Harrumph! Yeah Right links to this Tariq Ali article on "Who Killed Daniel Pearl" in Counterpunch. His conclusion is that it was the ISI.
All these acts were designed as a warning to Pakistan's military ruler: if you go too far in accommodating Washington, your head will also roll. Some senior journalists believe an attempt on Musharraf's life has already taken place. Are these acts of terrorism actually carried out by hardline groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammed and Harkatul Ansar, which often claim them? Probably, but these groups are only a shell. Turn them upside down and the rational kernel is revealed in the form of Pakistan's major intelligence agency - the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), whose manipulation of them has long been clear.
(Thank you for the link, Kathy.) These are my comments, which regular readers will recognize as mere reiteration... Not a bad article, and he makes points those of us who've watched this all along have been making. He's quite correct that Perv isn't fully in control of ISI, even though he appointed a trusted friend as its head.
Tariq Ali makes his mistake in assuming ISI is in control of itself and its "covert" operations, which are probably more discrete than a parade down Main Street with brass bands but not much so. Under the Zia ul-Haq regime, ISI was staffed with officers and agents picked for their fundo bona fides and set to establishing an Islamist regime in Afghanistan. The tool for this was the NWFP fundamentalist establishment - Sami ul-Haq of the JUI, Qazi Hussein Ahmed of JI, and later the Afghan Defense Council, now the Muttahida Majlis Amal. Somewhere along the line the worm turned, and rather than ISI and its fundo substructure driving the religious parties, the religious parties ended up driving ISI. Dumping Hamid Gul and his cronies had no effect because the organization is swarming with "dual loyalty" fellows who really answer to Qazi and through him to Fazlur Rehman. Fazl, remember, is Binny's good friend.
That's the way it seems to me, anyway, and events seem to fall into this framework; they don't work quite right with the ISI-in-control framework.
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04/10/2002 ||
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Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray on Wednesday blamed BJP's "abandoning" of the Hindutva plank for its recent electoral debacle saying the "curse of Hindus" has adversely affected the party. "Neglecting the cause of Hindus was responsible for the recent electoral reverses suffered by BJP," Thackeray said referring to the party's debacle in Assembly elections in Uttaranchal, Punjab and municipal polls in Delhi.
The Sena chief was addressing partymen on the concluding day of the two-day party conclave in the temple township. Thackeray made it amply clear that his party would never discard its policies on staunch Hindutva but rather pursue it more vigorously. "The BJP is losing its base in the country while Congress is gaining an upper hand," the Sena chief noted adding that even party leaders like Bangaru Laxman and Anna Dange have started openly criticising the BJP leadership. "It was due to the inept governance of this government," he said. Thackeray came down heavily on the government saying "we need a leader who can tell Muslims to follow the law of this land". He means somebody like, well... Like him.
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Musharraf cannot afford to lose the support of some of the fundamentalist bigwigs just before the referendum, and is working overtime to convince them that he is taking all measures to "safeguard Islam". He has refused to extradite Sheikh Omar Sayeed to the US for the Daniel Pearl murder and has also not come down in any substantial way on the mujahideen fighting in Kashmir. While US Federal Bureau of Investigation teams jointly raided with Pakistan army regulars to capture top al-Qaeda leader Abu Zubaidah in the last week of March, Musharraf's spokesmen have taken pains to emphasize that US troops will not be allowed full leverage to conduct hot pursuit inside Pakistani territory. In trying to keep a foot in both the "Allah" and "America" compounds, the Pakistani army is once again attempting a delicate balancing act.
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Security at the Israeli Embassy and a main Jewish synagogue in the Norwegian capital have been drastically increased with heightened tensions in the Middle East. Part of a main street through Oslo was closed off to traffic and concrete barricades raised around the Israeli Embassy late Tuesday. Similar steps were taken at the main synagogue in another part of the capital. The Oslo newspaper Aftenposten said today that security was increased because police heard about young Muslim men volunteering to become suicide bombers against Jewish targets. The newspaper said Deputy Foreign Minister Vidar Helgesen alerted law enforcement officials after learning about supposed terror plans from a member of a mosque where they were discussed. Aftenposten, which did not name a source, said plans discussed included specific targets in Norway and dates. As I was saying yesterday...
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In case you missed it, Damien Penny has the scooby on "Last night's regularly scheduled French anti-Jewish hate crime."
"I haven't seen any official reaction from the French government, but I expect a call for French Jews to remain calm, and absolutely nothing to be asked of the Muslim community."
Hand me a towel, Abdul. The mullah's about to preach...
A school bus carrying Jewish students in Paris was bombarded with stones Wednesday, drawing immediate condemnation from the Paris mayor and renewed pleas for religious tolerance. Mayor Bertrand Delanoe issued a statement saying he was "profoundly shocked by the intolerable aggression against a bus carrying students from a Jewish school" in the north of Paris. RTL radio reported that stone throwers attacked the bus Wednesday afternoon, causing minor injuries to one of the students.
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A bus was blown up in a suicide bombing near Haifa. There are at least eight dead and 17 wounded in the wake of the blast. One person sustained critical wounds, and at least three others are in moderate condition, and the remainder suffered from light wounds, according to Magen David Adom Director-General Avi Zohar. An additional body found inside the bus is that of the suicide bomber.
Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack, saying in an announcement on one of its web sites that it was carried out by an unidentified member of the group's military wing. "To (Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon and his ministers and generals, we have shown that there is no 'defensive shield,'" the site announcement said, referring to the Israeli name for the military campaign, "Operation Defensive Shield."
Gaza Hamas leader Ismail Abu Shanab said the bomb attack was a "reaction to the ongoing brutal crimes committed by Sharon and all the criminals against our people, and it is a clear message that our people will not surrender and will not give up."
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To solve the impasse over the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, a senior Christian leader has suggested Israel deport - not detain or try - the Palestinian gunmen taking refuge in the historic church. Bishop Aristorchus, the representative of the Greek Orthodox Church, submitted the proposal at a meeting of Greek Orthodox, Armenian, and Roman Catholic leaders with Deputy Foreign Minister Michael Melchior and Deputy Defense Minister Dalia Rabin Pelesoff. He suggested the fighters give up their weapons and Israel not imprison them or put them on trial, but allow them to leave the country instead. Sounds like a possible solution. Might one suggest China as a destination? Or maybe Antarctica?
Guantanamo. Let 'em sit there until we finish off the Middle East. Posted by Annoying Old Guy 4/10/2002 3:33:11 PM
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The head of Hamas's military wing in the Hebron region was reportedly killed in a car explosion a short time ago. The IDF has not commented on the reported blast which took place outside the center of the divided West Bank city. Wonder if it was a rocket from an American-made Apache Helicopter™ or just a work accident?
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State Prosecutor Adnan Addoum on Tuesday received a message from Information Minister Ghazi Aridi accusing the International Herald Tribune (IHT) of breaking local publication laws. Aridi was alluding to a pro-Israeli advertisement that was published in the IHT. â(The advertisement) offends Lebanese national feeling,â according to the information ministerâs letter to Addoum. Aridi urged the authorities to take the appropriate legal measures against the International Herald Tribune under the countryâs publication law. An informed source predicted the IHT would face prosecution through its legal representative in Beirut. The source added that, if found guilty, the IHT would face a fine ranging between LL500,000 and LL1 million.
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United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan chided Israel on Wednesday for human rights violations as it pursues its offensive against Palestinians, calling its behavior unbecoming of a country that claims to be a democracy. "I am, frankly, appalled by humanitarian situation,"ÃAnnan said after discussing the violence in the Middle EastÃwith U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, EU foreign and security chief Javier Solana and Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Pique. Looks pretty stupid with the pieces of the bus still falling, doesn't he?
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US Secretary of State Colin Powellâs intention not to include Lebanon in his current tour of the Middle East is âastonishing,â a ministerial source said Tuesday. Powellâs tour, which began in Morocco, is expected to include Israel, Egypt, Jordan and potentially Ramallah, where Palestinian President Yasser Arafat is under virtual house arrest. âThis is not the first time Powell has omitted Lebanon from his Middle East tour,â the source stated, referring to Powellâs previous trip in February 2001. At the time, Powell was asked about the absence of Lebanon from his itinerary, to which he replied that he would pay a visit the next time he was in the region. For his part, Deputy Speaker Elie Ferzli said Wednesday that Powellâs failure to visit Lebanon meant that a âsettlementâ of the Palestinian issue was going to be engineered at the expense of Lebanon and Syria. They're under the mistaken impression they have some regional importance. No telling why they think that.
Because they've got thousands of Syrian troops in the country and a fair few Hizbollah fighters hanging around. Hizbollah have a far better record against Israel than most Arab forces.
Remember Israel thought that Lebanon was of enough regional importance to invade, and that was before the Hizzies turned up. Until not so long ago they thought that the southern edge was important enough to occupy.
The other reason is that it is possible to "visit" Syria without visiting Syria, because Lebanon is so dominated by its neighbour.
The dual aim of American policy in the Middle East is to keep Israel alive and to keep the oil flowing. Granted Lebanon doesn't mean much for the second objective, but it does matter with the first one - a tad more than Morocco.
Two Morroccan possibilities:
a. to meet with Saudi Prince Abdullah at a 'neutral' location.
b. to arrange for a new home for Arafat if Israel actually exiles him. I'm not sure Tunisa wants him back. Posted by Tom Roberts 4/10/2002 5:41:00 PM
Lebanon's all but a wholy-owned subsidiary of Syria, so if Powell wanted to get something done, he'd be in Damascus taking to Assad Jr. rather than in Beirut. Posted by Mark Byron [markbyron.blogspot.com] 4/11/2002 12:14:44 AM
Bingo! You've got it, Mark! Why bother visiting somebody's colony? Posted by Fred 4/11/2002 12:28:33 AM
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An Armenian Orthodox monk was seriously wounded Wednesday at Bethlehem's Church of Nativity compound, and the Israeli army and Palestinians each claimed the other had opened fire on him. The monk, identified as Armin Sinanian, 22, was undergoing surgery at Jerusalem's Hadassah Hospital, where spokeswoman Yael Bossem-Levy said he was in serious condition.
A Palestinian policeman, one of more than 200 armed Palestinians who remained holed up in the basilica built over Jesus traditional birth grotto, said by telephone that Israeli troops shot a monk after breaking open a door. It was not immediately clear whether the door led into the compound or into the Church of the Nativity itself. Capt. Jacob Dallal, an Israeli army spokesman, said shots were fired at troops as they made a delivery of food intended for the 60 priests and nuns inside the church compound. He said Palestinians opened fire, hitting the monk. Israeli soldiers, he added, did not return fire. Probably time to stop the food deliveries. Nuns are next, by the way. I guess even Palestinians have to work up to them gradually.
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Hizbullah fired more than a dozen rockets and mortars from Lebanon into the Golan Heights and the Galilee panhandle on Wednesday in one of the biggest cross-border attacks since Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon two years ago. At least one person was injured in an Israeli army post along the frontier, police and army officials said. More than a dozen Soviet-made Katyusha rockets were fired in the barrage. Israeli leaders have held Syria, the main power in Lebanon, responsible for guerrilla attacks on northern Israel, and have said they would retaliate if the rocket fire did not stop. It's still just harrassing fire. The Hezb is probably as much concerned with its own position within Lebanon as it is with the Palestinians. They're pretending to be Heroic Freedom Fighters knowing the IDF doesn't have the time for the likes of them - yet.
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MKs called yesterday for the removal of Ahmed Tibi (Arab Movement for Change) from the Knesset after he was quoted as expressing support for the Palestinian fighters in Jenin. Coalition and Likud whip Ze'ev Boim called the remark, televised on Al Jezeera, "political pollution," and said it proves that Tibi is working for Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat. He called for ejecting Tibi from the Knesset, as did Shinui whip Eliezer Sandberg, who said Tibi's remark makes him an "integral part"of the Palestinian terror network. In response, National Union MK Eliezer "Cheetah" Cohen suggested that Tibi "volunteer to become a suicide bomber."
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The Israeli Government Press Office has released a list compiled by the IDF of senior wanted terrorists seeking refuge in Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity. According to the statement, "the number of terrorists who took over the church is estimated to be around 250, a few of them injured."
Ibrahim Musa Salem Abayat "Abu Galif": born 1973, resident of Bethlehem, is a prominent Tanzim operative who heads a military cell. He is the successor of Hasin and Atef Abayat (deceased), involved in the firing of mortars at the Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo. He was responsible for the following terrorist attacks:
- June 2001: the murder of IDF officer Yehuda Edri.
- September 2001: the murder of Sarit Amrani.
- January 2002: the murder of Avi Boaz.
Abdallah Daud Mahmud A'a-Kader/Tirawi, born 1962, heads the Palestinian general intelligence service in Bethlehem. Originally from the Balata refugee camp in Nablus, he is a very close disciple of Tawfik Tirawi. A'a-Kader has been involved in the organization and execution of multiple terrorist attacks, the production of explosives, the smuggling of weaponry and sheltering operatives of other terrorist organizations. A'a-Kader fully collaborates with senior Tanzim operatives. He is responsible for the shooting attacks against Gilo and the Bethlehem bypass roads.
Jihad Yusouf Khalil Ja'ara, born in 1971 and a resident of Bethlehem. Ja'ara is a Tanzim operative and member of the Palestinian security forces. He has been continuously involved in terrorist attacks targeted at IDF forces and Israeli civilians. Regularly firing at IDF forces and targets in Gilo, Ja'ara is also a dealer of weaponry to Tanzim operatives in the Bethlehem area, as well as responsible for sheltering wanted suspects.
Ismail Musa Muhammad Hamdan, born in 1968 and a resident of Bethlehem. Hamdan is a Tanzim operative and a member of Ibrahim Abu Gali'f's cell. Hamdan was involved in dozens of shooting attacks against Gilo. He perpetrated some of the most heinous terrorist attacks, including:
- June 2001: the murder of IDF officer Yehuda Edri.
- September 2001: the murder of Sarit Amrani.
- January 2002: the murder of Avi Boaz.
Nidal Ahmad Isa Abu Gali'f, born 1973, a resident of Bethlehem. He perpetrated shooting attacks against Gilo and the Bethlehem bypass roads and was involved in the production of explosives. Abu Gali'f is currently the senior assistant of Yihia Da'amsa, who is responsible for many terrorist attacks, such as the suicide attacks in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Israel and the supermarket in Kiryat Yovel.
Muhammad Sai'd Attallah Salem, born 1979 and a resident of the Dehaishe refugee camp. Salem is senior Tanzim operative under the command of Yihya Da'amsa. Salem was involved in planning and dispatching suicide attacks in the neighborhood of Beit Israel on March 2, 2000 and the supermarket in Kiryat Yovel in Jerusalem, on March 29, 2002.
Kamel Hassan Hamid, born 1963 and the Fatah General Secretary in Bethlehem. Hamid is responsible for the financing of the Tanzim operations in Bethlehem, including the purchase of weaponry and explosives. Hamid is in direct contact with Marwan Barghouti and responsible for disbursing funds to the terrorist operatives.
Ibrahim Muhammad Salem Abyat, born 1961 and a resident of Bethlehem. Abyat is a senior Hamas operative; is in charge of organizing terrorist Hamas activity.
Basem Muhammed Ibrahim Hamud, born in 1972 and a resident of Bethlehem. Hamud is a Hamas terrorist operative. He was involved in the preparation of explosives and dispatched Taleb Harmes and Ahmad Abada, who were intercepted en route to committing a suicide attack in Jerusalem's Binyanei Ha'uma Convention Center.
Aziz Khalil Muhammad Abyat Jubran, born 1971, and a resident of Bethlehem. Gubran is a Hamas operative. He works with Basem Hamud; produces explosive charges and was also dispatched Harmas and Abda in the aforementioned foiled Jerusalem suicide attack.
Israeli forces will continue their siege of the Church of the Nativity until Palestinian gunmen inside surrender, President Moshe Katsav has informed Pope John Paul II.
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Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said he met today with Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat in his besieged Ramallah headquarters. Erekat reported there is no water supply to the facility and that Arafat's staff have not showered in 14 days. And this is unusual because...?
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Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said this evening that Israeli soldiers killed some 500 Palestinians during the IDF's incursion into Jenin. In an interview with CNN, Erekat claimed IDF troops also killed Palestinians who had turned themselves in to Israeli authorities. In response to Erekat's charges, prime ministerial spokesman Ra'anan Gissin said some 200 armed Palestinians were killed while shooting at IDF troops during the Jenin operation in Jenin. No doubt all of them died heroically. Oh, well. Recruit some new meat and move on...
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The Israeli government has given the green light for a meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, a government source said Wednesday, after eight people were killed in the latest Palestinian terror attack. The Powell-Arafat meeting will take place Saturday at Arafat's compound in Ramallah on the West Bank, where the Palestinian leader has been holed up for nearly two weeks. Bad move. The meeting should have evaporated when the bus went.
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Pro-Pakistan Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen on Wednesday threatened to kill any Muslims who took part in state Assembly polls slated for later this year. "If any Muslim contests the polls or gets involved in any kind of poll campaign, he is liable to death," the terrorist group said in a Press statement. Elections in Jammu and Kashmir are due to be held in late September or early October, and most Islamic separatist and armed terrorist groups have called for a boycott. "Polls held under the Indian Constitution will favour India, and hence no adult Muslim should be associated with this exercise," the Jamiat release added. Boy, those guys in the Ummah really know how to live it up, don't they? I really do think that under that gruff exterior there's no heart of gold. Maybe none of any kind.
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Police said two snuffies were killed and an army jawan was injured in an encounter on the outskirts of Srinagar. Two AK assault rifles and some ammunition were recovered from the site.
Person or persons unknown waxed a civilian in Kupwara district and torched six houses. The deceased was believed to be working with security forces.
Unidentified gunnies wounded a woman inside her house in Kokernag area of Islamabad district last night.
Two pedestrians were killed and nine others injured when crazed killers lobbed a grenade at security personnel which missed the target and exploded on the road in Islamabad district. Reports said the grenade was lobbed towards a road opening party of Rashtriya Rifles in Kokernag. Two of the injured kicked it in hospital. Of the other injured the condition of four was serious and they were shifted to a hospital for specialised treatment. There seem to be a lot of these incidents where the snuffies throw a grenade at the coppers or the troops and it misses and kills all the civilians in sight. Who'd they hire to train these guys? Fearless Fosdick?
Two security personnel and a Hizbul Mujahideen gunny were killed in in Pulwama district. The house of Abdul Aziz Pandit was blasted in the incident.
In another encounter in the Pulwama district, three snuffies and a BSF jawan were killed and five BSF personnel were injured.
Four hard boys were iced in an encounter with security forces in Rajouri district.
Three gun doggies were killed in separate encounters in Poonch district. A foreign militant was also killed at Malhan in Surankot area of the district. Helpful hint here: If you're a crazed killer of foreign extraction, leave your passport home when you depart the gene pool.
Constable Kirpa Ram of BSF was killed in an encounter in Udhampur district. A securityman also lost his life while two other jawans were injured in the encounter in Poonch sector in which, as already reported, four hard boys were rendered no longer ticklish on Sunday.
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Indian forces have failed to crush a decades-old revolt in Assam because militants find refuge in neighbouring Bhutan and Bangladesh, the state's top police official said on Wednesday. Militants have been fighting authorities in Assam for more than two decades. Some 10,000 people have been killed in the insurgency.
The militants, who accuse New Delhi of plundering Assam's tea and oil and giving nothing back, set up bases across the border in Bhutan after Indian forces launched a campaign against them 11 years ago. "It has complicated our job. We have often given militants a mauling. But like a phoenix rising from the ashes, they start operations again," HK Deka, Assam's director general of police, told said in Guwahati. "This is because they go back to their habitat outside the country, continue training and still have their weapon routes intact."
Bangladesh denies that groups fighting Indian rule operate from its territory, but Bhutan has acknowledged militant camps on its side of the border. Assam shares a 285 km frontier with Bhutan and an 800 km border with Bangladesh. The outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), had agreed with Bhutan to close down its camps there by the end of last year but Indian officials say the militants have not done so.
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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.
