As Nato begins its biggest offensive in the country since 2001, two Times journalists report from a risky mission into the insurgents heartland in lawless Helmand province. The Royal Marines of J Company, 42 Commando, sometimes sat down with local Pashtuns and sometimes skirmished. Then they fought them in pitched battle.
[EFL: Long article]
Posted by: Howard UK ||
03/07/2007 03:44 ||
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At least three people were killed and 20 others were injured when violence broke out between tribesmen from the Al-Awadh of Al-Baydha governorate and tribesmen from the Sanhan tribe in Bait Zabatan on the outskirts of Sanaa city last Thursday, March 1. The fighting reportedly began as tribesmen from Al-Awadh set up barracks on the mountain of Ayban, the highest mountain to the west of Sanaa, above the Bait Zabatan area, after the mediation between them and the tribes of Sanhan failed to solve a land dispute between them.
Much controversy has been swirling as to the exact details of the dispute and the ensuing violence. While both sides agree that the cause of the dispute was a disagreement over property, each side has been telling a different story about the killing of Taha al-Awadhi, as well as about his age. The Al-Awadh tribesmen alleged that Taha, 14, was killed when some guards of Taha al-Musali, an influential sheikh from Sanhan, tried to kidnap the boy near his house in Sanaa. They said that when the guards of al-Musali tried to kidnap Taha, he managed to pull a dagger from one of them to defend himself.
His brother then reported to their father that some tribesmen from Sanhan were trying to kidnap Taha. When the father arrived to rescue his son, the guards of al-Musali killed the kid and fired at his father, severely injuring his legs. They also alleged that the dispute was about a piece of property that is owned by Sheikh al-Awadhi, and that Taha al-Musali forged a document to claim that this property was his own. Attempts were made at mediation. An arbitration committee composed of sheikhs from both sides asked the tribesmen to bring their documentations and deposits of YR 5 million each, to be awarded to the side that proved their case was correct.
But when al-Musali realized that the arbitration would not be in his favor, he resorted to kidnapping Taha al-Awadhi to pressure his father, said the al-Awadhi. Sources from the Sanhan tribe totally denied these allegations. They claimed that Taha al-Awadhi was not a kid, but an adult who took part in the fights. They also said that some militants from the al-Awadh tribe had tried to kidnap al-Musali from a steam bath in Sanaa. A source from the Sanhan tribe said that a number of militants, including al-Awadhi, kept following Taha al-Musali via his cell phone, until they found him in the steam bath.
They attempted to take him from the bath, but al-Musalis guards were in a car outside and followed the men inside. Fire was exchanged outside the bath, and al-Musali was injured. He has been hospitalized, suffering from three bullets in his shoulders and back. The source did not deny that Taha al-Awadhi was killed and his father injured, but he totally denied the story of the attempt to kidnap Taha.
The source also said that the property in question was owned by Sheikh al-Musali, who had a conflict with another person from his tribe about this property. He added that the rival of al-Musali went to al-Awadh, and pledged to give them half of the property if they could snatch it from al-Musali. Al-Awadhi, said the source, was well known for interfering in the disputes over properties in different parts of Sanaa, and his tribesmen usually are paid to fight on behalf others to snatch properties from others by force.
Sanhan sources agreed that both sides had accepted arbitration composed of sheikhs from both sides to solve the problem, and that both sides brought their documentations to the arbitration committee before the violence erupted. However, they alleged that when al-Awadhi realized that the case would not be resolved his favor, he resorted to kidnapping Shikh al-Musali.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/07/2007 00:00 ||
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Law Adviser Mainul Hosein yesterday said the government will not allow the six condemned JMB militants to speak to the media since there is no instance of allowing any convict to do so. Hunt is on for arresting those who patronised the militants and they will also be brought to book, Mainul told newsmen at the Secretariat.
The six top militants might be executed in the first week of April.
The six top militants including Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) chief Abdur Rahman and his second-in-command Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai might be executed in the first week of April. Now there is no obstacle to the execution of the militants as the president rejected their mercy petitions on Sunday. According to jail code, if the president rejects clemency prayers by the condemned, the jail authorities are to reschedule the date of execution within 21-28 days from the date of receipt of the copy of his decision.
Sources said the jail authorities have beefed up security at different jails where the militants are confined. Of the seven militants sentenced to death for killing two Jhalakathi judges in November 2005, Abdur Rahman, Bangla Bhai and Iftekhar Mamun are in Kashimpur jail in Gazipur, Ataur Rahman Sunny and Abdul Awal in Dhaka Central Jail and Khaled Saifullah in Rangpur jail. Another condemned militant is absconding.
This article starring:
ABDUL AWAL
Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh
ABDUR RAHMAN
Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh
ATAUR RAHMAN SUNNY
Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh
BANGLA BHAI
Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh
IFTEKHAR MAMUN
Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh
Law Adviser Mainul Hosein
SIDIQUL ISLAM
Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh
Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh
Posted by: Fred ||
03/07/2007 00:00 ||
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A man demonstrating against cartoons of the Islamic Prophet Mohammed has been found guilty of soliciting to murder. Abdul Muhid was convicted on two counts at the Old Bailey.
Muhid, from Whitechapel, east London, led the crowd in chanting "bomb, bomb the UK" and produced placards with slogans, the court heard. Said to be one of the organisers of the protest in central London on 3 February 2006, halal meat inspector Muhid had denied the charges. Muhid, 24, was one of hundreds of people who marched from Regent's Park mosque to the Danish embassy in Knightsbridge. It was one of many demonstrations across Europe and the Middle East against cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, which were first published in Denmark.
The court heard that at the London protest the slogans included "annihilate those who insult Islam", "fantastic four are on their way" and "3/11 is on its way". The latter two referred to terrorist attacks in London and Madrid, the jury heard. During the trial, David Perry QC, prosecuting, said: "The drawings of the Prophet had not appeared in any UK newspaper."
"This was supposed to be a demonstration against the publication of the drawings in the newspapers abroad. This behaviour shows what the demonstration was really about. It was an exhortation, an encouragement to terrorism."
Video footage seized from a mosque showed Muhid carrying placards into the building courtyard, the Old Bailey heard earlier. He was also seen wearing a jacket with the slogan "soldier of Allah".
Muhid was remanded in custody after the verdict
This article starring:
Abdul Muhid
Posted by: Howard UK ||
03/07/2007 09:50 ||
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#1
Nice. Keep in solitary, he's highly contagious.
Context: The police found a mini-van near one of the railway stations containing coranic tapes and explosives. This was the first clue about Islamic involvement.
Now the policeman who found the mini-van has declared uynderr oath that the mini-van was empty. In case he is not lying that would mean that someone faked an islamic clue in order to overturn the elections.
He is telling that he was pressured into giving false testimony during the investigation in order to silence contacts with ETA, that he shadowed the Tunisian (one of those who suicided a few days after the bombings) and that went to a rendez-vous with the police, that the Tunisian discussed about asking ETA to sell them explosives, that on April 3 he was brought from Almeria to Madrid in 3 hours and half (that means an average speed of 100 mph) and ordered to go to a flat where the islamists where assembled and lean what they were doing but he smelt something fishy and refused. He is persuaded that if he had gone, he would have been between the dead. After taht he told the names of the policemen who had been pressuring him.
Note: Zapatero was elected on the basis that Aznar had brought disaster on Spain and that was not involved at all. Later he had followed policy of gviving concession behind concession to ETA. People would not be happy to learn they have been tricked into voting for Zapatero and that this one has rewarded mass-murderers
President Bush said yesterday that there are "encouraging signs" that his new strategy in Iraq is working and bluntly challenged a divided Congress to provide funding for the war with no restrictions on commanders.
The president's appraisal, his first detailed assessment of the war since unveiling his new plan for Iraq on Jan. 10, was immediately attacked by congressional Democrats as a new attempt to raise false hopes about a deteriorating situation in Iraq. Advisers said Bush's comments were based on briefings from commanders on the ground and were designed to counter the argument from many Democrats on Capitol Hill that his Iraq strategy is destined to fail.
Bush said the Iraqi government has completed the deployment of three additional Iraqi army brigades to Baghdad and has lifted restrictions on U.S. forces going into certain neighborhoods in the capital. He said the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has also started delivering on promises to meet political benchmarks, such as a new law to distribute oil revenues throughout the country.
"It is too early to judge the success of this operation. . . . This strategy is going to take time," Bush told hundreds of veterans gathered at the American Legion conference in Washington. "Yet even at this early hour, there are some encouraging signs." Pretty fair, for the WaPo, so far....
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/07/2007 06:48 ||
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#1
Although Iraq will never achieve the stable, nonviolent smiley-faced democracy we could hope for (it is an Arabic Muslim country, after all), history will show that we have ALREADY turned the corner on achieving our objective of stabilizing the place to the extent that a civil war will not erupt the moment we leave.
Their government will not have a monopoly on violence but it will remain the strongest force there. The insurgency will be able to inflict harm through bombings for years yet before finally dying out but as a political force it is spent and the Sunni-Shi'ite conflict will lead to nothing worse than self-imposed residential segregation.
Expected cautious Democratic backpedalling from the antiwar Left as it becomes belatedly clear to America through the prism of its defeatist mainstream media that progress has been made.
#2
I'm not sure who hates America more, Al-Q or the Democrat Party. It's certain that both DO hate this country, however. Democrat Party members, for the most part, are criminals and traitors.
Posted by: mac ||
03/07/2007 8:26 Comments ||
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#3
Although Iraq will never achieve the stable, nonviolent smiley-faced democracy we could hope for (it is an Arabic Muslim country, after all)
They will... once they like a number of Algerian Berbers begin to say I don't care about being a Muslim and certainly not an Arab.
They will once they begin to challenge that Arabs and Islam saved them from darkness (one of the myths created by Islam to keep subject nations docile) but that in fact they were a brilliant civilization and that it was Islam and the Arab invaders who plunged them into darkness.
Panarabism and islamism are in fact brothers: you cannot exalt greatness of the Arab nation without exalting what forged it.
And you cannot forge a democracy with people who think this is kaffir and like everything kaffir inferior.
That is why both islamism and arabism. Both for our good and theirs.
#4
" a very respectable group of members would not vote to fund the war unless Democratic leaders take a more aggressive stand to bring troops home much sooner."
Here is a sampling of some of the very respectable folks from the Out of Iraq Caucus.
#7
The most encouraging news I have seen from Iraq was video from Fox yesterday showing 4 AQ terrorists who had been shooting at helicopters who disappeared in a hail of gunship fire from the air--Allan calling them to the virgins.
More and faster please.
Posted by: John ||
03/07/2007 10:16 Comments ||
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#8
Allan is out of virgins at the rate his flock is getting killed.
#9
I don't recall anything that says those "Virgins" have to be female, how about any Jihadists who die as Virgins find themselves on the wrong side of the "Virgin's" list, sounds like poetic justice to me.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/07/2007 11:43 Comments ||
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#10
Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.), said a deadline of Dec. 31, 2008, is unacceptably distant and promised that "a very respectable group of members" would not vote to fund the war unless Democratic leaders take a more aggressive stand to bring troops home much sooner.
Ah, yes, the "Let's cut and run NOW, so we don't ruin Hillary's chances in 2008" Caucus. I recognize it clearly now.
Posted by: BA ||
03/07/2007 11:52 Comments ||
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#11
I'm beginning to really, REALLY hate Democrats. The ones here in Colorado want to formalize "gay" marriages, against the wishes of about 65% of the state population. But because Denver (~4million of the state's ~5million people) is populated by a slight majority of Democrats, they think they can do whatever they please, and the rest of the state just has to grin and bear it. I think the Democrats greatly misread why they were given a majority, and will find it taken away at the next election.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/07/2007 12:42 Comments ||
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#12
" I think the Democrats greatly misread why they were given a majority, and will find it taken away at the next election."
A Pakistan-based Internet service provider has blocked a Taliban website after complaints that the ousted militia had posted pictures of dead US soldiers and announced their attacks over it. Peshawar-based Jan Technologies said it had blocked the www.alemarah.org website after receiving a complaint from its US-based host server company, but denied it was done under government pressure. Someone complained to one of our host server companies that this site appeared to be a Taliban site, which contained hate material and carried photos of dead marines, Jan Technologies General Manager Tehsin Ullah Jan told AFP. We have notified the client by email about the suspension, he said. Visitors to the website which was called the Voice of Jihad and said it was run by the Cultural Commission of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan were greeted with a message saying account suspended.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/07/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
It's not blocked any more. We need to complain again. Anyone have a URL?
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/07/2007 12:44 Comments ||
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Only Muslim males should be allowed to hold the offices of president and prime minister of Pakistan, a Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) leader suggested to the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal manifesto committee on Tuesday, sources told Daily Times.
JUI-F General Secretary Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haidri suggested that having male rulers was the Islamic way and his proposal is being considered. The committee will finalise its proposals for the MMA manifesto at its next meeting sometime next month, after which they will be sent to the MMA Supreme Council for final approval, the sources said. Paradoxically, the committee also discussed a proposal to give special seats to women in the assemblies, sources said. Other proposals at the meeting concerned improving the MMAs image to make it seem more like a modern party in touch with technological progress, to counter what the MMA considers the negative portrayal of it by the West as a backwards political force. Professor Sajid Mir, chairman of the manifesto committee, said the main theme of the manifesto would be to ensure an Islamic society in Pakistan. It would also stress the need for the provision of prosperity, justice, education and health to every citizen.
Other proposals like civil defence training for people aged between 18 and 45, lowering the prices of utilities, interest-free banking, the cancellation of amendments made by General Pervez Musharraf through the Legal Framework Order, free electricity for tube wells, an increase in the education budget, uniform syllabus for all students, a reduction in oil prices and the construction of small and big dams also came under discussion. On foreign policy, committee members suggested that Pakistan rid it of external control, read US influence, and make an independent and respected foreign policy. They also suggested improved relations with China and that the government refrain from interfering in the internal matters of other countries. The manifesto meeting was held at the Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadeeth office. Liaqat Baloch, Allama Shafiq, Pir Ijaz Hashmi, Amjad Khan and Maulana Abdul Jalil attended the meeting.
This article starring:
ALLAMA SHAFIQ
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal
AMJAD KHAN
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal
JAMIAT AHL E HADITH
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal
LIAQAT BALOCH
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal
MAULANA ABDUL GHAFUR HAIDRI
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl
MAULANA ABDUL GHAFUR HAIDRI
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal
MAULANA ABDUL JALIL
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal
PIR IJAZ HASHMI
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal
PROFESOR SAJID MIR
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal
Posted by: Fred ||
03/07/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Oh the Saudi influence/funding shines through!!!!
#2
lowering the prices of utilities...interest-free banking...free electricity for tube wells...reduction in oil prices
Putting the waki in Paki. At least we know why they are third world. uniform syllabus for all students
"uniform syllabus" = koran memorizing (the key to a modern economy!)
(PTI): Banned militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba's Founder Hafez Muhammad Saeed today spoke to Syed Ali Shah Geelani to inquire about the health of the hardline Kashmiri leader who is suffering from kidney cancer. Saeed called Geelani in Jammu and Kashmir and "expressed his concern" over the health of the Hurriyat leader, the Jamaat-Ud-Dawa, an organisation founded by Saeed and seen as the parent of the LeT, said in a release from Lahore.
The Lashkar founder's name tops the list of wanted men for the 2001 terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament, forwarded by India to Pakistan. Sayeed spoke to Geelani as officials of the two countries held the first meeting of the Joint Mechanism on Terrorism here, during which the two sides were expected to discuss cooperation relating to wanted persons.
While the Pakistan Government banned LET and the Jaish-e- Mohammad in 2001, the JUD has been kept under a "watch list" by the Pakistan Interior Ministry. The United States, however, has proscribed the outfit.
This article starring:
HAFIZ MUHAMAD SAID
Jamaat-Ud-Dawa
HAFIZ MUHAMAD SAID
Lashkar-e-Taiba
Syed Ali Shah Geelani
Jaish-e- Mohammad
Jamaat-Ud-Dawa
Lashkar-e-Taiba
Posted by: Fred ||
03/07/2007 00:00 ||
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Pakistan on Tuesday handed over a list of specific evidence to India of the involvement of its spy agencies in acts of sabotage in Pakistan, particularly in Balochistan, at the first meeting of the India-Pakistan Joint Anti-terrorism Mechanism, diplomatic sources told Daily Times.
On the other side, India gave the sketch of a suspected Pakistani suicide bomber believed to be involved in the Mumbai train blasts last July. Pakistan rejected this, saying the terrorist attack was conducted by remote controlled explosive devices, the sources added. India was given some specific evidence pertaining to terrorist attacks in Balochistan and many other places being carried out by RAWs base camp in Afghanistan, sources privy to the meeting said, referring to Indian intelligence agency the Research and Analysis Wing. The intelligence agencies of India are involved in sponsoring, training, funding and financing terrorist networks in Pakistan, especially in Balochistan, to carry out subversive activities through Afghanistan, the sources said.
The sources said India had also handed over a sketch of a Pakistani who had been missing since 2006 and who might have been involved in the firebombing of the Samjhota Express train last month that killed 68 people, mostly Pakistanis.
The Pakistani side objected that India had not shared information nor the list of the 604 Pakistanis passenger on board the train at the time of the attack. The Pakistani side also questioned why a Pakistani would kill his countrymen, the official sources said. They said the Indian side did not reveal the name of the Pakistani suspect.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/07/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Life's a bitch, isn't it. Stuff like that always seems to come back around and bite you in the arse.
BAGHDAD, March 7 (Xinhua) -- A Shiite party Wednesday announced withdrawal from the Iraqi leading Shiite alliance which has dominated the parliament since the 2005 elections.
A statement, read by senior party member Nadim al-Jabiri in a news conference, said that "the Fadhila party announces its withdrawal from the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA)."
The party, which holds 15 of the parliament's 275 seats, also said in the statement that it will stay in the parliament as an independent bloc and will be open to join other blocs on national and not sectarian bases.
Jabiri told the reporters that the reason behind the withdrawal is that his party think that healthy political atmosphere should be built on patriotic bases and better political programs.
"We are awaiting for other political moves to work to launch patriotic political program bases on principles of unified and sovereign Iraq," he said.
"We believe that the first step to save Iraq is to dismantle the existing blocs and to prevent blocs from forming on sectarian and ethnic bases," he added.
The Fadhila Party, also known as Islamic Virtue Party, follows Ayatollah Muhammad Ya'qubi, a student of Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr, and thus represents a branch of the Sadrist Movement, but it is not affiliated with Muqtada al-Sadr and is in fact a rival to his branch of the Sadrists.
The Fadhila party's support comes mostly from the Shiite poor in the south of the country.
In May 2006, the party pulled out of negotiations for a new Iraqi government, complaining of American interference. It had hoped that the oil and trade ministers would be named from the party.
#1
Jabiri said the reason behind the withdrawal is that his party think that healthy political atmosphere should be built on patriotic bases and better political programs. "We are awaiting for other political moves to work to launch patriotic political program bases on principles of unified and sovereign Iraq," he said.
Very good news. And only how long since that first election?
Allawi attempted this awhile back when Maliki tried to stave off our moves against the Mitias before the elections here stateside. Elections over and now it is obvious we are not going anywere anytime soon the different parties are more secure in sideing with Allawi & US against Iran and her Iraqi agents read Sadr, SCIRI, Badgr.
WASHINGTON, March 6, 2007 Improvised explosive devices are to the war in Iraq what artillery and mortars were to World War II, Korea and Vietnam -- the main troop killers, a retired general working to defeat the deadly devices said here yesterday. Retired Army Gen. Montgomery Meigs, head of the JIEDDO Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization, briefed media on progress in countering IEDs in Iraq and Afghanistan.
IEDs are hybrid, idiosyncratic things that go off in surprising ways, Meigs said. But all they are, are the enemys fire system. The question is, How do we deal with this fire system? And we spend a lot of time on that.
In previous wars, the enemy delivered artillery shells through guns. In Iraq, the enemy delivers the ordnance through the labyrinth of structures in that society, Meigs said. But the coalition is making progress against the improvised weapons. We have gotten better at it, (and we) know more what our enemies are doing, Meigs said. He added that his organization also has done a better job of finding appropriate technologies to counter these weapons.
Car bombs and IEDs are responsible for about 65 percent of the coalition casualties in Iraq, he said. More than 2,500 Americans have died as a result of hostile fire in Iraq, according to DoD officials. But advances in defending against these weapons are working. The ratio of wounded to killed in Iraq is 9 to 1, Meigs said. In Vietnam, that ratio was 2 to 1, and in Korea it was 2.5 to 1.
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/07/2007 06:24 ||
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#1
Shaped-charge explosives are no more "improvised" than German V-weapons at Peenemünde. The best way to defeat these tank-killer "IEDs" is to cut them off at the source. Daisy-cutter level should do the trick.
#2
Why not use their tactics against them ?
Random artillary attacks, night and day until all Iraqis surrender to the US ?
Tell them, 'we tried to play fair, we tried to bring law and order to Iraq. But, no, they would have none of it, so now we bring hell.'
#4
i wish yall would get off this daisy cutter kick. first of all if they haven't used it yet then it is gonna just sit and collect dust as another way of wasting our tax money.
#5
We really do need to make one good ARCLIGHT strike, say on Hussein's home town, just to show the Iraqis (and Iran and Syria) what we can do when we get serious. The failure to instill fear into the enemy at the beginning of this war is perhaps the single most serious error the command structure has made. I think one six-ship cell, pickling on a single target, would do wonders toward "winning hearts and minds". If you can't make 'em love you, at least get them to fear you. It works, especially with Arabs.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/07/2007 13:07 Comments ||
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#6
i wish yall would get off this daisy cutter kick
I agree with the wierdest things some times. Ain't gonna drop a MOAB either, nor a tactical nuke.
November 11 marks two years since the death of PLO chief Yasir Arafatbut don't count on most Palestinians to mourn his memory. Don't count on us to do it, either.
On a good day in Gaza City, only 40 percent of the last night's sewage gets dumped into public beaches along the Mediterranean coast, where gaunt Palestinian kids build sand castles out of thick brown sludge. One and a half million Gazans, mostly children, live overwhelmingly in poverty amid a gutted infrastructure and a dysfunctional thugocracy democracy. Meanwhile, the First Lady of Palestine, Yasir Arafat's widow Suha, has been living large in Paris, among other places, at the palatial Hotel Le Bristol. She and her baby daughter left Gaza for France in 2000, during the second intifada and Israel's reoccupation of Palestinian landsand reportedly occupied an entire floor of the five-star hotel, at approximately $16,000 per night. Guess she found the passwords taped to a monitor or something.
Israeli and American intelligence officials say Suha Arafat's Paris hotel bill would be little more than chump change for the glitzy heiress, whose late husband might just have been the most flagrant embezzler of public funds since Louis XVI. During Arafat's rule, the United States, World Bank, European Union, and Arab governments poured $7 billion into the Palestinian Authority to try and help forge a viable Arab-Israeli peace. As much as half that sum is reported to have gone AWOL, with only a small fraction recovered to date. And Suha has proved to be only one of several big-time beneficiaries.
Two years after Arafat's funeral, an international scavenger hunt continues for the revolutionary leader's far-flung riches. A motley assortment of investigators ranging from Israel's security establishment to the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which now rules in Ramallah, maintain an ongoing interest in every lost stash. "The only man who knows the whole story is dead," says a senior Israeli military intelligence official who agreed to answer questions on condition of anonymity. "But the deeper you go into it, the more it stinks."
Arafat's lifetime of grubbing for cash on behalf of the Palestinians dates back to his young adulthood in Cairo, where he was born shortly before the American stock market crash of 1929. Few had heard of the Palestinian cause back then, and there were no blue-and-white pushke boxes accepting pocket change for it. But longtime PLO stalwart Nabil Shaath remembers watching, as a 13-year-old, the young revolutionary hit up his father for a cash donation. Shaath told Atlantic Monthly correspondent David Samuels he immediately recognized the future president of Palestine. Much more at the link.
As Arafat lay dying at Percy Hospital in Paris, Rizk reportedly negotiated with the PLO on behalf of Arafat's widow Suha for a $20 million cash payment and an ongoing monthly allowance. He helped Suha shrewdly leverage her power of attorney and next-of-kin access to the ailing leader's hospital bedside. The rumor has also been widely reported that Rizk and Suha became lovers.
"It wouldn't surprise me," says fellow Maronite Ziad Abdel Nour, who heads the U.S. Committee for a Free Lebanon. "Pierre Rizk has zero principles whatsoever. He will cheat, lie, fuck, killwhatever needs to be done."
"Where does this guy live?" I ask.
"Are you kidding? A guy like that doesn't live anywhere."
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/07/2007 6:37 Comments ||
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#2
There are no more true freedom fighters except Americans and a few others.
#3
I imagine it has gone the way of most pirate treasure. That is, piracy is an expensive business, what with having to bribe everyone for everything, having to buy loyalty, and always having to be armed to the teeth.
The banks that kept his money probably charged "reverse interest", and France probably was very careful to automatically withdraw every Franc of taxes. And, of course, healthy accountancy fees and bribes to French and other European leaders.
When Arafat died, there was probably a looting scene much like the one in Zorba the Greek, except done by gnomish French bankers and bureaucrats.
#4
You mean there's...even more?
ABBAS, I WILL RIP OUT YOUR EYES WITH MY WELL MANICUIRED NAILS, YOU CHEAP PRICK! BASTARDS!! I'M A GRIEVING WIDOW TRYING TO SUPPORT A CHILD!!!
#5
The Arafats' monied inner circle, which welcomed Lebanese Maronite Christian Pierre Rizk, also found room for some Israelis and Jews. Together with Arafat senior advisor Muhammad Rashidby birth an Iraqi Kurdthe Palestinian leader tapped two ex-Israeli security officials to open doors for PLO money in elite Swiss banks, beginning around 1997. What has become known in the Hebrew press as the "Ginnosar Affair"named after one of Arafat's Israeli business partners, ex-spook Yossi Ginnosarsent shock waves through the Jewish state and Zionist diaspora. It wasn't just the enormity of the sums these erstwhile enemies were embezzling together while the peace process tankedthough $340 million is a lot of hummusthe alleged involvement of some senior members of the American Jewish peace camp in Arafat's corruption also cast a shadow on their efforts to help broker peace.
Ha! There! See? It all makes perfect sense now. Arafat was a Mossad agent!
(That'll get the moonbats going!)
Posted by: Mike ||
03/07/2007 9:38 Comments ||
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#6
Arafat was a Mossad agent. I never knew.
I did see somewhere that he had a U-Haul heading with his loot to the virgins.
Hey, the 73 virgins are a myth you boneheaded islamonutcase jerks. Get it right.
Posted by: John ||
03/07/2007 9:51 Comments ||
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#7
Arafat was queer. He wants 72 virgin boys.
Posted by: mac ||
03/07/2007 16:52 Comments ||
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#8
It's an Emperor Norton's Treasure Hunt.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/07/2007 18:41 Comments ||
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#9
"Whatever happened to Arafat's billions?"
Looks like about half of them went to make Suha's ass so fat.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/07/2007 20:18 Comments ||
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Two senior Hamas officials have moved to Syria in protest against their movement's decision to form a unity government with Fatah, Fatah legislator Jamal Tirawi said Monday. The two, Interior Minister Said Siam and Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri, are said to be strongly opposed to the Mecca agreement that was reached last month between Fatah and Hamas.
If true, the report about the departure of the Hamas officials reflects deep divisions among the movement's top brass over the proposed unity government. "There is a split inside Hamas," Tirawi, who represents the Nablus district in the Palestinian Legislative Council, said. "Siam and Abu Zuhri, who have moved to Syria, represent the radical trend, while [Palestinian Authority Prime Minister] Ismail Haniyeh and [Hamas leader] Khaled Mashaal belong to the moderate side."
Tirawi said Fatah was also witnessing a power struggle, though it is of a different nature. "The rivalry in Fatah is between representatives of different generations," he said, referring to the long-standing power struggle between the old guard and young guard.
The divisions inside Fatah and Hamas were partially responsible for the delay in the formation of the PA unity government, sources close to the two parties said. "Haniyeh is not able to make decisive decisions because of the opposition he is facing from top Hamas leaders and activists, who don't want the partnership with Fatah," one source said. "Abbas, on the other hand, is facing many difficulties inside Fatah, where representatives of the young guard are demanding a larger role in power."
This article starring:
ISMAIL HANIYEH
Hamas
JAMAL TIRAWI
Fatah
KHALED MASHAAL
Hamas
SAID SIAM
Hamas
SAMI ABU ZUHRI
Hamas
Posted by: Fred ||
03/07/2007 00:00 ||
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#2
Iran's MOUD has basically called for the Paleo Struggle [Intifadas] to continue forever, and for the Paleos to use any means necessary, violent andor diplomatic, etc, until Israel disappears, read - destroyed. DEBKA > recent missle attacks may have been a cover for the testing and fielding of two brand new, Iran-improved, more powerful missles whose operating radii may put up to 250,000 Israelis at risk of attack.
#4
One of those "Palestinian" missiles is going to kill or injure an important Israeli, and "Palestine" will cease to exist. I don't think the Israeli army is going to sit around forever getting shot at. Crushing both Fatah and Hamas, with half the "palestinian" population caught in the cross-fire, wouldn't bother me one bit.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/07/2007 13:14 Comments ||
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The Palestinian Authority faces a fiscal crisis that could threaten its existence, in part because it keeps expanding the public payroll despite its sharply reduced revenues, the World Bank said in a report released Wednesday.
The Palestinian economy declined further in 2006 from an already low level, and the per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) dropped by at least 8 percent, said the report, obtained by The Associated Press. The decline coincides with an international boycott of the Islamic militant Hamas, which came to power a year ago. Since then, foreign aid has been redirected to moderate Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas or disbursed as direct salary or welfare payments to Palestinians.
The overall level of aid has declined, from about $1 billion in 2005 to more than $700 million in 2006. Most development programs have been cut, and the bulk of the money now goes to budget support. About 25 percent of the Palestinian labor force is unemployed, the report said. In Gaza, the rate is even higher, with 36 percent, up from 29 percent the year before.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/07/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
See also REALCLEARPOLITICS > BUSINESSWEK > THE REAL REASONS THE FRENCH ARE PISSED OFF AT US. The USA reached EU levels of per capita GDP back in 1985, employment wages + other productivity 30 years before that. Yep, Milyuuhns and Zilyuuhns of Chinese are surviving on US$1.0 a day per capita GDP = US$30.0 a month = US$365.0 a yarn, ERGO THE 700Trilyuhn - 1.0Q GDP America is the one going down.
In its recommendation, the bank said Israel must radically improve the flow of goods and people in the Palestinian territories. It also said tax rebates collected by Israel "should be released directly to the Palestinian Authority."
#5
Heh...grom. Its difficult to determine which is more predictable? Is it that the WB included their obligatory Israel also has to step up to the plate statement or that the AP felt compelled to scour the report to include those two sentences in their article? Id say its a safe bet either way.
Israel will eventually disappear from the world, and the Palestinians should be prepared for that, Israel Radio reported Hamas leader-in-exile Khaled Mashaal saying Tuesday during a meeting in Teheran with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahamdinejad. At a press conference, Mashaal was asked if Hamas had now recognized Israel. The Hamas leader did not answer directly, but said: "The Palestinian government insists on June 4, 1967 borders (for Israel), full Palestinian sovereignty with Jerusalem as its capital."
Mashaal also extracted from Iran a pledge to fund his Palestinian movement to compensate for the West's financial blockade of the Palestinian Authority government. Mashaal, who arrived in Iran early Tuesday, said that Iran had been giving financial and political support to the Palestinians, whose government has been cut off from Western aid since Hamas took office in March last year. "We still look forward to get support (from Iran) to break the political and economic sanctions," Mashaal said.
Mottaki told reporters that Iran would continue to provide money to Hamas, but he did not give any figures. Iran is known to have given sums of money to Hamas since it took office following its victory in the PA legislative elections. But there was no word Tuesday on what more would donated.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/07/2007 00:00 ||
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#4
RIGHTWINGNEWS > DAILY KOS Poster > Iff the US Congress can't = won't stop Dubya from ending this War, THE ONLY RECOURSE IS REVOLUTION AND FOREIGN INTERVENTION. Ala Mother Cindy + NOLA/Gumbo-Gate, true Americans need the Motherly Commie Airborne to "liberate" Amerika and our sacred Clintonian national Fascism = Communism.
#10
Yep it will eventually disappear I suppose, like Ur, Mesopotamia, Hattusu, the Medeans, Canaan Moab, Persia and all those other Middle Eastern places.
Israel did disappear once, but came back! But like Carthage & Troy, none of the others will.
#13
RD, the Sun will enter its red giant phase in approximately 5×109 years
The non-signing of the Kyoto Treaty by the US may in fact throw the Sun off the main sequence, it is not certain, but many scientists agree and doctors recommend.
NICOSIA Iran has warned Turkey not to resell natural gas supplied by the Islamic republic.
Iranian Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh said Ankara does not have the right to re-export gas that arrives to Turkey from a pipeline in Iran. The minister said the ban was contained in the 1996 agreement for Iranian gas exports to Turkey. How are you going to enforce that one with a fungible commodity like natural gas?
Officials said Ankara has been negotiating with its neighbors for surplus Iranian gas exported to Turkey. They said the Iranian supplies were cheaper than that offered by Russia. How would you like to have suppliers like that? Pooty Poot of Russia, who would shut your supply off as a *ahem* leveraging tool, and on the other hand, the MMs of Iran, who are crazier 'n sh*thouse rats.
Turkey has sought to become the energy corridor of Europe and the Middle East. Ankara already receives energy from the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which brings natural gas from Kazakhstan. Who knows, if the Turks get enough natural gas leverage, maybe they can weasel into the EU, with all the rights and privelages thereto. Heh.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/07/2007 21:16 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
As Nato begins its biggest offensive in the country since 2001, two Times journalists report from a risky mission into the insurgents heartland in lawless Helmand province. The Royal Marines of J Company, 42 Commando, sometimes sat down with local Pashtuns and sometimes skirmished. Then they fought them in pitched battle. 
At least three people were killed and 20 others were injured when violence broke out between tribesmen from the Al-Awadh of Al-Baydha governorate and tribesmen from the Sanhan tribe in Bait Zabatan on the outskirts of Sanaa city last Thursday, March 1. The fighting reportedly began as tribesmen from Al-Awadh set up barracks on the mountain of Ayban, the highest mountain to the west of Sanaa, above the Bait Zabatan area, after the mediation between them and the tribes of Sanhan failed to solve a land dispute between them. 
A man demonstrating against cartoons of the Islamic Prophet Mohammed has been found guilty of soliciting to murder. 
(PTI): Banned militant group 
BAGHDAD, March 7 (Xinhua) -- A Shiite party Wednesday announced withdrawal from the Iraqi leading Shiite alliance which has dominated the parliament since the 2005 elections.
Israel will eventually disappear from the world, and the Palestinians should be prepared for that, Israel Radio reported Hamas leader-in-exile Khaled Mashaal saying Tuesday during a meeting in Teheran with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahamdinejad. At a press conference, Mashaal was asked if Hamas had now recognized Israel. The Hamas leader did not answer directly, but said: "The Palestinian government insists on June 4, 1967 borders (for Israel), full Palestinian sovereignty with Jerusalem as its capital." 
