April has been a very cruel month to Saudi Arabia this year. Scores of al-Qaeda fighters have been killed or captured by law enforcement agents in three separate incidents in this month alone. The government euphemistically calls the al-Qaeda terrorists members of "deviant group." Perhaps in the eyes of the government al-Qaeda is a wayward group even though most leaderships of the violent extremist group subscribe to Wahhabi Doctrine, which is also the official doctrine of the Saudi government (read Saudi Royal family).
The news of these violent gun battles, which probably pale "Gunfight at the OK Corral" (1881 in Tombstone, Arizona, USA) did not get headline coverage in South Asian newspapers but surely we read the news both in print media and the Internet news site. Not one but three violent encounters took place, one in early April, and the other two in late April. The first one was extremely brutal in which at least 18 al-Qaeda fighters were gunned down in a small town, Ar-Rass, located 200 miles north of capital Riyadh. The encounter lasted 3 days (April 3-5, 2005) in which 14 Saudi policemen were injured some seriously. The second encounter between the police and al-Qaeda fighters took place in Mecca on April 21, 2005 in which 2 al-Qaeda soldiers and 2 policemen were killed. As per news, local residents say that in the Mecca battle, militants who were holed up on a hill in a low-income neighborhood fired automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades at police. Security forces then called in helicopters that fired down on the militants. The third incident also took place on April 21, 2005, in Jeddah, which resulted in the arrests of two extremists.
The news of these three bloody encounters between the police and al-Qaeda fighters in April 2005 tells us that all is not well in Saudi kingdom. Ironically, the official Wahhabi Doctrine that Saudi Royal family so passionately subscribe also gave birth to violent jihadi group such as al-Qaeda. Osama bin Laden is a strict adherent to Wahhabi Doctrine, which calls its followers to return to Holy Scripture. The Saudi King and vanguards of the royal family never did think that the proverbial chicken would come home to roost.
Continued on Page 49
An explosive device blew up on Monday at the Economy Ministry in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, killing one person and injuring another three. The Kuwaiti news agency Kuna reported that the attackers fled the scene in a vehicle immediately after the explosion. Police officers gave chase, but failed to capture the militants. Eyewitnesses say they saw a vehicle with two people on board drive up to the ministry building and one of them then threw a hand grenade out of the window.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/26/2005 12:41:13 AM ||
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Lawyers for 31 Omani Islamists accused of membership in a banned organization and plotting to overthrow the government pleaded their clients' innocence as their trial resumed Monday. Three lawyers defending 12 of the group said they had merely sought to promote the teachings of the sultanate's majority Ibadi sect in the face of "external currents." They said their clients' possession of weapons was in keeping with Omani norms and that the worst they can be accused of is holding firearms without a license.
The trial opened a week ago, with the accused, who were arrested in January, appearing before the State Security Court in batches over three consecutive days. The defendants have pleaded not guilty to the charge of plotting to overthrow the regime by force, although some of them expressed "regret" and asked Sultan Qaboos to pardon them.
Ahead of Monday's session, police showed reporters some of the weapons seized with the accused, including around 40 Kalashnikov rifles, nine pistols and ammunition. A lawyer with one of the firms defending the suspects earlier said it was not clear when a verdict would be delivered, but added that those convicted would have the right to appeal to the Supreme Court and then to the Omani ruler. The lawyer said the prosecution had sought the death penalty for all suspects charged with subversion, but he doubted the sentence would be imposed. But the prosecutor at Monday's hearing asked the judge to rule as his court sees fit. "Serving the [Ibadi] sect does not require forming a secret organization, especially since the state serves the Ibadi sect as it does other Islamic sects," he said.
The state-run Oman Daily Observer warned that "fiddling with the state's security is a 'red line.' Preaching religion is achieved by prudence and good advice, not by force. Likewise, the call for reform and guidance to the path of piety does not require underground measures or secret meetings." The prosecution says the secret organization to which the accused belong was first formed in 1982. It has a public arm which organizes pilgrimages and youth summer camps, and an underground wing that strives for the establishment of an imamate in Oman in accordance with the teachings of their faith, according to the charge sheet. An offshoot of a dissident Shiite sect, the Ibadis are named after their founder, Abdullah bin Ibadh al-Maqissi, originally from Ibadh in Saudi Arabia. The faith was introduced to Oman in the eighth century.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/26/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Army troops retook a southern Colombian town which had been surrounded by Marxist rebels for nine days in one of the strongest challenges yet to the government's security policy. Soldiers in light tanks drove out of green surrounding mountains into Toribio in Cauca province to end a battle which began when rebels bombarded the town with home-made mortar shells on April 14, killing three police officers and a boy. Three soldiers were killed pushing back the rebels from around Toribio. But it was more the time the army needed than the casualty list which raised questions about the success of President Alvaro Uribe's military strategy to end a four-decade-old war. The army said it killed about 16 members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia -- a group roughly 13,000-strong, which is known by its Spanish initials FARC -- in its advance. But the sight of FARC rebels talking to journalists near Toribio on national television for several days running was a blow to government claims it has the rebels on the run.
"Without doubt, it has been the biggest challenge to President Uribe's democratic security policy," said defense analyst Alfredo Rangel, using the government's name for its U.S.-backed defense strategy. Uribe's successes against the FARC are the main reason for an approval rating of about 70 percent, which the president's supporters hope will propel him to a second consecutive election victory next year.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/26/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Al-Qaida's suspected leader in Spain denied today that he founded a radical Muslim cell accused of helping plot the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the United States.
"Nope. Nope. Never happened."
Imad Yarkas, a 42-year-old Syrian, said he had never heard of a group called Soldiers of Allah until he was arrested in November 2001 and read about the group in Spanish news reports. "It is an invention," Yarkas said as he took the stand in the trial of 24 suspected al-Qaida members. "I have never heard of it, only in this investigation."
"We always called it something else."
Yarkas is accused of directing a terrorist cell that allegedly provided logistical cover for Sept. 11 plotters, including Mohamed Atta, who is believed to have piloted one of the two hijacked planes that destroyed the World Trade Center towers. Two alleged accomplices of Yarkas also face charges of helping plot Sept. 11, and prosecutors are seeking jail terms of nearly 75,000 years for the trio -- 25 years for each of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the attacks. Judge Baltasar Garzon has said the group was formed at a Madrid mosque in 1995, was led by Yarkas and affiliated itself with al-Qaida, eventually helping organize the suicide airliner attacks in the United States. Yarkas was peppered with questions from prosecutor Pedro Rubira about his contacts with other defendants in the trial and suspected militants abroad. Yarkas insisted he knew them only as acquaintances who attended the same mosques.
"Yeah. I'm just a simple shepherd!"
"You ain't no damned shepherd! Where's your sheep?"
One man he said he knew in the 1990s in Madrid is Mustafa Setmariam, a fugitive Syrian believed to be a senior al-Qaida operative and who was indicted in Spain along with Yarkas in September 2003. Yarkas said he lost track of Setmariam when the latter moved from Spain to Britain and then to either Pakistan or Afghanistan. Yarkas looked relaxed and spoke in Spanish. He wore blue jeans and a navy blue suit jacket. Asked whether he knew a cleric named Abu Qutada in London and if the man was engaged in "radical" activities, Yarkas said, "What does radical mean? I don't know what it means."
"I told you I'm simple!"
Rubira asked detailed questions about Yarkas' dealings with other suspects and financial dealings but did not ask directly whether he had anything to do with the Sept. 11 attacks. The proceedings have made Spain only the second country after Germany to try suspects in the Sept. 11 attacks. The only man charged in the United States, Zacarias Moussaoui, pleaded guilty Friday to helping al-Qaida carry out the attacks.
... after a three-year circus act, complete with clowns.
One of Yarkas's alleged accomplices, Ghasoub al-Abrash Ghalyoun, took detailed videos of the World Trade Center and other landmarks during a visit to the United States in 1997. Garzon says this footage was passed on to al-Qaida and became the "preliminary information" on the Sept. 11 attacks. Yarkas today denied any knowledge of these tapes or Ghalyoun's trip to America.
"I know nothing! No-thing! Tell them, Hogan!"
Earlier, the lone native-born Spaniard among 24 men accused depicted himself as a peace-loving Muslim who rejected terrorism and once participated in a rally denouncing the 2001 attacks. Luis Jose Galan, a Madrid native who converted to Islam more than a decade ago, denied prosecutors' allegations that he received terrorism training at an Indonesian camp after a 2001 recruiting visit to that country by Yarkas. Galan said he never saw or heard of such a camp when he visited the Indonesian city of Poso, would have been too old for military training anyway and rejected terrorism. "It is not my way of approaching life. I have other values," Galan, 39, said. Galan and 20 others are accused of illegal weapons possession and belonging to al-Qaida, but are not accused of helping plan the Sept. 11 attacks. Galan said neither Yarkas nor any of the defendants had ever approached him about engaging in radical Islamic activities. "If they had, I would have gone away. I have another mind-set," he said.
Please refer to this Yahoo News slide show to see these humble, chastened guardians of the faith.
This article starring:
ABU QUTADA
al-Qaeda
Baltasar Garzon
GHASUB AL ABRASH GHALYUN
al-Qaeda
IMAD YARKAS
Soldiers of Allah
LUIS JOSE GALAN
al-Qaeda
MOHAMED ATTA
al-Qaeda
MUSTAFA SETMARIAM
al-Qaeda
Pedro Rubira
ZACARIAS MUSAUI
al-Qaeda
Soldiers of Allah
Posted by: Fred ||
04/26/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Asked whether he knew a cleric named Abu Qutada in London and if the man was engaged in "radical" activities, Yarkas said, "What does radical mean? I don't know what it means."
This reminds me of the classic, "It all depends on what your definition of the word "is" is." Remember that one? Both of these sound like a hum job to me.
ATLANTA, April 26 (UPI) -- A Nigerian in London labeled a fugitive terror suspect by the FBI has e-mailed a friend in Atlanta denying his flying lessons were linked to terror. Zayead Christopher Hajaig, who was indicted last week on federal weapons charges e-mailed Leonard Harris, who owns an aviation shop at Georgia's at DeKalb-Peachtree Airport, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Tuesday.
"I am not a bloody terrorist," Hajaig wrote. "All I am guilty of is overstaying my visa and that has mushroomed to something that is frankly quite embarrassing." Earlier this month, the Atlanta Joint Terrorism Task Force was alerted to Hajaig when he "became aggressive" while trying to get an instructor to upgrade his pilot rating. Hajaig then fled to Britain.
Acting on a tip, authorities last week found a handgun allegedly owned by Hajaig in the Chattahoochee River. Authorities said two rifles connected with Hajaig were also found at other locations, which they would not specify. Hajaig was indicted on three federal charges of being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/26/2005 3:11:16 PM ||
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A report of suspicious material on board has caused a United Airlines flight to make an emergency landing in Chicago.
The plane was on a flight from New York to San Francisco this morning when a passenger told a flight attendant he saw another passenger with something suspicious.
The airline says the flight attendant and flight crew examined the material, and recommended that the plane land immediately.
Police aren't saying what the material was, or if anyone was taken into custody.
The 66 passengers and eight crew members on board were evacuated after the plane landed, and there were no injuries.
The Chicago Police Bomb and Arson squad is investigating.
A prominent Islamic scholar was convicted Tuesday of 10 counts alleging he encouraged followers in the days after the Sept. 11 attacks to join the Taliban and fight U.S. troops. Jurors reached their verdict in their seventh day of deliberations in the trial of Ali al-Timimi. The 41-year-old defendant showed no reaction to the verdict. He faces a mandatory maximum sentence of life in prison, federal prosecutors said.
Prosecutors have said al-Timimi was a respected scholar who enjoyed "rock star" status among his followers and that he used that influence to guide them into holy war against the United States. Many of the followers often got together to play paintball combat in the Virginia woods. Prosecutors said it was not a game, as the men contended, but practice for their planned holy war. Al-Timimi's lawyers have said he only counseled young Muslims after Sept. 11 that they might be wise to leave the United States because it would become difficult to practice their faith in this country. He had been free on $75,000 bail, and U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema allowed him to remain free, with electronic monitoring, until his sentencing in July. The foundation of the government's case was a Sept. 16, 2001, meeting in which al-Timimi offered an apocalyptic interpretation of the Sept. 11 attacks, which he said heralded the final battle between Muslims and nonbelievers. He said Muslims were obligated to defend Afghanistan's ruling Taliban regime, prosecutors said. Three people who attended that meeting later went to Pakistan and received military training from a group called Lashkar-e-Taiba, with the aim of using that training on the Taliban's behalf. No one from the group ever made it to Afghanistan, but at least two group members have admitted their goal was to join the Taliban and that al-Timimi inspired them to do so.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/26/2005 12:44:23 PM ||
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They don't have paintball in federal prison, Ali, and you better not get lipstick on them either.
Ironically, the scary thing is al-Timini may well have been very knowledgeable about how verses of the Quran, sura and Hadith have historically be interpreted. Although there are other ways to interpret verses, it is certainly reasonable to interpret them as requiring violent Jihad, requiring support of the Taliban, etc.
An accused heroin kingpin has been indicted and arrested in a massive narcotics conspiracy involving Afghanistan's former Taliban regime, U.S. Attorney David N. Kelley said Monday. The U.S. indictment alleges that Haji Bashir Noorzai led an international trafficking ring based in Afghanistan and Pakistan that transported at least $50 million worth of heroin to the United States and other countries. Noorzai made an initial appearance in Manhattan federal court Monday afternoon. He did not enter a plea. A second appearance is scheduled for Wednesday.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration arrested Noorzai on Saturday while he was traveling to the United States, Kelley said, offering few other details. Kelley said Noorzai "provided demolitions, weaponry and militia manpower to the Taliban," the Islamic fundamentalist group that ruled Afghanistan until a U.S.-led invasion toppled it in 2001. In exchange, the Taliban "served as protection for Noorzai's opium crops, heroin laboratories and drug transportation routes out of the country," Kelley said. "Noorzai and the Taliban had a symbiotic relationship."
Kelley, whose jurisdiction is the Southern District of New York, which includes Manhattan, declined to comment on reported links between the case and al Qaeda. "There are published accounts about the relationship between the Afghan drug lords and al Qaeda, but that's not part of this case," Kelley said. U.S. authorities previously have said Noorzai helped finance al Qaeda when it operated under Taliban protection in Afghanistan. Noorzai "is perhaps the most notorious Afghan drug lord and has built over the last 15 years a multimillion dollar heroin business by forging an unholy alliance with [supreme Taliban leader] Mullah Mohammed Omar and the Taliban," Kelley said. "On one occasion in 1997," Kelley said, "it is alleged that Taliban authorities in Afghanistan seized a truckload of morphine base that belonged to the Noorzai organization. It didn't take very long for ... Omar to have the drugs returned to Noorzai with Omar's personal apologies." The seven-page indictment accuses Noorzai of plotting to distribute heroin as long ago as 1990, with the first shipment a 57-kilogram load in 1997. The indictment lists shipments to New York as recently as 2002.
Noorzai, who was born in 1961, allegedly smuggled an estimated 2,000 pounds of heroin a month from the Kandahar area Afghanistan to Pakistan, according to testimony last year before the House International Relations Committee. The Bush administration had designated Noorzai one of the world's most-wanted drug kingpins. Kelley said Noorzai -- if convicted -- faces a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 10 years and a maximum possible sentence of life in prison. The government is also seeking as much as $50 million in forfeiture of assets as part of Noorzai's sentence, if convicted.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/26/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Oh dear. Both of us born in the same year, yet look at how much more he has accomplished.
#2
We had better watch out or those French will come over here and surrender enmasse. That would put a big burden on our infrastructure. I mean we don't have enough snails, cheese, and cheap wine to cover them and ourselves.
April 26, 2005: Police discovered an Islamic group had sponsored several weeks of military type training for two dozen men at a resort hotel on Java.
Club Dead
An investigation is underway to determine if there is a terrorism connection, or just training for bodyguards or private militia.
I'll take "Terrorist Connection" for $500, Alex
The group paying for the training, the Indonesian Mujahadeen Council (MMI), is led by Abu Bakar Baasir, who was recently convicted of involvement in terrorist attacks in 2002 and 2003.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/26/2005 3:40:05 PM ||
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I'm sure he'll be taken ill again and avoid punishment
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/26/2005 15:54 Comments ||
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I love it. Strict Islamist indugling themselves at a "resort hotel on Java". I can see it now, "What happens in Java, stays in Java"
An Army officer and an enlisted man were killed on Monday in Sulu Island when the military truck they were riding hit a land mine, causing it to explode. Eight other soldiers were wounded. All soldiers belong to the 53rd Infantry Battalion, according to Major General Gabriel Habacon, 1st Tabak Division commander. Habacon said the soldiers were traveling from Jolo to the Abu Sayyaf's Karawan compound when the truck hit the land mine somewhere between Maimbung and Indanan towns around 11 a.m. Monday. The truck driver, a private first class, was instantly killed. The Army officer, a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class 2004, died on the way to the hospital. The Inquirer is withholding their names pending military notification of their families. The military suspects the Abu Sayyaf planted the land mine.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/26/2005 1:00:11 AM ||
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how's that truce going, GLORIA?
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/26/2005 13:31 Comments ||
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I wonder who sold the mine to the ASG?? Bet it came from southcom.
As the head of Syrian intelligence in Lebanon packed to leave with his country's remaining troops Monday night, Israel expressed hope the withdrawal would pave the way to peace with Beirut. "We hope such withdrawal will open the path to peace with Lebanon with whom we have no territorial conflict," said Foreign Minister Sylvan Shalom.
Not if Hezbollah has its way...
But, the Israeli official added the situation remains "delicate," expressing doubt the withdrawal would be complete. He said: "We are not entirely sure that the Syrians ... have withdrawn their intelligence services." Shalom noted Lebanese President Emile Lahoud's close ties to Syria, in addition to Syria's support for the Lebanese resistance group Hizbullah. He added: "Hence, Lebanon has [only] cut the umbilical cord with Syria." But, measuring his words, Shalom said: "Now that Lebanon is being liberated, there exists the possibility that the authentic national forces in this country will see that it is in their interests to live in peace with Israel."
Hezbollah won't. I'd bet money on that.
The foreign minister's comments came as the highest ranking Syrian intelligence officer quit his Lebanese headquarters in the border town of Anjar Monday, virtually completing the pullout of Syrian forces from Lebanon. According to security sources and witnesses in the area, Rustom Ghazaleh, Syria's intelligence chief in Lebanon, left for Damascus Monday, but is expected to return Tuesday to take part in a farewell ceremony for Syrian forces. The sources said a token number of some 200 Syrian soldiers remain in Lebanon to take part in Tuesday's ceremony at Riyyak military airbase, hours before an expected UN progress report on Syria and Lebanon's implementation of Security Council Resolution 1559. Lebanese troops took over Monday the last Syrian checkpoints and a base in the town of Chtaura, witnesses added. Syrian agents were seen burning documents, painting over graffiti and demolishing walls at the intelligence base before leaving in buses carrying portraits of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Local residents welcomed the Lebanese troops as they took position, waving the country's flag and showering them with flowers and rice. It was also reported the military road linking the two countries will be closed after the farewell ceremony.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/26/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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what about the (aproximately) 100.000 Syrians that were given Lebanese citizenship. Do you think that some of them were "secret service" employees..........um.........?
#2
Interesting, ladida. I wasn't aware of that. If I recall correctly, Lebanon has a total population of around 3 million, which would make those 100,000 Syrians a substantial minority.
A woman in Afghanistan was stoned to death after a local court found her guilty of adultery, according to media reports Monday.
It happened last week in the Afghan province of Badakhshan . Death by stoning of women found guilty of adultery was common under the Talibans, but Amina, 29, was the first to be executed since the ouster of the fundamentalist regime.
Shah Jahan Noori, a district police official, said the central government in Kabul was investigating information that a mullah or clergyman had passed the sentence.
The decision was up to the magistrates and not to local dignitaries, he said. Those responsible will be arrested and punished.
The reports said Amina was stoned to death by her husband, while her lover received 100 lashes and was released.
******************** A first for Afghan women: the governor
High in the snow-capped Hindu Kush, visitors stream in to see the new governor. A huddle of turbaned men carry plastic sunflowers in a gold vase, nodding respectfully. Mountain farmers come wrapped in wool blankets. The British ambassador flies in from Kabul.
By the morning's end the office is filled with 25 bouquets of fake flowers and a calf is tethered outside; nothing unusual in a culture that prizes deference to authority, save for one difference: the new boss is a woman.
Habiba Sarobi is Afghanistan's first female governor, a major advance in a society where, only four years ago under the Taliban, women were denied everything from lessons to lipstick and forced to wear the all-covering burka.
It is not a job for the faint hearted. Afghan governors are stereotypically gruff, bearded men with a penchant for fighting, sweet tea and smoke-filled-room politics. Ms Sarobi, a mild-mannered mother, comes to work with a suitcase and her secretary.
Formerly the minister for women's affairs, she said she had turned down an ambassadorial job to demand the governor's post from President Hamid Karzai.
"He was surprised," she said.
"His first question was, 'Do you think the people will accept you?' I said, 'Definitely, yes'."
After an uncertain start, she seems to be right. Before she arrived, 300 local men staged a noisy protest in the town centre, bussed in by the disgruntled outgoing governor, according to coalition officials.
A snowstorm foiled her first attempt to reach Bamiyan; the plane circled overhead before returning to Kabul. When she finally landed a week later, a male interior ministry official marched out first and took the official salute.
"You might have thought he was the new governor," said an aid worker who was there. "It didn't sound a good note."
But since then, support has grown rapidly. A thousand men gave her a standing ovation at a game of buzkashi, Afghanistan's perilous national sport. In the following days, delegations of wellwishers flooded in from around the province, including 50 villagers from Shaidan, a five-hour walk away.
"Women have a long history as leaders in Islam," declared the villagers' spokesman, Niamatullah Siddiqi. "We are proud to have you overseeing our community."
Nobody expects an overnight revolution. The obscurantist edicts of the Taliban are an unhappy memory: Afghan women can vote, work and go to school; a quarter of all seats in next September's parliamentary vote are reserved for women; in Kabul, increasing numbers are shedding their burkas.
But civil rights do not necessarily mean human rights. Despite billions of dollars in aid, health and education facilities remain dire.
For example, giving birth in Badakhshan province claims the life of one in every 15 mothers. This is the highest maternal mortality rate in the world.
In the deeply conservative south, most women spend their lives hemmed in by high walls and overprotective men. Forced marriages and domestic violence are rife across the country. Last week a woman in Badakhshan was stoned to death for adultery, the second such killing since the Taliban's overthrow in 2001.
Ms Sarobi, more no-nonsense manager than fiery feminist, did little to shift attitudes during her two-year ministerial stint, according to several aid workers and diplomats. "Her tenure was more about implementing aid projects than making policies," said one British official.
Ms Sarobi says she was scuppered by conservative cabinet colleagues, who even blocked a decree condemning forced marriage. "I tried my best, but it was not enough for the women of Afghanistan," she admitted. "They said it was our culture and tradition."
In Bamiyan, Ms Sarobi's popularity stems from a solid political pedigree (her uncle is a former vice-president) and partly from the liberalism of her fellow Hazara, one of Afghanistan's more tolerant tribes.
After the Taliban seized power in 1996, she fled to Pakistan so her daughter could continue school. She also detested the obligatory burka, but found the ankle-length cloak a useful disguise when, years later, she slipped back across the border to establish a clandestine network of girls' schools. "It was a necessary precaution. That way, nobody could recognise me," she said.
Afghanistan's most spectacular memorial to the Taliban's crude fanaticism lies etched into a sandstone cliff across the valley from her office: two empty chambers where giant Buddha statues stood until the Islamists blew them up in 2001.
Bamiyan lies in a sweeping valley along the Silk Route, so harnessing its vast tourist potential is one of Ms Sarobi's main projects for reconstruction. But the challenge is great.
Some of the main tourist sites - particularly the forbidden City of Screams, an ancient citadel sacked by Genghis Khan - are littered with mines. There is no electricity, no proper hotels, and the 150-mile drive from Kabul takes eight hours on a good day.
Education levels are low in Bamiyan and poverty is high. The evidence can be found by the feet of the fallen Buddhas, where the town's poor live in a network of caves that dot the cliff face.
On her first day in work, Ms Sarobi says, she found that 95% of her staff were "not professionally capable". There were no women.
Ms Sarobi recently toured Europe to rally sympathetic ears and deep pockets to her cause. She needs much of both. But she will also benefit from the considerable political capital invested by President Karzai.
Even the former governor, Muhammad Rahim Aliyaar, has lent his support, at least for now.
"It's too early to judge whether a woman can succeed. That will take six months or a year," he said. "But I believe that most people are behind her, and so am I."
#1
From "25 bouquets of fake flowers and a calf is tethered outside" to "stoned to death after a local court found her guilty of adultery". That's the range, all right. Sigh. The statement "Those responsible will be arrested and punished." may, or may not, be even close to the truth of it.
"The army launched an operation in Chowkibal area, six militants have been killed so far. The operation is in progress,"
Indian Army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel V.K. Batra
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4487205.stm
Six terrorists killed in Jammu and Kashmir
Police in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir say six terrorists have been killed in clashes with Indian troops in the border district of Kupwara.
They said fighting started after soldiers surrounded the terrorists in a forest.
It is not known if the Indian troops suffered any casualties.
Jammu and Kashmir security forces have stepped up their campaign against terrorists. Over 20 suspected terrorists have died in the past five days.
Posted by: john ||
04/26/2005 8:09:47 PM ||
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Police in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir say six terrorists have been killed in clashes with Indian troops in the border district of Kupwara.
They said fighting started after soldiers surrounded the terrorists in a forest.
It is not known if the Indian troops suffered any casualties.
Jammu and Kashmir security forces have stepped up their campaign against terrorists. Over 20 terrorists have died in the past five days.
Posted by: john ||
04/26/2005 6:31:02 PM ||
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From the Pakistani newspaper Dawn
Three killed in Kashmir
SRINAGAR, April 25: Suspected Kashmiri freedom fighters shot dead a member of the ruling party in Kashmir and an army porter and a bus conductor in violence, police said on Monday. Sajad Masudi, a member of the ruling Peopleâs Democratic Party, was shot dead inside his house in Lolab village late on Sunday. A 32-year-old youth working as a porter with the army was shot dead in Udhampur, while another Kashmiri â a bus conductor â was shot dead in Pulwama, police said.âAFP
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04/26/2005 20:29 Comments ||
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SRINAGAR: They may clamour for independence and think the Indian state draconian, one that has perpetuated control over Kashmir through its military might.
But when it comes to availing of resources of that state for their personal security and convenience, separatist leaders in Kashmir are very much Indian subjects, that too chosen ones who feel they even have a right to its misuse.
Living in palatial houses in upmarket colonies, protected by security personnel armed with lethal weapons, driving around in bulletproof cars with a red beacon flashing atop which they are not allowed to use, theirs is a life which seems much at odds with the cause they espouse.
The offices they operate from are no camps that "freedom fighters" would identify with.
Located in posh residential colonies of Srinagar, these were purchased at throwaway prices â remember the mass exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the valley - or have been taken on rent.
Even the woman separatist group, Muslim Khawateen Markaz, works from a place as posh as Raj Bagh.
Moderate or radical they may be, but as far as their offices are concerned, ... the Hurriyat factions have the same taste.
The moderates function from a splendid house at Raj Bagh â sources say it was purchased for anything between Rs 10 to 14 lakh, its market price today is close to Rs 50 lakh â while Syed Ali Shah Geelani stokes his fundamentalist fire from a sprawling structure not very far away.
Like at work, like at home. These leaders may hail from villages in north and south Kashmir, but today they are part of the urban elite, with residences in Sanatnagar, Hyderpora, Raj Bagh and Gojibagh in the capital.
Syed Ali Shah Geelaniâs house at Peer Bagh on Indira Gandhi airport road is conspicuous even from a distance, as is his party Tehreek-e-Hurriyatâs flag fluttering atop the structure, whose resemblance to the Pakistani flag is no coincidence.
Shabir Shah of the Democratic Freedom Party, who migrated from Anantnag to Srinagar after the outbreak of militancy, had initially acquired two houses in the Rawalpora area â where high court judges, bureaucrats and top police officials live â selling one of them later.
The Jammu and Kashmir government had in 1988 banned use of beacon lights on vehicles and flags denoting affiliations, but for ministers and the chief secretary.
A ban was also imposed on air horns, besides tinted windows that allowed for less than 70 per cent transparency.
A senior traffic official admitted that the separatist leaders, as also government officials and legislators, had not taken the rules seriously, roaming as they were in vehicles flashing the VIP insignia, red light, flag etc.
Then, the security. Almost all prominent separatist leaders including Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Abdul Gani Bhat, Molvi Abbas Ansari,Shabir Shah, Bilal Lone, Sajad Lone and Aga Syed Hussan have been classified under one or the other security category, necessitating
state cover for them.
On being questioned about the drain of resources that it entails, Jammu and Kashmir minister of state for home Abdul Rahman Veeri, said: "It is the responsibility of the government to provide security to the people in a welfare state like ours."
This was done after the leaders sought cover and its category depended on the threat perception in every individual case.
While Central Reserve Police Force personnel guard the two residential houses of the Lone brothers at Sanatnagar, the houses of all other secessionist leaders are guarded by personnel of Kashmir police.
That is not all the security they get.
Molvi Abbas Ansari, Bilal Lone, Sajad Lone and Mirwaiz Umar, who are placed in Z-plus security, also travel in bullet-proof white Ambassadors provided by the government, said police sources.
Mirwaiz Molvi Umar Farooq, chairman of moderate Hurriyat Conference, is shadowed by a Gypsy each in the...
... front and rear when he travels, carrying 10 policemen.
His residence near the Hazratbal shrine is fortified by a platoon (24 men) of policemen, who ensure that even journalists keep away from him.
Posted by: john ||
04/26/2005 20:36 Comments ||
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U.S. and Iraqi troops detained more than 130 suspected militants and seized weapons in a series of raids across Iraq this week, the U.S. military said Tuesday.
At least 94 of those captured came from the Baghdad area, said Lt. Col. Clifford Kent, a spokesman for Task Force Baghdad. Both weapons and munitions were seized, he said. "You name it, we have it," Kent said.
Most of the militants detained in Baghdad were believed to be directly involved in recent attacks in the capital. Two were "specifically targeted as members of an execution cell," the military said in a statement.
"These aren't random searches. ... We are acting on specific, credible information we receive from local citizens who want to join us in the fight against terrorism," Kent said. "We are questioning people in the area and conducting our operations based mainly on this information."
In Babil province south of Bagdad, coalition forces found illegal weapons and detained 20 people, including one fugitive wanted by the U.S. military for attacking troops.
Iraqi security forces and coalition troops captured 17 more suspects in the northern city of Mosul on Tuesday, the military said. Rocket propelled grenades and artillery rounds were seized.
In Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, north of Baghdad, U.S. forces arrested six suspects over two days, the military said. Another suspect was detained in the holy city of Najaf, the military said. Another Company of Bad Boyz put out of action.
April 26, 2005: While the U.S. Army and Marine Corps provide their troops with a large number of explosive devices for combat, this does not stop the grunts from inventing their own. Iraq has seen the development and use of the;
Eight Ball -Take one-eighth stick of C-4 plastic explosive, add a detonator. Use it to gain rapid access to what's behind locked doors. This explosive device is sufficient to knock down most doors, but weak enough that troops can be close, and there won't be a lot of additional damage.
House Guest (one of many names)- A full tank of propane, with some C-4 plastic explosive attached to detonate it, will bring down most Iraqi houses when placed in the central hallway. The propane acts like a fuel-air explosive. This explosive was used when you had a house full of hostiles who would not surrender, and there was no artillery or smart bombs available to do the deed. Actually preferable to artillery or smart bombs, because there is less damage to nearby structures.
Super Incendiary — Take one 60mm or 81mm white phosphorous mortar shell, wrapped three times with detonation cord and attach a quarter or half a stick of C-4 explosive. Set this off inside a building full of stubborn enemy troops, and the building will quickly burn down. Gives enemy troops an opportunity to come out and surrender.
Modern Molotov Cocktail- Fill a container with one part liquid laundry detergent and two parts gasoline (or similar fuel). Instant napalm and excellent for burning stubborn enemy out of their hiding places.
Troops have also improvised other explosive concoctions using left over Iraqi munitions, a practice that was very common during last November's battle for Fallujah.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/26/2005 4:39:03 PM ||
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love the field-experience cynicism. House guest? LOL
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/26/2005 18:24 Comments ||
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#2
It cheers me up to see the lads showing some initiative. Though I suspect that there is far more to this story than is being told. That being because combat units are issued all sorts of things for one purpose that can be re-used in new and novel ways. Counter-IEDing comes to mind--that is, if your IED doesn't blow up, you come out to check and see what's wrong, right? Wouldn't it be a shame if that stretch of the roadway was now covered by a Claymore mine?
Criminal dies in 'crossfire'
A listed criminal was killed in 'crossfire' between police and his accomplices in Sihala village in Daulatpur upazila in the early hours yesterday. Police said they arrested Touhidul Islam alias Tohir, 40, chief of notorious Tohir Bahini, from Telagandia in Daulatpur at around 8:00pm Sunday.
"Evening, Tohir. Beautiful night, isn't it? Enjoy it while you can, youse coming with us."
Tohir during interrogation at Daulatpur Police Station confessed....
Step One
..to hiding his firearms in different areas in the district.
Step Two
Following his statement, the police took him to Telagandia to seize his hidden firearms at around 3:30am yesterday, the law enforcers said.
Step Three
The police came under fire in Sihala...
Step Four
...and retaliated, they added.
Step Five
They said Tohir made an attempt to escape...
Step Six
..and was killed in crossfire.
Step Seven
His body was sent to Kushtia General Hospital for postmortem.
Step Eight - "He's dead, Jim"
Police recovered one short-gun and several rounds of ammunition from the spot.
Step Nine
Tohir, son of Mozammel Haq alias Bhuju of Telagandia, was accused of nine criminal offences including two murders.
Step Ten
The recent death has brought to 61 the number of people killed in 'crossfire' in Kushtia since June last year.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/26/2005 9:48:44 AM ||
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Soothing, like the lap of waves upon the shore.
US military investigators have cleared American soldiers of any wrongdoing over the killing of an Italian agent at a Baghdad checkpoint, an official says. Nicola Calipari was killed by US forces as he travelled in a car near Baghdad airport after securing the release of Italian hostage Giuliana Sgrena. Ms Sgrena, who had been held by Iraqi kidnappers, was hurt in the incident. The US soldiers were "not culpable" according to the US military report, which Italy has refused to endorse.
A US army official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Italian and US authorities still disagree over the speed at which the vehicle approached the checkpoint and how much communication there was between those in the car and the checkpoint guards. "The United States is ready to release the report but Italy has more questions," the official said.
Although Italy's government, led by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, has been a staunch American ally in the conflict in Iraq, the war is deeply unpopular with the Italian people. A report completely exonerating the soldiers involved in the shooting could therefore prove deeply inflammatory in Italy, and damaging to Mr Berlusconi.
The US military said the car carrying Mr Calipari was speeding as it approached the temporary checkpoint in western Baghdad. They claimed the soldiers used "hand and arm signals, flashing white lights and firing warning shots" to get the driver to stop.
However, Ms Sgrena, who had been held captive for more than a month, disputed this version of events, saying that the car had not been speeding and that there had been no warning before the troops opened fire.
The US military had also said they had no knowledge of the rescue mission, dismissing as "absurd" Ms Sgrena's suggestion that their troops may have deliberately targeted her car. Just after the incident, in an interview with Sky Italia TV, she said it was possible the soldiers had targeted her because Washington opposed the policy of negotiating with kidnappers.
"The soldiers were only complying with the standard operating procedures for those checkpoints, so therefore are not culpable to dereliction of duty [charges]," the US army official told Reuters news agency. "Everybody feels terrible about it. But given the climate and the security atmosphere, the security procedures at the checkpoint operations have to be run by the letter," he added. The soldiers involved will face no disciplinary action.
Mr Calipari was fatally shot as he threw himself over Ms Sgrena to protect her from a hail of bullets. As a result of his action Mr Calipari became a national hero and Italy's leaders joined hundreds of fellow citizens at his funeral.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/26/2005 8:59:10 AM ||
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Giuliana Sgrena was interviewed on CBS a week and a half ago and stuck to her claime they were given no warnings and they were traveling at a slow rate of speed. The interviewer did not ask about all the different versions of her stories and left the viewer with the impression the Army was covering up for the soldiers. I only watched to see how CBS would handle it and they put the worst light possible on the soldiers involved. Mr Calipari was fatally shot as he threw himself over Ms Sgrena to protect her from a hail of bullets. Still claiming a lot of shooting, I see. All the pictures I've seen show only a minimal ammount of damage to the car from bullets with only about 4 or 5 bullet holes visible. I guess that qualifies as a "hail". At least the soldiers involved were cleared, as they should have been.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
04/26/2005 11:10 Comments ||
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#2
After paying a $10 million ransom (which is coming back to hurt Iraqis and Americans, and others) I say FOAD to this Italian terrorist sympathizer.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/26/2005 11:29 Comments ||
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#3
Sgrena-Poster child advocate for the Sale of Human Beings. Human Trafficking Politician extraordinaire. That'll land her in the UN Hall of Fame for sure.
CALCUTTA - A court convicted Tuesday an Indian gangster, with links to Islamic extremists, of masterminding a 2002 attack on a US cultural center in the eastern city of Calcutta, which left five policemen dead.
Is 'gangster' the new AFP word for 'terrorist'?
Calcutta city court judge Basudev Mazumdar found Aftab Ansari and six other men guilty of "waging war" against India and murder in the January 22, 2002, attack when the five policemen died and 20 other people were wounded. No Americans or other foreigners were hurt in the assault in which two motorcyclists of doom sprayed gunfire outside the American Center.
Ansari, who faces a sentence of life imprisonment or death, was set to be sentenced Wednesday in the closed door trial. "Ansari was absolutely quiet when the judge convicted him and his associates," defence lawyer Syed Sahid Imam told reporters. He said Ansari would appeal the verdict. Indian police have said Ansari was also wanted over "a series of anti-national, terrorist and heinous crimes" believed to include the smuggling of arms and explosives into India from Pakistan and the kidnapping of businessmen. Indian officials have also linked Ansari with Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, the London School of Economics-educated British national sentenced to death for the 2002 killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
Funnny how it all ties together, eh?
This article starring:
AFTAB ANSARI
al-Qaeda
AHMED OMAR SAID SHEIKH
al-Qaeda
Calcutta city court judge Basudev Mazumdar
Daniel Pearl
defence lawyer Syed Sahid Imam
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/26/2005 8:41:06 AM ||
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He is actually a gangster. After anti-Muslim riots in India around 1993 the Indian Underworld was split along sectarian lines, with many Muslim gangsters and Godfathers forming ties with the ISI, who used them to carry out terrorist attacks in Bombay that killed 250 people.
Later on, some Hindu gangsters were utilised by India's RAW to assasinate the Pakistanis underworld assets, and vice versa.
Dawood Ibrahim is the most famous example of a mafioso turned terrorist.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
04/26/2005 9:21 Comments ||
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Given the connection, and in fact cross-fertilization, recently documented between criminal gangs and al Quaeda, among others, I think the proper term should be gangster-terrorist (or, equally acceptable to me at least, terrorist-gangster).
Bombay's Dirty Harry counts 103 kills in war on gangsters
Broad-shouldered and six-feet (1.83-metres) tall, Pradeep Sharma keeps a .38-calibre quick-action revolver within easy reach as he drives through the slums and bylanes of this seaside city in a jeep with dark-tinted windows. An AK-47 lurks in a squash bag on the back seat.
Zig-zagging through the bustling financial and entertainment capital for possible wanted gangsters -- he eyes a street toughie outside a teashop and notes the motorcycle that just pulled up next to him. In this game, no one is to be trusted.
Sharma, 42, is one of the "famous five" cops selected 15 years ago to put an end to daylight shootouts and street killings of businessmen and film dons.
Their brief was simple: fight fire with fire.
Sharma claims to have personally killed 103 gangsters of the total 350 police say have been gunned down in the past 10 years by the entire team. He says he and his colleagues swoop down the backstreets and dark alleys, chase gangsters and gun them down if they refuse to surrender.
Their critics say the gangsters are killed in cold-blood -- often driven to a lonely spot outside the city, told to run and then shot. Human rights activists breathe down their necks, saying that because these Dirty Harrys shoot first and ask questions later, they're no better than the gangsters they kill.
But with unblinking conviction, Sharma denies any of his 103 hits were in cold-blood.
"They fired at me. I fired in self-defence. They had weapons. Obviously they were not going to a temple," he says.
Sharma's reward for being an "encounter specialist", a term used for the bunch of quick-draw cops, is a life of constant danger, including for his family. "I am like a World Cup for the mafia gangs. Each one of them wants me dead," Sharma says while suddenly turning the wrong up a one-way street on a muggy spring afternoon.
"I have to do this -- enter no-entry zones, one-way streets, jump red lights to dodge them. They could be waiting anywhere. But they can never get me," he says, scanning the streets for that lone gunman who could make his day.
Sharma's exploits are fodder for Bollywood movies along the lines of Clint Eastwood's "Dirty Harry".
"How quick are you with it?" I ask, pointing to the gun tucked under his thigh. In a flash he has pulled out the weapon and is aiming into the street through the windscreen.
"This quick!" Sharma boasts in true cowboy style. "It's a good revolver. It doesn't have a locking mechanism -- always loaded, always ready for action."
-- 'The gangs of Bombay are now on the run' --
Bombay is India's sprawling lifestyle mecca where models sashay down the ramp and stars flit in and out of five-star hotels while the middle class jostles for space in cluttered squalor and the teeming poor sweat it out in dark, labyrinthine slums that spread for miles.
The city's criminal gangs deal in a shadowy world of slush money and fight for control over gaudily-lit bars featuring sari-clad girls with drooping cleavages who dance to the latest Bollywood tunes while men shower them with wads of rupee notes.
What began as mugging by thugs and gambling rackets in the 1960s soon swelled into a full-blown Mob as thousands of poor Indians began migrating to the city in their quest for quick fortunes.
When disappointed, they took to guns -- to snatch what they could not earn.
Today, 14 million people fight for space in its narrow streets, a maze of open drainage-lined ghettos, bursting local trains and towering skyscrapers.
The leading gang in the city is run by Dawood Ibrahim, a Bombay native now believed to be in Pakistan. Declared a "global terrorist" by the United States, Dawood's "D-company" fiefdom stretches from Bombay to east Africa and southeast Asia.
Known as "Bhai" (brother), his name is said to inspire terror.
Young boys, lured to the city and gangsterism by the glitter of Bombay's films, end up as his recruits ready to kill people who refuse to pay extortion for a "supari (fee)" which in the 1990s was as low as 5,000 rupees (116 dollars) per kill.
"They would enter any office and kill a builder or a restaurant owner in broad daylight for not paying up," says S. Hussain Zaidi, a crime reporter with Mid Day, a tabloid afternoon daily newspaper.
"There was always this palpable fear of the midnight call by the mafia."
In 1997, famed music director Gulshan Kumar was gunned down for not paying extortion money.
"After the killing, they called builder Pradeep Jain and said, 'You heard the firecrackers? Next week we will get you.' And Jain was killed next week," Zaidi says.
But things were changing as Sharma and his fellow 'encounter specialists' -- Praful Bhosle, Vijay Salaskar, Ravinder Agre and Daya Naik -- got to work on their assignment to tackle the growing bands of armed criminals.
Each one of them has killed dozens of gangsters, yet the squad has never suffered any casualties.
After a decade of hot pursuit, the gangsters' guns are falling silent in Bombay as shootings have dramatically reduced from three to four a month to two to three in a year.
"The gangs of Bombay are now on the run," Sharma says with a chuckle.
-- "It's an addiction for me. I feel bored on Sundays." --
Sharma knew he was made for this job from when he first joined the police in the early 1980s.
"There was this big gangster Sarmast Khan. He was wanted in 18 to 20 cases of murder and extortion. I got a tip-off about him. I went there, put a pistol to his head and marched him two kilometres (more than a mile) through the market and threw him in the lock up," he says.
But a lack of witnesses and India's overloaded judicial system often ensured that gangsters like Khan were soon out on bail or acquitted.
Sharma, considered one of the force's top marksmen, had joined the service as a sub-inspector, above the common entry rank of constable, and was elevated quickly to the elite mob squad.
His wife, Swikriti, was shocked out of her wits when Sharma first killed a man in 1990. "But now I have got used to it and feel proud of him," she says at their home, a modest flat on the top floor of a multistorey building guarded by four plain-clothed policemen and fitted with closed-circuit TV cameras.
"Our two daughters love him. They write poems about him," she says proudly showing a file of verse, two of which were titled "Life" and "Fear to Die".
But Sharma's school-going girls cannot play in the park or ride a bicycle around the neighborhood. And the family rarely goes on a vacation.
And for Sharma, Sunday's are the most boring days of the week.
"At any given time, I have 10 to 12 'files' of hardened criminals open in my mind. It's an addiction. I feel bored on Sundays because the family keeps me at home," Sharma says.
He always aims to kill.
"The top half of the body," he says in reply to a question over where he aims when confronting a suspected gangster. "Normally they die on the spot or on way to the hospital. They look shocked when hit ... I don't like talking about all this ... I am a Brahmin," he says, referring to his caste. The Brahmins are considered a Hindu priestly caste, known for conducting prayers in temples.
On "encounter" days, Sharma says he doesn't get home until 1.00 am.
He first soaks his sometimes bloodstained clothes in a bucket of water. Then he has a bath and climbs into bed.
"Sleep is no problem. I get so tired," he says.
-- 'All encounters are stage-managed, extra-judicial killings' --
For decades, Majid Menon has been climbing down the creaking wooden steps of his office in a dilapidated building, and walking to the nearby court in his quest for justice.
In 1998, he represented the family of a peanut vendor, Javed Fawda, who was picked up by police and shot dead in an "encounter". In that case Memon got the court to rebuke the police who put a brake on the killings.
Today, Memon is seeking justice for the "mysterious disappearance or death of accused Khwaja Yunus" and thinks Sharma's partner Praful Bhosle knows what happened.
"A 27-year-old civil engineer Yunus, was picked up overnight and blamed for the Ghatkopar blasts," said Memon, referring to a 2002 explosion in a bus that killed four people and injured 32.
According to the police, Yunus, who has studied in Germany and had a job in Dubai, escaped when he was being taken for interrogation on January 6, 2003.
But co-accused Abdul Mateen says that at 1:30 am on January 6, he saw an officer beating Yunus with a belt in the Ghatkopar police station.
According to Mateen, Yunus vomited blood and was never heard of again.
On the basis of Mateen's complaint, Bhosle and three others were arrested and their trial is now going on in a dingy courtroom under whirring ceiling fans.
"All encounters are stage-managed and are extra-judicial killings with the artificial face of sudden encounters. They have no place in a civil society governed by the rule of law," Memon says.
Civil rights activist Yogesh Kamdar says that between 1996 and 1999, an average of 100 encounters took place every year.
"And if you see the police reports of the encounters, they are like xerox copies. They say we went to nab the criminal; asked him to surrender but he showered bullets on them from his AK-47; they fired in self-defence and he was killed," Kamdar says.
"A hail of bullets and not a single injury to anyone, not a single car windscreen smashed?" the activist asks.
For Sharma, such criticism easily washes off -- there is no evidence against him, there are no witnesses. His biggest defence is his own life on the edge.
"Do you think we are fond of killing and putting our own lives at stake?" he asks.
Posted by: john ||
04/26/2005 18:26 Comments ||
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#4
Perfect. Thx, john!
Is there a link to this? There's someone I'd like to tease (and outrage) with it, heh.
#8
All the bad guys already know what he looks like.
Also, I suspect that someone who has personally shot dead 100 criminals acquires a certain bravado.
Posted by: john ||
04/26/2005 19:08 Comments ||
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#9
In the bravado category, perhaps they might make use (as opposed to the Holyweird myths) of Death Cards. It depends upon the society whether there is actually any psychological value.
COUNTERCOLUMN: All Your Bias Are Belong to Us
Monday, April 25, 2005
The Marines of Company E
The Marines of Company E (the New York Times doesn't bother to tell us the parent unit, for some reason, but I want to say it was the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines...ah, yes, there it is on page 3) took over Combat Outpost, on the eastern edge of Ramadi, from the 1st Bn, 124th Infantry regiment's Charlie company, plussed up with a platoon (+) from my own Headquarters company.
I was a frequent visitor, and often spent a day or two there to visit HHC soldiers and get away from the flagpole across town.
The Marines of 2/4 took over central Ramadi from us, after a brief relief in place operation and a right-seat/left-seat ride process that was probably too short, in retrospect. The Marines were just trickling into town as we were packing up to leave, and we even encountered the 2/4's stay-behind elements in Kuwait frantically trying to scavenge anything useful they could find - especially armor.
Now the Marines are sounding off about equipment problems in the New York Times.
It doesn't surprise me that the Times is covering the story. And it deserves to be covered. But where was the Times when Brian Chontosh won his Navy Cross? MIA, that's where! And the Times has been MIA on a lot of other stories, too:
Aside from the inexplicable omission of the unit designation until three quarters of the way into a lenghty article (WTF, guys???), the Times does a reasonable job here, for a layman's effort, in profiling the challenges of Company E. The leadership challenges, though, are by far the more compelling and interesting story to me, rather than the equipment shortage story.
Believe me, the Marines rolled into Iraq far better equipped than we did. We hit the ground in Iraq with a whole headquarters company full of troops and exactly zero (0) vehicles. What's more, the vehicles we didn't have yet had canvas doors on them. Armor? What armor? We still had the old Viet Nam era soft flak vests, not the kevlar vests -- and just two desert camoflage uniforms per man (the active duty standard issue was four). Actually, the active army guys were pretty incredulous that we had no kevlar vests. Some notes about the New York Times article:
Read the rest at the link. Bias in the NYT? They don't begin to tell the whole story.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
04/26/2005 8:13:49 AM ||
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Thanks Deacon, I knew there was more to the story than what the Times reported.
#2
What the NYT story from yesterday really tells you is that the news coming of Iraq today is so positive that the NYT has to recycle stories from a year ago to make things look bad.
You just know what the NYT's lead article on April 30 is going to be: "Thirty Years After the Fall of Saigon, Eerie Similarities Exist in Iraq."
Posted by: Matt ||
04/26/2005 11:45 Comments ||
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#3
"Thirty Years After the Fall of Saigon, Eerie Similarities Exist in Iraq."
Reuters beat the NY Times to it, Matt:
Echoes of Iraq Ring Through Vietnam HO CHI MINH CITY (Reuters) - Military strategists will be debating for years the similarities and differences of the U.S. wars in Vietnam and Iraq but on the ground in Vietnam there is no argument -- Baghdad was a mistake, a big one.
From Diem Bien Phu, where Vietnamese communists also beat the French in colonial times; to My Lai, site of the Vietnam War's worst atrocity; to the tank commander who smashed down the gates of Saigon's presidential palace, there is genuine bewilderment at U.S. actions in Iraq.
"Didn't the Americans learn anything from Vietnam?" asks tour guide Pham Phu Bang, 76, who fought both the French at Diem Bien Phu and the Americans from 1966 to 1968, including taking part in the 1968 Tet offensive on then Saigon.
"Why are they in Iraq? It's the same."
Posted by: Steve ||
04/26/2005 12:44 Comments ||
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#4
Many believe Saddam lost the war and power simply because he did not have his own people on his side to stand up to the U.S. invasion as the Vietnamese did.
Yeah, but that's such a minor point so why even bring it up...
#5
Damn, Rooters is quick off the mark. The NYT is going to have to go to its fallback article: "In Blow to Rumsfeld, Marines Surrender at Wake Island."
Posted by: Matt ||
04/26/2005 13:16 Comments ||
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#6
Or alternatively: "Rumsfeld Failed To Anticipate Ardennes Offensive"
by Edward Wong
"Sources close to the beleaguered Secretary of Defense have told the Times that Mr. Rumsfeld was caught entirely unprepared for Germany's armored strike, despite having twelve full years of life experience at the time. Said one: 'Yeah, Donnie thought that Hitler was whipped, just like we all did. I dunno where he gets off being SecDef.' As morale dropped sharply, US soldiers were repeatedly heard to complain about the superior armor of the insurgent Panther and Tiger tanks. Rumsfeld, apparently, had no answer, other than an irrational confidence in eventual US 'victory'...."
Posted by: Matt ||
04/26/2005 13:40 Comments ||
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#7
"Lincoln raps Rumsfeld inability to compromise"
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/26/2005 13:51 Comments ||
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#8
to My Lai, site of the Vietnam War's worst atrocity
Bullshit. I bet you could find a thousand worse, but committed by the Communists.
Of course, to a reporter, nothing a Communist (or Islamist) does is an atrocity, right?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
04/26/2005 14:54 Comments ||
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U.S. and Afghan soldiers backed by warplanes and artillery battled suspected insurgents in clashes near the border with Pakistan, and four Paks fighters and one Afghan soldier were killed, the U.S. military said yesterday. In another incident, one Afghan soldier was killed and another was injured yesterday 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 Paks gunmen near the border with small arms and called in artillery and warplanes. One Afghan soldier and two Paks militants were killed. A second battle ensued as the insurgents tried to retreat, and two more Paks 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.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/26/2005 12:42:19 AM ||
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The evening was sultry and a cluster of Iraqis sat talking outside a neighborhood ice cream shop in western Baghdad. Then a car packed with explosives ripped through the happy scene. As police and residents rushed to help, a second suicide bomber plowed into the chaos.
The attack in Baghdad's Shiite-dominated western al-Shoulah neighborhood was one of two carefully coordinated bombings in Iraq on Sunday that killed at least 21 people, police said. In total, militant violence over the weekend took at least 38 lives, including those of three Americans.
The attacks underscored concerns that continued delays in forming a new government have reinvigorated the insurgency. But after months of bickering, lawmakers said Sunday the country's major Shiite bloc had decided to exclude interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi from negotiations. They said a new cabinet could be announced as early as Monday.
If the forecast proves true, and many similar promises have failed to materialize in past week, Prime Minister-designate Ibrahim al-Jaafari would have broken the political deadlock by shunning further talks with Allawi, the secular Shiite politician who had served as prime minister as the country prepared for elections Jan. 30.
In other developments:
# In Pakistan, a government spokesman said a Pakistan embassy official who was kidnapped in Iraq two weeks ago was freed Sunday. Malik Mohammed Javed was abducted April 9 after he left his residence in Baghdad to attend prayers at a mosque.
# U.S. forces arrested four more suspects in Thursday's downing of a civilian helicopter north of Baghdad, bringing the number apprehended so far to 10, the military said Sunday. The swift arrests, the military says, are a sign that ordinary Iraqis are getting sick of violence, and are willing to point fingers, reports CBS News Correspondent Lee Cowan.
# The army's inspector-general has cleared four of five top officers of responsibility for the abuses at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison. Human Rights Watch issued a report calling for a criminal investigation.
# A U.S. woman who campaigned for compensation for the innocent victims of the war in Iraq was laid to rest in Lakeport, Calif., on Saturday. Sean Penn called her a hero. However, the future of an Iraqi orphan who she was trying to secure medical care for remains unclear.
Members of Allawi's Iraqi List, which controls 40 seats in the National Assembly, said his party had not been officially informed that it is being shut out of the government. 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 AP 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.
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 Sunday. 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 ||
04/26/2005 12:44:52 AM ||
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#1
While the media concentrates on bombings against civilians they don't achieve anything except to antagonise the population against the bombers.
US forces recently came close to capturing Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq and had found his laptop computer and seized some of his money, America's ABC television reported today.
The most wanted man in Iraq just eluded capture on February 20 as he headed to a meeting in the western city of Ramadi, ABC News quoted a senior US military official as saying. Zarqawi's driver and a bodyguard were detained in the operation.
The US set up Taskforce 626 last year to track Zarqawi, who has been accused of masterminding scores of attacks in Iraq. Following a tip-off from inside the Zarqawi network about the Ramadi meeting, members of the taskforce had troops in place and checkpoints around the city, as well as Predator drones in the air monitoring the region, the report said.
The senior military official said that just before the meeting troops pulled a car over as it approached a checkpoint and at the same time a pickup truck about 1km behind quickly turned in the opposite direction. The US believed the militant leader was in the truck, he said. "Zarqawi always has someone check the waters," the official was quoted as saying.
US teams began a chase, but when the truck was pulled over Zarqawi was not inside.
Trying to take him alive, were they?
The senior military official said they had since learned that Zarqawi jumped out when the vehicle passed beneath a bridge and hid there before running to a safe house in Ramadi.
The official said Zarqawi's computer and 80,000 euros ($134,000) were found inside.He described the find as "a seminal event". The computer had "a very big hard drive", the official said, and recent pictures of Zarqawi.
The ABC said Lieutenant General John Vines, the US commander responsible for daily military operations in Iraq, would not provide detail of the escape in a recent interview, but that he did say the Zarqawi network had been damaged. "We believe he is resilient," Lt-Gen Vines said. "He is incredibly evil and we can't forget that. So he is dangerous still, but he is on the run."
The official said the owner of the safe house Zarqawi went to had also been arrested.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/26/2005 12:26:29 AM ||
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#1
Dang! OTOH, in some ways the laptop is more important than the man. like with saddam, if we can cut the command links, it will only be a matter of time.
Posted by: N Guard ||
04/26/2005 5:31 Comments ||
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#2
..Imagine this for just one moment.
You cannot sleep in one place for more than one night - and maybe not even for an entire night.
You cannot fully trust ANYONE.
You cannot be sure your most privleged communications are not being listened to.
You cannot be sure that the black dot that swept across the sky is a bird - or an RPV.
You cannot be sure that the cries down the street are those of children playing or merchants haggling - or of your sentries losing their last battle.
Your dreams are filled with hatred and murder - and fear that the next thing you see will be the grim face of a boy who once surfed in California, or skateboarded in Chicago, or walked the Hood in Cleveland - or put on his firefighter father's helmet in New York.
And worst of all, WORST of all - the words of your own malignant God echo in your head every moment:
"Wheresoever you may be Death will overtake you...
Even if you are in a lofty tower..."
That is the life of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi right now.
It serves the son of a bitch right.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
04/26/2005 7:57 Comments ||
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#4
The Zarqawi terrorist network has, notwithstanding the pressure and notwithstanding the problems, been actively sponsoring or participating in dozens of attacks per week.
It may well be that Zarqawi may no longer be the big cheese of the terrorist network he nominally heads.
#5
The computer had "a very big hard drive", the official said, and recent pictures of Zarqawi...
nude.
Actually, recent pictures are a major coup. Gonna be hard for him to hide his face.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
04/26/2005 9:17 Comments ||
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#6
If that Zarqawi son of a bitch is caught alive, whoever nabs him should beat the guy senseless, just for good measure. If AI and HRW are smart, they wouldn't make a sound over it.
#8
Hmmm. Interesting that his cash was in Euros. Wouldn't it make more sense to have dollars? Or did he just come from a meeting with his paymasters? And which country that uses euros as currency has something to gain from making life difficult for Americans?
Posted by: Jonathan ||
04/26/2005 11:09 Comments ||
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#9
I think Greenspans concerns regarding the sliding US dollar have unnerved the Zman to convert his 401K to Euros. Afterall, Social Security reform is decades off for Jordonians "working abroad". His financial planner has probably pointed out that even though he is in his 40's, his "USMC adjusted" actuarial time horizon is not very long...
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/26/2005 11:30 Comments ||
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#11
Don't capture him. Kill him. If captured he becomes someone the other terrorists can berter for, as in I think we would see a large increase in kidnapped civilians they would "trade" for Zarqawi.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
04/26/2005 11:48 Comments ||
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#14
What Seafarious said. Oil's traded in dollars, not euros. Iraq's reserve currency is dollars. I could be mistaken but I'd be very surprised if most of Iraq's hard-currency commerce is conducted in euros rather than dollars. Certainly Iraqi hit men would prefer to be paid in dollars, which need not be exchanged, thus avoiding public exposure and the authorities' suspicion.
Thank you for your interest in investing for your retirement with the Bank of Hades. We have set forth below several hypothetical calculations to assist you in evaluating your alternatives. In Case No. 1, we have assumed that a Marine sniper blows your head clean off with a 50-caliber round. In Case No. 2, we have assumed that vengeful Shiites find you first. In Case No. 3, we have assumed that you are one very lucky gomer..."
Posted by: Matt ||
04/26/2005 14:28 Comments ||
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#18
Actually, first extract every bit of useful knowledge by whatever means necessary. Then load him into a decompression chamber, ramp him up to several atmospheres gradually. Then rapid decompression sufficent to render eyes and eardrums explosively decompressed - hence deaf and blind and probably brain damaged. Then dump the gibbering idiot on the streets of Bagdad to beg for scraps among the populace for the rest of his days.
Algerian Islamic militants killed two civilians and two guards in separate attacks west of the capital Algiers, newspapers reported on Monday. A unit of 25 rebels of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) shot dead two family members on Saturday night in a village in Ain Defla province, 120 km (75 miles) west of Algiers, reported newspaper Liberte citing unnamed sources. Hours earlier, two communal guards were killed and four others wounded in the same province, newspaper El Khabar said. It was not immediately clear whether the al Qaeda-aligned GSPC was behind this attack as well.
About 40 civilians and security forces members have been killed over the past four weeks as rebels step up a campaign to disrupt an amnesty planned for militants and security forces later this year aimed at ending Algeria's long-running conflict. No group claimed responsibility for the latest attacks and authorities were not immediately available for comment.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/26/2005 1:03:57 AM ||
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The mayor of a small town in eastern Algeria has been shot dead by Islamic militants, a security source said on Sunday, in the latest violence to hamper efforts to end a long-running conflict. The mayor of Eraguen near the city of Jijel, some 350 km (220 miles) east of the capital Algiers, was killed on Saturday, said a security source who declined to be named. A soldier was wounded in the ambush.
Two civilians died on Friday when a home-made bomb planted by militants exploded in a mountainous area near Bir El Ater in the Tebessa province, some 630 km east of Algiers, newspaper Liberte, citing sources, said on Sunday. No group claimed responsibility for the two attacks and authorities were not available for comment.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/26/2005 1:04:52 AM ||
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Algerian authorities have arrested four Tunisians suspected of planning to join an underground Algerian Islamic militant group with ties to al Qaeda, a security source said on Monday. The source, who declined to be named, said the Tunisians were arrested on the outskirts of Algiers on Saturday and were under interrogation. He declined to give further details.
The arrests came a week after six Tunisians, also suspected of planning to join the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), were detained in a villa in the eastern city Annaba, according to security sources. The interior ministry has not commented on the arrests.
Analysts say the recent arrival of foreign fighters is a sign the GSPC, whose leadership has pledged allegiance to al Qaeda, is finding it hard to recruit locally after most of its top members died in battle or were arrested over the past year.
Foreigners have tended not to participate in a holy war or "jihad" against Algerian authorities, which began in 1992 when the army cancelled legislative elections a hardline Muslim party was poised to win. Only recently have Algerian militant groups begun supporting international jihad causes. "The infiltration of Tunisian rebels is a concern although we believe the authorities have a firm grip over the terrorism situation in Algeria despite sporadic violence," said a Western diplomat, who declined to be named. "We don't yet know if these are big fish terrorists."
Newspaper El Khabar on Monday quoted security sources as saying that the four Tunisians in their 20s were detained in a house in Baraki, a district on the outskirts of Algiers, after crossing the border. The house owner was also arrested.
"Mahmoud! Warm up the D-9!"
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/26/2005 1:03:10 AM ||
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Algerian security forces arrested 24 terror suspects and the army had surrounded up 20 Islamic gunmen in the mountains, it was reported Monday.
Security forces in Algiers arrested four Tunisians who allegedly planned to join the Islamic fundamentalist Salafi Group for Daawa and Fighting, which is largely responsible for terrorist activities in Algeria, the newspaper al-Khabar reported. "The Tunisian terrorists were uncovered after they were betrayed by an Islamic gunman who was in charge of transporting them to one of the Salafi group's hideouts in remote mountains," a source told the newspaper.
A security source told the newspaper police captured 20 gunmen in Arbaa, south of Algiers.
Also Monday, the French-language daily L'Expression said army troops have surrounded 20 gunmen in the mountainous Arbaa region, 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Algiers. The gunmen are among the remnants of the Armed Islamic Group, whose members and chiefs have mostly surrendered.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/26/2005 3:08:50 AM ||
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I've redone the "All Articles" (PHP) page to make it a little more functional. We've had lockups two nights in a row, at 1.30 in the morning. I'm hoping I found the cause for that, but it's just as likely it was something else. So trying rantburg.com/index.php may give you what's up, even though comments may not work right on it for the next few days. As I get time, I'm going to switch a lot more of the site to PHP routines.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/26/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#2
It was the debugging that drove me to my end-user status. But my computer jockey siblings tell me that's the fun part... do try not to have too much fun! ;-)
#3
I've had trouble with both opening comments and Rantburg(cannot display...)for the last couple of days,off and on.Would this be part of what your talking about?
#8
RC: Mandrake?! It's a Frog distribution! Of course it's flaky. Get SuSE Professional 9.x. The Germans know how to assemble cars and Linux distributions.
Posted by: Jonathan ||
04/26/2005 10:45 Comments ||
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#14
Mandrake?! It's a Frog distribution! Of course it's flaky. Get SuSE Professional 9.x. The Germans know how to assemble cars and Linux distributions.
Hmmm... You can't imagine how tempted I am. I had a server that went, oh, a YEAR without problems. Then I wanted to upgrade to use some new software. I looked around, and liked what I heard about Mandrake's package management.
Install Mandrake. System shuts down, seemingly at random, about twice a week.
Hardware? The machine is a couple years old, and is a cheap box never meant to run 24/7.
Build a new machine. Transplant drives from old machine into new one.
Crashes continue. Best uptime is a week and a half.
Tonight I'm going to (finally) put the monitor back on that machine to see what the console says after the crash. If that doesn't give me any clues, then SuSE will be on its way!
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
04/26/2005 14:51 Comments ||
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#15
Mandrake for a server? Ouch, never tried it but I have been running the Desktop Mandrake since 2000. I can understand your pain.
All I can say is Debian is great. I have a second system running Debian testing and it's a fine system.
Fred is locked in with all the data he has, so swapping the OS is not an option. PHP on Apache on a Windows server is a good solution. But you still have a learning curve. Fred you are braver than I.
Robert I have a friend who has a Mandrake server up that has this uptime
[root@bento root]# uptime
13:07:03 up 413 days, 31 min, 1 user, load average: 0.00, 0.00, 0.00
[root@bento root]# cat /etc/mandrake-release Mandrake Linux release 9.2 (FiveStar) for i586
[root@bento root]#
It's underlight use. For internal development. No "live" stuff. They run Mandrake facing the real world to.
I say use the tool that works. I have no bias about OSes or Distros. I just have preferences. If someone shows me a better way I'll use it. Mandrake has it's own quirks and has heavy customisation. That makes it a poor choice for some uses unless you are hip to that, have time for the learning curve if you are coming from another distro. It can lead to hair loss due to stress and hands full of hair. I am a member of the "Mandriva Club" since the name change from Mandrake. I have a love hate relationship with it.
#16
When I first started using PHP it was a pain in the nether regions. I've been using ASP for six or seven years -- it's what my customers use. I've been reaching for PHP more often lately, as I get used to it.
But my Linux box sits neglected in my office, even though IIS is demonstrably a pain. I'm wondering what the uptime difference is going to be in an all-Apache environment.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/26/2005 15:58 Comments ||
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#17
SPOD -- I suspect the problem is an interation between my hardware and Mandrake, not Mandrake itself. I haven't recompiled the kernel, so who knows what's in it.
The only requirements I have for a distribution now are "will it stay running" and "can I keep my /home the way it is".
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
04/26/2005 16:15 Comments ||
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#18
RC, if you email your HW and config specs, maybe I can help. However, running MDK as a server is not that brightest an idea. I run RH, or FreeBSD on my servers, only. If you can find another cheapo box, just small hd and cdrom to install...you don't need a monitor hookup after that, I would recommend Engarde. They have a 'community' version that is free and it is very stable (you just have to tweak the config a bit, it is very anal, err... secure).
#20
I'm hoping that's the case. I guess I'll find out about the uptime for ActiveHTML. I have no idea how it'll behave under load, but to date it's the only alternative I have.
As it turns out, the only pages I have to rewrite are Rantburg -- it doesn't do well with include files that aren't in the same directory. All the other stuff on the server either doesn't use includes or they're local.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/26/2005 20:11 Comments ||
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#21
Never used ActiveHTML. I use ssi and that works for any path from web root. In Perl I have a small lib to slurp ssi includes and they can be on any path provided that the privileges are set. Yup, I am a Perl guy, as god intended, although PHP is fine with me too.
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.
An explosive device blew up on Monday at the Economy Ministry in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, killing one person and injuring another three. The Kuwaiti news agency Kuna reported that the attackers fled the scene in a vehicle immediately after the explosion. Police officers gave chase, but failed to capture the militants. Eyewitnesses say they saw a vehicle with two people on board drive up to the ministry building and one of them then threw a hand grenade out of the window.
Lawyers for 31 Omani Islamists accused of membership in a banned organization and plotting to overthrow the government pleaded their clients' innocence as their trial resumed Monday. Three lawyers defending 12 of the group said they had merely sought to promote the teachings of the sultanate's majority Ibadi sect in the face of "external currents." They said their clients' possession of weapons was in keeping with Omani norms and that the worst they can be accused of is holding firearms without a license.
Army troops retook a southern Colombian town which had been surrounded by Marxist rebels for nine days in one of the strongest challenges yet to the government's security policy. Soldiers in light tanks drove out of green surrounding mountains into Toribio in Cauca province to end a battle which began when rebels bombarded the town with home-made mortar shells on April 14, killing three police officers and a boy. Three soldiers were killed pushing back the rebels from around Toribio. But it was more the time the army needed than the casualty list which raised questions about the success of President Alvaro Uribe's military strategy to end a four-decade-old war. The army said it killed about 16 members of the 
A prominent Islamic scholar was convicted Tuesday of 10 counts alleging he encouraged followers in the days after the Sept. 11 attacks to join the Taliban and fight U.S. troops. Jurors reached their verdict in their seventh day of deliberations in the trial of 
An accused heroin kingpin has been indicted and arrested in a massive narcotics conspiracy involving Afghanistan's former Taliban regime, U.S. Attorney David N. Kelley said Monday. The U.S. indictment alleges that 
An Army officer and an enlisted man were killed on Monday in Sulu Island when the military truck they were riding hit a land mine, causing it to explode. Eight other soldiers were wounded. All soldiers belong to the 53rd Infantry Battalion, according to Major General Gabriel Habacon, 1st Tabak Division commander. Habacon said the soldiers were traveling from Jolo to the Abu Sayyaf's Karawan compound when the truck hit the land mine somewhere between Maimbung and Indanan towns around 11 a.m. Monday. The truck driver, a private first class, was instantly killed. The Army officer, a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class 2004, died on the way to the hospital. The Inquirer is withholding their names pending military notification of their families. The military suspects the Abu Sayyaf planted the land mine.
As the head of Syrian intelligence in Lebanon packed to leave with his country's remaining troops Monday night, Israel expressed hope the withdrawal would pave the way to peace with Beirut. "We hope such withdrawal will open the path to peace with Lebanon with whom we have no territorial conflict," said Foreign Minister 
Police said they arrested Touhidul Islam alias Tohir, 40, chief of notorious Tohir Bahini, from Telagandia in Daulatpur at around 8:00pm Sunday. 
CALCUTTA - A court convicted Tuesday an Indian gangster, with links to Islamic extremists, of masterminding a 2002 attack on a US cultural center in the eastern city of Calcutta, which left five policemen dead.
U.S. and Afghan soldiers backed by warplanes and artillery battled suspected insurgents in clashes near the border with Pakistan, and four 
Algerian Islamic militants killed two civilians and two guards in separate attacks west of the capital Algiers, newspapers reported on Monday. A unit of 25 rebels of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) shot dead two family members on Saturday night in a village in Ain Defla province, 120 km (75 miles) west of Algiers, reported newspaper Liberte citing unnamed sources. Hours earlier, two communal guards were killed and four others wounded in the same province, newspaper El Khabar said. It was not immediately clear whether the al Qaeda-aligned GSPC was behind this attack as well.
The mayor of a small town in eastern Algeria has been shot dead by Islamic militants, a security source said on Sunday, in the latest violence to hamper efforts to end a long-running conflict. The mayor of Eraguen near the city of Jijel, some 350 km (220 miles) east of the capital Algiers, was killed on Saturday, said a security source who declined to be named. A soldier was wounded in the ambush.
Algerian authorities have arrested four Tunisians suspected of planning to join an underground Algerian Islamic militant group with ties to al Qaeda, a security source said on Monday. The source, who declined to be named, said the Tunisians were arrested on the outskirts of Algiers on Saturday and were under interrogation. He declined to give further details.
Algerian security forces arrested 24 terror suspects and the army had surrounded up 20 Islamic gunmen in the mountains, it was reported Monday.
I've redone the "All Articles" (PHP) page to make it a little more functional. We've had lockups two nights in a row, at 1.30 in the morning. I'm hoping I found the cause for that, but it's just as likely it was something else. So trying 
