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Gunmen fire on Haniyeh's house in Gaza; no one hurt
Today's Headlines
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Afghanistan
Hamid Karzai escapes assassination attempt
Taliban militants made a failed attempt to kill Afghan President Hamid Karzai with a rocket attack on Sunday, narrowly missing a building where he was giving a speech, the Taliban and government spokesmen said.

Karzai was giving a speech to the residents of Andar district in Ghazni province when rockets were fired nearby, said Ali Shah Ahmadzai, provincial police chief. Arif Yaqoubi, a local reporter, said six rockets were fired nearby as Karzai was delivering the speech. “He briefly stopped his speech. People were concerned and worried,” Yaqoubi said. “But then Karzai continued by saying, calm down and don’t worry,” he added.

Purported Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi said Taliban militants were behind the attack. “The Taliban knew that Karzai was coming to Andar district and fired 12 rockets while he was meeting people,” Ahmadi told the AP.
Posted by: Fred || 06/11/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Earlier this year, the Toronto Star reported that jihad incitement was issuing from numerous Kabul mosques. Karzai should be constraining freedoms of speech, association and conscience, where these advance terrorism. Lenin said that the last capitalist will speculate on the very rope that hangs him; Karzai would respect the "freedom" of action of the jihadi who was about to assassinate him.
Posted by: McZoid || 06/11/2007 16:21 Comments || Top||

#2  Lenin said that the last capitalist will speculate on the very rope that hangs him; Karzai would respect the "freedom" of action of the jihadi who was about to assassinate him.

Damn good observation, McZoid. Karzai's flaccid response regarding imposition of the death penalty over Abdul Rahman's conversion to Christianity showed just how reluctant he is to purge remnant Talibal elements from the Afghan judicial system. It should then come as no surprise that he also refuses to crack down on the typical Muslim crapulence even though it threatens his very life. His buddy Musharraf seems to be having the same problem too. I guess being so preoccupied with mouthing all the usual pious Islamic platitudes makes it real hard to bark out a few harsh orders to your henchmen. Both of these assholes are about to learn the hard way that this "Islam can do no wrong" horseshit has its limits.
Posted by: Zenster || 06/11/2007 19:44 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Islamist remnants occupy the region, Somali governor says
(SomaliNet) The new governor of lower Shabele region in southern Somalia Abdukadir Sheik Mohamed Nor indicated on Sunday that his authority was attacked by what he called 'remnants' of the ousted Islamic Courts Union.

Speaking about the violence overshadowed the region, Mr. Mohamed Nor said Islamist remnants including foreign fighters were responsible for the casualty resulted from yesterday's fighting in Qoryoley and Bulo-Marer towns in lower Shabele killing at least five people and wounding several others. "The people in Qoryole town told us that foreigners were involved in the battle that helped the remnants capture the town," said Mohamed whose soldiers are now outside of Qoryoley for possible counter attack. He said the government will soon launch tough measures against the rebellion.

But Ali Ganey who claimed to the commander of the militia seized the control of the Qoryoley town denied they were belong to the ousted the ICU saying they were local soldiers who had already been in the settlement and support to the transitional federal government. He said they only want the new governor to come up with indications over his nomination to the region. Geney said the fighting erupted when their rival tried to forcefully take over the parts in the region they are in control and that became unacceptable to them.
Posted by: Fred || 06/11/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Arabia
Freed Academic Among Qaeda Suspects Detained in Saudi
An Islamist academic who was freed under a royal pardon in 2005 is among a dozen Al-Qaeda suspects detained in Saudi Arabia this month, the interior minister said in comments published Saturday.

Saeed bin Zueir, a former professor of mass communication, and his fellow detainees are "considered among the financiers and inciters of terrorism" in the oil-rich kingdom, Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz told the Al-Riyadh daily. Bin Zueir was arrested in 1994 and sentenced to five years in jail for justifying acts of violence but served barely a year of his sentence before being pardoned. "Those arrested have an influential role and they could be more important than those who committed the terror attacks themselves," Prince Nayef said.

The Okaz daily meanwhile reported that the number of suspects in custody had risen to 14 after the authorities detained three more. Announcing the first 11 arrests on Thursday, the interior ministry said one was a suspect in one of Al-Qaeda's most ambitious operations in the kingdom -- a February 2006 assault on the world's biggest oil processing plant. Two security guards were killed in the attack but the two suicide bombers failed to get inside the Abqaiq plant in Saudi Arabia's eastern oilfields.
Posted by: Fred || 06/11/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Europe
European Court rejects appeal from Israel Embassy bombers
An appeal by two Palestinians convicted of bombing the Israeli Embassy and Balfour House, a Jewish community center, in London in 1994 was dismissed by the European Court of Human Rights last week.

In December 1996, Samar Alami and Jawad Botmeh were sentenced at the Old Bailey to 20 years in prison, to would be followed by immediate deportation, for conspiracy to make, place and detonate bombs at the embassy and Balfour House in July 1994. Fourteen people were wounded at the embassy and eight at Balfour House.

It is believed that Alami and Botmeh were trying to sabotage the Middle East diplomatic process. They were alleged to be members of, or sympathizers with, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, but, being dissatisfied with the terrorist group's official policy, had become part of a breakaway British group.

In 1997 David Shayler, a former MI5 officer, said that some months prior to the bombings, the security services received information that a terrorist organization unconnected to the two convicted bombers was seeking information about the location and defenses of the embassy for a possible bombing attack. He was prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act for giving secret information to a British newspaper.

However the trial judge relied on related intelligence received after the bomb attack that the terrorist organization Shayler had not been responsible.

An appeal by Alami and Botmeh to the Court of Appeal in November 2001 was dismissed. At the trial, Lord Justice Rose said: "Those who - whatever their motivation - place bombs in the heart of this city cannot expect their conduct to be treated by anything other than very substantial terms of imprisonment."

In October 2004, Alami was transferred to Send Open Prison in Surrey, southeast England, and she is currently permitted weekend leaves.

The bombers were the first to use explosives in the UK made of triacetone triperoxide (TATP).

At their trial, the pair denied any involvement in the London bombings, but admitted to experimenting with TATP and model aircraft to develop techniques that could be used in the "occupied territories."

Alami, a chemical engineer, admitted possessing other explosive devices and related literature. Botmeh, also an engineer, was alleged to have purchased the two cars that were used in the London attacks, and a large amount of TATP explosive of a different type to that used in the two bombs was found in a lock-up rented by him.

The pair alleged that a Palestinian known to them as "Reeda," whom they were unable to further identify, had supplied the TATP found in the lock-up and accompanied Botmeh to buy cars at auction.

TATP's base ingredients - drain cleaner, bleach and acetone - can be bought easily and without attracting suspicion, and its chemical composition is simple. It is almost undetectable by sniffer dogs or conventional bomb detection systems.

TATP was used in the London 7/7 bombings that killed 52 people in 2005.
Posted by: Fred || 06/11/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "to develop techniques that could be used in the "occupied territories." Funny this doesn't shock the Brits as much as it does me. Would an Irish natioanl get the same slobbery treatment if he only claimded to be developing "to develop techniques that could be used in the occupied territories." A terrorists is a terrorists Black, White, Yellow, and Arab. I find it saddening that Paleos think they will get a lighter sentence by claiming "Oh we were just planning on using it in Israel and not here." How does that minimize the crime?

Posted by: Cyber Sarge || 06/11/2007 11:07 Comments || Top||


Explosion in Istanbul wounds at least 14 people
An explosion in a street in Istanbul wounded at least 14 people Sunday, police said. The cause of the explosion on a busy street in the European side of the city was not immediately known.
Nope, nope, no possible idea who dunnit, nope, nope ...
A McDonald's restaurant is among businesses near the site of the blast. A police official said 14 people were wounded in the blast, which comes amid heightened tension in Turkey over attacks by separatist Kurdish rebels. The official was speaking on condition of anonymity because of rules that bar civil servants from speaking to journalists without prior authorization.

Last month, a suicide bomb attack in Ankara killed eight people and injured dozens of others. Turkish officials blamed the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, for the attack. The group denied involvement.
Posted by: Fred || 06/11/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
3 Qaeda suspects arrested near Iran border
Pakistani security forces have arrested three suspected foreign militants, including two German nationals, from a checkpoint near the Iranian border, AFP quoted security officials as saying on Sunday. The arrests were made in the border town of Taftan in southwestern Balochistan province on Saturday, border security force official Mohammad Akbar told AFP. “We have arrested three foreigners — two were holding German passports and one is a Central Asian national from Kyrgyzstan,” Akbar said.
Posted by: Fred || 06/11/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq
Truck bomber kills nine Iraqi policemen
TIKRIT: A suicide bomber killed nine Iraqi policemen and injured dozens on Sunday as he exploded his truck outside a police post near the northern hometown of executed dictator Saddam Hussein. The bomber detonated the vehicle against a police department building in an area called Albu Ajil, east of Tikrit, on the main road between the city and the oil hub of Kirkuk, police officials said.

At least 40 people, many of them policemen, were also injured in the attack that took place at 10:15am, they said. “Nine policeman have died in the blast and 40 more are injured, mostly policemen,” Major Abdul Karim Mohammed, a security official at Tikrit general hospital, told AFP. Following the blast, Tikrit police announced on loudspeakers an indefinite curfew in the city, an AFP reporter said.

The attack came a day after a suicide bomber exploded his truck at an Iraqi army base near the town of Iskandiriyah, southwest of Baghdad, killing 12 soldiers and injuring 30. Car bombs were also reported in Baghdad and the restive province of Diyala on Sunday.
Posted by: Fred || 06/11/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Gunmen fire on Haniyeh's house in Gaza; none hurt
Gunmen opened fire early Monday on the house of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, in the Shati refugee camp next to Gaza City, security officials said. There were no immediate reports of casualties. The incident followed a day of violence Sunday in which at least three people were killed and 36 wounded in clashes between Hamas and Fatah.
Posted by: Fred || 06/11/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Nice to see shit roll uphill for a change.
Posted by: Zenster || 06/11/2007 22:05 Comments || Top||


Palestinian fighting kills 5, injures 39
Rival Palestinian factions battled in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, raising the weekend death toll to at least five and 39 injured in the fiercest internal fighting since a ceasefire was declared nearly a month ago.

Hours after Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip infiltrated into Israel at a key border crossing, Israeli aircraft bombed a building used by Islamic Jihad, causing two injuries, local residents said. The Israeli army confirmed the air strike targeted Islamic Jihad, which took part in Saturday’s cross-border raid. The army said a separate air strike targeted a weapons production facility used by a militant offshoot of Fatah that joined Islamic Jihad in the raid. Local residents said a dairy truck was hit, but no one was hurt.

The heaviest fighting between the ruling Hamas Islamist group and President Mahmoud Abbas’s secular Fatah faction took place in the southern Gaza town of Rafah, where hundreds of rival gunmen took up positions on street corners and rooftops. Hamas and Fatah pounded each other’s positions with rocket-propelled grenades and machineguns, according to locals, who took shelter indoors as the rivals fought block by block. Two men from Fatah and one from Hamas were killed, hospital officials said. At least 9 injured Palestinians were in critical condition out of total 39, hospital officials said. The number of injured overwhelmed the local hospital, forcing officials to send people to neighbouring towns for treatment.
Posted by: Fred || 06/11/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hamas and Fatah pounded each other’s positions with rocket-propelled grenades and machineguns

Your tax dollars at work.
Posted by: gromgoru || 06/11/2007 1:14 Comments || Top||


Grisly Paleo infighting flares
Apparently no longer content with the ritual shootings of the feets, this weekend the Paleo factions experimented with throwing each other off multi-story buildings...
Rival Palestinian forces clashed in Gaza on Sunday, killing two militants by throwing them out of high-rise buildings. Gunmen fired shots at the house of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas. In an especially grisly incident, Hamas militants kidnapped an officer in a Fatah-linked security force, took him to the roof of a 15-story apartment building and threw him off. Mohammed Sweirki, 25, from the Presidential Guard of President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, was killed in the plunge.

That set off skirmishes through the city, including gun battles and shelling. Fatah militants surrounded the house of a Hamas mosque preacher and fired rocket-propelled grenades at the four-story building. They then entered, shooting at preacher Mohammed al-Rifati, 40, and taking him away. Later, his body was brought to a hospital. Hamas pledged [dire] revenge.

Just before midnight, a Hamas activist was thrown off the 12th floor of a building and killed, security officials said. Four other Hamas men in the building were shot and wounded, bringing the day's toll to three dead and 36 wounded, medical officials said. Also, a Hamas militant wounded on Friday died Sunday.
Posted by: Seafarious || 06/11/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I'm still waiting for them to start booming each other.
Posted by: gromgoru || 06/11/2007 1:00 Comments || Top||

#2  Arm both sides with chainsaws. Then heat up some Jiffy Pop and enjoy the show.
Posted by: Bugs Angomoper4109 || 06/11/2007 2:39 Comments || Top||

#3  Hamaseen: "Look, he's flyin'"!
Fataheen: "So can you..."
Posted by: twobyfour || 06/11/2007 5:52 Comments || Top||

#4  Look, when the Hamas guys throw a Fatah guy off the 15th floor of a building, Fatah can't just throw a Hamas guy off the 12th floor of a building and pretend that they're even. Fatah need to throw a Hamas guy from the 3rd floor of a building, or they'll still be down by three floors. Doesn't anyone understand tit-for-tat?
Posted by: WhiteCollarRedneck || 06/11/2007 12:29 Comments || Top||

#5  Faster please.
Posted by: DarthVader || 06/11/2007 12:29 Comments || Top||

#6  Hey, I can see my house from up here...
Posted by: tu3031 || 06/11/2007 12:46 Comments || Top||

#7  Defenestration?

How... Polish.
Posted by: mojo || 06/11/2007 14:35 Comments || Top||

#8  There are 15-story buildings in Gaza still standing? Color me surprised.
Posted by: Ptah || 06/11/2007 15:08 Comments || Top||

#9  Power struggle or just the usual garden variety pissed?
Posted by: Snealing Oppressor of the Jutes1616 || 06/11/2007 17:42 Comments || Top||

#10  Defenestration?

Not really.

Hamas militants kidnapped an officer in a Fatah-linked security force, took him to the roof of a 15-story apartment building and threw him off

More of a detettoation, not being a window and all.

Still, if only those "Flying Imams" could receive the same sort of "flight instruction" as these Flying Palestinians, this world would be a lot happier of a place.

Fatah need to throw a Hamas guy from the 3rd floor of a building, or they'll still be down by three floors.

Parity is everything. One would think that these eye-for-an-eye Arab cultures would have the old reciprocity thingy down pat.
Posted by: Zenster || 06/11/2007 19:28 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Italian priest kidnapped in Philippines on his way to Mass
An Italian priest was snatched by heavily armed men Sunday morning while on his way to celebrate Mass in a village in Zamboanga Sibugay. Initial reports reaching Camp Crame said Fr. John Carlo Bossi was snatched by bonnet wearing men (!) in Barangay Bulawan in Payao town.

The provincial police chief, Senior Supt. Francisco Cristobal Jr., said the 57-year-old Bossi, who hails from Milan, is a member of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions or PIME and was assigned in Payao on April 1. PIME is an international apostolic life society of priests, brothers and lay people that dedicate their lives to mission among the non-Christian community all over the globe.

Cristobal said Bossi was riding a motorcycle to Bula­wan from the two proper when he was blocked by at least 10 men. At gunpoint he was dragged away by the group. Cristobal said he had ordered checkpoints set to intercept the priest’s abductors. Police and military officials said no demands have been received from the group. The Agence France-Presse said police identified the leader of armed gunmen as Aka Kedie, a renegade leader of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The MILF denied it had played any part in the kidnapping, but said it was prepared to help the government pay a large ransom secure his release.

Bossi is the third Italian priest to have been kidnapped in Mindanao in the past 10 years. In 1998, Muslim rebels snatched Fr. Luciano Benedetti in Zamboanga del Norte and held him captive for 10 weeks before freeing in exchange for unknown amount. Three years later, the Pentagon gang abducted Fr. Giuseppi Pierantoni of Bologna while he was holding Mass in a parish church in Dimataling, Zambo­anga del Sur. Pierantoni escaped after six months in captivity.

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu condemned Bossi’s kidnapping as un-Islamic, adding that Kedie’s group has long ceased to obey the MILF command structure. “That group is not MILF. We express our readiness to extend whatever assistance we can give to the Philippine authorities,” Kabalu said.

Shortly after Bossi was kidnapped, Pope Benedict XVI condemned kidnappings in Colombia and elsewhere as “despicable acts.” “Unfortunately, I am frequently requested to intercede for people, among them Catholic priests, held captive for various reasons in various parts of the world,” the Pope told thousands of pilgrims in Saint Peter’s Square during his Angelus message on Sunday.
Posted by: Seafarious || 06/11/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  you are baaaaad! lol!
Posted by: RD || 06/11/2007 0:52 Comments || Top||


Indonesia captures aide of top militant
Indonesian police have captured a suspected aide of wanted militant Abu Dujana, who is thought to head a splinter group of Southeast Asian militant group Jemaah Islamiah (JI), a police spokesman said on Sunday. Dujana has replaced Noordin M Top, a Malaysian national considered a mastermind behind a series of bomb attacks, as Indonesia’s most wanted fugitive, deputy police chief Makbul Padmanegara told reporters last week. The captured man, named Mahfud but also known as Yusron, was caught by Detachment 88, Indonesia’s secretive anti-terror unit, in the town of Banyumas in Central Java, National Police spokesman Sisno Adiwinoto said by telephone. “We have captured Mahfud alias Yusron. He is suspected of being a member of Abu Dujana’s staff,” Adiwinoto said. Mahfud was caught on Saturday, said Adiwinoto, but no bombs had been found. He declined to give details of the operation. The spokesman said that from information provided by Mahfud they were looking for Dujana and other militants.
Posted by: Fred || 06/11/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Fatah Islam orcs kill Red Cross workers escorting mediator
Two local Red Thingy Cross workers helping coordinate negotiations between the Lebanese army and Islamic militants in a besieged Palestinian refugee camp were shot to death on Monday, hospital officials said. The workers were killed in their vehicle as they tried to escort a Muslim scholar trying to mediate an end to fighting between the Lebanese army and Fatah Islam militants, out of the Nahr el-Bared camp, the officials said. The scholar, Sheik Mohammed Haj Ali, was injured in the foot leg, said the hospital officials from Islamic Hospital in the northern city of Tripoli where the victims were taken. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity, because they were not authorized to speak publicly to the media. Red Thingy Cross officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The leading An-Nahar newspaper reported Monday that "the Nahr el-Bared battle is headed toward a big escalation," saying the Lebanese military had brought in new reinforcements, including more effective artillery and additional naval forces, while pro-Syrian Palestinian factions had joined Fatah Islam militants in their fight.
Posted by: Seafarious || 06/11/2007 11:40 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hmmmmmm...appears they don't wanna talk. Mind you, that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Remember, boys. To the last drop of blood. You promised...
Posted by: tu3031 || 06/11/2007 12:50 Comments || Top||

#2  All this popcorn's wreaking havoc on my waistline. I'm gonna have to switch to pretzels.
Posted by: xbalanke || 06/11/2007 13:32 Comments || Top||

#3  test
Posted by: Pancho Gregum4996 || 06/11/2007 14:17 Comments || Top||

#4  Transport terrorist dogs, wake up with fleas. No pity for the Red Thingy. They are up to their necks in helping abetting the Palestinians. It's about time they got a good dose of salts lead.
Posted by: Zenster || 06/11/2007 15:04 Comments || Top||

#5  obviously the Red Cross will need to blame this on Israel, but how...

let's see how this sounds,

"the root of the problem, the Palestinian exile, is of course the agent in the killing of our workers"

a bit too stilted, how about this,

"We understand and embrace the fury of the Palestinians but our hearts go out to the families of the slain.."

a bit too syrupy, how about

"The only ones who will profit by this is the Israelis, they are the ones who killed our workers."

there... that should be good enough for Al Jazeera
Posted by: mhw || 06/11/2007 17:33 Comments || Top||

#6  "the Nahr el-Bared battle is headed toward a big escalation"

What's the downside?

Popcorn time! :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 06/11/2007 19:36 Comments || Top||

#7  What's the downside?

The glacial rate of progress. Other than that, they can have at it.
Posted by: Zenster || 06/11/2007 19:46 Comments || Top||

#8  The Lebanese Army is fighting much better than I expected. Is that because they are proficient or because the militants are trying to go toe-to-toe with them?
Posted by: Super Hose || 06/11/2007 22:03 Comments || Top||

#9  I would say it is due to the arms and equipment that the West has been shipping the Leb goverment, as well as the training that the Leb Army has had in the past couple of years. Also, when you can stand back and shoot the hell out of enemy positions with tanks before having to do an infantry assault, it helps.
Posted by: Shieldwolf || 06/11/2007 22:12 Comments || Top||

#10  I would say it is due to the arms and equipment that the West has been shipping the Leb goverment, as well as the training that the Leb Army has had in the past couple of years.

If the Lebanese military keeps up with this current pattern of anti-Islamist conduct, I might even have to withdraw my previous objections to us having sent them weapons. To see one of the Middle East's few pluralistic societies get fed up with and crack down upon Islamic crapulence would be a treat well worth the armament costs.
Posted by: Zenster || 06/11/2007 22:19 Comments || Top||


UN Hariri Court Comes Into Force
Posted by: Fred || 06/11/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Syria ordered its Lebanon cells to kill 4 prominent Lebanese
The Syrian intelligence has already ordered its cells in Lebanon to assassinate the following prominent Lebanese leaders:
  • MP Saad Hariri, parliament majority leader and son of former PM Rafik Hariri
  • MP Walid Jumblatt, Druze leader and head of Democratic Gathering parliamentary bloc and PSP chief
  • MP Marwan Hamadeh, Minister of communications , who miraculously survived an assassination attempt in 2004, for which Syria was blamed , but denied.any role.
  • Fares Khashan- a prominent anti-Syrian journalist
  • Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was assassinated in 2005 . The UN investigation pointed fingers at Syria for being responsible for his murder but Syria denied any responsibility

    "We (the Syrians) have not made any move yet but once we make our move we will not only set Lebanon on fire but the whole region."
    Al Seyassah newspaper also reported that the recent meeting between Italy's Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema and his Syrian counterpart Walid Mouallem in Damascus did not go well at all. There were many heated discussions during that meeting . D'Alema warned Mouallem that if Damascus does not help in stabilizing Lebanon then this should be considered his last trip to Syria and he will no longer be able to stop the European community from applying sanctions against Syria.

    D'Alema also told Muallem " we have proofs of your involvement in the murder of Hariri but we did not disclose them yet" . This apparently angered Mouallem who said "We the Syrians have not made any move yet but once we make our move we will not only set Lebanon on fire but the whole region."
    Posted by: Fred || 06/11/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

    #1  Syria and Iran are the troublemakers in the mideast. Stop them and the trouble is stopped or at least slowed considerably.
    Posted by: Clinter Smith1625 || 06/11/2007 15:40 Comments || Top||


    Gunfights in Lebanese siege camp after 17 killed
    Lebanese soldiers and diehard Islamist militants entrenched in a refugee camp fought gun battles on Sunday after at least 17 people were killed in an operation to storm rebel positions. As the showdown entered its fourth week, an army officer at the scene said the high casualties were suffered in clashes on Saturday that were often at close quarters and accompanied by heavy artillery fire from the military.

    The army, which has encircled Nahr Al-Bared, tried to push into the Palestinian refugee camp in north Lebanon and overrun positions held by Fatah Al-Islam militants, which has snipers posted on rooftops. “Nine soldiers in total were killed in the clashes yesterday as the army advanced on Fatah Al-Islam positions inside the camp,” the Lebanese army spokesman said, updating an earlier toll.

    Six troops were killed on Saturday and the other three died of their injuries on Sunday, he said. Almost 40 other soldiers were wounded. Shahine Shahine, spokesman for Fatah al-Islam, told a French news agency via telephone from inside the battered refugee camp that four of its fighters were killed and another six wounded.

    Two Palestinian civilians, whose bodies were evacuated on Sunday, also died in the shelling of the mostly-deserted camp, rescue workers said. “The soldiers were victims of booby-trapped bomb blasts and grenades thrown at them by Fatah Al-Islam,” as they tried to storm the militia’s positions on the northeastern outskirts of the camp, said an army commander. “The soldiers were fighting from high-rise to high-rise but encountering fierce resistance from the extremists who have booby-trapped the buildings,” the commander said.

    The known death toll since the fighting broke out on May 20 in Nahr Al-Bared and the nearby port city of Tripoli has now risen to 121, including 56 Lebanese army soldiers and about 50 Islamists.

    Lebanese authorities say the fighting was sparked by raids on Fatah Al-Islam hideouts in Tripoli following a bank robbery, after which the militants attacked army posts. Shahine said the shelling on Saturday had been a cover for a ground assault, but that the attack had been repulsed. The fighting came as a group of Muslim clerics shuttling between the two sides in a bid to broker a peaceful end to the siege was due to meet Lebanon Army Chief General Michel Suleiman.

    The mediators said they had suffered a setback on Friday when they were only able to see Shahine, not more senior Fatah Al-Islam leaders. “We were only able to meet a junior official while their top leaders like Shaker Abssi have gone under ground and aren’t talking,” delegation member Sheikh Fathi Yakan said. However, another Fatah al-Islam spokesman, Abu Salim Taha, said the mediation was not welcome, as it required the Islamists to surrender as demanded by Beirut.
    Posted by: Fred || 06/11/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

    #1  Gunfights in Lebanese siege camp after 17 killed?
    Posted by: gromgoru || 06/11/2007 1:19 Comments || Top||

    #2  Maybe they wanted to get the results in before press-time?
    Posted by: Pappy || 06/11/2007 9:46 Comments || Top||

    #3  He, he, he!
    Posted by: Ehud Olmert || 06/11/2007 12:12 Comments || Top||


    Good morning
    Posted by: Fred || 06/11/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

    #1  Good one, Fred. Ya feel better now doncha?
    Posted by: GK || 06/11/2007 0:20 Comments || Top||

    #2  Test?
    Posted by: Seafarious || 06/11/2007 0:27 Comments || Top||

    #3  Looks good to me, but would love to test. ;-)
    Posted by: twobyfour || 06/11/2007 5:20 Comments || Top||

    #4  Hey, this is different. But I'll just play along...
    Posted by: tu3031 || 06/11/2007 9:37 Comments || Top||

    #5  Whoops, what happened? Was I in a time warp?
    Posted by: tu3031 || 06/11/2007 9:42 Comments || Top||

    #6  Si, I remember those high heels. I still have the imprint of them on my hairy chest.
    Posted by: Xavier Cugart || 06/11/2007 11:25 Comments || Top||


    Tech update...
    Since the database transfer flopped so spectacularly, I'm going to leave WoT Research up for awhile and tinker with Rantburg behind the scenes. We're currently using MySQL for articles and Postgres for everything else.

    The server's not as responsive as it should be, but Badanov is also having a look and he knows more about Postgres than I do. We've had three attacks (600+ hits each) by the spammers, and I've made additions to the .htaccess file based on each of them. Assuming my syntax is correct, similar posts should be filtered out.
    Posted by: Fred || 06/11/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

    #1  This turd brown article box color is......different, heh.
    Posted by: Alaska Paul || 06/11/2007 1:26 Comments || Top||

    #2  600 hits is an "attack"? Jeez, my website could take that without blinking. Don't mean to be critical, but 600?
    Posted by: gromky || 06/11/2007 6:13 Comments || Top||

    #3  Let's see. Do I cut the red wire or the blue wire?
    Posted by: Snealing Oppressor of the Jutes1616 || 06/11/2007 17:43 Comments || Top||

    #4  I hate spammers. Send 'em to spammer hell.
    Posted by: JohnQC || 06/11/2007 17:45 Comments || Top||

    #5  When you click on "Today" a screen comes up that displays "Editor." If you click on "Editor" you get kicked into some website http://www.roadsideamerica.com/ which I have not seen for sometime--was really annoying. I would like to nuke that website.
    Posted by: JohnQC || 06/11/2007 17:50 Comments || Top||

    #6  welcome back!
    Posted by: Frank G || 06/11/2007 20:34 Comments || Top||

    #7  I like the coloured article boxes, actually. It reminds me of the Financial Times, printed on that distinguishable pink newsprint, so that from across the train one knows that the person reading it is serious.
    Posted by: trailing wife || 06/11/2007 20:40 Comments || Top||

    #8  That was what was supposed to happen. We appear to be up and running, thanks to Badanov.

    [Wild applause... Cheering... Cash and ladies' underwear thrown...]

    We've still got MySQL running and I'd like to see it go away, if Postgres will cooperate. But I'm looking forward to doing some posting for a change, instead of coding, cursing, and watching resources get gobbled.
    Posted by: Fred || 06/11/2007 20:41 Comments || Top||

    #9  If you click on "Editor" you get kicked into some website http://www.roadsideamerica.com/ which I have not seen for sometime--was really annoying. I would like to nuke that website.

    I got your annoyed right damn here buddy.
    Posted by: Muffler the Man || 06/11/2007 21:27 Comments || Top||

    #10  Go go BadMan!
    Posted by: Muffler the Man || 06/11/2007 21:29 Comments || Top||

    #11  Ima sooooooo happy to see y'all... Merry Christmas and Mazel Tov! I waz about to enter re-hab Fred so thanks for saving me the udder humiliation being with Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears an all.
    Posted by: Dawg,Red || 06/11/2007 21:34 Comments || Top||

    #12  Major gratitude to Fred and Badanov for all their efforts. Sorry to see that the migration was not the success hoped for, but I'm willing to accept whatever constraints required in order that the proprietor and mods do not have to endure more DoS spamming.
    Posted by: Zenster || 06/11/2007 22:13 Comments || Top||



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    On Sale now!


    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.
    Click here for more information

    Meet the Mods
    In no particular order...
    Steve White
    Seafarious
    tu3031
    badanov
    sherry
    ryuge
    GolfBravoUSMC
    Bright Pebbles
    trailing wife
    Gloria
    Fred
    Besoeker
    Glenmore
    Frank G
    3dc
    Skidmark

    Two weeks of WOT
    Mon 2007-06-11
      Gunmen fire on Haniyeh's house in Gaza; no one hurt
    Sun 2007-06-10
      Hamas-Fatah festivities renew in S Gaza, only 2 killed
    Sat 2007-06-09
      Olmert 'offers Golan Heights in peace deal'
    Fri 2007-06-08
      Lebanon Security Forces find 3 car bombs in Bekaa village
    Thu 2007-06-07
      HuJi boss Hannan, 5 others to be charged
    Wed 2007-06-06
      Kabul to trade Deadullah's carcass for hostages
    Tue 2007-06-05
      Terror suspect surrenders in Trinidad
    Mon 2007-06-04
      Clashes in Ein el-Hellhole between army and Syrian sock puppets
    Sun 2007-06-03
      UAE gives $80 million to Palestinians
    Sat 2007-06-02
      Report: Feds arrest 3 in alleged JFK airport plot
    Fri 2007-06-01
      Leb army attempts to seize Fateh al-Islam positions inside camp
    Thu 2007-05-31
      UNSC approves Hariri court
    Wed 2007-05-30
      Maliki is conducting "reconciliation" talks with Izzat Ibrahim
    Tue 2007-05-29
      Iraqi Kurdistan to take charge of own security
    Mon 2007-05-28
      14 Arrested in Spain on Terror Charges

    Better than the average link...



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