Two terrorists gunned down in Delhi
By Indo-Asian News Service
New Delhi, April 25 (IANS) Two suspected members of the Lashker-e-Taiba terror group were gunned down by Delhi Police in a gun battle near the sprawling Pragati Maidan exhibition ground here Monday, officials said.
Joint Commissioner Karnail Singh of the Special Cell said the two men were shot when they opened fire at a police team that tried to apprehend them at about 9.30 p.m.
Police believe the two men, one of them identified as a Pakistani national, were in the capital to carry out a major terrorist attack.
"We were acting on intelligence reports and had laid a trap to arrest them," Singh told reporters.
Police had information that the two men were to receive a consignment of arms and explosives from contacts in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.
Two AK-56 assault rifles, sophisticated detonators, timers, two kilograms of RDX explosives and a satellite phone were found in the car that the two men were travelling in.
The two men sustained serious injuries in the shootout with the police team and were rushed to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, where they were declared dead on arrival.
Outlaw killed in 'crossfire'
An outlawed party operative was killed in 'crossfire' between police and his associates at Nayanpur of Mirpur upazila early yesterday. The dead, Abdus Sattar, 39,was a top cadre of Biplobi Communist Party (BCP). With his death, the death count in crossfire rose to 60 in Kushtia district.
Mirpur police said they went to Nayanpur village after a tip-off that BCP cadres were preparing to attack rival outlawed outfit Gono Mukti Fouz (GMF).
"Psssst, there's gonna be a rumble tonight!"
As the police team reached Itkhola of Nayanpur at about 4:00am, BCP cadres who were lying in wait there opened fire on them.
Sounds like the cops were set up. If, of course, things really happened this way.
The policemen returned fire that resulted in an hour-long gunfight, said a police source.
This is a Bangladeshi gunfight, mind you. I think they pop off one round every ten minutes or so then go back to drinking tea.
After the gunfight had stopped and the outlaws fled the scene, police found a body, which was later identified to be Sattar's, added the source.
An hour long gunbattle and the only deader is one "top cadre".
Besides, they recovered eight rounds of bullets.
In Bangladesh, this is a massive arms cache.
Sattar hailed from Nayanpur and stood accused in five cases including two for murder, police said. Mirpur police yesterday filed a case in this connection accusing a number of unidentified BCP cadres.
College Student Murder-One to die, three get life
A Dhaka court yesterday sentenced a youth to death and three others to life in jail for killing a student of Baliakandi Degree College in Rajbari district in March 2002. The convict with death is Mohammad Salauddin Ahmed while Mohammad Shamim Ahmed, Saiful Islam Liton and Mohammad Shariful Islam Khan were given life term imprisonment for killing Masuduzzaman alias Uzzal Biswas. Of them, Shariful was present in the court during the delivery of the verdict while the rest three were tried in absentia.
Shariful Islam Khan, AKA "Shariful the Slow"
The punishment of the fugitives will be effective from the day of their arrest or surrender, the court said.
So they don't need a retrial when they catch them? Cool!
After cross-examination of 13 prosecution witnesses, Judge AR Masud of the Speedy Trial Tribunal-4 pronounced the judgement.
"Speedy Trial Tribunal, convictions in 30 minutes or less, or your next conviction is free!"
According to the prosecution, victim Uzzal was stabbed to death by his friends led by Salauddin at about 7:30pm on March 29, 2002 as he (Uzzal) prevented them from taking indecent snaps with his paternal aunt (sister of his father).
"My Aunt! My camera! My cricket bat!
The victim was killed when he was returning home in a by-cycle. Uzzal had sat for the B.A. (Pass) examination in 2002. Later, victim's father Motaleb Biswas filed a murder case with Baliakandi Police Station against Salauddin and three others the same day.Special Public Prosecutor Aminul Islam appeared for the state while Abdul Motaleb Khan defended the accused.
Indian PM's effigy burnt
The Sylhet Division Development Action Council on Sunday threatened to lock up the entrance of the Indian High Commission in Dhaka if the killing of innocent Bangladeshis by the Border Security Force is not stopped. The demonstrators also burnt an effigy of the Indian prime minister, Manmohan Singh, during a human chain formed by the council at Muktangan protesting 'indiscriminate killings' of the Bangladeshi people in the border areas by BSF. A rally was also held there.
And a fine time was had by all
The speakers also criticised the Bangladesh government for 'not taking effective diplomatic initiative' to bring an end to the border crisis. The council president, Abed Raja, criticised both BSF and the Bangladesh Rifles for what he said mockery through the holding of meetings on border issues.
Posted by: Steve ||2005-04-25 10:46:44 AM ||Link
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#1: Only one killed in one of them hour long Crossfiresâ„¢? I think they need their sights adjusted on them guns. They need to be well regulated as they say. Then they might do better.
April 25, 2005: Apparently what's left of the Taliban is concentrated mostly in the southeast, especially in Kandahar province. There are several reasons for this, not least the proximity to Pakistan's Northwest Frontier region, still only lightly controlled by the Pakistani government. But a major contributing factor is the inability of the Afghan central government to bring the corrupt provincial governor, Gul Agha Sherzai, fully under control. The Taliban has been heavily working its claims to be able to provide "good government" based on Islamic traditions against the corrupt secularists, who are supported by infidels. It helps to have a corrupt governor in office.
The Afghan government has been having a fair amount of success disarming the warlords and is slowly integrating their militias into the new regular army. Warlords who cooperate are being given plumb assignments -- though often posts with little real power. For example, Abdul Rashed Dostum, a leader of the northern Uzbek community, has recently been made Chief of Staff to Army Headquarters, while still being permitted to remain as head of his old faction, now converted into a proper political party. The central government has become increasingly concerned about the extent of Iranian intelligence penetration of the southwestern region. During the Taliban years, this area was the scene of an unofficial war between Iran and the Islamists movement, since the Shia leadership in Iran was concerned about keeping the Taliban out.
Armed Taliban are operating in groups of one to three dozen men. Traveling in pickup trucks, they try to attack police stations, or ambush army patrols. This has become increasingly dangerous, because more Afghan police and soldiers have good radios, and can immediately call for reinforcements. These often include American helicopters and aircraft (A-10s, UAVs, fighter-bombers). If the Taliban cannot get far enough away to fade into the woodwork, the American aircraft will find them, and coordinate air and ground attacks. This often results in the surviving Taliban scattering into the hills or villages, and escaping. However, at that stage, another Taliban marauder group is out of action until its members can get back together and maybe try again.
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Afghan police say they have foiled a suicide bomb attack after they stopped a car loaded with explosives and arrested its driver. The incident happened in the western city of Herat during a routine inspection of vehicles at a checkpoint. The police found rockets, mines and anti-aircraft shells inside the car, an official said. The incident comes after a bomb exploded in a car in the capital, Kabul, on Sunday. No-one was injured. Investigators declined to say who might have been planning the alleged attack.
Could be the Navajo, never did trust them.
Interior Ministry spokesman Lutfullah Mashal said the bomb was made of rockets, mortar rounds, land mines and dynamite wired together "It was almost 400 to 500 kilos (880 to 1,100 pounds) of explosives placed in a Toyota station wagon model 1993 and its Afghan national driver has been arrested as well," he told AFP news agency. There has been an increase in militant activity in the south and east of Afghanistan after a lull during the winter.
Posted by: Steve ||2005-04-25 8:17:23 AM ||Link
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Pakistani authorities have found four dead bodies of suspected militants in the North Waziristan tribal agency, a day after artillery shells were fired from across the Afghan border area, Kuna reports quoting sources.
But there aren't any Bad Guyz there, right? Musta been innocent bystanders, simple but heavily armed shepherds...
On Saturday night the US and Afghan forces launched an operation near border after suspected Taliban fired rockets and missiles on a military camp in the Orgun area of Afghanistan. Yet another report says that four unidentified decomposed dead bodies were found on Pak-Afghan border near Lorha Mandi village in North Waziristan Agency on Sunday. Pakistani security forces found four dead bodies on Pak-Afghan border near Lorha Mandi, whose recognition was not possible immediately while both the Afghanistan and Pakistan officials on border were reluctant to receive the dead bodies. A team of Pakistan's security checked the dead bodies but refused to claim them as Pakistani nationals, sources added.
"Nope. Not ours. Nope. Nope. We can tell..."
Kuwait news agency says that more than six mortar shells hit the hilltops of bordering Alwara Mandi village. They said on Sunday the forces found four dead bodies of suspected militants from the area being hit by the shells. Meanwhile, some unidentified persons fired three rockets on the house of Muhammad Ayaz, a local tribesman, last night, resulting in the injuries of his son and wife. The house is located at Khushali Karhimkhel, Mir Ali, sub-division, some six kilometers from here. The legs of his eldest son were reportedly fractured while his wife was critically injured, the local people said. The political administration started investigation.
A US statement, issued in the Kabul said on Sunday that a clash near Pak-Afghan border backed by warplanes and artillery killed four fighters. Lt-Gen David Borno, the US commander who has been coordinating efforts of the coalition forces to hunt Osama bin Laden, Taliban and Al Qaeda activists in Afghanistan, has hinted at possible high-profile attacks by Taliban in the next six to nine months. He said: last week a joint operation was launched in the tribal belt. Meanwhile, Islamabad has asked the coalition troops to do more to curb movement of militants from Afghanistan in Pakistan.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||2005-04-25 12:25:05 AM ||Link
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#1: a day after artillery shells were fired from across the Afghan border area
Good shooting.
Afghanistan and Pakistan officials on border were reluctant to receive the dead bodies
Ask the buzzards if they want them.
U.S. and Afghan soldiers backed by warplanes and artillery battled suspected insurgents in clashes near the border with Pakistan, and four fighters and one Afghan soldier were killed, the U.S. military said Sunday. In another incident, one Afghan soldier was killed and another was injured Sunday when the vehicle they were traveling in hit a land mine east of Kandahar, said U.S. military spokesman Sgt. Terry Somerville. The injured soldier was flown to the nearby U.S. base for treatment, Somerville said.
The clashes occurred Thursday near Gayan, 100 miles south of the capital, Kabul, in Paktika province, a military statement said. Another Afghan soldier was wounded, while no Americans were reported hurt. In one battle, Afghan soldiers and troops from the U.S.-led force in Afghanistan fought about 20 gunmen near the border with small arms and called in artillery and warplanes. One Afghan soldier and two militants were killed. A second battle ensued as the insurgents tried to retreat, and two more rebels were killed, the military said. The wounded Afghan soldier was in stable condition at the U.S. base in the southern city of Kandahar, it said. U.S. and Afghan forces repeatedly have fought with insurgents along the mountainous border in recent weeks, suggesting Taliban-led militants are reviving their 3-year-old insurgency after a winter lull.
Posted by: Fred ||2005-04-25 00:00:00 AM ||Link
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Teheran on Sunday denied any connection between a special crane purchased from Germany and Iran's missile programme. "This is a grotesque theory without any basis," foreign ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Assefi told reporters in Teheran.
"Nonsense. They're for, um...hanging Christmas ornaments. And those little banners on the streetlights."
The German weekly Der Spiegel had reported in its latest edition that a slip-up in Germany's customs office had helped an Iranian company acquire a special crane which could be used in Iran's missile programme.
Aren't missile cranes a bit big to "fall through the cracks?"
According to the magazine the crane was shipped out of Hamburg aboard the 'Hual Africa' on 7 April and German authorities held several crisis meetings to find a way to intercept the ship. At the end of last week the vessel was in Egypt's Port Said, Spiegel wrote. Der Spiegel said the German federal prosecutor's office was investigating how the Teheran company Mizan Machine managed to acquire the special crane from the Liebherr company in southern Germany. The report said customs authorities had received a special warning about Mizan Machine which was suspected of repeated purchases for Iran's weapons industry. However, the warning only reached customs agents after the Hual Africa had left Hamburg, the magazine said. German authorities fear that the special crane, costing some EUR 600,000, can be used in Iranian production of Shahab-3 and Shahab-4 missiles.
A Kosovo Albanian went on trial on Monday on charges of intimidating witnesses, the first such case at The Hague war crimes tribunal. The charges against Beqa Beqaj relate to a case against Isak Musliu, an accused commander of a former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) prison camp where some inmates were tortured. Beqaj faces seven years in jail if convicted. He was secretly indicted last year and transferred to the custody of the tribunal after being arrested by U.N. forces in Kosovo. Beqaj had already pleaded not guilty at his initial appearance last November and protested his innocence again on Monday: "This is all a lie," he said. "I am imprisoned in the same room as Serbs. I don't see any justice here."
Beqaj is accused of intimidating or offering bribes to witnesses in cases against Fatmir Limaj, Haradin Bala and Isak Musliu. The three are accused of commanding KLA soldiers and guards at the Lapusnik prison camp in Kosovo during the KLA's guerrilla campaign against the Yugoslavia government in 1998-99. The court said Lapusnik prison held Serbian civilians and suspected Albanian collaborators, some of whom were assaulted and tortured.
MADRID-The alleged leader of Al-Qaeda in Spain smiled and seemed at ease as he was cross-examined on the second day of a mass trial of alleged Islamic terrorists. Syrian-born Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas, also known as ' Abu Dahdah ' only lost his composure when photographic evidence was prsented to the court. He is accused of organising a meeting where plans for the 9/11 attacks in the US were finalised and running an Al-Qaeda recruitment network since 1995. Abu Dahdah faces 60,000 years in jail if found guilty - 25 years for each murder on 9/11 to which he was allegedly linked. "I can't remember", "I don't know", "I have a very poor memory," the well-groomed 41-year-old, who describes himself as a businessman, told the court as a string of questions were put to him.
He's been well schooled by his lawyers, no way to prove a bad memory.
But when asked to explain the circumstances under which he was photographed firing a pistol, he was less sure of himself. Yarkas offered to tell the Judge the name of the friend he said had lent him the gun "but only to you, not publicly with all the journalists," he stipulated. "In Spain trials are public, if you don't want to give the name that's your right," the judge told him. Yarkas then declined to publicly reveal the name.
The trial is the first to be shown live on satellite television in Spain, and judge Javier Gomez Bermudez asked the cameraman at one point to get better close ups on exhibits, while the faces of the accused were also subject to close scrutiny. Yarkas was unfailingly polite though sometimes combative when, in impeccable Spanish, he put the judge right on certain names or points of Muslim etiquette. He admitted having met two high-ranking Al-Qaeda officials whom he allegedly succeeded in 1995 after they left for Afghanistan and Pakistan. According to the indictment one of them, Zein Al-Abidine Mohamed Hassan, alias ' Sheikh Salah ', welcomed recruits for 'holy war' sent out to Pakistan from Spain by Yarkas. The other, Mustafa Setmarian, allegedly ran Al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan. Yarkas admitted "having tea together after leaving the mosque" in Madrid but denied any further knowledge of them and all charges put to him.
Prosecutors plan to demand that Yarkas and two others suspected of links to the 9/11 attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people, each be sentenced to more than 60,000 years in prison -- 25 years for each life lost. Earlier, Luis Jose Galan, the only Spanish-born man amongst the 24 accused, being brought to the dock. He denied having been sent to a training camp in Indonesia by Abu Dahdah along with another man referred to as Parlin in July 2001. "Neither Abu Dahdah nor Parlin ever spoke to me about training, grenades or bombs. If they had I would have distanced myself from them," said the 39-year-old convert to Islam and former heroin addict. He seemed nervous, wiped his brow and asked for water as he explained his past as a radical left-winger and explained how he had gone to Indonesia with a view to moving there after losing his job with a Spanish transport company. Exhibits included photos of him at Madrid marches in support of Palestinians and Chechens.
What, you didn't think the Spanish cops kept records on every demonstration?
He said he had never been to any training camp and denounced all forms of violence. "Not only do I condemn the deaths of 3,000 people but even one death in New York, Gaza or Fallujah. He who dares take a life kills all humanity. I don't care whether his name is Bin Laden, Bush, Sharon or Putin," he said.
The trial is expected to last two moths in a specially-built courtroom in a park on the outskirts of Madrid, where the defendants appear inside a bullet-proof glass cubicle.
#1: Who would have thought that the NYT was one of the Marines' biggest supporters? I bet the whole editorial board drives up to Maine every time a Marine unit is coming home to welcome them. And I bet the NYT gives hiring preferences to Marine combat correspondents looking for a job. ("You were in the Marines and you want a job here? Emily, please escort this... person from my office, and call the janitor.")
#2: I remember Somalia when Clinton pulled the armor out so as not to provoke the Somali's, which didn't turn out too well as I recall. I don't believe the Times considered that a national scandal, at least I never read their call on it at the time. Most likely, they probably praised Clinton for preserving America's precious energy resources, as those tanks sucked a lotta gas.
#6: You know I respect a GIs right to bitch and complain, but now-a-days maybe they should be selective about who they bitch to. Yes almost ALL HUMVs were unarmored prior to the Gulf War, but that was a decision made by the CLINTON administration. A decision based on saving money and addressing the current need for a lightly armored transport/utility vehicle. Ok the threat changed AFTER Saddam got booted and the need to armor up the vehicles was identified. Unless somethings changed in hte last six months most (if not all) of the HUMVs should be armored up in Iraq. To infer that President Bush or Rummy don't care and are not addressing the problem. I think Rumsfeld said they were cranking out the armor kits as fast as production would allow. Sometimes GIs have to improvise in order to get the job done and in this case they should be applauded for taking the initiative to armor the vehicles themselves.
After D-Day in 1945 the Americans found themselves fighting the Germans in the 'Hedgegrove' countryside of France. Some enterprising GIs took some anti-tank barriers and welded them to the front of tanks. They then used these to cut through the hedgegrove and defeat the Germans. Never during that battle did the Times come out with a story on how Rosevelt didn't provide the troops with hedgegrove breaching equipment.
#7: It's difficult to comment on these two stories. On the face of it, the Marines were underequipped and undermanned. Yet, reading in to the stories, they continued their aggressive patrols and took a significant toll of the enemy.
This was a week after we took out that "wedding party" in the same area. This was during the uprising in the South, as well. I think some of the answer to the supply issues is that "We're busy!"
#9: Here, here, Ship! I believe it shows a distinct lack of initative. When my CO presented me with my Good Conduct ribbon, he laughed and said it was for 4 years of undetected crime.
#10: LOL Doc! When I got my first award my CO said "I will take written rebuttals after Commanders Call." I just knew how to get things done without a lot of red tape or paper work.
#11: Fuck they NYT. Mattis had it right, tragic shit happens in war, adapt and overcome. It was a new kind of war in April of last year, though many reporters seem to forget that. Now we have these armored humvees where the belly plate is so heavy it takes the vehicle 400 lbs over it's max weight and slows it down by 15 mph so the engine doesn't overheat. Now they'll bitch that we are becoming slower targets to direct fire systems. 'Hardening' vehicles w/sandbags has always been sop. Humvees were never intended to take a shap charge blast from the sides or below. Making it seem like that was some new improvised method of protection is mis-leading the uninformed reader.
This Wall Street Journal article (reg req) reviews some of the work being done by the Livermore National Lab to assist in protecting us at home.
snip
(A) biodetector that the lab recently licensed to GE Infrastructure Security, a unit of General Electric, which expects to put it on the market next year with a price tag of about $200,000. Its put-you-to-sleep name--the Autonomous Pathogen Detection System--belies its sophisticated capabilities. Using air samples, APDS tests for 95 separate agents, including anthrax and plague. (The full list is classified.)
APDS is considerably more advanced than the biodetection system currently deployed in 30 cities under the federal BioWatch program. The earlier model uses filters that must be picked up and hand-carried to a lab for analysis. APDS, which requires servicing just once a week, continuously collects and analyzes air samples and sends a report back to a central monitoring station every 60 minutes. This reduces the time for detecting a bioagent release to an hour or less--time that could mean the difference between life or death for people in a contaminated area.
APDS, which is about the size of a refrigerator you’d see in a college dorm room, has been field-tested in the New York subways, the Washington Metro, and at San Francisco and Albuquerque airports. The underlying technology has gone through a million tests without a single false-positive reading--a degree of reliability that is extremely valuable in real-world situations. As Howard Hall, a nuclear chemist whose office is developing radiation detectors, puts it: A detector "doesn’t do any good if a cop comes to the conclusion that every alarm is false."
Christine Hartmann Siantar, who also works in the area of nuclear and radiation countermeasures, talks about other projects in progress. A "nuclear carwash" would screen every cargo container entering the U.S. for nuclear materials. That likely will be field-tested in 2007 by the Customs Service. Also in development is a personal screening test for radiation exposure akin to a home pregnancy test. In the event of an attack, the aim is to ease the burden on health facilities by encouraging unexposed citizens to stay home.
Another area of Lab research is "pathomics" or the study of the molecular basis of infectious disease. The objective is to devise a simple blood test that can tell whether someone has been exposed to a disease-causing pathogen before he has begun to develop symptoms. Faster detection, followed by rapid treatment, could save the lives of those exposed to anthrax or other bioagents. This is especially important when considered in light of last month’s Robb-Silverman report, which warns that most of the traditional intelligence-collection tools are "of little or no use in tackling biological weapons."
Note that the FBI objects to his work on the grounds that "while the agency encourages citizens to report alleged wrongdoing, it believes any attempt to stop criminals should be left to the government." Also, Weisburd said an analyst from a federal agency recently wrote him a scathing letter calling him a 'grave threat to national security' because his work was interfering with its investigations.
I like the work that Aaron does and I toss some change in his PayPal jar from time to time.
#1: The guy who called me a threat to national security was complaining about a site that was shut down as a result of inquiries from the Washington Post, not as a result of anything Internet Haganah said or did. He's one of the people who the government relies on to keep them informed regarding what the bad guys are up to on the internet. File under "your tax dollars at work".
Posted by: Aaron Weisburd|| 2005-04-25 11:27:01 AM
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#2: Thanks Aaron. Do you feel the article was fair?
Posted by: Seafarious>Seafarious|| 2005-04-25 11:36:55 AM
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#3: because his work was interfering with its investigations
Yes, I understand that they're closing in on a group of 19 men who are planning on hijacking 4 airplanes and ramming them into prominent American buildings. Should have it all wrapped up by September 2011.
Posted by: Dreadnought|| 2005-04-25 11:41:16 AM
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#4: And a note to Aaron...the version of the story with your 38mm handgun was on my front doorstep this morning in the dead tree edition.
Posted by: Seafarious>Seafarious|| 2005-04-25 11:49:48 AM
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#5: Aaron is what I would call a good hacker and he must also be a very strong man to carry a 38mm (1 1/2") gun!
WaPo:For his protection, Weisburd keeps a loaded 38mm pistol in the house.
Posted by: SwissTex|| 2005-04-25 11:56:43 AM
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#6: any attempt to stop criminals should be left to the government.
Where do I call for 24/7 burglar/mugger stopping coverage?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis|| 2005-04-25 11:57:14 AM
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#8: "Some U.S. officials think that they can learn more about terrorist operations by monitoring suspicious sites as they operate. Weisburd said an analyst from a federal agency recently wrote him a scathing letter calling him a "grave threat to national security" because his work was interfering with its investigations."
I call bullshit. This stupid attitude is what brought us 9/11 and the first World Trade Center bombing. Those are just the tip of the iceburg. This attitude is why we need to close the doors on the FBI and just keep it's Labs. This mind aset has allowed US citizens the be murdered and maimed by criminals as the FBI sat by and "observed." Who ever these "Law Enforcement" people are they need reeducation or replacemet.
Show me in the constutition where I have no right to self defense or to track down criminals if I act within the law. You wont find it and these "Law Enforcement" peckerwoods violate the constutition with impunity daily. Take a clue whom ever said this STFU, and do your job right, don't worry about what citizens who are with in the law do. They really don't like it when you cop the same shit attitude they have with them.
The guy needs to lose the back up calibre and get a 45.
Jordanian rebel Abu Musab al-Zarqawi — Iraq's most wanted fugitive — recently eluded capture by American troops, but left behind a treasure trove of information.
On Feb. 20, the alleged terror mastermind was heading to a secret meeting in Ramadi, just west of Fallujah, where he used to base his operations, the official said.
Task Force 626 — the covert American military unit charged with finding Zarqawi — had troops in place to grab the fugitive, and mobile vehicle checkpoints had been established around the city's perimeter. Another U.S. official said predator drones were also in flight, tracking movements in and around the city.
A source who had been inside the Zarqawi network alerted the task force to the meeting. Officials deem the source "extremely credible."
The senior military official said that just before the meeting was scheduled, a car was pulled over as it approached a checkpoint. "Zarqawi always has someone check the waters," said the official.
A pickup truck about a half-mile behind the car then quickly turned around and headed in the opposite direction. Officials now believe Zarqawi was in the fleeing truck. U.S. teams began a chase, but when the truck was pulled over several miles later, Zarqawi was not inside.
What the task force did find in the vehicle confirmed suspicions that Zarqawi had just escaped. The official said Zarqawi's computer and 80,000 euros (about $104,000 U.S.) were discovered in the truck.
Finding the computer, said the official, "was a seminal event." It had "a very big hard drive," the official said, and recent pictures of Zarqawi. The official said Zarqawi's driver and a bodyguard were taken into custody.
The senior military official said that they have since learned Zarqawi jumped out of the vehicle when it passed beneath an overpass, presumably to avoid detection from the air, and hid there before running to a safe house in Ramadi.
The official told ABC News they have since figured out which house Zarqawi ran to after his escape, and the owner has been arrested. But, the official said, every time they capture one of his supporters, Zarqawi recruits someone new.
#1: Zaq is probably cursing the day he opted to use his Bestbuy gift card on a PC instead of opting for a PDA.
Posted by: Super Hose|| 2005-04-25 9:39:50 PM
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#2: Oh, he's fine, SH. I'm sure he has the very latest version of Microsoft encryption on his files. It will take minutes, maybe even half an hour to break that.
Please let us know where we can deliver the rebate offer for your newly purchased computer, no P.O. Boxes or 'pickup truck' addresses, please. Delivery is scheduled for Friday at 10AM
Sincerely,
General Sanchez, Bestbuy Service Rep
Posted by: Frank G>Frank G|| 2005-04-25 11:16:46 PM
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April 25, 2005: Ten suspects have been arrested, for alleged involvement in the downing of a Bulgarian helicopters on the 21st. The suspected were pointed out by other Iraqis, in a pattern that is becoming increasingly common. The terrorists have been losing popular support, as well as angering Iraqis to the point where many Iraqis are no longer afraid to resist the gangs that control many villages and neighborhoods by fear. The terrorists are usually Sunni Arabs who either supported Saddam, or are violently opposed to the idea of the Shia majority running the country. Most Sunni Arabs don't really care who runs the place, as long as it is done with less violence and corruption than Saddam used.
The terrorists have been careful to avoid leaning on the wrong people in the Sunni Arab community. There have been many incidents, a few of them even made the news, of local Sunni Arab leaders who retaliated against terrorists for some transgression (kidnapping or injuring a friend or relative, or simply being disrespectful). There are millions of men with guns in Iraq, and only a few thousand of them have been fighting with anti-government groups. The al Qaeda "foreigners" and their car bombs have been increasingly unpopular, and the al Qaeda groups have been less successful in making peace with the local Sunni Arab tribal and religious leaders. If the terrorists make themselves too unpopular, the people in the neighborhoods where the terrorists hang out will turn against the bomb makers. This has led to raids on several bomb factories recently. Increasingly, the raiding party is all Iraqi, with information provided by Iraqi civilians fed up with the terrorist violence.
American intelligence has maps of Iraq showing which areas are pro-terrorist (nearly all Sunni Arab), which are anti-terrorists (nearly all the Shia and Kurd areas) and which are in transition (mostly Sunni Arab, mostly becoming anti-terrorist.) Those maps aren't going to be published until this is all over, but the footnotes reveal that the hard core terrorists are pretty hard core. There are hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who, because of their close association with Saddam (and a lot of blood on their hands), are very fearful of what will happen to them once the new government has complete control off the Sunni Arab areas. While not all these people will actively fight the new government, they will look the other way as some of their fellow Sunni Arabs do fight. But even this is changing, as the ten arrested Sunni Arabs have just found out. These maps change daily, sometimes hourly, as more information comes in about public attitudes. While the danger zones shift a bit over time, the most important change is the shrinking of areas where terrorists are active, and safe from informers.
The terrorists continued their bombing campaign over the weekend, setting off explosions outside a mosque and a police station, killing at least twenty civilians, and wounding over 80. These tactics do not appear to be encouraging Iraqis to support the terrorists, or reduce popular support for the government. The Americans are no longer blamed for the bombings, although it's still popular to blame the attacks on Islamic "foreigners." Reluctantly, Iraqis have come to admit that there is such a thing as Islamic terrorism. What Iraqis have
not yet come to grips with is the fact that many of the terrorists are Iraqi Islamic radicals. It's recognized that there are Iraqi terrorists, but these are generally tagged as diehard Saddam supporters. Many are, but the worst of this lot are on jihad, out to kill infidels and heretics like Shia Moslems and Sunnis who do not support the terrorists.
Posted by: Steve ||2005-04-25 8:44:06 AM ||Link
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An emboldened Iraqi insurgency staged carefully coordinated dual bombings in Saddam Hussein's hometown and a Shiite neighborhood of the capital Sunday, killing at least 21 people. Lawmakers loyal to the new prime minister said he was ready to announce a Cabinet that would exclude his interim predecessor, Ayad Allawi.
An American soldier was killed in a separate attack.
Prime Minister-designate Ibrahim al-Jaafari had decided, some members of his political bloc said, to shun further attempts to include members of the party headed by Allawi, the secular Shiite politician who had served as prime minister as the country prepared for elections Jan. 30.
Members of Allawi's Iraqi List, which controls 40 seats in the National Assembly, said his party had not been officially informed of the development. Allawi loyalists were bidding for at least four ministries, including a senior government post and a deputy premiership.
"I heard from the media, and some of the other assembly members told me about it," lawmaker Hussein Shaalan told the Associated Press late Sunday. But he said the party would continue to support the government even if excluded from the Cabinet.
Al-Jaafari's list could be put to parliament as early as Monday, some of his bloc said. Others indicated the Cabinet announcement would be made Tuesday. Many such forecasts have proven wrong so far.
Many Shiites have long resented the secular Allawi, accusing his outgoing administration of having included former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party, which brutally repressed the majority Shiites and Kurds.
There had been intense pressure to end the political bickering after a marked recent uptick in insurgent violence that many in Iraq blamed on the continuing political turmoil nearly three months after the country's historic Jan. 30 elections, the first democratic balloting in a half century.
Insurgent attacks had dropped dramatically shortly after the vote, but spiraled upward in recent weeks as the politicians failed to name a government.
Militant violence over the weekend took at least 38 lives, including those of three Americans.
Also Sunday, the U.S. military said it had detained four more suspects in the downing of a civilian Mi-8 helicopter on Thursday. All 11 passengers and crew were killed, including a survivor gunned down by insurgents. Ten suspects have been apprehended in all, the military said.
A vehicle packed with explosives was driven into a crowd gathered in front of a popular ice cream shop in Baghdad's western al-Shoulah neighborhood Sunday, police Maj. Mousa Abdul Karim said. Minutes later, as police and residents rushed to help the victims, a second suicide car bomber plowed into the crowd. At least 15 people were killed and 40 wounded.
Shattered glass, pools of blood, and pieces of flesh littered the scene.
Members of Iraq's Shiite majority have become a frequent target of Sunni-led insurgents. On Friday, a car bomb ripped through a crowded Shiite mosque in eastern Baghdad during midday prayers, killing 12 people and wounding 22.
In Saddam's hometown of Tikrit on Sunday, two remotely detonated car bombs exploded in quick succession outside a police academy, killing at least six Iraqis and wounding 33, police and a hospital official said. The blasts occurred as recruits were about to leave the station and travel to Jordan for a training, said police Lt. Shalan Allawi.
Insurgents also attacked U.S. forces. A roadside bomb hit one convoy in eastern Baghdad, killing one American soldier and wounding two, the U.S. military said. Iraqi police said two civilians also were wounded in the attack.
An American sailor was killed Saturday when the Marine convoy he was traveling with was hit by a roadside bomb in Fallujah, 40 miles west of Baghdad, the military said.
Al Qaeda in Iraq, the country's most feared militant group, claimed responsibility for the Tikrit and eastern Baghdad attacks in statements posted on militant Web sites.
The group also claimed responsibility for a roadside bomb targeting a U.S. patrol near the Abu Ghraib prison, west of Baghdad. The U.S. military said no one was hurt in that attack.
South of the capital, three insurgents were killed Sunday as the roadside bomb they were trying to plant in the town of Mahawil exploded, said police in nearby Hillah.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||2005-04-25 12:23:44 AM ||Link
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Two bombs exploded near a Shi'ite Muslim mosque in Baghdad Sunday, killing at least 15 people, a police official said. The official said 57 people were also wounded at the Ahl al -Beit mosque. A witness said he saw many ambulances rushing to the scene, a crowded market area. The police official said a roadside bomb exploded and then a suicide bomber in a car blew himself up beside a crowd that had gathered to inspect damage from the first blast.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||2005-04-25 12:27:28 AM ||Link
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Suicide car bombers launched twin attacks inside a police academy compound in the town of Tikrit on Sunday, killing at least seven people and wounding dozens, Iraqi police and doctors said. One bomber drove into the compound and blew up his vehicle among a crowd of policemen, killing several, according to accounts provided by witnesses to a reporter working for Reuters. As police and passers-by rushed to help those hit in the blast, a second car bomber entered the compound and detonated his vehicle, the witnesses said. A doctor at Tikrit's hospital, Mohammed Ayash, said seven bodies had been brought in and as many as 26 people were wounded. All those killed were police, while both civilians and police were among the wounded.
Al Qaeda's wing in Iraq said that a pair from its "martyrs brigade" carried out the attack, according to an Internet posting. It was not possible to verify the authenticity of the statement. The bombings come amid a new wave of violence in Iraq, with a marked increase in bombings, suicide attacks, ambushes and assassinations this month.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||2005-04-25 12:33:07 AM ||Link
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Mohammed Ibrahim, a photographer working for The Associated Press, was released Sunday by the U.S. military, which had held him after a shooting in which a television cameraman working for The AP was killed. Ibrahim was wounded when gunfire broke out after an explosion Saturday in the northern city of Mosul. Saleh Ibrahim, a television cameraman working for The Associated Press, was killed in the same incident. The two men were brothers-in-law.
Mohammed Ibrahim said U.S. forces escorted him and his brother, Wamidh, who contributes to European Pressphoto Agency, from the hospital hours after the shooting and released them after nearly 24 hours in detention. A U.S. military official, who would not allow the use of his name, said the two men had been "caught up in the sweep after the situation." Col. Wathiq Ali, the deputy police chief in Mosul, said Saturday's explosion targeted a U.S. patrol. The three journalists drove to the scene together. Gunfire broke out, and both Saleh Ibrahim and Mohammed Ibrahim were hit. Hospital officials said Saleh Ibrahim sustained gunshot and shrapnel wounds. Mohammed Ibrahim was treated for shards of glass at the back of the head.
Posted by: Fred ||2005-04-25 00:00:00 AM ||Link
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A Pakistan embassy official who was kidnapped in Iraq two weeks ago was freed Sunday, the chief Pakistani government spokesman said. Malik Mohammed Javed was abducted April 9 after he left his residence in Baghdad to attend prayers at a mosque. The Pakistani government said after his abduction he was in the custody of a previously unknown Islamic militant group, Omar bin al-Khattab that had demanded a ransom for Javed's release. "He was freed Sunday. He has reached the Pakistan Embassy in Baghdad. He is safe," Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told The Associated Press. He declined to give further details and would not comment on whether any ransom was paid.
GAZA, April 25 (UPI) -- A senior Islamic Hamas leader Monday urged leaders of the militant group living abroad to return to Gaza after Israel leaves the area. Mahmoud al Zahar issued a statement calling on all Hamas leaders based abroad -- mainly in Syria -- to return to the Gaza Strip after Israel implements its disengagement plan.
"Come into my parlor......"
Israel is expected to evacuate all Gaza Strip settlements and four others in northern West Bank and withdraw its troops by mid-August. Al Zahar, however, added Hamas "would never give up armed resistance, or to hand over its militants' arms. "The Palestinian Authority knows very well that such a thing would never happen," he said.
GAZA, April 25 (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ordered new security chiefs on Monday to halt growing chaos two days after he pushed aside top officers in Yasser Arafat's old guard, officials said. The security shake-up brought Abbas closer to meeting Israeli and U.S. demands for reforming corruption-plagued security forces, also criticised by ordinary Palestinians for failing to maintain law and order.
"I cannot say that we have accomplished safety, security and reform for our people so far. But we have begun an important process," Abbas told reporters before meeting the chiefs in the Gaza Strip. Interior Ministry spokesman Tawfik Abu Khoussa said Abbas asked the new heads of police, national security and military intelligence to restructure their forces and halt growing chaos in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Abbas forced out hundreds of security men on Saturday under a new law requiring security personnel to retire at 60.
Out with the old thugs, in with the new thugs
Reforms of Palestinian security forces are widely seen as crucial to peacemaking hopes that have been lifted since Abbas replaced the late Arafat in January and went on to agree a ceasefire with Israel. "We hope the Palestinians will fulfill their commitments to implement security reforms and to disarm terrorist groups," said Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev.
"We ain't holding our breath."
Although the new security chiefs were told to crack down on illegal arms, Abu Khoussa said it did not include those held by militant groups which are following a de facto truce. Palestinians demand reforms of security forces that are widely seen as ineffective and often corrupt. Gunmen from a faction in Abbas's ruling Fatah movement went on a rampage in the West Bank city of Ramallah last month and more recently took over a government building in Jenin. In Gaza, residents complain of a series of unsolved murder cases.
But in a sign of internal discontent over Abbas's changes among the Fatah movement's old guard, several senior officers on the retirement list refused to collect awards for their long service. "We all reject these medals," one retiring officer said, complaining the shake-up had been dictated from abroad. "We will continue to serve our people and our cause." Abbas played down the incident, saying the ceremony was delayed because some of the officers were out of town.
Suspected Islamic separatists detonated a bomb in southern Thailand on Sunday, killing two police officers and wounding three other people, just hours after the country's queen appealed to the nation to condemn such attacks. The device, believed to have been triggered by a mobile phone, exploded in a small storehouse near a border police station and a market along the Malaysian frontier, said police Lt. Sittidej Ruansong. Two police officers were killed, while another officer and two villagers were wounded in the blast, he said.
The attack in Narathiwat province came after Thailand's Queen Sirikit delivered a televised address late Saturday calling on the public to unite against the ongoing violence in the southern provinces, the only Muslim-dominated area of this largely Buddhist country. "We have to condemn such actions as being totally devoid of humanity," the queen was quoted as saying by the Bangkok Post. "We have to let these brutes know — without taking arms — what we feel." The queen said she was especially shocked by a recent string of bombings at an international airport, a superstore and a hotel in the southern city of Hat Yai. Two people were killed and more than 70 others wounded in the April 3 blasts.
Posted by: Fred ||2005-04-25 00:00:00 AM ||Link
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An Iranian prosecutor said yesterday the authorities were rounding up ringleaders of ethnic unrest in the oil-rich southwest and that the number of people detained over the violence would soon exceed 205. Officials say demonstrations on April 15 were sparked by the circulation of a forged letter, supposedly from a senior official, suggesting that Iran's Arab minority be relocated to dilute its influence in the oil-rich province of Khuzestan.
Iran says five people died in the violence; opposition and rights groups have suggested that dozens may have been killed. Prosecutor Iraj Amirkhani last week said 200 out of an original 344 protesters arrested had been set free. But he told the ISNA students news agency that the prisons were now filling up again as demonstrators confessed to their roles in the protests. "Based on confessions of those arrested, the identification and arrest of leaders of the unrest and others involved started this morning," he was quoted as saying. "At the moment, 205 people remain in detention for taking part in the Ahvaz unrest and this number is increasing." Amirkhani said some of those detained had admitted to taking money to smash up banks and other public buildings. About 3 percent of Iran's 67 million people are Arabs.
Posted by: Fred ||2005-04-25 9:40:40 AM ||Link
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#1: Once again, SAVAK shows that it can keep a lid on things. /sarcasm
Posted by: Anonymoose|| 2005-04-25 10:37:07 AM
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Lebanon's most powerful pro-Syrian security chief resigned Monday, hours before the last Syrian forces were due to leave their tiny neighbor and end Damascus' 29-year domination. "Security chiefs are usually appointed with politics and change when it changes," Jamil al-Sayyed, head of the General Security, said in his resignation letter. Sayyed said last week he was ready to step aside during a U.N.-ordered international investigation into the Feb. 14 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, which sparked furious protests against the Syrians many blamed for the killing.
Hosed that one, didn't they?
Posted by: Fred ||2005-04-25 7:56:06 AM ||Link
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#1: Hope he bought a ticket on the last bus going east
An explosion, followed by gunfire, was heard in the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms district on the Lebanese-Syrian border Sunday, according to witnesses in the area. The blast struck around 5.30 p.m. and was followed by several bursts of gunfire before four Israeli helicopters arrived on the scene, the witnesses said.
There was no immediate riposte by Israeli artillery as is usually the case when Israeli positions in the area come under attack. According to witnesses, it was unclear how many people were wounded. Reports emerged that the explosion had taken place inside an Israeli tank in the Ramsa farm, or that the tank had run over a land mine planted by Israel. However, neither reports were confirmed. Shiite guerrillas of the Syrian-backed Lebanese resistance group Hizbullah usually carry out sporadic attacks in the area. But on Sunday, a Hizbullah official - despite confirming the explosion - added that the resistance group would not comment at the time being.
#1: A wide-scale terror attack was averted late Sunday in the Har Dov area on the Lebanese border. Israel Defense Forces troops who were on a routine patrol in the area spotted explosives, and moved away from the bomb. The device blew up almost immediately, but caused no casualties. Haaretz
Syria completed the final phase of its withdrawal Sunday, with a symbolic presence to remain until Tuesday, when a ceremony will be held to bid farewell to the heads of Syrian intelligence here. On customary condition of anonymity, Lebanese security sources confirmed "the big bulk of the Syrian forces, including heavy weapons and equipment," had left Lebanon by Sunday evening. The sources added the farewell celebration will be held at the Riyak military base in the Bekaa Valley, a few kilometers from the Syrian border.
The few remaining Syrian troops and officials are then expected to pull back across the border after the ceremony, marking the final chapter of Syria's military and intelligence presence in Lebanon. Incoming reports from eyewitnesses Sunday said that, during their departure, Syrian soldiers at a base outside the Bekaa village of Deir al-Ahmar were seen filling ditches surrounding the camp with sand and rubble, burning documents and dismantling the base's structures. Over the weekend, Syrian military units vacated at least 10 positions in the northern part of the Bekaa.
Posted by: Fred ||2005-04-25 00:00:00 AM ||Link
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Afghan police say they have foiled a suicide bomb attack after they stopped a car loaded with explosives and arrested its driver. The incident happened in the western city of Herat during a routine inspection of vehicles at a checkpoint. The police found rockets, mines and anti-aircraft shells inside the car, an official said. The incident comes after a bomb exploded in a car in the capital, Kabul, on Sunday. No-one was injured. Investigators declined to say who might have been planning the alleged attack. 
Pakistani authorities have found four dead bodies of suspected militants in the 
Teheran on Sunday denied any connection between a special crane purchased from Germany and Iran's missile programme. "This is a grotesque theory without any basis," foreign ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Assefi told reporters in Teheran. 
Two bombs exploded near a Shi'ite Muslim mosque in Baghdad Sunday, killing at least 15 people, a police official said. The official said 57 people were also wounded at the Ahl al -Beit mosque. A witness said he saw many ambulances rushing to the scene, a crowded market area. The police official said a roadside bomb exploded and then a suicide bomber in a car blew himself up beside a crowd that had gathered to inspect damage from the first blast. 
Suicide car bombers launched twin attacks inside a police academy compound in the town of Tikrit on Sunday, killing at least seven people and wounding dozens, Iraqi police and doctors said. One bomber drove into the compound and blew up his vehicle among a crowd of policemen, killing several, according to accounts provided by witnesses to a reporter working for Reuters. As police and passers-by rushed to help those hit in the blast, a second car bomber entered the compound and detonated his vehicle, the witnesses said. A doctor at Tikrit's hospital, Mohammed Ayash, said seven bodies had been brought in and as many as 26 people were wounded. All those killed were police, while both civilians and police were among the wounded.
A Pakistan embassy official who was kidnapped in Iraq two weeks ago was freed Sunday, the chief Pakistani government spokesman said. 
Suspected Islamic separatists detonated a bomb in southern Thailand on Sunday, killing two police officers and wounding three other people, just hours after the country's queen appealed to the nation to condemn such attacks. The device, believed to have been triggered by a mobile phone, exploded in a small storehouse near a border police station and a market along the Malaysian frontier, said police Lt. Sittidej Ruansong. Two police officers were killed, while another officer and two villagers were wounded in the blast, he said.
An Iranian prosecutor said yesterday the authorities were rounding up ringleaders of ethnic unrest in the oil-rich southwest and that the number of people detained over the violence would soon exceed 205. Officials say demonstrations on April 15 were sparked by the circulation of a forged letter, supposedly from a senior official, suggesting that Iran's Arab minority be relocated to dilute its influence in the oil-rich province of Khuzestan.
Syria completed the final phase of its withdrawal Sunday, with a symbolic presence to remain until Tuesday, when a ceremony will be held to bid farewell to the heads of Syrian intelligence here. On customary condition of anonymity, Lebanese security sources confirmed "the big bulk of the Syrian forces, including heavy weapons and equipment," had left Lebanon by Sunday evening. The sources added the farewell celebration will be held at the Riyak military base in the 
