#2
That's the Republic of Eastern Arabia, a strip of land 50 km wide ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/28/2005 9:44 Comments ||
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This seems to be part of a propaganda offensive to counter the claims made in Twilight in the Desert by Matthew Simmons. Unless the Soddies back up this claim with serious amounts of evidence, it should be considered to be a sign of panic on their part.
Saudi Arabia's minority Shia, encouraged by their new monarch's pledge to serve all subjects fairly, have petitioned King Abdullah with requests for prisoner releases and equal opportunities. Shia are believed to make up around 10% of Saudi Arabia's native population of 16 million and complain of being marginalised by a government closely attached to religious conservatives who consider Shia beliefs heretical.
Shia delegations from Saudi Arabia's oil-producing Eastern Province and its southern region of Najran have separately visited King Abdullah since his accession last month. "Our visit was mainly about political prisoners, asking for their release," said Jaafar al-Shayeb, from the Eastern Province where most of the country's Shia Muslims live. Five representatives from Najran's smaller Ismaili Shia community also handed Abdullah a list of requests 10 days ago when they met him to pledge allegiance. Their requests included the release of prisoners, a bigger role in state affairs and the return of Shia they said were forcibly moved from Najran after a fierce government crackdown five years ago.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/28/2005 00:00 ||
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A 36-year-old man was arrested in London Tuesday in connection with the attempted July 21 terror bombings in London, FOX News has confirmed. A little after noon EDT, the man was arrested by officers from the Metropolitan Police Anti-Terrorist Branch on suspicion of assisting an offender and alleged immigration offenses. The man was taken to a central London police station, where he remained in custody and was to be interviewed, Sky News reported. The suspect is being held under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act, which is a different law than Britain's Terrorism Act. Forty people are being held in connection with the July 7 and July 21 terror attacks in London under the Terrorism Act. Since all four of the July 7 bombers are dead and the July 21 bombing suspects are in jail, questions remain over what sort of network these terrorists had. Probably Mormons.
EFL
Professor Paul Wilkinson, of the Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence at St Andrews University, said the newscast marked a significant development in al-Qaeda's use of the web.
He said: "We need to find out more about who is behind it and monitor the content. It may tell us something about what they want us to believe as well as the false statements we can easily discard.
"It is clear they are using it to give their own spin on everything going on around the world."
Such "open source" web-based propaganda is thought to be instrumental in the radicalisation of young Muslims in Britain. It is virtually impossible for the authorities to stamp out.
The programme begins with the words: "In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate, the Global Media Front presents to you Sout Al-Khilafa."
The newsreader welcomes viewers to the "The Nation's Weekly News Summary" and launches into the lead story saying: "The Sout Al-Khilafa team sends its best wishes to the Islamic nation for the defeat of the Zionist occupation in a portion of occupied Palestine."
The next item covers Zarqawi "the valiant hero" and two of his speeches declaring "the beginning of the Sunni vengeance raid against Shiite Muslims" who now lead a government coalition.
The newscast contains claims by the Islamic Army in Iraq of the launch of ten chemical mortar shells and 45 missiles on a US military base in Al-Madain.
A video shows five rockets being fired from behind a sand bank.
In the final story, the programme ridicules George Bush's response to Hurricane Katrina and claims: "The entire Islamic world overflowed with joy."
It describes the US President as "broken and completely humiliated" and "a fool unable to deal with the wrath of Allah that visited the city of homosexuals".
The programme ends with music popular among Zarqawi's followers.
It was often broadcast on Radio al-Tajdeed - the London-based station run by the Saudi asylum seeker Muhammad al-Massari.
A short advertisement in English for the film Total Jihad is played towards the end of the newscast.
The video was picked up by the Washington-based Clandestine Radio website which monitors online terrorist activity. Its founder, Nick Grace, said: "This is the first time they are compiling their video into a weekly format. The significance of the detail of this programme shows us what the agenda of the supporters of al-Qaeda is."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/28/2005 00:08 ||
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#1
How about a filter on any Arabic text website, solved.
#2
"It may tell us something about what they want us to believe as well as the false statements we can easily discard."
A firm from Texas, I believe, is touting a device that identifies lying individuals just by their conversation with much higher accuracy than a lie detector. They have marketed it to police departments and offered it for Van der Sloot's statements in the Natalee Holloway case in Aruba. I have no idea how it works but I think, if true, this would be great in determining which statements on these videos are genuine threats and which are bluffs.
A Cuban militant accused of plotting a 1976 jetliner bombing that killed 73 people cannot be deported to Venezuela, an immigration judge has ruled. Luis Posada Carriles, who has denied that he planned the bombing, It was an accident? claims he would be tortured if sent to Venezuela, where he is a naturalized citizen and once served as a CIA operative.
In a written ruling Monday, Judge William L. Abbott cited conventions against extradition to a country if a person were likely to face torture there.
Venezuelan officials have said Posada was in Caracas when he planned the bombing and have asked the State Department for his extradition. They say there is no evidence their government would torture him. "Rather than proceeding with the extradition of this self-confessed terrorist to stand trial for murder in Caracas, the U.S. government has instead turned the case into a minor immigration matter," the Venezuelan embassy said in a statement Monday before the judge's ruling was announced.
Posada is accused of illegally crossing into the United States from Mexico in March. He was arrested in Miami in May and is being held in a federal detention center in El Paso.
Russian Muslims intend to raise the question of introducing a vice president post to have their own representative in the Russian government, head of the Muftis Council Ravil Gainutdin was quoted by Ekho Moskvy radio as saying.
Such an official will be needed if "the number of Muslims in Russia increases at the current pace, while the demographic situation changes for the worse," Gainutdin said.
In his opinion, Muslims deserve to have their interests "represented on the highest level."
However, the major Russian mufti said the country currently does not need a so-called chief mufti with the same power as the Orthodox patriarch. But an organization that will unite Russian Muslims would be worthwhile, Gainutdin said.
Recently a group of 400 Muslims from the Russian internal republic of Kabardino-Balkaria sent an open letter to President Vladimir Putin asking him to let them leave Russia for any Asian or European state where "human rights are respected." They also tried to ask the Russian leader the same question during a nationwide phone-in show Tuesday, but no messages from the republic were voiced during the live broadcast.
#1
Then you need to elect someone to represent you in the current government, instead of seeking a single individual to serve your own exclusive interests, YOU GODDAM WHINERS.
IIRC--Commrade Stalin had a method for accomdating such troublesome peoples demands. See Ukranie, 1933-36.
Posted by: N guard ||
09/28/2005 14:15 Comments ||
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Reserving slots for religious and ethnic groups (a la Lebanon) is pretty alien to western democracy. But who said Russia is a western democracy? Bad idea, but not all that far out of left field.
The Pentagon will dismantle its airbase in Uzbekistan "without further discussion", a senior US diplomat said yesterday after bilateral talks collapsed in acrimony. "The Uzbek government made it clear that we need to leave the base, and we intend to leave it without further discussion," Daniel Fried, an assistant secretary of state, told Associated Press after meeting President Islam Karimov.
In June, the Karimov government demanded that the US leave within six months, after Washington condemned Uzbek troops for firing on peaceful protesters in the town of Andijan on May 13. The Karimov regime insists 187 people died, while witnesses say that at least 500 died. Yesterday's bitter meeting brings to an effective public end the US's most controversial alliance in the war on terror.
This is the right decision for us. We can get by without the base, and it's important to condemn Karimov for what he did.
Relations became openly acrimonious last week when 15 defendants on trial for "organising" the Andijan uprising said they had received money from the US embassy to aid the attack. Mr Fried yesterday dismissed the claim as "ludicrous".
Former hostages began to testify yesterday. Four, held by rebels inside the regional government building, said they were beaten and used as human shields. A fifth, Kudratulla Mamatakhunov, a district judge from Andijan, denied the rebels beat the hostages, and said unprovoked gunfire came from both sides - contradicting previous testimony by the defendants themselves and the other hostages, who said soldiers only fired in response to shooting by rebels.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/28/2005 00:00 ||
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President "Islam", the dictator, let's blow this funky joint and let them commies have have him.
So what's he gonna be called, like, Really Excellent Leader?
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has decided to pass the mantle of leadership of one of the worldâs most repressive regimes to his second son Kim Jong-chul (23), according to AERA magazine, a sister publication of Japan's Asahi Shimbun. Thanks, dad! Are the imported blonde hookers and the cognac part of the deal?
In its Sept. 26 edition, AERA quotes an informed official as saying Kim Jong-ilâs mind was made up. Numerous sources said the last few months have seen a political education campaign on all levels of the Stalinist country including the workplace exalting Kim Jong-chul as the legitimate successor to his spiky-haired fatherâs personality cult. Such a campaign would be unimaginable without the direct blessing of the North Korean leadership. Leader-in-waiting Jong-chul is referred to as "the Commander" in these lectures. "The Commander"? That sucks! They got KCNA and all they can come up with is "The Commander"?? What kinda lameass shit is that?
According to the magazine, Kim, who was born on Sept. 25, 1981, studied at an international school in Switzerland. He is reportedly such a big fan of the U.S. NBA that his doting father built basketball courts at his villas throughout North Korea. Jong-chul 's older brother Jong-nam (34) fell from grace after he was caught trying to enter Japan on a forged passport. ...and now... youuuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrr...Pyongyang Running Dogs!!!
AERA said âthe Commanderâ could make an appearance in the memorial ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of the Workers Party of Korea on Oct. 10, likely to be a massive celebration provided North Korea's relationship with the U.S. improves. Maybe shoot 18 with pops after? Make sure you lose though, kid. Kimmies moody and Jong-nam hasn't been turned into Soylent Green yet. Shoot at least a 24 to be on the safe side.
Anybody seen Dad in public lately? Awfully concerned about who gets the family business all of a sudden.
#2
Number one son may want to seek asylum somewhere/anywhere before the coronation.
Posted by: ed ||
09/28/2005 16:55 Comments ||
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I think this could turn into a knockdown drag-out fight between the two after dear old dad passes on. You got to wonder how long the Norks are willing to live with this leadership? Dear leader outlasted even my most optimistic predictions and I suspect that the hunger in North Korea is just for food.
#5
I bet it's the same one as John Kerry attended.
I just spent 1/2 an hr. researching their Swiss schools via Google; I came up empty on connecting a specific school to Kim Jong Chul.
One of Kerry's Swiss schools was here, FWIW.
Hundreds of immigrants have tried to break through border fences around the Spanish enclave of Melilla in North Africa for a second night running.
Some 200 succeeded in crossing, say Spanish police. Some 100 made it across the day before.
Almost 30 people, including policemen, have been injured in the mass assaults. Melilla and nearby Ceuta are seen as stepping stones to Europe by African immigrants. Spain is doubling the height of the fences around Melilla.
Most arrive without documentation, leaving the police in Melilla to take their details and issue them with expulsion papers. Spanish newspaper El Mundo says that many of the sub-Saharan immigrants then hope to be sent to mainland Spain on the premise of being sent back to their own countries.
Almost all the migrants who make it into an enclave also claim asylum, but fewer than 10% of these applications are successful.
Police have logged 12,000 attempts to enter Melilla this year.
Many migrants are caught and many drown while attempting to make the sea crossing to Spain - either across the Mediterranean Sea or to the Canary Islands, over the Atlantic Ocean.
They cross in groups to increase their chances of getting over the double fence.
Many have already risked their lives crossing the Sahara desert in order to reach the shores of the Mediterranean. They come from across west Africa, some from as far away as the Democratic Republic of Congo, hoping to reach the European Union.
A Guardia Civil spokesman said groups had been trying to cross where the perimeter fencing remains 3m high. It is at these points where work is being carried out to double the height.
Police have found more than 200 makeshift ladders where crossings have been attempted. Spanish guards on the borders have responded to the attempted invasions with anti-riot methods.
The Doctors Without Borders (MSF) charity criticised what it called "the violence" used by the Spanish and Moroccan security forces. But Spanish secretary of state for security, Antonio Camacho said that migrants were launching massive and violent assaults.
"Being an illicit action which is also, normally, accompanied by great violence on the part of the assailants, it is highly likely that - despite diligent, professional and proportionate action by police officers - unwanted situations may occur," he said.
An extra 40 police officers are being sent to Melilla.
In the past week, the Moroccan authorities have arrested more than 1,000 people planning to travel illegally to Europe.
Some 300 were Moroccan, the others from sub-Saharan Africa.
Military action against Iran is inconceivable and diplomacy could still end the international standoff over Tehran's nuclear program, said British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, whose country plays a key role in negotiations. Iran insists its nuclear program is designed for generating electricity, but the Bush administration believes Tehran intends to produce atomic weapons and has refused to rule out military strikes.
"All United States presidents always say all options are open. But it is not on the table, it is not on the agenda. I happen to think that it is inconceivable," Straw told British Broadcasting Corp. radio on Wednesday. Britain, France and Germany are leading European Union diplomatic efforts to persuade Iran to abandon its uranium enrichment activities. Uranium enriched to low levels can be used as fuel in nuclear reactors to generate electricity, but further enrichment makes it suitable for a nuclear bomb.
On Saturday, the International Atomic Energy Agency passed a resolution putting Iran on the verge of referral to the
U.N. Security Council unless Tehran eases suspicions about its nuclear activities. The resolution ordered Iran to suspend all enrichment activities, including uranium conversion, to abandon construction of a heavy water nuclear reactor and to grant access to certain military locations, individuals and documents. Iran has rejected the resolution, protesting it was politically motivated and without legal foundation.
"The truth is, as (U.S. Secretary of State) Condoleezza Rice has made clear, military action in respect of the Iranian dossier is not on anybody's agenda. I believe it is inconceivable," Straw told the BBC.
"Inconceivable!" "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."
Straw, who is in Brighton, southern England for the governing Labour Party's annual conference, said the IAEA resolution left the "door open for further diplomatic action with Iran" and urged the country to take that route.
He insisted the way the international community dealt with the nuclear standoff was of fundamental importance and could affect the "geopolitical landscape for years to come." "There is no question of us going to war against Iran. Why? Because it's not going to resolve the issue. No one is talking about going to war against Iran," he later told Sky Television News. "This can only be resolved by diplomatic means and by diplomatic pressure."
Posted by: ed ||
09/28/2005 07:44 ||
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#1
Straw Jack was reserved on this by Tall Tony immediately after making this assinine statement.
Cue egg on Straw Jack's face.
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/28/2005 7:50 Comments ||
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Hey, Straw -- WAY TO BLOW THE GAME!!!
A key element in diplomatic pressure is the threat of force. If you rule out force, then the diplomacy has nothing behind it -- and no matter what piece of paper you get signed, it will mean nothing, because you've let the other guy know there's no downside to his reneging.
Christ. How did Straw become Foreign Secretary? Does he have embarassing pictures of someone?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
09/28/2005 8:03 Comments ||
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#3
Inconceivable means inconceivable. Do you Yanks think that military force is the answer to EVERY question? It's a new, multi-polar world in which international law and respect for international borders, treaties, and sovereignty are essential for preserving the peace.
Posted by: N. Chamberlain ||
09/28/2005 9:43 Comments ||
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#4
The Prime Minister is correct. Look how well it worked out the Sudetenland.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/28/2005 10:44 Comments ||
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#5
Straw is an incompetent MM bootlicker. Savor the chance to STFU, Jack!
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/28/2005 11:04 Comments ||
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#6
"This can only be resolved by diplomatic means and by diplomatic pressure."
Ya, that approach has really worked well with N. Korea.
Why is it that liberals insist on retrying the same failed policies over and over again?
#8
What I meant to say before, is that Blair refuted Straw shortly after Straw made his latest foolish statement.
Apparently there is tension between No. 10 and the FS office. I bet Tony wins.
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/28/2005 13:25 Comments ||
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#9
he said its not on the agenda. Going out tonight to buy a new computer is not on MY agenda, but Id do it if my old computer died. Not on the agenda doesnt mean ruled out.
Inconceivable DOES mean ruled out - but note he used THAT word only in reference to his own personal beliefs. "I think its inconceivable" "I believe its inconceivable"
I believe that these words were chosen carefully.
On the one hand he needs to calm the Germans and French (not to mention the Russians" without ACTUALLY ruling anything out.
#10
LH: The nearly instantaneous reversal of Staw's statement by Tony fails to support your word architecting. Surely they realized that Staw's comments were destructive.
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/28/2005 20:19 Comments ||
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"..I happen to think that it is inconceivable," Straw told British Broadcasting Corp. radio on Wednesday.
Mr Straw, for YOU it's inconceivable. That is all.
A man suspected of being the "FedEx bandit" has been captured after an exhaustive search, authorities said Tuesday.
A bank surveillance photo released by police shows the "FedEx bandit."
Farzad Farhbaksh, 40, was caught entering Mexico Monday at a Tijuana border checkpoint, said Lauren Mack, spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Farhbaksh was being pursued for six months, Mack said. He is accused of being the bandit who robbed 41 banks in Southern California, using a FedEx box to carry away his stolen cash.
San Diego police were to announce the arrest and the charges they planned to pursue at a news conference later in the day.
"We believe he was smuggling currency from these robberies into Tijuana," Mack said.
Mack said Farhbaksh is an Iranian national who has been using the identity of Ernest Lozano, a U.S. resident who died as a baby in Texas.
Posted by: ed ||
09/28/2005 08:12 ||
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Republican U.S. Attorney Stephen Murphy III (the Justice Dept.'s top official in the heart of Islamic America), Michigan FBI Special Agent in Charge Daniel Roberts, Michigan and Ohio ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) Special Agent in Charge Brian Moskowitz (a/k/a "Abu Moskowitz"), and Carol Jennifer, head of Citizenship and Immigration Services, and Michael Moore's favorite far-left Congressman, John Conyers (co-star of "Fakenheit 911") all yukked it up with Hezbollah's American Imam, Mohammed Ali Elahi. Also there: ICE Assistant Special Agent in Charge Michael "Mick" Hodzen (a/k/a "The Tool Belt Holder").
Kowtowing to the Hezbollah mosque's Imam, Elahi--who was sent here from Iran by Hezbollah in 1991 to radicalize Shia mosques and somehow managed to stay after his 4-month visa expired--these officials (and their retinue of 9 additional ass-kissing federal agents in tow) joked around with Elahi about why Hezbollah would even be considered a terrorist group. How funny. I'm sure my friend Ken Stethem--whose brother, Navy Diver Robert Stethem, was tortured to death by Hezbollah on a hijacked plane--wouldn't find it so funny.
can you say "tipping point?" "backlash?" HT to Drudge
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/28/2005 00:00 ||
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Theres no such thing as a 'illegal immigrant' - they have not been granted immigrant status by the Government - there mere presence here is an offense to federal law.
#2
llegal Immigrants now (?) Outnumber Legal Immigrants
GWB still won't do anything about it. He'll still push his stealth amnesty plan, repeat over and over his bilge about the "jobs that Americans won't take", won't pressure that asswipe Fox about keeping his peasants on his side of the border, blah blah blah.
People are going to have to get really, REALLY mad before anything substantial happens. Either that or a terror attack that can be traced to entry through the border with Mexico.
#4
Note well. The great European 'migration' into the Americas is portrayed as the rape of the natives. Its to be a major feature of the proposed 'International Freedom Center'. However, the same hateful anti-American parasites support the wave of illegal invaders to the U.S.
US soldier Lynndie England, who said she was only trying to please her boyfriend when she took part in detainee abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, has been sentenced to three years behind bars.
Good riddance to her. It should have been at least 20...
England's sentencing late on Tuesday wrapped up the last of nine courts-martial of low-level soldiers charged in the abuse scandal, which severely damaged America's image in the Muslim world and tarnished the US military at home and abroad. The jury of five Army officers needed about 90 minutes to determine their sentence for England, a 22-year-old reservist from rural West Virginia. The charges carried up to nine years, but prosecutor Captain Chris Graveline asked the jury to imprison her for four to six years. The defence asked for no time behind bars. England sat with her eyes forward as the verdict was read, occasionally looking down.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/28/2005 00:00 ||
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She has a face that indicates Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.
#2
Ironic, merely a day after the FBI announces a crackdown on Internet pornography, especially sado-masochistic bondage pictures, we see pictures of Private England sporting kinky handcuffs.
[September 23 2005] during early morning, anchored 6 miles SSW of Vung Tau island, Vietnam. Robbers boarded a container ship. They broke forward locker padlock and stole ship's stores.
[September 20 2005] at 0230 LT at Chittagong outer anchorage, Bangladesh. Six robbers boarded a tanker and broke open forward store and tried to steal ship's property. Alert crew raised alarm. Robbers fled empty handed.
[September 10 2005] Missing tug and barge. Tug Marco Polo 43 and barge Marco Polo 48 in tow from Gresik Java, Surabaya to Jakarta have gone missing since September 10 2005.
By Dave Moniz, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON â Defeating the Iraqi insurgency is as important to the United States as winning World War II was 60 years ago, the Pentagon's top officer said Monday.
Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, who will leave his post as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the end of this week, said the United States must win in Iraq because "the outcome and consequences of defeat are greater than World War II."
During an interview with a small group of reporters at the Pentagon, Myers, 63, also said the Army is trying "to get the facts" about recent allegations of abuse involving U.S. troops in Iraq. "The people who made these allegations are known and are talking to the Army."
On Sunday, Human Rights Watch released a report chronicling new claims of abuse, including charges that U.S. soldiers routinely tortured detainees to soften them up for interrogators.
The report included the testimony of Army Capt. Ian Fishback, who said he approached the human rights group after his superiors failed to properly investigate allegations that soldiers at an Army base near Fallujah had regularly beaten and abused prisoners in 2003 and 2004.
On Sunday, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said on ABC's This Week that the new allegations had to be investigated and were "hurting America's image abroad."
The latest report follows the investigation and prosecution of U.S. troops for abusing Iraqi prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad.
Myers also cautioned against cutting the military budget to help pay for recovery from Hurricane Katrina.
Myers has been chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff since 2001. He will be succeeded by Marine Gen. Peter Pace.
In the interview, Myers linked the post-9/11 war on terrorism with the fighting in Iraq, saying both require a continuing commitment by the American people, who sometimes "tend to forget" the threat from al-Qaeda and other terror groups. "This is a handful of folks who are willing to do despicable acts in the name of extremism," Myers said.
Iraq, Myers said, is now al-Qaeda's "center of gravity," and the United States shouldn't reduce its forces there prematurely. "My view is, if terrorism wins in Iraq, the next 9/11 is right around the corner."
Although some U.S. allies, including Saudi Arabia's foreign minister last week, have predicted Iraq may disintegrate, Myers said the United States has high expectations there.
Eventually, he said, the United States hopes for an Iraq that is at peace with its neighbors, is an ally against terrorism and respects human rights. "I don't think we're dialing back our expectations in Iraq," he said.
Myers said U.S. troops will continue to battle the insurgency aggressively, but the role of Iraqi security forces in the fight will continue to expand. "We're not backing off," he said. "You don't win by playing defense."
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's network of al Qaeda-linked insurgents is emerging as a self-sustaining force, despite repeated blows by U.S. forces and the reported death of his second-in-command, U.S. intelligence officials and other experts say.
The Zarqawi network, responsible for some of the Iraqi insurgency's bloodiest attacks, has grown into a loose confederation of mainly native Iraqis trained by former Baath Party regime officers in explosives, small arms, rockets and surface-to-air missiles.
Since U.S. counter-insurgency assaults forced many of its operatives to exit Iraq's cities, counterterrorism officials say al Qaeda has been trying to set up a safe haven for training and command operations in western Anbar province.
"The suggestion is that this has shifted from being a terrorist network to a guerrilla army," said Vali Nasr, a national security affairs expert at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.
"If this were not checked, the insurgents would become not only militarily more powerful, but politically more powerful. We're definitely trying to deny that milestone to Zarqawi."
U.S. military officials on Tuesday said they had killed Zarqawi's No. 2 in Iraq, an operative identified as Abu Azzam. Al Qaeda did not verify the U.S. claim.
But intelligence officials said the death of Zarqawi himself would not mean al Qaeda's defeat in Iraq, partly because he has ceded authority over day-to-day operations to regional commanders and tribal leaders who operate according to his strategic guidelines.
"If he died in the cause, that's huge. That's what everybody wants. Then he's a giant figurehead and everybody can do something in his name," one intelligence official said.
"He has enough force in place to sustain operations," the official added. "Al Qaeda in Iraq ... regenerates very quickly. You knock off a guy who's in charge in a certain area, another person steps into the gap."
Zarqawi's network, believed to consist of 2,000 to 5,000 hardcore fighters and an equal number of active supporters, represents 10-15 percent of the Iraq insurgency in numbers of fighters, officials say.
Defense and counterterrorism officials said Zarqawi's insurgents have recently been joined by elements of Jaish Mohammad, a 4,000-member insurgent group loyal to Saddam Hussein's Baathist regime. The addition gives Zaraqwi new tactical skills inside Baghdad, a defense official said.
Although the Jordanian-born Zarqawi has long been associated with foreign fighters, officials believe 85 to 90 percent of al Qaeda in Iraq's members are Iraqi.
A minority of foreign fighters carry out most of the group's suicide bombings, which has made Zarqawi's network appear more effective than other segments of the insurgency.
While committing only about 2 percent of insurgent attacks, officials say, the Zarqawi network has killed 17 percent of the insurgency's victims, the vast majority of them Iraqis.
Zarqawi, who has a $25 million U.S. bounty on his head, has also surpassed the insurgency's Baathist and former regime elements in part by using the Internet as a propaganda tool for circulating sensational images of attacks on U.S. forces.
With Iraq's constitutional referendum due on Oct. 15, officials say Zarqawi appears to be consolidating his position at the forefront of the Sunni insurgency by declaring all-out war on the country's majority Shi'ite population.
But his main strategic objective remains the expulsion of U.S. forces from Iraq, a goal that officials say has helped him unify support among local Sunni Arab insurgents.
"They're the ones seen to be drawing American blood," said Steven Simon, co-author of the book, "The Age of Sacred Terror" (Random House).
Attacks on civilians have earned Zaraqwi criticism from Sunni political groups such as the Iraqi Islamic Party. Other mainstream Sunni groups have avoided the issue.
But there is growing concern that Sunni political isolation will only deepen if the upcoming referendum vote ends leads to the adoption of the proposed constitution.
"It's almost self-evident that Sunni dissatisfaction is going to increase," said a counterterrorism official.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/28/2005 00:15 ||
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Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's network of al Qaeda-linked insurgents is emerging as a self-sustaining force, despite repeated blows by U.S. forces
Self-sustaining? You mean no outside funds, no outside suicide bombing, so need for support from other islamic countries?
yeah right!
But there is growing concern that Sunni political isolation will only deepen if the upcoming referendum vote ends leads to the adoption of the proposed constitution.
How much more concern can you be? Stupid journelist!
#2
How much longer will they continue to be self-sustaining with so many men rotating through the Number 3 spot. It isn't as though they're choosing to retire early, after all. The whole premise is just silly.
#5
Have the Syrians and the Iranians take a walk on him and see how "self-sustaining" he is.
Oh, right. That won't happen. So I guess he is "self-sustaining"...
Islamic Jihad's only radio station in the Gaza Strip went off the air yesterday fearing its studios would be targeted by Israel. Saleh al-Masri, director of Al-Quds Radio (102.7 FM), said the decision to suspend the broadcasts followed Israeli charges that the station was inciting violence. He claimed that Palestinian journalists and media outlets were being targeted by Israel "as part of its comprehensive aggression" on the Palestinians. "Palestinian journalists are being targeted because they are exposing Israel's lies," he said. "[Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon's government is practicing terror by killing the elderly and children and destroying various institutions."
Earlier in the day several media organizations evacuated their staff from a building in downtown Gaza City following rumors that Israeli helicopters were about to fire missiles at the studios, located in the same compound. More than a year ago Israeli helicopters fired a number of missiles toward the Hamas-run Al-Jeel press office in the same building. It was not clear when, if at all, the Islamic Jihad radio station would resume its broadcasts. Earlier this week the station interviewed many Islamic Jihad supporters in the Gaza Strip who called for stepping up the armed struggle against Israel. The interviews were conducted in the aftermath of the killing by the IDF of Muhammed Sheikh Khalil, commander of the armed wing of Islamic Jihad in the southern Gaza Strip.
Khaled al-Batsh, a senior Islamic Jihad official in the Gaza Strip, said his group was prepared to abide by the unofficial truce with Israel on condition that Israel halts its ongoing military operations.
"If Israel stops its air raids on the Gaza Strip and returns to the tahdiyah [calm], then Islamic Jihad will also abide by the tahdiyah," Batsh said. "The ball is now in the Israeli court." Batsh's statement marks a change in the position of Islamic Jihad, whose leaders announced earlier this week that the group was no longer committed to the tahdiyah and would resume its terror attacks on Israel.
On Monday, Islamic Jihad lashed out at Hamas for declaring an end to its attacks on Israel, hinting that the decision was related to the parliamentary elections slated for next January. Sources in the Gaza Strip told The Jerusalem Post that both Hamas and Islamic Jihad had come under heavy pressure from Egypt to stop firing rockets at Israel.
According to the sources, the two group's decision to return to the period of calm was also the result of Israel's latest military offensive.
Said Siam, a top Hamas operative in the Gaza Strip, yesterday denied reports in the Arab media that Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas had issued a stiff warning to his group to stop firing rockets at Israel. According to the reports, Abbas sounded the threat during a heated phone conversation Damascus-based Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal.
"These reports are malicious and unfounded," Siam told the Bethlehem-based Maan News Agency. "President Abbas did not talk in such language with Khaled Mashaal. The relationship between the two is based on mutual respect and understanding and President Abbas did not threaten to strike at Hamas." PA Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei yesterday expressed satisfaction with the decision taken by Hamas and Islamic Jihad to honor the tahdiyah and condemned Israel's raids on the Gaza Strip as "barbaric."
Posted by: Steve ||
09/28/2005 12:28 ||
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First of all, do they think Israel doesn't already know the station's location? And secondly, what is this nonsense about tahdiyah [calm]? A hudna [temporary cease fire in order to regroup] is too restrictive for them?
A summit between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has been put off. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the meeting scheduled for 2 October would take place "only once the preparations... have been completed". Israel had cancelled a preparatory meeting for the summit, after rocket attacks by Palestinian militant groups. Israel has continued its air strikes on Gaza, despite Palestinian factions declaring they would observe a truce.
Darn those perfidious Jooos. Ruin a perfectly legitimate offensive attack with a defensive counterbattery. The nerve of some people...
Mr Erekat said the meeting was postponed after Israel contacted the Palestinian side. "We don't want to meet just for the sake of meeting. We want a well-prepared meeting with an extensive agenda focusing on all the current issues," he said. It comes on the fifth anniversary of a visit by then-opposition leader Ariel Sharon to a disputed religious site in Jerusalem, which sparked a series of Palestinian riots. These riots and Palestinian frustration at the failure of the peace process triggered what became known as the al-Aqsa intifada.
A leader of the Palestinian resistance organisation Hamas has said Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip was incomplete, complaining it still controlled airspace and border crossings. Mousa Abu Marzouk, the deputy head of Hamas' political bureau, also said on Tuesday that Israel's policy of assassinating the group's senior officials in Gaza was aimed at preventing Hamas candidates from participating in the January Palestinian parliamentary elections. "This policy is not new. Israel is moving at various levels against Hamas to prevent it from taking part in the coming elections in order to bring in a Palestinian authority of its own design," Abu Marzouk told journalists in Damascus.
He added that the Israeli campaign against Hamas was part of an "internal political struggle" between Sharon and his main rival, Benjamin Netanyahu, for the leadership of the Likud Party on the one hand, and "fears of a Hamas victory" in the elections on the other hand. Abu Marzouk also complained that Gaza lacks sovereignty despite Israel's withdrawal two weeks ago, which ended a 38-year occupation of the coastal strip.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/28/2005 00:00 ||
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A leader of the Palestinian resistance organisation Hamas has said Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip was incomplete, complaining it still controlled airspace and border crossings.
And don't you ever forget that, Hamas Boy. Especially when you hear a helicopter...
DAMASCUS - Syria denied on Wednesday accusations by Lebanese Defence Minister Elias Al Murr, once a staunch ally of Damascus, that Syriaâs former intelligence chief in Lebanon had threatened his life. Murr told the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation on Monday that Rustom Ghazali, intelligence chief at the time, had made verbal death threats long before the minister survived a bomb blast that targeted his motorcade in Beirut in July. Murr, speaking from Europe, said he had decided to stay abroad because he did not trust Lebanonâs security agencies to protect him.
âMurr is rushing to join the dominant chorus which is throwing accusations at Syria left and right,â said al-Thawra newspaper, a government mouthpiece. Al-Thawra and two other state-owned newspapers quoted an official source as dismissing Murrâs charges as âfull of liesâ.
The source suggested that Murr was trying to implicate Syria in the killing of Lebanese former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in Beirut in February. âThe source voiced astonishment that Mr. Murr took on such a role which was synchronised with the return from Damascus of members of the international team investigating the (Hariri) assassination...â al-Thawra said.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/28/2005 09:51 ||
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"The source suggested that Murr was trying to implicate Syria in the killing of Lebanese former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in Beirut in February. "
Well youd think that Murr saying he was threatened would implicate Syria in the attack on Murr, not on Hariri. It did occur to me that this is further confirmation of Syrias willingness to use murder as a tool, and thus confirmation of their guilt inthe Hariri attack, but you would think theyd point that out. In this case, he who excuses himself, accuses himself.
Malaysia, which chairs the worldâs biggest grouping of Muslim countries, urged the United States on Monday to be patient in dealing with Iran over its controversial nuclear programme. âLet us not put Iran to the wall. If you put Iran to the wall, we do not know what would be the effect,â Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said when answering a question at a US-Malaysia forum in Washington. He said the world would not want the Iranian nuclear issue to blow up into an Iraq-like conflict. âWe have seen too much difficultyâ with the US-led war in Iraq and âwe do not want to see another situation where we are confronted with an open conflict which is difficult to manage subsequently,â Syed Hamid said. Malaysia is the current chair of the 57-nation Organisation of the Islamic Conference and the 116-nation Non-Aligned Movement.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/28/2005 00:00 ||
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um F*CK Malaysia, 4 real. They are part of the problem.
#6
Do the world's premiere semiconductor companies want to jeopardize their operations by have so much of their packaging and testing operations in a hostile, looney, islamic nation?
Posted by: ed ||
09/28/2005 9:34 Comments ||
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âLet us not put Iran to the wall. If you put Iran to the wall, we do not know what would be the effect,â Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said when answering a question at a US-Malaysia forum in Washington.
We know what the likely effect will be if we don't put them to the wall.
#9
"We have seen too much difficulty"
AQ Khan gave the technology to Malaysia to manufacture the centrifuges needed to enrich Iranian nukes. They are obviously co-conspirators, even suggesting the world go to the gold standard after the collapse of the dollar in America. The Asians have all been buying lotsa gold lately. They were uncooperative with their neighbors when trying to police the shipping lanes, not allowing pursuit into their territorial waters. They've shown their true allegiances and should be considered when marking the coordinates for targeting Iran, eliminating any possibility that they will ever see anything again!
India turned off by Iranâs NPT rebuff, bellicose N-stand
INDIA'S DECISION to vote in favour of the International Atomic Energy Association resolution on Friday was made easier by an earlier rebuff New Delhi suffered at Iran's hands.
A week before the vote, Iran and Egypt had joined hands to get the United Nations 60th anniversary outcomes document to incorporate a line demanding that the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty be made compulsory for all countries.
Though the target was Israel, it was also a red rag for India. If India signed the NPT it would have to surrender its nuclear weapons. New Delhi did not want this to be labeled a UN goal, even in a symbolic document. "Iran's response was that was just too bad. Hitting out at Israel is more important," says a diplomatic source.
This was galling given that Iran had repeatedly said it expected New Delhi to abstain at the IAEA vote, which in its final form put off referring Iran's to the UN Security Council. India was already wary because of the damage Iran's nuclear policy was doing to India's carefully maintained reputation for nuclear responsibility.
New Delhi was investing in reinforcing that image by passing a WMD anti-proliferation law and accepting Nuclear Suppliers Group standards. Tehran was doing the exact opposite. Worse, Iran was insensitive to Indian concerns, declining to consult about provocative actions like breaking IAEA seals. New Delhi in contrast went to great pains to brief Iran on its IAEA stance.
In return, say sources, Iran's line was: "You must support us, but don't expect anything in return." India faced a similar problem with Russia, China and Pakistan, the leaders of the "abstain vote" group at the IAEA. They were all participants in providing Iran clandestine nuclear and missile parts and designs.
"Abstention would have put us with this lot," noted an official. That Iran did not bother to distance itself from the land of A. Q. Khan, from whom it had bought centrifuges, did not help.
Posted by: john ||
09/28/2005 16:24 ||
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Israeli authorities on September 27 announced the arrest of an Israeli-Arab Hamas activist who played central militant, political, and financing roles for the group in coordination with what Israeli authorities described as a âHamas command in Saudi Arabia.â The arrest is just the latest evidence that support for Hamas in particular and Islamic extremism in general continues to emanate from within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Hamas HQ in Saudi Arabia
Until he was arrested last month, Yakub Muhamad Yakub Abu Etzev was in contact via e-mail with senior Hamas officials in Saudi Arabia. According to Israeli authorities, Abu Etzev confessed to receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Hamas headquarters in Saudi Arabia as well as instructions that he passed on to Hamas field operatives. The funds entered the West Bank through human couriers and money changers, often under the cover of charity work.
The Hamas office in Saudi Arabia reportedly instructed Abu Etzev to open a âcommunications officeâ to report developments on the ground to Hamas operatives abroad. The Hamas leaders in Saudi Arabia provided the funding for this venture in addition to money for the families of suicide bombers and imprisoned terrorists and a variety of Hamas institutions. Abu Etzev was personally involved the creation of local Hamas committees in towns and villages with funds from Hamasâs Saudi office.
Past Hamas Activity in Saudi Arabia
The revelation that Hamas operates a command center in Saudi Arabia with close ties to Hamas militants executing attacks and the movementâs political and social-welfare (dawa) operations is remarkable. But neither the fact that individual Hamas operatives are active in Saudi Arabia nor the fact that Hamas receives significant funding from within the Kingdom is news. Unlike its official presence in Syria, Iran, Yemen, and Sudan, Hamas has never maintained a formal office in Saudi Arabia. But individual Hamas activists, as well as many supporters, have long raised funds from within the Kingdom.
As early as 1994, Palestinian scholar Ziad Abu Amr noted, âThe widespread belief is that Hamas has received money [from] the governments of Saudi Arabia and some Gulf states,â adding that such support is believed to have continued after the 1991 Gulf War to punish the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) for its support of Iraq after its invasion of Kuwait. In 1997, the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera cited unnamed Palestinian officials who complained, âRiyadhâs help to Hamas has grown with the opening of new [financial] channels,â and revealed that âover 140 billion lire [$37.32 million] has been collected in Saudi Arabia and the other oil monarchies.â In September 2003, David Aufhauser, general counsel to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, said in congressional testimony that despite some success in curbing terror financing, âby no means have we crossed the bridge of the issue of terrorist financing emanating from Saudi Arabia.â Aufhauser noted that not only is it donating to Hamas not a crime in Saudi Arabia, but Hamas raises âenormous amounts of moneyâ during the month of the Hajj aloneâa period so lucrative for Hamas that it sends its political director to the Kingdom.
Individuals, charities, and banks tied to the Saudi ruling class are among the most prolific supporters of Islamist extremism, of both the Palestinian and the global varieties. The al-Raji family has been tied to Hamas funding, as have other members of the Saudi elite, such as Khari al-Agha and Abd al-Rahim Nasrallah, who is believed to have laundered and transferred funds through charitable organizations fronting for Hamas in Europe. Together, Nasrallah and Zayd Mahmoud Zakarna, the head of Hamasâs Jenin charity committee, are suspected of arranging the transfer of hundreds of thousands of dollars to Hamas.
Individual contributions from Saudi Arabia were instrumental in helping Hamas develop the Qassam rockets it routinely shoots into Israel from Gaza. In December 2001, Israeli authorities arrested Hamas operative Osama Zohadi Hamed Karika as he attempted to cross the Rafah border crossing at Gaza. He had on his person documents detailing the development of the Qassam rockets. Under questioning, he admitted that he was on his way to Saudi Arabia to brief unidentified supporters on the development of the rockets and to obtain their continued funding for the project. Karika also told his Israeli interrogators that he had personally secured initial funding for the rocket program in Saudi Arabia.
Unfulfilled Pledges to Curb Hamas
What is perhaps most disturbing is that such activity persists despite repeated Saudi pledges to curb terror financing and the promotion of Islamist extremism from within the Kingdom.
In the wake of domestic al-Qaeda terrorist attacks, Saudi authorities took action against al-Qaeda financiers, severely curtailing the funding these financiers provided to Hamas as a consequence. By restricting Islamist charities that fund both al-Qaeda and Hamasâsuch as the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY) and the International Islamic Relief OrganizationâSaudi funding for Hamas all but dried up for a period of time. According to an Israeli report, in the second half of 2004, âSaudi authorities began severely limiting charitable money transfers from their country to Hamas institutions in the [Palestinian Authority]-administered territories.â
But while Saudi authorities did take several steps against terror financingâincluding restricting charities to a single account from which funds can be withdrawn and eliminating cash disbursements from charitable accountsâmany of their most significant antiterror promises were not implemented. Saudi authorities had committed to establishing a Financial Intelligence Unit and an oversight commission for charities, but failed to do either. In any event, the commission would have been of limited use even if established; some of the most significant charities in need of oversight, including WAMY and the Muslim World League, were expressly excluded from the commissionâs planned purview.
According to Saudi officials, then-Crown Prince Abdullah officially withdrew the Kingdomâs support for Hamas in early 2002. But special Account Ninety-Eight funds created by the government to funnel money to Palestinian organizations continue to function and fund Hamas despite reported pledges to close the accounts made more than eighteen months ago. Just last month, Saudi television ran a program on the jihad in Palestine that implored viewers to donate funds to the Palestinian intifada. A caption on the screen informed donors that they could send funds through the Saudi Committee for Support of the al-Quds Intifadaâs Account Ninety-Eight, âa joint account at all Saudi banks.â Meanwhile, a speaker instructed viewers, âJihad is the pinnacle of Islam.â He explained that the funds would go directly to those waging jihad, where it would, in his words, âhelp them carry out this mission.â
Conclusion
Funding for terrorist groups, including Hamas, continues to flow from within Saudi Arabia, albeit at a slower pace than previously. But the exposure of a Hamas command center operating from Saudi Arabia marks a disturbing upgrade of Hamasâs presence in the Kingdom. Still, there is good news. The move may be a reaction to the sharp increase in international pressure and attention now focused on Syria, where Hamas leaders have based themselves since being expelled from Jordan in the 1990s. The revelation that Hamas terrorism aimed at undermining the regime of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas is being planned from Saudi Arabia should give Washington sufficient motivation to press Riyadh for tangible action to put a quick end to such activity.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/28/2005 14:08 ||
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September 28, 2005: The U.S. Navy recently announced that they are creating a Naval Infantry branch, to provide the fleet with some special operations like ground combat capability for special missions. While it will be some time â perhaps a couple of years â before this force is able to undertake significant missions, itâs worth noting that the navy already has some infantry combat-trained personnel in its ranks.
· Seabees. Founded 63 years ago, during World War II, the Seabees â the âNaval Construction Forceâ â numbers some 10,000 active duty and 12,000 reservists. Usually organized and deployed as battalions, seabees are trained in both construction and defensive combat. An undetermined number of seabees are currently serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, where they are putting both sets of skills to use.
· Masters-at-Arms (MAs). These are the Navyâs security and anti-terrorism personnel. Trained in police procedures, anti-terrorism, and force protection, they are normally armed like police officers, but have some light infantry capability. The MA force numbers about 9,500.
· Hospital Corpsmen. Hospital Corpsmen provide medical services to the Navy and Marine Corps. The Navy has nearly 30,000 Hospital Corpsmen, some 23,000 active duty and 6,000 reservists. Several thousand currently served in Marine units. Hospital Corpsmen serving with the Marine Corps â âGreenâ in Navy parlance â receive infantry training for defensive combat.
· Chaplainsâ Assistants. Chaplainsâ Assistants provide general support to Chaplains, which may include everything from assisting at services to serving as drivers. Since Navy Chaplains provide religious support to the Marine Corps, the Assistants to those Chaplains receive extensive combat training, to provide protection for their charges. Rumor in the Navy has it that of all âGreenâ personnel in the Navy, Chaplainsâ Assistants are the most skilled in ground combat. They are also by far the fewest in number, since hardly a hundred chaplains serve with the Marine Corps.
Until about the early-1970s, all naval personnel received some training in infantry combat, in the event that they might be called upon to serve in landing forces. That training has since been watered down considerably, but is being revived for the new Naval Infantry specialists.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/28/2005 09:47 ||
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As a good friend, a retired Navy captain says, the Navy will do whatever it takes to get money....
His favorite saying was "The Marines marched into Tokyo on the roads the Seabees built."
The only story I could get out of him on the topic of WWII was re-building a runway on some island (Tinian I think) before the Marines finished taking the other end of it.
#3
It's articles like this, that truly make me doubt Strategy Page's bona fides.
The Navy's MAA force has about as much light infantry capability as the Army has experience with carrier aviation. Periodically training with M-16s does not light infantry make.
The Navy foolishly allowed the riverine mission to escape to the Army and is now playing catch up trying to make itself relevant in the GWOT.
#4
If we had had naval infantry in WWII we could have taken Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima.
Posted by: Matt ||
09/28/2005 12:27 Comments ||
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#5
I thought the naval infantry branch went by the name "Marines."
Posted by: Mike ||
09/28/2005 12:38 Comments ||
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#6
This seems a page from WWII Japanese ship based SNLFs. where in some islands a couple of ships will draw some mens to take a remote island. Or make some temporary land operation.
#10
The Marines have long been part of the Department of the Navy - the Men's Department ! Come on - MAA's in hand to hand ? The only ones I've seen where overweight CPOs on shore patrol with 1930's Chicago PD billy clubs. The SeaBees kick ass and are to a man/woman some of the Navy's best - with a torque wrench and a cutting torch. I don't think their strong suit is light infantry.
#11
Hospital Corpsmen serving with the Marine Corps â âGreenâ in Navy parlance â receive infantry training for defensive combat.
Defensive combat?? - No, the way I remember it was that we were trained for offensive combat. My instructor said words to the effect - "When all the officers are dead, all the NCO's are dead, the enemy has you surrounded and you are out of ammunition, the senior PFC alive shall order "fix bayonets and charge".
The Marines got so large due to World War II that it was no longer an adjunct to the Navy, but became a separate entity.
The Navy for its part, stopped using Marines for ship and base security (going to both DoD and civilian security contractors). Sailors also used to be trained in some infantry methods for boarding parties, landing parties, and temporary security detachments. That stopped in the '60s and early '70s.
One can thank the 'blue-water' and aviation factions for the decline in the Navy's riverine and littoral warfare assets and experience.
Looks like Fred wasn't the only one with this idea ...
The breakaway enclave of Somaliland holds parliamentary elections on Thursday, trying to to prove it is a model of democracy in lawless Somalia and worthy of nationhood.
But the relatively peaceful would-be state faces resistance from its African neighbours in its quest for recognition because of the continent's longtime preference for leaving old colonial borders intact to avoid encouraging secessionist movements.
The polls to elect 82 parliamentarians will be the former British Somaliland's third elections since declaring independence from Somalia in 1991, after local elections in 2002 and a presidential poll in 2003. "Somaliland has fulfilled all the criteria for nationhood," President Dahir Rayale Kahin told reporters on Tuesday. "Now is the time for the international community to answer our request."
Somaliland points to its stability, free elections, disarmament of 50,000 militiamen and efforts at good governance as proof that it should be recognised as a nation of its own.
Somaliland, in northwest Somalia, broke away from Mogadishu after warlords ousted dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and plunged Somalia into anarchy it has yet to escape. Barre ordered the capital Hargeisa bombed by mercenary pilots in 1988 to snuff out opposition, killing tens of thousands. Many vowed they would never again be part of greater Somalia when they returned to their ruined city.
Somaliland flags adorn most houses and shops in Hargeisa in a sign of fervour over the election, witnesses said.
Western diplomats say the election will be a step forward, but Africa will decide whether Somaliland reaches its goal. "Africa has got to say it first," said one Western diplomat. "I don't think the United Nations, the U.S., Britain and Europe are in fact relevant."
Way to undercut us, bozo.
Somaliland presents a dilemma to African diplomats, because while many support its progress privately, the African Union's charter requires that colonial era borders be left untouched unless all parties involved negotiate a change. That is unlikely, since Somaliland has refused to join or even talk to Somalia's transitional federal government, the fruit of an regional peace process backed by the AU and UN.
"Our engagement in Somaliland is within the context of the unity of Somalia. But the AU has been very attentive to the efforts there to rebuild and create stability," Said Djinnit, head of the AU's Peace and Security Council, told Reuters by phone.
Somaliland was briefly independent in 1960 but joined the rest of Somalia soon after.
Mixing traditional Somali clan politics with a modern multiparty system, three parties are fielding a total of 246 candidates with seven women among them. The ruling party UDUB and its rivals Kulmiye and the Social and Welfare Party differ little and all support the campaign for recognition.
The national electoral commission expects about 800,000 of Somaliland's 3.5 million people to vote overseen by international observers, mostly from non-governmental organisations. Results are expected next week.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/28/2005 00:16 ||
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WE should recognize them,and open Diplo relations.It would spin some turbans and these guys sound like they want to be reasonable.
Gulberg Police has arrested four Afghan commandos who came to Pakistan only to commit robberies and murders, said Senior Superintendent of Police (Operations) Aamir Zulfiqar Khan during a press conference at Police Lines on Tuesday. Khan said the men were probably trained in militant camps in Afghanistan and also took part in the war against American forces there. He said the detainees had admitted to over 100 crimes, which included robberies and murders, during interrogation.
Giving details, the SSP said that two unidentified armed men entered Brig (r) Muhammad Saeedâs house in Cavalry Grounds on September 25. The men held Brig (r) Saeed and his wife up at gunpoint and asked about cash and jewellery. However, Brig (r) Saeed resisted the men, upon which they shot and mortally injured him. Mrs Saeed informed the police about the culpritsâ appearance and identification marks. On the same night, unidentified men matching the description of Brig (r) Saaedâs murderers robbed Col Aftabâs house.
Khan immediately ordered a special operation at Afghan colonies, including Khan Colony and Makka Colony, and others situated around Gulberg, Garden Town and Cavalry. Apparently, the same men snatched a car from Gulshan-e-Ravi police precinct and used it in an attempt to rob a house. However, the security guard foiled their attempt and the men fled, badly injuring the security guard in the process. But, they used the same car to rob a house in the Naseerabad police precinct and fled leaving behind the car. On the same night, the culprits snatched another car. However, the SSP ordered all of the cityâs exits sealed and cordoned off upon which Model Town Superintendent of Police Hussain Habib Imtiaz Gill issued special instructions.
On Tuesday morning 8:15am, Gulberg police stationâs assistant superintendent of police and station house officer were manning a police picket at Centre Point when they saw the snatched car. They signalled the car to stop but its occupants fired upon them and escaped. The Gulberg ASP start chasing them and ordered the SHO to corner the car from the opposite side. The police were able to capture the men after a shootout. Khan identified the men as Bashar alias Bashri and Naseebullah Khan residents of Jalalabad in Afghanistan, Peshawar resident Namet Khan and Khan Colony resident Gull Khan. Police also confiscated Rs 150,000, gold jewellery, two stolen cars, Afghan and Japanese currency, three pistols, two Kalshnikovs, a shotgun and a large number of bullets from them. The SSP said the men had escaped from a Naseerabad police team after an encounter a few years ago. He said that Bashar was wanted for 72 heinous crimes, adding that the men had also admitted to murdering Brig (r) Saeed.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/28/2005 00:00 ||
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One of the most respected members of Afghan President Hamid Karzai's cabinet resigned on Tuesday, amid widespread reports of disagreements with Karzai over the appointment of factional leaders to provincial posts. Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali announced his resignation in an interview on Afghanistan's private Tolo television channel. "I will not stay in the Interior Ministry ... one main reason is that I have asked that I would like to resume my academic and scientific research," he said. Jalali's departure will be seen as a blow for US-led international efforts to encourage formation of a modern technocratic administration in Afghanistan after more than 25 years of war and factional violence.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/28/2005 00:00 ||
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CAIRO: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak took the oath of office on Tuesday for a fifth six-year term as leader of the Arab world's most populous nation, after winning the country's first contested presidential elections on Sept 7. Mubarak, 77 and in power since 1981, was sworn in at a special session of parliament in the presence of visiting Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, wearing white robes. Ayman Nour, Mubarak's main rival in the elections, was the only member of parliament to remain seated during the brief ceremony, apparently to express his refusal to accept the official vote count.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/28/2005 00:00 ||
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The European Union on Tuesday barred Sri Lankaâs Tamil Tiger rebels from visiting its member states and said it was considering listing the group as a terrorist organisation.
That'd be appropriate, since they're a terrorist organization.
In a harshly worded statement, the European Union deplored the assassination of Sri Lankaâs foreign minister in August - a murder the government blames on the Tigers - and called on the rebels to uphold a truce that halted two decades of civil war. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have strongly denied involvement in the slaying of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, but analysts have questioned the disclaimer. âThe European Union is actively considering the formal listing of the LTTE as a terrorist organisation,â the EU said in a statement issued by Britainâs Foreign and Commonwealth Office. âIn the meantime, the European Union has agreed that with immediate effect, delegations from the LTTE will no longer be received in any of the EU member states until further notice.â
Posted by: Fred ||
09/28/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Everytime I see that picture, I am still amazed that Super Mario is the Terror of Sri Lanka...
#4
I really wonder about that camouflage pattern. Is there ever a time, except if the man were lying on his side just right, when the sun/shade patterns in his jungle would match the way the fabric goes? If not, doesn't it make him easier rather than harder to see?
ISLAMABAD - Pakistanâs Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a death sentence imposed on an alleged Indian spy for a bombing that killed four people in 1990, court officials said. The court rejected an appeal by Sarabjit Singh, whose relatives in India along with the government have called on Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to review the case.
It was the last of four petitions filed by Singh relating to different cases including terrorism and espionage. The Supreme Court dismissed the other three last month.
Singhâs lawyer Rana Abdul Hameed told reporters he was going to file fresh appeals âin all casesâ. The appeal related to Singhâs conviction on terrorism charges by a lower court for a July 1990 bomb blast in the eastern city of Lahore in which a woman and three men were killed.
Singhâs relatives say he is a farmer who crossed the border into Pakistan 15 years ago while drunk, and then was confused with a man named Manjit Singh, whom Pakistan blames for a series of bombings in Lahore.
State-run TV in Pakistan broadcast an alleged confession by Singh earlier this month in which he said he worked for Indiaâs foreign intelligency agency and had set off five blasts in Lahore.
Wonder how much 'persuasion' he required?
Shortly afterwards, Pakistanâs Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri said that under Islamic law Singhâs death sentence can be commuted to a life sentence if the victimsâ family members agree.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/28/2005 00:00 ||
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Somehow, I don't think the RAW recruits drunk peasant farmers for black operations
Posted by: john ||
09/28/2005 16:48 Comments ||
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KATHMANDU - More than 200 Nepalese protesting against King Gyanendraâs rule were arrested on Tuesday as political parties staged demonstrations across most of the country, a party statement said. There have been daily protests attended by thousands in the capital this month in defiance of a ban on criticism of the kingâs seizure of power in February. But the parties said this was the first time this month they had demonstrated outside Kathmandu. âThe seven agitating parties held simultaneous protests in districts outside Kathmandu for the first time on Tuesday,â Nepali Congress spokesman Shobhakar Parajuli said in the statement.
Parajuli said the seven-party alliance held protests in 72 of the 75 districts in the impoverished Himalayan kingdom. âPolice arrested over 200 demonstrators and their leaders in most of the districts.â
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09/28/2005 00:00 ||
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Ethiopian police have arrested more than 80 people and seized weapons amid government allegations that opposition groups are plotting a coup d'etat. The state-run news agency report on Tuesday came just one day after 43 opposition members had been detained for alleged subversion in northern Tigray state. The official Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) said dozens more had been arrested on similar charges in southern Oromia state and another three south of the capital.
In a brief item that offered few specifics, the agency quoted Oromia police as saying they had arrested 80 people believed to be opposition supporters had seized 160 illegal weapons in raids in the towns of North and East Shoa. "The illegal arms and the people were apprehended through house-to-house searches after the police were tipped by members of the public," ENA quoted North Shoa deputy police commander Tesfaselassie Negera as saying.
Posted by: Fred ||
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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.
Saudi Arabia's minority Shia, encouraged by their new monarch's pledge to serve all subjects fairly, have petitioned King Abdullah with requests for prisoner releases and equal opportunities. Shia are believed to make up around 10% of Saudi Arabia's native population of 16 million and complain of being marginalised by a government closely attached to religious conservatives who consider Shia beliefs heretical. 
A 36-year-old man was arrested in London Tuesday in connection with the attempted July 21 terror bombings in London, FOX News has confirmed. A little after noon EDT, the man was arrested by officers from the Metropolitan Police Anti-Terrorist Branch on suspicion of assisting an offender and alleged immigration offenses. The man was taken to a central London police station, where he remained in custody and was to be interviewed, Sky News reported. The suspect is being held under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act, which is a different law than Britain's Terrorism Act. Forty people are being held in connection with the July 7 and July 21 terror attacks in London under the Terrorism Act. Since all four of the July 7 bombers are dead and the July 21 bombing suspects are in jail, questions remain over what sort of network these terrorists had.
Hundreds of immigrants have tried to break through border fences around the Spanish enclave of Melilla in North Africa for a second night running.
US soldier Lynndie England, who said she was only trying to please her boyfriend when she took part in detainee abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, has been sentenced to three years behind bars. 
[September 23 2005] during early morning, anchored 6 miles SSW of Vung Tau island, Vietnam. Robbers boarded a container ship. They broke forward locker padlock and stole ship's stores.
Islamic Jihad's only radio station in the Gaza Strip went off the air yesterday fearing its studios would be targeted by Israel. Saleh al-Masri, director of Al-Quds Radio (102.7 FM), said the decision to suspend the broadcasts followed Israeli charges that the station was inciting violence. He claimed that Palestinian journalists and media outlets were being targeted by Israel "as part of its comprehensive aggression" on the Palestinians. "Palestinian journalists are being targeted because they are exposing Israel's lies," he said. "[Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon's government is practicing terror by killing the elderly and children and destroying various institutions." 
A summit between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has been put off. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the meeting scheduled for 2 October would take place "only once the preparations... have been completed". Israel had cancelled a preparatory meeting for the summit, after rocket attacks by Palestinian militant groups. Israel has continued its air strikes on Gaza, despite Palestinian factions declaring they would observe a truce. 
A leader of the Palestinian resistance organisation Hamas has said Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip was incomplete, complaining it still controlled airspace and border crossings. Mousa Abu Marzouk, the deputy head of Hamas' political bureau, also said on Tuesday that Israel's policy of assassinating the group's senior officials in Gaza was aimed at preventing Hamas candidates from participating in the January Palestinian parliamentary elections. "This policy is not new. Israel is moving at various levels against Hamas to prevent it from taking part in the coming elections in order to bring in a Palestinian authority of its own design," Abu Marzouk told journalists in Damascus. 
Malaysia, which chairs the worldâs biggest grouping of Muslim countries, urged the United States on Monday to be patient in dealing with Iran over its controversial nuclear programme. âLet us not put Iran to the wall. If you put Iran to the wall, we do not know what would be the effect,â Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said when answering a question at a US-Malaysia forum in Washington. He said the world would not want the Iranian nuclear issue to blow up into an Iraq-like conflict. âWe have seen too much difficultyâ with the US-led war in Iraq and âwe do not want to see another situation where we are confronted with an open conflict which is difficult to manage subsequently,â Syed Hamid said. Malaysia is the current chair of the 57-nation Organisation of the Islamic Conference and the 116-nation Non-Aligned Movement.
Gulberg Police has arrested four Afghan commandos who came to Pakistan only to commit robberies and murders, said Senior Superintendent of Police (Operations) Aamir Zulfiqar Khan during a press conference at Police Lines on Tuesday. Khan said the men were probably trained in militant camps in Afghanistan and also took part in the war against American forces there. He said the detainees had admitted to over 100 crimes, which included robberies and murders, during interrogation. 
CAIRO: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak took the oath of office on Tuesday for a fifth six-year term as leader of the Arab world's most populous nation, after winning the country's first contested presidential elections on Sept 7. Mubarak, 77 and in power since 1981, was sworn in at a special session of parliament in the presence of visiting Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, wearing white robes. Ayman Nour, Mubarak's main rival in the elections, was the only member of parliament to remain seated during the brief ceremony, apparently to express his refusal to accept the official vote count.
The European Union on Tuesday barred Sri Lankaâs Tamil Tiger rebels from visiting its member states and said it was considering listing the group as a terrorist organisation. 
KATHMANDU - More than 200 Nepalese protesting against King Gyanendraâs rule were arrested on Tuesday as political parties staged demonstrations across most of the country, a party statement said. There have been daily protests attended by thousands in the capital this month in defiance of a ban on criticism of the kingâs seizure of power in February. But the parties said this was the first time this month they had demonstrated outside Kathmandu. âThe seven agitating parties held simultaneous protests in districts outside Kathmandu for the first time on Tuesday,â Nepali Congress spokesman Shobhakar Parajuli said in the statement.
Ethiopian police have arrested more than 80 people and seized weapons amid government allegations that opposition groups are plotting a coup d'etat. The state-run news agency report on Tuesday came just one day after 43 opposition members had been detained for alleged subversion in northern Tigray state. The official Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) said dozens more had been arrested on similar charges in southern Oromia state and another three south of the capital. 
