A government minister says Somali gunmen have demanded $1 million for the release of a German couple, their young son and a French boat captain.
The Europeans were seized Monday from a yacht off the Gulf of Aden and taken to Puntland, a semiautonomous region of northern Somalia. The condition of the captives is not clear. A clan elder who is helping negotiate says the boy is suffering from a fever and needs medical help.
Jama Hirsi Farah, minister of state for security in the region, said Thursday that the kidnappers have demanded $1 million.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/27/2008 00:00 ||
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Wouldn't it be nice if Germany said it would raise the ante to one bullet per each pirate? Instead, they will probably pay up and keep the business going.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
06/27/2008 0:38 Comments ||
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I don't know if I should post this in WoT as all Yemen appears to be one form of terror or another but here it is:
You got it right. Both times :-)
SAADA, June 25 Bloody confrontations between the Yemeni army and Houthi loyalists have become fierce in several Saada districts, most notably in the areas of Jamaa, Jesr Madar and Jesr Al-Khanaq in Kataf district, where dozens on both sides were killed, informed tribal sources from the restive governorate said Wednesday.
Other tribal sources note that Houthis and army troops have been swapping control of Mahdha area near the south entrance to Saada city following a week of fierce clashes that killed dozens more on both sides. Yemeni army troops in Mirran are attempting to advance toward strategic positions in an attempt to free several military units besieged by Houthi gunmen in the area.
Houthis have been working hard since the confrontations erupted to drive military forces from Mirran area, which is believed to be their main strategic position, the starting point of their operations and the home area of their slain leader, Hussein Badraddin Al-Houthi, whom the army killed in September 2004, the sources say.
The army-affiliated 26September.net reports that government forces have taken over most strategic positions in Bani Muadth district, once used by Houthis in their fight against the troops, noting that nothing remains in the area except a few pockets of resistance, which the web site expects to be eliminated in the hours to come. The site quoted what it calls official Saada sources as saying that military forces are preparing to raid both Haidan and Matra areas, the latter of which is field leader Abdulmalik Al-Houthis main stronghold. The government believes that senior Houthi fighters are entrenching in these areas.
Media sources expect fierce fighting to occur if the Yemeni army attacks the main stronghold of Houthis leader in Matra, which was hit with hundreds of rockets when a wave of confrontations erupted between both conflicting sides during the second week of May.
According to 26September.net, government troops have seized control of Al-Ammar and Al-Saifi areas and now are advancing toward Dhahian city, located 8 kilometers north of the provincial capital.
Houthi relatives deny the authenticity of reports published by pro-government media outlets, claiming that they are strongly resisting all offensives by government troops against their strategic positions while maintaining that their current capacity to defend themselves and fight the Yemeni army is better than before.
The Yemeni Socialist Party-affiliated Aleshteraki.net has quoted informed sources as saying that Houthi gunmen shot down an MI-8 helicopter at 10 a.m. Tuesday as it hovered over the 17th Military Division, which has been besieged for more than a month, in an attempt to supply its troops with food and ordinance.
The sites sources say that members of the 17th Military Division besieged in Mirran area for 44 days now are angry at the governments seeming indifference toward releasing them, so theyve begun telephoning media outlets to complain about their harsh conditions. The besieged troops say they lack basic living necessities such as food, water and medication, particularly as they are subjected to frequent Houthi assaults. They note that sympathetic boys in the area had been supplying them with food until Houthis discovered this and stopped them from doing so two days ago.
The besieged troops include division commander Abdulaziz Al-Shahari, whom Houthis blame for intensifying the blockade on various Mirran villages after a July 2007 ceasefire agreement reached by both sides in Doha went into effect. Houthis further accuse Al-Shahari, a Salafi extremist, of insulting Zaidi ideology.
On Sunday, Houthis shot dead Mohammed Al-Fadhli, head of the 10th Military Divisions training unit, in Al-Sama as he was surveying the area prior to a planned attack against the strongholds of Houthi leaders in Matra district.
Asked about the condition of Abdulmalik Al-Houthi, whose arm was injured in clashes with the army a few days ago, one of his relatives responded to the Yemen Times by telephone on Wednesday that the field leader is in good condition, adding that he is continuing to lead battles against Yemeni government troops. Al-Houthis relative further denied the veracity of media reports alleging that the leader had been killed.
Regarding the human situation in the war-ravaged governorate, sources from the provincial capital say that dozens of farmers demonstrated Sunday in front of the citys government complex, protesting against the authorities, who arent allowing them to transport their agricultural products to Sanaa. The same sources went on to say that, Farmers demonstrated after their vehicles filled with fruits and vegetables werent allowed to travel to Sanaa, noting that despite their top quality, fruit sales are poor.
According to the sources, a military checkpoint in Amrans Harf Sifyan district is contributing to complicating the entry of food and fuel supplies to Saada, as well as the transport of Saada agricultural products to other areas. Additionally, local residents complain that Saada city suffers frequent nightly blackouts lasting for hours due to lack of diesel supplies needed by the citys electrical generators. They add that the price of propane gas has exceeded YR 2,000 per cylinder.
Residents further reveal that the numbers of displaced families evacuating their rural homes for Saada city are on the increase, expressing concern that epidemics may spread among these displaced families due to lack of basic services.
Saudi Arabia has announced making large-scale arrests in the last six months to foil attempts by followers of Al-Qaeda to regroup in the kingdom.
Security forces have arrested 701 militants who were plotting terror strikes, Saudi Arabias Interior Ministry spokesman has been quoted as saying.
He pointed out that the extremists were planning to target economic installations, including oil terminals. Those arrested include foreigners, including several Africans and Asians. Around 112 persons were arrested on allegations of coordinating with foreign militants and facilitating their travel.
Ammunition seized
Saudi authorities said one cell, run by African immigrants, was broken in the eastern part of the country. Another group was apprehended in Yanbuan industrial city on the Red Sea coast where a number of petrochemical facilities are located.
A 22-member cell attempting assassination of Islamic scholars and members of security forces was also broken. A number of weapons, ammunition, sophisticated electronic equipment and money has been confiscated from the militants.
Saudi Arabia launched a major crackdown after 2003 when militants bombed
Posted by: Fred ||
06/27/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
You reap what you sow!!!!
Posted by: Paul ||
06/27/2008 5:19 Comments ||
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#2
If we get our act together and Saudi oil profits decrease significantly, what happens to the Magic Kingdom? The oil bonanza will end someday and it looks like the royal princes will be consumed by their own regressive monsters.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
06/27/2008 8:52 Comments ||
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#3
No problem for the Saudi, there will always be a huge market for insanity and they control the product.
In a breakthrough move expected to facilitate the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, China announced on Thursday that North Korea submitted its detailed list of nuclear reactors and materials to it. The brief announcement was made by Vice-Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, who is also Chinas envoy to the six-party talks.
The talks involve the U.S., Russia, Japan, the two Koreas and host China, and they have formed the chief mechanism for negotiations.
North Korea was placed by the U.S. State Department on its terrorism list 20 years ago after its agents were implicated in the 1987 bombing of a South Korean airliner, which killed 155 onboard passengers. The designation resulted in sanctions, including curbs on aid and a ban on sales of weapons.
Last year in February, the six-party talks yielded a deal, according to which Pyongyang agreed to dismantle its nuclear programme in return for normal diplomatic ties with the U.S. and Japan in addition to economic aid equivalent to 1 million metric tonnes of heavy-fuel oil.
North Korea then proceeded to shut down its main Yongbyon nuclear reactor, the source of its weapons-grade plutonium, last July and began disabling it in November.
However, it missed an end-of-2007 deadline to turn over a full inventory of its programmes and a description of its spread of nuclear technology to others.
The parties to the talks will now set about verifying the information. Mr. Wu said the six nations had already agreed on a set of principles to proceed with the work of verification.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/27/2008 00:00 ||
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Wow1 The uniform of the head wabbit is striking. Is NK going to tell us who besides Syria they sold nuclear stuff to?
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
06/27/2008 0:42 Comments ||
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#2
That nun you business round eye.
You be happy with report you got.
#5
VARIOUS NETTERS > although NOKOR's Nuclear Declaration is ostensibly a positive sign and another achievement for Dubya, SYRIAN NUCFAC/NUCREX > US may still need to verify the existence or non-existence of secret facilities, espec underground e.g. also LIBYA [extens Underground].
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey - Kurdish rebels Thursday opened fire on a convoy of civilian vehicles carrying soldiers in southeast Turkey, killing a driver and wounding four troops, a security source said.
An operation was launched after the attack by Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebels near Lice in Diyarbakir province, said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The Turkish army often uses civilian vehicles to transfer troops in the region in a bid to thwart possible attacks by the separatist group.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/27/2008 00:00 ||
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I cant understand the pictures that you used for the news. There is no relation between the picture of this news and Turkey, at all.
KHAR, Pakistan (AFP) - Pakistani Taliban rebels executed two Afghans in front of thousands of people Friday after accusing them of spying, while two other people died in clashes afterwards, officials said.
Militants beheaded one man and shot the other after telling the crowd in Pakistan's Bajaur tribal district that the pair had passed information to US forces in Afghanistan that led to a deadly missile strike in May. An AFP correspondent who witnessed the executions said more than 5,000 people had gathered at a patch of open ground 10 kilometres (six miles) west of Khar, the main town in Bajaur, to watch."There was a public execution by militants of two people who were kidnapped two days ago by Taliban on spying charges," a local security official told AFP.
The Taliban announced the charges against the men on megaphones alleging that their activities had led to the suspected US missile strike on May 14 in which 14 people were killed."The men's faces were covered and their hands were tied. One was slaughtered with a knife amid shouts of Allahu akbar, the other was shot with a burst of fire from a Kalashnikov," the AFP correspondent said. Yeah, what's a good beheading without Allah u Akbar... After the executions the Taliban started firing in the air in jubilation, but when some shots were fired from within the crowd it sparked a brief gunbattle, witnesses said. "Firing broke out and in this incident two people were killed -- one died on the spot and one later on his way to hospital," local tribal police chief Fazal-e-Rabi told AFP. Oh, boy, Abdullah! Gun sex!
Well, start shooting then!
In May militants beheaded a Pakistani paramilitary soldier and dumped his corpse with a note saying that he was killed in revenge for the missile strike in the Damadola area of Bajaur. The missile strike targeted the houses of two local militant leaders, according to security officials.
Violence has risen in Pakistan's northwest in recent days despite ongoing peace talks between militants and the government, with reports this week saying that the main northwestern city of Peshawar was now under threat. Yep, keep working on those peace talks...
The executions came a day after US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Pakistan's failure to put pressure on Taliban forces on the border was a "concern".
#1
So when is Afghanistan gonna step up and start protecting their own citizens? even if they do have to cross into Paki-Wacky-land and piss off a bunch of them for violating the sovreignity of that hallowed state?????
#2
WAFF.com [paraph]> THE NEWS > PAKISTAN ARMY SHELLS AFGHAN/NATO BASES FROM PAKISTAN + US WARNS TALIBAN WILL STEP UP CHALLENGE TO AFGHANISTAN GOVT IN RURAL AFGHAN AREAS.
Also from WAFF [also paraph] > PAKISTAN'S GOVT SUPPORT FOR AFGHANISTAN + REGIONAL TERRORISM.
Skiing isn't in their holy book. You could look it up.
MINGORA, Pakistan - Islamist militants burned down a hotel at Pakistan's only ski resort on Thursday as security in a northwestern tourist valley deteriorated despite a month-old peace pact, police said. The Swat valley, several hours drive on mountain roads from the capital, Islamabad, was until last year a prime tourist destination with ancient Buddhist ruins, a golf course, trout streams and the ski resort.
Half of the hotel has been burned down, said Swat's police chief, Waqif Khan, referring to the only hotel at the Malam Jabba ski resort. The hotel is owned by the state tourism authority.
Khan said authorities had not been able to get to the resort to tackle the blaze or inspect the damage. The area is not under our control, it's under the militants' control and no one can go there, he said.
The hotel shut down last August as tension in the valley increased. It later dismissed its staff as visitors stopped coming.
But a militant spokesman denied setting the hotel on fire. Our target is the security forces, we have nothing to do with the hotel, said the spokesman, Muslim Khan. Khan said villagers in the area had appealed to his men to help them stop businessmen he referred to as timber mafia cutting trees on the mountain slopes. There's a third element which does not want the peace accord to succeed, they don't want peace in the area, he said, apparently referring to the log poachers.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/27/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Allahu snackbar! Now the UN will *never* have a reason to pollute the pure lands of Swat.
#6
ALLAH DON'T SKI!
Maybe not, but his followers certainly love wearing ski masks. The way you can tell they are muslims is a simple test. If the people in a ski mask robs you, they are thieves, but if they cut your throat they are muslims. Simple really.
#11
As I said in an earlier post, this truly reveals that they are savages and deserve no quarter. Release the B-52's! Commence the Arc Light strikes! (OP will get a woody that'll stretch all the way to Cleveland).
SRINAGAR, India - Violent protests in Indian Kashmir entered their fourth day Thursday as police struggled to contain thousands of protesters angered over the provision of land in the Muslim region to Hindu pilgrims. Officials and witnesses said some 50 people were hurt in clashes as police used force at more than 20 places across the Kashmir valley in the revolt-hit and disputed Himalayan region.
The protests, which began Monday, have left three Kashmiris dead in police firings, and nearly 200 others injured. The Kashmir valley hub of Srinagar has been transformed into a battleground littered with rocks and burned tyres. "The situation in the city is very tense," city police chief Syed Mujtaba told reporters, adding that reinforcements had been rushed to the worst-hit areas.
Tensions worsened overnight after police shot dead a third protester. Hundreds of youth were on the streets again Thursday, chanting slogans including, "We want freedom" and "Stop giving land to Indians."
Police later fired in the air, lobbed tear-gas canisters and used batons to disperse the demonstration, AFP photographers said. Police also used force to quell stone-pelting groups across the city of one million, including along the main road to Srinagar's high-security airport, witnesses said.
The protests were sparked by a local government decision last week to give land to the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board, a Hindu trust, so it can build accommodation for tens of thousands of Hindu pilgrims who make an annual pilgrimage to a mountain grotto. Faced with rapidly deteriorating security, the state's chief minister vowed Wednesday that nothing would be built for the pilgrims until further notice.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/27/2008 00:00 ||
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Posted by: john frum ||
06/27/2008 21:07 Comments ||
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COB ADDER Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) recently discovered numerous munitions during Operation Basha'er as Salaam in Amarah. The waepons found in homes, businesses and public areas throughout the city, between June 19 and 22, totaled (1,739) mortar rounds, (873) mines, (445) artillery rounds, (347) rocket-propelled grenades, (267) rockets, (227) missile launchers, (109) improvised explosive devices, (74) grenades, (35) 122mm rounds, (27) explosively formed penetrators and (14) missiles.
The operation, which officially began June 19, continues to target criminal elements throughout the region of Amarah. The ISF led the combined effort, both planning and executing the operation. ISF located a total of (117) weapon caches and detained more than (63) criminals since the operation began. A four-day amnesty period prior to the start of the operation allowed citizens to turn in munitions not counted in the above list.
The citizens cooperation with the ISF was integral in the success of this mission. Their participation led to the peaceful nature of the operation.
The operation has been a great success, said Col. Charles A. Flynn, commander of 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division. The Iraqi Police and Iraqi Army are out in force. They are doing the hard and dangerous work to arrest criminals and remove special groups from this area. At the same time, theyre providing humanitarian assistance to the citizens of Amarah and creating a safer environment to call home.
As operations continue, the ISF is providing humanitarian aid through the delivery of food and water to the citizens of Amarah.
#3
Yes, that is a whole lot of weapons! It is clear that the locals are helping ID the bad guys and where they store their weapons. That means that the locals are backing the government and see them as the strong horse (a horse that is getting stronger by the day). The tipping point appears past. This stuff seems to be happening at an accelerating rate. All good. Get er done before Obama can screw it up.
The US military in Iraq says a militant killed on Tuesday has been positively identified as the leader of al-Qaeda in the city of Mosul. It said the man - identified by a pseudonym, Abu Khalaf - had co-ordinated and ordered many attacks.
Now he's known by another pseudonym: 'deceased'.
He was shot dead by American troops during a raid on a building in Mosul.
US and Iraqi forces have been carrying out an offensive in the city for more than a month, in an attempt to drive out al-Qaeda in Iraq from Mosul. The city, US and Iraqi officials say, is al-Qaeda's last urban stronghold in Iraq.
Also on Friday, US military officials said the handover to Iraqi control of Anbar province, west of Baghdad, was being postponed. A statement said the delay was because of forecasts for high winds and dust storms on Saturday, but no new date for the handover was announced. The postponement came a day after a suicide bomb attack in Anbar, which killed at least 20 people, including a tribal leader and members of a patrol force opposed to al-Qaeda in Iraq. Why did the Beeb put 'dead' in quotes?
#1
It was the only way to take the sting out of the good news. Just picture it: BBC reports Key Iraqi al-Qaeda figure dead. Now say it with the quotes. Doesn't sound as horrible that way.
TIKRIT, Iraq (AFP) Anti-US Arab Sunni combatants have been given 10 days to surrender to coalition forces as Iraq extended its crackdown on militias around the country, officials said Thursday. Fighters based in Salaheddin, the home province of executed dictator Saddam Hussein, will be given 10 days to give up their weapons and turn themselves in, provincial governor Hamood Sheikti told a press briefing in Tikrit.
'We're going to seek reconciliation and turn the page for all the Iraqi people who committed crimes,' pledged Sheikti. 'But after July 8, we will go after them,' he said, adding that they had a list of wanted combatants.
The military earlier this month announced that 500 insurgents had already surrendered.
The latest deadline to rebels came as violence on Thursday rocked Salaheddin's neighbouring provinces of Anbar and Nineveh, killing at least 38 people and wounding dozens more.
A senior US commander in Salaheddin, Colonel Scott McBride, said that the 'reconciliation' process was aimed at helping armed groups who have battled US forces, reintegrate into society. 'We want them to come in and pledge allegiance to the government of Iraq,' said McBride, adding that he expected at least 500 more combatants to voluntarily surrender.
The US has routinely paid Sunni Arabs in hopes that they will turn against militias or jihadists battling the military, although McBride insisted there would be no cash incentive here.
Tens of thousands of Sunni Arabs have joined such groups and are fighting Al-Qaeda in Iraq militants across the country.
Fighters found guilty of murdering Iraqis would be prosecuted, Sheikti said, but also hinted that judicial procedures would be more lenient.
Meanwhile, militiamen accused of murdering American soldiers will also be held accountable, under a combination of US and Iraqi laws.
The announcement came as an increasingly confident Iraqi government supported by the US military has launched a series of military operations throughout the country to drive out armed gangs and jihadist networks. Earlier this week Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced that troops would prepare a counter-insurgency drive in Diyala province, only days after a similar action was taken in the Shiite enclave of Maysan in the south. Diyala, a bastion of Al-Qaeda north of Baghdad, is widely considered to be one of the most dangerous regions in the formerly violence-wracked country.
Iraqi and US troops also carried out offensives against Sunni insurgents in the main northern city of Mosul and against Shiite militiamen in the southern port city of Basra.
Tikrit, about 180 kilometres (112 miles) north of Baghdad, is a Sunni Muslim enclave, and the toppling of Saddam soon after the US invasion in 2003 sparked a vicious anti-American backlash, especially in Sunni strongholds. Many joined Al-Qaeda in hopes of driving out the US, but in late 2006, weary of jihadists' religious extremism and brutal methods, switched allegiance and formed a local group to fight them.
McBride said progress was nevertheless being made at the grass roots level, with 75 percent of tip offs in Salaheddin now coming from locals, compared to seven months ago when only 15 percent of informants were civilians.
Gaza militants fired two rockets into southern Israel on Thursday, further straining a shaky, week-old truce as Israel kept vital Gaza border crossings closed in response. The rocket attack, the second in as many days since the cease-fire took effect, led to a call for retaliation by Israel's Foreign Minister while Palestinians charged that the continued closure of crossings violated terms of the cease-fire.
Despite the breach, Israel dispatched an envoy to Egypt in hopes of negotiating a prisoner swap with Gaza's ruling Islamic Hamas.
The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a violent offshoot of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah, claimed responsibility for firing the rockets Thursday. One exploded harmlessly in a field, the military said, refusing to disclose where the other landed. A statement from the militant group demanded that Israel halt its military operations in the West Bank.
The truce, hammered out by Egypt over months of separate talks with Israel and Hamas, does not include the West Bank. On Tuesday, Islamic Jihad fired three rockets at Israel, wounding two people, linking the attack to an Israeli raid in the West Bank.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said it should not matter who was behind the rocket attack. "I am not interested in who fired and who didn't fire at Israel," she told reporters. "It is a violation, and Israel needs to respond immediately, militarily, for every violation."
Previous truces have come apart quickly because Gaza militants claimed the right to retaliate for Israeli raids in the West Bank. Since the cease-fire agreement took effect June 19, Israel has responded to rocket attacks by closing crossings rather than retaliating with airstrikes at Palestinian rocket squads, as it did routinely since Hamas overran Gaza a year ago. Closure of the crossings, where vital supplies are shipped into Gaza, restores a blockade that has caused severe shortages.
That hits at the main interest of Hamas ending the blockade and easing the hardships facing the people under its control. Hamas officials charged that by restoring the blockade, Israel is violating the truce. Underlining the high level of distrust, Palestinians formed a committee to track Israeli violations. Israel was expected to keep the crossings closed Friday because of the latest rocket attack.
At a meeting Wednesday, Israeli defense officials discussed how to proceed once the crossings are reopened. According to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was closed, Israel might reset the truce clock each time it closes the crossings in response to a Palestinian violation.
Israel had significantly increased the amount of supplies flowing into Gaza on Sunday, in accordance with the truce agreement, and was ready for another increase next Sunday. But the rocket attack stopped the process. Now Israel is considering counting three days from each reopening of the crossings before it reinstates the original increase.
During a visit to Prague, Czech Republic, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Israel should reopen the crossings to preserve the truce. "(The reopening is) important because the closure ... of Gaza is actually producing a situation where you have 1.5 million of our people who live there with a sense of not much to lose," Fayyad said. "That is a situation that's got to end."
Hamas charged that the reimposed blockade is a violation, but Hamas official Taher Nunu said the group remains committed to the truce. "The (Hamas) government will not allow anyone to violate this agreement," he said.
The rocket attack Thursday came as Israeli envoy Ofer Dekel headed to Egypt to meet with Egyptian officials on the final stage of the truce a swap of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners for an Israeli soldier Hamas has held for two years. Israel has balked at Hamas' demands, saying its list of prisoners includes militants involved in deadly attacks on Israelis.
Hamas also has demanded that Israel allow reopening of Gaza's only border crossing with Egypt in the final phase of the six-month truce deal. The Rafah crossing has been sealed since the Hamas takeover, confining Gaza's people to the seaside territory. Israel has said it would not allow reopening of Rafah until the soldier is freed.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/27/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Stop it! You kids just stop it now. One more time and I'm coming in. You hear me? Don't make me come in.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
06/27/2008 8:56 Comments ||
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#2
Palestinians charged that the continued closure of crossings violated terms of the cease-fire
Don't the Joooooos realize that the cease-fire only applies to them? They are not allowed to do anything to retaliate against the Palestinians no matter what.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
06/27/2008 12:17 Comments ||
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#3
We REALLY need to give Israel the green light for a non-stop artillery barrage against everybody and anybody in the Gaza. That is, we'll block any retaliatory action in the UN, and rattle the BIG guns if Egypt, Syria, or Iran try to interfere. This mess needs to be settled once and for all, and the only way it seems it can be settled is to eliminate the "palestinians" in Gaza - totally.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
06/27/2008 13:58 Comments ||
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Train services to the deep South, suspended since June 21 after the brutal murders of four railway employees on a train in Narathiwat, will resume tomorrow, the State Railway of Thailand announced yesterday. Thanongsak Pongprasert, the director of the southern railway office, said trains going beyond Hat Yai were cancelled because railway staff were demoralised and afraid after the killings.
The suspension of services dealt a blow to local businesses in much of the far South, which rely almost entirely on rail services for cheap freight deliveries. In Narathiwat, the five major fresh markets were quiet as vendors stopped ordering fresh produce for sale because they could not afford the cost of transporting the goods by truck. Farm products and fresh vegetables, mostly imported from Nakhon Si Thammarat, were scarce and expensive. Several vegetable wholesalers in Nakhon Si Thammarat were running up losses and were forced to close their businesses temporarily.
In Narathiwat, a member of a tambon administration organisation and his son were shot dead by two gunmen at a tea shop in Chanae district on Wednesday night. The victims were identified as Asae Mani, 41, a tambon administration organisation member, and his son Mayukee, 23. Police said the attackers stopped outside the shop on a motorcycle before shooting the victims. A local terror rebel network was likely to have had a hand in the killings, the police said.
Terrorists Suspected separatists shot dead two Muslim civilians in the latest attacks in Thailand's restive Muslim-majority south, police said on Friday. A 64-year-old village chief in Pattani province was killed in a drive-by shooting on Friday morning, while in nearby Narathiwat a 36-year-old man was killed after dropping his three children off at school, police said.
Two soldiers were wounded in a roadside bomb in the southern district of Yala on Friday, police said. The bomb went off when the soldiers were patrolling in Yaha-Yala road in Yaha district.
The Philippine Marines on Thursday arrested a bandit suspected of being part of a group that kidnapped an ABS-CBN news team and a Mindanao peace advocate in Sulu early this month. Col. Eugenio Clemen, commander of the 3rd Marine Brigade, identified the suspect as Jul Akram Hadjail. He was apprehended in Jolo town.
Clemen said Hadjail is a member of the Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf bandit group and carries a P150,000-bounty on his head. He said the bandit is facing multiple murder and frustrated murder cases.
The arrested Abu Sayyaf members is suspected of playing a role in the kidnapping of ABS-CBN senior correspondent Ces Drilon and her cameramen Jimmy Encarnacion and Angelo Valderama, Clemen said. The news crew was with Professor Octavio Dinampo of the Mindanao State University when abducted by Abu Sayyaf bandits in Indanan town on June 8. Valderama was released four days after the abduction. Drilon and the others were released on June 17.
Meanwhile, Maj. Gen. Juancho Sabban, commander of the military's Joint Task Force Comet, on Wednesday announced the discovery of three bodies of suspected Abu Sayyaf bandits. The bodies were found in a forested village of Patikul town, where military forces are tracking down the kidnappers of the news team. Sabban said the bandits in Patikul might be the ones who kidnapped the news team.
This article starring:
Jul Akram Hadjail
Posted by: Fred ||
06/27/2008 00:00 ||
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One of five electric cooperative employees seized by alleged Abu Sayyaf extremists in the southern province of Basilan was freed Thursday evening, after about nine hours in captivity, a military commander in the area said.
Ronnie Tansiyung was freed somewhere outside Tuburan town at around 7 p.m., said Lieutenant Colonel Leonard Vincent Teodoro, commander of the 7th Marine Battalion Landing Team.
The Moro extremists released Tansiyung because, like them, he is a member of the Yakan tribe, which is prominent in the southwest, Teodoro said in a phone interview. "He was the only Yakan member among the five," Teodoro said of Tansiyung.
The five employees of the Basilan Electric Cooperative (Baselco) were seized in Sinulatan village by armed men, while they were on board a service vehicle, at around 10 a.m. Thursday.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/27/2008 00:00 ||
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I've been pretty scarce on line or in email lately. Comcast has managed to hose my internet connection so badly it's not there at all. That's why the bloid hasn't been appearing: I can't compose it, and if I could there wouldn't be any way to upload it. I've been staying after work to put articles into the hopper.
The broken line has also put me at least a week behind on the new server, which I expect to go up after my connection is fixed or I've switched to DSL and it's running reliably. I know there are going to be bugs crawling out during the server swap, and if I can't fix them we're all pregnant.
I do apologize for the inconvenience.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/27/2008 08:36 ||
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#1
No worries Fred! I dropped Comcast for crappy service and increasing rates.
#2
I liked Verizon DSL when I had it. Nice and reliable. Only problem was that if there was an issue, you couldn't get ahold of them. That was when I had my temper tantrum and dropped them.
You can't get ahold of the phone company by telephone. Go figure.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/27/2008 9:56 Comments ||
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#3
No worries, the rest of the mods and the regulars can cover.
How about an EVDO card for your laptop?
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/27/2008 12:04 Comments ||
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#4
Fred, just a note:
There's stuff going on in Peshawar. The Khyber Pass is supposed to be on the NATO resupply route. The Taliban and their militants have been swarming into the area. Gunship helicopters are in the area and are said to be on highest alert standby. Just thought you'd like to know. Good luck with the tech stuff!
#5
Thaat's why the increased diplo activity with Kyrgyzstan.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/27/2008 13:26 Comments ||
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#6
Pakistan is quickly falling apart. Cripes, the savages burned the country's only ski resort today! This makes them irredeemable in my opinion. Call OP! Release the B-52's!
#8
Southwestern Bell internet UNservice had the classic contact info, if your connection wasn't working you were told on the telephone menu to e-mail them! No Human contact was allowed.
I just tried it. Problem isn't that its working, but that the page doesn't realize it's done. I'll try and fix it over the weekend, assuming I have a connection.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/27/2008 15:24 Comments ||
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#10
MM - In FF: Once the article is sent, hit stop, backpage twice and reload and you'll see your article on the page where you posted. Kinda lame, but it's the best I've stolen from Alaska Paul got
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/27/2008 16:36 Comments ||
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#11
I'll give it a whirl the next time I see something worth posting.
#14
To be fair, my time spent with Qwest DSL tech support was extraordinary. After two days of chasing around a problem with local techs, the phone call of four hours resulted in a functioning intertube.
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.
A government minister says Somali gunmen have demanded $1 million for the release of a German couple, their young son and a French boat captain.
Saudi Arabia has announced making large-scale arrests in the last six months to foil attempts by followers of Al-Qaeda to regroup in the kingdom.
In a breakthrough move expected to facilitate the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, China announced on Thursday that North Korea submitted its detailed list of nuclear reactors and materials to it. The brief announcement was made by Vice-Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, who is also Chinas envoy to the six-party talks.
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey - Kurdish rebels Thursday opened fire on a convoy of civilian vehicles carrying soldiers in southeast Turkey, killing a driver and wounding four troops, a security source said.
SRINAGAR, India - Violent protests in Indian Kashmir entered their fourth day Thursday as police struggled to contain thousands of protesters angered over the provision of land in the Muslim region to Hindu pilgrims. Officials and witnesses said some 50 people were hurt in clashes as police used force at more than 20 places across the Kashmir valley in the revolt-hit and disputed Himalayan region.
The operation, which officially began June 19, continues to target criminal elements throughout the region of Amarah. The ISF led the combined effort, both planning and executing the operation. ISF located a total of (117) weapon caches and detained more than (63) criminals since the operation began. A four-day amnesty period prior to the start of the operation allowed citizens to turn in munitions not counted in the above list.
The US military in Iraq says a militant killed on Tuesday has been positively identified as the leader of al-Qaeda in the city of Mosul. It said the man - identified by a pseudonym, Abu Khalaf - had co-ordinated and ordered many attacks.
TIKRIT, Iraq (AFP) Anti-US Arab Sunni combatants have been given 10 days to surrender to coalition forces as Iraq extended its crackdown on militias around the country, officials said Thursday. Fighters based in Salaheddin, the home province of executed dictator Saddam Hussein, will be given 10 days to give up their weapons and turn themselves in, provincial governor Hamood Sheikti told a press briefing in Tikrit. 
Gaza militants fired two rockets into southern Israel on Thursday, further straining a shaky, week-old truce as Israel kept vital Gaza border crossings closed in response. The rocket attack, the second 
Train services to the deep South, suspended since June 21 after the brutal murders of four railway employees on a train in Narathiwat, will resume tomorrow, the State Railway of Thailand announced yesterday. Thanongsak Pongprasert, the director of the southern railway office, said trains going beyond Hat Yai were cancelled because railway staff were demoralised and afraid after the killings. 
The Philippine Marines on Thursday arrested a bandit suspected of being part of a group that kidnapped an ABS-CBN news team and a Mindanao peace advocate in Sulu early this month. Col. Eugenio Clemen, commander of the 3rd Marine Brigade, identified the suspect as 
