Afghan tribal elders postponed a meeting in eastern Khost to decide the fate of a 14-year-old boy suspected of killing a U.S. soldier after the teen-ager disappeared. Yeah. On a motorcycle, no doubt. It's wearing thin.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/07/2002 ||
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A British Muslim who claims to have sent volunteers to Afghanistan to aid the Taliban said they may return to Britain to launch terrorist attacks against government and military targets. Hassan Butt, 22, leads the Pakistan wing of the British-based Al-Muhajiroun. He said some of the Britons he recruited to fight with Afghanistan's Taliban government were killed by U.S.-led forces. Those who survived could now launch a "new phase" of terrorism in their British homeland. Keep working on it, Hassan. If you're lucky you could be another Guy Fawkes. And when the innocent are dangling from lamp posts next to your remains, you'll have gotten what you want, right?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/07/2002 ||
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Pakistan's president declared that his country rejects all forms of terrorism, for the first time making no attempt to exclude Islamic militants whose conflict with India over the disputed territory of Kashmir has brought the nations to the brink of war. The statement followed a meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, whose visits to India and Pakistan over the past two days turned into an exercise in shuttle diplomacy aimed at defusing simmering tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals. Musharraf told reporters in Islamabad: "We are taking steps within Pakistan to bring some degree of normalcy, balance, introducing a tolerant society, checking any form of militancy. All that is being addressed and a final decision will be given when I come and address the nation in a few days' time." Good move, Mr. President General. You won't regret it, unless one of the armed religious lunatics running around your country shoots you. Hope the cleanup operation goes well.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/07/2002 ||
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Pakistan Muslim League has condemned Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for his arrogant attitude and muffled threats to Pakistan during the SAARC meeting despite the continuous endeavors of Pakistan to avert a war in the region. Muhammad Siddique-ul-Farooque said that as long as the country was under the subjugation of rootless and unrepresentative rulers, India would continue taking Pakistan and all its peace overtures for a ride. He said that the weak and apologetic foreign policy of Pakistan had emboldened India to attack Pakistan any time. He said General Musharraf still had time to quit and save Pakistan otherwise he would add another chapter of woes to the history of the country like his predecessors. Yes. Musharraf should quit immediately and hand power over to Muhammad Siddique-ul-Farooque. That will certainly defuse any tension in the area.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/07/2002 ||
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Chief of Jamiat Ulema Pakistan and United Front, an umbrella organization of six religious parties, Maulana Shah Ahmed Noorani has assured every possible cooperation and help to the government to ensure national security. Addressing the central, provincial and district leaders of JUP, he said the masses including the workers of all religious parties would join the Pakistan army against any Indian misadventure to defend the homeland. Well, that's certainly a comfort. The religious fanatics are hoping they'll find it easier bumping off Hindus than they did fighting jihad against the Americans.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/07/2002 ||
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In an apparent climbdown from his hardline stand, President Musharraf said his government was "in the process" of analysing the cases of 20 individuals whose extradition has been demanded by India. Musharraf's remarks came a day after he had during the just-concluded SAARC summit in Kathmandu rejected handing over any of the 20 people India wants for their involvement in the December 13 attack on Parliament, 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts, 1999 Kandahar hijacking and other crimes. What a good move. You don't need them in Pakistan, anyway, and the Indos can probably find something to do with them.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/07/2002 ||
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A brief meeting between the leaders of India and Pakistan failed to resolve a standoff between the nuclear-armed neighbors. The private meeting at a regional summit in Nepal was the first between Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf since both countries put their armies on war alert last month. Can't expect the problem to be resolved in a single meeting. At least they're talking. That's better than making faces at each other while they point rockets.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/07/2002 ||
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Turkey's culture minister accused Saudi Arabia of engaging in a "cultural massacre" of Ottoman treasures after Saudi authorities tore down a 200-year-old castle in Mecca to make way for a hotel complex. Damn those arrogant westerners! They have no appreciation for the cultural treasures of others... Oh. Never mind.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/07/2002 ||
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Presiden-for-Life Yasser Arafat announced he was launching an internal investigation into Israel's seizure of a ship the Israelis said was smuggling arms, and vowed to punish anyone involved. The Palestinian Authority, which has denied Israeli charges that Arafat and other leaders were behind the alleged smuggling attempt, took action after meeting U.S., European and Russian officials seeking to end more than 15 months of bloodshed. No doubt they'll be shocked - Shocked! - at what they find.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/07/2002 ||
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The Palestinian captain of a ship seized by Israel with 50 tons of offensive weapons on board said in jailhouse interviews that the shipment was intended for the Palestinians and that he got his smuggling instructions from a Palestinian Authority official. Kinda dents the "It wasn't us" claim, doesn't it? Still cold with your pants down, ain't it, Yasser?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/07/2002 ||
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Russian forces shelled Chechnya's third-largest town, and fighting erupted in other parts of the republic, leaving at least three soldiers reported dead and eight wounded. Argun had been under Russian fire since Thursday as federal forces tried to flush out rebels, some of whom are believed to have fled another Russian operation in the nearby village of Tsotsin-Yurt. The fighting in Argun and Tsotsin-Yurt, east of Grozny, is some of the fiercest seen in Chechnya in recent months.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/07/2002 ||
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A Turkish court sentenced three men to death for the killings of four prominent writers and academics in an alleged plan to establish an Islamic state in Turkey. The three were found guilty in the slaying of journalist Ugur Mumcu, killed by a car bomb in 1993, and three other prominent secular writers and intellectuals during the 1990s. The verdict ended a 17-month trial in which prosecutors accused the defendants of membership in shadowy Islamic extremist groups, such as Tevhid-Selam and the Jerusalem Warriors. The groups were said to advocate replacing Turkey's strictly secular system with a state based on Islamic law. The sad part is that it takes 17 months to put away the hard boys who spent just a few days killing their betters.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/07/2002 ||
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More than 500 armed extremists of the outlawed Indian Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) attacked the century-old Khajwati Math at Bodh Gaya and blew up the main building with dynamite. The extremists also looted property and cash besides beating up the mahant and the priests. One of the main priests is missing and is said to have been abducted. They sound like real nice fellows. The Indos don't really need this, when they're preoccupied with Kashmir and Pakistan and possible nuclear holocaust.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/07/2002 ||
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A man set off a hand grenade in a pub in northern Serbia, killing four people and injuring another 20. The blast happened at the Big Rouge pub in Novi Knezevac, near the Hungarian border. The man died in the explosion along with three other customers. The pub was packed with people celebrating Orthodox Christmas. The motive for the blast was not known. And Merry Christmas to you, too, you terrorist bastard.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/07/2002 ||
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Saudi Arabia's debt is expected to increase over the next year. Gulf analysts said stagnating oil prices will make the kingdom one of the biggest debtor nations in the world. Riyadh is expected to owe more than $200 billion by the end of 2002. A study by Saudi economist Ihsan Bu Hlaika said the kingdom turned into a debtor from the oil prices that first stabilized and then dropped during the 1980s. Hlaika said the kingdom has repaid only a small part of its domestic debt. That funding international subversion gets expensive, doesn't it? Wonder what their expenditure per ruthless henchman is?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/07/2002 ||
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Osama bin Laden's favorite wife, her bodyguards and one of his babies were reportedly captured in Yemen, firming up investigators' suspicions he may be living there. Yemeni authorities arrested Amal Ahmed Al-Sadah, bin Laden's third wife, who sneaked out of Afghanistan with their infant daughter, Safia. Amal's bodyguards, possibly members of al Qaeda. Bin Laden has four wives and, according to estimates, more than 40 children. Intelligence agents unearthed documents that suggest bin Laden beat it to Yemen before bombs dropped on his Tora Bora compound in November. Yemen, is is? Now ain't that a surprise. You read it here first.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/07/2002 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
