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Today: 93 articles and 523 comments as of 11:56.
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Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion    Local News       
Zahhar: Abbas has no authorization to end resistance
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 2: WoT Background
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Page 4: Opinion
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Arabia
Kuwait hunts suspects after gunfight
Kuwait was hunting on Tuesday for suspected Al-Qaeda-linked Islamist militants after a deadly gunfight with security forces that triggered a new U.S. terror warning. The U.S. Embassy said that the gunman that police killed Monday was a terrorist that Americans had been warned about, adding that U.S. citizens should stay vigilant because more terrorists remain at large. The gunman, Fawwaz Tlaiq al-Otaibi, died of his wounds after a shootout with police in a suburb of Kuwait City. Two policemen were also killed in the gun battle, which came hours after the U.S. Embassy had posted an urgent message on its Web site warning of an "individual or individuals moving about Kuwait in a black-colored small sedan [who] intend to randomly attack Westerners." On Tuesday, the embassy's Web site said the "terrorist" shot dead in the shootout was one of those referred to in the warning, and added: "At least one suspected terrorist, known to be armed and dangerous, remains at large."
Somehow, I guessed the accomplices got away...
The "two terrorists involved in the shooting may have been part of a larger group," the Web site said.
Wotta surprise.
"U.S. citizens should exercise caution, maintain a low profile, and remain aware of their surroundings."
And pack heat...
Kuwait's interior minister, Sheik Nawwaf al-Ahmed al-Sabah, said Tuesday none of the others involved in the gun battle had been arrested. He declined to tell reporters anything about Otaibi's motives or affiliation until the police had finished their investigation. However, two lawmakers who discussed the incident with the minister in a parliamentary committee, Nasser al-Saneh and Mohammed al-Saqr, said afterward it was a "terrorist" matter.
Brilliant. Simply brilliant.
The incident came about 10 days after Kuwait upgraded its domestic security measures, deploying armed military and police vehicles at street junctions and outside hotels, embassies and oil facilities. In its statements on Monday's gun battle, the Interior Ministry did not say what Otaibi was wanted for. It said two other policeman were wounded and admitted to hospital. The interior minister has said that Kuwait has received many security threats recently, but he did not disclose their source.

Two members of Kuwait's armed forces are to face court-martial for planning to attack coalition forces in the country. A former senior minister warned that "sleeping cells" of extremist groups existed in the country's security agencies. "Extremist groups here are like fire under ashes. There are sleeping cells ... in the security and military agencies of this country," Sheikh Saud Nasser al-Sabah, a former information and oil minister, was quoted as saying in Al-Siyassah newspaper. "We have warned of this for years and we will uncover more of these cells in the future," said the minister, who is also a senior member of the ruling Al-Sabah family. Monday's shootout began when police tried to arrest Otaibi as he returned a car to a car-rental shop. Otaibi opened fire on the police and fled in a waiting car, one of whose occupants shot at police. Later Otaibi was arrested and died of his wounds. The U.S. Embassy had warned Americans late last year of possible attacks against them.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 01/12/2005 12:38:58 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Maybe it just the camera angle, but those hounds look huge.
Posted by: Shipman || 01/12/2005 10:33 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
7 hard boyz jugged
Men from the Security Service of the Chechen president and from other power structures of the republic have arrested seven members of Shamil Basayev's bandit gang in the village of Alkhan-Yurt, located in the Urus-Martan district of Chechnya. Itar-Tass was told on Tuesday at the Regional Operations HQ, directing the counter-terrorism operation in the Northern Caucasus, that the arrested men had on them forged certificates of Chechen security agents. A large weapons cache was also found in one of the houses of the said village. It contained twenty grenade launchers, twenty-five Kalashnikov submachine-guns and other weapons, as well as approximately three thousand cartridges, a demolition bomb and nine transceivers. The district procurator's office has instituted criminal proceedings.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 01/12/2005 12:46:08 AM || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


4 guards wounded in Nazran attack
Four border guards were wounded when unknown assailants opened fire with a grenade-launcher on their barracks in Ingushetia, the border guards service said Tuesday. A grenade fired from a handheld anti-tank grenade-launcher late Monday hit the sleeping quarters of a border guard detachment in Nazran, said Sergei Livantsov, the border guards' spokesman in the North Caucasus. Police, Interior Ministry troops and border guards launched a joint operation Tuesday, which Livantsov said was indirectly connected with the overnight attack. Itar-Tass said the forces were verifying residents' identification documents in three districts of Ingushetia.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 01/12/2005 12:47:00 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Down Under
Mamdouh Habib to be released
I think the cowboy hat on the kid is a really nice touch...
ACCUSED Australian terrorist Mamdouh Habib will be released from Guantanamo Bay detention centre within days and return to Australia a free man after being held for three years without being charged. Attorney-General Philip Ruddock made the dramatic announcement last night after receiving advice from the US that Habib could not be prosecuted, despite the grave allegations against him. Mr Ruddock said in Sydney that Australian counter-terrorism laws could not be used to prosecute Habib, despite the Government's conviction that he had trained with al-Qaeda and had prior knowledge of the September 11 attacks.

The Attorney-General said last night he was disappointed with the Americans' handling of the Habib case, which Canberra had repeatedly asked to be dealt with quickly. Habib's alleged activities in Afghanistan from mid to late 2001 occurred prior to the time in which he could be prosecuted under Australian counter-terrorism laws promulgated in July 2002. Mr Ruddock last night appeared to rule out any retrospective changes to federal laws, but said Habib would remain under the intense scrutiny of ASIO and the Australian Federal Police. "It remains the strong view of the United States that, based on information available to it, Mr Habib had prior knowledge of the terrorist attacks on or before September 11, 2001," Mr Ruddock said. "Mr Habib has acknowledged he spent time in Afghanistan, and others there at that time claim he had trained with al-Qaeda."

Specific offences of training, funding or associating with a terrorist group did not exist under Australian law at the time Habib was captured. Habib's wife, Maha, said last night that she was overwhelmed with the news after a difficult few years for her and their four children. She had sat her two youngest children down at their house in southwestern Sydney just before 8pm to tell them the good news, just minutes after the Department of Foreign Affairs told her their father would be freed from the US naval base in Cuba. "They couldn't believe it. The youngest (Hajer) kept saying 'when is he coming? How many sleeps?'," Mrs Habib said. "I just wasn't prepared for this. I rang the two older ones and said 'come home and I will tell you some good news'."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: God Save The World || 01/12/2005 5:25:45 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  My, how baby Jihad has grown. Soon he will be carrying an AK-47, and planting IEDs.
Posted by: Captain America || 01/12/2005 1:50 Comments || Top||

#2  Is this some kind of Bush inauguration amnesty?
Why are we leting these clowns go? What are we gaining by it? The few we have let go so far have caused nothing but trouble. The ones going to the UK will be on the street and giving anti US press interviews in hours I predict.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 01/12/2005 2:09 Comments || Top||

#3  Ahhh...aren't they cute?
inside the mind of Habib
Posted by: 2b || 01/12/2005 4:44 Comments || Top||

#4  Steve was wondering where Gaddafi's sheriff's badge went. Now we know.
Posted by: Spot || 01/12/2005 8:45 Comments || Top||

#5  Yeah, but no one has yet explained the little badge in Gaddafi's fruit salad, third row, second from the left.
Posted by: Steve White || 01/12/2005 10:54 Comments || Top||

#6  Isn't that hajib on the Mrs a little, er, unorthodox?
Posted by: HV || 01/12/2005 15:34 Comments || Top||


Europe
New Year's Eve 'plot' to kill Dutch MP Hirsi Ali
It's prob'ly terribly sexist of me, but she's damned cute for a Dutch MP...
Members of the suspected terror network Main City Group were planning to murder MP Ayaan Hirsi Ali at midnight on New Year's Eve, it was reported on Wednesday. A spokesman for the public prosecutor said police seized a document at the work premises of terrorist suspect, Jermaine W., 17, indicating that the murder was planned for midnight when a large amount of fireworks would be set off and muffle the sounds of shooting. The document gave a precise description of the whereabouts of Hirsi Ali, who went into hiding following the 2 November murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh. Justice officials are investigating whether the document's description matches one of Hirsi Ali's safe houses.

W. was arrested on 10 November last year in Amersfoort. His brother, Jason W., was arrested the same day together with Ismail A. after a 14-hour stand-off with Special Forces operatives in The Hague. Jason W. is accused of throwing a hand grenade at police to thwart his arrest. The prosecutor claims that Jason W. and A. had planned to kill Hirsi Ali and right-wing independent MP Geert Wilders. Amsterdam Mayor Job Cohen and Amsterdam Social Affairs Alderman Ahmed Aboutaleb were also allegedly included on the "death list". Hirsi Ali co-wrote with Van Gogh the film "Submission". The film places a spotlight on domestic violence in the Islamic faith and is believed to be a prime motivation in Van Gogh's death. The Somali-born MP, herself a Muslim, was flown on 10 November by an Orion from navy base Valkenburg to another country (possibly the US) to ensure her safety. Hirsi Ali is expected to re-appear in Parliament after the Christmas recess on Tuesday. Wilders is also an outspoken critic of Islam, calling for a ban on Muslim immigration. He is also vehemently opposed to Turkey's accession to the European Union.

The Main City Group, known in Dutch as Hofstadgroep, is accused of planning various terrorist attacks. The man suspected of killing Van Gogh, Mohammed B., is alleged to hold links to the group. Samir A. — who will face court in February on accusations he planned attacks against Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam and the Parliament in The Hague — is alleged to have been a fully-fledged member of the network, whose members are mainly young Muslims of North African ancestry.
Posted by: Steve || 01/12/2005 12:53:25 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The Christian Calendar's New Year? WTF?

Jermaine the Jihadi? WTF??

<----- Ponders the facts.
Posted by: Aquadextrous || 01/12/2005 14:02 Comments || Top||

#2  Tito and Michael made it out the back door just before the cops arrived...
Posted by: Fred || 01/12/2005 15:05 Comments || Top||

#3  A new Dutch treat, Steve? In a manner of speaking, of course. Anyway, death is sooo final.
Posted by: Captain America || 01/12/2005 16:53 Comments || Top||

#4  Lol, Fred. I'm imagining jihadists in applejack hats and platforms with big purple afro-picks sticking out of their landlubber back pockets.
Posted by: lex || 01/12/2005 17:21 Comments || Top||

#5  And Michael in a sequined burka.
Posted by: lex || 01/12/2005 17:21 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Thousands worldwide obtained phony Michigan driver's licences
Federal agents are investigating criminal rings they say may have helped thousands of people obtain Michigan driver's licenses with phony information before the state beefed up requirements for applicants last month.

Authorities say they are targeting rings that allegedly sold the identifications while Michigan lagged behind other states in requiring proof of residency. They suspect the groups were bringing people to Michigan for months to get licenses they likely could not have gotten in other states, charging them stiff fees for the service, investigators said.

"We saw an alarming amount of ... cases where groups were bringing criminals or illegal aliens to Michigan for the sole purpose of obtaining a Michigan driver's license," said Brian Moskowitz, special agent in charge of the Detroit office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. snip

Last month, Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land announced that first-time driver's license applicants must provide proof of Michigan residency when seeking a license, a move that critics say will help only slightly. State law always has required applicants to be Michigan residents, but previously they were not required to prove it. Now, people 18 and older seeking a license for the first time must show a utility bill, paycheck, a rental or mortgage agreement or documents that show they live at the address they claim.

The state had been examining its procedures and internal investigators noticed multiple licenses being mailed to the same address, said Kelly Chesney, spokeswoman for Land. "We had no idea how widespread the problem was until we met with the U.S. Attorney's office in October," Chesney said. "We sent out a directive to our branch offices immediately on things to look out for."

Moskowitz said the move was needed to bring Michigan in line with other states. "No one wants to be put in the position of trying to defend why a Michigan driver's license was found in the rubble of some disaster," Moskowitz said. "I don't think it is out of the question to say that there are thousands of them out there." snip

Michigan's change came 10 months after a national association of driver's license issuers recommended the move and five months after ads ran in foreign-language newspapers targeting immigrants offering Michigan drivers licenses in 48 hours for $1,000. "It's not like we waited," Chesney said. "There are a number of things that are under way at the federal level. We wanted to see what the feds are doing because it could substantially change the playing field."

Lax rules: It was so easy to get a Michigan license that criminal groups were advertising quick access to them, Moskowitz said. Some of the ads appeared in July in the Brazilian Voice, a Portuguese-language newspaper published in Newark, N.J. and circulated among Brazilian-Americans on the East Coast. It included a picture of a Michigan license.

Moskowitz said the organizers brought the applicants to Michigan with phony identification papers and used local addresses where the criminals could have the licenses mailed. The licenses were forwarded to the applicants from there. "When the underlying documents are fraudulent, getting a license is easy," Moskowitz said. "Our real concern is that criminals or potential terrorists are trying to embed themselves among us."

State officials continue to work with federal agents to improve the system, Chesney said. "This is a very good first step," Moskowitz said.

'F-plus': But Michigan's efforts, and those of other states, remain inadequate to safeguard the country, said Amitai Etzioni, a sociology professor at George Washington University who studies technology and privacy issues. Michigan was one of four states to earn the grade of F in a 2003 national study Etzioni conducted. Etzioni examined four security procedures that he said indicate rigor of each state's procedure. He checked to see if states:

• Used the Social Security Administration's online verification system to ensure an applicant has a valid number.

• Required applicants to prove they are in the country legally.

• Tied license expiration dates to end-of-stay dates on visas of non-citizens.

• Collected fingerprints, facial scans or other physical measures.

Michigan currently does none of those things, and the added requirement on proving Michigan residence doesn't address them, Etzioni said. "Anybody can get a utility bill with any name you want on it," he said. "Let's move them up to an F-plus."

Michigan is exploring an electronic Social Security verification system but hasn't adopted one yet, Chesney said. Thirty-eight states use an online verification system set up by the Social Security Administration, said Jason King, spokesman for the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, a national group of state agencies that issue licenses.

"In real time, it can tell you, yes we have a person with that date of birth and Social Security number in our database or no we don't," King said. "The cost is 3 cents per record to the states." King said his group released a security framework in February 2004 that covers some of these issues and states have been adopting various parts of it. All states now use digital photographs of drivers, which can be kept on computer files. But other changes have been adopted slower because they often are expensive and in some cases require new laws.

Michigan was the last state in the nation to collect Social Security numbers from drivers because Land worried about privacy concerns. The state asked the federal government for permission to cross-reference Social Security numbers provided for driver's licenses with those on tax returns filed with the Michigan Department of Treasury, but the request was denied, Chesney said.

Chesney said Michigan is moving carefully on the matters, which have sparked considerable debate. Some states that required people to prove they were in the country legally are now backing away from those requirements, she said.

Immigrant rights groups oppose measures that would deny people a license because of their immigration status. A driver's license ensures the driver knows the laws of the roads and is in the system for identification purposes, said Tyler Moran, a policy analyst for the National Immigration Law Center.

Etzioni said the states can take steps that are less controversial. Establishing a network so states can instantly check to see if a motorist is licensed in another state would help, he said. Digitizing birth and death records would allow fast computer searches to ensure someone was still alive.

Some of those changes are mandated in a new intelligence bill that Congress recently passed, said Kenneth Beam, executive director of the National Association for Public Health Statistics and Information Systems, a group of state agencies that collect birth and death records. The federal government is expected to draw up new standards for issuing birth and death records within the next 12 months, Beam said.

"Within five years, all birth and death records have to be matched," Beam said.

Etzioni said states should move quickly. "It's been almost four years since September 11," Etzioni said. "This is not nuclear science we're talking about."
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/12/2005 3:13:31 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Is that what it was in my Cracker Jack box...a Michigan driver's license.
Posted by: Captain America || 01/12/2005 17:17 Comments || Top||

#2  Why Michigan? Just wondering...hmmmm.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 01/12/2005 17:38 Comments || Top||

#3  *Most terrorist attacks since 9/11 have been carried out by Muslim terrorists.
* 15 of 19 9/11 terrorists did not have current/valid ID to be in the US.
*Thousands of phony Michigan licenses have been issued to foreigners who are here illegally.
*A huge number of Arab (Muslim) immigrants has settled in Michigan.

"No one wants to be put in the position of trying to defend why a Michigan driver’s license was found in the rubble of some disaster," Moskowitz said..."

You folks better think long and hard about your PC.
Posted by: Jules 187 || 01/12/2005 17:41 Comments || Top||

#4  gosh..Mrs. D. Good question ;-)
Posted by: 2b || 01/12/2005 17:42 Comments || Top||

#5  Michigan? Easy. Short hop from Canada over the Ambassador Bridge. First stop is Detroit, a ramshackle industrial monster with a basket-case government, completely incompetent police and unlimited safe houses for anyone wishing to conceal a terrorist.
Posted by: lex || 01/12/2005 17:50 Comments || Top||

#6  A driver’s license ensures the driver knows the laws of the roads and is in the system for identification purposes, said Tyler Moran, a policy analyst for the National Immigration Law Center.

I'm coming to the reluctant conclusion that a driver license should not be used as a form of identification, outside of proving one is allowed to drive by the issuing state.
Posted by: Pappy || 01/12/2005 19:41 Comments || Top||

#7  Gotten a new3 DL lately, Pappy? It's worse than and I-9. The only thing better will be the collection of biometric data into a central database. Sad. I prefer genocide to a national ID, but I'm not gonna win on that one.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 01/12/2005 19:44 Comments || Top||

#8  Not sure about completely incompetent police force lex, corrupt yes, half of the good ones there are hamstrung by rediculous pc policies. The rest is true. Plus all the arabs and muslims in nearby Dearborn. My hometown is a cesspool.
Posted by: Hupereger Clish6229 aka Jarhead || 01/12/2005 21:48 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Ranking Abu Sayyaf member killed in Basilan clash
A ranking member of the Muslim kidnap gang Abu Sayyaf was killed and a pro-government militiaman wounded in a clash in the southern Philippines, the military said Wednesday. Militiaman Mabod Manalupong was ambushed Tuesday by seven Abu Sayyaf guerrillas near the town of Tuburan in Basilan Island, a stronghold of the al-Qaeda linked gunmen. He was wounded but managed to escape and report the incident to government forces nearby, which then launched a counter-attack. The leader of the Abu Sayyaf unit, Tanakalun Lianson, was killed in the resulting gun battle, the military's southern command said.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 01/12/2005 12:48:21 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


MILF commander text messaged Filippino counterpart before the attack
JUST BEFORE some 100 Moro guerrillas launched a powerful attack on an Army detachment in Maguindanao province, the leader of the rebel force was texting the commander of the Army unit he was about to assault. "We are text mates," Colonel Jerry Jalandoni, commander of the Army's 604th Infantry Brigade, told the Inquirer. "He was texting me before the attack. He was blaming the Army for the death of Bides Binago."
Jalandoni's textmate was Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) commander Abdulwahid Tundok, head of the MILF's 105th Brigade, which assaulted and overran the base of the 37th Infantry Battalion under Jalandoni's command. Bides Binago was the leader of the Abu Sofia kidnap-for-ransom gang whose death in an earlier military operation provoked Sunday's MILF attack. Tundok, now the object of a military manhunt, gave no inkling in his text message that he was about to attack. Troops recaptured the detachment on Monday afternoon and after bloody clashes in Barangay Linantangan in which at least 17 rebels and seven soldiers were killed, the military said.

Major General Raul Relano, commander of the Army's 6th Infantry Division, said rebel casualties could rise to as many as 50 since the military had bombarded the rebels with 105-mm howitzer cannons and bombs from OB10 bombers. "We fired 150 rounds of howitzers. They hit their targets accurately," he said. Relano said seven soldiers died while one was wounded. Two soldiers who had been taken hostage by the rebels were later recovered alive. "The firefight has stopped," Relano told reporters in Camp Aguinaldo general headquarters, adding that Moro rebels had torched the detachment before fleeing. The firefight raged until the military brought in reinforcements.

MILF spokesperson Eid Kabalu confirmed hostilities had stopped. "Since yesterday, there had been no fighting on the ground," he said. Kabalu said only one MILF fighter was killed. The military said Sunday's attack was led by Tundok and another commander named Faizal and was meant to avenge the death of Bides Binago, who had a brother in the MILF. Government forces have launched pursuit operations against the retreating MILF group. Relano said he hoped the MILF leadership would help in the capture of the renegade group which supposedly acted "independently" of the MILF. "We consider them as rebels and we will run after them," Relano declared.

Kabalu said the wayward commander would be punished depending on the results of an investigation by the joint GRP-MILF Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH). "Let us wait for the findings and recommendations of the CCCH," he said. Members of both the CCCH and an international monitoring team composed of Malaysian and other international monitors arrived yesterday morning in Linantangan to conduct an investigation.

MILF vice chair for political affairs Ghadzali Jaafar disowned Tundok's group and the attack, saying they had acted on their own. He said the Moro rebels were strictly observing their ceasefire with the government. "This is an independent decision of a few that is totally outside the realm of the MILF who had a 'misdirected' sympathy with Abu Sufyan Commander Bedis Abdulrahman (Binago), who died in battle against government troops in Palimbang, Sultan Kudarat recently," Jaafar said in a statement. He added: "We regret to say that this bloodletting has been taking place even as the ceasefire is holding effectively in Mindanao and the MILF-GRP peace talks have resumed in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, recently."
But Jaafar also protested the "blatant disregard" of the terms of the ceasefire by government troops when soldiers launched the operation in Palimbang town, Sultan Kudarat province, "without the slightest effort to inform us through the MILF CCCH." "Their excessive use of force and firepower has sent thousands of civilians fleeing their homes, leaving behind their properties and work animals," Jaafar continued. The two sides had signed a ceasefire in 2002 but this had been repeatedly breached in the past. The formal peace talks between the two sides are due to start in February in Kuala Lumpur. They are holding exploratory talks at this time.

The bodies of the slain soldiers were recovered inside the ravaged military base. Six of them were identified as Cpl. Cesar Piedad, Pfc. Asihkon Matli, Pfc. Alnadzer Atari and Privates Roque Bantolo, Alex Cabaya and Mark Majomot, all members of the 37th Infantry Battalion. Another soldier killed, a certain Pfc. Lumacad, was taken by the withdrawing rebels for unclear reasons.
Jalandoni said Sunday's attack proved that there existed an alliance between some MILF fighters and the bandit gangs Abu Sofia and the Abu Sayyaf, whose members were also allegedly involved in the assault. "But we believe the MILF leadership is unaware of this," he said.

On Nov. 19, the military attacked an area belonging to the MILF's 105th Brigade following reports that Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon was sighted in the area. "Bides Binago and some MILF members served as Hapilon's local contact and guides while the ASG leader was in Central Mindanao," Jalandoni said. Despite the clashes, Kabalu said the MILF was determined to pursue the peace talks and was abiding by the ceasefire accord. The clashes displaced thousands of villagers who have yet to recover from the effects of previous encounters between soldiers and MILF rebels. Kagi Guimla, a 50-year-old farmer, said civilians, mostly women, the elderly and children, fled at the first gunburst on Sunday night. "We have been through several wars, but this one was too close. I saw the rebels crawling near our house shortly before midnight Sunday," he said.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 01/12/2005 12:54:28 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Sup G? R U N2 Ghad 2?"
Posted by: BH || 01/12/2005 10:21 Comments || Top||


Another take on the recent Philippines violence
Six soldiers who defended an Army outpost here from marauding Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels were executed one after the other as they lay helpless and wounded in the military detachment, barangay officials told military investigators yesterday. All the soldiers were shot in the back. Another wounded soldier was shot and killed while fleeing from the burning military outpost in Barangay Linantangan. Two other soldiers, although wounded, were able to seek refuge in nearby houses.Pfcs. Asibon Matli and Alnadzar Atari — two of the soldiers killed — were former guerrillas of the Moro National Liberation Front who had been integrated into the Army.
In the presence of members of the Malaysian-led International Monitoring Team (IMT), barangay officials told military probers that the rebels stole the personal belongings, combat boots and firearms of the slain soldiers after setting fire to 36 makeshift bunkers inside the fenced detachment. They later fled to a nearby marsh carrying their dead and wounded comrades, the local officials added. Government troops have retaken one of the Army outposts lost to MILF guerrillas following two days of fighting that left at least six soldiers and an undetermined number of rebels dead.
At Malacañang, the government demanded yesterday that the MILF surrender the leaders and men of a renegade faction that attacked two Army outposts in Maguindanao on Sunday. "In our case, I think the (MILF) should turn over to the government the identified perpetrators of about 40 to 60 (MILF) people," Palace communications director Silvestre Afable Jr. said. "So we're asking for some sanctions, at the very least, that they (MILF) yield these perpetrators to the government or to the international ceasefire monitoring team."

Afable said the MILF has not classified as "lost command" Abdul Rahman Binago, who led the attacks and had been blamed for truce violations in the past. "And therefore, the (MILF renegade group) is under the protection of the rules and regulations of the ceasefire process," he said. "The MILF disowned them already yesterday, and Mr. Eid Kabalu has said they have nothing to do with the attack, but it was an independent action of this renegade MILF commander." The government will elevate the MILF ceasefire violation to the Malaysian-led 50-man International Monitoring Team deployed in eight provinces in Mindanao since last week, Afable said.
In Maguindanao, sources at the Provincial Peace and Order Council told The STAR the attack was led by Ustadz Wahid, a former MILF brigade commander, who was removed from his post and put on "floating status" by MILF chairman Al Haj Murad last December. Officials of the peace and order council had asked Murad to relieve Wahid as he was involved in extortion, kidnapping and other criminal activities, the sources added. The sources said Abdul Rahman Binago, whom the military had tagged as leader of the marauders, had been invited by Wahid to join his band supposedly to avenge the death of his brother, Bides Binago, leader of the Abu Sofia kidnapping gang, who was killed in a clash with troops last week. Wahid wanted to make it appear that the attack was in revenge for the death of Bides, when in fact his aim was to embarrass Murad, sources added.
Members of the IMT, led by Malaysian army Maj. Gen. Dato Zulkifeli, started documenting yesterday the atrocity, the worst ever since military officers from Brunei and Malaysia started helping monitor the government-MILF ceasefire late last year.


Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling || 01/12/2005 12:56:27 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine
Two Hamas fugitives killed near Ramallah
Two armed Palestinian fugitives affiliated with Hamas were killed in a gun battle with security forces in Karwat Bani Zeid north east of Ramallah early Wednesday morning. Soldiers of the Nahal Brigade reached a house in the village to arrest the wanted men. After surrounding the house, soldiers called out to residents to leave the building. When the fugitives failed to surrender, soldiers began demolishing the house in an attempt to force them out. When that failed, soldiers stormed the building, and the two fugitives, who were in a hideout whose entrance was hidden by a gas canister, opened fire on the soldiers. The soldiers returned fire, killing them. Officials said the two were senior Hamas members.

Elsewhere in the West Bank, security forces arrested 7 Palestinian fugitives in raids in Nablus and Idna northeast of Hebron and Tarkumiya northwest of Hebron overnight Wednesday. Shots were fired at security forces deployed in the Askar refugee camp in Nablus - no one was wounded in the attack. Also overnight Wednesday, security forces arrested four Palestinian terror suspects near Netzarim in northern Gaza. During the operation, air force helicopters fired missiles into open areas to prevent armed Palestinians from reaching the site.
In the Gaza Strip, three Kassam rockets were fired at Israeli settlements in southern Gaza early Wednesday morning - no one was wounded in the attack.
Posted by: Steve || 01/12/2005 1:07:21 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Lesson to Saoodi stooges: now that's how you do "surrounding"
Posted by: Frank G || 01/12/2005 13:43 Comments || Top||

#2  Was a Zionist Bulldozer used to demolish the house?
Posted by: Aquadextrous || 01/12/2005 14:04 Comments || Top||


Iraq-Jordan
Six held over governor murder
US forces arrested six men linked to last week's slaying of Baghdad Governor Ali al-Hadaeri, the US military said today. "An early morning raid on January 11 netted ... six possible insurgents suspected of involvement in the assassination of the governor of Baghdad province," the army said in a statement. US Major Web Wright said the arrests indicated US forces were gleaning better intelligence from locals. Three other people were also killed in the carefully planned January 4 ambush of Hadaeri, the highest-ranking Iraqi official to be assassinated since last July, when his Mosul counterpart was killed. His assassination was followed by that on Monday of Baghdad's deputy police chief and his son.
Posted by: tipper || 01/12/2005 10:22:08 AM || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Armed Combat Robots Headed for Iraq
"Dinochrome Brigade reporting for duty, Sir!"
The U.S. Army is shipping 18 armed Talon 2 UGVs (Unmanned Ground Vehicles) to Iraq in the next few months. The 120 pound robots can be equipped with weapons ranging from a light machine-gun to a rocket launcher, or used for unarmed scounting. The Talon 2 is small (34 inches long, 22 wide and 30 tall.) The earlier Talon 1 weighed 85 pounds and also carried day and night video cams, plus microphones and other sensors (chemical, radiological, Etc.) Talon will right itself if knocked over and can climb over most obstacles because it runs on tracks. The Talons are waterproof, and can be driven under water. That's how one was retrieved when it fell into an Iraqi river. Max speed is about six feet a second (6.5 kilometers an hour, or a fast walk). The operator, using a CRT or VR (virtual reality) goggles, could be as far as 1,000 meters from the robot. The control station weighs 33 pounds and is carried in a small suitcase. Batteries provide up to 12 hours of operation, depending on how much the Talon is moved around. If put into "sleep mode," with just a few sensors operating, the battery will last up to seven days. Talon 2 is intended mainly for armed reconnaissance and guard duty. The operator can move a Talon 2 out into a dangerous (for a human soldier) position and use the vidcams and other sensors to keep on eye (ear, etc) on things. If an approaching enemy is detected, the Talon 2 can use its weapon to take care of it. Or human troops can be called in to double check. In 2003, 18 Talon 1s were sent to Iraq, where they handled roadside bombs and the like. These UGVs were used 20,000 times (often in missions that took less than half an hour). Talon 2s cost $230,000 each, although that cost will go down to $170,000 for the second 18, and even lower if the UGVs are mass produced.

Several different models of combat robots have been used by infantry in Iraq, and the troops generally like the droids. The robots can do the most dangerous jobs, like being first into a cave, dark room or an area thought to be boobytrapped. The lighter droids are called "tossable" robots, because they are light enough, and sturdy enough, to be tossed through a window, right itself, and then use its sensors to check out the situation. Being the "point man" (the guy in the lead) is the most dangerous job for an infantryman, and having a robot to help with that duty is appreciated by the grunts.
Posted by: Steve || 01/12/2005 9:58:54 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Roger, roger."
Posted by: BH || 01/12/2005 10:14 Comments || Top||

#2  I had an engineering professor that was my graduate advisor some 35 years ago, a Dr. John Fink. He was a salty old ex-marine from the Jap island fighting campaign in the Pacific. He proposed developing fighting robots for the army and sent them a proposal to develop such robots. They thought he was absolutely off-his-rocker bonkers nuts. The old doc was just a man ahead of his time.
Posted by: John Q. Citizen || 01/12/2005 10:26 Comments || Top||

#3  Jumpin' Jihad!
Posted by: Captain America || 01/12/2005 10:41 Comments || Top||

#4  Infidel bots? That's not in the Quran.
Posted by: Captain America || 01/12/2005 10:43 Comments || Top||

#5  Will the first combat robots be assigned to Major West's battalion?

Posted by: Mike || 01/12/2005 10:47 Comments || Top||

#6  mmmmm Marta Kristen....
Posted by: Frank G || 01/12/2005 11:00 Comments || Top||

#7  mmmmmmmm Marta Kristen...

You're slipping, Frank. Everyone knows you have to provide pictures if we're gonna drool
Posted by: Steve || 01/12/2005 11:43 Comments || Top||

#8  Mike's link had pics..... I just supplied the drool.
Posted by: Frank G || 01/12/2005 12:22 Comments || Top||

#9  I, for one, welcome our new robot overlords . . . 'specially if they look like Marta Kristen in her prime.
Posted by: Mike || 01/12/2005 12:23 Comments || Top||

#10  Although the Marta Kristen robot would probably be effective against improvised explosive devices (IED), she (it) might get a little toussled. The beauty of it would be that you could clone more Marta Krista robots. How about dancing virgin robots--not that could be a useful concept.
Posted by: John Q. Citizen || 01/12/2005 12:29 Comments || Top||

#11  Military games writers are now probably pulling their hair out right now as I write this trying to figure out how to model a UGV.

But I want one, even if it's part of a computer wargame, I want one.
Posted by: badanov || 01/12/2005 12:58 Comments || Top||

#12  The TALONs did great cave recon work in Afghanistan.
Posted by: rkb || 01/12/2005 13:00 Comments || Top||

#13  batteries not included ?

I particularly liked the UGV with the sniper rifle ..

but #9 I, for one, welcome our new robot overlords . . . 'specially if they look like Marta Kristen in her prime.
Posted by: Mike 2005-01-12 12:23:22 PM

I dont think they will Mike , more like this


Posted by: MacNails || 01/12/2005 13:06 Comments || Top||

#14  ooh and here is a list (on the right) of UGV being used .
Posted by: MacNails || 01/12/2005 13:08 Comments || Top||

#15  I'm afraid to follow the link after seeing the photo in comment #13 and then reading "being used" in comment #14.
Posted by: ed || 01/12/2005 13:19 Comments || Top||

#16  dont be shy ed , its all innocent :P
Posted by: MacNails || 01/12/2005 13:22 Comments || Top||

#17  I think the new killer attack robots might be more of the Julie Newmar design.
Posted by: Angie Schultz || 01/12/2005 13:54 Comments || Top||

#18  mmmmm Diana Rigg (AKA Emma Peel)
Posted by: Frank G || 01/12/2005 14:07 Comments || Top||

#19  Please send me the Diana Rigg model with batteries and whatever else comes with it (bad phrasing).

I get it, ya'll are trying to come up with robots to lure the diaper heads closer and then ice them. A black burka (sp?)covered robot is needed.
Posted by: John Q. Citizen || 01/12/2005 14:18 Comments || Top||

#20  Expensive and landbased. Why not get it into the air? Check out http://www.proxygen.com/36/Editorial.asp?aff_id=36&this_cat=UAVs&action=sub&type_id=1455&cat_id=1463&list_type=name

Only $7,500 per item and it flies! In production today from CyberDefense Inc.
Posted by: Curious1 || 01/12/2005 14:53 Comments || Top||

#21  They could name it GORT: Ground Observation & Reconaissance, Tracked.
Posted by: Mike || 01/12/2005 17:00 Comments || Top||

#22  It's the Bolo Mark 0.5
Posted by: Pat Phillips || 01/12/2005 18:43 Comments || Top||

#23  I'm waiting for the BuffyBot™.

Would any of the robots be dog-shaped? Or a large black pepperpot shape chanting “Exterminate! Exterminate!”

I hope one of them starts blogging, like Spirit and Opportunity.
Posted by: Eric Jablow || 01/12/2005 20:45 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
Tales From The Bangladesh Police Blotter
Five alleged criminals, including four dacoits, were killed in separate crossfire incidents between members of law enforcing agencies and miscreants at Noakhali, Jhenaidah and Natore in the early hours of yesterday. Two alleged dacoits--Yusuf and Jahangir alias Yakub--were killed at Hossainpur under Begumganj Upazila in Noakhali, while another two dacoits, Santi and Goutam Kumar, were killed at Kutchandpur and Kaliganj upazilas in Jhenaidah district.

In another incident, Moslem Mollah alias Omar, a suspected leader of an underground party, was killed in crossfire with Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) at Kalaikari village in Shingra Upazila early in Natore district.

Our Noakhali Correspondent Reports: Police sources said two suspected dacoits, Yusuf and Shahjahan alias Badshah, were arrested with Tk 1 lakh from a house at Chowmohoni on Sunday in connection with Sunday's snatching of bank money. On Sunday, a gang of dacoits shot dead baby-taxi driver Noor Nabi and wounded two employees of Rupali Bank--Abul Kalam and Nooruddin--while snatching Tk 8 lakh of the bank. Police arrested another dacoit Jahangir alias Yakub from Chawkbazar of Chittagong on Monday. During interrogation, the arrested persons confessed to the police that the rest of the booty and a number of firearms were kept hidden in the house of Liton, an accomplice, at Hossainpur. Following their statements, police took Shahjahan and Jahangir to the spot to arrest Liton, Monday night.
"Come on, let's go arrest your buddy Liton."
"Can I make out my will first?"
When police cordoned off the house of Liton at about 2:00am, he and their accomplices opened fire, triggering a gunfight. Shahjahan and Jahangir sustained bullet wounds during the exchange. They were taken to the General Hospital where Shahjahan died late in the night. Jahangir died on way to Dhaka Medical Hospital. Five law enforces were also injured when the terrorists hurled bombs at them. They are SI Noor Hossain, Constables Abdul Khalek and Mosleuddin and Nazir and Ismail two members of the Ansar. They were admitted to the hospital. Police recovered a foreign-made gun and ammunition from the spot after the late-night clash. Our Jhenidah Correspondent Reports: The dead were identified as Shanti, 45, and Gautam Kumar, 45, both robbers. Police arrested Shanti, an activist of the outlawed Purba Banglar Communist Party (ML-Janajuddha), from village Chandpara in Kotchandpur Upazila headquarters Monday evening and took him to village Alangi near Elangi math area in search of firearms at midnight.
We all know how this is going to end
As soon as they reached the spot, associates of Shanti encountered the law-enforcers. Police also returned the fire. During the shootout, Shanti was killed on the spot.
Damm those "stray" bullets
Police recovered a pipe gun and two bullets from the scene. ASI Saheb Ali and constables Mahmudul Islam and Sirajul Islam were also injured in the armed encounter. Shanti was wanted in four cases including three murders,

In another incident, Kaliganj police arrested Gautam, reportedly a leader of a dacoit gang, from Barobazar in Kaliganj Upazila on Monday. Later, on his confessional statement, a team of police took him to Pirojpur area in the same upazila at 4:15am to nab his accomplices.
Darkened train yards tell no tales
When the police team reached the railway tracks, accomplices of Goutam fired on the police team to snatch him from police custody. When police returned the fire, Gautam was struck by bullets in "crossfire" when he tried to escape and died on the spot, police sources said.
"He was trying to escape, Doc"
"Why are his feet tied together?"
Police recovered a pipe gun, one bullet, three knives and two choppers from the scene.

Our Rajshahi Corresponded reports: Moslem alias Amar, son of one Nazir Mollah of Ramrama village under Bagmara upazila of Rajshahi district and reportedly Rajshahi divisional Vice president of Out laws (extremist), was killed in crossfire between the RAB and the outlaws at Pashchim Kalaikuri village under Singra Upazila of Natore district. According to RAB sources, Amar was associated with anti-social activities for a long time. Acting on a tip off, a team of RAB-5 arrested him from Zikrihat village under Bagatipara Upazila of Natore district Monday night.
"Put your hands up, Amar!"
""You're gonna kill me, ain't ya?"
According to his statement, a team of RAB took him to village Kalaikuri to arrest his associates and to recover arms. But the associates of Amar started firing on RAB members all on a sudden when they reached the village at 3:00am.
Just standing around waiting, at 3 AM, with their guns out
RAB members also fired on them in self-defence. Amar at one stage of the shoot out tried to flee but received serious bullet wounds.
It just seems to work out that way.
RAB rushed him to nearby Singra Health Complex where the on-duty doctors declared him dead.
"He's dead, Jim!"
"Wotta suprrise."
RAB sources said Amar was accused in Babul Member and Dulu killing cases. He was also a party to the killings of Professor Wahed, Abdul Hamid Maru, Paki, Maju and Gama. Many cases including that of murder were pending with different courts against him.
"OK, we can close those cases now. Doughnuts are on me."
RAB recovered one foreign-made pistol, one magazine of pistol, one bullet and many books and leaflets of the outlawed party from the spot.
Posted by: Steve || 01/12/2005 9:03:36 AM || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Well give these guys credit. When they go looking for the perp's buddies with the perp, and the shooting starts, they know who to shoot first.
Posted by: tu3031 || 01/12/2005 9:46 Comments || Top||

#2  Great justice system. Let's just keep the Amnesty woosies from making a big stink. I look forward to these posts daily.
Posted by: Rightwing || 01/12/2005 12:33 Comments || Top||

#3  Trial by "crossfire." Works for me.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 01/12/2005 16:14 Comments || Top||


Iraq-Jordan
Zarqawi lieutenant beaten up
An aide to Iraq's most-wanted man, Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, on trial here for plotting attacks against Jordanian and US targets was beaten by his interrogators, defence witnesses said yesterday. Al Moqdad Mohammed Debbas "bears traces of blows on his feet and his toes and one of his arms", a judicial source quoted witnesses Khaled Jibran and Attiyeh Abdel Razzak as telling the state security court. Jibran and Abdel Razzak are both detained at the Jweidah prison where Debbas is jailed. He is charged along with Al Zarqawi of "conspiracy to carry out terrorist attacks" on Amman's embassy in Baghdad.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 01/12/2005 12:58:19 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Sympathy meter would look good here, too.
Posted by: jackal || 01/12/2005 9:42 Comments || Top||

#2  The torture didn't work, just like Mike said. He's still alive.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 01/12/2005 9:45 Comments || Top||

#3  As long as we don't have any fugly women soldiers laughing and pointing at his junk, we should be within boundaries.
Posted by: BH || 01/12/2005 10:15 Comments || Top||

#4  what? no anal probe? we're getting soft.
Posted by: Jarhead || 01/12/2005 10:19 Comments || Top||

#5  It's toe jam I tell ya. We didn't see the "Fragile" sticker when handling.
Posted by: Captain America || 01/12/2005 10:47 Comments || Top||

#6  IIRC, the Kurds had him first.
Posted by: rkb || 01/12/2005 11:03 Comments || Top||

#7  This article reminds me I have something (anything) more important to do--trim my toe nails, blow my nose, watch the dog scratch his balls, clean my guns, etc, etc. etc. What no leashes, neked cheerleader piles, or hide the marshmellow?

By the way, in the U.S. if someone goes to jail-say the county lockup, they are searched to make certain they are not hiding any weapons. This is a matter of security for the guards and other prisoners. Searching involves getting buck neked. What's good enough for U.S. citizens is good enough for Islamoterrorists. Fugg em.
Posted by: John Q. Citizen || 01/12/2005 11:17 Comments || Top||

#8  I pray to my secular non-deity that they didn't put panties on his head and make him touch the Israeli flag.
Posted by: Crikey || 01/12/2005 15:29 Comments || Top||

#9  Maybe he just danced too late last night (which is against Islam, of course), stubbed his toes and stumbled in the (platform drag) shoes he was wearing, causing bruises and marks to his feet, and tripped in a drunken stupor (alcohol is forbidden--uh oh) over the waitress (he was forbidden from looking at her but couldn't help himself because he has hormones like other humans, poor fellow, but Islam won't allow such an affront to God), and landed against the side of a table, bruising his arm?

Well, it's no more farfetched than calling a mongrel of Zarqawi's an "aide".
Posted by: Jules 187 || 01/12/2005 15:42 Comments || Top||

#10  1) Whomever captures the guy.
2) Record the name as a John Doe, regardless of who he says he is.
3) Turn him over to the CIA/Appropriate intel agency to be turned and/or drained of information.
4) If torture wasn't needed to elicit info, return him back to the original captors.
5) If not, it sucks to be him.
Posted by: badanov || 01/12/2005 15:52 Comments || Top||

#11  An aide to Iraq’s most-wanted man, Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, on trial here for plotting attacks against Jordanian and US targets was beaten by his interrogators, defence witnesses said yesterday.

Take the little cockroach down to Basra and chain his wrists and ankles to a couple of poles and give the local population the chance to punch the guy for a fraction of a dinar.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 01/12/2005 16:11 Comments || Top||

#12  boo fuckin hoo
Posted by: smokeysinse || 01/12/2005 22:12 Comments || Top||


Search for Iraqi WMD ended
The hunt for biological, chemical and nuclear weapons in Iraq has come to an end nearly two years after President Bush ordered U.S. troops to disarm Saddam Hussein. The top CIA weapons hunter is home, and analysts are back at Langley.
In interviews, officials who served with the Iraq Survey Group (ISG) said the violence in Iraq, coupled with a lack of new information, led them to fold up the effort shortly before Christmas.
Four months after Charles A. Duelfer, who led the weapons hunt in 2004, submitted an interim report to Congress that contradicted nearly every prewar assertion about Iraq made by top Bush administration officials, a senior intelligence official said the findings will stand as the ISG's final conclusions and will be published this spring. Bush has expressed disappointment that no weapons or weapons programs were found, but the White House has been reluctant to call off the hunt, holding out the possibility that weapons were moved out of Iraq before the war or are well hidden somewhere inside the country. But the intelligence official said that possibility is very small. Duelfer is back in Washington, finishing some addenda to his September report before it is reprinted. "There's no particular news in them, just some odds and ends," the intelligence official said. The Government Printing Office will publish it in book form, the official said.
The CIA declined to authorize any official involved in the weapons search to speak on the record for this story. The intelligence official offered an authoritative account of the status of the hunt on the condition of anonymity. The agency did confirm that Duelfer is wrapping up his work and will not be replaced in Baghdad. The ISG, established to search for weapons but now enmeshed in counterinsurgency work, remains under Pentagon command and is being led by Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Joseph McMenamin.
Intelligence officials said there is little left for the ISG to investigate because Duelfer's last report answered as many outstanding questions as possible. The ISG has interviewed every person it could find connected to programs that ended more than 10 years ago, and every suspected site within Iraq has been fully searched, or stripped bare by insurgents and thieves, according to several people involved in the weapons hunt. Satellite photos show that entire facilities have been dismantled, possibly by scrap dealers who sold off parts and equipment to buyers around the world. "The September 30 report is really pretty much the picture," the intelligence official said.
"We've talked to so many people that someone would have said something. We received nothing that contradicts the picture we've put forward. It's possible there is a supply someplace, but what is much more likely is that [as time goes by] we will find a greater substantiation of the picture of that we've already put forward."

Congress allotted hundreds of millions of dollars for the weapons hunt, and there has been no public accounting of the funds. A spokesman for the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency said the entire budget and the expenditures would remain classified. Several hundred military translators and document experts will continue to sift through millions of pages of documents on paper and computer media sitting in a storeroom on a U.S. military base in Qatar.
But their work is focused on material that could support possible war crimes charges or shed light on the fate of Capt. Michael Scott Speicher, a Navy pilot who was shot down in an F/A-18 fighter over central Iraq on Jan. 17, 1991, the opening night of the Persian Gulf War. Although he was initially reported as killed in action, Speicher's status was changed to missing after evidence emerged that he had ejected alive from his aircraft. The work on documents is not connected to weapons of mass destruction, officials said, and a small group of Iraqi scientists still in U.S. military custody are not being held in connection with weapons investigations, either.
Three people involved with the ISG said the weapons teams made several pleas to the Pentagon to release the scientists, who have been interviewed extensively. All three officials specifically mentioned Gen. Amir Saadi, who was a liaison between Hussein's government and U.N. inspectors; Rihab Taha, a biologist nicknamed "Dr. Germ" years ago by U.N. inspectors; her husband, Amir Rashid, the former oil minister; and Huda Amash, a biologist whose extensive dealings with U.N. inspectors earned her the nickname "Mrs. Anthrax." None of the scientists has been involved in weapons programs since the 1991 Gulf War, the ISG determined more than a year ago, and all have cooperated with investigators despite nearly two years of jail time without charges. U.S. officials previously said they were being held because their denials of ongoing weapons programs were presumed to be lies; now, they say the scientists are being held in connection with the possible war crimes trials of Iraqis.
It has been more than a year since any Iraqi scientist was arrested in connection with weapons of mass destruction. Many of those questioned and cleared have since left Iraq, one senior official said, acknowledging for the first time that "brain drain" that has long been feared "is well underway."
"A lot of it is because of the kidnapping industry" in Iraq, the official said. The State Department has been trying to implement programs designed to keep Iraqi scientists from seeking weapons-related work in neighboring countries, such as Syria and Iran.
Since March 2003, nearly a dozen people working for or with the weapons hunt have lost their lives to the insurgency. The most recent deaths came in November, when Duelfer's convoy was attacked during a routine mission around Baghdad and two of his bodyguards were killed.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 01/12/2005 12:30:30 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So they haven't found anything in part because many of those who know something have been kidnapper of killed by their former rulers or their stooges. Yep, that's conclusive!
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/12/2005 13:01 Comments || Top||

#2  That reads as kidnapped or killed, regardless how I actually spelled it, 'k?
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/12/2005 20:00 Comments || Top||

#3  There is no doubt Iraq had WMDs. The question is what happened to them or where did they go? I read kidnapped Mrs. D but then my eyesight and spelling aren't so good.
Posted by: John Q. Citizen || 01/12/2005 22:20 Comments || Top||


20 dead in latest Zarqawi attacks
Guerrillas killed 20 people in attacks in Iraq Tuesday, and Prime Minister Iyad Allawi acknowledged what he called pockets of the country would be too unsafe for voting in a Jan. 30 election.

A suicide car bomber killed seven policemen in Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's home town and a Sunni Muslim stronghold in northern Iraq, and gunmen shot dead eight people in a minibus south of Baghdad.

A group led by al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi said it carried out the bombing against what it called "cowardly mercenaries" at police headquarters in Tikrit. Eight police officers were also wounded.

Repeated guerrilla attacks on Iraqi police and soldiers, who will be tasked with protecting polling stations, have deepened fears of major bloodletting on the day Iraqis vote for a 275-seat national assembly.

All 13 members of a committee organizing the election in Iraq's restive Anbar province, scene of numerous insurgent attacks, resigned after receiving death threats, the head of the team said.

President Bush spoke to Allawi by telephone about preparations for the election and both men agreed it should go ahead as planned, U.S. officials said.

"Both leaders reiterated the importance of moving forward on the date set by the Independent Iraqi Election Commission of Jan. 30," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.

The attack on the minibus, in an area known as the "Triangle of Death," occurred shortly after the Tikrit blast. Gunmen kidnapped three people from the vehicle after killing all of the others inside, police said.

It was not immediately clear who had been targeted. Sunni insurgents regularly strike at Iraqi security forces and Shi'ite pilgrims in the lawless zone of dusty towns.

In the volatile northern city of Samarra, a roadside bomb triggered against a joint U.S.-Iraqi convoy killed two Iraqi National Guards, police said. A second bomb killed a policeman and a third killed two more National Guards.

Leading Sunni Arab parties say they will boycott the poll because violence in the Sunni heartland will scare away voters and skew results to favor Iraq's majority Shi'ites, who expect to emerge dominant after years of oppression under Saddam.

Insurgents have stepped up attacks, killing more than 100 Iraqis in the past week alone, mostly security force members they regard as collaborators with Washington.

A senior U.S. commander said last week four of Iraq's 18 provinces, including parts of the capital, were still too insecure to hold elections and predicted a surge of violence.

Monday, gunmen assassinated Baghdad's deputy police chief, and a suicide bomber in an explosives-packed vehicle resembling those used by police rammed a police compound in southern Baghdad, killing at least three people.

The shooting of Brigadier Amer Nayef occurred just six days after guerrillas assassinated Baghdad's provincial governor.

Allawi said Iraq would spend heavily to boost and train its fledgling security forces this year to try to crush guerrillas.

In a presentation to Iraqi army and police officers and reporters, Allawi said the New Iraqi Army -- which has been merged with the National Guard -- would be increased to a force of 150,000 from 100,000.

More training and equipment would be provided for the police, he said.

Monday, Britain pledged another 400 troops for Iraq to help shore up security for the election. Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon said Britain would deploy a battalion of the Royal Highland Fusiliers "for a limited period of time."

U.S. troop numbers have already been raised to their highest level since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 01/12/2005 12:22:41 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine
Occupation forces advance into northern Gaza
Zionist occupation forces today advanced into the northern areas of the Gaza Strip and closed down the main Salahuddin road connecting northern to southern Gaza. Eyewitnesses reported that invasion troops backed by an army tank escorted two tractors into that road and blocked Palestinian traffic. The sources said that the tractors were leveling vast areas and wreaking havoc in the vicinity of the industrial area near Beit Hanun (Erez) crossing. Soldiers were searching all citizens trying to cross the Matahen and Abu Hawli roadblocks on that road further south.

Sources reported that the occupation soldiers arrested Raed Timraz, a member of the PA security apparatus known as Force-17. Meanwhile, Zionist authorities declared that the army would resume incursions into Palestinian cities and villages in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Hebrew daily 'Yediot Ahronot' said on its website that the war minister Shaul Mofaz told the weekly cabinet session that the PA presidential election was over and thus the army would resume military campaigns into those areas. Occupation forces arrested 36 Palestinians in different areas in the Nablus district at the pretext of affiliation with resistance factions.
Posted by: Fred || 01/12/2005 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The same site has a headline that "Abbas has no authority to end the resistance". It's interesting who is claimiing he has "no mandate".
Posted by: 2b || 01/12/2005 1:56 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
'Pak rejected FBI, Interpol, CBI demands to nab Masood Azhar'
No problem. He'll beach himself soon enough.
Repeated demands by US FBI, the Interpol and India's CBI to nab Masood Azhar, one of the three militants released by India in return for the release of hijacked passengers of Indian Airlines' flight IC-814 in 1999, has been rejected by Pakistan, a media report said. "Nothing illustrates the clout Azhar used to enjoy more vividly than the Musharraf administration's decision to decline a request by the Interpol for taking him into custody. Interpol had been prompted to act at the behest of the US Department of Justice which wanted charges filed against him," the US-based South Asia Tribune, run by a Pakistani, said.

Though the presence of a US national aboard the hijacked IC-814 could have spelt trouble for Azhar, Islamabad "rejected the Interpol request for his custody on the grounds that he was not a hijacker and his incarceration in India had been illegal," the report said. Azhar, a Pakistani national, was then heading the Harkat-ul Ansar. Islamabad has maintained that those sought by India were "not terrorists as none of them was ever charged, tried or convicted for any act of terrorism," it said.
Posted by: Fred || 01/12/2005 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Thanks for nothing Pakistan!
Posted by: Mark Espinola || 01/12/2005 5:53 Comments || Top||


Pakistan acknowledges would-be assassin escaped
An Islamic militant involved in an assassination attempt on President Pervez Musharraf a year ago has escaped from custody, triggering a nationwide hunt, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said Tuesday. "I confirm that Mushtaq Ahmed has escaped from custody of the air force police," Ahmed told Reuters. "He was involved in the Dec. 14, 2003, attack on President Musharraf." Last month, a military court convicted two low-ranking army officers on charges of involvement in the Dec. 14, 2003, assassination attempt. The trial of up to four other junior army officers and six air force officers was under way. The escaped prisoner, Mushtaq Ahmed, is a civilian.
Well, no, he's in the Pak Air Force.
Officials declined to say when he had escaped. Pakistan's military establishment is extremely sensitive to talk of any dissent to Musharraf within its ranks, and admissions of officers' involvement in the assassination attempt followed earlier denials of any army involvement.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 01/12/2005 12:26:10 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine
Resistance attacks gain momentum
Palestinian resistance factions today targeted a number of Zionist occupation settlements and bulldozers in renewed escalation of attacks following a period of relative lull due to the PA presidential election. The Qassam Brigades, military wing of the Hamas Movement, today declared responsibility for firing four mortar shells at the Nitsar Hazani settlement and three others at the Neveh Dekhalim settlement, both in the Gaza Strip.

For its part, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement, Quds Brigades, today fired two Quds-1 missiles at the Gush Katif bloc of settlements in the Strip. The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, PFLP military wing, also today fired a Sumud missile at the same bloc of settlements. The Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, military wing of the Fatah Movement, today said it fired an RPG at a Zionist bulldozer last night to the west of Khan Younis city and affirmed that it scored a direct hit as the bulldozer was seen ablaze. Zionist sources today acknowledged that two mortar shells fell into a settlement in the Strip and a Qassam missile blasted near the Sderot settlement in the 1948 occupied lands adjacent to the Strip.
Posted by: Fred || 01/12/2005 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Back to work, boyz, the election is over. Who has the motars? Who wants to pack a few suicide belts?
Posted by: Captain America || 01/12/2005 1:59 Comments || Top||

#2  They're targetting bulldozers now? That's pathetic!
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/12/2005 4:09 Comments || Top||

#3  tw - Not just any dozer, mind you, but a Zionist dozer, lol!

I think we need to dream up some Rantburg stuff for Fred to sell - coffee cups, T-shirts, mousepads, etc. and this story nominates one of the phrases to adorn such stuff with no assistance required:

Dozers of Doom™
Posted by: .com || 01/12/2005 4:23 Comments || Top||

#4  jees...4:40am already. I could use a good dozer right now.
Posted by: 2b || 01/12/2005 4:37 Comments || Top||

#5  Targetting Bulldozers?

I can see the battle charge: "Remember Rachel!"
Posted by: jackal || 01/12/2005 9:46 Comments || Top||

#6  "Mahmoud, we must stop with the mortar celebration of PM Abbas on the Joooos, the Dozers of Doom(tm) are coming!"
Posted by: BA || 01/12/2005 11:30 Comments || Top||

#7  Resistance attacks gain momentum

Nice to know that something is gaining momentum. Too bad it wasn't the prospect of peace with Israel.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 01/12/2005 13:55 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Wed 2005-01-12
  Zahhar: Abbas has no authorization to end resistance
Tue 2005-01-11
  Abbas Extends Hand of Peace to Israel. Really.
Mon 2005-01-10
  Sudanese Celebrate Peace Treaty Signing
Sun 2005-01-09
  Paleos vote
Sat 2005-01-08
  Commander of Salafi Forces in Fallujah Killed
Fri 2005-01-07
  Abbas Calls for Peace Talks With Israel
Thu 2005-01-06
  Kerry Trashes Bush in Baghdad
Wed 2005-01-05
  Algeria celebrates the end of the GIA
Tue 2005-01-04
  Zarqawi in jug?
Mon 2005-01-03
  19 killed in Iraqi car bombing
Sun 2005-01-02
  Another most wanted found among Riyadh boomer scraps
Sat 2005-01-01
  Algerian deported from San Diego
Fri 2004-12-31
  NKors threaten to cut off contact with Japan
Thu 2004-12-30
  Ugandan officials meet rebel commanders near border with Sudan
Wed 2004-12-29
  43 Iraqis killed in renewed violence

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