Anyway, as Kofi's commission isn't going ahead, I'm pleased to announce my own fact-finding investigation into - drumroll, please - the UN. Ex-ambassadors, European Foreign Ministers and former presidents of humanitarian organisations are welcome to apply to join my commission, but, if they're too busy, we'll make do with jes' regular folks. Among the issues we'll be examining:
UN participation in the sex-slave trade in Bosnia;
the UN refugee extortion racket in Kenya;
UN involvement in massive embezzlement in Kosovo;
the UN's cover-up of the sex-for-food scandal in West Africa involving aid workers demanding sexual favours from children as young as four;
the UN-fuelled explosion of drugs, Aids and prostitution in Cambodia;
the UN's complicity in massacres in pre-liberated Afghanistan;
and, if we've any time left, the UN's collusion in terrorism in the Jenin refugee camp.
As the organisation's own internal investigations usually put it, UN seen nothin' yet! Where do I send my resume?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/03/2002 08:17 pm ||
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In what authorities said was a case of domestic terrorism, five pipe bombs accompanied by anti-government propaganda exploded Friday in rural mailboxes in Illinois and Iowa. At least five people were injured. A note found with the bombs said "more 'attention getters' are on the way." It was signed "Someone Who Cares." Authorities did not immediately name any suspects. If he cared about much besides his fantasies, he wouldn't be setting bombs. Sounds more like he wants attention.
Eight devices were found and five detonated. Postal Service Inspector Linda Jensen said consistencies in the placement of the devices suggested the bombings were linked, but that does not mean just one person was involved. "We are reviewing this as a domestic terrorism incident," said James Bogner, an FBI spokesman. "We don't know if all the devices have been found or there are devices remaining ... We probably won't know for a while." It'll be surprising if more than one person is involved. Claiming they weren't connected would have been ludicrous. Is Dr. Chaos still in jug?
Jensen said bombs were found at Morrison, Mount Carroll and Elizabeth in Illinois, and at Asbury, Farley, Tipton, Anamosa and rural Scott County in Iowa. The communities form a rough triangle straddling the Mississippi River. None of the mailboxes are more than about 70 miles apart. The bombs were set to explode when the mailboxes were opened. My guess, no evidence: One person, probably no older than 21, driving around leaving them. Maybe in Mom's car.
None of the injuries were considered life threatening, but Carroll County, Ill., Sheriff Rod Herrick warned residents against opening their mailboxes. "I don't want kids getting off the bus and opening the mailbox, or people coming home from work and opening their mailbox," he said. "Don't touch your mailbox until further notice." Important safety tip here...
Postal Service vice president Azeezaly Jaffer said the bombs were accompanied by a note that began: "Mailboxes are exploding! Why, you ask?... If the government controls what you want to do they control what you can do... I'm obtaining your attention in the only way I can. More info is on its way. More 'attention getters' are on the way." Profound "political" message here. Since he's getting attention the only way he can, that means he can't get it by accomplishing anything worthwhile with his life.
The letter also said: "If I could, I would change only one person, unfortunately the resources are not accessible. It seems killing a single famous person would get the same media attention as killing numerous un-famous humans." Mom won't let him use the car to drive to Washington and do the Hinkley thing.
The bombs appeared to be triggered by being touched or moved and were attached to batteries, Jaffer said. He said the bombs were not sent through the mail but had been placed in the mailboxes. If the Crime Wave continues, some farmer could very well pot him from his porch. Or, even worse, call his Mom.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/03/2002 06:39 pm ||
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President Gen Pervez Musharraf on Thursday reaffirmed his promises, ranging from revival of democracy to improving the country's economy and restoring the law and order, a day after securing a fresh term of five years as president. Now it's time to get to work. If he can't get anything done, he's gonna be toast.
In his televised address to the nation, the president thanked the people for reposing trust in him which, he said, had added immensely to his responsibilities towards the masses. He really owes those guys who spent long hours stuffing the ballot boxes.
The president, who has already completed about 30 months in office since assuming power in a military coup in October, 1999, vowed to pursue his reforms agenda and the anti-corruption campaign with a renewed vigour. My guess would be that he's gonna thump the PPP and the Nawaz faction. If he can get away with it, he'll slap Qazi. That'll increase his life insurance premium, but Qazi's still his greatest antagonist in public, with Fazl and Binny (assuming he still lives) behind the scenes.
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05/03/2002 03:09 pm ||
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A boy was killed and five persons were wounded when four bombs exploded in various parts of the city on Thursday. Besides, a strike called by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement left most business centres closed, public transport off the roads and educational activities suspended. Police raided the MQM headquarters in Azizabad and picked up former legislators Aftab Shaikh, Nasreen Jalil and Shoaib Bokhari. Later, the former two were released.
One of the four bombs went off in the house of an Afghan junk dealer early in the morning, killing the boy and wounding four others in the family. The house was adjacent to the family junk yard where the bomb, lying in the scrap, exploded. The roof of the house collapsed when the bomb exploded.
A teenage rag-picker lost his hand when a low-intensity bomb exploded in the Samanabad police limits. Witnesses said the man had picked up something which exploded in his hand. The third blast occurred near a supermarket. The windowpanes of vehicles were shattered. A similar blast took place at another market. The police said the two blasts were caused by powerful fire-crackers.
The strike was called by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement to mourn the death of its two former parliamentarians, Mustapha Kamal Rizvi and Dr Nishat Mallick. The two were shot dead on April 26. Earlier on the eve of the strike, 20 people suffered injuries in two bomb blasts at Empress Market and Nursery. But those were just routine, right?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/03/2002 03:14 pm ||
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Israeli forces staged an early-morning raid in Nablus that lasted some five hours later. Two Israelis were killed and one wounded in the fight. In addition to a Hamas activist who was killed, two others were wounded and being treated for their injuries in hiding, Hamas sources said. A second Palestinian, a policeman, was reported killed in a clash with Israeli troops in another part of the city.
The targeted building was in Nablus' main commercial district, and about 16 surrounding shops were destroyed in the fighting, neighborhood residents said. They said they cowered in inner rooms of their apartments as the Israelis fired tank shells and heavy machine guns.
Elsewhere, the IDF said two Hamas activists were arrested overnight in the village of Bidya, east of the northern West Bank town of Kalkilya, and that special forces entered the village of Duma, southwest of Hebron, and arrested three Palestinians. Don't know if it's significant that the gunnies they're going after now are Hamas instead of the politicals. Guess we'll know in the next few days...
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05/03/2002 12:43 pm ||
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Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is to leave tomorrow night for a three-day visit to Washington, where he will present what he said is perhaps the âmost seriousâ plan for Israeli-Palestinian peace yet proposed.
"Iâll be presenting a plan, a serious plan, maybe the most serious that has been presented by now, how to reach peace in the Middle East, how to reach peace between us and the Palestinians," Sharon said in an interview with ABCâs Nightline TV program.
Although Sharon has not provided details of the plan, it is expected to center around the convening of an international conference, long-term interim agreements, and what he has referred to repeatedly in the past as âpainful concessions.â
Sharon is also expected to detail for the US administration his plans to create a buffer zone along much of the West Bank. He acknowledged that the buffer zone â to include fences, ditches, and electronic surveillance devices â would be expensive, and he would seek financial help from the US to build it. Now they've bloodied the Palestinian nose, they can make another offer. Wonder if they'll take this one? Yasser was just telling his buddy Geraldo last night how he regrets not having taken the Camp David offer.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/03/2002 12:47 pm ||
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A Palestinian gunman was killed and two were wounded in clashes with soldiers posted outside the Church of the Nativity compound in Bethlehem Thursday, as the standoff between gunmen holding scores of hostages inside the church entered its fourth week.
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05/03/2002 12:49 pm ||
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Early Thursday evening a group of 12 foreign peace supporters succeeded in forcing their way inside the church through a small door of the basilica after evading soldiers in Manger Square. It is the first time peace activists succeeded in entering the compound since the standoff began on April 2. Somehow we just know they'll squeal like piggies if any of them happen to be knocked off by stray bullets.
So far 89 people have succeeded in leaving the church compound: 48 civilians and Palestinian gunmen, 19 wounded, and 16 monks. In addition, the bodies of another six individuals have been removed from the compound. The IDF estimates 150 people remain inside, of whom 30 to 40 are wanted by Israel for questioning and are affiliated with Tanzim and Hamas. Does that 150 include the dozen nitwits?
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05/03/2002 12:52 pm ||
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Israeli security officials said yesterday the fires that broke out inside the church compound in the Orthodox and Franciscan living quarters early Thursday morning were purposely set by the gunmen, and were timed to coincide with prime time US TV coverage of the withdrawal of troops from around Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafatâs Mukata building in Ramallah and his first statements to foreign press crews. Film footage taken by an IDF surveillance balloon over the compound clearly shows that the windows had been blown out due to the force of the heat, and the shattered glass lay on the ground below. Not being good with cause and effect, that's not the sort of evidence the Palestinians would think of cleaning up. Being determined to be on the PA side, World Opinion® will ignore that little bit of physical evidence, just like they ignore the number of actual bodies at Jenin.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/03/2002 12:54 pm ||
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An 11-kilometer electronic fence is slowly going up, putting the northern Gaza Strip firmly under Israeli control as it protects the settlements of Dugit, Alei Sinai, and Nisanit. But it wonât be completed until at least December, and in the meantime, Palestinian terrorists are waging a persistent effort to infiltrate into the Israeli homes in what has become an almost nightly ritual. So far, they havenât succeeded. Even with the fence up, they'll still keep trying to climb it or bomb it.
The Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are, according to the army, in increasing economic and ideological distress, and have a growing sense of frustration and fear of an IDF incursion. Over 80 percent of the 1.3 million Gazan Palestinians live under the poverty level and their per-capita income has returned to the level it was in 1968, about $400 a year. The other 20% are in the entourages of PA Mr Bigs or on the Hamas dole.
The Erez industrial zone has become the main source of income for most Gazans. The 3,500 workers in the 82 factories there provide about 35%-40% of the Gaza Stripâs income. Palestinian rejectionists have targeted it in an attempt to create greater hardship for Palestinians which they can blame on Israel. Last month, a gunman sneaked into the terminal and opened fire, killing a border policeman and a Arab laborer before being shot dead. Last week, Palestinians fired a mortar shell at the site. So move the factories, fire the Palestinians, and hire Turks or Chinese. Or Israelis.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/03/2002 01:03 pm ||
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A Fatah leaflet distributed in Jenin over the week accused Arafatâs economic advisor Muhamed Rashid and Gaza Preventative Security Force boss Muhamed Dahlan of conspiring with Israel to replace Arafat and cancel the UN fact-finding. Fatah leadership in Jenin called on Arafat to reign in his aides. "Conspiring with Israel" results in your bullet-riddled body being hung by the heels in front of a screaming mob, with cigarettes being put out in the bullet holes.
So too, a leafet distributed by the Al Aksa Martyrs in Ramallah on April 25th, entitled, "A Warning to Rashid" stated, "At a time when the Israeli occupation forces have invaded our towns, villages, refugee camps and streets there is a US led conspiracy targeting the rights of our people to liberate our sacred places and establish our independence. Part of the conspiracy is carried out by collaborator. Mohammed Rashid is leading this corrupt gang that wants to sell our dreams cheaply.... We will not let Rashid enjoy the money that heâs stolen from our peoplesâ bank accounts." The leaflet demands that Arafat rein in Rashid "otherwise the people will come and get him." Oooh. Is Yasser going to suggest "letting a million flowers bloom" and then unlease the Red al-Aqsa Guards on them? He was probably making a list and checking it twice while he was in jug while his movements were restricted.
The al Aksa leaflet is similar to a Fatah leaflet distributed in Gaza in early 2000 ahead of the murder of Hisham Maki, the head of the Palestinian Television Authority by Fatah members for his involvement in corruption involving the stealing of millions of dollars worth of public funds. Alas, poor Hisham...
Both leaflets, and another distributed this week in Jenin express support for West Bank Preventative Security Chief Jibril Rajoub. That leaflet claims that Rashid, who is not a Palestinian, "is the engineer of al the chief conspiracies from Oslo to Arafatâs imprisonment." The leaflet charges that Dahlan came to Ramallah from Gaza to control the flow of people coming to see Arafat together with Rashid. Jibril's the goon Yasser pulled a rod on a couple months ago in the midst of a screaming match policy discussion.
The leaflets are viewed as part of the power jockeying inside the Palestinian leadership which preceded the IDFâs lifting of the seige on Arafatâs headquarters Wednesday night. It is expected that Arafat will conduct a reshuffling of his security leadership beginning at his meeting with his chief advisor and ministers on Saturday. Dahlan and Rashid are considered Arafatâs closest associates while Rajoub has fallen from grace in recent weeks. Seems like Rajoub is trying to add a little to his power base by knocking down a couple rivals. Yasser isn't going to like that, since Rajoub already has too much power by his lights. Rajoub could end up having A Terrible Accident, unless Yasser manages to Die an Honorable Death in the Bosom of His People - a bit of arsenic might help him along, or they could get one of those patentedRussian letters...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/03/2002 02:52 pm ||
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Four unarmed Palestinian civilians walked out of Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity this afternoon. The four left the church compound due to health issues. One of them was carried on a stretcher.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/03/2002 02:55 pm ||
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US Secretary of State Colin Powell announced a short time ago that an international conference would be held this summer to try to advance the peace efforts. Officials from Europe, the United Nations and Russia are joining the United States in promising to work for settlement, he said. This looks like it might be a push to continue the Beirut proposal of the Potentate Currently Known as Prince. Doubtful anything of substance will happen - ranting and vitriol and finger-pointing, most likely.
Powell urged Israel to lift restrictions on Palestinian travel and said Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat should also take steps to bring calm to the region. He said that Arafat, since his virtual house arrest had ended, now "has an opportunity to show leadership, ... to say to the Palestinian people, 'This is the time to find a peaceful way forward."' President George W. Bush also set tough terms today for a Palestinian state, saying it must be democratic and not based on a foundation of terror and corruption. Hand me a tissue, please? I was drinking coffee...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/03/2002 03:00 pm ||
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A Palestinian Cabinet minister resigned Friday amid growing calls for reform following Israel's military offensive, which left Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority in tatters. Nabil Amr, minister of parliamentary affairs, submitted his resignation but said he would retain his seat in the Palestinian parliament. Doesn't want to see his name come up on a flyer, huh? Or did they have a little talk with him before printing started?
In Friday's Cabinet meeting, the first since Israel launched its offensive March 29, Amr and other ministers spoke about the need for restructuring the government, though they were not specific in their criticism, apparently for fear of angering Arafat. And angering Yasser is kinda fatal. Might as well strap on a bomb and get it over with...
In the West Bank and Gaza Strip, there is growing discontent with the Palestinian Authority after 19 months of fighting with Israel. The violence, particularly during the past month, has caused great hardship to Palestinian civilians. Y'mean the guns and the propaganda and the screaming can't hide the fact that the area's governed by homicidal kleptocrats?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/03/2002 11:01 pm ||
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The U.S. Defense Department continues to oppose a State Department proposal for the deployment of U.S. troops to serve as peacekeepers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Hope Rumsfeld holds his ground on this one...
Administration sources said senior Pentagon officials have warned President George Bush against sending U.S. troops to serve in any international peacekeeping force. The administration is considering a United Nations and European Union proposal to form a peacekeeping mission that would separate Israeli and Palestinian forces and impose a ceasefire. Belgian troops. Think Belgian. And Luxembourgois.
A proposal for a limited U.S. military presence has been supported by the State Department, the sources said. But the Pentagon has objected, saying U.S. military personnel is stretched and the American presence would draw attacks from Islamic insurgents. Or use State Department troops. Mobilize the 335th Heavy Strongly Worded Statement Brigade.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/03/2002 06:52 pm ||
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Challenging the legitimacy of Israelâs existence altogether in the Middle East, Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal suspects Palestinian suicide attacks against Israeli targets will pick up again. "It is unfair," he told The Daily Star in an interview conducted in Damascus, "to demand that our people abandon their only effective weapon (against Israel) Â namely, martyrdom operations." He "suspects" that, does he?...
Meshaal, who chairs the politburo of Hamas, says the only difference between the lands on which Israel was set up in 1948 and those the Jewish state occupied in the 1967 War is "one of timespan," which doesnât give any legitimacy to occupation. The illegitimate state argument... The Daily Star: Did Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon use Hamasâ attack on Netanya to justify launching his military offensive on the Palestinian territories and bypass the Arab Peace Initiative announced at the Arab summit in Beirut? Meshaal: Some people believe that our military operations are designed with a short-term goal in mind, that they are only launched to achieve a political goal or to derail the peace process. I want to state categorically that the timings of attacks carried out by Hamas are never determined by political events. They are determined by the circumstances on the ground as assessed by the "Izzeddeen al-Qassam Brigades," the military arm of Hamas. In other words, they'll carry out attacks whenever they think they can get away with them. On the other hand, the timing of the attacks â they're predictable depending on how close Israel might be to working out an understanding with Yasser â says he's a liar. Q. Is it your aim to derail the peace process? A. Resistance is the rule, while the peace process was an exception. The recent past has demonstrated that the peace process has failed miserably, and that resistance is the only available means to get rid of Israeli occupation. The peace process failed miserably with Hamas' enthusiastic help. Q. Hamas is being criticized for stopping suicide operations. Critics say that you gave the Israelis an excuse to invade, and then decided to sit back. A. It is only natural that a period of calm should follow Israelâs invasion and crimes. The resistance has sustained heavy losses; its leaderships, cadres and equipment have been hit hard. Sharonâs invasion of Palestinian lands has been unprecedented in scope. It involved 40,000 troops, thousands of tanks and scores of warplanes and helicopter gunships. The resistance is now in a self-defense mode; it is licking its wounds and preparing to seize the initiative once again. The Palestinian resistance has a great capacity for steadfastness, and is able to regroup and resume its activities. What took place at the Jenin refugee camp was a victory for us. Jenin was different from Sabra and Shatila. In Jenin, the massacres happened against the backdrop of a Palestinian victory that lifted the morale of our people. No connection there between cause and effect, reality and fantasy. The Palestinian "victory" consisted of not being kicked out of the area, and that was only because Morocco wouldn't take them. Q. What would you say to those who criticize Hamas for targeting Israeli civilians? A. There are several ways of looking at this issue. Letâs begin with the intellectual rationale: we must agree first of all on what constitutes a military target and what defines a civilian target. The term "civilian" refers to noncombatants in a conflict between two regular armies. The two belligerents agree not to target such civilians. The term also applies to acts of resistance outside the territory under dispute. In Palestine, however, the situation is different: We were on our native land, and an invader came along and occupied it. We do not recognize either the occupation, or the existence of Israel or the legitimacy of the occupation. To us, all Israelis are occupiers, whether they are civilians, soldiers, or settlers. Basically that's a statement that "the rules don't apply to us, because we say so." If the Palestinians are on their native land, so are the Israelis. Civilians still remain civilians. And the Palestinians are quick to point out civilian casualties, even when they don't exist. Pfui. Q. But Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority (PA) have succeeded in winning some sympathy and support by addressing world public opinion. A. The PA did rely on public opinion, but did that help it in its time of crisis? The international community only supports the strong; only the weak take refuge in the law. We will not beg others for what is rightfully ours; we will take it with our own hands. Rights are acquired, not granted. That International Community® is the only reason Yasser wasn't shot.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/03/2002 07:17 pm ||
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The Palestinian Cabinet on Friday discussed the fate of two senior officials imprisoned as part of a U.S.-brokered deal that led to Yasser Arafat's release from Israeli confinement this week, and Palestinian officials said they expected the two to be freed soon. Ideally, the response should be "discuss and be damned." But they're gonna try and negotiate the Bad Guys out of jug. If they get them, they'll go for the other four. If they can't get them we'll see a campaign decrying how "unfair" their detention is. This is boring.
Palestinian officials said that under the U.S. deal, the fate of Ahmed Saadat and Fuad Shobaki was left in the hands of the Palestinian legal system. Israeli officials disputed the claim, saying they were assured by the United States that Saadat and Shobaki would remain locked up as a condition for freeing Arafat. Sounds like we're on the hook to keep them...
Israel had initially demanded the extradition of Saadat, leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and Shobaki, a senior Arafat aide. Israel accuses Saadat of masterminding the assassination of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi in October, and alleges Shobaki financed a large shipment of illegal weapons.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/03/2002 07:31 pm ||
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Fakhri Turkman, a Palestinian Legislative Council member and the head of an emergency committee set up to help camp residents, criticized Human Rights Watch and other groups who did not use the term "massacre" to describe the Israeli operation. "Sometimes we call it a massacre when you kill one innocent person," he told The Associated Press on Thursday. Guess it all depends on your point of view, doesn't it?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/03/2002 10:02 pm ||
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Yasser Arafat emerged from a month of captivity to make a victory tour of Ramallah yesterday. But it was shunned by most of the populace, amid whispers of betrayal. A small crowd of supporters joined him — only enough to fill the viewfinder of a television camera. There was no joy on the streets to celebrate the departure of the Israeli army after five months in the north of the city. Schoolchildren filled the gap left by volunteers. Looks better from a distance, doesn't he? And what's that smell?
Abla Saadat, wife of Ahmed Saadat, the head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine who is detained in the Jericho prison, said the ditching of the Jenin inquiry was a betrayal. "It is not just me who thinks so. Ninety per cent of the Palestinians, even some people around Arafat think so," she told reporters. "For 50 years Israel never brought us to despair. But seven years of Palestinian rule has brought us to the brink. Did we achieve a victory? Did we end the occupation? Only from around Arafat's compound." Ummm... Maybe you're doing something wrong?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/03/2002 10:18 pm ||
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Concern about the safety of British and American prison monitors in Jericho grew last night as Palestinian militants gave warning that the detention of six key prisoners under foreign supervision "will not pass unpunished". That didn't take long, did it?
Hours after the international wardens helped to transfer the inmates from Yasser Arafat's besieged Ramallah headquarters to a jail in Jericho, a home-made grenade exploded outside the British Council offices in the Gaza Strip. That's Palestinian for, "Hi! How are ya?"
The blast did not hurt anybody. But it was a warning, if any were needed, of the dangers facing British and American wardens, particularly if they are seen as Israeli stooges. This is the usual response when Palestinians can't have their way, isn't it?
As several factions involved in the 20-month Palestinian uprising demanded the prisoners' release, one hardline group put up posters declaring: "Surrendering the heroes of the resistance and the intifada to Israeli and British intelligence and CIA agents will not pass unpunished. Agents of the CIA and their ideologues should leave our land." The posters, plastered on walls during a meeting of students and intellectuals in Ramallah, were signed by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a Marxist faction counting five inmates among its members. Five out of six. That's pretty good.
Andrew Coyle, a former governor of Brixton prison who was part of the advance party to set up the monitoring system, said: "It would be foolish to say there is no risk. We believe there is an acceptable level of risk. Those of us who haven't been dropped on our heads think there's an unacceptable level of risk. This is a camel's nose, and the Palestinians are salivating at the thought of having Americans and Brits around to throw bombs at and blow up in their beds. Yasser and Kofi are hollering for U.S. "peacekeepers" to get us pulled into the mess. Now, there's no real strategy to it; it's just the desire to have us close at hand to thump. There's no if-then-else thinking that sees our involvement as a step to an end, it's just an end in itself.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/03/2002 10:35 pm ||
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#1
Five out of six is more than fifteen out of nineteen...
Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, freed after five months of an Israeli siege, plans to tighten control over his security agencies. Palestinian sources said Arafat plans to purge his agencies for officers felt to have been disloyal during his time trapped in the West Bank city of Ramallah. The sources said they don't expect Arafat to fire any of his security chiefs. Their cars will explode, instead.
The exception could be Col. Jibril Rajoub, head of the West Bank security agency who has been accused of cooperating with Israel during its military offensive. Rajoub, with more than 2,000 agents under his control, had successfully resisted previous attempts by Arafat to replace him. Looks like Jibril's for it this time. When Yasser pulls out his gat, he's gonna fire. Either that, or Jibril's boys'll get him first.
Arafat has ordered his security chiefs as well as Fatah commanders to reject any pressure by Israel for cooperation. The sources said Arafat insists that any request for cooperation from either Israel or other foreign security agencies be relayed for his approval. "Intransigent" is the word that pops to mind.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/03/2002 10:58 pm ||
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Police said six snuffies of Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Taiba were iced in an encounter in Surankot sector of Poonch district.
Seven Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen gunnies were rendered no longer ticklish when they were surrounded by troops at Balakote, Poonch. A spokesman of Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen told a local news agency that the encounter had left 14 soldiers dead.
Two hard boys were severely perforated in an encounter in Gandoh area of Doda district. In another gunbattle at Khrew in Pulwama district, two crazed killers were relieved of earthly woes yesterday.
A Hizbul Mujahideen identified as Farooq Ahmad Ahanger alias Adil departed this vale of tears in an encounter with troops at Goripora, Kangan last evening, the police said. However, locals said Farooq was killed after arrest.
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05/03/2002 05:44 pm ||
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Security forces killed at least 90 Maoist guerrillas in western Nepal overnight, the government said Friday, days before the prime minister visits Washington to seek help in fighting the rebels. The fighting represented one of the largest death tolls since King Gyanendra imposed a state of emergency Nov. 26 and ordered the army to clamp down on the rebels after they withdrew from peace talks and attacked government troops and offices.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/03/2002 06:43 pm ||
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The authorities in Colombia say at least 60 civilians have been killed and about 100 others injured in a bomb attack by suspected rebels in a remote western province. According to witnesses, the victims were killed when guerrillas from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) set off a mortar bomb in a crowded church in the town of Bojaya, in the Choco province. Residents are thought to have sought refuge inside the church to escape fierce fighting between the left-wing rebels and right-wing paramilitaries.
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05/03/2002 06:47 pm ||
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Britain is to lodge a protest with the United Nations based on evidence that Saudi Arabia is sheltering an aircraft which was allegedly used to supply arms to Osama bin Laden's forces in Afghanistan. It is to ask a UN sanctions committee to investigate the allegation that the plane is parked at Jeddah airport. What a strange place for it to turn up...
The foreign office minister Denis Macshane announced the action in response to reports that the Russian arms dealer Victor Bout supplied the plane to Bin Laden in 1995. In a parliamentary answer last night Mr Macshane said: "Prior to September 11 this aircraft had reportedly been frequently overflying Iran from Saudi Arabia to Kabul and Kandahar in Afghanistan. It is now reportedly parked at Jeddah airport in Saudi Arabia. I shall be asking that the UN investigate this very serious allegation as a matter of great importance." Wonder where it's been flying lately? Wonder who's paying for its maintenance?
Sir Jeremy Greenstock, the British ambassador to the UN, will refer the allegations, which were first raised in last month's issue of Air Cargo News, to UN committee 1267, which monitors sanctions against al-Qaida and the Taliban. Britain is alarmed by the allegations, the first to imply a connection between individuals in Saudi Arabia and the supply of arms to al-Qaida. The first officially, anyway. Why, by golly, this might be significant...
Saudi Arabia has been under intense pressure because of its links with al-Qaida since September 11. Bin Laden comes from a wealthy Saudi family, and 15 of the 19 al-Qaida hijackers on September 11 came from the kingdom. The Saudi media have reported that about 200 nationals were captured in Afghanistan fighting with al-Qaida and the Taliban. Since September 11 the Saudi regime has tried to distance itself from Bin Laden, who was stripped of his citizenship in 1994 for criticising the royal family. But individuals in Saudi Arabia have been supplying his network with money, religious ideology and followers for years. Much of the money which financed al-Qaida came from charities which were patronised by members of the Saudi royal family. Once that's shut off, al-Qaeda will be shut off.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/03/2002 08:16 pm ||
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Britain has asked Russia to take action against an arms dealer who is living freely in Moscow despite his alleged role in supplying weapons to the Taliban and al-Qaida. Peter Hain, the Europe minister, asked the Russian authorities at a recent meeting to turn in Victor Bout, the subject of an international arrest warrant for flying arms to Afghanistan before the September 11 attacks. The Russian deputy foreign minister, Anatoly Safonov, is understood to have responded positively to the request. That means they're gonna pick him up, unless he beats it for Soddi Arabia or pays somebody in Russia off.
Mr Bout, whom Mr Hain called "the merchant of death" in 2000 for supplying arms to the rebel Unita movement in Angola, was named by the foreign office on Thursday as an aircraft supplier to Osama bin Laden. And that would make him a pretty major cog in the international terror machine. Wonder how many others like him are in the works?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/03/2002 08:24 pm ||
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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.
