Fourteen dhows intercepted in Gulf waters since January carried 125 suspected Al-Qaeda members who have been detained by US or other authorities, a counter-terrorism expert in the region said Monday. The traditional wooden boats "are being used here in the Gulf by Al-Qaeda on a daily basis," Bob Newman, director of international security and counter-terrorism services with GeoScope Group, said on the sidelines of an Airport, Port and Terminal Security (APTS) Middle East conference in Dubai. "So far this year, 14 dhows have been intercepted in the Gulf region. Many more have been stopped," said Newman, whose Colorado-based organization provides teams to help track down terror suspects at the planning stage.
Their 125 crew members, who he said had all admitted to being "members" of Al-Qaeda, were either sent to the United States "or to countries they were coming from or going to". The dhows were being used to move personnel, weapons and money, he said. Maritime authorities are "also finding a lot more drugs. Al-Qaeda are financing weapons and logistics via opium", because the United States has "seized their money" since the September 11, 2001 attacks, he said. Amid the threat from Al-Qaeda to Gulf countries, "governments in the region are cooperating heavily with each other," Newman told reporters.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/15/2005 12:10:39 AM ||
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allenist are starting to get hooked on those drugs in greater numbers. Expect as backlash of sorts to that. I just wonder when AQ hasn't been using Dhows to transport people and things. I bet this is a long term practice and nothing new.
#2
I don't think the drug addictions are new, SPoD. Isn't the opium poppy native to Turkey, along with the tulip, and so many other lovely blooms? Homo sapiens will alter their consciousness -- it seems to be an intrinsic need -- and where one altering substance is forbidden, others will be used. The Yemenis have their Kat (ick, green drool), marijuana grows wild on the Indian subcontinent. And all those womenless young men need to do something with their time, those who don't want to do jihad.
#3
...Am I the only one who noticed that the brave Jihadis in their dhows surrendered instead of taking the raisins?
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
03/15/2005 7:13 Comments ||
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TW- it is not need, it is desire to get away fromwhatever situation that they face instead of dealing with it. When you see pharmaceuticals in the poor it is escapism, while in the rich it is boredom (too much stuff they have already done).
Mike- Take the raisins? That's a new one.
Posted by: Jame Retief ||
03/15/2005 7:25 Comments ||
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#5
Drug addiction (apart from Qat) doesn't seem to be a major problem in Arab countries. However it is a major problem in Iran where there are perhaps a million heroin addicts.
#6
I bet this is a long term practice and nothing new.
Long-term practice by many groups. Most is piggy- backing on the smuggling business The Iranians have long used dhows for intel-gathering, and used them for targeting ships during the Tanker War.
#7
I forgot to mention the hashish-using Janissary assassins of old.
Jame, I was talking about how humans have been using mind-altering substances since forever. The behaviour seems to be species-wide, rather than cultural. And there certainly is a great deal to escape from in the Arab world these days.
Phil, I've seen articles (sorry, no references) about drug problems among the youth of Saudi Arabia. And the numbers of foreign drug dealers who've lost their heads over the years certainly indicates a long-term problem. .com, any comments based on your time over there?
#8
These moops confessed to being members of Al Qaeda? Who are they and where were they from? As Mike Kos said why didn't they take the raisins? Hopefully we didn't send them to Gitmo. Since nobody new these guys were arrested why the Hell did anyone say anything. Just eliminate them and tell me about 10 years from now.
#9
tw - As you point out, this is something you can lose your head over... so it may not surprise you that I never saw any evidence of drug use - other than the beer / sidiqqi alcohol mills run in the various compounds. No dope.
An infidel such as myself would never be approached or hear of the availability without doing lots of digging and advertising the desire, I'm certain - which probably is far more likely a ticket to the worst prison you can imagine, rather than one to nirvana. If you decided to try to seek it out here in the US by going to those places / parts of town. You'd stick out like a sore thumb and everyone would be wary of even talking to you. I figure the dealers would likely be about 100x that wary in Saudi.
#10
TW, according to this report there are 400,000 drug addicts in the Arab world out of a worldwide total of 185 million. A rough calculation says an Arab is about 70 times less likely to be a drug addict than the global average (person).
#12
*throws up hands* I guess I was wrong as to the facts. Unfortunately for my pride, not the first time. Thank you all for helping me learn. Especially Phil, for the link. ;-)
.com, I'v never been invited to that part of any town I've ever been to. Mr. Wife wouldn't even take me to Russia with him, for fear I wouldn't recognise the mean people, and get myself murdered, mugged, raped and kidnapped. (Yes, all of that. He's very protective, and I can be very oblivious, so it's probably just as well.)
Gromky, I'll keep you in mind should we ever get transferred to China, and I find reason to need hashish ;-)
Guess we'll see how long the Kuwaiti attention span actually is. The bodies should be cold by now...
Kuwaiti lawyers defending 22 Islamists charged with recruiting anti-US fighters for Iraq on Sunday urged the court to acquit them for lack of evidence after the defendants denied the charges. Only 12 of the defendants were present in the courtroom as lawyers made their arguments in a closed-door hearing and were banned from speaking to the press by presiding judge Adel Al-Huwaidi. Only one suspect remained in police custody after 19 others were released on a KD 300 ($1,000) bail each while two remained at large, including Khaled Al-Dossari, spokesman for the Association of Victims of Torture and Arbitrary Arrest.
Dossari and at least two others, one of them involved in this case, are being hunted by security forces for their alleged links to a string of deadly clashes that rocked the country in January.The court, which opened its hearings in the case on Nov 28, will announce its verdict on April 10, the source said. Twenty of the defendants are Kuwaiti, including three teenagers, while one is a Saudi and one a stateless Arab. Some of the men are charged with plotting to carry out an aggressive act against a foreign country by leaving Kuwait with the intent to fight against foreign troops in Iraq, thus endangering the country's foreign ties. Other defendants are charged with training some of the accused to use firearms and explosives and teaching them fighting skills.
Munawer, representing the 12 suspects, requested the court to acquit his clients. He told the court an Italian judge on Jan 24, 2005 canceled the charge of terrorism against five Arabs - four Tunisians and a Moroccan - who were accused of planning to carry out acts in Europe. The judge, Clementine Folio, in her verdict had said there was no clear evidence to show the suspects had planned to commit acts of terror. She added sending money and militiamen to fight in Iraq is considered a 'struggle', not terrorism. She added proof submitted to the court is weak which mainly depended on intelligence reports and not clear evidence which could be accepted in court.The judge sentenced two of the men to three years in jail and a third to 22 months. These verdicts are lenient compared with those issued against them if they had been convicted of 'terrorism' which could lead to at least 10 years imprisonment. She referred the files of the two other suspects to another court, Al-Munawer told the court.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/15/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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"She added sending money and militiamen to fight in Iraq is considered a 'struggle', not terrorism"
What the hell is wrong with these Italians? as far as Kuwait goes. I am not holding my breath.Closed hearing? They are going to let as many walk as they can.
Police in Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia have detained five militants and killed one in the course of security sweeps carried out on Monday, a source at the headquarters of the federal forces in the North Caucasus region told Tass on Tuesday. He said one of the militants was detained in the village of Engel-Yurt, Chechnya's Gudermes district. According to police information, the man had taken part in the armed attack on police and civilians in the village of Ishkhoi-Yurt. "A local resident detained in the Dagestani town of Khasavyurt was a member of a bandit formation and participated in raids in the Novolakskaya district and in neighboring Chechnya," he said.
A joint group of Chechen and Ingush police on Monday detained two residents of Grozny in the village of Nesterovskaya on suspicion of robberies of residents in the Chechen capital's Staropromyslovski district. In the course of a sweep carried out in the village Assinovskaya, Chechnya's Sunzha district, police killed a militant who earlier participated in the attack on the Sunzha district police headquarters on March 4. One policeman was killed and 18 others wounded in that attack. "During the detention attempt the militant put up armed resistance and was killed," the source said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/15/2005 12:35:43 PM ||
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How many of the five arrested died of heart attacks during questioning....
Y'know, that endemic congenital heart defect amongst Chechens which is triggered by exposure to a Russian prison...
Russia said Tuesday it had paid millions of dollars for a tip-off that helped it find and kill Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov, as an outcry grew over Moscow's refusal to return his body for burial. Maskhadov was killed a week ago in a notable triumph for Russian forces, but Russian rights activists said the government has not treated its defeated foe with respect and criticized the decision to bury Maskhadov in an unmarked grave. The activists said the repeated display of the former Soviet army colonel's half-naked corpse on television risked further radicalizing the resistance.
The Federal Security Service (FSB), successor to the Soviet-era KGB, said it had received a tip-off in response to a $10 million bounty on the leaders of the Chechen separatist movement. "This helped us establish the precise location of the international terrorist and band leader of the Chechen republic Aslan Maskhadov and conduct a special operation," an FSB spokesman said. He said the bounty had been paid out but would not say who had provided the tip-off. "They have received the money, but their identity will not be officially announced," the spokesman said. The rights activists said the decision to invoke Russia's anti-terrorism law and refuse to give Maskhadov's body to relatives for burial was a violation of human rights. "We think the refusal to hand back the killed man's body to his relatives for burial is shameful," said a statement by a group of prominent Russian activists published on the Web site www.zaprava.ru. "His death was not the result of an accidental clash, but, as the government has confirmed, the result of a well-prepared FSB operation. There is no doubt that the technical capabilities of the special forces would have allowed them to take him alive -- and he could have had a fair trial."
Posted by: Steve ||
03/15/2005 9:07:00 AM ||
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He was a band leader too, huh? Was he with the Talking Heads too, or some other group?
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
03/15/2005 10:17 Comments ||
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#3
Oh for pete's sake, Russia has the same pussies as we do here in the states.
"... risked further radicalizing the resistance..."
How the HELL more radical can they get besides TORTURING, RAPING, and KILLING over 300 of your children??? Are they going to start calling you names or something?
If it was me, I'd put his head on a pike and feed his body to the pigs, and video tape it and play it 24x7 on the jihadi websites...
Posted by: Francis ||
03/15/2005 12:32 Comments ||
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#4
"Human rights" activists must be the same everywhere. Let's all sit down and have cake and ice cream and reason with these people. Maybe a group hug afterwards. Can't we all just get along?
#5
They are doing the right thing. If the Chechen get the body back it's burial site will become a focus point for the terrorists and their supporters. The body should be stitched into a pig carcass and buried with his butt pointing toward Mecca in a remote and unmarked grave.
#6
Easy people! When in Rome do as the Romans or something like that. I understand that the bodies of various types of people killed or kidnapped in Chechnya are commonly held until payments are made. Maybe the Russians can hit up Basayev for a couple million bucks for each piece with the proceeds going to a fund to pay for the return of russian dead? Chechnya's a wonderful place isn't it?! There is little respect anywhere in Chechnya - for self or others it appears. Why should Maskhadov be treated differently. Isn't it he who helped make Chechnya what it is today? (Yes, he needed a little help from the Russians and his "field commanders" (read sociopaths) like Basayev but he was the one in charge of the place and set the machinery for it's destruction in motion. He never could accept his failure as civilian leader of his nation).
#7
Zip up a good load of Semtex in his body and ship it back with a radio controlled detonator. That will give his compatriots something to talk about and will end this body business, too. Sorta like unlocking your car to get your keys, courtesy of OnStar or something like that.
Posted by: Alaska Paul In Nikolaevsk, Alaska ||
03/15/2005 16:24 Comments ||
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#8
Wow...they actually paid a reward.
Contrast that to our own government, which finds any reason it can, no matter how thin, to avoid paying reward money.
The Commonwealth has lost its bid to have accused terrorist Joseph 'Jack' Thomas's bail revoked. Justice Bernard Teague said the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) had a weak case and said he could find no reason to reverse a Magistrates Court decision granting bail. Thomas, 31, of Werribee in western Melbourne was released on bail last month. He has been charged with receiving financial support from the Al Qaeda network, providing it with resources and possessing a false passport. Thomas broke down in tears as Justice Teague said he planned to dismiss the appeal. "[It's] beyond words, honestly, I can't describe the relief," Thomas said. Outside court, Thomas's father, Ian, said his son's future remained uncertain. "We're very happy, we're very pleased with the outcome. Of course, time will tell and we'll wait until the next stage of the proceedings," he said. Thomas faces a maximum of 50 years in jail if convicted of both terrorism charges.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
03/15/2005 12:02:47 AM ||
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broke down in tears What a big, brave Lion of Islam he is, to be sure. A figure Muslim mommies can point to as an example to their children.
A Paris court has sentenced a French-Algerian, Djamel Beghal, to 10 years in jail for plotting to bomb the US embassy in France in 2001. Beghal, 39, was on trial with five other alleged militant Islamists. They got jail terms of one to nine years. Beghal, arrested in Dubai in July 2001, retracted a confession he had made there, alleging it was extracted by torture during weeks of questioning. He had said the bomb plot idea had come from al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. Beghal was found guilty of "criminal association in relation with a terrorist enterprise". Co-defendant Kamel Daoudi, a 30-year-old computer expert, received a nine-year jail sentence. Both Beghal and Daoudi allegedly spent time at al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan in 2001.
Didn't everyyone?
The prosecution claimed the plot was hatched in Afghanistan with a leading al-Qaeda militant, Abu Zubaydah, captured in March 2002. Beghal denied at the trial ever having met the Saudi-born Palestinian. In his confession, Beghal had allegedly identified a professional footballer, Nizar Trabelsi, as the chosen suicide bomber. Trabelsi is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence in Belgium, on other charges. The plot is reported to have included plans to target a US cultural centre in Paris as well as the US embassy. Trabelsi's alleged task was to enter the US embassy, just off the Place de la Concorde, with explosives strapped to his body, and blow himself up. A van packed with explosives would have been driven separately to the US cultural centre, also in the heart of Paris, and detonated. Trabelsi, who denies the claim, is currently in jail in Belgium for planning to bomb a military base on an al-Qaeda mission. Beghal was accused of recruiting members for his network in the southern suburbs of Paris, including his brother-in-law Johann Bonte, who was also on trial. Asked if he regarded himself a radical, Beghal testified: "I am a Muslim and Muslim to the hilt."
This article starring:
ABU ZUBAIDAH
al-Qaeda in Europe
DJAMEL BEGHAL
al-Qaeda in Europe
JOHANN BONTE
al-Qaeda in Europe
KAMEL DAUDI
al-Qaeda in Europe
NIZAR TRABELSI
al-Qaeda in Europe
Posted by: Steve ||
03/15/2005 8:42:37 AM ||
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I am so insignificant why'd anyone want to bomb me. My little doggy might get hurt!
Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova survived an apparent assassination attempt Tuesday after an explosive device detonated as his convoy passed through central Pristina. The blast occurred near a government building just after 7:20 a.m. GMT. Rugova's car was damaged, and the president was seen being transferred to another car and being driven away after the explosion. He appeared to be unharmed. At least one person was injured by flying glass, police spokeswoman Sabrije Kamberi said. Rugova had been heading to a nearby government building for a meeting with European Union's foreign policy chief Javier Solana when the explosion occurred.
"Thank God I survived again," Rugova said, appearing calm. "Unfortunately there are still elements which want to destabilize Kosovo." Last year, a hand grenade was hurled at Rugova's residence from a passing vehicle. The grenade exploded in the garden and did not cause any injuries, but no one was ever arrested in connection with the attack. A police officer at the scene of Tuesday's explosion told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity that the blast appeared to have been caused by a remote controlled explosive device. The ethnic Albanian Rugova, a pacifist leader, was elected Kosovo's president in 2002. He was re-elected last December, when his party formed a coalition with the much smaller Alliance for the Future of Kosovo of former Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj.
U.S. authorities charged 18 people with weapons trafficking, including an alleged scheme to smuggle grenade launchers, shoulder-fired missiles and other Russian military weapons into the country. The arrests resulted from a yearlong wiretap investigation that used an informant posing as an arms trafficker selling weapons to terrorists, the office of U.S. Attorney David N. Kelley said Tuesday. The defendants also are charged in a criminal complaint with conspiring to traffic in machine guns and other assault weapons, and with selling eight such weapons, Kelley said in a statement. Details of the investigation were to be discussed at a news conference later in the day, Kelley's office said.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/15/2005 9:31:21 AM ||
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A former high school valedictorian accused of joining Al-Qaeda and plotting to assassinate President Bush pleaded innocent yesterday in federal court to providing material support to terrorists and other charges. An Aug. 22 trial date was scheduled for Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, 23, of Falls Church. He was indicted last month and charged with six counts that would allow a maximum prison term of 80 years. Prosecutors say Abu Ali, a US citizen who was valedictorian of his class at an Islamic private school in northern Virginia, joined Al-Qaeda while studying overseas in Saudi Arabia. An FBI agent testified that Abu Ali admitted his guilt multiple times in interviews with Saudi and American authorities, but Abu Ali's lawyers say the government's evidence was obtained through torture and that they have seen the scars on Abu Ali's back from the beatings. The counts against Abu Ali include two counts of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists, two counts of providing material support to terrorists, one count of contributing services to Al-Qaeda and one count of receiving funds and services from Al-Qaeda. Prosecutors say he discussed numerous terrorist acts with other Al-Qaeda members, including a plan in which he would either shoot President Bush or detonate a car bomb.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/15/2005 00:00:00 ||
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His lawyers are the only ones who have seen the "scars". Court appointed doctors can't find any. Must be that special "lawyer vison." This proves his AQ connections. It's right out of the play book of what to do when you are arrested and put on trial.
#3
Smarmy traitorous little POS. Such a shame we no longer put trash like this against the wall.
It would be a wonderful lesson for other American graduates of Islamic schools who feel the need to shit where they eat.
Sensors at two military mail facilities in the Washington area detected signs of anthrax on two pieces of mail Monday, but Pentagon officials said the mail had already been irradiated, rendering any anthrax inert. Officials weren't sure if this was an attack. Additional tests and other sensors at the two facilities, one of them at the Pentagon and the other nearby, found no presence of the bacteria, which can be used as a biological weapon. There were no initial reports of illness.
The Pentagon's mail delivery site, which is separate from the main Pentagon building, was evacuated and shut down Monday after sensors triggered an alarm around 10:30 a.m. EST, spokesman Glenn Flood said. It was expected to remain closed until at least Tuesday while the investigation continued. EFL. More at the link. I found this via LGF
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
03/15/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Local TV was all over this last night, havent heard anything since.
The government on Monday announced the arrests of 103 alleged members of MS-13, a street gang rooted in Central America where members have been known to behead enemies and attack with grenades and machetes. The arrests, in seven cities since early January, are the first of a nationwide crackdown on Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, which is one of the largest and most violent street gangs in the United States. Federal officials estimate between 8,000 and 10,000 MS-13 members live in 31 states — the majority of them in the country illegally. There have been machete attacks in U.S. cities along the East Coast. Agents with the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement used information from state and local law enforcement authorities to target MS-13 activities in the New York, Washington, Los Angeles, Baltimore, Newark, Miami and Dallas metropolitan areas.
Half of the suspects charged in the sting, nicknamed "Operation Community Shield," have prior arrests or convictions for violent crimes, including murder, sodomy, assault and arson. All of them can be deported for violating immigration laws, said Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Michael J. Garcia. "Our goal is simple: Operation Community Shield aims to dismantle the MS-13 criminal gang by removing gang members from the streets and from the community," said Garcia, director of ICE.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/15/2005 10:57:27 PM ||
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'8,000 and 10,000 MS-13 members live in 31 states'
Huummmm Wasn't the FBI said the just the other day... "we don't have any evidence that the big Z is planning attacks here in the US." (para)
How would they know with millions of illegals in country!
The FBI issued that PR Fatwa just to stroke the folks.
#2
Thath, "we don't have any evidence that the big Z is planning attacks here in the US" means that they don't know if the big Z is planning attacks here in the US or not, millions of illegals regardless.
#5
"...All of them can be deported for violating immigration laws..."
Great. I'm sure sending them home will teach them the error of their ways, convincing them never to return to prey on US citizens again.
At least the "leaders" of the minority community aren't screaming "racism!" because these poor undocumentals are being rounded up "like animals, I tells ya (oh wait, they ARE animals...)"!
#6
Hyper, I heard a report on NPR (which I listen to occasionally to torture myself) that the deported gang members are absolutely miserable in their new homes. They grew up in America, and all their ties are there -- they have little to no connection to the Old Country. They have no work skills, so they can't support themselves, there isn't any welfare system, the way they dress and speak marks them out as foreigners, nobody cares about their rep back in the states, and often enough each one is the only deportee in his village.
The more enterprising have formed MS-13, but what they really want is the benefits and pleasures of America, which can't be replicated down there, no matter how violent they become.
#7
The Mara Salvatrucha have announced they plan to show up and fight the Minutement patrolling the AZ border on Apr 1. I think this is a warning not to try.
Posted by: Robin Burk ||
03/15/2005 15:30 Comments ||
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#8
The problem with deporting them is that they take their new skills back to their country of origin and teach new gang members what they have learned. Then they reenter the US with their new friends and cause even more trouble.
The only good thing about deporting them is that some communities in South America, the locals are becoming Vigilantes and eliminating the problem. Too bad we are SOOOOO politically correct we cannot just eliminate the problem when we find it.
#9
..the deported gang members are absolutely miserable in their new homes. They grew up in America, and all their ties are there -- they have little to no connection to the Old Country. They have no work skills, so they can't support themselves, there isn't any welfare system, the way they dress and speak marks them out as foreigners, nobody cares about their rep back in the states, and often enough each one is the only deportee in his village.
The Philippines braced for retaliatory attacks after some of the country's most hardened terror suspects were killed in a failed prison uprising that left 28 people dead, most of them inmates killed in a barrage of bullets as hundreds of police stormed the maximum security facility. Sweat-soaked police marksmen filed out of the building after the assault to the applause of bystanders, escorting prisoners stripped to their underwear and with hands clasped behind their heads. "The terrorists got what was coming to them," Ignacio Bunye, press secretary for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, said in a statement. "The crisis team gave them all the chances to peacefully surrender."
The raid began after authorities gave the inmates a 15-minute deadline to surrender -- an ultimatum that came after hours of fruitless negotiations. Six officers were wounded in the assault, which saw some detainees scale down walls inside the compound as thick smoke billowed out. The inmates had agreed to surrender after their failed jailbreak Monday, but the deal broke down when they demanded food first, prompting civilian negotiators to leave in frustration.
The bloody assault raised fears of retaliatory attacks. Even as Arroyo congratulated police, an Abu Sayyaf leader warned of repercussions. "To you people, you don't have to bring the war to Mindanao," Abu Sulaiman told DZBB radio, referring to the Muslim homeland in the south where the military has launched offensives against militants. "We will bring it right into your doorstep."
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Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/15/2005 12:19:13 PM ||
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Sweat-soaked police marksmen filed out of the building after the assault to the applause of bystanders
A comrade of the three Abu Sayyaf leaders who were among the 22 detainees killed when police stormed Tuesday a maximum-security jail in Manila to retake the facility from Muslim militants warned of retaliation from the group. Even as President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo congratulated police for storming the detention center in Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig and ending a 29-hour uprising led by the country's most hardened terrorists, an Abu Sayyaf leader chillingly warned of repercussions. "To you people, you don't have to bring the war to Mindanao," self proclaimed Abu Sayyaf spokesman Abu Sulaiman told radio dzBB, referring to the Muslim homeland in the south where the military has launched offensives against militants. "We will bring it right into your doorstep."
The assault on the Metro Manila Rehabilitation Center (MMRC) in Taguig lasted one hour and 55 minutes, according to Local Government Secretary Angelo Reyes. Aside from the 22 inmates, policeman Abel Peña Arriola, who was hurt in the assault, also died Tuesday, bringing to 28 the number of fatalities in the two-day crisis in the Taguig jail. On Monday, three jail guards and two inmates were killed when a detainee snatched a guard's weapon in a bid to escape and the situation quickly turned into a prolonged standoff with at least 10 of the Abu Sayyaf's top suspects leading the uprising.
National Capital Region Police Director Avelino Razon said the other inmates who died in the assault have not been identified but that most of them were Abu Sayyaf members. The Abu Sayyaf detainees leading the uprising had warned of bombings if there was an assault on the jail. The group, notorious for deadly attacks and ransom kidnappings in which some hostages have been beheaded, claimed responsibility for a trio of nearly simultaneous bombings a month ago in Manila and two other cities that killed eight people and injured 100. "Of course, that's our concern," said Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Arturo Lomibao. "We hope there's going to be no retaliatory strikes from our Muslim brothers because they know what happened here. We tried to resolve it peacefully. There's no such thing as persecution or that we are singling them out."
Continued on Page 49
This article starring:
ABDUL ASAN DJAMLA
Abu Sayyaf
Abel Peña Arriola
Abubakar Asiri
ABU KHAIR
Abu Sayyaf
ABU SULAIMAN
Abu Sayyaf
ABU UMBRAN
Abu Sayyaf
ALHAMZER MANATAD LIMBONG
Abu Sayyaf
ALSEN JANDUL
Abu Sayyaf
Chief Arturo Lomibao
COMANDER GLOBAL
Abu Sayyaf
DAZID BAIZ
Abu Sayyaf
GHALIB ANDANG
Abu Sayyaf
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
Government Secretary Angelo Reyes
HAZDI DAIE
Abu Sayyaf
House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr.
ISMAEL BAS
Abu Sayyaf
KA LANDO
Abu Sayyaf
KHAIR MUKTAR
Abu Sayyaf
KUMANDER KOSOVO
Abu Sayyaf
KUMANDER ROBOT
Abu Sayyaf
Manuel Villar
NADZMIE SAABDULAH
Abu Sayyaf
National Capital Region Police Director Avelino Razon
Police Chief Superintendent Marcelino Franco Jr.
Senator Panfilo Lacson
Abu Sayyaf
Posted by: Steve ||
03/15/2005 12:34:53 PM ||
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Though you couldn't tell it from listening to the news, not even Fox News, it's been a productive and rewarding week in the WoT. Gazing over the headlines for the past seven days:
Police launched a major assault Tuesday on a maximum-security jail taken over by al-Qaida-linked suspects, killing at least 17 people in a raid that began with a barrage of tear-gas canisters and bullets, officials said. Interior Secretary Angelo Reyes said the dead included four leaders of the Muslim extremist Abu Sayyaf group, including the two men who headed a botched escape attempt Monday that left five others dead. "We have taken control of all the floors," Metro Manila Police Chief Avelino Razon quoted the ground commander as saying less than an hour after the operation began.
Sporadic gunfire continued for an hour as police said they were conducting mop-up operations. At least five officers involved in the assault were wounded. "There were so many people, they were hiding in their cells," said Napoleon Cabrera, a police officer who led one of the assault teams. "Some were firing pistols, some were yelling because of the tear gas smoke," Cabrera said, adding that he got in a firefight with one rebel. "I was hit in the leg. But I know he fell down," Cabrera said.
The raid began after authorities gave the inmates a 15-minute deadline to surrender — an ultimatum that came after hours of fruitless negotiations with the inmates. Some detainees were seen scaling down the walls inside the compound as thick smoke billowed out. A police helicopter hovered above and ambulances waited for casualties. The inmates had agreed to surrender after their failed jailbreak Monday, but the deal broke down when they demanded food first, prompting civilian negotiators to leave in frustration.
The jail has about 425 suspects, including 129 suspected members and leaders of the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf group, which is notorious for deadly bombings and ransom kidnappings in which some hostages were beheaded. Reyes said among the dead Tuesday were three Abu Sayyaf leaders — Alhamzer Manatad Limbong, known as Kosovo; Ghalib Andang, known as Commander Robot; and Nadzmie Sabtulah, alias Commander Global. All three have been accused of involvement in mass kidnappings and other terror acts. Detainee Hazdi Daie, a spokesman for the inmates, also was killed, Reyes said. The identities of the other 13 fatalities were not immediately known, police officials said.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo called and "said that she is congratulating the forces involved for a job well done, but she lamented" the casualties, Reyes said. "We don't shoot innocent people. They were armed, they fired at us and we fired back," he said. The crisis began when suspected Abu Sayyaf members overpowered and stabbed their guards, then took their pistols and ammunition, Razon said. A shootout ensued. At least three guards and two Abu Sayyaf members were killed in the initial escape attempt, police said. Police spokesman Leopoldo Bataoil said about 10 men were involved in the uprising, led by Limbong and Kair Abdul Gapar, a kidnap-for-ransom suspect. Limbong was allegedly involved in a mass kidnapping in 2001-02 that left several hostages — including two Americans — dead, and a ferry bombing a year ago that killed more than 100 people in the Philippines' worst terrorist attack.
A number of Abu Sayyaf suspects have escaped from Philippine jails, which are often dilapidated, with inadequate and sometimes corrupt staff. State prosecutor Peter Medalle, who is handling several cases involving the Abu Sayyaf, said jail guards were tipped off about a possible prison break three weeks ago from an intercepted mobile phone conversation between Limbong and Abu Sayyaf leader Abu Solaiman. "We warned them repeatedly ... as late as last week of the planned escape. Apparently, our warnings were ignored," he said.
Two years ago, a top terror suspect, Indonesian Fathur Rohman Al Ghozi, escaped from Manila police headquarters while serving a 12-year term for possession of explosives. He was killed in a shootout with police a few months later. In April, more than 50 inmates, led by suspected Abu Sayyaf guerrillas, used a smuggled pistol to flee from a jail on southern Basilan island. In December, a Filipino suspect who was being interrogated about a bomb found on a bus was fatally shot at a Manila detention center after allegedly killing a guard.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/15/2005 12:02:32 AM ||
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#1
Sorry about the dupe...
"142nd fastest gun in the west..."
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
03/15/2005 0:17 Comments ||
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#2
Now this is how to handle a prison riot.
Posted by: Mike ||
03/15/2005 6:53 Comments ||
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#3
WTF - Commander Robot? Anyone who chooses that as his nom de guerre deserves to bite the big one.
#5
I think the Fat Lady with the yellow yarn tresses was the original photo. The subject needs to be chronicled, especially the discovery of the pulp stash.
#15
I wouldn't exactly call this a Crossfire (TM) per se; they appear to have actually wanted to shoot these guys.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
03/15/2005 10:19 Comments ||
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#16
It was a pretty good week, all right. When we get a REAL fat lady singing. Fred, the accordion lady doesn't make it. She is third string to Bruhilda. LOL!
And Jeamp Ebbereting9442, better proofread, heh. PBUY
Posted by: Al-Aska Paul ||
03/15/2005 10:45 Comments ||
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#17
someone ate my cookies
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/15/2005 11:00 Comments ||
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#18
The accordion lady's just for light entertainment until we get confirmation. Then the Fat Lady comes on stage.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/15/2005 11:03 Comments ||
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#21
Well while this wasn't Crossfireâ¢. It was pretty decisive action on the part of the Philipine authorities. In the past they would have screwed around (IMNSHO) and this would have been drawn out forever. Once the Criminals showed bad faith the Police issued a deadline and then acted. The Philipines need to do this more often.
BEIRUT, Lebanon - Syrian military intelligence started clearing out its headquarters in Beirut and vacated another office in the Lebanese capital Tuesday in line with key demands by the United States and Lebanese opposition. Also in line with the 1,000,000 protesters that made the Hamas rally look like an evil day care
Syrian agents appeared to be preparing to leave their headquarters at Ramlet el-Baida on the edge of Beirut. Belongings and furniture were loaded into three trucks. Yes, loading furnature, burning documents and running like hell meets the APPEAREDrequirement.
In the city's commercial Hamra district, about two dozen Syrian agents vacated an intelligence office during the afternoon, hours after trucks loaded furniture and belongings.
The agents, protected by Lebanese police, then drove off in the trucks. A short time later, a doorman hoisted two Lebanese flags at the entrance. A local resident said about 20 agents left in a van and a car.
The evacuation of the Syrian intelligence service, a widely resented arm through which Damascus controlled many aspects of Lebanese life, has been a key demand of Lebanese opposition, which orchestrated a gigantic demonstration Monday of about 1 million people in central Beirut. GO LEBANON!
#3
Yeah - fleeing intellegence officers after a REAL MILLION MAN MARCH - Like the Securitate in Bucharest, Romania after Ceaucescu assumed room temperature, Dec 25 1989.
#4
I am glad to see them leave but it would be better if they took the Hizbullah people with them. They have the potential to stir up more trouble but could provide amusement on how people 'love' islamic rule.
#5
Several airstrikes from the U.S. and Israel with intelligence provided by Lebanon should take care of the Hizz-Ho's. Another solution would be to send in the Lebanese Christian militia after them with the U.S providing air cover.
#7
I would like to see Hizb'Allah leadership skidaddling too. Then we would have REAL progress.
Posted by: Alaska Paul In Nikolaevsk, Alaska ||
03/15/2005 16:43 Comments ||
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#8
Do NOT send the Christian milita against anyone. No, no, no. That big crowd in Ed's picture are Christians, Druze, and Sunnis all together. They want a united Lebanon, and now's not the time to exploit factions.
And besides, it's never polite to hit your enemy between the shoulder blades when he's running away leaving. Let the Syrians leave with the most modest bit of pride; it'll hurt that much more, and Babyface will be that much closer to a date with a wall and a blindfold.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/15/2005 16:47 Comments ||
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#9
I suspect the Iraqi people will start demonstrating how to deal with this kind of folk soon. Perhaps they'll share with their brothers in Lebanon.
Does Bekaa Valley mean Valley of Death in Lebanese?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/15/2005 16:58 Comments ||
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Does Bekaa Valley mean Valley of Death in Lebanese?
If those Syrians are careless in digging the WMD's that name will stick
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/15/2005 17:48 Comments ||
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Oh, Frank G.--You mean if we ever see a story like : Sgt Habib
An evacuating Syrian soldier was rushed to the hospital in Damascus after returning from the Bekaa Valley today. He made a wrong turn and found some metal containers labeled, "Property of S. Hussein", and they were venting an iridescent green colored gas...
You are talking about the Syrians and you are correct. But, I was talking about the Hiz-blah-blah. The Hiz-blah-blah will not leave on their own cognizance. They must be forced out. I don't trust the Sunnis or Baathist to do it. That leaves only one group that we can trust. The Christian militia led by U.S SF's and U.S air cover is the only option that I can think of.
#13
Maybe they could use some of Sir Robin's minstrels.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
03/15/2005 19:27 Comments ||
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#14
Great picture of one of the trucks being loaded up at this VOA article via Roger L. Simon.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/15/2005 20:12 Comments ||
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#15
Poison Reverse, Ariel Sharon did something like that once, and the World has called him a war criminal ever since. The Lebanese are going to have to find a way to work together to excise Hezbollah, Hamas et al from their society, and do it without obvious cover from outside, or they'll be re-fighting it in the Court of World Opinion for the next century.
The so-called World Opinion was against attacking Iraq and calls Bush a war criminal. Bush doesn't care so why should Sharon? The Lebanese Christian militia helped Sharon and Israel thanked them for it until Ehud Barak stabbed them in the back when he gave up the Golan Heights. World opinion is the least of my concerns but terrorism is first on my list. Overt or covert, I don't care, extract Hizbullah, now. The Lebanese Christian militia is the best source of intelligence on the ground.
RIYADH, March 15 (AFP) - Saudi Arabia's crown prince and de facto ruler Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz is to travel to France on Saturday to discuss the ongoing political crisis in Lebanon with French President Jacques Chirac, a Saudi official said Tuesday. Abdullah will visit Paris before going to Algeria to attend the annual summit of Arab heads of state slated for March 22-23, the official told AFP, requesting anonymity.
Abdullah will discuss developments in the Middle East with Chirac, chiefly in Lebanon, and will commend the "positive" Syrian decision to withdraw its troops from that country, the official said.
Assuming that they do withdraw them
France, along with the United States, has spearheaded calls for an end to Syria's three-decade political and military grip on Lebanon, demands which were stepped up following the assassination last month of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri, who was close to both Chirac and the Saudi royal family.
That's the important link, it's personal, not just business
His murder in a massive bomb blast in Beirut has been widely blamed on Syria and the Damascus-backed Lebanese government. Syria has denied involvement, but with no letup in the pressure on Damascus, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Saturday gave a commitment to a UN envoy to withdraw his military and intelligence units in accordance with the French- and US-sponsored UN Security Council Resolution 1559. Saudi Arabia joined calls for a Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon and a credible investigation into the February 14 murder of Hariri, who made a fortune in construction in Saudi Arabia and held Saudi citizenship.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/15/2005 11:24:19 AM ||
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France is again indulging in some stealthy peacekeeping. For the last three weeks, the French command ship Var has been sitting off Lebanon, coordinating plans for the evacuation of French citizens from Lebanon. This would involve moving some 20,000 people out of the country, by sea, air and land. This would require two or three battalions of elite troops (marines, paratroopers and commandoes), and some of these may already be in the area. Some French troops are already ashore and establishing "liaison" relationships with Lebanese civil and military organizations. While the French are seen as pro-Christian by the Moslem factions in Lebanon, the French are also respected as a foreign country that respects Lebanese interests. This means that France could play a role in preventing another Lebanese civil war, especially one that involved the issue of Syrian troops, and influence, in the country. But most importantly, the French are doing all of this very quietly, so as not to enrage any of the already irritated factions in the area.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/15/2005 9:28:26 AM ||
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#1
But most importantly, the French are doing all of this very quietly, so as not to enrage any of the already irritated factions in the area.
Just for the hell of it, maybe U.S. officials could shine a nice, bright light on their activities, just to make things more difficult for the Phrench. After all, one good turn deserves another.
#2
It's odd. The Americans are the one the Pro-Syrians want to leave Lebanon alone, but they don't seem to have any people to evacuate. Why do they want the Americans out of thier business, when they are not even there, the French are.
#3
what matters is not how the Phrench get along with everybody, but what Hezbollahs' masters in Tehran and Damascus tell them to do. They'll be fighting the rest of the populace in a Leb civil war
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/15/2005 10:56 Comments ||
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Hundreds of thousands of anti-Syrian demonstrators flooded the capital Monday in the biggest protest ever in Lebanon, surpassing the turnout for an earlier pro-Damascus rally organized by the Islamic militant Hezbollah. In a show of national unity, Sunnis, Druse and Christians packed Martyrs' Square as brass bands played and balloons soared skyward.
The rally, perhaps the biggest anti-government demonstration ever staged in the Arab world, was the opposition's bid to regain momentum after two serious blows: the reinstatement of the pro-Syrian prime minister and a huge rally last week by the Shiite group Hezbollah.
Protesters some bused in from across Lebanon jammed Martyrs' Square and spilled into nearby streets. They chanted, sang and shouted in a mix of the Arabic accents of the country's regions, demanding Syrian troops depart and that their government be purged of Damascus' influence.
The turnout was broader than earlier opposition protests, with more Sunni Muslims in particular joining the Christians and Druse who have formed the bulk of past anti-Syrian rallies. Even some Shiites joined in.
"We came to liberate our country. We are coming to demand the truth," said Fatma Trad, 40, a Sunni woman wearing a headscarf. "I've been watching it all on television for the past month. Today, I wanted to be a part of it."
There was a party atmosphere on the Mediterranean seaside square, where many young faces were painted with the red and white colors and green cedar tree symbol of the Lebanese flag. And there were signs poking fun at Syria.
"Papa don't preach, I'm in trouble deep," read one, with a picture of Syrian President Bashar Assad apparently looking shamefaced at his late father, Hafez Assad. "Take them with you," another sign sneered at the departing Syrians, with pictures of Lebanese President Emile Lahoud and other Damascus allies.
As Syria pulls its troops toward the border for an eventual withdrawal from the country it has controlled for decades, both the pro-Syrian government and the opposition have been whipping up crowds in a duel of people-power one-upmanship.
Each side seeks to show it has the louder voice of the people behind it. For the opposition, Monday's rally was vital to demonstrate it could claim the street after Hezbollah's March 8 rally drew a half-million people. The Shiite group has organized large rallies in the past, but its showing last week was a sign of its determination to make sure no future Lebanese government would consider peace with Israel or pressure Hezbollah to disarm.
In recent days, opposition ads for Monday's rally have been running on television, and activists in towns and villages arranged buses to the capital. E-mails and telephone text messages referred to Prime Minister Omar Karami's claim that the Hezbollah demonstration showed the government had the support of the majority.
"Prove him wrong," the messages flashed across cellphones and computers.
The opposition is demanding the withdrawal of Syrian troops, the ouster of Syrian-allied security chiefs and an international inquiry into the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 17 others in a bombing many Lebanese blame on Syria and its allies. The opposition has rebuffed calls to join a new government until its demands are met.
Many in the crowd Monday also demanded the removal of President Lahoud.
"We want freedom. It is now or never!" said Rose Touma, a 55-year-old Christian, raising the Lebanese flag in one hand and, in her other, a picture of Hariri. "I thank God that I'm alive to witness this beautiful day."
The red and white flags were everywhere. A giant one 100 yards long was rolled out, and protesters waving flags in their hands climbed towering cranes and scaffolding along the walls of the Mohammed al-Amin Mosque.
One couple brought their 11-month-old baby, who slept in a stroller covered with the Lebanese flag. "This is how he expresses himself," said his smiling father.
Unlike some of the previous anti-Syrian protests, security forces did not attempt to block demonstrators or hinder their movement.
The only solemn moment was at 12:55 p.m., when protesters marked the exact time Hariri was killed Feb. 14. The silence was broken only by tolling church bells and the flutter of flags.
There were no official estimates of the crowd size, but Lebanon's leading LBC TV station and some police officers estimated it at about 1 million. An Associated Press estimate put the number at least 800,000. Either way it was the biggest demonstration ever in this country of 3.5 million.
Cars and buses carrying protesters jammed the main roads into Beirut, forcing some people to leave their vehicles and walk. Druse descended from the Chouf and Aley mountains east and southeast of the capital, Christians came from the heartland in the northeast and many Sunni Muslims came from Tripoli, Dinniyeh and Akkar. Others traveled to Beirut from Hariri's southern hometown, Sidon.
Many were particularly galled by Lahoud's reinstatement of Karami as prime minister last week a slap in the opposition's face since anti-Syrian protests had forced him to resign only 10 days before.
The large Sunni turnout also suggests many in the community were shaken by the size of the Hezbollah rally and wanted to show their own strength. Shiites make up about a third of Lebanon's population, and Hezbollah is the country's best armed and best organized faction. Sunnis form the country's third biggest group after the Shiites and the Christians.
"We have everything to gain and nothing to lose anymore," said Ahlam Honeini, a Sunni mother of five who said she was ignoring her doctor's orders not to stand for long periods of time because of a slipped disc.
Responding to newspaper reports that authorities might ban protests, opposition leader Walid Jumblatt said: "No one confronts an entire people that wants freedom." And opposition lawmaker Fares Soeid said: "We will continue until all our demands are met."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/15/2005 12:09:06 AM ||
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#1
Unlike some of the previous anti-Syrian protests, security forces did not attempt to block demonstrators or hinder their movement
That's it then. Syria's only remaining choice is the Hama Option, a massacre, but this time with the whole world watching. And Bashir al-Assad is not the man his father was. Oh, to be a fly on the wall in the Syrian halls of power today!
#2
other option - head for the exits, while planting as many undercover leavebehinds as possible, esp in the ranks of Hezbollah. Q - can Baby Assad tell the Syrian establishment enough about that to make it not look like a total loss, while still preserviving operational security?
#3
Wonder if Hez is going to be forced to redeploy some of its forces away from the border towards the population center.... leaving a partial vaccuum in South Lebannon.
#4
James Lileks came up with a decent analogy for Assad:
...Imagine youâre Tony Soprano. You own New Jersey and you occupy Manhattan. Then Canada â f*ckinâ Canada! â comes over and takes out the family what owns Connecticut, okay, and now they got a whole fâckinâ army in New Rochelle and ships ân sh*t off the coast, okay, and you got everyone in Manattân showinâ up in Times Square bitchinâ and boo-hooinâ about oh I ainât got no freedom ân sh*t, and if you donât get out itâs a big bomb dropped on the Bada Bing. Whaddya do?
You get the boys together and you tell them youâre going to concentrate on the Jersey side of the business. Any questions? No, T. Sounds great, T.
But thereâs one or two guys in the back who give you that hard look, and thatâs what keeps you up at night.
Over one million opposition backers chanted "Freedom, Sovereignty, Independence" and unfurled a huge Lebanese flag in central Beirut yesterday, throwing the biggest protest yet in the opposition's duel of street rallies with supporters of Syria and the Lebanese government. Crowds of men, women and children flooded Martyrs' Square, spilling over into nearby streets, while more from across the country packed roads into Beirut — responding to opposition calls to mark a month since the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. His slaying sparked a series of protests against Syria, the dominant power in Lebanon. "We are coming to liberate our country. We are coming to demand the truth," said Fatma Trad, a veiled Sunni woman who traveled from the remote region of Dinniyeh in northern Lebanon to take part.
The protest was heavily mixed, reflecting Lebanon's religious diversity. Druse descended from the Chouf and Aley mountains east and southeast of Beirut and Christians arrived from the heartland in the northeast. There was a big turnout of Sunni Muslims, including many who bused into the capital from northern Lebanon's Tripoli, Dinniyeh and Akkar regions, plus from Hariri's hometown, Sidon, in southern Lebanon and Beirut itself. The protest, potentially the biggest in Lebanon's history, easily exceeded the pro-government rally of some 500,000 held last week by Hezbollah. That show of strength forced the opposition to act to regain its momentum. Police officers privately estimated yesterday's crowd at over one million people, but refused to speak publicly because of the sensitivity of the issue as it was an opposition rally.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/15/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
Hey, Hezbollah. Take a gander out the window at this.
Posted by: Rex Rufus ||
03/15/2005 4:09 Comments ||
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Hell of a crowd, Rex. I hope that they can get all the foreign occupiers and terrorists out of their country. With Hizb'Allah, that will be the tough nut to crack. They will not leave without a fight. They have nowhere to go except Syria and Lebanon.....and Iran. And on a trivial note, what does one do for setting up some lou's for 800K people?
Posted by: Al-Aska Paul ||
03/15/2005 10:52 Comments ||
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#4
It was one of the top top stories on the news, too
Posted by: Michael ||
03/15/2005 10:56 Comments ||
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The head offices of top Indian software firms Infosys and Wipro were evacuated overnight after bomb hoaxes, police and company officials said on Tuesday, a week after a hoax at Wipro that was traced to an employee. Work at the Bangalore campuses of Infosys Technologies Ltd. and Wipro Ltd. has returned to normal. But police remain on alert around Bangalore, India's outsourcing capital, following comments from New Delhi police who said last week they had killed three Kashmiri separatists who had appeared to be planning attacks on Indian technology companies.
#1
Anyone else remember a story about people calling up overseas support lines and abusing the staffers? I wonder if some of this isn't an extension of that practice.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/15/2005 21:00 Comments ||
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I work for a very large US computer manufacturer. I heard internal stories about German kids calling our call centers as pranks a while back, but I hadn't heard of any US people doing the same in an organized fashion.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
03/15/2005 23:44 Comments ||
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Italy is to begin withdrawing its troops from Iraq in September 2005, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has said.
Six months from now, a lot can happen by then.
He told Rai state television the pullout would take place "in agreement with our allies". Italy has 3,000 troops in Iraq - the fourth largest foreign contingent. Domestic opposition to Italy's involvement in Iraq intensified after the killing of an Italian agent by US troops in Baghdad earlier this month. The announcement came as Italy's lower house of parliament backed a recent Senate vote to extend the country's military presence in Iraq beyond June.
So they had just extended their planned tour by three months
Mr Berlusconi has been one of US President George W Bush's staunchest allies in the US-led war in Iraq. But, he said, after speaking to UK Prime Minister Tony Blair he concluded that public opinion in both countries favoured a troop withdrawal. "In September we will begin a progressive reduction of the number of our soldiers in Iraq. "I spoke to Tony Blair about it, and public opinion in our countries is expecting this decision," he told Rai. He said the exact numbers would depend on the Iraqi government's ability to deal with security.
So it's not a drop dead date, I can live with that. It's political cover for him.
Relations between the United States and Italy were severely strained after secret service agent Nicola Calipari was shot dead by American troops in Baghdad on 4 March. Mr Berlusconi said the US must accept responsibility for the shooting, which is being investigated by the US military.
We shot him, yes. Whose fault it is remains to be seen
Also on Tuesday, two other members of the US-led coalition in Iraq - the Netherlands and Ukraine - began a phased withdrawal from the country.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/15/2005 2:41:12 PM ||
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This says to me there will not be any fireworks in Iran till after September. That's too bad, but probably realistic given how "poorly" /sarcasm our troops perform in the brutal middle eastern summer.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/15/2005 15:19 Comments ||
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No big deal. I hope that we will start reducing our troops in Iraq by September. Berlusconi has been a steadfast friend of the US and has supported us at considerable political cost. The Italians deserve our thanks and our respect.
Remember Fabrizio Quattrocchi, the Italian baker killed in Iraq last April: As the gunman's pistol was pointing at him the hostage "tried to take off his hood and shouted: 'now I'll show you how an Italian dies,'" he said. Contrary to what the media would have you believe, there are more Fabrizio Quattrocchis than there are communist bimbo journalists in Italy.
#3
Are we sure we shot him?
As near as I can tell, everyone is assuming so, but is that actually what happened?
Our troops fired on the vehicle, yes...
but the only evidence I've heard that it included the killing shot comes from Sgrena.
#5
Autopsy went... lickety split, and the guy got burried next day.
Not having forensics training, I can only offer uneducated opinion (I have a degree of knowledge in pathology). The entry and exit holes were rather clean. That seems to indicate that the projectile was a small caliber that would likely be found in berettas of the agents, and that the shot came from near proximity rather than from a distance. If the bullet was coming from the soldier's fiream either through glass or ricocheting from the engine block, the bullet would have been already flattened a bit and very likely take a part of cranium with it because of its bigger surface area at the tip.
I would presume an accidental discharge of the weapon of the other agent, rather than deliberate targetting.
Hat tip: Murdoc Online.
See photo at link--
Good thing about this dud IED, aside from sparing lives, is that there may be a few useful and interesting phone numbers to track in the memory. Somebody had to pay for the account, right?
Posted by: Dar ||
03/15/2005 1:58:50 PM ||
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#1
"Somebody had to pay for the account, right?"
Not necessarily. All you do is buy the phone, steal or import a SIM chip from somewhere (e.g. China) and find a hack on the web (or China) for the Nokia phone model.
#4
They would be using prepaid sims/phone cards/ Hard to track. As easy to get as walking in to a store that sells them and paying cash and walking out. I saw a phone purchased just that way on Sunday. No verifying ID or any other info. Just cash and a prepaied card.
#5
So are you supposed to connect the boomer to the ringer?
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/15/2005 22:33 Comments ||
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#6
Some proposals I made several years ago for these things included:
1) at the primitive level call each cellphone once a day in the off chance that is turned on. (telemarketing to make a boom!)
2) more useful would be to imbed a hidden case interlock detection switch. Perhaps it should be a hall effect type switch where if is triggered once (even when turned off) it will always be triggered. It should be imbedded in the case right where it would seperated.
3) If the switch above exists the phone should always announce when turned on to the CBSC/BTS if it has ever been tampered with.
4)The prefered way to deal with a tampered phone is to set an alert and track it. Tampered phones should get a random wrong number call 1 or 2 hours after being turned on the first time. If it is turned off before that time then the next time it is turned on it should get a random call within seconds of being turned on.
5) A tampered phone should be tracked for the rest of its existance.
2,3 and 4 should be required for all cellphones made anywhere in the world
All new phone numbers or sims should get some telemarketing calls on the off chance it will set off a bomb.
The main problem?
This needs to be a global industry initiative.
How do we get 12+ Chinese manufacturers signed up?
Pakistani security agencies have arrested a member of an outlawed militant group suspected of involvement in a December 2003 attempt to kill President Pervez Musharraf, an intelligence official said on Tuesday. Mufti Eid Muhammad, a member of the banned Sunni Islamic militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, was arrested in Lahore about three weeks ago, said the official, who asked not to be named. He said Muhammad was a bomb expert believed to have helped plant explosives under a bridge in the garrison city of Rawalpindi which were detonated on Dec. 14, 2003, seconds after Musharraf's motorcade passed over it.
The intelligence official said that under interrogation Muhammad had also confessed to bombing a bridge on Jan. 3, 1999, which then prime minister Nawaz Sharif had been due to cross. Last December, a military court convicted an army non-commissioned officer and a private of involvement in the first attempt. The military has said up to four low-ranking army personnel and six low-rank air force personnel were on trial in connection with this bombing, but details have not been made public. In January, a junior-rank member of the air force escaped from military detention after being convicted of involvement in the bridge bombing. Among those held in connection with the second attempt on Musharraf's life were several members of another al Qaeda-linked militant group, Jaish-e-Mohammad.
This article starring:
MUFTI EID MUHAMAD
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
Nawaz Sharif
Jaish-e-Mohammad
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/15/2005 12:27:29 PM ||
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March 15, 2005: The Iraqi army and police have a casualty rate over four times that of coalition forces. Amazingly, this has not had any apparent effect on recruiting. While most recruits persist because they need a job, for an increasing number, it's all about revenge. Most soldiers are married men who live at home. When police and soldiers are killed, their neighbors in uniform feel an obligation to get revenge. In Sunni Arab areas, the police often know who is doing the killing. If not the individuals, than the family or clan. That's why the terrorists try to haul their dead away. But enough enemy dead and wounded are found, plus captives from raids, to know which families are hostile. The Iraqi police know how to play the family angle, which to Western eyes is bizarre. For example, if it is clear that the family is behind the attackers, then arresting the head of the family (usually an extended family, often with several dozen members) often gets the attention, and often the surrender, of the terrorists.
While many Iraqis know a lot of family details, U.S. forces have had to apply their computers and software (genealogy and police stuff, especially) to figure out who is who. This was how Saddam was captured over a year ago, and how an increasing number of terrorist leaders are being tracked down and captured. In the past week, former Saddam bodyguard Marwan Taher Abdul Rashid and his cousin, Abdullah Maher Abdul Rashid (also the brother-in-law of Saddam's son, Qusai), were captured because a family tree was illuminated and shaken. Many members of the extended Saddam clan have been found involved in funding and leading the attacks on the government and coalition troops. Money has been used as a weapon, and the Baath Party/pro-Saddam groups spend over $100,000 for each coalition soldier they kill. Thus the policy against paying ransoms. It's literally blood money. This is especially true because indications are that the terrorists are running into cash flow problems. As the tide turns, many of the terrorist paymasters are shifting their spending to themselves and their families. With war crimes trials now under way, and more Iraqi police out there knocking on doors, paying for dead cops and American soldiers is becoming a dangerous proposition. Too dangerous for a man of means.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/15/2005 9:16:08 AM ||
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#1
The Iraqi police know how to play the family angle, which to Western eyes is bizarre. For example, if it is clear that the family is behind the attackers, then arresting the head of the family (usually an extended family, often with several dozen members) often gets the attention, and often the surrender, of the terrorists.
No complaints here. That's how their system works, and if it gets results, more power to 'em.
#2
I would like to think that money is running short in the terrorist camp. However, if the number of attacks remain constant (which they have been), I don't know what the evidence for this is.
I've been waiting for the terrorists to start running short of high class weapons which I think are easier to reduce.
#3
mhw- The number of IED's & such is irrelevant. The costs of which they are speaking is the cost of actually hitting, not of shooting. An IED is cheap, especially with stockpiled explosives all over the country, but if we can kill/eliminate those who provide the financial support to the families of the terrorists then we can elminate part of the root that makes the terrorism possible.
Posted by: Jame Retief ||
03/15/2005 11:26 Comments ||
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#4
MHW, not sure that the number of attacks remains constant, or the number of reports of attacks in the MSM remains constant. The two are not directly related.
Posted by: john ||
03/15/2005 11:30 Comments ||
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#5
This is how things work. I have always said when the Iraqis start taking over results will start showing. The Iraqi dont think in PC terms and consult lawyers like our people have to. When you are looking for a enemy then you go get him his friends his family everyone until he pops up. The PC BS has been holding us back since the begining.
#7
My sense from reading the Iraqi bloggers (e.g., Hammorabi)is that we're about one or two attacks away from the Iraqis showing us that a lamppost is not just for illumination.
Posted by: Matt ||
03/15/2005 13:47 Comments ||
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#8
Having the Iraqi cops and army go after the bad guys is what we need to do. The sooner they can take control the sooner we can turn out effort to other endeavors. Following the Family and Tribal connections is the way we should go at this problem. Everything has connections, finding them and exploiting them no mater how seemingly tenuous can and does pay off. (See James Burke for how odd and tenuous connections can be.)
#9
re numbers - IIUC US troops killed in Feb was lowest per day for some months, but still much higher than in early months of occupation. A saw a Centcom source saying some decline in total number of insurgent attacks - but again, thats comparing it to the high numbers of mid and late 2004. I dont know what the numbers are for Iraqi civilian deaths at insurgent/terrorist hands - there was that HUGE blast in Hilla, but other than that it seems like the numbers are slowly declining - more days in single digits than in late 2004.
But Id say its too early to call it a turning point. Instead lets focus on the growth of Iraqi forces, and on their steady takeover of areas like Haifa street.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/15/2005 16:36 Comments ||
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#11
LH I don't know if you're allowed to cross-your-fingers, but if you can... go for it. I see a blessed lowerering and a trend like trend of lesser boom. With that I will pray for you sole. Gawd (lsmft) protect you.
Osama bin Laden attempted to communicate with Al Qaeda's front man in Iraq, Abu Musab al Zarqawi, a month ago through a letter that was seized when a ground courier in Pakistan was intercepted , an American counter-terrorism expert said here on Monday.
"About four weeks ago, we intercepted communication between Osama bin Laden and Zarqawi," which occurred when "a ground courier was intercepted," Bob Newman, director of international security and counter-terrorism services with The GeoScope Group, told an Airport, Port and Terminal Security (APTS) Middle East conference. "We (US intelligence) intercepted the man and looked in his pockets. That's how we found out," he added.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/15/2005 12:20:51 AM ||
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#1
fresh intel? will it smoke the rat out of "its" hole?
The GeoScope Group>>Bob Newman...read one of his articles......canidate needs to be drafted for Rantberg ASAP!
#4
AzCat, OBL does not stay in one place for more than 3-4 days, and changes the courier setup as well. That much is known. So, in that regard, it is rather dated. As for Zarki, that may, maybe, work, in the light of the latest acquisitions of his favored goons by coalition, the heat is on.
#6
The message that they intercepted was the one telling Zarqawi to attack America. It appears that bin Laden is now reduced to communicating by "ground courier", whatever that is, rather than hi tech telephone or e-mail/website. Or even video or cassette tape. And according to my back of the envelope calculations last night, we are capturing well over 200 bad guyz each month, and killing another 200 more (where do they put them all, she wonders happily?), so the odds are high that other couriers are being/have been intercepted as well. How lovely.
A suspected Al Qaeda-linked militant who was captured in Iraq and brought back to his home country Jordan pleaded not guilty on Monday on charges he was involved in the killing of a US diplomat in Amman. Muammar Ahmed Yousef al-Jaghbeer, 34, was already convicted in absentia and sentenced to death for his role in the Oct. 28, 2002 slaying of Laurence Foley. But under Jordanian law, he was allowed a retrial after his capture. Al-Jaghbeer was allegedly part of a cell linked to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the head of Al Qaeda's branch in Iraq, that gunned down Foley, 60, an Amman-based administrator for the US Agency for International Development, and envisaged a string of attacks against Americans and Israelis in Jordan.
After al-Jaghbeer, a Jordanian of Palestinian origin, made his plea in the State Security Court, presiding judge Col. Fawaz al-Buqour adjourned the hearing until March 21. A military court in April convicted al-Jaghbeer, al-Zarqawi - who is also Jordanian - and four others in absentia for the killing and sentenced them to death. Four others who were in custody at the time were also convicted and two of them were sentenced to death.
Al-Jaghbeer, who was captured by US forces in Iraq and extradited, was accused of facilitating contacts between the alleged cell mastermind, Libyan Salem bin Suweid, and al-Zarqawi. Bin Suweid, who was present in the court in April, was sentenced to death for firing the gun that killed Foley. Jordanian security officials have insisted that Foley's murder was the work of Al Qaeda. The court's verdict last year did not say whether it found a direct link between the Jordan cell and Osama bin Laden's terror group. Military prosecutors did not mention the terror group in the initial indictment. They did say, however, that at least half of the suspects had links with al-Zarqawi, who allegedly provided bin Suweid with weapons and US$62,000 to finance the plot. Al-Jaghbeer is also on a separate trial with al-Zarqawi for the 2003 Jordanian Embassy bombing in Baghdad that killed 18 people.
This article starring:
ABU MUSAB AL ZARQAWI
al-Qaeda in Iraq
Col. Fawaz al-Buqour
Laurence Foley
MUAMAR AHMED YUSEF AL JAGHBIR
al-Qaeda in Iraq
SALEM BIN SUWEID
al-Qaeda in Iraq
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/15/2005 12:15:54 AM ||
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The US-led military will pull out its troops from western Afghanistan this summer and move them to the restive south and east to tackle Taleban militants, a US commander said yesterday. NATO-led peacekeepers who arrived early this month will then take over the American operations in the west, said Col. Phillip Bookert, commander of coalition forces in western Afghanistan. "I think I'm handing over a very stable situation," the colonel told reporters in Kabul, adding that the new locations for the US troops had not yet been decided.
Washington has strongly pressed for the 8,300-strong NATO-led International Security Assistance Force to expand into Afghanistan's remote and rugged west in a bid to reduce pressure on stretched American forces in Iraq and worldwide. An initial deployment of Italian troops started to arrive on March 2 in the main western city of Herat, where they will later be joined by soldiers from Spain, Greece and Lithuania. Bookert's 2,400-strong force, which includes soldiers from Afghanistan's new national army, will hand over reconstruction teams working in the provinces of Herat, Farah, Ghor and Badghis. All except Ghor border Iran in the west. One team, in Farah province, will remain under the control of US forces, the colonel said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/15/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
good, we get our troops chasing baddies, and leave the peacekeeping duties to others, and even manage to get something out of Spain and Greece. Helps with global overstretch, as well as locally.
#4
Anyone else read the headline as "West Virginia"?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/15/2005 12:26 Comments ||
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#5
And more Europeans will have seen the situation in Afghanistan, and the good we are doing there, first hand. Aris, if that's where you end up while conscripted, do remember not to debate with the locals -- I don't think that's one of their usual pleasures. And they'll react more strongly than the Rantburgers you joust with. ;-) (In the meantime, dear, I hope you've started a program of calisthenics -- it makes life so much easier if one can do the required push-ups, sit-ups, and distance running without triggering a heart attack. Your drill sergeant will still yell at you, but at least you'll have the strength to listen ;-). )
An anti-terrorism court yesterday jailed two Pakistani doctors for seven years for helping injured Al-Qaeda militants and local extremists, court officials said. Heart specialist Akmal Waheed and his brother, orthopedic surgeon Arshad Waheed, were detained here in July 2004 for alleged ties to Osama Bin Laden's network. The brothers were also accused of having links with a radical group blamed for a deadly attack on the convoy of a Pakistan army commander in Karachi. "Evidence against them is sufficient, therefore, they have been given the maximum punishment, which is seven years," judge Feroz Mahmood Bhatti said in his verdict. Each were also ordered to pay a fine of 50,000 rupees ($839).
The court found the pair had provided medical aid to militants from the Al-Qaeda-linked Jundullah, or Army of God, which was blamed for the attack on Lt. Gen. Ahsan Saleem Hayat convoy in June last year. That attack left 11 people dead, including seven soldiers, three policemen and a passer-by. Hayat, who narrowly escaped the attack, is now working as vice chief of the army staff. Both doctors were also charged with providing medical treatment to two foreign Al-Qaeda operatives, Abu Hashim and Abu Mussab, and sending local militants for training in the lawless tribal areas near the Afghan border.
The verdict was announced in a makeshift court room inside Karachi's Central Prison. Later the pair told reporters they would appeal against the decision within seven days. "We provided medical aid to Afghan refugees after the 2001 US attacks on Afghanistan. It is our job to provide medical treatment to anyone, we have no regrets and we would continue with our duty," Arshad Waheed said. Their lawyer, Ghulam Qadir Jatoi, added: "This is a fit case for appeal as there is no evidence."
This article starring:
ABU HASHIM
al-Qaeda
ABU MUSAB
al-Qaeda
Ahsan Saleem Hayat
AKMAL WAHID
Jundullah
ARSHAD WAHID
al-Qaeda
ARSHAD WAHID
Jundullah
Jundullah
Posted by: Fred ||
03/15/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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I used to care. Really I did. All the Somalis I know are such nice people. But they've been doing this for 20 years or so. They must like it. So let them have their internecine fun. And I hope the ghost of Emma Goldmann gets warts.
Weapons are still pouring into Somalia at a brisk and alarming rate - undermining efforts to install a new national government, UN monitors have said. Despite a 1992 UN arms embargo and rising prices, individuals from both the new transitional federal government and opposition groups are buying up the illegal weapons, according to the latest report from the monitoring group on Tuesday. While demand for financing has soared, buyers are finding the money inside and outside the northeast African nation from sources ranging from illegal charcoal exports and printing counterfeit currency to school and university fees and looting, the report by the group of four outside experts said.
The group recommended tightening controls along Somalia's borders and coastline. It said neighbouring countries should coordinate better and share information to improve their effectiveness. The monitoring group turned over to the UN Security Council a sealed draft list of arms embargo violators, in the event the council plans future enforcement measures. A country of around 10 million people, Somalia has been carved up into fiefdoms run by rival militias since 1991. A transitional federal government was formed in neighbouring Kenya last year and is trying to establish itself inside Somalia. But the monitoring group gathered information, documents and pictures showing that despite the new government, "or perhaps because of it, arms embargo violations continued to occur at a brisk and alarming rate." It said the arms shipments easily circumvented neighbouring states' efforts to block them. With most of the weapons flowing to opposition groups, "there is a seriously elevated level of threat of possible violence against the peaceful establishment in Somalia of the transitional federal government," the group said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/15/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#4
Somalia was a UN stuff up from the begining. Italian Somaliland became a UN trust territory under Italian control and the UN forced it to Join with British Somalia. The civil war still ongoing stems from that decision as Somaliland wants to become/stay separate. Funny how parts of the world the UN has responsibility for become really screwed up.
#7
I care. Failed states like Somalia are fertile grounds for training camps for terror groups.
Posted by: too true ||
03/15/2005 8:40 Comments ||
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#8
Well thank God for that UN arms embargo. Could you imagine how many more weapons would be there if that wasn't in effect? Great job UN! Pat yourself on the back and go out for a nice expensive lunch!
#10
When is the point where counterfit money become legal tender? Must be Somalia.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/15/2005 10:35 Comments ||
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#11
When is the point where counterfit money become legal tender? Money is only a symbol of value exchange anyway. It could as easily be quantities of drugs, or weapons.
Think of the exchange, "Ok, 1 Toyota truck = 100 RPGs plus 4 grenades per RPG. And each grenade is worth 10 AK-47s plus a baggie of hashish ... so how much is that beer again?" It would be worse than the British system of pounds, shillings, pence and guineas!
#13
Phil, have pity! I'm only a simple American girl, used to our simple metric currency. ;-) What I know about the English system is what I've read in Winnie the Pooh, E. Nesbit's tales, and Jane Austen's amusing little novels.
#14
UN statistics say Somalia has a population of 7 million. I dread to think there is an additional 3 million kat chewing, islamonazi's to contend with.
#15
UN statistics say Somalia has a population of 7 million. I dread to think there is an additional 3 million kat chewing, islamonazi's to contend with.
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and Palestinian Interior Minister Nasser Yousef met Monday night in Herzliya, and overcame the major stumbling blocks in the talks on Israel's handover of five West Bank cities to the Palestinian Authority's security responsibility. Unless there is a last minute delay, Jericho will be handed over to the PA as early as Wednesday.
Mofaz and Yousef reached compromise on the major moot points: The deployment of Israel Defense Forces roadblocks around Jericho, and the inclusion of a nearby town in the handover. Israel had refused the demand previously citing the proximity of the town to a highway used by Israeli traffic. The two ministers also reached agreement over the fate of wanted militants currently residing in Jericho. The PA vowed to disarm the 17 militants, as well as follow and restrict their movements to the city boundaries. Israel made a commitment not to try and arrest or harm the wanted militants, so long as they do not resume terrorist activities.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/15/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Fourteen dhows intercepted in Gulf waters since January carried 125 suspected Al-Qaeda members who have been detained by US or other authorities, a counter-terrorism expert in the region said Monday. The traditional wooden boats "are being used here in the Gulf by Al-Qaeda on a daily basis," Bob Newman, director of international security and counter-terrorism services with GeoScope Group, said on the sidelines of an Airport, Port and Terminal Security (APTS) Middle East conference in Dubai. "So far this year, 14 dhows have been intercepted in the Gulf region. Many more have been stopped," said Newman, whose Colorado-based organization provides teams to help track down terror suspects at the planning stage.
Kuwaiti lawyers defending 22 Islamists charged with recruiting anti-US fighters for Iraq on Sunday urged the court to acquit them for lack of evidence after the defendants denied the charges. Only 12 of the defendants were present in the courtroom as lawyers made their arguments in a closed-door hearing and were banned from speaking to the press by presiding judge Adel Al-Huwaidi. Only one suspect remained in police custody after 19 others were released on a KD 300 ($1,000) bail each while two remained at large, including 
Police in Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia have detained five militants and killed one in the course of security sweeps carried out on Monday, a source at the headquarters of the federal forces in the North Caucasus region told Tass on Tuesday. He said one of the militants was detained in the village of Engel-Yurt, Chechnya's Gudermes district. According to police information, the man had taken part in the armed attack on police and civilians in the village of Ishkhoi-Yurt. "A local resident detained in the Dagestani town of Khasavyurt was a member of a bandit formation and participated in raids in the Novolakskaya district and in neighboring Chechnya," he said.
Russia said Tuesday it had paid millions of dollars for a tip-off that helped it find and kill Chechen rebel leader 
A Paris court has sentenced a French-Algerian, 
Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova survived an apparent assassination attempt Tuesday after an explosive device detonated as his convoy passed through central Pristina. The blast occurred near a government building just after 7:20 a.m. GMT. Rugova's car was damaged, and the president was seen being transferred to another car and being driven away after the explosion. He appeared to be unharmed. At least one person was injured by flying glass, police spokeswoman Sabrije Kamberi said. Rugova had been heading to a nearby government building for a meeting with European Union's foreign policy chief Javier Solana when the explosion occurred. 
U.S. authorities charged 18 people with weapons trafficking, including an alleged scheme to smuggle grenade launchers, shoulder-fired missiles and other Russian military weapons into the country. The arrests resulted from a yearlong wiretap investigation that used an informant posing as an arms trafficker selling weapons to terrorists, the office of U.S. Attorney David N. Kelley said Tuesday. The defendants also are charged in a criminal complaint with conspiring to traffic in machine guns and other assault weapons, and with selling eight such weapons, Kelley said in a statement. Details of the investigation were to be discussed at a news conference later in the day, Kelley's office said.
A former high school valedictorian accused of joining Al-Qaeda and plotting to assassinate President Bush pleaded innocent yesterday in federal court to providing material support to terrorists and other charges. An Aug. 22 trial date was scheduled for 
The government on Monday announced the arrests of 103 alleged members of MS-13, a street gang rooted in Central America where members have been known to behead enemies and attack with grenades and machetes. The arrests, in seven cities since early January, are the first of a nationwide crackdown on 
The Philippines braced for retaliatory attacks after some of the country's most hardened terror suspects were killed in a failed prison uprising that left 28 people dead, most of them inmates killed in a barrage of bullets as hundreds of police stormed the maximum security facility. Sweat-soaked police marksmen filed out of the building after the assault to the applause of bystanders, escorting prisoners stripped to their underwear and with hands clasped behind their heads. "The terrorists got what was coming to them," Ignacio Bunye, press secretary for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, said in a statement. "The crisis team gave them all the chances to peacefully surrender."
Police launched a major assault Tuesday on a maximum-security jail taken over by al-Qaida-linked suspects, killing at least 17 people in a raid that began with a barrage of tear-gas canisters and bullets, officials said. Interior Secretary Angelo Reyes said the dead included four leaders of the Muslim extremist 
France is again indulging in some stealthy peacekeeping. For the last three weeks, the French command ship Var has been sitting off Lebanon, coordinating plans for the evacuation of French citizens from Lebanon. This would involve moving some 20,000 people out of the country, by sea, air and land. This would require two or three battalions of elite troops (marines, paratroopers and commandoes), and some of these may already be in the area. Some French troops are already ashore and establishing "liaison" relationships with Lebanese civil and military organizations. While the French are seen as pro-Christian by the Moslem factions in Lebanon, the French are also respected as a foreign country that respects Lebanese interests. This means that France could play a role in preventing another Lebanese civil war, especially one that involved the issue of Syrian troops, and influence, in the country. But most importantly, the French are doing all of this very quietly, so as not to enrage any of the already irritated factions in the area.
Over one million opposition backers chanted "Freedom, Sovereignty, Independence" and unfurled a huge Lebanese flag in central Beirut yesterday, throwing the biggest protest yet in the opposition's duel of street rallies with supporters of Syria and the Lebanese government. Crowds of men, women and children flooded Martyrs' Square, spilling over into nearby streets, while more from across the country packed roads into Beirut — responding to opposition calls to mark a month since the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. His slaying sparked a series of protests against Syria, the dominant power in Lebanon. "We are coming to liberate our country. We are coming to demand the truth," said Fatma Trad, a veiled Sunni woman who traveled from the remote region of Dinniyeh in northern Lebanon to take part. 
Pakistani security agencies have arrested a member of an outlawed militant group suspected of involvement in a December 2003 attempt to kill President Pervez Musharraf, an intelligence official said on Tuesday. 
March 15, 2005: The Iraqi army and police have a casualty rate over four times that of coalition forces. Amazingly, this has not had any apparent effect on recruiting. While most recruits persist because they need a job, for an increasing number, it's all about revenge. Most soldiers are married men who live at home. When police and soldiers are killed, their neighbors in uniform feel an obligation to get revenge. In Sunni Arab areas, the police often know who is doing the killing. If not the individuals, than the family or clan. That's why the terrorists try to haul their dead away. But enough enemy dead and wounded are found, plus captives from raids, to know which families are hostile. The Iraqi police know how to play the family angle, which to Western eyes is bizarre. For example, if it is clear that the family is behind the attackers, then arresting the head of the family (usually an extended family, often with several dozen members) often gets the attention, and often the surrender, of the terrorists. 
Osama bin Laden attempted to communicate with Al Qaeda's front man in Iraq, Abu Musab al Zarqawi, a month ago through a letter that was seized when a ground courier in Pakistan was intercepted , an American counter-terrorism expert said here on Monday.
A suspected Al Qaeda-linked militant who was captured in Iraq and brought back to his home country Jordan pleaded not guilty on Monday on charges he was involved in the killing of a US diplomat in Amman. 
Weapons are still pouring into Somalia at a brisk and alarming rate - undermining efforts to install a new national government, UN monitors have said. Despite a 1992 UN arms embargo and rising prices, individuals from both the new transitional federal government and opposition groups are buying up the illegal weapons, according to the latest report from the monitoring group on Tuesday. While demand for financing has soared, buyers are finding the money inside and outside the northeast African nation from sources ranging from illegal charcoal exports and printing counterfeit currency to school and university fees and looting, the report by the group of four outside experts said. 
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and Palestinian Interior Minister Nasser Yousef met Monday night in Herzliya, and overcame the major stumbling blocks in the talks on Israel's handover of five West Bank cities to the Palestinian Authority's security responsibility. Unless there is a last minute delay, Jericho will be handed over to the PA as early as Wednesday. 
