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Yassin promises Dire Revenge™
Today's Headlines
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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Britain
Clare Short can’t keep her piehole shut either: blasts No. 10 over Kelly
Former Cabinet minister Clare Short has accused Downing Street and the Ministry of Defence of making weapons expert David Kelly’s life "hell".
Not the Beeb huh?
Writing in a national newspaper, the former Cabinet minister says an abuse of power drove the weapons expert to suicide. She also criticised Tony Blair for "a lack of respect for proper procedure".
"process" is the mantra of someone like Clare
The attack is the latest in a series of broadsides from the former International Development Secretary who quit the Cabinet over the Iraq war. Ms Short said: "We have a Prime Minister so focused on presentation that there is inadequate consideration of the merits of policy. Beneath the smiling demeanour, a ruthlessness that is accompanied by a lack of respect for proper procedure, and a willingness to be economical with the actuality." She said Andrew Gilligan’s BBC report that claimed Downing Street "sexed up" the dossier on Iraq’s weapons program was "fundamentally true".

She said the conflict between the BBC and No 10 was over presentation, and not to do with policy or national interest. Ms Short said: "Once Dr Kelly came forward and said he had talked to Andrew Gilligan, the power of the state was focused on using Dr Kelly to get Gilligan. Dr Kelly’s wife has described what this did to her husband. "We politicians volunteer for the role, but when the press is after you and No 10 briefing against you, life can be hell. Dr Kelly found the pressure of No 10, the Ministry of Defence, the chair of the Joint Intelligence Committee, the Foreign Affairs Committee, the threat to his position and job, and `being treated like a fly’ too much to bear. I think most people would break under that strain. To use Dr Kelly in this way - to get at the BBC - was an abuse of power." Ms Short added: "The Prime Minister has told us that the claim that he had knowingly exaggerated the threat from Iraqi chemical and biological weapons would be a resignation issue. It is now clear that the threat was exaggerated.
Clear to those not paying attention or smart enuf to understand, Clare?
"On top of this, there is the total negligence of failing to prepare for the inevitability of a speedy military victory. Many, many lives have been lost and are being lost in Iraq because of this incompetence."
"You should’ve prepared for a Quagmire!"
Posted by: Frank G || 09/07/2003 9:47:17 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Often when lefists attack their opponents they use 'facts' which reflect what they themselves would do rather than what actually happened.

Many, many lives have been lost and are being lost in Iraq because of this incompetence.

No, Claire. Many many, lives lost is what happened when you and your commie buddies at the UN dithered for 12 solid years and made common cause with a killer. And the incompetence belongs to you and the left wing of the Labor party.
Posted by: badanov || 09/07/2003 10:29 Comments || Top||

#2  Why would the ex-International Development Secretary be interviewed by anyone about WMD controversy? Her opinion is only of interest to the media because it is negative. Sounds like the British are being played for suckers.
Posted by: Super Hose || 09/07/2003 10:30 Comments || Top||

#3  I deeply regret there wasn't a Nurember trial (or more exactly a Munich trial) for the pacifists who paralized the democracies in the 30s, gave time for Germany to rearm, overrun Europe and then send child to the gas chambers.

I deeply regret that whore will never have to face trial for the consequences of her actions. Not even having to talk to those who were tortured, mutilated, raped, those who child were killed. Not even having to look at the photos of what remained of those put in plastic shredders. Patton did just that the first time his troops captured a death camp: he forced the mayor of the town to visit it. The same night, the mayor and his wife committed suicide. Perhaps it was fear of retaliation. Or perhaps even a nazi mayor had more decency than Miss Short.
Posted by: JFM || 09/07/2003 11:31 Comments || Top||

#4  Patton made whole villages tour the site.Wish we could do the same with all the peace ass hats.
Posted by: raptor || 09/07/2003 11:52 Comments || Top||

#5  Clare Short misses the slimelight. She got used to all the press attention and wants to keep it going, even though she is irrelevant (like Al Sharpton across the pond).
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 09/07/2003 14:40 Comments || Top||

#6  Excuse me but isn't "Cakehole" the politically correct expression?
Posted by: Not Mike Moore || 09/07/2003 23:18 Comments || Top||


Europe
New concerns over Albanian guerrillas
The Swiss authorities have announced that they have banned the political chief of ethnic Albanian guerrilla group the Albanian National Army, Gafurr Adili, from living in Switzerland. Friday’s announcement coincided with a continuing stand-off between ethnic Albanian fighters and Macedonian security forces around two northern villages where police have been looking for a fugitive Albanian guerrilla commander.

But what does the Albanian National Army, known by its Albanian initials as the AKSh, stand for and how much support does it enjoy? The shadowy AKSh emerged into the open at the time of the conflict between ethnic Albanian guerrillas and security forces in the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia during 2001. In the course of that confrontation, the vast majority of ethnic Albanian guerrillas were fighting in the ranks of the National Liberation Army, or UCK, and their goal was to secure more extensive collective rights for Macedonia’s large ethnic Albanian community. With many of those objectives adopted in the Ohrid accords of August 2001, the UCK under its leader, Ali Ahmeti, transformed itself into a political party, the Democratic Union for Integration. It has since joined Macedonia’s coalition government. The former UCK’s partial integration into Macedonia’s political structures has opened the way for the AKSh to present itself as the new representative of ethnic Albanian interests, untainted by the benefits of sharing power. But the AKSh goes well beyond pursuing equal rights for ethnic Albanians. Instead, it stands for the creation of a greater Albania which would unite ethnic Albanian-inhabited regions of Macedonia, southern Serbia and Montenegro with Kosovo and the mother country, Albania, itself. Indeed, AKSh groups have been active not just in Macedonia but also in Kosovo and in the Presevo valley in southern Serbia which has a substantial ethnic Albanian population. This year, in particular, has seen an upsurge in violence in all these three regions. So much so, that in April the United Nations Mission in Kosovo, UNMIK, declared the AKSh a terrorist organisation.

It is difficult to assess the strength of the AKSh because it is, by its nature, a highly secretive organisation. But it is unlikely to have more than a few hundred fighters spread over different countries and entities. As for public support for the AKSh among ethnic Albanians, that, too, is believed to be rather limited because of loyalty to the more mainstream organisations or political parties that have emerged from the various former guerrilla groups in Kosovo, Macedonia and southern Serbia. In any case, for the time being, most ethnic Albanians across the region seem to have adopted a "wait and see" attitude which is based on their expectations of how the various peace processes in the different entities work out.
Posted by: Paul Moloney || 09/07/2003 12:37:15 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Defence lawyer wants Musharraf to testify
A defence lawyer asked an anti-terrorism court on Saturday to summon President Gen Pervez Musharraf to testify on whether there was a plot to kill him last year, lawyers said. Four Islamic militants and a former paramilitary soldier are accused of trying to assassinate President Musharraf on April 26, 2002, as he travelled from Karachi’s Quaid-e-Azam International Airport into the city. The prosecution alleges that an explosive-laden car parked along the route failed to explode because a remote-control device malfunctioned. “If the prosecution is claiming the defendants attempted to take General Musharraf’s life and the defendants are denying the charges, he should come and tell the truth in the court,” defence lawyer Abdul Waheed Katpar said.
Ummm... I thought it was supposed to be a surprise?
Mr Katpar is defending Muhammed Hanif, one of four Islamic militants on trial. The others are Muhammed Imran, Muhammed Ashraf and Muhammed Sharib – all members of the militant group Harakatul Mujahideen Al Almi. The fifth defendant is former paramilitary ranger Mohammed Wasim Akhtar. The state prosecutor said the president was unlikely to appear in court.
"'Bout as likely as a monkey flying out of my butt playing a banjo..."
“This is a futile exercise on part of defence attorney as the president has immunity from appearing in court, and, if he comes he can appear as prosecution witness and not for the defence,” prosecutor Maula Bakhsh Bhatti said.
"It was him they were trying to kill, after all..."
The trial, being held in a Karachi prison, started in April but has been delayed for months because of construction work to the prison’s courtroom, lawyers said. On Saturday, four of the defendants recorded statements denying the charges of conspiracy to kill President Musharraf, use of explosives and terrorism.
"Nope. Nope. Never happened. Nope. Nope..."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 09/07/2003 14:05 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Why would the potential victim have knowledge about the planning of the crime. This theory wouldn't even fly in a court in California.
Posted by: Super Hose || 09/07/2003 14:11 Comments || Top||

#2  SH, are you sure? His attorney, Mark Geragos, said it wasn't his clients that killed Laci Petersen, it was a satanic cult somebody else
Posted by: Frank G || 09/07/2003 15:01 Comments || Top||


Clerics threaten rallies if killers not arrested
MULTAN: Majlis Tahaffuz Khatam-e-Nabuwat (MTKN) on Saturday warned the administration it would organise processions all over the country if those responsible for the murders of Maulana Amir Hussain and his son Shabbir Hussain were not arrested immediately. MTKN leader Maulana Khan Muhammad called the killing of the cleric and his son blatant terrorism. He said that a Qadiani, Raheel Ahmed Sheikh, along with his family embraced Islam through Maulana Hussain. Maulana Muhammad said the local Qadianis were enraged at Mr Sheikh’s conversion and killed Maulana Hussain to avenge it. He said that on the day of the killings, Maulana Hussain had organised a feast to celebrate the conversions. The feast was well attended by clerics and prayer leaders of the area. Maulana Muhammad alleged that at least 12 Qadianis started shooting at Maulana Hussain and his son when they were returning from the feast. Police are patrolling Sikandar and Mandheer villages which are in the grip of severe tension after the September 4 killings. The conversions of Mr Sheikh and his family have shocked the 5,000-strong Qadiani community living in these villages.
Sounds like a good excuse for another pogrom.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 09/07/2003 13:40 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  qadiani stink
Posted by: Shinemp Phutle8291 || 10/24/2004 0:16 Comments || Top||


Sindh govt challenges acquittal of 33 accused of murder
The Sindh government on Saturday challenged a sessions judge’s order to acquit 33 people accused of a massacre in Hyderabad on September 30, 1988 in which about 300 people were shot dead on the roads by terrorists. The accused include Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party (STPP) Chairman and Pakistan Oppressed Nations Movement (PONM) Sindh President Dr Qadir Magsi and his close aides. The Hyderabad additional sessions judge acquitted the accused on July 25, 2003. Hyderabad and Latifabad police had booked them for involvement in 68 cases. The division bench comprising Justice Mohammed Roshan Essani and Justice Ameer Muslim Hani issued notices to all the respondents, calling their comments on the plea by the applicant. Additional Sindh Advocate General Masood Ahmed Noorani filed the application on the Sindh government’s behalf. He called the acquittal order illegal because the judge acquitted the indicted people despite their confession to the crime and their being identified by prosecution witnesses in a magistrate’s presence. “The trial court acquitted the accused persons putting all the facts of the cases aside,” Mr Noorani said.
So it was a fix? And a blatant fix? Who'da thunkit? That never happens in Pakland, does it?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 09/07/2003 13:34 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Three rockets fired at Bannu airport
The Bannu Airport was once again attacked with rockets in the small hours of Saturday, giving strength to speculation that a military operation was being carried out in the vicinity against the remnants of the Taliban or Al Qaeda. Three rockets were fired at the airport which is normally used for logistic and military exercises of the Pakistan Army. Major General Shoukat Sultan confirmed the attack and said, “There was a rocket attack on the airport but no loss of property or life has been reported. We are investigating.” Locals feared a military operation against the remnants of Al Qaeda or the Taliban.
"No, no! Can't have that!"
Early this week 26 helicopters and dozens of Army vehicles was witnessed in the area, but the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), an information wing of the Pakistan Army, said the movement was part of routine military exercises close to the border. Later ISPR said the exercise had been terminated, but did not assign reasons. However, people in the North Waziristan Agency and Bannu denied any such exercises in the past. Helicopters were seen flying from the Bannu airport, military trucks carrying what appeared special services personnel towards the mountainous range in the area and such movement continued for more than three days, another local requesting anonymity said. Sources said one of the rockets hit the runway where three helicopters were standing, but it did not explode. The other two rockets exploded at a distance from the airport, sources added.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 09/07/2003 13:24 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Best thing that could happen is to turn the army/ISI against them...keep up the fine work fundo fools
Posted by: Frank G || 09/07/2003 13:36 Comments || Top||


Chechen added to list of terror suspects
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has asked Pakistan to add the name of a Chechen Muslim to the list of top Al Qaeda suspects, sources told Daily Times on Saturday. Sources said the UN declared a Chechen Muslim, Movladi Said Arbievich Udugov an Al Qaeda suspect on the request of the Russian government. Sources added that Mr Udugov fought in the guerrilla war in Chechnya against Russia during the 1990s. Sources said that Mr Udugov made frequent visits to Afghanistan with Quetta and Peshawar as his transit cities. He is closely associated with former Chechen vice president Zalim Khan, who is also accused of having links with Al Qaeda.
Udugov was the former Chechen information minister and in charge of the Kavkaz website. He is also part of the Wahhabi bloc of the Chechen resistance.
Sources said Mr Udugov was suspected of taking refuge in Afghanistan or in the tribal areas of Pakistan.
More likely the tribal areas, where he'll be protected by JUI...
Posted by: Paul Moloney || 09/07/2003 3:37:50 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Then why freeze his assets if he's in the US Air Force's new bombing range?
Posted by: Charles || 09/07/2003 4:50 Comments || Top||

#2  Well, duh! Freezing his assets will force him to get on the phone, trying to find more. One phone call, a bit of triangulation, and "Hello, I'm Mr. JDAM."
Posted by: Old Patriot || 09/07/2003 11:55 Comments || Top||

#3  I thought Udugov lived in Florida at one point ...
Posted by: Dan Darling || 09/07/2003 13:36 Comments || Top||


Kashmir Korpse Kount
  • At least 20 people were killed in Indian-administered Kashmir on Saturday, including eight people in a powerful car bomb explosion outside a crowded fruit market in Parimpora on the outskirts of Srinagar.

  • In another incident, militants set off a landmine injuring two people and damaging an army bus which fell into a gorge in Doda district. The landmine, planted on a link road near Jammu and Kashmir highway at Chirala, exploded around 11.45am, official sources said.

  • In other violence, a policeman and civilian were killed when three militants attacked a police station in Poonch district, AFP reported. Two militants were killed in another encounter in Poonch.

  • Also in Poonch, suspected militants barged into a house in a remote village and killed two Muslim women. The attackers slit the throats of Mumtaz and Firdous Kausar in the Bafliaz area of Poonch on Friday night.

  • Police said two Jaish-e-Mohammad militants were killed overnight when troops raided a suspected hideout in the central Pulwama district. A police spokesman said two more Islamic rebels were killed in a clash at Bandipora, 60 kilometres north of Srinagar.

  • Meanwhile, the fierce gun battle between Indian troops and militants holed up in the Ghati area of Kathua district entered the fifth day on Saturday with no signs of an immediate end. Security forces began closing in towards the area from where the militants had been firing continuously.
Posted by: Paul Moloney || 09/07/2003 12:47:59 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The religions of peace are back at it again. If their religion is so great, why do they feel the need to kill everyone else?
Posted by: Douglas De Bono || 09/07/2003 8:58 Comments || Top||

#2  It's simple. Follow along and connect the dots:

- there is no god but Allah, and he is all-powerful.

- Infidels are a threat to Allah and insult him.

- Allah needs the help of the faithful to stop the human infidels.

See how simple? Now convert, or die... and remember that Allah is above all, merciful and compassionate.


PS: Allah is also a convenient Motivator for those with far more earthly designs, and hordes of expendable, gullible doofusses on hand.
Posted by: Mark IV || 09/07/2003 13:51 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Missile Attack Misses U.S. Plane at Baghdad Airport
Unidentified guerrillas fired two missiles at a U.S. transport plane taking off from Baghdad just hours before Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld flew out of Iraq, military officials said on Sunday. The missiles missed their target and caused no damage. Rumsfeld was thought to have passed through the airport on his way out to Kuwait, but the U.S. military refused on Sunday to comment on his exact travel route in and out of Baghdad. The military said, however, he had not been at risk from the two missiles, which caused no injuries or damage. "I could never comment on where he was, how he came or left. But I will say that at no point was he ever in any danger from these missiles," a second military spokesman said.
"Other missiles, maybe, but not these missiles..."
The incident was the third of its kind since May 1, when Washington declared an end to major combat in Iraq after invading the country and toppling Saddam Hussein.
That's Rooters-brand of snide. There haven't been any major combat operations in Iraq since May 1st, only piddling firefights...
U.S. troops, who form the overwhelming majority of soldiers occupying the country, have come under daily attacks that have killed at least 67 of them since the beginning of May.
Piddling firefights are important to the people involved in them, but only in the aggregate to the overall picture...
The two prior attacks on planes also missed their target. Baghdad airport has been closed to civilian traffic since the war because of concern about security. But the United Nations and other humanitarian organizations have been using it for charter flights in and out of Iraq.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 09/07/2003 12:09 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Piddling firefights are also important to piddling people, which explains Reuters fascination.
Posted by: af || 09/07/2003 16:49 Comments || Top||


Iraqi officials will be tried as war criminals
An official from the US State Department confirmed Saturday that a judicial mechanism will be put in place to pursue former Iraqi officials who have caused great damage to Kuwait. He also indicated they would be tried as war criminals. The Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues in the US State Department, Pierre-Richard Prosper, told journalists in Kuwait after a meeting with a number of Kuwaiti officials from the National Committee for Missing and POWs Affairs (NCMPA), that his visit to Kuwait is aimed at discussing the issue of the Kuwaiti POWs and missing and to obtain sufficient information on this issue. "The American officials realize the importance of closing this file and arriving at the right answer on the fate of the Kuwaiti POWs," the American official pointed out.

He added his visit also aims at arriving at a mechanism to accelerate the procedure related to the issue of the Kuwaiti detainees in Guantanamo, and to know whether they will be released or stand trial. Answering a question from Kuwait News Agency (Kuna) on the action Kuwait should take against former Iraqi regime officials and the means to try them as war criminals, Ambassador Richard said "I will head to Iraq to set up a judicial mechanism to try the former Iraqi officials as war criminals in the future."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 09/07/2003 11:19 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Traditionally, does Iraq have the death penalty? Just kidding.
Posted by: Super Hose || 09/07/2003 11:24 Comments || Top||

#2  FL250 AP?
Posted by: Tony || 09/07/2003 15:23 Comments || Top||

#3  Does the previous comment have a chance of being the shortest comment on RantBurg? ;)
Posted by: Tony || 09/07/2003 15:24 Comments || Top||

#4  No
Posted by: Steve || 09/07/2003 15:44 Comments || Top||

#5  Flight Level 250
Posted by: True German Ally || 09/07/2003 16:01 Comments || Top||

#6  AP wants us to release the Gitmo detainees at 25,000 feet above Mean Sea Level, I.E., FL250. That's not a good idea yet - some of them haven't stopped talking yet. When one of them does, THEN we drop HIM from 25K.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 09/07/2003 16:07 Comments || Top||

#7  25k, eh?

Hmmm, that may be Mean enough for the job.
Posted by: alphasheep || 09/08/2003 0:13 Comments || Top||


Terror Networks
Bush & Blair choke on the fallout from September the 11th
This is the full version of the excerpt posted on August 23rd...
Almost two years on from September the 11th 2001 the world embraces itself for another anniversary. Many Muslims worldwide will be celebrating the comeuppance of the USA in what they see as retribution for the atrocities that the US has committed, and indeed continues to commit, against Muslims. Afghanistan and Iraq being the most recent examples.

With 1000’s of innocent Muslims still in captivity under barbaric conditions in Guantanamo bay, the US inquisition against Islam and Muslims shows no signs of subsiding. In contrast the operations being carried out by the Mujahideen against the occupiers in Iraq, Palestine, Chechnya and in Afghanistan have also been stepped up to meet the menace led by the US and UK regimes.

So what is the significance of September the 11th two years on from the collapse of those two great idols, known as the Twin Towers, in New York? What has changed in the ensuing two years and, indeed, what does the future hold for the world post-September the 1lth?

Certainly as far as the Muslims are concerned the objective of living under the Shari’ah and ridding all Muslim land not only of the occupiers, but also the dictatorial regimes and the secularists, has gained massive momentum. From Indonesia and Malaysia to Yemen and Nigeria the call for the return of the Khilafah system, of ruling solely by the Shari’ah, can be heard. The hatred towards the US and UK, and their evil plans to crush Islam and Muslims, and to force a washed-down version of Islam on Muslims, similar to Christianity, has backfired, and instead, more and more Muslims are queuing up to fight Jihad and are willing to die to see the domination of divine law over man made law. The willingness to die can be seen in the face of those like Imam Samudra, who was recently given the death penalty for his involvement in the Bali bombings, and yet, when the verdict was handed out, he celebrated his upcoming martyrdom (insha’allah) in the way of Allah.

The world has also witnessed the transparent lies and fabrications behind which the Blair and Bush regimes have clung onto power, these include:
1. The weapons of mass destruction scandal which suddenly transformed from a ’45 minute imminent attack’ to a ’they had weapons, its just a matter of time before we find them’

2. The ’those in Guantanamo Bay are all hardened Terrorists’ Bush statements - when we all know that there are children among the captives and elderly folks pushing 100 years old!

3. The ’we are winning the war in Iraq’ punch line - when in reality Bush and Blair are having difficulties hiding the 1000’s of body bags

4. The recent blackout in the US and Canada being ’due to lightning’ as opposed to fulfilling the threat of Al-Qaeda when they promised to attack the US power grids supplying the US with electricity.
Blair and Bush are still choking on the smoke from the fall out of September the 11th, which (it appears) will inevitably lead to the demise of both leaders of the aptly named ’capitalist’ world. However Muslims must be under no illusion that this 21st Century Crusade begins or even ends here, rather the struggle between Islam and Kufr (non-Islam), between the Haq (truth) and batil (falsehood) and between the alliance of God and the alliance of Shaytaan begun with Adam (as) and will continue until the day of judgement. What we see before us is merely the collapse of another evil empire (i.e. the USA) just like the collapse of the empires of Pharaoh, Caesar and Nimrod in the past.

In a world made smaller by the internet and satellite TV, it is very difficult today for the propagandists to pull the wool over everyone’s eyes, for there will always be those who expose the truth, even if it be from the front lines of the battlefield, as we witness today. The 100’s of daily martyrdom operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya, Palestine and Kashmir are clearly seen to have no defence whatsoever from the occupiers, be they the US, UK, Russia, Israel or India. Indeed the Messenger Muhammad (saw) said that: ’martyrdom (for the sake of Allah) is contagious’ [Muslim] i.e. when one person does it, others will admire him and will want to do the same. Thus we see how a comparatively tiny army, with rudimentary weapons, have imposed such heavy casualties and losses on the alliances of Shaytaan in these areas. How, armed mainly with their Tawheed, Imaan and Tawakkul, the Mujahideen have brought dignity and honour back to the Muslims worldwide and how they have revitalized the Passion for Jihad.

Two years on then, it seems that during their customary 1 minutes silence in NewYork and elsewhere on September the 11th 2003, Muslims worldwide will again be watching replays of the collapse of the Twin Towers, praying to Allah (SWT) to grant those magnificent 19, Paradise. They will also be praying for the reverberations to continue until the eradication of all man-made law and the implementation of divine law in the form of the Khilafah - carrying the message of Islam to the world and striving for Izhar ud-Deen i.e. the total domination of the world by Islam.

Al Muhajiroun
The Voice the Eyes the Ears of the Muslims
U K

Posted by: abu ameer || 09/07/2003 1:51:32 PM || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  A jihadi in the house!

Interesting posting though. At least they are honest and say what they want: "striving for Izhar ud-Deen i.e. the total domination of the world by Islam".

We should read them carefully. Hitler wrote everything he planned to do in Mein Kampf but nobody wanted to read that shit. We should read it to know what we are fighting against. If Al Muhajiroun is "The Voice the Eyes the Ears of the Muslims", then all the "good Muslims" should better stand up and say: "Not my voice, eyes, ears." Or we'll face a real serious virgin shortage soon and 1000 jihadis will have to share one raisin virgin. Do you think virgins grow on trees or what?
Posted by: True German Ally || 09/07/2003 16:14 Comments || Top||

#2  Stick it, Fat Dad.

We're coming to kill you and rid the world of your sick, destructive version of Islam. Finally.

You say you wish for death and behold - thy wish is granted! Enjoy...
Posted by: mojo || 09/07/2003 16:35 Comments || Top||

#3  As I started reading this post, my first reaction was "Hmmm....Murat is at it again." Then, later, I wondered...Did we all know there are children and people over 100 in Gitmo? How did we know this? What were they doing armed on a battlefield without proper supervision? We sound like a real nut-bag, if you ask us. Also, if this particular sand louse is "The Voice the Eyes the Ears of the Muslims ", then who the hell is the Nose and Throat? (I'd ask who were the balls, but we all know they don't have any.)

No real point here, just some free-association ramblings from an enquiring mind that wants to know.
Posted by: Hodadenon || 09/07/2003 16:52 Comments || Top||

#4  Well, the article is quite amusing, even as it loathsome. It does strike me though, that these macho, bellicose Islamic-Arab sorts are forced to disseminate their venomous hatred for our culture/civilization via the very liberties and technology that our culture/civilization have enabled. Resigned to their own devices they'd be in some dank basement in Riyadh scrathching out their puerile bombast by hand, anxiously fearing the dreaded knock on the door in the night and summary beheading. The tension of deep envy and burning disgust must drive these idiots batty.
Posted by: af || 09/07/2003 17:11 Comments || Top||

#5  You have to wonder how stupid these people really are. If the civilized world, i.e. the people that these nuts want to convert to their version of islam, were to react with the same morality that they show, then they would cease to exist.. as we would just round them all up and kill them. After all, that is exactly what they intend to do to us if they were to ever achieve real power.
Posted by: OKIE || 09/07/2003 17:27 Comments || Top||

#6  Take a look at the web site.Nice targeting reticule on the UN logo.
Posted by: raptor || 09/07/2003 17:38 Comments || Top||

#7  This idiot is so delusional he doesn't realize the body bags he's seen on TV are what the IRAQI'S murdered by Sadaam are in. Not our guys, but his fellow muslims.

Idiocy seems to be a common trait in the ME.
Posted by: Charles || 09/07/2003 21:09 Comments || Top||

#8  So who's this retard Muslim scholar?
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/07/2003 21:30 Comments || Top||

#9  Yeah--the great idols!--I was always on my knees--ass in the air like the rag heads everytime I saw them--stupid mofos
Posted by: Not Mike Moore || 09/07/2003 23:47 Comments || Top||

#10  martyrdom (for the sake of Allah) is contagious’ [Muslim] i.e. when one person does it, others will admire him and will want to do the same.

Hence Iraq as a mass-scale Assisted Martyrdom Operation. A nice orderly line for easy strafing would be ideal.
Posted by: eLarson || 09/08/2003 14:50 Comments || Top||

#11  Actually, it all strikes me in sort of a Darwinian kind of way. The process of natural selection. Stupid people say stupid things and think stupid things -- like "shahid" -- and then carry them out. Even SLIGHTLY smarter folks know that (especially these days) its doubtful you will find 79 virgins in a parochial all girls school let alone a never before seen paradise. I say let's pack a little pork into some hollow point rounds and give them something to really get quaked about. I smell bacon.........
Posted by: TerrorHunter4Ever || 10/02/2003 12:05 Comments || Top||


Al Qaeda Plans A Front in Iraq
I figured this was pretty relevant information as far as things go, so I’ll post the relevant sections of it here and let Fred see what he thinks of it.
Two years after the attacks on the United States, Osama bin Laden’s leadership cadre has been isolated and weakened and is increasingly reliant on the violent actions of local radicals around the world to maintain its profile. But the al Qaeda network is determined to open a new front in Iraq to sustain itself as the vanguard of radical Islamic groups fighting holy war, according to European, American and Arab intelligence sources.
Doing that is a strategic mistake on their part. Their strength is tormenting the Great Satan and bleeding us economically. Probably they want to make Iraq into an analog of the Tet offensive. If they can produce significant casualties, they're hoping to see Bush pushed out of office. If that doesn't work, it's not Tet, it's the Coral Sea...
The turn toward Iraq was made in February, as U.S. forces were preparing to attack, the sources said. Two seasoned operatives met at a safe house in eastern Iran. One of them was Mohammed Ibrahim Makawi, the military chief of al Qaeda, who is better known as Saif al-Adel. He welcomed a guest, Abu Musab Zarqawi, who had recently fled Iraq’s Kurdish northern region in anticipation of the U.S. targeting of a radical group with which he was affiliated, Arab intelligence sources said.
That would be Ansar al-Islam. Zarqawi's something of an eminence grise in the War on Terror, popping up in Afghanistan, Kurdistan, Chechnya, Jordan and Europe. He looks like the guy who ties all the terror links together...
The encounter resulted in the dispatch of Zarqawi to become al Qaeda’s man in Iraq, opening a new chapter in the history of the group and a serious threat to American forces there.
And putting them in position for a thorough pounding. If we beat them in Iraq — and I'm talking about piles of bodies here — the rest of the WoT will be mop-up. Since we can't afford to lose, Bush won't let us lose. Wesley Clark, on the other hand...

After the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan, the locus of al Qaeda’s degraded leadership moved to Iran. The Iranian security services, which answer to the country’s powerful Islamic clerics, protected the leadership, including Adel and a son of bin Laden’s, Saad, as well as other senior figures, according to the intelligence officials. From guesthouses in Iran’s east and south, this al Qaeda group planned the May 12 bombing of residential compounds in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The group might have hoped that a campaign of violence, including the planned assassination of leading members of the Saudi royal family, would lead to the fall of the kingdom’s government.
It served instead to make the Soddies take measure to ensure their own self-preservation. It still doesn't look like they're backing all the way out of backing terrorism, but they're not putting up with overt nonsense at home...
After the Riyadh bombing, the Iranians, under pressure from the Saudis, detained the al Qaeda group. One European source said the Iranians had "freeze-dried" the group. Also, Saudi Arabia launched a major crackdown domestically. But it was too late to snare Zarqawi.
Seems like it's always too late to snare him. And I have my doubts Saif al-Adel and Saad are "snagged"...
He had returned to Iraq. Arab intelligence reports have placed him in Baghdad, although he still retreats to the Iranian side of the border with Iraq when he senses his security is threatened, officials said.
It's still horribly dangerous to have him there. If our guys would happen to catch him — and I'd hope they're keeping a special eye out for one-legged jihadis — he probably has as much if not more detail to spill than Abu Zubaydah or Khalid Sheikh Mohammad.
Crossing Iraq’s borders with Syria, Iran and Saudi Arabia, and to a lesser extent with Jordan and Turkey, hundreds of foreign fighters have begun to flow into the country, according to both U.S. and Arab officials. A U.S. military official said in a recent interview that there were already 220 foreign fighters in U.S. custody in Iraq. But American and Arab officials also said that al Qaeda has not yet coalesced in Iraq, and Zarqawi’s mission to form a new network and manage these fighters in the country is still embryonic.
Probably al-Tawhid will be the agency that's used, rather than Ansar al-Islam, which was primarily made up of hicks as cannon fodder with a leavening of Tawhid for brains. Tawhid has its roots in Jordan and it has a network in Europe...
Syria arrested and deported an Algerian national and a German resident who organized a group of radicals to travel to Iraq from the same Hamburg mosque where Mohamed Atta, the lead hijacker in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, once worshiped. German officials said the man, who is currently free but under observation, had ties to Zarqawi and had also recruited volunteers in Italy to fight in Iraq. "They are coming," said an Arab official from a country that borders Iraq. "They are coming from everywhere."
"... marching as to war..."
After the meeting at the safe house in February, Iranian authorities placed Zarqawi, a 42-year-old Jordanian, under house arrest, according to Arab intelligence sources. It is not clear why they did so. Zarqawi was the head of a cluster of Arabs who had attached themselves to Ansar al-Islam, a Kurdish fundamentalist group vowing to establish an Islamic state in northern Iraq. Ansar is believed to be closely allied with al Qaeda, according to the U.S. government. Zarqawi also is believed to have a network of contacts in the Middle East and Europe.
That's al-Tawhid, of course...
Word that Zarqawi was under house arrest in Iran reached Amman, the Jordanian capital, and officials there sent a detailed extradition request, including nearly a dozen photographs of him, to Tehran, according to American and Arab officials. Zarqawi was wanted in connection with a planned hotel bombing in Amman on the eve of millennium celebrations and with the assassination of U.S. diplomat Laurence M. Foley in the city last October. The Iranians rebuffed demands to turn over Zarqawi, who became more widely known when Secretary of State Colin Powell said at the United Nations in February that he was a key link between the government of Saddam Hussein, then Iraq’s president, and al Qaeda. Zarqawi had had a leg amputated at an exclusive Baghdad clinic in 2002, suggesting he had connections to government figures in Iraq, but European officials scoffed at the larger allegation. Zarqawi was an independent operator, they said, citing the interrogation of some of his allies in Germany.
He's an "independent operator" in the same sense Jemaah Islamiyah is an independent operator. His mob is closely allied with al-Qaeda, and when we someday get to go through the paperwork we'll probably find it's one of its member organizations...
Later in the spring, Zarqawi was released from house arrest and allowed safe passage along smuggling routes to Iraq. By then, U.S. and British forces were occupying the country. The sources added that Zarqawi then became what the Americans had charged but never proved to the satisfaction of others on the U.N. Security Council: al Qaeda’s man in Iraq. A recent internal German law-enforcement report on al Qaeda described Zarqawi as someone who has "assumed leadership responsibilities" that have been delegated "from the original center to the regional level." Zarqawi "would be a logical person to control things there," said Matthew Levitt, a Middle East analyst formerly with the FBI counterterrorism section and now at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "He has a fantastic relationship with other groups — the Baathists, radicals in Kurdistan, in Germany. . . . They will work with whoever they need to work with. He is a real personification of a global network."
Like I said, the Gray Eminence of terrorism...
Firm numbers on foreign fighters in Iraq are impossible to come by, but estimates in the intelligence community in Washington on how many have already entered the country range from 1,000 to several thousand. U.S. military officers in Iraq, and officials with the occupying authority led by L. Paul Bremer, say the figure is much lower but don’t deny the potential threat the fighters represent or the difficulty of policing Iraq’s borders. The Iraq-Syria border, for instance, is an arid, mostly unmarked frontier, crisscrossed by hard-packed roads. The landscape is intersected by wadis, rocky outcroppings and a scattering of farms irrigated by wells. Much of the traffic in the area is smugglers transporting sheep and other livestock across routes they have used for decades. The territory is ideal for subterfuge. So is the mountainous Iran-Iraq border.
On the other hand, Sammy seems to have kept control of his borders when he was in power — with the exception of the line between the Kurds and Iran where Ansar al-Islam passed back and forth, and Turkey, where PKK waltzed back and forth...
When bin Laden was trapped at Tora Bora in the Afghan mountains in 2001, he and his Egyptian deputy, Ayman Zawahiri, dispatched military chief Adel to Iran to negotiate a safe harbor for some of al Qaeda’s scattering ranks. Zawahiri had long-standing ties with Ahmad Vahidi, then the commander of the Iranian Qods force, a special operations unit, according to a European intelligence official. A deal was struck. Iran’s elected leadership, led by President Mohammad Khatami, repeatedly denied that senior al Qaeda figures were in the country, and pointed to the extradition of some fighters to Saudi Arabia as evidence of Iran’s good faith. But Khatami has no control over security organs such as the Revolutionary Guard, which answers to the office of the supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Kinda reminds one of Mahmoud Abbas, doesn't it?
Among those who made it to Iran with Adel and bin Laden’s son were Mahfouz Ould Walid, also known as Abu Hafs the Mauritanian and head of the religious committee that issued fatwas justifying attacks, and Abu Mohammed Masri, an Egyptian who is wanted in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa and who has been al Qaeda’s chief financial officer, setting up its illicit diamond trade as a way to hide funds. Others who went to Iran were Zawahiri’s deputy, Abu Khayr, and Suleiman Abu Ghaith. With the capture of other top-tier al Qaeda leaders around the world, the group in Iran — accompanied by numerous low- and mid-ranking Saudis, including some who would later participate in the May Riyadh bombings — became the core of al Qaeda’s functioning leadership.
Probably the bulk of this information comes from interrogating all the al-Ghamdis they rounded up in the wake of the Riyadh bombings...
Bin Laden and Zawahiri went into hiding in the mountains along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, and their ability to communicate with their followers has been severely constrained, often limited to oral messages or handwritten notes. Elsewhere, al Qaeda’s leadership structure began unraveling in earnest a year ago, with the capture in Pakistan of self-proclaimed Sept. 11 planner Ramzi Bin al-Shibh.
A nice coup for us, an embarrassing example of hubris for Qaeda...
Since then, many of the senior leaders have been caught, with information gleaned from one arrest leading to others. Among those now in custody are the U.S. operations chief, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, another key planner of the Sept. 11 attacks; and two planners of the attack on the USS Cole in Yemen on Oct. 12, 2000, Tawfiq bin Attash and Rahim al-Nashiri.
Those chunks came together after Ramzi and Khalid gave an interview to al-Jazeera and bragged about what big shots they were...
Last month, Thai police captured Riduan Isamuddin, known as Hambali, leader of the Southeast Asian terrorist organization Jemaah Islamiah, who is accused of orchestrating deadly bombings against Westerners at tourist sites in Bali and Jakarta. The United States and allied governments have rolled up thousands of others — some sworn al Qaeda members, but mostly sympathetic radicals.
A lot of cannon fodder, but also controllers, recruiters, and money men. Damn! I'd love to be going through the interrogation reports!
According to Arab and U.S. officials who have been briefed on American interrogations, almost all of the senior figures in captivity have been cooperating with the United States, which has employed a variety of stress techniques that stop short of direct physical abuse or torture to disorient the prisoners and break their morale.
"More giggle juice, Khalid?"
"Yesh, shank yew..."
In some cases, U.S. officials, who are holding these senior al Qaeda figures at a secret location, have created a parallel universe to hasten their cooperation. Some of the captives, for instance, have been given what appear to be copies of Arab and Western newspapers and magazines that are, in fact, written and printed by the CIA. Stories in these phony publications include reports that bin Laden had been killed or that the Saudi government had fallen in a coup d’etat, the Arab officials said. "The logic is: ’Look, it’s over’ or ’You got what you wanted, so cooperate,’ " said one Saudi source.
Heh heh...
And for some of those arrested, it did appear that they were losing. When Zarqawi met Adel in Iran, al Qaeda was in some disarray. The operational leadership in Iran, despite some of the swaggering statements issued by bin Laden or Zawahiri, felt that another spectacular attack in the continental United States was operationally impossible, according to the analyses by Arab intelligence agencies. The leadership could only hope that the Taliban could regroup in Afghanistan, as it appears to be doing, and that other radicals would rally to the al Qaeda cause of their own volition and commit atrocities in its name
Even a Taliban takeover in Afghanistan becomes a dead end. It's not something we'd let stand, for our own self-preservation...
Adel — prompted by the large number of Saudis around him, including bin Laden’s son, and with a little cash and some bomb-making expertise at his disposal — decided to focus on toppling the Saudi government and encouraging attacks elsewhere in the Arab world. Moroccan officials, for instance, have linked the bombings in Casablanca on May 16 to the al Qaeda group in Iran.
The word "mastermind" is used rather loosely these days, isn't it?
Law enforcement officials at the same time concluded that Saudi Arabia had become the favored staging area and target for al Qaeda. "Saudi Arabia is a planning center — that’s correct. It’s a hub for the Gulf," said a U.S. official. But Adel’s strategy strained the hospitality of the security services in Iran. The May bombings in Riyadh killed 35 people. The Saudi government unleashed a major crackdown, killing some suspects during gun battles and arresting others. The Saudis obtained a trove of evidence — phones, computer hard drives, documents and cash — that pointed back to Iran and Adel. In addition, one of al Qaeda’s local leaders in Saudi Arabia, Ali Faqasi al-Ghamdi, turned himself in and confessed that Adel and his associates were behind the bombings.
I think the Soddies decided they wanted to collect the entire set of al-Ghamdis — though I'd guess there are more waiting in the wings, some of them still burping milk...
Furious, the Saudis sent two delegations to Iran. One was led by the interior minister’s son, Prince Mohammad bin Nayef, the assistant interior minister for security affairs, and the other by a general in the intelligence service. They demanded that the Iranians turn over bin Laden’s son and other Saudis, including the cousin of one of the Riyadh bombers, Turki Dandani. The Saudi delegations also requested that Adel be returned to Egypt. "They got the runaround," said a Saudi source.
Bet that cheesed them. I've noticed that the more you're willing to give others the run-around, the less you like it when you get it yourself...
The Iranians have assured the United States and numerous other countries that Adel and other al Qaeda operatives are now under house arrest and unable to communicate with others in the network, according to an official at the State Department. But the Iranians have refused to relinquish custody of the operatives.
"House arrest" is a pretty loose term. And an eventual "daring escape" is a probability...
"We are trying to get the Iranians to turn bin Laden’s son over to the Saudis," said a senior counterterrorism official, adding that several countries have tried to act as intermediaries. Some U.S. officials say they believe that Iran will never relinquish custody of Adel and the others because they could reveal connections between Iran and al Qaeda going back to the mid-1990s. Moreover, Western and Arab officials say they believe Iran is calculating that they are a useful chip in any future standoff with the United States over Iranian policy toward Iraq or Iran’s alleged efforts to develop a nuclear bomb.
And that's my opinion, too. I think they'll continue to sit on them, keeping them comfortable and — for now — out of trouble, an unspoken threat against us.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 09/07/2003 1:32:27 PM || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Every story about post-Taliban Al Qaeda and about Iranian actions digs a deeper hole for the Black Hats. Their assumptions:

1) That the Arab states will tolerate their duplicity and lame "detention" and house arrest" BS is a failure. Morocco and the Saudi Royals recognize that they are the targets of these terrorsts, and Iran is now, by action, their sanctuary and their sponsor.

2) That "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" will guarantee that the Arabs states do not cooperate with the West, particularly the US, is a failure. When their targets were all in the West, it was probably true, but now? Nope. It appears that it is increasing rather dramatically.

3) That the US would "trade" the anti-Iranian militants, Iranians willing to fight the Black Hats from Iraq - something we have to respect, even if grudgingly, for the AQ terrorists demonstrates that they don't "get" us at all: the US, knowing full well what would happen to these people, would never hand them over in such a manner - even for the AQ shits being harbored in Iran. France's crackdown on these people probably confirmed for us that they couldn't be all bad.

4) That the US will sit idly by while Iran procures nukes after the outright declarations that they would immediately use them against Israel - no matter WHAT or WHO they might have in hand that we want (i.e. as a bargaining chip) - demonstrates an utter lack of understanding of relative value, of what the US foreign policy has been for the last 30+ years, and of what we can possibly tolerate from such incredibly backward blind barbaric religious fanatics.

The imagined Arab support, even by inaction if not under the table, has evaporated, assuming it was ever substantial. Even Jordan, no one's actual friend, is furious.

No doubt, these AQ terrorists are now quite a liability to Iran and Iranian complicity with AQ is very sensitive information. If the Black Hats had even a modicum of sense or understanding, they would kill these guys and bury them in the desert. Hell, maybe they have, by now, but the damage has been done - it's too late, fools. Iran is completely isolated and only those it owns by reason of being their paymaster will listen or sympathize with them.

I am, again, very very happy that they are so very very stupid. The political coverage for pre-emptive strikes against their nuke facilities already exists - the Arabs realize that these are not their allies - they are enemies. There will certainly be few to mourn their passing in the ME should they be toppled by force - whether with boots or decapitation by TLAM and overrun by their own population. Their prospective funeral procession gets smaller with every day. Cool.
Posted by: .com || 09/07/2003 14:54 Comments || Top||

#2  The Iranians have assured the United States and numerous other countries that Adel and other al Qaeda operatives are now under house arrest and unable to communicate with others in the network, according to an official at the State Department. But the Iranians have refused to relinquish custody of the operatives.

Replace all references to Iranians in the above passage with Taliban, and things start to get really interesting. Tehran in 2004/2005?
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 09/07/2003 17:47 Comments || Top||

#3  Good. Kill the fuckers over there instead of here.
Even better, go kill them in Iran.
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/07/2003 21:36 Comments || Top||


Middle East
Israel Fires Missiles in Gaza Strip
Israeli helicopters fired two missiles at the home of a Hamas militant in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, wounding at least nine people, witnesses and rescue workers said. Ambulances rushed to the area on a road between Khan Younis and Rafah. Neighbors gathered around the house and shone lights on the rubble as they search for victims. There was no word on whether anyone was killed. Witnesses said they saw several helicopters circling before the attack, which appeared to be the latest of Israel’s targeted strikes on Hamas militants whom Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has said are "marked for death." The Israeli military has carried out a series of such strikes on Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip in the past three weeks, killing 12 Hamas members and five bystanders. The group’s 68-year-old spiritual leader, Sheik Ahmed Yassin, was lightly injured in an Israeli bombing on Saturday. The group has promised to exact revenge for the strikes.
Keep up the pressure, and hope there’s someone dead in the rubble trying to collect on 72 virgin raisins
Posted by: Frank G || 09/07/2003 4:45:16 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  from the JPost: "at the home of Abed Al Salam Abu Mussa, a Hamas militant, in the Gaza Strip Sunday"
Posted by: Frank G || 09/07/2003 16:51 Comments || Top||

#2  1)Yassin is not a "spiritiual leader". A spiritual leader does not send anybody to their death and does not propose killings of anybody....
2)I think that Yassin and et al are in the real run and their days are numbered.It is time to have their heads chopped off completely.
3)Not to much will be accomplished unless we stop the money influx completely=specially Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Posted by: Anonymous || 09/07/2003 17:33 Comments || Top||

#3  The army said the target was a Hamas weapons warehouse inside the building, in the Khan Younis refugee camp.

Hat tip to LGF
Posted by: Frank G || 09/07/2003 18:41 Comments || Top||

#4  Weapons warehouse? That would explain why no Hamas leaders were killed. They don't like heavy labor.
Posted by: Charles || 09/07/2003 21:24 Comments || Top||


Arafat Wants Parliament Speaker for PM
EFL
Yasser Arafat, meeting in the West Bank with the leadership of his Fatah party, made clear Sunday he intends to ask parliament toady speaker Ahmed Qureia to become the new Palestinian prime minister, a Palestinian political source said.
Yasser’s boy?
He's Yasser's likely successor. Whaddya think?
Word of the possible replacement for Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, who resigned after a debilitating power struggle with Arafat, came after Israel declared a high security alert and imposed a blanket closure on the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It was not clear when Qureia would be formally tapped for the position, the Palestinian source said. Arafat has not yet accepted Abbas’ resignation in writing, as required by dictat law, but told Palestinian lawmakers he considered Abbas’ Cabinet a caretaker government, implying recognition of the resignation. Earlier Sunday, Arafat aide Nabil Abu Rdeneh had said the leader hoped to persuade Abbas - also known as Abu Mazen - to remain and form a new government. ``Abu Mazen remains Arafat’s first choice for scapegoat. But if he insists on maintaining his resignation, there will be a new appointment, and that will be discussed now and tomorrow,’’ Abu Rdeneh said, emerging from the closed-door Fatah meeting. ``Within 48 hours, we will reach a conclusion.’’

Abbas insisted his decision was final on Saturday and told a confidant he felt abandoned by all sides and was deeply hurt but fortunately still alive. But a source close to Abbas said Sunday he might serve again if he reached a firm agreement with Arafat on his powers and on the composition of the government beforehand. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said this would be difficult. Abbas himself sent mixed signals when asked Sunday if he would consider forming a new government. ``It’s something premature to talk about. My resignation is final,’’ he told reporters as he left his office.
"Please don’t kill me!"
At Sunday’s meeting, many Fatah officlas said they hoped to convince Abbas to serve again, said Hussein Sheikh, a West Bank Fatah leader.
That way he can have more of the same...
Abbas’ resignation left Israel and the United States without a negotiating partner, at least temporarily, and dealt a severe blow to the already troubled U.S.-backed ``road map’’ peace plan. The two nations refuse to deal with Arafat, saying he is tainted by terror and an obstacle to peace.
Yasser is the obstacle in killing the roadmap. Does that make him ’roadkill’?
If the resignation becomes final, Arafat has three weeks to name a successor. Qureia is seen as a moderate and has credibility with Israel because he was an architect of the 1990s peace accords.
He occasionally meets with Sharon for back-channel negotiations...
In coming days, the Israeli Cabinet also will reconsider possible action against Arafat, including sending him into exile, said Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom. ``As long as Arafat is in the region, he won’t let any other leader develop,’’ Shalom told Israel Army Radio. The United States has blocked Arafat’s expulsion in the past, and Sharon’s security advisers have warned that Arafat could do more harm to Israel abroad than by remaining trapped at his West Bank headquarters in the town of Ramallah.
And by keeping him in Ramallah, you get to see who comes to visit.
Israel’s airstrike against the Hamas leadership on Saturday came just hours after Abbas announced his resignation. A top Israeli security official said Abbas’ departure released Israel from the last restraints in its war on the militants. With Abbas still in office, concern about harming his standing with airstrikes had always been a consideration, the official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Another bright side to Abbas running away!
Posted by: Steve White || 09/07/2003 2:40:32 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Ahmed Qureia: hand puppet - if you look closely, you can see Arafish's hand up his ass
Posted by: Frank G || 09/07/2003 15:04 Comments || Top||

#2  Yasser is the obstacle in killing the roadmap. Does that make him ’roadkill’?
I'm sure there are several tens of thousands of Israelis, both Jewish and Arab, that would sincerely wish to see that happen. They just may get that wish, if Arafart continues to play his dangerous game.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 09/07/2003 16:10 Comments || Top||

#3  of course Ahmed Qureia also has a nom de guerre:
Abu Ala
Posted by: Frank G || 09/07/2003 16:52 Comments || Top||

#4  Frank - I thin we should all pick out a "non de guerre" too. Only having one moniker is a bit stifling, not to mention the moniker-envy I feel.

I think I shall call myself, Abu Mah-Ass... or Abu Mah-Dick... Naww, too obvious... Hmmmmm. Tough choosing just one, since there are so many moods...
Posted by: .com (a.k.a. Abu This!) || 09/07/2003 18:51 Comments || Top||

#5  There are lots of reasons to exile Arafat. One reason to keep him is that by keeping Arafat in Ramallah, the intel assets that pretend to be his lackeys are still available.
Posted by: mhw || 09/07/2003 19:14 Comments || Top||

#6  re "nom de guerre". I hereby declare myself "fatwah you talkin' bout willis"

In honor of gary coleman of course!
Posted by: flash91 - fatwah you talkin bout willis || 09/07/2003 21:30 Comments || Top||

#7  I want a nom de guerre too--esp since IT IS FRENCH!! Howsabout Liber-AL?
Posted by: Not Mike Moore || 09/07/2003 23:25 Comments || Top||


Africa: West
Liberia’s Taylor Won’t Give Up Empire
MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) - Charles Taylor used fear, patronage and state monopolies to control what diplomats and business leaders estimate amounted to 90 percent of Liberia’s economy - everything from imported rice to diamonds, timber and lucrative shipping registry fees. Tracking that money, and breaking Taylor’s control of what’s left, is crucial to rebuilding war-ruined Liberia. But diplomats say Taylor, working the phone from his new villa in exile in the jungles of southern Nigeria, isn’t letting go easily.
I’m comfortably certain John Clark could persuade him to "let go easily."
These officials, citing intelligence reports, paint this picture of the ousted warlord-president’s attempts to keep his hand in the pot:

Within days of his Aug. 11 acceptance of asylum in Nigeria, Taylor began making multiple calls each day to successor Moses Blah - violating his exile agreement - and Foreign Minister Lewis Brown. He also is trying to collect debts from Liberian business figures in Monrovia and attempting to solicit donations for unknown purposes.
Chuck: "You owe me money for our shakedown joint business venture! Pay up!"
Debtor: "Go screw!"

``We don’t know why he’s raising money. What’s clear is that he’s keeping contact with the remnants of his government,’’ Geoff Rudd, the European Union’s top diplomat in Liberia, told The Associated Press.
Geoff can’t be this clueless. Even I know why Chuckles is raising money.
Taylor never made good on promises to repair Liberia - but not for lack of funds, Liberians and Western diplomats say. There are estimates he has up to $1 billion stashed in Swiss bank accounts.
Nice stash.
``Taylor was into everything,’’ Rudd said.

Taylor’s regime had dealings in gold, diamonds, gas and rice imports, timber exports, printing and Liberia’s shipping registry business, which is among the world’s largest. Diplomats and Liberian business figures describe a system in which six or seven prominent Liberians close to Taylor control all but 10 percent of the country’s export and import businesses.
Six or seven? This is an easy problem to solve! Paging Mr. Clark ...
The Liberians speaking out insist on anonymity for fear of retribution. Longtime international officials in Monrovia, also unwilling to give their names, confirm the accounts.

Gasoline - an essential commodity powering generators in a country without electricity since 1992 - is offloaded at the government-controlled port for less than $1 a gallon. At the pumps, it sells at the state-dictated price - around $3.20 a gallon.
It’s more expensive in Phoenix!
Rice - Liberia’s staple - is charged import duties and other taxes totaling $5.50 per 110-pound sack, much higher than in other West African countries, said Georges Haddad, a Lebanese businessman who Liberians say is the nation’s sole rice importer. Haddad said he imports about 1 million bags of rice a year but does not run a monopoly.

Taylor at one point took ownership of 52 percent of the country’s sole printing company for free. ``He made them an offer they couldn’t refuse,’’ the EU’s Rudd said without elaborating.

Seventy percent of the world’s container ships fly Liberia’s star-and-striped banner under a so-called ``flag of convenience’’ arrangement that lowers shipping lines’ taxes. Diplomats say that generates about $24 million annually. ``Which bank account is that money going into? We’ll need to figure that out,’’ Jacques Klein, an American serving as the U.N. envoy to Liberia, said.

How much the country’s mineral and natural reserves netted Taylor’s government may never be known. For years, Liberians watched Taylor accrue lavish mansions and plantations. One businessman said anyone who spoke about Taylor’s take from gold and diamonds might not live long. With government forces specializing in torture and summary execution, rights groups said, few dared speak out. With Taylor gone, they are starting to.

``We’re endowed with such great resources,’’ said Philip Wesseh, publisher of Liberia’s The Inquirer newspaper. ``It’s in the way it is managed. We shouldn’t be a poor country.’’
So Phil, start publishing and get the word out.
An EU study said Liberia had about $172 million in revenues in 2002. That year, the government budgeted expenditures of $62 million - but received less than 45 percent of that, the study said. ``Where the balance went, we don’t know,’’ Rudd said. Taylor refused outside audits of government ledgers.
Of course!
It also is not known exactly how much money Taylor has in Swiss bank accounts. ``He had to buy weapons, keep his people happy and get all those Mercedes-Benzes for his girlfriends,’’ said Robert Ferguson, a U.S. Embassy official who tracks Liberia’s business community.
Wonder if Benz gave him a preferred discount?
Switzerland promised in June to freeze all assets linked to the indicted war-crimes suspect, who was the target of U.N. sanctions concerning arms, travel and timber.
I’ll bet they did, too, and now are getting ready to claim the stash for themselves.
Taylor’s exile agreement with Nigeria prohibits him from any dealings with Blah or from influencing the peace process, diplomats said. Full terms of the exile deal have not been disclosed. Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo - credited with taking the lead in persuading Taylor to leave - has been asked by foreign officials in Liberia to shut off Taylor’s phones, Rudd said. ``He’s just trying to destabilize the situation. I think he’s trying to prove that he’s not the problem, that this place is insecure, that people will always fight,’’ Rudd said.
Just cut off the supply of blond wigs. That should do it.
Obasanjo summoned Taylor to his own farm last week to read the riot act to Chuckie collect his cut get some pointers on how to steal large sums of money discuss the pro-Taylor militias in Liberia that Nigerian-led peacekeepers want reined in, a Nigerian government official said on condition of anonymity.

Diplomats and other observers say Liberia’s financial success depends on abolishing Taylor’s influence, unraveling Liberia’s jerry-built economy and directing revenues into government coffers and the pockets of civil servants - many of whom have not been paid for two years. ``The solution is open markets, competition and a strong legislature to check the executive,’’ said Wesseh, the publisher. ``We need accountability and not patronage. We need a new system.’’
Posted by: Steve White || 09/07/2003 2:30:56 PM || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So let's see how successful the UN is at nation-building in Liberia. We'll compare it with what we're doing in Iraq, and see which nation 'recovers' first. Both are about equal in resources, if they're properly exploited.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 09/07/2003 16:02 Comments || Top||

#2  We'll end up taking care of Liberia too.
Posted by: Charles || 09/07/2003 21:19 Comments || Top||


East Asia
Japan Experiencing Rising Crime
EFL from the NY Times. First we hear the US is actually a bit safer than Europe, and now this. This is sad if this is the way Japan is trending.

Crime has risen sharply in Japan in the last few years, altering everyday lives, especially of city dwellers, and for the first time becoming a hot political issue. In one of the world’s safest countries, where people had not even been conscious of crime until a few years ago, almost everyone now knows someone who has been robbed or whose house has been broken into.

While overall numbers are still low — the annual murder total has remained around 1,300 for the last decade — nationwide statistics from the National Police Agency show a rapid rise particularly in crimes affecting ordinary people. From 1998 to 2002, robberies went up 104 percent, car thefts 75 percent, purse snatchings 48 percent and burglaries 42 percent. A general category comprising six serious crimes swelled 75 percent.

Today, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who is seeking re-election on Sept. 20 as leader of the governing Liberal Democratic Party, convened a full cabinet meeting on crime and said he would introduce an anticrime plan by year’s end.

"We cannot say Japan is the world’s safest country any more," the prime minister said. "The whole nation needs to tackle this crime issue." The National Police Agency last week announced plans to hire 10,000 more police officers over the next three years, on top of a similar increase approved last year.

The police will focus on what they describe as the twin causes of rising crime: foreign criminal gangs and Japanese youths.

Experts identify the prolonged economic recession and a sharp drop in traditional Japanese values as two reasons for increased youth crime. "Among the youths the basic notion of not being a nuisance to others has declined, and adults are responsible for that," said Shinichiro Kuwahara, a deputy director of the National Police Agency. "There are many parents who won’t admit their kids’ wrongdoings. They say, `Why pick on my child?’ Parents used to apologize: `I failed to raise and discipline my child properly.’ " Next week: lawsuits over spilled hot coffee!

Unlike most Japanese criminals, the foreigners work in groups. Experts say these foreigners, many of them Chinese, often overstay student visas and then begin stealing goods, especially cars, to sell back home.

After polls showed that public safety was a top concern of voters here in the capital, Governor Shintaro Ishihara made being tough on crime a pillar of his re-election campaign in the spring.

After an easy victory, for the first time in Tokyo’s history Mr. Ishihara appointed as his lieutenant governor not a politician, but a high-ranking police official famous for his tough stance against organized crime. "There was a safety myth here — that Japan was a safe place without doing anything," said the lieutenant governor, Yutaka Takehana, who keeps a Japanese book about another famous crimefighter, Rudolph W. Giuliani, in his office. "But now that myth has collapsed."

Japan remains a country where women still leave their handbags unattended in restaurants and office workers ride the bullet train and go to sleep without worrying about their briefcases. So any rise in crime is transformative.



Posted by: Baba Yaga || 09/07/2003 12:50:41 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Wonder what the"Yakuza"is upto theses'days.
Posted by: raptor || 09/07/2003 13:47 Comments || Top||

#2  The Yakuza try to maintain a low profile. I knew a couple that was unknowlingly wondering in a bad area of Tokyo on a tourist trip. A kind fellow in a white suit (missing a few fingers) gave them a lift back to their hotel. Afterwards, they realized what he was, and figured that having having gaijin being victimized by crime in that area would draw unwanted police attention.
Posted by: A Jackson || 09/07/2003 15:21 Comments || Top||

#3  Agreed. The Yakuza prefers to think of itself as the shadow government of Japan, a concept which harkens back to the era when many of the men who eventually became the Yakuza were disposessed samurai, financially broken minor nobles, and the occasional noble who'd been on the losing side in one of the fights for control of the government.

I'm not saying they're nice people. They are NOT. But they do prefer to think of themselves as champions of the little people (In a "Godfather-ish" sort of way) and when they can indulge that feeling, they do so. Provided, of course, that any such charitable acts don't get in the way of making money. Heh.

They also tend to be ultra-patriots (again, as long as it doesn't interfere with profits), and deeply resent the Chinese Tongs moving in on what they see as THEIR private property.

Ed.
Posted by: Ed Becerra || 09/07/2003 18:05 Comments || Top||


Iran
Iran attempted al-Qaida swap with US
Iran repeatedly offered to exchange al-Qaeda suspects in its custody for Iranian opposition leaders exiled in the United States, a German newspaper has reported. Tehran proposed to swap al-Qaeda leaders for members of the Iranian People's Mujahideen opposition group, the German weekly Welt am Sonntag reported in its edition to be published on Sunday. Quoting "German and Iranian intelligence services", the paper said Iran wanted the deal to be kept secret and to include its own removal from Washington's "axis of evil" list of countries. But US authorities "did not take them seriously", the paper said, despite receiving several such offers, some using Germany as an intermediary, between October 2002 and February this year.
Probably because we knew they weren't serious...
On one occasion in November 2002, an Iranian representative is reported to have offered to deliver 12 al-Qaeda leaders to a western embassy in Tehran, from where they could be flown straight to Washington. The German weekly also reported that Iranian intelligence had intercepted three telephone conversations between Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaida members over the past two weeks. The interceptions reportedly failed to confirm the whereabouts of bin Ladin, believed to be hiding somewhere near the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
That's significant, if it's true...
Iranian authorities claim to have arrested and extradited members of al-Qaida since September 2001.
But they haven't mentioned any names...
Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi recently said that al-Qaida detainees in Iran would stand trial "if it turns out they have carried out violent acts against Iranian national security". According to various sources, al-Qaida members still in Iranian custody include Suleiman Abu Ghaith, wanted by the United States as one of the group's suspected ringleaders. Following Kharazi's recent visit to Kuwait, a Kuwaiti newspaper Al Anbaa reported that the country could act as an intermediary between Tehran and Washington over the issue of al-Qaida prisoners.
So maybe there is something going on in the back channels...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 09/07/2003 12:42 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  There was a Washington Post story the other day explaining that the Jordanians tried to extradite Zarqawi after the Foley but the Iranians gave them the run-around. The Saudis apparently got the same story when they tried to get Saad.

TGA, you want to comment on this one?
Posted by: Dan Darling || 09/07/2003 13:27 Comments || Top||

#2  This sounds legit to me. The German Welt has a long reputation of being on of the most US-friendly major paper in Germany. German intel likes to use this paper for "friendly leaks". Obviously the Iranians wanted to fly out the terrorists secretly and leave it up to the U.S. to announce where they have been "captured". This includes Saad Bin Laden, a son of Binny, who is said to reside in a wealthy neighborhood in the North Western part of Teheran. A possible phone call to Binny has been traced back to Saad's mobile phone. Maybe he used a Swiss pre paid card. These are popular with people who want to mask their traces because they could be purchased anonymously (no longer though).
Posted by: True German Ally || 09/07/2003 15:47 Comments || Top||

#3  I honestly hope that trading jinadis with the Iranians is not an option.
Posted by: Super Hose || 09/07/2003 21:32 Comments || Top||


Middle East
Sheikh Yassin promises Dire Revenge™
Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, the founder of Hamas, has responded with characteristic defiance to an Israeli air strike that wounded him and 14 others on Saturday.
"You're gonna get it! You're really gonna get it!"
The spiritual leader of the Islamist resistance group was injured after a quarter-tonne bomb dropped by an Israeli F-16 slammed into a Palestinian apartment block in a densely populated area of Gaza City. “The Israeli enemy have lost their minds completely,” he told Al jazeera in an exclusive interview later in the day.
"Those people are crazy, targeting a poor old holy man like me..."
“They deal with everything by force, and forget that they are facing the Palestinian people, who will never surrender.”
Two words: Bus bombing.
He also appealed to the international community to hear the plight of the Palestinian people. “We say to the world: Where are you? When a Zionist is killed you stand up and take notice, but when a Palestinian is killed you are silent,” he said.
"We're so put upon! Nobody loves us!"
The wheelchair-bound Yasin, a co-founder of Hamas and its revered spiritual leader, has been treated for injuries to his right shoulder and hand at Shifa Hospital.
Got his hand caught in the car door when he was making his getaway, huh? Damn, that hurts!
Yassn was among several Hamas leaders holding a meeting at the home of senior Hamas official and Islamic University lecturer, Dr Marwan Abu Ras, immediately before the strike. Among them were high-ranking officials Muhammad Deif and Ismail Haniyeh.
Just an innocent get-together with friends. I mean, they were probably just having a few drinks, watching the game on the teevee...
Abu Ras said the missile struck his home moments after Yassin and Haniyeh evacuated the building after hearing Israeli aircraft overhead. Seventeen other people were injured in the attack, most of them women and children.
Didn't take any of them with them, did they? Tusk tusk.
Yassin threatened counter-attacks, confirming fears that the strikes would perpetuate the cycle of violence, especially in the wake of the resignation of Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, who had previously persuaded Hamas and other resistance groups to observe a ceasefire.
And very well they observed it, too!
“Israel is forgetting that it is faced by people who seek martyrdom,” Yassin said. “If they think that targeting me or any leaders of Hamas will discourage them from jihad, they are deluding themselves. If they expect us to raise the white flag this is also a delusion.”
"We got lotsa people willing to die for us..."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 09/07/2003 12:33 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Too bad they only used a quarter ton bomb. A one ton bomb might have done the trick. An interesting question is what is going through the mind of the Al Asqa and Fatah types. They may be happy their rivals are getting physically hit on the other hand, they had been doing contract killings for Hamas and that revenue stream might be drying up.
Posted by: mhw || 09/07/2003 13:15 Comments || Top||

#2  Cause cause cause before this we were just gonna let the Jews live in peace and quit targeting their children for slaughter...

buuuuuut now! lookout! cause we're realllly mad now!
Posted by: DANEgerus || 09/07/2003 21:06 Comments || Top||

#3  Best comment still belongs to Fred or Frank for "Wheelchair--don't fail me now" OMFG--my side hurts
Posted by: Not Mike Moore || 09/07/2003 23:28 Comments || Top||

#4  “We say to the world: Where are you? When a Zionist is killed you stand up and take notice, but when a Palestinian is killed you are silent,” he said.

Erm, what Yassin fails to mention is that the "Zionists" that get killed by the hand of his followers, are civilians. On the other hand, the "Palestinians" that the IDF goes after are known terrorists. Reasonable people see the difference.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 09/07/2003 23:56 Comments || Top||


Arafat chairs talks on new PM
As Yasser Arafat chaired talks on the choice of a new prime minister, a close ally of his said the Palestinian president was likely to reappoint Mahmud Abbas.
"I think the likely option is that he will ask Prime Minister Abbas to form the government again," said Saeb Erekat on Sunday.
Yeah. That makes sense. Not a lot of sense, but sense...
The top Palestinian negotiator, Erakat also said Abbas' resignation was still unofficial because he had not yet submitted a formal letter. But Abbas himself tried to dampen down speculation on Sunday he might reconsider his decision. Asked whether he would accept the post again, he said: "Do I look stoopid? It's very premature to talk about this right now. My resignation is final." Abbas offered to resign on Saturday after failing to make headway with the US-backed peace plan known as the road map. He blamed Israel for undermining his position and accused the US of failing to make Israel comply with the road map. But he has also cited his inability to wrest sufficient powers from Arafat and hostility by some Palestinians towards him as reasons for his decision to step down.
The death threats may have had something to do with it, too...
However, Abbas' latest comments appeared to leave open the possibility of a reconciliation with Arafat in the future. "President Arafat has five options," said Erakat an interview with the BBC.
  • "Option number one is to accept the resignation, which he has not done yet because he (Abbas) has to send the written letter.
    Except that he did...
  • "Secondly, he can reject the resignation.
    Rumor has it he's accepted it. That was the whole idea, after all...
  • "Thirdly, he can begin consultations, which he began last night.
    This is the "do nothing and look like you're busy" option...
  • "Fourthly ... he can accept the resignation and ask Abu Mazin (as Abbas is also known) to form the government again.
    Which makes no sense from either man's point of view, thereby making it the most likely...
  • "Fifthly, he may accept the resignation and ask somebody else.
    "Hello, Ahmed? Yasser. Say! What're you doing these days?"
"I think President Arafat is weighing these options and I think the likely option is that he will ask Prime Minister Abbas to form the government again." Erakat stressed the Palestinian leadership was still interested in the US-backed road map. "We want to keep the American administration engaged, we want the quartet to revive its role in terms of maintaining the road map on the table."
"I mean, we rejected it, spit on it, used it for toilet paper, but that doesn't mean we're not interested..."
Erakat’s comments came as Arafat chaired a meeting of the central committee of his Fatah movement at what remains of his offices in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Fatah is the biggest bloc in the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO). Suddenly back at the centre of Palestinian politics despite Israeli and US attempts to sideline him, Arafat was then due to meet the executive committee of the PLO to discuss the appointment of a prime minister.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 09/07/2003 12:23 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Suddenly back at the centre of Palestinian politics despite Israeli and US attempts to sideline him, Arafat was then due to meet the executive committee of the PLO to discuss the appointment of a prime minister. "

who's he gonna talk to? himself? everyone else is hiding or refusing to talk to him
Posted by: Frank G || 09/07/2003 13:51 Comments || Top||

#2  Fuck Arafat. Kill him, and kill him NOW.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 09/07/2003 23:25 Comments || Top||


US Says Arafat Must Cede Control of Security Forces
U.S. leaders, responding to the resignation of Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, on Sunday blamed Palestinian President Yasser Arafat for hindering progress toward Middle East peace and said he must relinquish control of security forces. But they opposed any expulsion of Arafat, which has been urged by some Israeli officials, saying this could give the veteran Palestinian leader a wider stage to work from. White House national security adviser Condoleezza Rice said Arafat had "hamstrung" Abbas in his efforts to control the security forces and urged the Palestinian Authority to "get an empowered prime minister and let him work." Washington has said that despite the setback of Abbas's resignation it remains committed to the "road map" peace plan introduced this summer and which was being pushed strongly by President Bush. "It's not surprising Yasser Arafat has been an obstacle to peace before, he's an obstacle to peace now," she said.
Good. We're not going to just sit back and let things return to the way they were a year ago...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 09/07/2003 11:59 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  But they opposed any expulsion of Arafat, which has been urged by some Israeli officials, saying this could give the veteran Palestinian leader a wider stage to work from.

Fine. Then KILL the guy.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 09/07/2003 23:28 Comments || Top||


Africa: East
SUDAN: Austrian oil company pulls out
The Austrian government-controlled OMV oil company, operating in Sudan's controversial oil fields, sold its interests this week to India's oil and natural gas company, ONGC Videsh. OMV Company spokesman, Thomas Huemer, told IRIN the company's oil exploration in Sudan was a financial engagement, and that it had decided to put its money elsewhere. "It's a normal thing to do," he said. The company had decided to pull out - in a deal worth US $115 million - for "strategic and economic" reasons, he said. This is the third western company to sell up in Sudan, following numerous reports documenting human rights abuses around the oil fields, and campaigns by human rights groups who say the country's oil industry - worth at least US $ 1 billion a year - has exacerbated the 20 year conflict, by providing the revenue which pays for it. Canadian company Talisman sold its interests in March to the same Indian company and Swedish Lundin sold some of its shares in June to Malaysia's Petronas.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 09/07/2003 11:47 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I don't know whay you would pull out of the Sudan. I hear the price of Christian labor is pretty low in that country.
Posted by: Super Hose || 09/07/2003 14:00 Comments || Top||


Africa: Central
LRA gets close to presidential guard
The Lords Resistance Army (LRA), which is active along the Soroti-Lira road in eastern Uganda's Teso district, on Friday attacked a truck further up the road along which President Yoweri Museveni’s own security convoy was travelling. "It was very nearby," army spokesman Maj Shaban Bantariza told IRIN. "Possibly about 25 minutes before the president’s arrival, according to our sources on the ground. When they got to the scene the rebels had already fled. They were not within shooting range.”
"Just a coincidence. Nothing to see here. Move along..."
Presidential Press Secretary Mary Okurut said no changes to the president’s travel plans in Teso region were being scheduled. “This was not an attack on the president, they just arrived to find an ambush had taken place. We’ll be continuing as normal,” she said. Meanwhile, the Ugandan Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) say they are making progress in driving the LRA out of Teso region. “We are diminishing [LRA leader Joseph] Kony’s means to make war," Bantariza told IRIN. "We have armed militias in six sub-counties in Teso and we are having much success in capturing and killing these thugs, and recovering their weapons.”
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 09/07/2003 11:40 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  nothing to see here, go about your business
Posted by: Frank G || 09/07/2003 11:59 Comments || Top||


Africa: East
Darfur Ceasefire Accord Signed
The Sudanese government and Darfur-based rebel Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) signed a ceasefire accord in the Chadian town of Abeche on Wednesday under the auspices of the Chadian government, Sudanese television reported on Thursday. Ismat Abd-al-Rahman Zayn-al-Abidin, the commander of Western Military Area, signed on behalf of the government and SLA army chief of staff Abdullah Al Bakr signed on behalf of the rebels. The signing ceremony was attended by Abdullah Moussa Abderahmane, the Chadian minister of public security and immigration. "The agreement covered ceasefire, cessation of all operations that contribute to the deterioration of the situation [in Darfur], ways of controlling armed irregular groups, and release of all prisoners of war and those detained in connection with the crisis from both sides," the television said. The accord will go into effect on 6 September for a duration of 45 days, it added.
Bad move on the part of the Darfur rebels. Khartoum isn't noted for its good faith and ability to adhere to its agreements...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 09/07/2003 11:25 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  What,no mention of the Christian slaves.

Damn,I keep forgetting they are Dhimmi and kafirs,not worthy of consideration.Wonder if the decendant's of Aerican slaves will consider shareing soe of that"reparitions"money.
Posted by: raptor || 09/07/2003 11:39 Comments || Top||

#2  Jezzz,guess I had better have more coffee,thought I had checked my spelling.
Posted by: raptor || 09/07/2003 11:48 Comments || Top||

#3  Couldn't we swap Nation of Islam members for the slaves?
Posted by: Super Hose || 09/07/2003 14:02 Comments || Top||

#4  They need slaves who won't commit suicide and not go on Jihads, SH.

Might I suggest the DNC?
Posted by: Charles || 09/07/2003 21:22 Comments || Top||


Middle East
Abbas Cites Internal Interference in Resignation
edited for the interesting stuff
Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian prime minister, tendered his resignation yesterday, citing interference by Yasser Arafat and insufficient support from Israel, the United States, and Palestinians...
His mummy and his dog unavailable for comment, apparently.
...Legislators said Arafat, the elected leader of the Palestinian Authority, had accepted Abbas’s resignation and under Palestinian law has three weeks to name a new prime minister. Palestinian Cabinet minister Yasser Abed Rabbo, speaking to reporters after Abbas explained to legislators during a two-hour closed-door session in Ramallah why he decided to quit, said, "This is a national crisis."
Sheesh, and everything was going so well.
Abed Rabbo blamed Israel for the crisis and said Sharon’s "repeated violations" of the road map made it impossible for Abbas to succeed as prime minister.
"It wuz them! It's always them!"
But others who attended the meeting said Abbas, 68, widely known as Abu Mazen, explained his resignation mainly in terms of the power struggle he waged with Arafat and the difficulty of reining in Islamic militants responsible for a long spree of suicide attacks against Israel. "He only talked about internal [Palestinian] matters. He did not mention external issues," Jamal Shati, a legislator from the West Bank town of Jenin, said in an interview outside the Parliament building. Shati said Abbas, whom Arafat appointed in April under pressure from Washington, protested in the meeting over Arafat’s refusal to cede control of most Palestinian security agencies and his meddling in government appointments. Several legislators said the tipping point for Abbas was a violent demonstration Thursday in which activists of his Fatah party rampaged at a Parliament meeting and called him a traitor. In his brief tenure as prime minister, Abbas’s approval rating never topped a few percentage points.
He could still win in California.
During a speech to Parliament on Thursday, Abbas cited a cease-fire he coaxed from Hamas and other militant groups as the main accomplishment of his young government, along with financial reforms and some Israeli troop pullbacks in the West Bank and Gaza.
So the party line is the usual suspects, Israel, Bush, etc., done kilt the roadmap, but the truth is that the Prime Mover of Unpeace never relinquished control. Hmmm, what to do, what to do? Yassir’s death wish may not go unheeded much longer.
Posted by: Mark IV || 09/07/2003 10:17:07 AM || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Abbas is a screw-up. He can't even resign correctly. He's supposed to claim a need to spend more time with his family.
Posted by: Super Hose || 09/07/2003 10:42 Comments || Top||

#2  Of course blowing-up a bus load of women and kids had nothing to do with the failure of the peace process.
Guess these,morons think we in the west are"As dumb as a box of rocks".
Posted by: raptor || 09/07/2003 11:06 Comments || Top||

#3  No, they realize that we have a short attention span. Six months from now the busload of victims will have been forgotten, but they'll keep repeating that the Israelis killed the road map and that'll become what really happened to Rooters and CNN.
Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2003 11:21 Comments || Top||

#4  Agreed, Raptor these bastards must PAY for that--but it's the Saudis--not the Paleos (to use your nomenclature)who did that shit. And the Saudis will never pay because they are the Bush allies
Posted by: Not Mike Moore || 09/07/2003 23:33 Comments || Top||

#5  Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian prime minister, tendered his resignation yesterday, citing interference by Yasser Arafat and insufficient support from Israel, the United States, and Palestinians...

Had the guy taken the initiative and formed his own forces to root out and slice up the various terrorist organizations, it's likely that Mazen would have gotten all the "support" he would have wanted. Instead, he avoids doing what needs to be done with lame excuses such as he doesn't want to start a civil war, or that Arafat won't give him control of security forces. This is all nothing but BULLSHIT, and unfortunately, since GWB and the State Dept. are so hardheaded, this probably isn't going to be the last time that this runaround is going to happen.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 09/07/2003 23:49 Comments || Top||


Hamas snuffy has work accident
JPost - Reg Req’d
Palestinians found the body of Hamas militant Abu Al-Hasmi Sunday near the Jabalya refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.
Fairly large parts of it, anyway...
Al-Hasmi was apparently killed while working on an explosives device to be used in a terror attack, Israel Radio reported.
"Hmmm... Red wire to green wire?... Nope. That didn't work. How about red to black? Lessee if that works... [BOOM!]"
Earlier in the day, shots were fired at an Israeli car traveling near the Kissufim Junction in the Gaza Strip. No injuries were reported in the attack. Also Sunday, several mortars were fired at the Gaza Strip settlement of Neveh Dekalim. There were no reports of injuries in the attack but light damage was caused. IDF troops, operating in the Gaza Strip, arrested a wanted Palestinian militant Saturday night in Rafiah.
Runup to Dire Revenge™? Keep the pressure on
Posted by: Frank G || 09/07/2003 9:37:21 AM || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Al-Hasmi was apparently killed while working on an explosives device to be used in a terror attack, Israel Radio reported.

It doesnt get any better than this. The Hamas killers are clearly losing this battle and they are committing suicide before they have a chance to kill people who want to live their lives.

Let the IDF help, Hamas. All the worrying and waiting and expense: all gone. Go on, light up that cell phone. Let us show you what truly inspired strategy can accomplish.
Posted by: badanov || 09/07/2003 10:34 Comments || Top||

#2  With hard deadlines bombmaking gets more stressful and mistakes happen. I've always heard that its better to have a cease-fire going if you get the most out of your bombmaking shop.
Posted by: Super Hose || 09/07/2003 10:45 Comments || Top||

#3  Awwwwww...Did the wittle bombmaker get a boo-boo?

Ain't that just too bad! :-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 09/07/2003 10:51 Comments || Top||

#4  it just makes my morning to post an article like this, and I'd like to thank all the little bits of people that make it all possible, starting with Hamas militant Abu Al-Hasmi
Posted by: Frank G || 09/07/2003 10:59 Comments || Top||

#5  One theory going around is the Israel special forces are doping possible bomb making material, so when assembled it will go boom. This makes the bomb makers a bit worry about his source of material. But when the cowards above you insist that you make more Jew-killing devices, you've got to take your life into your own hand.
Posted by: BigFire || 09/07/2003 11:12 Comments || Top||

#6  From: Sheik Yassin
To: Hamas Bomb Production Department
Re: Requiring tests for Color-blindmess

It has come to my attention recently that several workers in the bomb construction department have filed for workmen's compensation for work-related injuries. Further investigation indicates that they connected the red wire instead of the green wire.

I propose that we begin testing our workers for color blindness. It will help lower our compensation payments, and increase worker morale. Please take whatever steps are necessary to make this happen.

If you have any questions about this new policy, please contact me via carrier pigeon rather than using my cell phone number.

Yours in Allah,
Ahmed
Posted by: snellenr || 09/07/2003 11:24 Comments || Top||

#7  Requiring tests for Color-blindmess

The ADA answer of course is numbered wires, textured wires, braille wires, talking wires, smelly wires and a color-helper.
Posted by: Shipman || 09/07/2003 11:30 Comments || Top||

#8  The ADA answer of course is numbered wires, textured wires, braille wires, talking wires, smelly wires and a color-helper.
All the better! That way, we can snuff two at a time! "Double your pleasure, double your fun, blow up two instead of one..." Hey, works for me.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 09/07/2003 11:59 Comments || Top||

#9  These stories always make me happy! ;-)
Posted by: Cyber Sarge (VRWC CA Chapter) || 09/07/2003 20:35 Comments || Top||

#10  The wiring problem is probably just about good lighting. Maybe switching to flourescent and away from using cigarette lighters during assembly would help.
Posted by: flash91 || 09/07/2003 21:23 Comments || Top||

#11  One a day. That's all we ask.
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/07/2003 21:26 Comments || Top||

#12  " Somebody get the broom, Abu blew himself up! "

" Another one? Geez, it's getting harder and harder to find good joo-killing device makers these days. "
Posted by: Charles || 09/07/2003 21:29 Comments || Top||

#13  You guys are sick--he was lighting the tea lights for a Pampered Chef Party when the propane tank went BOOM /saracasm
Posted by: Not Mike Moore || 09/07/2003 23:38 Comments || Top||



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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 2003-09-07
  Yassin promises Dire Revenge™
Sat 2003-09-06
  Missed, dammit! IAF rockets Sheikh Yassin
Fri 2003-09-05
  U.S. Says Talibs on the Run, 70 to 100 Toe Tags
Thu 2003-09-04
  Army raids suspected rebel hide-out in Indian Kashmir - 7 Dead
Wed 2003-09-03
  Caucasus train boom kills four
Tue 2003-09-02
  Car boom at Baghdad cop shop
Mon 2003-09-01
  Two more Hamas snuffied zapped in Gaza
Sun 2003-08-31
  Five Paks held in Thailand for terrorist links
Sat 2003-08-30
  Two more Hamas snuffies zapped
Fri 2003-08-29
  Hakim boomed in Najaf
Thu 2003-08-28
  Ashkelon hit by Palestinian Kassam missile
Wed 2003-08-27
  Coalition Daisy Cuts Talibase?
Tue 2003-08-26
  Israel Rockets Gaza City Targets
Mon 2003-08-25
  Bombay boom kills at least 42
Sun 2003-08-24
  IAF bangs four Hamas bigs

Better than the average link...



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