An al Qaeda affiliate in Algeria closed a base earlier this month after an experiment with unconventional weapons went awry, a senior U.S. intelligence official said Monday. We had this story yesterday, a bit more sensationalized, from the Sun...
The official, who spoke on the condition he not be named because of the sensitive nature of the issue, said he could not confirm press reports that the accident killed at least 40 al Qaeda operatives, but he said the mishap led the militant group to shut down a base in the mountains of Tizi Ouzou province in eastern Algeria.
He said authorities in the first week of January intercepted an urgent communication between the leadership of al Qaeda in the Land of the Maghreb (AQIM) and al Qaeda's leadership in the tribal region of Pakistan on the border with Afghanistan. The communication suggested that an area sealed to prevent leakage of a biological or chemical substance had been breached, according to the official.
"We don't know if this is biological or chemical," the official said.
The story was first reported by the British tabloid the Sun, which said the al Qaeda operatives died after being infected with a strain of bubonic plague, the disease that killed a third of Europe's population in the 14th century. But the intelligence official dismissed that claim.
AQIM, according to U.S. intelligence estimates, maintains about a dozen bases in Algeria, where the group has waged a terrorist campaign against government forces and civilians. In 2006, the group claimed responsibility for an attack on foreign contractors. In 2007, the group said it bombed U.N. headquarters in Algiers, an attack that killed 41 people.
Al Qaeda is believed by U.S. and Western experts to have been pursuing biological weapons since at least the late 1990s. A 2005 report on unconventional weapons drafted by a commission led by former Sen. Charles Robb, Virginia Democrat, and federal appeals court Judge Laurence Silberman concluded that al Qaeda's biological weapons program "was extensive, well organized and operated two years before the Sept. 11" terror attacks in the U.S.
Another report from the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation, released in December, warned that "terrorists are more likely to be able to obtain and use a biological weapon than a nuclear weapon."
British authorities in January 2003 arrested seven men they accused of producing a poison from castor beans known as ricin. British officials said one of the suspects had visited an al Qaeda training camp. In the investigation into the case, British authorities found an undated al Qaeda manual on assassinations with a recipe for making the poison.
The late leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab Zarqawi, was suspected of developing ricin in northern Iraq. Then-Secretary of State Colin L. Powell referred to the poison in his presentation to the U.N. Security Council in February 2003 that sought to lay the groundwork for the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
Roger Cressey, a former senior counterterrorism official at the National Security Council under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, told The Washington Times that al Qaeda has had an interest in acquiring a poisons capability since the late 1990s.
"This is something that al Qaeda still aspires to do, and the infrastructure to develop it does not have to be that sophisticated," he said.
Mr. Cressey added that he also is concerned about al Qaeda in the Land of the Maghreb, which refers to the North African countries of Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.
"Al Qaeda in the Maghreb is probably the most operationally capable affiliate in the organization right now," he said.
#1
I sense the vengeful hand of a righteous God in all this. A finger on the "SMITE" key of His PC, anyway.
Posted by: Mike ||
01/20/2009 8:33 Comments ||
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#2
Yes, "bungled" possibly. They could have also been test volunteers, either witting or... unwitting. I'll hold off on popping that celebratory bottle of Heidsieck.
#3
Occam's razor suggest that this was just being unlucky instead of anything intentional on their part. Plague is an odd disease, because unlike most epidemics, it seems to increase in infectiousness and virulence until it burns itself out.
It usually begins with body lice, the only human louse that acts as a disease vector (not head or pubic lice), and resides much of the time in clothing, or in rats. In this case, rural Algeria is not the best environment for rats, so plague is not endemic.
Likely, a traveling al-Qaeda showed up already infested with lice, got sick and died, so the lice migrated to other hosts. One of these hosts developed the pulmonary form, spread by coughing, which can kill in a few hours, even before pneumonia sets in.
The increasing virulence worked against the plague from that point, as it wiped out the camp before most of them could take off, taking the disease with them, or not being infected in the first place.
#4
Well, if it is determined to have been a bio-weapons
lab, the New York Times will say this is AQ's response to the coalitions use of "disproportionate force".
#5
"Terrorists are more likely to be able to obtain and use a biological weapon than a nuclear weapon."
Both are “Low probability – High Consequence” threats. However both nuclear and biological threats are indeed possible. Either way, the likelihood of an established Terrorist becoming a Microbiologist is much less plausible then an established Microbiologist becoming a Terrorist.
#7
Since they're so big on suicide, what's to stop a deliberately infected set of jihadis boarding planes to Europe of the US just after they are infected? A few good coughing spells should do some serious damage through the panic if nothing else.
#8
What's to stop them from unknowingly infecting NGO's and others heading back to the west for that matter. Folks that won't cause a second look at security clearing.
The problem is getting a disease that doesn't incapacitate or even show signs for awhile, and hopefully one that is still infectious.
#9
Anyone playing with plague would have had antibiotics. Plague is very easy to cure with very inexpensive antibiotics. Plague lives naturally in that region. It was probably a natural outbreak. Heck, we have a few people a year in the US that come down with plague each year and it lives naturally in the coastal hills of California and in four corners region of the US.
This article included quotes attributed to a senior US intel official. Yesterday lots of RBers speculated it was a bio experiment gone awry, but if it had been plague that might not have been necessary.
Note that the official says it was NOT plague and it WAS the result of a bioweapons experiment gone awry.
Lots of bioterror materials that aren't easily dealt with by a couple days worth of streptomycin, btw.
#11
Just a wild guess, but there might be something of a shortage of Biosafety Level 3 & 4 lab facilities in the neighborhood.
Q: What kinds of organisms are included under Biosafety Levels 3 and 4?
Biosafety Level 3 includes a wide spectrum of viruses, bacteria, and fungal agents. Bacterial agents include: tularaemia, pulmonary and nonpulmonary tuberculosis, glanders, melioidosis, typhoid fever, paratyphoid fever, plague (bubonic, pneumonic, and septicaemic), Q fever, typhus (scrub and epidemic), and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Viral agents include over 170 arboroviruses such as West Nile, yellow fever, and various forms of encephalitis (i.e. Dengue fever and Hantavirus), lymphocytic choriomeningitis (LCM) (neurotrophic strains), Hepatitis B and C, HIV, and Rift Valley fever. Fungal agents in BSL3 include: Coccidioides immitis (which causes pulmonary disease), pulmonary histoplasmosis, and North American Blastomycosis.
Biosafety Level 4 covers a smaller group of pathogens that pose a “high risk of exposure and infection to personnel, the community, and the environment.” These include a number of arenaviruses, filoviruses, and arboroviruses such as: Junin, Marburg, Russian Spring-Summer, Congo-Crimean, hemorrhagic fever, Omsk hemorrhagic fever, Lassa, Machupo, Ebola, Sabia, and Encephalmomyeltis.
The Biosafety Level of each agent is determined by taking several characteristics into consideration. Generally, the BSL3 agents are “indigenous or exotic agents with potential for aerosol transmission, diseases may have serious or lethal consequences.”(2) BSL4 agents are defined as “dangerous/exotic agents which pose high risk of life-threatening disease, aerosol-transmitted lab infections, or related agents with unknown risk of transmission.”(3) Some agents, such as anthrax, are classified at different biosafety levels, depending on the quantity of the agent and the form the agent takes (aerosol, non-migratory, etc).
#12
“…what's to stop a deliberately infected set of jihadis boarding planes to Europe of the US just after they are infected?”
Hopefully, a conventional (and well trained) security apparatus will thwart the “jihadis” from boarding the plane in the first place. For the human host (On a trans-Atlantic flight) scenario to be effective it couldn't be "just after they are infected". The most virulent pathogens must be fully incubated in order to be contagious and even then others must be close proximity for an extended period of time. A simple one time cough or sneeze isn’t enough to spread the infection. Again, hopefully, once the human host begins to display the tell tale symptoms of an advanced infection (and all those lesions and snot ain’t pretty) someone will recognize the need for quarantine.
Do you really think that foreign security would stop anyone that had no symptoms flying out of Dubai or Riyadh or Cairo for example?
Just train them to shoot themselves up in the men's room just before takeoff and then when they get to Europe they just hang around public incubators like train stations or bus terminals. It doesn't take a huge epidemic to sow panic.
#14
It seems to me that it wasn't anything like a communicable disease. It seems more like a sudden event and the rest ran away without fear of spreading something. It suggests chemical to me. Also, they quarantined the place. If they did that, it suggests that the hazard would not disperse within a short time. Ricin again?
All IÂ’m saying is the Human Incubator scenario makes for better fiction then a practical terror tactic. Again, the host must be in an advanced stage of infection to be contagious and their targets must be in close proximity for an extended period of time. Whether itÂ’s Cairo or Copenhagen, airport security is trained to bar seriously ill passengers from boarding intercontinental flights. And itÂ’s doubtful that many people would share a park bench for very long with someone exhibiting acute symptoms of hemorrhagic fever.
#16
The base may had been shut down, but it remains to be seen how well it has been sealed agz the spread of plague.
PRAGMATICALLY, AFRICA AS A STRATEGIC FRONT IS NEXT ON THE JIHADIST PRIORITY LIST AFTER MAINLAND ASIA [Nuclear Russia, China, India]. Given the historical animosities or disdain between semitic Muslims versus their fellow black African Muslim brothers, its possib that iff AQ can't contain the spread of plague they may try to use its spread to as a weapon in depopulating vast swathes of black Africa [Muslim or non-Muslim].
#17
The Soviets were in Algeria in the 80s and were known to be into developing smallpox as a bio weapon. It wouldn't be surprising if Al Q either bought or stumbled into a supply.
Given the conditions in E. Algeria and the type of medicine Al Q uses, an outbreak would probably infect most people exposed, kill most of the people it infects (within a fairly short time) and disfigure the ones that survive.
They would reasonably try to seal off that group of Al Q to prevent it from wiping out other groups.
[MENL] -- Bahrain has decided to regulate mosque sermons. The Gulf Cooperation Council kingdom has drafted a code forpreachers in both Sunni and Shi'ite mosques. Officials said the code wasprepared in wake of allegations that preachers were inciting Muslims toviolence. "We need to have one rule for all that keeps politics out of themosque," an official said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/20/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
I have the (Good) Mental image of two plain clothes cops standing up, approaching the offending "Preacher" and cuffing, gaging, and hustling out to a waiting paddy wagon, never to be heard from again.
Should do wonders in eliminating future Jihadis.
Posted by: Rednek Jim ||
01/20/2009 13:21 Comments ||
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The government will launch a fresh investigation of terrorist activities including major grenade and bomb attacks perpetrated during the BNP-Jamaat-led four-party alliance government's regime, in an effort to identify the masterminds and their national and international links.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday instructed the home ministry to take immediate steps in that direction, so the government may try the masterminds and stamp out terrorism from the country, sources in the government said.
Presiding over a cabinet meeting in Bangladesh Secretariat yesterday, Hasina, also the Awami League (AL) president, directed the minister and state minister for home affairs to submit a complete report mentioning names of the masterminds and their links.
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Posted by: Fred ||
01/20/2009 00:00 ||
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Indian police on Monday were granted a further two-week extension to hold and question the lone surviving gunman captured during the Mumbai terrorist attacks, a senior officer told AFP. A judge granted a request to hold Ajmal Amir Iman -- also referred to as Kasab -- during a brief hearing in the city, said the officer in charge of the investigation, Crime Branch chief Rakesh Maria. "We have got custody up to February 2," Maria said. Maria has previously said that police were 'quite hopeful' of bringing formal charges against the alleged militant before January 24 -- 60 days after Iman was initially detained. Police have up to 90 days from the date of Iman's arrest to file charges.
This article starring:
AJMAL AMIR IMAN
Lashkar-e-Taiba
Crime Branch chief Rakesh Maria
Posted by: Fred ||
01/20/2009 00:00 ||
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The Peshawar High Court (PHC) is considering moving courts out of the restive areas to other parts of the NWFP, a private TV channel reported on Monday. The channel quoted PHC Registrar Qalandar Ali Khan as saying that the court had already asked the provincial government to make alternative arrangements to move the lower judiciary out of Swat. If they're in Peshawar, they're Peshawar courts, not Swat courts, aren't they?
Posted by: Fred ||
01/20/2009 00:00 ||
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Pakistani top officials urge India to stop the 'blame game' on the Mumbai attacks and cooperate with Islamabad to help bring the culprits to justice. Except, what if it's not a blame game, but they actually do blame you? What if they've deeply, even mortally offended that elements given shelter and aid in your country would send your nationals to their country to murder their citizens for obscure political ends about which India could care less if they weren't so apathetic to them in the first place? Perhaps Pakistain should apologize politely and root out those involved with the planning financing and execution of the plot and of similar plots.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/20/2009 00:00 ||
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(AKI) - By Syed Saleem Shahzad - Pakistan's security forces should be blamed for Taliban's terror campaign against schools in northern Pakistan's troubled Swat Valley, according to a religious party leader. In Islamic circles this is known as "logic." Other places define it as verbal methane. Maulana Samiul Haq, chief of his own faction of the Jamiat-i-Ulema-i-Islam religious party, said national security forces, who have been using schools as "bunkers", were responsible. "Pakistani security forces have actually turned the educational institutes into their bunkers, and that's why militants target those schools," said Maulana Samiul Haq. "Neither the people of Swat nor the people of North West Frontier Province are against women's education," Haq added.
He was addressing members of one of the ruling coalition parties, the Muttehida Quami Movement during a visit to its headquarters in the southern port city of Karachi, the MQM said in a statement.
The Taliban issued an edict in December that private schools must close by 15 January as part of their campaign to ban education for girls. Although around 400 girls' schools last week complied with the ultimatum, Taliban militants continued their campaign of violence and blew up another five schools in Mingora, the largest town in Swat. Over the past year, the Taliban has ordered most of the private schools to close in Swat and has destroyed nearly 150 schools.
Internal and external factors are both contributing to the deteriorating rule of law and mounting violence in the Swat valley, Haq said. He also claimed that foreign intelligence agencies (from India and the United States) have 'sabotaged' any attempted peace agreements with militants in the restive North West Frontier Province.
All of the top Taliban leaders including Mullah Omar studied in Haq's religious seminary at Akora Khattack in NWFP, bordering Afghanistan. For this reason, Haq is widely known in Pakistan as 'the father of the Taliban'.
The anti-Taliban, pro-Western MQM is known to be an anti-Taliban political party which openly denounces the Taliban and has allied itself with Pakistan's secular forces. The MQM recently launched a campaign against the presence of Taliban and pro-Taliban forces in Karachi. The city is home to 3,000 of the country's 17,000 Islamic seminaries and has become a refuge for various Al-Qaeda-friendly militant groups who are are operating there, top government advisor for interior affairs, Rahman Malik warned last November.
Haq denied he was interested in 'Talibanising' Karachi and claimed his visit there was aimed at bringing together different political and religious parties in the city after ethnic unrest there between Pashtuns and Mohajirs last November following the Mumbai terrorist attacks. Karachi is the political stronghold of the MQM, which is the second largest political party in surrounding Sindh province and a coalition partner in the provincial government.
This article starring:
Akora Khattack
government advisor for interior affairs, Rahman Malik
MAULANA SAMIUL HAQ
Jamiat-i-Ulema-i-Islam
Muttehida Quami Movement
Posted by: Fred ||
01/20/2009 00:00 ||
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"Pack our bags, honey! This year we're gonna vacation in Pakistain!"
"Oh, how thrilling!" The tourism industry in Pakistan has been severely affected by terrorism, as foreign countries and international airlines have branded Pakistan an 'unsafe destination', Parliamentary Affairs Minister Babar Awan told the National Assembly on Monday during the question hour. "Uhhh... Unpack."
Replying to a question by Hanif Abbasi of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Babar told the House on the Tourism Ministry's behalf that October 2008 was the worst month in terms of revenue generated from tourism after the Marriot blast. He said Pakistan had generated over Rs 16 billion in revenue in 2007, but earnings in 2008 stood at Rs 14 billion. "We should go somewhere that's not as dangerous!"
"How about Somalia?"
This article starring:
Hanif Abbasi of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Babar Awan
Posted by: Fred ||
01/20/2009 00:00 ||
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Military operations are not a solution to all the problems in the Tribal Areas and Swat, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told the National Assembly on Monday, and vowed to come up with a 'political strategy' to deal with the situation. Surrender? Abject surrender?
"Every Pakistani is concerned about the attacks on girls' schools in Swat. The security forces are in control in the Tribal Areas and will soon establish the writ of the government in Swat," Gilani told the House.
The prime minister assured the National Assembly that the government would soon bring the situation under control through 'a better and practical strategy'. "I have called the NFWP governor for a briefing today. I will also call the law-enforcement agencies [for a briefing] ... and then take all the political forces into confidence," he added.
He said that the government has formed a parliamentary committee to deal with the situation in Swat, and the administration would respect the decision made by the body.
Mumbai suspects: Gilani also made it clear that Pakistan would not hand over the suspects arrested in the Mumbai attacks probe to India, but if the suspects were found guilty, they would be tried and prosecuted under the law of the land. "Let me make it clear that we are not investigating the Mumbai attacks under any external pressure ... we are investigating in our own interest," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/20/2009 00:00 ||
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Johnson! Stop the presses!!
KUWAIT CITY (AP) -- Arab leaders trying to come up with a plan to rebuild Gaza ended their meeting Tuesday in discord, unable to agree on whether to back Egyptian peace efforts or even set up a joint reconstruction fund for the devastated Palestinian territory. Damn. How's Maashal gonna pay his boy prostitute bills?
The deep tensions among rival Arab leaders could affect the fragile cease-fire between Hamas and Israel that ended a three-week Israeli onslaught on the Mediterranean strip. The military campaign to stop militant rocket fire left around 1,300 Palestinians dead, according to Gaza health officials, and material damage estimated at around $2 billion. Thirteen Israelis were also killed. Last week it was 1 billion, the other day 1.8 billion. it's almost like...somebody plans on making money on this deal.
The violence in Gaza split Arab countries into two camps -- one led by Syria and Qatar supporting Hamas hard-liners who rule the territory, and another led by Egypt and Saudi Arabia hoping to lure the Palestinian militant group toward more moderation. I curse your moustache!
Ha! Your mother's moustache!
Your camel's mother's moustache!
Apostate!
Infidel!
The two-day gathering of Arab leaders in Kuwait that ended Tuesday was expected to announce a fund to rebuild Gaza and a unified statement about how to end the crisis there. Instead, pledges came in vague and without figures, along with criticism for Israel and threats to hold it accountable for what leaders called "war crimes" in Gaza. Jooo blaming and vague on the money for their Pali "brothers"? It's deja vu, I tells ya...
Saudi Arabia was the only Arab country to commit at the opening of the gathering to a $1 billion contribution for rebuilding efforts, and Kuwait's emir, Sheik Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah, said the reconstruction should be an "international collective effort." It remains to be seen when the money will be paid and if it will be delivered to Gaza's militant Hamas rulers or to the rival Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. Heh...heh..heh. Don't open up those new Swiss bank accounts yet, boys.
"An international effort is a million times better," said Nabil al-Fadhl, columnist for Kuwait's Al-Watan newspaper. "Do you want to give the donations to Hamas, the illegal authority?" Don't visit Gaza anytime soon, Nabil.
Shortly before a final statement was read, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, without naming specific countries, said leaders were unable to reach a consensus. "Some are entrenched in their positions," Zebari told state-owned Kuwait Television. After the summit ended, Arab League chief Jerry Lewis Amr Moussa acknowledged he was frustrated. Oh, noooo. Not that!
"Of course the Arab situation is still troubled and tense ... and we need to exert efforts to close ranks as much as possible," he said. I just flew in from Damascus. And are my arms tired...
Egypt and Saudi Arabia, both staunch U.S. allies, initially blamed Hamas for the Gaza crisis, which Israel says it launched to halt rockets fired by the militant group on its south. Later, as the Gaza death toll increased and public pressure in the Arab world to support Hamas mounted, the two Arab powerhouses shifted their accusations toward Israel. If my Magic Eight Ball wasn't in the shop, I coulda predicted that.
The two Arab camps are also divided about what should be done with the Arab peace initiative -- first proposed by Saudi Arabia in 2002 and relaunched in March 2007. At a summit in Qatar Friday, Syria called for putting the peace initiative on hold -- a more radical position than one outlined by Saudi King Abdullah on Monday. The initiative offers Israel collective Arab recognition in exchange for Israeli withdrawal from territory it occupied during the 1967 Mideast war, the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital and a just solution to the problem of Palestinian refugees. Israel initially rejected the initiative in 2002, but in the past year has said it could be a starting point for discussions. Land for Arab promises? Gonna bet your life on that? Because you are...
Followers of anti-US cleric Muqtada Al Sadr hope to win back their position as a major force in this month's regional elections after a string of political setbacks last year. Even modest success in the January 31 vote for ruling provincial councils could position the Sadrists as coalition partners in key southern provinces.
"This month's elections will decide who remains in the political arena and who will go into oblivion," said senior Sadrist lawmaker Hassan Al Rubaie. "If we fail to do well, our movement could fragment, and some of its key figures could be lured away by rival blocs trying to destroy us," he said.
The Sadrists also face a strong threat from the country's two largest Shiite parties: the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council and the Dawa party of Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki. The movement wants to prevent the other Shiite parties from winning enough seats to monopolize power, said Salah Al Obeidi, Al Sadr's chief spokesman.
"Our ultimate goal is not to allow governors to do as they please," Al Obeidi said at his Najaf office.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/20/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
This election will answer a few questions in my mind about the Iraqi people and whether or not they can be helped despite themselves.
#2
We'll have to wait and see how much muscle al-Sadr is willing to use to "get out the vote". If it's a free, fair, and untainted election (or at least close), then how the people vote will indeed tell us a lot. If Sadr "wins" by undemocratic means, that will also tell us a lot.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/20/2009 14:03 Comments ||
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#3
I wanna be rich and bang Carmen Electra, but that ain't happening either..
Basra's bid to become an autonomous region, fell short of the 10 per cent of votes required according to the Independent Electoral Commission.
This failure will most likely lead to further division and quarrelling between political parties vested in the region. Among those opposed to Basra's autonomy bid were Shiite parties affiliated with Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki, Abdul Aziz Al Hakim, and Moqtada Al Sadr. The Baathists also opposed the bid.
"Conflicting parties worked together for a common goal, which was to abort the Basra autonomy bid. This happened through voter intimidation, but we will reassert our bid for autonomy next year," Basim Al Musawi, member of the Basra Governorate Council told Gulf News. Only 5 per cent of the votes counted favoured autonomy.
"It is ironic that the Baath party and Al Maliki's Dawa Party as well as the Islamic Supreme Council, worked together to obstruct the vote counting," Zahra Al Saadoun, a political researcher in Basra told Gulf News.
The failure of Basra's bid, scores a major political victory for the Shiite Alliance under Abdul Aziz Al Hakim, who has long rejected the project due to his vision for an expanded federal project to include nine Shiite provinces in the southern and central Iraq.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/20/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Hard to understand why Mucky was against it, since the main goal of his Iranian handlers seems to be to strip the oil-rich Shi'ite south from Iraq, so it can be absorbed. Could he be getting frisky again?
Aswat al-Iraq: MP from the Iraqi National List (INL) Osama al-Nujaifi on Monday called on the government to provide neutral forces to protect Mosul and its districts during the elections because of what he described as the "terrorism of Kurdish militias."
"The security situation in Mosul has greatly improved and it is ready for the elections, except for the regions of Sinjar, Zamar, Shiekhan, and al-Hamadaniya which are under the control of Kurdish militias who terrorise voters and force them to vote for their candidates," Osama al-Nujaifi told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
For his part, deputy governor of the Ninewa province and the responsible for the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) Khisro Kouran told Aswat al-Iraq news agency "this is not true."
He underlined that the situation in the city's districts "is safe and even better than Mosul."
He described al-Nujaifi's statements as "the old paper which is used by the some to accuse Kurds of displacing Christians from Mosul."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/20/2009 00:00 ||
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Iraq's electoral commission said on Sunday it is investigating allegations that nearly 60 candidates for provincial elections on January 31 submitted fraudulent qualification certificates.
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01/20/2009 00:00 ||
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Aswat al-Iraq: Iraqi President Jalal Talabani discussed at his residence in Kuwait’s Bayan Palace with World Bank President Robert Zoellick on Monday the issue of rebuilding Iraq, according to a presidential statement. “Talabani received President of the World Bank Robert Zoellick in Kuwait and discussed the necessary steps that must be taken rebuilding Iraq," read the statement as received by Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
"Talabani and Zoellick also discussed agro-industrial and trade projects as well as broad lines to upgrade the economy and carry out strategic projects," it added.
"The talks between the two sides took up privatization and economic reform by encouraging the private sector under the free market principle," it noted.
The meeting was attended by Iraqi Finance Minister Baqer Jabr al-Zubaydi and Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) Governor Sannan al-Shebeibi.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/20/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
I think their chances with the world bank ammount to a lot of head nodding, and no cash whatever. (Some bankers are smart, and know their business.)
Posted by: Rednek Jim ||
01/20/2009 20:04 Comments ||
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Egypt has refused to accept a U.S. peace proposal for Gaza, that would halt the smuggling of weapons into Gaza via tunnels under the Egyptian border. The Egyptians refused the deal because it meant U.S. technicians would help install and maintain the U.S. surveillance equipment along the border with Gaza. That's strange, because Egypt accepts the presence of U.S. technicians and military trainers to help handle the $1.3 dollars a year in military aid (and nearly a billion dollars worth of economic aid) it enjoys. Egypt has received over $50 billion in U.S. aid since the 1979 peace deal between Egypt and Israel. The large amount of aid was part of a deal. A bribe, if you will.
Bribes may be what is keeping U.S. monitoring equipment away from the Egyptian-Gaza border. Egyptian police already monitor the border, and they apparently accept generous bribes from the smugglers to leave the hundreds of tunnels alone. A lot of that money goes up the Egyptian chain-of-command, to senior government officials. It's big business, and keeping the American tunnel detection equipment away from the border, will keep the bribes coming. Guess a $2B/year bribe doesn't buy as much as it used to. Better America saved it's money.
Posted by: ed ||
01/20/2009 07:00 ||
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Hat tip Instapundit
Amid international condemnation of Israel, one would never guess that humanitarian aid and even cash is flowing into Hamas coffers, while its rockets continue to hit Israel.
It is important to alleviate the suffering of innocent Palestinians. However, since Gaza is under Hamas control, we have to ask: Will aid reach the suffering populace? If the past is any indication, most funds and supplies will end up with Hamas.
The world community that berates Israel for defending itself from constant attacks by the terrorist group also facilitated Hamas' victory in the 2006 Palestinian Authority election, when it was allowed to run under the name "List of Change and Reform."
Since then, despite repeated promises to cut off funds for Hamas, international aid organizations and many countries kept on sending money to Gaza, purportedly for humanitarian aid. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, raises money for Gaza through its Web site, with payments going through WorldPay (part of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group), the Arab Bank PLC in Gaza and HSBC in Amman, Jordan. Those funds come in addition to UNRWA's annual budget of $400 million.
The $7 billion to $10 billion that the Palestinian Authority has received since 1993 has come from the European Union, the U.N., the U.S., Saudi Arabia and other Arab League countries. France alone has sent more than $3 billion. This influx of cash has done little to advance the development of a viable Palestinian state or of peace in the region. Rather, it has helped to fuel the Palestinian leadership's terrorist agenda, and kept the Palestinian people oppressed and disenfranchised.
I'll see your white phosphorus...and raise you a depleted uranium.
VIENNA, Austria -- Arab nations accused Israel on Monday of blasting Gaza with ammunition containing depleted uranium and urged the International Atomic Energy Agency to investigate reports that traces of it had been found in victims of the shelling. In a letter on behalf of Arab ambassadors accredited in Austria, Prince Mansour Al-Saoud, the Saudi Ambassador, expressed "our deep concern regarding the information ... that traces of depleted uranium have been found in Palestinian victims." Bet it didn't bother you that much when we were using it against Iraqis back in Gulf War I when we were defending your sorry asses...
A final draft of the letter was made available to The Associated Press on Monday. It urgently requested IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei to "carry out a radiological and physical assessment in order to verify the presence of depleted uranium in the weaponry used by Israel ... in the Gaza Strip." I'll bet even Mo, even MO, is sick of this shit...
Officials at the Israeli mission to the IAEA said they were in no position to comment without having seen the letter. IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming confirmed receipt of the letter and said a response might be issued later in the day.
The letter -- which spoke of "medical and media sources" as the origin of its allegations -- appeared to be alluding to health concerns related to depleted uranium but the effects of exposure to the substance are unclear.
An IAEA article on the issue says that while the substance "is assumed to be potentially carcinogenic ... the lack of evidence for a definite cancer risk in studies over many decades is significant and should put the results of assessments in perspective." In other words, Scoops, this is a non story? But Scoops presses on...
Still, says the article, "there is a risk of developing cancer from exposure to radiation emitted by ... depleted uranium. This risk is assumed to be proportional to the dose received." There's a reason why it's called depleted uranium ...
It is not the first time Israel has been accused of using ordnance containing depleted uranium, which makes shells and bombs harder and increases their penetrating power. The Israeli army declined comment. But the U.S. and NATO have used uranium-depleted rounds in Bosnia and Iraq.
According to the World Health Organization, the weapons are lightly radioactive, though "under most circumstances, use of DU will make a negligible contribution to the overall natural background levels of uranium in the environment." Again, Scoops, that would make this a NON STORY, right?
But, still, Scoops presses on...
But researchers have suspected depleted uranium may be behind a range of chronic symptoms suffered by veterans of the 1990-91 Gulf War. Some of the symptoms include memory and thinking problems, debilitating fatigue, severe muscle and joint pain, depression, anxiety, insomnia, headaches and rashes. It's a heavy metal and causes a series of problem akin to, though usually not as severe, as lead poisoning.
Syria, which is being investigated by the Vienna-based agency for alleged secret nuclear activities, says traces of uranium found by IAEA experts at a site bombed by Israel jets Sept. 6, 2007 likely came from bombs or missiles used by the Israelis. The Israelis have denied using such weaponry in that raid, and on Monday two diplomats accredited to the IAEA and familiar with its Syria investigations told the AP that the agency has virtually ruled out Israeli munitions as the source of the uranium. They asked for anonymity for discussing confidential information. Keep throwing shit, Scoops. Some of it's bound to stick.
The IAEA investigation is based in part on intelligence from the U.S., Israel and a third, unidentified country, alleging that the bombed site was a nearly completed nuclear reactor built with North Korean help and meant to produce plutonium -- which can be used as the payload of nuclear weapons.
The uranium traces were revealed by an analysis of environmental samples collected by IAEA experts during a visit to the site, in a remote part of the Syrian desert. Since that initial trip in June 2008, Syria has refused or deflected requests for follow up inspections both to the site and others allegedly linked to it.
#1
Pure total agitprop. There's no logical reason for Israel to use DU against Hamas when they've got no tanks or other armored vehicles to shoot at. That's the sole reason DU ammo exists and given it's expense, there's no reason for Israel to waste it when perfectly good HE and HEAP does the trick.
#2
Classic psy-op, guaranteed to get a rise out of the usual suspect(s). The fact that we are now hearing this tells me:
1. The noise has stopped. The brave lions of islam now feel safe to stick their heads up and holler.
2. Whoever is running the propaganda office finaly heard ,and understood the hysterics about DU.
3. Somebody noted the lack of traction with the WP issue(see previous article).
4. (related) Somebody noted the general lack of agitprop traction on the whole turkey shoot recent unpleasantness.
Should be fun what gets brought up next.
Posted by: N guard ||
01/20/2009 1:05 Comments ||
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#3
Reminds me of the AP story where an Israki woman complained about bullets being fired at her house by the Americans. In, the photo she was holding unfired cartridges in her hand.
#4
Depleted uranium is so... cheap! I think the juices could use ENRICHED uranium, or, at least, over-the-counter, run-of-the-mill uranium. Would you be satisfied, receiving *depleted* uranium for your birthday? Heck, I wouldn't. Hey, buy me the actual stuff, still in original packaging, not some leftovers you found second-hand on ebay. The arabs are right to complain, the juices are being miserly, here.
#5
I'd like to know what analytical method they used to find "that traces of depleted uranium have been found in Palestinian victims.". The Islamic Bullsh*t Method?
(I'd also like to see the Quality Assurance Project Plan under which they did the analyses, but that's just the bureaucrat in me;)
#6
Israel should dust the whole area with flour. Then watch as the vermin freak out. Let them work themselves into a fever pitch, then announce they have no idea what their talking about, etc.
(AKI) - Human rights group Amnesty International said on Monday its delegates visiting the Gaza Strip found indisputable evidence of widespread use of white phosphorus in densely populated residential areas in Gaza City and in the north. "Yesterday, we saw streets and alleyways littered with evidence of the use of white phosphorus, including still burning wedges and the remnants of the shells and canisters fired by the Israeli army," said Christopher Cobb-Smith, a weapons expert who is in Gaza as part of a four-person Amnesty International fact-finding team.
New-York based Human Rights Watch last week accused Israel of using artillery shells containing white phosphorous in Gaza during its recent military offensive. "White phosphorus is a weapon intended to provide a smokescreen for troop movements on the battlefield," said Cobb-Smith. "It is highly incendiary, air burst and its spread effect is such that it that should never be used on civilian areas".
Donatella Rovera, Amnesty's researcher on Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, agreed. "Such extensive use of this weapon in Gaza's densely populated residential neighbourhoods is inherently indiscriminate. "Its repeated use in this manner, despite evidence of its indiscriminate effects and its toll on civilians, is a war crime," she said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/20/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Put some of the Amnesty International grubs into a masonry building, and let them experience some Willie Pete rounds being used to suppress effective resistance from their building. Then - repeat the experiment using standard HE rounds to suppress the buildings.
If any of them survive, ask them which mode of suppression they would prefer to have applied against their building.
From the photos of Gaza that I've seen, there were not a lot of wooden buildings - it was all masonry block buildings.
#5
That's petty from the juices, I mean, in fallujah I, the USA used micro-nukes and that very special kind of phosphorus that burns people to a crisp without touching their clothes, even their undies, that's what those brave mysteries-solving commies from that italian ngo discovered. So, like the depleted uranium, it seems they didn't even bother to get average stuff for those poor misappreciated arabs.
I think there's even an hint of racism here, I mean, what did little Schlomo get for hanukka? I'll tell you what, ENRICHED uranium and that special fallujah magic phosphorus, both still in original wrapping... and what did little mouloud get? Depleted uranium and plain old WP, delivered by anonymous and uncaring governement employees.
That's uncool, really, you could do better, israeli people.
#7
Micro-nukes is what the CIA used to blow up Bali's nightclub in order to... I'm not sure what was the goal, but it was nefarious, and islamophobic, for sure... so sez bashir (probably stolen from western conspiracies websites, in a lull during a pr0n surfing evening), and, if you can't trust bashir, then, who can you trust? Obviously, micro-nukes were not what was used by the US Hegemon to cause the 2004 tsunami, because, well, they're too small. Probably scalar weaponry, I'd venture, then.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/20/2009 7:22 Comments ||
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#10
I fixed it. Folks, be sure to use a width= parameter when you post photos - no more than 550 pixels or so. The mods don't have time to go find and fix this sort of thing on a regular basis.
#15
Apparently white phosphorous is this conflict's depleted uranium. They are seeing it everywhere and even when correctly recognized it is incorrectly labeled as a weapon rather than smoke, or flare, or whatever.
Bahrain's aid consignments for Palestinians have been allowed through the border crossing and handed to authorities, said an official overseeing the delivery.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/20/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Well its in good hands now. Much more efficient than sending 'humanitarian supplies' that have to be confiscated, pillaged and sold to the highest bidder.
The crisis in relations between Israel and Turkey, which began when the Gaza operation began three weeks ago, is getting worse. A political source in Jerusalem said that the head of the political-security bureau at the Defense Ministry, Amos Gilad, refused to meet with Ahmet Davutoglu, the senior foreign policy adviser to Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, while the two were in Cairo last week.
Last Thursday, Amos Gilad visited Cairo for talks with Egypt's Omar Suleiman on a cease-fire agreement. At the time, Davutoglu, who had served as a mediator in Israel's talks with Syria in Istanbul, was in touch with Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshal, who is based on Damascus.
At the start of the Gaza operation, Erdogan instructed Davutoglu to serve as a conduit between Hamas and the West and also try to involve Turkey in the cease-fire negotiations. Egypt expressed its reservations at Turkey's involvement and refused even to allow Davutoglu to sit in on talks with senior Hamas officials in Cairo.
But it turns out that not only Egypt refused to have exchanges with Davutoglu. So did Israel. A political source in Jerusalem said that on Thursday, when Gilad was in Cairo, the Turkish ambassador to Egypt called his Israeli counterpart, Shalom Cohen. The Turkish ambassador asked for a meeting between Davutoglu and Gilad to deliver a message from Hamas. The political source said the Turks "asked for even a five-minute meeting" and that the ambassador called back several times.
The Turkish request was relayed to Gilad by the Israeli ambassador, but he refused to meet with Davutoglu. The Israeli political source said the reason for the refusal was the deterioration in relations between Jerusalem and Ankara, stemming from the unprecedented verbal attacks by Erdogan on Israel. The source added that another reason was the unwillingness to allow the Turks to intervene in the cease-fire talks and the wish to rely solely on the Egyptian channel.
Erdogan's attacks on Israel in recent weeks have been particularly fierce, with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert specifically targeted for what the Turkish leader called "lying to him and acting behind his back."
The words of the leader of the AKP, Turkey's ruling Islamist party, were a source of anger among Turkey's military, where there is concern that the rift would undermine the strategic ties with Israel.
Erdogan is doing everything he can to push all the wrong buttons ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/20/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
WAFF > TURKEY WARNS US [POTUS Obama Admin]ABOUT RECOGNIZING ARMENIAN 1915 CLAIMS OF HOLOCAUST.
#2
The words of the leader of the AKP, Turkey's ruling Islamist party, were a source of anger among Turkey's military, where there is concern that the rift would undermine the strategic ties with Israel.
Eu and Arab leaders gather to discuss the possibility of tasking a coalition naval armada with preventing the Palestinian Hamas' rearmament.
How 'bout a tunnel brigade?
On Sunday, EU heads joined the Israeli and Egyptian leadership in Sharm el-Sheik to canvass the measure based on Tel Aviv claims that the group receives smuggled weaponry via sea and the Gaza Strip's border with Egypt.
"We must put an end to the arms traffic," said French President Nicolas Sarkozy. "Several of our countries have proposed ... to make available to Israel and Egypt all the technical, diplomatic and military - notably naval - means to help stop weapons smuggling into Gaza."
The summit was convened a day after the unilateral declaration of truce by the Israeli forces who had been pounding the coastal area for 23 days. The raids killed 1,300 Palestinians wounding 5,300 others.
Hamas sorta stopped its retaliatory rocket attacks as a response making for a temporary bilateral cessation of hostilities.
The attendees at the Egypt gathering described reconstructive relief work as the summit's main aim while discussing the likelihood of a more stable replacement for the shaky ceasefire.
Cairo, who closed its Rafah border crossing with the strip to fleeing Palestinians during the war, remained insistent on its refusal to meet an Israeli demand by allowing the presence of international observers at the border post.
Britain promised multiplying its aid convoys to the area and the United Nations said the body would assign a team to assess humanitarian needs.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/20/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > BRITAIN, FRANCE, AND GERMANY OFFER THEIR NAVIES TO ISRAEL TO HELP STOP FLOW OR ARMS INTO GAZA.
An Iranian lawmaker has called on the Egyptian government to make up for its negligence during the Israeli onslaught against the Gaza Strip.
"The Egyptian government did not behave in a positive and responsible manner in the Gaza conflict. We expect the Egyptians to compensate for their slackness," the Iranian Parliament (Majlis) rapporteur for the National Security and Foreign Commission, Kazem Jalali, told IRNA News Agency on Monday.
Regarding the possible closure of the Egyptian Interest Section in Tehran, the parliamentarian said that Tehran views Egypt as an outstanding regional playmaker. Jalali remarked that the general feeling is that close Tehran-Cairo rapport would benefit the interests of the Muslim world.
He also described the Israeli unilateral ceasefire as defining the failure of the Zionist regime failure to take over the Gaza Strip. "The spirited resistance shown by the Gazans to the Israeli hostilities punctured Tel Aviv's invincibility myth. Israel's ceasefire marks a victory for Hamas as well as other Palestinian resistance factions," Jalali noted.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/20/2009 00:00 ||
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#3
I don't think even the EU would hand over money to Hamas. But then I believe ALL aid should be cut off to determine what is more fundamental to Maslow's Pali hierarchy of needs, food or rockets.
Posted by: ed ||
01/20/2009 8:09 Comments ||
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#4
ed,
for muslims, rockets are the embodiment of 'self-actualization'.
(AKI) - The largest Palestinian party, Fatah, on Monday claimed that the rival Islamist faction Hamas attacked its members during military conflict in the Gaza Strip in the past three weeks.
Fatah said 16 people died and another 80 were injured in attacks by Hamas which is the ruling party in Gaza.
According to the Palestinian news agency, Maan, Fatah sent a call to "Hamas and its members" asking that they cease attacks on Fatah affiliates following the end of hostilities in Gaza at the weekend.
Throughout the war Maan said there were unconfirmed reports of harassment and executions of Fatah party members, suspected collaborators and "petty criminals" that were released via several media sources.
Maan said it was still unclear to what extent interparty rivalry was persisting in Gaza, since both Fatah and Hamas aligned brigades participated in Gaza clashes during Israel's offensive which killed at least 1,300 Palestinians since it began on 27 December.
A statement from Fatah spokesperson Fahmy Az-Za'reer, on Monday said that Fatah had evidence that Hamas forces had placed hundreds under house arrest and incapacitated more than 80 Fatah members by shooting them in the leg.
He said that there were 16 incidents where Hamas fighters executed Fatah members during the Gaza fighting.
Az-Za'reer asked Hamas members and their affiliates to take the ceasefire with Israel as an opportunity to "heal the wounds and reinforce unity and concord."
Fatah troops were "patient, steady, united and cooperative in the battle field," he said and noted that "we learnt from the revolution's history that blame is no good during battle."
He added that Fatah will not "allow or agree under any circumstances" for their affiliates to be attacked now that calm is again in place in Gaza.
"Hamas should understand our message," he said. "It should ask itself how it can stalk our members with its weapons and military while the occupation is still in the heart of the Gaza Strip."
Meanwhile, the al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas said it had lost 48 of its militants during the Israeli military attacks in the past three weeks.
Abu Obeida, spokesman for Hamas' armed wing, told Arab network Al-Jazeera the group had been subjected to 2,500 raids and used half the air and naval arsenal used by US troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.
He said there were 3,300 martyrs, most of them women and children.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/20/2009 00:00 ||
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(AKI) - The Gaza Strip's ruling Hamas movement has vowed to rearm - only a day after agreeing to a ceasefire to bring an end to Israel's three-week-old military attacks in the territory. That's because waving weaponry and hollering has worked so well for them...
The Islamist movement announced its intentions on Monday despite pledges by several European countries to stop weapons smuggling in Gaza. "Do whatever you want. Manufacturing the holy weapons is our mission and we know how to acquire weapons," said Hamas' military wing spokesperon Abu Ubeida.
"We will not surrender to the pressure applied on us. Our rocket force was unaffected by the fighting," he said.
Abu Ubeida also defended Hamas' right to bring weapons into Gaza, saying that the group's members are merely resisting an occupying power. "Bringing weapons into Gaza is not smuggling. The natural situation is for weapons to be brought in officially by all Arab and Muslim countries and from other free peoples of the world in order to confront the Israeli occupation." "Even while the world denies it, we believe that it is our right to bring in weapons as we see fit."
But Israel's foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, said that if Hamas resumed Qassam rocket attacks, Israel will launch a fresh attack against Hamas in Gaza. "If Hamas fires a Qassam at Israel, it will get slapped down again, as it got it now and they know this," Livni said.
Hamas' announcement took place three days after Israel signed a memorandum of understanding with the United States calling for increased intelligence-sharing and political commitments to prevent weapons from reaching Hamas One of the requests in the MoU is a ground penetrating radar or GPR, to detect tunnels, as well as supervision to stop the alleged smuggling of arms from Iran.
On Sunday, European Union heads of state met Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem in a further bid to help stop arms smuggling into Gaza and maintain peace in the region. The top-level delegation included Czech prime minister and EU president Mirek Topolanek, German chancellor Angela Merkel, British prime minister Gordon Brown, Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, French president Nicolas Sarkozy, and Spanish prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.
Prior to the meeting with Olmert, France, Germany and the United Kingdom pledged their naval support to prevent the delivery of weapons to Gaza during a summit in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, where they met Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.
Also on Monday, aid workers and doctors from around the world entered war-ravaged Gaza with medical supplies, food and blankets. Injured Gazans were also allowed to cross into Egypt through the Rafah crossing point, while other inhabitants began returning to their homes, surveying the damage and attempting to recover some of their belongings.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/20/2009 00:00 ||
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#3
That's not a very good return for firing 600 rockets off. That's about a .5% rate of return if you want to think of it as an investment.
Posted by: bigjim-ky|
If I read the business news correctly, that's still a better "ROE" than General Motors, Bigjim.
Israel needs to announce publically that if they have to go back into Gaza for any reason, they will leave no two stones piled atop one another. When the first rocket is fired at them, they need to go into central Gaza City and flatten one block, just to show the Gazans AND Hamass that they mean what they say.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/20/2009 14:30 Comments ||
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(AKI) - Source IRIN - As relative calm settles over Gaza for the first time in three weeks following the Israeli ceasefire, the scale of the humanitarian crisis is becoming evident. Some 100 bodies have been discovered in areas that were previously inaccessible.
The grim discovery brings the Gaza death toll since the Israeli offensive began on 27 December 2008 to over 1,300, according to officials of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNWRA) - and that number is expected to rise. Over 5,400 have been wounded.
Israel has tightly controlled information during its military operation, not allowing foreign correspondents into the Strip, although some Israeli media were allowed in briefly - but under the supervision of the Israeli army spokesperson's unit.
News agencies still operating in Gaza report that many of the civilians who had fled their homes over the past few weeks were heading back, carrying whatever they had on donkeys.
But many will find they have nowhere to return to, aid agencies said. It is now estimated - by the Israeli army in conjunction with some Palestinian sources on the ground - that the Israeli army destroyed some 15 percent of buildings in Gaza and severely damaged infrastructural facilities.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/20/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Israeli army destroyed some 15 percent of buildings in Gaza and severely damaged infrastructural facilities
The Thai cabinet on Tuesday decides to extend the emergency decree for another three months in the unrest southern provinces starting Jan. 19 to April 18, 2009.
The decree, which has been extended 14 times since October 2005,comes up for the cabinet to approve every three months. The law allows authorities to seize suspects and keep them under detention without charges, and provide immunity to security personnel engaged in such operations.
However, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said "We will soon not to rely on the emergency decree to bring peace to the south" at a gala dinner organized by the Foreign Correspondents' club of Thailand recently.
Sri Lanka's top Tamil Tiger, who inspired hundreds of followers to stage suicide bombings in the fight for a separate state, is facing his biggest challenge yet and is fast running out of options.
To his followers, Velupillai Prabhakaran is seen as Super Mario a "Sun God" who formed a formidable and feared guerrilla organisation out of a ragtag group of separatist rebels in the 1970s.
But to his enemies, he is considered a ruthless killer, outlawed around the world as a terrorist kingpin and wanted on charges of mass murder. At the height of his military success, Prabhakaran's Tigers inflicted heavy losses on the government forces of Sri Lanka and neighbouring India.
But since Sri Lankan forces mounted their biggest ground, sea and air campaign so far to dismantle the de facto Tiger state in the north of the island, Prabhakaran has seen his territory crumble rapidly. "Prabhakaran is facing the biggest military setback in his career and it is unlikely he can recover," said former rebel-turned-politician Dharmalingam Sithadthan.
The chubby Prabhakaran, usually pictured wearing combat fatigues and sporting a bushy moustache, inspired hundreds of young men, women and even children to stage suicide bombings in the battle for a separate state called Eelam for the island's minority Tamils.
Sri Lanka's army chief, Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka, who survived a Tiger suicide assassination attempt in April 2006, has said Prabhakaran is running out of hiding places amid the ongoing military operation. Fonseka has said he wants to crush the Tigers by April, when the country marks the traditional Sinhala and Tamil New Year. Despite promises in November to strike back, Prabhakaran's Tamil Tigers have failed to impress. The Tigers are now surrounded and restricted to their jungle hideouts in the northeastern corner of Sri Lanka, from where Fonseka has threatened to drive the rebels into the sea.
Born on November 26, 1954, in the Tamil heartland of Jaffna, Prabhakaran has been a guerrilla fighter for most of his life, building up the dreaded Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) from a motley band of rebels.
Prabhakaran went on to shape one of the world's deadliest killing machines, building an organisation with its own army, navy and air force. He inspired his cadres to wear a cyanide capsule around their necks to commit suicide in case they were cornered by security forces.
Neighbouring India, which once nurtured and provided a safe haven to Prabhakaran, treating him as a freedom fighter battling oppression of minority Tamils by a majority Sinhalese government, now treats him as a wanted man.
Prabhakaran is suspected in the 1991 assassination of former Indian premier Rajiv Gandhi, who in 1987 ordered Indian troops to disarm the Tigers and ended up fighting them for 32 months. India withdrew its troops in May 1990 after 1,200 soldiers were killed fighting the Tigers.
Since visiting New Delhi in 1987, Prabhakaran is not known to have left Sri Lanka, although his outfit took part in Norwegian-brokered peace talks between 2002 and 2006. Former rebel Sithadthan said he did not believe Prabhakaran had mellowed with age and said the guerrilla leader was unlikely to allow himself to be captured alive. "He may have already left the island by boat," Sithadthan said, echoing a belief held by Sri Lankan security forces.
However, Prabhakaran is unlikely to have many friends overseas. The Tigers are banned across Europe, Australia and the United States. There is an international arrest warrant against him for, among other incidents, the 1996 bombing of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka building, which killed 91 people.
Prabhakaran, the youngest of four children from a middle-class family and nicknamed "Thamby", or younger brother, went underground in 1972 after dropping out of school and forming the Tiger outfit. At the time he longed to own a revolver, even a rusty one, according to an official biography.
His strength has been his band of suicide bombers, who have claimed a long list of high-profile victims including Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan president Ranasinghe Premadasa, assassinated in May 1993.
He has put down dissent within the group and has not encouraged any successor in an organisation that has had no clear number two leader. Chinks began to appear in 2004 when his top field commander known as Colonel Karuna defected and weakened his once mighty militia.
This article starring:
Velupillai Prabhakaran
Posted by: Fred ||
01/20/2009 00:00 ||
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A top intelligence official issued a warning on Monday to the United States not to spy on Iran, a message analysts said was aimed at the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama.
"It is necessary to warn the new American administration that they should not follow the path of the previous American government," the head of the counter-espionage unit of Iran's Intelligence Ministry said, according to the semi-official Fars News agency.
He described a "full fledged intelligence war" between the two nations and offered rare, detailed comments about what he described as "heavy damages" suffered by the United States in efforts to recruit agents among doctors, artists and fashion designers.
The official, who was not named by local media, said that two Iranian AIDS specialists, whose arrests last year sparked concern in the West, are part of a group of four "ringleaders" that was recently convicted of involvement in a U.S.-funded plot to overthrow the Islamic system of government. Dozens of others have been arrested and interrogated, the official said.
He accused the United States of stationing intelligence agents in neighboring countries and specifically mentioned the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Kuwait and Azerbaijan as places from where the United States is designing "plots" against Iran. The agents are seeking to create "social crisis, street demonstrations and ethnic disputes," he said. "A soft revolution has been programmed against our country and carried out in some instances, but it was suffocated in the cradle," Fars News quoted the official as saying.
"This is a well timed message to the incoming administration that following previous policies regarding Iran will turn out to be a failure," said Hermidas Bavand, a professor in international relations at Tehran's Allameh Tabatabaei University. "They want to show the new president that he should adopt a new, less confronting approach to Iran."
"They contacted people we didn't expect to be of their interest: fashion designers, doctors, professors, clerics, athletes and artists. There they would be asked about passive air defense, infrastructure centers and the intelligence situation."
Obama has said he sees Iran as a "genuine threat" but he is also pledging to increase diplomatic efforts to engage it, in a shift from the isolation approach of President Bush. The Bush administration earmarked $75 million to promote democracy in Iran. Iran's leaders have often expressed concern the United States is trying to undermine the Islamic republic through intellectuals, nongovernmental organizations and dissidents.
The head of the counterintelligence unit said that his organization was surprised by the type of people that was approached by American intelligence agents.
"They contacted people we didn't expect to be of their interest: fashion designers, doctors, professors, clerics, athletes and artists," the official said, according to the Fars News agency. "These groups would be invited for month-long trips to the United States. They would attend gatherings and tours in America which would try to present the U.S. as the only savior of Iran. There they would be asked about passive air defense, infrastructure centers and the intelligence situation."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/20/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Of course we won't "Gentlemen don't read other gentlemen's mail."
#6
Interesting. The Single Persian Woman in the Iranian Personals.com ad that accompanied this post on my computer was the first woman I have ever seen in one of these ads who appeared to be in pain, not pleasure. I guess that really is what turns them on.
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.
Indian police on Monday were granted a further two-week extension to hold and question the lone surviving gunman captured during the Mumbai terrorist attacks, a senior officer told AFP. A judge granted a request to hold 
(AKI) - By Syed Saleem Shahzad - Pakistan's security forces should be blamed for Taliban's terror campaign against schools in northern Pakistan's troubled Swat Valley, according to a religious party leader. 
The tourism industry in Pakistan has been severely affected by terrorism, as foreign countries and international airlines have branded Pakistan an 'unsafe destination', 
Military operations are not a solution to all the problems in the Tribal Areas and Swat, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told the National Assembly on Monday, and vowed to come up with a 'political strategy' to deal with the situation. 
Followers of anti-US cleric Muqtada Al Sadr hope to win back their position as a major force in this month's regional elections after a string of political setbacks last year. Even modest success in the January 31 vote for ruling provincial councils could position the Sadrists as coalition partners in key southern provinces. 
(AKI) - Source IRIN - As relative calm settles over Gaza for the first time in three weeks following the Israeli ceasefire, the scale of the humanitarian crisis is becoming evident. Some 100 bodies have been discovered in areas that were previously inaccessible. 
A top intelligence official issued a warning on Monday to the United States not to spy on Iran, a message analysts said was aimed at the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama.
