Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2010 00:00 ||
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Birthday/Daily Gam Shot
Barbara Nichols aka Lola Fandango "Where the Boys Are" aka Birdie McDade in "The King and Four Queens" aka Poopsie in "The Pajama Game" (Died in 1976 at age 46)
[Arab News] Saudi flagged tanker Al-Nisr Al-Saudi reached Jeddah on Tuesday after nine-month-long beachhead captivity. The bunker barge suffered damage at the hands of the pirates and will be sent for general repairs to the dry dock in Jeddah on Saturday.
It's not mortifying when Muslims hold other Muslims for ransome. That's just the rough'n'tumble that loving brothers engage in.
"We thank Saudi officials, owners and top executives of the Jeddah-based International Bunkering Company (IBCO), which owns and operates the tanker, for securing the release of the vessel and its Sri Lankan crew," Sri Lankan Ambassador to Soddy Arabia Ahmed A. Jawad said on Wednesday. "We are very pleased that this ugly incident came to a happy ending."
Jawad also called on the international community to join hands in fighting sea piracy.
Speaking on this occasion, Munir A. Gondal, IBCO's general manager, who gave an overview of the whole hijacking drama, said that all safety equipment were removed by the pirates from the tanker after it was seized.
"All belongings, even clothes and pillows, were looted," said the IBCO general manager while referring to the severe physical injuries inflicted on the crew.
He, however, said that he was happy to see the vessel finally docked in Jeddah.
Gondal refused to provide the exact amount of ransom paid to the pirates on the grounds of "sensitivity and official complexities."
He pointed out that the IBCO had purchased another bunker barge from Japan with more or less the same specifications. The company, he said, is expecting the delivery of this new tanker by the end of next month.
The IBCO chief said the company would take maximum precautions, when the new tanker starts sailing from Japan to Jeddah along the same route taken by Al-Nisr Al-Saudi when it was hijacked. The pirates released the vessel and the crew early this month.
Asked about the condition of crew members, Gondal only said that two Sri Lankan crew members would continue to serve on the vessel.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2010 00:00 ||
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Somali pirates have attempted to hijack two ships at the farthest south point of the central coast of Mozambique, according to the EU Naval Force.
The two separate attacks on a Liberian registered oil tanker and a Panamanian bulk carrier were carried out just 20 nautical miles apart, north of Mozambique's central port city of Beira, according to Maritime Security Centre front man Wing Commander Paddy O'Kennedy.
"Those vessels were attacked on the 24th and 25th respectively," AFP quoted O'Kennedy as saying.
"They were attacked 19 degrees south (of the equator). That is well south of the normal areas we work."
The Liberian registered oil tanker maneuvered its way out of the hijacking while the Panamanian bulk carrier evaded the plot by returning fire.
In November, a UN report said that the number of successful hijackings by Somali pirates has climbed in 2010, and that the pirates have expanded their zone of attacks, which have become more violent.
The pirates managed to stage 37 successful hijackings in the first 10 months of 2010, up from 33 in the same period in 2009, the UN report said.
Mozambique, one of the poorest countries in the world, does not have a large enough navy to patrol its 2,470-kilometer coastline, which is the second longest coastline in Africa.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
while the Panamanian bulk carrier evaded the plot by returning fire.
Accurately, I hope.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/30/2010 20:15 Comments ||
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[Daily Nation (Kenya)] A judge has declined to hear an application by two nabbed al-Shabaab suspects linked to the December 20 city bus blast.
The suspects sought to be released on bond. The blast left three people dead and 41 nursing serious injuries.
Vacation judge Mohammed Warsame said on Wednesday: "The application by Mr Aboud Rogo Mohamed and Mr Abubakar Sharif Abubakar alias Makaburi has no urgency at all. Let it be heard on January 20, 2011."
Oooooh, snap!
Mr Justice Warsame directed lawyer Mbugua Mureithi to serve the Attorney General with a copy of the application. Mr Mureithi told the court the suspects were jugged 700km south of Nairobi and charged far from their birth places.
"May be the State was shopping for a forum to further its intention against the suspects." Mr Mohamed and Mr Abubakar were described by magistrate Grace Macharia, who ordered their detention, as "deadly people who pose a great threat to the public and State security."
Ms Macharia said the two were suspected members of al-Shabaab, an outlawed group which has caused mayhem in Somalia. She said the two had been accused of visiting Somalia through unofficial points. Allowing an application by Inspector Joseph Ouma, Ms Macharia ruled:
"I am convinced that police need time to establish the suspects' link to the Monday bus blast which left a trail of destruction. Three people died and 41 injured besides massive destruction to property."
She said if they were linked to the blast then "they pause a great danger to the public as stated by the prosecutor, Inspector Joseph Ouma. They deserve to remain in jug."
The magistrate said Mr Mohamed and Mr Abubakar were "believed to be trained al-Shabaab militia who frequent Somalia to get in touch with the deadly group that has been outlawed in Kenya."
"The wandering around of the suspects calls for police alert," the court stated. In denying the suspects bond, the magistrate said Article 49 (1) of the Constitution allowed a court to deny a suspect bond when there were compelling reasons.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
When is the West going to get serious and stomp the living shi'ite out of Al-Shaboom? It's either do it now, or do it later when they're fully entrenched. I'd even be willing to go back on active duty for a year to help with the program - as long as they keep me supplied with pain pills.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/30/2010 17:23 Comments ||
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[Maghrebia] Security services in Morocco broke up an alleged terror network involved "in what is known as cyber-terrorism", the Interior Ministry announced on Monday (December 27th). The beturbanned goons were suspected of planning car boom attacks both inside Morocco and abroad.
"Members of this network have acquired a broad experience in the making of explosives and planned to use it in sabotage acts in several international hotspots... as well as within national territory," the ministry said.
The six suspects were reportedly jugged December 10th in Oujda, Nador and Casablanca. According to the officials, a special team of high-level experts is pursuing terrorist groups operating on the internet to prevent attacks.
Terrorists are making much use of computer technology, including the internet, political analyst Mohamed Chemlali told Magharebia. They can use the web not only to convey radical messages to the public, young people in particular, but also to train beturbanned goons and prepare them to carry out attacks.
"The internet is like a school for terrorists, because it contains all the information they need.
Even if some of it isn't quite right. It's amazing how false information permeates the web, impossible to eradicate.
The web is being used increasingly by beturbanned goons to communicate with each other. Security failings must be addressed so that the public can be protected from terrorist plots," he said.
According to professor of political science Mohamed Darif, despite the efforts made by the security services, terrorist groups are continuing to multiply. In his view, the latest group to have been caught differed from others in that its members were experts on explosives, which marks a turning point in the creation of terrorist groups in Morocco that must be watched closely.
Since the 2003 Casablanca attacks, the Moroccan authorities have captured over 60 terrorist groups, according to the official sources. Security officials and experts constantly underline the importance of stepping up regional and international co-operation to close the net on terrorists, especially in the Sahel, which is a breeding ground for beturbanned goons allied with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
According to sociologist Samira Kassimi, the fight against terrorism is the responsibility of everyone, beginning with parents, who should protect their children against the threat posed by cyber-terrorism by teaching them about the dangers.
"Young people spend a lot of time browsing the internet and can come across beturbanned goons who may manipulate them. You must always keep an eye on your children," she said.
For his part, MP Mohamed Ansari emphasised that the capture of this latest group makes it essential to be vigilant and strengthen the law by adding provisions concerning the internet.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2010 00:00 ||
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[Maghrebia] A Sale court on Tuesday (December 28th) held hearings for six members of a Moroccan drug-trafficking network linked to Colombian narco mobs and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, MAP reported. Nearly three dozen alleged network members face charges including cocaine and chira trafficking, sexual deviance and unlawful confinement. The alleged ringleader, a Spanish national caught in Morocco, was reportedly working with another Spaniard jugged in Bamako and still jugged in Mali. According to Sherlocks, the network carried out eight drug trafficking operations in 2010.
When the cell was dismantled last October, Interior Minister Moulay Taieb Cherkaou discussed the al-Qaeda and drug traffic alliance: "At this time, we can state without a shadow of a doubt that there is a relationship." According to Cherkaoui, drugs transported from Colombia and Venezuela are stored in northern Mali, where terror cells are particularly active.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2010 00:00 ||
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[Maghrebia] An Algerian court sentenced three young men to 18 months in prison for promoting terrorism, Liberte reported on Wednesday (December 29th). The defendants, aged 25-31, were jugged in Kais, Khenchela province, for distributing leaflets aimed at recruiting terrorists. The convicts downloaded material from Islamist websites in Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Yemen and Spain. Their fliers contained reprints of speeches from Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri and Abu Yahya al-Libi.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2010 00:00 ||
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Google Translate. For a map, click here
Five state and local police officers were killed in small arms attacks in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon Wednesday night, including one attack on a state police headquarters, according to Mexican press reports.
Armed suspects attacked the building housing the Nuevo Leon Secretaria de Seguridad Publica del Estado (SSPE) on avenida Ruiz Cortines in the Valle Verde colony with assault rifles. Two hand grenades were also thrown at the building but neither detonated.
Three police agents and a doctor on duty were killed, while other Mexican news reports say only two police were killed in the attack. Two other police were reported wounded in the attack as well.
A half hour later, a female police officer in Guadalupe, a suburb of Monterrey, was attacked by small ams fire on avenida Loma Redonda in the Lomas de San Miguel colony, and apparently wounded. .
Meanwhile an unidentified uniformed police officer near the intersection of avenidas Miguel Aleman and Constituyentes de Nuevo Leon was shot and killed.
Google Translate
Two separate shootouts in Durango, Durango has left three dead total including an unidentified Mexican Federal agent and four wounded according to Mexican news accounts.
A Policia Federal unit fought a gun battle with suspected members of the Sinaloa drug cartel Wednesday morning killing two, and ending with the arrest of 13.
An unidentified federal agent died in the gunfight.
The police unit raided a safe house in the Liberacion Social colony near Durango, Durango, and returned fire after suspects opened fire on them with small arms and hand grenades.
One of the two dead suspects was a 13 year old. Spokesman for the Policia Federal, Eduardo Ramon Pequeño Garcia, characterized the deaths as "collateral damage".
One of the detainees was identified as Jesús Manuel Moreno Reyes, alias El Trape, who was a former Durango state police officer. Police say Moreno Reyes was a bagman for Sinaloa extortion and bribery operations in Durango.
Also arrested was Ranulfo Ramirez Ruiz, alias El Guilligan, whom police say was Moreno Reyes' second in command and responsible for weapons and transportation acquisition.
Another former police officer, VÃctor Bustamante Juarez, alias El Tinieblas, 42, was arrested as well. Police claim Bustamante Juärez served as a lookout for Sinaloa operations in Durango.
Two unidentified women were also detained, whom police say served as liaisons between local street gangs and Sinaloa cartel operations in Durango.
Federal agents also seized a pickup truck marked as a Policia Federal vehicle, weapons including a Barret .50 caliber rifle, pistols, magazines and ammunition.
A subsequent shootout on boulevard Francisco Villa in Durango between Mexican Federal agents and agents of the Durango state Agencia Estatal de Investigacion (AEI) left four civilians wounded, including one AEI agent, Pablo de la Cruz.
A Polica Federal patrol encountered and attempted to stop an unmarked AEI vehicle. Apparently gunfire was exchanged before the chase ended near the Durango state attorney general's office.
Five individuals were killed in drug and gang relate violence in Guatemala, according to various Guatemalan press reports. For a map, click here
Three members of a family reportedly kidnapped December 9th have turned up dead. MarÃa Sohom, 22, Domingo Guarchaj, 24, and Antonio Sohom, 16, were on a road trip to buy groceries in Quetzaltenango department near Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan when they were abducted. The corpses were found mutilated by animals Wednesday. It is estimated they had been dead for about 15 days before their bodies were found. The family was held for USD $24,000 ransom.
An unidentified man was found strangled and dumped in a river in Amatitlan in Guatemala department Tuesday. A teenager was fishing near the dam on the Rio Michatoya when the discovery was made.
[Iran Press TV] Colombian police say they may have killed Pedro Guerrero Castillo one of the country's most-hunted drugs traffickers and a former paramilitary warlord.
Guerrero -- better known as Cuchillo (The Knife) -- allegedly died on December 25 after being seriously injured in a shootout with police in the eastern province of Meta. As with various jihadis, we'd like to see the severed head ...
One of Cuchillo's bodyguards was also killed in the shoot-out, which took place in a jungle near the town of Mapiripan, police officials said.
At least seven other members of his group were also jugged in the police operation. Among those nabbed was his number two, known as Madman Harold, state-funded BBC said.
Officials said medical tests were being carried out to confirm whether the body recovered from the scene of the fighting belongs to the drug lord.
Cuchillo was the leader of a 1,200-strong paramilitary thon the lamly controlled the drugs trade in eastern Colombia.
He was one of the most wanted criminals in the Latin American country, where authorities had declared a $1.25 million reward for information leading to his capture.
According to a recently-released report by the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society, Colombia is the world's leading cocaine producer. The country is also considered as a safe haven for narco gangs and kingpins.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2010 00:00 ||
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Fred's automatic vocabulary replacer program seems to conflate at large with that largely, with interesting results, gromky. I caught it in another article, but missed it in this one. He's clearly been adding new substitutions as they occur to him; this is the first one to need refinement, a pretty good outcome in programming. ;-)
[Iran Press TV] Some 41 guards have been charged with helping 153 prisoners escape from a prison in the Mexican border city of Nuevo Laredo in Tamaulipas state.
The Attorney General's Office (PGR) announced on Tuesday that all the 41 guards, among them seven women, are brought to trial for helping the escape of 153 inmates from the Executions of Sanctions Center on December 17. If convicted, the guards will face up to 20 years in prison.
Officials initially said 141 prisoners had beat feet from prison but later brought the number up to 153.
According to the information gathered through a state investigation, the inmates have apparently beat feet from an entrance for staff vehicles in collusion with prison guards. No need for a helicopter landing in the prison yard?
None of the beat feet prisoners have been captured yet.
The director of the prison, Efrain Hernandez Llamas, has disappeared after the jailbreak, said Antonio Garza Garcia, public safety secretary for Tamaulipas state.
The state's top prison official, Horacio Sepulveda, was fired a few days after prison break.
In a similar incident in September, 85 inmates beat feet from a prison in the border city of Reynosa in Tamaulipas state of Mexico.
Also in March, 40 inmates beat feet from another prison in the border city of Matamoros in the same state.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2010 00:00 ||
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A total of 26 individuals were murdered in ongoing drug and gang related violence in northern Mexican states including as former police officer shot to death at a Walmart in Ciudad Obregon, Sonora. Reports are from various Mexican news accounts. For a map, click here
Two unidentified individuals were shot to death and burned Monday. The victims, both local students, were aboard a Chevrolet pickup truck when the driver shot and killed them both. The driver crashed the truck near the intersection of calles Sierra and Jarudo Poniente in the Candelarias colony, exited the vehicle, doused it with gasoline and set it afire..
Three armed robbery suspects were hurt in a car crash after they attempted to flee Mexican Federal agents Monday in Juarez. The suspects robbed a convenience store at gunpoint, then fled with Policia Federal officers in pursuit. The chase ended near the corner of calles Hacienda del Retiro and Yepomera in the Hacienda de las Torres Universidad colony where the Ford Aerostar was wrecked by federal agents. Two of the suspects were hurt in the crash. Police found cash and a plastic toy gun used in the robbery.
An attempt to release a prisoner from a hospital in Chihuahua, Chihuahua Monday has left two dead. The rescue took place at the Hospital Central on calle Rosales where three armed suspects dismounted from a Nissan Altima and entered the hospital to free a prisoner transferred there to receive medical attention. Police counterfire hit two of the suspects while a third escaped the area despite an combined ground and air search. Dead are James Balderrama and Victor Ivan Gandara Escarcega. Later news reports said that the intended target of the rescue, Sergio Balderrama, later died in the attempt. Sergio was being held in the Centro de Readaptacion Social (CERESO) in Achilles Serdan for trial on kidnapping charges.
A shootout in Chihuahua, Chihuahua has left two unidentified police officers wounded and two armed suspects wounded. The shooting took place on calle Santos Degollado in the Barrio Alto where armed suspects aboard a Jeep Cherokee fired on two Policia Ministerial officers. The officers returned fire hitting the suspects and forcing them to flee. The police managed to escape further harm by ducking into nearby cover.
An unidentified man in his 20s was shot to death in Juarez. The victim was shot at five times by an armed suspects aboard a vehicle near the corner of calles Juchitan and Centauro.
Five unidentified men were found shot to death near Santa Isabel, Chihuahua Wednesday morning. The victims were found on the carretero Santa IsabelâRiva Palacio, all shot several times.
An man was shot to death in Juarez Wednesday morning.The victim was shot at El Pelon's tire shop near the junction of calles Cuaco and Durango and is identified as Adrian Briones Gonzalez. The tire shop has previously been the scene of shootings in the past.
A former police officer and a 10 year old boy were shot to death at a Walmart in Ciudad Obregon, Sonora Tuesday morning. Rodolfo Woolfolk Portillo, 38, was killed by armed suspects in the parking lot of the store as he was getting into his Nissan Altima. Alfonso Ramirez Piña, 10, was having a hamburger at a nearby McDonald's with his grandparents when a stray shot stuck and killed him at the scene. Woolfolk Portillo was formerly a police officer for Navajoa, Sonora.
A man and a woman were found shot to death in Tijuana, Baja California Monday, according to the Mexican daily La Cronica. Julio Fabricio Luna Ruiz was found shot to death on calle Loreto in the Buenos Aires Sur colony with 16 spent 9mm shell casings nearby. On calle Alcatraz in the Los Girasoles colony, Gilda Ramirez Hernandez was found shot to death. Six .40 caliber spent shell casings were found nearby.
An unidentified individual was found immolated in Venustiano Carranza colony December 26th. Three other victims in the previous week were also found in Baja California, one in Valle de Mexicali colony and two in the ejido Plan de Ayala. State law enforcement officials are still investigating if the killings are linked.
Three men were found shot to death in Atascaderos, Chihuahua Tuesday. The victims were found dumped on the carretera Parral-Guadalupe y Calvo after an anonymous tips led police to the location. The dead are identified as Baltazar Rodriguez, 33, Aurelio Diaz, 31, and Alberto de la Rocha, de 33. Police found several spent shell casings for AK-47 and AR-15 assault rifles, and for .308 NATO rifles.
Four unidentified individuals were found shot to death near the town of Yoquivo, Chihuahua Monday night. One of the victims were decapitated. Spent shell casings for AK-47 assault rifles, and .45 caliber weapons were found near the scene.
[Pak Daily Times] Taliban attacked two NATO supply trucks in Landikotal early on Wednesday, killing a driver and wounding two conductors, officials said.
Driver Fida Afridi was killed, while his two helpers Takbeerullah of Karkhano Bazaar and Hassan of Charsada sustained injuries when Taliban opened fire with automatic rifles near Landikotal bazaar on the Torkham Road, they said.
They also fired at another truck, but the driver sped to safety along with his staff. Officials said the cut-throats fled after the attack, and confirmed that the trucks were carrying goods for NATO troops in Afghanistan. Local people strongly condemned the killings of transporters and asked the government to ensure peace in the Khyber region.
Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... five FC personnel sustained injuries in a gas cylinder blast in an FC barrack in Landikotal. The incident occurred in the Landikotal Cantonment on Tuesday night, official sources confirmed. In another incident, unidentified gunnies destroyed a tanker carrying oil for the NATO forces in Ganchadori area of Mastung in Balochistan, on Wednesday, say Levis forces.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2010 00:00 ||
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[Pak Daily Times] Security forces on Wednesday targeted terrorist hideouts in Kurram Agency, home of an intricately interconnected web of poverty, ignorance, and religious fanaticism near the Afghan border, killing seven Taliban.
A Frontier Constabulary source said that the forces launched the attack in the Chinarak area in central Kurram Agency, killing seven terrorists, injuring many others, besides destroying three hideouts, including an ammunition depot.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2010 00:00 ||
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[Pak Daily Times] The Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) recovered more than 2,000 kilogrammes of opium in the Pishin district near the Afghan border on Wednesday. According to an ANF official, on a tip-off, forces carried out a raid in Barshor area and found a large quantity of opium, hidden under a storm drain. The official said the opium was 2,046 kilogrammes and supposed to be smuggled to Iran via Turbat and Panjgur. However, The infamous However... no arrest was made in this connection. The Pakistain government had intensified efforts to launch a crack down on the narcotics business, following a meeting with ECO countries' officials on this subject. There were complaints that the anti-smuggling officials were not tough enough against the narcotics business in Pakistain which was flourishing.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2010 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] Pak and Indian forces have exchanged fire at an international border post in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmire, violating a ceasefire agreement.
The exchange of fire took place in Samba district of the Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmire, about 45 kilometers southwest of Jammu, on Wednesday.
The incident lasted for 45 minutes, and was followed by a second ceasefire violation in less than 24 hours.
According to an Indian Border Security Force (BSF) official, the Pak troops fired at Indian pickets in Ramgarh, a sector of the international border in Jammu and Kashmire.
The BSF, therefore, plans to hold protests against Pak rangers, NDTV reported.
Indian troops also said Pakistain violated the ceasefire at the Line of Control (LOC) in Poonch district of Jammu on Tuesday.
No casualties or property damage has yet been reported.
New Delhi and Islamabad reached a ceasefire agreement along the Jammu and Kashmire frontiers back in November 2003.
The Indian Defense Ministry has reported that since 2006 there have been more than 150 ceasefire incidents, with 50 of them in 2010 alone.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Savages probing the peripharu, nothing to to see here kids, move along and keep a decent line.
[Asharq al-Aswat] Two jacket wallahs on Wednesday killed four coppers in a cop shoppe in the northern city of djinn-infested Mosul, including an officer who oversaw a deadly raid on cut-thoats, Iraqi security officials said.
A third bomber was rubbed out before setting off his explosives belt in the attack targeting Lieutenant Colonel Shamil Ahmed Oglah, who commanded the operation last week against an Al-Qaeda affiliate, a police officer said.
The early morning bombings killed Oglah and three other coppers, an interior ministry source said, and destroyed most of the cop shoppe in the Qabr al-Binat area of western Mosul, according to the police officer.
The officer said Oglah had commanded an operation in western Mosul in which a leader of the Islamic State of Iraq, Al-Qaeda's Iraqi affiliate, was killed.
Suicide bombers had made four previous attempts to kill the lieutenant colonel, he said.
The attack comes two days after twin bombings in the western city of Ramadi killed nine people, including four coppers, and maimed 49, among them five women and four children.
At least 19 police died in apparently coordinated car boomings across Iraq on August 25, security officials said, including 15 officers who were killed at a passport office in Kut, southeast of Storied Baghdad.
A total of at least 53 people were killed and some 250 maimed in the attacks, which were blamed on Al-Qaeda and remnants of Saddam Hussein's Baath party.
Mosul, 350 kilometres (220 miles) north of Storied Baghdad, and the surrounding Nineveh province are one of the most violent areas of Iraq.
The province is split between Sunni Arab and Kurdish communities bitterly divided over the ambitions of Kurdish leaders to incorporate large parts of it into their autonomous region in the north.
It also has Assyrian, Shabak, Turkmen and Yazidi minorities.
On December 20, Iraqi army special forces killed three Libyans allegedly planning suicide kabooms ahead of Christmas in a raid in Mosul, a defence ministry front man said.
"Special forces from the Second Brigade in Mosul killed three Libyan jacket wallahs in an operation," acting on a tip-off, Major General Mohammed al-Askari said.
The soldiers raided a house in southern Mosul and came under attack with hand grenades, sparking a clash in which the three "terrorists" were killed, he said.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who was approved by parliament for a second term in office along with a national unity cabinet on December 21, has cited security as one of his top three priorities.
But 10 ministries, including those responsible for security, which are controlled by Maliki in the interim, still only have acting heads.
While violence has dropped dramatically across Iraq since its peak in 2006 and 2007, attacks remain common, especially in the capital and Mosul.
The number of people killed last month was the lowest in a year for the second month running, with 171 people -- 105 civilians, 23 soldiers and 43 coppers -- losing their lives in attacks.
In his first address after being re-appointed, Maliki committed his new government to tackling the "enormous" challenges to improve security across Iraq.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2010 00:00 ||
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BAGHDAD - Police commander Lt. Col. Shamil al-Jabouri knew al-Qaida wanted him dead. He was renowned in the tense northern city of Mosul for his relentless pursuit of the terror group, and insurgents had tried at least five times to kill him for it.
On the sixth attempt, al-Qaida left little to chance.
As al-Jabouri slept Wednesday morning on a couch in his office, three men wearing police uniforms over vests laden with explosives slipped through an opening in the blast walls surrounding the compound where his building stood, police said. Police manning one of at least four observation towers surrounding the compound shot one of the attackers in a yard and his vest exploded. Under the cover of that blast, police said, the other two suicide bombers charged about 100 yards (90 meters) and made it into al-Jabouris single-story building.
They detonated their vests simultaneously one at the door of al-Jabouris office killing the commander instantly and injuring a policeman sleeping in a trailer nearby. The two blasts brought the whole building down, burying the slain commander under the rubble, police said.
The attack on the commander responsible for hunting al-Qaida in Mosul a former militant stronghold was a reminder of the significant gaps in Iraqi security, the challenges the new government will face in trying to close them and the lengths insurgents will go to take out people they perceive as threats.
Just 10 days ago, al-Jabouri led a raid that ended in the death of the top al-Qaida figure in Mosul, his colleagues said. And two months ago he had been instrumental in stopping a gang that had been targeting jewelry stores in the city robberies that are frequently ways for terror groups to refill their coffers.
Weve lost a sword of Mosul who chased al-Qaida terrorists out of the city, said Abdul-Raheem al-Shemeri, a top security official on the Mosul Provincial Council.
An Al-Qaida affiliate, the Islamic State of Iraq, took responsibility in a statement posted on the Internet. It said al-Jabouri had been targeted several times before, but had not been deterred from fighting al-Qaida. According to the militants statement, the attackers were dressed in police uniforms, which likely helped them get close to the compound an abandoned soccer stadium without raising suspicion.
U.S. Maj. Erik Peterson worked with al-Jabouri as Iraqi police were taking over security from the Iraqi army for the western half of the city, an operation that began last summer.
He was a legend in the police force, Peterson said. Every time you would go to visit him, he already had someone new he was looking for or had just arrested.
Peterson said that by killing officials like al-Jabouri, al-Qaida is trying to institute fear in the local population.
Militants had tried to kill al-Jabouri at least five times before, police officials said. A few months ago, al-Jabouris guards shot a suicide bomber who approached the commander in an attempt to blow himself up, police said.
Al-Jabouri leaves behind a wife and four children. He had been a police officer since 2003. Three of his brothers also serve in the police force, colleagues said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/30/2010 00:00 ||
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three men wearing police uniforms over vests laden with explosives slipped through an opening in the blast walls surrounding the compound where his building stood
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: Chief of al-Madaen Criminal Court was wounded on Wednesday by a sticky bomb in southern Baghdad, according to a security source.
Judge Ahmad Baroud was seriously wounded when a bomb, stuck to his private car, went off in central al-Madaen market, southern Baghdad, the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
The explosion damaged a number of stores and nearby vehicles, he added, without giving further details.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/30/2010 00:00 ||
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[Ma'an] The armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Paleostine, the Abu Mustafa Ali Brigades, announced Wednesday afternoon that its fighters had opened fire on Israeli soldiers carrying out maintenance work in northern Beit Hanoun.
The gang said in a statement that it would "stick to the option of resistance and confront the occupation" when it committed crimes against the Paleostinian people.
Resistance action, the group said, came as a "natural response to the occupation."
An Israeli military spokeswoman said that soldiers operating in Gazoo heard gunfire around noon, but reported no injuries.
"What? It wasn't the usual gun sex, then? They really do need to work on that whole aiming thingy that we practice so regularly."
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12/30/2010 00:00 ||
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Seven people were wounded when a car bomb exploded in southern Thailand, one day after the government moved to end emergency rule in another part of the region.
The IED was made of about 15kg of explosives packed into a fire extinguisher and was detonated by mobile phone in front of a highway department office in Narathiwat province on Wednesday.
Three government officials and four villagers were injured in the blast, which blew the roof right of off the car.
In neighbouring Yala province, suspected terrorists militants detonated a roadside bomb and tried to ambush patrolling security agents. Fortunately, no one was hurt.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said the latest violence wouldn't change his government's plan to cancel emergency rule in a small part of the far south as a test case for the rest of the region. "We will look at it area by area and take the general situation into consideration," he told reporters.
[Straits Times] A CAR bomb went kaboom! in southern Thailand on Wednesday, injuring seven people, police said, a day after the government moved to end emergency rule in another part of the restive region.
The makeshift device, made of about 15kg of explosives packed into a fire extinguisher, exploded by mobile phone in front of a highway department office in Narathiwat province, authorities said.
They said three government officials and four villagers were hurt in the blast, which blew the roof off the car.
In another incident in neighbouring Yala province, suspected bully boyz detonated a roadside kaboom and tried to ambush patrolling security officials, although nobody was hurt, police said.
Suspected Islamic gunnies have waged a violent campaign in the region since early 2004, leaving more than 4,400 people dead, both Mohammedans and Buddhists.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said the latest unrest would not change his government's plan to lift emergency rule in a pocket of the troubled deep south as a test case for the rest of the Mohammedan-majority region.
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12/30/2010 00:00 ||
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[Straits Times] SECURITY forces foiled an attempted bombing on Wednesday in the southern Philippine island that was hit by a blast on Christmas day, officials said.
Two men left behind a mortar shell near the bustling provincial capital building in Jolo island after being chased away by police, said regional army front man Lieutenant Colonel Randolph Cabangbang.
'The men decamped on cycle of violence after they were chased by provincial guards and coppers,' said Mr Cabangbang.
He said the mortar shell was probably meant to be part of a bomb that would have been detonated in 'another terrorist activity.' The identities of the two men are yet to be determined, he added.
Last week, a bomb went kaboom! inside a church during Christmas day mass in Jolo, wounding six people.
Police suspect that the Mohammedan bully boy Abu Sayyaf group, which has been linked to the Al-Qaeda network, was behind the church attack.
The Abu Sayyaf have long used the largely-Mohammedan island of Jolo as a base for kidnappings and bombings that often target Christians who make up the majority of Filipinos.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino had earlier warned that the Christmas day blast could be part of a wider Abu Sayyaf 'terror plot.'
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2010 00:00 ||
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[Straits Times] THE trial of one of Indonesia's top terrorism suspects has opened in the capital.
Abdullah Sunata is accused of setting up a terrorist cell of Mohammedanhard boyz with ties to the Middle East and the Philippines.
Prosecutors say he also helped set up a jihadi training camp in western most Aceh province to prepare for high profile liquidations and attacks targeting Western hotels and embassies in Jakarta.
Sunata was arrestd in June and faces a maximum penalty of death if convicted of violating anti-terrorism laws.
Indonesia, a predominantly Mohammedan nation of 237 million people, has been hit by a series of suicide kabooms blamed on Al-Qaeda-linked hard boyz since 2002.
More than 160 people have died, many of them foreign tourists.
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12/30/2010 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] Seven members of al-Qaeda have been jugged by Iran's security forces in western part of the country along the border with Iraq, a report says.
The detainees were jugged in the northwestern town of Sardasht in West Azarbaijan province, an "informed source" told IRNA on condition of anonymity on Wednesday.
"These people were identified a month ago and were subsequently nabbed by an order by judicial authorities," the source said.
The al-Qaeda members propagated "Wahhabi and Salafi" ideologies in the country, the report said.
It added that the security forces also found a considerable number of books and documents related to Wahhabism and other misleading sects.
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12/30/2010 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Somali pirates
Seven people were wounded when a car bomb exploded in southern Thailand, one day after the government moved to end emergency rule in another part of the region.
