At least two people were killed and eight others injured in two separate suicide attacks on Friday in eastern Afghanistan, officials said, while European Union leaders ruled out sending more troops to the insurgency-ridden country.
A suicide attacker rammed a bomb-laden car into an Afghan and NATO-led convoy in Gardez, the provincial capital of Paktia, killing an Afghan soldier and a civilian, provincial police chief Abdul Hanan Raufi told AFP. Five other people including a NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) soldier were injured in the blast, he said.
ISAF officials confirmed the attack but were not immediately able to comment on casualties. Purported Taliban spokesman Mohammad Hanif telephoned AFP from Quetta an undisclosed location to claim responsibility for the Paktia attack, adding that the bomber was an Afghan national from neighbouring Khost province. His claims could not be confirmed independently.
The blast was followed by another suicide bombing, carried out by a cross-dresser man dressed in a burqa, in a remote border town in neighbouring Paktika province, which injured two Afghan soldiers and a civilian bystander, Paktika governor Mohammad Akram Khpolwak said. The Talibans Hanif was not aware of the second blast.
Meanwhile European Union leaders meeting in Brussels on Friday ruled out sending more troops to the country, while focusing on plans to help Afghanistan move forward in health, justice and policing sectors. Security and development in Afghanistan are mutually dependent, they said in a joint statement, adding that the bloc wanted to ensure development help reached all parts of the impoverished country.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said: We have to realise that military means alone are not sufficient to stabilise the situation in Afghanistan. Separately, hundreds of British, Estonian and Danish troops, backed by scores of armoured vehicles, moved from Helmand province to Kandahar in an overnight operation.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/16/2006 00:00 ||
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KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) - Troops from Chad entered Sudan's Darfur region in pursuit of Chadian rebels Friday as the U.N. and humanitarian aid groups prepared to pull some workers out of a key border town, fearing an imminent battle.
Sudanese army and police barricaded the town of El Geneina, near the border, to prevent any attack by Chadian forces, a U.N. official said. "Close the gates! Lift the drawbridge! Batten the hatches!"
There were concerns janjaweed militia were moving toward the town to reinforce Sudanese government troops. How do you tell them apart?
The Chadian military fought Chadian rebels in Darfur's Tendelti area, about 12 miles northwest of El Geneina, the U.N. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.
Chad confirmed that it had sent troops into Sudan. "Government forces have used their right of pursuit to cross the border into Sudan," the Chadian government said in a statement.
Chad's Communications Minister Hourmadji Moussa Doumgor met with Sudan's ambassador Friday and demanded Khartoum hand over the rebels. But Doumgor said that Chad's incursion was not an act of war against Sudan. "Chad has not declared war to Sudan and has no intention of doing so," the government statement quoted Doumgor as saying.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/16/2006 00:00 ||
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GUANTÁNAMO BAY, Cuba, Dec. 10 As the first detainees began moving last week into Guantánamos modern, new detention facility, Camp 6, the military guard commander stood beneath the high, concrete walls of the compound, looking out on a fenced-in athletic yard.
The yard, where the detainees were to have played soccer and other sports, had been part of a plan to ease the conditions under which more than 400 men are imprisoned here, nearly all of them without having been charged. But that plan has changed. At this point, I just dont see using that, the guard commander, Col. Wade F. Dennis, said.
After two years in which the military sought to manage terrorism suspects at Guantánamo with incentives for good behavior, steady improvements in their living conditions and even dialogue with prison leaders, the authorities here have clamped down decisively in recent months.
Continued on Page 49
#2
Good. Now make sure that the prisioners are not able to talk to each other through the wire fencing by leaving too much space between occupied "Yards", or staggering exercise periods, or both.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/16/2006 8:15 Comments ||
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#3
NYT handwringing. Let them take a cup of feces, urine and semen in the face....
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/16/2006 8:23 Comments ||
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#5
Officials said the shift reflected the militarys analysis after a series of hunger strikes, a riot last May and three suicides by detainees in June that earlier efforts to ease restrictions on the detainees had gone too far.
Sow, reap! Cause and effect feedback loops are a wonderful thing when they function properly.
#8
I assume everyone knows that the Marine on the left is JerseyMikes little bruder. Definitely someone I want on my side in any sort of tense social situation.
#9
Red-flag: the military wouldn't be doing that unless they either have reason to suspect or already know that the new policies that the President is due to announce in early January, involve opening multiple cans of kick-ass.
Again, investigative detentions - similar to what is allowed on US soil under the "Terry" decision of the Supreme Court - will produce intelligence necessary to eliminate terror cells in Baghdad first, then elsewhere. Good intelligence, achieved with the assistance of Iraqis, will enable pre-emption of terrorism. As it is, Iraqization is a distant dream unless local troops have reason to believe that terrorists fear them.
#10
Clarification of #9: the process I propose involves snatching a couple of hundred Iraqis off the street, taking them to a detention center, and assuming that carrot and stick tactics will cause at least a few to inform on terror masters. Everybody knows something. Anyone can be squeezed.
#11
Thank God for Adm. Harris. Some common sense finally comes to the fore. Only one thing to change. If the bastards refuse to eat, let them expire. Just dispose quietly at sea. No mention of it anywhere.
#12
son of a whore fag redneck, people like you we THE AMERICAN PEOPLE call scum and there is not place in this country to shit like you. poster of this racist scum rantburg crap yor site will be reported
Posted by: The Mossad ||
12/16/2006 14:35 Comments ||
Top||
#14
#12 - Redneck Trasher
Gee, , is it just me or does the composition of the opening sentence tell all it needs to say about the ethnic origins of your thought patterns? I'm from the South by birth, and you just don't sound like any bubba or joe 6-pack I know.
If the story and comments offend you........ get used to it! Your ability to sneack under the radar in our society and your abuse of our tolerance is about over faisal, warm up your direct connect line to CAIR, 'cause America is fast becoming an unfriendly place for ya!
#18
What this change in policy also reflects is the legislation passed by Congress and used by a Clinton district court judge to dismiss a case brought by Gitmo detainees because they do not have standing in U. S. courts. I'd expect that every case they lose will result in another tightening of the screws. Ironically, this is one of the areas where the donks (aka Hillary) could tighten up the GWOT ROE because the trunks would not side with the Terrs for partisan advantage the way the donks do.
#23
Give Abdul a break. He just out of Gitmo, strapped on the fan belts real tight and decided to for a drive on the internet. Can't expect a muzzie playa to type coherent sentences after 5 years of regularly drinking his own piss and semen (otherwise known as an Arab martini).
Posted by: ed ||
12/16/2006 17:33 Comments ||
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#24
I live in a small very southern town and most people I talk to couldnt give a rats ass about people in G-Bay by the Sea. In fact, most seem to feel that its a waste of our money and that 9 grams of lead is a more cost effective way of dealing with Islamic whack jobs.
But what do we know were just dumb redneck infidels. Who don't like to be told what to and how to act.
#26
"most seem to feel that its a waste of our money and that 9 grams of lead is a more cost effective way of dealing with Islamic whack jobs."
Yip-per. Funny you mention it, the law of war permits it. (I mean real, actual, binding law, not the candyland agitprop the UN/NGOs/EU/MSM/etc. are always whining about.) Two categories of persons are explicitly not protected: spies and terrorists. Nation of origin doesn't have to claim them, and nation of capture doesn't have to say what they do with em.
Maybe one of these days, we'll quit worrying about whether these little princesses can feel the pea under the mattress, and stick to only the bare minimum obligations.
Maybe one of these days, we won't be able to afford much more than that.
#28
ridniktrshr: It's nice when ur allowed to communicate with the world isn't it? I suggest you learn English before you try it again. In the meantime just howl continuously as the carers are busy so busy almost constantly busy with, ahem your type! and its so annoying when the limbs you cant control cause you to thrash out of your cradle.
#33
tw, automotive components that are powered from the engine's crankshaft usually are connected by tensioned belts, often called "fan belts". When stringing these belts between the various pulleys (i.e., A/C, alternator, water pump, etc.), it is critical to leave a small amount of slack to account for thermal expansion and to prevent off-axis torsion of the bearings that support the axles of those pullies. Over-tightening the belts will actually load those bearings causing excessive friction and premature failure.
This slang is probably akin to our usual round of "over-torqued turbans" and such.
#34
I dont think there is such a thing as a medium-security terrorist.
It's almost as if Admiral Harris reads the 'burg. I'd have loved to have seen the MSM's faces when he said that 'un. Borderline snark of the day for me.
IP shows up as L.A.. I think that it's our San Jose troll, tho.
Jeebus, Pappy...I immediately thought you meant the "redneck" L.A. (Lower Alabama). But, then I saw your thought on San Jose and all's well. I was'a wonderin' how that troll would survive in Lower Alabama, lol!
Posted by: BA ||
12/16/2006 21:46 Comments ||
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Karamatullah Awan, deputy chief of jihadi organisation Hizbul Mujahideen, has returned home after being detained for six months by security officials. Daily Times contacted Awan for a comment, but he refused to disclose the identity of his captors and how he had been treated during his detention. He said that he had been released a few days ago, but stopped short of giving the exact date. Contact the Jamaat-e-Islami provincial chief if you want more details on the issue, said Awan.
The Hizbul Mujahideen deputy leader and two others had been taken into custody from Dalazak Road six months ago, but his companions were freed after four months. Hizbul Mujahideen is one of the most active militant organisations fighting against Indian rule in Jammu and Kashmir.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/16/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
That damn door must have been stuck. He should have rolled outta there 3 months ago.
Pakistan's complicity in the 7/11 terror strikes, a matter of huge public debate, is bared in the confessional statements of the 11 men who are suspected of having carried out the attacks. All the statements have since been retracted, but under MCOCA, a special anti-terror law, they are admissible as evidence in court.
The confessions tell a story of a conspiracy planned and executed at the behest of Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI. They have been submitted this week in a special court ahead of the trial.
TOI has in its possession all the confessional statements. As in any such complex operation, the planning to carry out serial blasts on Mumbai's local trains took place at various levels, with the imprint of the ISI writ large at every stage.
There were many players, including officers of Pakistan's intelligence establishment who provided technical support, camps run by terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir, and jobless youth from India who actually carried out the attacks.
What comes through from the confessions is that Pakistani nationals took active part in the execution of the attacks and left Mumbai only after bombs on seven local trains had exploded.
(In the weeks that followed the blasts, TOI carried detailed reports on how the plot was hatched and profiled the men who executed it. But this is the first time that the confessions of the accused have been accessed.)
Posted by: Fred ||
12/16/2006 00:00 ||
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#2
US and NATO forces from the west, Indian forces from the east, and at least three batallions of Marines backed up by two carrier battle groups from the south. LOTS of "shock and awe" as the cities of Pakiwackiland dissolve into chaos and small pieces. It would put an end to a LOT of the world's miseries. After the war is over, partition what used to be Pakistan between the victors, and never let its ugly head rise again. As a prize for a successful campaign, India can also have bangladesh - complete with the RAB.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/16/2006 14:11 Comments ||
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#3
Pakistan has got a lot of 'splaining to do. It's gonna by downright ugly when it finally comes time to pay the piper. I agree with OP that Pakistan needs to be dismembered as an example of what happens to countries that actively promote terrorism. The same should go for Iran as well.
An Iraqi court sentenced a Libyan member of al-Qaida in Iraq to death after he admitted taking part in eight attacks on U.S.-led coalition forces and Iraqi targets, the U.S. military said Saturday. The Central Criminal Court found the man guilty of terrorism and sentenced him to the death penalty on Dec. 6, the military said in a statement. The unidentified Libyan, who was captured during a raid, took part in attacks in which small arms, rocket-propelled grenades and missiles were used. Executions in Iraq are by hanging.
The court sentenced 15 other security detainees, mostly Iraqis, in the first week of December for weapons violations, illegal border crossing and other crimes. Three received prison sentences of 20 years. Two of the insurgents were from Saudia Arabia, and two were from Syria, the U.S. military said.
#1
I wish the Iraqis would start sending a lot more of these swine to the gibbet. They could profitably have 10 hangings a day for a year, and it would do marvels to re-establish order.
Iraq's beleaguered coalition government was to launch another attempt to draw the shattered country's warring factions into a peace process, with the launch of broad-based talks. Preparations for the national reconciliation conference have been low-key and secretive, but Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's coalition government hopes it will halt Iraq's seemingly inexorable slide into fratricidal bloodshed.
According to Iraqi officials, one of the key planks of the effort will be the possible inclusion of former members of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein's disbanded Baath Party, some of whom may be allowed to return to public life. This will raise hackles among hardline Shiite militants, whose majority community was persecuted by Saddam's Sunni-led regime, but is seen by many observers as a key first step in calming the violent insurgency.
There is a growing consensus that more junior party members not proven to have supported Saddam-era atrocities or the post-invasion rebellion should be allowed into the political process as a gesture of reconciliation. Nasser al-Ani, a Sunni lawmaker and the official spokesman of the conference, confirmed that Baathists living abroad were among those invited. On Thursday, Maliki's spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh confirmed that the talks would be open to all comers, without specifically mentioning Baathists.
Abbas al-Bayati, a member of Iraq's dominant Shiite parliamentary bloc, went further, adding that many Baathists might be allowed to return to their former positions in government, universities and state-run companies.
There has been no discussion of removing Iraq's constitutional ban on the Baath Party as a political entity, but individual former members may be allowed back into a civil service starved of their administrative experience.
Officials said the conference will begin at around 10:00 am (0700 GMT) on Saturday and involve around 300 delegates from various political factions.
"We suppose you realize: This means war!"
A senior Hamas official has accused the Palestinian president and leader of Fatah of starting a war after his security forces opened fire on a Hamas rally in the West Bank and firefights broke out in Gaza. At least 32 Hamas supporters in Ramallah were wounded by gunfire from Mahmoud Abbas's forces on Friday, hospital officials said. Several were in critical condition.
As the fighting started in the West Bank, Hamas and Fatah forces in Gaza started exchanging fire on the streets. Outside Ramallah's main mosque, Hamas supporters taunted Abbas's security forces, saying: "You look like Israeli soldiers. You are spies."
Dressed in riot gear, the Fatah-dominated forces used clubs and rifle-butts to beat back the Hamas demonstrators before shooting broke out. The mosque was damaged.
Meanwhile, Khalil al-Hayya, the head of Hamas's faction in parliament, told 100,000 of the movement's supporters in Gaza City: "What a war Mahmoud Abbas you are launching, first against God, and then against Hamas."
Ismail Haniya, the prime minister and leader of Hamas, was more conciliatory at the rally, appealing for "national unity", but stopping short of explicitly calling for calm as he had during previous spikes in internal fighting.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/16/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
At least 32 Hamas supporters in Ramallah were wounded by gunfire
#2
At least 32 Hamas supporters in Ramallah were wounded by gunfire from Mahmoud Abbas's forces on Friday, hospital officials said. Several were in critical condition
#3
Will the UN sit idly by and let the fighting rage or will French troops with blue helmets under a UN flag step in? These people might have finally screwed up so badly that nobody will even try to keep them from killing each other.
#4
If this open warfare continues, the French will capture the nearest underground Hamas bunkers to ride out the storm. When above ground microphones indicate all firing has ceased for 3 consecutive days, they will resurface. Their real problem will be keeping all the other UN groups from over running them and crowding them out.
#5
On the dinosaur media, I keep hearing about how the Palestinian thug on Palestinian thug violence is bad for Israel. Bad for Israel? The Dinosaur Media, gotta love 'em.
#6
On the dinosaur media, I keep hearing about how the Palestinian thug on Palestinian thug violence is bad for Israel. Bad for Israel? The Dinosaur Media, gotta love 'em.
"More clashes? Oh, Mahmoud! All is lost!"
"There, there, Ahmed! Don't despair!"
Posted by: Fred ||
12/16/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Israeli "occupation" = the best thing that ever happened to the "Palestinians". I bet there's not one of them that wouldn't give their left nut to have the Zionists back in charge, but of course they'll be damned if they'll admit it.
#2
Heaven forbid they should have to sit down and shut up and behave like humans. I don't know what it is, but they seem to have some sick need to claim they have beaten Israel into submission before they behave like civilized human beings rather than just do it. Must be the guys running around with guns with no identity that could be their neighbor for all they know.
#5
If your govt is taken over by Islamist Terrorists, who refuse to consider peace with your neighbor, isnt fighting them the civilized human thing to do?
In a war of crazy terrorists vs corrupt thugs, isnt it obvious that being a corrupt thug is, at some level still being part of civilized humanity? Its not like civilization hasnt been filled by, and sometimes run by, corrupt thugs for the last few thousand years.
#6
Of course we're giving $ to Fatah. Rice wants Fatah to frigging WIN. And I wonder if Olmerts speech offering concessions wasnt timed for this, to add to Abbas' popularity and street support.
As Palestinian street clashes spread Friday from Gaza to Ramallah, Hamas accused loyalists of President Mahmoud Abbas of trying to assassinate Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh during a chaotic shootout Thursday at a border crossing with Egypt. The charge raised factional tensions to a boiling point as Abbas prepared to deliver a speech Saturday outlining his next steps to resolve a political deadlock that has triggered spiraling violence and fueled fears of civil war.
With a power struggle between Hamas and Abbas' Fatah movement unresolved, both sides appeared to be entrenching themselves in positions that suggested little room for compromise. Hamas, which controls the Palestinian government, accused Fatah of an attempted coup, and Fatah charged that Hamas is fanning the flames of internal strife to cover up its failure in governing the Palestinians.
Talks between the two sides on forming a governing coalition that could help lift international sanctions on the Hamas-led government have collapsed, and Abbas has suggested that he might call new elections, a move that could further inflame the confrontation. The worsening crisis has also caused concern in Israel, as well as Egypt and Jordan, where radical Muslim groups have challenged the government.
On Friday, Hamas said that Mohammed Dahlan, a Fatah strongman in Gaza, orchestrated an attack by members of Abbas' presidential guard on Haniyeh's entourage, which came under fire at the Rafah border crossing after the prime minister crossed into the Gaza Strip late Thursday. One of Haniyeh's bodyguards was killed, and his son and a political adviser were wounded.
Haniyeh had been stranded for hours on the Egyptian side of the border after Israel barred his entry with some $35 million in cash raised during a trip abroad. Hamas gunmen angered by the delay had stormed the border terminal, setting off clashes with Abbas' forces, who guard the facility. Although it was unclear who fired the shots that hit the prime minister's convoy, Hamas pointed a finger at Dahlan, effectively marking him as a target for revenge. "This was a cowardly assassination attempt at the hands of a group led by Mohammed Dahlan, who plotted and executed this disgraceful attempt," Hamas spokesman Ismail Radwan said at a news conference in Gaza. "The filthy hands who attacked this convoy will not go unpunished. We know them very well."
Khalil al-Hayeh, the head of the Hamas faction in parliament, told mourners at the funeral of Haniyeh's bodyguard that Dahlan was trying to overthrow the government, and he urged the crowd "to get us the plotters of this coup."
Dahlan dismissed the accusation, calling it an attempt by Hamas leaders "to mask their sweeping failure to manage Palestinian political and social life."
Saeb Erekat, a senior aide to Abbas, said at a news conference in Ramallah that Hamas was to blame for the mayhem at the border crossing. "We hold Hamas fully responsible for the chaos that happened yesterday at the border. As for the threat against my colleague Mohammed Dahlan, Hamas as a movement will bear full responsibility for the consequences of their accusation."
Haniyeh, surrounded by a phalanx of armed bodyguards, received a tumultuous welcome from tens of thousands of supporters at a rally in a stadium in Gaza City marking the 19th anniversary of the founding of Hamas. In a fiery speech, he said Hamas could not be defeated through assassinations. "We joined the movement to become martyrs, not ministers," he declared.
The prospect that a high-profile killing could send the factional conflict spinning out of control has caused concern in Israel, as well as Egypt and Jordan, where there has been talk of bolstering Abbas with additional arms and with troops from a Palestinian military unit based in Jordan.
Politically, Abbas faces limited choices in resolving the stalemate with Hamas. He is expected to raise the possibility of new elections in his speech Saturday, although it is far from clear that he has the authority to call them. Analysts say that the Palestinian Basic Law, which serves as a constitution, does not grant the president the authority to dissolve the legislature. However, aides to Abbas say he could invoke his authority as leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization, or call a referendum on whether to hold new elections.
Hamas has called a new vote illegal and a coup attempt, and an imposed election would almost certainly trigger even further unrest. The violence spread to Ramallah on Thursday, where Palestinian police loyal to Abbas used clubs and gunfire to break up a march toward the town center by hundreds of Hamas supporters. The police, including officers in riot gear, blocked off the area around a mosque where the Hamas backers emerged after midday prayers and then beat back the crowd with clubs, firing rifles in the air. The marchers responded with a hail of stones and bottles, and some officers fired toward the crowd. Hospitals reported 10 people treated for gunshot wounds and 41 more with lighter injuries.
In Gaza City, masked Hamas militants who joined a Hamas-led security force on the streets traded gunfire with Fatah-allied police near a security post, sending civilians running for cover. There were no reports of casualties.
In previous surges of factional fighting, leaders of Fatah and Hamas have stepped back from the brink of all-out conflict, reaching understandings to calm fighting in the streets. But this time positions seem to be hardening. "Both sides are digging in," said Iyad Abu Sbeih, 24, who witnessed the clash near the Ramallah mosque. "They will not reach an agreement."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/16/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
"Both sides are digging in," said Iyad Abu Sbeih, 24, who witnessed the clash near the Ramallah mosque. "They will not reach an agreement."
#10
"Mohammed Dahlan, a Fatah strongman in Gaza, orchestrated an attack by members of Abbas' presidential guard on Haniyeh's entourage, "
remember, it was Mo Dahlan that Abbas wanted to appont Interior Minister, provoking the crisis between Abbas and Arafat back in 2003. War with Hamas is something Dahlan has been planning for some time.
#7
Didn't Miss Gabor start out as a dancer? That lovely thing she's wearing was designed for that pose -- I wouldn't want to try to walk in it, it's too ornate (in my opinion) for a cocktail party, and not long enough for an evening gown.
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.
At least two people were killed and eight others injured in two separate suicide attacks on Friday in eastern Afghanistan, officials said, while European Union leaders ruled out sending more troops to the insurgency-ridden country. 
KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) - Troops from Chad entered Sudan's Darfur region in pursuit of Chadian rebels Friday as the U.N. and humanitarian aid groups prepared to pull some workers out of a key border town, fearing an imminent battle.
GUANTÁNAMO BAY, Cuba, Dec. 10 As the first detainees began moving last week into Guantánamos modern, new detention facility, Camp 6, the military guard commander stood beneath the high, concrete walls of the compound, looking out on a fenced-in athletic yard.
Karamatullah Awan, deputy chief of jihadi organisation Hizbul Mujahideen, has returned home after being detained for six months by security officials. Daily Times contacted Awan for a comment, but he refused to disclose the identity of his captors and how he had been treated during his detention. He said that he had been released a few days ago, but stopped short of giving the exact date. Contact the Jamaat-e-Islami provincial chief if you want more details on the issue, said Awan. 
Pakistan's complicity in the 7/11 terror strikes, a matter of huge public debate, is bared in the confessional statements of the 11 men who are suspected of having carried out the attacks. All the statements have since been retracted, but under MCOCA, a special anti-terror law, they are admissible as evidence in court. 
An Iraqi court sentenced a Libyan member of al-Qaida in Iraq to death after he admitted taking part in eight attacks on U.S.-led coalition forces and Iraqi targets, the U.S. military said Saturday. The Central Criminal Court found the man guilty of terrorism and sentenced him to the death penalty on Dec. 6, the military said in a statement. The unidentified Libyan, who was captured during a raid, took part in attacks in which small arms, rocket-propelled grenades and missiles were used. Executions in Iraq are by hanging.
With a power struggle between Hamas and Abbas' Fatah movement unresolved, both sides appeared to be entrenching themselves in positions that suggested little room for compromise. Hamas, which controls the Palestinian government, accused Fatah of an attempted coup, and Fatah charged that Hamas is fanning the flames of internal strife to cover up its failure in governing the Palestinians.
Haniyeh had been stranded for hours on the Egyptian side of the border after Israel barred his entry with some $35 million in cash raised during a trip abroad. Hamas gunmen angered by the delay had stormed the border terminal, setting off clashes with Abbas' forces, who guard the facility. Although it was unclear who fired the shots that hit the prime minister's convoy, Hamas pointed a finger at Dahlan, effectively marking him as a target for revenge. "This was a cowardly assassination attempt at the hands of a group led by Mohammed Dahlan, who plotted and executed this disgraceful attempt," Hamas spokesman Ismail Radwan said at a news conference in Gaza. "The filthy hands who attacked this convoy will not go unpunished. We know them very well."
Dahlan dismissed the accusation, calling it an attempt by Hamas leaders "to mask their sweeping failure to manage Palestinian political and social life."
Politically, Abbas faces limited choices in resolving the stalemate with Hamas. He is expected to raise the possibility of new elections in his speech Saturday, although it is far from clear that he has the authority to call them. Analysts say that the Palestinian Basic Law, which serves as a constitution, does not grant the president the authority to dissolve the legislature. However, aides to Abbas say he could invoke his authority as leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization, or call a referendum on whether to hold new elections.
Hamas has called a new vote illegal and a coup attempt, and an imposed election would almost certainly trigger even further unrest. The violence spread to Ramallah on Thursday, where Palestinian police loyal to Abbas used clubs and gunfire to break up a march toward the town center by hundreds of Hamas supporters. The police, including officers in riot gear, blocked off the area around a mosque where the Hamas backers emerged after midday prayers and then beat back the crowd with clubs, firing rifles in the air. The marchers responded with a hail of stones and bottles, and some officers fired toward the crowd. Hospitals reported 10 people treated for gunshot wounds and 41 more with lighter injuries.
