KABUL: Suspected Taliban shot dead a policeman and wounded another in volatile southeastern Afghanistan, a district governor said on Monday, in the latest in a string of attacks on the countryâs fledgling police force. The policemen were shot while on patrol late Sunday in Zabul provinceâs Mizan district, governor Mohammad Yunus said. Police detained 15 suspects afterwards. A police post in Logar province near the capital Kabul was meanwhile attacked by âterroristsâ late Sunday but no one was killed in the ensuing gunfight, interior ministry spokesman Yousuf Stanizai said. A security sweep of the province also yielded 446 grenades for rocket-propelled grenade launchers, and 54.5 kilogrammes (nearly 120 pounds) of heroin and 45.5 kilogrammes of hashish, he said. The police in war-ravaged Afghanistan have been targets of unrest that is blamed on militants loyal to the ousted Taliban regime and other groups, some of them believed to be allied to drug lords.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2005 00:00 ||
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Why waste the ammunition if he was dead?
Maybe the talib wanted to make him deader?
A police post in Logar province near the capital Kabul was meanwhile attacked by âterroristsâ late Sunday but no one was killed in the ensuing gunfight
The coppers need to go to a range more often, it seems.
Sanaa, 29 Nov. (AKI) - After months of ceasefire, clashes have broken out again between Shiite rebels loyal to the late radical cleric and former MP Hussein al-Houthi and government security forces in the northern Yemeni province of Saada. Eight policemen died in the fighting, US-backed Radio Sawa reports. Hundreds died in clashes between the two sides last year in a three month uprising which ended with the announcement of al-Houthi's death in September 2004.
Fighting broke out again earlier this year, but all went quiet a few months ago when the Yemeni government announced that it had put down the rebellion. In September, President Saleh announced an amnesty for al-Houthi's supporters and ordered the release of those who have been imprisoned.
"Go home and sin no more!"
However, the fighting began again on Monday when, after several months of hiding in the mountains on the border with Saudi Arabia, rebel fighters gathered in the market of the village of al-Khafti and shouted anti-American and anti-Israeli slogans.
I didn't know MoveOn.org had a Yemeni branch
The security forces then surrounded the village and a gunfight broke out, forcing the militants to flee.
Police have now significantly stepped up security at roadblocks and surrounded the province in search of those who killed the eight officers. The outbreak of violence comes after several sheikhs in the area went to the police in the last few days, asking them to arrest rebel militants who had been in al-Khafti for some time. At the beginning of November there were also reports that al-Houthi followers had killed 12 members of the security forces in an ambush in the town of Menah in the Saada province. Tribal sources said the gunmen opened fire on vehicles carrying the policemen, killing them instantly and claimed a relative of Maj. Gen. Yahya al-Omari, the governor of Saada, was among the dead. The Yemeni government confirmed the ambush had taken place, but gave no details of how many were killed.
Al-Houthi's father, Badruddin, who is in his eighties, is said to have led the rebels since his son's death. The influential Shiite cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has called the fighting a 'holy war' by the government against Yemen's minority Zaidi Shiite Muslims. Yemen's President Saleh however, says he is fighting a rebellion, but Amnesty International has pointed out that many innocent Yemenis are thought to have been killed, including children, as "security forces reportedly used heavy weaponry, including helicopter gunships," to attack civilian targets. Zaidi Shiites are thought to make up around a third of Yemen's approximately 20 million population, while moderate Shafi Sunnis make up the rest.
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11/29/2005 11:03 ||
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A wave of arrests that took place in early November in Morocco is illuminating for two reasons: the expansion of al-Zarqawi's influence outside Iraq, and the interconnection between jihadist activities on both shores of the Mediterranean. The series of arrests, beginning on November 11 in the cities of Rabat and Casablanca, has netted 17 Islamists suspected of links to al-Qaeda. Official sources claim that they have "dismantled a terrorist structure as it was being formed."
According to the Moroccan Arabic daily al-Alam, the terrorist network uncovered by the 17 arrests, Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad fil-Maghrib (âthe Monotheism and Jihad group in Morocco'), has connections with small groups operating near the Iraqi border that maintain close ties with senior members of the al-Qaeda. A security source quoted by the paper indicated the existence of a secret organization outside Morocco headed by an Iraqi and made up of 20 members, which entertained a plan to attack a Dutch intelligence HQ. Their plans were subsequently altered by the addition of a new Moroccan member to the group who planned a larger operation in his home country: the targeting of a casino in Tangiers, the U.S. consulate in Casablanca and a number of Jewish synagogues. Others arrestees spoke of the production of poisons and explosives for subsequent use in Morocco. An interesting detail from the arrests was the indication of the al-Qaeda "radicalization course" undertaken by the new members, which included viewing jihadi films such as Jahim al-Rus, Badr al-Riyadh and Jahim al-Murtaddeen ("The Russian Inferno" the "Battle of Badr at Riyadh" and "the Apostates' Inferno"), as well as the productions of Iraqi networks on the Internet, such as Ansar al-Sunna, the Islamic Army and (al-Zarqawi's) al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (www.alalam.ma).
One of the fundamental activists behind the group's planned campaign in Morocco, according to al-Alam, is an Algerian national named Abu Baseer. He is considered to be an âemir' (commander) of al-Qaeda in Europe working under the authority of al-Zarqawi. One of the 17 arrestees is believed to have handed over letters addressed to Osama bin Laden "focusing on the mujahideen in Saudi Arabia and Algeria and on the creation of an al-Qaeda organization in the North African states." (www.alalam.ma).
Funding and logistical support comes from Europe, as the Moroccan arrests demonstrated, mostly from channels in Spain and the United Kingdom, which funnel money acquired through voluntary contributions or petty crime. The current Moroccan investigations focused in particular on the role of Belgium. One of the leaders of the arrested group is considered to be Mohamed R'ha, a Belgian national of Moroccan ancestry, one of the operatives who had returned from ideological training in Syria to recruit members. On November 17 the trial in Brussels opened of Belgian and Moroccan nationals accused of belonging to a terrorist organization and providing logistical support to the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (Groupe islamique combattant marocainâGICM). This group was founded in 1997 by Moroccan veterans of the jihad training camps in Afghanistan and is held responsible for recruiting the dozen suicide bombers who carried out the multiple bombings at Casablanca in May 2003, which left 44 dead. The GICM is also suspected of carrying out the Madrid train explosions that killed 191 people in March 2004.
This second atrocity prompted Belgian police to close in on a GICM network based in the provincial town of Maaseik, which served as a logistics center and meeting place for the group's European leadership, where, according to the Flemish daily Het Nieuwsblad, discussions on the GICM organization took place on three occasions [www.nieuwsblad.be]. According to the prosecution case, as reported by De Standaard, one of the prominent members of this group, the Moroccan Abdelkader Hakimi, was designated by a fellow member imprisoned in France as the leader of the GICM. The 19-year old Hakimi is believed to have spent half his life on the run, spending ten years in Algeria, journeying with false papers to Libya, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia, producing false identity papers for himself and for Afghan militant veterans and to have fought in Bosnia during the civil war [www.standaard.be].
The activities of Hakimi illustrate the skills and strengths of North African militant groups in Europe. The GICM is believed to number some few hundred committed radicals, supported by 1,000 to 2,000 sympathizers operating on both shores of the Mediterranean. Cells have operated in Italy, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Spain, the last of which announced on November 23 the arrest of 10 Moroccans and Algerians suspected of financing and giving logistical support to counterparts from the Algerian GSPC resident in Germany, the Netherlands, Britain, Belgium and Denmark.
The revelation of the ideological training of Moroccans taking place on the borders with Iraq has added urgency to Moroccan security concerns since the November 9 bombings in the Jordanian capital Amman. Following the arrests of the 17 Moroccans, one Abu Mus'ab al-Iraqi (styling himself as the "al-Qaeda correspondent") denounced on November 23 the events on the al-Firdaws jihadi forum and at the same time deplored the activities of Morocco's "secular" Channel Two TV broadcaster. His objection was to the vox pop interviews in the wake of the Amman bombings, addressed to "the ignorant, weak and base people ⊠who spoke of Zarqawi inventing a new religion, and referred to his âbankrupt mind' " [http://alfirdaws.org/forums]. According to al-Alam, Moroccan intelligence is convinced that their country lies third on al-Qaeda's list of targets, after Saudi Arabia and Jordan, and remain on the lookout for al-Qaeda operatives crossing over from Algeria, and for senior members entering the country from Belgium [www.alalam.ma].
Posted by: Steve ||
11/29/2005 15:54 ||
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Top terror gunned down in RAB encounter
One of the most wanted terrorists as well as extortionist in the Dhaka''s underworld was gunned down in an encounter between Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and his cohorts at Rupganj upazila, the outskirts of the city on Monday. The deceased was identified as Monu Miah alias Munna (40). Munna is wanted in 19 cases, including eight murders, RAB sources said. After the gunfight, a loaded revolver and one LG were recovered from the scene.
Shutter gun being cleaned for it's next appearance
When contacted Demra police on Monday afternoon said that Munna was a listed terrorist as well as extortionist at Saidabad bus terminal. Munna and his accomplices unleashed a reign of terror at Saidabad bus terminal and its adjoining areas. None dared to say anything against Munna and his sidekicks, police said.
Somehow being known as "The Terror Of The Bus Terminal" just doesn't translate well
People at Saidabad bus terminal and its nearby areas heaved a sigh of relief at the death of Munna.
"Huzza! Munna's dead! Sweatmeats all around!"
Acting on a tip-off, a team of RAB-10 arrested Munna from his residence at 10/A Natun Road in Saidabad in the city on Sunday evening.
From there it all goes downhill for poor Muna
Following his confessional statement, the RAB team took him to Rupganj to recover arms and arrest his cohorts at 3.30 am. When RAB along with Munna reached near Shonabo area under the Rupganj upazila in Narayanganj, the accomplices of Munna opened fire on them forcing the elite force to fire back. Munna was caught in the shootout and received bullet wounds while trying to flee. The attending doctors declared him dead when he was taken to Narayanganj Sadar hospital.
"He's dead, Jim"
Student killed by classmates
Two students of a madrassah in Gazipur on Sunday confessed to the police that they had killed one of their classmates.
Being a madrassah, it probably falls under the definition of "homework"
Shoeb, 17, a student of Harinal Hafezia Madrassah under sadar upazila, remained missing for the last one week. His father lodged a general diary with the Joydebpur police. Accordingly a police team arrested the two â Shahedullah, 19, and Ataullah, 18. The arrested young men told the police that they had killed their classmate and fell the body into a water body, Balia Bill, following an enmity with him.
Well, then he had to die. Enmity can not be denied
The police could not recover the body till Monday.
Bangla Bhai cadre released after arrest
RAB members allegedly released Mahtab Khamaru, a top commander of JMB in Rajshahi, within few hours of arrest. Sources said RAB arrested Khamaru, a close associate of absconding Bangla Bhai, from Talgoria bazaar of Bagmara upazila in Rajshahi on Sunday morning. But there are allegations that RAB set him free after few hours of arrest mysteriously.
Sounds like Mahtab spilled his guts
When contacted, RAB officials in Rajshahi on Monday night told The News Today that there is no information to them regarding the arrest of Khamaru.
"Who? Never heard of him"
But local people said they saw RAB members arresting him.
Yup. They took him in and showed him the shutter gun with his name on it.
They alleged Khamaru is a ferocious cadre of JMB and was involved in many criminal incidents including killing. Once he was associated with outlawed Sarbahara party but following killing of his one brother at the hands of Sarbahara, he took shelter in a police camp. After emergence of Bangla Bahi at Bagmara in April last year, he joined him and within a short time became front ranking leader in the Bangla Bhaiâs party JMB.
Another version of the story
A top associate of Bangla Bhai, the absconding leader of the banned militant outfit JMB, has been released after his arrest. Mahtab Ali Khamaru, was picked up by RAB at Talgharia market in Rajshahi on Sunday. Later allegedly at the diktat of high-ups he was released.
So he called in a favor
Law-enforcing agencies arrested three more suspected militants, including a suicide bomber, of the banned Islamic outfit JMB from Thakurgaon and Jamalpur districts early Monday, reports UNB. Masud, 22, an alleged suicidal bomber, and Saifuddin, 55, were held in Thakurgaon. Another JMB member, Abdullah Hal Kafi, was caught in Jamalpur district.
UNB Thakurgaon correspondent said a joint team comprising elite-force RAB and police conducted a raid at village Bharnioa under Ranisangkail upazila and arrested Masud, son of Ekramul Haq.
In another raid, the joint team reined in Saifuddin from village Damal Chourangi under Haripur upazila. They were taken to Thakurgaon police station Monday morning where they were being quizzed.
In Jamalpur, acting on a tip-off, detective branch (DB) of police raided the College road area in the town and arrested Abdullah Hal Kafi with important documents, including a notebook. Kafi hailed from Andaria village of Fulbaria Upazila in Mymensingh. However, police suspected that he gave his pseudonym and that he might be Nayeem, reportedly involved in Satkhira blasts during the August 17 bombings across the country.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/29/2005 13:34 ||
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Aw well, didn't mean for the link to be some prolific. These things happen. I was hoping for the first green, orange, white animated Gif siren light at the top of the page.
Yeah, I know it's not a siren light... what's it called?
Bombs exploded in two Bangladesh cities on Tuesday, killing at least eight people and injuring 66 in what appeared to be the latest attack by militant Muslims intent on imposing harsh Islamic law, officials said. No one immediately claimed responsibility, but police investigators suspected the outlawed Islamic militant group Jumatul Mujahideen Bangladesh, blamed for similar attacks this year.
The explosions in the main port city of Chittagong and in the town of Gaizipur, just outside the capital, Dhaka, happened just before 9 a.m. and appeared to target courthouses, police said. Details at link.
Posted by: ed ||
11/29/2005 08:36 ||
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Bomb blasts in two Bangladesh cities have killed two policemen and injured 40 people.
Police said bombs exploded at a police checkpoint outside a court building in the port city of Chittagong on Tuesday, killing two policemen and the suspected bomber, and injuring 16 people.
The blasts occurred just before the court opened at 9am (0300 GMT).
Another three people were killed in Gazipur, 30km north of the capital Dhaka, when a powerful bomb went off in a court complex, local hospital doctor Shafiqul Islam said.
That blast wounded 25 people, mostly lawyers, police said.
The explosions in both cities occurred at about the same time.
Habibur Rahman, a doctor at Chittagong Medical College hospital, said 16 people, some of them in a critical condition, were being treated at the hospital.
Chittagong is 216km southeast of Dhaka.
Bangladesh has been hit by a spate of bombings blamed on banned Islamic group Jamatul Mujahidin Bangladesh. The group seeks to establish Islamic rule in the Muslim-majority country, which is governed by secular laws.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/29/2005 02:50 ||
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The official investigation into the shooting death of Kazakh opposition figure and former Emergency Situations Agency head Zamanbek Nurkadilov has concluded that he committed suicide, the Radio Liberty reported on Tuesday. The investigative team found that Nurkadilov first shot himself twice in the chest before putting the gun to his head and firing a bullet into his brain.
"Happen's a lot around here. Honest"
The Interfax news agency quoted an unnamed Kazakh law-enforcement official as saying that investigators concluded that the main reason why Nurkadilov shot himself related to family conflict.
"Da families got together and decided youse got to go"
Nurkadilov was found dead on 12 November. The For a Just Kazakhstan bloc has declared that Nurkadilovâs death âwithout any doubt can be qualified as political.â
We never doubted it
A former mayor of Almaty and government minister, Nurkadilov later joined the opposition and accused the government of corruption.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/29/2005 13:16 ||
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BLAM!!: Man that hurt. Right in the heart. But dang! I'm still alive!!?!
BLAM!!: Whoaa baby that hurt. That wuz right in the aorta. But dang...I 'm still alive!!
BLAM!!: OHHH, my head hurts. This is going to take a while.
MADRID â A Spanish judge has charged four Algerians with membership of a terrorist cell that financed and gave logistical support to an Islamic extremist group linked to al-Qaeda. Judge Fernando Andreu ordered Kaled Bakel, Said Bouchema, Salim Zerbuti and Lyief Sihamida to be detained on terrorism charges. He ordered the release of seven other Algerian detainees.
Eleven men were detained last Wednesday in Alicante, Granada and Murcia, on suspicion of having ties to the Algeria-based Salafist Group for Call and Combat, which has declared allegiance to al-Qaeda. Andreu said the four had tried unsuccessfully in February and March to buy explosives in exchange for hashish in the city of Granada, a court official said. The four are also charged with forgery of official documents and credit cards. The seven released were ordered to hand over their passports and appear at the court weekly.
Andreu ordered the arrests based on a 10-month police investigation. Police also presented the judge with taped conversations in which the suspects talked about how to obtain a substance called "red mercury," which has radioactive properties, to make bombs, the court official said.
They're still falling for the old "Red Mercury" scam?
The suspects were accused of financing terrorist activities through petty crime, including drug trafficking and forging credit cards, authorities said. Spanish authorities said the group was not planning an imminent attack.
Train bombings in Madrid last year killed 191 people and wounded some 1,500 in Spain's worst terrorist attack, which has been blamed on Islamic militants.
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11/29/2005 10:06 ||
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PARIS, Nov 29 (AFP) - French anti-terrorist police Tuesday arrested six suspected Islamic extremists, including a prison guard, as part of an investigation centered on money-laundering, sources close to the case said. The arrests, which had initally been put at around 10, came in raids in the northwestern port of Saint Malo and in the western-central towns of Tours and Chateauroux. The sources emphasized that those held were not suspected of planning terrorist attacks.
Among them were two former Muslim prison chaplains and a prison guard who appeared to play a key role, the sources said, adding that the latter's bank account was used for unusually large transactions. All of those arrested attended the el-Fath mosque in the central town of Bourges, where the prison guard -- who lived nearby -- often led prayers.
So, is he a prison guard moonlighting as a mullah, or a mullah moonlighting as a prison guard?
A source close to the case said some of those arrested had travelled to various countries, including Pakistan and Bosnia-Hercegovina, and appeared to have engaged in "aggressive" proselytism in prison and at the mosque.
Trolling the jails for a fresh crop of cannon fodder
Since 2002, more than 370 suspected Islamic extremists have been arrested in France and nearly 100 have been jailed, according to interior ministry figures. Nineteen have been deported this year.
The government recently warned that France was the target of "real threats" in the form of attacks and has made moves to toughen its anti-terrorism legislation. A bill reinforcing certain measures, including expanded videosurveillance, was to be voted on by parliament Tuesday.
Authorities have been especially wary since the transport bombings in London in July. Since those attacks, France has kept its anti-terrorist alert level at red, the second-highest.
The highest level being "white flag"
Posted by: Steve ||
11/29/2005 10:00 ||
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit Tuesday by a former FBI translator because the information needed to prove the case was classified and protected by what is known as the "state secrets privilege."
In the lawsuit, originally filed in July 2002, Sibel Edmonds alleged that her rights under the Privacy Act and her First and Fifth amendment rights had been violated by the government.
Edmonds, who worked as a contract linguist, claimed she was fired after she alerted authorities about purported security and management problems in the bureau's language branch.
The Justice Department and the FBI both argued to the court that her lawsuit should be dismissed because much of the information needed to be considered for it was protected by the "state secrets privilege," which is meant to protect classified national security information from being disclosed.
U.S. District Court Judge Reggie Walton agreed with the government's position.
"The Court finds that the plaintiff is unable to establish her First Amendment, Fifth Amendment and Privacy Act claims without the disclosure of privileged information, nor would the defendants be able to defend against these claims without the same disclosures ... the plaintiff's case must be dismissed, albeit with great consternation, in the interests of national security," Walton wrote in the opinion.
Edmonds, who worked for the FBI from September 2001 to March 2002, alleged she was fired from the FBI for coming forward with her complaints; a claim officials have privately dismissed.
Edmonds had told the FBI that another translator, who has not been publicly identified, belonged to an organization that was a target of FBI surveillance and had not reported contacts with a foreign government official who was under surveillance.
Edmonds and the co-worker were hired to translate sensitive wiretaps resulting from court-approved government surveillance.
In the lawsuit, Edmonds claimed that the government leaked confidential information about her to several publications, which she says violated her rights under the Privacy Act.
She also alleged that the FBI violated her free speech and due process rights when it fired her, a termination she said was in retaliation for whistleblowing.
Edmonds was seeking monetary damages and re-instatement to a contract job.
In defending the invocation of the state secrets privilege, Attorney General John Ashcroft wrote in a declaration to the court: "Based on my personal consideration of the matter, I have concluded that further disclosure of the information underlying in this case, including the nature of the duties of the plaintiff or the other contract translators at issue in this case reasonably could be expected to cause serious damage to the national security interests of the United States."
Edmonds' lawyer, Mark Zaid, said in a statement that the government has gone too far.
"The decision today represents another example of the Executive Branch's abusive nature of using secrecy as a weapon against whistleblowers," Zaid's statement said.
The Justice Department had no reaction to the ruling.
Edmonds has raised controversy on several fronts.
Information she provided to the Senate Judiciary Committee several years ago was recently deemed classified under the state secrets privilege.
And lawyers filing a lawsuit stemming from the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks wanted to depose her, but their request was quashed for the same reason.
Edmonds has testified in closed session to the 9/11 commission and has made claims that the FBI possessed some information prior to the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon which could have proved helpful in preventing the terrorist strikes.
QUETTA: Unidentified men blew up a Quetta Electricity Supply Company electricity pole but power supply was not suspended, said Jibrail Khan, company spokesman, on Monday. Khan said the militants had placed explosives at the poleâs foundation but two legs had withstood the blast. QESCO officials found pole number 396 badly damaged on Sunday, he said, adding that the time of the explosion was not known. However, sources told Daily Times that the pole was found damaged on Monday and probably attacked on Sunday. Attacks on national installation have become a common here and militants regularly target electricity poles, railway lines, telephone repeater stations and trains. Officials said more security personnel had been deployed at such installations.
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11/29/2005 00:00 ||
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Thirty-four wanted âtribal militantsâ, including the general secretary of the Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazlur Rehman) in North Waziristan Agency, surrendered to the government on Monday after a peace deal was struck among elders, clerics and the civil administration. âThey (surrendered militants) are now loyal and patriotic Pakistanis,â North Waziristan chief administrator Zaheerul Islam said at a ceremony in Miranshah on Monday. He made no mention of amnesty to the 34 militants.
"No matter how many people they've killed..."
Tribal cleric Maulana Sadiq Noor, who former Peshawar corps commander Lt-Gen Safdar Hussain described as a âkey Al Qaeda facilitatorâ, was not among those who surrendered unconditionally, a tribal elder told Daily Times by phone from North Waziristanâs regional headquarters. Official sources said talks were taking place to negotiate Noorâs surrender as well. âTalks are going on to make it happen,â they told Daily Times.
The peace deal comes after months of fighting between security forces and tribal militants and their foreign guests in the border area, and operations in Khattey Kaley in September in which both sides reportedly suffered heavy casualties. Key JUI-F leader and former MNA Maulana Deen Dar brokered the deal with the militants, mostly from his own party. MNA Maulana Nek Zaman and Senator Mateen Shah also helped the government reach the deal.
Maulana Abdur Rehman, JUI-F general-secretary in North Waziristan, was prominent among those who surrendered. âWe donât know if there are any foreigners in North Waziristan. If there is anybody, he should register himself with the government,â Rehman said on the occasion. He said the âinfidel worldâ wanted to destroy Pakistanâs nuclear bomb, clerics and mosques. âBut we will not let it happen,â said Rehman, who security agencies suspected to be facilitating Al Qaeda in the area. The Monday peace deal was the first major âpolitical breakthroughâ since new Peshawar Corps Commander Lt-Gen Muhammad Hamid Khan took over in October.
Chief broker Dar urged the government to differentiate between âthe good and bad peopleâ in North Waziristan. He did not elaborate. Tribal elder Khan Asghar Khan, speaking at the peace deal ceremony, underscored the tribal peopleâs sacrifices for the defence of the country. âThe local population will never take a step that endangers the countryâs security,â he said. He asked the tribesmen to stay vigilant as the âenemyâ, an apparent reference to India, was trying on the western border to cause a divide between the tribes and the Pakistan Army. The North Waziristan administration did not release the details of the peace deal, or whether the surrendered militants were being kept in custody for interrogation or allowed to go home.
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11/29/2005 00:00 ||
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A "trophy" video appearing to show security guards in Baghdad randomly shooting Iraqi civilians has sparked two investigations after it was posted on the internet, the Sunday Telegraph can reveal.
The video has sparked concern that private security companies, which are not subject to any form of regulation either in Britain or in Iraq, could be responsible for the deaths of hundreds of innocent Iraqis.
The video, which first appeared on a website that has been linked unofficially to Aegis Defence Services, contained four separate clips, in which security guards open fire with automatic rifles at civilian cars. All of the shooting incidents apparently took place on "route Irish", a road that links the airport to Baghdad...
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Gunmen ambushed members of a Christian political party, the Assyrian Democratic movement, in the northern city of Mosul on Tuesday, killing two of them and wounding two others, a hospital official said. The attack happened in northeast Mosul as party officials were putting up posters for the December 15 parliamentary elections, said the official at Jamhouri hospital.
The killings come a day after gunmen killed a top Sunni Arab political activist, another sheik and their driver in Zaydun, west of Baghdad.
Sheikh Ayad al-Izzi, an Iraqi Islamic Party official, had been involved in the upcoming elections and the development a new Iraqi constitution.
More kidnappings
A German woman and her driver likely were kidnapped in Iraq, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday. The two have been missing since Friday. Merkel's announcement brings to five the number of Westerners kidnapped over the weekend. A group dedicated to nonviolence, the Christian Peacemaker Teams, confirmed Monday that four aid workers affiliated with the organization were kidnapped Saturday.
According to a CNN tally, as of Sunday, 34 people are being held captive in Iraq and three remain unaccounted for. More than 50 hostages have been killed, while 175 either were released, rescued or escaped, the CNN tally found. In addition, six Iranian pilgrims were abducted Tuesday near Balad, 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Baghdad, The Associated Press reported.
Other developments
Two Task Force Baghdad soldiers were killed Tuesday when their patrol struck a roadside bomb north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said. No further details were provided. The number of U.S. troops killed in the Iraq war stands at 2,111.
The chief judge in Saddam Hussein's trial adjourned it until Monday after defendants said they weren't pleased with court-appointed lawyers and wanted replacements for two attorneys who were killed recently. Joining Hussein's defense team is former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, who questioned the adequacy of security measures for the defense team and attorneys' families.
The Iraqi army has detained a former intelligence officer from Hussein's regime alleged to be involved in a plot to kill Raad Johi, the head judge in the trial of the former Iraqi leader, a high-ranking Iraqi army official said. The intelligence officer, Khaz'al al-Kurdi, was detained Saturday in the northern city of Kirkuk after being under surveillance for three days, the army official said. Six others also were detained.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/29/2005 11:19 ||
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The kidnapped went to Iraq to promote peace. They are now in the hands of the "Religion of Peace." I find it difficult to understand what all the fuss is about. I think it is a ploy like that sad French captive. Leave them with thier loving hosts.
Baghdad, 29 Nov. (AKI) - A message has appeared on several Islamic Internet forums from an armed group claiming to have kidnapped an American spy. "Urgent news: American spy (Pearl Karly) kidnapped" is the title of the statement, in which the group claims it is behind the abduction of a US citizen from Baghdad, which may refer to the American who the US embassy said on Monday was the fourth of four westerners kidnapped in the west of the Iraqi capital on Saturday. The other three are two Canadians and a retired British professor and peace activist in his seventies.
Google shows nothing on a Pearl Karly
The message said: "The general leadership of the mujahadeen confirms the kidnapping of the American spy (Pearl Karly) who works for the American embassy after being ambushed by the mujahadeen of the Islamic army, led by the Al-Qadissiya Brigades in Mother of the Faithful Street in Baghdad. The resistance confirms the continuation of the Jihad (holy war)."
The words used in the message show that if the American they refer to is the US citizen kidnapped along with the three other western aid workers, they are particularly keen to claim responsibility for his abduction. On Monday, a spokesperson from the US embassy in Iraq, Elisabeth Colton, confirmed the disappearance of an American, but gave no other details. The four are said to have been in an area of western Baghdad with "minimal security" when they were seized.
A group of Iranian pilgrims have also been kidnapped in Iraq after gunmen opened fire on their minibus in a town to the north of Baghdad. The two women were later released, but the four male pilgrims are still being held. On Monday gunmen opened fire on another minibus carrying foreign pilgrims, killing three British Asians and one Iraqi. The third Briton died of his injuries on Tuesday.
It has also emerged that a German archaeologist and her driver were kidnapped on Friday. A German TV station says a video was sent to its offices in Baghdad showing a blindfolded woman and a man on their knees, and threatening that the woman will be killed if the German government does not suspend every form of cooperation with the Iraqi government.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/29/2005 10:43 ||
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Al-Qadissiya Brigades in Mother of the Faithful Street in Baghdad
Cool name but it will never fit on a bumper sticker.
Erbil, 29 Nov. (AKI) - Police in Khaniqin in Iraq's Kurdistan region have arrested 11 Arab men allegedly responsible for the 18 November attacks against two Shiite mosques in the city that killed 75 people, sources from one of the main Kurdish parties said on Tuesday. The breakthrough in investigations came when police picked up one of the suspects who then led them to the other members of his "terrorist cell," they said.
"The police picked up the man, an Arab from Jalula (a mainly Sunni city northeast of Baghdad) who is a member of Tawhid and Jihad, a group linked to the Ansar al-Sunna terror group," said the sources from the Kurdish Patriotic Union, the party of Iraqi president Jalal Talabani.
"The man confessed to having participated in the planning of the dynamite attacks against the mosques and of being a member of Tawhid and Jihad operating for the group in Khaniqin," the sources speaking on condition of anonimity said.
I'm sure the Kurdish police read him his rights, between screams
Based on information provided by the man, police then arrested 10 more suspects - all Arab men from the cities of Khaniqin, Jalula and Shahraban. Tawhid and Jihad and a Kurdish group, Ansar al-Islam, are believed to be allied to Jordanian militant Abu Musaab al-Zarqawi who heads the jihadist movement in Iraq.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/29/2005 10:31 ||
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But...But wait! I was told it was western agent-provacatuers attempting to create sectarian acrimony that were responsible. I'm sure 'Democracy Now!' will retract their previous reports in light of this event. NOT!
November 29, 2005: Some young Islamic radicals have been going to Iraq, not for suicide, but for sex. Islamic radicals all over the Moslem world have been exhorting young men to go to Iraqi and join the jihad against the foreign invaders. Many have answered the call, even those outside the Moslem world, especially in Europe. But in countries closer to Iraq, the objective for taking the journey is sometimes more sensual than suicidal. In Syria, where the poor economy creates few jobs for young men, the result is not much sex for these lads either. If you want to get married, you need a job. If you want to hire a hooker, you need money. If you try to get fresh with the girl next door, youâre liable to get killed by her father or brothers. Whatâs a horny young man to do? Well, thereâs always Iraq.
For years, Syrians have looked with envy on oil rich Iraq. There were plenty of wealthy Iraqis driving through Syria, on their way to the pleasure palaces of Lebanon, or to spend their money on Syrian women, to feed the fantasies. After the United States invaded in Iraq in 2003, stories started circulating in Syria that Iraqi girls would put out for young foreign men who volunteered to fight the invaders. Failing that, it was said that prostitutes were much more abundant, and cheaper, than in Syria.
Unsubstantiated stories like this are common in the Arab world (and when they involve sex, are common the world over among young men.) So groups of young Syrians began going off to Iraq, partly to fight the hated foreigners, and partly to get a little trim. It turned out that it was a lot easier to get killed, then sexually satisfied, in Iraq. But many of the young fellows who survived and got back, were too ashamed to admit that there were no eager young women for them in Iraq, and hookers were no easier to find, or pay for, than in Syria. So the legend continued. The al Qaeda recruiters stayed out of it. Why screw up a great recruiting incentive.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/29/2005 09:25 ||
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âBut many of the young fellows who survived and got back, were too ashamed to admit that there were no eager young women for them in Iraq, and hookers were no easier to find, or pay for, than in Syria. So the legend continued.â So itâs the same in every culture! LOL urban legends never seem to die so I guess this one will live on as well. Can you imagine the disappointment as Abdul realizes that he is more likely to die than to get nookie while in Iraq. I think the message here for Syrians is to stay home and just masturbate, you may go blind but you wonât be killed by those infidels and be left dead AND horny.
#3
Quite a few Pakistani jihadis end up being filled by the Kashmiri SOG police while visiting their 'girlfriends'. Lifespan of a new jihadi seems to be in weeks (those that are not killed by the Indian Army at the LOC). Looking for trim may be shortening it further.
Posted by: john ||
11/29/2005 14:39 Comments ||
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Suggested PsyOp Plan "JDAMNIT": Deploy Snoop Dogg in theatre, airdrop leaflets in Syria and Anbar announcing "Snoop Pleasure Tent" location TBD. Let simmer, then utilize JDAM.
A German citizen likely was kidnapped in Iraq, Germany's chancellor said Tuesday, and a television station broadcast photos that appear to show the blindfolded woman with her captors. Germany's ARD television said the pictures were taken from a video in which her captors demanded that Germany stop any dealings with Iraq's government. Germany has ruled out sending troops to Iraq and opposed the U.S.-led war.
Susanne Osthoff and her driver have been missing since Friday and "according to current information we have to assume it is a kidnapping," German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters in Berlin. Osthoff's mother, identified only as Ingrid H., told Germany N24 news station that her daughter is an archaeologist working for a German aid organization distributing medicine and medical supplies since before the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. ARD reported that the woman speaks fluent Arabic.
Separately, the aid group Christian Peacemaker Teams confirmed in a statement Tuesday that four people from the group had been taken hostage on Saturday and that Norman Kember, a 74-year-old Briton, was among them. The group said it has had a team in Iraq since October 2002, working with U.S. and Iraqi detainees and training others in nonviolent intervention and human rights documentation. Kember and another person were part of a visiting delegation, while two of the group's staff based in Iraq were also taken, the statement said.
The group said it would not identify the other three people taken hostage, but stressed that it worked on behalf of Iraqi civilians. "The team's work has focused on documenting and focusing public attention on detainee abuses, connecting citizens of Iraq to local and international human rights organizations, and accompanying Iraqi civilians as they interact with multinational military personnel and Iraq's government officials," the group said.
The statement said those taken hostage knew the risks when they went into Iraq. The organization said it "does not advocate the use of violent force to save our lives should we be kidnapped, held hostage, or caught in the middle of a conflict situation."
Posted by: ed ||
11/29/2005 08:31 ||
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Properly speaking, these are not "activists", they are "agitators".
"The team's work has focused on documenting and focusing public attention on detainee abuses, connecting citizens of Iraq to local and international human rights organizations, and accompanying Iraqi civilians as they interact with multinational military personnel and Iraq's government officials," the group said.
Plain and simple, these individuals are working on behalf of the terrorists to challenge the US in the legal system in any way they can, with the express purpose of inhibiting and interfering with the pacification of the country.
#2
Christian Peacemaker Teams is the group that sponsored the "Adopt-a-Detainee" program: After a year and a half of coordinated advocacy for Iraqis detained by U.S. and other occupying forces, Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) is ending its Adopt-a-Detainee Letter-Writing Campaign. CPT's Iraq project will, however, continue to monitor the situation of Iraqis captured by the Multinational Force in Iraq (MNF) and by the new Iraqi Forces.
The Adopt-a-Detainee Letter-Writing Campaign, beginning in March 2004, matched individual detainees with congregations, mosques, synagogues, and peace groups in North America and around the world. These groups wrote letters to U.S., Iraqi and other relevant officials on the detainees' behalf. The campaign grew out of CPT's investigation of and reporting on abuses within the U.S.-run detention system in Iraq during the fall of 2003. The Adopt-a-Detainee Letter-Writing Campaign included a total of twenty-seven detainees, nine of whom U.S. officials released during the campaign, ten of whom were still detained at last word, and seven of whom U.S. officials never confirmed as detained (i.e., the "disappeared.")
During the campaign, at least 1,000 people and groups participated from Canada, France, Germany, India, Israel, Nigeria, the Palestinian Territories, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States. CPT expresses its sincere gratitude to all of those who participated in the campaign in various ways. Changes in administrations during the past two years--from the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority, to the Interim Iraqi Government, to the current Transitional Iraqi Government--forced CPT to adapt its approach several times. While supportive of improvements made within the detention system in Iraq since the fall of 2003, CPT condemned the U.S. military's ongoing refusal to uphold basic human rights standards for the thousands of Iraqi detainees still in their custody.
Since the transfer of sovereignty to the Iraqis in June 2004, CPT has experienced U.S. officials in Iraq becoming increasingly unresponsive to appeals for reform, both from team members on location in Iraq and from letter-writers abroad.
Consequently, CPT members in Baghdad decided they needed to shift their immediate focus in order to continue toward their long-term goals of violence reduction and human rights for Iraqi detainees. While officially closing the Adopt-a-Detainee Letter-Writing Campaign, CPT in Iraq will continue to monitor the situation of Iraqi detainees and develop new strategies to reduce violence against the Iraqis still in detention.
If the "insurgents" find out who they've grabbed, they'll be cut free in a touching ceremony
Posted by: Steve ||
11/29/2005 14:36 Comments ||
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I care more about what my cat will have for dinner than whatever happens to these assholes. First rule of hostage-taking: take someone somebody cares about
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/29/2005 15:05 Comments ||
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The U.S. is seeing significantly fewer foreign fighters on the battlefields of Iraq, because the coalition has killed or captured scores of terrorists in recent months and is doing a better job of securing the long border with Syria.
But the U.S. military has noticed in recent weeks a willingness of young Iraqis to become suicide bombers, once the monopoly of ideologically driven foreign jihadists.
"We are killing them," a senior Pentagon official said yesterday, when asked about shrinking foreign-fighter numbers in Iraq.
The trend is one reason that the Bush administration is talking more confidently about reducing the American troop presence next year to less than a base level of 138,000. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has said the current 160,000 level will revert to 138,000 after the Dec. 15 parliamentary elections.
Defense sources said the deployment of newly emerging Iraqi brigades along the Syria border and better aerial surveillance has slowed the flow of foreigners.
"It appears there has been a downturn, and that is partly due to increased security along the border with Syria," said a U.S. counterintelligence official, who asked not to be named. "Syria was the primary entry point for most of those foreign fighters. Stepped-up efforts to stem the flow is having an impact."
But a smaller pool of suicide bombers has forced the foreign fighters' main leader, Abu Musab Zarqawi, to recruit Iraqis, and some are enlisting, the counterterrorism official said.
The starkest evidence of this troubling new development is that Iraqi suicide bombers carried out the Amman, Jordan, hotel bombings.
Foreign fighters, who are affiliated with Zarqawi's terror group al Qaeda in Iraq, make up the smallest of the three main insurgent groups fighting U.S. forces. But they are the most lethal, responsible for the mass killings of Shi'ites and other civilians via car bombs targeting schools, mosques, markets, hotels and cafes.
U.S. officials always have had a difficult time estimating the number of Zarqawi's terrorists in Iraq, giving ranges of several thousand up to 10,000.
The counterterrorism official said current estimates put the number from the "high hundreds" to "somewhere over 1,000."
"The numbers are not exact," the official said. "Definitely, there has been a downturn."
U.S. officials who have served in Iraq say Zarqawi runs a gruesomely efficient terror organization. Members operate in small cells, moving from town to town and house to house as they build car-borne bombs and train new suicide attackers. One official said that in a matter of days, al Qaeda members can recruit a new terrorist, affix him with a bomb and assign him a target.
But there have been signs of disenchantment within the organization. An intercepted letter from a top Zarqawi lieutenant in Mosul complained about a lack of money and experienced terrorists. U.S. military commanders have said that some of those captured say they were misled by recruiters about what America is trying to accomplish in Iraq.
In a recent briefing, Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch said coalition troops have killed more than 100 members of al Qaeda in Iraq in recent months.
Zarqawi "still has capabilities, including recruiting suicide bombers," Gen. Lynch said. "The forces will continue their operations and fight their way to the elections to deny him these capabilities."
Lt. Gen. John Vines, the U.S. tactical commander in Iraq, declined to provide a "body count," but said a series of counterinsurgency sweeps are taking a toll on the enemy.
"What we do see indicators of are the numbers of foreign fighters that are showing up in a variety of venues, and we believe those numbers are significantly less, perhaps is less than half as many as they were in the summer," Gen. Vines said. "We see evidence that we're making considerable progress in that regard."
A U.S. intelligence official said, "A lot of these people should not be called foreign fighters. They should be called 'foreign ordnances' because they blow themselves up. They don't fight."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/29/2005 02:53 ||
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allan is going to run out places in Hell to stuff these homicide bombers. Are they in for a shock.
#2
In the past Zarquawi has used 'involuntary' suicide recruits - mental defectives who didn't know they were on suicide missions, drivers who thought they were just delivering the vehicle while the triggerman drove behind, or men whose families were held hostage. Is he 'recruiting' his new native Iraqi suicide bombers the same way? If so, he has to be making enemies, even among families who would be proud if their child voluntarily attacked the Americans. How many enemies can he survive?
#3
It's nice to hear the truth about the suicide bombers. It also lends to the thought we actually have a chance for success in Iraq. All the crazies and mentally ill that were once willing to blow themselves up are dwindling down and those to be recruited have had plenty of time to see their death will have little to no effect in this war. America is there to stay and a no matter how many suicide bomber attack we will not run.
Bet SMS won't run it!
Posted by: 49 pan ||
11/29/2005 8:16 Comments ||
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But the U.S. military has noticed in recent weeks a willingness of young Iraqis to become suicide bombers, once the monopoly of ideologically driven foreign jihadists.
"We are killing them," a senior Pentagon official said yesterday, when asked about shrinking foreign-fighter numbers in Iraq.
#5
I love how the media always want to be sure to drive home the point that the enemy is replacing thier losses regenerating, No sh*t sherlock, does anyone remember the begining of this war were everyone came to the conclusion that the radical muslims number around 20% of the total muslim world population? That is a hell of a lot of people, I would love to be able to ask the reporters one question "Mr. Reporter you say the enemy continues to regenerate I would like to ask your personal opinion were do you think these Jihadi's would be going if not Iraq???" Not to mention the fact that in every war the enemy will regenerate their military losses its called replacements, in WW2 the germans regenerated their losses steadily until a certian point was reached that the regeneration was kids and old men but the numbers were still thier its called War. The enemy is bleeding bad they are using dogs, tards, parents of young jihadis who already have been spent (the Jordan bomber was the parents of 3 Jihadis that were already thier 5.56 ticket). The terrrorist have called on the leadership reserve in Saudi to replace losses in country all over the Radical's terrirtory thier papers are filled with obits from Iraq. I am not saying we can bleed the Jihadi's to death in Iraq but wer are keeping thier resources diverted away from US and to Iraq and when the Iraqi army stand up we pull back AQ will be stuck with a choice, give up the Iraq fight and we suddenly achieve our goal of a fully stable Iraq or continue the fight with no options of end or killing of Infedels who stay safe in thier bases and overhead. I think this more enphasis on recuiting natives would be AQ's exit stradegy I think they see they are not getting thier caliphate but continued violence will help them save face.
I personaly think the insurgency has long been broken the car bombing of civilians will continue for some time hell look at Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Pakistan all nations who have militarys and govs in no position to be overrun but they cant stop the occational act terrrorism on civilians, Iraq has been this way to me for quite some time now and will continue after we leave if we do it right. I look back to when the insurgency had real power and they controlled cities Falluja, Ramadi, Mosul, ect... they were regularly making attacks in the South, they were over running Iraqi army bases and police stations to the point of were I remember CNN film of terrorist taking the Iraqi police weapons off the rack after taking the police station a couple of times, when the road from the air port to the green zone was damm near no-mans-land. Our plan is finanly coming together from the begining our plan was conquer Saddam, set up Iraqi gov, hold security while we trained a Iraqi army, draw up constitution, then turn over the new constitutionaly elected Iraqi gov the country control with thier Iraqi army units taking over security replacing our people were we can fall back into a reserve position of rapid reaction froce/insurance policy against neighbors. The LLL's who never supported the war in the first place have been allowed to make all kinds of retarted points to complain about from "we should have attacked Iran, N. Korea" like they would have supporte that, to we should have not disbanded the Iraqi army which would have left the Sunni in power and how could we call Iraq a democracy when 20% of the pop dominated 80% how could have the Sunni ever allowed a vote that any idiot could have seen the result of, and them in control of the military would have been the easy way out the "status qou" of a having a strong man in control of the masses that was not our goal going in and it never should have been, it was very obvious that the status qou was not working how anyone could believe if we kept doing the same old thing we could expect different results I dont know. We chose the hard way but the right and the good way. We are winning we are succeding and if Bush would just get up regularly and continuously rally the people up then keep the rallied and quit just being defensive call the damm peace love and happiness people out the case is easy to make he just got to do it he is the freekin pres part of his job in war is not being the general its keeping the people at home rallied.
Jerusalem, 29 Nov. (AKI) - A Palestinian policeman was wounded in the foot following a shootout with Israeli undercover security forces in Bethlehem on Tuesday. The skirmish began when the Palestinian opened fire on members of the Israeli undercover unit apparently operating in the city to arrest fugitives, the Jerusalem Post said quoting Israel Defence Force sources. According to the report, the Israeli soldiers, who were forced to abort the operation, fired deterrent shots in the air which successfully dispersed the Palestinian fighters.
They fired into the air and hit the Paleo cop in the foot? Was he doing his impression of the Rockettes at the time?
Also on Tuesday more than 40 Israeli soldiers and prison guards, as well as an unspecified number of inmates were injured following a riot at the Ofer prison in the West Bank, near the city of Ramallah.
The violence broke out as prison authorities began transferring four Palestinian prisoners to another detention centre, the Jerusalem Post reported. Many of the prisoners began pelting the guards with rocks and started to light fires in an attempt to prevent the transfer of the four men, all members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine PFLP group. Prison guards responded by firing tear gas and rubber bullets.
The transfer of the four PFLP went ahead after security forces quelled the rebellion, the Jerusalem Post said. According to Israeli sources, four prisoners were injured in the fighting, while Palestinian sources said at least 25 prisoners were hurt, including several who are in a serious condition.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/29/2005 11:11 ||
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AMMAN, Jordan - More than 370 members of the clan of al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi joined his family Tuesday in publishing a full-page letter in Jordanian newspapers disowning him. The letter was the family's second attempt in 20 days to convince Jordanians that it has renounced all ties to the militant who has claimed responsibility for the Nov. 9 attacks on Amman hotels in which three suicide bombers killed 60 people and wounded hundreds of others.
Al-Zarqawi, whose real name is Ahmad Fadheel Nazzal al-Khalayleh, uses a name derived from the Jordanian city of Zarqa, where he was born, about 17 miles northeast of Amman. He runs the al-Qaida in Iraq group, which has carried out a campaign of bombings and kidnappings in Iraq. The United States has offered $25 million for information leading to his capture.
"We, the sons of the Bani Hassan tribe in all its branches in the Hashemite kingdom of Jordan, support and express solidarity with our cousins, the al-Khalayleh clan, and their decision to sever relations with the terrorist Ahmad Fadheel Nazzal al-Khalayleh, who calls himself Abu Musab al-Zarqawi," said the letter published in four leading newspapers. "We condemn all terrorist actions carried out or claimed by this individual _ actions which are alien to members of this tribe," continued the letter, which bore the stamps and signatures of more than 370 clan members.
The Bani Hassan is one of the largest of Jordan's nearly 100 major Bedouin tribes, which form the bedrock of support for the royal family. Its members hold senior posts in the army and other government departments. Referring to the family of King Abdullah II, the letter added: "We reiterate our support for the Hashemite Crown which, God willing, will always be protected, and we uphold the pledge of our ancestors to be a sword in the hands of the noble Hashemite dynasty."
In a similar letter on Nov. 20, almost 60 members of al-Zarqawi's extended family disowned him and pledged fidelity to the crown.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/29/2005 08:44 ||
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Shouldn't this merit an honor killing? I would think the family knows where he is and how to get in contact with him.
#4
"Honor killing and mutilations" in the middle east are reserved for women and young girls. They generally don't fight back.
Zarq's family apparently doesn't have the cajones to do the job. His family is leaving the job to the infidel US Marines and Army infantry....real men.
#7
Al-Zarqawi, whose real name is Ahmad Fadheel Nazzal al-Khalayleh, uses a name derived from the Jordanian city of Zarqa, where he was born, about 17 miles northeast of Amman.
This is the next best thing I've heard of behind finding out Kramer's first name is Kosmo!
Posted by: BA ||
11/29/2005 13:28 Comments ||
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Iraqâs Al Qaeda on Monday blasted the Jordanian tribe of its leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi for disowning him after his group claimed triple suicide bombings in Amman which killed 57 people this month. âHow can you disavow the mujahid Abu Musab? Itâs either the enemy of God (Jordanâs King Abdullah) has forced you or threatened you to do this or you have voluntarily agreed and obeyed him,â said an Internet statement.
The group, which addressed its statement to Zarqawiâs al-Khalyaleh tribe, said the family had no excuse to disown Zarqawi unless they were coerced into it. Iraqâs Al Qaeda had said it carried out the attacks in three hotels because they were used by US and Israeli spies. The suicide bombings, the deadliest by Islamic militants in the pro-Western kingdom, prompted many neighbours and relatives in Zarqawiâs birthplace of Zarqa - where he was born as Ahmed Fadhil al-Khalayleh of Zarqa - to cast him off.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2005 00:04 ||
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How can you disavow the mujahid Abu Musab? Itâs either the enemy of God (Jordanâs King Abdullah) has forced you or threatened you to do this or you have voluntarily agreed and obeyed him...
Let's see, Zarq...I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, but killing people from your own country, and friends of extended family members is not exactly the way to ingratiate yourself.
But I'm not a moslem where mass-murder, mutilation, and "honor-killings" are a way of life.
THE ISRAELI ARMY shelled the Gaza Strip Monday after Palestinians fired a makeshift rocket from the territory on southern Israel, military sources said. The rocket slammed into a house, causing damage but no casualties, the sources said, without specifying the location of the strike. It was the second rocket firing of the day, the sources said. A few hours earlier, another hit hard by the electric fence that marks the border. Palestinian officials said several houses near the Jabaliya refugee camp in the far north of the Gaza Strip were damaged in the retaliatory shelling but there were no reports of casualties.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2005 00:00 ||
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Palestinian officials said several houses near the Jabaliya refugee camp in the far north of the Gaza Strip were damaged in the retaliatory shelling but there were no reports of casualties.
Nobody gives a crap about whether some house in a two-bit "refugee" camp got damaged in retaliatory shelling. Stop the phuquing Paleo terrorism and retaliation won't be necessary.
Palestinian gunmen, firing in the air, stormed on Monday into several polling stations in the Gaza Strip where President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party was holding primary elections and forced them to close, witnesses said. The gunmen, members of Fatah, complained that names of many eligible voters were missing from election lists. They also burned tyres in the streets, the witnesses said about the incidents in the central Gaza Strip. No injuries were reported.
The primaries in Gaza, territory Israel quit in September and which is widely seen as a testing ground for Palestinian statehood, were held days after voters in the occupied West Bank cast aside veteran Fatah politicians in favor of newcomers and militants. Despite the violence in the central Gaza Strip, the primaries to pick Fatah candidates for parliamentary elections due in January continued in Gaza City and the southern town of Khan Younis. Voting in Rafah, along the Egyptian border, was postponed until Wednesday. The reason for the delay was not immediately clear.
The Palestinian Authority has been struggling to control the Gaza Strip since Israeli forces withdrew following 38 years of occupation. A strong primary showing by young Fatah leaders demanding a say in decision-making could help Abbas meet a challenge by the powerful Hamas militant group, taking part in national elections for the first time, analysts said. But some commentators also say weakening the Fatah old guard that thrived under the late Yasser Arafat risked touching off political infighting that might further fracture the ruling party.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2005 00:00 ||
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Terror suspects on trial for allegedly plotting to blow up Jordan's intelligence headquarters shouted insults at their military judges Sunday and threatened to "exterminate" the moderate Muslim nation.
Those guys with the paper bags over their heads were their attorneys...
Thirteen men have been charged with conspiring to commit terrorism in connection with the foiled April 2004 plot against the headquarters of the Jordanian General Intelligence Department in the capital, Amman. Nine of the suspects are in custody, while the other three are being tried in absentia, including the fugitive al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The defendants could face the death penalty if convicted.
Sounds like a reasonable idea to me. You know they're not going to shout insults and threaten people when their necks are three feet long...
One of the defendants, Hassan al-Smeik, shouted during Sunday's hearing that Jordan was bowing to pressure from the United States â its longtime ally â by prosecuting the case against them. "Terrorism is a badge of honor on our chests until Judgment Day," al-Smeik yelled from the dock as the other defendants hurled insults at the judges. "In the name of God, we're pursuing the path of Jihad until we uproot you, exterminate your state until the rule of (King Abdullah II) vanishes."
The prosecutor was busy updating his resume, showing another win...
The trial, which began nearly a year ago, was later adjourned until an unspecified date. Military prosecutors claim that the prime suspect, Azmi al-Jayousi, received training in explosives manufacture and mixing chemicals in Afghanistan, where he met the Jordanian-born al-Zarqawi in 1999. The plot to blow up the intelligence department was uncovered when the nine were arrested in police sweeps in Jordan last April. The government says if the attack had been carried out, it would have sent a cloud of toxic chemicals across Amman, killing thousands. In a televised confession last year, al-Jayousi said his group had plotted the chemical attack under al-Zarqawi's instructions. But in subsequent court hearings, he said his confession had been coerced.
Wonder if that bit about "terrorism is a badge of honor on our chests until Judgment Day" was coerced, too?
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2005 00:00 ||
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"Terrorism is a badge of honor on our chests until Judgment Day"
got that right. Until being the operative word. Personally, I'd prefer to receive my badge of honor ON judgement day.
That guy on the right? If he's not a homosexual, he should think about taking lessons.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Party has cancelled its primary election across the Gaza Strip after armed men shot in the air at several polling stations, took some ballot boxes and destroyed others.
Sounds like that democracy thingy still needs a bit of work...
Fatah officials said in a statement that the votes cast on Monday would be nullified and the primary would have to be rescheduled. "The Fatah General Committee held an urgent meeting in Gaza this afternoon to evaluate the primary elections, and the committee decided to freeze the election due to the serious violations that took place during the voting process today," the statement said. The Gaza primaries were expected to continue the trend from earlier voting in several West Bank districts that swept away many of the entrenched old-timers, who controlled the party for decades and were seen as corrupt, and replaced them with young politicians more popular with average Palestinians.
Yeah, I was thinking it might be al-Aqsa Martyrs' Gunnies, too...
The housecleaning in Fatah is crucial to the party's hope of beating back a strong showing by the Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas, which has wooed Palestinians in part with its image as an honest group that will not tolerate corruption and graft. Parliamentary elections are set for 25 January, and Fatah spokesman Deab Allouh said new lists of candidates would have to be presented by 3 December. After the primary, Abbas will review the results and choose the candidates.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2005 00:00 ||
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Tehran, 29 Nov. (AKI) - In a extensive interview with the Tehran-based Mehr news agency, Javad Vaidi, the head of the Iranian delegation which will meet with representatives of the three European Union countries of Britain, France and Germany on 6 December, has warned that Iran is only interested in the negotiations if there will be the recognition of its right to conduct uranium enrichment, a process which can be used in the development of nuclear weapons.
"As was anticipated by Ali Larijani, the secretary general of the Supreme Council of National Security, these talks could go forward only and exclusively in the case that there is a recognition of the Islamic Republic's right to complete its uranium enrichment plant" Vaidi, said. âWe will not sit at the negotiating table with the three European countries, if there are pre-conditions of this type," Vaidi, Larijani's deputy added.
Vaidi also warned that if in the course of the coming meeting of the governors of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), the issue of Iran is included as part of the agenda to be dealt with, "the Islamic republic will immediately abandon the negotiating table." "We are against these talks that do not have a specific aim and we believe that in no case is it possible to negotiate on our rights to enrich uranium in our plants," said Vaidi.
"If we don't get our way, we'll take our ball and go home. So there!"
Vaidi stressed that his country has already rejected the European proposal to transfer the uranium enrichment to a foreign country. In conclusion, Vaidi said that "without the support of Russia and China, Europe and the United States could never refer the case of Iran to the United Nations security council."
Iran had frozen all work at Isfahan late last year under a deal with France, Britain and Germany but resumed work in August after Tehran rejected an EU offer of trade and other incentives in exchange for a cessation of fuel work and resumed uranium conversion, which is a precursor to enrichment work. The IAEA last month passed a resolution submitted by Britain, France and Germany, which paved the way for Iran to be reported to the UN Security Council over its nuclear activities. The EU countries and the United States are concerned that Iran's uranium enrichment programme could be used to build weapons. Iran insists its nuclear programme is peaceful and designed to meet its energy needs.
Iran had informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) late October that it planned to process a new batch of uranium without giving a specific date and earlier this month confirmed that it had begun the process at its plant in Isfahan.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/29/2005 16:15 ||
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DEBKAfileâs intelligence sources disclose that although the Assad government promised to hand over five high-ranking officials for the UN investigator Detlev Mehlis to question in Vienna, only three arrived aboard a special Syrian flight Tuesday, Nov. 29.
They were driven straight to UN offices in the Austrian capital in heavily screened vehicles. Our sources report that each is being quizzed separately starting from the evening of their arrival. The identities of the three officers are concealed under a thick blackout imposed by the Mehlis team. Just before they took off, the Syrian authorities announced the suspects would be flown over in two groups and this was the first. DEBKAfileâs sources offer three reasons for the decision to send the suspects over in two parts:
1. It is a Syrian ploy to force the UN team to send the first group back before releasing the second batch of officers for questioning in Vienna..
2. Damascus wants an interval between the two sets of interrogations to make sure their stories to the UN interrogators match.
3. The Syrians also want to see where Mehlis is heading in his inquiry. They hope to be wiser when they have a chance to question the first group of officers on its return home. Once they are clear on this, they will decide whether or not to let the UN team have the second batch of high-ranking Syrian suspects for questioning in Vienna.
4. The other two suspects are not considered reliable enough to get out of sight, were washing their hair that night, are expected to come down with a bad case of lead poisoning, etc..
Posted by: Steve ||
11/29/2005 15:48 ||
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#1
5. The other two suspects are the most guilty and were never coming at all. After the first three return, Syria will throw a hissy fit about how they were treated and refuse further cooperation.
Iran's space agency is trying to snap up technology from abroad as fast as possible for its satellite program, fearing the West will seek to impose restrictions like those put on the Iranian nuclear program. Iran has major ambitions in space, looking to show off its technological abilities, monitor its neighborhood â where the United States has hundreds of thousands of troops â and establish itself as a regional superpower.
Only difference between a launch vehicle and a ICBM is the payload.
Others are concerned about the program's military applications, particularly Israel, whose existence is opposed by the hard-line Islamic regime in Iran. Iran's Shahab-3 missile, with a range of 1,240 miles, already can reach Israel as well as U.S. forces across the Middle East. Iran says it only wants to be able to put its own satellites in space to monitor natural disasters in the earthquake-prone nation and improve its telecommunications.
You could buy those off the shelf and save money. But, that wouldn't help you reach out and touch someone.
It makes similar peaceful claims for its atomic program, but Washington and others suspect the real aim of that work is to acquire nuclear weapons and have sought to clamp down on Iran's nuclear facilities. Iran worries its space program will be targeted, too. "The moment they feel Iran has made a breakthrough, they will impose restrictions more than those they have imposed on Iran's nuclear program," said one space official, Mohammad Reza Movaseghinia.
Iran joined the space club last month when it launched its first small satellite, the Sina-1, aboard a Russian rocket. That orbiter was Russian-made, but Iran built its second satellite, the Mesbah, with help from the Italian company Carlo Gavazzi Space. Mesbah is due to be carried into space by a Russian rocket in about two months. The two satellites will give Iran a limited capability to monitor the entire Middle East.
Iran's next goal is to launch a satellite with one of its own rockets. Iranian officials say they are developing a Shahab-4 missile that could lift a satellite into orbit, but have not given details on when it will be ready. "We have to move quickly and achieve our goals in space. Otherwise, we will face political, economic and security threats," Movaseghinia said.
Meaning before the Euros wake up
Space agency officials have not given details on what technology or expertise they need from abroad, but they have been racing to learn as much as they can. Under its 20-year plan, Iran aims to become a technological powerhouse of western Asia and a regional superpower by 2025. Aerospace faculties have mushroomed at Iranian universities in recent years, and Iranian technicians are being trained in Italy, Russia and China on how to design and build satellites. The government has allocated $500 million on space projects for the next five years, Communication Minister Mohammad Soleimani said last week. Iran is now the world's 43rd country owning a satellite, but the government aims higher.
"We have to build our own satellites, our own launchers. We need to be one of eight top countries mastering space technology," said Ahmad Talebzadeh, the head of the Iranian Space Agency. Iranian officials point to America's use of space to monitor Afghanistan and Iraq before invading them and say they need similar abilities for their country's security.
Israel also is a leader in satellite technology. Cameras on its Ofek-5 spy satellite have been keeping tabs on activities in Arab countries and Iran since 2002. Iran says the Sina-1 satellite is capable of monitoring Israel but has no military purposes. Officials describe it as a research satellite and say its camera can't pick out features that are smaller than 50 yards across. U.S. satellites can detect objects just a few inches feet wide.
Russia, which has helped the Iranians with their nuclear program, appears to be the main partner in transferring space technology to Iran. "Nuclear officials told us that they don't have a good experience of dealing with Russia," said Talebzadeh, referring to Moscow's slowness in completing a nuclear power plant in Iran. "But countries we can obtain technology from is limited. And we can't ignore the fact that Russia is a world leader in space technology."
In January, Iran signed a $132 million deal with a Russian firm to build and launch a telecommunications satellite within the next two years. Iran has also signed agreements to launch a joint satellite with China and Thailand. "We are at the very beginning of a long, long road in space technology. But we have the potential to develop an indigenous space program," said Mohammad Entezari, who is in charge of Iran's Mesbah satellite project.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/29/2005 13:53 ||
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#2
Oh boy! The mad mullahs are trying to master re-entry technology now. That is what this is about, sending them up is the easy part, having them come back down where you aim want is the hard part, gee like we can't figure out what that might lead to. Man they're sly.
#5
I firmly believe in the mullahs' dream of getting into outer space. In fact, I wouldn't charge a dime to cheerfully help boot all of them out the airlock at once.
#6
Now I know why I read Rantburg- very cleverly educational Justrand. Iran conquering the final frontier: just what the 11th Imam ordered. I'm so worried I'm breaking out my water-pipe right now.
#7
Now I know why I read Rantburg- very cleverly educational Justrand. Iran conquering the final frontier: just what the 11th Imam ordered. I'm so worried I'm breaking out my water-pipe right now.
According the report by baztab.com, President Ahmadinejad made the comments in a meeting with one of Iran's leading clerics, Ayatollah Javadi Amoli.
Ahmadinejad said that someone present at the UN told him that a light surrounded him while he was delivering his speech to the General Assembly. The Iranian president added that he also sensed it.
"He said when you began with the words 'in the name of God,' I saw that you became surrounded by a light until the end [of the speech]," Ahmadinejad appears to say in the video. "I felt it myself, too. I felt that all of a sudden the atmosphere changed there, and for 27-28 minutes all the leaders did not blink."
Ahmadinejad adds that he is not exaggerating.
"I am not exaggerating when I say they did not blink; it's not an exaggeration, because I was looking," he says. "They were astonished as if a hand held them there and made them sit. It had opened their eyes and ears for the message of the Islamic Republic."
Baztab.com reported that during the meeting, Ayatollah Amoli said that "carrying out promises and restraining from fooling people" is the most important duty, presumably of officials . However, it is unclear whether that comment is made in reaction to the claim made by Ahmadinejad.
Iranian legislator Akbar Alami has questioned Ahmadinejad's apparent claims, saying that even Islam's holiest figures have never made such claims.
Alami told ILNA news agency that it is hard to imagine that someone who is delivering a speech can at the same time focus his attention on the eyelashes of all the people sitting at a distance from him and categorically tell a leading Qom cleric that they did not blink.
Alami said he hopes the film of Ahmadinejadâs comments has not been distributed by people close to the president to make criticizing him "taboo among ordinary people."
However, FardaNews.com, a conservative website, reported that the meeting between Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Javadi Amoli was private. [Editor's note: FardaNews.com has no relation to RFE/RL's Radio Farda.] The website accused unspecified Ahmadinejad opponents of distributing the CD of the meeting to insult him.
Hossein Bastani, an Iranian journalist based in France, told RFE/RL that Ahmadinejad's comments can be interpreted in two ways.
"One analysis is that this government believes that it came to power with the votes of the so-called lowest class of the Iranian society and these are classes that believe more in such supernatural tales," Bastani said. "Therefore, this government tries, by propagating such rumors, to gain a dogmatic, charismatic, and holy status among those whom they think support them. The second view is that despite the fact that they are trying to fool people, maybe they also believe in these things that are being repeatedly published about them and said by them. This is more dangerous.â
Since the presidential elections in Iran, many bizarre stories and rumors have circulated about Ahmadinejad. Many of them are related to his devotion to the 12th Imam, also known as Imam Mahdi, who according to Muslims has disappeared and will return at the end of time to lead an era of Islamic justice.
During his September speech at the UN, Ahmadinejad called for the reappearance of the 12th Imam.
In mid-November, during a speech to Friday prayers leaders from across Iran, Ahmadinejad said that the main mission of the revolution is to pave the way for the reappearance of the 12th Imam.
In recent weeks, the president's aides have denied a rumor that he ordered his cabinet to write a pact of loyalty with the 12th Imam and throw it down a well near the holy city of Qom, where some believe the Imam is hiding.
Ahmadinejad's supporters said such rumors are being circulated about the president by opponents in efforts to defame him.
But journalist Bastani said that many of the reported stories are based on comments made by Ahmadinejad and his cabinet members.
"Inside Iran, no one in a news [organization] takes the risk of publishing incorrect information about the president, who also controls the Information Ministry, [so] spreading lies about him has serious consequences," Bastani said. "In recent weeks and months, there has been much news similar to the meeting between Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Amoli. These [reports] include the allocation in at least two cases of heavy budgets for the Jamkaran mosque [at the well where some believe that Imam Mahdi is hiding] or comments by the president that have been quoted by the Iranian media in which he had said in an official meeting that the Hidden Imam will appear in two years."
There has been no reaction from President Ahmadinejad to the distribution and publication of his claim that a light surrounded him while he was addressing world leaders at the UN.
Mohammad Ali Abtahi, an adviser to former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, has warned against the misuse of religious sanctities and written on his website that it is natural that, at a time when the world is expecting a plan to end the deadlock over Iran's nuclear issue, attention is paid to the comments by the country's president.
Ahmadinejad has been criticized inside the country for his seeming lack of tact and his confrontational style on the international stage. His comments about his mystical experience at the UN could well lead to further criticism.
#1
These loons have gone well past the dangerous but treatable "breathing their own exhaust" stage and have entered the irreversibly terminal phase known as "sucking their own butts."
The only "halo" I'd like to see Ahmadinejad wearing is the surgical support structure of that same name which is required by patients who have just had their neck snapped.
Dangerous as these maniacs are, they are made all the more perilous by the obscene feedback loop of rhetorical and theological self-reinforcement that is so constantly spewed. It goes beyond the usual "constant repetition will make it so" mantra.
They seem to eschew all thoughtful rumination and, instead, gain extra nutritive value from such dogmatic pap by having it injected straight up their colons.
#2
In early betting, it's this whackjob and mother sheehan neck'n'neck for the nobel peace (not!) prize...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
11/29/2005 13:27 Comments ||
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#3
"He said when you began with the words 'in the name of God,' I saw that you became surrounded by a light until the end [of the speech]," Ahmadinejad appears to say in the video. "I felt it myself, too. I felt that all of a sudden the atmosphere changed there, and for 27-28 minutes all the leaders did not blink."
Hey President Ahandjob...that glow was the prescient nuclear glow that's going to surround your crooked-a$$ smile someday.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/29/2005 15:19 Comments ||
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#6
They got the quote wrong. What i said was that I PLAYED Halo at the UN. Damn, if you can send us an Xbox 360, RIGHT NOW, I'll give you Saad Bin Laden in exchange.
#7
Ahandjob says to infidel imposter: "Due to our well-known penchant for hospitality to strangers, we will not release the al Qaeda member to which you refer who is in our house custody until you bask in the glow of my halo. Your American XBox is appreciated in all the oppressed Muslim lands, by the way."
Tehran, 29 Nov. (AKI) - The wife of jailed Iranian journalist Akbar Ganji has revealed that her husband's life has been threatened while in jail. "My husband, in our last visit, has revealed to me that he has received death threats," Massoumeh Shafii said. The Iranian dissident and writer has been in jail since 2000. "Ganji told me that some men of the prosecutor Saiid Mortazavi approached him with death threats saying that he coud easily be killed even if he were to be released after having served his sentence," said Shafii in a telephone interview with Adnkronos International (AKI). "Even if they will release you, our friends will attend to you outside of the prison to make sure you receive the same fate as Saiid Hajjarian," said the men, who according to Ganji work for the chief prosecutor of Tehran, Saiid Mortazavi .
Saiid Hajjarian, an aide to former president, Mohammad Khatami, and a member of Teheran's city council, was the victim of an attack on 12 March 2000, which left him in a wheel chair. The men who carried out the attack were arrested, but were only sentenced to a few months in jail. In addition their alleged links to Mortazavi were never taken into consideration by the judiciary. Mortazavi is also considered a suspect by a parliamentary investigation into the 2003 death in custody of a Canadian photo-journalist of Iranian origin, Zahra Kazemi.
Some weeks ago, Mortazavi, told Shafii, during a meeting also attended by a lawyer representing her and Ganji, Yousef Molaie, said that her husband would remain in jail, "until he retracts his position."
"I was really shocked and seriously afraid for my husband's life," Shafii said. "I don't want to report this matter to the police again, seeing that the last time that I took action against Mortazavi for his threats, they put him in charge of examining my report about his actions." "By now, there isn't any choice but to bring this abuse of power to the attention of the international authorities and to the world's public opinion, and that which has happened to me, my husband and my two daughters," added Massoumeh Shafii. "Save my husband, don't allow such a voice of authority to be crushed under the weight of great violence and injustice," she said.
The latest information about Akbar Ganji's health had increased concern for the fate of the dissident who is also referred to as the "Iranian Gandhi". Ganji weights only 50 kilograms and now suffers from asthma, hypertension and neutropenia (decrease of the blood cells) "Worrying symptons that could lead to death of the patient by cachessia [a severe loss of muscle mass]," said Daniela Zangrilli a medical professor in Rome's Tor Vegata university.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/29/2005 10:46 ||
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Syrian officials demanded that a UN report implicating them over the February murder of five-time Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri be revised after state television broadcast the apparent recanting of a witness. Ibrahim Darraji, who heads Syria's own separate investigation into the killing, said the new testimony from Kurdish former intelligence agent Hassam Taher Hassam spelled the collapse of last month's findings by UN investigator Detlev Mehlis which prompted a Security Council resolution against Damascus. His attack on the commission came just a day before Mehlis's team was due to hold its first interviews with senior Syrian officials at UN offices in Vienna ending a prolonged wrangle over the venue for the long-awaited interrogations.
"From a legal point of view, the Mehlis report has collapsed," Darraji told reporters at a joint news conference with the purported witness in Damascus. "It was based on the testimony of two key witnesses -- Mohammed Zuheir as-Sadiq who is now jailed in France and Mr Hassam," he said, standing alongside Hassam. "The ball is now in the Mehlis commission's court -- they based their findings on the statements of one person and he has now set the record straight."
In the lengthy interview broadcast Sunday evening, Hassam told state television that he had testified against the brother and brother-in-law of President Bashar al-Assad only under duress. "Maher al-Assad and Assaf Shawkat were the main officials in their sights .. they asked me to speak out against them and I said that they were the ones who ordered the murder," he said. He said he regretted making what he described as the "entirely false" statements that he had given. The slain premier's son and heir, Saad, now leader of the largest bloc in the Lebanese parliament, had offered him around one million dollars, he added.
Hariri dismissed the accusation out of hand, describing it as a "desperate attempt to derail the inquiry" of the United Nations into his father's murder. "Everything that this person has said is lies," said a statement released by his office in Beirut.
A statement from the UN commission confirmed that Hassam had testified before it but added that he had volunteered his testimony and had even expressed fear about the repercussions from the Syrian authorities.
"Hassam first approached the UN International Independent Investigation Commission at the end of June 2005 and identified himself as a former Syrian intelligence officer in Lebanon," the statement said. "In his witness statement signed and dated September 1, 2005, Mr Hassam stated: 'I am here voluntarily to give a statement to the UNIIIC. I have not been threatened or forced to come here, nor have I been offered any promises or incentives to do so. "'I understand that by giving knowingly false information in this witness statement I may commit a crime against the laws of the Republic of Lebanon,'" the statement quoted him as saying.
The commission insisted it had "never offered or provided" any incentive for testimony and added that, according to Hassam's own statements, it was the Syrian authorities that he was afraid of. "On several occasions Mr Hassam expressed fear to UNIIIC that he and his family could be harmed by Syrian security elements," its statement said.
The UN commission was due to question five senior Syrian officials in Vienna Tuesday following its interim findings implicating them in Hariri's murder. The deal followed mounting US-led pressure for progress in the inquiry ahead of a December 15 target date for its conclusion after last month's Security Council resolution demanding better cooperation from Damascus.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/29/2005 09:34 ||
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#1
Ass-ad: Ibrahim Darraji, do you recant your testimony incrimniating loyal intelligence agents in the bombing?
Ibrahim Darraji: I do...I wuz lying. I wuz.
Ass-ad: Thank you. Now you, your family, mother and father, cousins, aunts, uncles, and anyone that we believe ever met you will live.
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.
KABUL: Suspected Taliban shot dead a policeman and wounded another in volatile southeastern Afghanistan, a district governor said on Monday, in the latest in a string of attacks on the countryâs fledgling police force. The policemen were shot while on patrol late Sunday in Zabul provinceâs Mizan district, governor Mohammad Yunus said. Police detained 15 suspects afterwards. A police post in Logar province near the capital Kabul was meanwhile attacked by âterroristsâ late Sunday but no one was killed in the ensuing gunfight, interior ministry spokesman Yousuf Stanizai said. A security sweep of the province also yielded 446 grenades for rocket-propelled grenade launchers, and 54.5 kilogrammes (nearly 120 pounds) of heroin and 45.5 kilogrammes of hashish, he said. The police in war-ravaged Afghanistan have been targets of unrest that is blamed on militants loyal to the ousted Taliban regime and other groups, some of them believed to be allied to drug lords.
Top terror gunned down in RAB encounter
The official investigation into the shooting death of Kazakh opposition figure and former Emergency Situations Agency head Zamanbek Nurkadilov has concluded that he committed suicide, the Radio Liberty reported on Tuesday. The investigative team found that Nurkadilov first shot himself twice in the chest before putting the gun to his head and firing a bullet into his brain. 
QUETTA: Unidentified men blew up a Quetta Electricity Supply Company electricity pole but power supply was not suspended, said Jibrail Khan, company spokesman, on Monday. Khan said the militants had placed explosives at the poleâs foundation but two legs had withstood the blast. QESCO officials found pole number 396 badly damaged on Sunday, he said, adding that the time of the explosion was not known. However, sources told Daily Times that the pole was found damaged on Monday and probably attacked on Sunday. Attacks on national installation have become a common here and militants regularly target electricity poles, railway lines, telephone repeater stations and trains. Officials said more security personnel had been deployed at such installations.
Thirty-four wanted âtribal militantsâ, including the general secretary of the 
November 29, 2005: Some young Islamic radicals have been going to Iraq, not for suicide, but for sex. Islamic radicals all over the Moslem world have been exhorting young men to go to Iraqi and join the jihad against the foreign invaders. Many have answered the call, even those outside the Moslem world, especially in Europe. But in countries closer to Iraq, the objective for taking the journey is sometimes more sensual than suicidal. In Syria, where the poor economy creates few jobs for young men, the result is not much sex for these lads either. If you want to get married, you need a job. If you want to hire a hooker, you need money. If you try to get fresh with the girl next door, youâre liable to get killed by her father or brothers. Whatâs a horny young man to do? Well, thereâs always Iraq. 
Iraqâs Al Qaeda on Monday blasted the Jordanian tribe of its leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi for disowning him after his group claimed triple suicide bombings in Amman which killed 57 people this month. âHow can you disavow the mujahid Abu Musab? Itâs either the enemy of God (Jordanâs King Abdullah) has forced you or threatened you to do this or you have voluntarily agreed and obeyed him,â said an Internet statement. 
THE ISRAELI ARMY shelled the Gaza Strip Monday after Palestinians fired a makeshift rocket from the territory on southern Israel, military sources said. The rocket slammed into a house, causing damage but no casualties, the sources said, without specifying the location of the strike. It was the second rocket firing of the day, the sources said. A few hours earlier, another hit hard by the electric fence that marks the border. Palestinian officials said several houses near the Jabaliya refugee camp in the far north of the Gaza Strip were damaged in the retaliatory shelling but there were no reports of casualties.
Palestinian gunmen, firing in the air, stormed on Monday into several polling stations in the Gaza Strip where President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party was holding primary elections and forced them to close, witnesses said. The gunmen, members of Fatah, complained that names of many eligible voters were missing from election lists. They also burned tyres in the streets, the witnesses said about the incidents in the central Gaza Strip. No injuries were reported.
Terror suspects on trial for allegedly plotting to blow up Jordan's intelligence headquarters shouted insults at their military judges Sunday and threatened to "exterminate" the moderate Muslim nation.
According the report by baztab.com, President Ahmadinejad made the comments in a meeting with one of Iran's leading clerics, Ayatollah Javadi Amoli.
