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Southeast Asia
Al-Ghozi back in custody?
2003-07-27
Sounds like rumors...
MILITARY and police operatives pursuing the escaped terrorist Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi are at loggerheads over who should be given credit for the reported arrest of the Indonesian bomber. On Sunday a top military intelligence official told The Times that al-Ghozi is already in the custody of the military and police officials. His reported arrest would be announced anytime today or tomorrow in time for the State of the Nation address of President Arroyo.
Great news, if it's true. I'm holding my breath, see?
“They’re wrangling over who should be commended for the arrest. Al-Ghozi is an international terrorist. Anybody involved in his arrest deserves a promotion. That means a lot. That’s why they’re bickering,” the source explained. He added that a ranking official of the Philippine National Police insisted on presenting al-Ghozi to the President “to appease her.”
Y'think she's still cheesed over that little coup thing yesterday?
But Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero, chief of the Armed Forces’ public information office, flatly denied that al-Ghozi had been rearrested by the Anticrime Task Force (Actaf). The National Police also said it had no information on the reported arrest. “We wish that report was true,” said Lucero. “We are continuously exerting our efforts to make this report a fact.” Although he denied the arrest, Lucero confirmed that agents of Actaf are in Socsargen (South Cotabato, Sarangani, General Santos) coordinating with the Police Anticrime Emergency Response (Pacer) to track down al-Ghozi. Besides Mindanao, the police and the military are also hunting al-Ghozi in Northern Luzon, Lucero said.
I doubt if they actually have him. The egg's going to remain on their faces. This sort of thing just makes it worse.
Posted by:Fred Pruitt

#1  "This sort of thing just makes it worse."
Agreed. Every time I read one of these pieces about the Phillipines, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Yemen, et al I can't help but marvel at the notion that they are "countries" in the sense that we Westerners customarily construe the word.

The idea that any of these, not to mention the "countries" of the whole friggin continent of Africa, actually control the territory of their nation is a joke. It may be populated and it may have some form of civil authority and they may even vote in elections, but to consider (as 99% of us prolly do) that this means that Mindanao (Phillipines) or Hadhramaut (OBL's home province in Yemen) or the so-called North West Frontier Province (Pakistan, where Sharia Law was adopted last month) is anything like Kansas or Oxfordshire is utterly insane.

Since it's obvious that civilization isn't likely to come to these places anytime soon - and in self-defense of sanity and perspective - we need a new lexicon which puts the events in perspective... example: normalcy was maintained yesterday as some really insane shit happened in an insane place, details to follow...
Posted by: PD   2003-7-27 4:22:57 AM  

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