Kuwait City, 22 Nov. (AKI) - Five extremist 'preachers' have been arrested for going door-to-door spreading the doctrine of the terror group al-Qaeda among the inhabitants of a Kuwaiti city.
"Candygram."
Local newspaper al-Seyassah said the five were detained on Monday morning as they went around the al-Farwaniya area, knocking on doors and stopping citizens to talk to them about the importance of the Jihad (holy war) and the need to re-establish Sharia Islamic law in the world.
Kind of like Jehovah's Witnesses with turbans and explosives
The five preachers had effectively been holding impromptu religious lessons on the Jihad all morning, until the police were alerted and they were arrested. The group of fundamentalist preachers was made up of three Egyptians and two Indonesians. The security services are trying to discover how they entered the country and if they had direct contact with terror groups active in Iraq.
Also on Monday, the Iraqi navy intercepted a group of 80 people who tried to illegally enter Iraq from Kuwait via the sea. The group included people from different Arab countries, many of whom planned to join the al-Qaeda in Iraq terror group led by the Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a source from the navy said. "They are mostly Kuwaitis, Syrians, Jordanians and Iranians who intended to carry out a major attack in Basra," the city where they were planning to dock, the source said.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/22/2005 12:44 ||
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The jihad preaching is free, but the magazine subscription prices are murder.
Posted by: ed ||
11/22/2005 14:13 Comments ||
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KHULNA, Nov 21:âIdris Ali Khan alias Arif (30), regional leader of Purba Banglar Communist Party (PBCP) was killed in "Crossfire" during gunfigh between Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and the outlawed activists in Khulna after his arrest in the small hours on Monday. The security personnel also recovered some firearms and ammunition from the spot.
Acting on a tip off, a special team of RAB Khulna-6 arrested "notorious criminal" Arif, son of late Ashraf Ali Khan hailing from village Mohishaghuni under Rupsha upazila in the district on Sunday noon.
High Noon for Arif
According to Press release of RAB, a special squad of RAB launched an operation at village Amdabad under same upazila to recover arms and ammunition following his confessional statement at midnight yesterday.
That's ALT - F5 on the RAB press officers word processor. You just need to enter the name and date.
The elite force came under fire from his cohorts who were lying in wait at deep dark
Ooooh, we're got the A-team writing today
when they reached village Amdabad, the RAB members retaliated by firing. At one stage of the encounter which continued for about 15 minutes, Idris Ali Khan alias Arif managed to flee and was caught in crossfire and killed.
"Feet, don't fail me...KAPOW!....urp, rosebud"
Two pipeguns, five rounds bullet of gun, three empty cartridges were recovered by RAB members from the spot.
Musta been a big shot to rate two pipeguns
He was wanted in a numbers of criminal cases including murders, bomb blasting, kidnapping for ransom and extortion of Rupsha upazila. He was also accused of Quamrul murder case of Aichgati and Abdur Rahman killing case of Nandanpur and was involved with grenade attack at Aichgati police camp under Rupsha upazila in the district.
And now he's just a stinking corpse
Posted by: Steve ||
11/22/2005 13:38 ||
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Christ, there's more dead "regional leaders" in the Purba Banglar Communist Party then there are dead "number 3's" in Al-Qaeda.
Forecast International, who publishes overall market research forecasts for various sub-markets within the global defense industry (vid. DID's recent UAV market coverage), turned its attention to Latin America in general, and Venezuela in particular, in a recent report.
F.I. notes that over the past year Venezuela has adopted a military modernization program that could be worth as much as $30.7 billion through 2012, which would make the country the leading arms buyer in the region through the rest of the decade. DID has covered the recent freezing of a $100 million F-16 upgrade contract between Venezuela and Israel, at the insistence of the USA - but F.I. notes that many other programs are underway....
SU-30, Export StarFor instance, F.I. reports that Venezuela's Air Force is reportedly interested in 50 more Russian SU-30 or Chinese J-10 aircraft, and an equivalent number of Brazilian Super Tucano counterinsurgency aircraft. A Naval modernization program that could be worth up to $1 billion by 2010 for over 100 ships, submarines, and riverine boats. Meanwhile, the Army is reportedly interested in around 30 transport and gunship helicopters, and is in talks to buy light armored vehicles, artillery, and various electronics systems. An air defense upgrade program worth at least $150 million has also been launched with the purchase of Chinese JYL-1 long-range, 3-D radar systems for command of military air operations.
Venezuelan caudillo Hugo Chavez' anti-American politicies and campaigns to destabilize neighbouring states have provoked concern about the country's military buildup in the USA and within Latin America itself. Unsurprisingly, F.I. notes that Brazil, China, Russia, and Spain appear to be the favored sources for Venezuela's procurements, rather than the USA. DID recommends FAV-Club as a good site to keep tabs on Venezuela's military programs and equipment.
F.I. also notes that these military programs are fueled by, and also dependent upon, both continued high oil prices and Venezuela's ability to keep its production and distribution infrastructure operating effectively.
more at the link about other Latin American countries
Tehran, 22 Nov. (AKI) - Iran's religious authorities in the holy Shiite city of Qom have officially invited Cuba's revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, to convert to Islam, according to Hojatolislam Mohammad Reza Hakimi, quoted by Iran's Farda news agency. "I met Castro together with the Iranian foreign minister, Saiid Salili, and gave him some sacred Islamic texts translated into Spanish," said Hakimi, who recently returned from a government visit to Cuba.
"We spoke with Castro for several hours, and I think I almost managed to convince him to become a Muslim," Hakimi added. "Castro certain that Cuba is suffering from a lack of spirituality, and seems very interested in Islam, above all in the writing of Iran's revolutionary leader, Ayatallah Khomeini," Hakimi continued.
Fidel's level of interest depends on how many zeros are on the check you're writing
Khomeini in 1989 invited Mikhail Gorbachev, former president of the Soviet Union, to renounce Communism and to convert to Islam.
Wonder if they are stupid enough to revist the Cuban missle crisis, this time with Iranian missiles?
Posted by: Steve ||
11/22/2005 15:19 ||
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Remember, you invite the person to join with you in Islam. If he refuses, his life is forfeit. It is written.
#7
I personally think that the USA continuing to bully Cuba and Castro is beyond the pale of ridiculousness. It is absolute absurdity to be still pursuing the claims of Batista-era Cuban property-owners for return of their pre-revolutionary property.
With that said - if I were Castro - right now I would probably convert my entire nation into the Islamic Republic of Cubastan - just to spit in the face of the US government. Castro deserves the last laugh.
#8
You've got it bass-ackwards Ranger, communism is the "absurdity." Castro deserve absolutely nothing. He's a fu**ing communist thug and leadership failure who would have been history a very long time ago if JFK had not lost his nerve at the BOP. He has led what was a beautiful island nation into total bankruptsy and dispair. We owe a big thank you to another democrat womanizer president.
A gunbattle erupted during a police sweep in Dagestan on Monday, killing at least one gunman and wounding another, police officials said.
Authorities were searching for two other gunmen who fled following the operation in Buinaksk, about 30 kilometers southwest of the regional capital, Makhachkala, said Abdul Muksayev, a spokesman for the Dagestani Interior Ministry.
The shootout erupted after police pursued the gunmen through the town before hiding in a house, said Angela Martirosova, another Interior Ministry spokeswoman. One gunman was killed and another was captured after being wounded.
State-run television showed footage with two men appearing to be investigators examining a bloodied body and a Kalashnikov rifle. Russian news reports quoted local police officials as saying the gunmen were members of a criminal gang.
The republic is regularly troubled by attacks on law enforcement and local government officials.
Meanwhile, Chechen police killed a wanted militant during an operation that also left two officers dead, said Roman Shchekotin, a federal Interior Ministry spokesman. A third officer was wounded in the gunbattle Sunday near the eastern city of Gudermes, he said. Several other gunmen managed to escape, he said. The dead militant was identified as Lecha Askhabov.
Also Sunday, gunmen opened fire on an Interior Ministry checkpoint in the southern Vedeno district, wounding one serviceman, the Chechen Interior Ministry said.
Federal forces and separatist rebels have been fighting in Chechnya for most of the past decade. There are near-daily skirmishes or explosions, although some of the violence is blamed on criminal gangs.
Separately, a former soldier wielding a knife attacked two soldiers on guard duty Sunday outside a Defense Ministry base in the Shatoi district of southern Chechnya, the regional Interior Ministry said. The attacker, who was allegedly trying to seize the guards' guns, was shot dead after he wounded one of sentries.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/22/2005 13:04 ||
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The American editor of Forbes magazine's Russian edition was gunned down in a contract killing ordered by a former Chechen separatist, prosecutors said Monday, announcing that two Chechens would stand trial in the 2004 death. Paul Klebnikov, a 41-year-old American of Russian descent, was killed outside the magazine's Moscow offices on July 9, 2004. Two Chechens currently now in custody, Kazbek Dukuzov and Musa Vakhayev, are being charged with the murder and with other crimes, the prosecutor-general's office said.
Prosecutors said Khozh-Akhmed Nukhayev, a former deputy prime minister in Chechnya's separatist government, had offered the two men and other accomplices money to carry out the murder. Nukhayev was the subject of a critical book by Klebnikov called "Conversations with a Barbarian." Investigators have given no evidence to back up their conclusion, however, and doubts remain about whether the suspects were involved. Klebnikov's family has expressed skepticism about the Chechens' involvement, and urged the Russian government to invite U.S. law enforcement agencies into the investigation. His brother, Michael, said that Klebnikov had given him the impression that Nukhayev was pleased with the book. The whereabouts of the former separatist figure are unknown.
Some observers have pointed to the journalist's investigative work as a more likely motive, saying Klebnikov had delved deep into the still-murky post-Soviet business world in his work at Forbes.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2005 00:00 ||
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A Pakistan-born former medical student facing trial in Australia for training with a terrorist organisation launched a court challenge Monday against the legality of putting him on trial for crimes allegedly committed abroad. Izhar Ul-Haque, 22, has pleaded not guilty to one charge of training in Pakistan with a terrorist group alleged to be Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) â a militant group fighting Indian forces in Kashmir.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2005 00:00 ||
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A Dutch businessman accused of selling chemicals to Iraq knowing Saddam Hussein would use them for poison gas attacks went on trial in the Netherlands on Monday on charges of complicity in war crimes and genocide. Frans van Anraat, 63, is charged with supplying thousands of tonnes of agents for poison gas used by Saddam's military in Iraq's 1980-1988 war against Iran and against its own Kurdish population, including an attack on the town of Halabja in 1988. Prosecutor Fred Teeven told a pre-trial hearing that Van Anraat continued to supply chemicals after the Halabja attack, which killed an estimated 5,000 people 17 years ago this week.
A small group demonstrating outside the Hague court displayed dozens of photographs of Kurdish victims of chemical weapons. They held a red banner reading "Genocide Never Again".
"I hope he gets a life sentence," said Amir Gadir of Victims of Genocide Against Kurds in Halabja. The defence said Van Anraat did not know what Iraq intended to do with the materials he provided and had stopped shipments to Iraq after the Halabja attack. His lawyers said there was no convincing evidence linking material Van Anraat supplied to chemical weapons used by Iraq. Saddam's own trial for war crimes began in Baghdad in October. He has denied the charges. United Nations weapons inspectors have said Van Anraat was an important middle man supplying Iraq with chemical agents.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2005 00:00 ||
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An Arab-American college student was convicted Tuesday of joining al- Qaida and plotting to assassinate President Bush. The federal jury rejected Ahmed Omar Abu Ali's claim that Saudi authorities whipped and tortured him to extract a false confession. Abu Ali, a 24-year-old U.S. citizen born to a Jordanian father and raised in Falls Church, Va., could get life in prison on charges that include conspiracy to assassinate the president and providing support to al-Qaida. Abu Ali told authorities shortly after his arrest at a Medina, Saudi Arabia, university in June 2003 that he joined al-Qaida and discussed various terrorist plots, including a plan to personally assassinate Bush and to establish himself as a leader of an al-Qaida cell in the United States.
But the defense countered that he was tortured by the Saudi security force known as the Mubahith. The jury deliberated for 2 1/2 days. Abu Ali swallowed hard before the verdict was read but otherwise showed little emotion.
No Xbox 360 for you, punk.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/22/2005 15:04 ||
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"Dirty Bomb" suspect Jose Padilla, held by the U.S. as an enemy combatant for more than three years, has been indicted on federal charges in Miami, according to an indictment unsealed Tuesday. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was expected to discuss the indictment at a news conference in Washington. Padilla, a Brooklyn-born Muslim convert, has been held as an "enemy combatant" in Defense Department custody for more than three years. The Bush administration had resisted calls to charge and try him in civilian courts.
The indictment avoids a Supreme Court showdown. Padilla's lawyers had asked justices to review his case last month, and the Bush administration was facing a deadline next Monday for filing its legal arguments. "They're avoiding what the Supreme Court would say about American citizens. That's an issue the administration did not want to face," said Scott Silliman, a Duke University law professor who specializes in national security. "There's no way that the Supreme Court would have ducked this issue."
The Bush administration has said Padilla, a former Chicago gang member, sought to blow up hotels and apartment buildings in the United States and planned an attack with a "dirty bomb" radiological device. Padilla was arrested at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport in 2002 after returning from Pakistan. The federal government has said he was trained in weapons and explosives by members of al-Qaida. Although the Justice Department has said that Padilla was readying attacks in the United States, the charges against him and four others allege they were part of a conspiracy to murder, kidnap and maim persons in a foreign country and provide material support to terrorists abroad.
I do believe, I must say, that all American citizens should have their day in court. We should never have a situation in which the government can hold a citizen indefinitely. It's one of the basic rights of citizenship, and one that doesn't apply to foreigners captured on foreign soil in a time of war and interred in a facility on foreign soil.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/22/2005 11:47 Comments ||
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While we (apparently) can't do it in his case, among the penalties for terrorism should be stripping of citizenship. Yes, I realize he was born in the US. Doesn't matter.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
11/22/2005 12:38 Comments ||
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#4
Steve, right on.
Robert, that's a bridge too far for me. But then again, I'm one of those who actually value my citizenship.
#5
Actually, there are precedents of stripping US citizens of their citizenship if they take up arms against this country for a hostile power. More than 2500 Americans were conscripted into the German & Italian armies, and about 1300 into the Japanese military, during World War II. The last I remember reading, voluntarily entering the military services of a foreign power, whether an ally or an enemy, can be used to end US citizenship. We need one of Rantburg's lawyers to check it out and give us the straight skinny.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/22/2005 13:32 Comments ||
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#6
Using the lefts dictionary of law this would mean that Padilla is guilty and wee should move to the sentencing phase.
#7
Officially, thank gosh it's on -- so that it's immune from Supreme Court wrangling. I distinctly recall Antonin Scalia's ruling in Hamdi v. Rumsfeld being, guess what? "Charge or release."
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
11/22/2005 16:01 Comments ||
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A top U.S. commander in Iraq said Tuesday he has "absolutely no reason" to believe the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, died in a weekend raid in Mosul.
Lt. Gen. John Vines, chief of the Multi-National Corps Iraq, also confirmed that U.S. officials have the ability to determine if al-Zarqawi was there.
"I am told that there is a DNA database of some of his relatives that is able to be compared against some of those who were killed there," Vines told reporters. "If he had been in one of those houses that were part of the objective, we could confirm that."
Eight insurgents and four Iraqi policemen died in the raid by U.S. and Iraqi forces, including three insurgents who blew themselves up to avoid capture, officials said. The allied forces mounted an assault on a house in the northern city of Mosul that was believed used by members of al-Qaeda in Iraq.
Iraq's foreign minister has said that tests were being done to determine if al-Zarqawi was one of those killed.
Vines also staunchly refused to outline a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.
Despite mounting political pressure in the United States and among some Iraqi leaders, Vines said any recommendations for troop withdrawal that he makes will be based on the capabilities of the Iraqi security forces, the ability of the government to sustain them, and the effectiveness of the insurgency.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/22/2005 12:44 ||
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DNA tests are being carried out to determine whether the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was killed in a recent US-led raid. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari says officials are testing DNA samples from several bodies found at the scene of the clashes in Mosul on Saturday. US and Iraqi forces stormed what they believe was a safe house for senior al-Qaeda members.
The US envoy to Iraq has said he did not believe Zarqawi was among the dead. Though US Army spokesman Barry Venable said US forces "employ whatever means required... to identify suspected or known terrorists or insurgents". Eight suspected insurgents and four Iraqi police officers died in the raid.
"We know that American and Iraqi forces... surrounded a house where there was fierce resistance and when the American and Iraqi forces jointly tried to storm the building the occupants blew themselves up," Mr Zebari said. "There must have been some key leaders from the terrorists, from the fundamentalists who committed suicide instead of handing themselves up," the minister added. But Mr Khalilzad cast doubts on whether Zarqawi was killed. "Unfortunately, we did not get him in Mosul," he said. "Of course the days are numbered, we are after him, we are getting closer," the ambassador added.
We have taken DNA samples from his family in Jordan to compare. Be nice if he was reduced to a smear on the floor, but I'm not holding my breath.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/22/2005 08:53 ||
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His voice seems to have gone quiet.
chirp.....chirp.....
Posted by: john ||
11/22/2005 9:34 Comments ||
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#2
how long does this DNA test take to do?? they have been testing it for two days it seems. The airwaves have been pretty quiet..... you would think he would have immediately put out a video or audio tape talking about 'escaping the apostates' or some b.s. I hope he is dead or dies soon.
#5
It almost pains me to say it but I hope he is just got one of those never ending pain wounds but not dead. I just think that Zark is a great soldgier but a horrible strategic general. Zark is emotional and overly brutal blood lust to the point of turning the fence setting muslims so much against him that even Aljizz is now trying to sell the myth that Zark is a made by the Zionist and Big Satan to invade the ME, hell man that is even a hard sell in the ME conspiracy zipo land. His replacement will be more along the line of Zawahiri and his letter that if implemented will make our job harder not easier. Besides the little PR jump in the states will be minor CNN the other night already lead off thier story with Zark may be dead in raid but does it matter does it change anygthing? Gotta wonder why stories like the Mosque bombing the other day were not lead with say Another useless slaughter by desperate AQ, 80 civilians killed in prayer at a mosque today in Iraq can it stop the Vote, will the Allies give up? But then that would mean CNN would be taking americas side which of course is BAD for journalist.
#6
Take your time and get it right. Don't want to say he's dead only to have him pop up later. Plus, we don't have his DNA on file, just relatives. With the extended tribal families and inbreeding, I'll wager the test could be a bitch.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/22/2005 12:58 Comments ||
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#7
After thinking about this, I say we proclaim him dead. When he pops up to say that he isn't, laugh and tell everyone that he's an imposter. We'll demand to see video with a copy of tomorrow's infidel NYT and GPS coordinates. Then tell everyone that the video is a fake. Keep laughing at him and he'll make a mistake. Then we nail him (again).
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/22/2005 14:02 Comments ||
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#9
Steve, I thought he took a bullet in a leg in the incident where they got his computer. Chased him to a hospital where he got treated. If I remember correctly, they should have got his DNA from bandages, swabs, etc.
With the Hizbollah attack in Israel, Ahmadinejad and the Iranian nuke program, and now this, the Islamists seem to be on the offensive. Brought to you by the Left's surrender lobby.
CAIRO, Egypt - Reaching out to the Sunni Arab community, Iraqi leaders called for a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces and said Iraq's opposition had a "legitimate right" of resistance. The communique â finalized by Shiite, Kurdish and Sunni leaders Monday â condemned terrorism but was a clear acknowledgment of the Sunni position that insurgents should not be labeled as terrorists if their operations do not target innocent civilians or institutions designed to provide for the welfare of Iraqi citizens. The preparatory reconciliation conference, held under the auspices of the Arab League, was attended by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Iraqi Shiite and Kurdish lawmakers as well as leading Sunni politicians. The Jihadi platform follows:
In Egypt, the final communique's attempt to define terrorism omitted any reference to attacks against U.S. or Iraqi forces. Delegates from across the political and religious spectrum said the omission was intentional. They spoke anonymously, saying they feared retribution. Translation: The Kurd and Shia politicians have knuckled under to the Sunnis.
"Though resistance is a legitimate right for all people, terrorism does not represent resistance. Therefore, we condemn terrorism and acts of violence, killing and kidnapping targeting Iraqi citizens and humanitarian, civil, government institutions, national resources and houses of worships," the document said. The final communique also stressed participants' commitment to Iraq's unity and called for the release of all "innocent detainees" who have not been convicted by courts. It asked that allegations of torture against prisoners be investigated and those responsible be held accountable. The statement also demanded "an immediate end to arbitrary raids and arrests without a documented judicial order." You gotta admit, it was a brilliant move on the Arab League's part to have the conference in Cairo, beyond the coalition's immediate control and where they could help their Arab Sunni brothers and use a little Arab-style persuasion on the Kurd and Shiites. The demands and threats could be made without any coalition observers to intervene. This is the sort of thing that the State Dept. is supposedly paid to anticipate and prevent. I hope that heads are rolling. Damn this is going to be a long war.
#1
institutions designed to provide for the welfare of Iraqi citizens
To me this would include US, allied and Iraqi armed forces since who else is protecting Iraqi citizens? Still, it does suck that the shiites and Kurds gave in to the sunnis. How about a Kurdish state and a new shiite state in the south that includes a 40-km strip of eastern Soddy...
#2
On the Cairo conference and its final statement...
The preparatory Cairo conference for reconciliation ended with a final statement that came at the last minutes after there were doubts an agreement on one could be reached if not for the Arabic language that is pretty good at twisting and playing on the meanings of texts.
The conference itself is viewed as an accomplishment for the Arab League let alone reaching a final statement that satisfied all parties without much troubles.
In my opinion, the Iraqi parties had originally joined the meeting to show that they’re not against a national reconciliation or against what can solve the crisis in Iraq. Of course this does not apply to all the parties as with the presence of extreme trends on both ends of the spectrum, it was natural that a middle trend will emerge to approximate the extremes and this middle trend was born in Iraq and found its place in this conference and tried to deter the rivals from marginalizing each other in order to find a middle way.
The statement was decorated with a call to put a timetable for foreign troops withdrawal and this part was the focus of the talks while it is a quite technical issue that cannot be solved by Iraqi politicians as the final word will be in the hands of the elected government that is yet to come and this is the only entity that will have the right to speak on behalf of the Iraqi people.
We heard a similar sort of talks prior to January elections and many parties held the slogan of ending “the occupation” but after the elected representatives sat to figure out what to do most of them found that asking the troops to leave would be in no one’s interest so they found themselves asking the UN to let the troops stay for another couple of years instead of asking them to leave.
Again, this issue is a technical one and speeches mean almost nothing and I’m positive that whoever is to be elected next month will realize the complexity of the situation especially when it comes to building Iraqi forces capable of preserving security.
Some try to overlook regional and international balances and forget that Iraq is part of these balances and they even try to ignore the resolutions of the UN and Security Council forgetting that they also are part of this system which they’re going to rely on for one thing or another sooner or later.
What we actually need is to encourage the reasonable middle trend that weighs things by interests and logic, not emotions and mood and does not use a use that boring poetic language when discussing a technical task.
Anyway, I think this conference is going to change very little from the situation on the ground; those who endorse and practice violence do not really seek legitimacy from this or that conference.
But there are still a few good things that came out of this meeting as this is the first time since the fall of the past regime when the Arab League denounces Saddam’s regime opening the door for discrediting more dictatorships in the future.
Second there was a condemnation for media networks that were asked to lower their tone a bit and to stop saying things that might create hatred or encourage sectarian or ethnic differences and this call addressed both, Arabic and Iraqi media that is serving certain partisan interests.
Other than the above, nothing is worth mentioning and I feel that this conference isn’t going to make tomorrow different from yesterday.
I trust elections way more that I trust such events sponsored by a dying league. If we want to improve our conditions then we (Iraqis) must first think well before making our choice this time.
I say it again, those who claim they speak for all or most Iraqis and that troops withdrawal is a public demand should enter the election and wait for the results and when he wins, then he will have the right to say so because only then, he would be representing the people.
Posted by Mohammed @ 22:18
www.iraqthemodel.blogspot.com
#3
I wouldnt seat it. The Arab League is even more useless than the UN. They have been unable to declare terrorism bad for years now and Iraq aint goin to change that. I would take these words with two grains of salt kinda like one of the thousand resolutions against Isreal the UN has great for the UN to make a show to the other side but they dont actually do anything about it the grown ups just dont allow such. Resolutions are not worth more than toilet paper. The timetable pull out stuff I would say is a direct result of the LLL campain back home, I am scared by it I can just imagine over there where their freekin lives are on the line not tommorrow but today must scare the hell out of them. Not to mention the fact that the Shia leadership would go to the arab league to pander for support rather than Iran something I would fear more.
#4
Since I see this as a diplomatic defeat, and not a military setback, the questions that I would ask are
How will this be played in the Arab media?
How will this be played at Friday prayers?
How will this be portrayed on the Jihadi websites, CDs and cassettes?
What will be the reaction to this in Baath circles?
Will news of this have a positive or negative effect on funding?
What is the overall thrust of this communique? (Do communications in Arabic have precise meanings or are they always left open to many interpretations? What are the verbal cues that Arabic speakers use to tip off other Arabs whether a specific utterance is to be taken seriously or not?)
Those are the first order effects. As you begin to contemplate second and third order effects you will begin to see the military impact.
#5
this isnt a diplomatic defeat, it only called for a time table after the buildup of Iraqi forces. . . umm which will happen when the U.S. is done with its mission. I see this is a victory b/c atleast all the ethnic groups in Iraq are beginning to come together finally. The terrorists are losing... badly.
#6
institutions designed to provide for the welfare of Iraqi citizens
Maybe this is part of the problem getting Iraq up and running. Saddam killed many of his people and there are millions of women and children awaiting the food rations the UN doled out. They have no means of providing for themselves and Islamic women have a bleak employment picture. They need to have settlers from the west come in to stabilize the situation as most of those who remain aren't capable of a self-sustaining government that must be in place before troops leave. It's a vicious cycle but the MM's will never let women have rights...might as well nuke 'em and get it over with :)
#7
Okay, this theory has been rolling around in my head since lunchtime so let me throw it out there.
First, assume that Izzat Ibrahim Al Douri really is getting his belly roasted in hell. Second, assume that the former Baathists have come to the conclusion that (1) Fighting Americans is a good way to live a short life, and (2) Zarqawi and the al Qaeda types are crazier than a shit-house rat.
Now: Given 1 and 2, maybe they have decided to enter into the political process and hang up the AK-47s. But if that's the case they need a face-saving way of surrendering -- otherwise it looks like the Americans beat them, which is intolerable. So, they go to the new Iraqi government and say, "we'll quit if you give us cover, and the best way to do that is to say 'hey, the Yanks have to go, eventually.'"
Baathists save face, new government gets a diplomatic victory, everybody wins but the al Qaeda types.
Whaddaya think?
Posted by: Jonathan ||
11/22/2005 15:05 Comments ||
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#8
I don't think any of the "insurgents" are going to take them up on this. This is just for Sunni face saving. The Sunni that want to be part of the government can say the the government is listening to their (bullshit) demands.
This is just the Iraqi "leadership" saying that at some point in the future the MNF will go. Arab BS talk restating the known facts.
Pro-Western Jordan, spared major al Qaeda violence before this month's suicide bombings, risks copycat attacks by homegrown Islamist militants inspired by the insurgency in Iraq, security sources and analysts say.
But Jordan might now experience a violent homegrown campaign like one launched in Saudi Arabi by local al Qaeda supporters after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, the sources fear.
"These attacks could encourage some militant radicals â despite the wide popular condemnation and outrage â to do something similar in Jordan," said Mohammad Najjar, a political analyst who tracks Islamist radical groups.
Jordanian authorities say their vigilance has foiled many militant plots to bomb well-protected embassies and tourist sites. But one security official, who asked not to be named, said he feared militants might now switch to easier targets.
"These soft targets could be more potent now in their eyes than the traditional ones," he said, arguing that the militants were not deterred by popular outrage over attacks on civilians.
"They have declared open-ended war and inflicting revenge on the state, so boundaries between civilian and military targets no longer mean much for them," the official added.
He said the authorities had detained several hundred Jordanian Islamists in recent months for plotting attacks at home, far more than in previous years.
The official said their aim was to destabilize Jordan because of the monarchy's pro-Western stance.
Previously, most militants had been seized returning from Iraq or trying to go there to join the anti-U.S. insurgency.
That traffic has thinned, security sources say, though it is not clear whether this is because of tighter border security or because more Iraqis have joined Zarqawi's group, taking command positions once held by Jordanians or other Arab fighters.
If Jordanian militants cannot reach Iraq, that has not dimmed their zeal, the sources say, with many collecting donations for Zarqawi and looking to him for inspiration even if they do not have organizational links with al Qaeda.
"The Jordanian cells are scattered and fragmented but the common denominator is that they are inspired by Zarqawi's tactics," one security source said.
A Jordanian official, who asked not to be named, said local militants identified with fighters across the border. "They believe if they cannot reach that target they can reach another in Jordan as an extension of the jihad (holy war) in Iraq."
Fears that instability is spilling over Iraq's borders were heightened last month when Iraqi Interior Minister Bayan Jabor said documents found with a slain Iraqi lieutenant of Zarqawi showed a plan to send Arab militants home to widen the struggle.
There was no way to verify his statement.
While anger over Iraq is one factor fuelling Sunni militancy in Jordan, economic hardship is another â often made harder to bear by the ostentatious lifestyle of the wealthy few.
"When there is poverty and despair this helps in recruiting these young people," said Adnan Abu Odeh, a former adviser to the Jordanian royal family. "The poor go to mosques as an escape from this situation and then they are recruited."
Such radicalized youngsters often come from impoverished cities such as Irbid and Zarqa, home town of Zarqawi. A few are trained in Lebanon or Syria. Others have become battle-hardened in Iraq, the Jordanian security source said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/22/2005 12:41 ||
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But Jordan might now experience a violent homegrown campaign like one launched in Saudi Arabi by local al Qaeda supporters after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, the sources fear.
I wouldn't count on it. The current ruler's father lowered the boom on Arafart and his cohorts when the time came, and there's no reason to believe that the current ruler wouldn't do the same thing if his authority were threatened.
#3
While anger over Iraq is one factor fuelling Sunni militancy in Jordan, economic hardship is another â often made harder to bear by the ostentatious lifestyle of the wealthy few.
And the fact that the People are Palestinians (or, rather, "Palestinians" are Jordanians) whereas the ruling class are Hashemites (and allied tribes) imported by the Brits from (at present) Saudi Arabia, has nothing to do with it?
#4
Being King is nice. Off with their heads still works pretty well. The Paleos stay in line in Jordanm now. My fellow amateur radio operator the late King did show them he would not put up with their bullshit. The results are proof. I hope his son is also inclined to resort with the same quick and strong measures.
#6
Jordanians who matter would like nothing better than an excuse to deal with self-proclaimed "Palestinians," who use Jordanian citizenship as a means to confront the West. Given the end of the Iraq hearts-and-minds folly (it did work in Vietnam), carpet bombing al-Qaeda strongholds in Jordan, is sellable. We didn't give a rat's ass for the 200,000 Japs that we torched in one Tokyo night, not to mention Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Arab fanatics rate about 10 degrees lower on my human annoyance scale than Japs, Nazis and Commies ever did. Banzai!!!
#8
Kerry was a loser in '04 and he is a loser in '08. Shipman, the machine don't run so good. Ima thinkin Hildebeast is going to run. McCain or Rudy for the Republicans.
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - European Union foreign ministers gave final approval Monday to a 50- to 70-person mission to monitor the border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt - a move they hope will help foster peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians. The first 20 observers will be in place by Friday morning when the border is expected to open as part of what British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw called a "historic deal" brokered last week between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
The EU's involvement on the ground in the Middle East marks a change from its traditional role as Israel's biggest trading partner and the principal aid donor to the Palestinians.
Now they can be targets, too.
In a declaration, the EU foreign ministers said the border opening is "essential for promoting peaceful economic development" and "fundamental to improving the humanitarian situation in Gaza. "The priority now is to ensure that the commitments made in it (the agreement) are translated into reality," the EU ministers said.
Italian Maj. Gen. Piero Pistolese will head up the mission, which will also include police officers from Germany, Spain and other EU nations, officials said. The monitors will act as mediators between the Israelis, who will keep tabs on the border via closed-circuit TV, and the Palestinians running the crossing. The mission will also train the Palestinians to run a professional customs checkpoint.
Snort. Sure, they'll stop the smuggling. Snort.
The Israelis can object to letting someone cross, but the Palestinians will have ultimate authority over who passes. The Europeans, through a joint situation room that will include Israelis and Palestinians, will presumably referee any disputes.
"We got a yellow card on this fellow right here."
The opening of the Rafah crossing will be the first time Palestinians will have control over a border. The EU hopes the opening will be part of a wider effort to rebuild Gaza's economy, which was destroyed over years of fighting and restrictions imposed by Israelis to prevent terrorists militants and weapons from entering the territory.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/22/2005 00:00 ||
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will they be armed? Will they be protected from reprisals from either side should they do their jobs??
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/22/2005 0:14 Comments ||
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Italian Maj. Gen. Piero Pistolese will head up the mission, which will also include police officers from Germany, Spain and other EU nations, officials said. The monitors will act as mediators between the Israelis, who will keep tabs on the border via closed-circuit TV, and the Palestinians running the crossing.
Very astute move by IDF. Frees up soldiers for more important CT duties.
EFL - JPost
Hizbullah launched a failed attempt to kidnap soldiers Monday in an assault on Mount Dov and Rajar and a coordinated mortar and rocket barrage on northern Galilee towns and kibbutzim. A fierce Israeli response killed four infiltrators and struck at Hizbullah targets in south Lebanon, but at least 11 soldiers were wounded and a house severely damaged in Metulla by Hizbullah mortar fire.
The assault began Monday afternoon and lasted about six hours, during which residents were ordered to shelters. But by last night a tense calm returned to the northern frontier and residents were allowed to return to their homes. Top security officials met late last night to reassess the situation following one of the most violent Hizbullah attacks on Israel since Israel pulled out of Lebanon five and a half years ago. Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, speaking from his headquarters in Tel Aviv, said the Hizbullah attack on the northeastern border throughout the afternoon was a coordinated combination of gunfire, mortar fire and kidnap attempt. "Syrian and Iranian interests are behind this event. Their interest is to escalate the situation in the north to alleviate the pressure off Syria," Mofaz said.
Mofaz said Syria wanted to divert the spotlight on President Bashar Assad's regime from its apparent involvement in the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri. The defense establishment, he said, will meet to discuss the attack. "Our aim is to come up with the best solution to provide the residents of northern Israel with the best possible protection," he added.
The attack began with a massive barrage directed against IDF posts on Mount Dov in the afternoon. It quickly spread westward. Shortly after the initial barrage, IDF troops prevented an attempt to infiltrate an outpost on Mount Dov, killing at least one gunman. An officer and soldier were seriously wounded in this apparently botched kidnapping attempt. An unspecified number of soldiers were also lightly wounded in the gun battle. The wounded were evacuated to Haifa's Rambam Hospital.
In nearby Rajar, a village of Alawite Muslims located in Israel, Hizbullah gunmen rode in on motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), Army Radio reported. They opened fire on a building housing the local council. IDF forces intercepted the gunmen and returned fire, killing three. As gun battles continued around Rajar, the mortar barrages moved westward, targeting Metulla and Kibbutzim Ma'ayan Baruch and Snir. Hizbullah later extended the fighting across the entire northern border, as mortars landed near the western towns of Nahariya and Shlomi. As a result of the shelling, residents of the north from the Mediterranean to Mount Hermon were ordered into bomb shelters Monday evening for the first time in years. A house in Metulla was directly hit by a Katyusha. While family members were in the house at the time, no injuries were reported. Extensive damage was caused to the building.
IDF artillery returned fire alongside IAF air strikes from helicopters. IAF aircraft bombed a number of roads as well as a building used by Hizbullah as a headquarters in southern Lebanon. According to Lebanese security officials in south Lebanon, Israeli warplanes also fired missiles at suspected terrorist hideouts about 500 meters from the Lebanese-Israeli border. Witnesses in Lebanon told news agencies that they saw over 100 explosions in the area.
Deputy Defense Minister Ze'ev Boim, speaking on Channel 1, reiterated Mofaz's analysis that Hizbullah's actions were aimed at releasing pressure from Syria. Analysts said it was an attempt by Syria to use Hizbullah to show the Americans that Damascus had cards too and could put all of northern Israel into bomb shelters and drag Israel into an international conflict with Syria
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/22/2005 00:00 ||
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Gave it all they got and failed. Still counting on the West to keep one hand tied behind its back. We aren't even really fighting yet.
I really think that the Lyins of Islam really believe their own hype about the fact that we can't stomach a war. They just don't grasp that it is patience and goodness towards their innocents that prevents a slaughter. It's more that we know what we ARE capable of and don't want to unleash it unless we are forced to.
The meter on my own personal patience tank is getting a bit low. And I suspect I'm a pretty good bellweather for the average American. Can't speak for the Israelis, but I'd imagine that ol' Sharon just picked up some extra political clout.
#2
And if there are any of you moderate Muslims reading rantburg... I know that you exist ... you all better speak up quick. Don't believe the garbage put out by our press. The average Westerner is not represented by them, as that 403 - 3 vote should have made PERFECTLY clear. The time for talk is winding down.
#3
If the Lebanese want to have anything left of their country they need to get this under control soon. Both the Syrians and the Israelis have shown they have no qualms about fighting each other on Lebanese territory.
Posted by: mac ||
11/22/2005 5:59 Comments ||
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#4
Wasn't this picked up yesterday that Sharon held an emergency meeting on Sunday with his military men over this very attack/issue? Why, it's almost Rovian in it's implementation! I, for one, simply love it when a plan comes together, bwahahahaha!
#5
The failed attempt by the Hizbullah was all part of a Jooooooooooish plot. The Jooooooooos infiltrated the Hizbullah planning team and that's why it failed. It's the Joooooooos fault.
Amid fears that Indonesia's most wanted terrorist will strike again, some police have a new theory: Noordin Top is using hypnotism to elude capture and recruit more suicide bombers. The senior Jemaah Islamiyah operative - blamed for both Bali bombings and a series of other attacks - has time and again escaped the clutches of the law during the past three years.
Two weeks ago he slipped through another dragnet, even though counter-terror officers shot dead Azahari Husin, Noordin's bombmaker partner. Among the few things left behind by Noordin was a video in which he specifically warned Australia that his band of Islamic extremists would strike again. In Azahari's hideout police found plans for a "bom pesta" - or bomb party - this Christmas, with several churches and shopping malls earmarked for attack.
As fears rise, reports say some police in notoriously superstitious Indonesia believe Noordin may have the ability to hypnotise people, using his mental powers to escape his pursuers and recruit more bombers. "A village chief fell unconscious after kissing the hand of a man resembling Noordin," one policeman said. The magazine said the chief's mind went blank "like he was hypnotised" after meeting a "tabib", or traditional healer, who looked like Noordin. One officer said police believed even a skilled religious preacher would have difficulty finding so many followers willing to kill themselves for a cause. Belief in the supernatural is widespread in Indonesia. Crime is sometimes blamed on tricksters with magical powers and people regularly take their problems to fortune-tellers and witchdoctors. Against this social background, one policeman told Tempo that JI used "unconventional recruitment techniques" to boost its ranks. Investigators believe Noordin is an expert at disguise.
You put the lime in the coconut...
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/22/2005 13:10 ||
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TROOPS seized a suspected Abu Sayyaf camp on Mt. Tumatangis as they continued to scour the mountains of Sulu for remnants of the bandits who fled fierce fighting last week, including two Indonesian bombers who have sought refuge in Mindanao.
Top security officials, meanwhile, warned that an Indonesian suicide bomber is planning to manufacture a âsuper bombâ containing 1,000 kilos of explosives to bomb the US embassy in Manila and other American operations in the country.
Two Army men from the 30th Infantry Battalion in Indanan were injured after four unidentified men opened fire on them in Sitio Kanday Kambing, in Indanan, a military report reaching Camp Aguinaldo yesterday said.
Maj. Bartolome Bacarro, Army spokesman, identified the injured soldiers as Sgt. Robert Solomon and Pfc. Jamid Tanteh, who were ambushed on the way to their base camp.
The attackers fled as Army reinforcements arrived, he added.
On the same day, troops from the 2nd Scout Ranger Battalion discovered a camp of 10 makeshift huts that can accommodate about 50 people, Bacarro said.
Fresh food and personal belongings were found in the camp, which was probably abandoned by the Abu Sayyaf terrorists, he said.
In Congress, Victor Mayo, deputy chief of the National Security Council told lawmakers during a budget hearing yesterday that the Indonesian bomber with a super bomb comes from the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), a regional terrorist network linked to Osama bin Ladenâs Al Qaida group.
âThe number one threat is now terrorism,â he said.
His statement was echoed yesterday by Singapore Defense Minister Teo Chee Hean, who spoke at a counterterror conference in Singapore.
Teo warned that terrorist networks had shown the ability to quickly change and adapt and said there must be closer collaboration among countries if the fight against them is to be won.
âNo one today can be in any doubt that it will be a long and ardous fight against terrorism,â he told some 90 participants from armed forces and counterterrorism agencies in Asia and Europe.
âThe danger is extreme and immediate, and Southeast Asia is a key battleground.â
Southeast Asia has been described by the United States as the second front in its global âwar on terror.â
The JI, blamed for several attacks in Indonesia, operates in the region, and its top leaders are at large and said to be training in Mindanao.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/22/2005 13:09 ||
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Civilian intelligence officials said Tuesday that members of the international terror group Jemaah Islamiyah are in Manila to detonate a one-ton "super-bomb" at the US Embassy and other facilities representing US interests.
National Security Council (NSC) deputy adviser Victor Mayo and National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (Nica) director general Cesar Garcia made the revelation when they appeared during the hearing on the proposed P1.05 trillion national budget for 2006, before the House committee on appropriations.
Quoting reports from the intelligence community, the two officials told the committee they have information that Indonesian terrorists are coming into the country to stage suicide bombings in areas or facilities connected with the US.
They did not say though if their information can be classified as A-1.
"The number one threat now is the threat of terrorism. We had reports of Indonesians coming in as suicide bombers to create a 1,000-kilo 'super bomb' and that bomb will be used to attack Manila," Mayo told the committee chaired by Camarines Sur Representative Rolando Andaya Jr.
Garcia said there were some suspected foreign terrorists who are already in the country and scouting for places where they could launch their attacks.
"The intelligence community intensified its operations and it was a result of this that a suspected safe house of the Rajah Sulaiman Movement (RSM) was raided and the operatives seized some 600 kilos of ammonium nitrate (a bomb-making ingredient)," Garcia said.
They said that among the targets of the group include the US Embassy in Manila and other facilities "that represent US interests."
Garcia said the RSM is identified with the al Qaeda-linked JI, which was responsible for the Bali and Australian Embassy attacks in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Despite the safe house raid, both Mayo and Garcia admitted that the group has not yet been neutralized by authorities.
And because of this, it is not impossible that they would really be able to carry out their mission.
The two said though that government operatives are doing their best to go after these terrorists.
They added that both the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) are on "heightened alert" in preparation for the country's hosting of the Southeast Asian Games.
"Apart from the heightened alert, our security officials have also been coordinating with the Philippine Center on Transnational Crime. They held simulations and they also created various scenarios (for the SEA Games)," Mayo said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/22/2005 12:43 ||
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The US Embassy Manila is the second most represented, interagency wise, embassy in the world. Lets hope they are all in the support mode of finding these terrorists so the next report will be of captures, not explosions.
Posted by: 49 pan ||
11/22/2005 13:39 Comments ||
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(CNSNews.com) - Terrorists in Southeast Asia were funded by Saudi Arabia until that source was cut off by the arrest of a middleman, forcing the terrorists to sell mobile phone vouchers to finance their activities, Indonesian lawmakers have been told. The country's police chief, General Sutanto, told members of a parliamentary body that a group formerly led by a terrorist named Azahari bin-Husin was struggling financially.
One of the region's most-wanted men, Azahari was killed earlier this month in a bomb blast during an armed clash with Indonesian police at house in Java, Indonesia's main island. The Malaysian, a bomb maker associated with the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah (JI) network, was blamed for deadly bombings in Bali and Jakarta.
Sutarto said Azahari's group had received money from Saudi Arabia until the arrest of a man in 2003 who had been a conduit for the funds disrupted the flow. He did not elaborate on the source within Saudi Arabia.
"I can say no more"
"After we had arrested this suspect, the relationship between Saudi Arabia and terrorists in Indonesia was interrupted," Indonesia's Tempo newspaper quoted Sutarto as saying. "They are now having difficulties in the funding of their activities." Since then, the terrorists have had to rely on the sale of vouchers for pre-paid mobile phones.
Brief vision of them standing by the road with a sign; "Will Terrorize For Food"
Sutarto did not say where police had obtained the information about the Saudi funding and financial difficulties, but the house where Azahari and another man were killed on Nov. 9 has produced considerable intelligence for anti-terror investigators. Australian federal police commissioner Mick Keelty told a security conference in Sydney Monday that police had found documents and computer files which provide new insights into JI. The information, he said, reveals "sophisticated surveillance, sophisticated intelligence and recruitment techniques, and actually spells out how and why targets are selected."
There was also intricate detail about bombs, said Keelty, who added that the Indonesian police had passed on the information to their Australian counterparts. Another Malaysian close to Azahari, Noordin Mohammed Top, remains at large.
In a video clip also found at the house a masked man believed to be Top threatens future attacks against Western targets, singling out Australian Prime Minister John Howard and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer by name. It's also been reported in recent days that the Azahari-Top group was planning a series of bombings against churches in Indonesia over Christmas, in a bid to trigger a new Muslim-Christian conflict like one which cost thousands of lives in Maluku and Sulawesi provinces between 1999 and 2002.
Cornelius Bohm, a Catholic priest attached to a crisis center in the Maluku capital, Ambon, said Tuesday security measures have been stepped up in the light of the latest reports. Police had intensified the checking of identity cards and motor vehicles, and a number of churches in Ambon had begun nighttime patrols by members of the congregation, planned to continue until the New Year, Bohm said. On Christmas Eve in 2000, a series of bomb blasts at Indonesian churches, attributed to JI, killed 19 people.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/22/2005 09:10 ||
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I love repeating myself. Lets get rid of a couple of saudi bankers amd mullahs or kidnap the oldest male heir. Wait and see how terrorism drops by 60%......
Two remote-controlled bombs exploded minutes apart in a market today in the violence-plagued south of Thailand, injuring 12 people, including a two-year-old boy and a Malaysian man, police said. The first bomb was hidden in a fruit basket at the market in Narathiwat province's Sungai Kolok, a town on the border with Malaysia, said police Capt. Teerapak Sengseng. About 10 minutes later, as police were investigating the incident, the second bomb exploded 10 metres away. Among the 12 people who suffered minor injuries were a 2-year-old boy, a 58-year-old Malaysian man and three policemen, said Teerapak, who was one of the injured officers.
The background noise of Southeast Asia; a low level bombing campaign sowing chaos and distrust of leadership as well as economic disruption. A feature, not a bug.
JERUSALEM â Israeli said its warplanes struck in Lebanon on Tuesday in what Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz described as the largest-scale Israeli response to cross-border attacks by Lebanese guerrillas since 2000. Mofaz spoke just hours after Israeli fighter jets attacked a command post of Hezbollah guerrillas in south Lebanon and after army bulldozers entered Lebanon to demolish a Hezbollah post just north of the community of Ghajar. Hezbollah and the Lebanese army denied Israeli warplanes struck in southern Lebanon on Tuesday. Israeli warplanes struck a number of Hezbollah targets Monday, Israeli security officials said.
The Israeli strike came a day after the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah fired mortars and rockets toward the Israeli-Lebanese border, wounding 11 Israeli soldiers and damaging a house in an Israeli border community. The shelling sent thousands of Israeli civilians into bomb shelters. Israeli return fire killed four Hezbollah guerrillas.
Monday's Hezbollah attack "was the largest-scale, most hostile since the departure of Israeli forces from Lebanon (in 2000)," Mofaz said in remarks broadcast on Israel Radio. The Israeli response "was the widest against attempts by Hezbollah to escalate the situation." Mofaz said Israel hit targets that "had not been attacked since the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon," including Hezbollah command, intelligence and communication posts. The defense minister also said Hezbollah apparently suffered the greatest number of casualties since Israel's pullout from Lebanon.
In 2002, however, there was a longer confrontation, when Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel during a three-week period and Israeli forces hit back with air and artillery strikes. The fighting marked a sudden surge in violence, the first cross-border fighting in five months. The United States accused Hezbollah of provoking the fighting, and urged the Lebanese government to take charge of the area.
Lebanon has requested that UNIFIL, the U.N. peacekeeping force stationed in the country, appeal to Israel to persuade it not to further retaliate for the Hezbollah strikes, Israel Army Radio. Israeli army chief Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz confirmed that Lebanon had turned to UNIFIL, but would not elaborate. Hezbollah frequently targets Israeli troops in the Chebaa Farms area, which the Iranian-backed group says should have been returned by Israel when it withdrew from south Lebanon. Israel says it captured the area from Syria in 1967 and will discuss its control of the land only in any future peace talks with the Arab country.
Hezbollah's actions appeared to have political motivations. As the powerful Shiite Muslim militant group in control of the Lebanese side of the border with Israel, Hezbollah is an ally of Syria in Lebanon. In recent weeks it has stepped up its criticism â along with Syria â of the United Nations and its investigation into the killing of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri. The probe has implicated Syrian officials in the February murder.
An escalation of tension in southern Lebanon would strengthen Syria's hand with the U.N. by focusing attention on the need for a stable Syria as a key to peace in Lebanon, where it kept a large military force for nearly three decades. In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the attack was a "deliberate provocation" by Hezbollah and urged Lebanon's government to take charge. "We have made it very clear to the Lebanese government that they need to control the situation in southern Lebanon," he said.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/22/2005 13:11 ||
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An escalation of tension in southern Lebanon would strengthen Syria's hand with the U.N. by focusing attention on the need for a stable Syria as a key to peace in Lebanon,
#2
Incidentally Israeli return fire killed four Hezbollah guerrillas.
Paratrooper sniper becomes hero
IDF paratrooper Corporal David Markovitch foiled a would-be attack when he killed four Hizbullah operatives carrying an anti-tank missile in the village of Ghajar near South Lebanon on Monday.
#3
Lebanon has requested that UNIFIL, the U.N. peacekeeping force stationed in the country, appeal to Israel to persuade it not to further retaliate for the Hezbollah strikes
#4
They should launch a bombing campain across the southern lebanon were the known Hezbollah camps are to get a good body count. Even maybe make some thunder runs like the Baghdad operations to show just how useless Hezbollah is as the "protectors of Lebanon". Act like it wont stop until the UN steps up and the world stops it make the UN not the Hezbollah the power.
This all is a PR move my Hezbollah to look tuff and prove themselves the protectors the shield of Lebanon. If the Isrealis show just how weak and useless Hezbollah is all the while gettting to pound the Hezbollah rank would be a huge PR win for the lebaneese opposition and Isreal. Not to mention it would force hezbollah to lean more towards the political than military this will sepperate them more from Iran and Syria.
#5
JERUSALEM â Israeli said its warplanes struck inLebanonSyria and Iran on Tuesday in what Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz described as the largest-scale Israeli response to cross-border attacks
DEBKAfile: A Shiite commando motorbike unit trained weeks for the kidnap â and finally fell into an Israeli ambush trap at Kfar Ajar. Hizballah secretary Hassan Nasrallah had planned an audacious gesture of defiance towards Israel and the Siniora government. This was the first time the Hizballah had sent a specially-trained motorbike commando unit into action. Its mission was to kidnap Israeli soldiers and bring them to Beirut for a macabre display in Lebanonâs Independence Day ceremonies Tuesday, Nov. 22. This was to be an act of defiance against Israel and more particularly the anti-Syrian government. DEBKAfileâs sources do not confirm it was instigated by Damascus and Tehran, as Israeli defense minister Shaul Mofaz claimed. Nasrallah may have informed both governments, but his essential motive was to grind his own axe in Lebanon.
Indeed he cast himself as the star of Lebanonâs national day ceremonies. The plan was to draw the world media to a spectacular display of the captured Israeli troops, or their bodies, and publicly invite Israel to negotiate their exchange against the release of Lebanese and Palestinians in Israeli jails.
But most of all, the Hizballah leader sought to show up the Beirut government and prime minister Fouad Siniora as impotents. The Lebanese prime minister would not dare send troops against him to free the Israelis â even though their abduction was a brazen contravention of international law. He and his government would then be dismissed by the Lebanese people and the Arab world as nonentities.
Nasrallah saw himself profiting from the kidnap stunt in five ways:
1. The anti-Syrian Siniora government would fall.
2. This would undo the considerable efforts America and France invested since the February 2005 Hariri murder to establish a stable government independent of Damascus.
3. With the government out of the way, no one would be left in Lebanon to squeeze the Hizballah to disarm.
4. After this triumph, the Shiite terrorist group would recover its rightful place at the center of Lebanonâs power constellation. Nasrallah needed to silence demands for his organization to give up its weapons coming from Lebanese leaders like the Druze chief Walid Jumblat. Last week, Jumblatt declared, âThe people not weapons will protect resistance (to Israel) forces.â
5. The Beirut governmentâs downfall would derail the UN inquiry into the assassination of the former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri, whose progress depends heavily on government collaboration. Syrian president Bashar Assad would not doubt be grateful for this important service.
DEBKAfileâs military and intelligence sources reveal that, in readiness for the kidnap operation, the Hizballah three weeks ago withdrew from the Beqaa Valley of eastern Lebanon its crack commando unit of 300 to 400 men and deployed them in the south. A supply of Katyusha rockets, anti-tank missiles and heavy mortars was also transferred to the region, after withdrawals were made from Hizballahâs Beqaa weapons stores for the first time in five years. These movements were picked up on the Israeli side and prompted the high state of military preparedness declared intermittently in recent weeks on the Israel-Lebanese border and the repeated warnings Jerusalem conveyed to Beirut.
Neither appreciated how determined Nasrallah was to pull off his ambitious project.
In fact, the offensive launched Monday, Nov. 21 at just before 15:00 hours local time, was the biggest and fiercest the Hizballah has ever carried out against Israel. According to our military sources, 500 shells and rockets were fired in five hours, at the rate of 100 per hour against military and civilian targets. Twelve Israelis were injured, two seriously. Israeli warplanes and artillery returned fire and air force helicopters chased Hizballah firing crews in southern Lebanon, killing at least 12.
Nasrallahâs motorcyclist team was able to conquer both sides of Kfar Ajar, but failed in its mission to kidnap Israeli soldiers, live or dead. It ran into an ambush trap laid by an Israeli paratroop unit, which hid in a house on the Israeli side of the village. Corp. David Markovitch shot three terrorists dead in a single burst of fire.
Nice shooting, David
A second team was repulsed by the Israel Gladiola position on Mt. Dov. Hizballah lost another four or five men in the two raids. Nasrallahâs plan therefore boomeranged against him. Instead of snatching Israelis, Beirut is asking Israel to hand over the bodies of the Hizballah casualties.
This does not mean he wonât try again. Indeed the Hizballah chief is far from giving up and is likely to do whatever it takes to bring his plan to fruition. Israeli troops in the north therefore remain on a high state of preparedness.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/22/2005 09:16 ||
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#1
Can't wait until Naz's brains are sloshing around in that nice black turban he likes.
#2
Hizbollah will fall without Syrian help - the Lebanese can intervene on weapons shipments and the Iranians will have problems of their own Nasrallah sees the writing on the wall.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/22/2005 9:54 Comments ||
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#3
similar comments and a lot of insider an gossipy stuff at Tony's blog at:
#4
Hizballah secretary Hassan Nasrallah had planned an audacious gesture of defiance towards Israel and the Siniora government. This was the first time the Hizballah had sent a specially-trained motorbike commando unit into action.
uparmoured mopeds from hell.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
11/22/2005 13:59 Comments ||
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#5
You say you saw 400-500 hostiles move about and you killed 12ish? wtf? You don't wait until they attack, hit them when they move people.
#6
On the specifics, the Jerusalem Post attributes four Hizb gun-downs to Cpl. Markovitch; the three mentioned in this article happened to be unlucky to ALL be carrying the same rocket that he shot.
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
11/22/2005 17:59 Comments ||
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#7
Dead is dead. An IDF Medal of Courage, promotion to sergeant, new jump boots, and a 30 day pass for the corporal are in order..... and he can keep anything thats left of the bike.
Hezbollah rockets blasted Israeli army outposts and Israel's warplanes and shells hit guerrilla targets Monday in a sharp escalation of violence linked to political upheaval in Lebanon. The fighting was the first major cross-border conflict in five months and the heaviest between the two sides in more than three years. Witnesses in southern Lebanon said heavy exchanges lasted for two hours in the evening and continued intermittently into the night as Hezbollah guerrillas fired truck-mounted rockets at Israeli army positions. Israeli warplanes launched an airstrike late Monday night, Lebanese security officials reported.
Hezbollah guerrillas blamed Israel but the Jewish state said Hezbollah attacked first and with the backing of supporters in Syria and Iran. Four guerrillas were killed and several Israeli soldiers wounded, according to accounts from both sides.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Syria and Iran trying to deflect attention
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/22/2005 0:15 Comments ||
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The United Nations has ordered the families of its personnel in Eritrea to leave the country, as part of an increased security assessment. The security zone along the Ethiopian border has been made off-limits to all UN staff except peacekeeping troops. Elsewhere in the country, staff have been told remain in town, and keep in touch with their headquarters.
This comes amid fears of new hostility along the border, where the neighbours went to war from 1998 to 2000. A peace agreement in 2000 led to the demarcation of the border by an independent commission. However, Ethiopia has not yet withdrawn its forces from the town of Badme, which was awarded to Eritrea. In the past few months Eritrea has imposed restictions on the activities of the UN peacekeeping force.
Earlier this month Ethiopia and Eritrea reinforced their military positions along their common border, when the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, warned of the possibility of renewed conflict.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/22/2005 08:43 ||
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#1
They have to be told this?
Wonder what daddy did to piss off Kofi and get posted to fuckin Eritrea?
MIR ALI: Three powerful explosions wounded five paramilitary personnel in North Waziristan on Monday. Security officials said that five Frontier Constabulary (FC) jawans were injured in an explosion near a paramilitary check post close to the Government High School in the Hurmuz area, while the two other blasts near of local hospitals caused no casualties. The wounded FC personnel were airlifted to Peshawar for medical treatment and were in serious condition. Meanwhile, officials said that local authorities have arrested five tribal policemen for failing to provide security in the area. Security personnel said that the blasts were a reaction to the impending ban on the public display of weapons in Mir Ali Bazar.
Maybe they should think about banning the use of explosives, too...
Better color coding for the wires ...
âThe tribesmen have carried out the explosion,â a tribal elder claimed. âThe government is banning display of weapons, but we carry them for our protection because the authorities do not accept responsibility if someone is killed more than 200 metres from either side of the road.â According to a political treaty, the local administration is responsible for the tribesmenâs security within 200 metres on either side of the road and not beyond it. The tribals are demanding that the ban on weaponsâ display be linked to an amendment to the law to extend the administrationâs security responsibility beyond 200 metres.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2005 00:00 ||
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Reminds me of the old Justin Wilson joke about "Beaudrow" (Woodrow) who put three dynamite sticks in his shirt pocket as revenge against the bully who hit him in the chest and crushed his cigars all the time.
This time when the bully crushed Beaudro's cigars, Beaudro was going to blow his damn hand off.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/22/2005 8:35 Comments ||
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Two important Maoist officials were killed in an encounter in Adilabad as the police foiled an attempt by the extremists to attack the Koyyur police station in Visakhapatnam in the early hours yesterday. The two Maoists â Agila Istari alias Salim, district committee secretary, and Bhaskar alias Suryam alias Narsanna, district committee secretary â were killed in the encounter in Manigarh-Jogapur area. On Saturday and Sunday night, special parties of the police undertook combing operations in the area on the Andhra Pradesh-Maharashtra border. On a tip-off that Maoists from four armed squads were holding a meeting, police surrounded the hillocks. In the exchange of fire, Istari and Bhaskar died while seven other rebels, including North Telangana Special Zonal Committee member Pulluri Prasada Rao alias Chandranna, managed to escape.
Istari carried a reward of 300,000 rupees on his head. He was allegedly involved in the killings of Telugu Desam legislator Palvai Purushottam Rao and two constables in 1999. Police recovered three weapons an AK-47 rifle, a .303 rifle and a pistol, two magazines of self-loading rifle, 12 kitbags, a medicine kitbag and a large number of claymore mines from the scene of the encounter.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2005 00:00 ||
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Two civilians were killed and four people including two Afghan soldiers were wounded yesterday in two rocket attacks on an official building in restive southern Afghanistan, police said.
One rocket landed on the headquarters of Khak-e-Afghan district in Zabul province injuring two soldiers. Hours later another rocket was fired close to the same building, killing two civilians and wounding another two.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2005 00:00 ||
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Taleban yesterday threatened to kill an Indian engineer they are holding hostage unless his company stops work in Afghanistan by today. The family of Maniappan Raman Kutty, the Indian driver, expressed hope that his abductors would show mercy and let him off. His wife Bindu, who appeared on local television channels, said her two sons aged eight and three did not know of their father's plight and his aged parents were totally shattered.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Apparently, they did
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/22/2005 20:16 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
KHULNA, Nov 21:âIdris Ali Khan alias Arif (30), regional leader of Purba Banglar Communist Party (PBCP) was killed in "Crossfire" during gunfigh between Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and the outlawed activists in Khulna after his arrest in the small hours on Monday. The security personnel also recovered some firearms and ammunition from the spot.
The American editor of Forbes magazine's Russian edition was gunned down in a contract killing ordered by a former Chechen separatist, prosecutors said Monday, announcing that two Chechens would stand trial in the 2004 death. 
A Pakistan-born former medical student facing trial in Australia for training with a terrorist organisation launched a court challenge Monday against the legality of putting him on trial for crimes allegedly committed abroad. 
A Dutch businessman accused of selling chemicals to Iraq knowing Saddam Hussein would use them for poison gas attacks went on trial in the Netherlands on Monday on charges of complicity in war crimes and genocide. Frans van Anraat, 63, is charged with supplying thousands of tonnes of agents for poison gas used by Saddam's military in Iraq's 1980-1988 war against Iran and against its own Kurdish population, including an attack on the town of Halabja in 1988. Prosecutor Fred Teeven told a pre-trial hearing that Van Anraat continued to supply chemicals after the Halabja attack, which killed an estimated 5,000 people 17 years ago this week.
An Arab-American college student was convicted Tuesday of joining al- Qaida and plotting to assassinate President Bush. The federal jury rejected 
"Dirty Bomb" suspect 
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - European Union foreign ministers gave final approval Monday to a 50- to 70-person mission to monitor the border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt - a move they hope will help foster peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians. The first 20 observers will be in place by Friday morning when the border is expected to open as part of what British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw called a "historic deal" brokered last week between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
Amid fears that Indonesia's most wanted terrorist will strike again, some police have a new theory: Noordin Top is using hypnotism to elude capture and recruit more suicide bombers. The senior Jemaah Islamiyah operative - blamed for both Bali bombings and a series of other attacks - has time and again escaped the clutches of the law during the past three years. 
Two remote-controlled bombs exploded minutes apart in a market today in the violence-plagued south of Thailand, injuring 12 people, including a two-year-old boy and a Malaysian man, police said. The first bomb was hidden in a fruit basket at the market in Narathiwat province's Sungai Kolok, a town on the border with Malaysia, said police Capt. Teerapak Sengseng. About 10 minutes later, as police were investigating the incident, the second bomb exploded 10 metres away. Among the 12 people who suffered minor injuries were a 2-year-old boy, a 58-year-old Malaysian man and three policemen, said Teerapak, who was one of the injured officers. 
MIR ALI: Three powerful explosions wounded five paramilitary personnel in North Waziristan on Monday. Security officials said that five Frontier Constabulary (FC) jawans were injured in an explosion near a paramilitary check post close to the Government High School in the Hurmuz area, while the two other blasts near of local hospitals caused no casualties. The wounded FC personnel were airlifted to Peshawar for medical treatment and were in serious condition. Meanwhile, officials said that local authorities have arrested five tribal policemen for failing to provide security in the area. Security personnel said that the blasts were a reaction to the impending ban on the public display of weapons in Mir Ali Bazar. 
Two important Maoist officials were killed in an encounter in Adilabad as the police foiled an attempt by the extremists to attack the Koyyur police station in Visakhapatnam in the early hours yesterday. The two Maoists â Agila Istari alias Salim, district committee secretary, and Bhaskar alias Suryam alias Narsanna, district committee secretary â were killed in the encounter in Manigarh-Jogapur area. On Saturday and Sunday night, special parties of the police undertook combing operations in the area on the Andhra Pradesh-Maharashtra border. On a tip-off that Maoists from four armed squads were holding a meeting, police surrounded the hillocks. In the exchange of fire, Istari and Bhaskar died while seven other rebels, including North Telangana Special Zonal Committee member Pulluri Prasada Rao alias Chandranna, managed to escape.
Two civilians were killed and four people including two Afghan soldiers were wounded yesterday in two rocket attacks on an official building in restive southern Afghanistan, police said.
Taleban yesterday threatened to kill an Indian engineer they are holding hostage unless his company stops work in Afghanistan by today. The family of Maniappan Raman Kutty, the Indian driver, expressed hope that his abductors would show mercy and let him off. His wife Bindu, who appeared on local television channels, said her two sons aged eight and three did not know of their father's plight and his aged parents were totally shattered.
