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Qazi to lead MMA parliamentary party...
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Arabia
Islamists win almost half of Bahraini parliament seats
Sunni and Shiite Islamist candidates have clinched 19 of the 40 seats in Bahrain's legislative assembly in the first parliamentary elections in the small Gulf state since 1973. Eighteen independent candidates — 11 Sunni and seven Shiite — also won seats along with three liberals — two Sunni and one Shiite, according to the final results following two rounds of voting which ended Thursday. Fourteen of the Islamist winners are Sunni. Seven are affiliated to the National Islamic Forum, a political association of the Muslim Brotherhood, and an equal number are from the fundamentalist Salafi current. The remaining Islamist winners are Shiites. Two women candidates who made it to Thursday's second round run-off vote failed to enter Bahrain's first elected legislative assembly since the Gulf state's parliament was scrapped in 1975.
The important thing at this point isn't that there are Islamists elected in Bahrain, but that there are elections at all. If voters get tired of Salafists trying to run every aspect of their lives, they'll be free to throw them out. What'll be telling, over the course of the next five or ten years, is whether this is "one man, one vote, one time," or if the idea of voting for who's going to run the country takes root. If there's an attempt to overthrow the government, or more likely the ruling house, then they'll have to go back to square one and start all over again. It'll be interesting to see Salafists trying to play nice with others, but it won't be unheard of. Pakland has a democracy, too, remember, at least of a sort.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 11/01/2002 10:14 am || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Salafist = Wahhabi?
Posted by: Anonymous || 11/01/2002 14:15 Comments || Top||

#2  You got it...
Posted by: Fred || 11/01/2002 15:08 Comments || Top||

#3  They will make the Koran the constitution, like they did in Wahhabiland, and democracy will mean "shura" agreements on what Muhammed would do if he was here.
Posted by: Anonymous || 11/01/2002 15:47 Comments || Top||


Axis of Evil
Rafsanjani sez Rummy will go to hell...
Donald Rumsfeld will take to hell his idea of regime change in Iran, former president Ali Akbar Rafsanjani charged after the US defense secretary predicted an early overthrow of the Islamic regime by its own people. "This minister (Rumsfeld) will take to hell his dream of seeing regime change" in Iran, Rafsanjani told thousands of faithful during Friday prayers in Tehran. The crowd responded with "death to America, death to Israel!".
"Hi, honey. I'm back from the mosque!"
"Did you have a nice time, dear?"
"Oh, yeah. Rafsanjani hollered about Rumsfeld until his turban started to scorch, and we all jumped up and down and made faces."
"That's nice, dear. Would you like some tea before dinner?"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 11/01/2002 10:18 am || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Speaking before units of the 101 Airborne and 10 Mountain Division's in newly liberated Tehran, Sec. Def. Rumsfeld reportedly said "It's hotter than hell here, isn't it?"
Posted by: Chuck || 11/01/2002 14:22 Comments || Top||


Caucasus
There Are No Rebels Left for Peace Talks
Before the theater siege, Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov was regarded as Russia's most viable negotiating partner for a settlement in Chechnya. Now his legitimacy in the eyes of both Russia and the West has suffered a devastating blow as he has become inextricably linked to the radical wing of the Chechen separatist movement.
There are those of us who never put him anywhere else...
The brutality of the hostage-taking, combined with a war of words from Moscow, might end up delivering what Russia has long been hoping for — justification in the West for the war in Chechnya. "Our policy on Chechnya has moved closer to Russia," a senior U.S. diplomat said on condition of anonymity. "This attack has substantially damaged [the Chechen] cause."
It's that "true colors" thing...
The hostage drama is narrowing the gap between the West's perception of Chechen separatists and Russia's, with "Maskhadov-the-politician" beginning to look more like "Maskhadov-the-terrorist," said Andrei Ryabov, a political analyst at the Moscow Carnegie Center. "The Chechen cause had two faces: The one turned to the West was of a moderate Maskhadov and his European-looking envoy Akhmed Zakayev," Ryabov said. "For Russia, the rebels had reserved the mad murderer Khattab and outspoken terrorist Shamil Basayev. "The hostage drama blended these two faces into one in the world media and public consciousness."
The hostage-taking pretty much took the mask off. Up to that point, they could claim they were hitting mostly military targets and a few sympathizers. That's what blurred the line between "rebel" and "terrorist." The theater was a really bad move on their part, if only because its chances of succeeding were remote. It'll take years for them to build the distinction up again, and they're going to have to dig up some different spokesmen...
The day before his death, the leader of the hostage-takers, Movsar Barayev, told NTV television that he was acting under orders from Chechen warlord Basayev and that he and his group answered to Maskhadov. Maskhadov appointed Basayev as head of the rebels' operations in June. "The reaffirmation of his [Maskhadov's] alliance with Basayev tipped the balance against Maskhadov as interlocutor," the U.S. diplomat said. "We see him as unwilling to stand up to terror."
Of course he's "unwilling to stand up to it." He plans and implements it. (Where do they get these people?)
Ryabov said the theater attack had caught the West off-guard. "The West is confused because the image of the rebels that it so wanted to believe did not stand the test," he said.
That's because we're slow learners. We want the world to be nice, and we like to believe that people aren't inherently evil. (If they're not, they can sure be trained into it easily enough.)
Thanks to Steve for the link!
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 11/01/2002 10:56 am || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Europe
Redgrave Leads Campaign for Zakaev...
British actress and amateur Trotskyite peace activist Vanessa Redgrave is to lobby Danish deputies Friday, November 1, in the case of top Chechen envoy Akhmed Zakayev, held in Copenhagen on a Russian extradition request.
Oh, Cheeze... We have Barbra, the Brits have Vanessa...
The veteran campaigner, who was in the Danish capital for a Chechen conference earlier this week at which Zakayev was the main speaker, visited the Chechen envoy in his cell Thursday, October 31. Redgrave, who said Zakayev's arrest was politically motivated, also met with Copenhagen's police chief and the Chechen envoy's lawyers, one of whom said that Zakayev would not appeal his 13-day detention in the Danish capital. "But if the justice ministry approves his extradition, he will challenge the case in the Danish courts and in the last instance before the European Court of Human rights," his lawyer, Ervin Birk Nielsen, told journalists.
Guess his arrest was politically motivated. So was the attack on the theater, wasn't it?
Redgrave said Thursday the allegations against Zakayev were "absolutely untrue," AFP reported.
And who should know better than she, because... ummm...
"He is in no way connected with the terrorist attack on the Moscow theater or in any other acts of terrorism," she told DR1 public television.
"He's not! He just couldn't be! He told me he's not, and he has such a nice beard..."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 11/01/2002 02:05 pm || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Qazi to lead MMA parliamentary party...
The Parliamentary Party of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) on Wednesday elected JI chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed as central parliamentary leader, while Mohammad Akram Durrani was elected as candidate for NWFP Chief Minister slot. Maulana Fazlur Rehman is the candidate for premier slot and Liaquat Baloch is nominated as candidate for speaker of National Assembly. These decisions were disclosed by Naib Amir of Jammat-e-Islami and MNA-elect Liaqat Baloch, while giving the briefing to the newsmen after the Parliamentary Party Meeting.
Qazi and his creatures are all ensconced in the parliament now. They'll be in position for that little putsch a year or two from now that they hope will give them all the power they need to set up their khalifate.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 11/01/2002 10:35 am || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  LET THEM EAT KORANS!
Posted by: Anonymous || 11/01/2002 15:49 Comments || Top||


Hafiz Muhammad Saeed put under house arrest. Again.
The government Of Punjab on Thursday placed Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, the Ameer Of Jamat-ud-Dawa Pakistan, under house arrest for One month, police officials said.
I'm so confused...
An order of the Punjab Govt. read out by one of its officials to this reporter said: "Hafiz Muhammad Saeed has been detained under section 3 MPO, 1960, for a period of one month to prevent from acting in a manner prejudicial to public peace and tranquillity"
I mean, that part of it certainly makes sense...
Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, was picked up by security forces in May and kept at an undisclosed location for five and half months.
He didn't know where he was?
A dozen armed police surrounded Hafiz Saeed's home, barring the entry of supporters and media who converged on the residence. Hafiz Muhammad Saeed said he was now under house arrest. "I am still under federal government detention, my house has been declared a sub-jail," Hafiz Saeed told AFP by telephone from inside his home. "I was held by the federal government's functionaries. I was never produced in any court," he said.
And in court, they said, "Nope, we ain't got him," that they didn't know where he was. So did the gummint put the snatch on him, and then produce him later, unsullied? Or did Hafiz duck out to stage a little publicity stunt?
He was returned to his house early Thursday by authorities in Lahore, according to his spokesman, Yahya Mujahid. The move to place Hafiz Saeed under house arrest came month after his wife sought the court's help in obtaining his release.
From wherever he was...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 11/01/2002 02:24 pm || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Middle East
Israeli army arrests wanted Islamic militant
The Israeli army arrested seven Palestinians, including wanted Islamic Jihad militant Fayez Tubassi, during a sweep of the West Bank village of Al-Araqa. Dozens of army vehicles and jeeps briefly rolled into Al-Araqa, west of Jenin, Palestinian security sources said Friday. The sources added that one house had been set on fire by the soldiers. The army later confirmed it had arrested Tubassi, who they accuse of helping plan suicide car bombings in northern Israel in June and last week that left 31 Israelis dead.
They keep jugging these guys, but it seems like there's a never-ending supply...
And some more, from Steve...

Islamic Jihad sources said soldiers tracked Said Tubasi, 22, to a cave in the hills near the West Bank town of Jenin, where he was hiding out with another man wanted by the Israelis, a member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade. A report on Israel Radio, however, said Tubasi, as well as five other wanted Palestinians, were found hiding in an underground cellar, the entrance to which was covered by a carpet. Tubasi is also accused by the IDF of detonating a booby-trapped car at Yagur junction near Haifa.
Hiding out in a cave with another desperado sounds much more romantic than cowering in a root cellar covered by a rug. I prefer to believe the IDF account, thank you.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 11/01/2002 12:47 pm || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Yasser expects Israeli-Palestinian conflict to worsen
In an interview with Associated Press Television News, Yasser Arafat predicted the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would worsen now that Sharon depends on far-right and religious parties to cling to power.
Too bad, Yasser. You had your chance...
Arafat added he remains committed to achieving peace with Israel despite two years of fighting and said he considers suicide attacks against Israeli civilians to be immoral. "I say to the Israelis, come tomorrow and sit at the negotiation table," said the Palestinian leader. "Let's go back to the peace of the brave."
"Did you hear something, Moshe?"
"It's nothing, Avner. Somebody burped."
"It sounded so... so... irrelevant!"

Arafat conveyed Israel's repeated killing of Palestinian activists accused of "terrorism" has sabotaged his efforts to reach agreements with the armed groups to end attacks on Israelis. He pledged to work to end such attacks if Israel withdrew from the Palestinian areas that it has occupied in the past two years. "Why don't you pull out, and we'll bring the Americans and we'll work together to end such attacks?" he said, addressing Israel's government. Asked if he considered the attacks immoral, Arafat replied: "Yes, they are immoral. We condemn these attacks all the time."
"We have a form we us. We just fill in the location and time and hand it out to the press. Saves lots of time."
Warning against a U.S. strike on Iraq, Arafat said, "I hope that this war will not take place because this will lead to a catastrophe in the whole area of the Middle East."
One man's catastrophe is another man's cause for celebration...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 11/01/2002 10:26 am || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Are you sure Yasser's quote was "peace of the brave"? I thought he said "peace of the grave."
Posted by: Aracona || 11/01/2002 11:14 Comments || Top||


Paleojournalists cheesed because Hamas thugs beat them up...
The main Palestinian journalists union in Gaza and the West Bank announced a boycott of Hamas after its hard boys members of the militant Islamic group attacked journalists covering an explosion in Gaza City. Three Palestinians affiliated with the Hamas were killed and six wounded early Thursday evening in the Gaza Strip after a bomb exploded prematurely in what appears to have been a work accident. Several journalists, both Palestinian and reporters for foreign networks, were attacked by local Hamas thugs sympathizers, who pushed them and threw stones at them until they left the site. No one was injured, but two TV cameras were destroyed. The Palestinian journalists decided not to cover the funerals of the three Hamas militants killed in the explosion.
That'll show 'em, by golly...
"We call on all colleagues to boycott all Hamas-related activities and events and not to provide any media coverage until further notice," the Palestinian Journalist Syndicate PJS said in a statement. "We hold Hamas fully responsible for the attack on the journalists and for endangering their lives," it said.
Don't make 'em mad, guys. They explode when they get mad. But you knew that, didn't you?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 11/01/2002 12:52 pm || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Southeast Asia
Bali bombers 'were trained and sent by al-Qaeda'
A team of foreign bombmakers trained and sent by al-Qaeda played a vital role in the blasts which killed 184 people on the Indonesian island of Bali on October 13, a detained member of the terrorist network has said. An al-Qaeda bomber known as Saad, who had trained for a suicide mission, is also said to have attended a meeting with the bombmakers and members of the Jeemah Islamiah (JI), the south-east Asian Islamist group, in southern Thailand in mid-January this year. Saad was brought to the meeting by the alleged leader of the JI, Riduan Isamuddin, also known as Hambali.
This looks like more stuff for the Indon pols to discount, deny, or explain away...
According to Mohamed Mansour Jabara, a detained al-Qaeda activist now being held by the US, the plotters decided to bomb "soft" targets across south-east Asia such as nightclubs, restaurants and bars frequented by westerners. Mr Jabara, who was arrested in Oman in March, attended the meeting in Thailand. The growing evidence of a direct link between the Bali bombing and the core of al-Qaeda suggests the network's continued ability to function and the nature of its relationship with affiliated groups such as the JI.
This represents a "back to basics" approach, maybe just brought on by the smell of the local cooking. The Viet Cong used to do that in Saigon on a regular basis...
The identity of Saad has yet to be established, but he is known to have belonged to al-Qaeda, rather than JI. Following the meeting in Thailand, finance for the bombing campaign was sent from donors in Saudi Arabia, Mr Jabara has told US interrogators. According to another al-Qaeda detainee, Omar al-Faruq, JI earlier this year received $74,000 from a Saudi donor known only by what is thought to be a pseudonym, Ali Abdallah al-Emirati.
The Soddies continue to become less and less subtle in their involvement in the terror machine. A year before, the money would have come from a third party, maybe in Pakland...
According to Mr Jabara, the bombmakers who attended the meeting in Thailand were trained at the Abu Khabbab camp, al-Qaeda's main explosives and non-conventional weapons training camp in Afghanistan. It was there that video film was discovered showing al-Qaeda's chemical weapons tests on animals. Al-Qaeda's own bombers may have been used in the Bali attack because previous operations planned by JI with minimal outside help had failed. JI members are thought to have done reconnaissance before the Bali bombs were planted.
Wonder if the Indons had a reaction to this little bit of arrogance? "You guys will probably screw it up. We'll send somebody who's qualified to kill a couple hundred people..."
The Indonesian authorities on Wednesday issued sketches of three Indonesian men who Prasetyo, a senior official of the Indonesian police, said "could be executors, or the ones who control the executors". However, in a rare public statement the director general of security of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, Denis Richardson, for the first time on Thursday said that Australia, which lost 90 people in Bali, was "confident that the hand of al-Qaeda is somewhere in that atrocity".
The "executors" would be the runners, the links between the cannon fodder in the cells and the controllers, who are the guys they really need to catch...
The emerging picture of a direct al-Qaeda role has raised doubts as to the value of detaining Sheikh Abu Bakr Bashir, the alleged spiritual leader of the JI now being held in Indonesia. "Arresting Bashir is useless. Al-Qaeda is still intact, and they have only detained the public figure," said Rohan Gunaratna, a regional terrorism expert. "Hambali is the one they have to go after."
Abu's more in the position of Gerry Adams — as clean as they can get a dirty guy, anyway. He'll be the legit face, while Hambali will be the one who has the details of the dirty work. It's getting a little more clear now, even over here on the other side of the world.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 11/01/2002 10:14 am || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I used to live in Thailand and I'm afraid it's just a matter of time before Bangkok gets hit by these madmen. Southern Thailand is teeming with Muslims and Thai society is very open and tolerant, which makes things easy for the terrorists. Obviously they've been using the capital as frequent location for meeting and planning attacks. Bangkok has a LOT of western tourists and residents in certain districts and would be a "soft" target. I really hope I'm wrong, but....
Posted by: Aracona || 11/01/2002 11:30 Comments || Top||

#2  I wouldn't panic just yet, Aracona. A Royal Thai Army colonel - a very senior one, too - is one of the co-moderators of a message board I frequent, and she (yes, she - Thailand has, to the surprise of a lot of Westerners, a long tradition of women warriors) says that the RTA has been on high alert for the last few weeks watching out for any attempt to do in their tourist meccas in the south of their country what was done in Bali. Not too many people may be aware of it, incidentially, but Thailand has been quite active in the war thus far, particularly in helping to shut down the money links, and they've been battling al Qaeda-backed separatists down near the Malaysian border for quite some time. The RTA gets a lot more of a workout than is commonly supposed, all in all; they've also been known to fight pitched battles with Burmese drug armies equipped with old tanks, and my colonel cut her teeth in combat with the Vietnamese on the Cambodian border back in the 1980's.
Posted by: Joe || 11/01/2002 17:37 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Fri 2002-11-01
  Qazi to lead MMA parliamentary party...
Thu 2002-10-31
  North Korea Claims Right to Nuclear Weapons
Wed 2002-10-30
  Indon coppers release drawings of Bali suspects...
Tue 2002-10-29
  Yasser has a new cabinet...
Mon 2002-10-28
  American diplo assassinated in Jordan...
Sun 2002-10-27
  Muammar rejects Arab League advances...
Sat 2002-10-26
  Algeria snuffies kill 21 family members
Fri 2002-10-25
  Moscow hostages freed
Thu 2002-10-24
  Two women escape from theater...
Wed 2002-10-23
  Men Take Moscow Audience Hostage
Tue 2002-10-22
  Shooter Boy sez he'll kill kiddies...
Mon 2002-10-21
  N. Israel Bus Explosion Kills 6
Sun 2002-10-20
  Al Qaida funded by only 12 individuals, most Saudis
Sat 2002-10-19
  Another Beltway shooting
Fri 2002-10-18
  Helpful Paks aided NKors with their nukes...

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