Secretary of State Colin L. Powell held informal talks with his North Korean counterpart, Paek Nam Sun, here this morning, the Bush administration's first high-level contact with a representative of an "axis of evil" country. Both men came to this regional summit saying they hoped to have what would be a ground-breaking meeting. It was unclear whether the 15-minute chat, held in the delegates' lounge outside the Asian regional security forum the two men are attending here, was substantive enough to constitute that bilateral talk. But there were some indications they might meet again. 15 entire minutes? Hell, that's lotsa time for a substantive meeting...
"Hey, Colin!"
"Hiya, Sun!"
"How's the family?"
"Fine. Fine. And yours?"
"Couldn't be better."
"Whoops! The meeting's starting."
"Yup. Guess we better go in..."
"(Commie asshole!)"
"(Running dog lackey bastard!)"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/31/2002 10:02 am ||
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Iranian police confirmed Wednesday they had obliged all shops, restaurants and other trade outlets to close at midnight, in a measure of "social discipline" that has infuriated the city's residents. "Social discipline!" That's what we need, by God! If y'don't enforce piety, next thing y'know they'll be sinning in broad daylight...
Police information chief Colonel Ahmad Mahmudi said in a statement that the order had been issued "some time ago" under an agreement between the police and the trade ministry. Many city shops, which in the past have stayed open up to 3:00 a.m. in summer, Wednesday bore stickers saying they would be closing at 11.30 p.m. They can probably use the extra time to sit up reading their Korans...
Critics linked it to other repressive measures, notably a crackdown by special police units on young people accused of lax morals. They noted that it had come into force after clashes between police and demonstrators at banned rallies on July 9 to mark the third anniversary of an abortive student revolt. "You know those young people and their lax morals. No piety to 'em nowadays. No piety. Why, back in my day, we didn't even know women had faces..."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/31/2002 12:41 pm ||
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The United States is not seeking a "regime change" in Iran or North Korea, unlike Iraq, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld sid Tuesday. "The policy of the government of the United States has been for regime change in Iraq, it has not been that for some other countries, and I guess life is untidy," Rumsfeld told reporters. I think what he's saying is that it's not up to us to tell them how to run their own countries. They're free to screw things up any way they want. On the other hand, we'd be really happy to see them stop meddling in other countries' affairs and developing weapons of mass destruction...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/31/2002 1:02:31 PM ||
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A leading Iranian reformist MP slammed Wednesday the harsh sentences handed down to members of an opposition party last week by the conservative-dominated judiciary and the suspensions of newspapers. Mohsen Armin, one of the main leaders of the leftist Organization of Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution, told his fellow lawmakers that the dissolution of the Iran Freedom Movement (IFM) and the jailing of 33 of its members came "at a time when we are a constant target of American criticisms on human rights (practices) and the lack of political and social openness. Not only these decisions do not benefit us, they worsen the atmosphere." Ummm... Does that mean he's acknowledging that what we said is true?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/31/2002 01:04 pm ||
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One can always hope!
Posted by: Kathy K ||
07/31/2002 16:18 Comments ||
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Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday sternly admonished Georgia for failing to stop rebels from crossing into Russia's breakaway province of Chechnya, sparking one of the most intense battles there in recent months. Putin asked border guard chief Col. Gen. Konstantin Totsky whether Georgian officials were aware of the rebel incursion over the weekend. After Totsky answered positively, Putin noted that a Georgian shepherd â rather than officials â had warned Russian border guards about the rebels crossing into Chechnya. Georgian officials have insisted they saw no evidence of a rebel incursion into Russia. "Simple people in Georgia take a more responsible and better attitude to Russia compared to officials," Putin said. Battles with rebels who allegedly arrived from Georgia have claimed the lives of eight Russian border guards since Saturday, the Federal Border Guards Service said, according to Interfax-Military News Agency. The report said 28 of 60 invading rebels had been killed, and search for others continues. This is a situation where both sides have a point. Putin is entirely justified in hitting the roof over Chechen killers crossing into his territory from safe havens in Pankisi Gorge. Shevardnadze is also justified in being scared to invite Russian troops in to clean out the rats' nest â but he should also have his own men sweeping it clean.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/31/2002 08:16 pm ||
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Scottish sympathisers of al-Qaida are targeting American tourists in Edinburgh with a leaflet calling for the murder of US civilians. Al-Qaida supporter David Allison - whose actions were described as "stupid and irresponsible" by a spokesman for Edinburghâs Central Mosque - has already begun distributing the leaflets on Princes Street. Mr Allison said: "We want to show solidarity with al-Qaida and Iraq. We plan to let American tourists know that not everyone is in favour of [George] Bush and [Tony] Blairâs war in Afghanistan." Mr Allison, from Dundee, claimed to be part of a network of al-Qaida supporters who call themselves "Al-Quaeda Scotland". He admitted that the leaflets were designed to shock. "Hoot, laddie, pehaps we cannae spell it, but we can feel it!"
"We will be specifically targeting Americans during the Festival to let them know that there are people who are opposed to the US war against innocent people in Afghanistan," Mr Allison said. "Obviously we expect an aggressive response, but they have to find out there is another point of view which they will not have heard in their own country." Perhaps an "aggressive response" might include a nice poke in the nose for Mr Allison? That would be nice.
Mr Allison, a photographer and freelance computer expert, describes himself as a "political green" with Hindu religious beliefs. "I became a photographer because I have a very artistic temperament but never learned how to draw. I photograph cartoons and I'm trying to get my new comic strip syndicated. It's called 'Li'l Abner'..."
He warned that his group would be targeting US performers during the Fringe, adding: "There is an American band appearing at the Festival who we are planning to target by distributing these leaflets outside. We will continue these activities and are happy to listen to peopleâs views if they are opposed to the leaflet." "Since my IQ is considerably lower than body temperature, this is the only way I can get people to pay attention to me. I tried taking off all my clothes in public, but all that happened was that the girlies started making jokes about little teeny-tiny mushrooms..."
A representative of Edinburghâs Central Mosque fiercely condemned Mr Allison. "It is a very stupid and irresponsible thing to do. Islam teaches that all life is sacred," he said. That's Muslim for "that sonofabitch is trying to get us killed!"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/31/2002 12:26 pm ||
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Two Islamic militants from Algeria have been placed under investigation in France for criminal conspiracy linked to terrorist activities and jailed, court sources said Wednesday. The two men, who were not immediately named but who are brothers, were detained last week by French border police near the Mediterranean port city of Marseille during a routine identity check. Police suspected one of the men was carrying false identity papers. The Algerian militants â who did not live in France â had strong links to well-known Islamist movements, notably in Britain, court sources said, adding the two suspects had lived for short periods in both Britain and Ireland. And they probably have so many sets of false papers they don't even remember their original names, if they ever had them...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/31/2002 05:25 pm ||
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Source is Azzam.com, via Markaz ad Dawa website. Take with at least a 10-pound grain of salt:
Sources have indicated that due to the barbaric nature of the torture used by the American intelligence appartaus at Camp X-Ray in Guantamano Bay, Cuba — Mulla Fazal Akhwand, one of the chief commanders of the Taliban has embraced martyrdom. He will be missed...
This rumour, yet to be substantiated by a reliable source, was being circulated in Kandahar on Monday. A source closer to Mulla Fazal indicates that he was held by the US in Camp X-Ray, where he had been tortured ruthlessly and barbarically. However the same source has not confirmed the report of his martyrdom. Flowers and donations of arms and ammunition can be sent to your local mosque...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/31/2002 10:02 am ||
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A man who allegedly sold fake IDs to two of the Sept. 11 hijackers apparently fled the country for Egypt just before authorities came to arrest him in a raid on his home and businesses Wednesday. Interpol was notified to be on the lookout for Egyptian immigrant Mohamad El Atriss. Atriss sold a fake ID card to Khalid Almihdhar, who was on the airliner that crashed into the Pentagon, and one to Abdul Aziz Alomari, who was aboard one of the planes that destroyed the World Trade Center, Sheriff Jerry Speziale said. The ID artists are an essential element of the terror network. No self-respecting jihadi ever has fewer than three identities.
Authorities raided his home and business Wednesday afternoon and were told Atriss had taken a flight from Newark to Egypt. Five minutes before the raid, Atriss called a New Jersey phone number from somewhere outside the country. "Weasel? Dis is uh... y'know. Me. Are they there yet?"
"Obviously, its very disappointing," the sheriff said. You might say that...
Authorities were unsure if the flight he took left on Tuesday or Wednesday. Atriss was last seen by authorities in New Jersey on Monday. Who's investigating this? Inspector Closeau?
Wednesday's raids followed a four-month investigation by sheriffs in northern New Jersey, the Paterson police and the FBI, Speziale said. Atriss had not been under round-the-clock surveillance, sheriff's Lt. Robert Weston said. Jimmy the Weasel, back at HQ, sez he don't have no idea how this guy got tipped, y'know?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/31/2002 04:46 pm ||
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If Closeau were on the case, there'd be progress.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
08/01/2002 9:52 Comments ||
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The Russian general prosecution is not satisfied with the mild sentence Saudi Arabia gave two hijackers of a Russian Tu-154 airliner, Deni Magomerzayev and Iriskhan Arsayev, who have been sentenced to 6 and 4 years respectively. The verdict "does not correspond to the gravity of the crime committed", the information and public relations department of the Russian Prosecutor General's Office said on Wednesday. The office is considering the possibilities of extraditing the offenders, it added.
On March 15, 2001 three Chechens, 45-year old Supjan Arsayev and his two sons, 16 and 19 years of age, hijacked a Tupolev-154 jet with 174 people on board making a flight from Istanbul to Moscow. The terrorists threatened the crew with knives and a dummy explosive device and forced the plane to land in Medina, Saudi Arabia. The Chechens demanded an end to the war in Chechnya and also USD 1 million in cash. Saudi commandos strormed the plane, killing the organizer of hijack and two hostages â a Russian air hostess and a passenger, who was a Turkish citizen. The aircraft with the passengers then returned to Russia and the hijackers remained in a Saudi prison, as there is no extradition treaty between the two countries. Chechnya is a Soddy project. They're not going to be any harder on their proteges than they have to be.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/31/2002 08:53 pm ||
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A bomb exploded in a crowded cafeteria at Hebrew University during lunchtime Wednesday killing seven people and wounding more than 70. The blast, at the universityâs Frank Sinatra International Student Center, came at a time when classes are not in session. However, students are taking exams and the cafeteria was busy at the time of the blast. Witnesses initially said they believed a suicide bomber was responsible, but Israeli police said preliminary evidence suggested that someone planted the bomb. The Izz el-Deen al-Qassam military wing of Hamas said in a statement faxed to Reuters that the blast was revenge for Israelâs killing of its leader Salah Shehada in an air strike in Gaza last week in which 14 others, including nine children, died. Obviously Hamas is not taking part in Tanzim's announced ceasefire. I'd be perfectly happy to see Hamas wiped out to the last man, starting with Sheikh Yassin and Rantissi.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/31/2002 10:02 am ||
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The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) denied Sunday Israeli reports about the resumption of talks with the Palestinian Authority for the purpose of halting attacks inside Israel. In a telephone interview with Albawaba.com, Hamas leader Mahmoud al Zahhar said, ''meetings have not been resumed and we have not met with the PA officials except at the condolences ceremony, which was held in honor of the martyrs, but there was no discussion about the issue.'' Yeah. We noticed they haven't stopped. Didn't expect them to...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/31/2002 01:57 pm ||
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Israeli reports said Mohammed Deif has been appointed new leader for Hamas military wing to succeed the late leader Salah Shehadah who was assassinated last week in Gaza. But Zahhar said these were only speculations and that the true news would be found in a statement to be issued by Hamas military wing. On Friday, Dr. Abdel Aziz al Rantisi, a Hamas leader told some 5,000 supporters a new military leader has been appointed but he did not disclose his name for security reasons. That's because they don't want to get him banged before he has a chance to blow some Jews up. If it's Deif, he's experienced with being a target, as the IDF tried to rocket his car last year.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/31/2002 02:03 pm ||
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"Al-Qaeda itself, we know, is less than 200," said an FBI official, referring to those who have sworn allegiance to Osama bin Laden. That figure â far fewer than recent press reports have suggested are in the U. S. alone â is based on evidence gathered by the FBI and CIA. It includes Al-Qaeda members who are now in custody at Guantanamo Bay. "Everyone tries to tie everything into 9-11 and Al-Qaeda," said one of the two FBI officials interviewed Friday on condition of anonymity. "There was a recent report suggesting that Al-Qaeda is about 5,000 strong. It is nowhere near 5,000 strong." They're counting as "al-Qaeda" only the "officer corps," I think â the controllers and finance guys, recruiters and logistics network. They're not including the ranks of the cannon fodder in the count...
Although thousands of Islamic extremists and future terrorists have passed through bin Laden's training camps, it does not mean they are actual Al-Qaeda operatives, the officials said. But it does mean they've got a pool of men who're willing, even happy, to kill people in the name of al-Qaeda...
The war in Afghanistan has dispersed, killed or captured Al-Qaeda leaders, leaving the terror network fractured and diffused. As a result, the FBI's counterterrorism division is closely examining Iranian-backed Hezbollah and other radical Shiite Islamic groups. These groups have men, money and safe havens to elude authorities and could strengthen Al-Qaeda. Easier to find 'em, huh?
"Now we are concerned that he (bin Laden) might be reaching out to the Shia side, which we have never seen before," a senior FBI official said. "We are concerned they might start focusing on trying to utilize each other's support networks." There have been indications of cooperation among the two all along...
The FBI has launched a new International Terrorism Operations Center within the counterterrorism division in an effort to keep better track of terror groups outside of Al-Qaeda. Doin' one hellofajob, too, as we've seen...
"If we don't keep our focus on Hezbollah, Iran, Iraq, Hamas, the Shia side of the house, we are putting ourselves in a very deep hole because if they decide to join the fray with Al-Qaeda, with the Sunni side, Sunni extremists, this country is in very serious trouble," the senior FBI official said. Obviously we should be working both problems. Reading between the lines here, he's hinting that al-Qaeda isn't much of a threat anymore in and of itself. You can kinda-sorta make that case by considering the cannon fodder â the gunnies, snuffies, boom artists, and other potential shaheeds â as interchangeable parts among the organizations. But anyone casually glancing at Pakistan can see that al-Qaeda is a part of a network of allied organizations and that they're not tied really closely to a chain of command. Pickup teams like al-Qanoon and organizations made up of outright lunatics like Lashkar-i-Jhangvi become tools in the hands of either the al-Qaeda controllers or free-lance supporters. When you go to get on a bus and you're suddenly meatloaf, it doesn't matter if it wasn't really al-Qaeda who did the boom on you, does it?
We can see two main lines of control in the terror machine â two machines, working the same targets for the same ends, and occasionally but not always cooperating.
The first is the al-Qaeda network, which is more a confederation, and includes the Pak jihadis, minor elements in Lebanon, the Southeast Asia Jemaah and, more tenuously, the Chechen Killer Korps. They run on Saudi money.
The other is the Iran network, which is more centrally controlled by the ayatollahs, consisting of Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad and Hamas, and runs on Iranian money.
The remnants of the old politicals are still around â PFLP, DFLP, and most of Fatah â but they're becoming minor players and their cannon fodder and in some cases upper management is being absorbed into one or the other of the jihadi lines. Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades is the only one that's really in daily business. That's why Iraq and Libya aren't major terror centers anymore (regardless of how hard Rumsfeld would like to make the case). Abu Nidal is old hat.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/31/2002 10:02 am ||
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Some of Osama Bin Laden's bodyguards have been in U.S. custody since February at the U.S. Navy base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Military officials said Tuesday they didn't know how many of Bin Laden's bodyguards were among the 564 suspected Taliban or al-Qaida prisoners held in high-security metal cells at Guantanamo Bay. But some of the bodyguards have served Bin Laden for years and traveled extensively with him in Afghanistan. How much valuable information the bodyguards could give, assuming they were to decide to talk, remained unclear. While the detained bodyguards were among those who stayed closest to the al-Qaida leader, their job was to provide muscle, not advice. His bodyguards are not expected to know much about planning for past or future attacks beyond the stray snippets of conversations they may have overheard between Bin Laden and his lieutenants. Guess they're still in custody, huh? Probably they're all muscle or gophers, but you never can tell what tidbits they may have to disclose.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/31/2002 01:28 pm ||
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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.
