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45 Qaeda suspects held in Turkey
Today's Headlines
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 2: WoT Background
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Page 5: Russia-Former Soviet Union
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Afghanistan
Suicide attack kills two cops in Afghanistan
(KUNA) -- Two police personnel were killed and another five wounded in a suicide attack on a police compound in western Afghanistan on Tuesday. The attack was carried out in Zaranj, capital of the western Nimroz province. A provincial police officer Asadullah Sherzad said it was a suicide attack. The bomber rammed his explosive-ladden car against the police compound on Tuesday afternoon, he added. In the southern Kandahar province, local officials said air strike by NATO aircrafts killed three civilians in the district of Panjwayee. Chief of the district Shah Borhand said all those killed were civilians.

However, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) rejected the the statement and said no civilian was killed in its attack in its air strike in southern Afghanistan. A statement from NATO's headquarters here said an ISAF patrol spotted insurgents placing improvised explosive devices (IEDs) on a road close to an ISAF base in Panjwayee district last night. Air support was called which targeted the insurgents killing all the three people, said the statement. Afghan government in Kabul so far did not issue any comment.
Posted by: Fred || 04/02/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Africa Horn
Somali gunmen kidnap two foreigners
Somali gunmen on Tuesday kidnapped two foreign contractors working for a project funded by the United Nations in southern Somalia, one of their colleagues said.

Local militias were pursuing the kidnappers with the hope of freeing the captives, residents said. "One Briton and one Kenyan working for the U.N.'s FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation) were kidnapped by clan militiamen somewhere between Bule and Sakow towns in Middle Jubba province," a Somali aid worker, who asked not to be named, told Reuters. "We understand that the British man was wounded during an exchange of gunfire between the Somali bodyguards and the militia," he said.

He said the two had been working for the FAO-funded Somalia Water and Land Information Management project.

FAO officials in Rome and a British Foreign Office spokesman in London said they were investigating the report.

Local elders and militiamen were pursuing the kidnappers toward Jilib district, 280 km (174 miles) south of Mogadishu. "We are still chasing the kidnappers. We are determined to free the hostages," resident Mohamed Abdirisak said by phone.
Posted by: Fred || 04/02/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Islamic Courts


Chad says Sudan broke peace pact, Khartoum denies
Rebels in Chad attacked an eastern frontier town on Tuesday in a raid the government said was ordered by Sudan and violated a peace pact signed last month by the two oil-producing neighbours.

Sudan's armed forces denied any role in the attack on Ade by Chad's rebel National Alliance, which said its fighters struck from inside Chadian territory without crossing the border.

The latest clash and recriminations signalled a renewal of tensions between the two African states caught up in the conflict in Sudan's border region of Darfur, where around 200,000 people have been killed since 2003, experts say.

Chad's government said the attacking rebels crossed from Sudanese territory and were "under orders from the Sudanese regime" in direct violation of a peace accord signed last month in Senegal by the presidents of both countries.
Posted by: Fred || 04/02/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan


Somalia: 2 Killed in Mogadishu Violence, President Pardons Prisoners
Suspected insurgents launched a sneak attack on government soldiers standing guard at a key junction in central Mogadishu, killing one soldier, witnesses said. Somali and Ethiopian troops had arrived at the intersection in Mogadishu's Wardhigley district overnight, with residents reporting that they awoke to find the soldiers and armed trucks in the neighborhood Monday morning. Insurgents then launched their sneak attack, sparking a gunfight that lasted for 20 minutes.

Somali insurgents
Government soldiers killed one of the attackers before forcing them to disperse into neighborhood alleys, witnesses said. Two civilians, including a woman, were wounded in the battle, according to hospital sources.

In a separate attack, Islamist rebels raided a government checkpoint in El Adde town, in the region of Middle Shabelle that borders Mogadishu. Two soldiers were wounded in the attack, whereby insurgents briefly seized control of the checkpoint and confiscated tax money and documents, according to district officials. Sheikh Abdirahman Ali Ahmed, the district commissioner of Warsheikh where El Adde is located, confirmed that a total of six people were wounded, including two government soldiers. He said the town of El Adde was calm as of Monday morning after regional troops rushed in from the provincial capital, Jowhar.

Meanwhile in Mogadishu, Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf extended a pardon to seven prisoners accused of having ties with insurgent groups waging war on the government. President Yusuf met with a delegation consisting of three lawmakers, including former Interior Minister Mohamed "Gamodheere" Mohamud, and Mogadishu Port Commissioner Said Siyad Shirwa before issuing the pardon.
Posted by: Fred || 04/02/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Islamic Courts


Britain
Bombs dummy run at London Eye, MI6 -- The Sun
(KUNA) -- British police have foiled a plot to bomb major UK tourist attraction the "London Eye" and the headquarters of Britains external security agency known as "MI6", The Sun newspaper revealed Tuesday. Terrorists tested security by leaving two bags outside the intelligence service building on the River Thames at Vauxhall, in south London, and another at the giant ferris wheel on the South Bank of the Thames, in central London. But the bags, containing small metal weights, were spotted at both iconic targets, the paper said. The London Eye was evacuated.

Specialist officers from the Metropolitan Polices Counter-Terrorism Command have stepped up armed patrols and vehicle checks in an operation codenamed "Rainbow", The Sun added. The terror threat assessment has been upgraded to "severe", it said. Chief Inspector Clive Wakeley warned "It is not a matter of if, it is a matter of when, a terrorist attack takes place. "We are desperate for people to report suspect packages," he said. Sergeant Andy Wallace added "We are attempting to identify terrorists who are carrying out reconnaissance. We are doing everything we can to step them."

The alert came as Muslim convert Abu Omar said 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed asked him to mount a suicide bomb campaign in the UK, but he refused. Londoner Omar, a Jihad volunteer, said the plan was put to him in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred || 04/02/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Britain

#1  You don't have to look far to see that the Brits simply aren't serious about dealing with the problem. This is why they have effectively abandoned their troops in Basra and Afghanistan. With this lax attitude at the top and the law of large numbers, one day these nuts will make good on their plans. And it could be avoided if we would just recognize the enemy.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 04/02/2008 7:52 Comments || Top||

#2  The terror threat assessment has been upgraded to "severe",

That's puncha hippy if I recalls correctly.
Posted by: Zebulon Angavick7428 || 04/02/2008 9:35 Comments || Top||

#3  I dunno, Nimble, I think the Brit intel services are certainly serious about stopping terrorism. I think the problem is that too many people in Britain, and certainly within their elected government, view the problem through the multi-cultural lens, and haven't yet grasped the idea that the Islamofascists aren't just another interest group.
Posted by: Steve White || 04/02/2008 12:39 Comments || Top||

#4  I don't know. You are confusing what the media talk about, with what the people in pubs talk about.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 04/02/2008 13:16 Comments || Top||

#5  The UK has experienced unprecedented immigration in the past 15 years, from muzzie countries, the Carribean and Eastern Europe. All of these are going to impact the "British" nature of the country. But it is the muzzies who blow shit up. Clearly they are the least attractive immigrant group. Hopefully the UK will wake up before it is too late.
Posted by: Remoteman || 04/02/2008 13:33 Comments || Top||

#6  The Caribbean is more complicated than just Jamaica but generally Jamaican immigrants seem to shoot stuff up.

The Poles seem very good (but things are improving at home and with the credit crunch & de-leveraging set to hit the U.K. much worse than the U.S. they are drifting back home), but from what I hear the Romanians don't seem to have the same excellent work ethic.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 04/02/2008 14:04 Comments || Top||

#7  The Eye is a stone's throw from da mutha of all Parliaments,.. small bang for big bucks in the MSM.
Two words; Targetted Profiling.
Posted by: rhodesiafever || 04/02/2008 15:12 Comments || Top||

#8  Dr. White, true of the intel services, but not the Police who are in the lead of the multi-culti charge.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 04/02/2008 16:17 Comments || Top||


Europe
Al-Qaeda suspects held in Turkey
Forty-five people have been detained by Turkish police on suspicion of links to al-Qaeda and planning attacks. Local media reported that the suspects were rounded up in simultaneous operations in eight districts of Istanbul on Tuesday and were being questioned by police. A court is to decide whether they should be charged, jailed and wait for a trial or released. In January, police raided 18 locations in southeast Turkey on so-called "intelligence" that fighters linked to al-Qaeda were planning car bomb attacks. Four alleged fighters and a policeman were then killed in a gunfight, and 17 suspects were arrested.
Previous arrests
Al-Qaeda was also blamed for truck bombs that targeted two synagogues in Istanbul on November 15, 2003, as well as the British consulate and a British bank five days later. The attacks killed at least 63 people, and injured hundreds.

Last year, seven men were jailed for life over the bombings, one of them a Syrian national who was convicted of financing the attacks.
Posted by: Fred || 04/02/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Turkey


Home Front: WoT
Pipe bomb parts found in Florida airport bag
Components that potentially could be made into a pipe bomb were found in the luggage of a man preparing to fly from Orlando International Airport to Jamaica on Tuesday, the Orlando Sentinel newspaper said. The Transportation Security Administration confirmed only that "suspicious" items were found in a search of the man's luggage.

FBI spokesman David Couvertier, whose agency is handling the case, said the items "generated a high level of concern," but he declined to confirm the newspaper's report that the suspicious items included "unassembled pipes with end caps, metal ball bearings and other potentially explosive materials."

The man, whose name was not released, was taken into custody by Orlando Police and turned over to the FBI, according to police spokeswoman Sgt. Barbara Jones. He was ticketed on an Air Jamaica flight scheduled to leave Orlando for Montego Bay, Jamaica, on Tuesday afternoon.

According to the TSA, an officer keeping watch for suspicious behavior singled out the man for luggage inspection. Airport spokeswoman Carolyn Fennell said the man was preparing to check the luggage when he was detained. Passengers were evacuated from a section of the airport terminal around the Air Jamaica, Air Canada and Air Frontier ticket counters, and 11 flights were delayed, Fennell said.
Posted by: Fred || 04/02/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The man, whose name was not released

Because there is no link between this incident and Islamist terrorism, no doubt.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 04/02/2008 7:15 Comments || Top||

#2  There's plenty gangs and crime in Jamaica, NS.

Not all violence is muslim-related.
Posted by: Pappy || 04/02/2008 9:11 Comments || Top||

#3  Ya got that right, Pappy. One of the most beautiful places I've ever been. And one of the creepiest...
Posted by: tu3031 || 04/02/2008 10:10 Comments || Top||

#4  I lived in LA during the Crips-Bloods gangwar. It was teatime with Grandma compared to the brutality that the Jamaican gangs brought when they moved into the drug trade in the US.
Posted by: lotp || 04/02/2008 10:23 Comments || Top||

#5  Of course the Shoe Bomber was part-Jamaican in background. Sigh.
Posted by: lotp || 04/02/2008 10:36 Comments || Top||

#6  Name is Kevin Brown, and a native Jamaican. Also had a manual on how to assemble a bomb. But more suspicious is this deported Jamaican imam with links to the 7/7 bombings, Richard Reid, and the radical British Mosque (article from 4-07) :

JAILED preacher who inspired one of the 7/7 bombers has sparked rage by using human rights laws to try to stay here. Abdullah El-Faisal was jailed for nine years in March 2003 for inciting murder in vile rants but he is due to be released this month. The Home Office plans to deport him to his native Jamaica but the Muslim convert, with links to Al Qaeda...El-Faisal’s twisted preachings were delivered at Brixton mosque, where shoe bomber Richard Reid is said to have met Zacharias Moussaoui – the so-called 20th hijacker in the 9/11 attacks....It emerged last year that El-Faisal was also believed to have influenced 7/7 bomber Jermaine Lindsay...The twice-married father-of-four urged his followers to kill Hindus, Jews and Americans and distributed tape recordings with titles including “No Peace With The Jews” and “Declaration Of War”. He called for non-believers to be killed with chemical and nuclear weapons, guns and bombs while dismissing the killing of women and children in terror atrocities as “collateral damage”.

Posted by: Thealing Borgia6122 || 04/02/2008 11:11 Comments || Top||

#7  You need a manual to assemble a pipe bomb? These are fairly easy to make. They are also easy to detect going through airport security.
Posted by: JohnQC || 04/02/2008 11:36 Comments || Top||

#8  Maybe it was some kind of old or new-fangled Jamaican bong.
Posted by: JohnQC || 04/02/2008 11:37 Comments || Top||

#9  'Bomber' on board - Jamaican arrested in Florida with explosive materials
The Gleaner has learned that the man, 33-year-old United States green-card holder, Jamaican-born Kevin Brown, of Ocala, Florida, was about to board Air Jamaica flight 080 from Orlando to Montego Bay. Brown is said to be married to a serving member of the American army.

TB, can you verify Kevin Brown has links is the imam responsible with London's 7/7 massacre and the shoe bomber? While brown has the shaved head and beard uniform of a radical muslim, I can't find an article linking him (yet) with Abdullah Faisal

U.S. Based Revolution Muslim Website Spreading Messages of Hate
On any given day, log on to RevolutionMuslim.com and a host of startling images appear:

— The Statue of Liberty, with an ax blade cutting through her side;

— Video mocking the beheading of American journalist Daniel Pearl, entitled "Daniel Pearl I am Happy Your Dead :) ";

— Video of a puppet show lampooning U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq;

— The latest speech from Sheikh Abdullah Faisal, an extremist Muslim cleric convicted in the UK and later deported for soliciting the murder of non-Muslims.

Even more surprising is that RevolutionMuslim.com isn't being maintained in some remote safe house in Pakistan. Instead, Yousef al-Khattab, the Web site creator, runs it from his home in the New York City Borough of Queens.

And, because al-Khattab enjoys the First Amendment right to freedom of speech, all the authorities can do is watch.

Formerly known as Joseph Cohen, al-Khattab is an American-born Jew who converted to Islam after attending an Orthodox Rabbinical school, which he later described as a “racist cult.”

The 39-year-old New York taxi driver launched RevolutionMuslim.com with the mission of “preserving Islamic culture,” “calling people to the oneness of God” and asking them to “support the beloved Sheik Abdullah Faisal, who’s preaching the religion of Islam and serving as a spiritual guide.”

In 2003 Faisal was convicted in the U.K. for spreading messages of racial hatred and urging his followers to kill Jews, Hindus and Westerners. In sermon recordings played at his trial, Faisal called on young, impressionable Muslims to use chemical weapons to “exterminate unbelievers” and “cut the throat of the Kaffars [nonbelievers] with [a] machete.”

Authorities believe Faisal’s sermons have influenced 2005 London transport bomber Germaine Lindsay and "shoe bomber" Richard Reid, who attended mosques where Faisal preached.
Posted by: ed || 04/02/2008 11:44 Comments || Top||

#10  The Huge Conventions of NineTeenElevenTeen prohibit the use of Bongs as a Weapon of War. As such they are free from invasive inspekshun and purdy much cool

Posted by: Zebulon Angavick7428 || 04/02/2008 12:46 Comments || Top||

#11  It's difficult to get quality bong propellant anyway.
Posted by: wxjames || 04/02/2008 14:06 Comments || Top||

#12  Well looky here via Fox news:

ORLANDO, Fla. — A Jamaican man accused of trying to bring pipe bomb-making materials onto an airplane told the FBI he wanted to show friends in his home country how to build explosives like he saw in Iraq, according to documents released Wednesday.

The FBI was still trying to determine whether Kevin Brown was ever in Iraq and noted he first told officials he wanted to detonate the materials on a tree stump in Jamaica.
Posted by: Jererong Lumplump4896 || 04/02/2008 14:29 Comments || Top||

#13  Well then he can just buy these common materials in Jamaica then, can't he. Bull$hit. He's going down.
Posted by: gorb || 04/02/2008 15:50 Comments || Top||

#14  TB, can you verify Kevin Brown has links is the imam responsible with London's 7/7 massacre and the shoe bomber?

I got the info from a RB archived article from April 2007.
Posted by: Thealing Borgia6122 || 04/02/2008 16:12 Comments || Top||

#15  I was just making the connection of a radical imam in Jamaica that could be the source of radical inspiration.
Posted by: Thealing Borgia6122 || 04/02/2008 16:14 Comments || Top||

#16  I just heard a bit ago that his bomb kit included a bunch of BBs. If true, it makes me wonder why he's going to detonate a pipe bomb in a stump with a bunch of BBs. Could hurt one of the neighbors.
Posted by: gorb || 04/02/2008 23:20 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Eight Maoists killed in counter-insurgency operation in East India
(KUNA) -- At least eight Maoist insurgents have been killed in a major counter-insurgency operation by the security forces in Garwah district in the Eastern Indian state of Jharkhand.
The encounter took place at Monda in Garwah district late on Monday, news agency Indo Asian News Service reported Tuesday. "This is a big success for our security forces. Of the eight, one was a Maoist sub zonal commander. Two area commanders were also killed," Jharkhand police spokesperson R.K. Malik told the news agency. A self-loading rifle, four .303 rifles, four .315 rifles, one carbine gun, one double barrel gun and one pistol were recovered from the slain Maoists. The banned Communist Party of India-Maoist has presence in certain parts of Jharkhand.
Posted by: Fred || 04/02/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Top commanders of Hizbul Mujahideen killed in Indian-administered Kashmir
(KUNA) -- Two top "commanders" of Pakistan-based Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) were killed by security forces in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir Tuesday. The encounter between HM insurgents and the Indian security forces took place tonight in the Dudu village in Kashmir's Anantnag district, news agency Indo Asian News Service reported, quoting a spokesman of Jammu and Kashmir police.

HM divisional commander Aslam Khan alias Zia-ur-Rahman and district commander Javed Ahmed Lone were killed in the gunfight, the spokesman said. While a civilian was killed in the crossfire, another was injured in the incident. A trooper was also injured. Some arms and ammunition were recovered from the slain insurgents, the spokesman said.
This article starring:
ASLAM KHANHizbul Mujahideen
JAVED AHMED LONEHizbul Mujahideen
ZIA UR RAHMANHizbul Mujahideen
Posted by: Fred || 04/02/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Hizbul Mujaheddin


Rockets fired at fort
Suspected militants fired three rockets at the Inayat Killay Scouts fort late on Monday, although no casualties were reported, sources said. Two rockets fell inside the fort, but no damage was reported. Meanwhile, a bomb exploded near the agency headquarters at Khar, but there were no casualties. The bomb was planted near a wall, between Civil Colony and a local hospital.
Posted by: Fred || 04/02/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


FC man killed in Quetta
Police say that unidentified gunmen have killed one Frontier Corps (FC) soldier and injured four others after opening fire on a troop deployment here on Tuesday.

Police official Raja Fayyaz told news agency AP that the soldiers came under fire as they travelled through Quetta on a routine patrol. Daily Times learnt that the soldiers were returning to their headquarters when they were ambushed in a Baloch-dominated locality. Habibur Rehman died on the spot, while four other soldiers — Abdul Wali, Naveed Akhtar, Amir Nawaz and Didar Khan — were injured. The injured were shifted to the Combined Military Hospital in Quettata’s Cantonment for immediate treatment.

Local police cordoned off the area and initiated a search for the gunmen, the APP news agency reported.
Posted by: Fred || 04/02/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Pindi suicide blasts: ATC issues arrest warrants for five, including Mehsud
Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) No 1 on Tuesday issued non-bailable warrants for the arrest of militant commander Baitullah Mehsud and his four associates over their alleged involvement in two separate suicide bombings in Rawalpindi. Proceedings have been adjourned until April 21.

Mehsud and his accomplices — Ikramullah, Faiz Ahmad, Qari Nazir and Qari Ismail — have been accused of involvement in last yearar’s bombing of a police picket at Golf Road, and that of an Army Medical College bus near the General Headquarters (GHQ).

The court, headed by Judge Chaudhry Habibur Rehman, has already issued arrest warrants for the five militants in Benazir Bhutto’s murder case. The judge ordered a joint investigation team of security agencies to arrest the accused, and submit a compliance report before the court.

The court also extended the judicial remand of Rafaqat and Hasnain Gul, who are allegedly involved in the two bombings. The two were brought to the court under tight security, and were later moved to Adiala Jail.

This article starring:
BAITULLAH MEHSUDTaliban
FAIZ AHMEDTaliban
HASNAIN GULTaliban
IKRAMULLAHTaliban
Judge Chaudhry Habibur Rehman
QARI ISMAILTaliban
QARI NAZIRTaliban
RAFAQATTaliban
Posted by: Fred || 04/02/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Two killed, 11 injured in Swat blasts
Two people were killed and 11 injured in two separate roadside bombings in Swat Valley on Tuesday.

A group of elders was scheduled to conduct dialogue with local officials when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb in the Shaur area of Swat. Two of them died on the spot, while seven suffered injuries.

Senior police officer Haroon Babar told the AP news agency that the bomb exploded when a convoy of four vehicles was travelling to an army base in Matta. He said they were injured when gunmen opened fire on them after they got out of the damaged cars.

“The militants were unhappy with the efforts of the tribal elders to recover stolen official vehicles through a jirga,” police officer Humayun Khan told the AFP news agency.

Separately, a bomb hit the vehicle of a naib nazim in the Sar Senai area of Kabal tehsil, injuring four people, including the naib nazim. The officials were returning to their office from a visit of the area, police officer Akhtar Sharif said.

Also on Tuesday, Daily Times learnt that security officials have decided to lodge a FIR against all the militants who had surrendered to the government and subsequently freed on the requests of local elders.
Posted by: Fred || 04/02/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: TNSM


New leads emerge on SIMI terror plans
Students Islamic Movement of India leaders conducted at least three secret combat camps last year, police investigating a group of top SIMI leaders held in Indore believe.

New recruits were taught basic jungle-craft, elementary marksmanship with air-rifles and the principles of bomb-making, police sources told The Hindu. SIMI’s leading bomb-maker, Mumbai-based Mohammad Subhan — alleged to have been linked to the perpetrators of the 2003 Gateway of India terror strike — was the principal instructor at the camps.

Investigators believe the first of these camps was held in the third week of April, 2007, near Hubli in Karnataka. The camp was organised by SIMI’s south India chief, Hafiz Husain, and Shibli Peedical Abdul, an Idukki-born computer engineer who is alleged to have links with the Lashkar-e-Taiba terror cell which carried out the 2006 serial bombings in Mumbai.

Operating under the code-name ‘Adnan,’ Husain had overseen the large-scale expansion of SIMI’s operations in Karnataka. A resident of Bijapur’s Jamia Road area, Husain ran a network of religious front organisations through which SIMI drew much of its cadre. Abdul, who worked as a computer engineer with a multinational company in Bangalore, was among his key lieutenants.

Several of their recruits are thought to have worked with Andhra Pradesh-based Lashkar operative Raziuddin Nasir in an abortive plot to stage bombings targeting western tourists in Goa. Among them was Yahya Kamakutty, a computer engineer drawn to SIMI through SARANI, a front organisation headed by Abdul. Nasir, Kamakutty and several other members of the cell were held in Bangalore last month.

Police sources say similar training camps were held by SIMI at Mhow, Madhya Pradesh, in late October, 2007, and then near Kottayam, Kerala, in December, 2007. In each case, front organisations controlled by SIMI made arrangements for the camps, while cadre told their families they were travelling to retreats to further their religious education.

Preparations
Documents sized at SIMI’s Indore safe-house suggest the training camps could have been preparatory exercises for a programme of continued “selective violence” agreed on at closed-door discussions between top SIMI leaders after the Hubli camp. SIMI planned to contact fraternal organisations, including the Taliban, to seek further resources for its campaign.

SIMI’s jihadist leadership also decided to resume publication of three jihadist magazines, Jihad: Fitr-e-Jamhooriyat [‘Jihad: The Commencement of Democracy’] and Aaiye, Jannat ki Sair Karaein [‘Welcome to the Journey Into Paradise’]. Publication of the magazines had been terminated by SIMI’s last president, Shahid Badr Falahi, in an effort to distance the organisation’s leadership from jihadists.

At Hubli, SIMI’s leadership sought to outflank anti-jihad Islamists led by Falahi, by abolishing the central committee he controls. The leadership also forbade the organisation from participating in politics and, most important, abolished the age limit for membership — allowing pro-jihad leader Safdar Nagori to remain in the organisation.

Nagori, secretary-general of the organisation at the time of its proscription in 2001, was among the 13 SIMI leaders held in Indore last week. Wanted by police in half a dozen States, including Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Delhi, Nagori — believed to be the principal architect of SIMI’s turning to the jihad — had evaded arrest since 2001.

This article starring:
Falahi
HAFIZ HUSEINStudents Islamic Movement of India
MOHAMAD SUBHANStudents Islamic Movement of India
RAZIUDIN NASIRLashkar-e-Taiba
SAFDAR NAGORIStudents Islamic Movement of India
SHAHID BADR FALAHIStudents Islamic Movement of India
SHIBLI PIDICAL ABDULLashkar-e-Taiba
SHIBLI PIDICAL ABDULStudents Islamic Movement of India
YAHYA KAMAKUTTYStudents Islamic Movement of India
Posted by: Fred || 04/02/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: SIMI


Iraq
How can this be? Iraqi forces move into Shia stronghold
From the Guardian no less
Iraqi government forces entered a Shia militant stronghold in the southern city of Basra today, which has been rocked by fierce internecine clashes in recent weeks.

The move against the Mahdi army, the militia supporting the Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, comes a day after the Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, returned to Baghdad after spending a week in Basra overseeing a crackdown against Shia militants.
The losers are occupying the winners, go figure!
As the convoy of army and police forces, led by Lieutenant-General Mohan al-Fireji, entered the Hayaniyah area of the city, the troops began shooting into the air in a show of force.
Killing clouds is an Arab specialty
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 04/02/2008 15:57 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Moqtada al-Sadr's goons are 'bean counting' now; surveilling who comes, who goes and when. Seems his gamesmanship continues. No one in the West has the audacity to tap the top of his turban with a Hellfire® missile these days!
Posted by: smn || 04/02/2008 16:16 Comments || Top||

#2  Probably because at this point, it's an 'Iraqi show'.
Posted by: Pappy || 04/02/2008 16:33 Comments || Top||

#3  smn:
It's hard to hit him with a Hellfire when he's hiding in Iran.

Al
Posted by: Frozen Al || 04/02/2008 16:55 Comments || Top||

#4  All your strongholds!

We has
Posted by: Elvis On a Tractor || 04/02/2008 17:12 Comments || Top||

#5  Pappy - you've gotta cut the fact-challenged some slack
Posted by: Frank G || 04/02/2008 17:57 Comments || Top||

#6  Looking for former Iraqi policemen who are out of uniform, no doubt.
Posted by: Jack Slineger4174 || 04/02/2008 18:59 Comments || Top||

#7  I assume that it is not only Mookie's goons who are surveilling at this point. Prolly lots of that going on by both sides. But the reality is that Maliki's team has the better supply of weapons, ammo and other logistic items and they have the air support and other backup from the Coalition forces. Hard to see how they don't have the upper hand against what is a large organized crime group.
Posted by: Remoteman || 04/02/2008 19:02 Comments || Top||

#8  It's hard to hit him with a Hellfire when he's hiding in Iran.

OK - so let's try "reconnaissance by fire" using Arc Light strikes.

'Works for me.
Posted by: Lone Ranger || 04/02/2008 20:23 Comments || Top||

#9  point was - everyone (but smn and the NYT?) seems to know he's in Iran
Posted by: Frank G || 04/02/2008 21:20 Comments || Top||

#10  Thing is Madhi Army may have learend by observing that we now use 500lb JDAM on the "bunker" houses they make. And the Iraqis can call us in pretty quick.
Posted by: OldSpook || 04/02/2008 22:19 Comments || Top||

#11  Lone Ranger, agreed. There are many ways to skin [a] Tater.
Posted by: twobyfour || 04/02/2008 22:51 Comments || Top||

#12  Mahdi army is going to find out how it doesn't pay to fight a 'come as you are' war against an opponent who're trained to fight like Americans ...
Posted by: Steve White || 04/02/2008 23:13 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Hamas and Fatah supporters clash at Gaza university
Hamas police and supporters on Monday beat a number of professors and students of Al Azhar University, the last bastion of Fatah in Gaza, wounding several, witnesses said. Hamas denied it had acted improperly and said the police restored order.The students and staff were protesting a rally that Hamas insisted on holding inside the university campus in memory of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the founder of the militant Islamic group who was killed in an Israeli air strike in March 2004.

Al Azhar University has continued to operate, despite having been raided five times since Hamas routed rival Fatah forces and took control of Gaza last June.

Before dawn on Monday, Hamas activists entered the compound and set up equipment for the rally, hanging pictures of Hamas leaders and Hamas flags. When members of the academic staff protested outside, Hamas police beat them with clubs, said Ayman Shaheen, a professor of political science. Shaheen said he was hit twice. "All they know is the language of force," Shaheen said of Hamas. "We try to talk to them but they don't listen."

A number of female students were then attacked at the rally by participants who mostly came from outside, many armed with clubs, witnesses said. Tahrir Abu Latifa, 19, a student of commerce, was taken to Gaza's main Al Shifa Hospital unconscious but was able to leave a few hours later.
Posted by: Fred || 04/02/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  "All they know is the language of force,"

Too bad our people don't understand this.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/02/2008 5:35 Comments || Top||

#2  about Hamas? Who in Israel doesnt understand that?
Posted by: liberalhawk || 04/02/2008 11:27 Comments || Top||

#3  LH,

I think that probably about 10%-30% of the Israeli population believes that Hamas, with proper guidance, courtesy, etc., can evolve into a non violent organization. Of course such people will always claim that no 'proper guidance... etc.' was provided and will blame whoever is convenient for it.

Posted by: mhw || 04/02/2008 11:53 Comments || Top||

#4  They have a precedent -- Menachem Begin transformed the terrorist revolutionary Irgun into a political faction.

IMO the chances of the Palestinians producing someone strong enough (or sane enough) to do so is effectively nil. There are too many external actors profiting from the chaos.
Posted by: Thrinesing Peacock8884 || 04/02/2008 14:20 Comments || Top||

#5  Gaza UNIVERSITY??!!??

Seriously, you're kidding, right? There's a Gaza University?

"I major in car bombs."
Posted by: jds || 04/02/2008 19:19 Comments || Top||

#6  about Hamas?

About Arabs.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/02/2008 21:24 Comments || Top||

#7  Who in Israel doesnt understand that?

Wasn't talking about Israel.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/02/2008 21:26 Comments || Top||

#8  G, I think most sentient individuals are aware, just some are in denial, and some have a different agenda
Posted by: Frank G || 04/02/2008 21:34 Comments || Top||

#9  Frank G = optimist.

;-)
Posted by: twobyfour || 04/02/2008 22:54 Comments || Top||

#10  LOL - welllll, the "sentient" part is my out, for a lot of humanity
Posted by: Frank G || 04/02/2008 23:10 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Muslim cleric arrested in Sulu
Government security forces have arrested a Muslim cleric from Capual Island in Luuk, Sulu on suspicion of being a member of the Abu Sayyaf group, police belatedly announced.

The Philippine National Police’s Criminal Detection and Investigation Group (CIDG) said in a statement that Ustadz Jaiton Jala Timuay was arrested on March 21. It claimed Timuay was among the Abu Sayyaf fighters who kidnapped 21 people, including foreigners, from the Malaysian resort of Sipadan on April 23, 2000.
Timuay, who has been locked up in the CIDG detention facility here, said he was in Syria when the mass kidnapping took place.
But Timuay, who has been locked up in the CIDG detention facility here, said he was in Syria when the mass kidnapping took place. Timuay's colleagues, who came to the CIDG office here along with a government lawyer, backed up his claim.

Sheikh Abdulwakil Tanjijil, a Muslim cleric in Western Mindanao, said Timuay was in Syria between 1998 and 2005. Tanjijil said they were incensed at the allegations, describing Timuay as a good man. However, Tanjijil said they have learned that the CIDG is planning to file another charge against the cleric, this time for his alleged involvement in a kidnapping in Basilan.

Warina Jukuy of the Concerned Citizens of Sulu told the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net) that officials from the Department of Justice (DoJ) are working with the CIDG to “fabricate” the charges against Timuay. "DoJ officials are fabricating a different charge. After they learned that Timuay is innocent of the Sipadan case, they are now filing charges against him for the kidnapping of Biel," she said in reference to the 1991 abduction of Anthony Biel, a scion of the Biel clan of Basilan. The CIDG’s Superintendent Jose Pante did not answer repeated calls by the Inquirer.

Tanjijil said they are worried about Timuay's safety because of information CIDG agents are allegedly trying to force him to confess to participation in the Biel kidnapping.
This article starring:
Anthony Biel
Concerned Citizens of Sulu
JAITON JALA TIMUAIAbu Sayyaf
Sheikh Abdulwakil Tanjijil
Superintendent Jose Pante
Warina Jukuy
Posted by: Fred || 04/02/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Abu Sayyaf

#1  Hey, things are tough all over. Most everybody's got a second job...
Posted by: tu3031 || 04/02/2008 10:59 Comments || Top||


Sri Lanka
35 rebels killed in Sri Lanka fighting
Sri Lanka accused Tamil Tiger rebels of shelling a state-run hospital on Tuesday as fighting across the northern front lines reportedly left at least 35 rebels dead.

The hospital in Mannar district was partially damaged by heavy artillery from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the defence ministry said, adding that a few shells had also fallen close to a nearby state-run school. “The explosions had caused panic and trauma among patients and civilians who were immediately evacuated by troops into safer shelters,” the ministry said in a statement. It was not immediately clear if there were casualties.

Meanwhile, security forces killed at least 35 rebels in fighting in the north on Monday, the ministry said, placing its own losses at six soldiers wounded. Six Tamil Tiger rebels riding on a tractor were killed in an army attack in Vavuniya, the military said. Rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan was not available for comment. Casualty numbers given by both sides cannot be independently confirmed since Colombo bars journalists and rights groups from front-line areas.
Posted by: Fred || 04/02/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Good Morning.
Posted by: Fred || 04/02/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Somebody open the curtains, please.
Posted by: Parabellum || 04/02/2008 6:59 Comments || Top||

#2  Yowza! *sigh*
Posted by: Spot || 04/02/2008 7:53 Comments || Top||

#3  Does the carpet match?
Posted by: Excalibur || 04/02/2008 10:09 Comments || Top||

#4  ouzo-like


Seems like good spot for it.
Posted by: Zebulon Angavick7428 || 04/02/2008 12:39 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
47[untagged]
6Taliban
4Mahdi Army
3Govt of Pakistan
3Global Jihad
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2Islamic Courts
2Hamas
1Iraqi Baath Party
1Iraqi Insurgency
1Jaish-e-Mohammad
1Muslim Brotherhood
1SIMI
1Takfir wal-Hijra
1TNSM
1Abu Sayyaf
1Al-Muhajiroun
1al-Qaeda
1al-Qaeda in Britain
1al-Qaeda in Turkey
1Hezbollah
1Hizbul Mujaheddin

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Wed 2008-04-02
  45 Qaeda suspects held in Turkey
Tue 2008-04-01
  US charges Foopie with Africa bombings
Mon 2008-03-31
  Iraqi govt lifts curfew across Baghdad
Sun 2008-03-30
  Sadr orders fighters off Iraq streets
Sat 2008-03-29
  Maliki extends ultimatum for gunmen to drop the hardware in Basra
Fri 2008-03-28
  Iraqi forces say kill 120 militants in Basra operation
Thu 2008-03-27
  Twenty killed, 239 wounded in Sadr City clashes in 24 hrs
Wed 2008-03-26
  Maliki overseeing Basra operation
Tue 2008-03-25
  Tater urges 'civil revolt' as battles erupt in Basra
Mon 2008-03-24
  Ayman urges attacks on Israel, U.S.
Sun 2008-03-23
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Sat 2008-03-22
  Fatah, Jund al-Sham fight it out in Ein el-Hellhole
Fri 2008-03-21
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Thu 2008-03-20
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