An attacker armed with a machine gun has fired at an expatriate housing compound in eastern Riyadh, a Saudi security official said. The shots were fired from a moving car towards the Seder Village compound on Friday night. Although there were no injuries from the attack it appeared to be the latest hit-and-run strike against foreign targets in the kingdom. The Saudi Gazette newspaper quoted Seder Village manager Richard May as saying an explosive device "like a big firecracker" was also thrown at the complex, which like other expatriate compounds is defended by members of the Saudi National Guard. Interior Ministry security affairs spokesman Brigadier General Mansur Turki said police were searching Riyadh for the car used in the shooting. Up to four people might have been involved, he said. Saudi officials, who accuse the insurgents of belonging to al-Qaida, say they have succeeded in destroying four cells and infiltrating a fifth. Diplomats say the recent attacks show that armed groups, although weakened, can still strike.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/03/2004 11:01:14 AM ||
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#1
We need to convince the Saudis of the wisdom of our Second Amendment for expats and then return fire. Either that or get the expats out of there. Let the fri__ing Saudis run their own oil refineries.
Posted by: John ||
10/03/2004 11:25 Comments ||
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A British court is to try an alleged former Afghan warlord in the first case of its kind since Britain ratified a 1988 convention allowing it to try crimes of torture committed abroad, a legal source told AFP Saturday. Zardad Khan, now running a pizza parlour in a London suburb, will face charges of murder, kidnapping, theft and torture in the 1990s when he appears in court Monday, the source said.
[KNOCK KNOCK!]
"Maudette! The pizza man's here! He's got a gun! And a bludgeon!"
"Hmmm... Why don't you get it, dear?"
Zardad Khan, a Pashtun, also known as Commander Zardad and Zardad Faryadi Sarwar, was in charge of roadblocks preventing access to the Afghan capital Kabul during the siege of the city. From 1992 to 1996 he and his men controlled the town of Sarobi on the road between Kabul and Jalalabad.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/03/2004 12:03:02 AM ||
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#1
Commander Zardad just came to London for a 'pizza' the action, like the rest of us..
Posted by: Howard UK ||
10/03/2004 9:29 Comments ||
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Gaaah! Howard, what a base pun. Cheesy! Not sure about topping it though...
CHERBOURG, France (Reuters) - French police have detained a Greenpeace boat and two activists ahead of the arrival of a U.S. shipment of bomb-grade plutonium on two British-registered ships, the environmental pressure group says. The shipment is due to arrive in France late on Monday. Dozens of activists have since Saturday awaited the arrival of the two ships, escorted by armed commandos, at the port of Cherbourg in northern France. Activists question the wisdom of transporting such security-sensitive cargo at a time of heightened risk of terror attacks globally. French nuclear energy firm Areva, whose Cogema unit will recycle the 140 kg (308 lb) of plutonium, said it would only release information on the shipment from Charleston, South Carolina, a few hours ahead of its arrival. "The two ships transporting the plutonium should arrive on Monday night," said a Greenpeace spokesman. He said the activists were detained while putting up a protest banner. Despite the oddity of this happening in France, such an event should serve as a signal to the greens that their attempts to generate publicity or draw attention to potential terrorist targets shall not be tolerated. Many political groups will need to rethink their actions in light of global terrorism or increasingly find themselves categorized with those terror operatives.
The shipment is part of a post-Cold War agreement between the United States and Russia to get rid of plutonium from excess nuclear warheads. Greenpeace criticised the transport, saying on arrival in Cherbourg the plutonium would be driven over 1,000 km (660 miles) in vulnerable trucks to a factory in southeast France. Of course, Greenpeace takes no responsibility with regard to how they have centered attention upon these "vulnerable trucks" for any curious terrorist cells. Way to go, @ssholes.
Areva's Cogema unit will recycle the plutonium into nuclear fuel at its Cadarache and Marcoule plants in southeastern France and ship it back to the United States, which plans to use it in an electricity-generating reactor. It is part of the U.S. Department of Energy's controversial programme to turn plutonium from the "excess" nuclear warheads into mixed-oxide (MOX) plutonium-uranium enriched fuel. Critics fear the fuel could potentially be used to build nuclear weapons. Actually, America may have a need for some more warheads in the very near future. Iran's been coveting them for quite a while now and it's about time to make their wish come true.
#1
Actually, this program makes a lot of sense. Turning weapons grade plutonium to MOX recycles the dangerous plutonium into something useful that can be used as fuel without mining any more uranium. The more of this radioactive material we can reprocess and recycle, the safer we all are and the more energy independent we can be.
Now all we have to do is to implement the plan and get through the nutcase gauntlet.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/03/2004 18:09 Comments ||
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Actually, nuke power is the one thing I can think of that the Frogs got right. Back in the 70's, they built dozens of nuke power reactors, vowing to have only two sources of electric power, hydro and nuclear. They succeeded. When the various Greenie organizations tried to interfere, the Frogs simply locked them up. They did not tolerate the anti-nuke "dissent" that plagued the rest of the world and killed off our nascent nuke power industry before it got a good start. They have pioneered the "glass ball" system of handling high-level waste, and are world leaders in re-refining fissionable materials.
#3
If Greenpeace boats come within 100 meters of this very dangerous cargo or the ships carrying it I would hope the 30 mm cannon that the ships carry will be put to use. I am not talking about warning shots. I am talking about disabling the ships. Let the authorities deal with them then. While the ships are still at sea they have a right to defend themselves from these Greenpeace terrorist/activists.
#4
So the Greenpeace boys are criticizing the fact that our bomb-grade plutonium from nuclear weapons is being recycled to MOX, because the MOX could then be used to ... build nuclear weapons.
I suppose that makes sense, but damned if I know how.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/03/2004 22:44 Comments ||
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What Rivrdog said. Would that our own country had as sensible, pro-nuclear energy policy as France's.
Also like the part about locking up the greenies--though that might not even be necessary anymore. Even those idiots are beginning to voice support for shifting toward nuclear power.
A military prosecutor has charged 35 Arab nationals and alleged members of an al-Qaeda-linked terror group with plotting to bomb foreign targets in Lebanon, including the Italian and Ukrainian diplomatic missions, judicial officials said Saturday. But only nine of the 35 defendants are in police custody, the officials said on condition of anonymity. The remaining suspects, including Lebanese, Saudis, Palestinians and Syrians, remain at large.
"But don't worry, we got them surrounded!"
Lebanese police, in cooperation with Italian intelligence authorities, arrested 10 Lebanese men on Sept. 17 over alleged plots to bomb the Italian and Ukrainian diplomatic missions in Beirut, assassinate Western diplomats and attack Lebanese security facilities. One of the 10 detainees, Ismail Mohammed al-Khatib, died in custody last week from what police said was a heart attack. Thousands of al-Khatib supporters denounced Lebanese authorities, plus the United States and Israel, following his death.
Beirut military court judge Jean Fahd issued an indictment sheet Wednesday laying out the charges and accusations against the 35 suspects, which was also published in Lebanese newspapers. Of the 26 suspects at large, four are Saudis, five Palestinians and three Syrians. The remainder are either Lebanese citizens or people whose nationalities are unknown. Fahd accused the suspects of obtaining weapons and explosives to "carry out terrorist acts ... (by) targeting some foreign interests and security centers, including the Italian embassy in Beirut and Ukrainian consulate," plus local security targets.
The judge claimed that the suspects intended to use car bombs and other explosives to carry out the attacks.
Among the nine Lebanese men in custody is Ahmed Salim Mikati, who Lebanese officials have described as a mastermind of the plots and one of Lebanon's most dangerous criminals, who was allegedly trying to establish al-Qaida cells in the country. Mikati, 36, from northern Lebanon and the other detained suspects will be tried by a military court and if found guilty could face life in prison with hard labor. No trial date has been set.
Mikati was known to be hiding in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ein el-Hilweh on the outskirts of the southern Lebanese port city of Sidon. The camp is notorious for its lawlessness and as a refuge for fugitives and Islamic extremists. Lebanese authorities have no presence in the camps and officials did not say how they arrested al-Khatib.
Last month, Lebanese Prosecutor General Adnan Addoum Addoum said Mikati belonged to the "Dinniyah group" — a group of Muslim fundamentalists who fought Lebanese troops in the northern region of Dinniyah in 1999. More than 40 people, including 11 soldiers, were killed. While at large, the military court sentenced Mikati to death for involvement in attacks last year that wounded five people. That sentence is expected to stand now that he has been captured, but it remains unclear if authorities will actually carry out his execution.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/03/2004 12:24:38 AM ||
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Marines from Regimental Combat Team 7, 1st Marine Division, captured three foreign fighters Sept. 29, near Al Qaim. One Palestinian and two Syrians were taken into custody along with other local anti-Iraqi militants during the raid on a safe house near the Syrian border. In a related incident near Ar Ramadi Oct. 3, Soldiers from 2nd Brigade Combat Team, currently attached to the 1st Marine Division, discovered more than $350,000 in U.S. currency, more than $250,000 in U.S equivalent currency from 15 countries and several passports during a routine vehicle search.
US forces have carried out another air strike on the rebellious Iraqi city of Falluja, the third in 24 hours. They bombed a building which they said was being used by insurgents as a weapons store. The attack is said to have happened as up to 15 suspected militants were moving ammunition and weapons, probably killing most of those present. The US military said its attack on Falluja had severely damaged the targeted building, and triggered a wave of secondary explosions that indicated ammunition was being stored inside. (Bingo!)
In a statement, it said 10 to 15 rebels suspected of links with Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi were in the area at the time. "A large number of enemy fighters are presumed killed," it added. Two civilians were killed and 10 injured in the air strikes, the city's hospital said, while another two civilians were killed and two more wounded when a US tank fired on a house in the city's southern suburbs.
Earlier, American and Iraqi government forces said they had secured about 70% of Samarra, although they were still meeting some resistance. The Americans say more than 125 insurgents have been killed and 88 detained during the two-day assault on the city, but local doctors report that many civilians have been caught up in the fighting. "It is over in Samarra," Iraqi Defence Minister Hazem Shaalan said in an interview with Arab television network al-Arabiya. He said up to $40m was being allocated for reconstruction and compensation to residents of the embattled city. Reports say residents of Samarra - which lies on the main highway from Baghdad to northern Iraq - are too afraid to venture out. Witnesses in the centre of the city have spoken of American snipers shooting at anyone who appeared on the streets. Some 5,000 troops poured into Samarra during Friday in one of the biggest offensives since the invasion of Iraq.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/03/2004 12:01:25 PM ||
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#1
45 minutes worth of secondary explosions.
That is a LOT of muntion going off. Heavy stuff too, like mortar rounds and rockets if they were getting that much identifiable secondary signatures.
#2
I laughed when I read some lefty complaining this morning that "80% of the fighters had escaped", based on the official stats. Yeah, right. For some reason "125 killed" doesn't seem to jibe with one report describing "streets littered with bodies". Must be the work of the Good Cadaver Fairy, who takes away bodies and leaves a quarter behind.
#3
I'm waiting for the Lefties to start screaming about the "big, bad, mean Americans who destroyed the arms of the resistance, and are taking away their rights to defend themselves." Cry me a river....
#4
Interesting but I must go to listen to the inner voices and clean up the assault rifles and put high cap mags on my wish list for Christmas. It's been fun.
Posted by: John ||
10/03/2004 12:39 Comments ||
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ahhh...there's nothing like the smell of naplam in the morning!
#6
As usual, the Marines are doing a dirty job that was assigned them of cleaning out these areas of resistance and doing a professional job of it. We are proud of these people. Steady, systematic work will now get the work done. Sounds like the Iraqi forces are starting to contribute, too.
Our office manager has a son in Fallujah, a machine gunner. He is busy there.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/03/2004 15:25 Comments ||
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New York Times lead tomorrow: "Major Successes in Iraq War Bolster President's Position"
Nah, that one will be hauled off by the Bad News Fairy, who takes away good news and replaces it with:
"Bush Kills Baby Ducks, Fluffy Bunnies in Samarra"
Posted by: Matt ||
10/03/2004 15:34 Comments ||
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"Two civilians terrorists were killed and 10 injured in the air strikes, the city’s hospital chief of propaganda said, while another two civilians terrorists were killed and two more wounded when a US tank fired on a terrorist safe house in the city’s southern suburbs."
That is more accurate. Have a nice dirt nap scum bags.
Since the terrorists/insurgents in the cities fight in civilian clothes, it's very convenient for the MSM to report those killed are decent, law-abiding Iraqi citizens when, in actuality, the "civilians" were probably just reloading when they got snuffed.
#11
Saw a photograph somewhere on the net the other day. It showed three terrorists on a road wearing ski masks, holding the usual AK-47s, and wearing bandoleers. Where do they get all these ski masks in Iraq? Gotta be hot. I couldn't help but think what a rich set of targets for our snipers. No identification or sorting out problems. On the other hand it is a nice thought that maybe we did take care of business with these three.
Posted by: John ||
10/03/2004 17:30 Comments ||
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Where do they get all these ski masks in Iraq?
Maybe from the vast stockpiles of the Iraqi Revolutionary Alpine Guard?
Afghan security forces backed by U.S. helicopter gunships stormed a Taliban safe house, killing one man and capturing 15 others, in an attempt to curb attacks ahead of this week's presidential election, officials said on Sunday. The overnight raid on Saturday near the town of Spin Boldak came a day after 60 Taliban fighters were arrested as they were crossing into the border from Pakistan. Local Afghan border guard commander Abdul Raziq said that his men stormed the safe house after a strike conducted by U.S. helicopter gunships. One man was killed and nine were injured.
While the Afghan candidates, their supporters and security forces were preparing for the Oct. 9 poll, President Hamid Karzai received support from one of his predecessors, Burhanuddin Rabbani, who heads the Jamiat-e-Islami, a major Islamic faction. Karzai, one of the 18 candidates, has rarely campaigned because of security reasons. He has escaped an assassination bid last month in the southeast, blamed on the Taliban, who vowed to disrupt the country's first direct presidential elections.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/03/2004 11:40:22 AM ||
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Unidentified assailants have opened fire on the house of Mauritania's national security chief. The attack on Sunday came less than two months after the West African country said it had foiled an attempted coup. "They got out of a Mercedes and shot at the house. They machinegunned three vehicles in front of the building," a police officer on the scene said. Diddahi Walad Abd Allah, the director of national security and a close confidant of the president, said he was not at home when the shooting happened at about 0200 GMT. He said his wife and children were in the house, but were not hurt. "Apparently it was a car, which did not have number plates, with four people on board who shot at my house," Walad Abd Allah told reporters in front of the single storey villa, surrounded by uniformed and plain-clothes police officers. Police were stopping taxis around the dusty capital - most of which are Mercedes cars - for spot checks, residents said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/03/2004 10:55:43 AM ||
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An Israeli aircraft fired two missiles Sunday at a group of Palestinians who had just launched a homemade rocket, killing three people in the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian hospital sources and witnesses said. The Israeli strike came just seconds after the militants fired off rockets, Palestinian sources said. An instant rebuttal by the IAF.
The first Israeli missile hit two men on an empty cart and the second hit a nearby group, witnesses said. The militants were from the Popular Resistance Committees, an umbrella group of Palestinian militant groups, Palestinian sources said. The Israeli military had no immediate comment. That's 30 toes up by my count. A dead Jihadi is a good Jihadi.
Posted by: dennisw ||
10/03/2004 8:09:43 AM ||
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The article at the Command Post, from Ha'artez, seems more informative;
Palestinian security sources reported Sunday afternoon that an Israel Air Force helicopter fired missiles in northern Gaza’s Jabalya refugee camp killing two Hamas men riding a donkey cart.
The two men had just earlier fired a Qassam rocket that crashed into an open area outside the western Negev town of Sderot, causing no casualties or damage, and were attempting to flee the area in the cart.
The dead men were identified as brothers Fadi Na’ami, 19, and Bassam Na’ami, 21. Another man, Loui Hamad, 20, was in critical condition and had lost his legs, Palestinian hospital officials said.
Escaping on a donkey cart? "Giddyup there Dobbin, we've got a Hellfire on our tail!"
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
10/03/2004 10:45 Comments ||
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These oxygen sinks aren't worthy of a Hellfire. Save it for the Arab tanks. The 30mm chain gun is just as good and is much more entertaining on the gun camera video.
Posted by: ed ||
10/03/2004 11:04 Comments ||
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Alan must be getting tired of producing all these bearded virgins...... this would be, lets see, 72 times 9 or 648 bearded virgins (who cannot be 'deflowered').....
The bodies of a woman and a man, his with a severed head, were found early Sunday south of Baghdad, police said. Police Lt. Hussein Rizouqi said the bodies looked like those of Westerners but no identification was found on the corpses which were discovered in the area of Youssifiyah, 12 miles south of Baghdad. The man's head had been severed and was tied to his body while the woman was shot in the head, the police officer said. The corpses were brought to the hospital in Mahmoudiyah, 25 miles south of the Iraqi capital. Insurgents frequently stage shootings and bombings in the area.
A militant group in Iraq claimed in an Internet statement posted Saturday that it abducted and beheaded an Iraqi construction contractor who worked on a U.S. military base. A video released with the statement showed a man being decapitated. The report of the beheading came in a statement posted on the Internet Saturday by the Ansar al-Sunnah Army. The group said it killed Barie Nafie Dawoud Ibrahim, who was described as "one of the biggest contractors," working on water, sewage and air conditioning projects at the U.S. military base Al-Taji north of Baghdad. The statement was released with a video showing a man identified as Ibrahim, who was dressed in a white T-shirt and black pants, holding up an identification card giving him access to the American base. Then someone — his hands alone visible in the footage — beheaded the man and placed his severed head on his back. The statement said after interrogation Ibrahim had "confessed to all the work and projects he had carried out at al-Taji ... After that the (holy fighters) executed God's law by slaughtering him." The group vowed to track down those working for U.S. troops "one after the other."
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/03/2004 01:55 ||
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But the cleric refused to be freed in an exchange, saying hostage-taking is not in keeping with Islam
#2
hmmm..didn't mean to make light of the beheading - in case it seemed that way. I just think it's funny that the guy they wanted to get released refused to sell out.
#3
"I cannot justify this kidnapping. I demand that they be freed as Islam does not condone taking hostages of Muslim sisters and brothers," Bashir said in response to questions by The Associated Press."
2b,
The "cleric" did not say that hostage-taking is not keeping with Islam. He said that hostage-taking of muslim brothers is not keeping with Islam.
Nine Palestinian terrorists have been killed in today's fighting in Gaza, bringing the total number of terrorists killed to 55 since the IDF launched operation Days of Penitence. Four of the terrorists were killed just inside the Israelis side of the border with Gaza. They were en route to attack Kibbutz Nahal Oz; an established (founded early fifties) kibbutz located a few hundred meters from the border. Since the operation began, Israeli forces have killed 55 terrorists. These include gunmen, Kassam squads preparing launches and units planting mines and roadside explosive charges. Kassam activity has been reduced, over the past three days only 5 rockets have been launched.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/03/2004 1:45:48 AM ||
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#1
Love these Israel Defense Forces operational names. Operation Days of Penitence. How about Operation Old Testament? Operation Atonement? Operation Kill the Shlemazels?
Personally, I like Operation Whup Ass. Oh, well what's in a name, the outcome was good.
Posted by: John ||
10/03/2004 9:18 Comments ||
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The Arab controlled areas of the Gaza Strip is a shmutzik place infested with creeping, slithering terrorists. Operation Clean Up 100%
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/03/2004 11:03 Comments ||
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Those buggers must be reeling at the moment.
Armageddon is also a good name for an operation, and it's uniquely middle eastern, being named after a town in Syria called Meggido.
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
10/03/2004 11:05 Comments ||
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I like Operation Vengeance is Ours. Or Operation Our God is mightier than Yours. That'll get 'em going.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
10/03/2004 11:16 Comments ||
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I have a feeling Israel has the name Armageddon tagged onto some future operation they'd rather they never had to put into action.
We used Operation Gomorrah for RAF air raids of Hamburg in '43, which at the time were the biggest ever undertaken. Don't know what happened to Soddom...
US warplanes bombed a building on the outskirts of the rebel-held town of Fallujah on Sunday, probably killing a "large number" of insurgents who had been shifting weapons, the military said. The strike, the third in just over 24 hours, severely damaged the targeted building, triggering a wave of secondary explosions that indicated ammunition had been stored inside, the army said in a statement. "A large number of enemy fighters are presumed killed," it said.
According to the military, 10 to 15 rebels suspected of links with Iraq's most-wanted man Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi had been present when it struck at about 1:00 am (2200 GMT, Saturday), but it gave no exact casualty figure. The latest onslaught followed two earlier missions around the insurgent-held city, west of Baghdad, again targeting suspected Zarqawi hideouts. A building on the outskirts of Fallujah housing another 15 to 20 rebels who the army said had been conducting military-style training was the scene of one bombing on Saturday evening, while another site was hit late on Friday night. In the latest attack, the US military insisted that special measures were taken to ensure no innocent civilians were caught up in the blasts. "All precautions were made to keep collateral damage to a minimum," it said.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/03/2004 1:27:36 AM ||
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45 minutes of secondary explosions... definitely a wedding.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
10/03/2004 7:40 Comments ||
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Or an amateur rocket club.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
10/03/2004 7:43 Comments ||
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kittens and baby ducks often cause secondary explosions
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/03/2004 8:42 Comments ||
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#5
Al-Jizem will probably say it was a baby milk factory or school or hospital. Al-Jizem will throw in the perfunctory women and children killed by the Great Satan.
Hey, its a slow Sunday.
Posted by: John ||
10/03/2004 8:56 Comments ||
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#6
Hehehehe.... I bet the terrorists in Fallujah are't sleeping too well lately.... wondering if their building mught be next... and who among them might be the mole...
#8
CBS is reporting that the attack has taken out the Rodentia Control Authority and the entire Iraqi inventory of C4 plastic explosive gophers, along with this years class of 10-14 year old caddies in training. Iraqi gophers are very mean and nasty, not anything like the gentle American gophers seen in Caddyshack. Last year, the country's entire stock (50000 barrels) of gopher poison was transported to Syria for safekeeping, although some recently found its way to Jordan. Worse yet, the occupying authorities have locked up the Iraqi scientists from the Ministry of Agriculture and Revenge, who were working on natural (biological) pest control programs.
#9
Re:#4 kittens and baby ducks often cause secondary explosions
Didn't you hear, it was a halal slaughter house preparing ritual meat for religious celebrations. The secondary explosions came from methane in the stomachs of goats and cows.
#10
OT, whats with the wierd nicknames- I had them all come up in the "your name" box and thought it was a virus or something. Was it the Rantburg cookie after all?
Italian intelligence officials who secured the release of two hostages in Iraq are working with their British counterparts to try to free Kenneth Bigley, the captive Briton. They believe that Sunni Muslim insurgents who kidnapped Simona Pari and Simona Torretta, the aid workers freed last week, have links with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of Tawhid wal Jihad, the group holding Mr Bigley. The engineer, 62, was captured 16 days ago with two American colleagues, who have been beheaded. An Italian diplomat said: "Italy's intelligence is working very closely with Britain's to lend every assistance to free the hostage. It has developed expertise in this area which may help."
During negotiations over the Italians, a Lebanese businessman with close ties to the Italian government took a leading role. An Iraqi said: "We have already secured a statement from Zarqawi that Mr Bigley was well. Now we want to meet Mr Bigley to assure both sides that progress can be made, but it's a volatile situation." The Lebanese negotiator, who wishes to remain anonymous, is believed to have discussed with British intelligence officers how to resolve the crisis. A ransom of $1 million (£555,925) was paid for the two Simonas, but talks about Liverpool-born Mr Bigley centre on consideration for his apologies for being in Iraq, his mother's ill health and criticism by his brother, Paul, and other family members of Tony Blair.
Paul Bigley has called for Mr Blair to stand down, saying that this would ensure his brother's "immediate release". "He should go because his policy in Iraq is absolutely shocking," Paul Bigley said. "He is helping to create a new Vietnam." Mr Bigley, who has had an offer of help from Saif Gaddafi, son of Colonel Gaddafi, the Libyan president, remained optimistic that the terrorists would release his brother if "we give them a way to do it without losing face". The Army of Ansar al-Sunna, which is linked to al-Qaeda, posted a video on its website yesterday of an Iraqi hostage being beheaded after "confessing" to being a contractor with US forces.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/03/2004 12:21:31 AM ||
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#1
Forgive me if I'm way off here, cause I didn't closely follow the Italian hostage thing as to who had them and where they were, etc.
But considering the report about Bigley being free to roam about and only being in the cage for video footage - I'm wondering if he was at the same location as the girls.
After all, the girls said that they were "unaware" of any other hostages. Now the Italians, who allowed the girls to be used as fund raisers for terrorists seem to think they can help in the Bigley case.
Even if I'm way off about the location of the hostages, this is all becoming very strange.
#4
A ransom of $1 million (£555,925) was paid for the two Simonas ...
Which is the surest way of making certain that more people get kidnapped. Responsibility for the next hostage to be abducted and beheaded lies squarely with Italy. Idiotos!
Mass mourning for victims of a suicide attack on a Shi'ite mosque that killed 31 people dissolved into violence as youths rampaged through this eastern Pakistan city for a second day, burning a police station and the mayor's office. Meanwhile, investigators questioned survivors of Friday's blast and sifted through the carnage at the Zainabia mosque in Sialkot for clues, but said it's not yet clear whether al-Qaeda had a hand in the attack.
Hundreds of army troops and police commandos patrolled the streets, but initially struggled to contain rioting by youths that broke out after about 15,000 Shi'ite Muslim mourners, beating their chests and wailing, had gathered for a mass funeral for victims of the bombing. The rioters attacked the office of Mayor Mian Javed, who was not inside. They also burned a record room of a court, a police station and several motorcycles parked there. There were no reports of injuries. Youths shouted slogans against the government of President General Pervez Musharraf, the United States and the perpetrators of the attack. By late afternoon, security forces had brought the situation under control and the city was quiet.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/03/2004 12:23:22 AM ||
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#1
typical Shite logic. The attack against them was revenge for the killing of Farooqi - so rather than lash out at those who would be behind it, they attack the police station and others who might try to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Afghan authorities arrested 60 Taleban guerrillas who were planning to derail the upcoming presidential election, officials said yesterday, as campaigning intensified for the poll in a week's time. President Hamid Karzai's deputies and his main opponent hit the election trail. But Karzai, almost invisible during the campaign amid security concerns, prepared to go to Germany to receive an award.
Sayed Fazluddin Agha, a senior official in the town of Spin Boldak on the border with Pakistan, said the guerrillas were intercepted on Friday as they slipped across the frontier. "Their aim was to target voting centers and government troops in Helmand and Uruzgan provinces," he said. "During the initial investigation, we found they were planning to attack the elections."
Afraid to stray from home, residents buried the dead in their gardens Saturday as U.S. and Iraqi forces battled pockets of resistance in this former insurgent stronghold, where the American military said 125 rebels were killed and 88 captured in two days of fierce fighting. The American commander declared the operation a successful first step in a major push to wrest key areas from insurgent control before January elections. U.S. and Iraqi commanders said they controlled 70 percent of Samarra after some 5,000 troops — including 2,000 Iraqis and 3,000 Americans —swept into the city early Friday. Iraqi Defense Minister Hazem Shaalan claimed success, telling the Arab television station Al-Arabiya: "It is over in Samarra." Maj. Gen. John Batiste, commander of the 1st Infantry Division, said he was "very confident that the future of Samarra is good."
"This is great news for the people of Samarra, 200,000 people who have been held captive, hostage if you will, by just a couple of hundred thugs," he told CNN. Batiste praised the performance of Iraqi troops, saying they "really handled themselves well" as they secured the hospital, a revered shrine and centuries-old minaret. "They're getting better and better trained, better and better equipped. It ought to give us a lot of confidence," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/03/2004 12:11:21 AM ||
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#8
In other period of time in history - this story would be the front page headline in every Free Nation. But the press can't stand this monumental success of legendary proportions, so they bury the headline under under body counts and verbage.
NASIRIYAH: Eight Iraqi customs officers have been found dead and the valuable cargo of antiquities they were transporting from southern Iraq is missing, police said on Saturday. "Seven customs officers and their commander, reported missing on September 27, have been found dead in the region of Latifiyah," a Sunni Arab insurgent bastion immediately south of Baghdad, the chief of police in the nearby Shiite majority provincial capital of Hilla, told AFP. The missing objects are believed to be those recovered on Tuesday by Italian police and Iraqi customs officers after they dismantled a criminal ring trafficking archaeological treasures dating from the Sumerian period some 50 centuries ago.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/03/2004 11:48:48 PM ||
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These stories just get more and more difficult to believe. Fred, when it comes to April 1, people wont be able to DREAM up stranger stories than these.
Two men were killed when a bomb they were planting exploded outside a regional electoral campaign office of Afghanistan's US-backed President Hamid Karzai, an official said on Saturday. The bombers had targeted Mr Karzai's office in Pul-e-Alam, some 60 kilometres southeast of the capital Kabul, on Thursday night, he said. "One of the bombers was beheaded and the other one died from injuries after the bomb exploded," said provincial governor Mohammed Aman Hamimi.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/03/2004 11:32:24 PM ||
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Six militants were killed in an encounter with Indian troops in Kashmir early on Saturday, an Indian Defence Ministry spokesman said. The encounter took place when the army launched an operation at Magam-Kokernag area, the spokesman said. The militants were believed to be members of the banned Lashker-e-Taiba group. On Friday, the Indian army ambushed militants it learned were hiding in a village near the Pakistan frontier and killed two of them. SM Sahai, a senior police officer, said that the militants had been killed in Dassal village on Thursday night. He said the militants belonged to Jaish-e-Mohammed. More than 40,000 people have died in Kashmir since 1989, according to official figures. Separatists put the toll between 80,000 and 100,000.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/03/2004 11:29:11 PM ||
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At least four terrorists were involved in the Sialkot Imambargah suicide bombing, two of whom exploded the bombs while the other two maintained watch outside the mosque, sources told Daily Times on Saturday. Investigation officers said at least 3kg of explosives were used in the bombing. Eyewitnesses claimed that two unidentified persons were spotted standing at the mosque entrances for nearly half an hour. Both disappeared after the explosion, and a brief case containing 6.5kg of explosives was found at the spot where one of them had stood. The bomb was later defused by security agents.
That was supposed to be the second boom...
Sources said evidence suggested that one of the bombers had explosives strapped to his wrists, ankles and waist and the other carried a parcel containing a bomb. They described one of the bombers as a middle-aged man with red hair and a beard who wore a brown shalwar kameez. The other one was around 25 years old and stood a couple of yards away from his accomplice. The two exploded bombs simultaneously in the fifth row of the Jumma congregation. The body of one of the attackers was hamburger shredded beyond recognition while the other whose face remained reasonably undamaged was identified as a malang from Faisalabad.
Now all we have to do is determine what a "malang" is...
Reports also surfaced that a few hours after the explosion, a silver Suzuki Mehran charged the Punjab inspector general of police's convoy, which was heading to the explosion site. The car collided with the last vehicle of convoy and was intercepted by a police van.A number of Anjuman Tulba-e-Islam (ATI) students surrounded the entrance and exits of the main roads in Sialkot after the bomb explosion. The crowds, who were armed with weapons, burned tyres and caused severe damage to property. "Troops were deployed at the mosque and at hospitals to restore order. We took over so that other untoward situations would not occur," said a senior army officer outside the imambargah.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/03/2004 11:10:23 PM ||
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If I follow the Pakistani news correctly, a malang is a beggar?
The crescendo of the drum rises and the bearded man with long hair and a weird attire swirl in frenzy. He is one of that mystic community known as "Malangs" who throng to the shrines at the festivals. The "Malangs" represent a baffling phenomenon of human endeavor and toughness. Braving the extremes of weather, they have given up the material values of life and spend all their lives with a proverbial devotion to their patron sufi saint. Often lost in the smoke of opium, they are oblivious to the world around them. The origin of the "Malang" cult is as old as the history of Islam itself. Primarily a "Malang" is a devotee of the saint at whose shrine he is present day and night to serve. Sometimes a parent, whose prayer to the saint is fulfilled, leaves his child at the shrine as a token of gratitude - the child grows up to become a "Malang". Renouncing the material world, he becomes a spiritualist himself with his own sphere of disciples. Living a carefree life with a total commitment to his master, the "Malang" depends on the donations and the food which the pilgrims to the shrines present as an offering. Some of the "Malangs" spend their entire life time within the domains of one shrine while others keep on moving from one to another. The faith in their spiritual teachings makes them endure unbelievable rigors like walking on burning coals or standing in an ice cold river for days. The attire of the "Malangs" is as varied as their appearances but one thing that is common is their total belief in their purpose.
Sounds like an order of Islamics acestics probably influenced by Hindiusm. Strange that one of them would be involved in a sectarian suicide bombing..
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
10/03/2004 3:26 Comments ||
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Could be that they use the extreme physical discipline to strengthen their bodies for the suicide attack, believing that they will remain relatively intact so as to still be able to take advantage of the '72 virgins' in 'Paradise'.
Anything is possible when it comes to the sickness that is Islam.
#4
Suicide bombings were alien to Pakistan until a few years ago, now they are rapidly becoming the attack of choice, like in Indonesia, Chechnya and Iraq.
Generally mystics and sufis in Pakistan have stayed away from the Jihadi groups because the latter (influenced by puratanical Wahabi-type views) view the former as following an Islam corrupted by outside influences, such as Hinduism.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
10/03/2004 4:05 Comments ||
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The use of the word "Malang", if anything,will inflame opinion. The Sufi were usually considered the most tolerant (and often most heterodox) of Islam's Sunni sect. They are despised by the Al Qaeda and its intellectual leadership who are uniformally orthodox and Salafist. Why Malang would commit such a crime is inexplicable. Looks like someone is interested in starting a holy war within a holy war.
#6
My Pakistani-to-Strine dictionary defines "malang" as a "wanker".
My Strine-to-New Hampshire dictionary defines "wanker" as a "dipsh!t".
Posted by: Carl in N.H. ||
10/03/2004 9:31 Comments ||
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Too bad it is beyond hope that such terrorist attacks could possibly impress upon these various Islamic sects the need to end terrorism. No better object lesson has ever been so utterly and completely wasted upon so many who most richly deserve it.
One of the prime suspects of an aborted attempt on General Pervez Musharraf's life on April 26, 2002 on Shahra-e-Faisal, denied on Saturday before an ATC court that Harkatul Mujahideen Al-Alami men had planned the attack.
"Nope. Nope. Wudn't us. Nope."
Mohammad Kamran, alias Atif, in his statement admitted he was a member of Al-Alami, but denied the organisation was involved in terrorist activities.
"We just get together on Thursdays to go bowling..."
He said that the organisation was not involved in any kind of armed struggle within the territorial limits of Pakistan and had been waging jihad against the Russian occupation in Afghanistan and Indian forces in occupied Kashmir. Chief of Al-Alami Mohammad Imran, deputy chief Mohammad Hanif, and its members Mohammad Ashraf, Sahrib and Arslan Farooqi and a Rangers's inspector Waseem Akhtar were given jail terms of 10 to 14 years for planning to ram an explosive-packed vehicle into the president's motorcade on Shahra-e-Faisal. In his statement, Kamran said that the police had staged the drama of his arrest and injured him in the process just to claim Rs 3 million in bounty.
"And they took my bowling ball, too!"
Kamran stated that the police only formally declared his arrest after keeping him in detention for many months. He also denied that the police had recovered explosives from him or on his indication and said he had never rented or lived in Al-Mubashir Building in Bufferzone.
"Matter of fact, I never even been to Pakistan!"
Crime Investigation Department (CID) Police in May this year claimed to have arrested Kamran Atif after an encounter in which a passer-by was also killed.
"Yeah, an' there wudn't nobody killed. And he wasn't just passin' by, either!"
The CID also claimed to have recovered a huge quantity of rockets, rocket launchers, remote and phone devices and hand grenades from Al-Mubshir Building in Bufferzone on Kamran's indication. After the accused recorded his statement, Judge Haq Nawaz Baloch deferred further proceedings of the case till October 6, when the defence as well as state counsel will give their final arguments.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/03/2004 11:20:40 PM ||
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Assailants killed two Afghan nationals in the Qila Abdullah over a presidential election dispute, said an official on Saturday. He said that the two Afghan nationals were supporting Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who is also one of the candidates running for the elections, and had initiated a campaign for Karzai in the area. Bashir, the district administrative officer for Qila Abdullah, however, said it had not been confirmed whether it was an election or a personal dispute and law enforcing agencies were investigating the incident. Sources said the two Afghans were killed in separate incidents. Abdur Rashid, a resident of the Kandooz province in Afghanistan, was shot dead after he answered a knock on his door. Sherin was killed in a similar incident.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/03/2004 11:17:54 PM ||
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in Quetta??
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/03/2004 8:41 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
A military prosecutor has charged 35 Arab nationals and alleged members of an al-Qaeda-linked terror group with plotting to bomb foreign targets in Lebanon, including the Italian and Ukrainian diplomatic missions, judicial officials said Saturday. But only nine of the 35 defendants are in police custody, the officials said on condition of anonymity. The remaining suspects, including Lebanese, Saudis, Palestinians and Syrians, remain at large.
US forces have carried out another air strike on the rebellious Iraqi city of Falluja, the third in 24 hours. They bombed a building which they said was being used by insurgents as a weapons store. The attack is said to have happened as up to 15 suspected militants were moving ammunition and weapons, probably killing most of those present. The US military said its attack on Falluja had severely damaged the targeted building, and triggered a wave of secondary explosions that indicated ammunition was being stored inside. 
