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Al-Moayad guilty
Today's Headlines
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 4: Opinion
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Arabia
Saudi forces arrest 18 militant suspects
Saudi security forces arrested 18 suspected militants in a sweep of the northern town of Zulfi, Saudi newspapers said on Friday. They said the men, 17 Saudis and one Afghan man, were arrested in a 24-hour search which began on Wednesday night and ended at dusk on Thursday in Zulfi, about 280 km north of the capital Riyadh. Al Jazirah newspaper said the detained men were members of the "deviant group" -- a phrase used by the government to describe al Qaeda militants who have waged a series of suicide bombings and other attacks in Saudi Arabia since May 2003. It said security forces found militant publications in their possession. Officials were not immediately able to confirm the reports.
Posted by: Steve || 03/11/2005 9:17:00 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  What's the over/under on their 'repenting'?
Posted by: Raj || 03/11/2005 13:02 Comments || Top||

#2  ..would that be over or under the wheel/rack?
Posted by: Hupuck Thrish6219 || 03/11/2005 16:00 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
Tales from the Bangladesh Police Blotter
Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) allegedly threatens families in Khulna
Khulna :Some members of the Rapid Action Battalion allegedly harassed and gave death threat to the members of three families of village Barukhali under Morelganj upazila in Bagerhat, centring a rivalry over a disputed piece of land. One Md Aminul Islam Nannu, a member of the affected families, said this at a press conference at the Bagerhat Press Club Thursday noon. In his written speech, Nannu alleged that a member of RAB 6, Khulna namely Abdur Rouf, along with some RAB members, on February 23 went to the house of one Mahabuba Begum of village Barukhali under Morelganj and asked for her husband Soleman Sheikh. As they did not find Soleman, they left the place and entered the houses of Nannu and Golenur, he added. Nannu also alleged that the RAB members, entering the houses, hurled abusive words to the inmates and threatened to kill them 'in crossfire' if they file any allegation against Rouf or any RAB member.

Nannu told the newsmen Thursday noon Rouf's and their lands are very close to each other and they have rivalry over the a piece of land for long. The Morelganj police said they received no allegation in this regard from anybody. A top RAB official of RAB 6, Khulna, told New Age Thursday evening that he heard about the matter and investigated it but found no truth in the matter. Departmental punishment will be awarded to the members who will be found guilty of abusing power, he added.

Two lynched by mob
MOULVIBAZAR, Mar 10: Bandits looted 45 tolas of gold ornaments and Tk 60,000 in cash from an expatriate''s house at Uttarmulaim village in Sadar upazila early Thursday killing one of his relatives, reports UNB. Police said the dacoits entered the house of Abdur Rahim Tazul, who recently came from American, at 2am breaking open the door and tied up his servants. They hacked his relative Mahmood Miah, 45, to death when he tried to resist them. Later, at one stage they also beat up Tazul and his wife Sharifa Begum indiscriminately and decamped with the booty. A case was filed.

Meanwhile, two alleged dacoits died and three others were badly wounded in a mob beating in a remote village of Chandina upazila on Wednesday. Jashim (35) of Maruka and Liton (28) of Darora village died on the spot. Alam, Shanu and Bashirullah were rescued by the police and admitted to Chandina helth complex. Today they were shifted to Comilla Medical College Hospital. Police said dacoits plundered the house of Nurul Haq, chairman of Gallai union parishad, on the night of March 7. Later the victims were held on suspicion and brought to his house on Wednesday when the mob beat them black and blue killing two of the on the spot. Local Awami League claimed that four of the five victims were members of Jubo League.
Slow news day, no crossfires reported.
Posted by: Steve || 03/11/2005 9:00:28 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It like the fictional "Wild West" I swear.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 03/11/2005 9:24 Comments || Top||

#2  Nannu also alleged that the RAB members, entering the houses, hurled abusive words to the inmates and threatened to kill them ‘in crossfire’ if they file any allegation against Rouf or any RAB member.

Think that got their attention? It would get mine.
Posted by: tu3031 || 03/11/2005 12:49 Comments || Top||


Britain
Abu Qatada makes bail
MUSLIM cleric Abu Qatada, dubbed al-Qaeda's "spiritual head" in Europe, and five other foreign terrorism suspects who have been held in Britain without charge were freed today on bail, government sources said. Abu Qatada, a Palestinian detained since October 2002, has been described by a British judge as a "truly dangerous individual" and according to reports has been linked by Spanish authorities to those behind the bomb attacks in Madrid a year ago today. He and the five others, who were not named, had been held under a tough anti-terrorism law that was ruled unlawful by Britain's highest court last December.

The law, adopted after the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, expires on Monday, and Britain's parliament was today still debating a controversial bill that would replace it by creating a new set of restrictions for terror suspects including electronic tagging and house arrest. The six were expected to be given strict conditions for their release like those laid down for another suspect, known only as "A", who won bail yesterday. The Special Immigration Appeals Commission, set up to hear the cases of the detained foreign terrorism suspects, placed "A" under surveillance with an electronic tag, house curfew and other restrictions.

The releases coincide with a fierce political battle in parliament over the Prevention of Terrorism Act, which would impose similar restrictions, called "control orders", on foreign and British terror suspects. The government of Prime Minister Tony Blair has locked horns with members of the House of Lords, parliament's unelected upper chamber, which is trying to water down the anti-terror measures, notably by making the bill expire automatically within a year if it is not renewed. The government desperately wants passage of the new law before the existing legislation expires Monday, and both Blair and the political opposition want to be seen as tough on terrorism ahead of a general election expected in May.
This article starring:
ABU QATADAal-Qaeda
Abu Qatada
Posted by: tipper || 03/11/2005 9:49:35 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The government desperately wants passage of the new law before the existing legislation expires Monday, and both Blair and the political opposition want to be seen as tough on terrorism ahead of a general election expected in May.

If any of those suspects drop out of sight, it will dash the Poms' plans all to hell.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 03/11/2005 11:05 Comments || Top||

#2  What are these boyz doing over there?
And to free him on the anniversary of the Madrid bombings? Why don't they give him a medal too?
Posted by: kachikel || 03/11/2005 23:40 Comments || Top||


UK to spring more hard boyz
A FOREIGN terrorist suspect detained without trial for more than three years was released on bail yesterday, while another eight could be freed as early as today, a special court heard. The Algerian national, known only as A, was driven away by police from a Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) hearing in London last night, and is thought to have been reunited with his wife and five children at his home.
I always love a happy ending! I'm just a little misty, here. *sniffle*
He will be subject to 11 bail conditions, including electronic tagging, a curfew between 7pm and 7am, and stringent restrictions on who he can meet or allow into his home.
How is this different from being in jail? Except for the expense of watching him all the time, I mean...
A further eight terrorist suspects, who have also been detained without charge for up to three and a half years, were to be granted bail "in principle", the SIAC chairman, Mr Justice Ouseley, said yesterday. Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, had agreed a month ago to free four of the men held at Belmarsh but their release had been delayed in a row over bail conditions. They could be freed as early as today - only days before the emergency terror laws under which they were detained expire on Sunday night. Those who may be freed include Abu Qatada, a 44-year old Palestinian-born Muslim cleric who has been described by an SIAC judge as "al-Qaeda's ambassador in Europe" and a "truly dangerous individual".
"But we're springing him anyway. His right to plan my society's demise trumps my society's right to not be plotted against."
The other named detainee is Jordanian-born Mahmoud Suliman Ahmed Abu Rideh, 33, a Palestinian, who was alleged to have made threats to carry out a bombing and to have been involved with associates of Osama bin Laden in Britain and abroad. He is currently at Broadmoor high-security psychiatric hospital. The others are known only as B, E, H, K, P and Q. A tenth man, known as G, is already under house arrest and was due to have his bail conditions relaxed last night.
C, D, and F having been determined to be un-Islamic...
Each of the men would be subjected to a "matrix" of bail conditions agreed on an individual basis by the judge. Earlier, Mr Justice Ouseley criticised Mr Clarke's treatment of the men. The judge said: "We have the absurd situation here today where three of the four men have been in detention longer than they needed to be while we argue over the precise degree of freedom."
My sympathy meter is in the shop, sorry.
In December, the Law Lords condemned anti-terrorism laws used to hold the foreign terrorist suspects indefinitely without charge, saying they breached human rights legislation and discriminated against foreigners. The government said then it accepted the ruling but would continue to hold the men until new laws were introduced. Mr Justice Ouseley told A during the hearing: "It's very important for your own wellbeing and the well-being of your family - with whom you will shortly be reunited - that you keep to these bail terms."
"Pretty please? And stop looking at me like that."
The conditions, based on proposals handed to the court yesterday morning by the Home Office, closely resemble the controversial proposals being fought out last night in parliament. The suspect must wear an electronic tag and live at his home address, observing a curfew. Among other bail conditions, A will have to allow police and other officials to carry out searches, but his defence team won a concession that a female officer would have to be present if A's Muslim wife was at home alone. He will be restricted on who he can allow into his home. He will be allowed only one fixed telephone line, and mobile phones and computers which can access the internet will be banned from his home.
No Rantburg! O the humanity!
He will be required to notify the Home Office if he intends to leave the country, limited to one bank account, barred from transferring money without the Home Office's consent and prohibited from buying, selling or procuring communications or computer equipment. Bail conditions for the other detainees will be closely based on those imposed on A. Two terrorist suspects who are detained at Broadmoor Hospital in Berkshire, Abu Rideh, who has been detained since December 2001, and detainee B, are due to be brought before the SIAC today.
This article starring:
ABU QATADAal-Qaeda
ABU RIDEHal-Qaeda
Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary
MAHMUD SULIMAN AHMED ABU RIDEHal-Qaeda
Posted by: Dan Darling || 03/11/2005 12:20:59 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Just more assing around. These reprobates could have been held, and Habeas Corpus could be respected, if Judges and lawyers could be sworn to absolute secrecy. Absolute as in if you violate it you will be locked up and never be heard from again on your voyages around the planet in the brig of one of her Majesty's war ships. Just flat disappeared.

Letting these Jihadi turds out is a bad idea. Very bad. They will be heroes to all UK allenists. There freediom will just creat more of there terrorist ilk.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 03/11/2005 4:22 Comments || Top||

#2  Tricky one. As a Londoner I'd rather see these scumbags where they belong - in the nick. However, they are becoming a fly-paper for all manner of 5th columnists in the UK. I'm certain that these boys will be watched very closely by MI5/6 and this strategy may prove more useful to intelligence gathering in the long term. There's certainly not enough focus being placed on the rights of the majority tho - once again we shall only realise the threat after the event. (then, and only then, will we be able to string-up Shama Chakrabati from a lamp-post).
Posted by: Howard UK || 03/11/2005 5:09 Comments || Top||


Europe
Ex-Guantanamo detainee freed in France
Mustaq Ali Patel was released after being held by French authorities for 48 hours and was met by his family, his lawyer William Bourdon said. The detention of the other two prisoners sent back to France, Ridouane Khalid and Khaled Ben Mustafa, was expected to be extended on Wednesday evening, a law enforcement source told AFP. Khalid, 36, has two brothers already under investigation for alleged terrorism-related crimes,
If I recall correctly, they were fooling around with ricin and other fun chemicals...
while Ben Mustafa, 33, a married father of two, went to Afghanistan to learn Arabic, according to his family and lawyers.
"Bye honey! Bye kiddies! I'm off to Afghanistan to learn...ummm...!cibarA I'll be back...ummm...later, insh'allah! Stay away from the infidels, y'hear?"
Law enforcement sources have said Patel, who is aged about 40 and was born in India, has not figured in any investigations into terrorism. Patel, who was told by the imam to tell said by police sources to have suffered psychological trauma during his detention, was reported to have been an imam at a French mosque and has family in Britain. He had lived in Afghanistan for many years before his arrest in 2001. His case had posed legal problems for France, until he was officially granted French nationality through his marriage to a woman from La Reunion, experts have said.
So he wasn't really a French citizen, they just made up some paperwork for...what? Embarassing the US?

This article starring:
KHALED BEN MUSTAFAal-Qaeda
MUSTAQ ALI PATELal-Qaeda
RIDUANE KHALIDal-Qaeda
William Bourdon
Posted by: Seafarious || 03/11/2005 12:35:54 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  They let him got as he is truly a nut job. I bet he will end up in a home.

Ben Mustafa said bye to the wife and kiddies who have been living on welfare in abject poverty since he left I am sure. Muslim famuily values.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 03/11/2005 2:57 Comments || Top||

#2  "went to Afghanistan to learn bomb-making and piloting Arabic"....

After which I guess he was scheduled to go to Iraq to learn Pashto. And Chechen. And Farsi.
Posted by: John in Tokyo || 03/11/2005 6:38 Comments || Top||

#3  well...if we had to let him go somewhere....
Posted by: 2b || 03/11/2005 8:08 Comments || Top||

#4  Patel, who was said by police sources to have suffered psychological trauma during his detention,..

Good. And if the other detainees have been affected in similar ways, that's even better.

Phuquing with the U.S. and being stupid enough to get caught should exact a high price.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 03/11/2005 11:00 Comments || Top||

#5  Ya know... that gets me to thinking...
iff - there was an obsolete frontal lobe operation that justed needed to be done, say on a ghost plane, they might not have the desire to cause anymore havoc.
Of course it would have to be something real quick and not leave any visible marks... like say a needle based operation....
Posted by: 3dc || 03/11/2005 12:26 Comments || Top||

#6  *pithing*
Posted by: Hupuck Thrish6219 || 03/11/2005 16:01 Comments || Top||

#7  *pithing*

Is that what men with lisps do after they've drunk too much beer?
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/11/2005 22:29 Comments || Top||

#8  Frogs - French Men - I presume...
Posted by: Frank G || 03/11/2005 22:35 Comments || Top||

#9  No, that's pissing, unleth your name is Bruth.. Pithing is when a frog gets it in the back of the neck with a long needle.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 03/11/2005 22:36 Comments || Top||

#10  that's why I said French Men...
Posted by: Frank G || 03/11/2005 22:40 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
More on the al-Moayad conviction
A New York jury Thursday convicted a Muslim cleric from Yemen of conspiring to aid the terrorist groups al Qaeda and Hamas.

Sheik Mohammed Ali Hasan al-Moayad was accused of funneling millions of dollars to al Qaeda, the radical Islamic group behind the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, as well as Palestinian-backed Hamas, responsible for ongoing atrocities in Israel.

After a five-week trial and five days of deliberating, the jury found al-Moayad, 56, did conspire to provide material support and resources to the foreign terrorist organizations.

The jury also found that an assistant, Mohammed Mohsen Yahya Zayed, 31, from Yemen, was also guilty of the terrorism conspiracy.

Al-Moayad and Zayed went on trial in January in federal court in Brooklyn. The defendants were arrested two years ago in a sting operation that culminated in Germany.

The government's case relied largely on secretly videotaped conversations between the defendants and a pair undercover FBI informants at a Frankfurt hotel in 2003.

One of the informants, Mohamed Alanssi, testified that al-Moayad boasted about giving money, weapons and recruits to al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Alanssi said al-Moayad told him he personally delivered $20 million to bin Laden before the September 11 attacks and $3.5 million to Hamas.

Surveillance tapes played in court showed al-Moayad and the informants discussing funneling $2.5 million into the fight against America's "Zionist government."

Al-Moayad denied he gave any money to bin Laden and said their relationship was one that dated to the years when bin Laden was battling Soviet forces in Afghanistan, a cause they shared with the United States.

Al-Moayad contended the money raised was for charitable causes in Yemen, where al-Moayad is an influential religious and political leader.

U.S. Attorney Roslynn Mauskopf, whose office prosecuted the case, said after the verdicts, "Money is the lifeblood of terrorism, and one of our number one priorities is to stop money flowing to terrorists before can be used for bullets and bombs."

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said, "Today's convictions mark another important step in our war on terrorism. Those who conspire to support and finance the terrorist actions of al Qaeda and other enemies will be found and they will face justice."

The government originally planned to call Alanssi as its star witness until he set himself on fire outside the White House last November protesting his treatment at the hands of the FBI.

Instead, in a strange twist in the case, Alanssi was called as a hostile witness by defense attorneys who hoped to damage his credibility by drawing attention to the White House incident, and allegations against him of financial wrongdoing and dishonesty.

Al-Moayad began yelling at the courtroom gallery in Arabic after the verdicts were read. Minutes later, he said, "I want to speak with you" to the small crowd before he left the courtroom.

The five man, seven women jury remained anonymous throughout the case. Five jurors spoke to reporters, who agreed to protect their anonymity. They said that Alanssi's testimony was not as pivotal to their verdicts as the videotapes of the defendants discussing their actions.

They also said they did not convict al-Moayad of one count, actually providing material support to al Qaeda, because his relationship with bin Laden predated the period covered by the charges, which began in 1999.

The charges were brought in the Eastern District of New York because al-Moayad allegedly collected terrorist funds at the al-Farooq mosque in Brooklyn.

Al-Moayad faces a maximum of 75 years in prison when he is sentenced May 13. Zayed faces up to 45 years.

Jon Marks, Zayed's attorney, said he was "saddened" by the verdict and that "there was no evidence that had an intention to commit these crimes."

William Goodman, al-Moayad's attorney, said, "In the end, rather than crippling the cause of terrorism, I believe the prosecution in conflicts such as this can only strengthen these evil people in the world who wish to perpetrate more terrorism."
Posted by: Dan Darling || 03/11/2005 12:19:57 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  What the news reports didn't explain: (1) Why conversations held in Germany are violations of US law. (2) Why private conversations can be illegal when there are no consequent actions.
Posted by: George T. Kysor || 03/11/2005 16:04 Comments || Top||

#2  The charges were brought in the Eastern District of New York because al-Moayad allegedly collected terrorist funds at the al-Farooq mosque in Brooklyn.

I believe conspiracy to commit a crime can be criminal activity on its own. And, the man actively collected monies which he passed on to terrorist organizations in order to fund the committing of terror. This also falls under the heading of criminal activity.

No doubt one of Rantburg's practicing attorneys can clarify better than I. Ladies, gentlemen, your thoughts please.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/11/2005 22:40 Comments || Top||

#3  Oh, and George: one of your interests, as you discuss on your own blog, is the effect of depleted uranium. Several Rantburgers happen to be quite knowledgeable on the subject, and it has been discussed here several times. Go search the archives, and you will learn some things both interesting and useful.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/11/2005 22:43 Comments || Top||

#4  yep. DU makes an excellent vaccine for terrorists. Seems Allah didn't plan for so dense a material, whoda thunk it, all 7th century and all....
Posted by: Frank G || 03/11/2005 22:53 Comments || Top||


Sheik Convicted of Terror-Funding Charges
NEW YORK (AP) - A Yemeni sheik and his assistant were convicted Thursday of plotting to funnel money to al-Qaida and Hamas, handing a victory to prosecutors shaken last year when the man who was supposed to be their star witness set himself on fire outside the White House.

Sheik Mohammed Ali Hassan Al-Moayad and Mohammed Mohsen Yahya Zayed were found guilty on all but two of the 10 charges in an indictment that accused them of vital roles in a terror-funding network that stretched from Brooklyn to Yemen.

In a meeting with FBI informants in a German hotel room, the men were secretly recorded promising to funnel more than $2 million to Hamas, the Palestinian extremist group that has carried out suicide bombings against Israel. Al-Moayad was also heard boasting that Osama bin Laden had once called him ``my bitch sheik.'' Al-Moayad, 56, could get 60 years in prison, and Zayed, 31, could receive 30 years behind bars.

The defendants protested after the verdict was announced, crying out in Arabic that the trial had been unfair.
"It's no fair, we was fightin' for Allan!"
Al-Moayad shouted in Arabic that jurors saw only ``one half of one quarter'' of the surveillance tapes that made up the bulk of the government's case. He was rushed from the room by U.S. marshals. ``Your honor, I want another lawyer,'' Zayed said in Arabic to U.S. District Judge Sterling Johnson Jr. after the verdict was read. ``I want another lawyer in order to defend my case because my lawyer was a hopeless idiot the jury did not fully study my case.''

The men were arrested by German police in January 2003 and extradited to the United States, where then-Attorney General John Ashcroft announced that the arrests ``bring justice to the full network of terror.'' The case caused outrage in Yemen, where al-Moayad is a well-known cleric and high-ranking member of the Islamist opposition Islah party.
Boy howdy, the Arab street was all aflame on that one.
During the five-week trial, prosecutors said al-Moayad supported Hamas suicide bombings in Israel and helped funnel Islamist fighters to al-Qaida in Bosnia and Afghanistan. He was secretly recorded showing the FBI informants receipts for donations that he said he made to charities acting as front groups for Palestinian terrorists.

The case was roiled in November when one of the informants who met the defendants in Germany, Mohamed Alanssi, set himself on fire outside the White House. The government decided not to use him as a witness, but the defense called him to the stand to try to undermine the prosecution's case. He testified that he burned himself to gain more money and attention from the FBI.

The judge dealt prosecutors another blow when he cut some of the most potentially damaging evidence against al-Moayad from their case, including address books and a training-camp entry form tying the defendant to Islamist fighters in Bosnia and al-Qaida forces in Afghanistan. But Johnson admitted the evidence at the end of the five-week trial so prosecutors could rebut defense claims that al-Moayad and Zayed had no links to terrorism before they were snared by Alanssi and the FBI.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/11/2005 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Southeast Asia
5 Filippino troops dead in Jolo
The Philippine military says five soldiers were killed and four wounded in a clash with Muslim rebels during a campaign against militant groups in the southern island of Jolo. A spokesman says soldiers clashed with the combined forces of followers of jailed Muslim rebel leader Nur Misuari and the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf Muslim group, in the outskirts of Parang town.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 03/11/2005 12:17:04 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syria moves intel HQ to Hizbullah sector in Beirut
Syria has moved its intelligence headquarters to a Beirut neighborhood controlled by Hizbullah.
Rats work best in the company of other rats.
Lebanese opposition sources said the Syrian military moved office in Lebanon from the so-called Beaurivage to southern Beirut. The sources said the transfer was completed over the last week as part of an effort to lower the Syrian profile in Beirut and central Lebanon.
Out of sight, out of mind....
The sources said Syria maintains up to 50,000 intelligence agents — both Lebanese and Syrian — to ensure its control over its western neighbor.
Those are a LOT of agents!
Wonder how they can afford such a payroll? Syria's principal export is...eye charts?
In Brussels, the European Parliament voted in a non-binding resolution to deem Hizbullah a terrorist group, Middle East Newsline reported. But the parliament rejected a motion to include Hizbullah on the EU's list of terrorist organizations.
That is because they have charity fronts to sucker in the EUs.
"The Syrians aren't going anywhere," an opposition source with connections in Lebanese intelligence said. "They are fusing with Hizbullah while pretending to pull out some troops from Lebanon."
Bush will have to go to Plan B.
The Hizbullah-controlled neighborhoods in southern Beirut have been off-limits to Lebanese troops or police. The neighborhoods served to conceal U.S. nationals abducted by Hizbullah in the 1980s.
We still have some big scores to settle with these thugs.
The sources said the order to leave the Beaurivage was relayed by Gen. Rustom Ghazaleh, chief of Syrian intelligence in Lebanon. The operation was commanded by Ghazaleh's deputy, Gen. Mohammed Khalouf. The Syrian move to the southern suburb of Beirut was part of heightened cooperation between Damascus and Hizbullah to maintain the Syrian military and intelligence presence in Lebanon.
Syria is doing very little to cooperate with the US. Just enough to get a C or a D.
The Beaurivage continues to be under Syrian control, the sources said. But the building has been emptied of documents and equipment. The Lebanese opposition, in an assertion confirmed by Western intelligence agencies, said Syria has been organizing a campaign to attack anti-regime elements. The opposition said Syrian intelligence plans to intimidate or assassinate anti-Syrian candidates for Lebanon's parliament in elections called for May 2005.
Baathists doin' what comes naturally.
Another option raised by Lebanese and Western sources was that Syria would seek a Hizbullah provocation along the Israeli-Lebanese border over the next few weeks. The sources said Israel's military shared this assessment.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 03/11/2005 4:14:35 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  hmmmm - who would these agents get their instructions and $ from should Damascus fall from the east?
Posted by: Frank G || 03/11/2005 17:28 Comments || Top||

#2  In Brussels, the European Parliament voted in a non-binding resolution to deem Hizbullah a terrorist group, Middle East Newsline reported. But the parliament rejected a motion to include Hizbullah on the EU’s list of terrorist organizations.

As I thought yesterday-same stupid and appeasing treachery from our "allies", the Europeans. The dance of our times is the Euro foxtrot-name something and back away from it in the next step. One step forward, two steps back, off the edge of the cliff in your own backyard. I retract my thanks and fart in their general direction.

Plan B? for President Bush? That would be changing course after changing course to get our "allies" on board? Those who want to be schnuckered,line up-the pitch is coming.

President Bush stood up for the right thing in the beginning of this-when it was hardest and now we are backing away from what we did RIGHT. What use is this nonbinding resolution? European foreign policy is the boulder around our own throats. Get ready to be pitched overboard.

Moved to the Hizbollah sector to "lower the Syrian profile"? hahaha
Posted by: Jules 187 || 03/11/2005 17:51 Comments || Top||

#3  Good. One less MOAB to use.
Posted by: mmurray821 || 03/11/2005 18:14 Comments || Top||

#4  Yeah, Target Rich Environment.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 03/11/2005 19:10 Comments || Top||

#5  As I said yesterday France and our former allies the Germans would not let any finding that Hizbollah is a terrorist organization be effective. I was right. I still stand by what I said. Even after being corrected by TGA. This is a fresh coat of paint on the same old stuff.


Syria will only leave when arms are used make it to do so. Lebanon is propping up Assad and the Syrian economy. There is no way they can walk away from that.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 03/11/2005 20:23 Comments || Top||


Russia again: Syria must leave Lebanon
Russia Friday renewed its call for Syria to leave Lebanon and for the conversion of the militant Hezbollah into a political party. "We are following up closely the latest developments in Lebanon, including Syria's decision to pull out part of its troops from Lebanon and redeploy the rest in the eastern Bekaa valley," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, the Interfax news agency reported. "We believe that the withdrawal will also include the intelligence services," Lavrov said after a meeting with Waleed Jumblat, chief of Lebanon's multisectarian opposition, which has been pressing for end of Syria's military and political hegemony. Lavrov said: "The political role of Hezbollah should be taken into consideration in order to serve the interests of Lebanon and the Middle East in general." He said U.N. Resolution 1559, which mandates Syria's withdrawal, must be enforced, leaving no room for half-measures on the disarming of Hezbollah and Palestinian factions. Jumblat said basic changes around the world in recent years are now reaching the Middle East. "The Berlin Wall collapsed, Russia became a democratic country and Lebanon wants to be a free country too," Jumblat said.
Posted by: Steve || 03/11/2005 10:31:55 AM || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Who actually gives a rat's ass what Russia has to say?

Hezbollah a political party? Right. Same for the Chechens, then.

Fuck off Putty.
Posted by: .com || 03/11/2005 10:57 Comments || Top||

#2  Russia's position isn't trivial here. Syria uses a lot of Russian made equipment. So does Lebanon's army. So does Hizbollah.

Of course what Russia says today and what they say tomorrow may be different and what they say may be different than what they do.
Posted by: mhw || 03/11/2005 17:21 Comments || Top||

#3  This *is* interesting, given Syria's position as a former Soviet client state. Will Boy Assad end up like poor Fidel, abandoned with only some crazy-ass neighbors for friends?
Posted by: SteveS || 03/11/2005 18:36 Comments || Top||

#4  Syria's old guard is actually running things and they won't go easily..... midnight putsch would be the only way to keep Damascus standing
Posted by: Frank G || 03/11/2005 18:39 Comments || Top||

#5  Didn't Russia just agree to sell Syria missiles and things? That sure looks like the Soviet client simply morphed into a Russian client. I vote for a couple of carefully placed daisy cutters, and a few ground penetrating thingies for the Bekaa Valley. But then I'm just a civilian armchair general.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/11/2005 22:56 Comments || Top||


Syrian troops evacuate North Lebanon
Syrian troops have evacuated posts in most of North Lebanon, including major bases in Tripoli, Akkar and Batroun, but continue to occupy small guard posts on Thursday around the houses of some of Syrian Army officials. Since Tuesday, some 225 Syrian military vehicles and troop carriers have transported around 3,000 Syrian soldiers from the North to the Bekaa Valley, according to Lebanese security sources. Hamat military airport in Batroun has also been abandoned. However, Syrian troops remain settled in Al-Kleiat, known as Rene Mouawad military airport, in Akkar, a few kilometers from the Lebanese-Syrian coastal border. Another Syrian post in Arida near the borderline with Syria also remains under Syrian control.

The plan stated that the estimated 15,000 Syrian troops deployed in Lebanon would be redeployed to the Bekaa Valley by the end of March, with consultations to be held afterward to work out a timetable for full withdrawal to the Syrian side of the border. Yet, no time line was set for the implementation of the second step, a fact which had drawn criticism from the Lebanese opposition as well as the international community.
Posted by: Fred || 03/11/2005 00:00:00 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ...Is it just me or does everybody else think Baby Doc would sound like Droopy from the old cartoons?...

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 03/11/2005 7:21 Comments || Top||

#2  continue to occupy small guard posts on Thursday around the houses of some of Syrian Army officials

whay aren't they gone too? Charades
Posted by: Frank G || 03/11/2005 10:08 Comments || Top||

#3  Why would you put a big target on your truck like that?
Posted by: sludj || 03/11/2005 13:37 Comments || Top||

#4  Syrian Army officials probably just need more time to pack.
Posted by: Tom || 03/11/2005 13:39 Comments || Top||


Syrian rights activists scrap plans for protest
Syrian human rights activists planning to demonstrate against long-standing emergency laws scrapped their protest on Thursday when hundreds of government supporters showed up earlier near a Damascus courthouse. Witnesses said crowds of young men and a few women with Syrian flags and pictures of President Bashar Assad gathered before the rights activists could begin their protest. "They hijacked the event ... I didn't see any arrests or violence," said one diplomat who was at the scene.

Hassan Abdel-Azim, speaking for the group behind the rights protest, accused the government of using "totalitarian" tactics to foil the demonstration with the help of a student militia. "We did not respond to the provocation and avoided confrontation and pulled out peacefully," he told reporters. The protest was intended to call for an end to a 42-year-old emergency law and the abolition of special courts.
The brownshirts remain in control, for now...
Posted by: Fred || 03/11/2005 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The Waffen SS brownshirts of the Red Army? The economies of any Islamic nation or society will NEVER improve as long as women, and the riole of women, are restrained or denied! To criticize the USA in the name of the Islamist statua quo only shows or proves that Islamists, i.e. Faith-based Socialists, are fighting for the same ideals as secular Commies - Regulation, Hyper-regulation, the Global Welfare State, Big and Big-g-g-er [anti-Libertarian]Govt., and the right of the masses to be PC enslaved by same, to be treated as a slave while officially NOT being called or labeled a "slave".
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/11/2005 1:29 Comments || Top||

#2  Well yeah. I thought everybody knew that.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/11/2005 4:23 Comments || Top||

#3  Faith-based Socialists

I guess that's a nicer way of saying faith-bassed fascists.
Posted by: 2b || 03/11/2005 8:42 Comments || Top||

#4  Syrian human rights activists planning to demonstrate against long-standing emergency laws scrapped their protest on Thursday

actually yesterday was the 42th year anniversary of the enactment 'emergency' laws - although not enforced as brutally as in Saddam's Iraq, these laws essentially allow arbitrary arrest, imprisonment, confiscation of property, etc.
Posted by: mhw || 03/11/2005 9:55 Comments || Top||

#5  Faith based Socialists
Like that one Mr. M.
Posted by: Shipman || 03/11/2005 10:41 Comments || Top||


Opposition Rejects Karami's Invitation
Lebanon's president reappointed pro-Syrian Prime Minister Omar Karami yesterday, 10 days after he was forced to resign. President Emile Lahoud formally asked Karami to pick a new Cabinet a day after Parliament nominated him for the premiership. Karami said his new mission was to form a national unity government to save Lebanon from destruction. "The only way to confront all the difficulties facing the nation is a government of national unity," Karami told reporters. "If there is any procrastination in responding to this invitation, it means we're heading to destruction."

He said he could not "form a government from one political color," and would start consultations with the opposition for the formation of the government on Monday. "We are extending our hand, without conditions... everything is subject to discussion," he said, warning that "those who obstruct and do not accept (to join in) will bear the responsibility for the catastrophe."

The opposition immediately rejected his overtures. Opposition spokesman and MP Antoine Andrawos said: "We need a prime minister to head a government of national unity, and he does not represent national unity, he is a party" to the conflict. Christian opposition groups also rejected Karami's designation as a "Syrian fabrication" meant to aggravate the crisis in Lebanon.
Picked right up on that, didn't they?
Posted by: Fred || 03/11/2005 00:00:00 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine
Israeli troops kill Paleo terrorist in West Bank
Israeli troops shot dead a suspected Palestinian militant near the West Bank town of Jenin on Thursday, a military source said. The source said the man was killed after he refused to surrender to soldiers who had come to arrest him before dawn. Muayyed Hussein, mayor of the nearby Palestinian village of Baqa al-Sharkiya, confirmed the death but added he did not know if the man was a militant. Israeli radio reports said the army had suspected the man had been involved in a Tel Aviv nightclub bombing last month in which five people were killed. The source said that the man had shot dead an army dog and had then fired at the soldiers.
I think this is a different story than yesterday's, where the Paleo dog-killer was pancaked by a 'dozer.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/11/2005 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I'm truly shocked. The Khaleej Times is reporting the story unslanted and unspun.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/11/2005 4:18 Comments || Top||


Israel Deploys Detection System
Israel's military has deployed an advanced detection system that does not require constant monitoring by an operator. The Ground Forces Command has installed the Spider, or Stabilized Panoramic Intruder Detection and Recognition, along the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The Spider was meant to instantly detect and alert to possible intrusion by people or the presence of suspicious vehicles near the Israeli security fences along the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The system would also alert to the presence of large animals, such as cows or mules, near the security fence. "It's been in operation for a year both in the West Bank and Gaza Strip," Lt. Col. Michael, head of the observation unit at the Technology and Logistics Directorate, said. "It is not along the northern border with Lebanon."

Michael, whose full name could not be released, said Spider scans a defined area for movement. The system provides an alert of movement and the operator could see a medium-resolution image of the location and decide whether to send a patrol in response. He would not provide the detection range of the system.
Posted by: Fred || 03/11/2005 00:00:00 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This sounds like half of a system. The problem lies with the time needed for a patrol to get there, when that may not be fast enough. The easiest solution would be to construct some concrete-lidded pillboxes with automatically-directed mortars inside. If the Spider senses someone doing something clearly malicious, like setting up a rocket launcher, then it targets them with the mortar, opens the lid, fires a round, then adjusts fire based on the observed hit. The mortars needn't be large, as they can be accurately targeted, and could have a fairly rapid rate of fire.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/11/2005 9:21 Comments || Top||

#2  Take heart Anonymoose, the system you describe is well on the way. Units with machine guns are already here. Detect, assess, respond. In this case the response is delay/denial.
Posted by: Remoteman || 03/11/2005 12:33 Comments || Top||

#3  Remoteman, "here" meaning "available to American troops" or meaning "the part of the Israeli system that they didn't mention in the article"?
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/11/2005 15:48 Comments || Top||

#4  I believe it's already installed.
Posted by: Dishman || 03/11/2005 17:27 Comments || Top||

#5 
Smile Habib. In a couple of days you will receive a notice in the mail to pay a $265 fine and go to traffic school.
Posted by: BigEd || 03/11/2005 17:43 Comments || Top||

#6  The problem lies with the time needed for a patrol to get there

Instead of a patrol, think of an armed drone loitering overhead or sitting on the ground all hot to go at ready five.
Posted by: SteveS || 03/11/2005 22:55 Comments || Top||


Armed men break into, disrupt Fatah meeting
Hokay, on the count of three ... one .. two ..
More than thirty armed men affiliated with the Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, military wing of the Fatah Movement, Thursday broke into a meeting in Ramallah for West Bank leaders of Fatah Movement. The armed men fired into the air and threatened to use force to end the meeting, which they said was meant to divide the Fatah Movement.

The armed elements left the hall upon arriaval of large numbers of PA police, special units and preventive security elements. Hussein Al-Sheikh, who was heading the meeting, lashed out at members of the Fatah central committee, accusing them of masterminding such an attack, which he described as "barbaric". Hussein affirmed that the meeting was not meant against anyone or targeted division but pointed out, "We will not allow anyone to silence us".

"We will not remain silent while watching Fatah collapsing before us," he said amidst the applause of 1,000 or so Fatah members attending the meeting. Hussein said that he asked PA chief Mahmoud Abbas to attend the meeting, which he said was an attempt to evaluate the Movement and correct its path especially when the local and legislative elections were approaching.
This article starring:
HUSEIN AL SHEIKHFatah Movement
MAHMUD ABASFatah Movement
Posted by: Fred || 03/11/2005 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Red Rover,Red Rover send .... on over.
Posted by: raptor || 03/11/2005 9:03 Comments || Top||

#2  raptor...lol!

which they said was meant to divide the Fatah Movement heh..heh...looks like these boys are doing a good job of it themselves. Keep up the good work, boys.

Divide and conquer.
Posted by: 2b || 03/11/2005 9:06 Comments || Top||


Iraq-Jordan
Troops give tacit nod to vigilante justice
"Who killed Sheikh Saad?" the US army captain asks Sayed Malik, America's partner in the lawless Baghdad district of Dura.
Hey! This dude ---> looks like the dude in the green turban..
The 45-year-old Shiite tribal leader, shrouded in a checkered white keffiyah and grey robes, brushes off the US requests for information about which insurgent group murdered the representative of hardline cleric Moqtada Sadr. Instead, the powerbroker suggests the Americans stand aside. He tells the officers: "Right now, if we hit one group, the others will run away ... The Mehdi Army [of Sadr] will take care of it."

The US captains, both in their early 30s, nod an assent to Malik's recommendation that locals employ the blend of tribal and paramilitary justice that has evolved in this wild Baghdad suburb. "These guys operate like a mob, if they [insurgents] kill one of their's they have to take revenge, they have to. They kill the guy and everything will be fine, the vengeance stops," says Captain Doug Hoyt, charged with local governance for the 3rd Infantry Division in Dura. Here, the revenge killings and vigilante justice that Iraqi national leaders speak out against for fear of sparking a civil war are becoming a regular fact and have received at least a tacit nod from US troops. Hoyt says the Americans have had little choice in Dura where tribal traditions run deep and insurgents regularly blow up police stations, ambush convoys and murder people. "They call this the land of the dead. There are bombs, killers, and kidnappers," says Dura police chief Salem Zajay.

Hoyt hopes that with time, the US influence will promote the rule of law and strengthen Iraqi public institutions. But prominent Iraqis have warned that the American policy of cultivating tribal leaders can often undermine the democratic process. "It is not the direction we want to go ... It was the policy of Saddam," says Iraq's UN Ambassador Samir Sumaiydah, referring to the ousted Iraqi president.

By all accounts, Malik is close to both the Americans and the Mehdi Army, the Shiite fighting force that battled the US military until October when it agreed to a truce. For the US army, Malik is their enforcer who will make sure their public works projects get done and will deliver them solid information on the insurgency raging in Dura. In turn, officers award him contracts and if he comes under attack, by their own admission, they look the other way when he settles scores. The Americans compare the dynamics to that of the US mafia. "He's the godfather," Hoyt says.

On almost any project in Dura, Malik is receiving a cut. "Sayed Malik has a huge influence. We've given him tonnes of contracts. The 1-8 [First Cavalry Division] claims they made him a millionaire," Hoyt says, alluding to his predecessors, from whom he inherited his policies. The Americans have deliberately nurtured his image. When the 1st Cavalry Division would arrest someone, they would say that they would kill him if it were not for the fact that the man knew Sayed Malik, says Captain Joe Buccino. The officers believes such policies have provided intelligence and ultimately saved soldiers and civilians' lives.

Malik, who likes to point out his remarkable resemblance to actor Sean Connery, makes no bones about the fact local groups like the Mehdi Army, are now actively pursuing resistance fighters. "They help," he says. Malik wants a formal agreement with the Americans that would set up neighbourhood watches in Dura to kill insurgents plotting attacks. Meanwhile, Sadr officials also admit their militia is now chasing down insurgents. Sheikh Jassim Al Saaidie, head of the Sadr organisation's cultural wing, said the Mehdi Army had killed four "terrorists" and arrested "three others" in the past 10 days. "It is clear now that people from Sadr organisation are publicly hunting down the terrorists."

One US sergeant, on condition of anonymity, recounted an incident barely a month ago when a Shiite family kidnapped a fundamentalist Sunni cleric, Sheikh Nadha, from the Rahman Mosque in Dura. They blamed Nadha for killing a member of their family. "I don't think we'll be seeing him again," the sergeant said. "Basically, it's good as long as the bad guys are being taken care of."
Posted by: Fred || 03/11/2005 00:00:00 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Baghdad district of Dura. "The Hood" Sounds like a good investment...

Location Location Location
Posted by: Uling Glavise2664 || 03/11/2005 0:30 Comments || Top||

#2  (cue Will Smith voice) "THIS is what I'm talkin' about!"

A ways back a bunch of 'burgers had some debates over this general topic -- vigilantes/revenge as a possible tool in the war. With some modifications to what's described here, this is the sort of thing I was openly wishing for.

There's a natural tension between tribal organization/loyalties/codes of behavior and the rule of law we ultimately seek, but that tension is not at every point, and insoluble. First things first. If we enrich a few traditional leaders who (1) get the projects done (2) help eliminate the criminal/terrorist element -- known as "insurgents" to the brainless western media -- then we indeed save lives all 'round and get closer to our objectives.

The way Saddam worked the tribal system was, like everything else he did, malign in that it was done solely to cement central control. There can be lots of ways to work the system in productive ways - or at least ways that represent a reasonable trade-off.

One thing I love is the way the masterful taming of the Mahdi Army is misreported, here in the classic formulation:

"the Mehdi Army, the Shiite fighting force that battled the US military until October when it agreed to a truce."

The impression conveyed, of a pitched battle ending in a truce, is of course a preposterous distortion of the facts. Where the US objective was the destruction/dislodgement of Tater's boys, it was accomplished in superb fashion using military, political, and financial weapons. But appreciating, much less reporting, this sort of story is beyond most of today's sad excuse for a news media (there were a few stories, at least one in the WaPo, that did in fact convey the information accurately).



Posted by: Verlaine in Iraq || 03/11/2005 3:53 Comments || Top||

#3  Thanks for the perspective, Verlaine. It's really helpful to know what the true story is behind what's reported. Keep taking care of the bad guyz for us all -- over here there are more and more "Oh, God, what if Bush was right after all?!?" stories, and yet another of the neighbor kids is talking about the Marines. ;-)
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/11/2005 4:16 Comments || Top||

#4  Using tribalism to advantage when there is a vacuum of authority makes perfect sense. The local powers have the goods on the bad guys.

When the bad guys are gone - the local powers will have to make peace and learn to accomodate the real authorities. Having dealt with them along the way makes it much easier for them to work out rule of law arrangements. I believe this can and will happen, and I'll even offer the parallel of the powerful cattle barons who had to eventually bend to the rule of law. They filled the vacuum while there was one - then they faced the same fork in the road - and had to choose.
Posted by: .com || 03/11/2005 4:42 Comments || Top||

#5  Trailing wife, I'm on the soft side of the operation here -- civilian working with State -- but we all like to think we're contributing. My work actually could be important to the overall cause. I don't miss a chance to thank or give a small assist to the boys and girls in uniform here carrying the big part of the load. In fact, being in a position to do so is one of the best parts of being here.

.com, great comment. That's exactly right -- Rome wasn't built in a day, and creating a civilized country based on rule of law is a long evolution. To paraphrase Rummy's utterly unassailable comment re equipment, "you go to war with the local traditional power system you have." Working it, and working with it, to kill bad guys, save good guys, and restore basic order is eminently sensible.
Posted by: Verlaine in Iraq || 03/11/2005 8:43 Comments || Top||

#6  always enjoy reading your comments - VII.
Posted by: 2b || 03/11/2005 9:03 Comments || Top||

#7  Verlaine, from what I've read, both soft and hard sides are indeed contributing to build the new Iraq. Please share my thanks with the kids in uniform as well. Oh, and if you run across a retired FBI guy, he may be a neighbor of mine come over to do his bit, so help him settle in, 'k? Thanks!!
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/11/2005 11:36 Comments || Top||

#8  By all accounts, Malik is close to both the Americans and the Mehdi Army, the Shiite fighting force that battled the US military until October when it agreed to a truce. For the US army, Malik is their enforcer who will make sure their public works projects get done and will deliver them solid information on the insurgency raging in Dura. In turn, officers award him contracts and if he comes under attack, by their own admission, they look the other way when he settles scores. The Americans compare the dynamics to that of the US mafia. “He's the Godfather,” Hoyt says.
and
One US sergeant, on condition of anonymity, recounted an incident barely a month ago when a Shiite family kidnapped a fundamentalist Sunni cleric, Sheikh Nadha, from the Rahman Mosque in Dura. They blamed Nadha for killing a member of their family. “I don't think we'll be seeing him again,” the sergeant said.
or

There's something bulky in the cornerstone of that building...

Gee, these flowers are sure blooming nice...

Somebody was delivered fish, you say???
Posted by: BigEd || 03/11/2005 16:16 Comments || Top||


Foreign guards shot at Iraqi Planning Minister
BAGHDAD - Foreign security guards, not assassins, opened fire on Iraqi Planning Minister Mehdi al-Hafedh in Baghdad on Wednesday, an aide to the minister and residents said on Thursday. Hafedh, a key figure in efforts to rebuild the country, escaped injury as he was driving to the house of former foreign minister Adnan Pachachi, but two of his guards were killed and one was wounded.

Police initially said the shooting had been an attempt to assassinate the minister but later said it appeared to have been a mistake by foreign security guards. "I don't know why they attacked. An investigation is just starting," a Planning Ministry official said.

Residents said the foreign guards worked for a Western company in Mansour, a once affluent area of the capital.

There are about 20,000 foreign private guards in Iraq, earning large salaries protecting foreign companies, Iraqi facilities and media organisations. Calls are growing to regulate their presence as more civilians are killed in error.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/11/2005 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Those darned Buddhists! Ya just never know what they'll be up to next, huh?
Posted by: .com || 03/11/2005 5:42 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
Embankment of dam in Kohlu hit by rocket
The Gawal dam in Kohlu area of Balochistan escaped a disaster when one of the rockets fired by some terrorists hit the dam's embankment but caused no major damage on Wednesday. "The wall received slight damage but the structure of the dam is safe and sound," a senior official of the Kohlu administration said, adding that terrorists had fired five rockets early in the morning.

Another rocket landed and exploded near the office of the District Coordination Officer Kohlu (DCO). However, no loss of life or serious damage was reported in the second rocket attack. Informed sources said that the terrorists also tried to hit Wapda's grid station in Kohlu town but the rocket missed the target and exploded in an open place. Two more rockets exploded in the township. Members of the Frontier Corps returned fire, forcing the terrorists to flee. No causality was reported in the explosions. Two bombs exploded in Mach and Jhal Mnagsi townships, creating panic among the people but caused no damage. Bomb disposal officials defused a bomb planted in the Jhal Magsi area.
Posted by: Fred || 03/11/2005 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Bulldozer blown up in Shakai
Unidentified assailants blew up a bulldozer along an under-construction road leading to the Afghan border in the Shakai area, some 25 kilometres the north of here late on Tuesday night. Work on the 12-kilometre Shakai-Humrang road is progressing speedily. An eight-kilometre portion of the project has been already completed.
Posted by: Fred || 03/11/2005 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Ah, revenge for St. Pancake. I'm touched. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 03/11/2005 1:47 Comments || Top||

#2  Maybe they thought it was owned by the IDF.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 03/11/2005 11:59 Comments || Top||

#3  I was going to say ELF or some anti-civilization group.
Posted by: jackal || 03/11/2005 12:17 Comments || Top||

#4 

"My family and I want to offer a reward for the persons involved in the murder of Cousin Demo."
- SCOOP BULLDOZER
Posted by: BigEd || 03/11/2005 13:35 Comments || Top||

#5  Achmed - Mahmoud, my Bedow Brother, I saw a Capitolist Swine Infidel Device of Mass Reconstruction parked out on route 33. Go blow it up.

Mahmoud - You mean the one that's building the road out to Martyrs' hill by the blown up fat dude statue?

Achmed - Yep.

Mahmoud - And the reasoning behind this is...

Achmed - Shaddup and do it Allahdamit!

Mahmoud - Aye-Aye Skipper.
Posted by: Bodyguard || 03/11/2005 16:00 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Fri 2005-03-11
  Al-Moayad guilty
Thu 2005-03-10
  Local Elder of Islam to succeed Maskhadov
Wed 2005-03-09
  Nasrallah warns U.S. to stop interfering in Lebanon
Tue 2005-03-08
  Toe tag for Aslan
Mon 2005-03-07
  Operations stepped up in Samarra to find Zarqawi
Sun 2005-03-06
  Hizbollah Throws Weight Behind Syria in Lebanon
Sat 2005-03-05
  Syria loyalists shoot up Beirut Christian sector
Fri 2005-03-04
  Pro-Syria Groups in Lebanon Press for Unity Govt
Thu 2005-03-03
  Lebanon Opposition Demands Total Syrian Withdrawal
Wed 2005-03-02
  France moving commando support ship to Med
Tue 2005-03-01
  Protesters Back on Beirut Streets; U.S. Offers Support
Mon 2005-02-28
  Lebanese Government Resigns
Sun 2005-02-27
  Sabawi Ibrahim Hasan busted!
Sat 2005-02-26
  Rice demands Palestinians find those behind attack
Fri 2005-02-25
  Tel Aviv Blast Reportedly Kills 4

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