Hi there, !
Today Sun 01/29/2012 Sat 01/28/2012 Fri 01/27/2012 Thu 01/26/2012 Wed 01/25/2012 Tue 01/24/2012 Mon 01/23/2012 Archives
Rantburg
531686 articles and 1855967 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 55 articles and 170 comments as of 9:37.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Woman Dead as Bombs, Bullets Rain on Nigeria Police Station
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
3 19:42 Sgt. Mom [] 
1 16:06 Ebbaique Spereting5364 [] 
0 [] 
3 09:27 AlanC [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
1 18:23 Mike Ramsey [] 
0 [] 
0 [1] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [1] 
0 [] 
1 18:31 Lord Garth [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
2 10:57 chris [] 
0 [] 
1 01:19 gorb [] 
0 [] 
Page 2: WoT Background
4 18:40 Ebbang Uluque6305 []
4 19:54 newc []
8 22:15 Super Hose []
15 18:36 Ebbang Uluque6305 []
6 12:37 Anonymoose []
3 22:48 Bugs Glomoque3110 [2]
1 17:34 Pappy []
1 01:21 Water Modem []
8 18:03 Super Hose []
0 []
1 00:16 JosephMendiola []
0 []
0 []
4 17:59 Super Hose [1]
Page 3: Non-WoT
0 []
3 19:23 Beavis []
10 19:50 Super Hose []
10 19:56 Super Hose []
0 []
11 23:03 Broadhead6 [2]
2 22:16 Super Hose [1]
5 20:47 SteveS [1]
2 18:23 Super Hose []
6 21:21 Pappy [2]
0 []
8 22:52 Dale []
6 21:27 Twobyfour []
4 16:26 Clyde Bucket3505 []
6 19:47 SteveS []
2 18:42 Anguper Hupomosing9418 []
Page 4: Opinion
1 17:33 Frozen Al []
Page 6: Politix
6 22:45 Barbara []
2 16:32 Mike Ramsey []
5 21:45 trailing wife []
14 20:55 Super Hose []
Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 01/26/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot

Joan Leslie aka Mary Cohan in "Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)" aka Gracie Williams in "Sergeant York (1941)" aka Eileen Dibble in "This Is the Army (1943)" aka Velma in "High Sierra (1941)" aka Julie Adams in "Rhapsody in Blue (1945)" aka Donna Foster in "Born to Be Bad (1950)" aka Lt. Polly Davis in "Flight Nurse (1953)" aka Annalee Johnson in "The Revolt of Mamie Stover (1956)" (age 87)



Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 01/26/2012 1:18 Comments || Top||

#2  Always enjoyed her energy. Great actress some great movies.

Posted by: Dale || 01/26/2012 6:43 Comments || Top||

#3  That looks like another eye danger in that first pic GB.

Should come with a "Must wear eye protection" warning label from the Nanny state.
Posted by: AlanC || 01/26/2012 9:27 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Arson, looting in Sudan's Darfur: witnesses
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Arson and looting broke out in Sudan's war-ravaged Darfur region on Wednesday after a protest against the appointment of a new governor, witnesses said.

It was the second day of unrest in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state.

Black smoke hung over the town's main market, where many shops had been set ablaze, the witnesses said.

"The demonstration is still going on and now many are setting fire in the market. Some people, I don't know if they are protesters or not, are looting the main market," one said.

Police fired tear gas, which sent some people to hospital, the witnesses said, estimating hundreds had turned out in the morning to show support for the ousted elected governor, Abdul Hamid Kasha.

President Omar al-Bashir
Head of the National Congress Party. He came to power in 1989 when he, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and eventually appointed himself president-for-life. He has fallen out with his Islamic mentor, Hasan al-Turabi, tried to impose shariah on the Christian and animist south, resulting in its secessesion, and attempted to Arabize Darfur by unleashing the barbaric Janjaweed on it. Sudan's potential prosperity has been pissed away in warfare that has left as many as 400,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced. Omar has been indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court but nothing is expected to come of it.
earlier this month replaced Kasha with an appointee, Hamad Ismail, and broke off parts of South Darfur to add two new states in the region, which previously had three.

"People want Kasha," protesters chanted as they marched through the streets, witnesses said.

Many of the demonstrators were students or school children, they added.
Posted by: Fred || 01/26/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan


Africa North
'Tear Gas Canister' Grounds Egypt-Libya Flight
[An Nahar] Egyptian authorities grounded a Libyan Airlines flight on Wednesday after an attendant found a suspected bomb in a toilet on the aircraft, airport officials told Agence La Belle France Presse.

Tripoli-bound flight 203 was due to leave Cairo International Airport when a member of the cabin crew found "a metal object" in one of the plane's toilets shortly before take-off.

"The captain immediately informed security authorities at the airport. Security officials and bomb experts boarded the plane and found a tear gas canister," the official said.

"After a thorough search, nothing else was found on the plane and officials are now questioning the 75 passengers on board," he said.

The plane will remain in Cairo until an investigation is carried out.
Posted by: Fred || 01/26/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Algeria squashes Al Qaeda plan to attack U.S ships
Algerian authorities have broken up an Al Qaeda plot to launch explosive-laden speedboats in suicide strikes on U.S. ships in the Mediterranean Sea, a U.S. official confirmed.

The planned attack by North Africa's Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb mirrored the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, which killed 17 American sailors.

"The U.S. was aware of the plot, which looks right now like it was in the early stages, but the Algerians deserve the credit for the arrests," said the U.S. official, who spoke to the Daily News on condition of anonymity.

Algerian newspaper Echorouk reported Tuesday that the three-person AQIM cell had purchased a boat with a powerful engine to be used in an attack.

The group planned to strike U.S. and European vessels off the northeastern coast of Algeria, but the exact targets would be selected by the doomed attackers, Echorouk reported.

The group's broader goals were media attention and paralysis of the Algerian economy, according to the newspaper.

Algerian authorities uncovered the plot after reports that the cell's three members frequented internet cafes and viewed jihadist websites using phony names, Echorouk reported.

The Al Qaeda affiliate has waged a guerilla war against Algeria's government for close to a decade, carrying out ambushes, bombings and kidnappings-for-ransom.

In separate news, at a regional conference Tuesday, Malian Foreign Minister Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga said there was a "confirmed link" between AQIM and Nigerian Islamist sect Boko Haram
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. Currently wearing a false nose and moustache and answering to Jama'atu Ahlus-Sunnah Lidda'Awati Wal Jihad, or Big Louie...
, Agence La Belle France-Presse reported.
Hopefully a follow-up report will reveal whether the three men were arrested or killed, and who they were contacting using the internet cafe computers.
Posted by: || 01/26/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa Subsaharan
Woman Dead as Bombs, Bullets Rain on Nigeria Police Station
[An Nahar] Around 30 gunnies rained bombs and gunfire on a cop shoppe in Kano, killing a woman in the latest attack blamed on Islamist group Boko Haram
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. Currently wearing a false nose and moustache and answering to Jama'atu Ahlus-Sunnah Lidda'Awati Wal Jihad, or Big Louie...
in Nigeria's second city, residents said.

The northern city has lived in fear amid continued chaos since a coordinated wave of attacks after Moslem prayers on Friday killed at least 185 people, Boko Haram's deadliest ever onslaught.

The converged on the station from two different directions on cycle of violences and in a Mercedes car late Tuesday, witnesses said.

The gunnies "were just telling people to move away, they were just here to do their work. They just opened fire on the cop shoppe," a resident who requested anonymity told Agence La Belle France Presse on Wednesday.

The station, in Kano's densely populated Sheka area, was heavily damaged in the attack: its windows were shattered, the walls were smoke-stained and blood had covered nearly the entire bathroom floor, according to AFP news hounds.

The holding cells at the back of the station had been opened.

A purported front man for Boko Haram has said last week's attacks were in response to a refusal by the authorities to release incarcerated members of the group from custody.

A huge crowd had gathered outside the station on Wednesday, surveying the wreckage after the assault that also injured at least one policeman, according to witnesses.

No police were in sight, just neighborhood youths trying to control the crowd.

"A policeman was shot in the leg. A woman who came to see a policeman was shot in the stomach. She died," the same resident told AFP, adding that the woman was standing outside the station's gate and talking to the officer when she was shot.

Residents said the attackers hurled two bombs at the station before opening fire.

"It was around 6:30 pm (1730 GMT) when people were preparing for the evening prayers and a large group of gunnies arrived in the area and opened fire on the cop shoppe and threw in bombs," one witness said.

Kano, an ancient Moslem city of 4.5 million, had hitherto beat feet the increasingly sophisticated attacks blamed on Boko Haram, a group that has said it wants to create an Islamic state in northern Nigeria, and which some believe has Al-Qaeda ties.

Mali's Foreign Minister Boubeye Maiga said Tuesday there was a "confirmed link" between Boko Haram and al-Qaeda's North Africa franchise, at a security meeting of Sahel states in Mauritania also attended by Nigeria.

At checkpoints set up across Kano on Wednesday security forces were stopping vehicles and ordering drivers to open their car's boot for inspection.

The army was manning the checkpoints in the Christian neighborhood of Sabon Gari, while the local police were in charge elsewhere, AFP correspondents said.

Security forces have also imposed a strict sundown curfew across the city.

All of Kano's banks have been closed since Friday and some residents complained that their businesses will collapse if they cannot access cash soon. A group of 30 people had crowded around one bank, where an ATM was still dispensing money, according to AFP news hounds.

Earlier on Tuesday, gunfire erupted when security forces raided a house suspected to be a Boko Haram hideout shortly after midnight.

They opened fire and a suspect fired back, resulting in a shootout lasting around four-and-half hours and sending residents into panic.

According to Human Rights Watch
... dedicated to bitching about human rights violations around the world...
, Boko Haram has killed more than 935 people since the group -- whose name can be loosely translated as "Western education is sin" -- launched a violent campaign in July 2009.

More than 250 of those deaths have come in 2012 alone.

President Goodluck Jonathan
... 14th President of Nigeria. He was Governor of Bayelsa State from 9 December 2005 to 28 May 2007, and was sworn in as Vice President on 29 May 2007. Jonathan is a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP). He is a lover of nifty hats, which makes him easily recognizable unless someone else in the room is wearing a neat chapeau...
has vowed to beef up security as he grapples with the worst crises of his nine-month tenure -- a surge in Boko Haram attacks and mounting social discontent.
Posted by: Fred || 01/26/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram


Arabia
Violent Clashes as Bahrain Court Says Emergency Rule was Legal
[An Nahar] Bahraini police and anti-government protesters clashed in Shiite villages, leaving dozens of officers and several demonstrators injured, officials and the opposition said Wednesday, as a Bahraini court ruled that King Hamad
...King of Bahrain (since 14 February 2002), having previously been its emir (from 6 March 1999). He is a Sunni, while the rest of Bahrain is predominantly Shiite...
acted lawfully when he declared a quasi state of emergency in March ahead of a crackdown on Shiite-led democracy protests.

The interior ministry accused protesters of "orchestrated attacks on police forces ... across the kingdom" that caused "significant injuries" to 41 officers, two of them requiring "critical care" at Bahrain's military hospital.

An opposition figure said protesters clashed with security forces in at least four Shiite villages, leaving several of them injured, including one seriously after being hit on the head with a tear gas canister.

Earlier, Public Security Chief Major General Tariq al-Hassan said that "vandals blocked roads" and threw petrol bombs during the festivities on Tuesday night.

Hassan, who was quoted by the official BNA news agency website, said security forces had made "several arrests" in Shiite villages, but gave no further details.

Former opposition MP and Wefaq member Matar Matar, who gave the civilian injury toll, said two protesters have been killed in recent months from tear gas injuries to the head.

"This indicates the existence of a (government) policy to intentionally injure protesters rather than just merely disperse them," Matar told Agence La Belle France Presse.

On December 31, al-Wefaq said 15-year-old Sayyed Hashem Saeed died after being hit in the head by a tear gas canister.

The government at the time released a statement saying they would investigate the teenager's death.

According to Matar, Tuesday night's festivities erupted after posts on social networks, including Facebook and Twitter, called on Bahrainis to go out and "confront" the security forces.

Al-Wefaq has posted videos and pictures of the unrest on its Facebook page, including images of coppers in the Shiite villages of Sitra and Bani Jamra, dressed in full riot gear and hurling objects, including metal rods, at a small crowd of young men.

In another image posted on the page, plumes of tear gas can be seen wafting through the night skies over the Shiite town of Bani Jamra.

On Monday, the United States said it was relocating embassy staff and their families to new neighborhoods in Bahrain's capital Manama as part of safety precautions amid anti-government unrest.
Posted by: Fred || 01/26/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


The Grand Turk
Mass Grave Uncovered in Mainly Kurdish Southeast Turkey
[An Nahar] Turkish authorities found the remains of 23 people in a mass grave in mainly Kurdish southeast Turkey on the former site of military police headquarters, Anatolia news agency reported Wednesday.

The first remains were discovered earlier this month, during an archeological dig in Ickale, in central Diyarbakir, where ruins of an ancient palace dating back to the 13th century were being excavated.

The area had been the site of a military police headquarters until the early 2000s. The eventual aim of the excavation is to carry out restoration work and turn the place into a museum and culture spot.

Human rights activists claim the remains belong to civilian Kurds killed by security forces during 1990s.

"Skulls and other bones belonging to humans were found here ... According to what we saw they were piled up in a narrow place... They were apparently thrown there casually, without any religious ceremony," Agriculture Minister Mehdi Eker told news hounds earlier this week, after visiting the site.

The Diyarbakir branch of the Human Rights Association (IHD) and 36 families whose relatives went missing during 1990s filed a criminal complaint on Wednesday against state officials of the time and asked for DNA tests for identification.

Around 45,000 people have died since the mid-1980s when the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) took up arms for a self-ruled homeland in southeast Turkey.

Remains of 190 bodies have been found in 29 different mass graves in more than 10 provinces in southeast Turkey, according to IHD's Diyarbakir branch.

The association estimates that more than 3,000 people are buried in 224 different mass graves in the region.
Posted by: Fred || 01/26/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "a museum and culture spot..."

how apropos.....
Posted by: Sheba the Slender3427 || 01/26/2012 10:27 Comments || Top||

#2  I would bet when you throw ppl in a mass grave , you're usually not worried about religous ceremonies.
Posted by: chris || 01/26/2012 10:57 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
6 Soldiers, 17 Taliban Killed in Northwest Pakistan Clash
[An Nahar] Six Pak soldiers and 17 Talibs were killed in an overnight clash in a northwestern tribal district near the Afghan border, officials said Wednesday.

Some 50 Taliban fighters attacked Pak troops during a search operation in Jogi village of central Kurram tribal district
...home of an intricately interconnected web of poverty, ignorance, and religious fanaticism, where the laws of cause and effect are assumed to be suspended, conveniently located adjacent to Tora Bora...
late Tuesday, officials said.

"Six soldiers were killed and four injured in the clash. Troops repelled the attack and killed 17 Death Eaters," Sher Bahadar Khan, a local government official in Kurram told Agence La Belle France Presse.

The snuffies were Pak Taliban, he said.

A bigwig of Pakistain's paramilitary Frontier Corps confirmed the attack, and the casualties, and added that troops had taken control of the area.

Independent confirmation of the corpse count was not immediately possible as the lawless tribal region is barred for journalists .

In July last year, Pakistain launched an offensive in Kurram district to evict Islamist Death Eaters.

Troops are still engaged in a search and cordon operation after clearing most of the area.

Pakistain's seven tribal districts bordering Afghanistan are rife with a homegrown insurgency, and are also strongholds of the Afghan Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked Death Eaters.
Posted by: Fred || 01/26/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Bomb in school debris kills khasadar in Khyber
[Dawn] A security man was killed and two persons were maimed when a bomb, buried under the debris of a destroyed school, went off in Landi Kotal tehsil of Khyber Agency on Tuesday.

Officials said that a team of khasadar
...a rural policeman in Pakistain or India...
s was sent to Sheikhmal Khel area on Tuesday morning to asses the damage done to a government primary school, targeted by Islamic fascisti on the night between Monday and Tuesday.

During the inspection of the damaged building, an unwent kaboom! device buried under the debris went off, injuring three men including two khasadars.

One of the khasadars identified as Murtaza Khan departed this vale of tears while his colleague Waliullah and a local resident Abdullah were treated for their injuries in Landi Kotal hospital.

Two rooms, a veranda and a portion of the boundary wall were damaged in the kaboom. Nobody was present in the building at the time of the kaboom as schools in Landi Kotal have been closed for winter vacations.

Officials said that they started the paperwork but haven't done much else and started investigations. No one has so far grabbed credit for targeting the school. The incident is second of its type in Landi Kotal in less than a week.

Four days ago, unidentified Islamic fascisti blew up a government primary school near the Torkham border.

Officials of the education department said that number of schools destroyed in Khyber Agency had reached 57. Out of these schools 32 were targeted in Bara, 22 in Landi Kotal and four in Jamrud, depriving 16,000 children of education only in Bara tehsil.

Meanwhile,
...back at the bunker, his Excellency called a hurried meeting of his closest advisors. It was to be his last. They discussed the officers's efficiency rating system...
the political administration paid cash compensation to the families of the two khasadars, who had bit the dust in an encounter with a gang of kidnappers in Jamrud on Monday.The families of Mir Mat and Yousaf were given Rs500,000 and Rs300,000 respectively. Other khasadars, who took part in the operation, were also awarded Rs200,000 by the political agent.

However,
man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them...
the compensation was awarded only after a protest demonstration by the relatives of the slain khasadars. Mir Mat's father Zar Mat Khan, also a khasadar, was killed in a suicide kaboom in Jamrud a year ago.In Swabi, unidentified Islamic fascisti blew up a CD shop in Razaar tehsil on Monday night.

The CD shop was destroyed completely when explosive went off in a market in Dagai village. Two other adjacent shops were also damaged. Police reached the area soon after the incident and collected evidence. Nobody was hurt in the incident.

In Lakki Marwat, a vehicle carrying workers of a project was partially damaged in a roadside blast on Tuesday evening.

An official said that an bomb planted alongside Lakki-Mianwali Road went off when the bus carrying PAEC workers reached near Chowkijand. "The workers were coming to Lakki city from the project site as usual," an official said.

He said that the kaboom occurred after the bus crossed the place where the bomb was planted. All the workers onboard remained safe.
Posted by: Fred || 01/26/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar-e-Islami


Gunmen kill three lawyers in Karachi
[Dawn] Three lawyers belonging to Shia community were killed and another was injured when gunnies opened fire on their vehicle here at Pakistain Chowk area on Wednesday, DawnNews reported.

The police sources identified the dead as Shakeel Jafri, Kafil Jafri and Badar Munir whereas Babar Ali, also a lawyer, sustained injuries.

All victims, including father and son, belonged to shia community. The Shia Ulema Council has announced three-day mourning including strike on Thursday.

Four gunnies, riding two cycle of violences, opened fire on Lawyers' car when they were going back home from City Court in Arambagh area.

All four lawyers got injured after shooting and three shuffled off the mortal coil on the way to hospital.

Sindh Home Minister Manzoor Wassan suspended the SHO Arambagh and ordered an inquiry report within next 48 hours.

"We have noticed a few sectarian killings lately, which are aimed at creating chaos in Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
," said Wassan.

The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) has announced a nation wide boycott of courts on Thursday.

Meanwhile,
...back at the desert island, Bert was realizing to his horror that he'd had only one bottle for one message, and he'd forgotten to include a return address...
Governor Sindh Dr Ishrat ul Ebad has vehemently condemned the incident.

He directed the concerned officials for immediate arrest of those involved in the incident.

The governor expressed solidarity with the lawyers' and Shia community and assured that every possible efforts would be made to bring the accused to justice.
Posted by: Fred || 01/26/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Three people shot dead in Quetta
[Dawn] Gunmen rubbed out three Shia Mohammedans on Wednesday in the southwestern city of Quetta , police and local intelligence officials said.

"Two gunnies riding a cycle of violence opened fire on a car in Quetta city, killing three Shia Mohammedans including two government officials and a local television artist," senior local police official, Muhammad Tariq told AFP.

He said it seemed like a sectarian attack, but the police had launched an investigation into the incident. A local intelligence official also confirmed the incident. No group has grabbed credit for the attack.

Hundreds of civilians have been killed since Baluch rebels rose up in 2004 against the federal Pak government, demanding political autonomy and a greater share of profits from the region's oil, gas and mineral resources.
Posted by: Fred || 01/26/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Jhangvi


2 suspected suicide bombers arrested
[Dawn] The Wah Saddar police on Tuesday claimed to have tossed in the calaboose two would-be jacket wallahs and recovered two suicide jackets along with arms and ammunition from their possession.

Subdivisional Police Officer Raja Taifoor Akhter while speaking at a presser identified the tossed in the calaboose suspects as Usman Liaquat alias Tayyab and Saqib Shah alias Hamza. The two, who were nabbed near Brahama interchange, were stated to be members of a banned outfit. The official said four hand grenades, two Kalashnikovs and 200 bullets were also recovered from them.

During preliminary interrogation, the accused said they got military training in a camp run by Taliban in Wazoo and were planning to strike sensitive installations in the area.

He said the accused had been handed over to a joint investigation team in Rawalpindi for further interrogation after registration of a case against them.

It may be recalled that over 70 persons were killed and 120 others injured in two suicide kabooms in the city on August 21, 2008.
Posted by: Fred || 01/26/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan


Iraq
Two bomb attacks in Iraq kill 13
Thirteen people were killed in two separate bomb attacks in Iraq. Two brothers - both policeman - and at least eight of their relatives were reported to have been killed after terrorists insurgents bombed a house in Musayyib. Three people were also killed in Kirkuk in a separate bomb attack.

The Musayyib attack is said to have taken place at 4 a.m. when several roadside bombs surrounding the house were set off. Reports say the dead police officers were idenified as Ahmed and Jihad Zuwaiyin. Six children are also thought to have been killed. Four people were reported to be injured and six homes nearby were also damaged.

Many Shia Muslims live in the Musayyib area, south of Baghdad.

Police say the attack in Kirkuk was caused by a motorcycle bomb parked near a primary school in the city center. Five were injured, in addition to the three fatalities.
Posted by: ryuge || 01/26/2012 05:19 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The killing fields of Cambodia Iraq. Congratulations to the Democratic Party of the United States of America.
Posted by: Ebbaique Spereting5364 || 01/26/2012 16:06 Comments || Top||


Assassins kill Iraq Qaeda leader-turned-critic
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Assassins have rubbed out a former big shot of Al-Qaeda in Iraq who defected from the bully boy network and sided with US forces, officials said on Wednesday.

The murder of Mullah Nadim al-Juburi, 34, came after he made remarks on Iraqi television of how the organization's front group, the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), had made key changes to its leadership.

"We feared such an incident would occur," said Amr Khuzaie, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's adviser on national reconciliation, told AFP.

"Mullah Nadhim al-Juburi and others took the risk of being killed, but that will not prevent us from continuing to work with anyone who wants to rebuild the country."

Juburi, who worked in the national reconciliation commission, was killed on Tuesday night while driving in the west Storied Baghdad
...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate...
neighbourhood of Mansur, police in the capital said.

A vehicle in front of him slowed down, forcing his car also to slow while a second vehicle pulled up alongside his and gunnies opened fire using silenced weapons.

"He worked with us (in the national reconciliation commission) after becoming aware of the crimes of Al-Qaeda," said Khuzaie, who blamed the ISI and supporters of executed dictator Saddam Hussein's Baath Party for Juburi's murder.

Juburi sparked the ire of hard boyz last week when he appeared on television to give details about changes to the ISI's operational structure in the leadership and in south Iraq, and provided the names of those in charge.

On the Honein jihadist Internet forum, several messages on Sunday had warned that Juburi's "days are numbered."

Juburi was the leader of ISI's fighters in Duluiyah, a predominantly Sunni town 90 kilometres (55 miles) north of Storied Baghdad, before cutting ties with the group in May 2008 and siding with US forces.

He then became a leader of the Sahwa, comprised of Sunni tribal militias that turned away from Al-Qaeda from late 2006 onwards, helping turn the tide of Iraq's violent insurgency.
Posted by: Fred || 01/26/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State of Iraq

#1  '...He [al-juburi] then became a leader of the Sahwa, comprised of Sunni tribal militias..."

So this might just be a Shiite killing of a Sunni big shot.
Posted by: Lord Garth || 01/26/2012 18:31 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israeli hacker team brings down Iranian websites
Our hackers are bigger than your hackers.
Israeli hackers brought down Iran's Press TV website and two websites belonging to the Ministry of Health and Medical Education on Thursday. The hackers, who call themselves "IDF Team," said their actions were a response to a series of attacks on Israeli sites the previous day.

Three additional Iranian sites were hacked and their servers altered to display an Israeli flag and anti-Arab text in English.
But many Iranians are not Arab, so they would likely agree with the sentiment...
The website of Press TV, the Iranian regime's English-language satellite channel, was unavailable for a short period of time following the hackers' announcement.

"At 16:30 Israel Clock the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education website will be down until further notice. In addition to Iran's television network, broadcasting in English round-the-clock, based in Tehran that [is] called Press TV will be down until further notice," the hackers wrote in a message.

"Ahmadinejad what do you have to say about that?" they added.
Posted by: tipper || 01/26/2012 12:28 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Fun and games. Gotta love it.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 01/26/2012 13:55 Comments || Top||

#2  future olympic sport?
Posted by: bman || 01/26/2012 15:57 Comments || Top||

#3  Eh ... you don't want to mess with the Zohan.
Posted by: Sgt. Mom || 01/26/2012 19:42 Comments || Top||


Tit for tat, again: Hackers bring down Sheeba Medical Center website
Hackers brought down Sheeba Medical Center's website overnight Tuesday with a Denial of Service attack similar to those that brought down the El Al and Tel Aviv Stock Exchange websites last week, Israel Radio reported Wednesday.

The hackers also attempted to break into the hospital's computer system but its security measures were able to fend off the attack, according to the report.
Posted by: || 01/26/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  In the end, the practice will probably be healthy.
Posted by: gorb || 01/26/2012 1:19 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Village guard gunned down in southern Thailand
A village defense volunteer was gunned down in Yala province on Thursday morning.

The police received a report from the hospital that a man, shot and seriously wounded, was taken to the hospital and died soon after admission. Police investigators went to the hospital and viewed the corpse. The victim, shot twice, was identified as Hama Nicha, 52, a village guard.

Witnesses said that Hama was driving his motorcycle back home from prayers at the village mosque when two terrorists men on another motorcycle asked him to stop for a talk. While the terrorists they were talking the terrorist man riding pillion drew out a handgun and shot him twice. The terrorists attackers then fled. Villagers who heard the sound of gunfire found Hama lying on the road.

District chief escapes bomb

The Rangae district chief escaped unharmed from a bomb intended to take his life in Narathiwat province on Thursday morning. The district chief was to chair the opening of a civic event at the village.

The bomb went off about 9 a.m. on a road along a railway track while Supawaris Phetkarn, the district chief, and four defense volunteers were traveling by pick-up truck to a local village. Mr Supawaris said as his vehicle was heading down the road, a bomb buried on the road was detonated, apparently by radio.

The explosion damaged the vehicle and another car coming in a different direction, leaving a big hole on the road. The district chief and the defense volunteers were not hurt.
Posted by: ryuge || 01/26/2012 04:32 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syria Regime, Opposition Trade Blame for Death of Christian Cleric, Top Medic
[An Nahar] The Syrian regime and opposition on Wednesday traded blame for the killing of a Christian holy man and a regional Syrian Red Islamic Thingy chief.

An "armed terrorist group" killed a priest in the protest hub of Hama in central Syria on Wednesday, state media said, as regime forces reportedly pounded the city for a second day.

"An armed terrorist group killed the priest Bassilius Nassar as he was helping a man who was maimed in the neighborhood of al-Jarajmah," the official SANA news agency said.

But activists said the priest had been "martyred" during an offensive by the army.

"Father Bassilius Nassar was martyred during a military campaign conducted by the regime's forces in the city," the Local Coordination Committees, which organize protests on the ground, said in a statement received by Agence La Belle France Presse.

Security forces raked the protest city with heavy machinegun fire and explosives for a second straight day on Wednesday, the LCC said, reporting a number of casualties.

The al-Watan newspaper, which is close to the authorities, said the military had launched the offensive to retake several districts of Hama that were controlled by Orcs and similar vermin after "the failure of efforts" for a negotiated solution.

Jarajmah was one of the neighborhoods targeted.

"The Syrian army is bombarding Hama with heavy weapons, using rocket-propelled grenades," the LCC said.

"The 'shabiha' (regime militiamen) and security agents backed up by tanks are pounding all parts of the Bab Qibli neighborhood."

Some 4,000 soldiers were in the town supported by tanks, the activist group said, adding that houses had collapsed.

The regime and opposition also offered conflicting stories about the killing of the head of the Syrian Red Islamic Thingy in the restive northwestern province of Idlib.

Official media said he was murdered by "a terrorist group."

"An armed terrorist group assassinated Abdul Razzaq Jbeiro, president of the Red Islamic Thingy organization in Idlib, in the Khan Sheikhoun area," SANA said.

"The group opened fire with a machinegun, hitting him in the head. He was taken to hospital where he died," it added.

Meanwhile the LCC said security forces "assassinated" Jbeiro on the Khan Sheikhoun-al-Maara road.

The Syrian regime blames "terrorist gangs in the pay of foreigners" for the popular unrest that has swept the country since mid-March, with the United Nations
...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks...
estimating that at least 5,400 people have been killed.
Posted by: Fred || 01/26/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  Maybe Christians need to threaten jihad over disrespecting the lives of Christians....
Posted by: Mike Ramsey || 01/26/2012 18:23 Comments || Top||


Russia against Sanctions, Open to Dialogue on Syria
[An Nahar] Russia said Wednesday it was "open to constructive proposals" on Syria but remained opposed to any U.N. resolution that tried to force all nations to respect sanctions previously imposed by the West.

"We are open to constructive proposals that go in line with the set task of ending violence," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said following talks with his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu.

His comments came as Russian and U.S. officials held talks in Moscow on ways to stop nearly 10 months of violence in Syria that the United Nations
...an organization whose definition of human rights is interesting, to say the least...
estimates has killed more than 5,400 people.

Lavrov said there was no need to draft new resolutions on Syria because Russia was ready to amend its previous draft that blames both the Syrian government and the opposition for the use of force.

But he insisted that Russia would not back U.N. action granting the global body's approval to economic sanctions that the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
and the United States have already adopted against Moscow's traditional ally.

"We will not be able to back proposals under which unilaterally imposed sanctions against Syria -- sanctions that were declared without any consultations with Russia or China ... are blessed retroactively," said Lavrov.

"This is simply unfair and counterproductive."

Any resolution backed by Russia "must firmly record that it cannot be used or interpreted to justify anyone's outside military intervention in the Syria crisis," he added.

Russia and China both blocked a previous Western attempt to have the U.N. Security Council formally condemn Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor...
's crackdown and impose stiff sanctions if he refuses to enter direct talks.

Moscow has since further angered the West by continuing to sell arms to its Soviet-era ally and recently striking a new deal to supply small fighter jets to Assad's regime.

But U.S. officials have voiced optimism that new meetings with Russian officials held at both the U.N. headquarters in New York and in Moscow will eventually lead to a compromise.

The U.S. embassy said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey Feltman and Special Coordinator Fred Hof held meetings in Moscow on Wednesday "with a particular focus on recent events in Syria.

"We agreed today to continue close U.S.-Russian coordination on Syria in the weeks ahead."

Lavrov for his part said Russia was open to the idea of hosting direct talks between the opposition and Assad's government.

"We will welcome any choice (of venue) suiting all sides. If the opposition does not want to travel to Damascus
...The City of Jasmin is the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti...
, then this could be Cairo ... Turkey or the territory of the Russian Federation," he said.
Posted by: Fred || 01/26/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


24 Dead as Syrian Forces Pound Protest Hub of Hama
Syrian security forces raked the central protest city of Hama with heavy machinegun fire and explosives on Wednesday for the second straight day, as troops killed 18 civilians and six army deserters across the country, activists said.

"The Syrian army is bombarding Hama with heavy weapons, using rocket-propelled grenades," said a statement from the Local Coordination Committees, which organizes anti-regime protests on the ground.

"The 'shabiha' (regime militiamen) and security agents backed up by tanks are pounding all parts of the Baba Qibli neighborhood," said the LCC.

"There will be dead and maimed. Houses have collapsed," it said, adding about 4,000 soldiers supported by tanks were in the rebel town 210 kilometers north of Damascus
...Capital of the last remaining Baathist regime in the world...

Baba Qibli was the scene of massive protests and where mutinous soldiers of the Free Syrian Army have been holed up, Saleh al-Hamwi, front man of the General Revolution Commission, told Agence La Belle France Presse on Tuesday.

Meanwhile,
...back at the ranch, Butch and the Kid finally brought their horses under control...
the Local Coordination Committees, the main activist group spurring protests on the ground, said security forces killed five people in the restive countryside around Damascus, four people in Hama, four in the central opposition bastion Homs, three in the flashpoint northwestern province of Idlib, one in the northern province of Aleppo
...For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppans regard Damascenes as country cousins...
and another in the southern province of Daraa, the cradle of the uprising.

For its part, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said there was at least one dead in Hama.

"One civilian was killed on Wednesday at dawn in Hama's Sheikh Anbar district, which has also been the target of army fire along with Baba Qibli," it said in a statement received by AFP in Nicosia.

The General Revolution Commission called for Sudan's General Mohammed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi, who heads the Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
monitoring mission to Syria, to "come and see the tanks in Hama before they destroy the city."

"These tanks could be withdrawn in 10 minutes by the Syrian forces and hidden at Hama's military airport," it added.

The city has already been the target of major military offensives to make its rebel residents bow to the regime of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor...

His father Hafez, who died in 2000, set his armed forces on the city in 1982 to put down an armed revolt by the Moslem Brüderbund, killing an estimated 20,000 people.

Syria's al-Watan newspaper, which is close to the authorities, said on Wednesday the military had launched an offensive aimed at retaking several districts in Hama that were controlled by Death Eaters.

It said the assault followed "the failure of efforts" to come up with a peaceful solution.

"The competent authorities have decided to resolve the matter in a definitive manner in order to relieve the city of armed militias," it said.

The authorities "yesterday morning launched a campaign to clean up the cramped residential areas of Baba Qibli, Jarajima, Farraya, Olayliyat and Hamidiyeh, after leaving the door open to those who wished to surrender and lay down their arms," al-Watan said.

The Observatory said 33 non-combatants were killed by fire from the security forces across the country on Tuesday, 23 of them in the central province of Homs.

"Another 19 civilians died on Tuesday when two buildings in Homs city's Bab Tadmor neighborhood collapsed and burned after being bombarded by security forces," it added of Syria's third largest city, citing residents.
Posted by: Fred || 01/26/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria



Who's in the News
35[untagged]
4Govt of Syria
3Govt of Pakistan
2Jamaat-e-Islami
2Arab Spring
1Govt of Sudan
1Islamic State of Iraq
1Lashkar-e-Islami
1Lashkar e-Jhangvi
1TTP
1al-Qaeda
1al-Qaeda in Pakistan
1Boko Haram
1Govt of Iran

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio

Merry-Go-Blog











On Sale now!


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.
Click here for more information

Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Thu 2012-01-26
  Woman Dead as Bombs, Bullets Rain on Nigeria Police Station
Wed 2012-01-25
  SEALS Spring Two, Bag Nine
Tue 2012-01-24
  EU imposes sanctions on Iran oil
Mon 2012-01-23
  U.S. aircraft carrier goes through Strait of Hormuz without incident
Sun 2012-01-22
  Syrian Forces Kill More than 50 Civilian as Dissidents Clash with Troops
Sat 2012-01-21
  Terror attacks in Kano, Nigeria, kill at least 162
Fri 2012-01-20
  Aslam Awan of Abbottabad Dronezapped
Thu 2012-01-19
  Bangladesh army says plot to topple government foiled
Wed 2012-01-18
  Syria 'absolutely rejects' calls for Arab troops
Tue 2012-01-17
  Kenyan jets bomb Al-Shabaab bases
Mon 2012-01-16
  Kenya Arrests 29 Ugandans 'Headed to Somalia to Fight'
Sun 2012-01-15
  3 men in US terror ring get 15-45 years in prison
Sat 2012-01-14
  Mob Kills 2, Burns Mosques in Raid on Nigerian Village
Fri 2012-01-13
  Syrian Forces Kill 32, Fire on Protesters in Presence of Monitors
Thu 2012-01-12
  Dronezap Recess is Over: 2nd in two days

Better than the average link...



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.
54.226.210.133
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Background (14)    Non-WoT (16)    Opinion (1)    (0)    Politix (4)