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Afghanistan
30 more Pakistanis arrive from Afghan jails
Some 30 Pakistani prisoners, who fought alongside Taliban during last year's fighting, arrived home on Saturday after being released from an Afghan prison. The prisoners, mostly young but looking malnourished, were released on Thursday night from a notorious prison in Shiberghan in northern Afghanistan and arrived via Kandahar at the Pakistani border town of Chaman. Encouraged by the Islamic groups, thousands of Pakistanis went to Afghanistan last year to fight alongside the Taliban against the US-backed opposition. "We went there to fight a holy war but we have been betrayed by Taliban who surrendered without informing us," 30-year old Abdul Wasay told Reuters after arriving in Pakistan. Wasay said they were kept in very poor conditions and fed one meal a day.
That jihad stuff ain't all it's cracked up to be, is it, Wasay?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 05/05/2002 10:05 am || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Coalition troops disarm Afghan town
Coalition forces disarmed an entire village suspected of harboring al-Qaida sympathizers in southern Afghanistan, confiscating an anti-aircraft gun and other weapons, a U.S. military spokesman said Saturday. American special forces and Afghan troops participated in the operation Friday, Las Vegas Sun quoted Maj. Bryan Hilferty as saying. "They weren't terribly happy but there was no resistance," Hilferty told reporters at Bagram air base, speaking of the villagers. He declined to identify the village.
Bet they were hoppin' mad when they lost their Russian-made manhood. Hell, you never know when you're gonna need an antiaircraft gun.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 05/05/2002 11:54 am || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Warlord's doing for the Pee-pul...
Bacha Khan [Padshah "Mr Big" Khan Zadran] is nothing if not blunt. As the dominant faction leader in eastern Afghanistan, he is waging a bitter battle against the country's interim leader, Hamid Karzai, for control of this vital region near the border with Pakistan. He rained rockets on the city of Gardez last week to force out a provincial governor installed by Karzai and now threatens to do the same here in Khost, where another Karzai appointee arrived this week.
Yep. He's a busy fellow...
Today Khan issued vivid instructions to be delivered to his brother, Kamal Khan [aka Mini-Me], who acts as his deputy in Khost. "Tell Kamal Khan to [expletive] this new governor. [Expletive] him, pack him and send him back to Karzai," he said in an interview.
Ummm... Yep. That's fairly blunt. Okay. We've established that he's not exactly what you'd call a good citizen...
For months, the standoff between Bacha Khan and Karzai tested the Kabul government's capacity for subduing regional potentates. Now it is developing into a test for the United States, as well -- not just because the Bush administration has an interest in stability in Afghanistan but because the conflict is playing out in the wrong place at the wrong moment.
In other words, he's a bucket on the American foot...
The hunt for al Qaeda and Taliban fugitives has focused on the same three eastern provinces that Khan covets and has torn apart, and where the United States and its allies are preparing for a large military operation. American military and civilian officials have watched the confrontation with growing alarm, yet have resisted being dragged into Afghanistan's feuds.
The picture wasn't too clear when it started. Now it looks like Khan's the candidate to get whacked. Will we whack him now, or wait until we've finished in eastern Afghanistan?
Khan says he knows the Americans will do nothing to stop him and that he can act with impunity. Even as his forces were firing rockets into Gardez last weekend, killing at least two dozen civilians, Khan was meeting with U.S. officials. "Americans are not here to take sides in internal matters in Afghanistan," Khan said confidently. "They have a specific mission to follow, which is to hunt al Qaeda."
That's the situation at the moment, anyway.
In private moments, U.S. officials make clear they consider Khan an untrustworthy, power-hungry brute. Yet as unsavory as he may be, they acknowledge they have little choice but to work with the man who holds sway in the region that most interests them. "If we only worked with people who didn't have blood on their hands, we wouldn't have anyone to work with in Afghanistan," said one U.S. official. "Right now, if you're the enemy of our enemy, you're our friend."
On the other side, when you stop being useful terrible things could happen. And who's gonna notice someplace like eastern Afghanistan?
Karzai's government issued an ultimatum to Khan this week to give up his battle for power within a week or face troops sent down from the capital. In an interview, Khan dared him to try. Khan said his fighters had surrounded Gardez and would not rest until the man Karzai installed as governor of Paktia province in January to replace Khan, Taj Mohammed Wardak, is driven from the city.
Sounds like open rebellion...
Another Karzai-appointed governor arrived in Khost this week to assume his duties, but Khan's brother, Kamal Khan, still occupies the governor's office. The new governor, Hakim Taniwal, a retired sociologist who had been living in Australia, has no troops to enforce his authority but has been staying with Kamal Khan's local rival, Mustafa, the police chief, whose own gunmen roam the city in masks and dark glasses. Before leaving Kabul, Taniwal said he would rely on support from Pashtun tribal elders who are tired of the fighting. "The people will support me," he said, "because they cannot stand the situation. The shops are closed, the city is closed. The people don't like it."
Rotten choice. In that area, if he doesn't have guns he doesn't have anything. He's just an ineffectual nice fellow in a turban and somebody will pot him when they get the opportunity.
But Bacha Khan also claimed a popular mandate and insisted that Taniwal be withdrawn. "The same thing would happen in Khost as happened here," he said outside Gardez. "And it will be Karzai's responsibility. He created the tension. He's the cause of all the fighting and killing. If Karzai does not want to be held responsible for the killing of women, children and old men, he should call him back."
"And let me have my way."
Karzai's threat to dispatch the army did not appear to move him. "If he sends troops," Khan said, "people will fight and die, and this is also his responsibility."
Somehow rebels always try to put the responsibility on the other side. Dunno why...
None of this, Khan stressed, should be taken as an indication of personal ambition. He complains he has been misunderstood by the outside world, and wants to reclaim leadership of three provinces not for himself but for his people. "This is the only wish of everybody in greater Paktia," he explained calmly. "The whole people dream about me being back in power. I'm just responding to their wishes."
Hand me a tissue, please...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 05/05/2002 12:15 pm || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Axis of Evil
Iraq to resume oil exports
Iraq said Sunday it had decided to resume oil exports in three days' time, on May 8, after a one-month-long suspension in protest against Israel's incursions into Palestinian cities in the West Bank. Saddam also called on fellow Arab Muslim producers on April 22 to back Baghdad's export ban. He suggested that other nations cut output by 50 percent with a complete ban on sales to the United States and Israel.
Nobody else joined that particular jihad, and now they've gotta buy groceries. The advantage of being Saddam Hussein is that you never have to feel stoopid, no matter how stoopid you look.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 05/05/2002 02:19 pm || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front
Mailbox boy may be targeting postal workers
The note found accompanying pipe bombs in rural mailboxes in three Midwestern states reflects a writer who is angry with the government and appears to be either working alone or in a very small group, a former FBI profiler said Saturday.
We guessed that...
Eight bombs were found Friday in eastern Iowa and western Illinois, including six that exploded and injured six people. On Saturday, six more bombs appeared in central Nebraska mailboxes; none exploded.
Ran out of switches?
"This is someone whose thinking ... whose anger, sense of frustration is so strong, that he doesn't care who else is injured because he feels his message is so important," said Clint Van Zandt, who started his own behavioral analysis company after a 25-year career with the FBI that include leading the team credited with identifying the Unabomber.
The anger appears to be pretty vaguely directed, almost manufactured, like somebody who wants to be a revolutionary and can't quite figure out what to revolt against. So he picked "death" and "government control," the vaguest of "thems".
Van Zandt believes the bomber may have written to his local newspaper or the government with his grievances and felt ignored. "This guy didn't just fall off of a turnip truck. This is a guy who is angry with government," Van Zandt said.
Actually he may have fallen off a turnip truck and landed on his head. His wrappings are obviously loose.
Nothing in the note indicates the writer was a woman, a foreigner or anyone whose primary language is not English, he said.
So there, Kathy...
The use of the phrase "attention getter" seems to indicate the writer is older, and other aspects indicate the writer may have mental health problems.
I still don't think he's old enough to vote.
FBI officials have not said whether they think the bombings in Iowa, Illinois and Nebraska were the work of a single individual or a group.
I'm holding out for one person...
The first bombs appeared in a jagged circle around the Mississippi River, between Dubuque and Davenport. One person driving the route in one night "would be a very doable thing," said Jon Petersen, an agent with Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms. Van Zandt said the geography of the bombs found Saturday in Nebraska indicated it would have been easier to plant them with help. That the bombs were planted overnight indicates they likely were not targeted at rural residents but rather at the mail carriers, Van Zandt said.
Either that or that he didn't want to be seen. If he's 17 1/2 most of his previous depredations were at night, usually at the school — breaking windows, drinking warm beer, hollering, that sort of thing — so that's what he's used to. Now that he's got his driver's license he can expand his field of action.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 05/05/2002 11:49 am || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I'll vote for 'didn't want to be seen'. Rural routes at night are very deserted areas. Even the stray dogs take a while to find you and start the barking.
I honestly don't think it's a (real) young 'un. I think it's a (gen-X or) baby-boomer who thinks his/her 'enlightened theories' have been ignored and decided to have a temper-tantrum. (You won't Pay Attention to Me? Ok, I'll blow things up until you do!) Una-bomber wannabe, but somewhat less intelligent, I think.
Also STILL think this one is not born 'n bred American.
Posted by: Kathy || 05/05/2002 17:14 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Qazi and ARD still bitching about the referendumb...
The Alliance for Restoration of Democracy, and Jamaat-i-Islami have separately decided here on Saturday to publish white papers on the irregularities allegedly committed by the government and the Election Commission to get President Musharraf elected for a fresh term of five years.
Nothing unexpected here...
The ARD took the decision of publishing a white paper at a meeting of the heads of its component parties here at the PPP Central Secretariat. However, Jamaat's plan of preparing a white paper were made public by Qazi Hussain Ahmed at a separate press conference.
Our guess is that both white papers were drawn up by the same people.
The heads of alliance's component parties which met at the central secretariat of Pakistan People's Party, termed the referendum as a "farce" and demanded resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) for giving a certificate of legality to the referendum "fraud."
It ain't gonna happen, no matter how much you harp on it...
The ARD leaders also demanded that a government of national consensus should be set up and an autonomous and independent election commission should be constituted for ensuring free, fair and impartial elections.
Perv won. He's not going to put the opposition in charge. That idea can't even make any sense to religious loons.
"The ARD expresses its total lack of confidence in the election commission and demands that a new independent and impartial election commission should be constituted in consultation with the major political parties to ensure its acceptability as an impartial body," said a resolution adopted at the meeting.
Yeah. Send him a memo.
At a news briefing later conducted jointly at PPP secretariat, ARD leaders expressed serious doubts about holding of fair, free and impartial elections under the present government and election commission which they said had enacted the drama of referendum.
They're really ticked because Perv's guys got to stuff the ballot boxes instead of them. If he's gonna be president for five years, PPP and the Nawaz faction can't expect to be allowed at the graft for at least that long. And Qazi's not gonna get to be khalif for at least that long, and he's getting on in years. The referendumb was a disaster for them.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 05/05/2002 09:50 am || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Pro-govt parties plan alliance
Negotiations are under way between three pro-Musharraf parties for the formation of a new political alliance at national level. This was stated by Nasarullah Kahan Kakar, chairman of the newly formed Pakistan Workers Party (PWP), while speaking at a press conference here on Saturday.
"Yo! The butter's on this side!"
He said that the new political alliance would comprise PWP, Tehrik Insaf Pakistan and Pakistan Muslim League (Q-A). He said that initial negotiations were held at the provincial level between the leadership of all the three parties and soon central leadership would meet in Islamabad for further discussion on the issue.
Nice, though expected, move. They're setting up as a counterweight to ARD, putting the loons and the crooks on one side and taking the high ground (such as it is in Pakland) for themselves.
"Initial talks for the formation of new political alliance remained successful and response of two other parties was positive," Mr Kakar said adding that it would be a natural alliance. He said that the three parties negotiating for a new alliance have a joint stand on all the major national issues and they fully supported referendum held on Tuesday last.
That's the important part...
He criticized the politics of anti-government alliances and said that they were doing negative politics, which was harmful for Pakistan. He said the new alliance would jointly struggle for the betterment of the country and would help those forces working for the speedy development of the country.
Think "secular" and you've got a good start. Look out for the "socialist" path — learn from the Indians' mistakes. But ditching the turbans is the start point. If you don't do that, you don't do anything.
Talking about the referendum, Mr Kakar said that the majority of the people have expressed no confidence over the leadership of opposition political alliances rejecting their boycott appeal. He said that through casting their votes in the referendum the majority of the people reposed full confidence over the leadership of President Gen Musharraf. He said that these parties should accept the ground reality and start preparation for taking part in the October's elections.
They had a good turnout, the vote was upward of 90 percent (usually a pretty good indication the fix is in or that Stalin's in charge), and the opposition's making asses of themselves. Hope Perv runs with the opportunity.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 05/05/2002 09:59 am || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Pak faces threat of civil war in tribal areas
Despite having secured about 98 per cent of votes in the April 30 referendum, President Pervez Musharraf is faced with the possibility of a civil war, especially in the tribal areas along the Afghan border, as he has created "a great mess" in this region, according to a Pakistani newspaper report.
Sounds like the religious parties are fomenting a little revolution. Is it for real, or a threat? My guess would be that's it's real. They know by now that they can't grab power in all of Pakland; there are too many people who know how to read and write. But the mullahs already have their little fiefdom going in the NWFP, and if they could tear it away they'd be halfway to Greater Pashtunistan.
"It would be wrong if somebody believes that the war in the tribal areas would remain confined to the mountains. This tribal war is going to spread for sure and it may even engulf cities like Islamabad and Lahore what to talk about Quetta and Peshawar where there is already a great tribal influence," The Balochistan Post said in a hard-hitting article.
Do Fazl and Qazi and Sami think they have the strength to flex the Pashtun muscle? they probably think they can tear off the NWFP, but if they can get the rest of the country that'd be even better from their standpoint: Pashtuns in charge of the whole country, including the dissolute Punjabis.
"It is not all. Our miseries will multiply a thousand times when our armed forces would face a split," it said, adding that the Army and Frontier Corps were made up of many tribes "whose villages are going to become a battlefield".
In that case, don't revolt. It's a dumb idea, the sort of thing a megalomaniac might think up... Oh. That's who we're talking about, isn't it?
Stating that the Indian military build-up on Pakistan's eastern borders could also not be ignored, the report said it would be "unwise" to presume that Army and paramilitary personnel belonging to Mehsud, Yousoufzai, Afridi or Wazir tribes "would continue to obey the orders of the bankrupt Chief of Army Staff and would fight against their own brothers."
Beating them with the club of the Indian threat. If there were an actual war with India, they'd probably remain loyal out of fear of seeing the Indos gobble up the greater part of the country. But they know the threat's not serious...
The newspaper said disobedience by these tribal personnel "would mean a civil war that is easier for the General to start, but it is going to be very difficult for the nation to recover from."
Sounds like a threat, all right...
Stating that a civil war "seems to be a target of Gen Musharraf", the article said "he has not only created a highly explosive situation in the tribal areas ... but also ripped Karachi of peace by releasing 130 convicted terrorists from the jails with the hope that they would help him in winning the referendum with flying colours".
Musharraf's never brought up the subject of civil war. The religious loons are the ones not accepting the results. And it seems like Bad Guys belonging to all parties were sprung, which was a bad move...
It also charged Musharraf of "implementing another agenda - the agenda to break up Pakistan if Pakistan cannot dissociate itself from Islam — the agenda which is set by the people like (Chief of US Armed Forces) Donald Rumsfeld and (CIA Chief) George J Tenet".
Ahhh... The foreign plot. The International Conspiracy Against Islam. We've seen its like before...
Terming the referendum results as "fake and exaggerated", Pakistan opposition parties have already demanded Musharraf's resignation for being elected by a "sham vote".
And that's an echo of the opposition's line. Wonder how involved the non-religious parties are in this scheme?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 05/05/2002 11:49 am || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


International
Just when you thought things couldn't get worse...
A man held up a policeman at knifepoint outside a Hong Kong police station Friday, stealing his gun and 12 rounds of ammunition. The man also took a police radio from the constable, who had been on guard duty outside the police station in the rural New Territories before dawn, a police statement said. Local cable television showed officers combing the area near the station for the attacker.
Mr Policeman is now pursuing a new career in the lucrative food service industry...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 05/05/2002 02:21 pm || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Middle East
Condi: Bush to push PA to clean up its act
Condoleeza Rice, appearing on the "Fox News Sunday" program in advance of Sharon's meeting with Bush on Tuesday, said that, "We are not going to try to choose the leadership for the Palestinian people. Chairman Arafat is there ... but he does have responsibilities that he has not been meeting and we are going to press him," she said.
This might actually be a very effective tack to take. Rather than dwelling on the depredations of Yasser's thugs in a world that doesn't care much about a few dead Jews, they can dwell on Palestinian ineptitude, which is even more pronounced than the generalized ineptitude afflicting other Arab governments.
"We are going to call on Arab allies, the Europeans and others to press him and we are going to be very clear that the Palestinian leadership that is there now, the Authority, is not the kind of leadership that can lead to the kind of Palestinian state that we need," Rice said. "It has got to reform."
Well, there are those purges coming up. Soon's they're out of the way, the new top fellows will surely clean things up...
She said Bush planned to assure Sharon that the United States would pressure the Palestinian Authority to take significant steps to stay at the peace table. "The Palestinian Authority has certain responsibilities. We are going to take a new approach, including bringing, we hope, greater accountability and pressure from the Arab states on the Palestinian Authority to do what it needs to do," she said.
Sounds like they may have gotten some sort of commitment from The Potentate Currently Known as Prince on this...
Besides what she hailed as a "new more active role" taken by Saudi Arabia after Bush's recent meeting with Crown Prince Abdullah, Rice said increased involvement by Egypt and Jordan "gives us a very powerful Arab, Israeli neighbors presence in the peace negotiations that has not been here before."
She's got a point. A PA that was no more corrupt and repressive than Egypt would actually be an improvement. Interesting development. We'll see how it turns out — could be just another dead end, but the idea's got promise.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 05/05/2002 10:39 am || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Woman and two children killed by IDF tank fire
A Palestinian woman and her two children were killed Sunday when an IDF tank opened fire near the West Bank town of Jenin after an explosive device detonated near the tank. One soldier was lightly injured and received treatment in the field. The soldiers saw suspicious figures in a nearby grove and fired on them, killing the woman and her two children, the military said. The IDF expressed its "deep sorrow" over the incident and said it regretted the loss of civilian life.
Something the PA never does...
A 9-year-old Palestinian boy was also killed, when IDF troops opened fire on the refugee camp in the West Bank town of Tulkarem, according to Dr. Abu Shaker, director of the local hospital. The boy, Tamer Abu Sarrieh, was shot twice in the chest. Another 9-year-old was lightly injured.
We'll be hearing about them for years.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 05/05/2002 10:49 am || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


IDF blockades Tulkarm camp...
IDF troops blockaded the Tulkarm refugee camp in the West Bank early Saturday morning after receiving information of plans to dispatch a suicide bomber from the camp to Israel. Palestinian residents said dozens of tanks and armoured personnel carriers cordoned off the city, surrounded the refugee camp and carried out searches inside. Around 10 A.M., Palestinian sources reported that the IDF forces were leaving.
At this point, we should begin a chorus asking what the "UN authorities" in charge of the refugee camp have been doing, lo, these many years. Why should the IDF have to do the work?
The army has raided Tul Karm and the nearby city of Qalqiliyah several times in operations it says were to capture suicide bombers, since withdrawing from most West Bank cities earlier this month.
They've gotta get those boomers rolling again. Otherwise it might start seeming like peace...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 05/05/2002 11:00 am || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Reforms? Whatever for?
Palestinian officials said angry exchanges erupted among senior officials during Friday’s meeting – the first since the Israeli offensive – as they debated the nature of changes needed and how to bring them about. They said some wanted a cabinet reshuffle to trim some of the 30 ministries, and to bring various branches of the Palestinian security apparatus under one command.
That would involve doing away with high-level policy positions. Somebody's relatives might have to get jobs.
Others demand more sweeping reforms, including enhancing the powers of the Palestinian Legislative Council in monitoring the cabinet’s performance, as well as overhauling the judiciary. Critics have accused Arafat’s administration of being autocratic and corrupt.
But only once. Then their cars explode.
Mohammed Dahlan, head of Palestinian Preventive Security in the Gaza Strip, said the change must include various bodies of the Palestinian Authority.
But he's on the hit list, so nobody'll listen to him...
The cabinet agreed to form a commission that will draw up ideas for changes in the PA’s institutions and security services. It said it would hold several open sessions to chart a plan for “political and administrative reform” as it begins to rebuild infrastructure devastated by Israel's military operation.
Hell, yeah. Forming a committee always works...
The cabinet also welcomed the US idea of an international peace conference and said it remained committed to a “comprehensive peace in return for a complete Israeli withdrawal from all Arab and Palestinian lands” — position past and present Israeli governments have rejected. The cabinet stated its “condemnation of all forms of terrorism.”
Which is defined as Israeli existence or not letting Palestinians have their way...
In a statement issued after Friday’s meeting, the cabinet also said the leadership would remain in open session to hear various proposals and ideas on the needed changes. “The coming stage requires new policies and various changes,” said Nabil Abu Rdainah, Arafat’s spokesman.
So what are they gonna be?
Leading PA members have recently demanded changing the commanders of the Palestinian security forces, following the IDF operation. PA sources said after Nabil Amr's resignation that there have been growing demands among Palestinians to make far-reaching changes in the cabinet and even for placing cabinet members and senior officials on trial, citing funds that had disappeared after the physical and administrative collapse of their institutions. They claim that some of the vast sums of money came from donations made to the PA and for support of the uprising.
Whazzat? Funds sticking to the fingers of PA functionaries? Who ever heard of such a thing?
Last night Arafat called a meeting of the PLO’s Executive Committee, its first since the siege placed on Ramallah. The committee discussed changes in the cabinet and the current political situation. Arafat himself has remained in the Mukata since the removal of the siege, with cabinet members from Ramallah and other West Bank towns coming there to meet with him.
He's staying out of rifle range...
Arafat will have to use his influence to prevent attacks by Palestinian terrorists to enable the US to present its peace plan and pressure Israel to resume talks based on the ideas, Palestinian Authority sources said. Hamas has already said it will launch a new wave of terror attacks.
They'll probably wait until something leading to a lessening of hostilities occurs, though...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 05/05/2002 01:04 pm || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Terror Networks
Hizb purges three top commanders
Kashmir's dominant terrorist group, Hizbul Mujahideen, on saturday expelled its three top former commanders for being "defiant as well as inconsistent with the ideology and policies of the group."
Does that mean they're murderous thugs, or that they haven't been successful enough in killing people?
"Abdul Majid Dar, Asad Yazdani and Zafar Abdul Fateh are ousted from Hizbul Mujahideen for their thoughts and actions in contradiction with the organisational polices and disobedience," said a statement issued by Hizb spokesman Salim Hashmi. The decision was taken by the group's Command Council which held an exclusive meeting here to discuss policy matters, operational strategy and other related issues.
Whatever the reason, they were purged. Wonder why?
The meeting was presided over by the group's supreme commander, Syed Salahuddin, who also heads the Mutahidda Jihad Council - the 15-party mob alliance of the Kashmiri Mujahideen groups fighting Indian rule in held Kashmir.
So the decision's right from the top...
Abdul Majid Dar was appointed Hizbul Mujahideen's chief commander in occupied Kashmir on June 7, 2000, and was replaced by another commander, Saiful Islam, on October 26, 2001. He shot to fame when he declared a 3-month unilateral cease-fire against the Indian troops in the troubled Himalayan region on July 24, 2000. The move even took the Azad Kashmir-based Hizb leaders by surprise, but they endorsed it immediately notwithstanding strong opposition by almost all other Mujahideen groups.
That didn't help his credentials as a bloodthirsty killer, did it?
The truce offer was, however, withdrawn after 15 days on August 8, 2000, as India refused to accept Hizb's demands that talks (on Kashmir) should be unconditional and tripartite, involving Islamabad, New Delhi and the Kashmiris.
Truces don't last long in those parts. What they do, is give a certain amount of legitimacy to those who call them, a sort of official notice of existence.
The other two, Yazdani and Fateh, were the divisional commanders of the group for southern and central parts of Kashmir, respectively. Yazdani was also spokesman for some time, but both were relieved of their responsibilities along with Dar in October last year. "From now onwards, Dar, Yazdani and Fateh have no affiliation or link with the Hizbul Mujahideen and (therefore) none of their actions or moves can be attributed to this organization," the statement said.
Excommunicated. Bell, book and candle, by Gawd.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 05/05/2002 10:25 am || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:



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Two weeks of WOT
Sun 2002-05-05
  IDF blockades Tulkarm camp...
Sat 2002-05-04
  Chechen kebab artist frees hostages, surrenders
Fri 2002-05-03
  Powell announces international conference on Palestine
Thu 2002-05-02
  Twenty wounded in Karachi booms
Wed 2002-05-01
  Perv's in like Flynn for five more years
Tue 2002-04-30
  Head of Islamocharity arrested
Mon 2002-04-29
  Khattab decomposing
Sun 2002-04-28
  Alexander Lebed, RIP
Sat 2002-04-27
  Palestinians fortifying, booby-trapping Gaza
Fri 2002-04-26
  G'bye, INS. You're toast.
Thu 2002-04-25
  Two monks, nine kids, two deaders leave Church of the Nativity
Wed 2002-04-24
  Explosions in Yasser's compound
Tue 2002-04-23
  Israel sez forget the UN mission, Kofi
Mon 2002-04-22
  Kofi appoints fact-finding team for Jenin
Sun 2002-04-21
  Qazi jugged

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