From Jihad Unspun, a transcript of Osama Bin Laden's speech released on the Internet on December 16.
.... This is a message to the Muslims in the land of the two holy Mosques, in particular, and to all Muslims everywhere else, in general. .... Much has been said about the need for security and safety and the need to spare Muslim blood in the land of the two holy Mosques. Much has also been said about the importance of togetherness and unity and the danger of polarization and internal fighting. The ruling body (the rulers of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) claimed that the Mujahideen are the ones responsible for the deteriorated state of affairs in that country. But the plain truth is, the responsibility falls on the shoulder of the rulers. ....
The violations (of Islamic Laws as mandated by Allah) that were committed by the ruling body have gone beyond the most serious sins (Sheikh Bin Laden is referring to the seven most serious sins here); those violations are clearly in the categories that knock the offender completely out of the fold of Islam. They (the rulers) have oppressed and humiliate people, have made a mockery of their intellect, and have mismanaged the state's wealth. Nowadays, millions are suffering from poverty in order for millions of SR's (Saudi Riyal, the currency used in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) to go into the bank accounts of members of the ruling family. In addition, public services have become poor, land and other properties have been taken away from rightful owners by force, members of the ruling family have appointed themselves, by force, as business partners with business owners without their consent, and many other violations have been the trademark of this ruling family. The rulers have gone beyond that when they committed the kind of violation that puts them out of the fold of Islam; allying themselves with the Kufr system of America and siding with, providing aid and supporting the infidel Americans against the Muslims were the acts which sealed the fate of this ruling body. They have become apostates. ....
Obedience of the ruler in Islam is not absolute. It is restricted by implementing the laws of Allah. It is the consensus of Islamic scholars that togetherness, unity, and affection go hand in hand with obeying Allah. ... Some people say, yes, the rulers have already put the wheels in motion. They have started national dialogue and municipal elections. But that did not change anything because it did not address the core of the problem. The rulers, at best, will play the election games that were previously played by the rulers of Yemen, Jordan, and Egypt. They will be going in circles for decades to come with nothing to accomplish. Not to mention that it is Haram (forbidden) to participate in legislative bodies of these governments because they legislate for people, and that is Shirk (taking partners with Allah), because Allah is the only law giver.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
12/21/2004 10:48:33 PM ||
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A MOROCCAN man has been charged with offences relating to terrorism and mass killing for allegedly helping plan the March 11 Madrid train bombings in Spain. The suspected mastermind of a terrorist cell recently dismantled by Spanish police was remanded in custody today for his alleged role in the March 11 train atrocity in Madrid, judicial sources said. Hassan El Haski, 41, suspected of being the head of the Islamic Group of Moroccan Fighters which has links with al Qaeda, is accused of belonging to a terrorist organisation and of playing a role in the attacks in which 191 people died. "He is alleged to have taken part in the planning and preparation of the attacks and is suspected of playing an active role in their execution," a statement by judge Juan del Olmo said.
El Haski rejects the charges against him and denies belonging to a terrorist group. He was later questioned by Spain's senior anti-terrorist judge Baltasar Garzon in connection with the attacks in the Moroccan city of Casablanca in May 2003 in which 45 people died. He was also quizzed on the murder of the Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh in Amsterdam on November 2, the sources said. El Haski was one of four Moroccans arrested in the Canary Islands on Friday. Investigators said the group was about to set up a logistical base in the archipelago, situated off the coast of northwest Africa. The others arrested on the island of Lanzarote were the imam of the village of Puerto del Carmen, Abdallah Mourib; Ali Fahimi, aged 31, and Brahim Atia El Hammouchi, aged 40.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
12/21/2004 4:39:05 PM ||
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Thailand says it has photographic proof that militants in the south of the country are being trained in Malaysia. Deputy Interior Minister Sutham Saengprathum said the photographs were relatively clear, but he did not say who had taken them, or when.
"I can say(cough)NRO(cough)CIA(cough)no more!"
In comments over the weekend, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said southern insurgents had links with both Indonesia and Malaysia. Both nations reacted angrily to the accusation and demanded evidence.
Sutham Saengprathum said the photographs proved that militants had received training in Malaysia's northern state of Kelantan, which borders southern Thailand. "There are pictures which are relatively clear and can be accepted as evidence in court. If the Malaysian government wants to see them, we can oblige," Mr Sutham told Reuters news agency. His comments are unlikely to ease tensions with Kuala Lumpur, says the BBC's South East Asia correspondent Kylie Morris.
Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmed Badawi has rejected any suggestion that his country is a base for insurgents. Malaysian officials have accused the Thai prime minister of attempting to divert attention from his government's handling of the violence in the south of his country, which has left more than 500 people dead so far this year. Jakarta is also annoyed, after Mr Thaksin said that Thai militants were being indoctrinated by radical Indonesian groups. The Indonesian government has demanded an explanation, calling on Mr Thaksin to substantiate or retract his accusations.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/21/2004 9:10:07 AM ||
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THE Southern Command has denied that it issued Monday a report, claiming that the military has killed Abu Sayyaf chief Khadaffy Janjalani in an air strike last month in the town of Datu Piang, Maguindanao. Col. Jerry Jalandoni, chief of the Army's 604th Brigade, reportedly claimed they have information that Janjalani was hit and got killed when MG520 helicopters struck the Abu lair, at Butilen marsh of the town, last November 19, with rockets. The area was situated near the stronghold of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). But Southcom chief Lt. Gen. Alberto Braganza said the report did not come from Southern Command. He has vowed to investigate and check the veracity of the report.
From Jihad Unspun Fighting, firepower and fatalities throughout Iraq on Monday .... On Monday night US forces stormed into the College of Medicine in al-Anbar Province in Western Iraq and arrested several of the medical students. .... When the US troops were returning to their base with their captives, Resistance forces attacked them with RPG7 rockets and bombs, destroying a Humvee and reportedly killing three US troops as well as two of the captive medical students. A US armored vehicle with four American troops aboard was also destroyed. ....
Resistance sharp shooters shot two US snipers in the city of al-Qa'im on Monday in separate attacks. .... In a separate attack in the same city, A Resistance sharp shooter picked off one American sniper posted in a guard tower outside the US base in the Customs area of al-Qa'im, a city on the Iraqi-Syrian border. .... Resistance forces firing RPG7 rockets attacked American troops in the al-Jihad neighborhood of Baghdad at about 6:45am Monday, destroying two Humvees and a Bradley armored vehicle and reportedly killing eight US troops and seriously wounding two more American soldiers. A Resistance bomb exploded on Airport Road in the Baghdad district of al-'Amiriyah at 8:30am Monday, destroying a Humvee and reportedly killing three US troops. ....
Resistance bombs exploded under US forces in as-Suwayrah, south of Baghdad at about 10am Monday, destroying a Bradley armored vehicle and reportedly killing three US troops who were aboard it. A heavy Resistance bomb exploded in al-Ishaqi north of Baghdad at 10:15am Monday, destroying an Abrams tank and reportedly killing two US troops and wounding a third. A Resistance bomb exploded on the highway in the as-Sayyidiyah area at 10:30am Monday, destroying a Humvee and reportedly killing two US troops. Resistance fighters hurled hand grenades at US troops on Sahat at-Tala'i' [Vanguards' Square] in the al-Mushahadah neighborhood of Baghdad's al-Karakh district at 10:30am Monday, reportedly killing three US soldiers on foot and wounding seven other American infantrymen. .... Resistance fighters fired an RPG7 rocket a US military truck on the highway in the al-Ghazaliyah area, reportedly killing two US troops aboard it. Resistance forces planted a bomb under a US checkpoint in the at-Taji area, north of Baghdad. Witnesses in the area said that when the bomb exploded it destroyed a Humvee and reportedly killed seven US soldiers and seriously wounded nine others. ....
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
12/21/2004 10:19:48 PM ||
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#1
MS - why do you persist in putting up the same spittle-porn from discredited jihadi-propaganda sources? We KNOW how/what they spew, so it can't be to "show us what they're hearing in the ME". It's factually inaccurate, so it can't possibly be to let us know news, and it promotes an anti-American line...oh, wait, I think I see a trend...
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/21/2004 22:25 Comments ||
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COme on, FG. These are hilarious! Either these are actually reported from "the field", or made up in the office. Either way, they're obviously all lies. At some point in time, even the Arabs will notice that.
MS is a moonbat 'cause he is objectively anti-American, but he does provide some laughs. And, we DO need our chuckels, no?
Resistance sharp shooters shot two US snipers in the city of al-Qaâim on Monday in separate attacks. .... In a separate attack in the same city, A Resistance sharp shooter picked off one American sniper posted in a guard tower
Arab sharpshooters? WTF? Killed 3 Marine Scout-Snipers? Yeah, right.
#3
Me thinks the Heyrab media are confusing 6 uniformed U.S soldiers captured with 6 U.S uniforms captured. But then again, a little exaggeration is unusual in the Heyrab media.
Two French journalists held hostage in Iraq have been released, French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin has said. "I have the profound joy of announcing that Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot have been freed," Raffarin told the Senate upper house of parliament to loud applause followed by a standing ovation. "Our joy will be complete when they are safely back on home soil."
Thierry Chesnot, Chesnot's brother, said he had been informed by the government that the two men were in Amman, the capital of Jordan, and would return to France on Wednesday. This could not immediately be confirmed. The two men were kidnapped with their Syrian driver Mohammed al-Jundi in August while on their way to the Iraqi holy city of Najaf. "I would like, before the upper house of parliament, to pay tribute to the courage of these two men, Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot, who have suffered these long months in difficult conditions," Raffarin said. Arabic broadcaster Al Jazeera said earlier that Iraqi militants had handed over the two men to the French embassy in Baghdad but the mission did not confirm this.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
12/21/2004 1:21:12 PM ||
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Gunmen shot dead an Iraqi nuclear scientist today, witnesses said.
How many does this make now?
I've lost count...
Taleb Ibrahim al-Daher was on his way to work at Diyala University when armed men opened fire on his car as it was crossing a bridge in Baqouba, 35 miles north-east of Baghdad. The vehicle swerved off the bridge and fell into the Khrisan river, witnesses said. Al-Daher, who was a professor at the local university, was removed from the submerged car and rushed to Baqouba hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/21/2004 12:17:58 PM ||
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See, and you all thought only MOSSAD knew how to do these little tricks! IMF on this!
Re-post from yesterday. You don't need to RSVP twice...
The Rantburg editorial staff is pleased to invite the Rantburg community to the Inaugural Rant-a-Palooza!
Date: Saturday, January 22
Time: 1 p.m. 'til last call
Where: Chinatown, downtown Washington DC. Exact name of watering hole to be provided later.
Metro: Chinatown-Gallery Place on Red/Yellow/Green lines
We'll raise a glass to "four more years of tax cuts and dead terrorists." Then we'll raise a glass to the best damn website in the Blogosphere. After that, it's up to you!
Fred, myself, and Dan Darling will be attending, and I'm waiting to hear from Dr. White. Steve sends his regrets, and says the first round's on him.
Please email me at seafarious@yahoo.com to let me know if you're coming, or leave a note in comments. If you want to come in from out of town, let me know.
Thanks and we are looking forward to meeting you!
UPDATE: Dr. White informs me that he will be "washing his hair" that weekend and thus will be unable to attend. He has promised to send a life-size cardboard cutout of himself for photos.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
12/21/2004 11:43:35 AM ||
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#1
Washing his hair. That is so metro.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
12/21/2004 11:46 Comments ||
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I'll have to pass, but I wish everyone a good time.
#5
C.A., Minneapolis in January Sucks. I know, I live there. I'm not inclined to attend due to location. Perhaps if the next one was located in a warmer, more central climate...
Posted by: Mike ||
12/21/2004 14:03 Comments ||
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#6
Ahhh Rantburg!
Outstanding!Somebody take a laptop for us stay at homes.
Damn harddrive crashed the other morning,right in the middle of morning RB.I just now sat down to try and wipe the harddrive,it boooted-up.
Steve Y is buying the first round, I'll buy the second (I'll use Emily's Visa card as the means to do this, she just got another Visa from this Pakistani dude she knows).
I'm on call for all of January so making it to DC isn't possible, but I'll try to be there in spirits, if AutoBartender will just keep pouring ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/21/2004 17:39 Comments ||
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#9
I thought they leave that "whole month on call" stuff up to the interns.
We'll miss you Dr. Steve, and better check the expiration date on that Visa card I gave you.
Edited for brevity.
A mortar and rocket attack on a U.S. military base in the Iraqi city of Mosul killed at least 22 people and wounded more than 50 on Tuesday in one of the most deadly attacks on U.S. forces since last year's invasion. Iraqi militant group Ansar al-Sunna, a major player in the insurgency against the U.S.-backed government and U.S. forces, said it was behind the attack. A defense official in Washington said it was not clear how many of the casualties were Americans. The attack on a dining hall came at noon when many soldiers at Forward Operating Base Marez, at the northern city's airfield, would have been eating lunch. U.S. military camps in Mosul have tented mess halls seating hundreds of troops. "There were an unknown number of rounds in a rocket and mortar attack," the official said. "We don't know the breakdown (of dead). We don't know if it's U.S., Iraqi, a combination." UPDATE:
The Ansar al-Sunnah Army claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement on the Internet. It said the attack was a "martyrdom operation" targeting a mess hall in the al-Ghizlani camp. Ansar al-Sunna is believed to be a fundamentalist group whose goal is to turn Iraq into a tightly controlled Islamic state like Afghanistan's former Taliban regime. In August, the Sunni Muslim group claimed responsibility for the beheading of 12 Nepalese hostages. It also has claimed responsibility for recent attacks in Mosul. Mosul, Iraq's third-largest city, was relatively peaceful in the immediate aftermath of the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime last year. But insurgent attacks in the largely Sunni Arab area have increased dramatically in the past year and particularly since the U.S.-led military operation in November to retake the restive city of Fallujah from militants.
Posted by: Dar ||
12/21/2004 11:23:16 AM ||
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sounds like we need to give our Kurdish friends better weapons and a free-er hand in Mosul. Reverse Arabization
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/21/2004 11:49 Comments ||
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Interesting that they went after a *US* Base this close to the election. I thought the designated targets were Iraqis now. I wonder what really happened here.
Posted by: Dave ||
12/21/2004 12:45 Comments ||
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Saw on Fox that the base is also used by Iraqi forces.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
12/21/2004 13:30 Comments ||
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I wonder what really happened here.
They're looking for *something* to attack. It doesn't have to be anything in particular; it's just out of habit, that's all.
#6
It sounds like they just got lucky with one of their rocket attacks. Just like that Scud that hit the barrack in GW1, fire enough of them and eventually they'll hit something.
I feel terrible for the families of the servicemen and women--there are going to be some sad households this Christmas. I hope our boys get some payback and soon.
Posted by: Dar ||
12/21/2004 14:17 Comments ||
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there will be some serious payback ... BTW I heard on the pentagon channel earlier that there was one loud explosion that caused the damage ... a general was giving the briefing ... I wonder if this was perhaps a suicide bomber, car bomb or other IED as opposed to a missile/mortar attack? Anybody heard anything like this?
#8
The Sunni Partisans (splinter from of Ansar Al Islam) are claiming a "matrydom operation". Me thinks jihadi go boom. Time will tell. Got a good bud there. Next to Camp Maser. Shot him an email, and he's ok. The CSH stands. Fifty odd patients, 24 KIA (American and Iraqi) and gloating CNNi.
#9
From a tactical viewpoint, the practice of large dining facilities, briefing halls is a no-no when you have an enemy that can deliver explosives/artillery. My experience dates from the sixties Europe and VN. From very personal experience I can tell you dispersal and sandbags save lives. The same situation occurred at Pearl Harbor. I would rather eat cold MREs for 365 days than be blown out of my boots eating a steak dinner.
Posted by: Old Fogey ||
12/21/2004 15:59 Comments ||
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Placement and time says it's an attack with help from the inside. I am not thinking this was a lucky magic rocket or mortar round.
#11
I agree with Frank...arm the Kurds to the teeth and have them "clean up" Mosel. In fact, GIVE the Kurds ALL of northern Iraq including Mosel. It is time give Mosel a BIG taste of Fallujah...as a lesson to EVERY OTHER STINKING town that harbors this assholes!!
Also, I am inclined to agree with the assessment that this sounds more like a suicide bomber (with inside access) than a rocket attack. Time will tell.
We need to institute the Israeli practice of retaliating against the FAMILIES of suicide bombers. Not kill them, displace them. Bulldoze their house, and both adjoining houses. Suicide bombers are typically PAID to "serve" Allan...knowing their family's financial LOSS will exceed the payday will also decrease their numbers.
#16
listens to yourselfs junduists scam...
why you little shit packers do not joint the army and go to IRAQ ?
instead play me me me me ... I'm the most informed one I know more than you
#19
Welcome to this board Reverand Farrakan.
We are just waiting for instructions from Jerusalem and Delhi via coded messages in the Star Trek (original series) TV episodes . We have been instructed to start with Iran, and pillage our way through Syria, and then raze the Saudis and their funny little black rock. Finally, our Jewish overlords have commanded us to divert the Nile and make the Jewish deserts bloom. The Hinduists said they would take care of PakiWakiLand themselves. Something about alleviating a protein shortage in India. I just hope the rest of the Rantburgers won't be too angry for revealing the Jewhinduists plans.
Btw, have you and Michael J. molested taught the koran to your Fruits of Islam today?
Posted by: ed ||
12/21/2004 18:26 Comments ||
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Never served, but I always figured if I was in a war zone I would put sandbags around my cot, no matter where it was.
Maybe SOP ought to be that dining halls like this get chest high sandbags around each long table. Divide the hall into small zones to limit casualties.
Posted by: DO ||
12/21/2004 18:27 Comments ||
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#21
Eye I! I! Can speak Engalish!
I, eye! i Can speak Enngrish!
Posted by: Manuel at the check in desk everywhere ||
12/21/2004 18:47 Comments ||
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Reply to #20. With the 1st ID, in 65 - 66, our base camp had GP medium tents for sleeping. They had to be 100 foot from the next tent and had to be surrounded by 30 inch high sandbag walls. Anything that had more than a squad had to be divided so that no more than ten men were in a single enclosure. We took a 107 mm rocket which landed about 4 foot from the outside of the wall. One guy took a small piece of shrapnel in the arm. If we hadn't had that wall I probably wouldn't be griping about this today.
Posted by: Old Fogey ||
12/21/2004 20:50 Comments ||
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A missile fired by Palestinian militants struck a synagogue in a Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip during morning prayers Tuesday, causing extensive damage but no injuries, the Israeli military said. A homemade Qassam rocket hit the synagogue at the Netzarim settlement, the army said. Eight worshippers were treated for shock but suffered no injuries. Militants frequently target Jewish settlements in Gaza with Qassams, anti-tank weapons and mortars. A Thai worker died last week in a mortar attack on the settlement of Gani Tal.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/21/2004 9:18:26 AM ||
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If an Israeli missile had hit a mosque, the un would pass ANOTHER motion for Israel to disarm itself.
A Moroccan suspected of being Osama bin Laden's former bodyguard has been released before trial in Rabat. The case against Abdellah Tabarak, 49, and four other Moroccans was postponed until 27 December. Two of the accused were refused provisional release. The five are accused of belonging to a criminal gang and for failing to report criminal plans to the state.
"failing to report criminal plans to the state"?? WTF? Is that like the IRS rule that you have to report illegal income or you get in trouble?
They were held for two years at the US base in Guantanamo Bay and handed over to the Moroccan authorities in August. There have been hundreds of trials on terrorism charges in Morocco since Islamic militants carried out an attack in Casablanca last year, in which scores of people died. The judge in the Moroccan capital did not give a reason for the provisional release of the trio, who were expected to leave jail on Monday night. Under the rules, the men will be monitored by authorities and cannot travel abroad, Reuters news agency reports.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/21/2004 9:05:14 AM ||
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Nice...... why not just give them their passports and some cash and say "hightail it"?
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/21/2004 9:42 Comments ||
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Under the rules, the men will be monitored by authorities and cannot travel abroad, Reuters news agency reports.
Haaahahahahaha, does Reuters actually believe that the "authorities" can actually pull this off successfully? More likely than not, at some point in time this guy will disappear to resume his "career".
#3
More likely than not, at some point in time this guy will disappear to resume his "career".
Sheesh I hope not. What about those highly paid CIA assassins that Hollyood immortalized? Aren't any of them still kicking around the company to take on a new job?
#4
CIA assassins? I seriously doubt such individuals exist anymore. Killing people isn't a very nice thing to do, and that runs counter to what many of our government officials wish - to be "liked".
Tony Blair has held talks with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad during the UK prime minister's first trip to the city.
He was briefed on preparations for the national poll, which is scheduled for next month but is threatened by a deadly campaign of insurgent violence.
"There is only one side to be on in what is very clearly a battle between democracy and terror," Mr Blair said.
He flew to Baghdad's Green Zone administrative centre in a convoy of helicopter gunships from the airport.
Mr Blair wore a dark civilian suit for the trip. He wore no flak jacket, unlike the military officials and journalists who accompanied him.
After talks in the Green Zone with Mr Allawi, he met UK and US officials, and members of Iraq's Electoral Commission whom he praised for risking their lives "to make sure the people of Iraq get a chance to decide their own destiny".
"I said to them that I thought they were the heroes of the new Iraq," he said.
'Inclusive' elections
Mr Blair has invested great political capital on a successful political process to lead Iraq out of the current violent crisis.
He told a news conference that he hoped all Iraqis would take part in next month's elections "on an inclusive basis".
"The danger people feel here is coming from the terrorists and insurgents who are trying to stop the country from becoming a democracy," he said.
Mr Allawi, for his part, said the interim government was committed to holding the elections as scheduled, despite calls for a delay because of the violence.
"We now are on the verge, for the first time in history, of having democracy in action in this country," the Iraqi leader added.
Mr Allawi has accused insurgents, who bombed Shia Muslim targets on Sunday killing nearly 70 people, of trying to bring about ethnic and religious conflicts in Iraq.
"Our enemies are determined to break our will...," he said. "We will not allow them to prevail."
Threat of violence
In the latest violence the US launched an air strike on the town of Hit, in a Sunni Muslim region west of Baghdad, killing six people and wounding 10, according to hospital officials.
Posted by: tipper ||
12/21/2004 8:50:56 AM ||
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Tony the tiger comes through! The UK has faced its share of menacing barbarians who tried to blow them into dust.
2004 Brass Ones Award goes to Tony
Posted by: Capt America ||
12/21/2004 13:13 Comments ||
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Police arrested six suspected Islamic militants in the eastern city of Lahore on Monday, hoping they could provide clues about a Libyan al-Qaida operative who is among the most-wanted men in Pakistan. The six arrested men, all Pakistanis, include Malik Tehsin, 31, who is said to be a member of two outlawed Sunni Muslim militant groups and an aide of al-Libbi. Shafqaat Ahmed, a senior Lahore police superintendent, told a news conference that Tehsin met al-Libbi at a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan several years ago and became his lover later arranged logistics, transportation and other facilities for the Libyan.
Musharraf was unharmed in the attempts on his life in December 2003, but 17 people died in the second attempt to blow up his motorcade in Rawalpindi, a city near the capital, Islamabad. Ahmed alleged that Tehsin had rented three houses for al-Libbi, including two in Rawalpindi, where he allegedly stayed while planning the attacks. In August, Pakistan offered a $345,000 reward a huge amount in this impoverished country for information leading to the arrest of al-Libbi, whose photograph on a most-wanted list shows a dapper man with a trim beard.
An alleged co-plotter of the bombings against Musharraf, Amjad Hussain Farooqi, was killed in a shootout with security forces in southern Pakistan on Sept. 26. Farooqi, a Pakistani, was also accused in the January 2003 kidnapping and execution in Karachi of Wall Street Journal correspondent Daniel Pearl. Pakistan trumpeted Farooqi's demise as an important victory in its fight against al-Qaida, with officials boasting it had broken the back of the terror network inside the country. Al-Libbi, however, has eluded capture.
Asked if the six arrested men could offer more clues to his whereabouts, Ahmed said, "We are investigating them and we are hopeful for further progress." Police and counterterrorism officials denied Arabic television reports that Ayman al-Zawahri, the al-Qaida No. 2, might be among the arrested men. Brig. Javed Iqbal Cheema, director-general of the National Crisis Management Cell at the Interior Ministry, said "no high-profile al-Qaida suspect" was among the six.
Police said Tehsin is a member of the Sunni militant groups Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Harkat Jihad-e-Islami, and was allegedly involved in the killing in 1998 of a Shiite Muslim leader and his daughter in Rawalpindi. He was arrested as he drove through Lahore with three other Pakistanis: Amir Maqsood alias Abu Haroon, 27, Mahmood Ahmed [that's gotta be an alias!], 26, and Sajjad Haider, 24. Ahmed alleged that Tehsin and Mahmood Ahmed had confessed during interrogation to planning a missile attack last year on Lahore airport but the plan fell through as they could not get equipment for the raid. Two other suspects, not named by police, were arrested in a raid in a house in Lahore later Monday on information provided by Tehsin. Ahmed did not say when the arrested men would be produced before a court, saying they would be interrogated first.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/21/2004 12:26:14 AM ||
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Police rounded up dozens of suspects on Monday after twin suicide car bombings killed 66 people in Iraq's Shi'ite holy cities, attacks that intensified fears of sectarian violence during elections on Jan. 30. In Najaf, scene of the deadlier of Sunday's coordinated attacks, the governor said police had seized 50 suspects. Police detained five more in Kerbala, site of the other blast, but were cautious about saying they were close to the culprits.
A roadside bomb exploded on Monday in Kerbala, briefly raising concerns of a copy-cat strike. Four Iraqis were wounded, none of them seriously, police said. Najaf governor Adnan al-Zurfi, appointed by U.S. authorities, gave reporters few details about those in custody, but said at least one held a passport from another Arab country. The streets of Najaf were almost empty on Monday apart from frequent funeral processions, some passing close to where people continued to sift through the rubble of Sunday's blast.
In another attack on Sunday that sent an obvious message to the Electoral Commission and potential voters, gunmen shot dead three Commission employees in a daylight ambush in Baghdad. Electoral Commission officials and candidates gathering to choose the ballot order on Monday held a minute's silence to remember those killed in the three attacks. As they met, gunmen in the north killed two members of a party set up by a former intelligence chief who turned against Saddam.
Iraq's Shi'ite leaders urged their followers to remain calm. "The aim is to sow sectarian division and defer the election process ... Iraqis will defeat those aims," said Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, who heads the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, the most powerful Shi'ite electoral bloc. Sunni leaders and clerics echoed that call, denouncing the bombings as the work of extremists who had no role in Iraq.
Monday's ceremony in Baghdad to choose the order in which parties and blocs appear on the ballot was attended by more than 200 people clearly eager for the elections. About 7,000 candidates are signed up to stand and 6,000 voting stations, protected by local security forces and manned by Iraqi monitors, will be set up nationwide. The vote is for a 275-seat national assembly that will help form a government and write a permanent constitution before another election is held in December 2005.
International elections experts created a new body on Monday to help prepare for and evaluate the vote in Iraq, but ruled out sending in large numbers of foreign observers because of the violence, officials said. They said the International Mission for Iraqi Elections would oversee efforts to register expatriate voters and political parties, as well as make contact with domestic monitoring organizations. "We're calling this an assessment mission ... it's not an observer mission," Canada's chief electoral officer, Jean-Pierre Kingsley, told a news conference.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/21/2004 12:03:54 AM ||
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Argh, that should be "Karbala blasts"
It's too late ...
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/21/2004 0:13 Comments ||
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Najaf governor Adnan al-Zurfi, appointed by U.S. authorities, gave reporters few details about those in custody, but said at least one held a passport from another Arab country.
Nope, Nope, It's not a Syrian Passport....
Can't tell you that... it might ruin the solidarity of the Ummah (TM)
TWO South Africans who returned home after five months in a Pakistani jail were on a training mission for Al-Qaeda, according to a statement sent to the South African police by Pakistani authorities.
"We're on a mission from God."
Dr Feroz Ganchi, a trauma surgeon from Johannesburg, and Pretoria Islamic student Zubair Ismail were arrested in the same house as the FBI's then most-wanted man, Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani. Ganchi and Ismail were released after being interrogated for two days by the South African Police Service on Friday. Both were taken to their homes, where they were welcomed by members of their families, religious leaders, friends and supporters.
The statement sent by the Pakistani authorities says the two men had been in contact with one of Pakistan's most senior Al-Qaeda members. Ganchi allegedly treated Ghailani while in the house in Gujrat, where some of the occupants engaged in a 10-hour shoot-out with Pakistani police. The statement also contains an admission that the two were recruited for Al-Qaeda in South Africa, and were taught how to use and formulate coded messages and carry out intelligence reconnaissance. Ismail refused to speak to the Sunday Times but his family said they were happy he was back home. Yesterday Ganchi, sitting with his wife Saffiya, said his five-month ordeal in the Islamabad prison had destroyed him emotionally. "I was arrested with Ghailani. It was a terrible ordeal that I want to get rid of. Feroz's body is here but my mind is not," he said.
Ismail refused to comment on the allegations or the statement, but Ganchi said: "Lots of allegations have been made. Some are true and some will remain allegations." At the time of their arrest in July, family members of the two men said that Ganchi was on a hiking trip while Ismail was visiting Islamic schools. The pair flew together, via Dubai, to Lahore on July 10. They were scheduled to return to South Africa on September 24. According to the statement, Ganchi and Ismail received codes and names through e-mails about where to go once in Pakistan. Once in Gujrat, the men went to a restaurant where they used their coded messages to speak to the owner. They were later blindfolded and driven to a house near the sea, where they found Ghailani, for whom the FBI had offered a $25-million reward. Four days after they arrived, the house was stormed by Pakistani police and they were arrested. Senior police officials refused to disclose if any charges were to be brought against the men. Inspector Dennis Adriao, spokesman for National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi, said: "We cannot reveal more. This is a sensitive issue and we do not want to jeopardise it."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/21/2004 12:07:12 AM ||
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Were corrupt, don't want to piss off the muzzies and won't do a thing. Is what Inspector Dennis Adriao is trying to say.
A senior militant commander was shot dead by the army and two civilians were killed by suspected militants in Indian-administered Kashmir yesterday, police said. Indian troops shot dead Hafiz Bhat, a senior commander of dominant group Hizbul Mujahideen in the southern district of Doda late on Sunday, police said. Separately, suspected militants shot dead a member of the ruling pro-India party in southern Kashmir district of Pulwama, while a Muslim woman was killed in Udhampur district, further south, a police spokesman said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/21/2004 12:08:07 AM ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Fighting, firepower and fatalities throughout Iraq on Monday .... On Monday night US forces stormed into the College of Medicine in al-Anbar Province in Western Iraq and arrested several of the medical students. .... When the US troops were returning to their base with their captives, Resistance forces attacked them with RPG7 rockets and bombs, destroying a Humvee and reportedly killing three US troops as well as two of the captive medical students. A US armored vehicle with four American troops aboard was also destroyed. .... 
A Moroccan suspected of being Osama bin Laden's former bodyguard has been released before trial in Rabat. The case against 
Police rounded up dozens of suspects on Monday after twin suicide car bombings killed 66 people in Iraq's Shi'ite holy cities, attacks that intensified fears of sectarian violence during elections on Jan. 30. In Najaf, scene of the deadlier of Sunday's coordinated attacks, the governor said police had seized 50 suspects. Police detained five more in Kerbala, site of the other blast, but were cautious about saying they were close to the culprits. 
A senior militant commander was shot dead by the army and two civilians were killed by suspected militants in Indian-administered Kashmir yesterday, police said. Indian troops shot dead 
