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Hundreds jailed as Iran rounds up protesters
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Working under the hood...
Just an update on the rebuild. Comments are now done, and the main page. I still have to do the Poster page and two or three others. I'm hoping to make the changeover tomorrow, and then we can live with bugs for a week or two until I've got them all killed. The new database should make things faster and smoother — fewer timeouts, though I don't think we're going to get away from the problem of slow loads by the end of the day.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 06/23/2003 11:52:35 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  You've got to have cookies turned on. And it won't remember you between machines...
Posted by: Fred || 06/23/2003 20:24 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Abdullah Meets Clinton
Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, and former US President Bill Clinton held talks yesterday in Jeddah on the developments in Iraq and Palestine in addition to world affairs. Prince Sultan, second deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, Prince Nawaf, head of general intelligence and prince Muhammad ibn Naif, assistant minister of interior for security affairs, attended the talks. The crown prince hosted a dinner in Clinton’s honor at his palace.
Possibility #1: standard Bill Clinton "I still matter!" tour.
Possibility #2: optional Bill Clinton "doing what he can to undermine the current president" tour.
Possibility #3: Bill carrying a "special message" from George Bush direct to the princes ears to stop funding terrorists or else. Note that Bill would cheerfully slit the throats of the current democratic party hopefuls if it would help boost his own image and by extension his wife's chances in "08".
My own vote is for 1 & 2.
Posted by: Steve || 06/23/2003 1:16:37 PM || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  SheDevil runs in 2012. Maybe. Here's my scenario. She dumps Bubba next year. Sure, lots of folks love him, but she's got their votes anyways. He hangs around her neck like an albatross and I think his baggage outweighs his benefits to her now. He's another reason for those on the fence not to vote for her. I say she announces the sad news next year, runs for the Senate seat again in 06, wins that, and runs in 2012. Now the Wild Card: Guiliani. If he's goes up against her for the Senate seat in 2006, she loses, becomes the grand old girl of the Democratic party and goes back to Wellesley to mold the future crop of American feminist cranks. I hope your reading this, Rudy.
Posted by: tu3031 || 06/23/2003 21:33 Comments || Top||

#2  Possibility #'s aside, the IMPORTANT question is:
What is the backchannel the oilkings are after, what is the result are THEY after in '04, and what are Bush, Powell and Rumsfeld willing to give them to stop..?
Posted by: RStone || 06/23/2003 21:39 Comments || Top||


Britain
Man faces terror charges
A suspected terrorist accused of having instructions on how to make bombs has been charged by police. Shahzad Ashraf, who has dual British and Pakistani nationality, was charged with two counts under the Terrorism Act 2000. Ashraf is accused of possessing "combat books, quasi military information and tactical planning material, weaponry and explosive device instructions."
Good thing they don't look through my bookcase.
He is also said to have had false travel documents, false identification papers and banking material.
Of course he has false papers, he's Pakistani!
Ashraf, 32, from east London was remanded in custody to appear at Bow Street magistrates court in central London.
Posted by: Steve || 06/23/2003 4:37:50 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Shahzad sounds like a "work accident" waiting to happen. I think the cops did him a favor.
Posted by: tu3031 || 06/23/2003 21:37 Comments || Top||


Blair defends EU summit performance
Tony Blair has told MPs the draft constitution presented to the leaders of Europe at the weekend made clear that the EU would become remain a union of geographically partitioned 10 000 km2 U.S.E. Administration Zones nation states.
Trouble is, Tony, MPs are the group least likely to believe you...
It offered the prospect of stability in the way Europe worked, the prime minister told MPs in a statement, and was a "good basis for capitulalation negotiation" at the Inter Governmental Conference beginning in October in Italy. He insisted the UK would safeguard its right to determine its own tax, defence and foreign policy for at least four months. But Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith said the prime minister had failed to raise the common agriculture policy at the summit and failed to win backing for his asylum plans. He repeated his call for a referendum on the proposed constitution arguing that 88% of British voters wanted one because it meant a large transfer of power from member states to Brussels. Mr Blair insisted that he wanted to plough ahead with pilot schemes for a British proposal to set up special asylum camps in regions which produce large volumes of refugees. He said the plan had the backing of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and said the European Commission would report back on the pilots which will go ahead despite the policy being rejected by EU leaders at the summit in Greece. The proposal was thrown out because some countries argued that the so-called regional "protection zones" sounded more like concentration camps.
The EU leaders are right about this one.
Mr Blair acknowledged there would be battles ahead over tax and defence but insisted "they are battles we can win". He said: "At this point in time with Europe at a crucial point of evolution Britain has to have the confidence to stride forward." At the summit the prime minister and fellow EU leaders formally took delivery of more than 220 pages of proposals for the draft constitution, drawn up by former French President Valery Giscard D'Estaing. The key proposals are for a new full-time president of the EU and an EU foreign minister or foreign policy representative. The prime minister has made clear the plans negotiated by the convention were just the start.
Go on, Tony - you were telling us that 'sovereignty' joke...
As Mr Blair was delivering his statement the Vote 2004 campaign, which wants a referendum on the proposed constitution, seized on remarks reportedly made by French President Jacques Chirac that he might favour a referendum in France. Website euobserver.com quoted him as saying: "I am logically in favour of a referendum. It would be the only legitimate way - but it is not a thing I alone can decide here tonight, it requires political negotiations." Vote 2004 spokesman Neil O'Brien said: "It is going to be very difficult for the government to explain why people in France are smart enough to have a vote but we aren't."
*Choking* Why aren't you a bit more like Chirac, Tony?
Posted by: Bulldog || 06/23/2003 12:45:40 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If the UK and Japan want to dispatch naval forces to escort their flagged mechant vessels so be it. A few other navies might do the same.And if getting Japanese, Britsh, or other naval protection is worth while then maybe the owners of vessels flagged in Panama, Liberia and other flags of convience might be inclined to reregister their ships.
Posted by: Someone who did NOT vote for William Proxmire || 06/23/2003 17:00 Comments || Top||


Send warships to fight pirates, urges union
"Arr, we be hunting pirates! Arr!"
Royal Navy escorts should be sent to the world's most dangerous shipping lanes to protect British commercial vessels from the increasing the threat of piracy, the marine officers' union, Numast, has warned the government.
Why have a navy if you can't use it to blow pirates out of the water? Yar!
The plea follows release of the latest figures from the London-based International Maritime Bureau (IMB) which reveal more than 100 attacks on merchant ships in the first three months this year - an 18% rise over the same period last year. Two of the attacks were on UK-flagged ships and three were on UK-controlled or managed vessels. In another incident, British officers on board an Isle of Man-registered supply ship were seized at gunpoint off the coast of Nigeria. They were held hostage and manhandled and had their personal possessions stolen before a ransom was finally paid.
Hmmm... Lemme see here. What would Drake have done?
A Numast spokesman said yesterday that there had been "supportive noises" from ministers but no commitments to base warships in high risk areas such as the Malacca Straits, between Malaysia and Indonesia, and off the Horn of Africa. The navy has in the past said a shortage of resources is preventing it sending ships on patrol. "We keep on trying to clarify what the position is for the navy, what they can do and what are the rules of engagement," the Numast spokesman said.
How 'bout when they run up the Jolly Roger y'keelhaul 'em? Or make a big hole in the water where they used to be?
"Attacks are running at such a level they pose a direct threat to world trade. We know the Japanese government is considering sending warships to the Malacca Straits to protect its national vessels. The problem is Malaysia and Indonesia have such long coastlines."
You think pirates are a problem? The thought of Japanese warships roaming around escorting merchant ships is apt the give the neighbors flashbacks.
After Numast's annual conference in Harrogate this month, Brian Orrell, the general secretary, declared: "These statistics demonstrate that owners, flag states and coastal authorities are failing to treat this dreadful problem with the priority it deserves. It is essential effective action is taken to provide proper protection to seafarers. Piracy [should be put] back into the history books, where it ought to be in the 21st century." The IMB figures recorded that 145 seafarers were killed, assaulted, kidnapped or missing in the first three months of this year in attacks by pirates. Guns were used in 22 incidents and knives in 39. Other dangerous coastlines include those of Nigeria, Bangladesh and India. Indonesia reported the most attacks. "Avoid anchoring along the Indonesian coast of the [Malacca] Straits," the IMB websites notes. "Coast near Aceh is particularly risky for hijackings."
Sounds like a particularly rich target environment, if you're a frigate kind of guy... or crew. "How's it feel to be chum, matey? Har har!"
Somalian waters should be avoided at all costs, the bureau recommends. "Ships not making scheduled calls to ports in these areas should keep at least 75 miles from the coast. Use of radio communications in these waters should be kept to a minimum." The organisation has backed the use of high-voltage electric fences to prevent pirates clambering aboard. A Dutch-made device, which delivers a 9,000-volt shock, is designed to create an "impenetrable barrier of safety" around a vessel.
"Yar! We be electrifried pirates!"
"Some seafarers want personal weapons to protect themselves," the Numast official said. "We believe the Royal Navy should return to its historic role, as it did in the 17th and 18th century, protecting British ships from pirates.
Catch a few and hang them from the yardarm, nothing like a little 18th century justice to get their attention.
Posted by: Steve || 06/23/2003 12:23:26 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Some of the pirates are elements of local navies. That's why it's hard to catch them. The fox is watching the chicken coop.

I've read rumors that the Chinese navy was involved in some incidents where the ship and the crew basically disappeared without a trace. The Indonesian navy was also allegedly involved in some incidents, but these were apparently more of a smash and grab nature.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 06/23/2003 22:01 Comments || Top||

#2  The straits of Malacca (FYI greek speakers - I am not using foul language) are rife with pirates. There is not one base of operations, or even several bases of operations, but hundreds. Each with their own agenda. A colleague of mine was picked up by a pirate ship. He managed to keep his head attached to his shoulders (It's a long story), and saw decks laden with weapons (like RPGs etc). The Malacca straits are very dangerous. There are different kinds of pirates for different kinds of targets. But hey, the spearfishing is great - Yum!

The Sulu Sea is also crammed with pirates, mostly islam-o-fascists. The seas between Malaysia and Indonesia have lots of pirates. The Indonesian navy boats looks exactly like pirate boats (or at least what you'd think pirate boats look like). I was on a sloop off the Anambas islands and was scared nearly to death as we were outrun by this boat and boarded, but turned out to be the Indonesian navy. They wanted to check our papers. People think the pirate thing is funny, but it's real and it's serious. If you listen to the radio while at sea (in asia anyway) you can hear distress calls of boats being threatened by pirates.
Posted by: parallaxview || 06/24/2003 2:50 Comments || Top||

#3  Do some navies still have "jeep" carriers? Two to twelve jets (A10 Warthog or RAF Harrier: slow or even capable of hovering) dispatchable to radio distress source.

Full-fledged Q-ships may be overdoing it, but during WWII almost any merchant ship could get a 20mm cannon for itself: some such program, maybe with one or two 50cal Gatlings and two trained maintenance/gunner personnel?
Posted by: John Anderson || 06/24/2003 3:57 Comments || Top||


Saudi dissident attacked in UK
A leading Saudi dissident has been stabbed by unknown attackers at his London home during what he said was an attempt by the Saudi authorities to kidnap him.
Saad al-Faqih, head of the London-based Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia and critic of the Saudi royal family, was admitted to hospital on Sunday with a leg wound, a Scotland Yard spokesman said. He said he had received recent warnings of a plan to abduct or kill him. Mohammed al-Masari, a friend of Mr al-Faqih, said the attackers sprayed him with something to make him drowsy.
Slipped him a mickey, huh? And then stabbed him in the leg? You just can't get good assassins these days...
"A fight ensued and Faqih grabbed a table to defend himself and then the two men knifed him," Mr al-Masari told Reuters.
I thought he was asleep?
"As they were going away, they said: 'take that as a message from the Saudi Government'." The injury was not life threatening, police said, confirming that they are investigating an alleged assault.
The Soddy gummint sends assassins to administer non-life-threatening wounds to the legs of its enemies? Why am I not overawed?
Mr al-Faqih's group, formed in 1994, has used fax, internet and radio and its new al-Islah TV channel, to circumvent official controls on information and free speech in Saudi Arabia. He advocates peaceful political change.
He also believes that Arabia isn't Islamic enough, and is a big fan of Bin Ladin.
"Peaceful change in Arabia" = "Please form a line so you can be beheaded in an orderly manner."
Posted by: Paul Moloney || 06/23/2003 2:48:52 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "A fight ensued and Faqih grabbed a table to defend himself....As they were going away, they said: 'make your own dinner, we're going back to our mothers."
Posted by: Dick Saucer || 06/23/2003 3:46 Comments || Top||


Down Under
Animal ’fart tax’ puts wind up New Zealand farmers
Don't let the Democrats hear about this...
A tax on farting, belching livestock to be introduced by New Zealand to help combat global warming is creating a stink among the country's farmers. Methane emissions created by grass-munching cows, sheep, deer and goats are believed to account for about half of New Zealand's emissions of greenhouse gases. Now the country is attempting to clear the air by introducing a levy on pungent emissions by mid-2004.
"Pungent emissions"? I'll have to remember that one.
The tax will fund a new Agriculture Emissions Research body to meet commitments to the Kyoto Protocol global environment agreement.
And I wondered why we weren't pushing people aside to sign on to Kyoto...
But farmers are outraged, saying the agricultural sector is already paying for its own research. The new tax, which will bring in around eight million NZ dollars a year (4.5 million US) amounted to "overkill", said Jeff Grant, chairman of Meat New Zealand, a livestock industry support organisation.
And who's the lucky guy who will have to go around measuring this, ummmmmmmmmm..."output"?
Tom Lambie, president of agricultural body Federated Farmers, said the levy disadvantaged farmers struggling to compete against less gas-anxious nations. "As far as I'm aware, we're the only country in the world to impose a levy like this," he said.
Just wait 'til the word gets around, Tom. You won't be.
Jim Eagles, business editor of the New Zealand Herald daily called the levy "unnecessary, unfair and potentially damaging to the economy." New Zealand's farmers are already facing hard times due to a sharp downturn in returns for their produce. Eagle said factories from industrialised nations, not herds of cattle and sheep, were the main cause behind the increase in global warming, he said.
I thought it was my SUV. So I'm perfectly willing to blame NZ's livestock.
New Zealand is home to around 45 million sheep and 9.6 million cattle, according to Statistics New Zealand.
That's a lot of "pungent emissions".
Sympathy meter hasn't budged. They vote those yahoos in, over and over again. They get the kind of gummint they want.
Posted by: tu3031 || 06/23/2003 10:38:05 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Europe
Blackmail Ring Run By Moscow Police Busted
The police on Monday broke up a ring of senior law enforcement officials who planted drugs and guns on people in a blackmail scheme that generated millions of dollars, Interior Minister Boris Gryzlov said. Fifteen suspects — including senior police investigators, an FSB officer, a prosecutor and a high-ranking Emergency Situations Ministry official — were detained in more than 40 raids around Moscow. The police seized at least $3 million in the crackdown, spearheaded by the Interior Ministry's internal affairs department. "The Interior Ministry officials, after several months of work, have put an end to a gang of werewolves wearing police epaulets," Gryzlov said in televised remarks. "The backbone of the gang were Moscow police officers, several military servicemen and representatives of other law enforcement agencies." An internal affairs spokesman said most of the detainees are officers in the Moscow police's elite investigative directorate, known by the acronym MUR.

He said the highest-ranking official detained was the head of the Emergency Situations Ministry's security directorate, Lieutenant General Vladimir Ganeyev, but the ringleaders are thought to be the deputy head of a MUR department, Yury Samolkin, and two senior MUR investigators, brothers Nikolai and Valery Dyomins. The spokesman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said about 30 officials are believed to belong to the ring and more arrests are expected soon. The Interior Ministry said more than 100 people were blackmailed over four years. "Investigators have established that officers in a department of the Moscow police investigative directorate planted handguns, ammunition and drugs on citizens with the aim to blackmail them later," Gryzlov said. "They organized searches of these citizens, opened criminal investigations and then closed them for money."
Gryzlov said several victims ended up being sentenced in court to time in prison. "We hope to work through all instances of false criminal cases in the near future. The victims will be rehabilitated in the eyes of the law," he told Interfax. "We will not give the traitors a chance to escape responsibility."
Even though they all say they were framed by the coppers, in this case it turns out some of them were. Now they've got to sort out which ones.
The internal affairs spokesman said the ring also is suspected of working with criminal groups in a protection racket targeting local businesses. "Using their relations with Moscow's organized criminal groups, they organized shakedowns at prosperous businesses, mostly casinos and restaurants, and then offered protection," he said. Protection was provided through a private security service set up by the ring, he said. He said the ring is suspected of ordering and carrying out the murders of several businessmen who refused to accept protection.
Humm, like the heads of two Russian arms companies who just got whacked?
Posted by: Steve || 06/23/2003 4:44:42 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  All right! Moscow Confidential!
Posted by: tu3031 || 06/23/2003 21:45 Comments || Top||


France wary of Italy leading European Union
You guys seriously need a "Frogistan" category...
French diplomats, indeed head of state Jacques Chirac, are still hoping they can quietly defuse the issue, but France's relations with Italy have recently taken another turn for the worse, a situation that Paris hopes to settle before Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi takes over the (revolving) presidency of the European Union on July 1.
Tee hee. Seems that zee ignorant Ameri-cains aren't the only ones to be P.O.'d by Mullah Prez. Chriaq these days.
At stake are not only Franco-Italian relations, but also - and more importantly, say French authorities - the independence of the EU's foreign policy,
read, "French control of foreign policy"
especially at a time when the EU prepares to give itself its own full-fledged foreign minister, in an international context where the United States has lost no time in asserting itself notably with regard to the Middle East and Israel.
"The cowboys are coming, the cowboys are coming!"
Franco-Italian relations have never been easy under the presidency of Mr Berlusconi, indeed two years ago when then Socialist culture minister Catherine Tasca said she would refuse to shake the hand of the Italian prime minister, considered by French intellectuals
"French intellectuals". That's like saying-----. Nope, not going to do it. Waaaaaaaay too easy.
as an enemy of the freedom of expression - and already much too beholden to the United States.
AH. The TRUE reason for their world-famous disdain...
Mr Berlusconi said he felt it necessary to hire a French public relations agency to attempt to "restore" his good image among the French.
Why in the hell should he care what the snotty Frogs think? Bitch slap Chiraq, kick de Villepin in the ovaries, and tell them to shut the hell up. Problem solved.
The most recent flare-up concerns Mr Berlusconi's visit to Israel earlier this spring, at which time he refused to heed the EU's policy that its representatives insist on meeting with Palestinian Authority president Yasser Arafat, even if that means - as in the recent case of Romano Prodi and French foreign minister Dominique de Villepin - that the EU envoys don't get to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
"Oui, oui. You must meet zee Arafat. France must show solee-dare-eetee with it's Arab brothers. The citizens of Frogistan zee EU do not care for zee eeeeeeveeeeeel Joooooooz Zionists."
Mr Berlusconi said that he would have nothing to do with President Arafat - and this in spite of the discreet telephone prodding undertaken in days preceding the visit by President Chirac
"We have ways of making you talk...to Arafat."
and when he did visit Israel, it was to shake hands with Sharon, and this during a well-publicized ceremony rebroadcast around the world by the Israeli authorities bent on portraying that Berlusconi was their man, that for once a European official had seemingly come over to their way of thinking.
An official of the EU with moral standards? Say it ain't so!
When EU and French authorities criticized the gesture, saying it went against the EU policy that their representatives in the region meet with Mr Arafat as well as with Israeli authorities, Mr Berlusconi shot back that he'd not gone to Tel Aviv on behalf of the EU, but "at the request of George W. Bush," who apparently was sending him on a special mission.
No wonder the Frogs are crapping their pretty pink panties.
You just know they're crotchless, don't you?
What particularly irked the French was not so much the unexpected rebuff by the turbulent Italian prime minister, but the unusually brutal remark shot back at French foreign minister Dominique de Villepin, according to which "the French have lost another opportunity to shut up."
Game. Set. Match. Beee-otch!
With regard to Mr Berlusconi, France is particularly concerned that what may appear to have begun as a tempest in a teapot could very well flare up not only into an open quarrel between two of the founding members of the European Union, but also irremediably influence the future independence of the EU's foreign policy.
"Independent" meaning it's controlled by France? Interesting definition...
And this notably with regard to the Middle East, where the European Union remains one of the few remaining sources of support for a balanced solution to a long-lasting dispute.
Balanced solution? If by balanced you mean Israel turning over territory while the Jordyptians keep splodeydoping, I guess "balanced" would apply.
Posted by: Celissa || 06/23/2003 1:45:52 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Mr Berlusconi,you da man!
I like this guy,wish I could vote for him.
Posted by: raptor || 06/23/2003 18:33 Comments || Top||

#2  Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is reputedly a bit of a skunk with corruption charges pending against him (or is that Chirac? Nope, Both of 'em!), but gotta admit his refusal of a scheduled meet with Mahmoud Abbas when told Arafat must be included was good, and his follow-up "The French have lost a great opportunity to shut up" line was great.
Posted by: John Anderson || 06/24/2003 4:13 Comments || Top||


Bomb explodes in hotel near Bilbao; no injuries after warning
JPost Reg req'd
A bomb claimed by armed Basque separatists exploded Monday in a hotel outside Bilbao but no one was hurt, officials said. The Hotel Tamarises in the town of Getxo was evacuated after a caller claiming to represent the armed Basque group ETA told the newspaper Gara a bomb would go off at the hotel at 3:15pm Basque police said. Details on damage at the hotel were not immediately available, a police official said.
Posted by: Frank G || 06/23/2003 12:08:00 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


French Wine Sales Still Dropping
Details from Wine Spectator:
Are Americans still holding a grudge? For the third consecutive four-week period, sales of French table wines in the United States have declined substantially, following drops in March and April. French wine sales dropped 26.2 percent in case volume and 27 percent in dollar value for the four weeks ending May 18, 2003, compared to the same period a year ago, according to retail data from Information Resources Inc. That's the biggest decrease in French wines for any four-week period since the calls for a boycott heated up in response to France's refusal to support war in Iraq; for the 12 weeks ending May 18, the decline averages out to 23.9 percent in volume and 24 percent in dollar value. At the same time, sales of table wines from around the world have been on the rise compared to a year ago. According to IRI, overall wine sales increased 4.4 percent in volume and 1.5 percent in value for the four weeks ending May 18. Those numbers would have been even higher if it had not been for the drop in French wines. IRI's InfoScan tracking service collects scanner data from multiple retail outlets in the United States.
French wine down, french whining up.
Posted by: Steve || 06/23/2003 10:31:02 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Sudan link to Greek mystery ship
EFL:
An explosives-laden ship seized off Greece had documents linking it to a non-existent firm based in Sudan, say officials. The Baltic Sky was carrying 680 tons of explosives when it was stormed by special forces off Greece's western coast on Sunday. Greek Shipping Minister George Anomeritis says the ship's manifest showed that cargo was officially bound for a company with "a post office box in Khartoum that did not exist". However, the ship's location suggested it was not heading towards Khartoum. It had apparently been sailing around the Mediterranean for six weeks before being impounded. It had loaded 450 pallets of TNT and 8,000 detonators in Gabes, Tunisia on 12 May, Mr Anomeritis said. The vessel was later seen near Istanbul on 22 May and in the Aegean Sea on 2 June. It was boarded in the Ionian Sea on Sunday.
That's a long way from the Sudan.
Mr Anomeritis said the ship was carrying TNT, but documents from the ship described the cargo as ANFO, a commercially-manufactured ammonia nitrate-based explosive usually used in mining. "No-one knows the recipient, so no-one knows how it would be used," said Mr Anomeritis.
We can guess.
The crew of seven were due to be questioned by a public prosecutor later on Monday, Mr Anomeritis said. He said possible terrorist links would be investigated. The boat was raided after a tip-off that it was carrying a suspicious cargo. The vessel is owned by a company registered in the Marshall Islands in the Pacific, but is registered in the Comoros Islands, which is regarded as a provider of flags of convenience, the merchant marine ministry announced. "It looks certainly like a suspect ship," government spokesman Telemachos Hytiris said. "This is a huge amount of explosives and a great success for Greek authorities." The BBC's Panos Polyzoidis in Greece says the shipment of explosives is so large that it may have been intended for a government rather than an organisation.
Maybe a government sponsored organization. Should be able to trace the explosives and detonators from the manufacturers to whoever purchased them.
I'll bet that'll happen. I'll also bet we won't be hearing much about the ship anymore.
Posted by: Steve || 06/23/2003 9:05:25 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  congrats Greece. NOT congrats EU. Congrats Greece.
Posted by: liberalhawk || 06/23/2003 9:35 Comments || Top||

#2  From BBC:
Sudan firm claims ship explosives
Posted by: Pink & Fluffy || 06/23/2003 20:15 Comments || Top||


U.S. National Anthem Booed in France (again)
LYON - For the second straight game, fans at the Confederations Cup [soccer tournament] booed when the "The Star-Spangled Banner'' was played before the United States took the field. The whistling sounded louder at Saturday night's 1-0 loss to Brazil than it was before the Americans lost to Turkey 2-1 on Thursday in Saint-Etienne. "I think it's disrespectful,'' U.S. coach Bruce Arena said. "We respect the national anthem of every country, so I was disappointed with that.'' U.S. players said the whistling disturbed them. "It's upsetting,'' said Earnie Stewart, the U.S. captain Saturday. "On the other hand, it gets you a little riled up, too. We came out of there, everybody had the same feeling, that you want to give 110 percent to make sure that they think about it twice when they do that.'' Forward Landon Donovan was among the more outspoken American players after Thursday's game and again was angered. "It's sad,'' he said. "True colors show.''

Donovan also was upset Portuguese referee Lucilio Cardoso Batista didn't award a penalty kick to the United States after Donovan was tripped up by Brazilian defender Kleberson in the penalty area during first-half injury time. Replays appeared to show the trip occurred after Donovan took the shot, which went wide. "We're Americans. We're not going to get those calls,'' Donovan said.
Posted by: g wiz || 06/23/2003 8:25:00 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It's when the French support you that you want to hang your head in shame...
Posted by: Bulldog || 06/23/2003 8:48 Comments || Top||

#2  But I thought they liked us? They REALLY, REALLY liked us! That's what Woody says in those commercials. Sounds like Woody's been "misinformed".
I suppose it could've been worse. They could've gone out and desecrated an American military cemetery. But it's still early in the week...
Posted by: tu3031 || 06/23/2003 9:14 Comments || Top||

#3  I hate it when we lose a big kick ball game.
Posted by: Shipman || 06/23/2003 9:29 Comments || Top||


Two Blasts Rock Macedonia’s Capital
SKOPJE, Macedonia (AP) - Two bombs exploded in the center of the Macedonian capital Sunday, injuring one person and blowing out windows in nearby buildings, police said. Both bombs were planted in garbage containers and went off simultaneously in the late afternoon, police spokeswoman Mirjana Konteska said.
No one seriously hurt, not much damaged, rather inept -- are Hek's boys vacationing in Europe?
``Anti-terrorist police units were immediately sent to the scene and are investigating,'' Konteska said. She did not give information on motives or suspects in the case.

The Balkan country has been tense since an insurgency in 2001 by militants of the country's restive ethnic Albanian community. They fought government forces for six months until a Western-brokered peace deal in August that year brought a shaky peace. Scattered violence has continued, although the peace accord granted broader rights to ethnic Albanians, nearly a third of Macedonia's 2 million people.

A clandestine ethnic Albanian guerrilla group has claimed responsibility for a number of similar attacks in the past.
Another locale in which Muslims have been radicalized.
Posted by: Steve White || 06/23/2003 1:26:19 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  AFAIK, albanians in Macedonia, though radicalized, are so entirely on political-ethnic grounds - no salafi or other turbaned craziness.
Posted by: liberalhawk || 06/23/2003 9:39 Comments || Top||


Belgium to Change Its War Crimes Law
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - Facing a U.S. threat to force NATO's headquarters out of Brussels, the Belgian government agreed Sunday to change a war crimes law used to target President Bush and other prominent Americans. The amendments would reduce the law's global ambitions, limiting the reach of Belgian courts to cases with a direct link to the country, such as when victims or suspects are Belgian citizens or residents.
Worse than SARS, worse than HIV, worse than the common cold: common sense is breaking out in Belgium!
As it stands, the unique 1993 law allows charges to be brought regardless of where war crimes took place. First applied against Rwandans implicated in the 1994 genocide there, the law since has been used by human rights campaigners, political groups and disgruntled individuals to file complaints against a score of international figures.
disgrunted individuals? Has the common sense virus struck the editors of the Guardian as well?
Government officials said proposed changes would prevent more cases like those lodged recently against Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Secretary of State Colin Powell, or an earlier complaint against Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that provoked outrage in Israel.

``It's not up to Belgium to decide if its justice is better than American justice, or Israeli justice or that of European countries,'' Foreign Minister Louis Michel said. ``We have fine-tuned the law to avoid abuses.''
Swoon! Fatima, my aspirins!
It was unclear whether the changes would placate Washington, which insists the law be dropped. Targeting of Americans intensified in recent weeks after the Iraq war, leading to lawsuits against Bush, Powell, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other senior U.S. officials. Responding to an earlier complaint filed by a left-wing lawyer against U.S. Gen. Tommy Franks, Rumsfeld on June 12 froze funding for a $352 million new NATO headquarters in Brussels and warned that the United States could boycott alliance meetings at the current headquarters.
I think Rummy coughed in their faces. That's how they got the virus.
Even before Rumsfeld's threat, the Belgian government had introduced changes to the legislation to allow the authorities to block cases brought against citizens from countries judged to have fair legal systems. Using those changes, it quickly rejected the recent cases against U.S. officials. Washington, however, said more was needed to prevent the filing of complaints in the first place.

Belgian officials said the new changes should satisfy U.S. concerns by limiting complaints to cases involving Belgians and introducing further safeguards to ensure courts swiftly reject complaints filed against citizens from democratic countries. Michel said the changes would end ``rash and annoying complaints that wrongly target figures from partner countries.'' The foreign minister himself fell foul of the law Friday when an opposition group filed a complaint concerning arms sales to Nepal.
Nope, nope, he had no immunity from the virus either.
The new amendments likely will be approved by parliament, where the governing Liberal and Socialist parties have a majority and the main opposition party has proposed similar changes.

Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt denied charges his government was folding in the face of U.S. pressure, insisting the changes were in response to the recent spate of politically motivated complaints. ``It's not American pressure. If anything, that would have the opposite effect,'' he said. ``We wanted to find a solution that allows us to keep the law.''
Well, okay, the virus is short acting.
He said past and present atrocities in Rwanda and Congo - both former Belgian colonies - showed the need for maintaining the law in its revised form.
Remind me how many Belgians were indicted for what they did in the Congo and Rwanda?
Human rights campaigners criticized the changes but were relieved the government had not decided to drop it completely. ``They've gone a little too far in reducing the scope ... of the law,'' said Reed Brody, counsel with Human Rights Watch in New York. ``It could have been worse.''
Yeah, they could have indicted you.
Posted by: Steve White || 06/23/2003 1:18:04 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I remember some articles from a few weeks ago that grudgingly acknowledged the fact that the current ICC laws were absurd untenable but tried to blame Rumsfled for speaking plainly being blunt and undiplomatic in his demands on Belgium. Some unnamed Eurofficials were saying that Rumsfeld had made it difficult for the Belgians to make changes without being seen as caving in to American demands - the ultimate taboo for a European politician.

Does this mean that they caved anyway then? Spineless 'twerps. How typical. Not that I'm unhappy that they're giving way on this crap fanatasy/delusion of an ICC. Many will doublessly see any humiliation as another example of American bullying and blame Rummy for not allowing for a more face-saving solution. But any humiliation for them is their own fault for creating this situation in the first place.
Posted by: Tokyo Taro || 06/23/2003 2:56 Comments || Top||

#2  Oh wait. I just realized that the article mentions nothing about the ICC. Is this a separate issue, something specifically Belgian and not U.N. related?

Pardon my extreme idiocy above if I have conflated two separte issues although the theme seems to be the same - Europe's political malaise.
Posted by: Tokyo Taro || 06/23/2003 3:11 Comments || Top||

#3  This obviously is in response to the recent lawsuit filed against a Belgian government official. They've been dragging their feet amending the law, only to pick up their heels and hurry along the moment it suddenly got personal.

BTW, this has NOTHING TO DO with the ICC. The International Criminal Court is entirely separate from Belgium, with judges picked from among the signatories, including third and second world dictatorships who call all the shots and don't have, or don't respect, an independent Judiciary. The ICC is supposed to be a standing Nuremburg trials court, open all the time.

Belgium's law has more to do with the poodles having delusions of competence and ability to bring about justice in the world.

IMHO, Justice is the 13th person in a 12 man GI Army platoon...
Posted by: Ptah || 06/23/2003 8:10 Comments || Top||

#4  That would be

ZERO

indicted for the Congo atrocities.

Just so we're clear, the number less than one.

ZERO
Posted by: Chuck of You Big Mouth || 06/23/2003 8:11 Comments || Top||

#5  Ptah> And as I'm commented before, that's OBVIOUSLY why they are limiting the law to Belgians, because they want to avoid Belgians getting indicted.

No reason to intrude common sense in our anti-Belgian propaganda, is there now?

Now I'm betting that someone will claim that my above point is 'unclear', just you wait. ;-)
Posted by: Aris Katsaris || 06/23/2003 8:31 Comments || Top||

#6  the law's limited to Belgians because that is what normal states do, Aris. Anything beyond that is hubris for a poodle-lackey state like belgium. If they chose to indict Tommy Franks, how are they going to secure his surrender to their little court? Threaten to invade?
Posted by: Frank G || 06/23/2003 10:04 Comments || Top||

#7 

My neighbors to the North are at it again, eh? Two judges passing the hot potato back and forth, expressing regret that they may actually have to uphold the law...

These eedjuts are not in trouble because they held some signs or otherwise used freedom of speech, they are in trouble because they trespassed and endangered lives. Not as bad as the kooks who throw Molotov cocktails in the name of non-violence, no, so minor sentences are in order - but if they refuse to abide by the sentences they can try to get bail and appeal or just be put away for contempt of court until they do accept.

Posted by: John Anderson || 06/24/2003 4:48 Comments || Top||


Fifth Column
Six peace activists refuse sentence
Hey?! I didn't know you can do that? Does this work with parking tickets?
Six peace activists convicted of trespassing on a US military facility have refused to comply with their sentence and will face possible imprisonment. A hearing is scheduled for next week. The antiwar protesters, members of the so-called ''PeaceChain 18,'' barricaded the entrance to the US Army Soldier Systems Center in Natick on March 20 to oppose the war in Iraq.
Are you not blinded by our goodness and nobility?! Well, we are!
At their trial last month in Natick District Court, Judge Sarah B. Singer ordered all 18 to pay $50 or perform 10 hours of community service. The maximum sentence for trespassing is 30 days in jail and a $100 fine. At their daylong trial, Singer expressed sympathy with the activists and allowed extensive criticism of US foreign policy and alleged war crimes. During sentencing, however, she said she was obligated to hand down a punishment.''America is a country of laws,'' she said. ''I simply cannot ignore the Supreme Judicial Court.''
...as much as I would like to.
As the court deadline approached yesterday, six activists vowed to disobey her order. Lewis Randa, director of the Sherborn-based Peace Abbey, which organized the protest, said antiwar demonstrations were a public service and participants should not be compelled to perform additional duties.
Well, isn't Lewis a pompous lefty douchebag...
Obstructing the front gate of the military facility, known locally as Natick Labs, helped publicize an unjust war, he said in an interview outside the court. Accepting the sentence, he added, would undermine that message.''By doing so, it would be tantamount to saying that what we did in front of the gates was not community service,'' he said.
It wasn't. It was a crime. Enjoy your time inside, Louie. Teach the inmates to sing Kumbaya. Maybe they can teach you something in return...
Sharing fresh bread in the court parking lot yesterday, the activists said they were prepared for incarceration. Between prayers and legal strategy, they discussed their tolerance for jail, visiting hours, and the possibility of vigils.
Oooooooooh! Vigils! Who do they think they are, Mumia and Friends?
At a hearing before Judge Paul Healy, the activists rejected their original sentence.''I can't in conscience pay the money or do the community service,'' said Thomas Lewis, 63, of Worcester, who said he had served three years in a Pennsylvania penitentiary for destroying draft records during the Vietnam War. ''I welcome jail.''
Tommy gets another "standing up to the man" war story. Some kids never grow up.
Healy declined to sentence the activists, instead referring the case to Singer. The activists will next appear in court on June 26. In addition to the trespass offense, the six face possible contempt of court charges, said Peter T. Elikann, a Boston criminal attorney and the vice chairman of the state Bar Association's individual rights and responsibilities section.
The charges could result in up to 60 days in jail, he said.
''It is obviously against the law not to comply with the judge's order,'' Elikann said in an interview. ''[She] can certainly enforce a harsher punishment.''
This is Massachusetts. She'll probably have them over for dinner.
Three activists have paid the fine and nine others performed community service, including five who pulled weeds and pruned flowers at a public garden in downtown Natick. Dorothy Walsh, 61, of Dedham, said the gardening complemented the message behind the initial protest.''The bombs of war destroy not only people,'' she said, ''but they destroy the earth.''
Old hippies never die, they just go to protests, get sentenced to community service, and wait for the next dimwit cause to come along. Beats working for a living.
Posted by: tu3031 || 06/23/2003 1:11:34 PM || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Judge Sarah B. Singer ordered all 18 to pay $50 or perform 10 hours of community service.

The Judge must know how worthless these creeps are, their labor isn't even worth the minimum wage.:^0
Posted by: Jabba the Nutt || 06/23/2003 23:27 Comments || Top||

#2  We're too easy on these morons. We should immediately draft them, and send them to Vieques to do cleanup work for six months. The survivors will get a pension. The amount necessary to fund such pensions out out of my pocket will be less than what I pay for a cup of coffee. Even better, there will be very, very, very few second offenders.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 06/23/2003 22:12 Comments || Top||

#3  Judge Sarah B. Singer ordered all 18 to pay $50 or perform 10 hours of community service.

The Judge must know how worthless these creeps are, their labor isn't even worth the minimum wage.:^0
Posted by: Jabba the Nutt || 06/23/2003 23:27 Comments || Top||


José Bové, GM "rebel", taken to jail
Eighty gendarmes swooped on France's anti-globalisation figurehead, José Bové, at his home yesterday, arresting him and taking him by helicopter to a nearby prison where he is to serve 10 months for destroying genetically modified crops.
Eighty?
The peasants' rights campaigner and sheep farmer had been hoping for a presidential pardon from Jacques Chirac, but found none forthcoming. Dominique Perben, the justice minister, said: "If Mr Bové finds himself today in this situation, it is because of the decisions he himself made."
That's Francaise for "tough shit."
Mr Bové and a group of supporters ransacked a partly-built McDonald's fast food restaurant in Millau, near the farm on which he raises ewes to make Roquefort cheese, in 1999. He was sentenced to three months for that offence and served six weeks in prison in 2002. The current sentence, to be served in Villeneuve-les-Maguelone prison near Montpellier, includes one six-month and one four-month term imposed for destroying a field of GM rice in June 1999 and GM maize in April 2000. His lawyer, François Roux, complained yesterday about the gendarmes' attitude to his client. "They broke down the door and shattered a window, despite the fact that he was alone and of course offered no resistance. The minimum would have been to knock on the door before entering."
Why 80 police to drag this guy to jug? Not that I'm complaining about the end-result.
Posted by: Steve White || 06/23/2003 1:37:58 AM || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  A small force would have been attacked by the guard of activists who was caring for Jose Bove. BTW gendarmes are technically not police but military.
Posted by: JFM || 06/23/2003 4:06 Comments || Top||

#2  I think it would be a nice idea to indict the heads of the organizations who protested against the war along with Schroeder, Fischer, Chirac and Villepin: their action was aimed at buying Saddam time. Time to kill more people.
Posted by: JFM || 06/23/2003 4:17 Comments || Top||

#3  Tokyo Taro> They're two widely separate things. Not really morally mind you, just in the way the world treats them.
Posted by: Aris Katsaris || 06/23/2003 6:02 Comments || Top||

#4  "They broke down the door and shattered a window, despite the fact that he was alone and of course offered no resistance. The minimum would have been to knock on the door before entering." Boo Hoo. Did Jose knock and politely ask if he could trash a McDonalds. BTW did you know that young Jose was raised in Berkley.
Posted by: Edmund Burke || 06/23/2003 7:01 Comments || Top||

#5  Interesting. Doesn't France oppose GM foods and has forced the EU to do the same, so that third world countries in Africa are fooled/intimidated to oppose the use thereof in THEIR countries, and thus perpetuate malnutrition and hunger in their countries?

It now becomes clear: The French do not oppose GM foods. They oppose AMERICAN BRAND GM foods and want to protect potential markets so that THEIR BRAND of GM foods can have free entrance when they finally get their act together.

Foolish Jose! You destroyed the WRONG fields!
Posted by: Ptah || 06/23/2003 7:57 Comments || Top||

#6  Let him cool his heels for two years, then cut him loose.
Posted by: Ptah || 06/23/2003 8:11 Comments || Top||

#7  EU asks that GM foods are labelled as such, it doesn't oppose their existence by themselves.
Posted by: Aris Katsaris || 06/23/2003 8:26 Comments || Top||

#8  Some African countries where people were dying from hunger have refused GM food aid from the US because after having accepted it the EU would have banned their future agricultural exports on the basis of them being tainted. Additionnaly those countries refuse new, more productive and more nutritional varieties on fear of the EU thus keeping them dependent on EU imports and unablme to compete on third markets. People get beri-beri because their countries fear EU's retaliation if they plant a GM rice who provides vitamin A. People are dying due to the Evil Union.
Posted by: JFM || 06/23/2003 9:09 Comments || Top||

#9  They should've gone in shooting. I mean you're dealing with a destroyer of genetically modified crops here! Why take chances!
Another French victory in the War on Terror!
Posted by: tu3031 || 06/23/2003 9:20 Comments || Top||

#10  Aris: you may want to catch up on the EU's ban on GM foods. It isn't simply about "labelling."
And, as this story illustrates, it isn't just the US that has problems with the so-called "moratorium"
US confronts EU on GM foods ban


Posted by: R. McLeod || 06/23/2003 20:09 Comments || Top||

#11  He didn't just trespass and destroy crops. The real good part is that he also claimed his own crops had been tainted, but an investigation showed - and he has been convicted for this, too - he stole and planted the stuff.
Posted by: John Anderson || 06/24/2003 4:54 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Pak denies joint military operations with US at Afghan borders
Pakistan today denied any joint operation with the US troops along its borders with Afghanistan to capture al Qaeda and Taliban militants and contradicted reports that tribesmen from the border area resisted Pakistan Army's attempts to enter the Pak-Afghan borders. "There is no joint operation by the US and Pakistani troops along the Pak-Afghan border - no US troops are in our side," Foreign Office spokesman Masood Khan told a weekly briefing here.
Technically, that is true. The US troops are on the Afghan side of the border. Think hammer and anvil.
"Who, us? Act against our Islamic brothers? Certainly not! And our relations with the local muscle are sexual excellent!"
He said the Pakistan Army had entered the tribal areas of Khyber and Kurram Agencies with the objective to "open up" Mohamand Agency. "It is purely our operation," and denied reports that there was heavy resistance from the local tribesman. Khan claimed, the Pakistani troops were welcomed in the area. He, however, admitted that there was some resistance in "one small pocket", "but negotiations are underway to bring them into the main stream".
"Or else"
He said, it would be better to describe the Pakistani operation in Mohmand Agency as an exercise and not an "operation".
A "live fire" exercise, perhaps?
With tanks. Elk season starts soon...
He said the Army entered the area with the consent of the elders of the area and the people were taken into confidence.
"Taken into confidence or taken into custody, take your pick."

Also, this from the BBC on the "exercise":
The authorities in a semi-autonomous tribal area near Pakistan's border with Afghanistan have seized 22 anti-aircraft missiles from a village.
Oooh! Duck season's opening!
The assistant political agent in the Kuram Agency tribal area, Kifayatullah Khan, told reporters that the seizures were made following a tip-off from local villagers. He said the missiles had been stored by an Afghan national, who came from the eastern Afghan province of Paktia, and is now being sought by police.
Must have been getting ready for "duck season".
Posted by: Steve || 06/23/2003 3:00:30 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Pakistan Arrests Five Suspected Militants
Police arrested five suspected members of an outlawed Islamic militant group that has been blamed for killing Shiite Muslims and the kidnap-slaying of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, officials said Monday. The suspected Lashkar-e-Jhangvi members were picked up during raids in Multan, about 390 miles south of Islamabad, over the past week, said Hamid Mukhtar Gondal, a senior superintendent of police in the city. Gondal said two of the men were senior leaders of the group and one of them was wanted in the killing of eight policemen in attacks in Multan in 1999 and 2000. Police said they also found a "hit list" with the names of several Shiite Muslims, including a cleric and businessman from Multan. They also seized weapons and grenades. The leaders were identified as Abdul Majeed and Shahabuddin. Both are suspected of involvement in attacks on Shiite Muslims, who are a minority in Pakistan.
Posted by: Steve || 06/23/2003 9:33:10 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Shahab-uddin, alias Imran, a provincial chief of the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, one of Pakistan's most feared militant groups, was arrested overnight in the central city of Multan, they said. "He was among the top five terrorists of Pakistan and most wanted man of Lashkar," Multan's deputy police chief, Iftikhar Ahmad Chaudhry, told a news conference.
Posted by: Steve || 06/23/2003 9:56 Comments || Top||


Report: India Test-Fires Missile
India on Sunday test-fired a short-range, surface-to-air missile capable of targeting aircraft and sea-skimming missiles. The supersonic Trishul missile was fired from a mobile launcher in the eastern Indian state of Orissa. The solid-fuel missile carries a payload of up to 33 pounds and has a range of about 5 miles and a radar guidance system. India has conducted four missile tests in the past month. The other three involved the surface-to-air Akash missile, which has a range of 16 miles. Defense Ministry officials could not be reached immediately for confirmation. Pakistan's foreign ministry had no immediate comment, but that country also tests missiles capable of reaching India. India's test was unlikely to affect the confidence-building measures under way by the nuclear-armed rivals. India's missile arsenal also includes the short-range ballistic missile Prithvi, the anti-tank Nag missile and the supersonic Brahmos missile.
Indians are getting better all the time. We ought to be working with them, not at cross-purposes with them.
Posted by: Steve White || 06/23/2003 1:33:55 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq
Iraq’s former ambassador to Syria attempts to commit suicide
Iraq's former ambassador to Syria Mohammed Rifaat El-Aani has attempted to commit suicide after his recent return to Baghdad, shooting himself in the head at his house in the Iraqi capital, the Arabic Al Hayat newspaper reported on Sunday. He is currently in a critical condition, fighting for his life in a Baghdad hospital, the daily quoted an unnamed diplomatic source as saying.
Suicide, huh?
Aani was among the 35 Iraqi ambassadors during Saddam Hussein's regime who had returned to Baghdad in response to a call by the U.S. occupation authorities. He was interrogated for at least four hours and spent three days in prison before he was allowed to go to his home. The diplomatic source said the main topic during Aani's interrogation was Saddam's regime officials who allegedly fled to Syria after his removal.
Humm, wonder if he had help with his "suicide" attempt?
Posted by: Steve || 06/23/2003 10:04:42 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "The gun was not found, however, we still believe it was a suicide"
Posted by: Frank G || 06/23/2003 10:24 Comments || Top||


U.S. Trying to ID DNA After Syrian Shootout
EFL
U.S. experts are trying to identify those killed and captured when an attack on a fleeing Iraqi convoy lead to the shooting of Syrian border guards, three defense officials said Monday.
Shooting Syrians? Nobody told me.
Working partly on information from previously captured Iraqi leaders, special operations troops attacked the convoy in western Iraq last week to stop what they believed were fugitives linked to the fallen regime of Saddam Hussein. It was unclear who shot first, but American forces engaged in a firefight with Syrian border guards and several guards were hit, one senior Pentagon official said on condition of anonymity. The guards were given medical treatment by U.S. forces on the Iraqi side of the border, and it was unclear how many were wounded and whether any had died, he said.
Humm, I don't recall any Syrian calls for Dire Revenge(tm). Interesting that we didn't hear about this before.
Two officials said they had no reason yet to believe that Saddam or his sons were among the fugitives. They didn't comment on whether Saddam was the intended target in the strike. The special Task Force 20 commando team was aided in the attack last Wednesday by fire laid down by an AC-130 gunship and other air support, one official said.
Spectre, giving new meaning to "Death from Above".
The convoy was traveling a known smuggling route near the city of Qaim. It was unclear whether smugglers were among casualties and how many Iraqis were captured or killed. But a third Defense Department official said forensics experts went to the site to collect evidence, possibly for DNA testing. U.S. intelligence has no knowledge of any request to identify remains from the strike through DNA matching, said a fourth U.S. official, also speaking on the condition of anonymity.
"No comment"
Saddam and his sons are the top three on the U.S. list of most-wanted officials in Iraq, and coalition officials say the lack of evidence about their fate is fueling resistance to the occupation within Iraq. There were multiple reports over the weekend that Saddam's top aide, captured a week ago, had told U.S. interrogators that Saddam and his two sons survived the war and escaped to Syria and other reports that they were then forced to return to Iraq.
Interesting.
Posted by: Steve || 06/23/2003 9:39:11 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  More details: US military sources said the strikes were launched after the interception of a satellite telephone conversation involving either Saddam or his sons. The convoy was struck near the Iraqi border town of Qaim, while the operation involved the US air force and ground troops of the Third Armored Cavalry Regiment.
Posted by: Steve || 06/23/2003 10:02 Comments || Top||

#2  Becky's been on a roll on this one. The Syrian intervention, along with the heavy attack method and DNA collection leads me to be an optimist...But I'll believe it when the DNA proves it.....hope they bagged all of the boys
Posted by: Frank G || 06/23/2003 10:07 Comments || Top||


US hopes raised of Saddam hit
Officials in the United States have expressed hope that a strike on a convoy in Iraq may have killed former President Saddam Hussein or his sons. Investigations, including DNA testing, are reported to be taking place into the identities of the victims in last week's air strike. Confusion still reigns about the level of intelligence which prompted the attack, as defence sources have given widely varying accounts of events to the media. The Pentagon has refused officially to confirm or deny that an attempt to kill the former Iraqi leader has taken place. But the speculation has led to optimism that the Iraqi leader may have been killed.
I'm not holding my breath
Spokesmen for the US Central Command have turned down all opportunities to confirm or deny on the record reports that American Hellfire missiles were fired from an unmanned aircraft.
Predator's R'Us.
But plenty of speculation is going on off the record. Demonstrating the level of uncertainty that still surrounds events, one unnamed administration official told the New York Times that a good intelligence lead had instigated the convoy attack. But another said: "I have no information that leads us to believe we got Saddam." Officials said a team was moving in to try to recover the DNA of those who were in the convoy in order to check their identities, but it was unclear whether or not that work had begun. The search for the deposed leader has intensified since the capture of his close aide, Mahmud al-Tikriti, who has told American interrogators that Saddam Hussein and his sons are still alive. Last week's air strike is reported to have taken place near the Syrian border in western Iraq.
Gee, what a surprise!
Mahmud al-Tikriti said he had fled to Syria with the former president's two sons, Uday and Qusay but they had later returned to Iraq.
Did they want to return, or were they asked to leave?
Posted by: Steve || 06/23/2003 9:15:24 AM || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  More details: Defense officials said yesterday that they were investigating whether a strike on a three-vehicle convoy fleeing Iraq near the Syrian border last Wednesday killed top officials in the government of former president Saddam Hussein, perhaps including Hussein or his sons.
The officials said that DNA tests were being carried out on the victims, and the AC-130 gunship strike by Special Operations forces had drawn high-level attention in the Pentagon. But they added that so far there was no evidence Hussein was hit. The attack on the moving convoy took place close to the Syrian border in western Iraq, officials said. One source said the strike "chewed up something big" and added that the targets were believed to be among the top four or five Iraqis being sought. Separately, a senior defense official said there was "nothing specific" about Hussein in the intelligence that prompted the attack, "although it was tied to the leadership in some manner or another." A third U.S. official said there was very good intelligence that "one or more high-value targets" were in the convoy.
Posted by: Steve || 06/23/2003 9:27 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
MILF Sez "We Was Framed!"
EFL
The continuing saga of peace negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has taken another twist with Sunday’s announced find by the Army of bomb-making ingredients and paraphernalia in Maguindanao following three hours of firefight with Moro rebels. Alluding to the MILF’s peace gesture of renouncing terrorism -- one of the demands of the government -- President Arroyo said Monday the State will adopt a policy of “calibrated response” to rebel actions: a confidence-building move will merit a parallel move, but any new act of terrorism will be met with full military might. “Our will for peace is only matched by our will to defeat terrorism,” Mrs. Arroyo declared at the launching of the Pasig River Redevelopment Project at the Plaza del Mexico, Mulle del Rio in Intramuros.
The President noted that Sunday’s denunciation of terrorism by the MILF unfortunately came with the discovery of the huge explosives caché, topped by 450 kilos of C4.
Unfortunately for the MILF
The Army said it stumbled on this after fighting rebels in barangay Payan, Kabuntalan, Maguindanao, on Saturday. The MILF spokesman, Eid Kabalu, told Today Sunday night it was apparently “planted” because, he said, the place of encounter is a marshy area, therefore not a logical place for storing explosives.
I don't know, seems like a good place to me.
The military command in Central Mindanao is trying to find out where the huge caché of explosives seized on Saturday had come from, Maj. Gen. Generoso Senga, 6th Infantry Division commander, said on Monday. His troops had found the explosives caché after a firefight with alleged MILF rebels in a remote part of Maguindanao. Senga did not say, however, if they will file charges of illegal possession of explosives against the MILF.
Does seems a bit redundent.
Senga claimed that they found 450 kilos of C4 plastic explosives, usually used only by the military here but a favorite of terrorists abroad although that of the Czech variety called Semtex; 182 kilos of gunpowder, fuses and tools.
Senga said the seized bomb components only bolstered the military’s belief that the MILF is engaged in terrorist activities in the country.
Like we needed more proof
In a letter to President Arroyo, Hashim Salamat had denied they were engaged in terrorism, however, and explained they are a liberation force and do not engage and will not engage in terrorism. Saying he is familiar with the area, Kabalu blasted the military and asked, “How could there be a weapons factory there when the place is submerged in water? The place is a marshy area. The bomb components do not belong to us but to the military.”
"Lies, all lies"
Senga had countered by saying the bomb ingredients were found inside a small boat, claiming further that the MILF fighters tried but failed to blow up the explosive items “in order to erase the evidence that they are involved in terrorist activities.”
Somebody was more concerned with getting away than with getting rid of the evidence. Nice catch, keep up the pressure.
Posted by: Steve || 06/23/2003 11:52:08 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Middle East
Palestinians list conditions for assuming security
JPost - Reg Req'd
At a meeting between Maj. Gen. Amos Gilad, Israel's policy coordinator for the territories, and Palestinian Security Minister Mohammad Dahlan held Monday afternoon at Erez Checkpoint, the Palestinians presented their conditions for assuming security responsibility in Gaza and Bethlehem.
"Demands"? "Conditions"? Bwahahahah
Dahlan requested that Israel stop targeted killings, allow freedom of movement through the main thoroughfare between northern and southern Gaza, cease military operations within the territory, open the Rafiah checkpoint 24 hours a day, and refurbish Gaza Airport.
Refurbish the airport? Right.... how about a nice berber carpet throughout and new drapes in the Hamas Lounge? Happy?
Gilad is expected to respond to the requests on Tuesday.
How about "No"
Earlier Monday, Gilad said that Israel does not want to see a merely temporary cease-fire, known in Arabic as a hudna, because rather than preventing further attacks, such a deal would only give Hamas time to regroup. "They are not speaking about a cessation of terror, but a temporary cease-fire, a conditional one which they can violate at any time," Gilad said in an interview with Israel Radio. Dahlan said that by rejecting a hudna Israel is inviting more Hamas attacks.
the bicycle of violence
The dispute arose as the Palestinian Authority appeared near a deal with Hamas and other terror groups to halt their attacks against Israelis, as part of the Palestinian commitment to the road map process. Israel demands a complete dismantling of terrorist groups—as Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas pledged at the Aqaba Summit that he would do, Gilad said. Gilad said Israel would agree to give the Palestinians three or four weeks if necessary to work out a more viable deal. He indicated that Israel would accept a deal reached by agreement with Hamas, but only one that would eradicate the terror threat to Israel.
"Demands...ok, how about we aim a little-bit better on the targetted killings? Less 'civilians' hurt? Is that enough for you?"
Posted by: Frank G || 06/23/2003 3:42:46 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Anon, if the UN were not such a puppet and blatant forum for every oppressive regime on God's green earth, you might warrant a look. But as it is, don't bother us with 'UN resolutions'. Their moral force is as empty as their military force.
Posted by: Scott || 06/24/2003 0:02 Comments || Top||

#2  Don't forget Resolution 7254 condeming Israel for having as many vowels in its name as consonants.
Posted by: Thane of Cawdor || 06/24/2003 1:38 Comments || Top||

#3  Anon, i'm posting this too late for probably anyone to read this, but here goes:

Were the amount of scrolling necessary to get through your well known list of "grievances" from the heavily biased and largely counterproductive U.N. to be on a appropriate medium, say like a roll of toilet paper, they wouldn't be worth the crap I'd wipe on it. where is one, just one U.n. censure of this quasi-entity called the palestinian nation in their hideously successful attempts at spreading chaos and murder, not just upon Israel, but the world in general. where is the resolution reprimanding them for the virtually complete lack of adherance to the Oslo accords (the anti jewish, anti Israeli school books, pitching nothing but hatred to a generation of children who are supposed to grow up as friendly neighbors -just for starters)

and as for the U.N. -if they really gave half a sh!t about the situation there, they would have found a better solution than cooperating with the surrounding Arab nations in keeping those "temporary" U.N. refugee camps in existance to this day.
Posted by: Dripping Sarcasm || 06/24/2003 2:26 Comments || Top||


Home Front
Not WoT:Court Limits Race As Factor in Admissions
WASHINGTON - In two split decisions, the Supreme Court on Monday ruled that minority applicants may be given an edge when applying for admissions to universities, but limited how much a factor race can play in the selection of students. The high court struck down a point system used by the University of Michigan, but did not go as far as opponents of affirmative action had wanted. The court approved a separate program used at the University of Michigan law school that gives race less prominence in the admissions decision-making process.

The Constitution "does not prohibit the law school's narrowly tailored use of race in admissions decisions to further a compelling interest in obtaining the educational benefits that flow from a diverse student body," Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote. The court divided in both cases. It upheld the law school program that sought a "critical mass" of minorities by a 5-4 vote, with O'Connor siding with the court's more liberal justices to decide the case. The court split 6-3 in finding the undergraduate program unconstitutional. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist wrote the majority opinion in the undergraduate case, joined by O'Connor and Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony M. Kennedy, Clarence Thomas and Stephen Breyer.
I know this has nothing to do with WoT,but CRAP. Now before you start yelling at me for being a bigot I have missed out on 4 good jobs to less qualified people. 1 example my cousin was hired at one of the local copper mines over me. Why,because she was a women,even though I had 3 years experience as a heavy equipment-operater.
Posted by: raptor || 06/23/2003 12:05:27 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  When will it end? When will we all be 'equal' and treated the same by the law, which now favors one group over another?
(Maybe those questions are unanswerable. Maybe you'd have to have clairvoyance to answer those. O.K. then; if you can't answer 'when', answer 'what'. What conditions would have to be met so that, for example, black people would not be given extra points on college admissions? When blacks are 10%, 14.4%, 22.635467%, 33 1/3% of the college class? )

Actually, the answer is "Not until the groups of people not getting 'extra points' rise up and demand an end to this discrimination." As long as the gov't offers something, there will always be people with their hand out.
Posted by: eric || 06/23/2003 23:25 Comments || Top||

#2  We have now enshrined racism as a fundamental principle of our country. I spit on O'Connor.
Posted by: someone || 06/24/2003 0:54 Comments || Top||

#3  Its time to abolish the federal judiciary, as the Constitution allows the Congress to establish and fund those courts it deems appropritae only the Supreme Court must exist. By eliminating the Federal judiciary it sends a message to those annointed who believe the Court has the wisdom to overide the people and judiciary. Does anyone believe this will impact seriously on quotas? I am sick of this country discriminating against one group of people while elevating another group. This isn't the America I grew up in. A pox on the Court for failing to defend the 14th amendment and abolishing this evil system.
Posted by: TJ Jackson || 06/24/2003 2:42 Comments || Top||


East Asia
Taiwan: Chen undeterred by US fears over N-power vote
TAIPEI - Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian yesterday pledged to press for Taiwan's right to hold an unprecedented referendum on nuclear power policy, despite US warnings that doing so could escalate tensions across the Taiwan Strait.
Maybe China can help them go nuclear?
'Direct democratic rights, including referenda, are part of our fundamental human rights,' Mr Chen said in a speech in Kaohsiung. 'I believe those rights could never be stripped or opposed by any individual, government or country,' he added. Concerns were raised following press reports that Mr Chen proposed the plebiscite to coincide with next March's presidential elections. He also wants to seek public opinion on efforts to rejoin the World Health Organisation (WHO), which ousted Taipei in 1972 under Beijing's pressure. Mr Chen's remarks came after Mr Douglas Paal, director of the American Institute in Taiwan - the de facto US embassy here - said Washington opposed the referenda. 'They (the US) are concerned about this because they fear it will cause unrest and tensions in the Taiwan Strait,' presidential secretary-general Chiou I-jen said, referring to Taiwan's rival mainland China.
"Well, what the hell's here now?"
'The stance of the government is very clear: neither the issue of nuclear policy nor WHO membership has anything to do with reunification or independence,' he said. Nonetheless, the United Daily News said Beijing had been rattled by the proposal. It claimed China had requested Washington to take the move seriously, suggesting referenda would be part of a 'gradual effort to move towards independence'. Taiwan's opposition parties also urged the US against meddling. 'Even though Taiwan's timing of the referendum and the kind of issues discussed should be considered discreetly, Taiwanese citizens still have the right to express their opinions on public policies,' People First Party chairman James Soong was quoted by the Taipei Times as saying. Kuomintang chairman Lien Chan said the right to hold a referendum was a basic right.
A Taiwan with nukes would push China over the edge, and IAEA and other agencies can hardly ignore a Taiwan with reactors, like they do in the UN general assembly, WHO, etc
Posted by: Frank G || 06/23/2003 11:14:46 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Who gives a tuppence about what the PRC thinks. Taiwan has the right to arm itself, and probably has nuclear weapons. What sane nation with the PRC as a neighbor wouldn't? If Taiwan depends on US guarantees for their independence they would do well to remember American resolve in Vietnam when Hanoi sent 20 divisions and 500 tanks south while the Dems cut all aid. If the PRC wants a solution to its population problem it will continue to threaten Taiwans survivial as a nation.
Posted by: TJ Jackson || 06/24/2003 2:33 Comments || Top||


Middle East
Gun Sex Funeral for Splodydopes in Gaza
Great photo at the Little Green Footballs website; just the kind of thing that warms your heart on a Monday morning. The caption is below, but hit the link.
An armed Palestinian fires his weapon while others chant anti-Israeli slogans during a funeral Monday, June 23, 2003, in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun. Four Palestinians were killed apparently when a bomb they were planting went off in northern Gaza.
Posted by: Steve White || 06/23/2003 11:43:18 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Couple more dead Hamas leaders and they'll ask for a truce - just to re-establish a chain of command
Posted by: Frank G || 06/23/2003 10:23 Comments || Top||


East/Subsaharan Africa
Banks to Block Liberian President’s Funds
Swiss authorities ordered a freeze Monday on any bank accounts of Liberian President Charles Taylor, so war crimes prosecutors can search for possible illegal diamond profits linked to West Africa's conflicts.
There goes your 401K, Chucky.
Taylor has been indicted for war crimes by a U.N.-backed Sierra Leone court for his alleged role in backing rebels who committed atrocities during that country's 1996-2001 civil war. In return for helping the rebels, Taylor received uncut diamonds, the war crimes court told the Swiss Justice Ministry in its request for a freeze on Taylor's assets. "He is claimed to have invested the proceeds from the diamond sales in a number of countries, including Switzerland," the ministry said, announcing its order for Swiss banks to freeze any accounts. The Swiss ministry said there was no immediate indication from banks how much money might be involved. The freeze also applies to accounts of Taylor's relatives, "members of his regime and various business people and companies," it said. The ministry said the court also asked for relevant Swiss bank records. David Crane, the U.S. prosecutor for the court, welcomed the swift Swiss response to the court's request on Thursday. He said the cooperation would help "disentangle Taylor's finances and identify the profits he reaped from his criminal activity... The money may be evidence of the joint criminal enterprise that we allege Taylor, with several other indictees, conducted in Sierra Leone over a period of years." Taylor is widely accused by the United Nations, rights groups and others of enriching himself off illegal gun and diamond trafficking in the region. He also is alleged to be reaping much of the profits from timber sales in Liberia, which has West Africa's last rain forests.
Killing people is one thing, but profiting from the destruction of the rain forest is the last straw!
The ministry said it had ordered the freezing of the accounts as a precaution and that the Swiss Federal Prosecutor's Office would take over the case following a formal preliminary examination. The court, set up last year, indicted Taylor on June 4. Taylor faces a rebel insurgency in his own country and recently reached a cease-fire this month with rebels on the brink of overrunning his capital, Monrovia. But he has since renounced provisions in the deal calling for him to step down.
Hope you invested those funds in more than one country, Chuck.
Posted by: Steve || 06/23/2003 11:31:57 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Middle East
Pals claim to expect Hamas truce with Israel. Yeah, right.
(AP) - Palestinian officials said Monday they expect a positive response from Hamas on a truce with Israel soon, perhaps even by the end of the day(Uh-huh, and Voldemort's a Muggle), and Egyptian diplomatic sources said an announcement would be made in Cairo. Leaders of the Islamic militant group shut off their phones or declined comment. A truce is crucial for implementing a U.S.-backed peace plan, the "road map" to Palestinian statehood by 2005. In the first stage, the Palestinians must dismantle militant groups, while Israel must gradually withdraw to positions held before the outbreak of fighting 33 months ago.
When did THEY get a deed for the Brooklyn Bridge
Posted by: Ri'Neref || 06/23/2003 9:26:33 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


East/Subsaharan Africa
Malawi terror suspects block extradition
A Malawi court has ordered the authorities not to deport five alleged al-Qaeda members. The five foreign nationals were arrested over the weekend. Sources privy to the operation told BBC News Online that they were arrested in a joint operation by the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Malawi's National Intelligence Bureau (NIB). Blantyre lawyer Shabir Latif told High Court judge Justice Healey Potani that his clients were arrested without being told what crime they had allegedly committed. "They were treated without dignity as they were handcuffed, blind-folded and transferred to Lilongwe where they are being kept in an unknown location and are said to be awaiting deportation to an unknown destination on suspicion of being members of al-Qaeda," he said.

Mr Latif alleged that the Malawi Government wants to hand over the five to the CIA who would - according to him - take them to Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba where other al-Qaeda suspects - especially those arrested in Afghanistan - are being detained. "Security officers without a warrant searched their houses and seized their computers and confiscated their money," he said. The lawyer described the methods used in the arrest of the five as "unconstitutional and unlawful for it violates the right to freedom of movement, the right of all people not to be discriminated against on grounds of race or origin or nationality". Justice Potani, in his order granting the injunction, ordered the government to bring the five detainees before a court of law within 48 hours to be told of their offence under Malawi laws or any international legal instruments or release them on bail. The Directorate of Public Prosecutions has since indicated that it would challenge the injunction.
The arrested al-Qaeda suspects include: Mahmud Sardar Issa, a Sudanese national who heads the charitable Islamic Zakat Fund Trust in Blantyre; Fahad Ral Bahli, a Saudi national who is Malawi Branch Director of the Registered Trustees of the Prince Sultan Bin Aziz Special Committee on Relief; Turkish nationals Arif Ulusam, a Blantyre restaurant owner, and Ibrahim Itabaci, executive director of Bedir International School; Kenyan national Khalifa Abdi Hassan, an Islamic scholar hired by the Moslem Association of Malawi. According to the sources, al-Qaeda wanted to use their charitable organisations to channel money from Asia - where al-Qaeda is based - to fund operations in Africa and beyond.
Qaeda seems to be really interested in Africa lately...
Posted by: Steve || 06/23/2003 8:58:15 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Korea
Blundering at the Top
Now that everyone knows who's in charge of Security
A weird photo was published in many newspapers Monday. Taken last Friday when President Roh Moo-hyun visited the National Intelligence Service, faces of 22 mid-level officials from the spy agency, who are in the back row, were blacked out to protect their identities. But over at the Internet-based news service Ohmynews!, the same photo was posted without the concealment. The administrators of the site only corrected the slipup after it had been up for all to see for 39 hours. As a result, the 22 officials were all identifiable. The photo was taken on a day the president ordered that reforms go forward, and the NIS pledged to strengthen its information services in response. Considering this blunder, and the nature of the service, which is dedicated to the preservation of public peace, it may not be called the nation's top intelligence agency much longer.

The photo was provided by Cheong Wa Dae to Ohmynews!, the government-friendly Internet news service that the president selected for his first interview while he was the president-elect. Cheong Wa Dae said that the photo was provided to the news service because it thought it wouldn’t cause much trouble. The incident shows the level of understanding about security held by Cheong Wa Dae staff members, who were previously student activists. Ohmynews! even wrote next to the photo: "Cheong Wa Dae publicizes the faces of 22 executive members of the NIS." Cheong Wa Dae and the NIS were both unaware that the problem version of the photo was on the Internet; finally someone found out and the news service was asked to delete the photo. After learning about this situation, it is difficult to avoid feeling insecure and worried about the nation's future.
Posted by: Michael || 06/23/2003 8:17:28 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front
FBI turned captured Qaeda
The American al-Qaeda operative unmasked last week as having planned to bring down the Brooklyn Bridge was first detained in March, and has been used by the FBI for months as a double agent, it was reported yesterday. US authorities waited until last week to announce a plea bargain struck with Iyman Faris, a Pakistani-born lorry driver ordered to scout out terror targets, including the New York landmark. They did not say that Faris, who was also ordered to study ultralight aircraft, and the possibility of derailing a train into a chemical storage facility in Washington, had been under FBI control for months.
Oh, sneaky us.
Justice Department officials told Time magazine that Faris was secretly detained about two weeks after the dramatic capture on March 1 in Pakistan of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, al-Qaeda's chief of operations. Installed in a safe house in Virginia, Faris sent messages to his terrorist commanders by mobile phone and email. "He was sitting in the safe house making calls for us. It was a huge triumph," a senior Bush administration official told Time. After pleading guilty to offering material support to al-Qaeda, Faris will be sentenced in August. He faces up to 20 years in prison.
Shame he wasn't useful for longer.
Posted by: Bulldog || 06/23/2003 5:46:42 AM || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Oh, forgot to add that this indeed is a triumph for the FBI.
Posted by: Ptah || 06/23/2003 8:11 Comments || Top||


Iran
Hundreds jailed as Iran rounds up protesters
Hundreds of students have been arrested in Iran, activists said yesterday, giving warning that the clerical regime's repression would trigger a violent backlash. Student leaders carrying placards declaring "We want freedom for imprisoned students" staged a sit-in in front of parliament. They demanded the release of about 500 students they said have been arrested since last Thursday after anti-government protests around the country. "Even if they send us to prison and take us to solitary confinement there are others who have more daring slogans than us and they will confront the system with more violent methods," said Saeed Razavi Faqih, one of the student leaders.

The demonstrations - which were sparked on June 10 by plans to privatise higher education but spiralled into a wider political protest - have been hailed by the United States as a campaign for freedom. They have appeared to fizzle out recently after the arrests and clashes with pro-regime militants. There have been unprecedented calls for the removal of the clerical regime, and accusations that reformists led by President Mohammad Khatami were powerless before the judiciary and security forces, which are controlled by unelected clerics. The regime has denounced the protesters as "mercenaries" trying to overthrow the government at the instigation of America.
Posted by: Bulldog || 06/23/2003 5:35:30 AM || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  well i guess if the govt is cracking doen this hard, the movement isnt quite "fizzling" (is it regular police doing the arresting, or special security forces?)

I would be leary of both Peoples mujahideen, and of Reza Pahlavie - a glance at Iranian blogs (unscientific sample, to be sure) would indicate that many anti-regime Iranians dislike both. Still we should stay on top of this, and give words of support, at least.
Posted by: liberalhawk || 06/23/2003 9:44 Comments || Top||



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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.
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In no particular order...
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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2003-06-23
  Hundreds jailed as Iran rounds up protesters
Sun 2003-06-22
  Aden-Abyan Islamic Army shoots up convoy in Yemen
Sat 2003-06-21
  Indonesia Arrests 10
Fri 2003-06-20
  Chuck won't step down
Thu 2003-06-19
  Truck-drivin' Qaeda man pleads guilty
Wed 2003-06-18
  Paks nab two Qaeda men
Tue 2003-06-17
  Taylor sez he'll step down
Mon 2003-06-16
  Second shootout in Mecca since Saturday
Sun 2003-06-15
  Shootout in Mecca
Sat 2003-06-14
  Hamas rejects ceasefire
Fri 2003-06-13
  "Hundreds killed" in Liberian ceasefire
Thu 2003-06-12
  Israel, Hamas at war
Wed 2003-06-11
  French cops gas heroes
Wed 2003-06-11
  French cops gas heroes
Wed 2003-06-11
  Bus atrocity in Jerusalem
Tue 2003-06-10
  Rantissi survives missile attack. Damn.
Mon 2003-06-09
  Mauritania rebel leader killed as coup fails, maybe

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