling dangerous wild animals."
Posted by: JP || 07/13/2003 23:47 Comments || Top||


Arabia
S.Arabia appoints new security chief
Saudi Arabia, which is boosting security after bombings in Riyadh killed 35 people in May, has appointed a new security chief. A royal decree promoted general Saeed Bin Abdullah Al-Qahtani, chief of police in Mecca, to the rank of lieutenant general and when apointed him as the Kingdom's chief of security. The said Qahtani's predecessor, lieutenant general Asaad Bin Abdul Karim Al-Fareeh, had been appointed as a consultant in the office of Interior Minister Prince Nayef. Saudi Arabia says it has arrested 124 suspected Al Qaeda militants since May 12 when suicide bombers attacked compounds housing foreigners in Riyadh. Stung by U.S. charges of not doing enough to prevent suicide bombings, the Kingdom has stepped up security and cracked down on militancy.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 07/13/2003 07:45 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Saudi Arabia and Yemen to swap 13 terrorism suspects
Yemen and Saudi Arabia yesterday agreed to exchange the detainees wanted by authorities in the two countries on terrorism charges. "The total number of detainees to be extradited is 13, including eight suspects Saudi Arabia will extradite to Yemen, while Yemen will extradite five to the kingdom," the sources said. The move comes within the framework of the security cooperation between the two countries and in implementation of the joint security agreement, which stipulated extradition of suspects wanted by security authorities in both countries. This comes only four days after the two countries declared their determination to enhance cooperation to fight terror in a joint statement in the concluding session of their Coordination Council held in Sanaa on July 5. Meanwhile, Yemen's Deputy Minister of Interior Mutahar Rashad Al Mesri said that six more Al Qaida suspects have been arrested this week in the two governorates of Abyan and Lahj, south of the country. With this the number of terrorists arrested so far rose to 27 in addition to the six killed, including their leader Khaled Abdul-Nabi, ever since the army stormed the hideouts of Al Qaeda suspects last month, according to Al Mesri. Some of these detained, he added, were leading people in the terrorist group of Hatat, and some others were already convicted of crimes.
Well, I think it's nice that they're willing to share...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 07/13/2003 07:25 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Europe
Muslim call to thwart capitalism
An Islamic conference in the Spanish city of Granada has called on Muslims around the world to help bring about the end of the capitalist system. The call came at a conference titled ’Islam in Europe’ attended by about 2,000 Muslims. Earlier this week Granada saw the first official opening of a mosque in Spain for more than 500 years.
Reconquering Andalusia?
The keynote speaker at the conference was Umar Ibrahim Vadillo, leader of the worldwide Muslim group known as Murabitun. The group is strongly opposed to capitalism. Mr Vadillo said America's economic interests had become the religion of the world and that people slavishly adjusted their lifestyles to suit the capitalist model. But he said capitalism cannot sustain itself and is bound to collapse. Mr Vadillo, a Spanish Muslim, called on all followers of Islam to stop using western currencies such as the dollar, the pound and the euro and instead to return to the use of the gold dinar. He said the introduction of the gold dinar to the world's economies would be the single most unifying event for Muslims in the modern era. Shortly afterwards, he said, the capitalist structure would quickly fall and it would make the Wall Street crash of 1929 seem minor by comparison.
Obviously a man with a sound grasp of economics and a really firm grasp of history...
The conference also heard from Abu Bakr Rieger, a German Muslim. He said Islam could only be practised in Europe in a traditional way, not in one adapted to European values and structures. He also said private terrorism would find no approval among European Muslims.
He said, piously...
Posted by: Arthur Fleischman || 07/13/2003 10:01:48 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Shame that these people are so blind to their own history. The Salt Trade in North Africa and the Spice Trade throughout the Middle East lay some of the earliest foundations of free-market capitalism. Islam is what, 1300 years old? Arabs were trading goods long before that.
Posted by: Anonymous || 07/13/2003 13:48 Comments || Top||

#2  capitalism cannot sustain itself and is bound to collapse.

That was my PhD dissertation. Needless to say, I don't have a PhD.
Posted by: Rafael || 07/13/2003 14:15 Comments || Top||

#3  He also said private terrorism would find no approval among European Muslims.

Left unsaid was that organized terrorism - a la Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, et al - might have to be substituted instead.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 07/13/2003 14:16 Comments || Top||

#4  The counter-reconquista is launched.

Bin Laden, in the highly unlikely case he is still alive, must be very pleased indeed.

Would the Nazis have been allowed to hold conferences in Allied countries during the war, announcing the coming destruction of the free West?
Posted by: Kalle (kafir forever) || 07/13/2003 15:11 Comments || Top||

#5  I keep saying that the Spanish have gone soft in the head on this one. First a mosque in Grenada, now this conference. I expect an army with a green banner marching on Andalusia real soon.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/13/2003 16:48 Comments || Top||

#6  I expect an army with a green banner marching on Andalusia real soon.

They'd better not try during Bush's watch: At a time when REAL friends were few and far apart during the days leading up to GW II, Spain stood by the United States and Great Britain.

We will not miss a good opportunity to try out a MOAB.
Posted by: Ptah || 07/14/2003 8:15 Comments || Top||


Athens set to build its first mosque
Muslims living in and around the Greek capital are due at long last to get their first mosque — but in this overwhelmingly Orthodox Christian country the question of exactly where to put it has become a political football. Athenian Muslims, who include immigrants from nearby Albania and elsewhere in the Balkans but also considerable numbers of Nigerians, Pakistanis, Egyptians, Indians and Sudanese, were first promised a formal place of worship over 20 years ago. But it has only been with the approach of the 2004 Summer Olympic Games, to be hosted by the Greek capital, that the idea has moved to the top of the agenda. Although the sites for the Games will have their own worship facilities for different religions, the government would certainly like to boost its credentials with Muslim countries by opening the mosque while the world spotlight is on Athens. The promoters of the project, which is being funded by Saudi Arabia, are therefore hoping that the Games will provided the needed impetus to get the building up, but the mayor of the suburb selected has in effect declared that he doesn't want it in his backyard.
I wouldn't want it in mine, either.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 07/13/2003 07:20 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  funded by Saudi Arabia
Of course.
Posted by: Rafael || 07/13/2003 7:30 Comments || Top||

#2  Smart military strategy by the ROP to setup their
bases in target rich environments ahead of time.
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/13/2003 10:49 Comments || Top||

#3  Late breaking news! Muslim scholars have determined that the Prophet once masturbated at the site of the Parthenon while daydreaming of Ayesha, the 6-year old temptress. Thus, the Parthenon has become the 6th most sacred site in all of Islam. Plans for the clearance of some old Greek rubble from the site to allow construction of a Mosque are underway. The bid has been awarded to the Binladen Group, a Saudi construction firm.
Posted by: Hodadenon || 07/13/2003 12:12 Comments || Top||

#4  Let me see if I can help them with the location: start at the Parthenon. Draw a line directly to the beach. Keep going past the beach about ten kilometers straight out on that line. Stop there, that's where the mosque goes.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/13/2003 16:50 Comments || Top||

#5  Hold on guys... but don't you think that the anti-American vitriol coming out of this mosque would complement nicely the anti-American attitude of say people like... Aris??? (just an example, Aris isn't really anti-American... well sometimes he is, but not mostly... on his bad days he might be)
Posted by: Rafael || 07/13/2003 16:56 Comments || Top||

#6  Rafael> That's okay, the Islamists' (and all religious fanatics' and other bigots') anti-EU vitriol complements nicely with the anti-EU attitude of, say, people like... you???
Posted by: Aris Katsaris || 07/13/2003 21:02 Comments || Top||

#7  I believe it would go nicely on the Santorini Mountain range to complement the ancient Minoan Society.
Posted by: Rick || 07/13/2003 21:28 Comments || Top||

#8  the Islamists' ... anti-EU vitriol

I think the Islamists have a found a good friend in Chiraq, et al. Why should they be anti-EU?
Posted by: Rafael || 07/13/2003 22:10 Comments || Top||


Belgium Scraps War Crimes Law Which Angered U.S.
So I guess we can totally ignore the Belgians again...
Adds to yesterday's posting on the same subject...
Belgium said Saturday it has decided to scrap a controversial war crimes law which has seen cases launched against President Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt said his new government, sworn in Saturday, has decided as one of its first acts to scrap the law which has angered the United States. He told a news conference the move was aimed at preventing abuses of the law, which has also seen a case launched against British Prime Minister Tony Blair. "I think we have definitely solved this question," Verhofstadt said, hours after his government had been sworn in by King Albert II.
Won’t see me doing the perp walk because of this idiot law.
The 1993 law gave Belgian courts the power to try war crimes cases no matter where they were committed. In future, the right to launch cases would be restricted to Belgians or people resident in the country. All cases apart from those involving Belgians would be dropped, he said.
Maybe they can do one for the other planets. How forward thinking and visionary!
The norms of international immunity would also be respected. Any cases that were launched would take into account Belgium’s agreements with NATO allies and other European Union members.
Well isn’t that big of them...
The law got Belgium into all kinds of trouble. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has said Washington would be reluctant to send U.S. officials to Brussels for meetings at NATO headquarters and that it was opposed to any further spending on a new alliance headquarters.
Rummy knows how to deal with shakedown artists. Hit them in the head, or the wallet.
Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel, who angered Washington with his staunch opposition to the war in Iraq, was also caught by the law as he was accused by an opposition party of illegally authorizing arms shipments to strife-torn Nepal. Michel, who has stayed in the new government, denied that it was U.S. pressure which had provoked the government’s move. "This was abused by some people who wanted to damage other people, leaders and partners. Those who forced us to change the law are those who abused the law," he told VRT television.
Like the ones who came after you? How dare they! Don’t they know who you are?
Belgium had already taken steps to soften the law, such as allowing cases be forwarded to a defendant’s country if the country was democratic and could handle the suit properly.
Who determines that?
Such was the fate of the cases launched against Bush and Blair over the war in Iraq. But U.S. officials had said it was better if such suits never came up in the first place. The case against Sharon, filed by survivors of a 1982 massacre of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon by Lebanese Christian militias, was suspended as the court decided he had immunity as a leader who was still in office.
Bet that broke their balls.
Verhofstadt’s move is aimed at definitively narrowing the scope for war crimes cases with its strict rules on the need for a Belgian or someone resident in the country to file a case. He mentioned three suits that would proceed, all involving Belgians. These were in Guatemala, Chad and Rwanda. It was Belgium’s prosecution of two Rwandan nuns on genocide charges in 2001 as the first application of the law which prompted a flood of other suits.
Genocidal nuns? I knew they were strict but what pissed them off enough to commit genocide? Chewing gum in class?
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/13/2003 12:44:35 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "This was abused by some people who wanted to damage other people, leaders and partners. Those who forced us to change the law are those who abused the law," he told VRT television.

Sounds suspiciously like Mr. Michel still doesn't get it.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 07/13/2003 4:52 Comments || Top||

#2  "In future, the right to launch cases would be restricted to Belgians or people resident in the country. All cases apart from those involving Belgians would be dropped"

So, Belgium can no longer charge Tommy Franks, Tony Blair or George Bush. What effect does this have on the case against the BELGIAN Foreign minister?
Posted by: Anonymous || 07/13/2003 5:45 Comments || Top||

#3  "This was abused by some people who wanted to damage other people, leaders and partners."

And you couldn't see this coming, right?
Posted by: Rafael || 07/13/2003 7:11 Comments || Top||

#4  I wonder if the suit against Michel was secretly supported by the Belgian Government in order to give them an excuse to ditch the law and back away from the brewing conflict with the U.S. without looking too much like they were simply caving to U.S. pressure.

Perhaps I'm paranoid but a suit about arms shipments to Nepal?!
Posted by: Tokyo Taro || 07/13/2003 7:28 Comments || Top||

#5  Perhaps I'm paranoid but a suit about arms shipments to Nepal?!

Belgium does make the ubiquitous FN rifle.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 07/13/2003 14:26 Comments || Top||

#6  Looks like there is less here than first appears:
"...the right to launch cases would be restricted to Belgians or people resident in the country."
All this does is limit who can file charges. I'm sure that Belgium's citizenry includes a sufficient body of barking moonbats that it would be easy for foreign activists to find some Belgian citizen who would be willing to charge anybody with anything. If that's not enough, the "people resident in Belgium" category is a loophole big enough to sail an aircraft carrier through.
"The norms of international immunity would also be respected."
The way Spain does?
"Any cases that were launched would take into account Belgium?s agreements with NATO allies..."
Better read the fine print carefully.
Posted by: Old Grouch || 07/13/2003 14:44 Comments || Top||

#7  Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel, who angered Washington with his staunch opposition to the war in Iraq, was also caught by the law as he was accused by an opposition party of illegally authorizing arms shipments to strife-torn Nepal. Michel, who has stayed in the new government, denied that it was U.S. pressure which had provoked the government’s move. "This was abused by some people who wanted to damage other people, leaders and partners. Those who forced us to change the law are those who abused the law," he told VRT television.

The moment it got personal, the issue went to the front burner...
Posted by: Ptah || 07/14/2003 8:19 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Germany suspends financial aid to NWFP
The German government has decided to suspend all financial assistance to the NWFP due to the latest changes in the province after the adoption of the Sharia Bill by the Frontier Assembly.
Good for the Germans!
Sources said the decision was taken after the NWFP government imposed restrictions on a shelter home being constructed by the German government for homeless women in the province. They said that although the relations between Pakistan and Germany were improving, the recent political developments in the Frontier were affecting ties but added that projects undertaken by the Germans in other parts of the country would continue.
Only the places with the heaviest infestation of loons are effected...
Sources said foreign investors were reluctant to invest in Pakistan due to the lack of legal security for their investment. They said trade relations between the two countries were improving, especially after President Pervez Musharraf’s recent visit and added that there was still a lot of scope for improvement. Meanwhile, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) government in the NWFP said it would address all the concerns of the German government and added that it was interested in foreign assistance.
Glenn Reynolds reminded us, oh, a couple years ago almost, of the principle that the stereotypical turban is an arrogant, insufferable sonofabitch until you slap him, at which point he'll kiss your hand. MMA seems to be acting true to form...
NWFP Information Minister Asif Iqbal Daudzai said, “We welcome foreign assistance and respect the role of foreign donor agencies in the development of our province.” He told Daily Times that a group of MMA members of the provincial assembly had held talks on development schemes in the province with various donor agencies in Islamabad last week. Mr Daudzai said the German government had suspended financial assistance due to the misperceptions it had about the MMA. “A very negative image is presented in the media, particularly in the West,” he claimed. The minister offered full cooperation to address the German government’s reservations and hoped Bonn would review its decision.
"It is all lies, effendi! We're really not like they say!"
German NGO GTZ and Aurat Foundation had launched the Rs 10 million Mera Ghar project for destitute women in Peshawar. However, the NGO developed differences with the MMA government and ultimately cut off all contact with the provincial government last month.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 07/13/2003 22:37 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Bonn? Have they heard about the actual German capital yet?
Posted by: True German Ally || 07/13/2003 22:46 Comments || Top||

#2  They're very conservative. Where in the hadith does it say the capital's been moved?
Posted by: Fred || 07/13/2003 23:06 Comments || Top||

#3  i want to devote my life for helping the poor people to educate theit childern by modern education and for this I have copleted all reports and fisibility report . start this program from multan surrounding please help me to succeed in my aim
ansar
Posted by: ansar hashmi || 07/04/2004 9:48 Comments || Top||


Hizb ut Tehrir slams leader’s arrest
Hizb ut Tehrir (HT) members staged a protest outside the Lahore Press Club (LPC) on Saturday against the alleged arrest of (HT) spokesman Naveed Butt, Taimur Butt and Muhammad Saleem. The HT blocked roads outside the LPC for about a half hour. The demonstrators held banners and placards and chanted slogans against the government. HT member Manzar Aziz told demonstrators that HT members were being arrested by America’s will because they were exposing Americans and the pro-US and pro-Israel policies of the Pakistani government. Mr Aziz said the HT wanted to make Pakistan a true Islamic state, which bothered the US. He said the HT would ensure the implementation of Islamic laws in the country. He said the government should stop state terrorism and stop trying to please the US, as it would not bear good results.
Yes, definitely stop state terrorism. Leave it in private hands...
On Friday, July 11, men in plain clothes outside the Shezan hotel arrested three HT members Naveed Butt, Taimur Butt and Muhammad Saleem after the three left a press conference. Muhammad Saleem and Taimur were released and Naveed Butt was still in custody, HT acting spokesman Muhammad Imran said.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 07/13/2003 09:17 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Search for 17 al-Qaeda suspects
LAHORE: The federal government has ordered search for 17 alleged terrorists of Al-Qaeda after the United Nations report about their entry into Pakistan. According to the informed sources of interior ministry, the alleged members of terror network Al-Qaeda had not entered Pakistan.
"Nope. Nope. We asked, and they ain't here..."
However, they added, the federal government had ordered for search of these terror suspects keeping in view country’s security and Pakistan’s commitment to international community for support in curbing the terrorism. It is also learnt that the interior ministry had provided all information to the intelligence agencies’ personnel working in tribal areas along Pakistan’s borders with Afghanistan and Iran about these terror suspects having Italian citizenship.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 07/13/2003 08:14 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Qazi warns Perv, supports Iran
Pakistan Jamaat-e-Islami Party Chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed Saturday warned Pakistan government against any support to the United States in any hostility against the neighboring Iran.
Qazi warns Perv over something at least twice a week...
Ahmed slammed President Musharraf remarks that Pakistan would keep national interests in mind if the United States launches attack on Iran. "General Musharraf must have strongly condemned and opposed any possible US action against the brotherly Iran," the Jamaat Chief told reporters in Islamabad." The Pakistani president's statement has encouraged those forces, who want to soil relations between Pakistan and Iran," he said. The Jamaat Leader condemned American threats to Iran and said the people of Pakistan would raise voice against any American action against Iran.
They're usually raising voice against any American action most places, aren't they?
"We will stand with the people of Iran and government in case of any possible aggression against our Muslim brothers," he said. He accused Washington of creating hatred between Pakistan and Iran. "Pakistan should not be misled by the United States," he said.
"It should be misled by me!"
Talking about attack on Shia Muslim mosque in Quetta a week ago, the Jamaat Chief said there is no rift between Sunnis and Shias in Pakistan and attack on Shia and Sunni mosques is the work of those who create hatred among the brothers.
Nope. Nope. No rift. Tell it to the corpses.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 07/13/2003 07:30 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Perv's a survivor. If thing's get a little hotter for him, he might even dance a little better for us. Kind of a new Shah is what I'm thinking. His shelf life would be short, but he could possibly be co-opted into using a loyal (read: highly paid) intelligence service to target militant leaders. I bet he'd do it.

A useful Perv would be great bang for the buck. Just so's we learned the Saddam lesson, when they go off the reservation, they either retire, or are retired.
Posted by: Scott || 07/13/2003 13:15 Comments || Top||

#2  Time to put this Ahmed guy on the assassination list.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 07/13/2003 16:29 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Iraqi Council Makes Day of Saddam’s Fall a Holiday
(EFL)
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq (news - web sites)’s new Governing Council said Sunday its first decisions were to cancel all holidays related to Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) and his outlawed Baath Party and to declare April 9, the day of his downfall, a national holiday. .....

Coinciding with the move to outlaw public holidays with links to Saddam, U.S. forces have launched Operation Ivy Serpent against militants suspected of planning attacks on upcoming anniversaries related to him, the U.S. military said Sunday.

It said it has intelligence that assailants are planning attacks to coincide with anniversaries including a July 14 coup in 1958 against the British-backed monarchy; Saddam assuming the presidency on July 16, 1979; and a revolution staged by his Baath Party on July 17, 1968.

Saddam’s birthday, April 28.

Among the public holidays celebrated in prewar Iraq was Saddam’s birthday, April 28.

Iraq’s 4th of July




Posted by: raptor || 07/13/2003 9:45:45 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


KDP do not except second-class role
Iraqi Kurds will not accept being treated as "second-class citizens" in Iraq's new government, Massoud Barzani, head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, said in an interview. The Kurds, who number some five million out of a total Iraqi population of 25 million, will have to enjoy "responsibility in sensitive ministries that represent the country internationally as well as in the internal security forces," he said.
As far as I'm concerned, they can turn the whole country over to the Kurds...
Iraq's 25-member transitory governing council, the country's first executive body formed since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, will hold its inaugural session Sunday in Baghdad, a UN official said. The council is expected to have responsibility for appointing or sacking ministers and diplomats, approving a budget and appointing abody of up to 10 members to draw up a draft constitution.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 07/13/2003 07:38 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Free Kurdistan"

Can't seem to get Hi lite button.etc to work today,Fred.
Posted by: raptor || 07/13/2003 9:53 Comments || Top||

#2  "Free Kurdistan"

Better: "Free South Kurdistan". Just something for Murat and his chums to consider.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/13/2003 16:56 Comments || Top||


Iraqi Fatwa bans trading with Kuwaitis
Some Iraqi businessmen resident in Kuwait recently disclosed a fatwa "religious ruling" has been issued in Iraq which bans trading with Kuwaitis. The businessmen were quoted by the daily as saying when a Kuwaiti merchant made a deal to buy a shop from an Iraqi man in south Iraq, the Iraqi man initially agreed to the sale deed, however one day later he refused to part with the shop saying a fatwa had been issued stating trading with Kuwaitis was religiously illegal. The owner of the shop said the fatwa had been issued by a prominent Shiite cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr.
Still up to the same tricks...
In another incident, the businessmen added a Kuwaiti company which got the approval from the British administration and the Projects Management Department in Basra to establish a project, was refused permission for the same reason. The Iraqi businessmen also warned Kuwaiti businessmen rumours are rife in south Iraq saying Kuwaitis set fire to Iraqi public properties and that they are stealing and smuggling Iraqi oil. The Iraqi businessmen accuse 'some' Iranians of enforcing their influence in South Iraq and standing in the way of strengthening brotherly ties between the people of Kuwait and Iraq and taking advantage of the fatwa to prevent Kuwaitis from participating in the rebuilding of Iraq. They also said the Iranians and their supporters have taken control of Shatt Al-Arab private university and the Education Directorate and have assigned a person to impose strict religious instructions such as forcing girls, even Christians, to wear veils.
Muqtada's going to have to be shut down. Given his thuggish ways, any opposition from the southern Iraqi ayatollahs will probably be pro-forma.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 07/13/2003 05:56 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Is there a www.fatwa.com someplace on the web so we can look this shit up?
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/13/2003 11:11 Comments || Top||

#2  Look for "Fatwas-R-Us".
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 07/13/2003 14:10 Comments || Top||

#3  Fatwas to the left, fawtas to the right, fatwas to the center, here a fatwa, there a fatwa, everywhere a fatwa. Old McFatwa had a mosque eieio
Posted by: Someone who did NOT vote for William Proxmire || 07/14/2003 0:00 Comments || Top||

#4  What's really interesting is they're "naming names" to a degree.

Posted by: Anonymous || 07/14/2003 0:02 Comments || Top||


French General: Iraq Mission Not Planned
France could spare some 5,000 soldiers for an operation in Iraq but has received no orders to prepare for such a mission, the chief of the country’s armed forces suggested in an interview made available Saturday. Gen. Henri Bentegeat was referring Washington’s request for soldiers to help stabilize Iraq. U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said last week that the United States ``would be happy to have troops from a wide variety of countries, including France.’’
Rummy had chest pains that day, too.
France already has 15,000 troops deployed in operations outside France, from the Balkans, to Afghanistan to Africa, Bentegeat said in an interview published in the Sunday paper Le Journal du Dimanche. French military planners foresee about 20,000 soldiers for external missions, he said, indicating 5,000 troops are hypothetically available for a mission in Iraq. But France has made clear it would send soldiers to Iraq only under a U.N. mandate, a position Bentegeat reiterated in the interview.
Stuff it, then.
``I am waiting for the chief of state (President Jacques Chirac) to give me a mission to study an eventual deployment in Iraq,’’ the general added. ``For the moment, it is not on the agenda.’’ Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin spelled out the French position in a newspaper interview published Thursday. An eventual French role ``could only be envisaged within the framework of a United Nations peacekeeping force,’’ under a specific mandate from the U.N. Security Council, de Villepin told Le Figaro. ``For us, it would suffice that the political transition in Iraq is placed under the responsibility of the United Nations,’’ the foreign minister said.
"Plus we would expect the Americans to apologize profusely to us. And start buying our wine again."
France, joined by Germany and Russia, led the effort to avoid the U.S.-led war in Iraq, where the United States currently has about 150,000 troops. Bentegeat said that despite the diplomatic fallout between Washington and Paris, there has never been tension on the military front. ``Our relations remain excellent,’’ he told Le Journal du Dimanche.
"Other than the Air Show cancellations and the advanced air force training class cancellations, our relations couldn’t be better!"
He said French special forces would be sent to Afghanistan ``in the coming days’’ on a ``very confidential mission’’ surrounding the fight against the al-Qaida terror network and the Taliban. Those forces, he said, ``will be placed directly under operational American control and will remain under my operational command.’’
So don’t send the 5,000 to Iraq. Send them to Liberia or some other hell-hole, and make the UN happy.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/13/2003 2:24:46 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
So don’t send the 5,000 to Iraq. Send them to Liberia or some other hell-hole, and make the UN happy.


"I'd rather have a German division in front of me,
than two French divisions behind me."
~ Gen. George Patton

The last thing our men and women need is to have to watch out for the Frenchmen behind them.
Posted by: Celissa || 07/13/2003 6:45 Comments || Top||

#2  "I'm sooo confused"
How can French troops be under"operational American control" and be under Gen. Henri Bentegeat's operational command?

Guess this means French troops don't have to follow the American comander's orders.

Reminds me of Somalia,when 10th Mountain and the Delta boys got into trouble it took hours of screwing arround to get the Pak's to do anything to help.
Posted by: raptor || 07/13/2003 7:50 Comments || Top||

#3  French SF in Afghanistan? Brilliant! Who else could train the last remnants of Al-Qaeda and the Taliban to surrender!
Posted by: Ned || 07/13/2003 9:48 Comments || Top||

#4  Thanks for the info, mon general, but we already kinda knew that. And it wasn't a big surprise.
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/13/2003 11:19 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Islamic Scholars conference in Malaysia
A majority of Islamic scholars currently attending a world conference of Islamic scholars here agreed it was urgent to correct misinterpretations of the faith and dispel misconceptions spread by ulema, who use the religion for their personal ends. Islamic scholars said misinterpretations of the religion by way ward ulema was weakening and promoting infighting within the ummah. The General Director of the centre for fiqh research in Sudan, professor Sheikh Tigani Hassan, said ulema who preach extremism and who use their influence to mislead the young should be eliminated as they pose a threat to the Muslim unity.
Good choice of words. A shot through the turban should take care of any transgressions...
He said there were many "imposter" ulema today who intentionally interpret the religion to suit their own ends. "The ulema are the catalysts between the ummah and society's top decision-makers. Unfortunately, Hassan said, "some ulema are misleading the public through their preaching and this widens the gap between the public and society's decision-makers." Hassan said it fell upon the ulema to be guided by their conscience and the true injunctions of Islam to use their influence responsibly and not for personal gain.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 07/13/2003 07:43 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  He said there were many "imposter" ulema today who intentionally interpret the religion to suit their own ends.

Noooooooooo! Ya think????
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/13/2003 10:55 Comments || Top||

#2  Expect the results of this conference: carefully worded phrases which
allow murder of Jews,
encourages weapons procurement,
says nothing about genital mutilation,
says nothing about wife beating and wifemurder
demands piety
Posted by: mhw || 07/13/2003 13:04 Comments || Top||


Myanmar Junta: Party Plotted Rebellion
Members of detained Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s party were planning a violent revolution, the leader of the country’s ruling junta said in a recent letter. In the letter, junta leader Senior Gen. Than Shwe claimed that the party’s ``militant wing’’ hatched a plan that ``calls for total collapse of the thugocracy civil administration and democracy total anarchy to prevail throughout the country.’’ It also said detained leaders of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy are in good health and the Nobel Peace Prize laureate ``is being looked after at a safe and comfortable location’’ and would be released when hell freezes over the security threat eases. It did not say where she was being held.
It’s not at a Motel 6 down at the interstate exit.
The letter was addressed to another Asian leader. The source who provided the letter asked that the recipient not be identified. San Aung, a National League for Democracy member who is a minister in the self-styled exile National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, said the allegations were ``totally wrong.’’
A polite description of "specious"...
``Since 1988, we have been asking for dialogue,’’ he said by phone from Sydney, Australia. ``Up until now we are working in a nonviolent way.’’ Than Shwe’s letter appeared to be part of a campaign by the military government to drum up support from other Asian countries and discredit Suu Kyi to counter increasing international criticism of her treatment. Since the beginning of July, senior Myanmar leaders have traveled to Thailand, Malaysia, China and Japan, Myanmar’s biggest aid donor.
I doubt if they've had a lot of success. There aren't a lot of other tin-hat juntas left in the area to nod sympathetically. Matter of fact, I can't think of any. Maybe they should try North Korea...
The United States and the European Union — both of which already have political and economic sanctions against the junta — have slapped tougher measures against the Southeast Asian nation. On Friday, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said the Association of Southeast Asian Nations may have to rethink its relationship with what he called the "oppressive and shortsighted’’ military junta in Myanmar. Myanmar is a member of ASEAN, along with Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Brunei, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Malaysia.
Except for the commies in Laos and Vietnam and the sultan in Brunei, all have more or less democratic forms of government...
The junta claims that Suu Kyi’s followers sparked the May 30 violence. But accounts by sources sympathetic to the opposition, supported by some independently gathered evidence, allege Suu Kyi’s entourage was ambushed by a government-backed mob while she toured northern Myanmar. They say dozens of NLD supporters may have been killed. The government said four people died in the violence.
"The rest of them are on a long vacation. They stopped their mail and milk deliveries. We don’t know when they’ll be back. Really."
Although the letter does not directly implicate Suu Kyi in the alleged plot, it accuses her of adopting a confrontational style which risked Myanmar’s stability. It also says she was "attempting to lure ’ethnic rebel groups’ to join in the planned uprising." The letter also claims to have evidence of the plot in confiscated documents, and that bombings throughout the country prior to the clash were part of the scheme.
Sad thing is that the generals actually believe a letter like this is going to work.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/13/2003 2:40:33 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Korea
Washington warns Tokyo of 200 NKorean missiles pointing at Japan: report
The US government has warned Japan that North Korea has positioned 200 medium-range Rodong missiles to target Japan,
a report said Sunday, quoting a foreign ministry official here.
Washington had earlier told Tokyo that Pyongyang already possessed small nuclear warheads that could be mounted in ballistic missiles, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said.
Rut Ro Raggy ! Like, Zoikes Scoob!
But wait it gets better...The Rodong has an estimated range of 1,300 kilometres (800 miles), which makes it capable of hitting anywhere in Japan.
For the low intoductory price of 19,999,999,000 you too can be a founding member of the American ABM club. It’s not just for Right Wing Neo-Cons bent on American Hegemony anymore.
Hey Russia this is for you (chuck bird)

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported Sunday that North Korea had told the United States it had completed reprocessing spent fuel rods to extract plutonium for nuclear weapons.
Posted by: Domingo || 07/13/2003 10:03:15 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Sorry bout the link. Here it is
Posted by: Domingo || 07/13/2003 22:14 Comments || Top||

#2  DoH !
http://www.spacedaily.com/2003/030713072448.t9cetpzv.html
Posted by: Domingo || 07/13/2003 22:15 Comments || Top||

#3  Domingo,
Remember not to eat grass and do White Stag at the same time. Trust me it'll screw you up big time. ; )
Posted by: Dick Saucer || 07/14/2003 0:10 Comments || Top||

#4  It should be noted that the Japanese MSDF has four Aegis-equipped destroyers. Wouldn't it be a shock if Tokyo didn't see them as potential ABM platforms?
Posted by: Hiryu || 07/14/2003 9:12 Comments || Top||


A New Blueprint for Facing Down North Korea
Within the past two months, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has ordered U.S. military commanders to devise a new war plan for a possible conflict with North Korea. Elements of the draft, known as Operations Plan 5030, are so aggressive that they could provoke a war, some senior Bush administration officials tell U.S. News.

Adm. Thomas Fargo, head of the U.S. Pacific Command, and senior Pentagon planners are developing the highly classified plan. The administration insiders, who are critical of the plan, say it blurs the line between war and peace. The plan would give commanders in the region authority to conduct maneuvers--before a war has started--to drain North Korea’s limited resources, strain its military, and perhaps sow enough confusion that North Korean generals might turn against the country’s leader, Kim Jong Il. "Some of the things [Fargo] is being asked to do," says a senior U.S. official, "are, shall we say, provocative."

There are several war plans for Korea--Plans 5026 and 5027, as well as 5030--that outline the different phases of war and the specific provisions for movements of large numbers of troops, aircraft carriers, and other war-fighting requirements. U.S. News has learned details of the prewar phase of the newest version of Plan 5030. Some officials believe the draft plan amounts to a strategy to topple Kim’s regime by destabilizing its military forces. The reason: It is being pushed by many of the same administration hard-liners who advocated regime change in Iraq. The Pentagon only recently began offering details of the plan to top officials at the White House, the State Department, and other agencies. It has not yet been approved. A Pentagon spokesman declined comment.

One scenario in the draft involves flying RC-135 surveillance flights even closer to North Korean airspace, forcing Pyongyang to scramble aircraft and burn scarce jet fuel. Another option: U.S. commanders might stage a weeks-long surprise military exercise, designed to force North Koreans to head for bunkers and deplete valuable stores of food, water, and other resources. The current draft of 5030 also calls for the Pentagon to pursue a range of tactical operations that are not traditionally included in war plans, such as disrupting financial networks and sowing disinformation.

(con’t see link)
Posted by: just one voice || 07/13/2003 9:35:22 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Looks like the Iraq pattern all over again. Let a Thousand Plans bloom!
Posted by: PBMcL || 07/13/2003 12:16 Comments || Top||

#2  Looks like Rummy is taking a page from Ronnie: A lot of stuff Reagan did was calculated to financially exhaust the Russians, and I'm glad to see similar plans being formulated whose effect will be the same on the NKors: talk about playing with their heads!

Remember, these are JUST plans, but constitute a way of saying "We're capable of doing this, so beware!"

Heck, we even had plans to invade Canada once.
Posted by: Ptah || 07/14/2003 8:35 Comments || Top||


Africa: East
Clashes in West Sudan Kill 30 Rebels
About 30 rebels and an undisclosed number of government troops were killed during fighting in western Sudan near the border with Chad. Sudanese officials said government troops on Friday repulsed an attack by forces from the rebel Sudan Liberation Army, a little-known group operating in the Darfur region of western Sudan. The governor of North Darfur state, Osman Mohamed Yusuf Kibir, also rejected rebel claims the group overran the town of Tinah, about 560 miles west of Khartoum. Kibir said Sudanese soldiers killed 30 rebels and arrested 12 others. "Our gallant troops countered an attack by the rebels inflicting heavy material and human loss on them," he said. Kibir said government soldiers chased and killed some rebels who fled into Chad. An undisclosed number of Sudanese troops also died during the fighting. Darfur is a multiethnic region on the border with Chad with some 80 tribes and ethnic groups divided between nomads of Arab origin and farmers of African origin.
It used to be a separate country (using the term loosely) and its inhabitant object to the Arabs' (also using the term loosely) habit of cleansing them ethnically...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 07/13/2003 08:07 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Caucasus
Large rebel camp destroyed in Chechnya
A large terrorist base has been destroyed in the Shelkovskoi district of Chechnya. The camp of 20 to 30 militants was in the village of Borozdinovskaya. Two militants guarding the camp were killed during the armed clash. No losses among the federal troops are reported. A workshop for making explosive devices was found in the camp. The base had a communications antenna, and permanent weapons emplacements were dotted around the camp. About 20 kg of explosives and electric detonators for explosive devices, electric toggle switches, chargers and a Kenwood radio station were removed from a cache in the camp. Among other finds were a notebook with a record of radio frequencies, codes and call signals, a Sony digital video camera, sleeping bags, boots, camouflage uniforms, and a large amount of food.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 07/13/2003 07:57 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Suspected mastermind of recent Moscow attacks killed in Chechnya
A commander of a terrorist group, Aslan Gasayev, suspected of complicity in masterminding recent terrorist attacks in Moscow, has been eliminated in Chechnya.
"Eliminated." Nice verb...
The news was reported by the regional operations headquarters for monitoring the counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus. At present it is "being checked whether Gasayev took part in recruiting and brainwashing female suicide terrorists, two of whom committed terrorist acts in the Tushino district of Moscow on July 5, while the third one tried to do the same in the Tverskaya-Yamskaya street in downtown Moscow on July 9". The so-called "emir" of the Wahhabite group and his three bodyguards were killed in the village of Alkhankala in the Grozny district during a joint operation conducted by the security service and police after the terrorists refused to surrender. According to the information provided by the headquarters, Gasayev, 21, was the successor of Islam Chelayev, nicknamed "Butcher", the chief of a terrorist unit killed in April last year. The whereabouts of Gasayev were disclosed by the former members of his terrorist group, who had been detained earlier and against whom criminal proceedings had been instituted. Grave crimes, for which 54 criminal cases were opened, have been committed by Gasayev's group. Earlier he was in the terrorist group led by Arbi Barayev, who was killed in June 2001. Gasayev, together with Barayev and Chelayev, was involved in the killing of more than 50 residents of the village of Alkhan Kala and other districts of Grozny.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 07/13/2003 07:54 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Another dead "mastermind". Ain't that always the way...
You work so hard to get there and it's gone like that. Must be depressing. The reunions for Mastermind High must be very sparsely attended.
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/13/2003 11:15 Comments || Top||

#2  I have an idea: U.S. officials should buy the guy's head from the Russians and stick on a pole in the center of some Middle Eastern town along with a message promising the same fate to any jihadis stupid enough to try attacking U.S. forces.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 07/13/2003 16:21 Comments || Top||


Iran
US can't repeat Iraq scenario in Iran
Moscow, July 13 - Head of the Canada-US Institute of the Russian Academy of Science, Sergei Rugov, said here on Saturday it was unlikely that force would be used against Iran. He said that the United States cannot repeat Iraq's scenario in Iran.
Couldn't repeat Afghanistan's scenario in Iraq, either...
"The Americans are well aware that if they invade Iran, they will end up in a quagmire which will be worse than that of Vietnam," he added.
Oh, no! Not a quagmire! Oh, no! Not Vietnam! Oh, hold me, Ethel!
The prominent Russian scholar noted that given the US past experience, it is well aware that exerting pressure on Iran is useless, therefore it has launched a propaganda war against it. Turning to Iraq's future, he said, "though several months have passed since Iraq's military occupation by the US, political victory has not yet been achieved." Turning to the US failure in establishment of order and security in Iraq, Rugov said, "The problems currently facing Iraq is even outweigh those of the period when the country underwent economic sanctions."
That's what you might call a debatable point, chum...
Rugov said that occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan through the use of the latest generation of weapons was aimed at expediting the globalization trend and doubted that the US would ever manage to achieve such a goal. Asked on the possibility of Russia's cooperation with the US against a common enemy, Rugov, who has conducted wide range of studies on the United States, dismissed the prospect of such a non-sustainable move. "Though Russia is not able to take fundamental measures in international affairs, neither would it ever support US arrogance," he concluded.
"Certainly not. We have our own arrogance, thank you..."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 07/13/2003 07:36 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Though Russia is not able to take fundamental measures in international affairs, neither would it ever support US arrogance," he concluded.

Good to see Sergei's an unbiased observer with no agenda. By the way, he left out "it's all about the ooooiiiilllll!"
I love foreigners who are "experts" on America.
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/13/2003 11:03 Comments || Top||

#2  "Though Russia is not able to take fundamental measures in international affairs, ...

Translation: "Even though we're impotent and could only send troop abroad as tourists .... "
Posted by: Steve White || 07/13/2003 16:53 Comments || Top||

#3  "Though Russia is not able..." Steve got the translation right, but he didn't give the origin. It's from a french idiom, quoted often here, meaning roughly - "we really do matter, guys, REALLY."
Posted by: Scott || 07/13/2003 17:11 Comments || Top||

#4  Actually, other than bombing the nuclear sites, we think the Iranians will do the job themselves. In fact, to maintain their pride, they'll HAVE to do it themselves.
Posted by: Ptah || 07/14/2003 8:36 Comments || Top||


Middle East
Israel Arrests 5 Peace Activists In Nablus
Five Western peace activists were arrested Thursday, July 10, after attempting to remove Israeli army roadblocks in the West Bank city of Nablus, their group said in a statement. An American, two Britons, a Canadian and a Frenchman, who were all members of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), were arrested along with an Israeli while trying to demolish an earth roadblock with a bulldozer after already demolishing two others.
Good thing none of them was run over. Wonder where they got the bulldozers? Did they bring them along in their checked baggage...
"Israeli soldiers suddenly drove army jeeps toward them at high rates of speed," the group said. "The soldiers chased after a bulldozer, driven by a Palestinian and containing two internationals as passengers, which had been participating in the road block removal." A stand-off then developed which ended with six activists arrest. "All six were handcuffed and transported by Israeli bus to Ariel police station," said the group. Four other foreign ISM activists were arrested on Wednesday, July 9, as they demonstrated against the construction of a controversial security fence along the West Bank.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 07/13/2003 07:14 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I have to assume these were unmanned roadblocks that were destroyed? Nothing provocative at all in approaching a manned roadblock with a bulldozer. I certainly wouldn't be tempted to fire an anti-tank weapon at an oncoming bulldozer if I were a soldier stationed at such a roadblock.
Posted by: Hodadenon || 07/13/2003 12:18 Comments || Top||

#2  "Israeli soldiers suddenly drove army jeeps toward them at high rates of speed"

Oooh, how frightening that must have been, especially for the Frenchman. Time for the UN to set a speed limit for Israeli army jeeps.
Posted by: Matt || 07/13/2003 15:10 Comments || Top||


Africa: Southern
President Mugabe elected AU vice chairman
From the Harare Herald, which is government-owned. Betcha couldn't tell from the content, huh?
PRESIDENT Mugabe has been elected vice chairman of the African Union in yet another show of confidence in Zimbabwe by Africa.
"Bob's the One!"
His election was endorsed on Thursday by African leaders during the ongoing AU summit here soon after host President Mr Joaquim Chissano had taken over as chairman of the 53-member Pan-African body from South African President Mr Thabo Mbeki. Cde [Comrade] Mugabe is one of the five vice chairmen of the AU who are elected every year after the chairman has assumed his post to represent the continent’s various regions. He will represent Southern Africa. As AU vice chairman, President Mugabe yesterday chaired a closed session of the summit which considered a report on the implementation of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development as a contribution to the continent’s development.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 07/13/2003 07:08 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Under his tutulage Bob hopes to do for Africa what he has done for Zimbabwe. Take a strong economy and make it utterly weak! With leaders like this, the AU will go far (off the mark). I wonder if the EU is using the same model?
Posted by: Cyber Sarge (VRWC CA Chapter) || 07/13/2003 10:59 Comments || Top||

#2  Thank God colonialism has been defeated in Africa. Things are SO much better now...
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/13/2003 11:05 Comments || Top||

#3  Well if it wasn't for the West..,er, America stealing Africa's resources, every African would be driving a BMW by now. It's the continued pillaging by the West...,er, Americans, that's keeping Africa down. First they air-drop the AIDS virus on them, then they invent cell phones to start local wars with the CIA's backing. Then there's the genetically modified grain and corn and fruit that keeps the population's life expectancy extremely low. Then there's that whacko theory called capitalism that is just a cover for stealing more resources. Then there's.........
Posted by: Rafael || 07/13/2003 16:51 Comments || Top||

#4  Don't believe me? Check out Tantalum: the Dark Side of Mobile Phones (and Sony Playstations). Scroll down for the info.
Posted by: Rafael || 07/13/2003 17:10 Comments || Top||

#5  Rafael I believe that you would at least make an offer for my bridge...... This stuff is very useful in many electronic gadgets (and has been for 40 years). Read your own article there are several sources.

P.S. How come today was the day the story broke in several NPR venues?

dorf
Posted by: Anonymous || 07/13/2003 18:46 Comments || Top||

#6  P.S. How come today was the day the story broke in several NPR venues?

Maybe it's Listener Pledge time again?
Posted by: Pappy || 07/13/2003 20:53 Comments || Top||


Africa: West
Nigerian Opposition Rejects Asylum for Chuck
Nigeria's main opposition party, the All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP), has sharply protested the decision by President Olusegun Obassanjo to offer asylum to Liberia's embattled President Charles Taylor.
Doubt if anything'll come of it, but if it does it's a wrench in the works. But I'd be reacting the same way...
The ANPP, in a statement issued on Tuesday July 8, 2003 and signed by Mr. Abdulrahoof Bello, Media and Publicity Secretary, said the granting of asylum to Mr. Taylor amounts to an affront to the psyche of Nigerians, especially the widows and children of peacekeepers and the families of Nigerians killed by Mr. Taylor in the Liberian crisis.
Gonna hold a grudge, are you? I would, too...
Specifically, the opposition's statement made reference to the brutal murder by Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) of two Nigerian journalists, Tayo Awotusin of ‘Daily Champion' and Krees Imodibe of ‘The Guardian' newspapers. "The bodies of Awotusin and Imodibe shall turn in their graves to learn that the country they served and died for has betrayed them by granting an asylum to the man who was responsible for their untimely death while performing their lawful duties"', the opposition lamented.
This is probably the standard Viewing With Alarm™ of opposition parties...
The ANPP also queried: "Has the President forgotten so soon that President Taylor's soldiers attacked the Nigerian Embassy in Monrovia and killed many innocent Nigerians taking refuge in the Embassy? ...We are of the opinion that President Obassanjo is carrying too far, the ego of Nigeria, being a big brother in the West-African sub-region by appearing to have loved President Charles Taylor more than the Nigerian journalists who were murdered by Charles Taylor against international conventions", they said.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 07/13/2003 06:54 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa: Southern
ZANU PF factions court MDC
THREE factions within the ruling ZANU PF party have made secret representations to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in a bid to strike a deal that would break the political impasse between Zimbabwe’s main political parties.
The first glimmers of life after Bob...
Sources close to the discussions said factions within ZANU PF backing different candidates to succeed President Robert Mugabe had sent emissaries to the MDC, selling different proposals that they hoped would break the ice and lead to a power-sharing agreement. MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai yesterday told the Daily News that he was fully aware of the overtures made by emissaries of senior ZANU PF officials to the top leadership of his party, proposing scenarios to end the political impasse. Tsvangirai added: “The MDC leadership is fully aware of these unofficial initiatives. We have no official position from ZANU PF, all we have had are factional positions. It is up to them to get organised, the MDC has its position already. But talks about talks are not talks... Until and unless there is resumption of the official initiative led by (South Africa’s ruling African National Congress) ANC secretary-general Kgalema Monthlante and Professor Adebayo Adedeji (on behalf of Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo), which had an official agenda, then there are no talks to talk about.”
Hang tough, Morgan. It won't be that much longer...
Sources said approaches from the ZANU PF camp had intensified in the past month, especially when Tsvangirai was detained in June on charges of calling for the overthrow of Mugabe. MDC secretary-general Welshman Ncube is said to have kept Tsvangirai fully briefed about the overtures while he was in remand prison. Tsvangirai’s disclosures come after South African President Thabo Mbeki told American President George Bush on Wednesday that ZANU PF and the MDC had resumed dialogue, which both parties have denied.
"No dialogue. Not officially, anyway..."
However, MDC officials yesterday said three ZANU PF factions had brought their proposals to the opposition party, one proposal being for the formation of a ZANU PF-MDC government of national unity. Another faction proposed a transitional government headed by a ZANU PF leader with a long grace period within which to prepare for fresh elections. The third group had proposed the amendment of Zimbabwe’s Constitution. The amended Constitution would include sections from a draft document rejected by Zimbabweans in a referendum in 2000 and from a draft produced by the National Constitutional Assembly. This would lead to the country being headed by a ceremonial president and an executive prime minister after fresh elections were held, the sources said.
I can't recall off the top of my head a "government of national unity" that's worked. They're usually a prelude to civil war or a coup by whichever faction thinks it's strongest, which works out to the same thing in practice. The ceremonial president idea is specifically directed at Bob, and might not be a bad idea; "president" is a polite word for "dictator" in much of the world. But somebody with sufficient lack of ruth can work a prime minister position into the same sort of abusable power. The transition period has its own dangers, since it's a plea for time to get the "youths" organized to steal the first post-Bob election. If I was Morgan, I'd play the last two, and I wouldn't touch the "government of national unity" with an eleven-foot pole.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 07/13/2003 06:41 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Israel, 1967, that's how Dayan got inducted into the Gov't.
Posted by: Anonymous || 07/13/2003 11:46 Comments || Top||


Iran
Iran Aide: Iran Should Exit Nuke Treaty
Iran should withdraw from an international nuclear arms control treaty because of U.S. pressure to give weapons inspectors greater access to Iranian nuclear sites, an aide to the supreme leader said Saturday in a newspaper editorial. Hossain Shariatmadari, editor of the hard-line Kayhan daily newspaper — a mouthpiece for Iran’s ruling Islamic establishment, also accused the United Nations’ atomic agency of being ``under the influence and supervision of the United States.’’
Hello, McFly? Anybody witness what happened next door?
Definite short attention span there...
The head of the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, visited Iran earlier in the week. ElBaradei urged Iran to make its atomic program transparent and facilitate unfettered inspections of its nuclear sites, which the United States claims are for producing atomic weapons but Tehran says are used for peaceful purposes, namely to generate electricity. President Bush has warned Tehran to keep its promise not to develop nuclear weapons or ``we will deal with that.’’
Looks like the mullahs are worried that Bush means what he says.
Looks like they've forgotten that he does...
The IAEA chief also urged Iran to sign an additional protocol to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty giving his agency’s inspectors the right to visit any Iranian nuclear site without prior notice. Shariatmadari, a close aide of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said the protocol threatened Iran’s sovereignty. ``This protocol means any spy can give a fake report to the United States and its allies so they can put their hands around our necks on all our secret intelligence,’’ he said in his editorial. ``The best and reasonable solution for Iran is withdrawing from the NPT.’’
Like North Korea has. Good company...
Iran has said it will agree to inspections if it is granted access to advanced nuclear technology as a signatory to the nonproliferation treaty and as an IAEA member. Iran accuses Washington of using its influence with other nuclear nations to block the sales of such technology. In Washington, a leader of the opposition group National Council of Resistance of Iran said Shariatmadari’s statement ``is intended to blackmail the international community and further proves that the ruling clerics are intent on gaining access to nuclear weapons at any cost by dodging or blocking international scrutiny.’’
Today's statement of the obvious...
``Tehran’s approach further proves that the real solution to Iran’s nuclear weapons program lies in the regime change through the Iranian people and their resistance movement,’’ said Alireza Jafarzadeh, the group’s chief congressional liaison in Washington.
Smart fella!
Posted by: Steve White || 07/13/2003 2:30:33 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:



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On Sale now!


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.
Click here for more information

Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Sun 2003-07-13
  Chechen boom mastermind no longer ticklish
Sat 2003-07-12
  135 killed in Burundi rebel assault
Fri 2003-07-11
  Liberian Rebels Threaten Peacekeeping Force
Thu 2003-07-10
  40 dead in Somalia festivities
Wed 2003-07-09
  Shabab-e-Milli wants Taliban-style Multan
Tue 2003-07-08
  Liberian Bad Boyz block U.S. mission
Mon 2003-07-07
  Chuck sez he'll leave. Again.
Sun 2003-07-06
  Saudi with royal links seized in CIA swoop
Sat 2003-07-05
  16 killed in Moscow rock concert booms
Fri 2003-07-04
  Pakistan mosque attack leaves 31 dead
Thu 2003-07-03
  Riyadh Blasts Suspect Explodes
Wed 2003-07-02
  Bush suggests Chuck leave Liberia
Tue 2003-07-01
  Iraq: Blast at Mosque in Fallujah Kills Five
Mon 2003-06-30
  Exiled leader to lead popular revolt in Iran
Sun 2003-06-29
  Paleos Expect Delay on Ceasefire

Better than the average link...



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