Yemen's interior minister said on Saturday that 86 supporters of an anti-U.S. rebel cleric and 32 government forces have been killed in nearly two weeks of clashes in the mountainous north of the Arab state. Rshad al-Alimi also told parliament 331 supporters of Hussein al-Houthi had been arrested, most of them before military action against the group began on June 20 in Saada province, 240 km (150 miles) north of the capital Sanaa. "Houthi refused all mediation efforts by parliamentarians, Muslim scholars and government officials to surrender peacefully," the minister said, adding that a siege continued. He said 21 rebels and 120 government security and military forces had been injured in the clashes. The government accused Houthi, a leader of the Zaidi Shi'ite sect, of setting up unlicensed religious centres in Saada and other provinces and forming what it described as an underground armed group called the "Believing Youth", which has staged violent protests against the United States and Israel. "Each member of this group receives $200 a month which indicates they may have foreign support," Alimi said but did not elaborate.
Since they are a Shite group, that means Iran
On Tuesday, Yemeni forces killed Zaid bin Ali al-Houthi, deputy commander of "Believing Youth". A government-owned newspaper said on Friday Houthi's brother had also been killed in the clashes.
The al-Houthi clan is getting smaller
Sources close to Houthi have put the death toll from the clashes, which began on June 20, at about 200. Anti-U.S. sentiment is high in the region over the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Some clerics in Yemen preach hatred against America and the West. The poor country of 19 million people is also fighting to root out militants linked to Saudi-born Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda group. Houthi has not been accused of links to al Qaeda.
He's a Iranian puppet
The government said last Tuesday it would close unlicensed schools and reform its education system to combat extremism.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
08/04/2004 2:35:47 AM ||
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 A tip-off from Pakistani investigators led to Britain's arrest of a senior Al-Qaeda operative, a Pakistani intelligence officer said on Wednesday. "It has led to the arrest of a senior Al-Qaeda man in Britain," the intelligence officer told AFP, requesting anonymity.
Does he have a name?
He declined to name the suspect, and could not say whether he was among the 13 men whose arrest was announced by London police for "alleged international terrorism." Interrogations of and computer records found on two key Al-Qaeda suspects arrested in July in Pakistan yielded information which Pakistani authorities passed on to their counterparts in London, he said. "The computers and CDs we recovered from Khan gave us a deep insight into the planning and working of Al-Qaeda," the officer said. "The information gleaned from him and Ghailani and from the computers has been passed on to the United States and Britain," he said.
Bet that tightened Fazl's turban...
Khan initially refused to cooperate with interrogators. After several painful hours he began speaking, revealing information slowly, the officer said. Khan's computer records were only recovered a week after his July 12 arrest in Lahore.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/04/2004 12:19:37 PM ||
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Police conducted anti-terrorism raids in London and several towns Tuesday, arresting 13 people believed involved in preparing terrorist acts. London's Metropolitan Police said the afternoon and evening arrests were "part of a pre-planned, ongoing intelligence-led operation." The men were detained "on suspicion of being concerned in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism," the police statement said, without elaborating. The arrests did not appear to be linked to information Pakistani authorities recently said they had uncovered about threats to Britain and America.
The police said the arrests were in northwest London, suburban Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire and in Lancashire, northwestern England. The Lancashire raid was in the town of Blackburn and the Hertfordshire arrests were in Luton, police said. Detectives were searching homes in all those places in operations expected to take time to finish, police said. The suspects, who are all in their 20s and 30s, will be brought to a central London police station for questioning by anti-terrorism officers, police said. They declined to specify the men's nationalities, but the British Broadcasting Corp. said they were all of South Asian descent and some were thought to be British citizens. "Today's operation is part of continuing and extensive inquiries by police and the security service into alleged international terrorism," the police statement said. Gardiner reports British authorities have released few details about the men arrested.
Police suggested the raids were not linked to the terror threats disclosed by American authorities Sunday to financial industry buildings in New York, Washington D.C., and Newark, N.J. Pakistan's information minister said Monday his country found plans for new attacks against the United States and Britain on a computer seized during the arrest last month of a senior al-Qaida suspect wanted for the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in East Africa. Asked whether the Tuesday raids were linked to the recent Pakistani discovery, police declined to answer directly, but noted that the investigation leading to the arrests had been underway for some time.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/04/2004 11:14:32 PM ||
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#1
This is all based on the initial catch of Khan in Pakistan... looks like we're unraveling a serious thread here. Khan was a huge score.
DIYARBAKIR - Christian Cruf, a U.S. citizen who was captured in Habur Border check-point with bullets, cartridge clips and a mask, was arrested. Sources said on Wednesday that Crus who works for a U.S. company in Iraq wanted to enter Turkey from the southeastern Habur Border pass three days ago but customs officers detained him when they found 60 bullets and 2 cartridge clips for Kalashnikov rifle and a mask in his bag. Cruf appeared at court and the judges decide to send him to prison on charges of arms smuggling.
Maybe a bad guy, maybe a collector. No doubt on his stupidity. Guess he's never seen "Midnight Express", now he's starring in it.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/04/2004 9:12:20 AM ||
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A French court on Wednesday rejected a request by four former Guantanamo prisoners to be freed from jail while awaiting trial in France, judicial officials said. The men, who were released from the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on July 27, have been placed in various Paris-area prisons while authorities here investigate them. Defense lawyers argued that jailing was unjust and lodged an attempt to have them released. A Paris court gave an initial rejection of the request Wednesday, though it has until Aug. 20 for a final decision, officials said.
The four - Mourad Benchellali, Imad Kanouni, Nizar Sassi and Brahim Yadel - were captured in the U.S.-led campaign that toppled the hard-line Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Each spent more than two years at Guantanamo. "Their only wish today is to be freed and released to kill again their families," said Jean-Baptiste Rozes, the lawyer for Yadel.
French authorities here struggled for months to secure the men's return home from Guantanamo and are still negotiating the cases of three other Frenchmen held at the lockup in Cuba. Anti-terrorism judges have placed the four men under investigation, a step toward formal charges, for "criminal association with a terrorist enterprise." Investigators suspect they frequented groups that planned terror attacks in Europe. Several of the men confessed to training in military camps where they learned to use explosives and weapons, officials said.
Sassi, 22, and Benchellali, 24, are also under investigation for using false documents. The two are childhood friends who grew up in a tough suburb outside the central city of Lyon and went to Afghanistan together in June 2001 with stolen passports, officials say. They were arrested in December of that year and brought to Guantanamo. The two have described mistreatment at the hands of U.S. authorities at Guantanamo, such as being threatened with dogs, struck in their cells or given sleeping medications, their lawyers have said.
Of course, no one has ever been abused in a French prison. Well, there was that whole Devil's Island thing, but we don't talk about that.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/04/2004 8:34:32 AM ||
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#4
So Hoffman had his money stashed in McQueen's fundament ?
Ewww....
Posted by: Carl in N.H ||
08/04/2004 15:37 Comments ||
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#5
"Hey Dustin ! Here's your change !"
Posted by: Carl in N.H ||
08/04/2004 15:39 Comments ||
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#6
Wrong movie, guys. Butterfly McQueen is best noted for her portrayal of Prissy in GWTW. I am sure the reference to abuse in a French prison relates to the way Scarlet treated her at Tara.
Slow news day.
Posted by: Mr. Davis ||
08/04/2004 16:10 Comments ||
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Butterfly was addled, as usual.
"She" was thinking of Steve McQueen in "Papillon."
An Algerian detainee at the Guantanamo Bay US detention camp vowed before a military tribunal to "kill Americans" if he was released, officials said today.
Another of the six detainees to go before special tribunals at the base where almost 600 'war on terror' suspects are held was with al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in caves in Tora Bora, Afghanistan during the war in 2001, officials said.
The first Combatant Status Review Tribunal, which will recommend whether detainees should still be considered "enemy combatants" was held behind closed doors at Guantanamo last Friday.
Six have been held so far and a seventh was under way, a Defence Department spokeswoman Commander Beci Brenton told reporters here.
Only two of the inmates, an Algerian and a Yemeni, chose to appear before the three man tribunal and testify. The four others boycotted the hearings.
Ms Brenton said the 24-year-old Algerian had gone from France to Afghanistan with the help of al-Qaeda and was given training to use small arms and rocket propelled grenades at the Malik training camp.
The man, who like all of the detainees has not been named, was captured after he was injured by a grenade accidentally set off by another fighter.
Ms Brenton said the Algerian "stated he would kill Americans if released".
A 49 year-old Yemeni, who was among the four to boycott the hearings, has admitted he was with al-Qaeda leader bin Laden during the siege of the Tora Bora caves near the Afghanistan-Pakistan frontier in 2001.
"He was present in Tora Bora while Osama bin Laden was there," said Ms Brenton.
"He participated in the battle of Tora Bora and was captured with an AK-47 rifle."
The others to boycott the hearings were a 29-year-old Saudi who was also at Tora Bora, a 32-year-old Moroccan who fought at Baghram near Kabul before being captured as he tried to cross into Pakistan, and another Yemeni.
"These four have historically been uncooperative," Ms Brenton said of the four who refused to attend the hearings. While they have been here they have not cooperated with interrogators."
Navy Secretary Gordon England is to observe a tribunal hearing at Guantanamo Bay today and representatives of the foreign and US media are to be allowed to watch hearings tomorrow and Friday.
But reporters will not be able to identify the detainees and will only be allowed to listen to what the Defence Department has called "unclassified" details on individual cases.
Each detainee can also only review "unclassified information relating to the basis for his detention."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/04/2004 12:32:53 PM ||
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#1
Thank you for your honesty. Now, we will place you in a 5x5x5 foot unlit solitary confinement cell. Enjoy your dreams of your 72 virgins.
#2
"anything you say may be held against you...like that statement you just made, asshat!"
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/04/2004 13:31 Comments ||
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Why are we having the media watching the proceedings? This is a war tribunal, not a court hearing. The media will just spin this their way anyway.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/04/2004 13:33 Comments ||
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An Algerian detainee at the Guantanamo Bay US detention camp vowed before a military tribunal to "kill Americans" if he was released, officials said today
NYT Headline: Tortured Guantanamo Detainee Vents Frustrations
Posted by: john ||
08/04/2004 15:36 Comments ||
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72 grapes, Ed.
Posted by: jojo the idiot circus boy ||
08/04/2004 15:50 Comments ||
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And they thought it would be hard to get a conviction! Talk about a âSlam Dunkâ case! But I suspect some lawyer will say he was crazy to make such a statement. But then arenât all Islamofacist crazy?
 EFL:
An exiled Saudi whose father is an outspoken critic of his homeland's royal family has been detained in Seattle by federal anti-terrorism agents and could be deported on criminal charges, his lawyer said on Tuesday.
A critic of the royal family, huh? Must be a pro-democracy spokesman. No?
Majid al-Massari, a computer specialist working at the University of Washington, has been held under tight security since his arrest on July 17, and his supporters fear he is being punished for his father's views.
Working for full rights for women? No?
"We are not blind to the issue that he might be guilty, and we are not fighting for his political statements or views. We want to ensure he gets due process and make sure this is not due to any association to his father's views," co-worker David Hughes told Reuters.
Freedom of speech advocate? No? So, what are his views?
Majid's father, Muhammad al-Massari, is an exile living in London and has been quoted in news reports advocating a fundamentalist Muslim takeover of Saudi Arabia and praising al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Dad's group is the Committee for the Defense of Legitimate Rights — they believe the Saudi royals are not strict enough followers of Islam.
FBI agents raided al-Massari's office, seizing computers and translating hundreds of e-mails written in Arabic between him and his father, the Seattle Times said on Tuesday.
It's nice to see a close father / son relationship.
Nance said al-Massari family members had been tortured in Saudi Arabia and that Majid applied for asylum in the United States in 1997. Co-workers called Majid al-Massari respectful, professional and very religious.
Yes, aren't they all.
"In the time I have known him he hasn't once talked about having the views that his father does," Hughes said.
Well, he may not be talking but his dad has: Muhammad al-Massari acknowledges there may be other reasons for increased scrutiny of himself and his family. He acknowledged yesterday a long relationship with an al-Qaida sympathizer named Mustafa al-Ansari, who led an attack on a Saudi petrochemical plant in Yanbu in May that left two Americans, two Britons and an Australian dead. He also said he was "acquainted" with Abdurahman Alamoudi, who pleaded guilty last week in Washington, D.C., to being involved in a Libyan-funded plot to assassinate Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz. Al-Massari denied any involvement in the scheme.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/04/2004 12:25:39 PM ||
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I think that Ansar al-Islam probably means al-Tawhid, although documents were recovered from Beyara naming suspected terrorists in the US.
The FBI is monitoring suspected Al Qaeda operatives and members of two allied terror groups in the New York City area, the FBI's New York director said yesterday.
Law enforcement sources also said there are indications that the terrorists who cased financial towers in New York, Newark and Washington may have updated their files as recently as this spring.
Pasquale D'Amuro, director of the FBI's New York office and a veteran terrorism investigator, said the individuals under scrutiny here include people linked to Al Qaeda as well as Ansar al Islam and the Egyptian Islamic Jihad.
He said the monitoring began long before this weekend's heightened alert was announced.
While officials have said in the past that they were watching a handful of Al Qaeda suspects in the country, they have not said they were in the metropolitan area.
They also have not mentioned the Ansar al Islam and Egyptian Islamic Jihad.
D'Amuro said his office is poring over the evidence that Al Qaeda carried out a detailed surveillance for a possible attack on five buildings, including the New York Stock Exchange and the Citigroup building.
"One piece we don't have is when is that event supposed to take place," D'Amuro said.
"We are out there trying to find out if there are sleepers in place. Are there people coming in? Are there operators here? That's our No. 1 job."
A key element is trying to determine when the surveillance occurred.
The FBI is going over what appears to be the terrorists' detailed surveillance notes with building security personnel at both buildings, law enforcement sources said.
They're looking at the written descriptions of security procedures, guards' uniforms and architectural details such as lobby renovations to determine when Al Qaeda operatives were taking notes, the sources said.
Most of the material appears to predate Sept. 11, 2001, but it also appears to include updates as recent as this past spring, the sources said.
Officials had previously said it was updated in January.
It's not clear whether the updates are from publicly available sources or from personal surveillance.
"The whole question is, how do we assess all of this?" said FBI counterterror director John Pistole. "Because we know an intended target, does that mean [surveillance] is still ongoing? That's one of the questions that we're wrestling with."
Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge met yesterday at the Citigroup Center with security chiefs from the city's largest financial institutions and rejected suggestions that presidential election politics were behind the weekend's terror alert.
He also dismissed the fact that much of the surveillance is several years old.
"We know that this is an organization, a terrorist organization, that does its homework," said Ridge. "So I don't want anyone to disabuse themselves of the seriousness of this information simply because there are some reports that much of it is dated .... This is a resilient organization that does its homework, and we just have to accept that reality."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/04/2004 9:34:17 AM ||
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Al Qaeda operatives and members of two allied terror groups in the New York City area
As if these Muslim Murder KKKlans⢠are not ALL Al Qaeda! Noooooooo. The Muslim Murder KKKlans of these two other groups are by no means Al Qaeda. They must be militants interested in other goals than blowing up usurper Jews and their infidel Christian crusader American allies. Obviously.
#2
"The whole question is, how do we assess all of this?" said FBI counterterror director John Pistole. "Because we know an intended target, does that mean [surveillance] is still ongoing? Thatâs one of the questions that weâre wrestling with."
Who cares whether surveillance is still ongoing? That fact that the buildings in questions HAVE ALREADY been scoped out means that weaknesses are being probed, and that what is needed is action on details we already know or found out recently, not to mention an up-to-date assessment of the current situation at each potential high-value target site. Wrestling with a question of whether terrorist surveillance of targets is still ongoing?.....sheesh, this guy sounds like he's clueless.
We have known that operations like that described below have been going on since May, but some more detail shows up here.
BAGHDAD — The U.S. military, backed by Iraqi forces, has launched its first major operation along the border with Syria.
U.S. officials said Operation Phantom Linebacker has mobilized thousands of U.S. and Iraqi soldiers as well as armored combat vehicles, unmanned air vehicles and helicopters in an effort to stem the flow of insurgents, funds and weapons from Syria into Iraq.
The officials said the operation came in wake of a determination that the Sunni insurgency, including support for Abu Mussib Al Zarqawi, was coming mainly from Saddam Hussein loyalists who have fled to Syria.
The operation began on Aug. 2 and included the Iraqi Border Police and Iraqi National Guard, Middle East Newsline reported."Our first priority will be on the Syrian border," Lt. Gen. Thomas Metz, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, said, "because we think that's where the former regime leadership and money went, in that direction, and it's coming back in from that direction." Assad needs a serious ass-kicking.
Officials said the operation was the largest by the United States to stop weapons from Syria. Earlier missions involved mainly fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft in pursuit of Sunni insurgents along the more than 500 kilometer Iraqi-Syrian border.
The U.S. Army has not announced Operation Phantom Linebacker. But the military said two marines died in fighting in the Anbar province during "security and stability operations" along the Syrian border. No other details were provided.
Officials said Syrian officials have provided passports and official documents to Sunni insurgents in exchange for hefty bribes. They said the insurgents have also bribed Iraqi security forces deployed along the border. Iraqi security forces taking bribes need to be made an example of what not to do.
Operation Phantom Linebacker, which has included the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, has also deployed UAVs as well as U.S. satellites to track the insurgency route. Officials said the first line of operations was being conducted by Iraqi security forces, with U.S. troops providing intelligence and support. Building up the Iraqis so they can succeed eventually.
The U.S.-led operation came in wake of several warnings by Baghdad to both Iran and Syria to stem the flow of fighters, weapons and funding to the insurgency in Iraq. Senior Iraqi officials have been more critical of Iran than Syria, accusing the latter of seeking to undermine the new interim government in Baghdad. Understatement of the year.
On Wednesday, an Iraqi government delegation discussed border security cooperation with Iran. The delegation was said to have been in Teheran for a week and discussed border security and Iranian interference in Iraq. "We do not like your infiltration and interference. You must stop this behavior."
"We send no insurgents, only pilgrims."
"Well, tell your pilgrims to stay away from Tater."
"Very well, would you like some lunch. These negotiations work up a large appetite."
"Yes, a BLT would bed down my appetite."
"WHAT???!!!!"
"Just kidding. Just kidding. Lighten up."
Officials said the current operation along the Syrian border could press Iran to launch measures to stem the flow of insurgents into Iraq. Sending a subtle message to the Black Turbans.
They said Saddam loyalists have established a network in Syria to train and fund insurgents to fight the U.S.-led coalition and Iraqi government. The loyalists were said to have fueled the insurgency in such Sunni Triangle cities as Faluja, Ramadi and Samara.
In July, Iraq and Syria signed an agreement for border security. But even as the agreement was announced Iraqi officials expressed doubt whether the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad would honor the accord. Worthless piece of paper, good evidence of duplicity, though. Making a toilet paper trail.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/04/2004 8:01:35 PM ||
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Operation Phantom Linebacker
Jeebus, sounds like an overly tricky Bowden defense scheme against Miami, who of course always use not so phantom pulling guards.
#2
You can tell where the mission planners heads were at.....
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/04/2004 21:04 Comments ||
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a BLT? LOL AP! I look for a joint op with Iraqi, US, and *cough* the IAF *cough* ....forces to be occuring soon along (or over.....heh heh) the Iran border
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/04/2004 21:10 Comments ||
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This is WAY overdue - this is what the US military wanted to do with the former Iraqi Army when they surrendered - re-arm them, provide parallel command supervision and secure the borders - but Bremer hosed it by dumping them in spite of the word we gave the surrendering commanders.
If there is one thing I will fault Bush for is that he will not chop heads quickly enough.
#5
Was "Linebacker" part of VN? It is probably time for that one lady congressman who wanted ethnic hurricane names to protest the masculinity of the Pentagon's list of names for operations. If we are out of names, we should look at allowing last names for famous athletes. How does Operation Butkus sound?
With respect to using the names of women athletes, I don't know that it is possible to find many names that epitomize true viciousness and brutality (besides Harding.) It might be possible to open the nominations beyond the athletic world to create some other alternatives though. Think of the fearsomeness of Operation "Streisand's Face."
Posted by: Super Hose ||
08/04/2004 22:27 Comments ||
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 The Philippines will send a team to Indonesia next week to interrogate a suspected member of regional militant group Jemaah Islamiah they say was involved in a series of bombings in the southern Philippines. Chief Superintendent Ismael Rafanan, the head of national police intelligence, said on Wednesday Mustaqim was detained near the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, just weeks after returning from a Muslim rebel camp in Mindanao in the southern Philippines.
That's one of those camps that Lipless Eddie sez aren't there, and don't take furriners anyway...
"Our investigators are going there because we don't have any extradition treaty with Jakarta," Rafanan told reporters. "We really wanted him back to face criminal charges, but there could be some legal obstacles."
Like the Indons won't give him up?
Rafanan said police were informed about Mustaqim's arrest and two other Indonesians near Sulawesi on June 30. The three were held by authorities because they were listed as suspected Jemaah Islamiah (JI) militants. Police intelligence officials said Mustaqim lived in the southern Philippines for six years and married a local Muslim woman. They said he headed a JI training camp inside the Muslim rebels' camp Abubakar before it fell in 2000. Before coming to Mindanao, Mustaqim taught Islamic studies at the Pesanten Lukmanul Hakiem in Malaysia. In the JI camp, called Hubadiyah, he was also head of the Mujuhilis Mujahadid Indonesia, or the Indonesian JI unit in the southern Philippines.
 Indonesian authorities say the capture of six Muslim militants seized in a raid at the end of June has dealt a blow to the Al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah group. It's believed the six may have been part of a suicide squad plotting attacks like the Bali bombings or last year's Jakarta Marriott hotel blast. Anti-terror chief Ansyaad Mbai says the capture of the six in the Central Javanese town of Sukoharjo could have thwarted further strikes. Police identified one of the six as Mustaqim, a leading member of the Jemaah Islamiyah group, which has been blamed for the Bali and Marriott bombings. The ICG report on JI fingers Mustaqim as the military commander. If he's jugged, then that's certainly grounds for jubilation.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/04/2004 12:34:48 PM ||
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 The authorities in the Philippines have arrested two men and are seeking two more in connection with terrorist bombings that killed 22 people and wounded more than 100 four years ago, officials said on Wednesday. Five almost-simultaneous bombings on Dec. 30, 2000, struck a train and four other targets, including a bus, in metropolitan Manila. It was the countryâs worst terrorist attack, attributed to the regional terror group Jemaah Islamiyah, which has been linked to Al Qaeda. The military chief of staff, General Narciso Abaya, refused to identify the two men still at large. He said the others, Mamasao Naga and Abdul Pata, both Filipinos, were captured by army and marine intelligence agents on Monday in the predominantly Muslim southern city of Marawi. "I hope you understand, we cannot give you much details because that will jeopardize our continuing operations," Abaya said. "There are still two terrorists out there."
Abaya said Naga had been responsible for the train bombing, which accounted for nearly all the casualties, while Pata had planted a bomb on the bus, aboard which at least one person was killed. The two suspects were brought in handcuffs into a hall at the militaryâs national headquarters Wednesday in a brief appearance before news cameras. They wore orange detaineesâ shirts and were not allowed to talk. Defense Secretary Eduardo Ermita and the army commander, Lieutenant General Efren Abu, said both men had admitted during interrogation that they were Jemaah Islamiyah members. The military said the two had collaborated with a suspected Jemaah Islamiyah bomb expert from Indonesia, Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi, and Filipino militants from the group. Abaya said that Ghozi, who was arrested in January 2002 but escaped and was killed in a shootout with police last year, had been the leader of the Manila bombings.
... but now he's just another Dear Departed...
Philippine military officials have arrested several Muslim militants they say are linked to the group and have acknowledged that up to 40 Jemaah Islamiyah non-Filipino militants may be at large in the southern Philippines, where a Muslim separatist insurgency has gone on for decades.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/04/2004 12:36:23 PM ||
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Associated Press / MICHAEL CASEY /8-4-04
Six Muslim militants arrested last month in Indonesia were members of a suicide squad that was awaiting attack orders from leaders of the Jemaah Islamiyah terror group, a top security official told The Associated Press on Wednesday. Police recovered letters in a house rented by the men in which they told their families they intended to blow themselves in attacks on unspecified targets, said Ansyaad Mbai, the top anti-terror official at the security ministry.
"Dear Mom..."
"They were awaiting orders from their bosses, Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Mohammed Top," Mbai said, referring to two wanted Malaysians who police say are leaders of the al-Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah terror group. "This shows that terrorism remains a threat in Indonesia."
I don't think anybody doubted that, except maybe for Hamzah Haz...
The six suspects were arrested on June 30th in a house in Sukoharjo on Indonesia's main island of Java, some 400 kilometers (240 miles) east of Jakarta. They are being held on Bali island and are cooperating with police.
"Put the pliers away! We'll talk!"
Police have said the men also played a role in the Oct. 12, 2002 Bali bombings, which killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists, and the Aug. 5th, 2003 attack on the J.W. Marriott hotel in Jakarta that killed 12. Both attacks were blamed on Jemaah Islamiyah and involved suicide bombers. They were the first recorded instances of suicide tactics being used by militants in the world's most populous Muslim nation. Police have arrested scores of alleged Jemaah Islamiyah militants in recent years in Indonesia and elsewhere in Southeast Asia, including at least 40 over the Bali and Jakarta attacks. Azahari and Noordin have been the subject of a manhunt for the past year. Police said the pair narrowly escaped capture in November when officers raided a house they were renting in Bandung in west Java. Authorities have warned the two are armed with explosives and could be planning fresh attacks ahead of the final round of Indonesia's presidential elections on Sept. 20th.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
08/04/2004 2:53:06 AM ||
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Gunmen fired on a car carrying two Afghans from a German relief agency in a former Taliban stronghold, officials said Wednesday, killing them both in another setback to stuttering efforts to bring assistance to long-suffering Afghans. The aid workers who were killed Tuesday were returning from work on a project run by the Malteser aid agency in Zurmat district of Paktia, 120 kilometres south of Kabul, when shots were fired at their car from a passing vehicle. Mohammed Idrees Sadiq died at the scene, while the other, 19-year-old Emal Abdul Samad, died after being flown to a U.S. military hospital at Bagram, north of Kabul, the group said. The German group said it was "shocked" and suspended its activities in the region until further notice.
IN an extraordinary assault, gunmen in the Iraq city of Fallujah stormed a kidnappers' lair and forced the overmatched militants inside to flee, freeing four Jordanian truck drivers held captive, local officials said.
The raid, in a city that has long been hostile to the US military and supportive of Saddam Hussein, marked the first time local gunmen had broken foreign hostages out of captivity.
They called the kidnappers "terrorists" and outsiders.
Farther north, a series of battles between Iraqi authorities and insurgents in the city of Mosul killed 14 civilians and eight insurgents, the US military said.
Iraqi authorities clamped a curfew on the area and sealed off bridges into the city to restore order.
The fighting was the fiercest in Mosul in months, and local authorities said insurgents appeared to be testing the police. No Iraqi or coalition forces were killed in the violence, the US military said.
Some militant groups - which commonly attack US and Iraqi forces with bombings and shootings - have turned to kidnapping in recent weeks, snatching poorly protected truckers driving the dangerous route near Fallujah, a hub of the insurgency 64km west of Baghdad.
US Marines had pulled back from Fallujah after besieging the city for three weeks in April, leaving it in the hands of the Fallujah Brigade, made up of local residents and insurgents who fought the Marines and are commanded by officers from Saddam's former army.
The four Jordanian truck drivers were seized last week along a highway near Fallujah, Ahmad Abu-Jaafar, one of the freed drivers, said.
Sheik Haj Ibrahim Jassam, a tribal leader, said he received word late on Tuesday that the men were being held in a house on the edge of the city.
Local leaders gathered together armed residents, who raided the house, freeing the hostages and chasing out the kidnappers, he said.
Sheik Jassam called the kidnappers "terrorists, who are not from Fallujah."
The Jordanians insisted their captors were not those who had battled the US Marines.
"The kidnappers have nothing to do with the resistance," Mr Abu-Jaafar told The Associated Press by telephone.
The four men were taken back to Sheik Jassam's house and handed over to Jordanian officials yesterday, Jordanian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ali al-Ayed said.
"They are now in a safe place, which we will not disclose," Mr al-Ayed said in Amman, Jordan. He said the four were in "good health" and would arrive home today.
The kidnappers made several demands, he said. "We haven't met any of them."
The men, who had been abducted by a group calling itself "Mujahedeen of Iraq, the Group of Death", were blindfolded and moved to a different house every two days during their ordeal, Mohammed Khleifat, a freed hostage, told The Associated Press.
"We couldn't eat the food they gave us. The four of us got sick from the food and the water," he said.
The hostages heard that a man from the United Arab Emirates had been willing to pay the kidnappers $US500,000 ($709,000) ransom, but the raid put an end to that, Mr Khleifat said.
Insurgents have kidnapped scores of foreign hostages to force foreign companies and coalition troops from Iraq. In an effort to save the hostages, several companies have said they would stop their work here, and last month the Philippines withdrew its 51-member troop contingent to secure the freedom of a Filipino truck driver.
In a move to show kidnappers that none of the 31 other countries in the coalition would follow suit, the United States issued a statement yesterday vowing not to make concessions to hostage-takers.
Many of the other coalition members were expected to issue similar statements in the coming days, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.
"We are united in our resolve to make no concessions to terrorists," read the statement. "We understand that conceding to terrorists will only endanger all members of the multinational force, as well as other countries who are contributing to Iraqi reconstruction and humanitarian assistance," it said.
#1
The hostages heard that a man from the United Arab Emirates had been willing to pay the kidnappers $US500,000 ($709,000) ransom, but the raid put an end to that, Mr Khleifat said.
I'd do a thorough background check on the guy who offered to pony up the cash.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
08/04/2004 22:11 Comments ||
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Additionally, any "valiant" rescues performed by Arabs that result in zero captures or KIA's are more likely to have been negotiated turnovers - possibly with an exchange of funds.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
08/04/2004 22:13 Comments ||
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..any "valiant" rescues performed by Arabs that result in zero captures or KIA's are more likely to have been negotiated turnovers..
Yeah, one has to wonder what the deal is when "overmatched" kidnappers are not cut down immediately and somehow manage to "flee".
The server works fine — except for hanging without warning when performing some MySQL/ODBC operations. I've got 32 separate patches and updates installed, which took care of some of the worst of the problems. Since I upgraded to MySQL 4.1, I've uninstalled it and replaced it with the previous stable version, but there are still errors showing. I'm trying to isolate them now. If we don't lock up in the next hour or so maybe I caught it.
Sorry for all the downtime. This thing is driving me nutz...
Posted by: Fred ||
08/04/2004 7:31:36 PM ||
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Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
08/04/2004 19:53 Comments ||
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#3
Except for a few noted hangups, this system has been responding fast, Fred. Many thanks, Fred. check your tip jar.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/04/2004 20:03 Comments ||
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#4
You've abused me, kicked me out of my second home, but I still love ya!
-- 2 Johns (Kerry and Edwards)
Posted by: Capt America ||
08/04/2004 21:20 Comments ||
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#5
Two items: First, I tried posting something to rantburg from the laptop, to Page 2, in the "Short Attention Span Theatre" section. The post was titled "Nuggets From The Urdu Press Pravda." Second, I just tried posting a comment about that to this thread... and got another vbscript error or something.
Third, again, thanks for everything...
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
08/04/2004 21:53 Comments ||
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#6
The vbscript errors are the ones I'm trying to track down.
What I'd really like to know is why they're occurring...
Posted by: Fred ||
08/04/2004 22:12 Comments ||
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Why?
[snarky] Umm, well it isMicrosoft... [snarky off]
I feel for ya Fred - too bad you cannot just make Rantburg Mark II and start from scratch with Linux/Apache/PHP-Perl-Python/MySQL.
If I ever do that sort of summary again, what section should I put it in?
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
08/04/2004 22:19 Comments ||
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I run a LAMP (Linux/Apache/MySQL/PHP-Perl-Python) on a duel dell...and it handles 3 t1s split into a few hundred VOIP extentions...with voicemail...web access...
I rebooted it around Christmas, I think.
red
Posted by: red ||
08/04/2004 22:38 Comments ||
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#10
Russia should do.
I started converting to PHP on a number occasions, thinking I'd eventually convert to Linux. Since all my clients use IIS, though, I end up sticking with Micro$oft.
And where I have used PHP, it can be just as aggravating as IIS/ASP. Tell me about $_GET and why it works sometimes and not others...
Posted by: Fred ||
08/04/2004 22:59 Comments ||
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hair not politics.
PHP is fine, but the functions are very dependent on which build you have installed. I just broke a bunch of scripts because I had to move off of RH 7.2.
I use the APACHE ASP extentions, because most of my clients used IIs as well. They pretty much work out of the box, because the fancy stuff that they do not support does not work right on IIs anyway.
Posted by: red ||
08/05/2004 12:46 Comments ||
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At least 14 Iraqis were killed as violence engulfed the northern city of Mosul, bogged down in bitter clashes between police and insurgents, as six kidnappers foreigners were released in Iraq.
Fighting erupted at around midday (0800 GMT) Wednesday on the west bank of the Tigris River as loud explosions and heavy gunfire ricocheted across the city, an AFP correspondent said. At least five bridges were cut off.
"The hospital received 12 bodies, including two women, and 26 injured, most of them civilians," said a doctor at Mosul's Medical City hospital.
Another 12 patients were admitted with injuries to the general hospital.
The regional governorate quickly imposed a curfew from 3:00 pm until Thursday morning in the city, home to 1.7 million mainly Sunni Muslim Iraqis, with Kurdish, Christian and Turcomen minorities.
Streets emptied as police said gunmen forced shopkeepers to close.
Earlier a man and a woman were killed when a roadside bomb exploded in the path of a US military convoy at around 10:35 am, police said.
The US military said none of its personnel were hurt in the blast. A doctor at the general hospital said two people had been admitted with shrapnel wounds.
Meanwhile, the release of four Jordanian and two Turkish truck drivers offered a rare reprieve to the country's protracted hostage crisis.
A self-styled Iraqi mediator said the four Jordanians, snatched eight days ago, were released in the flashpoint city of Fallujah after being rescued by the city's insurgent leaders, the advisory council for the mujahedeen.
Ibrahim Jassem told AFP that he was waiting for a team from the Jordanian embassy to collect the drivers.
"The kidnappers ran away" when council members burst into the house where the hostages were being held, he said. Insisting he works independently from Islamists, Jassem branded the abductors as "criminals".
But an official at the Jordanian embassy in Baghdad said he was unaware of their release.
"We don't have any confirmation about the release and we will not give any statement until we see them in front of us," said Abdel Moneim al-Nadjada, an adviser to the Jordanian ambassador.
Meanwhile celebrations broke out in Turkey as Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul confirmed that two Turks, among the dozens of foreign hostages in Iraq, had been released.
"This good news has made us happy," the Anatolia news agency quoted Gul as saying.
Al-Jazeera television had reported earlier that two Turkish hostages threatened with beheading had been freed.
They were held by militants loyal to Iraq's alleged Al-Qaeda chief, Abu Mussab Zarqawi, held responsible for a string of kidnappings and grisly killings.
Faced with ceaseless violence, multinational troops have begun patrolling the porous Syrian border in a bid to stop insurgents from crossing into Iraq.
Damascus has repeatedly denied US claims that Syria backs the insurgency in Iraq and turns a blind eye when combattants cross the 600-kilometre (350-mile) border.
Defence Minister Hazem al-Shaalan also stepped up his rhetoric against long-standing foe Iran, demanding that Tehran immediately return Iraqi planes handed over ahead of the 1991 Gulf War, in an interview published in Kuwait.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/04/2004 12:31:00 PM ||
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#1
bbc reports this is first confrontation between Iraqi forces and insurgents WITHOUT coalition forces backing up Iraqi forces.
#3
Update: A brother of the founder of the Ansar al-Islam militant group was among at least 14 people killed in clashes on Wednesday between police and insurgents in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, officials said. Fighting erupted at around midday (0800 GMT) southwest of Mosul on the west bank of the Tigris River, bringing the sound of loud explosions and heavy gunfire, an AFP correspondent said. A brother and spokesman of Mullah Krekar, head of the Islamic militant Ansar al-Islam, was killed, a provincial government spokesman said.
"Khalid Sido, the brother of Mullah Krekar, was killed during the clashes in the Yarmouk neighbourhood," said Hazem Dalawi. A military spokesman in Mosul confirmed that "multi-national forces supported" Iraqi security forces as they responded to the coordinated attacks. Weapons were found inside Sido`s Opel vehicle as well as a black flag scrawled with "there is only one God and Mohammed is his prophet," Dalawi said.
Say hello to Uday, Sido.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/04/2004 16:19 Comments ||
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 Two South African men arrested along with a senior al-Qaeda terrorist railed against America after they were detained, a senior police official said on Wednesday.
Good thing they were detained, then!
The South African suspects were identified as Feroz Ibrahim and Zubair Ismail, said Raja Munawar Hussain, the chief of police in Gujrat, the eastern Pakistani city where they were arrested on July 25 after a 12-hour gunbattle.
Hussain said authorities found several maps of South African cities among the items seized after the raid, which also netted Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a Tanzanian with a $25m reward on his head for the 1998 twin US embassy bombings in East Africa. "They were all very well trained terrorists because of the way they fought the gunbattle and the way they engaged us for 12 hours. This is something no common man could have done," Hussain told The Associated Press.
We keep hearing about this epic gunbattle, yet nobody seems to have died. Funny, that. Normally they at least mention number of wounded or killed without any details. Update: it's now a 18 hour gunfight, one cop wounded.
A Lahore-based intelligence official said authorities believe the men wanted to target tourist sites in Johannesburg. The men are believed to have arrived in Pakistan on a flight from the United Arab Emirates just days before their arrest. The Johannesburg daily The Star quoted unidentified police sources as saying that key landmarks were among the targets, including the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and the Ellis Park mall in Cape Town; and the US embassy, government buildings and the Sheraton Hotel in Pretoria. Another Johannesburg newspaper, ThisDay, said the British ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2 was another target that was supposed to be attacked as it arrived in Durban or Cape Town from Mauritius.
Foreign affairs spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa refused to confirm the reports.
"We will say no more!"
"There has been no independent confirmation of the reports, therefore in our view this remains speculative," he said. He added that the South African embassy in Islamabad is awaiting permission to visit the prisoners and has no details of the investigation. "We have not been told anything," he said.
The men - in custody since last month - are not believed to be the same as two high-level al-Qaeda terrorists that Pakistan's interior minister said were arrested in the past few days.
Hussain, the Gujrat police chief, said the two South Africans and Ghailani denounced America and US President George W Bush as they were arrested. "They were all very emotional and very aggressive," he said. "They were putting down Bush, saying he is our enemy and we will pursue him and America until we win."
Shades of Howlin' Howard!
He said Ghailani was shaking with anger as he shouted: "God is great! This is God's land and we are his girlie men."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/04/2004 12:28:24 PM ||
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 The man arrested in Pakistan with documents that sparked this week's increased threat levels is a computer expert who helped Osama bin Laden communicate with his terror network, U.S. government sources told CNN. U.S. officials have identified the suspect as Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan, but Pakistani officials said the man's identity could not be confirmed because he has used multiple aliases in the past.
"We think his real name's actually 'Bob'."
U.S. sources said Khan told interrogators al Qaeda uses Web sites and e-mail addresses in Turkey, Nigeria and tribal areas of Pakistan to pass messages among themselves. Couriers were often used to deliver computer discs, and Khan would then post the messages on Web sites, but only briefly, the sources said. According to the sources, after messages were sent and read, the files were deleted.
"Delete" doesn't mean what they think it means
E-mail addresses were used only two or three times; if the information was really sensitive, an address might be used only once.
They are learning
It was Khan's capture on July 13 that resulted in a wealth of information about al Qaeda and led to Sunday's raising of the terror threat level around key U.S. financial institutions in three cities. The U.S. sources said Khan assisted in the evaluation of potential targets and served as a "clearing house" of information. He told investigators that he does not know where bin Laden is hiding, the sources said. The sources said Khan's father facilitated a lot of his international travel, but they do not think the father knew what his son was up to.
Right, and I've got a bridge you can have cheap.
And I need assistance in moving cash in the amount of $35.8 million U.S. dollars ($35.8,000,000) currently held in a security company in Belgium to another destination and I got your profile from the Lagos Chamber of Commerce...
#2
Computer expert without a working knowledge of the "delete" key, eh. Works for me, heh heh. There are two solutions to the problem. One of them is don't get caught..........
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/04/2004 14:52 Comments ||
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Some day in the far distant future a majority of computer users will finally figure out that the only way to prevent information from being harvested off a disk drive is to remove the device and hammer it into smithereens. Little else will keep disk certification grade tools from detecting the remnance of magnetic bit fields on a drive's platter. Calling someone who does not understand this a "computer expert" is the same as calling a burger flipper a "chef."
#4
Stupid Moslems dont' realize that using the Internet plants the seeds of their own destruction. The Internet experts they have to use will not for long subject their own understanding and reasoning to stupid Moslem fanatics. They will rebel and turn against their masters. They will join the free side.
.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
08/04/2004 22:37 Comments ||
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 Pakistani officials have contacted Egyptian authorities to verify the alleged statement of al-Qaeda claiming it had carried out suicide attack on Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz, the local news agency News Network International reported Wednesday. The statement issued in the Arabic language said that al-Qaeda's Islam Bu Ali brigade carried out the attack on Aziz last Friday.
We've seen it spelled "Islambouli" in other reports. I believe an Islambouli is kind of like a folded up pizza, stuffed with goat meat and green peppers...
"The Egyptian government has been approached and it will have to be seen now how much it succeeded in identifying the organization which claimed responsibility of the attack," Foreign Office Spokesman Masood Khan told reporters.
"Mahmoud! You ever hear of the 'Islambouli brigades'?"
"Sure! They make great Islambouli down at Ahmed's deli!"
"We are trying to check out every kind of details internally aswell as externally. However, as you know I cannot go into the details of the investigation as it is a sensitive case. But every aspect is being considered," the spokesman said.
 Disclosures of al-Qaeda targets in South Africa involving two alleged South African terrorists have turned attention on their mystery recruiter, named as Ahmed, somewhere in South Africa. Security sources in Islamabad said the South Africans arrested after a Pakistan shootout, Zoubair Ismail and Feroze Abubakar Ganchi, both from Gauteng, were apparently initiated into the Osama bin Laden jihad by this "teacher".
Emerging from the latest arrests, key landmarks in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Cape Town have been identified as targets of a huge al-Qaeda terror blitz on South Africa. However, South African police sources said they had known for a year-and-a-half about their alleged al-Qaeda activities and targets, and had had the pair under constant surveillance.
Information obtained on Tuesday night was that both Ismail and Ganchi allegedly had several meetings with three alleged al-Qaeda operatives in South Africa - Syrian and Jordanian citizens - arrested by South African police earlier this year. Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi announced the arrest and deportation of the three men in April. They are believed to have been in South Africa for nearly a year when they were arrested.
More on the latest addition to our collection of Masterminds...
 The Pakistani Al-Qaeda computer expert captured last month was one of the terror network's top planners with a five million dollar bounty on his head and had plotted to attack London's Heathrow airport, a senior security official said.
I thought they paid him $90 a month to post messages so the cannon fodder could use their Secret Islamic Decoder Rings...
Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan, 25, alias Abu Talha, arrested in the eastern city of Lahore on July 12, "is in the top hierarchy of Al-Qaeda's external operations wing," a security official closely involved in Pakistan's latest Al-Qaeda swoop told AFP. Khan had not only been creating websites and secret email codes for Al-Qaeda operatives to communicate with each other, he had also actively plotted terror attacks, the official said on condition of anonymity. "He was involved in planning for attacks at Heathrow airport London some time ago and was wanted by US government," the official said, but was unable to say exactly when the Heathrow attack was planned. The United States authorities had offered a five million dollar reward for his capture, he added.
Really? I wonder, under what name?
Khan is one of at least 18 Al-Qaeda suspects swept up by Pakistani security forces since July 12, along with a key suspect in the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, two South Africans and a Nigerian who was carrying coded messages. The African cell and around a dozen Pakistani supporters, who assisted with logistics for a fee of 200 dollars a month, were all captured in crowded cities in eastern Pakistan, far from the Al-Qaeda hideouts in the remote northwest tribal zone where most of the hunt for the militants has been focussed since late 2001.
... and probably far from where the Qaeda head cheeses are actually hiding out. Remember, they caught Abu Zubaydah in Faisalabad and KSM in Karachi, either of which is in NWFP...
 ANKARA, Aug 4 (AFP) - Turkish police were looking into the possibility that Turkish radical Islamists responsible for last year's bombings in Istanbul might have taken part in the execution of a Turkish worker in Iraq, Turkish newspapers reported Wednesday. Police launched the investigation after hearing brief remarks in Turkish in the video of the execution of Murat Yuce, a worker from a Turkish catering company who was kidnapped by the Tawhid wa al-Jihad (Unification and Holy War) group affiliated to suspected Al-Qaeda operative Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi.
People unseen in the footage are heard to speak in Turkish before and after the blindfolded Yuce is shot in the head three times by one of three hooded gunmen, leading police to think that at least two Turkish nationals were present there, the mass-circulation Hurriyet said. Officials were investigating whether the suspected executioners include al-Qaeda linked Turkish militants who are believed to be behind a wave of suicide bombings in Istanbul in November last year which claimed more 60 lives and left hundreds more injured.
Police believe that nine of the suspects involved in the bombings against two synagogues, the British consulate and a British bank fled to Iraq before the carnage and have since been in contact with their families from the region, Hurriyet said. Among them is Habip Aktas, the alleged mastermind of the attacks, it said.
"Even though those who carried out (Yuce's) execution hid their faces with masks, it is highly possible that one of the executioners who spoke Turkish was Habip Aktas," the newspaper quoted a senior official from the police anti-terror department as saying. Police were comparing the Turkish voice heard in the video of the execution to that recorded on a compact disc Aktas reportedly sent to media organizations, it added.
Istanbul CSI on the case
Yuce was the first Turkish national to be executed in Iraq. Several other Turkish nationals have also been kidnapped by Islamist extremists in Iraq, some have been released and others remain missing.
Additional from Turkish Press:Video of execution of Murat Yuce of Turkey who was killed in Iraq two days ago caused the Turkish intelligence units to take action. Police focus on members of al-Qaeda groups in Turkey. Murat Kizil of Turkey who was freed after he was kept hostage for 25 days in Fallujah claimed that there were two persons speaking Turkish among the kidnappers but they were not Turks. Speaking to the newspaper, Kizil said, ''kidnappers were wearing masks. About their skin color, I can say that they seem like Arab rather than Turk or Turkmen. One of them told us that he had studied in Turkey.'' In the beginning of the video of Yuce's killing, one person behind the camera says in fluent Turkish, ''let him speak first''. Police focus on possibility that persons who had staged bombings in Istanbul on November 15 and 20 might have been behind this killing. Meanwhile, it is stressed that dangerous period has started for more than 12 thousand Turks working in Iraq.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/04/2004 9:01:15 AM ||
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 Pakistani officials remained tightlipped Wednesday about the identities of two high-level al-Qaida terrorists they arrested in recent days, saying they would release no more information until the Republican convention investigation is complete. Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayyat announced the arrests of two al-Qaida suspects of African origin - one with a multimillion dollar bounty on his head - late Tuesday, but he refused to name them. He said they had been arrested in the past three days.
Meanwhile, a Lahore-based intelligence official said that two of the dozen or so people arrested along with al-Qaida fugitive Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani on July 25 were from South Africa. He identified the men as Feroz Ibrahim and Zubair Ismail, and said they were planning attacks in their home country. He said authorities found maps of South Africa among the items seized at the house in the eastern city of Gujrat where they and Ghailani were captured after a fierce 12-hour gunbattle. Another Lahore-based intelligence official said authorities believe the men wanted to target tourist sites in Johannesburg, South Africa's commercial center. The men are believed to have arrived in Pakistan on a flight from the United Arab Emirates just days before their arrest.
"Ahhh! Pakistan! Land of the pure! I'm so happy to..."
"Stick 'em up! Yer under arrest!"
"...be here."
It is not believed they are the same men as the high-value targets referred to by Hayyat, because there are no South Africans on the FBI most wanted list with bounties, and the men were not arrested in the past three days. Still, the arrests were considered significant. Another African man, a Nigerian named Mohammed Salman Eisa, alias Ibrahim, was captured at Lahore airport Monday night while boarding a flight to the United Arab Emirates.
"This place is crazy! I'm gettin' outta here!"
"No, you ain't! Stick 'em up!"
Posted by: Shep UK ||
08/04/2004 12:46 Comments ||
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#3
"The man arrested on that night is Mahmood who hails from Turbat, settled in Kuwait and frequently used to visit Pakistan. He has a Pakistani identity card and passport, among four or five others."
EFL
Iraqi arms dealers have no shortage of domestic clients, but their latest and most lucrative market is Saudi Arabia, where increased demand for small arms has caused a spike in prices inside Iraq. Abu Ahmed, an elderly man from Baghdad, has an eclectic local clientele for his gunrunning business, finding buyers among northern Kurds and southern Shia, as well as Sunnis from Fallujah and western Iraq. "I make a lot of money easily," said Abu Ahmed, talking to an IWPR reporter posing as a buyer.
He attributes the booming Saudi market to recent attacks by Islamic militants there, which he said have undermined confidence in the Kingdom's ability to provide security or prevent even ordinary crimes such as kidnappings. The dealer described a smuggling pipeline involving multiple participants. The starting point comes when Abu Ahmed's family approaches other dealers in Iraq to purchase arms. One favoured weapon is the Browning pistol, which can be bought on the domestic market for 400,000 dinars, or 270 US dollars, and eventually sold to a Saudi arms trader for 700,000 dinars, about 500 dollars. Abu Ahmed and his sons transport their cargo southwards via the Shia holy city of Karbala. They use an old car and they fly banners from the windows to make the authorities think they are pilgrims. -snip- more details at the link
Interesting, it makes economic sense that the guns and ammo would become a commodity for export trade with the way Sadaam had loaded up the country with weapons. I feel bad for the Saudis.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
08/04/2004 3:53:28 AM ||
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Oil exports through northern Iraq have been halted after an attack on a main pipeline.
Officials from the Northern Oil company say an explosive device was placed close to a network of pipelines to the west of Kirkuk, causing a big explosion and huge fires.
They say the main pipeline running from the area to the Turkish port of Ceyhan has been damaged and exports halted.
Firefighters are still battling the raging fires.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
08/04/2004 2:28:32 AM ||
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#1
Must be graduates of the Bob Mugabe School of economic prosperity.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
08/04/2004 3:13 Comments ||
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What? Exports halted in the North? When did they start?
Insurgents yesterday launched a wave of attacks in Iraq, killing six Iraqi national guardsmen in a suicide car bombing and four US soldiers in separate incidents in Baghdad and the volatile west of the country. A roadside bomb also killed a local police chief in the capital, just hours before interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi returned from a 10-day foreign trip during which he tried to win neighbouring countries' support in stabilising Iraq. The suicide car bomb blast at a checkpoint outside the town of Baquba wounded six other Iraqi guardsmen, said National Guard Lieutenant Mohamed Al Dulaimi at the scene.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
08/04/2004 2:15:31 AM ||
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WASHINGTON, Aug. 3 (Xinhuanet) -- The US State Department on Tuesday asked its citizens to leave the Gaza Strip immediately and to defer travel to Israel or the West Bank in light of the volatile situation there. "The Department of State warns US citizens to depart Gaza immediately and to defer travel to Israel, the West Bank and Gaza due to current safety and security concern," the State Department said in a statement. "The situation in Israel, Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank remains extremely volatile with continuing terrorist attacks, confrontations and clashes," the statement said.
Americans who remain in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza should avoid going to such public places and crowded venues such as restaurants and cafes, shopping centers, market areas, pedestrian zones, public buses and bus stops, the statement said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/04/2004 12:06:19 AM ||
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#1
IHOP interns included, no thinking American civilians should be in Paleo or Jihadi-controlled lands, and if they remain they should do so with the knowledge thy're on their F'n own......
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/04/2004 0:27 Comments ||
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Posted by: Frank G ||
08/04/2004 1:20 Comments ||
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#5
The warning is a formality and useless as well. It's not like the idiotarians won't cry foul when they are held hostage or shot by their Palestinian hosts.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
08/04/2004 1:33 Comments ||
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#6
They are sending a message to the US spies that the place is getting dangerous and it is time to leave.
Posted by: Chris ||
08/04/2004 6:23 Comments ||
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#7
Why is Israel on this list? The wall seems to be workign pretty well and it isn't descending into civil war. The problem is Paleos only.
Posted by: Mr. Davis ||
08/04/2004 7:32 Comments ||
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#13
Maybe Israel tipped the US on some upcoming IDF activity that may or may not involve jets, Iran, and nuclear facilities.
Posted by: Scott R ||
08/04/2004 20:24 Comments ||
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#14
I would say once the presidental elections are over the re-elected President will be taking possible joint actions against Jihad-Axis of Iran-Syria-Lebanon. At that point American tourists (not those living in Israel) should depart, until the enemy is beaten.
Israel's IDF, as Scott has stated, may be close to direct strikes against Hamas & other terrorists in Gaza, Samaria & Judah.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
08/04/2004 21:01 Comments ||
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Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's militia has kidnapped 18 Iraqi police officers in hopes of using them as leverage to force authorities to free detained militants, police said Tuesday. The recent kidnappings took place as al-Sadr aides accused authorities of trying to arrest top officials from the cleric's Mahdi Army. The new tensions appear to threaten a fragile cease-fire between the Mahdi Army and Iraqi authorities. Mahdi Army militiamen have seized 18 police officers and two police cars in recent days, hoping to get some of their comrades out of prison, according to a Najaf police official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Najaf's governor, Adnan al-Zurufi, confirmed a number of policemen were abducted. Najaf police were awaiting orders from local officials, who did not want to escalate the situation, the official said.
Ahmed al-Shaibany, an al-Sadr spokesman, denied any policemen were locked in al-Sadr's office or any of his quarters. He accused Iraqi police of provocations, saying they had conducted several raids against the Mahdi Army that he said "threaten peace and stability in this holy city." Police tried to arrest a senior al-Sadr follower at a university in the southern city of Kufa on Friday but were shooed away by the university's dean. Several other raids and arrests took place in Najaf, al-Shaibany added. He did not say how many people were arrested.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/04/2004 11:20:09 PM ||
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#5
Mahdi Army militiamen have seized 18 police officers and two police cars in recent days
Call me cynical, but 18 men and 2 cars in a few days???? I suspect some of these Iraqi policemen were "willing victims."
Posted by: rex ||
08/04/2004 0:24 Comments ||
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#6
so he's degenerated from a "Shiite Uprising Leaderâ¢" to a common extortionist kidnapper. Kill. Him
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/04/2004 0:38 Comments ||
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#7
I guess he has decided to participate in the political process afterall.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
08/04/2004 1:35 Comments ||
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#8
Why is Sadr still walking around? Spray this rodent with a giant can of RAID!
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
08/04/2004 2:12 Comments ||
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#9
OT, there is a new (actually from the 30th but I haven't checked in a while) e-mail at Greenside from Major David G. Bellon, USMC to his dad, concerning conditions in Fallujah.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
08/04/2004 3:44 Comments ||
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#10
..from Major David G. Bellon, USMC to his dad, concerning conditions in Fallujah.
There's only one issue I have with the letter; him speaking of "reaching out" to the third group (of the three elements found in Fallujah). From a historical perspective, Fallujah isn't worth that kind of effort. Evacuate the people that don't want to be there or be involved with what's going on there, then go in and kill all the combatants and reduce everything to rubble.
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