NATO air strikes targeting Taliban compounds killed more than 60 Taliban fighters late Monday in the Afghan province of Kandahar, Afghan police officials say. The aerial campaign was reportedly followed early Tuesday by ground troops entering several villages thought to be occupied by Taliban.
Additional:Afghanistan's Defense Ministry said 11 Taliban were killed in the Zhari district of Kandahar province early Tuesday, though the provincial police chief said more than 60 suspected insurgents died, including three regional commanders. The airstrikes were carried out at 3 a.m. local time, and many other suspected Taliban were wounded, said Kandahar Police Chief Esmatullah Alizai. He said there were no civilians killed or wounded.
Kandahar police chief Esmatullah Alizai said the air strikes were carried out in the Zhari district, about 30 kilometres east of Kandahar City, and that three well-known regional Taliban commanders were among those killed. However, the number of casualties could not be immediately verified independently. NATO's International Security Assistance Force did not have any immediate details and the U.S.-led coalition has said it was not their operation.
The AFP news service quoted a man claiming to be a Taliban commander in Kandahar and Helmand as saying the NATO air strikes were preceded by a Taliban attack. "Following that attack, NATO helicopters arrived in the area and they bombed the area. A number of Taliban were martyred as a result but I don't have exact figures," said Mullah Mohammad Ibrahim Hanafi.
Been a bad week for the bad guys
On Friday, a joint operation involving British, Afghan troops and U.S. Special Forces killed a top Taliban commander and chief military strategist for the movement. The Taliban has since named Mullah Bakht to succeed his older brother, Mullah Dadullah, the one-legged fighter who died over the weekend in the joint operation. How's that spring offensive going, guys?
This article starring:
Kandahar Police Chief Esmatullah Alizai
MULLAH BAKHT
Taliban
MULLAH DADULLAH
Taliban
MULLAH MOHAMAD IBRAHIM HANAFI
Taliban
Posted by: Steve ||
05/15/2007 07:55 ||
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#1
No fluffy bunnies or baby ducks killed either?
Baby seals?
Adorable puppies?
Duck-billed platypusses?
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/15/2007 8:02 Comments ||
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#2
Call the madrassas, we're gonna need alot more "volunteers".
The Pentagon on Monday released the names of six former Guantanamo detainees who U.S. officials say re-emerged as Islamist fighters in Afghanistan after their release from the U.S. military prison in Cuba.
The Defense Department said three of those released from the prison for suspected militants resurfaced as senior Islamist fighters in Afghanistan while a fourth was later identified as having been a Taliban deputy defense minister.
The Defense Department said three of those released from the prison for suspected militants resurfaced as senior Islamist fighters in Afghanistan while a fourth was later identified as having been a Taliban deputy defense minister.
The six were among 30 former detainees who the Pentagon said have rejoined the fight against U.S. and coalition forces since their release from Guantanamo. All told, about 390 detainees have been released or transferred from the prison. "While we have long maintained that we would like to close Guantanamo, there are a number of highly dangerous men who if released would pose a grave danger to the public," explained Pentagon spokesman, Navy Cmdr. J.D. Gordon.
Pentagon officials said the detainees lied about their past by claiming to be farmers, truck drivers, cooks, small-scale merchants or low-level combatants -- assertions that were sometimes backed up by fellow inmates.
Pentagon officials said the detainees lied about their past by claiming to be farmers, truck drivers, cooks, small-scale merchants or low-level combatants -- assertions that were sometimes backed up by fellow inmates. And swallowed uncritically by a gullible press...
The disclosure comes as the Pentagon prepares a major analysis of classified detainee records that could be used to rebut critics who have called for the prison's closure by saying many of the 775 detainees who have been held at Guantanamo are innocent. Defense officials said the large-scale analysis has been under way for several months and could result in the release of new unclassified information on detainees by early summer.
The Guantanamo prison now has about 385 inmates. Records on 517 current and former detainees show that 95 percent have been members of or associated with al Qaeda or the Taliban and that 73 percent participated in hostilities against U.S. or coalition forces, defense officials said. The analysis is a response to a series of highly critical reports by Seton Hall University law professor Mark Denbeaux, which determined only a small number of Guantanamo detainees had fought against U.S. forces.
Among the six detainees identified on Monday was Mohamed Yusif Yaqub, who the Pentagon said assumed control of Taliban operations in southern Afghanistan after his release from Guantanamo, and died fighting U.S. forces on May 7, 2004.
Abdullah Mahsud was released only to become a militant leader within the Mahsud tribe in southern Waziristan with ties to the Taliban and al Qaeda. He directed the October 2004 kidnapping of two Chinese engineers in Pakistan, the Pentagon said.
Maulavi Abdul Ghaffar became the Taliban's regional commander in Uruzgan and Helmand provinces after his release and was killed in a raid by Afghan security forces on September 25, 2004, the Pentagon said.
Abdul Rahman Noor was released in July 2003 and was later identified as the man described in an October 7, 2001, interview with Al Jazeera television network as the "deputy defense minister of the Taliban," the Pentagon said.
#1
Well, sure, but they were all radicalized in Gitmo by the hideous treatment they got there. I'm sure they wuz all farmers and innocent goat herders before they wuz subjected to the cold cells and Maddonna music.
Eh...gotta be better music to drive Jihadis crazy...
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/15/2007 7:14 Comments ||
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#3
It was a cry for help. If only we'd signed the Kyoto Treaty, this woud never have happened.
/snark
Posted by: Mike ||
05/15/2007 8:49 Comments ||
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#4
Revolving door principle back in action. As ever it will be with Muslims. Our treatment must be a one way trip. Detaining them does little good. Any information from them is just a jumbled pack of lies. Torture them to extract any info possible, then dispose of in a manner which never can be verified.
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - The leader of Afghanistans Taleban militia acknowledged Monday that top military commander Mullah Dadullah had been killed and said the slain rebels brother would succeed him.
"We can't delay the announcement any longer, boys, they got our dear leader wrapped in lavender!"
The Talebans leadership council led by Mullah Mohammad Omar has appointed Dadullahs younger brother, Mullah Bakht Mohammad, to take his place, a spokesman said.
Bakht? Isn't that a Klingon name?
Omar, who has a 10 million US dollar bounty on his head, said there were a thousand fighters ready to avenge the commander, according to a statement read by another Taleban spokesman. This is not going to slow down the Taleban jihad (holy war), spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi told AFP by telephone.
"No, no, certainly not! We got hundreds who can replace Peg Leg!"
Ahmadi said Monday that Omar and the Taleban leadership council offered their condolences to the family of Dadullah, his mujahedin (holy warriors), the Muslims of Afghanistan and the Muslims of the world.
"Sorry 'bout that, lady, but maybe we can retrieve his peg leg for a proper funeral."
At the same time, the Taleban congratulated Afghanistan on his martyrdom, Ahmadi said.
We're pretty pleased ourselves.
There are hundreds and thousands of mujahedin who have fought under Dadullah and there are hundreds and thousands of mujahedin who are able to replace Mullah Dadullah very well.
And we can help you 'go through' them.
Ahmadi said the one-legged commander, who was aged about 40, had fought long and hard before he was finally killed. Mullah Dadullah had resisted and fought for a full day, 24 hours, against NATO and Afghan troops and then he was martyred, the spokesman said.
"Infidels to the left of me! Infidels to the right of me! Infidels in front of me! Infidels behind me!"
"What happened next, Dadullah?"
"Well, I died, of course!"
The first day after his martyrdom they did not know that it was Dadullah. After that they realised.
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a renegade warlord who can't throw a grenade properly leads a separate insurgency against the US-backed government of President Hamid Karzai, also expressed condolences over Dadullahs killing, a spokesman told AFP over the phone from the massage table at Qazi's cabana an undisclosed location.
We've just got to get better at tapping the AFP phones.
The Talebans Ahmadi threatened reprisals if Dadullahs body was not returned. If the government doesnt hand over the body of Mullah Dadullah with respect well be giving the same treatment to the bodies of government troops and members we might capture in future, he said.
Come claim it.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/15/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Mullah Dadullah had resisted and fought for a full day
You can fight the US Army and die or you can run and die tired. Deadullah died tired.
Posted by: ed ||
05/15/2007 0:30 Comments ||
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#2
Iff this is who I think it is, he's more hardline than his brother.
#4
You really do have to stop sometime, take a deep breath, lean back and realize that there is life out there in deepest space and we have been invaded by this extraterrestial life. Because, there is no other explanation. I mean even the stone age people they find in Papua New Guinea and the Amazon basin have more common sense. life culture and social skills than the Tallybunnys.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
05/15/2007 5:55 Comments ||
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#5
Yeah, come and get his body. Being hundreds of his closest friends. Keep the crowd away from the women and children, too.
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/15/2007 7:54 Comments ||
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#6
there are hundreds and thousands of mujahedin who are able to replace Mullah Dadullah very well.
Obviously, the Taliban want to portray themselves as resilient as some super-strain of head lice but that really is a piss poor send off for the one legged bandit. They should take a queue from the spokespeople of sports teams when one of their stars goes down with an injury. Something like; He will be missed and it will be difficult to replace someone of his caliber I mean when it came to beheading Dadullah was the consummate professional. Truly, this guy put the capital A in atrocity. We have some real psychopaths in our farm team so we will be fine but he was the complete package. He had it all blowing up schools, stoning whores, recruiting suicide bombers [sniff sniff] ahhh hell, I promised I wouldnt get all verclempt well miss ya big guy.
#7
Airdrop Mullah Dadullah's body on the next Taliban strategy meeting from 10,000 ft AGL. Or load the abdominal and chest cavity with HE and leave it on one of the Taliban's ant rrails. Let's play some head games with them.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/15/2007 9:47 Comments ||
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#8
They have hundreds and thousands ready to lay down beside him.
Havent we killed thousands of those roaches already?
Where are they all coming from?
Muslims in Egypt this weekend attacked local Christians and set fire to their shops and homes after the Christian community was accused of attempting to build a church. Obviously, they had to be stopped.
The riots broke out Friday in the village of Behma, about 50 miles south of Cairo, reportedly after a Muslim sermon at a nearby village mosque accused the town's Coptic Christian population of planning to construct a church without a permit. The Christians said the sermon was meant to stir violence. Aren't they always?
The Egyptian government heavily restricts the construction or enlargement of churches, requiring permits for any Christian building. But the Apartheid State is Israel.
The riots this weekend reportedly saw Muslim gangs of more than 500 clash with about 200 Christians. True to style. At least 27 Christian-owned houses and shops were damaged by fire, including 10 homes that were completely gutted. Muslims reportedly threw Molotov cocktails at some Christian homes. Sixty-nine Christians were injured, some gravely.
A spokesman for Egypt's interior ministry confirmed around 500 Muslims had gathered in Behma after Friday prayers and that the entrances to three Christian homes had been set on fire.
According to a Muslim reporter who was on the scene for a top Egyptian daily, Egyptian police forces did not immediately step in to stop the violence.
"There was an atmosphere of terror for the Christians of Behma. The police could have intervened early, but they seemed to let the clashes go for some hours before stepping in," said the reporter, who spoke to WND on condition his name be withheld. He said he was banned from filing a report for his newspaper.
Security forces ultimately reportedly arrested 59 Muslims, who were charged with arson and with spreading sectarian strife.
It wasn't immediately clear if the Behma Christian were enlarging or building a church. Christians in the town currently pray from a house that doubles as a worship center.
The Coptic Church, a major Christian community in Egypt, reportedly dates back to the origins of Christianity. Christians were the majority in Egypt until several centuries after the Arab conquest of the seventh century.
Christians now comprise about 10 percent of Egypts 75 million population, but Christians are effectively restricted from senior government, military or educational positions, and any worship services require the permission of the government.
#6
Minarets were invented for the slow invasion of mostly Christian/Coptic Egypt. The moslems could shoot arrows down from the minaret and watch the neighborhoods. If caught they would claim protection of sanctuary. They have been at this crime for a long long long time in Egypt.
#10
These must be the mythical Moderate Muslims; in that they only DAMAGED the houses and shops of many of the Christians. If they had been the full monte version there would be nothing left, 'cept ityy-bitty charcoal piles.....
#12
This kind of sh$$ is why Cairo is on my long, long list of places to be "fumigated". Actually, it's most of Egypt, but Cairo is one place that really, really needs to get the dirty end of a sh$$-stirring stick.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/15/2007 15:34 Comments ||
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#13
You know, it has been going on and off this way there for centuries. So, it does not surprise me.
But what iritates me to no end is the fact that there seems to be an open season on christians even in the West.
#14
Why do we still give billions in aid to Egypt? Isn't it clear that they have made zero progress towards democracy and whatever government they have is so endangered by the Muslim Brotherhood that they will continue to suppress them with or without our support?
#15
Old Patriot, much like my hitlist of less than 30 top terrorists, simply nailing Cairo, Damascus, Tehran, Islamabad and Riyadh would take some 90% of the wind out of global jihad. Continuing Arab atrocities and the total lack of Islamic reform is slowly eroding my opposition to first-use of nuclear weapons in the Middle East.
Al Qaeda's North Africa wing has called on Algerians to boycott Thursday's parliamentary elections, which it condemned as a "farce", according to an audio tape aired by Al Jazeera television on Monday.
"This election is just a farce like the other farces that Algeria faces."
Some observers in Algeria expect the rebels, who claimed responsibility for triple suicide bombings that killed 33 people in Algiers on April 11, to try to disrupt the polling on May 17. "This election is just a farce like the other farces that Algeria faces," said the speaker on the tape identified by Al Jazeera as Abu Musab Abdul-Wadud, a leader of al Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb. "If you participate in these elections, you would be taking part in a great abomination together with apostates," the speaker said. "I ask of you nothing but a boycott and refusal to vote."
"If you participate in these elections, you would be taking part in a great abomination together with apostates."
Al Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb, previously known as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, or GSPC, vowed last week to carry out more suicide bombings and urged Muslims to join its ranks as suicide bombers. The election for the 389-seat assembly has faced apathy among many Algerians who see the body as subservient to the country's powerful executive.
This article starring:
ABU MUSAB ABDUL WADUD
al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb
Al Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb
Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2007 00:00 ||
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An Al-Qaeda front group in Europe threatened on Tuesday to launch bloody attacks in France in response to the election of "crusader and Zionist" Nicolas Sarkozy as president.
I'll bet that comes as news to him.
Makes me wonder if they fired their press release writer much like KCNA did a while back ...
"As you have chosen the crusader and Zionist Sarkozy as a leader ... we in the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades warn you that the coming days will see a bloody jihadist campaign ... in the capital of Sarkozy," the group's "Europe division" said in an Internet statement addressed to the French people. The campaign will be "against all those who allow themselves to follow the policy" of the US administration, said the statement whose authenticity could not verified.
The Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades takes its name from an Al-Qaeda commander killed during the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001. The group previously claimed responsibility for the July 2005 terror attacks in London, as well those in Madrid in March 2004 and in Istanbul in November 2003. Just after the London bombings, the group warned European nations to pull their troops out of Iraq within a month or face more attacks like them.
The Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades don't seem to have had anything to do with London -- those were home-grown, Lashkar-e-Taiba-trained dipsy doodles, working under a Qaeda controller; the Madrid booms were courtesy of the infant Moroccan Islamic Combat Group, not Abu Hafs; and the Istanbooms were courtesy of al-Qaeda working through the Great Eastern Islamic Heroes Front, or whatever they hell grandiose name they call themselves. Abu Hafs al-Masri brigades appear to exist only on the internet, claiming the credit for other people's atrocities.
This article starring:
Nicolas Sarkozy
Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades
Posted by: Steve ||
05/15/2007 13:37 ||
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#4
I do believe the French have it in them to get midieval about this thing if they are pushed hard enough. AQ might want to slow down a bit so they can keep creeping up on the French without waking them up.
#6
Another glowing opportunity for decent French citizens to realize just how worthwhile it has been to expand their Muslim population. When Paris eventually undergoes its own terrorist atrocity, one can only wonder how all the cheering from its banlieues will be received. Perhaps when Parisians see Muslims dancing in the streets and handing out candy they will finally comprehend the need for mass deportations.
#1
The professor sounds like a Jacksonian to me, rather than some kind of Commie sympathizing, Code Pinker.
I'm sure he has written at length about specifically how Bush's Extreme Makeover:Middle East edition is worse for the country than the drip-drip-dripdripdripdrip of Islamist terror against the US and its interests around the world.
The Boston Globe didn't see fit to elaborate, however.
#2
That's why I posted the article, eLarson. This former Lt. Col. (ISTM) has reasoned, measured, and worthwhile arguments rather than the hysteria and fairytales being dished out daily by our Fifth Column. I am deeply sorry for his loss.
As many as five or six U.S. air marshals are now assigned to each U.S.-bound flight from airports in Frankfurt, London and Manchester, England, because of fears terrorists might attempt a coordinated series of mid-air explosions, law enforcement officials tell the Blotter on ABCNews.com.
"We're afraid someone in the back is going to mix something or light something up, so air marshals are being placed strategically through the plane," said one senior law enforcement official with direct knowledge of the stepped-up security.
The stepped-up security on flights out of Britain's Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester airports began about two weeks ago, based on intelligence reports that another al Qaeda hijacking plot was in the making, the officials said. Security on all flights out of Germany was increased about two months ago, based on similar intelligence, the officials said.
U.S. officials said the federal air marshals re-organized coverage of domestic flights and canceled some training classes to have enough marshals for the expanded coverage out of Germany and Britain. A spokesperson for the air marshal program confirmed coverage in Europe had been increased "but not at the expense of protecting U.S. domestic flights."
U.S. officials said Germany law enforcement is providing full coverage of flights by Lufthansa and other German-based carriers flying into the United States. "They are stretched so thin they've had to rely on German military officers to help out," one U.S. official said. "The intelligence was that there are plans to take a plane and crash it in a high-density, high-profile place," one official told ABCNews.com. The official said the timing and identity of the "high-profile place" was not contained in the intelligence reports.
U.S. officials said that an al Qaeda-connected cell in southwest Germany had been under 24-hour surveillance since the beginning of the year after some of its members were detected conducting surveillance on the headquarters of the U.S. European Command at Patch Barracks, near Stuttgart.
Great, let's tell them all about the surveillance while we're at it.
The cell, officials said, is made up of members of the Islamic Jihad Group, a violent terrorist organization based in Uzbekistan. Two members of the cell were spotted outside Patch Barracks late on New Year's Eve, officials said. When questioned, officials said they said "they wanted to see what U.S. soldiers do on New Year's Eve."
"We thump suspected terrorists. Wanna hang around?"
Further surveillance and intelligence reports led to stepped-up security at U.S. military and diplomatic facilities last month in Germany.
#1
WND.com > DADULLAH before his death was allegedly training US, Brit, and likely other Euro hires for suicide attacks agz the USA and Britain. Warned - "WE WILL DESTROY YOUR CITIES AS YOU HAVE DESTROYED OURS [Muslim]".
#2
Somewhat related comment: I received today the promised letter from TSA explaining what they were going to do due to the loss of the hard drive last week (Ima former TSA suitcase dumper). That is not bad response, as I am still waiting for the similiar letter from the VA about their data loss last year.....
#3
I hope like Hell there's some sort of "shift differential" for the Air Marshalls who end up assigned to high risk flights. These poor bastards endure, not just endless jet lag, but continuous consumption of airline food. There are few other greater sacrifices that can be made for our blessed nation and I am obliged to tip my hat to these brave and intestinally weakened fortified heroes for all that they do.
Thank you Mister and Missus Air Marshall. Without you, someone else would have had to have eaten a meal unworthy of rabid mangy wolves.
#5
DRUDGEREPORT [paraphrased] > 2007 article from couple months back > BY THE NUMBERS: BIGGER AND BIGGER GOVT IN AMERICA. SSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHH, Fascists = Communists, Libertarians = Regulators-Govtists in America = Amerika, USA = USSA CANNOT CONFIRM OR DENY THEY ARE WINNING = LOSING THE WOT = NOT ANY WAR FOR ISOLATIONISM = EMPIRE OF THE NATION = WORLD, ............................@
REDIFF.com [INDIA] > CAN AMERICA AVOID GLOBAL EMPIRE [or even WAR FOR EMPIRE?] article.
#8
At least I have the common sense not to spew what I DO know, unlike some "bureaucRats" in DC. We really need a huge shake-up in our government, including the ruling that the AFSCME is illegal, and that all "union" activities on its part is criminal. THEN we need to totally redefine the US Civil Service program, and end a lot of stupid rules.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/15/2007 15:40 Comments ||
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Hamidur Rehman, Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT) central information secretary, said on Monday that police beat protesting IJT students outside Islamia College Civil Lines, injuring more than 10.
He said students from the Punjab University (PU), Islamia College Civil Lines and Government College for Science on Wahdat Road blocked various city roads and shouted slogans against the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Sindh government for being allegedly involved in Saturdays violence in Karachi.
Hamid said police beat students outside Islamia College Civil Lines, injuring more than 10 students. He said police also beat protesting students in Sialkot.
A press release stated that Goraya criticised the police action against the students, calling it an act of state terrorism. He said that soon students would overthrow the dictatorial regime in Pakistan.
He said that on the one hand people were mourning over the loss of precious lives in Karachi while on the other hand the government was celebrating so called successful rallies. Goraya also urged the acting chief justice of Pakistan to ban the MQM.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2007 00:00 ||
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ISLAMABAD: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) on Monday found two dud missiles while digging at two separate locations for the construction of two underpasses at the 9th Avenue. The missiles were said to be leftovers from the Ojhri Camp arsenal. The bomb disposal squad removed the missiles.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2007 00:00 ||
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Lahore police have arrested four members of a banned organisation, the Geo TV reported on Monday. The Sindh government had announced a Rs 300,000 prize against the arrest of each of the arrested person. Karachi police have verified the arrest. The arrested belonged to the Zafar Group, which is linked to Al Qaeda, and were wanted in several cases of terrorism. They recently got trained in Azam Warsak, the channel reported. A police team from Karchi will bring them to Karachi.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2007 00:00 ||
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Three people were injured in a bomb blast in a parked tractor bulldozer near Speen bridge here on Monday, police said. The injured were shifted to hospital. The FC cordoned off the area soon after the blast. In another incident, unidentified people blew up an abandoned house in the Kulli Quom area of Kalat.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2007 00:00 ||
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The arrival of a large paramilitary force and police for a reported crackdown on the outlawed Tehrik Nifaz-e-Shariah Muhammadi (TNSM) raised citizens concerns in Swat district on Monday, officials and witnesses said. Hundreds of police and paramilitary force jawans occupied school buildings, as the authorities negotiated with the organisers of a TNSM rally on May 20 to postpone it.
Law enforcement agencies rounded up dozens of TNSM workers from Swat and Dir districts on Monday following NWFP CM Durranis ordered crackdown. The situation is normal and a jirga will be used to sort out the issue, Swat District Nazim Jamal Nasir told Daily Times. Sources said that police and FC jawans had taken up positions on hilltops in Kabal tehsil and also at Saidu Sharif airport.
The security forces are strengthening their positions for a possible crackdown if talks do not yield any breakthrough, sources said. Police used tear-gas, batons and fired shots in the air to disperse TNSM supporters in Kabal on Monday, eyewitnesses said. The authorities are preparing for real trouble on May 20 when the TNSM plans to stage a rally against the government to demand the release of its founder, Sufi Muhammad, who was jailed in 2002.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2007 00:00 ||
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A curfew was imposed in Tank city on Monday after suspected militants carried out two separate attacks on security forces, killing a paramilitary soldier and civilians, the citys mayor said.
A paramilitary force jawan was killed and another was seriously wounded, while two cops and 10 civilians were injured by hand grenades lobbed by suspected militants on a mobile police van and a check-point, Tank District Nazim Riaz Kundi said. A curfew-like situation has returned to Tank and schools and offices have been closed for an indefinite period, he told Daily Times. The city has already been under night curfew since March 28. The city was placed under curfew on March 28 after hundreds of tribal militants from South Waziristan attacked the city with rockets and RPGs to avenge the killing of their leader.
Kundi said unofficial reports suggested that Uzbek militants driven out from Wazir areas in South Waziristan could have been behind the attacks. He said the suspected militants attacked the police mobile van near Wazirabad at 9.30am killing one FC jawan and wounding another. In the attack on a police picket near Durand Gate, two cops and 10 civilians were injured, but they are not critical, he said, blaming the open border with Afghanistan for the attacks. He said the curfew had been declared for an indefinite period and its removal would be discussed in a meeting on Tuesday (today).
Tank borders South Waziristan where security forces have been fighting foreign militants and their local supporters since late 2002. Militants have tried to use Tank as a base to expand their influence beyond Waziristans borders. The city looks barren as security forces patrol the empty streets, a resident of Tank said. The police made announcements urging people to stay home and close their shops. A day curfew was lifted several weeks after the March 28 attack when an all-tribes jirga won assurance from senior Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud that his group would work for peace in Tank city. Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl provincial vice-president Maulana Hasamuddin said the displaced Uzbeks could be involved in the attack. I suspect their involvement, he told Daily Times. He said the civilians were wounded when police and paramilitary soldiers fired indiscriminately. Law enforcement agencies deny this claim.
A doctor at the citys main hospital said four civilians were also injured in the bombing that caused the FC soldiers death and had been admitted for treatment.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Curfew in Tank
What the Hell? How is this supposed to work? Are the gunner and driver not allowed to move from their positions unless they need to drop a load? This is silly! I'm all for discipline in the military but this has simply gone too far!!!
• Seven killed in further Karachi violence
• Strike also observed in Lahore, Peshawar, Pindi, Quetta
• 10,000 lawyers protest in Lahore
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
What the F**k! Why would Pakistan need 10k lawyers? I thought with Sharia you only needed an imbecile iman and another guy withh a beard to proscecute?
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
05/15/2007 6:02 Comments ||
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#2
At least some people have found protesting against Musharraf to be quite "rewarding".
Check out this short video clip from a recent protest
The man copping a feel is Yousuf Raza Gillani, former Speaker of the Pak National assembly.
His victim is Sherry Rehman, a Pak Parliamentarian.
Posted by: John Frum ||
05/15/2007 6:35 Comments ||
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#3
I think yousouf showed great restraint for a member of the pakistanese Elite; I mean, he could have grapped her fleshy spots with both hands, and clinched on them like his life depended on it, foaming at the mouth and rolling eyes. He was a true gentleman.
As for her, well, obviously, she provoked him, and she must be stoned.
#5
Sen them some of our attorneys. They need more. Send in the ACLU. They will all have that place tied up in no time at all. Nothing will happen for years.
#6
Pakiland is falling apart, I hope SOMEONE has a plan if the govt. falls. I'd hate to see the islamonuts get their hands on operational nukes with launch control centers and the whole nine yards.
#7
Yeah, bigjim, it's hard to tell from this distance but something like this could spin outta control real quick. The responsible thing to do would be to have some kind of contingency plan for securing the nukes.
The Department of Defense announced today the death of three soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died May 12 in Al Taqa, Iraq, of wounds suffered when their patrol was attacked by enemy forces using automatic fire and explosives. They were assigned to the 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y.
Killed were:
Sgt. 1st Class James D. Connell Jr., 40, of Lake City, Tenn.
Pfc. Daniel W. Courneya, 19, of Nashville, Mich.
Pfc. Christopher E. Murphy, 21, of Lynchburg, Va.
The Department of Defense announced today the identities of four soldiers listed as Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown (DUSTWUN) while supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They have been unaccounted for since May 12 in Al Taqa, Iraq, when their patrol was attacked by enemy forces using automatic fire and explosives. They are assigned to the 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y.
Reported as DUSTWUN are:
Sgt. Anthony J. Schober, 23, of Reno, Nev.
Spc. Alex R. Jimenez, 25, of Lawrence, Mass.
Pfc. Joseph J. Anzack Jr., 20, of Torrance, Calif.
Pvt. Byron W. Fouty, 19, of Waterford, Mich.
Search and recovery efforts are ongoing, and the incident is under investigation.
Resistance commander reported ready to chair new, united Resistance organization in al-Fallujah.
The Iraqi Patriotic alliance published a report on its website on Sunday, 13 May indicating that the former Chairman of the Mujahideen Shura Council in al-Fallujah during the Second Battle of al-Fallujah which took place from November 2004 to January 2005 is planning to return to take up the struggle there again.
According to sources quoted by al-Muliff Press, Chairman al-Jannabi, who is one of the Resistance men most wanted by the US occupation and its puppet regime, is now expected to take up the leadership of a new Resistance formation to be called the Jaysh al-Muslimeen (Army of the Muslims) which will be made up out of the unification of four organizations into one group with one political position and one orientation. The four groups that are reportedly putting the finishing touches on the structure of their united movement are the Brigades of the 1920 Revolution, the Liwa al-Islam, the Army of the al-Mujahideen, and the Army of the Rashideen.
Five other Resistance groups have also reportedly united into another new Resistance formation in what is seen to be a response to a new stage in the Resistance in which the increased threat of Iranian hegemony in Iraq makes a confrontation with the Iranian regime and its Iraqi agents a vital necessity.
Take this with a grain of salt due to the source. Here is some more info on al-Janabi...
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Before the assault on Fallujah, U.S. officials described the city as a den of foreign terrorists, but its top commanders were an electrician and a mosque preacher - both natives of the community and now on the run from American forces.
Religious fervor and hatred of Americans brought Omar Hadid and Abdullah al-Janabi together in a partnership that played a major role in transforming Fallujah from a sleepy Euphrates River backwater into a potent symbol of Arab nationalism.
Their rise to prominence provides insight into contemporary Iraq, where the U.S. presence sparked a religious backlash that gave radical Muslim leaders major roles in filling the void created by the ouster of Saddam Hussein's regime and its replacement by a weak U.S.-backed government.
After U.S. Marines lifted the siege of Fallujah last April, central government control collapsed. That enabled men like Hadid, an electrician who lived with his mother, and al-Janabi, a local imam and member of an important local clan, to emerge as powerbrokers until the Marines took the city back this month.
Of the two, Hadid, thought to be in his early 30s, appears to have been the more influential, even though al-Janabi, in his 50s, headed the Mujahedeen Shura Council, which set up Islamic courts that meted out Islamic punishments, executed suspected spies and enforced a strict Islamic lifestyle.
Fallujah residents and Iraqis with close family ties to the city said al-Janabi was more a spiritual leader - deeply respected but without the leverage that Hadid enjoyed over the bands of fighters who patrolled the streets, directed traffic, attacked U.S. positions on the city's fringes and fought the Americans in April and again this month.
Hadid led one of the bigger and better armed factions in the city, residents say, but they also stress there were other groups of fighters and all largely operated independently of one another.
Some U.S. and Iraqi officials believe Hadid was close to Jordanian terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, whose al-Qaida-linked movement allegedly used Fallujah as a headquarters. Al-Zarqawi's group has claimed responsibility for many of the suicide bombings and beheadings of foreign hostages.
But many Fallujans insist al-Zarqawi was never in the city, even though American forces found what they believe was a command and training center for his movement. Residents also insist the number of foreign Arab fighters was small, giving estimates ranging from several dozen to a couple of hundred in a city of nearly 300,000 people.
Given the uncertainty about al-Zarqawi's role, it is difficult to determine his relationship with either Hadid or al-Janabi.
Some Iraqis who knew Hadid said he was too independent-minded to have taken orders from al-Zarqawi or anyone else. "Omar is far too powerful to be anyone's deputy," said a neighbor of Hadid, who spoke on condition his name not be printed for security reasons.
Those who knew him said Hadid came from a lower middle class Fallujah family. Since his father died a few years ago, Hadid had lived with his mother in the family home in the city's al-Moatasim area until the fighting in April. He's married but without children.
About two months ago, one of Hadid's brothers and a nephew were killed by a U.S. airstrike that also injured several other family members, the neighbor said. Hadid escaped with a minor injury, he said.
People who know Hadid differ over the depth and nature of his religious persuasion. Some said he is a Salafi, a conservative sect whose members try to emulate the appearance and behavior of Islam's 7th century prophet, Muhammad. Others said he is a Wahhabi, the austere and radical brand of Islam dominant in Saudi Arabia.
Al-Janabi, on the other hand, is a Sufi, a mystical version of the faith that seeks closeness to God through the cleansing of one's soul. Sufis abhor violence, but al-Janabi found in Hadid a like-minded partner as Salafis and Wahhabis began to prevail over Sufis in Fallujah.
"He's a Salafi in a Sufi disguise," said one native of Fallujah who says he knew both men.
Al-Janabi even joined Hadid in orchestrating the expulsion of a prominent Sufi cleric and mujahedeen leader, Sheik Dhafer al-Obeidi, from the Shura Council after they became alarmed by his growing popularity, say residents who knew the cleric. Al-Obeidi now lives in hiding abroad.
In 1998, al-Janabi, married with five children, was suspended by Saddam's government from delivering Friday sermons because of his public criticism of government policies. He returned to the pulpit of Fallujah's Saad Bin Abi Waqas mosque after Saddam's ouster, devoting most of his sermons to calling on Iraqis to join in a holy war against the Americans.
Fearing for his safety, he stopped giving Friday sermons after the April fighting.
Residents said al-Janabi never carried a weapon in public, but was frequently seen during the April fighting talking to front-line mujahedeen, exhorting them to fight on and telling them that those who died fighting Islam's enemies would be rewarded with eternity in paradise.
#2
I pray for their well-being. But, they've been gone so long now, I fear the worst. I hope this gets Her Thighness to mount her high horse and make a statement about Muslim atrocities.
BAGHDAD - At least 22 people were killed and another 25 wounded in ongoing violence hitting the Iraqi cities of Baghdad and Baquba on Monday.
In Baghdads southern Zafaraniyah district an explosive charge detonated near a police patrol, killing two Iraqis and wounding 14 others. Among the wounded were a number of police officers. Iraqi police sources also said that another bomb explosion struck a US army patrol, killing three servicemen and destroying a Hummer- type vehicle. The US military could not be reached for comment.
Earlier in Baghdad, around 13 Iraqis were killed and four wounded when two car bombs detonated in separate areas of the city, authorities said. In one incident, 12 people lost their lives when a car bomb parked in a garage in Karada district blew up creating the blast that additionally wounded four people and damaged nearby cars and buildings. In the second incident, an Iraqi was killed and three were wounded in Palestine Street, in the capitals east.
Violence continued on Monday in Baquba, the capital of Iraqs north-eastern Diyala province, leaving at least four people dead and four others wounded after a deadly attack on a police station, police sources said. According to authorities, a group of armed men stormed a local police station, killing three police officers and a civilian, and wounding four other people. The police source said the gunmen fled as members of the Iraqi Army responded.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/15/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Lessee...Iraq's about the size/population of California, IIRC. How many killed dead in California Violence in the same time period? How about New Jersey?
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/15/2007 6:50 Comments ||
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#2
2005 Murder Rates, per 100,000 people, and calculated deaths per 35 million (Iraq-sized)
Louisiana 9.9 3,465 (9.5 per day)
Maryland 9.9 3,465
Nevada 8.5 2,975
Alabama 8.2 2,870
Arizona 7.5 2,625
New Mexico 7.4 2,590
South Carolina 7.4 2,590
Mississippi 7.3 2,555
Tennessee 7.2 2,520
California 6.9 2,415 (6.6 per day)
Missouri 6.9 2,415
Arkansas 6.7 2,345
North Carolina 6.7 2,345
Georgia 6.2 2,170
Texas 6.2 2,170
Michigan 6.1 2,135
Pennsylvania 6.1 2,135
Virginia 6.1 2,135
Illinois 6 2,100
Indiana 5.7 1,995
NATIONAL RATE 5.6 1,960
Applying the US average to 300 million, that's 16,800 murders per year; 46 per day. On top of the 35,000 to 40,000 killed in automobile accidents each year.
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/15/2007 7:06 Comments ||
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Hmpf. I put three spaces between the rates and the calculated totals, but Fred's software sure made that look smaller....
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/15/2007 7:07 Comments ||
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#4
Didn't include Washington D.C., the murder capitol of the U.S. Spend some time on a street corner there and Baghdad might seem downright peaceful.
BASRA, Iraq - Shia militiamen attacked Danish troops in the southern Iraqi city of Basra on Monday, killing one of the soldiers and leaving an armoured personnel carrier ablaze.
A Danish military spokesman in Copenhagen confirmed that one soldier waskilled and five wounded when their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb. Local Iraqis gathered round the blazing vehicle to cheer and dance, one of them waving a soot-blackened military helmet in the air. Residents said the convoy had been hit by a bomb and automatic fire. Local residents told AFP that the attackers were members of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadrs Mahdi Army militia.
Those locals need to be taught a lesson, and it's one more nail in the coffin for Mookie, as if he needed any.
The clash erupted at about 1:00 pm (0900 GMT). British forces based in Basra rushed to support their Danish allies. There were no British casualties and the situation was brought under control within three hours, said Major David Gell.
The attack comes one day before Denmarks parliament is to debate the withdrawal of most of the Danish contingent in Iraq, which is primarily based around Basra under British command. In total, seven Danish soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Copenhagen sent troops to the country in August 2003 following the US-led invasion.
Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen announced in February that the Scandinavian country would withdraw the 430 troops it has operating under British command in northern Basra in August this year. They are to be replaced by a unit of four helicopters and 50 men, who will work alongside the British until December.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/15/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
These burning car dances have to be terminated. With extreme predjudice.
#3
I've been saying the same for some time now. Any car swarms or mistreatment of our soldiers remains buy the participants a ticket straight to Hell. We cannot permit this sort of open resistance to go unpunished. Lack of response enables those who engage in helping the terrorists. Unhelpfulness needs to come with a steep pricetag.
For those keeping score...
GAZA (Reuters) - At least 15 Palestinians were killed on Tuesday -- eight in one incident -- in the deadliest fighting between Hamas and Fatah since the rivals formed a unity government to end bloodshed threatening to spill into civil war. Gunbattles raged into the night as masked fighters vied for control of the Gaza streets. Hamas fully deployed its armed wing in a sign it was preparing for wider conflict.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas convened an emergency meeting of faction leaders in a bid to "put an end to the fighting." Egypt and Saudi Arabia pressed Hamas and President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction to rein in their forces.
A Fatah spokesman said Hamas gunmen had killed eight members of Abbas's Presidential Guard in an attack near Karni Crossing, Gaza's main commercial entry point into Israel.The Fatah-affiliated guardsmen were en route to help comrades under assault by Hamas at a training base near the crossing when Israeli forces across the frontier opened fire at them, according to the spokesman, Tawfiq Abu Khoussa.
"Some of the vehicles overturned and some of the men were wounded. The forces retreated but they were ambushed by Hamas gunmen, who finished them off," he said.An unidentified Fatah security man who said he had been wounded in the incident told Palestinian television: "They came and shot the wounded. They left me, believing I was dead."
Hamas's armed wing denied the allegation, blaming the deaths on Israel and accusing Fatah of killing one of its commanders earlier on Tuesday. The Israeli military said it had fired at two gunmen who approached the border fence, hitting one of them. Raising tensions further, Hamas said one of its senior figures was "executed" at a checkpoint manned by Fatah fighters. Fatah had no immediate comment. ...AP's take
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Hamas gunmen riddled a Fatah police jeep with gunfire at close range Tuesday, killing eight policemen in the most ruthless round yet of factional fighting, pushing the Palestinian unity government closer to collapse.
Gunmen in black ski masks controlled the streets and terrified residents huddled in their homes.Israel, too, was briefly drawn into the battle. A total of 13 people were killed in Tuesday's fighting.
In the West Bank, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called for the immediate implementation of a security plan that would put all rival forces under one command. However, his call is unlikely to be heeded: the fighting made it clear the Hamas-Fatah power struggle was never really resolved, despite formation of the unity government in March.
This week's fighting was the worst since Hamas and Fatah agreed to share power in February. In all, 21 people have been killed and dozens wounded in three days of street fighting.
In the deadliest battle, Hamas gunmen fired rockets, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars early Tuesday at a training base for Fatah forces guarding the Karni cargo crossing with Israel. U.S. security experts had helped set up the base to improve security at Karni. After the initial attack, Hamas fired on Fatah reinforcements rushing to the scene, and one of the jeeps carrying Fatah fighters veered off the road and crashed. Hamas gunmen surrounded the vehicle and riddled it with gunfire, said one witness, who works in a nearby factory. "It was unbelievable. May God help us," said the man, who gave only his first name, Jamil, out of fear for his safety. Eight men were killed, hospital officials said. Fatah security men also came under fire as they tried to move the bodies away from the overturned jeep.
Two Israeli helicopter gunships and three tanks moved toward the area, and Hamas fighters quickly withdrew. At one point, a major in the Palestinian Presidential Guard was killed by Israeli army fire as he tried to leave the crossing, security officials said. Israeli military officials said Israel has no intention of letting itself be drawn into the fighting.
The current fighting had many of the elements of previous Hamas-Fatah clashes: combatants kidnapped scores of rivals, set up roadblocks to search cars, took over rooftops of high-rises and often fired randomly in crowded residential areas. Around Abbas' seaside compound in Gaza City, security forces searched cars and inspected motorists' ID cards. They gave those with beards a possible sign of Hamas support an extra close look.
Both sides have become more ruthless this time, with Fatah accused of an execution-style killing of two Hamas supporters Sunday and Hamas ambushing the Fatah jeep Tuesday. This might make it more difficult to negotiate a cease-fire and revive the coalition.
At the core of the fighting is the unresolved power struggle between Hamas, which won parliamentary elections last year, and Abbas' Fatah, which has dominated Palestinian politics for four decades. Squeezed by an international aid boycott, Hamas realized it could govern alone and brought Fatah into the government. But the two sides never worked out their differences, particularly over security. While the power-sharing deal largely halted factional fighting for three months, both sides continued to smuggle weapons through tunnels under the Egypt-Gaza border, preparing for the next round.
The spark for the new fighting was deployment of 3,000 Fatah-allied members of the security forces in Gaza City last week, over Hamas' objections. Hamas has also bristled at Abbas' appointment of former Gaza strongman Mohammed Dahlan as his national security adviser.
Both sides accused each other of waging a carefully orchestrated campaign to destroy the other. The National Security, a force loyal to Abbas, said Hamas is leading a military coup against the Palestinian security establishment. A Hamas spokesman, Abdel Latif Kanuah, said Fatah is involved in a U.S.-backed plot to overthrow Hamas, referring to U.S.-backing for Abbas' elite forces, the Presidential Guards.
Despite the unity government's shortcomings and its failure to end the international embargo imposed on Hamas it's unlikely Abbas will dissolve it and call early elections. Hamas would consider that an attempt to steal its election victory and likely oppose it violently.
At least 17 people, including four children, were lightly to moderately wounded after Hamas terrorists fired at least seven Kassam rockets into Sderot for nearly two hours on Tuesday. Thirteen people were reported to have suffered from shock.
Defense Minister Amir Peretz convened an emergency meeting on Tuesday evening to consult with IDF officials including Chief of General Staff, Lt. -Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi. So far, Israel has hit back with artillery fire at open spaces in northern Gaza, the military said. Palestinian officials said no one was hurt in the retaliatory attack.
Hundreds of fighters loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction crossed into Gaza from Egypt on Tuesday as possible reinforcements in fighting against Hamas militants, Western sources say. Fatah said the group that crossed into Gaza did not do so to fight Hamas.
"They're coming for a, ah.., class reunion. Yeah, that's it."
The Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt was briefly opened to readmit a 450-strong Fatah contingent into the coastal strip, according to the sources, who spoke in Israel on condition of anonymity.
The sources said the crossing was opened, with Israeli consent, in only one direction to allow in the Fatah contingent. Once they crossed into Gaza, the crossing was re-closed. The men were not carrying heavy equipment.
The move came as fighting intensified in Gaza between Abbas's Fatah forces and those loyal to the ruling Hamas movement. In the fiercest battle, at least eight members of Abbas's Presidential Guard were killed in an attack by Hamas gunmen near Gaza's Karni commercial crossing with Israel, security officials said. "The role of the security forces is to protect the security of the Palestinian people and not to take part in internal fighting," Tawfiq Abu Khoussa, Fatah's spokesman in Gaza Strip and the West Bank. "They had been sent for training. It was a rehabilitation course that had nothing with any intention of fighting Hamas, or anyone else," he added.
Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz said Israel would not intervene in the fighting.
"Hey, they want to kill each other, who am I to argue?"
The 450 fighters are loyal to Abbas's national security adviser, Mohammad Dahlan. Western officials say Dahlan, recuperating from leg surgery in Egypt, recently sent about 500 men loyal to Fatah to Egypt to receive more advanced instruction in police tactics, according to Western diplomats. Abbas could also dispatch thousands of reinforcements from the occupied West Bank and draw upon the Jordan-based Badr Brigade, a Fatah-dominated force that includes at least 1,000 members.
But a senior Western diplomat involved in the matter played down the chances that Abbas would deploy either his West Bank or Jordanian-based forces. "They won't go," the diplomat said.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/15/2007 07:59 ||
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#3
These events in Gaza will reduce the political pressure for Israel to withraw from the West Bank to zero. Even the Palestinians living there might begin to understand that there are worse things than Israeli rule.
#4
Apostate, nothing will reduce international pressure on Israel. Cause it's not a matter of concern for "Palestinians". It's the inability to accept the existence of a Jewish state.
#7
These events in Gaza will reduce the political pressure for Israel to withraw from the West Bank
clearly, you don't see the pattern. when there is Israel-palestinian fighting, it's Israel's fault. When there's palestinian-palestinian fighting, it's because of the occupation, which is Israel's fault. When Israel makes peace overtures, like evacuating gaza, it's because an admission by Israel of its oppressive policies, although not nearly enough.
If Israel packed up and left tomorrow, they'd be blamed for not providing support so the palis could take over easily.
#9
The sources said the crossing was opened, with Israeli consent, in only one direction to allow in the Fatah contingent. Once they crossed into Gaza, the crossing was re-closed.
Release the Egyptian hounds, Smithers Peretz.
They had been sent for training
The number four truncheon is useful for producing painful contusions but when a genuine concussion is the desired result only a number seven truncheon should be used. When your opponent engages you always aim at their feet and away from your own. A weapons safety must be permanently disabled as a critical expression of Arab manhood while gun sex remains the only acceptable method of expressing one's personal approval during weddings, funerals, birthdays, anniversaries, office functions, retirements, political rallies, shopping excursions, Tupperware parties, a successful bowel movement and other such important events.
These events in Gaza will reduce the political pressure for Israel to withraw from the West Bank to zero. Even the Palestinians living there might begin to understand that there are worse things than Israeli rule.
Apostate, you sorely underestimate:
A.) Arab hatred for anything and everything Jewish.
B.) The global community's overwhelming anti-Semitism.
C.) The Palestinians' adamant refusal to take responsibility for anything.
D.) How Israel is blamed for everything including post-nasal drip.
E.) How Arab Muslims are not on speaking terms with the truth.
G.) How Muslims can do no wrong and Israel can do no right.
H.) Just how totally fucked up the entire situation really is.
Terrorist: We'll hijack all American weapons provided to Abbas' militias
By Aaron Klein
TEL AVIV -- Hamas yesterday ambushed a convoy in the Gaza Strip and seized a stockpile of U.S. weapons transferred in recent months to militias associated with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, according to Hamas and Fatah sources.
"We obtained the U.S. weapons and will keep hijacking any assistance the Americans provide to Fatah. Our fighters are aware of the American and Israeli conspiracies to topple our government. We're trained and well prepared to defeat the American-backed (Palestinian) agents," said a top member of Hamas' so-called military wing in the Gaza Strip.
According to Israeli and Palestinian security officials and Hamas sources, Hamas militias in recent months have taken almost complete control of the northern Gaza Strip, including areas from which rockets are launched regularly into nearby Jewish communities. The officials said Fatah, which is backed by the U.S., is restricted to acting within a half-mile radius of a major Fatah military compound. Hamas has set up roadblocks and checkpoints throughout northern Gaza to ensure Fatah militias remain near their compound.
Yesterday, after a Fatah gunman shot a Hamas member, a Fatah convoy of three trucks was stopped by Hamas at a makeshift checkpoint at Dabit Circle, a northern Gaza town, according to Hamas sources. Hamas abducted 18 Fatah gunmen and seized stockpiles of American weapons that were in the vans, the sources said.
The U.S. in recent months reportedly transferred large quantities of weapons to Fatah, purportedly to back Abbas' military organizations against Hamas. Fatah and Hamas engaged in months of factional clashes until the two forged a unity government in February. But renewed fighting today in Gaza threatened to torpedo the unity deal.
The last confirmed U.S. weapons transfer to the Palestinians took place last May and consisted of 3,000 assault rifles, but WND reported multiple other transfers later were delivered to Fatah, including a cache of 7,000 rifles last January and about 8,000 assault rifles in February.
While the weapons were meant to bolster Fatah in Gaza, Hamas has reportedly won most battles against the U.S.-backed militias. WND reported last month a Fatah militia in Beit Lehiya, a major city in the northern Gaza Strip, surrendered to Hamas forces after reaching an agreement in which the Fatah militants stated they will evacuate the city and depart the Gaza Strip.
The Fatah force in Beit Lehiya consisted of about 40 senior officers from Force 17, the Palestinian Preventative Security Services and the General Security Services. The leader of the Force was Samih El- Madhun, who is also openly a senior leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group.
This weekend, according to Palestinian security sources, Baha Abu Jarad, a Fatah strongman in Gaza, surrendered a large swath of territory to Hamas, nearly completing Hamas' grasp on the northern Gaza Strip.
In February, after a shipment of U.S. weapons reached Fatah, Hamas spokesman Abu Oubaida told WND his terror group will obtain any American weapons transferred to Fatah militias or purchased by Fatah using U.S. aid.
Congress last month approved $59 million in aid to Fatah's militias after an earlier Bush administration pledge of $86.4 million was blocked for fear the money might reach terrorist groups. The aid package contains a new qualification stipulating the money must not be used to purchase weapons.
The vast majority of the U.S. aid is slated to bolster Abbas' Force 17 security forces, which serve as de facto police units in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
Many members of Force 17 are openly members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror organization.
The Brigades, Fatah's declared military wing, took responsibility together with the Islamic Jihad terror organization for every suicide bombing in Israel the past two years and for scores of shootings and rocket attacks.
Israel has multiple times raided Force 17 compounds and arrested wanted terrorists from the units. WND reported Israel earlier this month arrested 18 Fatah fighters in the West Bank wanted for shootings against Israeli civilians. Seventeen of those arrested also were members of the Brigades, Israeli and Palestinian security officials said. Israel this weekend conducted a raid of a Fatah complex in Ramallah and arrested a Force 17 fighter wanted for anti-Israeli shootings.
Abbas last June appointed senior Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades leader Mahmoud Damra as commander of Force 17. Damra, who was arrested by Israel in November, was on the Jewish state's most-wanted list of terrorists.
WND last month quoted Israeli and Palestinian security officials stating intelligence and security organizations associated with Fatah, including Force 17, are infiltrated by Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other terrorist organizations.
A top Palestinian intelligence official admitted to WND: "We are leading a large number of investigations and some of the results prove that such an infiltration by Hamas (of Fatah's security and intelligence forces) exists."
The official oversees intelligence for Fatah's police forces in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
"I can say that in some cases we diagnosed a deep infiltration to high posts in some Fatah security services," the high-ranking Palestinian intelligence officer told WND. "In some cases we believe there are officers that are exposed to very sensitive information."
He said that since the U.S. announced it is providing Abbas' forces with additional funds, Fatah intelligence officials at the direction of American security coordinators here have been attempting to expel Hamas infiltrators. He said the past month "dozens" of members of Hamas, the Popular Resistance Committees and Islamic Jihad were found operating in the Fatah forces.
The U.S. has been attempting to isolate Hamas, which it labels a terrorist group. The Popular Resistance Committees regularly carries out rocket and shooting attacks and took credit for a 2003 bombing in Gaza that killed three American contractors.
Terror leaders and spokesmen for terror groups told WND their militants are "well-placed" within Fatah's militias.
Muhammad Abdel El, spokesman for the Committees, told WND last week Fatah's attempts to discover militants from his group "have not even scratched the surface of our infiltration."
"We are very well-placed within Fatah's units and their little investigations made no difference," he said.
Abu Abdullah, a leader of Hamas' military wing in the Gaza Strip, told WND, "It doesn't seem Fatah's campaign to oust Hamas from inside their organizations has made a difference for us as far as our penetration of Fatah."
Fatah attempts to expel Hamas members from its midst might be in vain since the two factions last month agreed to forge their militias together and incorporate Hamas militias and terror cells into a unified security force under the authority Abbas.
The PA cabinet Sunday approved a comprehensive security plan that incorporates Fatah and Hamas militias into one central organization. According to the plan, Hamas' so-called military wing, responsible for scores of anti-Israel terror attacks, will be allowed to continue operating under the aegis of the PA's Interior Ministry. The plan calls for all armed organizations, including the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group, to maintain a single operations center under the authority of Abbas.
#2
Keep sending Fatah weapons - if Hamas seizes half then they'll be evenly matched, and maybe can wipe each other out entirely. Then the Israelis can collect the used (or unused) weapons.
Undercover Border Police arrested an Islamic Jihad operative in Kabatiya, south of Jenin on Monday evening. The operative, Jihad Abu-Rub, was arrested with another three terror suspects. The four were transferred to security interrogations.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2007 00:00 ||
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Hamas and Fatah agreed to a truce late Monday, the second such agreement in as many days, but continued to battle each other throughout the night. One Hamas man was killed in fighting early Tuesday, Palestinian security officials said, the ninth person to die since new internal violence erupted in Gaza. In Arab usage, the purpose of a truce is to cause your enemy to relax his guard so you can smite him by surprise.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2007 00:00 ||
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YNETNEWS > HAMAS AMBUSHES/SEIZES US WEAPONS CONVOY [Gaza]. HAMAS seizes US-made weapons earmarked for Abbas + FATAH.
According to Israeli and Palestinian security officials and Hamas sources, Hamas militias have taken almost complete control of the northern Gaza Strip in recent months, including areas from which rockets are regularly launched from the territory into nearby Jewish communities.
The officials said Fatah is restricted to acting in a half-mile radius in the vicinity of a major Fatah military compound. Hamas has set up roadblocks and checkpoints throughout northern Gaza to ensure Fatah militias remain near their compound.
After a Fatah gunman shot a Hamas member on Sunday, a Fatah convoy of three trucks was stopped by Hamas at a makeshift checkpoint at Dabit Circle, a northern Gaza town, according to Hamas sources. Hamas abducted 18 Fatah gunmen and seized stockpiles of American weapons that were in the vans, the sources said.
The US has transferred large quantities of weapons to Fatah in recent months to back Abbas' military organizations against Hamas. The last confirmed US weapons transfer to the Palestinians took place last May and consisted of 3,000 assault rifles, but WND reported multiple others transfers were since delivered to Fatah, including a cache of 7,000 rifles last January and about 8,000 assault rifles in February.
While the weapons were meant to bolster Fatah in Gaza, Hamas has reportedly won most battles against the US-backed militias. WND reported last month that a Fatah militia in Beit Lehiya, a major city in the northern Gaza Strip, surrendered to Hamas forces after reaching an agreement in which the Fatah militants stated they will evacuate the city and altogether depart the Gaza Strip.
This weekend, according to Palestinian security sources, Baha Abu Jarad, a Fatah strongman in Gaza, surrendered a large swath of territory to Hamas, nearly completing Hamas' grasp on the northern Gaza Strip.
So US funds and weapons are mainly supporting red on red. That's ok, then.
#3
With Olmert weakened and the IDF military rebuilding its leadership for another Hez move, Hamas thinks they can make bad. Not a good idea. The IDF will not allow this to get to the ignition stage. I expect the Israelis will get rid of Olmert soon and put Tzipi in charge. Remember, most of the war leader PMs have been FMs that took over weaker PMs.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
05/15/2007 6:08 Comments ||
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#4
With Olmert weakened and the IDF military rebuilding its leadership for another Hez move, Hamas thinks they can make bad. Not a good idea. The IDF will not allow this to get to the ignition stage. I expect the Israelis will get rid of Olmert soon and put Tzipi in charge. Remember, most of the war leader PMs have been FMs that took over weaker PMs.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
05/15/2007 6:08 Comments ||
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#5
Turn off the water and electricity to Gaza. That will put a crimp in Hamas' plans. No Paleo Authority any more. Jeeze Louise! Israel's gotta get rid of Olmert.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/15/2007 9:57 Comments ||
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#6
Let Hamass take over, then let the US and Israeli military reduce the entire Gaza Strip to thrice-pummeled rubble. That way, Israel can re-occupy the strip and build things THEIR way. I'm beginning to believe that the only GOOD paleostain is a dessicated corpse somewhere in somebody's empty desert.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/15/2007 17:51 Comments ||
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COLOMBO - Fourteen Tamil Tigers and a Sri Lankan soldier were killed in a series of firefights over the weekend and on Monday in the restive north, the military said as it began resettling 29,000 refugees in captured rebel terrain.
Troops killed seven Tigers in a fierce clash in the northern district of Vavuniya on Sunday, while six others were killed in separate incidents on Saturday. Troops shot dead one rebel early on Monday. In total, 14 Tiger cadres were killed since Saturday, military spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe said. We lost one of our soldiers.
The Tigers were not immediately available for comment, but analysts say both sides have tended to overstate enemy losses and play down their own.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/15/2007 00:00 ||
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A group of Iranian lawmakers wants to create a "friendship committee" that would open contacts with the U.S. Congress -- an unprecedented attempt to build ties at a time when Iran's hard-line leadership also appears willing to talk with the country's No. 1 enemy.
Proponents hope the effort, for which they were gathering petition signatures Tuesday, will be condoned by Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has final say in national matters.
Contacts between the countries have long been taboo, a status enforced by Iran's top leadership -- made up of Shiite clerics -- since the U.S. cut ties with Iran after the 1979 seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.
More recently, as tension between the two countries over Iran's nuclear program and other issues has escalated, the dialogue situation has also shifted. Over the weekend, the two governments agreed to hold ambassador-level talks about Iran's war-torn neighbor, Iraq.
A so-called "friendship committee" would open a unique channel of communication between politicians, who presumably could tackle any topic.
"If (Iranian) government officials can reconcile with Americans, why can't the Iranian nation reconcile with the American people?" asked Jalal Hosseini, a pro-reform lawmaker who signed the petition.
So far, proponents have gathered 20 signatures and plan to seek more at the 290-seat parliament. Backers come from across Iran's political spectrum.
No specific number of deputies is required to form the group, and proponents hope to have the petition ready for submission by Sunday. Then, it's up to the parliament speaker, Gholam Ali Haddad Adel, to accept or reject the idea.
Posted by: Captain America ||
05/15/2007 21:08 ||
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#1
"Hello Nancy. Loved your trip to Damascus. Would like to discuss mutual efforts to...er...diminish....the evil Booosh adminstrations' successes in the future. Believe our mutual desires for power above all else, and total immorality in achieving same would make a marriage made in Qom heaven. Signed 'Ahmy' "
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/15/2007 21:28 Comments ||
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#2
"A group of Iranian lawmakers wants to create a "friendship committee" that would open contacts with the U.S. Congress -- an unprecedented attempt to build ties at a time when Iran's hard-line leadership also appears willing to talk with the country's No. 1 enemy."
Sounds more like an attempt to take advantage of a bunch of gullible Democrats.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
05/15/2007 21:30 Comments ||
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#3
"Iran's hard-line leadership also appears willing to talk with," the Democrats.
Help me out here, are the Democrats the number one enemy of the US or Iran?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/15/2007 22:49 Comments ||
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#5
You know, a muslim would surely see this as a sign of weakness. With their economy failing, gas rationing starting this week, food subsidies being decreased, it may be just that. Now they want to talk it over with a "friendship committee". Bullshit, khamenei is sending them here for some nefarious reason because he doesn't have the staying power to win and he knows it. Tell them to FOAD.
#7
The only Iranians we should be talking to are ones who're willing to lead internal dissent and assist our military in deposing decapitating their mullahcracy. Anyone who is part of Iran's legitimate government should be given the bum's rush. Iran's entire economy is on the skids and our only duty is to vigorously grease them.
Lebanon's prime minister formally asked the UN Security Council on Monday to impose an international tribunal to prosecute suspects in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Fuad Saniora sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon asking that the tribunal be established, Information Minister Ghazi Aridi told reporters after Saniora met with some Cabinet members about the issue. The request follows Saniora's failure to win opposition support for the international court. Saniora's move, which effectively bypasses the divided legislature, is bound to further deepen a fierce power struggle between the prime minister's Western-backed government and the Hizbullah-led opposition.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
*holing my breath*
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
05/15/2007 6:10 Comments ||
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Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
I do hope the photographer got that shot on the first take. That's a lovely pose, but an awfully awkward position to hold for very long, and most women's strength is not in their back musculature.
#4
Actually, this shot probably wasn't done on the first take, as 1920s-30s Hollywood photographers used surprisingly copious amounts of 8x10" negative film. Due to Fred's taste in page 1 art, I'm reading "Hollywood Portraits and how to take them" by Roger Hicks. And another thing-- due to the super-slow lens speeds of 8x10 cameras, photographers sought out poses that severely restricted the subjects' ability to move during the shot. Thus all the poses in big overstuffed chairs-- I suspect all of Billie's limbs had firm support on the furniture or her torso except for that left arm. 8x10 cameras are just too big to be used easily or conviently, but the huge size of the negative allows for a grain-free picture that can be retouched easily-- the key advantages of today's digital cameras and Photoshop.
Hello, Howdy.
I am Major Ralph Harland, I am a British officer attached to UN peace Keeping force in Iraq, The UN sent a peacekeeping force to Iraq? When did that happen? Where'd they find the peace to keep? Why'd they send Brits instead of the usual Banglas or Fiji Islanders?
I am the commanding officer of the First Battalion of the Royal Irish Regiment, as you may know everyday, there are several cases of insurgents attacks and suicide bombs going on here. Mostly not against the Brits, though. I mean, they don't wear helmets or anything, right?
We managed to Move funds belonging to some demised persons who were attacked and killed through insurgent attacks. The total amount is US$9.5 Million dollars in cash. That's a lot of cash those demised persons kept around. Who were they? Why would they have been killed in insurgent attacks? Probably couldn't get away because their wallets were so heavy, huh?
We want to move this money to you, so that you may keep our share for us until when we shall come over to meet you. No doubt you do. [Little do you realize this email account is maintained under an assumed name. Why, I've managed to accumulate millions upon millions of dollars moved out of the continent of Africa alone. I've ripped off the dying bequests of hundreds of victims of the Gulf States esophageal cancer epidemic! All those barristers writing from Britain wanting to gut the estates of the intestate? I outwitted each and every one of them! That Chinaman in Hong Kong? I'm the one who cleaned him out, leaving his bank an empty shell! Ha ha! How do you think I've been running Rantburg all these years with only a few reader donations and the occasional pitiful handful of blogads?]
We will take 60%, my partner and I. You take 40%. No strings attached, just help us move it out of Iraq, Iraq is a war zone. No! Reeeeally? When did that happen?
We plan on using Diplomatic courier and shipping the money out in two large metallic boxes, using diplomatic immunity. Golly, shucks. When I was in the army I didn't get diplomatic immunity. That must be something new, huh?
If you are interested I will send you the full details; my aim is to find a good partner that we can trust and assist us can you be trusted? Oh, yasss. Certainly. Nobody more trustworthy than me...
When you receive this letter, kindly send me an e-mail here majorralphharland@yahoo.co.uk, or ralpharlanduk@aol.co.uk signifying your interest including your most confidential telephone/fax numbers for quick communication and also your contact details. This business is 100% risk free. Aren't they all?
Respectfully,
Major Ralph
Posted by: Steve ||
05/15/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
"Major Harland's" scam letter was already posted here on 5/06/07.
#2
You know the RAB should get in on this. They have heaps of demised persons.
The other day Tim Blair pointed to this statement from a big shot Queensland copper, saying that Queenslanders fall for this stuff because of their strong belief in a "fair go".
Because if a man can't help a stranger rip off a bunch of widders 'n orphinks in some impoverished plague spot, then just what is the world coming to, I ask you.
#4
Hokay, Stretch, you're in. You fence the metal box, I'll fence the cash. I'll get you 40% for your trouble. Honest. Really.
But you're going to need a large metal box to carry your share ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/15/2007 0:53 Comments ||
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#5
I thought it was 'paper or plastic'....well, this is gonna cost me, so I'll just send you my bank account number for a $ transfer. You can keep 5% for your trouble, and thanks in advance. :)
#10
I've been getting these for about the last six months. Some are from Major Ralph, a couple are from supposed enlisted troops, and one is supposedly from an Iraqi general. The wording is almost exactly the same in each case. I really do wish that the perpetrators of this crap would get caught, and turned over to their victims for retribution. After that, feed what's left to the sharks.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/15/2007 14:40 Comments ||
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#11
I got a similiar one after many and finally said "Fu*k you--why don't you get a job." I was surprised to get a response which addressed me by name and said "Fu*k You."
#12
Hey, I just thought of a good use for spam: Put this guy's name on every spam mailing list you can find. Now if we could just ressurect .com to put these guys on some of his mailing lists . . . .
#14
I kepm,all this "Nigerian" crap in a big file, whenever I get another I send them the last 100 that I've recieved, one at a time, usualy I never hear from that particular scamster again.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
05/15/2007 18:16 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - The leader of Afghanistans Taleban militia acknowledged Monday that top military commander 
By Aaron Klein
Al Qaeda's North Africa wing has called on Algerians to boycott Thursday's parliamentary elections, which it condemned as a "farce", according to an audio tape aired by Al Jazeera television on Monday.
An Al-Qaeda front group in Europe threatened on Tuesday to launch bloody attacks in France in response to the election of "crusader and Zionist" 
As many as five or six U.S. air marshals are now assigned to each U.S.-bound flight from airports in Frankfurt, London and Manchester, England, because of fears terrorists might attempt a coordinated series of mid-air explosions, law enforcement officials tell the Blotter on ABCNews.com.
Hamidur Rehman, Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT) central information secretary, said on Monday that police beat protesting IJT students outside Islamia College Civil Lines, injuring more than 10.
BAGHDAD - At least 22 people were killed and another 25 wounded in ongoing violence hitting the Iraqi cities of Baghdad and Baquba on Monday.
Hundreds of fighters loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction crossed into Gaza from Egypt on Tuesday as possible reinforcements in fighting against Hamas militants, Western sources say. Fatah said the group that crossed into Gaza did not do so to fight Hamas. 
Terrorist: We'll hijack all American weapons provided to Abbas' militias
COLOMBO - Fourteen Tamil Tigers and a Sri Lankan soldier were killed in a series of firefights over the weekend and on Monday in the restive north, the military said as it began resettling 29,000 refugees in captured rebel terrain.
Lebanon's prime minister formally asked the UN Security Council on Monday to impose an international tribunal to prosecute suspects in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. 
