Saudi security forces have arrested two men who confessed to killing a French engineer in the Red Sea city of Jeddah in September, a newspaper reported Tuesday. Laurent Barbot, a 45-year-old infidel technical assistant for French electronics group Thales, was shot twice with an automatic rifle and found dying at the wheel of his sports utility vehicle on September 26. Quoting security sources, the Okaz newsaper named one of those arrested as Hamad al-Saadi and the second only by his family name of al-Sameery. It said the pair had "confessed to the crime" of killing Barbot.
Sounds painful.
It said Saadi, described as the head of the Al-Jamia cell, named after a neighbourhood in Jeddah, carried out the murder while Sameery was in charge of plotting and preparing for the killing. A weapon found in "the den of the Jamia cell" where the two suspects were arrested, matched the type of bullets used in the attack, the paper said. However, an interior ministry spokesman, quoted by the official SPA news agency, said the "information related to the confessions of Hamad al-Saadi on the murder of Frenchman Laurent Barbot in Jeddah is not accurate."
I hate it when the state-run newspapers don't get their stories straight with the ministries.
"Investigation procedures on the incident are not finished," the spokesman added, making no reference to the second reported suspect.
Oops. Maybe they caught a son of a favored tribe with his hand in the jihadi jar.
Different slant than the Times OnLine piece, but basically the same story.
Intelligence officials now confirm that among the potential targets considered for attack by terror plotters was the United Kingdom's tallest office tower in London. They also tell NBC News that suspected al-Qaida terrorists were actively trying to recruit pilots to hijack planes in smaller European cities and crash them into London's Heathrow Airport to disrupt international travel. According to the new information, the plan called for attacking as many as half a dozen targets, including prominent buildings in the city's financial center, London's vast subway system and potentially even its Houses of Parliament and the centuries-old Westminster Abbey. The plan was actually broken up last March, when British police staged a sweep and discovered half a ton of the kind of fertilizer that can be used to make bombs. But only now is the full scope of that plot coming to light. "There are people awaiting trial for various terrorism offenses relating to al-Qaida activities," says Con Coughlin, a British terrorism expert. "And until they come to trial, the prosecuting authorities wanted to keep this under wraps."
NBC News has learned that a key development in the British prosecution is cooperation from Mohammad Babar, an American arrested in the U.S. Babar has admitted meeting top al Qaida operatives in Pakistan and buying some of the explosives for the U.K. plotters. The British revelations come just as Blair's government asks for new legal powers to fight terrorism a program endorsed Tuesday in Queen Elizabeth's annual message to Parliament. "My government recognizes that we live in a time of global uncertainty with an increased threat from international terrorism and organized crime," said the Queen. Blair denies allegations from political opponents that he's trying to stir up fear in anticipation of elections in the spring. Intelligence officials say that while the U.K. plotters did not settle on final targets before they were arrested, their plans were disturbingly close to being carried out.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/24/2004 12:25:06 AM ||
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BRITAIN foiled an al-Qaeda plot to fly aircraft into Heathrow Airport and London's giant Canary Wharf skyscrapers, according to reports yesterday quoting an unnamed "senior authoritative source". Al-Qaeda intended to train suicide pilots to crash planes into the London landmarks just as it had convinced others to fly into the Pentagon and the World Trade Centre in the US on September 11, 2001, ITV News said. ITV News and the Daily Mail newspaper claimed the attacks on the two targets were among four or five strikes that had been planned by al-Qaeda. "I have not been told how or when the plot was uncovered or how close they came," said ITV News political editor Nick Robinson. "But I am in no doubt that this was a genuine feeling on the behalf of those in the security services that they have managed to foil a plot and make us safer." Asked if the story had come from Britain's security services, ITV said the "unattributable source" was "in that arena".
According to the ITV News website, the attack on Heathrow and Canary Wharf was one of four or five planned by al-Qaeda in Britain since September 11, 2001, which "have come to nothing, after the authorities intervened". Britain's Home Office and London's Metropolitan Police declined to comment. The 35ha Canary Wharf estate, one of London's most famous landmarks, is in the docklands area on the banks of the Thames and has long been seen as a potential terrorist target. In February last year, hundreds of police and troops, backed by tanks, were deployed at Heathrow following a warning that terrorists might be about to attempt a missile attack on a plane. Prime Minister Tony Blair faced accusations of alarmism following the incident, but the Government insisted the action came in response to specific intelligence. On November 8, the head of MI5, Eliza Manningham-Buller, said counter-terrorism efforts had helped prevent attacks in Britain since the September 11, 2001, attacks in the US. She provided no details, but said Britons still faced a "serious and sustained threat".
Posted by: God Save The World ||
11/24/2004 12:11:54 AM ||
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AL-QAEDA terrorists had to abandon a plan to fly hijacked airliners into Canary Wharf, the London skyscraper, and Heathrow airport after being "rumbled" by British and European intelligence services. The plot was made public this year but senior Whitehall sources gave further details yesterday of the intelligence work involved. Reports on ITV News and in a newspaper implied that the attacks had been thwarted recently. But, the sources said, the intelligence operation was in fact completed at least two years ago.
Plots against Canary Wharf, in London Docklands, and Heathrow were confirmed in July when intelligence officers in Pakistan found incriminating files on computers that belonged to one of al-Qaeda's members. Mohammed Naeem Noor Khan, 25, a suspected terrorist arrested after a raid in Lahore, Pakistan, was at the centre of al-Qaeda's computer communications hub. He encrypted and distributed messages between the network's leadership and agents around the world. Among the files on Khan's computers were a plan of the layout of Heathrow and information from reconnaissance of the Canary Wharf complex, including vehicle height restrictions for the underground car parks there. There were also suggestions for "picture postcard" targets, such as the Houses of Parliament and Windsor Castle, and discussions of potential assassination targets. But the plots referred mainly to planning that pre-dated the attacks in New York and Washington on September 11, 2001.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/24/2004 12:10:57 AM ||
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A leading Chechen militant has denied assertions that Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda movement is linked to Chechen rebels fighting Moscow.
"Lies! All lies!"
In a statement published on a rebel Web site on Tuesday, Movladi Udugov said the international Islamist militant group had never set up training camps in Chechnya. He also denied meeting bin Laden.
"No, no! Certainly not!"
"This is a total lie and crude provocation," said Udugov, a propagandist for the rebels, on Web site www.kavkazcenter.com in response to a declassified U.S. intelligence report published by U.S. pressure group Judicial Watch. "It is not even worth proving this is false."
"Not that we could, but it isn't worth it."
President Vladimir Putin specifically blamed al Qaeda-linked groups for downing two Russian airliners in August, and other officials said the group was behind the Beslan school hostage crisis in September, when more than 350 people died. Udugov said such allegations were unfounded. "There have never been any al Qaeda training camps in Chechnya or anywhere else (in the Caucasus). If it is so, let them give the addresses," he said.
Will GPS coordinates do?
"It is sufficient to remember the false claims about Chechen fighters in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq. As is well-known, neither the Russians, nor the Americans, nor the British have produced a single fact to back up their claims. Apart from constant lies there is nothing."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/24/2004 12:14:36 AM ||
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A MAGISTRATE has refused a bail application by Melbourne terror suspect "Jihad" Jack Thomas. Melbourne Magistrates' Court was told the former taxi driver and Muslim convert trained with the terrorist organisation al-Qaeda in Afghanistan before the September 11 attacks. The court also has been told that its leader, Osama bin Laden, wanted someone to conduct surveillance operations in Australia. Joseph Terrence Thomas, 31, was arrested last Thursday by officers from the Australian Federal Police and Victoria Police joint counter terrorism team at his Werribee home, in Melbourne's western suburbs. Thomas is charged with receiving financial support from al-Qaeda, providing al-Qaeda with resources or support to help them carry out a terrorist act and having a false passport.
Prosecutor Richard Maidment, SC, told the court Thomas trained at an al-Qaeda military camp in Afghanistan in mid-2001 for three months and while there "saw at close quarters Osama bin Laden". Mr Maidment said Thomas made full admissions in an interview with the AFP while he was being held by authorities in Pakistan last year. After attending the training camp, Thomas then travelled to Pakistan where he stayed at al-Qaeda safe houses and discussed a plan to break out a Guantanamo Bay inmate, the court was told. A bin Laden associate told him the al-Qaeda leader wanted someone in Australia to conduct surveillance operations of military installations and provided him with $3500 and an airline ticket to Australia, the court was told. The court was also told Thomas and his Indonesian wife were associates of Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir and he had met Bashir in Malaysia in March 2000. Defence lawyer Robert Stary told the court Bashir and Thomas' wife were childhood friends.
Funny, none of my childhood friends grew up to be murdering terrorists.
He said Thomas did not have a lawyer present when he made admissions when interviewed by AFP police in Pakistan. He said Thomas was not a flight risk because he had family ties and was working in Melbourne and the prosecution case against him was weak. Magistrate Ian Gray said Thomas faced "extremely serious charges" and exceptional circumstances needed to be demonstrated for him to be released on bail.
"Baliff! Jug this man! And wrap some foil around the cork!"
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/24/2004 12:12:02 AM ||
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The Federal Government has welcomed the arrest in Indonesia of four people suspected of involvement in the bombing of the Australian Embassy in Jakarta which killed 10 people. Indonesian police have identified the men as Rois, Hassan, Apuy and Ansori. Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer remained tight-lipped on whether Australian police were involved in the investigation or whether the Government is aware of any links to terror groups. He has praised the determination of Indonesian authorities. "Rounding up more of these people, particularly those who are organisers for terrorists attacks in Indonesia, is very promising there's no doubt about that," he said.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
11/24/2004 3:48:29 PM ||
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A LEADING Islamic cleric was discovered returning to Sydney with a 150-page notebook on tactics for warfare, intelligence and martyrdom, a court has been told. ASIO translated Mansour Leghaei's notebook, which focuses on "infiltration, deception tactics, martyrdom and the euphoria of fighting a jihad outside one's borders". Details of the notebook are contained in documents lodged in a Federal Court case brought by Sheik Leghaei to stop his deportation.
It doesn't sound like the details are gonna help his case...
ASIO has twice assessed Sheik Leghaei, who runs an education centre and charity in suburban Sydney, as a risk to national security, leading to multiple visa cancellations. ASIO has interviewed the Iranian-born Shi'ite cleric at least three times since he arrived in Australia with his wife and children in 1994. During one interview, officers repeatedly asked him if he had spied on Iranian dissidents, students or opposition groups in Australia for the Iranian Government or its embassy. They also asked if he had met members of the Iranian Intelligence Service and about his knowledge of terrorist group Ahlul-Bait. Sheik Leghaei denied any wrongdoing. His counsel has told the court the cleric was treated unfairly during those interviews because ASIO refused to explain why it was questioning him.
It should have been obvious.
Peter Hanks QC argued that the court should quash ASIO's 2004 assessment against Sheik Leghaei or declare it void because of this lack of procedural fairness.
"It's not fair! It's just not fair!"
One section of the notebook, which customs officers photocopied after discovering it in his luggage at Sydney airport in 1996, asks: "With whom should a holy war be fought? ... The enemies of Islam are to be categorised under three headings: 1, the infidels who do not accept the Koran as the Book of Heaven. 2, the oppressive and the unjust and whoever takes up arms against the Prophet. 3, heathens living in the Islamic countries who have broken the agreement to pay tribute to the Muslims."
4, anyone who disagrees with us.
Sheik Leghaei says in his affidavit that the notebook contains his handwritten notes from a textbook he read while a university student in Iran. The notebook relates to the former Iraqi regime's invasion of Iran, he says. And ASIO's translation from Farsi and Arabic into English was "seriously flawed". The hearing in Canberra was adjourned yesterday to give ASIO and the Department of Immigration more time to file further evidence.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
11/24/2004 12:18:50 AM ||
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what outrages me the most is that this guy isn't some fringe-loon shunned by the muslim community for being an islamicist:
- A LEADING Islamic cleric. . .
- Sheik Leghaei, who runs an education centre and charity in suburban Sydney. . .
A court has been told Osama bin Laden asked a Melbourne man to become a "sleeper" in Australia before undertaking activities for the Al Qaeda network. A bail application has begun for Joseph Terrance Thomas, 31, of Werribee, who is charged with receiving funds from and supporting the Al Qaeda terrorism network, as well as possessing a false passport. A prosecutor has told the Melbourne Magistrates Court that Thomas trained at Al Qaeda's Al Farouk camp in Afghanistan in 2001, where he saw bin Laden. The court was told he took part in terrorism discussions, including a plan to bring down a jet carrying the Pakistani President. The prosecutor said Thomas was asked by bin Laden, through an associate, to return to Australia to do work for Al Qaeda including looking at military operations.
It was also told Al Qaeda gave Thomas $US3,500 and a Qantas ticket to return home. He was instructed to maintain a normal lifestyle before contacting the terrorist network. But the court heard Thomas refused to pledge allegiance to Al Qaeda, especially after talk about attacking Australia, and that he had done nothing wrong in the 18 months he had been home. The bail hearing continues.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/24/2004 10:37:56 PM ||
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I see a "Jiihad Joe" doll in his future.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/24/2004 11:37 Comments ||
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A GERMAN court said today it has ruled that a Syrian-German businessman indicted by Spain on charges he is a key al-Qaeda figure can be extradited, and Hamburg authorities said they had given their approval for the move. Mamoun Darkazanli was arrested last month on a Spanish warrant. The move came after the so-called European arrest warrant - a system meant to allow the swift cross-border surrender of terror suspects - came into force. Mr Darkazanli's lawyers launched a new legal effort to block the move, asking Germany's highest court to rule on their argument that the new system violates the German constitution. But it was unclear whether that would succeed. The Hamburg state court said it ruled on Tuesday that "there is no obstacle to extradition," and Anette Hitpass, a spokeswoman for the city-state's justice ministry, said the ministry had approved the move - the next legal step.
Mr Darkazanli, 46, is accused by Spanish authorities of providing al-Qaeda with logistical and financial support. He appears in a 1999 wedding video with two of the three September 11, 2001 suicide pilots who lived and studied in Hamburg - Marwan al-Shehhi and Ziad Jarrah. The US has labelled Mr Darkazanli's Hamburg-based trading company a front for terrorism. He appeared on US suspect lists after September 11 but has denied any links to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden or the attacks. Mr Darkazanli has never been charged in Germany, which did not extradite its own citizens before the European arrest warrant came into force.
German police questioned him shortly after the attacks, but he was freed for lack of evidence and continued to live in the northern port city. Mr Darkazanli is among 41 suspects, including bin Laden himself, indicted by Baltasar Garzon, a Spanish judge investigating al-Qaeda. He faces up to 12 years in prison in Spain if convicted of membership in a terrorist organisation. His lawyers, Guel Pinar and Michael Rosenthal, said "a great variety of doubts about the European arrest warrant and its implementation in national law" prompted them to file a complaint with Germany's highest court. Pinar maintained that that should halt the extradition.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
11/24/2004 5:17:45 PM ||
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Spain has arrested a Moroccan former imam suspected of links to radical Islamic groups, police sources said.
"Yer coming with us, yer Holiness."
Police said Samir Ben Abdellah, a 36-year-old Moroccan who once worked as a bouncer an imam in a Madrid topless bar suburb, was arrested near Barcelona on Monday on the orders of anti-terror judge "Big Balls" Baltasar Garzon as part of an ongoing investigation into radical Islamic groups. Ben Abdellah, who will be transferred to Madrid on Wednesday, is thought to have links to Mohamed Achraf, the suspected ringleader of a plot to blow up Spain's supreme court in the capital and believed to be behind a radical group dubbed "Martyrs for Morocco".
Martyrs for Morocco. Oy.
Spain is seeking the extradition of Achraf from Switzerland, where he is currently in custody. At least three of 38 people Spain has arrested in recent weeks are believed linked to Allekema Lamari, one of seven suspects involved in planning the Madrid train bombings.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
11/24/2004 11:14:07 AM ||
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I sure am glad Garzon runs his branch of the Spanish government and not Zappy. No wonder the Spanish people were willing to elect such a nebish. They knew he wasn't responsible for anything serious.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/24/2004 13:20 Comments ||
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Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the reported "mastermind" of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, was integrally linked into the Bosnia al-Qaida terrorist hub. Defense & Foreign Affairs Daily reports today that extremely reliable Global Information Service (GIS) sources have produced definitive evidence of the link ("Al-Qaida Leader Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's Bosnian Links Emerging," November 24, 2004). Specifically, GIS sources reveal that Khalid Sheik Hohammed, born in Kuwait on October 22, 1966, was in Bosnia as a first member of the El-Mudzahid unit and then became a member, in 1966, of Egyptian Islamist radical operations. He obtained a Bosnian citizenship certificate in 1994 (Sarajevo Police No. 09/2-204-108 dated April 30, 1994) and a Bosnian passport soon thereafter.
Posted by: headland ||
11/24/2004 1:44:54 AM ||
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Hmm, he was born in 1966 and became a member of "Egyptian Islamist radical operations" that same year. Pretty precocious! He must have had a hell of a time holding his AK-47, though.
Posted by: Jonathan ||
11/24/2004 10:40 Comments ||
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Fred, I demand that you remove my photo from this story forthwith. Make porn, not war.
Posted by: Ron Jeremy ||
11/24/2004 10:44 Comments ||
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Sorry -- that second '1966' should be '1996'. He became a member, in 1996, of Egyptian Islamist radical operations.
Posted by: Capt America ||
11/24/2004 11:43 Comments ||
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Though Defense & Foreign Affairs claims to have documentation of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's birth in Kuwait, no mention is made of Laurie Mylroie's contention that the Kuwaiti documents on KSM and his "nephew" Ramzi Yousef were forgeries designed to set up a false identity.
Baki Yigit, one of the accused in Al Quaeda case, told the court on Monday that he met Osama bin Laden and Abu Hafs al-Masri, but denied any involvement in last year's bomb attacks.
"Lies! All lies! Really! And put down those pliers!"
72 virgins suspects, who were alleged to be involved in bomb attacks between November 15th and 20th, last year in Istanbul, were under trial today. Yigit told the court that he and Habib Aktas met Abu Hafs al-Masri and Osama bin Laden in Kandahar, Afghanistan. ''We told him that we will not do homage to Al-Quaeda, but we wanted them to help our friends who have gone to Chechnya. They said they thought of an action in Turkey, but we said we opposed to the action and turned down the offer.'' Yigit said, ''I am supporting jihad in Bosnia, Chechnya and Falluja, but no decision for an attack was taken as a result of this meeting.''
"Yer honor, he's confessed!"
"You're right. Bailiff! Jug this man! A cork at both ends!"
''We just talked... We didn't form any organization since we're Muslims and can't agree on anything,'' he said, adding that he and Aktas later had a disagreement and he returned to Turkey. Yigit insisted he had nothing to do with the November 2003 attacks targeting two synagogues, the British Consulate and a London-based bank.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/24/2004 12:30:17 AM ||
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Indonesia's chief of police is to investigate allegations that the most wanted terrorist in the country, Azahari Husin, escaped arrest by bribing a policeman.The arrested suspect Rois has told police that Azahari has been stopped by police three times and let go each time, including one occasion as he fled the embassy bombing scene. On that occasion it is alleged Azhari paid a bribe to the traffic policeman who was checking his vehicle.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
11/24/2004 3:46:56 PM ||
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Indonesian police have confirmed the arrest of four men wanted in connection with the suicide attack on the Australian Embassy in Jakarta in September. The suspects were arrested November 5 in west Java province, police chief General Dai Bachtiar said. The sources had said the field co-ordinator of the embassy suicide blast, Rois, known also as Iwan Darmawan, was among those detained. He was arrested with five other suspects shortly after midnight on November 10 in West Java's Merak port, the report said. The Rakyat Merdeka newspaper said another top JI figure, Dulmatin, had also been arrested in a police swoop. Dulmatin, alias Noval, is an electronics expert known in JI as "the genius" and who attended bomb making classes under Azahari.
"The genius." Is that the same rank as "mastermind?"
Dulmatin, a 39-year-old, reportedly executed the bombing by recruiting people from the provinces in Sumatra for the suicide operation and deploying surveillance teams. The other two arrestees were Abu Dujana and Jabir - both relatively minor players. The Kompas newspaper also said police had come close to arresting Azahari on several occasions. Traffic police had pulled him over three times but failed to recognise him, the daily said.
D'oh!
Posted by: God Save The World ||
11/24/2004 12:10:18 AM ||
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"Wile E Coyote - Supergenius" - has nothing on this guy, eh?
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/24/2004 10:31 Comments ||
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"Genius" is used all to often inappropriately. How about slack-jawed mouth-breathing asshole?
Indonesian police have captured the field commander of the September 9 attack on the Australian embassy in Jakarta, the trusted adjutant of Asia's most wanted men, Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Mohammad Top.
Nice work.
Rois was caught in the act of planning more bomb attacks on targets in Jakarta, police sources said. Hunted by a detachment of crack US-trained anti-terror police, Rois has reportedly evaded arrest on several occasions. The militant is thought to have planned the logistics for the embassy attack, and decided on escape routes and hiding places for many of those involved. A senior Indonesian police officer told The Australian that Rois and five others were caught in separate locations in mid-November, but the news of their detention had just begun to emerge.
Ah, kept it quiet while they sent out for fresh undies...
Rois was found with three bombs and other explosives, the officer said, and had planned to attack Jakarta over the week-long Idul Fitri holiday last week. The militant, accused of recruiting attack operatives, has been interrogated along with the other captured operatives in a secret location by investigators from anti-terror police Detachment 88.
Painful questioning, check.
At least three of the operatives were connected to an explosion in Cicurug, south of Jakarta, when militants accidentally detonated explosives. Four men escaped the scene.
Premature explodulation, check.
"We captured Rois along with people from Cicurug," the officer said, noting that all were thought to be connected with the embassy blast. One of them had a wounded arm from the explosion. They are all now officially suspects." Rois used a variety of identity cards and aliases.
Noms de terror and multiple forged papers, check.
Sources say he moved rapidly around Java and regularly visited Malaysia. He is believed to be close to both Azahari and Top, who have both been accused of being senior members of Jemaah Islamiah, the terrorist network blamed for a string of bombings across Indonesia, including the Bali and Marriott blasts. Rois has been more of a shadowy figure, but police say he played a crucial operational role in the embassy attack.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
11/24/2004 12:03:39 AM ||
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A lotta young men suffer from premature explodulation - is that now a crime? oops -
ABU Sayyaf leader Khadaffy Janjalani has been forced out of Basilan Island and is in mainland Mindanao seeking cover in areas where a ceasefire between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is in effect, the military said Monday. "Janjalani is in the mainland because he could not hide anymore in Basilan. Another reason he is in the mainland is to take advantage of the ceasefire," Armed Forces Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Efren Abu told reporters in Camp Aguinaldo. "He can always hide in MILF territory because he knows very well that we just cannot go to MILF territory," Abu said. When asked if separatist rebels were coddling Janjalani, Abu said: "I don't want to say that because the MILF has denied links with the Abu Sayyaf group."
Abu noted that the MILF helped the government rescue Italian aid worker Andrea Cianferoni from his kidnappers two weeks ago. He said Janjalani's alleged presence in the area prompted the military to launch an air raid in the marshlands of Datu Piang town in Maguindanao province, a known MILF stronghold, over the weekend. Abu said an MILF fighter was confirmed injured in the attack but the military helped him. He also rejected the rebels' allegation that the attack violated the ceasefire because it had the approval of the rebel panel in the Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH).
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/24/2004 12:33:27 AM ||
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Three skeletons discovered in the southern Philippines are believed to be the remains of Malaysian and Indonesian seamen kidnapped by Filipino Muslim rebels in April, officials said Tuesday. The skeletal remains were found three weeks ago in shallow graves on Tawi-Tawi island in the southern Philippines after two captured gunmen of the Abu Sayyaf separatist group led the military to the grave, a Philippine marine source told AFP in Kota Kinabalu by telephone. "The remains have been flown from the Philippine Marine 11 battalion base Camp in Sanga Sanga on Tawi-Tawi to the southern command military headquarters in Zamboanga City for DNA tests," another Philippine official said on condition of anonymity. He said a post mortem would be conducted to determine the cause of death and to confirm that the skeletal remains were those of the three abducted seamen.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/24/2004 12:31:28 AM ||
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Indonesian police say they have arrested "some suspects" in the Australian Embassy bombing, while a newspaper identified one of them as allegedly being linked to the 2002 Bali bombings and last year's attack on the J W Marriott hotel. Rois, alias Iwan Darmawan, was reportedly arrested on 10 November at a railway station on the western tip of Java island, the report said on Tuesday. Police did not publicise the arrest while they confirmed the suspect's identity, the report said. But when asked about the report, Gen Dai Bachtiar refused to confirm or deny it. "I can say that some suspects in the latest bombing have been arrested," he said, after meeting President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. "But I can't elaborate at this time. I will explain at the appropriate time."
Darmawan played a key planning role in the 9 September attack on the Australian Embassy, which killed 10 people including one attacker, the newspaper Kompas quoted the police source as saying. Police announced they were hunting for Darmawan two weeks after the embassy attack. They said then he was believed to be on the run with the attack's alleged masterminds, Malaysian nationals Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Mohamed Top. The Kompas report said Darmawan was arrested with five other people, but gave no more details. It also said Darmawan was involved in the Bali bombings, which killed 202 people, most of them foreign tourists, and a car bomb attack on the J W Marriott Hotel that killed 12 people.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/24/2004 11:15:18 PM ||
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Still no Zulkarnaean though.
Guess he's gone back to Mindanao for now ...
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/24/2004 0:09 Comments ||
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Osama bin Laden's brother-in-law, and former best friend, says he's not surprised the terrorist leader has been difficult to capture. "Who is going to capture him and where?" Jamal Khalifa said.
Khalifa spoke to CNN in an exclusive interview about bin Laden and their past, which he said took the two men from university to Soviet-occupied Afghanistan before they parted company. "For 10 years, the Russians did not capture even one leader of the Afghan mujahedeen with the full forces everywhere. So I think it is a little bit difficult," he said.
These days, Khalifa runs a fish restaurant just outside the Saudi Arabian port city of Jeddah. "Ten years we are together," said Khalifa. "When we were in the university and after that. Always we are together. We live in one house." Bin Laden and Khalifa met at Jeddah's King Abdulaziz University in the late 1970s and became close friends, nearly inseparable, Khalifa said. They also shared a teacher, Abdullah Azzam, a Palestinian cleric who later joined bin Laden as founders of al Qaeda. Azzam's teachings helped influence bin Laden and Khalifa to go to Afghanistan and join the jihad against the Soviet forces that had invaded that country in 1979.
It was a sign of bin Laden's respect and affection for Khalifa that he arranged for Khalifa to marry his sister. But Khalifa thought a degree of caution might be in order, since they were headed into a war zone. "He is the one who suggested ... I marry his sister," Khalifa said. "I told him, 'Osama, we are going to die and you are talking about marriage. So let's go first and if I come alive, we will do it.' So, I came alive."
Khalifa said he spent most of his time in Pakistan, setting up an Islamic relief charity, building schools and mosques for refugees displaced by the war in neighboring Afghanistan. At the same time, bin Laden was becoming a leader of Arabs who came to Pakistan and Afghanistan. He was able to use some of his family fortune and contacts to raise money for the jihad, and he led men into combat. Khalifa said that he was troubled at the time that bin Laden was creating his own fighting force from the men, who were known as the Afghan Arabs. "I saw him starting to group the Arabs in one place and start to let them go and fight by themselves."
Khalifa said he didn't realize that he was witnessing the beginnings of al Qaeda. But he said that what he saw he didn't like. He had a visit from three men, including Abu Ubaidah and Abu Hafs, who later became al Qaeda's first two military commanders. They asked him a series of questions. Only later, he said, did he understand he was being screened about becoming a member of al Qaeda. This was in the late 1980s.
'Osama, you are doing something wrong'
"I am the first one who stood up in front of Osama and told him, 'Osama, you are doing something wrong. You are going to the wrong direction,'" said Khalifa, who said he did not approve of the worldwide jihad that bin Laden and his advisers were planning. Sheik Azzam, their mentor, was murdered under still-mysterious circumstances shortly afterward, and bin Laden became the uncontested leader of al Qaeda. "He is a wealthy man, he has very good connections, and many people really love Osama," Khalifa said.
He said he parted company with bin Laden in the late 1980s, but they remained in touch. He last saw him in early 1992 during a family visit to Sudan. The bin Laden Khalifa saw on video most recently aired on Arabic-language news channels looks like a man who has aged a great deal, he said. On that tape, bin Laden once again took responsibility for the attacks of September 11, 2001. Khalifa believes that to be the case, but he says his brother-in-law was the leader of the attacks, but not the organizer. "He cannot organize anything. I am the one who is leading. I am the one who is leading him in the prayer. I am the one who is leading if we go for outing, for picnic, for riding horses," Khalifa said with a laugh.
Khalifa has become more outspoken in his criticism of bin Laden. Last year, after a wave of terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia, he published an open letter to bin Laden in a Saudi paper, asking him to renounce the terrorism being committed in his name. "Please come out, tell those people to stop," Khalifa wrote in the letter. "You are the one who can tell that, and you are the one who can stop it." He never got a response from the man who was once his best friend. But there have been more attacks.
Khalifa has been the target of an extraordinary amount of scrutiny because of his background. In the Philippines, where he went from Afghanistan, officials charged in a 1994 report that he was using businesses and prominent Islamic charities as fronts to funnel money to terrorists. Much of the investigation was done after Khalifa had left the country. No charges were filed, Col. Boogie Mendoza of the Philippine National Police, said, because at the time the Philippines had no anti-terrorism laws. Currently, Khalifa does not face any charges in the Philippines. In fact, Mendoza said, if Khalifa returned to Manila, he would likely be put under surveillance but not be arrested.
Khalifa next traveled to San Francisco, California. He was arrested there by the U.S. government after it learned he was wanted in Jordan, where he had been convicted in absentia on a charge of plotting to overthrow the government. After being deported to Jordan, he was retried and acquitted. Although Khalifa is named as a defendant in a multibillion-dollar lawsuit brought by the families of 9/11 victims, he contends there is no evidence to link him to the attacks. On September 11, Khalifa was on a business trip in Southeast Asia. After he returned to Saudi Arabia, he was jailed for several months. He said he still doesn't know why he was arrested. "They came and said, 'You are clear and you can go now.' That's it. So I don't know what is going on," he said.
Nawaf Obaid, a national security consultant for the Saudi government, said officials there now believe Khalifa "does not pose any security threat to any government and that he has broken all ties that have linked him to his charitable groups when he was operating out of the Philippines."
Posted by: God Save The World ||
11/24/2004 5:59:31 PM ||
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I was going to write something for Thanksgiving, but Donald Sensing said it better than I could. So I'll just wish a happy Thanksgiving to all my friends here on Rantburg.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/24/2004 9:31:06 PM ||
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#1
We have a lot to be thankful for Stateside. I have been thinking alot about our armed forces in Afghanistan, Iraq, and many places scattered about on the globe, like Djabouti, Chad, Mauritania, Korea. You get the picture. We owe each and every one of them a debt of gratitude. I would say that we should include them in our pre-meal blessing on Thanksgiving.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/24/2004 21:56 Comments ||
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My special thanks will always go to the 6th Armored Division of the US Third Army, the liberators of Buchenwald on April 11, 1945.
And to those who follow their example, everywhere in the world.
#3
Well said, Paul and TGA. For those at the tip of the spear, or holding/supporting any part of it, our thanks and hopes for safe reunions with family and friends.
And in this little corner of the web, thanks to those who make Rantburg run (both hosts and stalwart commenters) -- a great holiday to all of you.
SUDAN has charged 74 members of a leading Islamist opposition party with declaring war on the state, a crime punishable by death, Sudanese newspapers reported today. The 74 are members of the Popular Congress party led by Hassan al-Turabi, the newspapers said. They were arrested for involvement in what the government said was an attempted coup in September. The party denies both the coup attempt and its members involvement in any crime. "The Attorney General charged 74 elements of the Popular Congress party involved in the last sabotage attempt," the semi-official Sudan Vision newspaper said. It said that they were charged with declaring war on the state. Other charges include spying for a foreign state, attempting to undermine the constitution and inciting opposition to the government, the newspapers said.
The Attorney General was not available to comment today. A high-level security source said last month the Popular Congress members arrested for plotting to assassinate top government officials and blow up strategic targets in Khartoum and would be charged in the near future. Mr Turabi himself would likely appear in court on similar charges, the source said. Mr Turabi, a former ally of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, was imprisoned and his party suspended in April after a similar accusation that they were plotting to overthrow the government. But Mr Turabi's wife, Wisal al-Mahdi, said only "about three or four" of those charged were actually party members. Neither her husband nor her jailed son, Siddiq al-Turabi, were among those charged, she said. "Most of them are young people from the west of Sudan who are angry with what this government is doing there," she said, referring to a rebellion in Darfur, which the United Nations says has led to one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
11/24/2004 4:54:50 PM ||
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#1
So, the Islamist upended the prior Islamist, who attempted the same in return. Makes sense......to an MOOSLIM
An audiotape purportedly made by Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi lashed out Wednesday at Muslim scholars for not speaking out against U.S. actions in Iraq and Afghanistan, saying they have "let us down in the darkest circumstances." It was unclear whether the tape posted on the Internet Wednesday was intended as a direct threat against Iraq's Sunni religious establishment, who have come under attack recently with the slaying this week of two Sunni clerics by gunmen. On the tape, whose authenticity could not be confirmed, al-Zarqawi addressed his comments to the "ulema" senior Muslim religious clerics. The tape was not posted by al-Zarqawi's designated media coordinator, Abu Maysara al-Iraqi. It was unclear whether the material on the tape was new.
"You have let us down in the darkest circumstances and handed us over to the enemy... You have quit supporting the mujahedeen," al-Zarqawi purportedly said on the tape. "Hundreds of thousands of the nation's sons are being slaughtered at the hands of the infidels because of your silence."
Posted by: Seafarious ||
11/24/2004 9:33:35 AM ||
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#1
Hundreds of thousands? Please. The sounds like it's for external consumption. He needs more patsys for his terror jihad.
My suggestion to the "scholars" is to shut up unless they want to stop breathing.
#2
sounds like desperation from Zarqawi - the religious justification is all he has left when the sunnis start to realize how well they fare when he's amongst them.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/24/2004 10:21 Comments ||
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Possibilities
1. Zarq really is mad at the Sunni Imams, and wants more fervent support
A. And it was actually Zarq, not Shias or moderate Sunnis who has been responsible for offing the "scholars" for being too moderate!!!!
B. He's mad at the ones who have been less vocal, and is afraid that the recent assasinations will scare off imams from supporting him, so hes reminding them they have plenty to fear if they DONT support him.
2. They Imams were assasinated by Shiites or moderate Sunnis, but Zarq wants it to look like he offed them, to prevent imams from getting scared of shias and moderate sunnis. ???
#6
Remember, Zarqawi and his ilk are above all fascists committed to a death cult. At bottom they have little in common with the imams and view them only as tools. Z and his people are almost certainly behind the assassinations, which is their stock in trade. I agree that Z is getting desperate as Jan 30 approaches. This is very good news, and a story that our idiotic MSM will of course ignore in their rush to the next Meme du Jour (Iraqi Elections Are Illegitimate)
#7
Sounds a little like the Michael Moore crowd, and overestimated the amount of backing within the comunnity they had. When you live in a small world of like minded people, to start to believe everyone thinks that way.
#8
A dense tangle of possibilities, all of them pleasing, suggesting a Rantburg response of Surprise and Sympathy meters pegged at Zero, and a popcorn call ....
#10
Again, autophagic lysozomes run amuck. The insurgency may be eating itself up. That would make November the equivalent of a triple crown....or something.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/24/2004 11:46 Comments ||
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#11
Whatever the case, the fact that he's lashing out in this way is some sort of sign of his frustration. So I suppose he's unhappy with the current situation. Woo hoo!
#13
Now he's waging war against his own religion. That's a great move, Al! He evidently thinks that he can control the muslim world by simply declaring himself its leader. I will enjoy watching how this turns out for him.
#15
It's even narrower than that. AQ vs AMS seems a lot closer to burning your own seed stock.
It might even present a broader template for GWoT victory if we could somehow get AQ and the Takfiris to start wiping out the Wahhabi clerics. Interneccine warfare on the furthest extreme.
#16
Yeah, folks, I think he's talking to the ulema in general, not the Association of Muslim Scholars. He's bitching that the Syrian, Saudi, Jordanian, and Yemeni religious communities aren't hitting their armed-lunatic production quotas. Or he's agitating for an increase in the quota...
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
11/24/2004 15:05 Comments ||
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sounds like he has a case of PIST "Post Insurrection Sucked Trauma"
Whem the Dem shrinks are done "healing" our morons, they can go heal these morons!
I think we all know somebody like this Marine. Heck, some of you could be this Marine.
[Exerpted]
Cpl. Michael R. Emans, a combat engineer assigned to 3rd Platoon, Company A, 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 7, used just about every trick of the trade to open stubborn doors, gates and walls during an all out assault on the insurgents hiding in the city of Fallujah. During the initial phases of the assault, Emans got to try his hand at the combat aspect of his job. "I used to like blowing up ordinance, which is explosive already, and we just stack more explosives on top of it and blow it," said Emans, 22, a native of Bowling Green, Ohio. "I like it a lot better out here, running up to a door under fire, throwing a stick of C-4 on the door, yelling 'smoke' and the time on the fuse and then waiting for the explosion. You get to be so much closer (compared to a training situation) and you can feel the explosion. Destruction is very gratifying."
Three and a half years ago, Emans approached a Marine Corps recruiter with one thing on his mind, combat engineering. "My dad was a combat engineer in the Marine Corps and I wanted to work with explosives," said Emans. "I walked into the recruiter's door and said I wanted to be a combat engineer. He told me that it wasn't guaranteed but I took the chance anyway."
Now as a combat engineer, Emans considers himself a grunt with explosives, and his teammates appreciate the job that he does. "His job made it great, because he could set up a charge and blow a door so that we could all just flood into the building," Lance Cpl. Thomas J. Brennan, an assault man with 3rd platoon. "Plus it has a great shock effect on the enemy."
Continued on Page 49
#1
"There are very few problems in human relations that cannot be solved by suitable application of high explosives"-- Well,it isn't but it should be the Combat Engineer's motto.
Posted by: N guard ||
11/24/2004 9:33 Comments ||
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You cut the best part:
âNow my dad is a mason with a large construction company, and I want to be a mason when I get out of the Marine Corps. The job market out there is good for construction, and there is good money in it.â
Build 'em so they don't fall down.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/24/2004 9:42 Comments ||
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#3
crowbar-like tool called a hooligan tool
Haven't seen the device in question, but I'm betting it's a Halligan tool.
We used them in the fire department, and we called them "hooligans" too.
Not a bad reporting job, and I'll give him points for not implying Americans are all a bunch of bloodthirsty murders. Just a little nit I couldn't resist picking. :-D
This Marine - and all our military - are the greatest people in the world. We can never repay them for their service. But we can try.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
11/24/2004 9:48 Comments ||
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Barb, Halligan is a trade mark. It's the name of the guy credited with inventing the tool, perhaps the coolest fire tool. But only one company has rights to the name. In catalogues you'll see hooligan, or pry bar, or whatever, from the others.
The Halligan Forcible Entry Tool is designed to pry, pound, pull and puncture. This tool features new non-slip grips machined in the tool, duckbill with a smooth incline to insert in doors, a pick and a prying claw. Available in black of chrome finishes.
#5
A Halligan, eh? I bet I could break into 90% of suburban US homes in about 30 seconds with one of those and a hand sledge.
My house, however has long, hardened screws in the hinges, the deadbolt and the deadbolt pocket. A simple slide bolt or two will help, as long as they're beefy and screwed/bolted down well.
Crooks are lazy and nervous. Make 'em work to get into your house and they'll give up quickly.
Next week I'll discuss cellar windows as burglar bait. {8^)
A military judge called on Jordanian terrorist Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi and three other fugitives to surrender Tuesday, a step toward opening a terror conspiracy trial involving a foiled chemical attack that could have killed thousands. Al-Zarqawi, believed to be on the run in Iraq with a $25 million price on his head, and the three fugitives will be tried in absentia along with eight men in police custody since April on charges including conspiring to commit terrorism, possessing and manufacturing explosives and affiliation with a banned group. A ninth man, also detained in April, was charged only with helping two fugitives. If convicted in the military court, the 12 other men - including al-Zarqawi - face the death penalty.
No date has yet been set for the trial. But it is expected to start in early December, shortly after the expiry of a 10-day grace period issued Tuesday by Col. Fawaz Buqour, the presiding military judge in the case. In his one-page notice, made available to The Associated Press, Buqour urged the fugitives to surrender to judicial authorities before the December 2 deadline expires. The military prosecutor indicted the 13-member cell last month. A charge sheet alleged al-Zarqawi had sent more than $118,000 to the domestic terror cell to buy two vehicles that would be driven into Jordan's General Intelligence Department by suicide bombers armed with explosives and chemicals.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/24/2004 12:35:52 AM ||
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#1
Did they deliver the court papers already? I guess the messenger will need an iron neck.
#4
A Zarquawi surrender is not going to happen. Basically, Jordan is closing the door on Zarquawi. He will have fewer places to hole up. He should be easier to get. If he gets whacked by anybody it would be great and cause for celebration!!!
British troops joined their US and Iraqi counterparts in a massive new offensive against insurgent strongholds as efforts intensified to restore government control in time for January elections. The launch of the huge operation Tuesday in the so-called Triangle of Death just south of Baghdad came as the international community threw its weight behind the tight timetable for Iraq's first post-Saddam Hussein elections. US and Iraqi forces swept through the village of Jabella just north of the city of Hilla to kick off the fresh offensive to restore control in the northern part of Babil province, the US military said. The operation, dubbed Plymouth Rock, involved more than 5,000 Iraqi, US and British troops.
Rebels based in Sunni Arab towns immediately south of the capital that command the main highway to the Shiite south have launched repeated attacks against convoys and travelers. The operation came hot on the heels of a massive assault on Fallujah, west of Baghdad—the largest since last year's invasion. The city had been under insurgent control since April and its recapture was seen as essential to organizing the promised polls. "As the Iraqi people prepare to vote in nationwide elections in January, multinational forces are determined to capture or kill those who desire to destabilize the elections process," the military said.
Most of Fallujah's 300,000 inhabitants had fled the city before the assault began November 8, but as a few rebel pockets were still to be brought under control, humanitarian needs inside the city remained unknown. A team from the Iraqi Red Crescent Society entered Fallujah Monday, but no real assessment has been made of the humanitarian situation since US and Iraqi government troops stormed the city, the International Committee of the Red Cross said. Iraqi security forces said after receiving a tipoff they were focusing their hunt for Zarqawi in north-central Iraq.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, speaking at an international conference on Iraq, termed the vote critical to quell the violence in Iraq. The chronic insecurity gripping Iraq was "the greatest impediment to a successful transition process," he said in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. His stand was enshrined in a declaration that was endorsed not only by the United States but also by regional foes Iran and Syria, and by critics of the Iraq war, including China, France and Russia. Iraqi officials insist that despite persistent unrest the vote will be held as planned, and election officials said more than 220 different political groups had registered ahead of Tuesday's deadline. Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said the elections would be held on time "whatever the situation."
In Washington, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the United States will add an unspecified number of troops to its forces in Iraq and beef up Iraqi forces ahead of the election. "We will have more troops, because the Iraqi security forces are going up, and we've decided to overlap some troops during the election period," Rumsfeld said. "So you're going to have additional troops during that period from both of those two sources." Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi urged all Iraqi political groups, Muslim or Christian, Sunni or Shiite, to take part in elections for a national assembly, a regional parliament for the Kurdish north and 18 provincial councils.
On the ground, a Sunni cleric from the influential Council of Muslim Scholars was gunned down north of Baghdad in the second attack in as many days to target a member of the group, which has called for a boycott of January's polls. In the city of Samarra, which was the scene of a previous US-backed counter-insurgency operation in September, five people, including three children, were killed and eight wounded by mortar rounds that struck near a US base. Further north, the Iraqi national guard took over responsibility from a South African security firm for protecting key oilfields around Kirkuk in a bid to stem mounting sabotage by anti-US insurgents, the force's regional commander said. The state-owned North Oil Company says it has suffered 100 separate attacks since June that have cost 800 million dollars in desperately needed lost earnings.
Meanwhile, Iraqi Defense Minister Hazem Shaalan branded the popular Arabic-language satellite television Al-Jazeera a "channel of terrorism", in a newspaper interview published Tuesday. That brought a sharp reaction from the broadcaster, which expressed its "utter outrage" at what it said was an unsubstantiated allegation. "Al-Jazeera is a channel of terrorism. That is clear and we say openly and without hesistation: Al-Jazeera is a channel of terrorism," Shaalan was quoted by the London-based Arabic newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat as saying.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/24/2004 12:18:29 AM ||
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#1
...On the ground, a Sunni cleric from the influential Council of Muslim Scholars was gunned down north of Baghdad in the second attack in as many days to target a member of the group, which has called for a boycott of Januaryâs polls..
US Mercenaries, but don't tell the MOSSAD, they don't blush!!.
#5
TGA: the Jihadis didn't land on Plymouth Rock, Plymouth Rock landed on them.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
11/24/2004 8:30 Comments ||
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TGA - The Plymouth Colony was a British colony. Most people seemed to forget that prior to 4 July 1776, we were British subjects. Then came the big messy divorce.
Posted by: Don ||
11/24/2004 11:16 Comments ||
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Jan 30 will see the launch of Operation City On A Hill.
Thousands of US and Iraqi troops and police commandos have swept through a cluster of lawless towns south-west of Baghdad in a new offensive against Sunni Muslim insurgents. The raids by 5,000 American, Iraqi and some British troops in what has become known as the "triangle of death" come two weeks after US-led forces stormed the western Sunni city of Fallujah and routed rebels there. The US military says Operation Plymouth Rock began in the town of Jabala but is planned to reach across the Sunni area south-west of Baghdad, where rebels have banished police and rule the streets.
Guerrilla and bandit attacks in the area, which straddles major highways between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, have threatened to cut Iraq in half by making travel between Baghdad and the Shiite Muslim south dangerous. "The latest offensive ... follows the swift seizure of the restive city of Fallujah, where terrorists and insurgents suffered significant losses and the elimination of a key sanctuary," the US marines said in a statement. "The joint Iraqi-US force captured 32 suspected insurgents, including a number of high-interest individuals, in a series of early morning raids."
The US military says it is trying to cut the lines of communication between rebels in the western Fallujah area, Baghdad and the province of Babylon, south-west of the capital. Violence in Sunni areas has surged since the start of the Fallujah assault, which drew condemnation from some Sunni political groups and clerics who have threatened to boycott a January 30 election in protest.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/24/2004 10:40:42 PM ||
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#1
Love the picture.
Posted by: Charles ||
11/24/2004 0:40 Comments ||
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It coes not look like an Abras.Is it a Challanger?
#7
It's the cancelled Crusader 155mm. Supposedly the canon (30 mile range) will be reused in a new, lighter, cheaper model under development.
Posted by: ed ||
11/24/2004 9:57 Comments ||
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#8
I believe the pic is courtesy of Al-Aska Paul (he's very proud of it) ;-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/24/2004 10:07 Comments ||
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This ops tempo is as intense as any the US has sustained since Vietnam - and maybe WW2. Incredible they are doing so much, acting so often, with realtively few troops.
#10
Agreed OS. They are just hammering the opposition without let up. I am so impressed with the operational versatility of our forces, from the senior command on down. They are continually adapting to the changing conditions and doing so in a way that far outpaces the enemy's ability to develop countermeasures. This is not your father's military. I am so proud of them.
#11
I just like the fact our forces did not announce the offensive this time.
Maybe we will find some insurgent leadership, not just the shit they leave behind. Bless all those U.S soldiers that died in Fallujah digging through the shit .....
#12
leo - you mean the real "shock and awe" when they kick the door in at 4AM? LOL - yeah, not announcing the start of activities was a real brainstorm...
sarcasm aside, this time they weren't trying to get the majority of the civilian pop to get outta Dodge before it hits the fan. Different place, different MO
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/24/2004 15:18 Comments ||
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#13
This ops tempo is as intense as any the US has sustained since Vietnam - and maybe WW2. Incredible they are doing so much, acting so often, with realtively few troops.
#14
This ops tempo is as intense as any the US has sustained since Vietnam - and maybe WW2. Incredible they are doing so much, acting so often, with realtively few troops.
DUBAI — Iraqi Defence Minister Hazem Shaalan branded the popular Arabic-language satellite televison Al Jazeera a "channel of terrorism", in a newspaper interview published yesterday. "Al Jazeera is a channel of terrorism," he told the London-based Arabic newspaper Asharq Al Awsat.
He also noted that water is wet.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/24/2004 12:00:00 AM ||
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#1
FOX news should buy AlJazeera to insure a complete blackout on events on Iraq.
Lawyers defending 181 alleged coup plotters in the largest-ever trial in the northwest African state of Mauritania have announced they will boycott court sessions until one of their colleagues is released from prison.
"Nope. Nope. Ain't gonna do it."
Sidi Muhammad Walad Maham was taken into custody on Monday on charges of contempt for what the court president called his "insolence" at the start of the trial of suspects accused in three alleged plots to oust the pro-western government of President Muawia Sid Ahmad Walad Taya. After spending most of the day being beaten with sticks at a police station near the desert town of Wad Naga, where the 172 suspects in custody are being detained at a prison 50km east of the capital Nouakchott, Walad Maham was transported to another facility at Rosso on the border with Senegal. Walad Maham was representing some of the suspects in court. "We have opted to boycott all of the court sessions in the country after the actions taken against our colleague, who we demand be released immediately," the lawyers said in a statement on Tuesday. "We strongly denounce his detention and demand that the accusations levelled by the court against Walad Maham be judged immediately." The defendants - including ranking officers, an ex-president and two heads of opposition parties - are accused of mounting three coup plots between June 2003 and September 2004. They face death if convicted.
Wonder how they feel about their mouthpieces showboating?
Posted by: Fred ||
11/24/2004 11:11:07 PM ||
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The US military says an American soldier was wounded and one militant killed in eastern Afghanistan on Monday. It says the soldier was wounded while on patrol near Jalalabad in eastern Nangarhar province when a homemade bomb detonated but he was treated and later returned to duty. After the blast militants "attacked the patrol with small arms fire. The patrol returned fire, killing one insurgent and capturing three more." The attack came two days after four militants were killed and five others arrested including several Arab fighters in Barikaw district also in Nangarhar.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/24/2004 10:50:08 PM ||
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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.
Saudi security forces have arrested two men who confessed to killing a French engineer in the Red Sea city of Jeddah in September, a newspaper reported Tuesday. 
Indonesia's chief of police is to investigate allegations that the most wanted terrorist in the country, 
Indonesian police say they have arrested "some suspects" in the Australian Embassy bombing, while a newspaper identified one of them as allegedly being linked to the 2002 Bali bombings and last year's attack on the J W Marriott hotel. Rois, alias 
Osama bin Laden's brother-in-law, and former best friend, says he's not surprised the terrorist leader has been difficult to capture. "Who is going to capture him and where?" 
Thousands of US and Iraqi troops and police commandos have swept through a cluster of lawless towns south-west of Baghdad in a new offensive against Sunni Muslim insurgents. The raids by 5,000 American, Iraqi and some British troops in what has become known as the "triangle of death" come two weeks after US-led forces stormed the western Sunni city of Fallujah and routed rebels there. The US military says 
The US military says an American soldier was wounded and one militant killed in eastern Afghanistan on Monday. It says the soldier was wounded while on patrol near Jalalabad in eastern Nangarhar province when a homemade bomb detonated but he was treated and later returned to duty. After the blast militants "attacked the patrol with small arms fire. The patrol returned fire, killing one insurgent and capturing three more." The attack came two days after four militants were killed and five others arrested including several Arab fighters in Barikaw district also in Nangarhar.
