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Page 1: WoT Operations
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Bangladesh
Jamaat involved in recruiting militants with ISI help
Awami League general secretary Abdul Jalil on Monday alleged that Jamaat-e-Islam is actively involved in recruiting militants from Bangladesh by AL-Qaida with the help of Pakistan intelligence service ISI, reports UNB. In a statement, the AL general secretary said Jamaat had strong link with Rohingya Solidarity Organization (RSO), a separatist group, which maintains direct connection with Al-Qaida. "Along Bangladesh-Myanmer border, Shibir cadres receive training under the shelter of international terrorists," Jalil claimed in his statement. The AL General Secretary issued the statement in protest against remarks by Jamaat leaders that to dig out information about terrorism, AL leaders, including Sheikh Hasina and Abu Sayeed, should be quizzed, not the Jamaat leaders. He said Jamaat is providing help to at least 16 fundamentalists outfits active in the country.

Referring to Islami Oikya Jote President Fazlul Haq Amini's call to raid the Jamaat office, Jalil said Amini's statement proves that Jamaat has link with terrorist groups. He said anti-liberation force Jamaat and its allies are delivering inconsistent speeches as their real face has already exposed to the country's people. "It's historically proved that Jamaat is a terrorist party and hatching conspiracy is its habit. They had killed thousands of people and raped over three lakh women in 1971," said Jalil. He said Jamaat has indulged in a deep-rooted conspiring since it has been an ally of the ruling BNP to take revenge of their defeat in the Liberation War. "Jamaat has formed a strong network of terrorists across the country to implement its blueprint to kill the progressive-minded people, including AL leaders and activists," the AL General Secretary alleged.
Posted by: Steve || 03/08/2005 9:24:54 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Would that be the Jamaat-Ulama-Islami that is a signatory group to al-Qaeda's "Fatwah against Jews and Crusaders"? If so, Bangladirt had better get its act together. Up to 20 million Banglas live in India. And the US could pull leverage strings.
Posted by: Cafiringus Perplexus || 03/08/2005 18:02 Comments || Top||

#2  No, this is the Jamaat e-Islami, which, if I recall correctly, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Pak Jamaat e-Islami, headed by Qazi Hussein Ahmad.
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2005 18:20 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Killing of Chechen leader may empower hard-liners
Russian television showed what is said to be the corpse of Aslan Maskhadov. His envoy in London told Ekho Moskvy radio that Mr. Maskhadov was probably dead, though he had no personal confirmation. If the reports of Maskhadov's death prove true, experts say leadership is likely to pass to Shamil Basayev, engineer of terrorist attacks such as last September's Beslan school massacre and leader of the extremist wing of the Chechen independence movement. "Things will get worse," says Pavel Felgenhauer, an independent security expert. "Maskhadov was a force for moderation."
Oh. Well. Then they shoulda left him alone, right?
Aslan Maskhadov, the only Chechen leader ever to win an internationally-recognized election, was born in 1951 in Central Asian exile to a family which - like most Chechens - had been deported from their homes by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin in 1944. Trained as an artillery officer in the Red Army, Maskhadov became chief of staff of Chechen rebel forces during Chechnya's first war of independence between 1994 and 96. He outmaneuvered numerically superior Russian armies and finally drove the Kremlin to the bargaining table.
He outmaneuvered a larger but poorly-led force of conscripts and drove a Kremlin in chaos over the dissolution of the Soviet Union to the bargaining table. The Russian army's still crummy, but Yeltsin's gone and the Russers have had a longer glimpse at the enemy they're dealing with. Eventually, if they keep this up, they'll get Shamil...
In January 1997 Maskhadov won a hard-fought election against hard-line field commander Mr. Basayev to become the only internationally recognized president of Chechnya. As Chechen president, Maskhadov failed to rein-in the powerful warlords, especially Basayev, who turned the tiny republic into a terrorist training ground and haven for kidnappers and arms smugglers.
If it'd have mattered, he'd have reined them in. Therefore it didn't matter. Reading the Koran mattered.
In the summer of 1999, forces under Basayev invaded the neighboring Russian republic of Dagestan, prompting a harsh response from Moscow.
Real bright. Demonstrate a threat to that larger neighbor, the one with all the artillery...
A series of still-unsolved apartment bombings, which killed 300 Russians, led Russia to invade Chechnya and the second war - now dragging into its sixth year - began. Maskhadov's death "would change the equation in favor of Basayev," says Vitaly Naumkin, director of the independent Institute for Political and Strategic Studies in Moscow.
Well, yeah. Since there isn't much in the way of leadership but Basayev, that's prob'ly true.
"Basayev is a hard-core terrorist, but he is a national hero in Chechnya and the only other figure capable of leading the Chechen rebel bands.
He's a national hero in Chechnya because he's a hard-core terrorist.
"Maskhadov's death doesn't mean a final victory for the regime. The war will continue, but power will shift to the more extreme wing of the Chechen rebel movement. It will be more difficult now to have negotiations, since there will be no figure of Maskhadov's stature to act as a negotiating partner."
I thought Putin said "no negotiations," that he was going to hunt them down and kill them all?
Maskhadov's predecessor, the father of Chechen independence Dzokhar Dudayev, was killed by a Russian missile that homed in on his satellite telephone in the spring of 1996. In what may be his last official statement, dated March 4, Maskhadov said the Chechen independence struggle will continue as long as the Kremlin refuses to negotiate, but claimed that the war could be ended "in a 30-minute meeting" between himself and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2005 2:46:45 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Maskhadov was a force for moderation."

wasn't that what they said about Sheik Yassin?
Posted by: mhw || 03/08/2005 16:51 Comments || Top||

#2  The war will continue, but power will shift to the more extreme wing of the Chechen rebel movement.

More extreme wing? WTF? Well, hokay.......
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 03/08/2005 17:11 Comments || Top||

#3  Yea,

what a foolish thing to do. Now you've really pissed them off. Maybe they'll do something horrible like torture, rape and kill 300 school kids...

Faster please
Posted by: Francis || 03/08/2005 19:50 Comments || Top||


12 Beslan doublers arrested
Twelve militants who made part of the doubling group when the Beslan terrorist act was prepared have been detained in Chechnya, RIA Novosti was told by Chechen Interior Ministry spokesman Ruslan Atsayev. In his words, the militants were detained by groups numbering 2-3 people during the last 2 days in the republic's Achkhoi-Martan district. The source said the gang was led by an Umar Dimayev who rendered armed resistance when being detained and was killed. "According to participants of his gang, they were to have seized an administrative building in North Ossetia, but received an order to retreat after it became known that the school had been seized in Beslan," said Atsayev.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 03/08/2005 1:51:42 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Report: MASHKADOV MASHED!
Let's hope this is true. I think we may have heard this before.
Posted by: Tibor || 03/08/2005 11:17:46 AM || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Russian Spokesman Gives Details of Chechen Rebel Leader Maskhadov's Killing
Russian Spokesman Gives Details of Chechen Rebel Leader Maskhadov's Killing
CEP20050308000106 Moscow Interfax in Russian 1531 GMT 08 Mar 05
[FBIS Translated Text]
No live link to source. Sorry.
Moscow, 8 March: Separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov has been killed in Chechnya, Maj-Gen Ilya Shabalkin, spokesman for the regional operation HQ for the antiterrorist operation in the North Caucasus, told Interfax on Tuesday [8 March]. "I can confirm that Maskhadov was killed in the village of Tolstoy-Yurt. There was a clash there. Maskhadov was hiding in a bunker under one of the houses in the village," Shabalkin said.

The HQ spokesman declined to give any details of the operation in the village of Tolstoy-Yurt. Shabalkin said that Maskhadov's body had been identified. Meanwhile the Chechen administration told Interfax it knew nothing about Maskhadov's elimination. "I know nothing about it," Chairman of the Chechen State Council Taus Dzhabrailov told Interfax over the telephone on Tuesday.
"I know nothing! No-thing! Tell them, Hogan!"
The Chechen Prosecutor's Office declined to confirm or deny the report on Maskhadov's elimination. "This is intelligence information, which is being checked," a spokesman told Interfax.
Posted by: NYFG || 03/08/2005 11:11:18 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Show me the DNA match. This guy has been killed before.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 03/08/2005 19:44 Comments || Top||

#2  Maybe he's part feline?
Posted by: Raj || 03/08/2005 20:57 Comments || Top||

#3  Raj, that would explain the two obvious lives, I think you've nailed it! ;-)
Posted by: Sobiesky || 03/08/2005 21:06 Comments || Top||


Maskhadov gets his raisins!
Wire services report Russians say hes dead - they tried to capture him, but he was killed by a "weapons malfunction" by his own bodyguards.

The biggest success in the WOT (narrowly defined) in awhile, and chalk it up to the Russians!


From AP...
Chechen rebel leader Maskhadov killed
Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov, whom Russian officials claim was a key figure behind last year's school hostage crisis and other deadly terrorist acts, has been killed, a spokesman for Russian forces said Tuesday. One report said Maskhadov was killed accidentally by his bodyguards. Col. Ilya Shabalkin said Maskhadov was killed during a ``special operation,'' but he did not elaborate.

The Interfax news agency later quoted Shabalkin as saying Maskhadov had been killed in Tolstoy-Yurt, a village in the northern sector of Chechnya that generally has been under the tight control of Russian forces. Interfax, citing Chechnya's Kremlin-backed deputy prime minister, Ramzan Kadyrov, also reported that Russian forces intended to take Maskhadov alive, but he was killed by careless weapons-handling by his bodyguards. Three of Maskhadov's closest associates were detained, Interfax reported. Kadyrov also reportedly said he had planned that Maskhadov would surrender and be offered a high-ranking position in his own security force.

Television channel NTV showed footage of Federal Security Service head Nikolai Patrushev telling President Vladimir Putin that Maskhadov had been killed in Tolstoy-Yurt. Putin responded, ``There is a lot of work here. We must augment the effort aimed at the defense of the citizens of the republic.''

The channel also showed footage of a shirtless bearded corpse that resembled Maskhadov. Earlier Tuesday, Russian officials reported detaining three rebels who were planning a large terrorist attack on the administration building in Tolstoy-Yurt.

Maskhadov led the Chechen separatists who fought Russian forces to a standstill in a 1994-96 war and he became the republic's president after the Russian military withdrew. But he appeared to lose substantial influence to Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev, and by the time Russian forces returned to Chechnya in 1999, he was believed to command loyalty among only a relatively small faction of fighters. Last year, Russia's Federal Security Service offered a reward of up to $10 million for information that could help ``neutralize'' Maskhadov and Basayev.

Maskhadov was regarded by some observers as comparatively moderate, in contrast to Basayev, an adherent of the strict Wahhabi sect of Islam who has claimed responsibility for some of Russia's most horrifying terrorist attacks, including last year's seizure of a school in Beslan that ended with the deaths of more than 330 people, about half of them children. Russian officials consistently have alleged Maskhadov was connected to terrorist attacks such as the school seizure and the 2002 seizure of 800 hostages at a Moscow theater. Maskhadov denied involvement in those attacks. A temporary cease-fire called by Maskhadov expired late last month on the 61st anniversary of the Stalin-era deportation of Chechens to the barren steppes of then-Soviet Central Asia. Maskhadov had ordered his fighters, including Basayev, to observe a weekslong cease-fire through Feb. 22, the eve of the anniversary. He also renewed a call for talks with the Russian leadership, which has consistently turned them down. Russian officials had dismissed the cease-fire call as a publicity stunt and maintained that rebels kept up their attacks.
Posted by: liberalhawk || 03/08/2005 12:14:29 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Good news indeed. Swedish news report confirmation by Maschadov's own spokesman on radio Echo Moskvy.
Posted by: Kalle (kafir forever) || 03/08/2005 12:21 Comments || Top||

#2  liberalhawk, anybody....got a link?
Posted by: Desert Blondie || 03/08/2005 12:33 Comments || Top||

#3  weapons malfunction?
"quit playing with that grenade, dammit"
Posted by: Frank G || 03/08/2005 12:46 Comments || Top||

#4  Weapons malfunction?

Is that like a wardrobe malfunction?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 03/08/2005 12:56 Comments || Top||

#5  Times of London has the story:

Chechen rebel leader Maskhadov 'killed'
By Philippe Naughton, Times Online

The Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov was killed today in a battle with Russian special forces north of Grozny, Russian officials said.

The head of the FSB security service, Nikolai Patrushev, was shown on national television informing President Vladimir Putin of the death of Maskhadov, who led Chechen forces to victory over Russia in the 1990s before being elected president of the mountainous Caucasus region.

"Today in the republic of Chechnya in the village of Tolstoy-Yurt an operation was carried out by special FSB forces during which the international terrorist and leader of armed bands Maskhadov was killed and his closest collaborators arrested," Mr Patrushev said.

Russia's NTV network also broadcast footage of the body of a man it identified as Maskhadov lying on the ground barechested in a pool of blood with his arms stretched out to either side. Chechen police confirmed that he had been killed.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 03/08/2005 13:00 Comments || Top||

#6  the body of a man it identified as Maskhadov lying on the ground barechested in a pool of blood

Yup, wardrobe malfunction.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 03/08/2005 13:02 Comments || Top||

#7  I tried to post this around the same time as Liberalhawk. I like my title better -- Mashkadov Mashed! -- but the raisins work for me, too.
Posted by: Tibor || 03/08/2005 13:15 Comments || Top||

#8  Aslan Maskhadov? More like Tash Maskhadov!
Posted by: Steve from Relto || 03/08/2005 13:38 Comments || Top||

#9  We meant to shoot him 30 times, but the "weapon malfunctioned" and we only got 25 bullets in him.
Posted by: Justrand || 03/08/2005 13:47 Comments || Top||

#10  "...Russian forces intended to take Maskhadov alive, but he was killed by careless weapons-handling by his bodyguards..."
How very... umm... what is the word I am searching for here... oh yeah...convienient. Or effecient. One of those words, anyway.
Posted by: Sgt. Mom || 03/08/2005 14:00 Comments || Top||

#11  Um, Fred? Methinks the Deadpool needs updating.
Posted by: Steve from Relto || 03/08/2005 14:06 Comments || Top||

#12  Getting out the ululator...'bout damn time.
Posted by: Seafarious || 03/08/2005 14:23 Comments || Top||

#13  One down many, many more to go. Europe is full of them - they just don't want to admit it (yet). But isn't this like dejavu all over again - some really bad ass getting his by his own? The takedowns never seem to be clean but always sort of screwed up but effective.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 03/08/2005 14:35 Comments || Top||

#14  One down many, many more to go. Europe is full of them - they just don't want to admit it (yet). But isn't this like dejavu all over again - some really bad ass getting his by his own? The takedowns never seem to be clean but always sort of screwed up but effective.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 03/08/2005 14:36 Comments || Top||

#15  I want Shamil Basayev DEAD and on a platter!!!!!
Posted by: Poison Reverse || 03/08/2005 14:37 Comments || Top||

#16  Loved that series, Steve :-) So long as it isn't Tashlan, we're still ok, right?
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/08/2005 14:56 Comments || Top||

#17  Most Sincerely DEAD!
Posted by: BigEd || 03/08/2005 15:31 Comments || Top||

#18  Isn't it standard bodyguard practice to keep your weapon armed with the safety off pointed straight at the guy you're protecting?
Posted by: Captain Pedantic || 03/08/2005 16:54 Comments || Top||

#19  My guess would be that it wasn't an accidental "weapons malfunction." Maskhadov dead can be morphed into a martyr. Maskhadov alive and in jug can be morphed into both a propaganda tool and an information source. He was the man who knew too much.
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2005 18:44 Comments || Top||

#20  My cockels! They are like glowing toasty wise!
Posted by: Shipman || 03/08/2005 18:54 Comments || Top||

#21  I want to see a DNA match.

On the other hand perhaps his bodyguards were consumating the "deal" for their share of the bounty and a new life in a tropical paradise.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 03/08/2005 20:39 Comments || Top||

#22  I want to see a DNA match.

SPoD, you mean a DNA match of previously killed Maskhadov with currently killed Maskhadov? ;-)

Perhaps they have his dental record.
Posted by: Sobiesky || 03/08/2005 20:46 Comments || Top||


Down Under
ASIO evidence 'used in Egypt'
FORMER Guantanamo Bay detainee Mamdouh Habib says evidence seized by ASIO at his Sydney home in 2001 was used during his interrogation and torture in Egypt. Egyptian interrogators questioned him about hundreds of phone numbers he believes were contained in his mobile phones, Mr Habib has told the SBS program Dateline, which will air tonight. "When they interrogate me I believe they get it from Australia because they give me ... about 300 phone numbers," The Sydney Morning Herald said Mr Habib told SBS. "They tell me you have to give addresses and who are these people and how you know them? And they put me in a room with a few guards and if my hand stopped writing I got beaten."

Mr Habib's lawyer Stephen Hopper told the newspaper several mobile phones and a computer were seized during the ASIO raids in 2001. The paper said Mr Habib's comments will raise more questions about the Australia's involvement in the matter, despite Attorney-General Philip Ruddock repeatedly denying Australian officials knew about Mr Habib's abduction by US intelligence agents. When asked if Australia supplied any information to the Egyptians, Mr Ruddock told Dateline: "I don't believe they did." Mr Habib alleges he was arrested in Pakistan and taken to Egypt where he was tortured between November 2001 and February 2002. ASIO has refused to any answer any questions on the matter.
Posted by: God Save The World || 03/08/2005 4:44:55 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Europe
Spain Arrests Train Bomb Suspect Near Anniversary
Spanish police investigating the Madrid train bombings arrested a suspect Tuesday, just as the country began events to commemorate the first anniversary of the March 11 attacks that killed 191 people, officials said. Spain's Interior Ministry said Moroccan-born Jaouad el Bouzrouti, 21, had close links to several prime suspects for the attacks, in which 10 bombs hidden in sports bags exploded aboard four packed commuter trains. Bouzrouti was arrested near his home in the Madrid suburb of Fuenlabrada in the early morning. He is the 75th suspect arrested in the investigation, although 33 of those have been released for lack of evidence.

The Interior Ministry said the suspect was "directly linked" to Yousef Belhadj, recently arrested in Belgium and sought for extradition to Spain. Belhadj is believed to have been the spokesman on a video tape that claimed responsibility for the bombings in the name of al Qaeda in Europe, calling them revenge for Spain's having sent troops to Iraq and Afghanistan. The ministry also said Bouzrouti was a "close collaborator" of Algerian Allekama Lamari, one of the seven train bombings suspects who blew themselves up when surrounded by police on April 3. He also was considered close to Mohamed Afalah and Abdelmajib Bouchar, two Moroccan suspects who escaped from the suburban Madrid safe house on the night of the suicide blast. Both are the subject of international arrest warrants. Lamari and Afalah traveled frequently in Bouzrouti's car, the ministry statement said.

"The suspect had telephone contacts with ... Bouchar and with the brothers Yousef and Mimoun Belhadj, members of the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group who were recently detained in Belgium and Syria," the statement said. Spanish authorities have identified many of the train bombing suspects as belonging to the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group, a shadowy armed group sympathetic to international jihad. Spain is preparing to mark Friday's anniversary of the attacks with solemn commemorations and a conference of international security experts. Political parties have been unable to agree on a set of conclusions about what happened on March 11, 2004 and recommendations to prevent future attacks, following months of testimony to a special parliamentary committee.
This article starring:
ABDELMAJIB BUCHARal-Qaeda in Europe
ABDELMAJIB BUCHARMoroccan Islamic Combatant Group
ALLEKAMA LAMARIal-Qaeda in Europe
JAUAD EL BUZRUTIal-Qaeda in Europe
MIMUN BELHADJMoroccan Islamic Combatant Group
MOHAMED AFALAHal-Qaeda in Europe
YUSEF BELHADJal-Qaeda in Europe
YUSEF BELHADJMoroccan Islamic Combatant Group
Posted by: Steve || 03/08/2005 8:56:59 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Where's "Anniversary"? I can't find it on my map of Spain...
Posted by: mojo || 03/08/2005 13:26 Comments || Top||


StrategyPage: Germans Build Cases
Alarmed at the growing number of Islamic radical groups in Germany, several hundred German military intelligence analysts are being transferred to a civilian counter-terrorist organizations. Many of the troops will retain their military status, but will work in civilian clothes. Since September 11, 2001, German police have been looking more closely at the activities of Islamic radical groups in Germany. They found a lot more than they expected. German law makes it difficult to make arrests unless there is a lot of proof that a crime has been committed, or is well along in its planning. Given the language and cultural differences, the police have been unable to pick up a lot of Islamic militants who appear to be planning terrorist attacks. So the additional analysts will enable the police to find more terrorist suspects, build stronger cases and allow more arrests to be made. Many Germans blame the United States for all of this, feeling that it Iraq had not been invaded, the Moslem community would not have become so pro-terrorist. However, as the police dig more deeply into Islamic radical activities in Germany, they find much of it predates 2003, and September 11, 2001 as well.
Posted by: ed || 03/08/2005 7:17:11 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Maybe if they search hard enough, perhaps they'll Get a Clue.

Of course, we still have Norm Mineta, so I guess I shouldn't cast stones.
Posted by: Jackal || 03/08/2005 9:19 Comments || Top||

#2  This shows how clueless the Euros are!
Posted by: radrh8r || 03/08/2005 12:13 Comments || Top||


Last French Gitmo Detainees Sent Home
The last three French detainees held at the U.S. military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, returned to France on Monday and were detained by authorities, judicial officials said. The detainees — Mustaq Ali Patel, Ridouane Khalid and Khaled Ben Mustafa — were being held by the French counterterrorism agency known as DST, the officials said on condition of anonymity.
Rest at link.
This article starring:
KHALED BEN MUSTAFAal-Qaeda
MUSTAQ ALI PATELal-Qaeda
RIDUANE KHALIDal-Qaeda
Posted by: ed || 03/08/2005 7:23:57 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


French charity 'funding' Hamas, claims Israel
Israel on Sunday accused a French charity of providing financial help to the Palestinian radical group Hamas, according to a military intelligence document received by AFP. According to the Israelis, papers seized during army raids in Jenin and Ramallah, in the northern West Bank, showed bank transfers of several thousand euros, including a sum of EUR 45,000 for the months of January to June 2004. The papers showed correspondence between the Welfare and Rescue Committee for Palestinians and Islamic welfare groups based in the West Bank which the Jewish state charges are a cover for Hamas activities.

The funds had reportedly gone to families who had lost a relative through Israeli repression or been killed in an anti-Israeli attack. According to the papers, they had also helped Palestinians rebuild houses destroyed by the Israeli army and helped prisoners and their families. Some of the funds were seized during army operations last year. Israeli military intelligence views these actions as direct or indirect aid to Hamas "terrorist infrastructures". In August 2003, the United States blocked or froze the assets of the French charity and four other Palestinian aid organisations. The charity at the time dismissed charges of support for Hamas, which is classified as a terrorist organisation by Washington and the European Union, as "ridiculous" and said its funds were used to help 3,000 Palestinian orphans.
Posted by: Seafarious || 03/08/2005 00:00:00 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hamas 'funds' orphans
Posted by: 2b || 03/08/2005 3:35 Comments || Top||

#2  Two words "Islamic charity".
Posted by: gromgorru || 03/08/2005 7:16 Comments || Top||

#3  Hamas creates orphans
Posted by: RWV || 03/08/2005 11:55 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Al-Ghozi's brother leads new JI landing in south Philippine
The police and military are on the lookout for Indonesia-based Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) militants following reports that a fresh batch slipped in through the country's southern backdoor. Western Area Police Command (WAPC) chief Director Vidal Querol cited intelligence reports that some JI militants have started training Abu Sayyaf extremists in the jungles of Central Mindanao. Querol said the WAPC is now focusing their hunt on the provinces of Agusan del Sur, Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat, Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and the Zamboanga peninsula. Querol would not confirm the intelligence report but stressed that efforts to track down the militants and their local trainees have intensified. "If, indeed, the report is positive, we cannot divulge the information because of the possibility it may preempt our efforts to stamp out the terrorists," he said.

Querol made the statement after Sen. Panfilo Lacson disclosed over the weekend that 26 JI militants had landed in Mindanao and were training recruits from the Abu Sayyaf bandit group as well as diehard guerrillas from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Lacson claimed he had received reports about the arrival of the JI militants last Jan. 5. The group was led by Abdulkiran Nawaz and Mujair al-Ghozi, the brother of Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi who was killed during an encounter with the military in North Cotabato months after he escaped detention in 2003. Lacson claimed some rogue MILF leaders facilitated the arrival of the JI militants to Camp Mangaturing, the alleged terror-training center located in the boundaries of Upper Minabay, Buldon and Kapatagan towns in Lanao del Sur.
Continued on Page 49
This article starring:
ABDULKIRAN NAWAZJemaah Islamiyah
Commodore Rufino Lopez
FATHUR ROHMAN AL GHOZIJemaah Islamiyah
Lt. Gen. Alberto Braganza
MUJAIR AL GHOZIJemaah Islamiyah
Sen. Panfilo Lacson
Vidal Querol
Abu Sayyaf
Jemaah Islamiyah
Moro Islamic Liberation Front
Posted by: Dan Darling || 03/08/2005 1:57:48 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syrian Troops Begin Pullback in Lebanon
Syrian soldiers loaded trucks with furniture and other supplies and drove east from the Lebanese mountain posts they have held for decades, the first signs of a redeployment to Lebanon's Bekaa Valley announced Monday. But no deadline was set for their complete withdrawal, and Washington rejected the pullback as insufficient. Lacking a timeline, the plan also was unlikely to satisfy the Lebanese opposition and the international community, which have demanded that all 14,000 Syrian soldiers leave the country. More than 70,000 Lebanese shouting "Freedom! Sovereignty! Independence!" thronged Beirut in the biggest demonstration yet of anti-Syria anger that has fueled recent street protests. The demonstrators waved Lebanon's cedar-tree flag and thundered, "Syria out!"

"Yes, for withdrawal to the Bekaa, but, yes, first to the full withdrawal behind the Lebanese-Syrian border," opposition lawmaker Walid Eido told the protesters. The demonstrators marched to the site of a Feb. 14 bombing that killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and touched off the angry but peaceful street protests that drove Lebanon's pro-Syrian government to resign a week ago. Many Lebanese accuse the Syrian government and their former government of responsibility for Hariri's death; both deny any involvement.

Earlier Monday, Syrian President Bashar Assad and his Lebanese counterpart, Emile Lahoud, met in Syria's capital, Damascus, to outline plans for shifting Syrian troops closer to the border by the end of March. But they were vague on the timing of a complete withdrawal from Lebanon. Foes of the Syrian presence are calling for demonstrations to continue. One group raised a banner Monday reading read, "Today we have one target: To liberate our land."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: .com || 03/08/2005 4:21:36 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Two out of 15 trucks broke down travelling just that short distance? Syria should note that as a warning sign - logistics wins wars, and their logistical capability doesn't look so good.

I wonder if the equipment on five trucks was covered by sheets to protect from 1) elements, 2) theft, or 3) eyes. Hope some eyes in the skies were checking.
Posted by: glenmore || 03/08/2005 8:20 Comments || Top||

#2  From what I've read about Arab militaries, their logistics are generally acceptable, but their maintenance standards are abominable even by third-world standards. It's that Arab cultural bias against technical training showing.
Posted by: Mitch H. || 03/08/2005 9:17 Comments || Top||

#3  Justa a lookin for a home....
Posted by: abu Joad || 03/08/2005 11:58 Comments || Top||

#4  Debka says this was just a show and that there has been no significant movement of troops.
Posted by: RWV || 03/08/2005 12:27 Comments || Top||

#5  Repair time is also a convenient time to lighten the truck's load a bit--easily marketable items first.
Posted by: James || 03/08/2005 12:34 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
30 Taliban have surrendered, says US general
Thirty midlevel Taliban have turned themselves in to coalition forces this year, Maj Gen Eric Olson, a top US commander said on Monday, predicting more will follow when the Afghan government announces a reconciliation programme for the followers of the hardline militia. Olson, the No 2 US commander in Afghanistan, did not identify the insurgents and said the coalition had no specific information on the whereabouts of top-level Taliban, including the supreme leader of the ousted Islamist regime, Mulla Omar. The 30 Taliban had "essentially turned themselves in" at coalition bases in the eastern province of Khost and the southern province of Kandahar during the past two months and had been handed over to Afghan authorities for reintegration into society. None had been detained, and one was now serving as a policeman, Olson said. He forecast more Taliban fighters to join them once the government of President Hamid Karzai formally announced a reconciliation programme "soon".
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2005 8:41:50 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Now remember the instruction manual. You five claim physical torture. You three talk about severe mental abuse..."

How long until Lynne Stewart Ramsey Clark shows up to defend them?
Posted by: jackal || 03/08/2005 21:33 Comments || Top||


Iraq-Jordan
Fallujah After Action Report by Marine NCO's
Posted by: Matt || 03/08/2005 18:10 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I was just going to post this! This is a fantastic read from the guys who did the work in Fallujah. Long, so set aside time and beverage before beginning. But do read it.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 03/08/2005 18:18 Comments || Top||

#2  If you read it you'll never complain about your "Houseguests" again.

I used to teach part-time at a professional school, and I never saw a paper as well written as the one these Marines have put together. Thank God these guys are on our side.
Posted by: Matt || 03/08/2005 18:33 Comments || Top||

#3  In combat, Marine leaders are required to stand up and take charge. Unfortunately, sometimes there are too many chiefs and not enough Indians. The “chief syndrome” will create mass confusion on the battlefield. Being a good combat leader sometimes means stepping back and allowing the Marines to do their jobs. Platoon commanders must allow squad leaders to lead their squads, squad leaders must allow element leaders to lead their elements, and element leaders must allow their Marines to take initiative.

That's why the US Marines are the best fighters in the world!
Posted by: SwissTex || 03/08/2005 21:17 Comments || Top||

#4  On behalf of the Marines, who are off doing what they do best, I thank you, SwissTex. When did you say you were getting your American citizenship?
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/08/2005 21:27 Comments || Top||

#5  Some times next years
Posted by: SwissTex || 03/08/2005 21:44 Comments || Top||

#6  ...They have learned from 2/1’s attack last April. This is common sense, but it must be said in order that Marines realize the enemy they are fighting is somewhat intelligent. In MOUT (military operations in urban terrain) it only takes a miniscule amount of intelligence in order to create massive amounts of casualties.

Pure gold.
Posted by: SC88 || 03/08/2005 23:28 Comments || Top||

#7  excellent report - hard work by good men.
Posted by: Frank G || 03/08/2005 23:45 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine
Israel unveils tank protection system
Israel Tuesday revealed a system it says will protect vehicles -- from Humvees to tanks -- against attacks launched from a very close range. The system could help American troops in Iraq if they stay there long enough, indicated the head of the government's Rafael armaments development authority, retired Vice Admiral Yedidia Yaari. Yaari told United Press International militant attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq were the kind of "a reality to which (Israel) had to prepare." The system, called Trophy, detects incoming threats, such as anti-tank rockets, and sprays tungsten balls at them. The tungsten disintegrates a rocket-propelled grenade for example. It thus neutralizes the threat without causing an explosion, Yaari said.
Little Claymore mines on the exterior of the tank?
The danger of attacks on cumbersome tanks in tight urban areas has concerned officers. Palestinians eventually approached tanks and even stole equipment. "The problem has been attacks from a very close range," Yaari said. The new system provides all round protection from attacks launched from as close as 30 to 60 feet away, he said.
I'd imagine it would "shred" pretty much anything at that range. Wonder how tight the pattern is.
Israel showed the system to U.S. officers and, according to Yaari, those who saw it were excited.
Posted by: Steve || 03/08/2005 3:38:15 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It will certainly keep the grunts from using the tank as cover.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey || 03/08/2005 16:04 Comments || Top||

#2  The tungsten disintegrates a rocket-propelled grenade for example.

Just think what they'd do to a rock throwing Paleo.
Posted by: AzCat || 03/08/2005 16:07 Comments || Top||

#3  Nice idea in principle but has a lot of flaws, some already pointed out. It sounds like a system that would be almost impossible to make safe for use in an urban enviroment - how would it differentiate between hostile and non-hostile movements? Would firing multiple rockets simultaneously (not difficult to rig) from different points overwhelm the system? Could an attacker use dummy missiles (even something as simple as lobbed bricks or bottles) to distract or exhaust the system before using a real warhead. The system claims to be effective at up to 30 feet - that's quite a long distance in your typical built up area. It might become very unpopular with support troops so you could imagine it being switched off at the times when it would most useful (explosive-reactive armour isn't very popular with infantry for the same reason).
Posted by: Bulldog || 03/08/2005 16:24 Comments || Top||

#4  I guess the Israelis read David Drake. His stories about Hammer's Slammers have such systems mounted on tanks and combat cars.

And while such a system isn't perfect, it's always nice to have something that can help in some situations. Just because that body armor doesn't stop all threats, people still wear it. This is much the same. Besides, having a toggle switch to turn the system on and off if you have infantry or civvies about isn't hard to do, or even as Drake had it, a switch to detonate the system so that any unfriendlies in range get turned into a fine red mist isn't a bad idea either.
Posted by: Silentbrick || 03/08/2005 16:48 Comments || Top||

#5  First reactive armor and now proactive armor. The next innovation will be armor that reaches out, grabs the guy with the rocket launcher, and slaps him around for awhile. Can't wait.
Posted by: Jonathan || 03/08/2005 17:08 Comments || Top||

#6  LOL Jonathan - thanks for the visual
Posted by: Frank G || 03/08/2005 17:18 Comments || Top||

#7  That would be the "Bitchslap" armor system.
Posted by: Matt || 03/08/2005 17:29 Comments || Top||

#8  Silentbrick - I've been waiting for years for somebody to take Drake's system and try it out for real. It will be hard to implement safely, though. Drake had the advantage of far future computers handling the job in his books.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats || 03/08/2005 17:32 Comments || Top||


Iraq-Jordan
Senior Iraqi official assassinated
Al-Qaeda militants gunned down a senior Iraqi official Tuesday and soldiers discovered 15 beheaded bodies as the furore over the US shooting of an Italian intelligence agent threatened to carve a deep rift between Washington and Rome. The US military's conduct in Iraq was under scrutiny over the shooting of the Italian and a Bulgarian soldier in a separate incident, and a video of soldiers abusing at least one wounded prisoner. On the political front, a senior Shiite official said the country's new government lineup would be unveiled after the first freely elected parliament in half a century convenes on March 16.

The deputy director of the Iraqi interior ministry's naturalisation department, Ghazi Mohammed Issa, was killed in broad daylight outside his Baghdad home by masked gunmen in a car, ministry official Sabah Kadhim said. The assassination was claimed in a statement posted on the Internet by Al-Qaeda's group in Iraq, headed by Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. It was impossible to verify its accuracy.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi army said it found 15 beheaded corpses, both men and women, on an old military base near Latifiyah, south of Baghdad. The corpses were found during an army raid on the old Hatin army base, now believed to be used by insurgents, said Captain Mohammed Abdul Hussein al-Saedi. The soldiers launched the operation after reports some Shiite pilgrims on their way to the holy cities of Karbala and Najaf had disappeared near Latifiyah, around 40 kilometres (30 miles) from Baghdad, where rebels frequently launch attacks.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling || 03/08/2005 1:39:54 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


New fighting underway in Ramadi
Clashes erupted between U.S. troops and insurgents Tuesday in the troubled city of Ramadi west of the capital, leaving at least two people dead, officials said. In Baghdad, gunmen assassinated the deputy chief of the Interior Ministry's immigration office, Gen. Ghazi Mohammed Issa, in a drive-by shooting in the western suburb of Ghazaliya, a top ministry official said on condition of anonymity. In an Internet statement, al-Qaida in Iraq purportedly claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Interior Ministry official said gunmen also attacked a convoy of trucks carrying food for the Trade Ministry in Salman Pak, southeast of the capital. Three civilians were killed in the assault and at least one of the trucks was set on fire. Unidentified gunmen also shot dead the deputy head of Hay Alfurat Hospital in western Baghdad, officials said.

The clashes in Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad, lasted for more than an hour. City shops were closed and streets were deserted as U.S. troops took up sniper positions on rooftops. At least one dead body could be seen in the street, witnesses said. Dr. Salah al-Ani of Ramadi's main hospital said at least two Iraqis were killed and two others wounded. U.S. troops launched a clampdown in Ramadi and several other Euphrates cities on Feb. 20, imposing curfews and raiding houses in a bid to root out insurgents operating in the area.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling || 03/08/2005 2:07:00 PM || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Italy didn't plan safe escape for hostage
Italian security forces failed to make arrangements for safe passage out of Iraq for a freed Italian reporter, whose car was fired on by U.S. troops, killing intelligence agent Nicola Calipari who brokered the reporter's release, according to an internal Pentagon memo. The memo says checkpoint soldiers are trained to deal with erratic speeding vehicles whose drivers ignored warnings -- a profile that matches the Army's version of events in Friday night's shooting. The memo says more than 500 American troops have been killed on the streets and at checkpoints in Iraq. Mistaken shootings of civilians resulted in "few deadly incidents" since the U.S. started checkpoints in March 2003, according to the memo.

Meanwhile, the White House dismissed as "absurd" the stated suspicion of the reporter, Giuliana Sgrena, who said the United States tried to kill her because it opposes negotiations with terrorists to free hostages. Miss Sgrena, a reporter for the Italian communist newspaper Il Manifesto, provided no evidence. "It's absurd to make any such suggestion that our men and women in uniform would deliberately target innocent civilians," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan adding: "We regret this incident. We are going to fully investigate what exactly occurred." Maj. Gen. William G. Webster Jr., who heads the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, yesterday completed the "commander's preliminary inquiry." He has decided to conduct a more extensive inquiry, called a 15-6 for the regulation that authorizes it. Gen. Webster will name one officer to head the probe. A U.S. official said that of all the cars that passed through the checkpoint that night, the reporter's vehicle was the only one fired upon. "Something that car did caused the soldiers to fire," said the official, who asked not to be named. The shooting occurred at night at a checkpoint on a notoriously dangerous road that links Baghdad to the international airport. The incident has put a spotlight on "friendly fire" episodes that occur with some regularity in Iraq when motorists fail to heed warnings to stop at roadside checkpoints and are fired on by American troops who fear that the vehicle might be a weapon. Cars and trucks are a common weapon in suicide bombings and drive-by shootings. The soldiers did not know that Miss Sgrena and Italian agents were headed in their direction on the way to the airport for a flight back to Italy.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve || 03/08/2005 9:51:35 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  this may prove very embarrassing for Italy. Why the secrets?
Posted by: 2b || 03/08/2005 10:54 Comments || Top||

#2  Because they have something to be ashamed of?

We make a good team today, 2b!
Posted by: Jules 187 || 03/08/2005 10:56 Comments || Top||

#3  Interesting article here:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2326&e=13&u=/csm/ocheckpoint

about how the cultural differences have gotten people killed.

From the article:
"Under Saddam, idling was risky
This feeling is a holdover from the days of Saddam, when driving slowly past a government building or installation was considered suspicious behavior. Get caught idling past the wrong palaces or ministry, and you might never be seen again."
Posted by: D || 03/08/2005 10:57 Comments || Top||

#4  I don't know, D. That's a big stretch.
Posted by: 2b || 03/08/2005 11:06 Comments || Top||

#5  I'm not blaming our troops. No way but as the article says, there is usually two checkpoints. The first is Iraqi soldiers and they just wave the cars through at which time the drivers hit the gas.

Our guys did what they needed to do to protect themselves.

Couldn't the Italians have made a phone call to let us know they were coming?
Posted by: D || 03/08/2005 11:10 Comments || Top||

#6  Please stop with the excuses "cultural" etc.,

Iraq,nightime,curfew,meeting time,place,comm.,transportation,routes in & out,etc.

why not go directly go to the green zone and catch a Helo ride to airport?

Why would a proffesional intelligence agent plan his mission so poorly?

Posted by: ? || 03/08/2005 11:14 Comments || Top||

#7  ...and futhermore, everyone knows that you can't drive directly into the "Saddam" airport. You have to go through at least two check points.
Posted by: ? || 03/08/2005 11:23 Comments || Top||

#8  Wonder if this'll bring Bertulesconi down?

Geez, 60 years after WWII and they still haven't had 1 complete administration.

And we're supposed to listen to them?
Posted by: anonymous2u || 03/08/2005 11:27 Comments || Top||

#9  The Italians were paying a ransom for her. The were not supposed to do that. They kept their ops secret. They drove fast toward a checkpoint. The American military is now in charge. Saddam and his minions are out of power. This Italian secret services guy at least should have had the clue, being in the business he is in.

The Italian communist rag will whip this up as long as they can, then the story will die like a horse that has been whipped too long. Momentum for representative govt is building in the Middle East. People see the big show and are walking past the side show.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 03/08/2005 11:30 Comments || Top||

#10  "...intelligence agent Nicola Calipari who brokered the reporter's release..."

Poor bastard. Sent on a bag-man's errand.

Appeasing Euro-pussie result#1: Calipari died because the Italians sent a "negotiator" just to make it look like they didn't hand over cash to animals that will use it for ammunition, passports, and whatever else is needed to kill Americans and Iraqi infidels.

Appeasing Euro-pussie result#2: You only know the release time if it is agreed upon as part of ransome payment. But then you can't tell the US the schedule or it looks like a ransome was paid.

When will the Iraqis figure out that Appeasing Euro-pussies get them killed, too?
Posted by: Hyper || 03/08/2005 12:20 Comments || Top||

#11  It is not beyond the realm of possibility that the Italians were double crossed. A little whisper from an informant to be on the lookout for a particular vehicle on the airport highway on a particular night.
Posted by: john || 03/08/2005 15:42 Comments || Top||

#12  BGO - if they wanted her dead - she'd be dead.
Posted by: 2b || 03/08/2005 16:28 Comments || Top||

#13  You know, even the most jaded observer would have to admit that if the US wanted this bimbo dead. she and her coterie of agents would have been shredded with fire. Not one dead and the others wounded, but a gristley stew requiring DNA analysis for identification. We shoot better than that.
Posted by: RWV || 03/08/2005 18:00 Comments || Top||

#14  This whole story is getting more MSM coverage than it deserves. Their aganda is clear.

The agent who planed this little fandango is dead. Maybe the Italians will learn something. One can hope.

If the Italians are going to be paying ranson perhaps we don't need their help anymore. That kind of help is bad news. It's really EU of them.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 03/08/2005 21:33 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
Tales from the "Crossfire" Gazette
Top outlaw killed in 'crossfire'
Top outlawed leader Abdus Samad Tikka was killed in a 'crossfire' between his accomplices and police at village Dahkula in Sadar upazila in the district early yesterday. With the incident, 'crossfire' death by Rapid Action Battalion and police since June last year rose to 241. Tikka, 38, a leader of outlawed Gono Mukti Fouz (GMF) was accused in 40 cases including 18 of murder, police said. Lalpur police of Natore district at first arrested Tikka from a tea stall at Gopalpur Bazar on Monday last. He was sent to Natore jail under section 54 of CrPC. On information, a team of Kushtia Detective Branch police rushed to Natore and identified the arrestee as Tikka, the outlawed leader.
"Sarge, the Lalpur cops picked up Tikka, go get him before he makes bail."
Kushtia police arrested him from Natore jail gate when he came out of jail on bail Saturday.
"Hi Tikka, youse coming with us."
During interrogation in Kushtia, Tikka admitted his involvement with the underground party and confessed to possessing a large number of firearms hidden in different places of the region including his village Dahkula in Sadar upazila.
By the book, or the script, if you like.
Accompanying Tikka, police started for village Dahkula to seize firearms as per his confession.
It was a dark and stormy night....
As the police reached Borozpara area of the village, the GMF cadres opened fire, triggering an hour-long shootout with police.
......when, suddenly a shot rang out...
Meantime, Tikka, trying to flee from police van, got caught in the 'line of fire' and died on the spot, police said, adding that his accomplices managed to flee.
I love a happy ending.

Rival groups clash Tungipara 100 injured
GOPALGANJ, Mar 7:—About 100 people were injured in a fierce clash by rival groups at Kusholi village in Tungipara upazila over establishing supremacy, reports UNB. Both sides used sharp lethal arms during the clash lasting two hours from 7am.
Knives, axes, sissors, chainsaws....
Of the injured, 37 were admitted to hospitals. Tutul (23), Ashraf (42), Mamun (15), Nahid (40), Bacchu (30), Zahir (38), Mukul (25), Liton (20), Bashir (25), Bacchu (30) and Hafizur were rushed to Gopalganj 250-bed hospital and 26 others admitted to Tungipara health complex. Witnesses said supporters of former Kusholi UP chairman Mohammad Ali and former member Jamal Sheikh engaged in the fierce clash over of seeing VCD Sunday night. In fact, Ali and Jamal are in mad rivalry for establishing supremacy in the union and have picked up the trifle matter to jump up with arms.
Oh, it's a union matter. Well, that's understandable then.
On information police rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control. Additional police have been deployed in the area.
And a fun time was had by all.

Rab seizes 140kg explosives from bus
Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) yesterday morning seized 140 kg of explosive substances, 90 bottles phensidyl, 64 cans of Indian pesticide and arrested one person from a Kuakata-bound bus near Jhenidah Police Line. Seized explosive substances are used for making powerful bombs, Rab sources said. The arrestee, Minnat Ali, 40, of Kaliganj upazila in Jhenidah district is being quizzed at the Rab headquarters in Khulna.
Wonder if he has any hidden arms?
Acting on a tip-off, a Rab team conducted a search in the passenger-bus from Jessore and found the items kept in four cartons.
Posted by: Steve || 03/08/2005 9:35:32 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Indian pesticide? Wait'll Ward Churchill hears about that...
Posted by: tu3031 || 03/08/2005 10:01 Comments || Top||

#2  With the incident, 'crossfire' death by Rapid Action Battalion and police since June last year rose to 241.

Damned dangerous, those Bangla crossfires...
Posted by: mojo || 03/08/2005 11:34 Comments || Top||

#3  Keep up the good work boyz those trials can get expensive unlike the $ .33 bullets.
Posted by: Rightwing || 03/08/2005 15:00 Comments || Top||

#4  Crossfire™, is a tried and true method. I would have to see it get out of hand and head down that road. But the RAB seem to have the process down pat. Heck these stories almost write themselves.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 03/08/2005 19:51 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine
Security forces arrest Ramallah lynch suspect
Muhammad Salem ali abu-Ilda was arrested about a month ago for involvement in the brutal Ramallah lynching of October 12, 2000, security forces announced Tuesday. Abu-Ilda was apprehended at the international border crossing at Rafah. He confessed to his involvement in the lynch four years ago, in which two Israeli reservists were killed cruelly. The soldiers, Yosi Avraham and Vadim Novesche, lost their way en route to the army base at Beit El and entered Ramallah, where they were attacked and killed by Palestinian policemen and a frenzied mob at the Palestinian police station. Both bodies were severely mutilated
This article starring:
Muhammad Salem ali abu-Ilda
Posted by: gromgorru || 03/08/2005 09:27 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Good! Another one checked off the list.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/08/2005 12:31 Comments || Top||

#2  he should NEVER walk out of prison
Posted by: Frank G || 03/08/2005 17:04 Comments || Top||

#3  But he will walk out. Soon. These guys never keep their own in prison for long. It is all just a show.
Posted by: LastMall || 03/08/2005 18:05 Comments || Top||

#4  The Israelis control the Rafah border crossing, so this murderer won't see the light of day. Expect him to give up the names and locations of his buddies in atrocity.
Posted by: ed || 03/08/2005 18:11 Comments || Top||

#5  Another one checked off the list.

Never assume the Paleos will actually administer necessary justice, especially where the killers of Jews are involved.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 03/08/2005 21:01 Comments || Top||

#6  I don't believe the revolving doors Paleo shold him
Posted by: Frank G || 03/08/2005 21:03 Comments || Top||


Iraq-Jordan
Saudis Dominate al Qaeda Terrorists
The wild west atmosphere in Sunni Arab areas hides the fact that a lot more of the violence is Sunni against Sunni. This is because an increasing number of Sunni Arabs are supporting the central government and getting attacked by terrorists because of it. Most of the conflict is more confrontational than combat. Groups of armed men will stare at each other, without any shots being fired. It's really basic gang warfare, with groups of armed civilians claiming streets and neighborhoods, making it clear that turf would be defended by force. With more Iraqi police available, the American troops can more easily get to know the pro-government Iraqi groups, and coordinate operations against the terrorists.

Some of the terrorists are foreigners. But only about ten percent of the terrorists killed are al Qaeda, the rest are pro-Saddam or pro-Sunni Arab domination. Based on information posted on al Qaeda web sites (praising individual "martyrs" who died in Iraq), some 60 percent of the al Qaeda terrorists in Iraq are from Saudi Arabia. Another ten percent are from Syria, seven percent from Kuwait, about 15 percent from many other Moslem nations, and eight percent from Iraq. Over twenty al Qaeda members are being killed a month in Iraq, and many more captured. Those captives admit that their "emir" (leader) is Abu Musab al Zarqawi, but add that Iraqi Sunni Arabs are supplying a lot of technical assistance, equipment and cash. Recent al Qaeda captives have been unhappy with the direction the "war" is taking, because of the large number of Iraqis who are getting killed, and the growing hostility, by Iraqis, against al Qaeda. While Iraqi Sunni Arabs see the fighting as one of survival for Sunni Arab Iraqis, al Qaeda is on a Mission from God to drive infidels (non-Moslems) from the region. These two goals are colliding in a messy fashion.
Posted by: Steve || 03/08/2005 9:23:43 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  lets invade and solve this
Posted by: juriseqs || 03/08/2005 9:45 Comments || Top||

#2  Kneel before Zod juriseqs!
Posted by: .com || 03/08/2005 9:48 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
British Worker Murdered in Afghan Capital
Gunmen shot and killed a Briton who worked with Afghanistan's rural development ministry in a nighttime attack in downtown Kabul that followed a monthslong lull in violence in the city, police and the British embassy said Tuesday.

Steven Blair MacQueen, 41, was killed at about 10:15 p.m. Monday as he drove a pickup truck in front of the main guest house for U.N. workers in Kabul and the Dutch Embassy, Gen. Sher Agha, a Kabul police commander, told The Associated Press. The British Embassy confirmed the death, and said Blair's next of kin had been informed. The motive for the shooting was unclear.

Agha said two vehicles, one of them a black landcruiser, had followed the British man's white, Toyota pickup truck then drove ahead of him and blocked his way. From inside the landcruiser, someone opened fire, killing the man, before driving away.
Rest at link.
Posted by: ed || 03/08/2005 7:26:55 AM || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Lashkar cell planned to hit software companies
The Lashkar-e-Toiba militants killed in an encounter at New Delhi on Saturday night planned to attack software companies in Bangalore besides Indian Military Academy in Dehra Dun, Delhi police said on Sunday. The militants visited Bangalore in December last year and surveyed the location of several software companies there, joint commissioner of police (special cell) Karnal Singh told reporters. "They planned to hit economic installations to hinder the economic development of the country," he said. Three LeT militants, including two Pakistani nationals, were killed in an encounter at Suraj Vihar in Uttam Nagar area of southwest Delhi. The encounter followed the arrest of two of their associates earlier, one of whom had arrived from Jammu with a cache of ammunition for the militants.

Singh said documents seized from the slain militants of the Pakistan-based LeT revealed that they planned to carry out suicide attacks on the IMA. The Pakistani militants had been identified as Bilawal (24), who hailed from Sargodha in Pakistan and Shahnawaz (25), who was from Sindh district. The third militant killed was Shams alias Pervez Ahmed (26), a resident of Patna, who had set up a base of the outfit in the Bihar capital.
Posted by: Paul Moloney || 03/08/2005 12:43:48 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Kashmir Korpse Kount
Indian army troops Monday gunned down six separatist guerillas during a cordon and search operation at Doraswani village, 110 km from here, in north Kashmir's Kupwara district. Troops of 18 Rashtriya Rifles (RR), on specific information, surrounded Doraswani village early Monday and mounted house-to-house searches, a senior police official said."During the searches, militants hiding in the village hurled hand grenades and fired from their automatics on the search parties. Troops took positions and returned the fire," the official told IANS. "In the gun battle that continued for several hours troops gunned down six militants and recovered a large quantity of arms and ammunition."
Posted by: Paul Moloney || 03/08/2005 12:42:06 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Welcome back, Paul! We've missed you!
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2005 7:38 Comments || Top||

#2  What a nice topic for my morning coffee!! Good shootin, Men of the 18th RR!
Posted by: TomAnon || 03/08/2005 7:50 Comments || Top||

#3  Thanks Fred, I should be around more often now..
Posted by: Paul Moloney || 03/08/2005 15:55 Comments || Top||

#4  Good - i don't have the attention span to comb Paki or Kashmiri news sources for tidbits. Apreciate you doing it, though
Posted by: Frank G || 03/08/2005 16:03 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine
2 Border Police wounded in Hebron
Two Border Policemen were wounded yesterday in a shooting attack in Hebron, close to the Tomb of the Patriarchs. One of the men was moderately hurt, while the second sustained light wounds. The shooter ran away fled the scene.

Tension in the area of the Tomb of the Patriarchs has soared in recent weeks, against the backdrop of claims by Islamic sources that the Israel Defense Forces is interfering with Muslim prayer sessions at the site. Yesterday's attack came shortly before 9 A.M., when shots were fired at a Border Police position just outside Hebron's Casbah. The Border Police position serves to monitor the passage of Palestinians from the area of the Casbah toward the Tomb of the Patriarchs. An initial probe into the incident indicates that a Palestinian, armed with a 9mm pistol, approached the Border Police position and fired 12 rounds at the forces stationed there, wounding two of the policemen. A third border policeman and a member of the Israel Police returned fire, but failed to hit the shooter.
"Dammit David, you have to hit the SOB!"
"Sorry, Avi, but did you see how fast he was running away?"
The two wounded men were taken for treatment at Hadassah University Hospital, Ein Karem. At the same time, the IDF imposed a curfew on the area of the Casbah and mounted searches for the attacker. Some 50 Palestinians were taken in for questioning, and most were released shortly thereafter. No Palestinian terrorist organization has claimed responsibility for the attack. Around 10 such attacks have taken place in Hebron since last August.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/08/2005 12:02:33 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This reminds me of the "not quite genocide" thingy in Darfur...

When is the "fragile ceasefire" officially no longer a "ceasefire"? How many breaches does it take before it is actually breached?

Just wondering. Bombings and shootings still going on and newsies talking about the "fragile ceasefire" is giving me a case of cognitive dissonance.
Posted by: .com || 03/08/2005 9:11 Comments || Top||


Iraq-Jordan
Paleos ready to take over Tulkarem
Marching in formation and jumping through flaming hoops, Palestinian forces prepared Monday to assume control in Tulkarem, the first of five West Bank towns to be handed over by Israel as part of a truce to end four years of bloodshed. With negotiations in the final stages, Palestinian forces in Tulkarem stepped up preparations for the handover. Dozens of troops in military fatigues marched in formation and conducted calisthenic drills and martial-arts exercises at an abandoned dirt lot. At one point, the soldiers formed a human pyramid and cried out "Jerusalem is ours!" Later, the soldiers sprinted and jumped headfirst through a smoldering hoop lined with a flaming cloth.
The Not-Ready-For-Cirque-du-Soleil Players.
And:
In a setback for peace efforts, Palestinian militants wounded two Israeli border policemen, one seriously, in a shooting attack on a military post in the West Bank city of Hebron. The shooting took place near the Tomb of the Patriarchs, a shrine revered by both Muslims and Jews.
Posted by: Seafarious || 03/08/2005 00:00:00 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  A strong sense of Deja vu.
Posted by: gromgorru || 03/08/2005 8:38 Comments || Top||

#2  Here's your "hoops o' fire" pic, lol!
Posted by: .com || 03/08/2005 8:47 Comments || Top||

#3  ..Palestinian forces prepared Monday to assume control in Tulkarem,..

Yeah, no more of this disorganized crap. If terrorist actions are to be carried out, the Paleos are going to bring some order to the process.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 03/08/2005 12:00 Comments || Top||

#4  It would be better for birth control more interesting if they were naked when jumping through the hoop of fire.
Posted by: JFM || 03/08/2005 15:14 Comments || Top||

#5  Ahhh, JFM, the ever-subtle Frenchman. ;-)
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/08/2005 20:08 Comments || Top||


Militants in Jordan Refuse to Plead
Fifteen alleged militants refused to speak Monday when a military court asked them to plead to numerous terror charges, including plotting to attack the U.S. and Israeli embassies in Amman. The court interpreted their silence as a plea of not guilty and adjourned the trial to March 14. A 16th person accused is being tried in absentia on the same charges. The charge sheet identified the chief defendant as Abed al-Tahawi, 50, and said he pursued the ideology of "takfiri" -a policy of killing anybody considered to be an infidel. The charge sheet said al-Tahawi recruited his accomplices while preaching in mosques in Irbid, 50 miles north of the capital.

The defendants planned to attack the U.S. and Israeli embassies in Amman, and a hotel favored by Israeli tourists in Irbid, the charge sheet said. They also planned to attack the home of the director of an annual cultural festival and American performers at the festival, according to the charges. Details released Monday did not say how or when they planned the attacks. The alleged militants were detained in August and September before they could carry out their plans. It was not disclosed how they were arrested.
This article starring:
ABED AL TAHAWITakfir wal-Hijra
Posted by: Seafarious || 03/08/2005 00:00:00 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  gives new meaning to speak now or forever hold your peace.
Posted by: 2b || 03/08/2005 3:50 Comments || Top||

#2  Are these the guys arrested last year? Whatever came of the report of a whole series of mass WMD attacks (via trucks from syria) that was designed to kill 20,000 to 80,000 with "20 tons" of material?
Was that all rumormill, and if not, where did the story go?
Posted by: Dave || 03/08/2005 6:17 Comments || Top||

#3  It happened although the Jordanian reports were vague on exactly what was in the 20 tons and the MSM (predictably) ignored it. It probably explains why Syria caved in to Jordan's demands on their territorial dispute.
Posted by: phil_b || 03/08/2005 6:25 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Tue 2005-03-08
  Toe tag for Aslan
Mon 2005-03-07
  Operations stepped up in Samarra to find Zarqawi
Sun 2005-03-06
  Hizbollah Throws Weight Behind Syria in Lebanon
Sat 2005-03-05
  Syria loyalists shoot up Beirut Christian sector
Fri 2005-03-04
  Pro-Syria Groups in Lebanon Press for Unity Govt
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.

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