This Day in History:
37 - The Roman Senate annuls Tiberius' will and proclaims Caligula emperor. (Bad mistake)
1834 - Six farm labourers from Tolpuddle, Dorset, England are sentenced to be transported to Australia for forming a trade union. (Union busting extreme)
1874 - Hawaii signs a treaty with the United States granting exclusive trading rights.
1925 - The Tri-State Tornado hits the Midwestern states of Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana, killing 695 people. (Global Warming)
1945 - 1,250 American bombers attack Berlin.
1959 - President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a bill into law allowing for Hawaiian statehood, which would become official on August 21.
1968 - Gold standard: The U.S. Congress repeals the requirement for a gold reserve to back US currency.
#3
"Urban legend" has it that Rudolf Diesel was thrown overboard by German agents because the rumor was Rudolf had given or sold the secret of his Diesel principal to the Brits.
#4
In his "History of WWII" Churchill defends Chamberlain's memory. Let's remind that if Chamberlain folded at Munich it was also he who told "enough is enough" to Hitler.
Whatever his sins he is ten miles above a Jimmy Carter.
#5
My last three (now-dead) cats are ten miles above Jimmy Carter, JFM.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/18/2009 14:30 Comments ||
Top||
#6
"37 - The Roman Senate annuls Tiberius' will and proclaims Caligula emperor. (Bad mistake)"
I always thought Caligula got a bad rap - he did, after all, appoint his horse, Incitatus, as a Senator, thereby raising the IQ of that body.... hmmm..
During a joint NATO-led operation with the Afghan army, 29 members of the radical Taliban movement were killed and another 12 injured, a spokesman said on Wednesday.
The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force and Afghan National Army conducted a three-day joint operation in the Afghan province of Kapisa. One ISAF member was killed in the operation, the group's press office told RIA Novosti.
"The operation was carried out in a number of regions of the Alasay Valley, during which paratroopers were dropped. During the military operation, one ISAF soldier was killed," the spokesman said.
According to another report from the ISAF, two insurgent field commanders were killed on Tuesday in the town of Naw Zad in the Helmand province during an additional military operation using precision strikes. Both commanders, Jamaluddin Hanifi and Maulawi Mohammed Saddiq, have been linked to several militant acts in the province over the past few months.
Helmand is the world's largest opium-producing region, responsible for 42% of the world's total production. Much of the fighting between NATO and Taliban forces takes place in the province.
Insurgents ambushed and killed four Afghan policemen on Tuesday, the Interior Ministry said, as military forces reported that nine militants and an Australian soldier died in combat. The bloodshed comes after a string of incidents since the weekend in which nine US and European soldiers were killed, as well as a number of Afghan police and civilians, in the Taliban-led insurgency.
In the latest incident, the four policemen were killed in an ambush in the southern province of Kandahar as they were driving on a key road, the ministry said in a statement. The ministry blamed the attack on the "enemies of Afghanistan."
The attack follows Monday's Taliban suicide bombing of police headquarters in the neighboring province of Helmand in which 11 people, nine of them policemen, died. Another policeman was shot dead the same day in the southwestern province of Farah.
Also early Tuesday, Afghan and US-led coalition troops raided a bomb-making cell in Kandahar, killing seven militants, a coalition statement said. Three suspects were arrested.
Two other fighters were killed shortly before dawn after attacking a police post in the province of Nimroz, another troubled region, in southwestern Afghanistan, the ministry said.
The Australian soldier was killed Monday in the southern province of Uruzgan when about 20 Taliban insurgents attacked a convoy with small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades, the Australian military said.
Australia has about 1,000 troops in Afghanistan, where there are roughly 75,000 foreign soldiers hunting down insurgents and helping Afghan forces secure the fragile country.
Last year's surge in violence, the deadliest since the Taliban regime was removed in the 2001 US-led invasion, has prompted Afghanistan's Western backers to rethink their war strategy.
Washington is expected to announce the outcome of its review in the coming days and is also due to deploy another 17,000 soldiers.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/18/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
A peacekeeper with the joint UN-African Union force (Unamid) in Sudan's western Darfur region has been shot dead by unknown assailants, a spokesman for the mission says. The attack on Tuesday was the second targeting international peacekeepers since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Omar al-Bashir, the Sudanese president, on war crimes charges.
"Unamid peacekeepers coming back from a patrol in Nyala were ambushed by eight unidentified gunmen," Kemal Saiki, a spokesman, said. "This was not a carjacking gone wrong. This was a cold-blooded ambush. They were waiting for us."
The soldier, whose nationality was not released, died after he was airlifted to the mission's headquarters in the North Darfur capital of Al-Fasher.
On March 10, four Unamid troops were wounded in another ambush near Geneina in West Darfur.
Joint mission
Fourteen peacekeepers have been killed in the region since the joint mission took over from a struggling under-funded and under-resourced African Union mission in January 2008. The Unamid deployment is supposed to be the world's largest peacekeeping mission but the force is currently at only 60 per cent of its mandated strength, with just 15,000 of the 26,000 planned troops and police on the ground.
Al-Bashir, who is accused of crimes against humanity during a six-year conflict in the Darfur region, is due to visit Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, on Wednesday.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/18/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan
The Arab League rejected a request from the International Criminal Court to implement an arrest warrant against Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, clearing the way for the leader to attend an Arab Summit in Qatar later this month, Sudan official news agency SUNA reported on Tuesday.
Secretary General, Amr Moussa, did not specify when the court had made the request for Bashir to be apprehended during the summit, but stressed the Arab League was concerned about the implications of the warrant.
" The summit is an Arab meeting, it is not for Qatar or Sudan. Sudan will be invited, and it's up to the Sudanese government weather to attend or not "
Qatari PM
"We in the presidency of the Arab League have a clear position on this request and we totally reject it," Moussa was quoted by SUNA as saying.
The Sudan Tribune reported that Qatar said it would not execute the request as it was simply hosting the summit and had nothing to do with its government.
"The summit is an Arab meeting, it is not for Qatar or Sudan. Sudan will be invited, and it's up to the Sudanese government weather to attend or not," Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Hamad bin Jasim Al-Thani, was quoted by the paper as saying.
Qatar is not a signatory of the ICC's Rome Statute and is not legally obliged to arrest Bashir.
Jordan, Djibouti and Comoros are the only Arab League states that recognize The Hague-based court and it was unclear whether they had endorsed Moussa's statement.
According to the ICC mandate, member states must arrest those indicted if they enter their territory, restricting Bashir's movements to "friendly" countries.
Sudan said it would make special security arrangements for Bashir to travel to Doha, including fighter jets guarding the presidential plane.
Earlier this month ICC prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, issued an arrest warrant for Bashir on seven counts of war crimes in Darfur and crimes against humanity, which include murder, rape and torture.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/18/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan
#1
The protected the cannibal Idi Amin who was much worse. Be Islamic and anything goes with these turds.
#2
We need to nuke one of these little sh$$hole countries, just to let them know we're not afraid to. Sudan would be at the top of my list. I'd expect the rest of the world to back off and take a deep breath following such an incident, and bin Laden to have to find another cave.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/18/2009 10:40 Comments ||
Top||
#3
As long as Bashir was terrorizing Christians,Tribes or not his brand of Islam the Arab League will agree to his actions!!!!
Four Algerian soldiers are dead and four others wounded after a terrorist attack on an army convoy Monday (March 16th) in Tizi Ouzou province, Algerian press reported. Terrorists detonated two bombs near Tadmait on the road to the military barracks in Ait Ouarzedine and opened fire on the soldiers before managing to flee. Ten days ago, a suicide bomber struck a communal guard barracks in Tadmait, killing two people, including a female civilian.
In other news, a bomb explosion Monday morning in Berzeguene, Tébessa province, killed a farmer and his 16-year-old son, Liberte reported. Terrorists have killed seven people in the Algerian province adjacent to Tunisia since Saturday. One victim, a shepherd, had his throat cut before his herd was stolen. Several of his relatives died in a roadside bomb explosion as they rushed to the scene.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/18/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa
#1
throat cut before his herd was stolen
Sometimes troops can be kind of rough with the brothel madame.
A suicide bomber has attacked a South Korean delegation visiting Yemen after a deadly attack on tourists on Sunday. Officials said no one apart from the bomber was harmed in this attack. Reports say he walked between two cars in the Korean convoy as it was driving back to the airport in Sanaa and detonated an explosives belt.
Four Korean tourists and their local guide were killed in Sunday's attack in the city of Shibam in Hadramut - a Unesco world heritage site.
A foreign ministry official in Seoul said the vehicles were carrying government officials and bereaved family members from their hotel in the capital to the airport. He said no one in the convoy was hurt although some of the car windows were shattered.
The Yemeni authorities have blamed local militant groups for Sunday's suicide bombing, the latest in string of attacks against foreign targets. Yemeni security officials quoted by AFP said they found a piece of the bomber's identity card. It showed his address and the fact he was a 20-year-old student, they said.
Student of which madrassa?
There are conflicting reports about the perpetrators of Sunday's attack in Shibam. A local teenager went up to a group of 16 Korean tourists and posed for pictures with them as the sun set over the historic high-rise desert city. Moments later, a bomb he was carrying blew up.
Reports initially said the attacker was linked to al-Qaeda elements in Yemen, but a later report on the official news agency said he had been "tricked into wearing an explosives vest". Yeah, tricked. The Yemenis must think the S. Koreans are even stupider than the suicide bomber.
Posted by: ed ||
03/18/2009 10:24 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Because the South Koreans don't want the Norks with nukes to sell to terrorists?
#2
a later report on the official news agency said he had been "tricked into wearing an explosives vest".
In Iraq and the Palestinian Territories, the bad guys are willing to lie, con, brainwash, blackmail, or even rape to get others to suicide for the cause. I'd believe it could happen in Yemen, too.
* WAFF > TURKEY AND RUSSIA ON THE RISE. Overlapping spheres of influence. Rising binational interaction due to ongoing probs wid acceptance by EU-WEST; + TURKEY AND THE NUCLEAR BOMB; + PK CHIEF OF AIR STAFF CHIEF MARSHAL: WHOLE OF PAF MADE NUCLEAR.
Also on WAFF > GREEK: ATHENS TEETERING ON THE BRINK OF COLLAPSE/CITY BESIEGED FROM WITHIN.
At least three of the detained BDR men were among the mutineers who gunned down their DG Maj Gen Shakil Ahmed and some other senior army officers at the Pilkhana Headquarters.
The three have been identified by suspected mutineers now being grilled at the Taskforce for Interrogation (TFI) Cell. The BDR men claimed a group of six to seven who first opened fire at the Darbar Hall were riflemen, not outsiders.
"None has so far revealed the names of the initial shooters during interrogation, though it seems they know them," said a top law enforcer tasked with investigation into the carnage.
He however hopes they will get important breakthrough once the shooters are identified and quizzed.
"We've identified the killer of BDR DG Maj Gen Shakil Ahmed and at least two others who gunned down other senior officers," said the investigator speaking anonymously.
He however did not reveal the names of the three now in custody.
They have earlier arrested the BDR jawan who killed the wife of Maj General Shakil, he added.
The investigator also said they have so far detected around 650 riflemen who had involvement in the mutiny.
Those mutineers have been detected through examination of video footage, interrogation of arrested jawans and from the statements of the survived officers and family members.
The investigator also said over 150 out of the 650 BDR members were directly involved in serious offences like killing, looting arms, ammunition and explosives from armouries, distributing those to other soldiers, and guarding entrances to the BDR HQ.
He said a good number of the suspected mutineers and serious offenders have already been arrested, while the rest are still on the run.
The BDR authorities say they have yet to figure out how many BDR members are still at large.
Director General Brig Gen Mainul Islam told The Daily Star: "We could not collect information about all the BDR members from all the sectors, battalions and companies. Therefore we have yet to ascertain how many BDR members are still at large."
12 ARRESTED
The Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) yesterday arrested 12 fugitive BDR personnel in different parts of the country and turned them in to Lalbagh police. Rab officials said primary interrogation suggests their involvement in killing, repression and looting.
The arrestees are subedar Shafiz Uddin, nayek subedars Helal Uddin and Shahjahan Ali, havildar Billal Hossain Khan, nayek Matiur Rahman Khan, lance nayek Shahidul Islam, sepoys Abdul Matin, Abdullah Al Mamun, Shahiduzzaman, Altaf Hossain, carpenter Narayan Kumar Das and electrician Zakir Hossain.
3 ON FRESH REMAND, 9 SENT TO JAIL
A Dhaka court yesterday placed three mutiny suspects on a five-day fresh remand and sent nine others to Dhaka Central Jail, reports our Court Correspondent.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which is investigating the case, produced 12 suspected mutineers before the court on completion of their five-day remand and prayed for further remand for subedar Gofran Malik, lance nayek Gausul Alam and sepoy Abdul Latif.
The CID prayed for seven-day remand for each of them, but the court granted five days for each.
The court also ordered to send havildar Rezaul Karim, lance nayek Yusuf Ali, sepoys Jayanta Kumar Sardar, Jamir Ali, Sohrab Hossain, Ismail Hossain, Shariful Islam, Rafiqul Islam and Masudur Rahman to jail, as the investigation officer (IO) did not seek further remand to quiz them.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/18/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Is the RAB losing their esprit d'corps?
Not one mention of resisting arrest, killed in a cross fire or a shutter gun.
What's the world coming to?
I am so disillusioned.
Posted by: James Carville ||
03/18/2009 10:37 Comments ||
Top||
March 17th -- Late this morning, the Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals sitting in Washington DC, released their unanimous decision upholding the dismissal of charges against Marine Lt. Col Jeffrey Chessani on the grounds of apparent Unlawful Command Influence. But the case may not be over yet.
For the last four years, LtCol Chessani has been investigated and prosecuted for his involvement in the so called "Haditha Massacre" -- a massacre that never happened. A 22-year veteran, Chessani has served three tours of duty in Iraq. He served in the First Persian Gulf War and in Panama. At the time of the November 19, 2005 Haditha incident, he was the Battalion Commander of 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines ("The Thundering Third") -- one of the most decorated units in the history of the Marine Corps.
Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, observed, "LtCol Chessani, one of the most effective combat commanders we had in Iraq, was a made political scapegoat by the civilians in the Pentagon to appease the antiwar politicians and a liberal media. In fact, we now know that the story of the 'massacre' that prompted the Haditha prosecutions was a headline in a Time news article instigated by insurgent propaganda operatives."
Continued Thompson, "This nation has come to the point where we can't call terrorists captured on the battlefield 'enemy combatants.' We release the terrorists out of Guantanamo and prosecute the military our country placed in harms' way to defend us."
Robert Muise, an attorney with the Law Center, a national public interest law firm, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, argued the case on behalf of LtCol Chessani. The Law Center has been defending LtCol Chessani throughout his prosecution alongside his detailed Marine lawyers, LtCol John Shelburne and Captain Jeff King. Captain Kyle Kilian, a Marine appellate defense lawyer, also assisted in the appeal.
LtCol Chessani is the highest ranking officer facing criminal charges as a result of the much-publicized and ill-described "Haditha massacre." The criminal charges against him stem from a legitimate combat action taken by four enlisted Marines in his command after they were ambushed by insurgents in Haditha, Iraq, on November 19, 2005. Their actions resulted in the deaths of several ambushing insurgents. Unfortunately and tragically, several civilians were also killed in the house-clearing operation.
Even though LtCol Chessani wasn't present during the incident, he was criminally charged with failing to launch a full investigation into the incident. If convicted, he faces 2 œ years imprisonment, dismissal from the Corps, and loss of all of his retirement pay.
The essential holding of the military appellate court was as follows: "We are convinced the Government failed to meet its burden of demonstrating, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the proceedings were untainted by the appearance of UCI (Unlawful Command Influence). We are similarly convinced that an objective, disinterested observer, fully informed of all the facts and circumstances, would harbor significant doubt about the fairness of this proceeding."
This decision could be appealed to the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF) and then even to the U.S. Supreme Court. The government has yet to announce whether it will pursue another appeal.
#1
The fact that any of this outrageous claims were brought into court and pursued is a huge failure of the courts and shows how much political influence can be brought against lawfully acting soldiers.
This case alone is a huge argument against putting our military at the mercy of the international kangaroo court.
We don't forget those that deliberately slander and falsely prosecute our brave soldiers for political and personal gain. It would be wise of our politicians to remember this.
#2
ok the fact that he was charged and he wasn't even there is pure crap. Second what about the moron who turned rat on his fellow soldiers and made a deal with the prosecutors in this case and what about those soldiers he ratted out? I hope the LT colonel gets off before Obama sees the story and throws him in jail his self on presidential orders
#4
Continued Thompson, "This nation has come to the point where we can't call terrorists captured on the battlefield 'enemy combatants.' We release the terrorists out of Guantanamo and prosecute the military our country placed in harms' way to defend us."
A very sad state of affairs.
#6
Let's hope the lawsuits against Murtha are proceeding well. When won, the funds are used to sue the guts out of Time and other collaborators.
Posted by: ed ||
03/18/2009 18:59 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Does this make a clean sweep of the Haditha "case" - perhaps except for one Marine who pleaded out to some lesser charges to cooperate with the prosecution?
If not a 100% collapse, this marks a 95% collapse of the Haditha case.
And one must admit that, amidst the hourly - and seemingly increasing - absurdities and outrages that have been occurring for years, the juxtaposition of this case sputtering to a conclusion, even while released detainees lead insurgent groups in southern A'stan, and the USG beclowns itself with its craven yet empty abandonment of perfectly acceptable terminology WRT terrorists who fall outside the Conventions and other relevant bodies of law, sort of takes the cake.
Lev L. Dassin, the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Michele M. Leonhart, the Acting Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), today announced that Tareq Mousa Al Ghazi, 62, an associate of international arms dealer Monzer Al Kassar, was found guilty late yesterday of charges relating to a conspiracy to sell millions of dollars worth of weapons to the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (the FARC) - a designated foreign terrorist organization - to be used to kill U.S. officers and employees in Colombia.
Al Ghazi was found guilty following a two-week jury trial before U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff in Manhattan federal court.
According to the superseding indictment and the evidence at trial:
Between February 2006 and June 2007, Al Ghazi and Al Kassar agreed to sell millions of dollars worth of weapons to the FARC, including thousands of machine guns, millions of rounds of ammunition, rocket-propelled grenade launchers (RPGs), and surface-to-air missile systems (SAMs). During a series of recorded telephone calls, e-mails, and in-person meetings, Al Ghazi and Al Kassar agreed to sell the weapons to two individuals who were in fact confidential sources working with the DEA. The confidential sources represented that they were acquiring these weapons for the FARC to use in attacks directed at U.S. helicopters in Colombia.
Al Ghazi was found guilty of conspiracy to murder U.S. officers and employees; conspiracy to acquire and export anti-aircraft missiles; and conspiracy to provide material support and resources to the FARC, a designated foreign terrorist organization; as well as money laundering. Al Ghazi was found not guilty of conspiracy to murder U.S. nationals.
Posted by: ed ||
03/18/2009 15:33 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Whoo hoo! Well done, acting people! It would be awfully nice if, on the strength of this accomplishment, y'all were hired on a permanent basis.
Which would achieve the dual goals of rewarding competence and actually filling a few of the many holes in President Obama's organizational chart.
At least 24 people were injured on Tuesday when suspected NDFB insurgents hurled a grenade at a computer shop in Uttarborbeel market at
Howraghat in Karbi Anglong district.
Police said, the injured were taken to nearby Nagaon civil hospital where the condition of seven was stated to be critical.
Initial reports had suggested it was a bomb blast, they said, adding that police have rushed to the remote area in Howraghat police station.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/18/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
PESHAWAR: Four militants were killed when security forces backed by helicopter gunships pounded militants' hideouts situated in different parts of Mohmand Agency on Tuesday. According to sources, security forces targeted several key positions of militants in Pindyali and Ambar tehsils.
According to initial reports, four militants were killed and three vehicles were destroyed in shelling in Deozai area of Pindyali.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/18/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
CHARSADDA: Police clamed arresting an alleged suicide bomber including his two associates here on Tuesday, police sources said.
According to police sources, police raided on a house in Qasim Muhall, located in the outskirts of Charsadda and arrested three persons including an alleged suicide bomber Qari Shahid Ali (24), seizing a jacket laden with explosives.
Later, police declared the jacket was a suicide jacket. Meanwhile, police have launched investigation, sources added.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/18/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan
#1
"Alleged"?
Make him stand out in the middle of a field, detonate the explosives and we'll see if he really is a suicide bomber or not.
LAHORE: Custom officials claimed capturing three drug-traffickers including a woman and seized drugs worth of 110 million rupees from Wagah border here on Monday.
According to custom official sources, Shah Alam, a resident of Lahore, was arrested as he was taking embroidery clothes, which had drugs in their concealed pockets, to India through Wagha border. The custom officers searched him on suspicion and found drugs worth of 110 million rupees.
He was accompanied with his wife Mehmooda and another associate Arif, sources added while custom officials have registered cases against them. Tuesday, March 17, 2009 07:08
Posted by: Fred ||
03/18/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
100 rupees. that would be like what a $20 bag of something?
#5
rw, do you really think it's a good idea to bad-mouth a moderator?
/rhetorical question
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/18/2009 21:14 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Mike Sylwester said it was
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/18/2009 21:45 Comments ||
Top||
#7
For the record, I wasn't talking as a moderator [you'll see it in gray if I do].
Smartass? Perhaps. More like my long-standing opinion that marijuana-legalization seems to be your area of expertise, and perhaps one you should stick to when commenting.
SWAT: The Qazi courts have formally started working here. Tehrik-e-Nifaz Shariat Muhammadi (TNSM) chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad yesterday said that the Qazis would be giving decisions in courts and there was no need of judges coming to the courts.
He said that following provincial government's announcement relating to the setting up of Shariat courts, the judicial system in Malakand Division and Kohistan has been rendered defunct and, therefore, the decisions of the judges would not be acceptable.
Maulana Sufi Muhammad would personally supervise the working of the courts. After Swat, Qazi courts would begin working in District Dir, Boner, Malakand Agency, Shangla, Kohistan and then Chitral.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/18/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: TNSM
BAGHDAD - The Iraqi government renewed its call on Tuesday for the executions of officials in the ousted regime of Saddam Hussein to go ahead despite the objections of Iraqs president and vice president. The cabinet appeals to the presidency council to approve the decisions issued by the Iraqi High Tribunal against criminals that were sentenced to death, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in a statement.
We couldn't agree more!
Saddams cousin Ali Hassan al-Majeed, former Defence Minister Sultan Hashem and former army commander Hussein Rashid Muhammed have all been sentenced to death for their role in the Anfal military campaign against ethnic Kurds in 1988.
Majeed has two other death sentences, one for crushing a 1991 Shiite revolt and another for killing and displacing Shiite Muslims in 1999.
Keep passing the death sentences and make sure that at least two or three are carried out.
Majeeds initial death sentence in 2007 was widely cheered, but Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, and Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, a Sunni Arab, opposed Hashem and Muhammeds execution, arguing the military men were following orders.
Good Germans they were ...
That put Talabani and Hashemi at odds with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shiite, whose co-religionists suffered terribly under Saddams minority Sunni Arab rule.
Although Talabani and Hashemi have no objections to the execution of Majeed, the legal wrangle has held up the execution of all three sentenced for the Anfal campaign. They were due to have gone to the gallows within days of an Iraqi appeals court upholding their death sentences in September 2007.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/18/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Talabani's a long-time opponent of capital punishment, and has stood aside in previous cases. Not sure about the details of his and al-Hashemi's objections to the other two sentences (I don't believe the Presidency Council's role was really intended to be that of virtual second appeals panel) - but it could be argued that here again we have evidence of Iraq having the semblance of a real government. Power is divided, opinions differ, and different individuals and institutions get a bite on many important decisions. Boring, and by now familiar, I know - but in its own way, a spectacular tribute to the Coalition and Iraqi fallen who made this stage a possibility.
Two Hamas officials returning from Egypt were caught trying to cross the Gaza border Tuesday with nearly $850,000 stuffed into candy tins, an Egyptian security official said. Pretty sweet, huh?
Gaza's Hamas rulers are dependent on the smuggling of cash and goods to keep their government afloat because the coastal territory has been subject to an embargo since the Islamic militant group took control there in June 2007. The heart [burp!] burns bleeds...
The two Hamas members were in Egypt with a delegation taking part in reconciliation talks with rival Palestinian factions. The talks being mediated by Egypt have so far failed to produce an agreement on the formation of a unity government that would include Hamas and the more moderate Fatah movement that it ousted from Gaza. Theat's because they can't stand each other. And they're not fond of Egypt, either.
In response to the Hamas takeover of Gaza, Israel and Egypt have kept the territory's borders sealed to all but a trickle of aid and supplies, forcing Hamas to smuggle cash across the border. Which is the setup for the current episode...
The Hamas officials stopped Tuesday were traveling in a bus carrying members of different Palestinian factions involved in the reconciliation talks. "A search of the bus at the border turned up the tins of sweets stuffed with 454,000 and $260,000 in cash instead of candy," said an Egyptian security official. "Whoa! What's this?"
"Ummm... My lunch?"
Under Egyptian law, it is illegal to leave the country with more than $10,000 in cash. I believe it's actually illegal to have more than $10,000, with the government confiscating anything over, but I could be wrong about that...
Authorities also confiscated two generators, a night vision scope and mobile phones, the official said. "Those are delicacies in Paleostine! Our people are starving, y'know! We eat that stuff!"
Hamas will be allowed to deposit the money into an account in Egypt, but likely won't be able to access the funds from Gaza. "There's something wrong with this ATM card, dammit!"
Arab banks have generally refused to transfer money to Gaza for fear of running afoul of the United States, which considers Hamas a terrorist organization. Only because they kill people. Those Americans -- so insensitive to other people's cultural values!
The two men stopped Tuesday were not arrested and denied knowing what was in the candy tins, saying they were just told to carry the goods into Gaza by Hamas leaders in Egypt, the official said. "Hey, we just do what we're told!"
"Well, get in the paddy wagon!"
"Hokay."
There was no immediate comment from Hamas. [Ring!]
"Who's on the caller ID this time, Ahmed?"
"It's the papers again, Mahmoud!"
"Don't pick up."
In February, Hamas members were caught with suitcases containing $9 million and 2 million in cash.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/18/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
I see the TARP money is already circulating.
Posted by: ed ||
03/18/2009 8:37 Comments ||
Top||
#2
should say,
"Two Hamas officials returning from Egypt were caught trying to cross the Gaza border Tuesday with nearly $850,000 stuffed into candy tins [but without having paid the customary bribes], an Egyptian security official said.
#3
stuffed with 454,000 and $260,000 in cash instead of candy
That seems an odd amount to be carrying. I wonder how much the two Hamas gentlemen were carrying before they encountered Egyptian border security? Not that it matters -- let Egypt be enriched by the amount that Hamas has lost.
The owner of an auto spare part shop was shot dead inside his shop in this southern border province Wednesday, police said.
Apinya Chaiyawanon, 52, was shot twice while working at his desk in his ship in Muang district at noon. Police said an assailant came in the shop and opened fire at him and left on a motorcycle waiting outside.
TWO people were killed and at least four others wounded in a grenade attack blamed on Islamic militants in the southern Philippines, police and military said on Tuesday. Men believed to be members of the Abu Sayyaf group tossed the grenade into a karaoke bar on Jolo island late on Monday, police said. 'The explosion targeted the beer joint,' said Inspector Usman Pingay, the town's police chief. 'We have reports saying that the UTG was responsible for the attack,' he said, referring to the Urban Terrorist Group, a unit of the Abu Sayyaf.
The Abu Sayyaf are also holding three Red Cross volunteers - including an Italian and a Swiss national - in Jolo's interior jungles and police said the attack could have been meant to divert military pressure on the kidnappers.
The blast came just hours after the Abu Sayyaf commander believed to be holding the hostages, Albader Parad, was reportedly wounded in a clash with troops. Parad's men snatched the three hostages on Jan 15 while they were on a humanitarian mission to Jolo, an impoverished island and a stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf.
The group is blamed for the country's worst militant attacks, including the 2004 bombing of a passenger ferry that killed over 100 on Manila Bay. It has kidnapped dozens of foreigners, businessmen and religious workers over the past decade and is on the US government's list of foreign terrorist organisations.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/18/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Abu Sayyaf
PHILIPPINE marines clashed for a second day on Tuesday with al-Qaeda-linked militants holding three Red Cross workers hostage, killing at least six combatants and wounding 19 troops, officials said.
There was no word on the fate of the hostages - a Swiss, an Italian and a Filipino - held for more than two months. The International Committee of the Red Cross expressed concern they could be hurt in a military rescue The fighting erupted Monday when Abu Sayyaf gunmen led by Albader Parad tried to break out of a loose cordon by government forces to box in dozens of militants and their hostages in hilly jungle near southern Jolo island's Indanan township.
US and Philippine officials have offered a reward for the capture or death of Parad, a young militant notorious for alleged involvement in past kidnappings and beheadings. Last month, Parad acknowledged on television that his group was holding the Red Cross workers.
The military said Parad may have been wounded by marine snipers but there was no immediate confirmation.
Fighting resumed on Tuesday, killing three militants and three marines and wounding 19 troops, said military spokesman Brig. Gen. Gaudencio Pangilinan and Jolo Gov. Abdusakur Tan.
Red Cross officials late on Monday expressed worry that the hostages - Swiss Andreas Notter, Filipino Mary Jean Lacaba and Italian Eugenio Vagni - could be harmed by military efforts to free them.
'Their safety is paramount. We repeat our call that no action should be taken that could put (their lives) in danger,' Alain Aeschlimann, head of ICRC Southeast Asia-Pacific operations, said in a statement.
The workers were kidnapped Jan 15 after inspecting a Jolo jail water project.
So far, military officials have refrained from a rescue operation to ensure their safety and allow local officials to negotiate their release.
The Abu Sayyaf, however, has demanded the military back off from its stronghold before any negotiation. The government has rejected that.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/18/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Abu Sayyaf
The Sri Lankan military on Tuesday claimed troops engaged in the final phase of "offensive to free entire country from LTTE" had marked a decisive milestone by reaching the Iranapalai junction.
The Defence Ministry described it as a strategically vital junction in Puthukkudiyiruppu in Mullathivu district.
With the fall of Iranapalai, the Tigers were now confined to a land mass of about 20 sq. km.
The final phase of the operation against the LTTE was taking time due to presence of large number of civilians. The Tigers and the military have accused each other of firing at and from the designated "No Fire Zones".
The Ministry conceded that capture of Iranapalai was preceded by intense fighting. There are no signs of LTTE giving up fighting even in the face of an imminent defeat.
The Navy claimed it had rescued 139 Tamil civilians in the seas between Chundikulum and Vettileikerni. The group was found on board dinghies with white flags.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/18/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
A suspected Tamil Tiger suicide bomber blew himself up several metres from the frontline on Monday, the military said. "A soldier on the frontline in Puthukudiyiruppu observed a military-uniformed man coming towards the [line] and when he moved ahead to search him, the terrorist exploded himself," Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, a military spokesman, said. He said no soldiers were killed or wounded.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/18/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
It is so hard to get good help these days.
Posted by: James Carville ||
03/18/2009 14:50 Comments ||
Top||
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.
During a joint NATO-led operation with the Afghan army, 29 members of the radical Taliban movement were killed and another 12 injured, a spokesman said on Wednesday. 
A peacekeeper with the joint UN-African Union force (Unamid) in Sudan's western Darfur region has been shot dead by unknown assailants, a spokesman for the mission says. The attack on Tuesday was the second targeting international peacekeepers since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Omar al-Bashir, the Sudanese president, on war crimes charges.
The Arab League rejected a request from the International Criminal Court to implement an arrest warrant against Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, clearing the way for the leader to attend an Arab Summit in Qatar later this month, Sudan official news agency SUNA reported on Tuesday.
A suicide bomber has attacked a South Korean delegation visiting Yemen after a deadly attack on tourists on Sunday. Officials said no one apart from the bomber was harmed in this attack. Reports say he walked between two cars in the Korean convoy as it was driving back to the airport in Sanaa and detonated an explosives belt.
At least 24 people were injured on Tuesday when suspected NDFB insurgents hurled a grenade at a computer shop in Uttarborbeel market at 
BAGHDAD - The Iraqi government renewed its call on Tuesday for the executions of officials in the ousted regime of Saddam Hussein to go ahead despite the objections of Iraqs president and vice president. The cabinet appeals to the presidency council to approve the decisions issued by the Iraqi High Tribunal against criminals that were sentenced to death, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in a statement.
Two Hamas officials returning from Egypt were caught trying to cross the Gaza border Tuesday with nearly $850,000 stuffed into candy tins, an Egyptian security official said. 
PHILIPPINE marines clashed for a second day on Tuesday with al-Qaeda-linked militants holding three Red Cross workers hostage, killing at least six combatants and wounding 19 troops, officials said. 
The Sri Lankan military on Tuesday claimed troops engaged in the final phase of "offensive to free entire country from LTTE" had marked a decisive milestone by reaching the Iranapalai junction.
A suspected Tamil Tiger suicide bomber blew himself up several metres from the frontline on Monday, the military said. "A soldier on the frontline in Puthukudiyiruppu observed a military-uniformed man coming towards the [line] and when he moved ahead to search him, the terrorist exploded himself," Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, a military spokesman, said. He said no soldiers were killed or wounded.
