Saudi state television has broadcast the first programme in a series dedicated to terrorism and al-Qaeda's recruitment techniques. 'Jihad Experiences, the Deceit', broadcast on Tuesday night, featured the testimonies of three repentant terrorists who reveal how al-Qaeda recruits young people and convinces them to blow themselves up in the name of Islam.
The first programme showed the testimonies of former terrorists Ziyad Asfan, Abdullah Khuja and Walid Khan. They revealed that there are four main phases in al-Qaeda's recruitment of young Muslims: brainwashing, the actual recruitment, the departure for the Jihad or holy war, and the capture and beatings repentance which then leads them to change their minds.
Saudi TV also spoke to religious experts who explain how al-Qaeda's reasoning differs from Islamic Sharia law. They also explained the social and emotional situations that lead these young people to fall into the terror group's trap, the fact that the recruiters use their passion and predisposition to extremism, as well as their desire to change the world through quick, radical solutions. The programme highlighted how the recruitment activities and brainwashing of the fundamentalist cells lead the young person to distance themselves from their own families and the world around them.
The first to give his testimony on the programme was Walid Khan, who talked of the phase in which they convince the recruit. "There are particular issues that pushed me which have nothing to do with the Jihad or Muslims," he said. "At first...I just wanted to go and join the Jihad. Then I lived with people who believed the Takfir [the act of identifying someone as an unbeliever] and I was with them 24 hours a day until I ended up believing them. At the beginning it was only passion, I wanted to be like the other guys who said to me one day that they were going to do the Jihad," he explained, adding "they made me listen to Islamic chants which filled me with even more passion to the point of convincing me."
In his testimony, Abdullah Khuja said: "I listened once to one brother, Tahir Jan, emir of the mujahadeen of Uzbekistan, who came to the city of Ta'if where I work," he explained. "I went to meet him and I talked with him at length of my firm willingness to go to Afghanistan or a place where it would be possible to fight for Allah under a clear flag and he proposed that I follow him."
Ziyad Asfan said on the programme he went to a training camp in Afghanistan, where they gave him the name al-Sadiq. "We did two weeks of simple training where we learnt to use light weapons and there were lots of Islamic chants and lessons to follow which all talked of the Jews and Christians' warped plot against the Muslims," he said.
Khuja also reveals how easy it was to enter the countries where they went to fight the Jihad, saying: "we crossed the borders and entered Afghanistan easily using typical Afghan clothing so that no one would think we were Arab. I asked to go straight to the training camp, where I started to use light weapons, though they told me not to ask too many questions." "The young people there were very afriad," he explained. "That was why they told me not to ask questions and not to ask who the guys with me were or where they came from, because many feared people had infiltrated to obtain news."
For Khan too, crossing the borders of countries like Iraq and Afghanistan was relatively easy. "We arrived at night in a village in the north of Afghanistan by taxi, entering first Iraq and then Iran. We crossed the border easily without problems, and were welcomed by a man called Ansar al-Islam, who took us to a second car which drove us towards the Khurman area."
Finally the three former terrorists talked about the role the Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi played in the times of the training camps in Afghanistan, saying that from then on it was clear he and his group were the most dangerous and the most fanatical of the Arab mujahadeen who joined al-Qaeda. "The problem is that most of the Arab mujahadeen present in Afghanistan were Jordanian and all from Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's group," Khan said. "They were all followers of the Jordanian sheikh al-Maqdisi, who they had sworn loyalty to in 1995, and because of this they were sentenced to 15 years in prison. After five years however, they were pardoned, including al-Zarqawi, and because of this they all went to Afghanistan with a strong hatred for their government, the police and all the state apparatus of the Arab countries. Being in the majority we had to mix with them," he said.
Ah, I detect a new meme; "It's the Jordanian's fault!"
Posted by: Steve ||
11/30/2005 11:13 ||
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2 terrorists killed in ''crossfire''
Khulna, Nov 29: An outlawed party leader was killed in a shootout between Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and his cohorts at Nihalpur village in Rupsha Upazila early today (Tuesday), reports UNB.
RAB sources said they arrested Sheikh Shariful Islam, 34, leader of Purba Banglar Communist Party from BL College area in the town on Monday. He was also accused in a number of cases including murders, the sources said.
Always commies, how about a few jihadis for a change?
As per his statement, RAB took him to Nihalpur early today to recover arms.
So long, Sheikh
But when the elite force along with Shariful reached the spot, his associates opened fire on them forcing them to fire back. Shariful was caught in crossfire while trying to flee scene and died on the spot.
"Ouch..ouch..rosebud!"
RAB said that two of their members were also wounded during the crossfire. A gun, two rounds of bullet, two bullet caps and two sharp weapons were recovered from the spot. RAB sent the body to the Khulna Medical Hospital morgue for autopsy.
"Doctor Quincy, package for you!"
In Chittagong, a young man listed as "terrorist" was killed in crossfire during an encounter between RAB and his associates at Shahnagar in Fatikchhari upazila Monday night.
Same story, different stiff
Rapid Action Battalion sources said they arrested Nasir alias ''Fata'' Nasir, a cadre of a JCD faction, from Bonani in Dhaka on Sunday. Accused of a number of cases in Fatikchhari area, he was brought to Chittagong on Monday. As per his statement, RAB members along with Nasir went to Shahnagar "for recovering more firearms".
See what I mean?
But, when they reached there at about 10 pm, his accomplices opened fire on the elite force, forcing them to fire back, the RAB sources said. "Nasir was caught in the crossfire and died on the spot while trying to flee," says a RAB version of the fighting.
Shariful was caught in crossfire while trying to flee scene and died on the spot. Don't try very hard, do they?
An LG and eight rounds of bullet were recovered from the scene.
Bomber came in garb of a lawyer
GAZIPUR, Nov 29: A suicide bomber disguised as lawyer bombed the bar library of Gazipur court Tuesday morning, killing at least five people, including himself, a retired airforce officer and a senior lawyer, reports UNB. Police and witnesses said about 40 others were injured in the massive explosion, which turned the lawyersâ library hall into a strafed place. One of them, also a senior lawyer, was declared âclinically deadâ by doctors.
"He's clinically dead, Jim!"
A UP member and a woman are the other casualties of the deadly bombing attack, the sources said. Three died on the spot while two others â a lawyer and an unidentified woman--succumbed to their fatal injuries at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
"Rosebud!"
"Captain Happy!"
[sigh] If only they'd gone to the Level I trauma center at the Chittagong University Medical School Emergency Room, they'd be .. still dead.
Adv Amzad Hossain, 40, former general Secretary of Gazipur Bar Association, died shortly after admission into the DMCH. Adv Golam Faruq, 40, was said to be clinically dead at the DMCH. Two of the deceased who died on the spot were identified as Baset, 55, member of Gachha union in Gazipur, and Abdur Rab, ex-warrant officer of the Air Force. Another deceased on the spot was suspected as the suicide bomber. Meanwhile, another suspect injured in the powerful blast, Mahbubur Rahman, 40, was under close police observation.
"Keep a close eye on that guy, Mahmoud!"
"Right, chief!... Ummm... Chief? He ain't got no legs left!"
Court sources said a man wearing the black gown of lawyer entered no-2 hall room of the bar library at about 9.40am and blew up himself. âEntire room was strewn with littersâ shards of glass, broken parts of furniture, and human body parts such as severed limbs and lumps of flesh,â says a firsthand report from the scene. Entire body of the perpetrator of the attackâwho virtually became a human bomb with the explosive device fitted to his waistâwas charred in the massive explosion.
Five suspects held
Five persons, including two madrasa students, were arrested in Habiganj, Bagerhat and Bandarban following Tuesday's bombings, on suspicion that they might have been assigned by militant outfits for the districts, reports UNB. Reports from UNB correspondents said that the arrests were made amid security alert following the day's suicide bombings on court premises in Chittagong and Gazipur that killed eight people and injured scores others. The suspects were identified as Monir Hossain, 18, Iqbal Hossain, 22, Ohidul Islam Babu, 25, Mahibullah, 26, and Anup Kumar Basu. UNB Habiganj correspondent said Monir Hossain and Iqbal Hossain were arrested from the baby-taxi stand adjacent to BAR Library at about 3.30pm for their suspicious movement in Judge's Court and Ainjibi Bhaban area. Police were interrogating them suspecting them as JMB outlaws.
"Step away from the baby taxi witcher hands up!"
A UNB report from Begerhat said district land-acquisition officer Waliur Rahman quizzed two madrasa students-Ohidul and Mahibullah-for their suspicious movement on court premises at about 11 am. "As they failed to give satisfactory answers, they were handed over to police," the officer said.
"Book 'em, Babu!"
Police Super M Mustafa Kamal said the arrested persons were being interrogated
"Oooh! Ow! Aaaaiiiieeee!"
and police were asked to conduct inquiry about them. Anup Kumar Basu was arrested in front of Bandarban Press Club at noon. He was arrested for his suspicious movement.
"Lock him up, Officer Friendly!"
"Sure, chief! What's the charge?"
"Suspicious movement!"
UNB Bandarban correspondent said army personnel started patrolling the town following suicide attack in Chittagang and Gazipur. Security was further beefed up in the hill-district town and upazilas. District Awami League staged a rally at Traffic crossing to protest Tuesday's bomb attacks.
"Yeah! We protest!"
"Why you protesting at us?"
"If we protested at the boomers they'd kill us all!"
Meanwhile, Police arrested a suspected JMB member identified as Raihan, 17, from Haripur upazila in Thakurgaon district on Tuesday morning. UNB correspondent quoting elite-force RAB said Raihan allegedly participated in bombing on August 17 in the district during the countrywide blasts. Replying to questions of local journalists at Thakurgaon Circuit House, Raihan disclosed that he along with 5-7 JMB members made time bombs for August 17 at Kuwaiti Mosque of Chourangi Bazar under Haripur upazila on August 16. A team of RAB arrested Raihan following statement of JMB member Abdul Latif who was arrested on November 18 from Ranisaingkal upazila in the district.
Another day in the continuing story of... "Boyz 'n the Upazila"!
Posted by: Steve ||
11/30/2005 13:13 ||
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#1
who virtually became a human bomb
No virtually about it, he was a real time human boom. Refered to as a sploodeymope in my Upazila.
The police in Bangladesh have detained 22 suspected Islamist militants in connection with the bomb blasts on Tuesday which killed nine people and injured 65. The father and two brothers of Abul Bashar, the suspected suicide bomber who was wounded in the blasts that occurred outside a court building in the southern port city of Chittagong, are among those detained. According to the police, the attack believed to have been carried out by Bashar, killed three people and the alleged bomber also lost both legs and his right hand in the attack.
Now qualified for position as a mullah, all the good ones are missing body parts
They never seem to mention that possibility in jihad school, do they?
The police quoted Bashar as saying: "I have no remorse. I did what I was supposed to do and I did it as per the will of Allah."
Except for the whole "kill yourself" part. But, that can be fixed.
Doesn't that mean it was Allah who ripped his legs off? Will there be 36 slightly sullied wenches to wait on him and change his colostomy bag?
The second blast occurred in Ghazipur, just outside Dhaka, where five people were killed, including the suspected suicide bomber.
He's now trying to figure why it's so blasted hot in Paradise and why the doe-eyed maidens all have fangs...
They change colostomy bags in Hell? Who knew?
No one has claimed responsibility for the blasts, but the police suspect a banned Islamic group, Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen. The group wants to establish Sharia Islamic law in Bangladesh and is one of three Islamic groups outlawed after the authorities linked them to a series of blasts. Bangladesh's prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia, who was touring the coastal Patuakhali district when Tuesdayâs bombs exploded, vowed tough action against those involved in the attacks. âThe bombers were enemies of Islam and enemies of the country. We will do everything and anything needed to stop them,â she told a rally.
Stop talking about it, just do it.
I'll believe it when a few holy men are tragically bumped off in RAB crossfires.
Protests were held on Wednesday by lawyers, demanding that the government take action against those who conducted the attacks which happened outside courthouses. They called for a day-long general strike on Thursday, which has been backed by opposition political parties.
Wonder if lawyers here would do the.......nah
Posted by: Steve ||
11/30/2005 09:36 ||
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#1
They change colostomy bags in Hell? Who knew?
There's a vision of hell I hadn't thought of. Advent's always a good time to get resaved again.
EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini said he has no evidence the CIA has secret prisons in Europe, but repeated that he would take action against the states involved if any were found. Frattini said he had spoken to officials in a number of European Union member states and that Washington had promised to get back to him with any details it might have. "I'm not a super prosecutor of course, but I've spoken directly to several ministers of the interior of member states. They denied the allegations. Without evidence, I trust these ministers of course," he told reporters.
"We have asked the US administration to give an answer, to give a response, and ... the US State Department promised to give a formal response to our request for more information," he said. "It is absolutely clear that if there would be evidence of state or candidate allowing or having allowed on its territory camps or prisons or something like that not in compliance with European and international standards on the treatment of prisoners, we would have the duty to declare a serious violation" of EU treaties, he said.
The United States has acknowledged European concerns over the reports of secret CIA prisons and transport flights for terror suspects, calling them "legitimate questions" that deserve a response. US officials had previously said little amid an uproar over reports that broke in the last month of clandestine interrogation centers and prisoner transport flights, including suggestions of on-board torture sessions. They refused to confirm or deny the existence of such facilities but defended in general terms the use of tough tactics in the war on terror.
Frattini threatened sanctions on Monday for any EU nation found to have allowed secret CIA prison camps to operate on its soil.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/30/2005 11:30 ||
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#1
But we'll keep looking, never fear!
And the media will keep reporting.
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/30/2005 13:47 Comments ||
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Franco Frattini's threats are vacuous. To remove a nations vote is beyond his power. The Council would never pass such a vote.
The big story. There are no secret prisons. This story is one cooked up by our 'allies' in Germany and France. Any notice a pattern here? The sociaist centers of western europe have a huge anti-US propaganda machine made up of their MSM and socialist politicians. These are the same small minded Coproliths whom fight the US and it's interests on every other issue. It's reaching a crisis state.
Rome, 30 Nov. (AKI) - One of the 22 CIA agents wanted in Italy over the kidnapping of Egyptian imam Abu Omar from a street in Milan in February 2003 has claimed in his defence that the Italian authorities were well aware of the operation. The lawyer for Robert Seldon Lady, who headed the CIA's Milan station from 2000 to January 2004, made the claim while challenging the warrant issued for his arrest by Italian prosecutors in June this year, saying his actions had "explicit, or at least implicit authorisation from the Italian government."
However, Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reports that "the CIA has lost the first legal round" in its fight to legitimise its practice of 'extraordinary renditions', which involves the capturing and deporting of foreign terror suspects without any trial to countries where they could be tortured.
Milan judge Enrico Manzi rejected the first line of defence used by Lady's lawyer, with a verdict establishing that no diplomatic immunity or state secret can authorise "the capture of suspects outside of every judiciary control" by either Italian or foreign secret services. Manzi therefore declared the rendition "an act of force" which "violates the sovereignty of Italy" and cannot be justified.
If Lady was a official diplomat, he does have diplomatic immunity under international law. Judge can declare as much as he wants, he'll be overruled in a higher court
Omar was already under surveillance by Italian police when he was kidnapped, suspected of having links with terrorist groups and recruiting young people to be used as martyrs in Iraq. Milan investigating magistrates say he was first taken to the Aviano American air base in northern Italy and transferred to a military base at Ramstein in Germany, from where he was then flown to Egypt in a private plane hired by the CIA. Since then he has been held at the high security Tora prison, where, he told a friend when he was briefly released, he was tortured to the point of being left partially paralysed.
Pressure has been growing for an explanation into dozens of CIA flights through Europe thought to have picked up and delivered terror suspects to prisons in countries where they may subsequently have been tortured. An investigation has been opened in Germany into the use of the Ramstein base in the Abu Omar rendition.
Italian investigators found a photograph of Abu Omar on Lady's computer, taken on the street he was seized from 33 days before he disappeared. His wife had deleted all the files on his computer, but on rebuilding the hard drive, police are reported to have found evidence that he had run searches for the shortest route from the Milan street where Omar was kidnapped to Aviano. A list of the luxurious hotels in Milan the agents accused of being involved in the kidnapping stayed in was also found in the rubbish bin in his garage.
Sloppy, very sloppy
Evidence has also been uncovered that Lady was in Cairo during the two weeks when Omar is said to have suffered the most violent interrogation. Investigators tracked down two airplane tickets showing that he flew to Cairo from Zurich on 24 February 2003, and returned to Italy on 7 March.
In her first appeal, Lady's lawyer Daria Pesce, claimed he was innocent or "only following orders" and was occupying the role of consul at the time, giving him "diplomatic immunity" which also covered him for "special missions". However, this argument was rejected by the judge, who decreed that immunity does not cover "serious crimes like kidnapping". State secrets, he argued, protect "the security of Italian democracy" and not "actions carried out by foreign operatives".
The Italian government and intelligence service SISMI have always denied knowledge of the operation to capture Abu Omar. However, Lady's lawyer stated twice in his defence that "Lady, in his consular role as intelligence supervisor, undoubtedly enjoyed the authorisation of the US government in agreement with the political authorities of the Italian state" and this "Italian approval" was "indispensible" for a "special mission sent by the United States".
Italy's La Repubblica newspaper speculated on Wednesday that Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi could soon find himself forced to make a difficult choice: "Turn the whole affair into a state secret, thereby admitting that Palazzo Chigi [the Prime Minister's office] knew, or alternatively, hand over to the Milan prosecutor's office the names of those who authorised or kept quiet about the kidnapping of Abu Omar."
While the Bush administration has publicly defended the extraordinary rendition practice, it has always denied complicity in any torture the suspect may later have suffered in the country he was sent to.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/30/2005 09:49 ||
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#1
hmmm.. don't know much about undercover practices - but A list of the luxurious hotels in Milan the agents accused of being involved in the kidnapping stayed in was also found in the rubbish bin in his garage seems to be the type of evidence that could easily be planted. Especiallyif the Italian Authorities were well aware of where they had been staying.
I wonder if it wasn't that these guys were sloppy, but that the Italian Authorities found it easy to get info on them because they were aware of the operation and now, for whatever reason, the Italians are trying to pretend that they were not.
#2
The COS Lady could shout in hte middle of room that he is guilty of everything and the Judge still couldn't hold him or try him from a crime because of his immunity. The judge knows this and is just trying to make a name for himself with the Italian Lefties. P.S. I aint shedding any tears for Omar.
#7
we've demanded - and got - Russian (?) diplomats to stand trial
From what I understand, the respective government has to agree and cut the diplomats loose. If they don't agree, most you can do is kick them out of the country.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/30/2005 11:51 Comments ||
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#8
I remember when the Italians helped Klinghoffer's killers free. (Thanks for the troops in Iraq and all, but we do realize that Italy IS playing both sides of the street)
Posted by: Dave ||
11/30/2005 14:44 Comments ||
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#9
Hosni Mubarak allowed PLF leader and hijacking mastermind, Mohammed Abbas, and the other terrorists to fly to their headquarters in Tunisia. President Ronald Reagan sent U.S. warplanes to intercept the flight, and forced it to land at a U.S.- Italian air base in Sicily. The United States and Italy fought over jurisdiction in the case, but the Italians refused to extradite any of the men. eventually made his way to Iraq where he was believed to be a conduit for Saddam Hussein's payments to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers. Abbas was captured by U.S. forces in a raid in Iraq on April 15, 2003. He died on March 9, 2004, at the age of 56 in U.S. custody in Iraq. Klinghoffer's daughters said, âNow, with his death, justice will be denied. The one consolation for us is that Abul Abbas died in captivity, not as a free man.â I will never forget seeing the Italian police surround the US take-down bird. US forces were ordered to 'stand down.' Thank you Italy for letting this piece of scum do his stuff for nearly twenty years AFTER he highjacked the Italian Achilles Lauro, one of your own ships.
Police raided 10 premises in Brussels overnight in a suspected link to reports on Tuesday that a Belgian woman recently carried out a suicide bomb attack in Iraq. The woman is thought to have carried out the bomb attack on 9 November near the Iraqi capital of Baghdad. About five or six people were possibly killed in the attack, news agency Belga reported. And according to an RTL France report, the suicide bomber was a young Belgian woman from Brussels who converted to Islam after marrying a radical Islamic man of Moroccan ancestry. The man is now also reportedly dead. Police have kept the woman's family under surveillance for some time and raided 10 homes on Tuesday night. The raids were reportedly co-ordinated at a federal level.
While no one has officially confirmed reports the woman carried out the bomb attack, various sources have indicated that the report is true. The Belgian judiciary has launched an investigation into the woman's contacts in Belgium. Newspaper 'De Standaard' has quoted US military sources saying the attack was against US soldiers and that none of them were killed in the attack. And there were two other bombings on 9 November, one in Baquba and one in the north-east of Baghdad. Which one the woman carried out, is yet to be confirmed.
#1
Read an article last night that the Belgian intelligence service is miffed that French intelligence leaked the woman's identity to RTL. Report said the Belgians would have to hurry and arrest members of the Belgian jihadi cell before they disappeared.
Posted by: ed ||
11/30/2005 10:19 Comments ||
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#2
hey Ed, do you still remember where you read that article. Would like to read it, if possible.. thanks
#3
Here it is: 14 suspects held in raids linked to suicide bomber
BRUSSELS â Belgian federal police arrested 14 people on Tuesday night in 14 house raids linked to the suicide bomb attack carried out by a Belgian woman in Iraq earlier this month. Police raided 14 homes in Brussels, Antwerp, Charleroi and Tongeren. Nine of the 14 suspects arrested will be ordered to appear at a later date in court. The majority of the suspects are Belgian, two of them are of Moroccan origin and one comes from Tunisia.
They have been charged with membership of a terrorist organisation on Belgian soil, newspaper 'De Standaard' reported on Wednesday.
Police seized documents during the house raids, but no explosives were found.
The raids are linked to a Belgian woman who carried out a suicide bomb attack on 9 November in Iraq. She is reportedly the first European woman to have conducted such an attack in Iraq.
Police have held the woman's family under surveillance for some time and decided to raid the targeted premises on Tuesday. A spokeswoman for the public prosecution office, Lieve Pellens, has confirmed that a Belgian national carried out a suicide bombing in Iraq. French television broadcaster RTL broke the story on Tuesday.
The woman has been described as a Belgian national living in Brussels. She converted to Islam after marrying a radical Islamic man. She then travelled to Iraq with her husband. Belgian media has reported that six people were killed in the suicide bomb attack. The woman's husband might also be dead.
Meanwhile, a 27-year-old man has been arrested near Paris in an operation linked to the Belgian raids. The man's identity has not been revealed.
He is suspected of holding links with a terrorist cell that sends Islamic fighters from Belgium to Iraq. The heart of the network is reportedly in Belgium, but the suspect allegedly sought volunteers in France also.
According to one source, the man is allegedly an acquaintance of the female suicide bomber. He can be remanded in custody for another four days.
Police also arrested two men who allegedly gave the suspect accommodation.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/30/2005 11:54 Comments ||
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Oops, same story. More detail though. Could have sworn I saw that other story on Expatica yesterday, I think they pulled it.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/30/2005 11:59 Comments ||
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#5
In the Belgian press, there was no mention of a leak with French intelligence .
#6
I will do a quick search for it and post it if I find it. The article is too new for it to show up on google. One other point of the article was that they expected arrests in 2 or 3 days to close down as much of the terrorist cell that sent the Belgian woman to Iraq. But now we know the arrests began the day after the article was written.
Posted by: ed ||
11/30/2005 22:25 Comments ||
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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.
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. 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.
Nice speech to Naval Academy, followed by criticism and dour horse-faced Dem senators. Whatever happened to strategic criticism in time of war? Kerry looked like his usual corpse-like self, Reed was Minime to allow Kerry to harangue.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/30/2005 11:24 ||
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Just my observation, but it seems that the President (and many others) are seeking victory in Iraq and the other side wants something short of that goal. Does defeat sell or is there a third option that I not getting? It would seem that the left has painted themselves into a corner that only defeat can help them. I wish them good luck with that plank in your national campaign next year.
#4
We are winning in Iraq and in less time than many think, that country will rise from the ashes of Saddam's corpse to become a political (i.e. democratic), economic, and social leader in the Middle East. This will serve to ensure our national security by making the world a more peaceful one.
Nothing else could piss of the Democrats (sans Liebermann) more.
The Bush doctrine is being and will be vindicated. As will all those who believed in it and believed in the nobility, skill, and courage of our Armed Forces.
#5
The president is (finally) pounding his strategy...yes, he clearly does have one as all of us here understand...home again and again. He is reminding the people who it is we are fighting and why. He is reminding the people that despite what the MSM says, we are winning.
Once again, the Dems have chosen the wrong horse to ride. They have been squaking "quagmire, run away" and the American people know that it is BS. Any rational person knows that the president is right on this one. The dems just look more stupid every day.
#6
It seems to me the Democrats are changing their position on several issues. The war is one in that more and more Democratic Party Congresscritters are now saying we have to finish what we started. They don't seem to be pandering to the Looney Left as much as they were. Yhe Media made Cindy Sheehan look rediculous at her "book signing" even though she did have at least 100 people show up (WOO-HOO). I wouldn't be surprised if some of them get religion soon, either, as more than 70% of Americans consider themselves religious. To them, it's all about perception. Substance is secondary.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
11/30/2005 13:05 Comments ||
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#7
All the President has to do is keep talking, keep pounding away. Every time he speaks, the Donks squeal like stuck pigs. Every time he refers to the Donk plan and points out that not winning is UnAmerican, the donks squeal again.
If you need to show that someone is clinically insane, the last thing you need to do is act in a way that helps that person hide his insanity. You prove it by acting in a rational fashion and pointing out the irrational response that defines Insanity.
United States Naval Academy
Annapolis, Maryland THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thanks, please be seated. Please be seated. Thanks for the warm welcome. It's good to be back at the Naval Academy. I'm pleased to provide a convenient excuse for you to miss class. (Applause.) ...
Six months ago, I came here to address the graduating class of 2005. I spoke to them about the importance of their service in the first war of the 21st century -- the global war on terror. I told the class of 2005 that four years at this Academy had prepared them morally, mentally and physically for the challenges ahead. And now they're meeting those challenges as officers in the United States Navy and Marine Corps.
Some of your former classmates are training with Navy SEAL teams that will storm terrorist safe houses in lightning raids. Others are preparing to lead Marine rifle platoons that will hunt the enemy in the mountains of Afghanistan and the streets of Iraqi cities. Others are training as naval aviators who will fly combat missions over the skies of Afghanistan and Iraq and elsewhere. Still others are training as sailors and submariners who will deliver the combat power of the United States to the farthest regions of the world -- and deliver compassionate assistance to those suffering from natural disasters. Whatever their chosen mission, every graduate of the class of 2005 is bringing honor to the uniform -- and helping to bring us victory in the war on terror. (Applause.)
In the years ahead, you'll join them in the fight. Your service is needed, because our nation is engaged in a war that is being fought on many fronts -- from the streets of Western cities, to the mountains of Afghanistan, the islands of Southeast Asia and the Horn of Africa. This war is going to take many turns, and the enemy must be defeated on every battlefield. Yet the terrorists have made it clear that Iraq is the central front in their war against humanity, and so we must recognize Iraq as the central front in the war on terror.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
11/30/2005 15:01 ||
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Two weeks after Murtha introduced his House resolution calling for a pullout of US troops from Iraq within six months, Pelosi threw her support behind the legislation.
"While the president is digging a hole, Mr. Murtha is speaking from the light of day about the realities in Iraq," she said.
Talk about projection.
She's for it, after she voted against it two weeks ago, after she was for it, (after she was against it, but after she was for it when she originally voted to grant Bush war powers)
#6
I doubt there will be much to surprise rantburgers in this document. It's just a chance to re-frame the public discussion. There has always been a plan. It's evolved. Those who say otherwise are demagouges.
#7
I was just surprised the Donks were so aggressively stupid as to have a "rebuttal" speech by Lurch and Jack Reed (D-MiniMe)
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/30/2005 18:15 Comments ||
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#8
BTW - " Just win" - Al Davis?? I'll take any and all bets in the O-Club for my Chargers against the Raiders - ESPN Sunday Night - straight up - no points
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/30/2005 18:21 Comments ||
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#9
"If winning isn't everything then why do they keep score?" Vince Lombarde.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
11/30/2005 18:34 Comments ||
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#10
Did anyone notice the dig at the NYT? Bush was graceful enough not to be explicit, but we know better.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
11/30/2005 18:49 Comments ||
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These are the two that have turned themselves in. More charges pending against others. I snipped all the stuff about the subsequent fire/kidnapping; cops not linking the two (yet).
A man linked to a black Muslim group was among two men who turned themselves in to police Tuesday for their roles in vandalizing a pair of stores for selling alcohol to blacks, police said. Yusef Bey IV, 19, and Donald Cunningham, 73, turned themselves in to face charges including robbery, felony vandalism and terrorist threats, Oakland Deputy Police Chief Howard Jordan said. Police obtained warrants charging four others with similar crimes and expected to make arrests. Last week, Hamdan's store and the nearby San Pablo Liquor store were vandalized by about a dozen men who smashed liquor bottles and toppled food racks while demanding that both stores stop selling alcohol to black people, authorities said. The incident at San Pablo Liquor was caught on surveillance tape, and police said they believe the same men trashed the New York Market.
Suspicion immediately fell on the Nation of Islam, group of black Muslims whose members often wear suits and bow ties. However, Jordan said the suspects are not members of the Nation of Islam. He held out the possibility that they belong to a separate black Muslim group based in Oakland. In 1993, Muslims affiliated with that separate group, which operates the Your Black Muslim Bakery store chain and whose members also wear suits and bow ties, were involved in a similar incident at a Richmond liquor store, police said. Bey has been linked to that group, police said. No name given for this other group. I'd be disposed to think of them as the armed wing of the Nation of Islam, or perhaps the "enforcer" division. And I'd look for connections to the group living outside of Charlottesville, VA that "Gates of Vienna" has reported on.
Investigators were looking into the recent vandalism as hate crimes because the store owners are of Middle Eastern background and are Muslims, Jordan said Monday. "In both incidents, the suspects entered the store and questioned why a Muslim-owned store would sell alcoholic beverages when it is against the Muslim religion," police said in a statement Monday. CAIR's not gonna like Muslim on Muslim violence labeled as a hate crime...
EFL: U.S. and Iraqi troops launched an operation in western Iraq to clear insurgents from a suspected safe area used to make car and roadside bombs, the military said Wednesday.
The campaign came as President Bush defended his Iraq policy by releasing a new war strategy, saying more Iraqi security forces are taking the lead in battle but adding that it is still uncertain when U.S. forces can withdraw.
About 1,500 U.S. Marines from the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, 500 U.S. soldiers and 500 Iraqi soldiers were taking part in Operation Iron Hammer near Hit, 85 miles west of Baghdad, a U.S. Marine statement said. The forces would concentrate efforts in the Hai Al Becker region, where U.S. and Iraqi troops rarely patrol, it added.
'The Hai Al Becker region is suspected to be an al-Qaida in Iraq safe area and base of operations for the manufacture of vehicle car bombs, roadside bombs,' the military said. It added that the area is believed to be a stopping point for insurgents traveling down the Euphrates River from Syria into Iraq.
----
Facing criticism and impatience about the conflict, the White House released a 35-page plan titled 'Our National Strategy for Victory in Iraq.' The plan says increasing numbers of Iraqi troops have been equipped and trained, a democratic government is being forged, Iraq's economy is being rebuilt and U.S. military and civilian presence will change as conditions improve.
Along with the report, Bush made a personal appeal to shore up wavering support for the war in remarks Wednesday at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. _ the first in a series of speeches between now and the parliamentary elections.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/30/2005 11:33 ||
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Four peace activists, including a Briton, taken hostage in Iraq were accused of being spies in a video released last night by a previously unknown group of insurgents. In a development which one terrorism expert said was "ominous" the kidnappers, who called themselves the Swords of Righteousness brigade, said Norman Kember and the three other men held with him had been masquerading as Christian peace activists in the country to work as spies.
I think we all know what's going to happen real soon now ...
Mr Kember, 74, was pictured in the video seated next to three other men, who are believed to be an American and two Canadians taken with him from western Baghdad on Saturday. Their identities have yet to be confirmed. Unlike in some previous videos released by kidnappers in Iraq, Mr Kember and his colleagues were not caged and were not made to wear orange overalls like those worn by terror suspects held by the US at Guantánamo Bay.
Because the perps don't plan on leaving any witnesses alive ...
Dressed in a hacking jacket, the retired medical physicist who was in Iraq as part of a Christian Peacemaker team, sat motionless as the camera panned across the group of hostages. Shots of Mr Kember's passport were also displayed in the video, released through the Arab television station al-Jazeera. In the corner of the screen two crossed black swords could be seen and the name of the group written in red in Arabic script. The date on the video was November 27 2005, the day after the men were abducted.
Magnus Ranstorp, a terrorism expert, said the insurgents were adopting tactics used during the civil war in Lebanon in the 1980's. "These names they use are often just grabbed out of the air, a tactic which goes back to Beirut. This sort of discourse about spying and acting on behalf of enemy forces is always ominous," Mr Ranstorp said.
Plus it plays hell on the Thugburg index ...
"One has a sense that this is not going to end in a nice fashion. Beirut and what happened to Terry Waite, also shows that the fact these men are Christians does not give them immunity from being fair game. On the contrary for some it may be convenient that they are Christians, it may serve their purposes."
Bruce Kent, former chairman of CND, and a friend of Mr Kember, dismissed any suggestion that he was a spy. "The last thing he would do would be working for the British government," he said.
"Don't you dare accuse my friend of being a patriot!" he added.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/30/2005 10:16 ||
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*yawn*
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/30/2005 10:37 Comments ||
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Frank ... don't yawn, laugh! These asshats had sponsored an "adopt a detainee" campaign in which they encouraged people to write indignant letters to President Bush about mistreatment of terrorists "innocent victims of American Imperialism". Now that they're the detainees under the thumb of Islamist thugs, to whom will these asshats write?
#5
"The last thing he would do would be working for the British government,"
Roger Roger... we got that 5x5, hahahahhahaa. Too bad they've run a bit short of orange coveralls, but have a nice incarceration and beheading just the same dumbasses.
#6
It seems their Parent organizations are blaming the US and British governments for the kidnapping. If the US and Britain hadn't undertaken an unlegal invasion of Iraq then these Peace Activists wouldn't have had to go to Iraq and activate therefore they would not have been kidnapped because they would have been activiating at home. Or something like that. Makes perfect sense to a moonbat.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
11/30/2005 12:31 Comments ||
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Dressed in a hacking jacket, the retired medical physicist . . .
#10
These morons have been so busy trying to paint our enemies as friends, let's see what happens when the detainees "adopt" them. It's hard to turn the other cheek when your head's rolling around on the floor. Idjits.
Washington, 30 Nov. (AKI) - The US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld has banned the use of the word 'insurgents' when referring to the militants operating in Iraq. "Over the weekend I thought to myself. 'You know, that gives them a greater legitimacy than they seem to merit," he told journalists during a Pentagon briefing on Tuesday. "It was an epiphany," he said, throwing his hands in the air.
We know. We've been changing 'insurgent' to 'terrorist' on the 'Burg for many months now.
Rumsfeld encouraged those at the briefing to consult their dictionaries for the definition of 'insurgent', which, according to one Oxford dictionary means "a rebel", while insurrection is defined as "rising against established authority". "These people aren't trying to promote something other than disorder, and to take over that country and turn it into a caliphate and then spread it around the world. This is a group of people who don't merit the word 'insurgency', I think," Rumsfeld said.
However, the ban proved a problem for the recently-appointed Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Peter Pace, who ran into trouble as the briefing continued, stumbling and pausing as he struggled to come up with a new word to describe the Iraqi insurgents. "I have to use the word 'insurgent' because I can't think of a better word right now," he admitted to Rumsfeld, who immediately suggested "'Enemies of the legitimate Iraqi government', how's that?". But, while discussing explosive devices Pace then used the 'I' word again, prompting Rumsfeld to recoil in mock horror.
Pace also proved himself to be no 'yes' man. When questioned about torture by the Iraqi authorities, Rumsfeld said "obviously, the United States does not have a responsibility." Pace, however, evidently disagreed, telling the briefing "It is the absolute responsibility of every US service member, if they see inhumane treatment being conducted, to intervene, to stop it."
When Rumsfeld tried to correct him, saying, "I don't think you mean they have an obligation to physically stop it; it's to report it," Pace stood his ground. "If they are physically present when inhumane treatment is taking place, sir, they have an obligation to try to stop it," the Joint Chiefs Chairman stated.
Good. Pace is right. Torture is wrong.
Commenting on the briefing, Washington Post opinionist Dana Milbank wrote that despite leading the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 as defence secretary, Rumsfeld came across at times as someone simply observing the Iraq war on television. He deflected one question about the use of white phospherous on the battlefield onto General Pace, and asked how widespread the abuse in Iraq was, he answered: "I am not going to be judging it from 4,000 miles away."
Asked about "uniformed death squads" in Iraq, after the brother of a prominant Sunni leader murdered along with his sons last week said the killers had Iraqi army uniforms and vehicles, Rumsfeld first tried to avoid answering, saying "I'm not going to comment on hypothetical questions." On the journalist pointing out that it was not hypothetical the defence secretary then suggested that the death-squad allegations could be politically motivated, before saying, "I just don't know. I can only talk about what I know." And with an exaggerated shrug of the shoulders he rounded off his answer with, "That's life".
Posted by: Steve ||
11/30/2005 09:45 ||
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He deflected one question about the use of white phospherous on the battlefield onto General Pace
The press is trying real, real hard to make that story fly.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
11/30/2005 10:35 Comments ||
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Dana Milbank (Jouranalist - DNC)
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/30/2005 11:20 Comments ||
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#3
It's f&*%^$#&! about time! And change suicide-bomber to homicidal-suicide boomer!
#4
Semantics, semantics....they don't give a shit what we call them and the Sunnis are largely insurgents, not terrorists. Their tactics are teroristic, but those fuckers are indiginous, so officially they're insurgents.
Al Q, they are terrorists, mercenaries even.Jihadist may be the official terminology we should use to be most accurate.
However, I prefer to drop all these terms for the preferred "target" or "lead magnet", whichever.
And I just can't abide by "homicide bomber", sorry ladies it's just stupid. No shit they're killing people with their bombs that ain't the unique identifier, the unique identifier of a suicide bomber is that they are willing to kill themselves to kill others.
However, I'd also much prefer to replace both suicide and homicide bomber with the burg preferred, "splodeydope". It has such a ring to it.
But again, semantics, let just call them all dead.
The bomb attacks in Taba and Sharm el-Sheik in Egypt and in Amman, Jordan, al-Qaeda boosted by its new cell in the Gaza Strip may make its next target Tel Aviv, an Italian weekly newsmagazine reports. This week's edition of News Settimanale, which will be available at newstands in Italy on Thursday, carries a report on a fledgling al-Qaeda cell allegedly formed in Gaza in the aftermath of the Israeli withdrawal from the territory in September.
''Recently pamphlets have been distributed and videos have appeared on Islamic sites on the Internet that prove [the existence of the cell]," the report says. The cell which first emerged in August has recently discarded the name of Organisation of al-Qaeda in the Land of the Outposts in favour of the more combative name Qaeda of the Jihad in Palestine, the report said.
Another name for the database, Fred
Its first terrorist act was a missile strike against the Jewish settlement of Neve Dekalim, an attack for which the group claimed responsibility through a video posted on the Internet.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/30/2005 13:01 ||
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#4
Didn't some Hamas prisoners in Israeli jails say they were joining Al-Qaeda because they were so disillusioned about the recent lack of boom from Hamas? Let's see whether these new cunts can do any better. The Israelis have been pretty successful in stopping inflitrations from Gaza.
#5
Yes indeed. Soccer is still cool, but pole vaulting over an 8 meter high concrete wall just hasn't caught on yet in the muzzie community. Good fences, make good neighbors.....
Palestinian sources reported Wednesday that 10 Palestinians were wounded during an IDF operation in the West Bank town of Nablus, during which two wanted Hamas and Fatah members were detained.
IDF soldiers arrested Fatah member Rami Khanfar, who allegedly planned to execute a terror attack in Israel, and Hamas member Muhammad Zaalul. The two were taken in for questioning. During the operation, Palestinian gunmen opened fire at IDF soldiers, while throwing an explosive device and Molotov cocktails and hurling stones at the troops. No soldiers were injured, however Palestinians reported 10 people wounded, among them a youth in moderate condition who was evacuated to hospital for further medical assistance.
The soldiers launched their operation in the early hours of Wednesday morning in the Nablus neighborhood of Ras al-Ein. They besieged a house in which the two wanted suspects were hiding. Zaalul turned himself in shortly afterwards, and was followed by Khanfar.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/30/2005 10:47 ||
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Burglars have stolen about 350 pieces of priceless jewelry, some dating back to the Roman era, from Lebanon's historical Beiteddine Palace, a security official said Wednesday. The robbery at Beiteddine, which is the summer home of Lebanon's president, occurred sometime between midnight Sunday and Tuesday morning. The official said the burglars broke in through a ground floor window of the palace's museum.
Somebody getting his 401K in order prior to taking an early retirement?
They took some 350 pieces of jewelry, including gold bracelets and earrings, said the official, who did not give his name because he was not authorized to speak to the press. Police have closed the palace for the investigation. On Wednesday journalists were not allowed to enter Beiteddine, which stands 60 kilometers (37 miles) southeast of Beirut.
I'd check Emile Lahoud's suitcases if I was the cops
Posted by: Steve ||
11/30/2005 11:08 ||
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#1
This is an old Monty Python bit, isn't it?
"Burglar!"
...
"You just want to sell me some encyclopedias!"
"No Ma'am, I just want to do a little burgling, and I'll be on my way."
BEIRUT, Lebanon, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- A bomb exploded and another was dismantled in a Palestinian camp in south Lebanon. Political sources said the explosion occurred Tuesday night in the refugee camp of Ein el-Hilweh, which in recent years has become a safe heaven for criminals and outlaws wanted by Lebanese authorities.
"You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious."
They said a hand grenade was tossed at the home of a Syrian member of one of the Palestinian groups based in the camp, which like other refugee shantytowns in south Lebanon, is outside the control of the Lebanese authorities. There were no casualties but minor material damage.
Pity
Another bomb placed inside a car in Ein el-Hilweh was dismantled Wednesday, police said.
The joint popular committees in the camp, grouping representatives from the various Palestinian factions, condemned the incident, expressing fears of a possible renewal of bombings that have rocked the shantytown in recent years. The committees in a statement said, "The incident is aimed at stirring chaos, instability and insecurity inside the camp at a time Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue is taking place at the highest levels to organize Palestinian presence in Lebanon."
I thought Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue mostly consisted of blowing stuff up?
Ein el-Hilweh, Lebanon's biggest refugee camp, is home to more than 60,000 Palestinians. It has been the scene of clashes and other violence between rival groups, including Muslim extremist organizations accused of terrorism. The Lebanese army controls the entrances to the camp but has no presence or authority inside it.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/30/2005 11:01 ||
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General Directorate of Lebanese Security Forces on Wednesday admitted that it handed over the masked witness Hussam Taher Hussam to the international investigation committee into the assassination of Lebanese former Premier Rafik Hariri. The Directorate underlined in a statement that it helped Hussam reach to the Committee to make his testimony, adding that it offered him full protection to make him feel secure.
Meanwhile, Director of the Middle East Department at the Iranian Foreign Ministry Mohammad Ali Sabhani said that the testimony of Hussam has challenged as false the report of Mehlis which had basically depended on Hussamâs testimony to accuse Syria . âHussamâs testimony has complicated the mission of Mehlis⊠he should reconsider his report and expand investigation because this report will be later submitted to the courtâ, Sabhani added in an interview with the Iranian TV.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/30/2005 10:45 ||
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Looks like DEBKA was right yesterday:
Reliable sources said that the International Investigation committee in the assassination of President Rafik Hariri will soon hear the testimonies of the five Syrian officials at the UN office in Vienna.
Sources said that it is likely the hearing will be done next week.
In Vienna, the Austrian Ministry of Interior said that the Syrian officials did not arrive in Vienna so far. Spokesman for the Ministry stated "as far as I know, they did not arrive yet" affirming that the ministry is on high alert against terrorism and refusing to give further details. A French diplomat source yesterday afternoon said that the Syrian delegation is" supposed to be arrived in Vienna".
Meanwhile, the UN and the Syrian embassy in Vienna did not confirm the arrival of the Syrian officials. Spokeswoman for the UN in Vienna made it clear that the "file is branded as top secret and no comment".
DEBKA said 3 out of 5 arrived and were wisked to the UN site under heavy security.
Informed sources in Damascus said that the five Syrian officials did not fly to Vienna yet. Legal procedures have delayed their departure which was due to be last Monday and the questioning was due to be yesterday.
There seems to be some confusion in the Syrian press about if they went, or not:
Assad's brother-in-law excluded from Vienna interrogations
Syrian President Bashar Assad's brother-in-law and Syria's overall intelligence chief Assef Shawkat was not among the five Syrian officials interrogated Tuesday by German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis in Vienna, a source close to the probe into the murder of former Premier Rafik Hariri said:
Before leaving Lebanon for Vienna, Mehlis met with Lebanese Public Prosecutor Saeid Mirza and discussed with him the planned Vienna interrogations. The French Foreign Ministry expressed "satisfaction" on Tuesday for the interrogations of the five Syrian officers, but declined to comment on Monday's news conference held by "runaway Syrian witness Houssam Taher Houssam," saying it is up to Mehlis to take a stand from Houssam's allegations.
Washington had said late monday that it hopes Syria continues its cooperation and that it is up to Mehlis to carry out the path of investigations.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/30/2005 10:36 ||
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BEIRUT - A former security chief detained in the investigation into Rafik Haririâs assassination was rushed to hospital with a heart problem on Wednesday, Lebanese security officials said. Maj. Gen. Raymond Azar, the former chief of Lebanonâs military intelligence, was taken from Roumieh prison to Hotel Dieu hospital in Beirut. After emergency treatment, he was admitted to the intensive care unit, the officials said, speaking on customary condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to journalists.
My my, wotta coincidence. Wonder what was in his coffee besides cream and sugar?
I see "intensive care unit", I think "safe house". Bad things can happen in prison, people slip in the shower and hang themselves all the time.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/30/2005 10:33 ||
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Syria disinformation program continues
Well-informed sources have disclosed that Damascus is preparing to launch a fresh surprise after the "masked witness". The new surprise aims at abolishing the basis of the International Investigation Committee's report as regards the probe into the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Damascus will introduce another witness who surrenders to the Syrian authorities gun to his families head. Meanwhile, Beirut is preparing to ask for the "masked witness" and to study the possibility of forming an international court regarding involved in the crime.
Hours after unveiling the "masked witness" Hussam Taher Hussam ,who accused Lebanese parties over forcing him to give fake testimony to involve Syrian officials in the crime ,official sources in Damascus said that Syria is "hiding surprises "to the IIC surprises will lead to drive the last nail in the coffin of German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis's report.
Or so they hope
Sources said that another secret witness, who was mentioned in Mehlis's report, has yielded to the Syrian authorities. The said witness has given a testimony that could deprive Mehlis of all testimonies whom Mehlis relied on forging his report especially after the cancel of Zuheir Sidiq's testimony who is currently detained in Paris. Sources affirmed that the secret witness, who aged 60 and resides in a city located in the Middle of Syria, has given information where Mehlis described as very important information. In this connection, sources indicated that Syria will cooperate with Mehlis's committee till the end apart of facts recently disclosed.
In the meantime, the Lebanese judicial is studying to submit a request to regain the "masked witness" who was yesterday supposed to be brought before the judge Ilias Eid. On the other hand, Turkish lawyer Othman Karahan said that his Syrian client Louai Sakka, who is detained in Istanbul, was interrogated by American investigators who belong to CIA.
Karahan added that the four investigators tried to convince him to give a false testimony against the suspected Syrian officials in the killing of Hariri. But when he refused they threatened to kill him.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/30/2005 10:17 ||
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My sources tell me that the "masked witness" will testify that he had coffee with Hariri last week.
Too good for opinion page. Duck and cover:
Janeane Garofalo, left-wing actress-turned-Air America radio host, is a miserable woman. Last week before the holidays, she turned up on cable TV. No, not to count her blessings but to rant against conservative journalist Bob Novak, author Ann Coulter, and the Fox News Channel. She didn't have anything better to do for Thanksgiving?
Accessorized by a permanent scowl (hard to believe she was once considered a comedienne), Ms. Garofalo accused conservatives of having "an anger management problem. Without a trace of irony, the frowning Garofalo griped about "right-wing partisan hacks who are always on the verge of punching somebody or always behave as if they've just been cut off in traffic."
This, dear readers, is a classic case of liberal projection. Like CNN executive Jonathan Klein, who derided Fox's audience as full of "angry white men, and those men tend to be rabid," and liberal comedian Bill Maher, who also railed that "Republicans need anger management" and are possessed with a "vein-popping, gut-churning rage that consumes the entire right wing," Ms. Garafolo crossly blames the Right while denying the pathological wrath and fury that characterize the unhinged Left.
Who are you calling angry, Ms. Garofalo? You want political road rage? Let's start with Al. Take your pick: Sharpton. Gore. Franken. Yearrghh!
Now, open your eyes:
It isn't out-of-control conservatives tossing Molotov cocktails at police officers in San Francisco, burning American soldiers in effigy, and smearing pig's blood and feces on the walls and windows of military recruitment centers across the country to protest on behalf of peace.
It isn't rage-blinded conservative professors who embrace fragging (the murder of American soldiers by their fellow soldiers on the battlefield) as a legitimate anti-war tactic.
It isn't vengeful conservatives torching SUVs, condo developments, and research facilities, and targeting biotech and pharmaceutical company employees and their families to protest on behalf of the environment.
It wasn't mad conservatives sporting "F*** Bush" license plates, punching cardboard cutouts of the president, and vowing to secede after losing the 2004 presidential election.
It wasn't rabid conservatives who gloated over Ronald Reagan's death or John Ashcroft's pancreatitis.
It wasn't a gut-busting conservative journalist who vowed to kill herself if Dick Cheney ran for president. (That would be the perpetually agrrieved Helen Thomas.)
It wasn't hate-filled Republican officials who reportedly screamed "faggot" and "fruitcake" and "I'll break your nose" at their political opponents. (Those were all Democrats: Pennsylvania state legislator Vincent Fumo, California Rep. Pete Stark, and Virginia Rep. Jim Moran, respectively.)
It isn't fanatical conservatives joking about the assassination of President Bush and the execution of his Republican aides. (That, Ms. Garofalo, would include your Air America colleagues. But I'll forgive you if you weren't tuned in to them. Few are.)
And it wasn't ruthless conservatives who cheered last week when a liberal Bush-hater wrote on the popular Democratic Underground.com website last week:
I am an American, Born and Raised, but I am NOT a citizen of BUSH'S America. I want nothing to do with the country these people have created.
And for those who support them, Let's get Something Nice And Sparkling CLEAR: Stay The [F***] Away From Me. Stay OUT of my personal space. I want NOTHING from you. I want NOTHING to do with you. I want NOTHING to do with your "vision" of what the world should be.
What DO I want from you?
Honestly?
I will freely admit there are days, and they are becoming more than not, that the Alien at Area 51 in Independence Day and I share quite a common ground on the answer to that question.
And I am NOT apologizing for it.
In the words of the Late, Great Bill Hicks, about the most conciliatory thing I can say for those people at this point is simply this:
Kill Yourself
My Christmas wish for Ms. Garofalo and her ilk: a mirror and a clue to make the yuletide bright. In the meantime, when vein-popping liberals start seething about the rage of the Right, the wisest action for peaceful right-wingers I can recommend is this:
Duck.
Best,
MM
Posted by: Steve ||
11/30/2005 15:40 ||
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Oh god, high school flashback! The pretty girls are making fun of Janeane again!
#4
I remember when the movie Falling Down (1993) came out. Michael Douglas portrayed a right-wing conservative "going postal". Rush Limbaugh, I believe, pointed out that it's not conservatives who go postal as a rule, but leftists.
No matter where you go in the US, red state or blue, if you hear about somebody who goes on a rampage and violently attacks a lot of people, they are almost invariably have liberal democrat leanings. They are "down on their luck", often out of work for an extended period, socially miserable with rotten family lives, suffer from many psychological complexes such as feelings of persecution and paranoia. They do not smile, their grins are forced; and they do not really laugh, because everything in their lives is miserably serious to them.
Leftists can be easily divided between those that can live with the world and those who are in purse-lipped agony about normal life. Much like the character Pap Finn (Huck's father), they never had $50 in their pocket and knew that anybody who did got it by stealing it from somebody like him.
Even back then, they were called Jacksonian democrats. But it was not a uniquely southern phenomenon. In the northeast, the old Calvinist attitudes still shine through: feelings of elitism and contempt for "lesser men", yet craving their adoration; the conviction that wealth is conveyed by unfair good luck ("life's lottery"); that man should have equality forced on him, not just equality of opportunity (excepting the elites, who get more).
Idealistic Pessimism. This is the blue state disease. Just the opposite to the red state attitude of Realistic Optimism. It is why blue stater liberals are so bitter. Politics isn't an important sidelight in their lives, they expect government to do things for them. Unless "their side" wins, they face years more of bitterness and denial. Not just as a group, but personally. Camelot must come, the New Jerusalem must be reborn, where perfection will be obtained.
Remember the famous tale from the Clinton inaguration grandstand? An over-flight of military aircraft was greeted with sneers and curses by one prominent leftist, until another one corrected him: "No, no. Those are *our* aircraft, now."
Such unhappy people. May they remain so for a very long time, for they find happiness only in the misery of others.
#9
She's right on the money. Democrats have become the "party of hate". I wish it wasn't true because I'm not totally thrilled with the republicans. Sadly, the democrats offer no alternative other than bashing.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/30/2005 19:39 Comments ||
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MM forgot the assult by the Dem's union thugs upon a Florida Republican office during the election or the criminal vandalism [gawd, sack Rome once and everyone uses your name for destruction ever after] of the 'get out the vote' vehicles in Wisconson. Yep, projection is certainly the Dem's game.
#12
MM forgot the assult by the Dem's union thugs upon a Florida Republican office during the election
As I recall, it was actually multiple campaign offices in multiple states, all on the same day. Had there existed a federal prosecutor with balls, I bet they could have RICO'd the AFL-CIO for that little stunt.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
11/30/2005 21:58 Comments ||
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The MySQL databased crashed on us yesterday at around 5 pm. I wasn't able to fix it remotely â couldn't get into the blasted thing. The box spent the evening in my office, while I chased down bad indexes, deleted all the spam from the comments table, and generally fiddled it a half dozen other ways. I put a filter in that'll hopefully keep the spammers out, at least for awhile, and I cleaned up a little bit of SQL on the main page. It now runs lightnin' fast as a stand-alone, but I've no idea what it's going to be like when I put it under load tomorrow. I'm hoping it'll perform the same.
My apologies to all.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/30/2005 00:08 ||
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#1
Whew. That was scary.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
11/30/2005 9:24 Comments ||
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#2
you're back up. Woo Hoo! I missed my news fix and had to satisfy it by surfing multiple other sites. Rantburg is the best by far. Thanks Fred!
#14
I had to turn to other sources for news. Did you know Iraq is a QUAGMIRE! BUSH APPROVAL NUMBERS NEGATIVE!?
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/30/2005 10:40 Comments ||
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#15
Try going around to other sites and getting relevant news. Rantburg is definitely the full meal deal, hands down! Your dedication to the site, Fred, is much appreciated and not taken for granted.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/30/2005 10:48 Comments ||
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#18
I kinda knew you were working on things, and that these sorts of things happen, Fred. Thanks again for all your hard work, and when my budget lightens somewhat next year, I'll hit the tip jar.
#28
Does this mean I'll have to hit the tip jar? That PC on the pic doesn't seem very user-friendly to me. For now, I'll just hit the blog ads, I'm broke until I'm paid in a couple of days (curse my under-achiever, low-ambition, not goal-driven lifestyle!!!), I've only money left to buy unnecessary and uneeded stuff on the internet (and RB is both NECESSARY and NEEDED, dammit!).
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.
convinces them to blow themselves up in the name of Islam. 
2 terrorists killed in ''crossfire''
The police in Bangladesh have detained 22 suspected Islamist militants in connection with the bomb blasts on Tuesday which killed nine people and injured 65. The father and two brothers of 
Police raided 10 premises in Brussels overnight in a suspected link to reports on Tuesday that a Belgian woman recently carried out a suicide bomb attack in Iraq. The woman is thought to have carried out the bomb attack on 9 November near the Iraqi capital of Baghdad. About five or six people were possibly killed in the attack, news agency Belga reported. And according to an RTL France report, the suicide bomber was a young Belgian woman from Brussels who converted to Islam after marrying a radical Islamic man of Moroccan ancestry. The man is now also reportedly dead. Police have kept the woman's family under surveillance for some time and raided 10 homes on Tuesday night. The raids were reportedly co-ordinated at a federal level.
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 
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thanks, please be seated. Please be seated. Thanks for the warm welcome. It's good to be back at the Naval Academy. I'm pleased to provide a convenient excuse for you to miss class. (Applause.) ...
The bomb attacks in Taba and Sharm el-Sheik in Egypt and in Amman, Jordan, al-Qaeda boosted by its new cell in the Gaza Strip may make its next target Tel Aviv, an Italian weekly newsmagazine reports. This week's edition of News Settimanale, which will be available at newstands in Italy on Thursday, carries a report on a fledgling al-Qaeda cell allegedly formed in Gaza in the aftermath of the Israeli withdrawal from the territory in September. 
BEIRUT - A former security chief detained in the investigation into Rafik Haririâs assassination was rushed to hospital with a heart problem on Wednesday, Lebanese security officials said. Maj. Gen. Raymond Azar, the former chief of Lebanonâs military intelligence, was taken from Roumieh prison to Hotel Dieu hospital in Beirut. After emergency treatment, he was admitted to the intensive care unit, the officials said, speaking on customary condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to journalists.
The MySQL databased crashed on us yesterday at around 5 pm. I wasn't able to fix it remotely â couldn't get into the blasted thing. The box spent the evening in my office, while I chased down bad indexes, deleted all the spam from the comments table, and generally fiddled it a half dozen other ways. I put a filter in that'll hopefully keep the spammers out, at least for awhile, and I cleaned up a little bit of SQL on the main page. It now runs lightnin' fast as a stand-alone, but I've no idea what it's going to be like when I put it under load tomorrow. I'm hoping it'll perform the same.
