Interim Afghan leader Hamid Karzai, on a world trip to drum up aid for his country, began talks with leaders of Saudi Arabia. Karzai paid a courtesy call on King Fahd before opening talks with Crown Prince Abdullah, who runs the day-to-day affairs of the kingdom. We know you need the money, but watch it when they offer to fund your school system. Oh, and keep an eye on any younger sons that show up.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/19/2002 ||
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Afghan and Russian leaders officially reopened the Salang Tunnel after workers cleared tons of debris left over from war there in the late 1990s. Twenty trucks loaded with Russian food and medicines for Afghans made up the first convoy to travel south through the tunnel under the Hindu Kush mountains. That'll help ease the humanitarian situation. And it wasn't the US that cleared it, so the UN and NGOs won't bitch about how we did it wrong.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/19/2002 ||
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A French newspaper reported that investigators had found an e-mail message in which attempted shoe bomber Maxwell Smart "Richard Reid" wrote of plans to destroy an airliner. La Provence, based in Marseille, said investigators had tracked the e-mail thanks to a cybercafe address found on Reid. The newspaper said that Reid, described himself in the e-mail as a "martyr of the Islamic cause." Investigators seized hard drives in a Paris cybercafe that Reid frequented shortly before the December 22 Paris-Miami flight that US officials say Reid boarded with explosives in his shoes. Investigators retrieved e-mails which had been sent all across Europe, as well as a will, written in a "rambling" style. His lawyer's either sitting up nights researching the insanity defense, or he's looking forward to just cashing his check and forgetting the entire experience after the jury takes 30 seconds to convict.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/19/2002 ||
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Pakistan will act "in accordance with the merits" of information provided by India in deciding what to do with Indian nationals on a list of 20 alleged terrorists New Delhi wants extradited, Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar said. Pakistan also had its own list of terrorist suspects it wants extradited from India and will pass this on to New Delhi "in the course of time. Musharraf has ruled out sending Pakistani nationals to India, saying they would instead be tried under Pakistani law if evidence was presented against them. Well, that sounds fair: trade one set of snuffies for the other. Pakland kinda has an obligation to put the Pak citizens on trial if it won't extradite them to India, though, and to cooperate with India in seeking convictions. It won't work if you can't be tried in Pakistan for a crime committed in another country.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/19/2002 ||
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Jamaat-i-Islami staged a sit-in in Peshawar to protest against the detention of their Amir Qazi Hussain Ahmed and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman. Waving the party flag, they chanted slogans against the government and the United States, and condemned the government policies. The provincial deputy chief of Jamaat, Hakeem Abdul Waheed, warned that people would not allow anybody to convert Pakistan into a secular state. They said that under the garb of anti-terrorism war Muslims were being victimized throughout the world. God forbid we should have a secular state! Damn those Americans for the way they vicitimize Muslims -- and for no reason at all!
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/19/2002 ||
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The Hizb ut Tahrir has blamed capitalism for poverty and hunger in the world. Speaking at a news conference at the Peshawar Press Club, Zulfiqar Ali, a spokesman for the Hizb said that a capitalistic system cannot be enforced alongside Islam. It was essential to cleanse society of capitalism in order for Islam to take its place, he added. He flayed Gen Pervez Musharraf's decision to ban Jihadi organizations and termed it part of an American agenda in southeast Asia. He said the members of his organization were proud of being extremists, struggling for a just society based on Islamic principles. Ummm. Yeah. Well, there's certainly no arguing with that point of view. It's an incoherent rant that doesn't make any sense, but there's no arguing with it.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/19/2002 ||
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#1
This guy...zulfiqar ali...is totally right. Being muslims Islam has to ge our way of life. But capitalism and islam cannot go hand-in-hand...the former based solely on exploitation and self-interests.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
09/23/2004 6:33 Comments ||
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Putting the moral debate to one side, look at what America has achieved in two hundred years of capitalism - it is the wealthiest country in the world with one of the highest standards of living for its citizens. Look where the Muslim world stands in comparison - largely impoverished. Thus I believe the basis for 9/11 in part was jealousy. Don't like capitalism? Don't buy our products. Do your own thing.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
09/23/2004 6:49 Comments ||
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"...cleanse society of capitalism in order for Islam to take its place..."
Is Islam the only religion that can't live side by side with capitalism?
Could Islam get past a 7th century standard of living on its own?
Posted by: Tom ||
09/23/2004 7:57 Comments ||
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Iâve only a passing knowledge about the end of European colonialism in general and the Commonwealth nations in specific.
That said, Howardâ¦when I was in Pakistan I had a strong relationship with the Brits. I crewed with the Brit High Commissioner in dual handed sailing events and drank with the RMâs. In their own way, each brought up the situation concerning dual citizenship.
As I understand it, if any former member of a Commonwealth Nation wanted to immigrate to the UK, they got a free ride. The complaint by the HC and the RM was that in many cases the only words of English known was ânational assistanceâ. I fully realize this is anecdotal, but remember this was in the late 60âs, and look whatâs taken place in the UK (and the EU for that matter) as far as the population goes. Itâs a new invasion, with the war just barely joined. And a war it is.
Yup, capitalism to all socialists is the root of all evil. I guess thatâs why weâve been so successful, with a high standard of living and folks from across the planet trying to get in. Our âpoorâ are living at a higher standard than many of the well off in other countries. And we still find it within our means to help out whenever and wherever we can.
Proud to be an American. Proud to have the Brits our friends.
#6
RN: Interesting - have American relatives and view with awe what they've been able to achive.
Certainly, with a booming economy, immigration from the commonwealth is a necessity for the UK. Despite my rabid outbursts on RB I do enjoy living in a diverse society. The problem being that it isn't sufficiently well controlled and thuis is open to abuse - we are just beginning to wake up to this. It is also open to abuse from fascists like Hammad (above) who in condoning the author's views arrogantly believe that everyone would be better off living under his religion. Some of us, Hammad, don't necessarily believe in a god or capitalism or the Tooth Fairy, some of us don't think too hard about things, our preoccupation is making the lives of our children as comfortable and safe as possible.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
09/23/2004 8:47 Comments ||
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A shutter-down strike call given by the Pakistan-Afghan Defence Council received a lukewarm response from the traders and business community in Balochistan on Friday. All shopping centres and markets in Quetta and other parts of the province remained opened throughout the day. The council gave the strike call in the province in protest against the ban imposed on five militant groups and arrests of their leaders and activists by the government last Saturday. "What if they gave a strike and nobody came?"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/19/2002 ||
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An Alabama man who said he was kidnapped by a tribal warlord in Afghanistan has been released and told his hometown newspaper that he was burned with cigarettes while in captivity. Clark Bowers said in a telephone interview from Pakistan that he could not elaborate on many details of his ordeal, but that he was freed after $5,000 in ransom was paid to the warlord. We're all hoping that five years from now things like this will be unual.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/19/2002 ||
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Bihar Minister of State for Animal Husbandry Aditya Singh was taken into custody for allegedly plotting the killing of Amar Paswan, a supporter of by-election candidate Manzoor Alam, at Narhat Bazar in Nawada district. The danger of nuclear holocaust is past. We can now concentrate on the important things, like bumping off our opponents' supporters.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/19/2002 ||
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Sudan's government and rebels agreed to a cease-fire in the Nuba Mountains, opening the way for aid to reach the troubled region and boosting hopes for wider peace in one of Africa's longest civil wars. Negotiators from the government and the southern-based Sudanese People's Liberation Army, or SPLA, signed the deal during talks mediated by U.S. and Swiss diplomats at a resort in Switzerland. They agreed to stop fighting in the mountains within three days. Both sides said more must be done to end 18 years of civil war in Sudan, where more than 2 million people are believed to have died in fighting and related famines. Reaching some sort of a peace agreement is a step toward avoiding the troublesome presence of US forces looking for al-Qaeda and coincidentally sending the current "government" to hell. Smart move.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/19/2002 ||
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Shiite cleric Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah claimed in a Friday sermon that Washingtonâs interference in Palestine had brought the international war on terrorism to Lebanonâs doorstep. He said the Americans were determined to give Israelis a sense of security to the detriment of all Arabs, and described the Palestinian intifada as a ârebellion of the persecuted Palestinians against their Israeli and American oppressors.â He added that Washington âsplits the world into two camps, one with the US administration and the other against it.â Hmm. Yes. That sounds about right. Bush said you're either for us or against us in the war on terror. You seem to be against us. In 1987, I attended a strategic planning seminar on international affairs in which I predicted, wrongly if facetiously, that sometime around 1995 the last Lebanese would shoot the second last Lebanese. Lebanon, of all places, given its recent history, should be thoroughly sick of terrorism. But maybe it's just the mullahs and ayatollahs who aren't. (I just love saying "Mullah Fudlullah" out loud. It sounds like the opening line of a limerick.)
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/19/2002 ||
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Spanish police arrested two suspected members of al-Qaida. The pair had been on the run since a major raid against the organization late last year. The two men, a Moroccan and an Algerian, were arrested on a warrant by Judge Baltasar Garzon as part of an operation that jailed eight people in Spain last November for their alleged role in the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and the Pentagon. A statement from Interior Ministry headquarters in Madrid said the two were arrested at in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, near Barcelona. The Moroccan was identified as Mohamed Najib Chaib, 35, and the Algerian as 31-year-old Atmane Resali. Hello, boys. This is what a Spanish prison looks like. Enjoy your stay.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/19/2002 ||
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Maulana Fazlur Rehman, leader of his own faction of the Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam (JUI-F) said: "I personally do not believe Osama is dead, this is just propaganda to cover up the U.S. failure to capture him." Other activists of the JUI-F, and another faction of the party lead by Maulana Samiul Haq are even more convinced that Osama is alive. "Look, he is not so stupid that he would stay in Afghanistan as the bombing started. He left many days before the Taliban fell, and is at a 'safe' location", insisted one activist. He maintained that knowledge of this was widespread in militant circles. Sources within the same circles also say that in fact, Musharraf and his officials know this, but are "not willing to admit it in public". If anyone should know, it's Mullah Rahman. Our from the start guess has been that Binny stopped by the Mullah's house for a shower and shave and a quick meeting with Gen. Hamid Gul and maybe Sammy Haq. Then, with a fresh, unused Lebanese passport, he hopped the next flight for Yemen to visit with the folks. Right now he's either in Sudan or Tanzania. (Could be wrong, though. We've been wrong before. He could be a fine layer of carbon on a rock, too.)
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/19/2002 ||
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Police confirmed that Afghan security forces captured six unarmed al-Qaeda members and their driver in Kabul, the first arrests of bin Laden followers in the capital. Wonder if they were dressed like girls? Hey, guys! Lemme tell your fortune: "You will be going on a long trip..."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/19/2002 ||
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Malaysian police have arrested seven more people with suspected links to al Qaeda. Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has said police have identified about 50 Malaysians involved with the terror network. Wonder which hard drive that information came from. Well, that's another seven Osamas that won't spring up in Binny's place.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/19/2002 ||
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Two hawala operators, who were suspected to have funded members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, have been arrested in Mumbai. The arrests occurred following a tip-off from Delhi police, who are interrogating four members of Lashkar who were arrested in the capital on January 14. Rajesh Prajapati and Mehboob Merchant Karim, were arrested in South Mumbai. Just small fry money guys, but the Indians take it seriously enough to track as many down as they can. Good job!
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/19/2002 ||
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Israeli troops seized the official Voice of Palestine television and radio broadcasting building and blew it up in the latest action to pressure Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority. The Israeli operation came a day after tanks surrounded Arafat's headquarters in another part of Ramallah, with some moving to within a few yards of the compound gate. Bet toilet paper consumption spiked when that happened. Not being real good with cause and effect, the PA doesn't equate the actions to shooting up a young girl's party. The Israelis just do that stuff because they're mean, y'know.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/19/2002 ||
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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.
