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Lebanon Opposition Demands Total Syrian Withdrawal
Today's Headlines
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Page 4: Opinion
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Arabia
Kuwait Purges The Foreigners Who Aren't There
March 3, 2005: Kuwait had thousands of foreigners in its armed forces in 1990, when Iraq invaded. Some of the foreigners proved disloyal. So after Kuwait was liberated in 1991, the armed forces were rebuilt using Kuwaitis only. Well, not quite. The reason there were foreigners in the army in the first place was because not enough Kuwaitis were willing to be in the armed forces. That changed after 1991, but then it slid back to the old ways during the 1990s. So Kuwait began allowing, without much fanfare, Saudi Arabian men to join. There is a lot of unemployment in Saudi Arabia, and the Kuwaitis pay well. But now some of those Saudi soldiers have been found dabbling in Islamic radicalism.
Comes as a surprise, doesn't it?
So the Kuwaitis are going to have a purge, and get rid of most, if not all, of the Saudi troops. Some Kuwaitis have also been forced out of the army, when background checks revealed Islamic radical activities. The Kuwaitis believe that Iraq is much less of a threat now, with elections and all that going on up there. Letting the Kuwaiti armed forces shrink is acceptable if the people who are in uniform are reliable.
I understand Fijians are reasonably priced. If you own an ax grindery, never hire somebody with an ax to grind. And if youo've got something worth stealing, don't hire a thief.
Posted by: Steve || 03/03/2005 9:09:50 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I thought ax grinderys went out with places to buggy whip.
Posted by: Shipman || 03/03/2005 16:23 Comments || Top||


Kuwait Tightens Grip on Charities
Islamic charities in Kuwait have been ordered to shut down hundreds of charity collection boxes in a bid to better control fund-raising, a minister said in remarks published yesterday. "The decision to remove (legal) charity boxes is irreversible. ... It was taken by the Cabinet which wants to remove anything that may affect charity work," Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Faisal Al-Hajji said. The five authorized Islamic charities and their 124 branches in Kuwait have hundreds of boxes placed all over the emirate, some of which are unlicensed. Hajji said an earlier government decision to remove unlicensed boxes had been successfully implemented and charities had been given a grace period to remove officially-sanctioned boxes that ended yesterday. "Charity boxes are not a civilized means (to raise funds). It may even give an impression contrary to the noble goals of the charities," the minister said in comments carried by local newspapers.
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2005 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Britain
Extradition hearing for Briton wanted by US adjourned to April
An extradition hearing for a Briton wanted in the United States on charges of raising money to fund terrorist causes was adjourned until next month. Lawyers involved in the case will thus have more time to assess whether Babar Ahmad runs a real risk of facing the death penalty under military jurisdiction if he is sent to the United States. Prosecutors in the United States have accused Ahmad, 30, from south London, of raising money to support terrorism in Chechnya and Afghanistan via websites and e-mails.
'Scuse me, but I'm fairly sure the US doesn't execute people for fundraising...
Under British law, a request for extradition can be denied if there is no guarantee that a suspect, if convicted, will be executed. "We accept submissions made that if he were transferred to military jurisdiction, there is no apparent bar to the imposition of the death penalty or transfer to a third state," said John Hardy, acting for the US government. "So the question is: Is it a real risk of transfer to military jurisdiction?" he asked at Bow Street magistrates court in central London, where the hearing has been taking place. Ahmad's lawyer Edward Fitzgerald said the question had to be clarified. "If there is a real risk of transfer to military custody, there is also a grave and serious case that such a transfer would involve a flagrant denial of justice," he told the court. On the second day of the hearing, judge Timothy Workman ruled that a remand and review hearing would be held in London on March 24, with the extradition case to continue on April 18.
Posted by: Seafarious || 03/03/2005 1:29:36 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It depends. If we found someone who gave Mohammed Atta money to take flying lessons, he might be guilty of conspiracy to commit murder.

But sending fungible money to a terrorist United Way? That's worth, what, 5 to 10?
Posted by: jackal || 03/03/2005 21:37 Comments || Top||


UK: Three arrested in anti-terror raids
Three people have been arrested in Coventry in connection with an investigation into international terrorism, police have said. Two men, aged 30 and 29, and a 41-year-old woman were arrested under the Terrorism Act on Tuesday. The trio were arrested by detectives from the anti-terrorist branch of Scotland Yard, assisted by West Midlands police. They are being held at a central London police station. The men were arrested at a business address in the Holbrook area of Coventry and the woman was arrested at her home in Great Heath. Five premises were searched by police, with one still being searched on Thursday, Scotland Yard said.
Posted by: Bulldog || 03/03/2005 11:03:14 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Terror suspect hunted in London
An Islamic militant implicated in the Madrid bombings and a plot to attack New York's Grand Central Station is being hunted by police in London. Moutaz Almallah and his brother Mouhannad, both Syrian-born, were found by Spanish investigators to be key figures in a criminal gang financing Madrid's terror groups by drug-dealing, robbery and fraud. Mouhannad, 41, is on bail awaiting trial in Spain, accused of sheltering some of the Madrid bombers and financing the operation. Details of the plot against Grand Central station were allegedly found on a computer disk in his property. The FBI and CIA are said to be astounded that it took Spanish authorities nine months to detect the plot, despite having found sketches of the station in a gang hideout soon after the Madrid bombings which killed 191 people on March 11 last year. Several key members of that al-Qaida cell apparently escaped. Moutaz is said to have fled to London, where Scotland Yard is now hunting for him, the Times of London reported.
This article starring:
MUHANNAD ALMALLAHal-Qaeda in Europe
MUTAZ ALMALLAHal-Qaeda in Europe
Posted by: Steve || 03/03/2005 8:47:11 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I'm astounded the FBI and CIA have finally found out about Spain --the center of Al Queda investigation on the planet. They must still think it is Iraq.
Posted by: juriseqs || 03/03/2005 12:26 Comments || Top||

#2  Yes, well you obviously haven't been keeping up with the news for the last three years. Better to keep your mouth shut and have people think you're a fool, and all that, juriseqs.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/03/2005 20:25 Comments || Top||


Terror suspect 'ran jihad web network' from South London; faces extradiction to US
A British computer expert ran websites raising cash and recruiting fighters for the Taleban and the Chechen Mujahidin, an extradition hearing was told yesterday. Babar Ahmad allegedly operated websites in the United States that revealed links to Shamil Basayev, the Chechen leader behind the Beslan school attack. There was also advice on smuggling cash to the Taleban, and Muslims were urged to take arms training for a jihad. Mr Ahmad, 30, of Tooting, South London, is fighting extradition on five charges stretching from 1997 to 2004 alleging that he used websites to incite the murder of US servicemen in Afghanistan and elsewhere.

At the start of a two-day hearing, John Hardy, for the US Government, said that the websites "sought and invited and solicited contributions to terrorist causes in Afghanistan and Chechnya". The material inciting murder in both the countries and elsewhere was "established, operated and maintained by this defendant", he told Tim Workman, the senior district judge at Bow Street Magistrates' Court. Muslims were told that "military training is an Islamic obligation, not an option" and it was suggested that they should get hold of weapons such as AK47s.

One of the websites, named after the spiritual teacher of Osama bin Laden, announced that it had been set up "to propagate the cause of jihad among Muslims who are sitting down ignorant", Mr Hardy said. The website said that the best way to help would be to "go to the lands of jihad" to fight. The website included a disclaimer suggesting that there was no suggestion of promoting illegal action. Mr Hardy said that this was "manifest nonsense".

Potential militants were told that they should read US military manuals and the memoirs of British soldiers, take martial arts training and learn knife fighting. Recruits were urged to be discreet and advised to make contact with veteran fighters who had come home. Website readers were also told: "The most important thing a Muslim can do in the West is raise money."

Edward Fitzgerald, QC, for Mr Ahmad, asked the court to consider whether the Act allowing extradition was at odds with an extradition treaty signed in 1972. The treaty requires prima facie evidence but the Act under which Mr Ahmad faces extradition does not. Mr Fitzgerald said that the definition of terrorism as "an act of violence for political ends" was far too broad. On that basis he said: "One would say President Bush was a terrorist. He is constantly concerned in violence with political ends."

Looking at the charges, Mr Fitzgerald said that the Taleban were the de facto Government in Afghanistan, and Chechnya was invaded by the Russians despite a peace treaty in 1998. The Mujahidin were acting in self-defence. Mr Fitzgerald said that there was also a danger that once in the United States Mr Ahmad could be held indefinitely without trial by the military. Legislation allows a president to sign an order designating a foreigner as an enemy combatant and send him to a military prison or a military tribunal.

Scores of protesters, including Martin Mubanga, the former Guantanamo Bay detainee, gathered in Bow Street to support Mr Ahmad. The hearing continues.
Posted by: Bulldog || 03/03/2005 5:10:26 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  'Extradiction'? Gah!
Posted by: Bulldog || 03/03/2005 5:12 Comments || Top||

#2  Doubtless another 'very nice boy'/'pillar of the community'. I say brice him.
Posted by: Howard UK || 03/03/2005 5:57 Comments || Top||

#3  Screw this crap off him on the street KGB style. A ricin umbrella dart would do nicely.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 03/03/2005 6:54 Comments || Top||

#4  Ima think an introduction to subduction would be good in this case.
Posted by: Kalle (kafir forever) || 03/03/2005 8:58 Comments || Top||

#5  They did take their time in meeting that badboy. If I am not mistaken, the website to which they refer had been in operation for a very long time and was fairly straight forward in its recruiting and fund raising. The most interesting part of it was how the site was linked to all kinds of well organized jihadi sites which shared ideology and a general party line as well as a similar type of site design and layout. A friend in Baku told me about the website almost a decade ago during a conversation about backward religious freaks. If I recall correctly, the site also did big promotion of OBL when he was a PR peon. They also sold alot of inspirational tapes, books and videos about the referenced "teacher" of OBL as well as tall tales about Mujahadeen in Bosnia singlehandedly stopping whole hosts of serbs. They had a big focus on getting shaheed'd and how the holy warrior's corpse wouldn't rot or stink like everyone else when they died. There was a who's who of shaheeds from all over who died in each different "jihad land." They did alot of combat cam stuff from chechnya also. It was a well built fundraising and recruiting center. Khattab was portrayed like a real life rambo. So what took the coppers so long?
Posted by: Tkat || 03/03/2005 12:42 Comments || Top||

#6  So what took the coppers so long?
Making a list of who visited the site more than likely.
Posted by: Steve || 03/03/2005 13:44 Comments || Top||

#7  That can't be the Martian ManHunter... he's a good guy!
Posted by: Shipman || 03/03/2005 16:24 Comments || Top||

#8  Early version of Braniac.
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2005 20:09 Comments || Top||

#9  Braniac? He's a high-fiber villain?
Posted by: Phil Fraering || 03/03/2005 20:24 Comments || Top||

#10  no pics of Babar?
Posted by: Frank G || 03/03/2005 20:27 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Suspect in police department attack detained
A Chechen Interior Ministry official has been detained on suspicion of involvement in the attack on the Sunzha district police headquarters, which took place in the early hours of Wednesday, the Russian Interior Ministry's Criminal Investigation Department told Interfax. The suspects were detained when policemen found the car from which fire had been opened at the police department building. A policeman and an acquaintance were seized inside the car, while a third passenger managed to escape. A Kalashnikov assault rifle, four anti-tank grenade launchers, a grenade and 450 cartridges were found with the suspects. Interior Ministry spokesman Boris Koshkin said five militants were killed and seven others detained in the fighting following the attack. The detainees are giving evidence, he said.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 03/03/2005 12:16:36 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Caucasus Corpse Count
Rebels raided a police station in Chechnya, sparking a gunbattle that left one officer dead and 18 others wounded, officials said Wednesday. Five rebels were killed and seven were captured, they said. In a separate attack, four federal soldiers were wounded overnight when rebels fired on their truck near the village of Assinovskaya in western Chechnya, ITAR-Tass news agency quoted local police as saying. Two armed men were detained on suspicion participating in the attack, it said.

The latest deadly raid took place Tuesday in the village of Sernovodskaya, 22 miles west of the Chechen capital, Grozny, Russia's Interior Ministry spokesman Boris Proshkin said on NTV television. In the gunbattle, which lasted more than one hour, five rebels were killed and seven others were captured, he said. The attack also left 18 policemen wounded, two of them in grave condition, said Anatoly Rabichuk, the head of a military hospital where they were treated. The police chief in Penza, the Russian city where the police involved in the battle are stationed, said the attack was on a tent camp housing the unit, Interfax news agency later reported. The chief gave different figures, saying three of about 30 attackers were arrested and 29 police officers were injured,

Russia's Defense Ministry said Wednesday that the military has lost 15 aircraft and 22 pilots in action over Chechnya since 2001. The Kremlin-backed Chechen president, meanwhile, assailed a Russian rights group for engaging in talks with rebel envoy Akhmed Zakayev in London last week. "Who is killing the children of these mothers? Zakayev, Basayev and Maskhadov," President Alu Alkhanov said, referring to rebel commanders Shamil Basayev and Aslan Maskhadov. "They don't know those scum; they are the people of war."

Alkhanov told a Moscow news conference that his government was organizing a round-table in Grozny on the future of Chechnya, in addition to a similar forum planned for March 21 in Strasbourg, France. He also said that parliamentary elections were expected in Chechnya in October 2005. He said that one of the biggest challenges facing his administration was finding work for some half a million unemployed in the region, including in the war-shattered oil industry, which accounts for about 70-80 percent of the regional government's revenues.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 03/03/2005 12:15:34 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Europe
Macedonia steps up
March 3, 2005: Tiny Macedonia has been a steadfast member of the US-led Iraq coalition. On February 21 the Macedonian government confirmed that it would send another 12 army officers to Iraq. At the present time Macedonia has 32 troops in Iraq. There's more to Macedonia's deployment than doing the US a political favor. Macedonia sees the Iraqi deployment as an opportunity for its troops to work with professional Western military forces and "learn the ropes" in a combat environment.
Posted by: Steve || 03/03/2005 8:59:05 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  32 guys named 'Alex', perhaps? Asia minor should start to worry.
Posted by: Bulldog || 03/03/2005 9:04 Comments || Top||

#2  IIRC Persepolis was in what is today Modern Iran, right Bulldog?
Posted by: Shiter Spoluper4654 || 03/03/2005 9:12 Comments || Top||

#3  Ooh yeah. That wasn't pretty.
Posted by: Bulldog || 03/03/2005 9:18 Comments || Top||

#4  Re: Persepolis - Beer and torches shouldn't mix.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats || 03/03/2005 9:24 Comments || Top||

#5  LotR: I'm reminded of that fact every time Metallica goes on tour.
Posted by: BH || 03/03/2005 10:07 Comments || Top||

#6  Metallica, fire and brawling. Almost brings back memories of a concert I think I attended in the early 90s... *g*
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats || 03/03/2005 10:25 Comments || Top||

#7  Jagermeister shots are du rigeur for Metallica tours now, along with the beer and torches...
Posted by: Frank G || 03/03/2005 10:30 Comments || Top||

#8  Actually, it is very, very important that Macedonia have a competant military. There are no fewer than four other nations that claim *all* of Macedonia's territory for themselves, and all threaten to go to war if one of the others seizes Macedonia. That is why there is a semi-permanent contingent of 20,000 NATO troops there since the Clinton days, 4,000 of which are US. Macedonia is one, huge, bloody trigger for the whole region.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/03/2005 10:58 Comments || Top||

#9  Greece doesn't claim any territory of the Republic of Macedonia for itself -- it only claims the name. :-) "The name 'Macedonia' doesn't belong to you Slavs, it belongs to the Greeks!"

And I think (not completely sure) that Bulgaria doesn't claim any territory of it either -- it only claims the language. "You're not speaking 'Macedonian', you're speaking 'Bulgarian'!"

It's Albanian imperialism and secessionism that's the great threat. And ofcourse if any forces in Serbia attempt for a mad grab at reconstituting Yugoslavia by force again.
Posted by: Aris Katsaris || 03/03/2005 11:52 Comments || Top||

#10  Oh, please, Aris. The Greeks considered the Macedonians to be half civilized barbarians, not fellow Hellenes. Those Slavs living in the region known as Macedonia have every right to that name whether Greece likes it or not.

The great threat in that area is if we ever take our boot off of Serbia's neck. Heaven knows Europe can't and won't restrain them.
Posted by: Desert Blondie || 03/03/2005 12:23 Comments || Top||

#11  Oh, please, Aris.

Are you arguing with me, Desert Blondie, about something you think I myself believe, or with the quote I simply gave as an example of the objections?

The Greeks considered the Macedonians to be half civilized barbarians, not fellow Hellenes

Which Greeks considered that? Demosthenes perhaps and other anti-Macedonians like him. What did philo-Macedonians believe?

The Macedonians participated in the Ancient Greek Olympics at a time when only Greeks could participate. This by itself indicates the answer's not nearly as clear-cut as "they were considered barbarians by all".

Where I'm concerned, discussing how Greek the ancient Macedonians were, is similar to discussing how "American" the third-generation descendants of Mexican immigrants are. It's all about politics, about what people *want* them to be, and it's very little about a factual question that can be answered one way or another.

Some more factual question can be answered: Was their language Greek? Yes. Their religion? Yes. Their names? Yes. Their national identity? The reigning dynasty atleast proclaimed itself Greek, I believe we have little knowledge of what the commoner Macedonians identified as.

From my little knowledge of the era I believe their primary difference from the rest of Greece seems to be in their political tradition: when the rest of Greece was a mass of city-states, switching between oligarchy and democracy, Macedonia and Epirus had kept the much earlier Monarchy instead. But this doesn't really help indicate if they were foreigners or simply back.

--

Anyway, my post in #9 wasn't meant to discuss this old matter, it was meant to dispute the claim of Anonymouse in #8. There's no reputable political power in Greece that makes claims on the *territory* of FYRO Macedonia. I'm sure you could find fascists and neonazis that would wish such a thing, but none of them in the parliament or otherwise in power.
Posted by: Aris Katsaris || 03/03/2005 12:54 Comments || Top||

#12  Aris, stop it with the "if they are not considered x by all, the statement is invalid" argument. You're a better debater than that. This article is where I got it from, among others. I'm not feeling all that great otherwise I would post the others.

The Slavs in the region claim it because they are living in the area called Macedonia. One of my old friend's family was from that area. She called herself Macedonian, not because of any ties to ancient Greek culture, but because of geographical location.
Posted by: Desert Blondie || 03/03/2005 13:06 Comments || Top||

#13  Desert Blondie> I don't even understand what your point is and what in the world you are disputing among anything I said.

Did I dispute anything you said relating to the *modern* slavic Macedonian nation? Did I dispute their right to name themselves however they wish?

What I disputed was the historical claim you made that the Ancient Greeks considered Macedonians to be "half-civilised barbarians". Not all of them did, and I have no evidence to suggest that a majority did.

As a sidenote, I note that what your link claims is that "the other Greeks might have considered them half-barbarians".

The words "might" and "half-barbarians" are a bit different in meaning to the definitive claim that definitely Greeks viewed them as "half-civilized barbarians".

The situation described is more akin to many people in Europe not seeing Turkey as a European nation, while Turkey itself claims that characterization.

On my part, what I've said, is that since you don't define the criteria for Greekness (or any other nationality), it's impossible to answer the question of "what were they".

It's like asking whether Russia or Turkey are European nations or not. Define your criteria, and then you will find your answer.

I hope you are feeling better soon.
Posted by: Aris Katsaris || 03/03/2005 15:20 Comments || Top||

#14  Trolling for dollars again, Aris.
Posted by: Poison Reverse || 03/03/2005 15:54 Comments || Top||

#15  Poison Reverse, I won't even pretend I understand what that sentence means, but if you consider even *this* to have been trolling, then you are beyond even psychiatric help.
Posted by: Aris Katsaris || 03/03/2005 16:01 Comments || Top||

#16  The help coming from Macedonia in Iraq is most appreciated. Macedonia has a pop. of just over 2 million. Were the coalition to recieve a proportionate share of help from, say, a country the size of France, we'd expect a force of roughly 960 soliders. From a country the size of Greece, over 170. However, since neither France nor Greece have the political leadership and balls to be on the right side of history, then Macedonia's troops will do quite nicely.
Posted by: Mark Z. || 03/03/2005 16:14 Comments || Top||

#17  32 guys named 'Alex', perhaps? Asia minor should start to worry.

I like the Taco and Fugue in Asia Minor
Posted by: badanov || 03/03/2005 16:18 Comments || Top||

#18  Thanks, Aris...I hope I am feeling better soon, too. Take care.
Posted by: Desert Blondie || 03/03/2005 16:40 Comments || Top||

#19  Aris: I misspoke. The problem arises because of a fear of a "greater Macedonia", much like a "greater Serbia". The Greeks are hostile to Macedonia, as are the Bulgarians, because each has a (theoretical) piece of "greater Macedonia", and they are afraid lest someone claim it back on behalf of Macedonia (as Tito seemed interested in doing). The Serbians, for their part, might dream of incorporating Macedonia into their "greater Serbia" territory, though that seems to be stilled for the time being. This leaves the Albanians, who are currently scraping with the Macedonians. But the bottom line is that all five nations are edgy at best about their territories, to the point where NATO decided to deploy troops there just to be safe. As long as nobody does anything, nobody else seems to feel the need to do anything.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/03/2005 16:45 Comments || Top||

#20  Aris,

This time I am just joking with you. My knowledge of Macedonia is limited, so I will sit back and learn from the thread.
Posted by: Poison Reverse || 03/03/2005 18:24 Comments || Top||

#21  Well too bad that Alexander the Great forgot to trademark the name "Macedonia".

When will the Bretagne (French Brittany) sue Great Britain (or the other way round)?
Posted by: True German Ally || 03/03/2005 20:58 Comments || Top||

#22  In a way, -moose, that sounds kind of like the Kurds. The Arabs, Persians, Turks, and Syrians all want to keep their slice under their thumb. Not so much that they want to rule them all, just not have them be unified under someone else's control.
Posted by: jackal || 03/03/2005 21:50 Comments || Top||

#23  jackal> Except in this case it's not the *people* that's divided among different countries -- there are no large ethnic Macedonian populations in any of the neighbouring nations as far as I'm aware (a few handful thousands in Greece, I believe, and probably even fewer in Albania or Bulgaria -- in comparison to the millions of ethnic Macedonians in their own independent nation that's an insignificant amount)

It's only the *territory* of the Ancient Macedonia that's divided between three countries, most of it to Greece, 40% or so to the Republic of Macedonia, and a tiny amount to Bulgaria.

The Second Balkan War was fought over control of the wider Macedonian area -- Greece+Serbia vs Bulgaria. Bulgaria lost and was denied access to the Aegean. Greece+Serbia divided the territory. Serbia got control over the slavic population in what is now the Republic of Macedonia.

Then, decades later, under Tito, he cut off a sizeable chunk of the Serbia-controlled regions to create what he named the "Republic of Macedonia". Many Greeks believe that he did this for imperialistic purposes -- namely proclaiming the whole region as the rightful possession of one of the Yugoslavian peoples and thus seek himself access to the Aegean.

How much of that motive is true, and how much is just a paranoid fear of Greek chauvinists, I have no clue. I've never studied Tito's doings and attitude in detail.
Posted by: Aris Katsaris || 03/03/2005 22:36 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Saudi embassy staffer charged with smuggling Egyptians into US
WASHINGTON - An Egyptian who worked as a driver for Saudi Arabia's embassy faces charges of illegally smuggling other Egyptians into the United States by selling them fraudulent Saudi work visas. Mohamed Abdel Wahab Yakoub, who was fired from the Saudi Embassy in 2002, appeared Wednesday in federal court. He is accused of charging up to $5,000 for visas created with official embassy letterheads and government stamps.

"Anytime you have an individual exploiting his post at an embassy to smuggle people into this country, it raises serious homeland security concerns," said Allan Doody, special agent in charge at the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau. "Thankfully, we have closed down this human pipeline."
Wonder how much damage he did.
A Saudi Embassy spokesman could not be reached for comment Wednesday night.
"Mahmoud! Go hire another peasant Egyptian!"
Authorities believe Yakoub, 61, sold the fake visas to at least four Egyptians; others still are under investigation. None of the Egyptians who used the visas appear to have any ties to international terror organizations, officials said.

From the late 1990s until he was fired, Yakoub wrote letters on the embassy's letterhead stationery requesting visas for Egyptians to work for Saudi diplomats in the United States, investigators alleged. The letters were sent to the US Embassy in Cairo, Egypt, where the visas were approved. None of the Egyptians ever worked for the embassy or any Saudi diplomat after entering the country, officials said.

Yakoub, who lives in Maryland, was arrested last month at Dulles International Airport in suburban Virginia after flying in from Cairo and was charged with smuggling illegal immigrants into the United States. He appeared in federal court for the Eastern District of Virginia and was released Wednesday in care of his family to attend to what officials called a serious medical condition.
How convenient.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/03/2005 00:00:00 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Southeast Asia
Indonesian Court Sentences Terror Chief (Abu Bakar Bashir to 2 1/2 years)
Posted by: ed || 03/03/2005 08:55 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Bashir gets 30 months
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - The accused leader of an al-Qaida-linked terrorist group was sentenced to 30 months in jail by an Indonesian court on Thursday for conspiracy charges related to the 2002 Bali nightclub bombing that killed 202 people, including seven Americans.

Abu Bakar Bashir was cleared of more serious charges that he ordered the bombing, which was aimed at foreign tourists and also killed 88 Australians. He was also cleared of charges related to the 2003 bombing of the J.W. Marriott hotel in Jakarta that killed 12 and charges he incited his followers to launch terrorist attacks.

``Neither the defense witnesses nor the prosecutors' witnesses said that the defendant has planned or provoked other people to commit the bombings,'' the court said in its verdict. ``The perpetrators of the Marriott bombings admitted they did that on their own will,'' it said. ``Therefore the defendant has to be acquitted from primary charges.''

The five-judge panel said that Bashir, who has been in jail since April, would get credit for time served and could be freed before the end of 2006.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/03/2005 00:00:00 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Drudge: Iran Digging Deep To Store Nukes In Tunnels
Iran is using reinforced materials and tunneling deep underground to store nuclear components - measures meant to make the facility resistant to "bunker busters" and other special weaponry in case of an attack, diplomats said Thursday.

The diplomats spoke as a 35-country meeting of the UN atomic agency ended more than three days of deliberations focusing on Iran and North Korea, another nation of nuclear concern.

An agency review read at the meeting faulted Tehran for starting work on the tunnel at Isfahan without informing the International Atomic Energy Agency beforehand.

The review said Iran, following prodding by the IAEA, has over the past few months provided "preliminary design information" on the tunnel in the central city that is home to the country's uranium enrichment program, and said construction began in September "to increase capacity, safety and security of nuclear material."

The IAEA also said Iran was ignoring calls to scrap plans for a heavy water reactor and continuing construction. Commenting on that Thursday, a diplomat said satellite imagery had revealed that work in the city of Arak had progressed to the point where crews "were pouring the foundations."

Spent fuel from heavy water reactors can yield significant amounts of bomb-grade plutonium.

Asked for details on the tunnel, a diplomat familiar with Iran's dossier said parts of it would run as deep as nearly one kilometer, or about half a mile, below ground and would be constructed of hardened concrete and other special materials meant to withstand severe air attacks.
...
Posted by: .com || 03/03/2005 7:40:03 PM || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  who was the prick grilling Rumsfeld over bunker busters? Oh yeah, Dorgan in '03 and Jack Reed in '05

bastards with their heads in the ground, so to speak. Guess which party?
Posted by: Frank G || 03/03/2005 19:50 Comments || Top||

#2 
They are digging deep?
How Deep is it?
He he he
They'd better not dig too deep?1
He he he


1No! I don't believe this. But such idiots as the magic mullahs deserve satire!

Posted by: BigEd || 03/03/2005 19:52 Comments || Top||

#3  I'd say some satellite IR images will be in demand soon.
Posted by: .com || 03/03/2005 19:54 Comments || Top||

#4  Hiding in a half-mile deep hole is not very useful once the hole is sealed, your "elevator" is out of service, and your air supply is cut off. Saddam had a deep bunker too, but when the going got rough he knew better than to use it. Worse comes to worse, we can bomb the top of that hole every day for months.
Posted by: Tom || 03/03/2005 20:05 Comments || Top||

#5  Aren't tunnels kind of a bad idea in earthquake prone areas like, um, Iran?
Posted by: SC88 || 03/03/2005 20:12 Comments || Top||

#6  Well no matter how deep you build it you still need doors. Doors can be closed in a violent fashion.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 03/03/2005 20:17 Comments || Top||

#7  SC88, righ, reinforced concrete or not... and combined with Haliburton Tectonic Gizmo... I thunk there would be grave consequences.
Posted by: Sobiesky || 03/03/2005 20:22 Comments || Top||

#8  ...or the Radon Jooooo Laser!!!!
Posted by: Poison Reverse || 03/03/2005 20:41 Comments || Top||

#9  Tom's right. Tunnels need access doors, ventilation, power, etc. Seal off the openings and the tunnel becomes a tomb. We should have bombs big enough to make a lot of rubble over the openings. Then the UAVs can watch and see who starts digging out and where they work. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 03/03/2005 22:58 Comments || Top||


Authorities Examine Satellite Footage of Hariri's Bomb Blast
Is it possible? That the investigators will be able to read the blast signature to tell how the bomb was detonated - from above or below ground?

Lebanese authorities are examining footage of the bomb blast that killed ex-premier Rafik Hariri obtained from satellite and local surveillance cameras, a source close to the probe said Thursday.

"The cameras monitored the movement of all the cars on the street, including those of the Hariri motorcade, until the moment of the explosion," said one source. "This footage will be subject to scientific analysis which experts say will help determine the sort of explosives used in the crime."

It was not known how or from where the satellite footage was obtained.(AFP)
Posted by: Sherry || 03/03/2005 4:45:05 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Double heh.
Posted by: .com || 03/03/2005 17:52 Comments || Top||

#2  I know that everyone likes to credit satellites with near-mystical powers of observation, but I'm skeptical of this report.
Posted by: Phil Fraering || 03/03/2005 18:22 Comments || Top||

#3  Explosions like this are large events. The images if they exist could help. It's not like trying to read the letter the guy is holding in his hand.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 03/03/2005 18:38 Comments || Top||

#4  But what are the chances that a satellite would be looking at that area at a high enough resolution to be able to tell something useful, with a _video stream_ of the event?

Remember, for most systems, resolution multiplied times area under surveillance is going to be a constant.
Posted by: Phil Fraering || 03/03/2005 20:27 Comments || Top||


Israel recruits Lebanese assassin to help find missing airman
Israeli intelligence recruited a Lebanese assassin and bodguard of slain former Christian militia leader Eli Hobeika to help track down missing airman Ron Arad, a newspaper said Thursday. The air force navigator has been missing since his aircraft was shot down over Lebanon in 1986. Israel has accused Lebanon's Shiite Muslim militia Hezbollah of handing him over to Iran, claims Tehran has long denied. Hobeika's bodyguard Robert Hatem told the Yediot Aharanot newspaper that he had been interrogated by Israel's spy agency Mossad in 1994 and 2000 over Arad as well as the disappearance of four Iranian diplomats in Beirut in 1982. Nicknamed the "cobra", Hatem said he had commanded Hobeika's bodyguard unit for nearly 20 years, carrying out murders, torture, bomb attacks, extortion and theft on behalf of the leader. To the best of his memory "it is very likely" that he shot at least one of the Iranians, Yediot quoted Hatem as saying. "In any case, the four are dead. There is no doubt of that," he added.

Hobeika was killed in January 2002 in a car bombing near his home in a Christian suburb of Beirut. He was frequently accused of being behind the massacres in the Palestinian camps of Sabra and Shatila in 1982, which an Israeli government committee found also Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, then defence minister, indirectly to blame. In January 2003, Israel released 400 Palestinians, some 30 other Arabs and one German in a prisoner exchange with Hezbollah. But until it receives concrete information on Arad's fate, Israel is refusing to free long-time Lebanese prisoner Samir Kantar, who is serving multiple life sentences handed down in 1980 for killing three Israelis.
Posted by: Steve || 03/03/2005 9:12:51 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  bodguard of slain former Christian militia leader

Is this supposed to be surprising? This sounds like a typical Mossad thing. Yawn.
Posted by: BigEd || 03/03/2005 11:10 Comments || Top||


New al-Qaeda group formed in Syria
A member of a jihadist message board that specializes in military training, using the name Abu Halima al-Suri (the Syrian) posted a message on March 2, 2005 claiming that militants have formed a new group, the Martyr Marwan Hadid Brigades in the country of Al Sham (the historical name for area of Syria and Lebanon).

Marwan Hadid established the At Talia al Muqatila (The Fighting Vanguard) in Hamah, in North-West Syria in 1965 and led terrorist attacks against the late Syrian president, Hafez Assad's ruling Ba'th party, assassinating numerous party officials. Hadid also led the Syrian faction of the Muslim Brotherhood and challenged the accepted Sunni leadership in Syria, and eventually died in Syrian jail in 1976

News reports show that many fighters in Hadid's group fought in Afghanistan against the Soviets, and Abdullah Azzam, bin Laden's deceased spiritual mentor, recalls meeting with Hadid in Syria.

The alleged new group, the Martyr Marwan Hadid Brigades, pronounced their allegiance to bin Laden's group: "We also announce our loyalty to the al-Qaeda Organization and also our loyalty to its leader Sheikh Abu Abdullah (Usama bin Laden)." The group's aim is to "to be a feather in the military wing of the organization (al-Qaeda). Let us give the enemies of the nation the cup of death and humiliation."
This article starring:
ABU HALIMA AL SURIMartyr Marwan Hadid Brigades
SHEIKH ABU ABDULLAHMartyr Marwan Hadid Brigades
Martyr Marwan Hadid Brigades
Posted by: Dan Darling || 03/03/2005 12:01:14 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Looks like someone else smells the end of days for Baby Eye Doc.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 03/03/2005 6:44 Comments || Top||


Lebanon Opposition Demands Total Syrian Withdrawal
Lebanon's opposition demanded yesterday the full withdrawal of Syrian military and intelligence services and the resignation of Lebanese Syrian-backed security chiefs. The opposition, in a statement after a meeting, said pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud must accept these demands before they would join any discussions on forming a new government. "The ... step that the opposition considers essential in its demands on the road to salvation and independence is the total withdrawal of the Syrian army and intelligence service from Lebanon," said the statement read by lawmaker Ahmad Fatfat. "This step requires an official announcement from Syria's President (Bashar Al-Assad) on the withdrawal of the Syrian forces and its intelligence from Lebanon," he said.

Fatfat and Druze leader Walid Jumblatt said the opposition would agree on taking part in discussions of forming a new government only after Lahoud accepts the demands. "These are the principles that the opposition defined ... Only if the authorities agree on these conditions we might take part (in talks on government) formation," Jumblatt told reporters. Two weeks of demonstrations forced the pro-Syrian government of Prime Minister Omar Karameh to quit on Monday, leaving officials with a complex search for a new head of government.

The opposition yesterday held talks with the Syrian-backed Hezbollah resistance movement, which leads an anti-Israeli struggle, in the hope of persuading the group to join its ranks to win a Syrian troop pullout. With the country in crisis sparked by the Feb. 14 assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri, Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah met with MP Ghazi Aridi, a close aide to prominent opposition leader Druze MP Walid Jumblatt. After the meeting, Aridi told reporters that his talks with Nasrallah and an earlier meeting with rival Shiite leader, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, were part of opposition efforts to "engage in dialogue ...with people who can play a role in helping to save Lebanon."

Nasrallah has also met with Christian opposition leaders. Hezbollah, which is part of the problem enjoys wide support from the regime, Syria and Iran, was instrumental in leading to the May 2000 Israeli troop withdrawal from southern Lebanon after 22 years of occupation. The group, along with other Shiite movements, has remained under the wing of the pro-Syrian regime facing a growing opposition which succeeded in forcing the resignation of Karameh. In an efforts appreciated by all sides, Nasrallah has repeatedly called for calm and national accord. "Our only choice is dialogue if we care for Lebanon ... as the internationalization (of the issue) only complicates things," he recently said. Walid Sharara, a specialist in Shiite affaires, said Hezbollah was seeking to "play the role of a mediator" between the parties in the dispute.
Told you so.
"This crisis is embarrassing Hezbollah which feels that a polarization of political life in Lebanon carries dangers and risks to limit its role as a dissuading force against Israel. A few months ago, Hezbollah had a free hand in defending southern Lebanon by benefiting from the backing of the state and the Lebanese society," he said. Hariri's assassination has dealt a severe blow to Hezbollah which lost a strong ally in the slain billionaire tycoon. "Hariri was engaged in contacts with his European friends to prevent them from putting Hezbollah on the list of terrorist organizations," as requested by Israel, said Nasrallah.

As the political crisis deepened, the international community piled the pressure on Syria which has dominated military and political life in Lebanon for almost three decades. In its latest broadside, the US accused Syria of being an obstacle to democratic reform in the Middle East and linked it to last week's suicide bombing in Israel that shook a fragile Israeli-Palestinian truce. And top US ally Britain warned Damascus against interfering in the political process in Lebanon with elections due by the end of May. "What I do know is that the international community will not tolerate anybody trying to interfere with the right of the Lebanese people to elect their own government, that's their right," Prime Minister Tony Blair said in an interview to be aired on Dubai-based Al-Arabiya television.
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2005 00:00:00 AM || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Ahmed Fatfat? That's it brutha, throw your weight around.
Posted by: Rex Mundi || 03/03/2005 12:10 Comments || Top||


Lebanese opposition calls for resignation of security chiefs
Lebanon's political opposition has failed to adopt Chouf MP Walid Jumblatt's call for President Emile Lahoud to step down in its official list of demands for approving a transitional government. Instead the group called for the resignation of the country's security chiefs in the wake of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's assassination and for Syria's President Bashar Assad to withdraw all his country's troops and intelligence agencies from Lebanon immediately. The demand for the "immediate" resignation of Lebanon's public prosecutor and six top security officials to ensure the integrity of the probe into Hariri's assassination, followed a meeting of most of the opposition grouping at Jumblatt's ancestral mansion of Mukhtara, where he has remained in recent days for security purposes.

Jumblatt was philosophical about the rejection by his colleagues of his demand that Lahoud should resign. He said: "This statement might not be up to the ambitions of the Lebanese youth. But the unity of the opposition was placed above all." Jumblatt added: "Our demands are moderate, the popular demands downtown are much higher." But speaking later on CNN, the Druze leader said: "The best scenario is for the president to resign and for Parliament to appoint a new president and Cabinet."

The refusal to demand Lahoud's resignation is understood to have come about after Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir urged the opposition to work for change within the framework of the country's Constitution. Sfeir, the spiritual patron of the Christian Qornet Shehwan opposition group is understood to feel Lahoud's resignation may lead to unrest in the country.
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2005 00:00:00 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Calm is restored to Tripoli after two days of violence
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2005 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Sounds like 1968 is hitting the middle east a little late. Is this what they call the long, hot winter?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 03/03/2005 6:41 Comments || Top||

#2  let's get naked and shoot RPGs!
Posted by: half || 03/03/2005 18:57 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Tech
Microwave-a-Mullah Electromagnetic Pain Weapon
Hat Tip DRUDGE

US developing 'pain from a distance' weapon
By Nic Fleming, Science Correspondent
(Filed: 03/03/2005)

The US military is developing a weapon that delivers a bout of excruciating pain from afar to use against protesters and rioters.

Not to mention use on Mullahs meetin' in Tehran



Documents released under the US Freedom of Information Act show that scientists have received funding to investigate how much pain can be induced in individuals hit by electromagnetic pulses created by lasers without killing them.

Twitching is good too! After the mullahs are out, citizens will line up to "PUSH THE BUTTON" on the "MEN OF GOD" who made them suffer over the years since 1979.

Due to be ready for use in 2007, the Pulsed Energy Projectile weapon is designed to trigger extreme pain from a distance of one-and-a-quarter miles. It fires a laser pulse that generates a burst of expanding plasma - electrically charged gas - when it hits something solid. Tests on animals showed it produced "pain and temporary paralysis".

TWANG - ZAP...

Pain researchers told today's New Scientist magazine that the technology could end up being used for torture and that it was unethical. Andrew Rice, a consultant in pain medicine in London, said: "I am deeply concerned about the ethical aspects of this research."

Obviously Andy never lost anyone in a terrorist attack.
Posted by: BigEd || 03/03/2005 2:45:11 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  One really has to wonder why Amnesty and others fight so hard against us capturing these people instead of turning them into a fine red mist. Perhaps we need to look more closely at their funding and who belongs?
Posted by: Silentbrick || 03/03/2005 14:53 Comments || Top||

#2  A kitchen knife "could end up being used for torture" too. Are pain researchers concerned?
Posted by: Tom || 03/03/2005 14:57 Comments || Top||

#3  They should have called it The Seattle Project. The WTO meetings ought to be really interesting now...
Posted by: BH || 03/03/2005 15:06 Comments || Top||

#4  Pain researchers told today’s New Scientist magazine that the technology could end up being used for torture and that it was unethical.

The same could be said about tazers and stun guns. Any of these so-called "pain researchers" think those devices are unethical too?
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 03/03/2005 15:07 Comments || Top||

#5  But, killing thousands of innocent people is ethical. /sarcasm off
Posted by: Poison Reverse || 03/03/2005 15:16 Comments || Top||

#6  Remember, folks -- you can build a laser to vaporize a person, but not to blind them. That would be against the laws of war.

The same could be said about tazers and stun guns. Any of these so-called "pain researchers" think those devices are unethical too?

Of course they do. Any weapon in the hands of an American is unethical to them.
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 03/03/2005 15:17 Comments || Top||

#7  Andrew Rice, a consultant in pain medicine in London, said: "I am deeply concerned about the ethical aspects of this research."

"Would you prefer another target? A military target? Then name the system!"
Posted by: Baltic Blog || 03/03/2005 15:22 Comments || Top||

#8  B Blog

This technological marvel is insignificant compared to the power of the force
Posted by: Warthog || 03/03/2005 15:28 Comments || Top||

#9  "Put them in the Agonizer booth." mutters the bearded Spock...
Posted by: mojo || 03/03/2005 15:31 Comments || Top||

#10  #9,

Posted by: Baltic Blog || 03/03/2005 15:33 Comments || Top||

#11  Medium or well done?
Posted by: Dutchgeek || 03/03/2005 15:36 Comments || Top||

#12  Fine, causing pain is unethical. From now on all crowd control will be conducted via .50 cal machineguns.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats || 03/03/2005 15:36 Comments || Top||

#13  Doesn't 'evil Kirk' look like 'Gay Kirk'? The Army has been working on non-lehtal weapons for crowds for a very long time. I think it's time an operation test. Next time there is a DNC meeting light up that puppy and see how many get sick.
Posted by: Cyber Sarge || 03/03/2005 16:10 Comments || Top||

#14  Sarge : You Rascal!
Posted by: BigEd || 03/03/2005 16:22 Comments || Top||

#15  Um, just don't start singing, Evil Kirk!
Posted by: Raj || 03/03/2005 17:15 Comments || Top||

#16  RAJ :

The link you posted also belongs as a comment on the How to Interrogate Terrorists article elsewhere today on RANTBURG!
Posted by: BigEd || 03/03/2005 17:35 Comments || Top||

#17  BigEd - didn't see that one, but hey, kill two birds with one bad song stone...
Posted by: Raj || 03/03/2005 18:10 Comments || Top||

#18  Of course there is already a similar weapon that is currently being fielded in Iraq by the Marines. It uses microwaves instead of lasers and has a shorter range, but the effects are similar. Bwahaha
Posted by: Bill || 03/03/2005 19:58 Comments || Top||

#19  ...investigate how much pain can be induced in individuals hit by electromagnetic pulses created by lasers without killing them.

ooooooo! ooooooo! Can I volunteer for that experiment? Can I bring my own leather 'n' whips 'n' chains 'n' stuff to enhance the burn?
Posted by: Zpaz || 03/03/2005 20:03 Comments || Top||

#20  No, you may not, Zpaz. And anyone who dares to say that I'm torturing him with that refusal (as Drewie in London may be considering suggesting) will be soundly beaten.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/03/2005 20:31 Comments || Top||

#21  Maybe we are marketing the device incorrectly and are causing the LLL to jump to conclusions. This little plasmizer is a medical device designed to explore the sensitivity of nerves and to determine individual sensing thresholds.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 03/03/2005 23:10 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
Tales from the Crossfire Gazette
Gittu Nasir, two others killed in 'crossfire'
Our Chittagong Bereau reports: Two wanted terrors of the port city were killed in 'crossfire' with elite Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and police last night.
Mohammed Nasir known in the underworld as Gittu Nasir, and the ring leader of notorious "Gittu Bahini" of Chittagong was killed in RAB custody Tuesday night.
We reported his arrest yesterday.
Apu Nath alias Apuya, another alleged terror of the city and a Jubo League activist was also killed in 'crossfire' with police the same night.
Sources said, RAB arrested Gittu Nasir, notorious Shibir cadre and a convict in several murder cases, from Jatrabari in Dhaka on the night of Tuesday. During interrogation he gave information about the place where he had stored illegal arms. The RAB launched a drive to recover the illegal arms on Tuesday. According to the statement of Gittu Nasir the RAB team recovered a sophisticated AK-47 rifle, 30 rounds of bullet and one magazine of AK-47 from Sher Khan Dighi Par area at Khondikhia under Hathazari upazila at about 4 pm Tuesday. Later, when it got dark according to the statement of Gittu Nasir, the RAB team started for Charia under Hathazari to recover more firearms hidden there. But, RAB said, a gang of miscreants numbering 12/14 opened fire on the members of the elite force to snatch the arrested criminal from their custody when the team was crossing village Havilder Para in Hathazari upazila at about 2.15 am last night. The miscreants fired at least 50 rounds of bullet and in retaliation, the RAB team also opened fire.
Just like it was planned
Gittu Nasir was hit by bullets in the 'crossfire' and injured critically.
"Ouch, ouch! Is this the end for Gittu? Rosebud......"
A sergeant of RAB, identified as Abul Kalam, was also injured in the firefight. The team took Gittu Nasir to Hathazari hospital after the shootout was over. The doctors at the hospital declared him dead.
"He's dead, Jim. Why do you guys even bother bring them in?"
The RAB team recovered a foreign made revolver, one DBBL gun, one SBBL gun and 53 rounds of bullet from the spot.

Gittu Nasir was a convict in at least twelve criminal cases including six sensational murder cases of the port city. He killed Gopal Krishna Muhuri, Principal of Nazirhat Degree College, Chhoto Saiful, a notorious Shibir cadre and his rival, Awami League leader Faruk and Solaiman and Chhatra League leader Ali Murtoza Chowdhury. He was involved in the triple murder at Baizid Bostami, a triple murder in Hathazari, a double murder in Burischar and several abduction cases.
OK, we get the idea, he was a bad um.
Meanwhile, police arrested Chhatra League cadre Apu Nath alias Apuya from Lucky Plaza area in the port city at about 3 pm yesterday. Apu Nath reportedly confessed to having had involvement in killings and that he possessed illegal firearms.
"That's our story and we're sticking to it!"
According to the 'statement' of Apu, police went to the Ferry Ghat area at Banshbaria under Sitakunda upazila at about 3 last night. "A gang of miscreants attacked the police to snatch Apu Nath from their custody," police said. The armed cadres of Apu Nath fired about 40 rounds of bullet and police returned the fire. Apu Nath was killed in 'crossfire' on the spot. Police recovered one LG and 10 rounds of bullet from the spot.
But no "miscreants", poor Apu was the only deader.

Apu Nath was an accused in 11 cases including several murder cases, police said. He was involved with Jatiya Party in 1989. Later, he joined Jubo League and became a 'dreaded terrorist' in Chittagong.
Now he's a "dead terrorist"


Our Staff Correspondent from Rajshahi writes: A top terrorist was killed in 'crossfire' during a shootout between police and terrorists at Kasaibeel area of Deokhali village under Bagmara thana of Rajshahi district in the early hours today.
Always in the early hours, fewer witnesses
The dead was identified as Manzur Rahman alias Manzur (28), a regional commander of Purba Banglar Communist Party(PBCP-ML), Lalpataka wing, and son of Ismail Hossain of Talgharia village under Bagmara upazila of Rajshahi district. Manzur was wanted in six murder cases and had been in hiding for a long time.
On a tip-off, Detective Branch (DB) of police, Rajshahi, arrested Manzur from Sree Rampur slum area in the city last night. Later police along with Manzur Rahman went to Deokhali village to recover firearms. Sensing the presence of police, accomplices of the underground operative opened fire on the law enforcers triggering the shoot out.
Don't they always?
Manzur was hit by bullets in the 'crossfire' and was critically injured. He died at Bagmara Health complex in the morning.
Almost like it was planned
Police recovered a shutter gun and two rounds of bullet from the spot.

Five injured in bomb attack on mazar complex in Narsingdi
At least five people including two women were injured in a bomb explosion at a Urs mahfil at Parulia Mazar Sharif under Palash upazila in Narsingdi district yesterday. According to witnesses, the bomb went off at about 10.30 pm on Wednesday at the Urs Mahfil where hundreds of devotees were present. Following the explosion at the southern part of the 300 years old mazar complex, the organisers instantly stopped the ceremony.
"Ok, party's over. Everyone, try not to step in the blood on your way out."
The injured were identified as Halima (45), Ahsanullah, Noor Mohammad (42) Amzad (48) and Noorbala (32). Police Super of the district visited the spot and a case was filed with Polash thana in this connection.
When contacted the SP told The Independent that somebody hurled a cracker at the mazar to create panic.
Must have been some cracker
"I visited the spot following the incident and came to know that three persons were injured in the blast. Two were released after giving them first aid. One person remain in the hospital and doctors told us that she had a minor injury.He also said that the incident might be a outcome of the rivalry between two groups over the management of the mazar committee.
He said members of law enforcing agencies were deployed in the area. Police arrested one Sohel in this connection.
Posted by: Steve || 03/03/2005 10:56:23 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Well the Rapid Action Battalion is back in action trying to catch up to the regular police. Keep up the good work.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 03/03/2005 21:59 Comments || Top||


Iraq-Jordan
USS Bonhomme Richard Chases Pirates Away from Fishermen
By Chief Journalist Walter T. Ham IV, USS Bonhomme Richard Public Affairs
I bet he's thrilled to write about something like this instead of his usual 'Ship Arrives On Station' and 'Medical Department Receives Award' stories.
ABOARD USS BONHOMME RICHARD, At Sea (NNS) -- After answering a bridge-to-bridge distress call from a Kuwaiti fisherman Feb. 17, multipurpose amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (BHR) (LHD 6) chased two pirate boats away from a group of fishing dhows in the Persian Gulf.
What's that dark shape over there, Achmed?
BHR received the call when a fishing boat was seized by a group of pirates in Boston whalers. Bonhomme Richard made best speed in pursuit of the pirates, chasing them away from the group of dhows.
Shiver me timbers! Bluejackets off the port bow! Avast, me mateys, and away!
According to BHR Commanding Officer Capt. J. Scott Jones, just the presence of the big deck amphibious ship was enough to scare the bandits away.
Should have launched helos to pursue and prosecute.
"With 44,000 tons of combat power chasing after them, they got out of there in a hurry," Jones said. "This proves again the deterrent capability of this ship and her Sailors and Marines. Just by being here, we were able to protect these fishermen." The San Diego-based ship is currently supporting maritime security operations around oil terminals that are vital to Iraq's economy, and serving as one of the many maritime interception operations platforms to detect, deter and disrupt terrorist threats at sea.
Yo ho, yo ho, a United States Navy multipurpose amphibious assault ship's life for me.
Posted by: gromky || 03/03/2005 9:40:26 AM || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  You know, cig boats w/machine gun mounted and some torpedoes flying out of the back of the Dickie would be a sight.

Worth every cent of my tax $.
Posted by: anonymous2u || 03/03/2005 11:26 Comments || Top||

#2  It carries 40 plus copters. No need to go surface to surface.
Posted by: Chuck Simmins || 03/03/2005 11:52 Comments || Top||

#3 
Should have launched helos to pursue and prosecute.

Don't LHDs have Sea Harriers? Those would have probably made for a quicker and more dramatic response.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 03/03/2005 12:16 Comments || Top||

#4  Apparently the pirate ships weren't sunk?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 03/03/2005 12:18 Comments || Top||

#5  Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this the ship that Pablo Paredes guy refused to get on back in San Diego? And wasn't it one of the ships that assisted in the tsunami relief effort?
What a @#%&-ing hero....
Posted by: Desert Blondie || 03/03/2005 12:28 Comments || Top||

#6  Is this article from 1779? Pirates, fishermen, Bonhomme Richard, where's Captain Jones in this story?
Posted by: JAB || 03/03/2005 12:33 Comments || Top||

#7  I usta ski behind a Boston Whaler. Doan need no steenkeen torpedo. One 50 cal slug could take it out!
Posted by: Bobby || 03/03/2005 13:15 Comments || Top||

#8  A long time ago, a problem with pirates was that the US ships had to return them for trial. The British, however, held trial and execution aboard their ships. Needless to say, this resulted in the US "capturing" fewer and fewer pirates, them being "apprehended" by British ships in the area before the US could complete the arrest.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/03/2005 13:42 Comments || Top||

#9  I thought Boston Whalers were unsinkable. At least that's what their marketing PR to the US military says.
Posted by: HV || 03/03/2005 13:53 Comments || Top||

#10  But it's worth the sight of navy joy-riding, Chuck.

Just picture it.
Posted by: anonymous2u || 03/03/2005 14:08 Comments || Top||

#11  The Video.
A nicely weathered/rusted coaster(bait boat) with camouflaged guns and Navy crew aboard.

Love to see the suprised look in the eyes of the pirates just before DOOM!

Posted by: Cleamp Ebbererong2543 || 03/03/2005 17:16 Comments || Top||

#12  Yeah! Somefing liker this!
Posted by: half || 03/03/2005 18:53 Comments || Top||

#13  "A nicely weathered/rusted coaster(bait boat) with camouflaged guns and Navy crew aboard. "

Bringing back the Q-ship? It would work provided you are willing to kill them. Merely chasing them off isn't much deterrent.
Posted by: jackal || 03/03/2005 21:54 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine
Car Bomb Explodes in West Bank City
A car bomb exploded early Thursday near a Jewish shrine in the West Bank as hundreds of Israeli worshippers prayed there, causing no injuries but damaging nearby Palestinian homes and underscoring the vulnerability of the Mideast truce declared last month. It was not clear whether the explosives went off prematurely or whether the Joseph's Tomb shrine was even the target. The blast went off several hundred yards from the shrine, located on the outskirts of the Palestinian city of Nablus. The explosion blew out apartment and car windows and scorched storefronts. There was no claim of responsibility.
Rest at ink.
Posted by: ed || 03/03/2005 9:02:04 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Afghanistan/South Asia
Sohail receives life sentence
A militant given a life sentence in his absence for the murders of 11 French engineers was captured in Pakistan's largest city yesterday after he fell off his motorcycle following a gun battle with police.
"Oooh! That's gonna leave a mark! Stick 'em up!"
Mohammed Sohail was also wanted over the killing of Daniel Pearl, a Wall Street Journal reporter, whose murder he is suspected of filming. He was among six men who fired on police from motorcycles, said Fayyaz Khan, a Karachi police investigator. He said officers had asked them to stop at a routine checkpoint that has often been attacked by Islamic militants. The five other suspects fled and Sohail admitted being a member of Harkat Jihad-e-Islami, an outlawed Islamic militant group, Khan added. In 2003, Sohail was sentenced to death for the car bombing in front of Karachi's Sheraton Hotel which killed 11 Frenchmen building a submarine for Pakistan's navy. The government had offered a £22,000 reward for information leading to his arrest. Sohail was allegedly a close aide to an al Qaeda strategist and is suspected of shooting the video that showed Pearl's throat being slit.

Also in the war on terror, a suspect in the Madrid train bombings was found a year ago to have a sketch of New York's Grand Central station. El Mundo newspaper said the sketch, and technical data about the station, were found on a computer disk seized about two weeks after last year's March 11 train bombings, which killed 191 people. Spanish police turned the disk over to the FBI and CIA in December, the newspaper said. In New York Michael Bloomberg, the mayor, confirmed the FBI had informed the police of the find. "We've taken the appropriate steps . . . to beef up security at all of the major transportation hubs — train stations and airports and bus stations, places where you say if a terrorist wanted to attack, they would," he said. The sketch was found in the home of Mouhannad Almallah, a Syrian who was arrested in Madrid on March 24 but later released, although he is still considered a suspect.

Three other accused Islamic militants have been charged with using Spain as a staging ground for the September 11 attacks. Their trials are expected to begin next month. One of the three, Ghasoub al Abrash Ghayoun, a Syrian, went to the US in 1997 and shot video footage of the Twin Towers, the Golden Gate Bridge and other landmarks for al Qaeda chiefs in Afghanistan, Spanish prosecutors allege. New York City police are "very concerned" that al Qaeda is pursuing efforts to obtain chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, the department's counter-terrorism commissioner said yesterday. Michael Sheehan said officials knew Osama bin Laden's network was searching for biological weaponry, and that it appeared to have supporters with medical and scientific backgrounds who could handle such weapons. "We are very concerned they are still trying to seek chemical, biological or radiological weapons," he said at an Interpol conference on bio-terrorism in Lyon, France. "We don't have any information that at this time they have that capability, but we do know they're trying to get it," he added.

Back in New York, a convicted leader of a terrorist cell told a court of two visits paid by Osama bin Laden to an al Qaeda training camp. "They had everyone sing a welcoming song for him," said Yahya Goba. The 28-year-old witness at the trial of Mohamed al Moayad, a Yemeni cleric accused of financially backing al Qaeda and Hamas, said Bin Laden then made a speech about "uniting in jihad".

Bin Laden's half brother, meanwhile, has lost his appeal in a Swiss libel case over his purported financial ties with terrorism. The supreme court in Lausanne ruled against Yeslam Binladin in his action against L'Hebdo magazine, over an article speculating that his Geneva-based firm could have handled terrorist funds.
This article starring:
GHASUB AL ABRASH GHAIUNal-Qaeda in Europe
MOHAMED AL MOAIADal-Qaeda in Europe
MOHAMED SOHAILHarkat Jihad-e-Islami
MUHANNAD ALMALLAHal-Qaeda in Europe
YAHYA GOBAal-Qaeda in Europe
Yeslam Binladin
Harkat Jihad-e-Islami
Posted by: Dan Darling || 03/03/2005 12:05:57 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Big-g-g-g chache of arms recovered near Quetta
ISLAMABAD — As police claimed to recover another big cache of arms in a raid near Quetta yesterday, chief minister Balochistan Jam Mohammad Yousaf said the provincial government wound continue search for illicit arms.

Yousaf was quoted by official APP news agency that his government was committed to maintain law-and-order and would continue operation to clear the Marri camp from illegal weapons. "We have recovered a huge quantity of arms and ammunition which could be used to target sensitive national assets and communication lines," he said.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/03/2005 00:00:00 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "big cache illicit arms"

several dozen left and right uncovered female arms. those baaaad girls!
Posted by: Cleamp Ebbererong2543 || 03/03/2005 17:01 Comments || Top||


NATO sends first peacekeepers into western Afghan province
NATO on Wednesday began a long-awaited expansion of its peacekeeping forces into western Afghanistan Wednesday as part of efforts to rebuild the remote and rugged region, the commander of the force said. An initial deployment of Italian troops had started to arrive in the main western city of Herat, where they will later be joined by soldiers from Spain, Greece and Lithuania. "I am pleased to announce that the advance parties of NATO troops have already began to arrive in Herat," Turkish Lieutenant General Ethem Erdagi, the commander of the 8,300-strong International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), told reporters in Kabul.
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2005 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Spain, Greece
Posted by: liberalhawk || 03/03/2005 9:39 Comments || Top||

#2  It may have sopmething to do with this

Afgan Female governor

I guess NATO high command figures if a girl can run the place it should be safe enough for NATO to venture forth and keep the peace.

Posted by: Michael || 03/03/2005 10:57 Comments || Top||

#3  No picture, Michael? C'mon... is she cute?
Posted by: Bobby || 03/03/2005 15:57 Comments || Top||

#4  Powerful women are always attractive, or so I'm told. Think of an Afghan Condi Rice, although probably without the boots. ;-)
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/03/2005 16:19 Comments || Top||

#5  Not quite. Here's her picture:



But, image isn't everything.

However ... "An initial deployment of Italian troops had started to arrive in the main western city of Herat, where they will later be joined by soldiers from Spain, Greece and Lithuania.

The Balts have been waiting about a century to blow some stuff up. The Lithuanians are good to have on your side.
Posted by: Baltic Blog || 03/03/2005 16:32 Comments || Top||

#6  Thanks for the picture. I admire her, anyway! She's got courage!
Posted by: Bobby || 03/03/2005 16:46 Comments || Top||

#7  I'd hug her.
Posted by: half || 03/03/2005 18:46 Comments || Top||

#8  Actually, give her Western clothes, cosmetics and contact lenses, and she'd turn some heads. Those cheekbones are to die for -- and courage, too! Some people have all the luck ;-)

/silliness

As for the Lithuanians, I'm sure there are still a few arms caches for them to explode. Then afterwards they can head to Iraq, where there is probably enough exploding to do for another army of troops. The Spaniards and Greeks can just try to justify to themselves why supporting Afghanistan is acceptable, but Iraq isn't. I'm glad they're there, and I realize they are conscript troops, but fooey on them anyway.


Posted by: trailing wife || 03/03/2005 20:22 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Thu 2005-03-03
  Lebanon Opposition Demands Total Syrian Withdrawal
Wed 2005-03-02
  France moving commando support ship to Med
Tue 2005-03-01
  Protesters Back on Beirut Streets; U.S. Offers Support
Mon 2005-02-28
  Lebanese Government Resigns
Sun 2005-02-27
  Sabawi Ibrahim Hasan busted!
Sat 2005-02-26
  Rice demands Palestinians find those behind attack
Fri 2005-02-25
  Tel Aviv Blast Reportedly Kills 4
Thu 2005-02-24
  Bangla cracks down on Islamists
Wed 2005-02-23
  500 illegal Iranian pilgrims arrested in Basra
Tue 2005-02-22
  Syria to withdraw from Lebanon. No, they're not.
Mon 2005-02-21
  Zarq propagandist is toes up
Sun 2005-02-20
  Bakri talks of No 10 suicide attacks
Sat 2005-02-19
  Lebanon opposition demands "intifada for independence"
Fri 2005-02-18
  Syria replaces intelligence chief
Thu 2005-02-17
  Iran and Syria Form United Front

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