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Operations stepped up in Samarra to find Zarqawi
Today's Headlines
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Britain
Three in court on terror charges
A British mother of two has appeared in court accused of providing weapons and military equipment to a terrorist group allegedly linked to al Qaida. Frzana Khan, a 41-year-old full-time mother from Anerly Way in Coventry, is charged with two counts of conspiracy to provide money and other property to Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Kashmiri separatist group. She appeared before Bow Street Magistrates' Court in central London along with Mohammed Ajmal Khan, 30, and Palvinder Singh, 29. Khan, of Broad Street, Coventry and Singh, of Freeman Street, Coventry, are also each charged with two counts of conspiracy to provide funds and other equipment to Lashkar-e-Taiba. Mohammed Khan, who appeared in court wearing a jumper and jeans, is also charged with directing part of the Kashmiri separatist group and with being a member of the group, a "proscribed" organisation.

Lashkar-e-Taiba, or Army of the Righteous, has been described as one of the three largest and best-trained groups fighting in Kashmir against India. All three defendants are alleged to have supported that organisation by providing funds and other equipment, including Kevlar, high technology equipment and firearms that could be used for military purposes. They spoke only to confirm their identities, dates of birth and addresses during the 20-minute hearing. All of the charges relate to the periods between March 29, 2001, and March 1 this year. The conspiracy counts carry a maximum of 14 years in jail while the charge of directing an organisation concerned in acts of terrorism carries a maximum life sentence. No application for bail was made on behalf of Mohammed Khan or Singh. Frzana Khan was refused bail. All three were remanded in custody to reappear before the Old Bailey on March 14.
This article starring:
FRZANA KHANLashkar-e-Taiba
MOHAMED AJMAL KHANLashkar-e-Taiba
PALVINDER SINGHLashkar-e-Taiba
Lashkar-e-Taiba
Posted by: tipper || 03/07/2005 10:58:31 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Europe
German neo-Nazis classified as "terrorist" group in landmark ruling
From Drudge...
Neo-Nazis were classified as "terrorists" by a German court for the first time in two decades on Monday as 12 young members of an extreme-right group were jailed for attacking shops and fast food outlets.

The group's members were aged between 14 and 18 at the time of the 10 attacks on the immigrant-owned businesses between August 2003 and May 2004 in the small town of Havelland outside Berlin.

The Brandenburg regional superior court sentenced the group's ringleader to four and a half years in jail and ordered the other members to be detained for between eight months and two years.

No one was injured in the attacks which caused around 800,000 euros (1.06 million dollars) of damage.

They were members of a so-called "Kameradschaft" or comradeship, named "Freikorps". Researchers fear that neo-Nazi groups are gaining a stronghold in many parts of the former communist east of Germany through such youth-oriented groups.

At the end of the 1970s and in the early 1980s a number of neo-Nazi groups were adjudged to be "terrorist" organisations in Germany, but an attempt to punish the publisher of an extreme right-wing newspaper under anti-terrorist legislation failed in the late 1990s.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2005 11:33:38 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Well DUH! Now add the Various Arab groups.
Posted by: Cyber Sarge || 03/07/2005 12:37 Comments || Top||

#2  Well DUH! Now add the Various Arab groups.
Posted by: Cyber Sarge || 03/07/2005 12:37 Comments || Top||

#3  12 young members of an extreme-right group were jailed for attacking shops and fast food outlets.

Isn't that what the French left does?
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 03/07/2005 13:43 Comments || Top||

#4  Red Army Faction bombs commercial targets - Oh, no, not terrorism, they're just expressing legitimate political grievances.
Posted by: gromky || 03/07/2005 14:08 Comments || Top||

#5  After watching the movie The Sum of All Fears, I'll never be as blase as I used to be about neo-Nazis. You never know where they'll strike next. Who knows - maybe 9/11 was carried out by neo-Nazis who just happened to look like Arabs and have Arabic names.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 03/07/2005 18:13 Comments || Top||

#6  and read the Koran
Posted by: Frank G || 03/07/2005 18:17 Comments || Top||

#7  Zhang Fei in the Book the bad guys are Islamic terrorists. The Movie is PCed to heck. Read the book.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 03/07/2005 22:19 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Al-Qaeda plot to kidnap actor
In one of the more bizarre terror plots hatched by al-Qaeda, Australian actor Russell Crowe was the target of a kidnapping scheme as part of a "cultural destabilisation plan". Crowe has revealed he was approached by the FBI in the months leading up to his Academy Award win for Gladiator in 2001 and warned, vaguely, of the threat: "That was the first [time] I'd ever heard the phrase al-Qaeda. It was about - and here's another little touch of irony - taking iconographic Americans out of the picture as a sort of cultural destabilisation plan."

Detectives guarded the actor at the London premiere of Proof Of Life and FBI agents shadowed him at the Golden Globe. The FBI continued their protection through filming of A Beautiful Mind and Master and Commander. He also hired his own private security detail. He said in an interview for the March edition of GQ magazine: "I never fully understood what the f... was going on. Suddenly, it looks like I think I'm f...ing Elvis Presley, because everywhere I go there are all these FBI guys around." The original threat was received just before the Golden Globe awards on January 21st where Crowe lost out to Castaway's Tom Hanks for the top award before winning the Oscar. An FBI spokesman said at the time: "We received word of a possible kidnap attempt . . . we regard this as a serious matter."
Posted by: tipper || 03/07/2005 11:06:20 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Sounds like either Al-Q's "cultural destabilisation plan" might need some work, or Russell's on the sauce again...
Posted by: tu3031 || 03/07/2005 11:50 Comments || Top||

#2  Hey, Russell. Kevin Costner here. Where was my name on that list?
Hello? Russell? Russell?
Posted by: Kevin Costner || 03/07/2005 11:58 Comments || Top||

#3  What's the connection betwixt Kevin and Russell? I'm afraid I'm missing out on a laugh.
Posted by: Kalle (kafir forever) || 03/07/2005 14:40 Comments || Top||

#4  Q: if al-Qaeda had been targeting Martin Sheen, would the FBI have warned HIM?

If so..why??
Posted by: Justrand || 03/07/2005 15:25 Comments || Top||

#5  What's the connection betwixt Kevin and Russell?
Russell Crowe makes movies people want to see and is followed by adoring fans.
Kevin Costner wishes he was.
Posted by: Steve || 03/07/2005 15:42 Comments || Top||

#6  Er, Binny, if you've changed your mind about an Aussie actor, how about a fat (anti)American director wearing a baseball cap? However, don't be surprised if no one shows up with the ransom money.
Posted by: GK || 03/07/2005 15:49 Comments || Top||

#7  Sounds like something out of "Team America: World Police". Is Russell Crowe a member of F.A.G.?
Posted by: Classical_Liberal || 03/07/2005 15:57 Comments || Top||

#8  Couldn't we interest the kidnappers into Babs, Susan Sarandon, Sean Penn, and a baldwin to be named later??
Posted by: Capt. Infidel || 03/07/2005 16:14 Comments || Top||

#9  Too bad they did not take the plots to hijack (kidnap) aircraft and fly them into buildings as seriously
Posted by: juriseqs || 03/07/2005 18:16 Comments || Top||


Violent, terror-connected gang threatens to confront civilian immigration patrols
It looks like there is going to be a second "showdown at the OK Corral" in Tombstone, Ariz., April 1. A leader of the violent, terror-connected Latin American gang Mara Salvatruchas, Ebner Anivel Rivera-Paz, has reportedly issued orders from federal prison to members of his international criminal organization to teach a lesson to a group of Americans taking border control into their own hands. The American civilians, known as the "Minutemen," say they have some 750 volunteers ready to show up in Tombstone to start policing the border and dealing with illegal immigration.

The Mara Salvatruchas, founded in Los Angeles, has become one of the most violent and widespread gangs throughout South America, the U.S. and even Canada. Many of its members and leaders have been deported from the U.S., but the group is said to be deeply involved in cross-border arms-running and drug-smuggling operations, according to U.S. law enforcement sources. Lately, the gang has joined forces with former members of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, a radical terrorist group, and some U.S. intelligence sources say they may also be cooperating with Islamic terrorist groups — including al-Qaida.

Meanwhile, the Minutemen hope to form a group of civilians from all walks of life to patrol the border day and night — even with the threat of such violence. Their goal is stop the flow of illegal immigration through the Arizona-Mexico border, the biggest entry point into the U.S...
Nothing quite like a scheduled terrorist attack.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/07/2005 7:54:25 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I have a feeling the gang bangers are the ones who will learn a lesson.
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 03/07/2005 8:16 Comments || Top||

#2  Close the border properly - if these illegal alien dickheads take it to a level of violence against citizens (above the already rampant crime levels) - Mexico will see a fence go up along the entire border, shutting off their relief valve. Think Mexico might have something to say to the Maras?
Posted by: Frank G || 03/07/2005 8:30 Comments || Top||

#3  If I were border crossers I believe I would avoid the Naco/San Pedro River region. The thirty mile sector will probably be crawling with crazies (including the FBI) of numerous political persuasions.
Posted by: Tancred || 03/07/2005 8:31 Comments || Top||

#4  Arizona Minute Men: Bring it on, bebe.
Posted by: 2b || 03/07/2005 9:10 Comments || Top||

#5  There will be some shootings, then the Mex's will run a vehicle full of pregnant women into a roadblock to entice someone to fire to protect himself. Oh, the horror, the humanity of it all.[/sarcasm]
Posted by: Cleamp Ebbereling9442 || 03/07/2005 9:11 Comments || Top||

#6  BTW, Thank you Supreme Court for keeping creatures like Ebner Anivel Rivera-Paz alive, so he can continue to be a threat to the average American citizen, his/her family, and the community in general. Time for the consent to be withdrawn.
Posted by: Cleamp Ebbereling9442 || 03/07/2005 9:14 Comments || Top||

#7  Actually, I think this would be a fine exercise for the new Counterintelligence Office.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/07/2005 9:17 Comments || Top||

#8  It will take some kind of a violent incident, or two, or three, or so to wake people up and get the Congress and the President off their collective duffs and deal with this open southern border issue. Then, once they get things going in the right direction, we will have to deal with the Supremes on this issue. Something like this issue is going to trigger a showdown in this country. The pain in my side sez so.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 03/07/2005 9:51 Comments || Top||

#9  My cousin Wallace lives in Tombstone.... he collects rifles.
Posted by: Shipman || 03/07/2005 10:38 Comments || Top||

#10  If it weren't that some of them are going to die violently, causing some of us to ponder the idea of agonizing over what they had to do, the idea of an imprisoned gangster threatening those who would control the borders of the country that jailed him would be too ironic for words. As it is, of course, I've managed to put a great many words down, so clearly it isn't. ;-)
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/07/2005 11:04 Comments || Top||

#11  This can't play well for Vicente Fox. He needs that border open. The Bangers are really gonna mess things up for him if the Feds finally start getting serious about border security.
Posted by: Rex Mundi || 03/07/2005 12:16 Comments || Top||

#12  I wrote an article on my weblog several weeks ago that the military needs to take over border security. I think this confirms it. I would also consider issuing a call for the formation of local militias to provide additional manpower and support. Let the government issue the weapons, define patrol zones, and establish the rules of engagement, and each Militia could determine everything else. It's not enough to close JUST the southern border, however: the northern border is just as much a threat from terrorists. Perhaps even moreso, since Canada seems to have this death wish as far as Muslim immigrants are concerned.

It would only take a few months to get rid of Vincente Fox. Just close the border TIGHT to EVERYTHING, including trade. Mexico would fold faster than the Hindenburg. The question is, do we really want that? I think one of the reasons Bush is pushing the "guest worker"/amnesty plan is because anything else would truly push Mexico into such an unstable condition anything could happen. We need to both find a way to close our southern border and continue to keep Mexico from collapsing under its own load of socialism, and work for reforms. It's like walking a tightrope over Niagara Falls with one foot in a cast.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 03/07/2005 15:15 Comments || Top||

#13  I have a couple of old motorcycle buddies that live out in that area....they REALLY like to be left alone. Some of their stories about the illegals are hair raising...from the illegals point of view....
Out in that vicinity, you take care of your own property and problems....if a "gunfight" comes down...bet on the guys with the most guns. The funny thing is, these guys dont think the government will protect them and their best interests...and I agree, so, they just assume its up to them to take care of the problem....and they will.
Posted by: Live to Ride || 03/07/2005 15:22 Comments || Top||

#14  You have to wonder what the coyotes think about hardcore gangbangers with terrorist connections muscling in on their turf, and provoking the U.S. into- maybe- finally building the fence. That cant make them happy. And they are out there every night, there is a real intelligence asset waiting to be tapped. Money will talk with them, too.
Posted by: Grunter || 03/07/2005 15:22 Comments || Top||

#15  It's like walking a tightrope over Niagara Falls with one foot in a cast.

I grew up in that part of the world, OP, and you paint a very effective word picture! LOL funny :-)
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/07/2005 17:10 Comments || Top||

#16  All I can say is Good Luck!
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 03/07/2005 22:24 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Gunmen Attack Thai Train Station, Kill Policemen
Unidentified gunmen attacked a railway station, killing two policemen, and wounded a schoolteacher in two separate incidents yesterday in Thailand's troubled, largely Muslim south, police said. Two policemen and one militant were killed when an unidentified number of gunmen opened fire at a railway station in Narathiwat province, a police officer told Reuters. In a separate incident in nearby Yala province, gunmen shot and severely injured a 44-year old headmaster, another police officer said. They were the latest incidents of separatist violence in the three southernmost, mainly Muslim provinces of Thailand where nearly 600 people have been killed since unrest started in January last year.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2005 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "largely Muslim" / "mainly Muslim" - nah, I don't theenk so, ArabNews asshats. The pretense that they are, as per the usual dogmatic bullshit, somehow legitimate and being persecuted, is purest 100% islamoshit. So is the spin-doctored remainder of this "article" - propaganda piece.

They're not separatists, they're terrorists. They're not persecuted, they're terrorizing non-Muzzies to force them to leave. It's religious cleansing, pure and simple. The spread of Islam through violence. Note the carefully planned, incredibly effective, and insanely brave actions. Separatists, militants, insurgents, and gunmen. Pfeh.

Musta been the, now infamous, Theravaden Buddhist Bandits.
Posted by: .com || 03/07/2005 1:27 Comments || Top||


4th Suspect in Manila's Feb. 14 Blast Nabbed
Two suspected Abu Sayyaf militants, including one implicated in the deadly Valentine's Day bombings, were arrested in separate raids in the southern Philippines, officials said yesterday. Soldiers arrested Ahib Buday in Pagalungan town in Maguindanao province before dawn on Saturday, army spokesman Maj. Bartolome Bacarro said.

The 40-year old militant was implicated in the bombing of a passenger in Manila's financial district of Makati on Feb. 14. Six people were killed and more than 100 others were injured in the explosion. "Buday was involved in the bombing in Manila and he is currently being interrogated," Bacarro told Arab News. He said another militant named Rasidin Mohammad was also nabbed in the coastal village of Arena Blanco in Zamboanga City on Friday. The military implicated Mohammad in the kidnapping of three US and 17 Filipino holiday-makers in the posh Dos Palmas resort in Palawan in 2001 and a dozen farmers in the southern island of Basilan in 2002. "Their arrest is part of the government campaign in fighting terrorism," Bacarro said. It was not immediately known if Mohammad or Buday were also involved in other bombings in the southern Philippines. Two other bombs also exploded in the southern port cities of General Santos and Davao on Valentine's Day that killed several civilians. Other reports said Buday is being implicated in the bombing of the SM Megamall in May 2000 in Manila.
This article starring:
AHIB BUDAIAbu Sayyaf
RASIDIN MOHAMADAbu Sayyaf
Abu Sayyaf
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2005 00:00:00 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq-Jordan
Iraqi army takes 1st step toward relieving GIs
In a small but potentially momentous shift, the U.S. military has handed control of some of Baghdad's most violent neighborhoods to the Iraqi army, a first step toward taking U.S. soldiers off the streets.

The transfer has taken place gradually over the weeks since the Iraqi election and is now complete, leaving about 4,000 Iraqi soldiers with full authority over 10 Baghdad neighborhoods, U.S. and Iraqi officials say.

They include notorious hot spots such as insurgent-infested Haifa Street, which has long been a no-go area for ordinary Iraqis, and the hard-line Sunni neighborhood of Adhamiya, another insurgent stronghold.

"This means we do not have to be in place in those areas," said Lt. Col. Clifford Kent, spokesman for the 3rd Infantry Division in Baghdad. "They are some tough areas, but the [Iraqi] brigade is well-trained and they're mission-capable."

U.S. advisers are embedded with the Iraqi units, and U.S. forces are on call to help out should they be needed, but the four battalions of the 40th Brigade that have been granted autonomy have full control over their operations, Iraqi and U.S. officials say.

"These operations now are being planned and conducted 100 percent by the Iraqi forces," said Gen. Mudhir Mawla, the commander of Iraqi forces in Baghdad.

Officials had intended for Iraqi security forces to begin taking over from the Americans this year. The transfer was accelerated after the success of January's election, when U.S. soldiers deliberately hung back and left the job of securing polling sites to the Iraqis in order to avoid any impression of interference in the political process.

It is widely acknowledged that the Iraqi security forces performed well above expectations, encouraging U.S. commanders to press ahead with the transfer of authority.

`They've proven themselves'

"During several missions and after the elections, a series of decisions were made that they've proven themselves," said Col. Billy Buckner, a U.S. military spokesman. "Now they're at the level of capability where they can be given a piece of terrain to manage and to conduct operations in. We expect as they gain in confidence, more transfers will occur."

It is going to be a closely watched experiment.

"The plan depends on the success of the 40th Brigade in Baghdad," said Mawla, 57, an Iraqi army veteran who came out of retirement to help get the decimated army up and running again. "If we succeed in controlling Baghdad, then there will be no need for the presence of U.S. forces. They will have bases outside Baghdad."

Another brigade, the 41st, was activated last week, and it aims to start taking control of parts of Baghdad by August. If all goes well, the Iraqi army will be in full control of the city by December, Mawla said.

Maj. Gen. William Webster, who commands the 3rd Infantry Division in Baghdad, would not put a timeline on the transfer.

"We hope so," he said of the December deadline. "The beginning is very strong, the 40th Brigade is doing very well. They have captured and killed a number of terrorists. But it's going to be dependent on events and on their readiness to fight this counterinsurgency for themselves."

Past attempts to put Iraqi security forces out in front of American soldiers have faltered in the face of insurgent intimidation and infiltration. The infamous Fallujah Brigade, given control of the embattled city of Fallujah after U.S. Marines pulled out during fierce fighting last April, joined the ranks of the insurgents. The police force in Mosul collapsed in the face of a mass campaign of targeted killings of policemen.

In Baghdad's Sadr City area last summer, 800 soldiers out of an 880-strong battalion that was drafted to fight alongside U.S. soldiers deserted after they were asked to turn their guns on their own neighborhood.

But the battalions taking over in the streets of Baghdad today are in far better shape than those earlier formations. Setting out from their headquarters at a former airport in Baghdad last week, the Iraqi soldiers of the 302nd Battalion appeared painfully vulnerable in their open-topped, unarmored pickups. Many of them wear ski masks to hide their identities from residents who might threaten them later.

But they do have flak jackets, helmets, guns and bullets, a marked improvement on the past, and their lack of heavy armor may not be a disadvantage considering the kind of missions they undertake.

"Our operations need to be done quickly, secretly, calmly," Mawla said. "We do not need the tanks with a big noise that alert the terrorists. And the Bradleys are an easy target."

U.S. and Iraqi army officials say they have cracked some of the problems plaguing the recruitment and organization of the Iraqi army and the former Iraqi National Guard, which has been merged into the army. The 40th Brigade was placed in charge of its own recruitment late last year, and Iraqi army commanders say they are better than the U.S. military at keeping out insurgent infiltrators because of their familiarity with local tribal and neighborhood networks.

Units no longer are being drawn from a single neighborhood, a move to avoid the mass defections that would occur when soldiers were asked to fight in their own neighborhoods.

Intimidation remains the biggest problem, said Lt. Col. Alaa Talib Mohsin, the deputy commander of the 302nd Battalion. He has had to move twice in the past year because of threats to his life from insurgents, and 100 members of the 975-strong battalion have quit because of threats.

"Sometimes a soldier tells us insurgents threatened his family, and he's not afraid but he's afraid for his family, so he quits. This is how these cowards work, they threaten children and women," said Mohsin, a former Iraqi army commander who fought in Kuwait 14 years ago.

The election also has given the force a huge boost, both in morale and public image. By braving the bombs and the bullets to protect Iraqis going to vote, the army is being viewed in a new light by many ordinary citizens, helping overcome the force's long-standing image as an army that flees in the face of danger.

In other respects, Iraqi forces may be better equipped to deal with the kind of counterinsurgency operations that are required in Baghdad now, U.S. commanders say.

"The real things that are so absolutely critical in the fight that we're in today on the streets of Baghdad is an understanding of the city, an understanding of the culture and the ability to speak the language, and Iraqi forces bring that to the street," said Maj. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, commander of the 1st Cavalry Division, which handed over to the 3rd Infantry last month after a year in Baghdad.

Mohsin said there has been a marked increase in the number of Iraqis coming forward with tips in the weeks since the Iraqi army began adopting a more visible profile in Baghdad.

"It's easier for people to cooperate with the Iraqi army. In a tough neighborhood they can just take you aside and whisper," Mohsin said. "They can't do that with the American army."
Posted by: Sherry || 03/07/2005 12:01:56 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hmmm...just in time to regroup and refit, along the Syrian border. Who'd thunk?
Posted by: Cleamp Ebbereling9442 || 03/07/2005 15:36 Comments || Top||

#2  By Gawd it does smell like Naplam!
Posted by: Francis || 03/07/2005 17:14 Comments || Top||

#3  Time for some RnR in the Bekaa Valley?
Posted by: Seafarious || 03/07/2005 17:15 Comments || Top||

#4  If we'd done this in Vietnam, the South would still be a free country, and the North would be playing NK minus the nukes.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 03/07/2005 18:45 Comments || Top||

#5  1..... 2..... 3..... QUAGMIRE!!!!!
Posted by: CrazyFool || 03/07/2005 19:18 Comments || Top||


Operations stepped up in Iraq's Samarra to find Zarqawi
Snipped out some stuff
Iraqi commandos and US soldiers stepped up operations in Samarra, north of Baghdad, in search for top wanted militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a senior Iraqi security official revealed. "We have information that Zarqawi may be hiding in Samarra or this region and this operation is aimed at checking that out," the officer told AFP on Sunday under condition of anonymity. Meanwhile, the CNN television network showed what it said were fresh photos of the Jordanian born Zarqawi, who appeared bearded and smiling.

The official said 66 suspects have been arrested in the operation, which is expected to last a week with the goal of rounding up 250 wanted suspects working for seven armed groups in the area. On the ground all entrances leading to Samarra, 120 kilometers, were sealed as Iraqi and US forces conducted their searches. No vehicles were allowed to circulate inside the city where most businesses, schools and government institutions were closed for a second day.

The US military confirmed the operation. "Elements of the Iraqi Ministry of Interiors 1st Commando Brigade began operations to kill or capture insurgent elements in the city of Samarra this weekend," said Major Richard Goldenberg of the 42nd Infantry Division adding that US soldiers are providing a supporting role. He said the operation was based on Iraqi intelligence.

US troops are eager to show that Iraq's fledgling forces are assuming control of securing the country One Iraqi soldier was killed and five wounded when their patrol was attacked by gunmen overnight east of Samarra, said Captain Ahmed Sadad of the Iraqi army. Four other soldiers were wounded in a roadside bomb in the Al-Duluiyah area, south of Samarra, said police and medical sources. Samarra was the scene of a US-led assault in October to reclaim the city from rebels that left more than one hundred people dead and most of the insurgent leaders at large.
Posted by: Sherry || 03/07/2005 11:52:32 AM || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  From AFP? I doubt the coalition would leak this kind of information to the Frogs. This is probably misinformation and the Zarq-meister is probably in Tikrit.
Posted by: Jonathan || 03/07/2005 13:48 Comments || Top||

#2  Doesn't matter where they get him or who reports it.

As long as that beast gets its just, painful desert.
Posted by: Kalle (kafir forever) || 03/07/2005 14:39 Comments || Top||

#3  That off-center widows peak is a nice little identifying feature.
Posted by: Grunter || 03/07/2005 15:05 Comments || Top||

#4  Have a little pity on poor Mr Z. When he is finally bagged, he will know what a squeaky toy feels under the loving care of an enthusiastic bull terrier.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/07/2005 16:43 Comments || Top||

#5  'moose - I'd much rather he served as a chew-toy for the Hounds of the Baskervilles...
Posted by: Old Patriot || 03/07/2005 18:48 Comments || Top||

#6  That off-center widows peak is a nice little identifying feature

like a psychotic arab Squiggy
Posted by: Frank G || 03/07/2005 19:22 Comments || Top||

#7  ..Actually, Frank, take a good look at him....

..Andy Kaufman with a beard...

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 03/07/2005 21:25 Comments || Top||

#8  it's almost frightening how normal he looks.
Posted by: 2b || 03/07/2005 21:27 Comments || Top||

#9  wait'll that head's on a pike, Mike and we can compare....

looks too heavy for Latka Gravis
Posted by: Frank G || 03/07/2005 21:31 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
Tales from the "Crossfire" Gazette
Ganobahini operative killed in 'crossfire'
Mar 6: A regional leader of outlawed Ganobahini was killed in 'crossfire' with the police in Kumarkhali in the district early on Sunday. The underground operative was identified as Ruhul. The 'crossfire' killing took place just 48 hours after the death in custody of Abdus Sattar, another regional leader of the same outfit at the same upazila. During the firefight between Ruhul's accomplices and police sub-inspector Hemayet Kabir and Constable Anwar Hossain also sustained bullet wounds, police said. Police recovered an LG and four rounds of cartridge from the spot.
According to villagers and police sources, the 'gun battle' erupted at around 4am near a sluice gate at Kanchanpur in the upazila.
4am near the dark, deserted sluice gate - Check.
Earlier, police nabbed Ruhul from Cheuria Mondalpara in the same upazila Saturday night.
"Youse coming with us, Ruhul!"
Following his 'confessional statement'...
Confession - Check
police took Ruhul to Khanchanpur area to arrest his accomplices and recover his hidden arms and ammunition.
Arms recovery - Check
"When the team reached in front of the sluice gate, the armed accomplices of Ruhul fired shots at the cops forcing them to retaliate," police said.
Shootout with gang - Check

During the half-an-hour long 'shootout', Ruhul sustained multiple bullet wounds "while trying to flee from the spot."
Shot while escaping - Check
He succumbed to his injuries at Kushtia Hospital.
Dead - Check
Police said he was a 'most wanted' criminal of Kushtia and an accused in five criminal cases, including murder and abduction.
Earlier, on March 4, Abdus Sattar, another regional leader of Gonobahini was killed in 'crossfire' in the same area. With the killing of Ruhul, the death toll in 'crossfire' by RAB and police rose to 37 in Kushtia.
Seven held in Chittagong, arms recovered
Mar 6: The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and police arrested seven persons and recovered firearms from different spots of the port city. The arrested persons are Mohammad Solaiman (47), Md Khokan (26), Md Rafique alias Rafiqqya (20), Md Jahangir (25), Rafiqul Islam, Safar Ali (26), Md Jashim and Md Musa.
Sources said, acting on a secret information RAB raided South Salimpur under Sitakund upazila in the district last night. The RAB team recovered a pistol and three rounds of bullet from the home of Solaiman Member. They arrested Solaiman for illegal possession of firearms.
Police raided Panchlaish and Dewan Bazar area and arrested five alleged snatchers identified as Md Khokan, Md Rafique alias Rafiqqya, Md Jahangir Rafiqul Islam, Safar Ali, Md Jashim last night. They also recovered five cocktail bombs from them. Besides police arrested Md Musa from Chawkbazar area in the city last night.
We'll keep an eye on the morgue and see if they turn up.

Suspected militant leader arrested at Mirpur
Police arrested a suspected militant leader Imamuddin Mohammad Toha bin Habib from his Mirpur residence yesterday. Imamuddin launched a new party styled "Satyabadi" (truthful) through a press conference at the Jatiya Press Club yesterday.
Poked his be-turbanned hesd up, formed a group and got busted.
City Special Branch and Mirpur thana police arrested him in a joint raid at his house no. 248/2, second colony, Mazar Road, Mirpur, at about 3:20 pm. He was handed over to Ramna police at 4:20 pm. Police, who suspected that Imamuddin might have link with militants, are also looking for four of his followers.
One gunned down on court premises
A suspected terror was gunned down by rivals on the Dhaka Judge's Court premises in the capital yesterday despite tightened security. Witnesses said a group of four armed youths fired on Nazrul Islam alias Soul, 30, said to be an associate of notorious criminal 'killer' Abbas, pointblank in a commando-style attack at about 4:15 pm. "Bullets hit him in the head, chest and stomach and he died on the spot," says a spot account of the deadly gun attack.
"He's dead, Jim"
The incident took place when the court was rising for the day--and there was a huge crowd in its compound. "Amid the shootings, panic-stricken people ran to and fro for cover and the assailants disappeared through the scrambles," the spot report said.
Soul's body was sent to Mitford Hospital morgue. At the hospital, his mother Khadiza Begum claimed her son to be "innocent".
"He was a good boy, kind to his mother and always nice to puppies."

Woman police officer closed for 'moral turpitude'
A woman police officer of Dumuria Police Station (PS) has been closed to police line on Friday. The action was taken against Sub-inspector (SI) of police Tahura Akhter,28, for her immoral character. She was caught red-handed from a hotel at Dumuria while having sex with sweetmeat trader Asit Das on Thursday night.
That last sentence is just way too easy, so I'll pass..
According to Dumuria police station Officer-in-Charge (OC), Tahura fell in love with Asit a year ago. They started living together like a couple. The Superintendent of Police (SP) of Khulna stand released her. Tahura will face a departmental inquiry, the OC added. Asit has been absconding.
Posted by: Steve || 03/07/2005 10:17:53 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I got the impression from the last issue that Rab has "crossfired" all the bad men in Chittagong. Glad to see that was a false impression.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 03/07/2005 10:45 Comments || Top||

#2  Ole "Sweetmeat" has run away and is on the lam. LMAO!
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 03/07/2005 11:04 Comments || Top||

#3  And it looks like we know what he traded his sweetmeat for.
Posted by: tu3031 || 03/07/2005 11:43 Comments || Top||

#4  He succumbed to his injuries at Kushtia Hospital.

Guys -- this is HUGE -- they actually took him to the hospital while he was still breathing! There was a chance he could survive!
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 03/07/2005 14:00 Comments || Top||

#5  Who boy.
30 minutes of target practice in the dark and someone gets it in the "crossfire"™. What I want to know is do they get it before, during or at the end of the target practice?

Ummm? What kinda meat waz dat? Iz'it Halal?
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 03/07/2005 14:01 Comments || Top||


Iraq-Jordan
Iraqi Air Force training on U.S. plane
BAGHDAD, March 6 (UPI) -- Iraq's air force, out of practice from 12 years of observing a no-fly zone, has been training on U.S.-made C-130 transports.
The Middle East Newsline said one five-man crew has been trained to operate the C-130 so far. The crew made its first flight outside Iraqi airspace by flying from Talil to Amman in Jordan. The Iraqi Air Force also has aircraft supplied by Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.
Iragi AF is getting a small fleet of C-130's so that they can fly supplies for their own forces. We've set up a english language school in Iraq to teach english to pilots and ground crews before training them on the C-130. My sources tell me things are going very well.

Posted by: Steve || 03/07/2005 9:54:27 AM || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  They certainly have to have English competency to fly outside of Iraq - the global ATC system uses English... of a sort, anyway.
Posted by: .com || 03/07/2005 10:07 Comments || Top||

#2  Not just to fly outside the country, to learn to fly them. Reports are that they first tried it with a translator sitting behind the Iraqi pilot and the American instructor. That wasn't very....productive.
Posted by: Steve || 03/07/2005 10:53 Comments || Top||

#3  This is good. How many old C-130s are in the boneyard in Arizona? I think we could spare a few dozen.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/07/2005 12:02 Comments || Top||

#4  Don't expect there's too many decent/flyable C-130s in the boneyard, those things are like gold.
Posted by: Shipman || 03/07/2005 12:19 Comments || Top||

#5  and with the price tag that Lockheed put on the C-130J, even the USAF has to gulp before they place the order.
Posted by: RWV || 03/07/2005 15:04 Comments || Top||

#6  I read somewhere recently that there are over 3000 Lockheed Hercules flying in some 56 different varieties, by about 40 different governments and a few private airlines (Saturn, for one). Lockheed is still manufacturing them, and has orders enough for the next three years at least. The Forestry Service is trying to replace all its older water-bomber aircraft with C-130's.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 03/07/2005 15:24 Comments || Top||

#7  Especially since the wings came clean off during a drop in Walker, CA on the border with NV. I see the memorial (and remember the video - that poor crew) every time I go on 395 through the Sierras
Posted by: Frank G || 03/07/2005 20:39 Comments || Top||

#8  Can you "field upgrade" a C-130 into an AC-130, or something close to it?
Posted by: jackal || 03/07/2005 22:23 Comments || Top||

#9  There are quite a few C-130s out at D-M. I can see maybe 10-20 from the road, so there could be many more back farther.
Posted by: jackal || 03/07/2005 22:24 Comments || Top||

#10  Jackal, with the right people and the right equipment, the answer is yes.
Posted by: RWV || 03/07/2005 23:10 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
U.S. General: Omar Loses Control of Afghan Insurgency
Fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar has lost control of the insurgency in Afghanistan and the number of attacks has fallen dramatically, a senior U.S. general said Monday. Taliban spokesmen have said attacks will resume once the harsh Afghan winter is over. But Major General Eric T. Olson told a news conference in Kabul that the Taliban lacked cohesion and were a fading force in the southern and southeast provinces that had been their strongholds. "We believe that this spring there will be a number of factors combined to make this so-called spring offensive much less effective and much lesser scale than we've seen in the past in Afghanistan," said Olson.
Remnants of Mullah Omar's hard-line Islamist militia have kept up an insurgency since being driven from power in late 2001 for giving shelter to al Qaeda and its leader, Osama bin Laden, following the Sept. 11 suicide airliner attacks in the United States. Olson, who last month warned U.S. policymakers against cutting troop levels in Afghanistan because the Taliban and al Qaeda posed a grave threat, now sees a "dramatic decrease" in the number of attacks. President Hamid Karzai's government will soon announce an amnesty offer to rank-and-file Taliban fighters, Olson said, and he expected the number of diehards to dwindle further by the time parliamentary elections are held later this year. The elections were due in April or May, but are now expected to be delayed until September.

Many saw the Taliban's inability to mount an effective threat to last October's presidential election as a sign the movement was a spent and demoralized force. Olson said about 30 fighters, described as mid-level in the Taliban, had surrendered to U.S.-led forces recently. Karzai has said his government is in contact with Taliban members and the amnesty offer will not extend to Mullah Omar or up to 150 of his most hardened followers. Omar's whereabouts remains a
(cough - Pakistan- cough)
mystery, said Olson, but the U.S. general was convinced that wherever he is, Omar no longer exerts control over the Taliban. "It seems very clear to us, given the disjointed and uncoordinated effort that the Taliban has been able to launch, that those types of leaders, Mullah Omar specifically, are not exercising an effective command and control over Taliban operations in Afghanistan." He put this down to the success of U.S.-led forces in both combat operations and in winning over support from local communities, leaving the insurgents isolated.
Posted by: Steve || 03/07/2005 9:42:44 AM || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Snif, snif.... yep smells like Napalm.
Posted by: Shipman || 03/07/2005 10:37 Comments || Top||

#2  I suppose my black eye joke might have worked better here.
Posted by: 2b || 03/07/2005 10:45 Comments || Top||

#3  "Would I!"
"hairlip, hairlip"
Posted by: Frank G || 03/07/2005 10:47 Comments || Top||

#4  I'll keep an eye out for you!

LOL Frank.
Posted by: Doc8404 || 03/07/2005 11:07 Comments || Top||

#5  *** COFFEE ALERT ***

ROFLMAO, Frank!
Posted by: BH || 03/07/2005 11:11 Comments || Top||

#6  One Eye, One Horn, Flying...
Posted by: BigEd || 03/07/2005 11:20 Comments || Top||

#7  "Not only that, but out latest intelligence estimates point to the fact that his women say he cannot perform in bed, he is ugly, and his mother dresses him funny."
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/07/2005 11:21 Comments || Top||

#8  "...cannot perform in bed..."

punishing the one eyed mullah
Posted by: mhw || 03/07/2005 11:25 Comments || Top||

#9  Shave the beard, and the fella looks like Guy Pearce. Or have Guy Pearce grow a beard, and he looks like Omar. Don't take my word for it. Watch Ravenous.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 03/07/2005 11:57 Comments || Top||


Ten rebels killed in India attack
Police in the southern India state of Andhra Pradesh say they have killed ten suspected Maoist guerrillas. It is the most violent clash since the rebels withdrew from peace talks with the state government in January. The police said two senior Maoist leaders were among those killed in the clashes in Nizamabad district. The rebels have been fighting since 1980 for the creation of a communist state. Violence has escalated in recent months following the collapse of talks.

The Nizamabad police chief N Madhusudhan Reddy told the BBC that clashes took place near Manala after the police asked the rebels to surrender. Rebel leaders Ramesh -also known as Venkata Swamy - and Babanna were among those who were killed in the crossfire gun battle, the police said. The police said six rebels managed to escape from the battle, and a search operation had begun. Three AK-47 assault rifles, three other rifles and two shotguns were recovered from the scene of the clash, the police said.
Posted by: Steve || 03/07/2005 9:05:16 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa: Horn
Somali protesters reject foreign troops
At least 3000 Somalis have taken to the streets of Mogadishu to protest against the planned deployment of troops from other African nations to help Somalia regain a government.
Regain?
One group of demonstrators in southern Mogadishu on Sunday marched to oppose any deployment of foreign troops whatsoever, while another group in the northern part of the bullet-scarred capital protested against the inclusion of forces from neighbouring states in the peace mission.

The pan-continental African Union (AU) in February asked the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, which brings together Kenya, Uganda, Somalia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti, to deploy an interim peace mission in Somalia ahead of a proper AU force. The interim mission is intended to allow a Somali government, which has been formed in exile in neighbouring Kenya with Abd Allah Yusuf Ahmad as its president, to move to the capital Mogadishu. Some influential militia leaders have also refused the inclusion of forces from Ethiopia, which they accuse of backing various factions, or Djibouti, on the grounds that it supported the predecessor to Yusuf's government. "No foreign troops are required in Somalia. We can resolve our problems without a single peacekeeper from Africa or Asia," said Bashir Raghe, a commander who controls parts of northern Mogadishu, where anti-foreign-troops demonstrators took to the streets.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2005 00:00:00 AM || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "...We can resolve our problems without a single peacekeeper from Africa or Asia,"

My irony meter just pegged.
Posted by: Pappy || 03/07/2005 1:19 Comments || Top||

#2  Suggestion: they could all go swimming, say 50 per day, until the sharks have taken care of the problem.
Posted by: .com || 03/07/2005 1:28 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
Sui telephone exchange set ablaze
Unidentified terrorists set a 1000-line telephone exchange on fire in Sui, disrupting telecommunications between Dera Bugti and the rest of the country. Dera Bugti District Coordination Officer Abdul Samad Lasi said that the incident occurred at midnight when unidentified terrorists broke the main gate down and set the telephone exchange ablaze. A team has been sent to restore the communications to the town, which lies 300 kilometres southwest of Quetta. Meanwhile, two homemade bombs exploded in Quetta, shattering windows but injuring no one, police said on Sunday. A bomb went off Saturday night in a field behind an empty school in Quetta. The explosion shattered windows at the school and several at nearby homes. An hour later another bomb exploded in a park in the same neighbourhood, but there was no damage, he said. No one claimed responsibility for either explosion.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2005 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:



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In no particular order...
Steve White
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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2005-03-07
  Operations stepped up in Samarra to find Zarqawi
Sun 2005-03-06
  Hizbollah Throws Weight Behind Syria in Lebanon
Sat 2005-03-05
  Syria loyalists shoot up Beirut Christian sector
Fri 2005-03-04
  Pro-Syria Groups in Lebanon Press for Unity Govt
Thu 2005-03-03
  Lebanon Opposition Demands Total Syrian Withdrawal
Wed 2005-03-02
  France moving commando support ship to Med
Tue 2005-03-01
  Protesters Back on Beirut Streets; U.S. Offers Support
Mon 2005-02-28
  Lebanese Government Resigns
Sun 2005-02-27
  Sabawi Ibrahim Hasan busted!
Sat 2005-02-26
  Rice demands Palestinians find those behind attack
Fri 2005-02-25
  Tel Aviv Blast Reportedly Kills 4
Thu 2005-02-24
  Bangla cracks down on Islamists
Wed 2005-02-23
  500 illegal Iranian pilgrims arrested in Basra
Tue 2005-02-22
  Syria to withdraw from Lebanon. No, they're not.
Mon 2005-02-21
  Zarq propagandist is toes up


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