Men, women and children lined up at a scale to weigh their loot: bags filled with old clothes and newspapers, bent bicycle wheels, rusted bed frames and discarded auto parts. The junk was tossed into trucks by city workers; and the people were given tickets to redeem for bags of rice, cans of sardines, vegetable oil and other food as part of an unusual government program. "I think it's good people can hand in things they don't need for food, because that's what people need - food," said Maria Bonilla, a 50-year-old single mother who supports two children and a nephew on her job as a janitor. She and other Venezuelans who came to turn in their trash in a Caracas slum last weekend said they felt grateful to President Hugo Chavez and his political ally, Mayor Freddy Bernal, who promoted the program as a way to clean up the streets while helping to feed the needy.
Chavez says he is leading a socialist "revolution" for the poor and has put billions of dollars in oil profits toward public works projects and social programs to build homes, fund health care programs and subsidize state food markets. Because of this, But a majority of Venezuelans remain poor, and many among the hundreds who showed up lugging bulging plastic bags and scrap metal said life remains a struggle despite some improvements. One man brought an old sofa that had been lying in the street.
Bonilla turned in a bag of clothes and a bag of newspapers weighing 18 pounds, and in exchange chose a bottle of cooking oil and a small bag of powdered milk. "They only gave me a little bit, but it doesn't matter," said Bonilla, adding that it was a help since she has to support her family on $202 a month.
Some of Chavez's leading opponents accuse his government of running handout programs that help the poor just enough to win their political allegiance while not addressing deeper issues of poverty. The leftist leader and his supporters insist major advances have been made and that within a generation they aim to eliminate half the population poverty. The president, who has been in office since 1999, is up for re-election next year. And will win in a landslide and Jimmy Carter will certify its honesty.
Gazing up at a hillside crowded with cinder block homes covered with barred windows, a city worker shouted into a microphone and loudspeaker: "Bring down all that trash!" A poster with Chavez's smiling face was posted on a tent where adults lined up to trade in their tickets for food. A separate line of children snaked out in the courtyard, while salsa music blared over the loudspeaker. "It's a lot of fun because we're all here," said 10-year-old Daniel Rios, who came with several friends and dropped off an armful of rusting pipes. The boy said his parents told him to get whatever food he could.
A few people emerged from the tent with long faces, saying they had hoped to receive more. But 58-year-old Ermila Diaz came away smiling, carrying a box filled with packages of pasta, crackers, rice, beans and coffee after turning in bottles, newspapers and old rags. She said she still struggles to buy beef or pork on the small income she earns as a part-time seamstress and her husband's meager pay working on and off as a security guard. "Things are getting better, but there's still room for more improvement," Diaz said. As soon as she carried the food home, she said, she would be back with a second load of trash.
A Yemeni court yesterday acquitted four Iraqis of plotting to blow up the US and British embassies in Yemen in 2003 and ordered their release. The trial, which began on Aug. 7, saw the four men tried for âtaking part in a criminal agreement to form an armed group,â aimed at launching attacks against Western targets. Prosecutors told the court the defendants were officers in the Iraqi intelligence service who came to Yemen in late 2002, three of them posing as teachers with the fourth acting as a businessman. The prosecution claimed that police had seized four suitcases packed with explosives and remote control detonators in the groupâs alleged safe house in Sanaa. Presiding judge Muhammad Al-Baadani said there was no proof of the menâs connection to the Iraqi intelligence service and gave them the choice of remaining in Yemen or returning to Iraq.
"So they had four suitcases packed with explosives and detonators! Big deal! This is Yemen. Everybody's got explosives! Not guilty! Next case!"
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2005 00:00 ||
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A man believed to be from Libya was among a group of five foreign nationals arrested yesterday and facing deportation accused of threatening national security. The Guardian has established that Britain and the Gadafy regime have begun talks to reach an agreement which would allow Libyans deemed by the UK to be a terrorist threat to be returned there.
Libya has been accused by Amnesty International of having a poor human rights record, including using torture and the death penalty, and Britain will not officially confirm that the talks are taking place. Friends of the Libyan man arrested yesterday say that he is an opponent of the Gadafy regime and fears ill-treatment if deported to Libya.
I'd certainly hope so.
Diplomatic sources said the negotiations began in August and that it was the UK that approached Libya to reach a memorandum of understanding.
Yesterday's raids were led by immigration officers supported by the police, and was the third such round-up of suspects since August. One man was arrested in London, another in Cardiff and three in the West Midlands. Anti-terrorism officers later executed search warrants at the addresses the men were arrested at. The foreign nationals were detained using the home secretary's powers to deport those whose presence in Britain is deemed "not conducive to the public good". A source described all five as being of "Middle Eastern" origin, and they were being held while the government tries to find a way of deporting them. It is understood that some were being held at Long Lartin prison, the same jail where some Algerians arrested under similar powers last month are being held.
The Foreign Office would not say whether it was negotiating with Libya. It recently reached an agreement allowing Britain to deport a Jordanian national suspected of terrorism, despite concerns about Jordan's human rights record. Under the agreement Jordan promised not to ill-treat anyone returned under the terms of the memorandum. Yesterday's raids are part of a government crackdown on alleged Islamic extremists after the July 7 attacks on London. Ten people were detained for deportation in August, and a fortnight ago seven more people were detained. They included four Algerians cleared of involvement in a plot to use ricin poison.
Amnesty International said torture was "widely reported during incommunicado detention" in Libya last year and "security forces detain people arbitrarily for political reasons, holding them incommunicado for long periods without charge. Prisoners of conscience are also held."
For years the Gadafy regime was ostracised by the west. Relations between Libya and Britain improved after Tripoli allowed its nationals to stand trial for the Lockerbie bombing.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/04/2005 14:42 ||
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A SUSPECTED Islamic extremist was in prison last night after a dawn raid on a house in Cardiff. The man, who has not been named, is due to be deported under special powers used by the Home Secretary, Charles Clarke. Mohammed Javed, chairman of Cardiff's Police Advisory Committee, said the detainee was from Libya.
Four other foreign nationals also face being kicked out of the country after immigration officials and anti-terrorist police across the UK swooped yesterday. Three were detained in the West Midlands and one in London using the Home Secretary's power to deport anyone whose presence in the UK is deemed "not conducive to the public good". The Home Office and police refused to name any of the individuals or reveal their nationalities.
A police source said the Cardiff operation was "terrorist related". Officers raided a small terraced house in Thornhill Street, Canton, Cardiff, about 6am. Neighbours said a Muslim family with young children had lived in the house for about a year. One neighbour, who asked not be named, said she saw a woman being led out of the cream-coloured house and into an unmarked car about 8am. A uniformed officer carried one of the children behind her, she said. She watched the raid through her window after waking to the sound of a banging door. "I saw a lady coming out with a little one. She seemed distressed," she said. "A family has been there for a while but I don't think they ever spoke to anyone."
A small crowd gathered in the street as police examined the scene. A green Ford Mondeo, parked outside the house, was loaded onto a recovery vehicle. The house was understood to have received post under several different names. Eileen Stockton, 77, who has lived in the street for more than 50 years, said a man, woman and one or two children moved in about a year ago. A South Wales Police spokesman said, "We can confirm that officers from South Wales Police have this morning, at approximately 6am, supported the Immigration Services as they served notice under the Immigration Act at an address in Cardiff. "One man was detained by Immigration Services."
The raids were the latest step in a crackdown on suspected foreign extremists. Kevin Brennan, the Cardiff West Labour MP whose constituency includes Canton, said, "We have to look very seriously when the police are asking for these powers and my general view is we will need to strengthen the sort of powers that are available in order to help the police do their job. Nobody should be surprised these days that this kind of incident can happen anywhere. All of us these days have to be vigilant."
Mr Javed, who is also chairman of the Muslim Society for Wales, said, "Every community needs to be protected from these people. It's a crime against everybody. But detaining people and deporting people without giving them an opportunity to defend themselves - nobody can support that."
Sheikh Said Ismail, Imam at the South Wales Islamic Centre, in Cardiff, said the extension of anti-terror powers was turning Britain into a "police state". "It has to be proved that he is a terrorist," he said. "If they can do that then, by all means, they are right."
Yesterday's raid in London was low-key and no armed officers were involved. A spokesman for West Midlands Police confirmed raids there had been carried out using warrants issued under the Terrorism Act. A Home Office spokeswoman said, "The Immigration Act 1971 gives powers to deport individuals and to detain them pending deportation. The Immigration Service detained the five foreign males on the basis they will be housed in secure prison service accommodation."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/04/2005 01:35 ||
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#1
We need to step the speed of deportations. Arrest and detentions are not enough. There has to be quick follow through. Then track the bastards back to their rat holes.
#2
Quite - we also need to pack the family off with them as well, so the 12 kids and 2 wives can't sponge off us mercilessly for the next 10 years.
Hi-ho it's home you go, mofo. If we can prevent young Nigerians getting visas for this country due to their inherent criminality then we should extend that policy to all muslim nations - notably Pakistan.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
10/04/2005 3:38 Comments ||
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#3
"Mohammed Javed, chairman of Cardiff's Police Advisory Committee"
Um, can a cousin explain the makeup and role of this "Advisory Committee"? Does every town of any size have one? History behind the notion, etc?
A notorious Chechen warlord said to have masterminded a terrorist attack that killed 15 people in the village of Znamenskoye in July of this year has been killed in Grozny, the pro-Moscow Chechen government said Monday.
Extremist leader Supyan Arsanukayev of Chechnyaâs Groznensky district was killed in Grozny, the Interfax news agency reported.
âLocal law enforcement agencies launched an operation to detain Arsanukayev after intelligence was received about his whereabouts. Arsanukayev offered armed resistance and was killed in shooting in the town of Ivanovo,â a Chechen Interior Ministry spokesman told Interfax on Monday. Local police forces did not sustain any losses during the operation, the spokesman said.
The dead leader organized the terrorist attack in the village of Znamenskoye in July 2005, which left 15 people dead, among them eleven policemen, two children and a woman, the spokesman added.
The Prosecutor Generalâs Office said earlier that the attack had been masterminded by Chechen separatist leader Shamil Basayev.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/04/2005 01:46 ||
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PARIS (AP) - Counterterrorism police found a bomb-making manual at the home of a man detained in a sweep of suspected Islamic militants who allegedly plotted attacks in Paris, a newspaper reported Tuesday. Four people were detained Monday in the Loiret region south of Paris. Two of them are suspected of having links to convicted Islamic militant Safe Bourada, picked up in another wave of arrests last week, officials had said.
At the home of one of the two suspects - both French converts to Islam in their 20s - investigators found documents showing how to make explosive devices, daily Le Parisien reported. The newspaper cited an unidentified source close to the case. Police found hunting rifles at the home of the other suspect, who met Bourada while serving time in prison for armed robbery, the newspaper said. Investigators suspect that Bourada had recruited him to help finance his extremist group, it said. An investigating magistrate was quoted in the paper as saying that it was not clear whether the suspects were planning to go ahead with an attack.
While he did not refer to the latest arrests, Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said Tuesday that authorities had imprisoned 102 people since 2002 for links to terrorist activity in France. Sarkozy said 19 Islamic prayer leaders have been expelled this year for preaching hate - a practice that France would not tolerate. "When you see that the terrorists arrested are younger and younger, you see the responsibility of irresponsible people who make comments contrary to the values of the (French) Republic," he said during question time in the lower house of parliament.
The raids last week netted a suspected terror cell that authorities feared was plotting attacks on the Paris Metro, an airport in the capital and the headquarters of police intelligence and counterterrorism agency DST.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/04/2005 12:59 ||
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#1
Really, the French only have themselves to blame for their part in the illegal war in Iraq. They should pull their troops out now. What were they thinking? The Chickens are coming home to roost.
A Swedish appeals court upheld a guilty verdict for two Iraqis charged with plotting and financing "terrorist crimes," but reduced their prison sentences. After being sentenced by a district court last May to seven and six years behind bars, Ali Berzengi, 29, and Ferman Abdullah, 25, were again found guilty in the Svea Appeals Court of "preparing terrorist crimes, preparing destruction perilous to the public and for breaking the ... financing law."
The appeals court upheld the finding that the two men had collected large sums of money and transferred funds to "terrorist organization" Ansar al-Islam. It ruled, however, that prosecutors lacked proof that Berzengi and Abdullah had transferred the entire amount in question, $148,000, to the group, reducing their sentence to five and four and a half years imprisonment respectively. Once they have served their sentence the two men, who are the first to be charged under new anti-terror legislation introduced in Sweden in July 2003, will be deported from Sweden and barred from ever returning, the court ruled.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2005 00:00 ||
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French police on Monday arrested three suspected members of the armed Basque separatist group ETA, including the second in command of its military wing, and found a weapons cache, authorities said. Another of those detained, Idoia Mendizabal, is suspected in a car bomb attack against the leader of a Socialist youth group in Spain, the Spanish Interior Ministry said. The youth group leader, Eduardo Madina, had to have his left leg amputated after the 2002 attack.
The Spanish ministry identified the alleged No. 2 of ETA's military wing as Harriet Aguirre. It said he is among the most wanted terrorists in France and Spain and has been an active ETA member since 1995. The identity of the third person arrested was not immediately known. The three were picked up Monday morning in Arpajon-sur-Cere, a town in the Cantal region of south-central France. Police also found a "small arsenal" in the house where they had been staying, prosecutor Marc Robert said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2005 00:00 ||
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Update: Horrors! Prensa Latina weighs in, muchachos. And they ain't happy...
Washington, Oct 3 (Prensa Latina) The lives of hunger-striking prisoners continue in danger for the third consecutive week at the US prison at Guantanamo Naval Base, according to inmates at the facility. There's a reliable source. So what's taking them so long?
The strike, involving more than 200 inmates protesting their judicial limbo and their treatment by US soldiers, entered its ninth week on Monday. I thought it was the third week? Oh, okay. Their lives have been in danger for three weeks. The first six weeks must've been, like, dieting.
Consistent with reports released by Newsday magazine, the "thinned-down prisoners are coughing up blood or falling unconscious on the floor," as the facility's military hospital " is inundated with hunger strikers, who are being force-fed through nasal catheters." Well it is a hunger strike, folks. What did you think was gonna happen?
"We are in the throes of slow death here," prisoner of British origin Omar Deghayes denounced as he recalled that most of these people, who were detained in the wake of the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, have yet to be charged with any crime. Maonolo! My violin! Quickly!
"I don't understand what the US is doing," Deghayes wrote in one of the reports about the strike, which he secretly handed over to his London-based lawyer. Maybe "London-based lawyer" ought not be allowed to see him anymore for violating some agreements here?
In his hand-written testimonies, the prisoner recalls that "this is the fourth year in prison although no charges have been filed, and we lack medicine, products or conditions to wash, and are without sun." Couple of months ago they were bitching about being outside all the time.
Deghayes described how he was punched in the eye by a soldier, and said that many prisoners "are falling down and showing symptoms of diseases." Well then...HELLO! Eat something maybe?
If authorities here fail to do something quickly to improve conditions, "the number of prisoners on hunger strike will get out of hand," he predicted. Wow. It's Jihadi Nostrodamus...
The Pentagon claims there were 131 inmates involved in the protest by mid-September, with only 20 having to be force-fed, but it has not permitted families, independent doctors or lawyers to visit or telephone the detainees, arguing it is a national security issue. The Doctors for Human Rights organization insists on making an independent diagnosis of the effects of the hunger strike, because the US Medical Association bans feeding striking inmates by force. Oh-oh. Guess we'll have to stop then. Don't want to piss the US Medical Association.
More than 500 people, tagged as enemy combatants -a term used by Washington to hold them without legal assistance-, are under US custody at the Guantanamo facility, a territory illegally occupied by the US against the will of the Island's authorities and people. Hmmmm? Wonder who signs the checks at Prensa Latina? Got an answer for that one, El Jefe?
#3
Man it was hard to hold back the river of tears I was crying while reading this. Why doesn't the U.S. just end their suffering and just let them die. Allah would be happy, they would be happy, we would be happy, and is there a downside?
#4
"The lives of hunger-striking prisoners continue in danger for the third consecutive week at the US prison at Guantanamo Naval Base, according to inmates at the facility."
Uhhh ... when you choose not to eat, after a while, say about four weeks or so, isn't it reasonable to expect all kinds of health problems?
#5
hmmmm - gotta be tough to nasally force feed jerked pork
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/04/2005 13:14 Comments ||
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Hey Cyber Sarge:
I think there's a castle in old Habana, Cuba that has a sink-hole in it where the Spaniards and later Batista used to drop the occasional P.I.A. trouble-maker into. The criminal and or P.I.A. individual would drop down a concrete chute and into shark infested waters. Not a bad way to go for the Gitmo crowd. Green Peace would love it as the sharkies will receive a steady diet of human flesh.
Posted by: ed ||
10/04/2005 13:43 Comments ||
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hey happy F!
In the Philippines, in the Intermuros (old Spanish Fortress in Manila - Fort Santiago?) there are underground dungeons. The [imperial] Japanese Army (and probably the spanards before them) used to house prisoners there during the occupation.
Wasn't a problem until a real-high tide when the dungeons would flood (floor to ceiling). The Japanese would often omit the evacuation of troublesome prisoners...
#10
Lives of Guantanamo Hunger-Striking Prisoners in Danger
So?
At least they won't get tortured by those pesky US interrogators.
Posted by: Captain America ||
10/04/2005 14:34 Comments ||
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"prisoner of British origin Omar Deghayes"
Well not exactly... Born in Libya. UK refugee status. Arrested in Pakistan. Not a British national (as noted in Foreign & Commonwealth Office letter). All per http://www.save-omar.org.uk/.
#12
"prisoner of British origin Omar Deghayes"
Well not exactly... Born in Libya. UK refugee status. Arrested in Pakistan. Not a British national (as noted in Foreign & Commonwealth Office letter). All per http://www.save-omar.org.uk/."
************
I'll be sure to get my tin can and go out and about getting a collection for Omar.
A gentle man opposed to violence
Of course he is. They all are... Omar is "a gentle man, a very friendly, quiet, gentle man" according to his sister-in-law Einas Abolsain who has known him since he was young.
Omar and his family left Libya for the UK in 1986 after his father was assassinated by Colonel Gaddafi's regime in 1980, and was granted refugee status in 1987. Mistaken identity
In 2002 Omar was arrested by US authorities in Pakistan, and sent to Guantanamo bay, where he has suffered numerous human rights abuses.
The only "evidence" for Omar's arrest appears to be a video allegedly showing Omar from the Spanish authorities, however experts have confirmed what is seemibgly apparent, that the person in the video bears little resemblance to Omar.
#15
"the person in the video bears little resemblance to Omar"
Well, that might be because they're pushing the clean-shaven version of Omar now, not the bearded Islamic version of Omar that they show on the front page of The Argus.
#16
His lawyer's a liar too: "someone who has been a resident of Britain for decades". The website says he moved to the UK in '86. That's not even two decades yet, and you have to subtract off his Pakistan and Gitmo time.
The press wants us to think he's of British origin, which he is not, and his lawyer wants us to think he has been a resident of Britain for decades, which he has not. You can throw them all to the sharks.
The lives of hunger-striking prisoners continue in danger for the third consecutive week
The only downside I can see is IT'S TAKING TOO DAMN LONG.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/04/2005 18:04 Comments ||
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Questions, questions.
Feeding prisoners on a hunger strike: a person who requires feeding can be handled several ways --
1) a nasogastric tube. This is silastic, generally in diameter as big or slightly bigger than a pencil, and flexible. Goes into a nostril, back into the pharynx, down the esophagus, into the stomach and stays there. Lubricant (KY) and perhaps local anesthetic required. Used short-term. Problems: a) aspiration risk (getting food into the lungs after it gets to the stomach, due to vomiting), and b) uncomfortable. Has to be taped or held in the nose in some way, and the prisoner can pull it out.
2) a nasoduodenal tube. Silastic, very thin, with a tungsten or similar weight at the end. Inserted the same way as an NG tube, but it ends up in the small intestine (the weight carries it there). Placement is not guaranteed, but once in the small intestine it's easier to feed a person, and has a lower risk of aspiration. It's used for longer-term feeding. Problems a) may not get there, and you need an x-ray to prove it's there before you can use it b) easily clogs -- pull it out and start over. Has to be secured and can be pulled out.
3) a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube. Requires an upper GI endoscopy. The endoscopist gets the scope into the stomach (y'all know how s/he does that) and shines the light toward the abdominal wall. A second operator standing by the patient can see that light shining through the wall, and punctures (local anesthesia beforehand) through the wall with a probe attached to a feeding tube. The endoscopist then grabs the tube tip, now in the stomach, and places it in the first part of the small intestine. The second operator sutures the tube where it traverses the abdominal wall.
This is great for extended feeding -- the tube is large bore so it won't clog, it's not in the nose so no irritation to the patient, the tip is in the small intestine so the aspiration risk is low, it's sutured in place so it doesn't accidentally fall out (though you can certainly tug hard and pull it out) and it's easy for nurse/family/guard to handle. But it requires more work, experienced personnel and has an operative risk (low but you have to account for it).
4) intravenous feeding. Generally done as a last resort or when we can't use a patient's bowel for feeding. Very expensive, requires frequent monitoring of blood work (I won't get into details), and requires, ideally, a 'central' IV catheter -- one whose tip is in a great central chest vein. That has a risk of placement, requirement for operator experience, etc. Experienced personnel who are specialists in nutrition are required.
That's how you feed someone who can't or won't eat. Restraints are required for each modality when faced with a combative patient, and that has it's own problems.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/04/2005 18:58 Comments ||
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#20
*ahem* I think I specifically asked about force feeding jerked pork....none of this gruel crap
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/04/2005 19:08 Comments ||
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#21
Why feed at all, Steve? Make food and drink available and document it. If they die, they die by their own choice.
Iraqi lawmakers approved the death penalty Tuesday for anyone financing or "provoking" terrorism. The tough new anti-terrorism law â a response to almost daily suicide bombings and attacks in Iraq â sets capital punishment for "those who commit ... terror acts" as well as "those who provoke, plan, finance and all those who enable terrorists to commit these crimes," according to a text obtained by The Associated Press.
Life imprisonment is the punishment for "whoever intentionally conceals terrorist activity or gives shelter to a terrorist for the purpose of hiding him." "We suffer from this terrorism, and at the very least the situation requires a law tough enough to guarantee the safety of the people and government institutions," said Hussein al-Sadr, a lawmaker from the Iraqi List, headed by former prime minister Iyad Allawi.
Of 152 lawmakers present, 147 supported the new law. The remaining members of the 275-member house were absent, but it did not appear to be for political reasons. A faction of the ruling Shiite-led coalition walked out of the vote, complaining that the law's concept of terrorism was too broad. The law adopts a "Western conception ... that anything that hints at terrorism is a terrorist act. Islamic conceptions say that the actual use of violence, not the hinting at it, is terrorism, said Nadim Eissa, head of the Shiite Al-Fadila Party.
The law defines terrorism as any criminal act against people, institutions or property that "aims to hurt security, stability and national unity and introduce terror, fear or horror among the people and cause chaos." It also cites "activity threatening to spark sectarian differences or civil war ... including by arming citizens or encouraging or financing their arming."
The former U.S. governor of Iraq, L. Paul Bremer, abolished the death penalty soon after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. But the Iraqis reinstated capital punishment after sovereignty was reinstated a year later so they would have the option of executing deposed dictator Saddam Hussein.
Also Tuesday, the Iraqi Central Criminal Court sentenced 28 people â including two Saudis, a Yemeni and an Algerian â found guilty on terrorism charges under the previous laws.
Khudeir Abdellah Mahmoud, a Saudi, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for illegally entering Iraq to assist terrorists and for conducting terrorist attacks on citizens, the government said in a statement.
Three other men convicted of entering Iraq to carry out terrorist acts also were sentenced: Ramshi Ihab Ali Mohammed, an Algerian, for 15 years; and Mohammed Abdellah Saleh, a Saudi, and Anwar Najib Mohammed, from Yemen, for 10 years each.
Fouad Sarhan, an Iraqi, received a 10-year sentence for possessing weapons designed to be used for terrorism.
The court also sentenced 23 Iraqis convicted of terrorist crimes to prison sentences ranging from six months to seven years. The government statement did not say what attacks the men were involved in. Hundreds of foreign fighters are believed to have entered Iraq to join the insurgency. The United States and Iraq have criticized Syria for allowing that to happen. Other insurgents are believed to have entered Iraq across the borders of Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/04/2005 14:48 ||
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#1
I got to say I really like how the Arabs do buisness. They have what we used to have, a ability to deal with reality and handle such with whatever is nessecary PC to hell. A revolving door for terrorist will do nothing but make more terrorist while demoralizing those who try to fight. Killing them lets everyone know that that road only goes one place cemetary and gives those who fight terrorism the will to know that when they take someone out they take them out.
This is a dirty world and sometimes you have to do some dirty things to survive in it. Utopia dreamland and PC BS as a guidlines of war and life is some dream of the "peace love and happiness" tards.
I can just imagine what would have happened to someone who spoke of how criminal the fire bombing's of Tokyo or Dresdin were at that time. We need the higher ups to be prosecuted crap. Or hell the german SS that dressed up like US soldgiers went behind the lines and caused caos in the Battle of the Buldge, those guys were tied to tree's and executed as they were found period. Of course back then thou the rules of war went both ways if the enemy broke them they were not given such in return. But now a days such common sence reality based thinking is bad, illegal, barbaric, non-PC, when will this nation wake the f*ck up??????????
Iraq's al Qaeda urged Sunnis on Tuesday to boycott this month's referendum, saying a proposed constitution would only tighten U.S. control over their country, according to an Internet posting.
"By going to the noxious elections centres you would enable the crusaders ... to decide your fate as they please," said a statement from Al Qaeda Organisation in Iraq, posted on a Web site which often carries the group's messages.
"Do not participate in legitimising the infidels' attempts to slaughter you," it told fellow Sunni Muslims, many of whom oppose the draft constitution.
"In dealing with the Americans, the constitution and the election, we would be like a wretched man who deludes himself into believing he can get his rights back," the statement said.
Zarqawi's group has already declared an all-out war on Iraq's majority Shi'ite Muslims and has intensified attacks ahead of the Oct. 15 referendum.
Opposite of "Vote or Die" me guess
Posted by: Captain America ||
10/04/2005 14:44 ||
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#1
"we would be like a wretched man who deludes himself into believing he can get his rights back," the statement said.
You should try to get your SOUL back, you silly splodydope.
Some 2,500 U.S. troops along with Iraqi forces launched their second major offensive in western Iraq in a week Tuesday, sweeping into three towns to take them back from insurgents who had killed Marines there last month. The U.S. military announced its first casualties of the offensives, with four troops killed by roadside bombs during the fighting and a fifth elsewhere. ...
The military launched its latest offensive in a cluster of cities in the Euphrates River valley about 140 miles northwest of Baghdad. Code-named "River Gate," it was the largest U.S. offensive in the troubled Anbar region of western Iraq this year, the military said. It also included hundreds of Iraqi troops, the largest such contingent of any of the offensives this year.
Airstrikes by U.S. warplanes and dozens of helicopters set off explosions that lit up Haqlaniyah, Parwana and Haditha before dawn Tuesday. Barrages of gunfire also were seen in the night sky. Large sections of Haqlaniyah's power were knocked out. Some of the strikes took out bridges across the Euphrates in the area to prevent militants from escaping over them into the desert, said Lt. Col. Christopher Starling, the operations officer in Regimental Combat Team 2, which is leading the offensive.
Dozens of roadside bombs were encountered on the main arteries into the towns as U.S. troops moved in, Marine commanders said. Later in the day, U.S. snipers took positions on rooftops in Haqlaniyah as troops blared warnings on loudspeakers ordering residents to stay inside their homes, witnesses said.
The military launched a similar offensive on Saturday, 93 miles upriver, by the Syrian border. Operation "Iron Fist," which continued Tuesday, concentrated in the towns of Sadah, Karabilah and Rumana, aiming to uproot al-Qaida in Iraq insurgents who receive reinforcements and supplies from Syria. At least 57 militants have been killed in that operation.
The military said a Marine was killed Monday by a roadside bomb in Karabilah, the first U.S. death in Operation Iron Fist. In the hours before Operation River Gate began, a roadside bomb hit U.S. troops in Haqlaniyah on Monday, killing three, the military said. Elsewhere, a soldier was shot Monday morning near Taqaddum, a town close to the city of Fallujah, also in Anbar but away from the two offensives, the military said. The killings raised to at least 1,941 the number of U.S. military members who have died since the beginning of the war in 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
The towns of Haqlaniyah, Parwana and Haditha, with a combined population of 100,000, have no Iraqi police or troops based in them, leaving their streets open to roving insurgent groups. On Aug. 1, an ambush by insurgents in Haditha killed six U.S. Marine snipers, and a large roadside bomb on the outskirts of the city on Aug. 3 killed 14 Marines and an Iraqi interpreter.
Last spring, Haditha General Hospital, the region's largest, was heavily damaged by a suicide car bomb that set fire to the building, and insurgents used staff and patients as human shields during fighting with Marines that followed. In addition, the U.S. military has said that Iraq's most wanted terrorist, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the head of Al-Qaida in Iraq, once had a home in Haditha. Earlier this year, hundreds of U.S. forces conducted individual sweeps in the three towns.
The newest operation is "step forward to eliminating insurgents and giving the country back to the Iraqi people," said Col. Stephen W. Davis, who added it would help residents in the Haditha area freely vote in the constitutional referendum. ...
Posted by: ed ||
10/04/2005 13:24 ||
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#1
Ima just gonna say Hummmmmm, here for the record.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A British civilian and nine Iraqis have been arrested by Iraq's border security force, a British military spokesman in the southern city of Basra told CNN Tuesday. The spokesman could not confirm the time, location or circumstances of the arrest, but an Iraqi police official in the central city of Najaf told CNN that "10 suspected terrorists" were arrested near the Saudi border on Monday, noting that among them was a British national.
Col. Thamer Kamel with the Iraqi border guard in Najaf said a British national by the name of Colin Peter was arrested around 8 p.m. (12 noon ET) Monday along with nine Iraqis on a highway between Anbar and Najaf.
Peter claimed to be a contractor, but his passport did not support his claim, Kamel said. The group, traveling in three GMC Suburbans, was carrying machine guns and GPS satellite technology. Additional: The group was travelling in three vehicles and carried Kalashnikov assault rifles, a video camera, a satellite telephone and a GPS satellite positioning device. The nine Iraqis are all said to be from Basra.
According to Kamel, Peter is being held by the border guard, pending a response from the British embassy. British embassy officials in Baghdad said they could not confirm the report at this time. In London, a spokesman with the British Foreign Office said: "We are aware of the reports that the Iraqis have arrested a British national. We are investigating the circumstances and we will have more details later on."
The arrest comes against the backdrop of heightened tensions between Shiite leaders in Basra and British forces. The Governing Council in Basra cut ties with Multinational Forces after British troops freed two men that the council alleges were British undercover troops who killed an Iraqi civilian and beat a policeman.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/04/2005 11:35 ||
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#1
It's not always clear around Basra who it is actually doing the arresting, nor who it is getting arrested. Mookie's militia maybe on the arresting side? And maybe an Iraqi security force and a British advisor being arrested? Or maybe a drug smuggling gang being arrested by real police?
Does anyone have a link or copy of a recent article in the British press about the Basra incident with the Brits being sprung from jail in a scenario where the the jailors were Mookie's militia?
#2
A British engineer arrested after allegedly carrying weapons and surveillance equipment into Iraq from Saudi Arabia, has been released, it was reported tonight. The Briton, identified by his business card as Colin Peter Wanley, was with 10 Iraqis arrested yesterday near the southern Shia holy city of Najaf after crossing the desert border.
Authorities found eight Kalashnikov assault rifles, two pistols, ammunition, radios and GPS satellite navigation equipment in the convoy of vehicles in which the men were travelling, police said. A police spokesman in Najaf said Mr Wanley was taken into custody because he had entered Iraq without a required visa.
The engineer was working for a water treatment company, identified on his card as Ammtech International Consultants Ltd, police said. Two of the others who had been detained were released with him, reports suggested.
"Just a simple, heavily armed engineer. Nothing to see, move along"
"We can confirm that we are aware that a British national has been detained by the Iraqi border police," a Foreign Office spokeswoman in London said. "We are currently seeking clarification of the details of the detention. Full consular assistance will be offered." She could not confirm whether he had subsequently been released.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/04/2005 14:42 Comments ||
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#3
Ten men, ten guns -- probably qualifies as insufficiently armed in that area.
Iraqâs oil minister survived an apparent assassination attempt yesterday when a roadside bomb blasted his motorcade, the latest attack on the energy industry that is vital to rebuilding the countryâs beleaguered economy.
As US forces hunted Al Qaeda guerrillas on Iraqâs border with Syria, the American military denied a claim by militants to have killed two captured US Marines.
US troops also fought guerrillas closer to Baghdad, in the capital of the Anbar region that is home to many insurgents from Saddam Husseinâs once dominant Sunni Arab minority. At least five people were killed, said local doctors in the town, Ramadi.
The bomb attack on Oil Minister Ibrahim Bahr Al Uloumâs motorcade lent weight to fears expressed by Iraqi and US officials of more violence ahead of an October15 constitutional referendum. Many Sunnis argue that the charter will seal their fall from power and hand oil riches to majority Shiâites and ethnic Kurds.
The apparent bid to assassinate the oil minister was the latest insurgent strike against an energy sector key to Iraqâs economic future. Exactly a week ago, a suicide bomber drove a car into a bus carrying Oil Ministry employees, killing at least six people.
Along with a new constitution, a trial of Saddam Hussein is also intended by the new, US-backed government to bury Iraqâs past. The Special Tribunal trying the former president confirmed the court will first convene on October 19, but said it could be persuaded to adjourn. Saddamâs lawyers have demanded more time.
Al Qaeda in Iraq, which claims many of the bloodiest attacks in Iraq, posted a statement on the Internet saying two US soldiers had been killed in the west after US forces failed to free women prisoners as demanded on Sunday by the group. The posting had no pictures and a US military spokesman dismissed it as âdisgusting propagandaâ. âWe have no reports of any deaths,â Lieutenant Colonel Steven Boylan said.
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, rejected a call by his partyâs official spokesman for the Shiâite Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari to be sacked â although he said it was time to âcorrect some mistakes inside the governmentâ.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/04/2005 01:16 ||
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The killing of terrorist Abdullah Abu Azzam last week was the latest blow against al-Qaeda's top leadership in Iraq reported by the U.S. military. But like other attacks on the group's leadership, it didn't seem to reduce insurgent violence.
Abu Azzam was the last of an original eight-member leadership committee for al-Qaeda in Iraq to have been captured or killed in the past year, says military spokesman Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch. Abu Azzam, group leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's No. 2, was behind the recent wave of bombings in Baghdad, Lynch says. Yet insurgent attacks have climbed steadily over the past six months to more than 500 a week, according to a chart released by Lynch.
In the week after Abu Azzam's death, bombs and ambushes killed more than 200 Iraqis and 14 U.S. servicemembers.
Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. officer in Iraq, told Congress on Thursday that insurgencies last an average of nine years, and "there is no reason to believe this one will take any less time." He and other U.S. military leaders say killing or capturing the insurgent leaders is important, though its impact may not be immediate.
Even in a loosely structured organization, leaders are important, says Col. Kevin Benson, director of the Army's School of Advance Military Studies at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas. "Leaders provide direction, have the contacts with money sources and usually provide the charisma needed to motivate others," Benson says. "We are going to have to kill these people. There is no dealing with them."
He notes that al-Qaeda in Iraq is only one part of an insurgency that includes criminals, extreme nationalists and former members of Saddam Hussein's ruling Baath Party. Those groups â which are larger than al-Qaeda in Iraq â appear to have even less organizational structure than the global al-Qaeda network, where leaders such as Osama bin Laden are known to provide inspiration but not necessarily issue orders or make plans.
Though former Baath Party members are among the leaders of the insurgent groups, Saddam's capture in December 2003 had little impact on the violence.
Peter Bergen of the Washington-based New America Foundation, a public-policy institute, says targeting the leadership isn't a winning strategy. "It's the deck-of-cards fallacy," he says, referring to the playing cards featuring Saddam and 54 of his lieutenants. Eleven remain at large. "The more people we arrested in the deck of cards, the more violence actually went up," says Bergen, author of Holy War, Inc., a book about al-Qaeda. "If it was a Mafia crime family, arrest or kill all the bosses and lieutenants and it is out of business," he says. In Iraq, "there seems to be a potentially ever-larger pool of people willing to replace" those who die.
Douglas Farah, a consultant on terrorism, says he suspects al-Qaeda in Iraq is "much less hierarchical" than the U.S. military assumes. There's "a wide range of people with a wide range of skills operating in concert, but not necessarily waiting for orders to come down from above," Farah says.
Historically, some rebellions centered on a key figure, such as the Shining Path in Peru, which "virtually disintegrated when its leader was arrested and shown on TV," Farah says. Even if Zarqawi â who has a $25 million bounty on his head as Iraq's most-wanted terrorist â is captured or killed, it may not be a major blow to the insurgency. "Zarqawi and others, while being the most visible factors, do not have to interpret the Quran for the jihadists to know what to do," Farah says.
Nathaniel Fick, a Marine officer in Iraq and Afghanistan who has written a book on his experiences, says eliminating leaders and killing insurgents should be only a part of a counterinsurgency strategy in Iraq. Progress comes from winning over the population, he says. Aggressive military tactics can be counterproductive.
"The deck-of-cards mentality is of limited use," he says. "Taking these (terrorist) guys down is ... a necessary but not all that sufficient step toward making progress."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/04/2005 01:01 ||
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#1
What all of these commentators are leaving out is one simple fact - the Baath party leadership was broad and deep with a claimed membership of over 1 m. And resilient. It kept the 80% of Iraq that wasn't Sunni Arab under its thumb. There are a limited number of leaders. But that pool is broad and deep, which is why rooting all of them out will take much longer than 2 years. The Malayan emergency that everyone loves quoting involved British Army troops fighting a scratch force of ethnic Chinese communists that never numbered more than a few thousand at any one time. This scratch force continued ambushing and killing military personnel for almost 2 decades after the British military left. Total time before complete collapse - 30 years.
U.S. troops battled insurgents holed up in houses and driving explosives-laden vehicles in a second town near the Syrian border Sunday, killing 28 in an expansion of their two-day-old offensive chasing al Qaeda fighters along the Euphrates River valley, the military said.
Al Qaeda in Iraq claimed to have taken two Marines captive during the fighting and threatened to kill them within 24 hours unless all female Sunni detainees are released from U.S. and Iraqi prisons in the country. The U.S. military said the claim appeared false.
"There are no indications that the al Qaeda claims ... are true," Multinational Force West, the command in the region said. It said it was conducting checks "to verify that all Marines are accounted for."
In other developments:
# Political differences among Iraqi leaders deepened ahead of the crucial Oct. 15 national vote on a new constitution. Iraq's Kurdish president, Jalal Talabani, called on the Shiite prime minister to step down over accusations he is monopolizing power in the government and ignoring his Kurdish coalition partners' demands, a spokesman for Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan said.
# Elsewhere, Shiite militiamen freed the brother of Iraq's interior minister from kidnappers who snatched him from his car a day earlier, the freed man, Abdul-Jabbar Jabr, told Associated Press Television News.
# Sunni Arab leaders cried foul when the Shiite-dominated parliament passed new rulings on the upcoming referendum that will make it more difficult for Sunnis to defeat the constitution at the polls.
The parliament's move could undermine U.S. efforts to garner Sunni Arab support for the constitution. It could further alienate moderate Sunnis who say they want to participate in the political process but reject the draft constitution, which they contend will fragment Iraq among majority Shiites, the Kurds and Sunni Arabs.
The rules stated that the constitution is defeated if two-thirds of voters in three provinces reject it, a threshold that the Sunnis are capable of meeting.
The parliament's decision, however, raised the bar â saying two-thirds of registered voters must reject it, rather than two-thirds of those who actually cast ballots.
"The fraud has begun right from now," said Saleh al-Mutlaq, a leading Sunni politician.
CBS News correspondent Allen Pizzey reports that the cost of U.S. forces bearing the brunt of the fight was brutally evident over the last week when a roadside bomb killed five Marines in the town of Ramad. More than 200 civilians died last week alone in car bomb and suicide attacks, a kind of politics by other means that the U.S. military cannot hope to stop on its own and which Iraqi forces are not yet ready to handle (video).
The U.S. military says al Qaeda in Iraq, the country's most fearsome insurgent group, has turned the area near the border into a "sanctuary" and a way-station for foreign fighters entering from Syria.
In Karabilah, Marines clashed with insurgents who opened fire from a building on Sunday in a firefight that killed eight militants, the military said.
The move into Karabilah widened the sweep launched a day earlier by 1,000 Marines, soldiers and sailors, starting with nearby Sadah, a tiny village about eight miles from the Syrian border.
Most of the militants appeared to have slipped out of Sadah before the force moved in, and hundreds of the village's residents fled into Syria ahead of the assault.
There was "virtually no opposition" in Sadah, the Marine commander in western Anbar province, Col. Stephen W. Davis, told The Associated Press.
At least 28 militants were killed in fighting Sunday, Davis said, bringing the two-day toll among insurgents to 36. There have been no serious U.S. casualties in the operation, he said.
U.S forces are aiming to clamp down on insurgents ahead of the Oct. 15 vote. Al Qaeda in Iraq and other groups in the Sunni-led insurgency have launched a wave of violence to wreck the vote, killing more than 200 people over the past week.
The U.S. operation in the Syrian border region is the fourth since May, but U.S. troops are too scattered and Iraqi forces too few to impose permanent control in the area the size of West Virginia. Militants have fled past assaults only to move back in once the bulk of U.S. forces leave.
Davis said the latest offensive would at least dislodge militants enough to allow residents of the region to vote on Oct. 15 â and could strike a heavy blow to al Qaeda in Iraq.
"There's only so many of them out there," Davis said of the insurgents. "The enemy has a problem out here â every time he shows up he gets bombs dropped on his head ... What you're seeing now is the dissolution of their network."
In Karabilah, militants forced their way into a building and began firing on Marines, and a U.S. tank fired a round into the building, wounding five civilians, the military said. Marines treated four of them for minor injuries and evacuated the fifth for treatment, it said.
Marine aircraft struck a group of seven insurgents between Karabilah and Sadah, killing four. The others ran into a nearby building, joining other fighters who opened fire on Marines. Warplanes then hit the building with six precision-guided bombs, the military said. In the same area, a suicide car bomber approached a Marine position but detonated 200 yards away, it said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/04/2005 00:57 ||
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Iraq's oil minister survived an apparent assassination attempt on when a roadside bomb blasted his motorcade, the latest attack on the energy industry that is vital to rebuilding the country's beleaguered economy. Near the Syrian border, U.S. troops backed by fighter aircraft broadened a push against militant insurgents, killing at least 12 in and around the town of Sida.
In the latest attack on Oil Ministry officials, at least two bodyguards were killed when a bomb exploded near the convoy carrying Oil Minister Ibrahim al-Uloum in northern Baghdad, according to Oil Ministry spokesman Assem Jihad. "The minister is fine and is now at the ministry in a meeting with his staff," Jihad said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2005 00:00 ||
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A Palestinian woman has been shot dead by Israeli troops at a military checkpoint in the northern West Bank after she stabbed a female soldier. The army said the woman took out a knife and attacked the soldier, lightly wounding her in the face. Other soldiers shot the attacker in the legs, the army said. Both women were treated at the scene, but the Palestinian later died.
This is what happens when you bring a knife to a gunfight
The incident was at Hawara near Nablus, scene of many attacks in the past.
Relatives identified the Palestinian woman as 30-year-old mother-of-five Haifa Hindiya. No militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack. She received treatment from Red Crescent medics at the scene, Palestinian witnesses said.
Which explains why she died
The Israeli army said the woman was knocked to the ground after lunging at a soldier with a knife, and was shot dead when she tried to get up again and attack a second time.
"We told you.....BANG!....stay down!"
A Palestinian witness quoted by Reuters said troops hit the woman several times with their weapons as she was on the ground. "She tried to stand up immediately. Two soldiers then opened fire at her and killed her," the witness said.
Well....duh!
Israel is stepping up security to prevent possible Palestinian militant attacks during Jewish new year celebrations.
Israeli troops also barred Palestinians from entering Israel from the West Bank and Gaza during the holiday, which coincides this year with the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
On Friday, Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian teenager in the Askar refugee camp near Nablus. The army has opened an inquiry into the killing, which happened when troops opened fire at unarmed youths throwing stones as they were on patrol in the camp.
SEE: Don't bring rocks to gunfight
Posted by: Steve ||
10/04/2005 09:27 ||
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#1
"... opened fire at unarmed youths throwing stones ..."
Maybe it's a judgement call, but I consider someone throwing stones to be armed. Certainly not in the same class as armed with a gun, but armed, nonetheless.
#3
Sometimes the 'stones' the kiddies are throwing are actually cinderblocks and busted-up masonry 'stones.' Not exactly pebbles, if you get my drift...
#4
I nominate "the paleo people" for an honorary Darwin Award, for their continuing efforts to spread a little chlorine in the gene pool
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/04/2005 13:00 Comments ||
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#5
Isn't "stoning" one of the main ways the Koran cites for carrying out capital punishment? And didn't David kill Goliath with a stone? So why wouldn't it be ok to shoot back at stone throwers?
#9
EVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVvvvvvvvvvvrybody must get stoned...
--Bob Dylan
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/04/2005 15:49 Comments ||
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#10
"Stones" actually is stones thrown with a sling quite often. Paleos are good with this lethal weapon. You can hunt with them and also be killed by one. It's a aggressive act to "throw stones" shooting back is a valid response.
Dozens of Palestinian policemen broke into the parliament building in Gaza City yesterday to demand more bullets and the means to better protect themselves after Hamas killed their commander and two others in street battles on Sunday.
The protest briefly interrupted a debate on the government's failure to contain growing anarchy by armed Islamist groups and their defiance of orders not to carry weapons in public. MPs overwhelmingly voted to urge the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, to form a new national unity government to deal with the unrest, but stopped short of a no-confidence vote.
Mr Abbas said that, following Sunday's fighting, the government was "ready to use all means to prevent the public display of arms". "We will not remain silent in the face of this," he said. "This mob behaviour, this chaos, must end."
About 40 policemen stormed the parliament building but only one entered the debating chamber, which has a video link with the main parliament in the West Bank city of Ramallah. There were shots into the air as part of the protest outside.
All the officers were from a Gaza City station where a commander and two civilian bystanders were killed after Hamas attacked it with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades. The officers said they lacked equipment to defend themselves.
"We did not have enough bullets," said one policeman. "We had nothing to protect ourselves. Give us as least bullets to protect people and to protect our stations. Our commander died in front of us, and we were running out of bullets."
Accounts differ over the cause of the fighting. The Palestinian interior ministry said it started with a row between two men at a cash machine. When one called in Hamas gunmen the police moved in and shooting erupted that spread across the city. But Hamas said the fighting broke out after the police tried to arrest Mohammed Rantisi, the son of former Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi, who was assassinated by Israel last year. The fighting lasted on and off for about five hours.
Following Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Authority ordered an end to the carrying of weapons in public by anyone but the security forces. But Mr Abbas resisted demands from Israel that the authority disarm Hamas and its allies, fearing civil war. There is growing pressure from ordinary Palestinians to end the violence, particularly after Hamas killed 17 people when explosives accidentally detonated at a rally last week.
#1
"There were shots into the air as part of the protest outside."
Perhaps they'd have enough bullets if they stopped all their celebratory and tantrum shooting into the air.
#3
"...this mob behavior must end."Good luck with that. When "mob" behavior gets you what you want, then why stop?
As for the bullet mushkalla, seems that Hamas isn't having that problem. Maybe the police need to find out where Hamas shops for AK rounds.
#4
That's easy, beagletwo, according to dianne Feinstein and Chuck Schumer they get them at US gun shows. That's where all terrorists get their weapons.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
10/04/2005 9:49 Comments ||
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#5
That's easy, beagletwo, according to dianne Feinstein and Chuck Schumer they get them at US gun shows.
Interesting theory given that neither M14 nor M16 rounds fit in Kalashnikovs. That let's us with rounds imported to the US for those gun collectors who have about every model of gun ever produced Kalashnikovs included and thus need the ammo. But that it is a limited market so I would swear that if what you want is Kalashnikov rounds then it is easier and cheaper to shop in, say, Peshawar
#6
Peshawar may not be your best choice:
"...evidence that up to 400 tons of Kalashnikov ammunition had been shipped from Albania and Serbia to Rwanda with the involvement of Israeli, Rwandan, South African and British companies since the end of 2002."
http://www.unicwash.org/newsl/past%20editions/11july05newsl.html
#7
JFM - the whole family of AKs are much more common in the US than you'd think, especially given how cheap the SKS was last decade. I know a number of people with either or both, and I don't run in particularly gun-crazy circles.
Either way, the weapon of choice in Palestinian territories these days is the M16, since we dumped a lot of them into the hands of the PA, which let them go right out the door and into the hands of Hamas, and other malefactors. With US-supplied Egypt next door being a prime source of smuggled weapons as well, I'd wager that the only people waving around AKs in the Strip are the guys who got stuck with the thirty-five-year-old-plus hand-me-downs from the days when the Soviets rained equipment on Nasser.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
10/04/2005 14:31 Comments ||
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(CNSNews.com) - Indonesian police, helped by Australian experts, continued investigations Tuesday into the weekend bombings in Bali, amid new warnings of terror in Southeast Asia as the Muslim world enters the month of Ramadan. Canberra warned in a new travel advisory of the possibility of further bombings on the Indonesian resort island, which has long been a popular destination for Australians and other Westerners.
Indonesian raised its security level to "top alert" and other regional governments, including Thailand and the Philippines, also said they were beefing up security. Both Thailand and the Philippines have been battling Islamist insurgencies in their respective southern regions.
In the Philippines, national security advisor Norberto Gonzales warned that terrorists might launch attacks in Manila over Ramadan.
Ramadan, the Muslim fast-month, begins on Tuesday in the Arab world and on Wednesday further east. The month is for most Muslims a time of introspection and purification - while for extremists traditionally a time to intensify violence and jihad.
At least 22 people were killed in Saturday evening's coordinated suicide bombings, and more than 100, including six Americans, were injured. The dead include 14 Indonesians, four Australians and a Japanese. Three crowded restaurants in two popular areas were targeted in the bombings, which police said were carried out by three men in their early 20s with bombs strapped to their bodies.
Police confirmed Tuesday they had detained two people for questioning in connection with the attack. They also provided Indonesian media with graphic photographs of the severed but largely intact heads of three bombers, in a bid to identify them. National police spokesman Soenarko Danu Ardanto said identifying the men was crucial to locating those behind the triple bombing. Because of the bombers' modus operandi, police suspect Jemaah Islamiah (JI), the al-Qaeda-linked Islamist network behind previous attacks in Indonesia including the 2002 Bali bombings which killed 202 people.
Two leading JI figures, Malaysians Azahari Husin and Noordin Top, are thought to have masterminded the attacks and remain at large. The Jakarta Post said in a hard-hitting editorial Tuesday that senior police officials should make capturing the two Malaysian terrorists their main priority, and that their jobs should be on the line.
"Someone should be held accountable for this latest intelligence lapse and the continuing failure to arrest the two most wanted men in the country. If [they] are not up to their jobs, they should be replaced," it said of the country's police chief and intelligence agency head.
'It will be chaos'
Debate continued about the choice of target and reasons for the attack.
Some terrorists convicted for their part in the 2002 bombings voiced disgust during their later court appearances about Western behavior and dress on Bali - a mostly Hindu island and the only part of the world's largest Muslim country to attract Western tourists in large numbers.
Whether that provided a reason for the hatred, or merely the convenience of a target with a greater likelihood of killing Westerners than Muslims, remains the subject of speculation.
"If the idea is to attack kafirs [unbelievers] as a way of avenging the deaths of Muslims around the world, then Bali has a higher percentage of foreigners than other parts of Indonesia," regional analyst Sidney Jones of the International Crisis Group was quoted as saying.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard argued this week that the terrorists were targeting Indonesia's moderate Muslim leader, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Terrorism expert Zachary Abuza noted that, just days before the 2002 attack in Bali, Osama bin Laden issued a statement warning "we will target the nodes of your economy." "By targeting Bali they first are striking the economy, and hence the stability of the apostate regime [in Jakarta]," said Abuza, an expert on JI and Southeast Asian terrorism.
Although JI's main aim, according to researchers, is the establishment of an Islamic caliphate encompassing much of Southeast Asia, some Indonesian radicals also see a larger agenda. Abu Bakar Bashir, a cleric believed to be JI's spiritual inspiration, was recently interviewed by terrorism analyst Scot Atran in jail, where the Indonesian is serving a prison term for conspiring in the 2002 Bali attacks. In the interview, which has been published by the Jamestown Foundation, Bashir spoke of the global conflict continuing until Westerners were destroyed or bowed to Islam. "If they refuse to be under Islam, it will be chaos. Full stop," he said. "If they want to have peace, they have to accept to be governed by Islam."
How about we just kill you first?
Posted by: Steve ||
10/04/2005 09:35 ||
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of course, nothing says Religion of Peace⢠more than dead innocents
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/04/2005 10:44 Comments ||
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#2
"Peace on earth good will towards...." Oh, wait!
THE ability of Jemaah Islamiyah to launch two devastating attacks against Westerners in less than three years has raised questions about the willingness and ability of Indonesia authorities to fight the home-grown terrorism.
JI, the organisation thought responsible for the weekend's bombings in Bali, is yet to be declared illegal in Indonesia, giving it the ability to fundraise, spread propaganda and recruit new members.
Australians expressed outrage this year when several of those convicted for involvement in the Bali bombings of 2002 received sentence reductions.
Others have questioned the abilities and willingness of the Indonesian police, army and Government to root-out and disrupt Islamic terror cells.
"In the aftermath of the second Bali bombings, it is time to take a hardline on the banning of Jemaah Islamiyah," Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd said. "I call on the Howard Government to make the banning (of) Jemaah Islamiyah in Indonesia a priority in its dealings with Jakarta."
Prime Minister John Howard said the Government would address the issue of JI with Indonesia in time, but warned banning the group outright wouldn't solve all problems.
"We shouldn't assume that if it is outlawed it will automatically curtail its operations," Mr Howard said.
"I think that this is misunderstanding the shadowy nature of this organisation and it's not like a village tennis club . . . it's not like belonging to a football club, you don't pay an annual membership fee."
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty said Indonesia was as able as any nation to track down the killers.
"They are not going to give up on this," Mr Keelty said.
"There's a lot of progress being made since the Bali bombings in 2002."
The commissioner said the fact Australia was not sending as many disaster victim identification experts to Bali for the latest bombing was an indication of how far Indonesian authorities had progressed.
Indonesian-based terror analyst Sidney Jones praised the fast response by Indonesian police to the latest killings and said it was "very, very, very difficult to prevent attacks that involve suicide bombers".
But Indonesian authorities needed to look beyond immediate investigations and deeper into the networks behind the attacks to help prevent similar bombings in the future, she said.
Some Islamic schools have long been regarded as recruiting grounds for terrorists and Ms Jones said monitoring systems were needed "in all schools . . . so they know . . . more about what is going on."
The Government also needed to develop work and social programs to remove radicalised Mujahidin fighters from the often impoverished conflict areas and, in doing so, break down the personal links forged in the fighting units, she said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/04/2005 01:52 ||
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#1
There are many dedicated Islamists in INDONESIA whom seek Islamism-specific anschluss with the Philippines, be it voluntary or forced, and by any means necessary. As in NEPAL-INDIA, with China-supp Maoists aiding and abetting Radical Islamists, the Indos also have their fair share of pro-China armed Maoists-Communists. Like CHINA vs RUSSIA once America is destroyed, it remains to be seen whether COMMUNISM vs ISLAMISM will prevail over whats left of the world.
Indonesian police said on Tuesday that they had detained two people in connection with the weekend suicide bombings on the holiday island of Bali.
Investigators had already said they were questioning witnesses to Saturdayâs attacks which left 22 people dead, including three suicide bombers. But Made Mangku Pastika, Baliâs police chief, on Tuesday singled out two people whom he said had been taken in for questioning over the attack.
The identities of the suspects were not immediately clear.
The detentions âare confirmed. But we canât give you details,â said Colonel Bambang Kuncoko, a police spokesman in Jakarta.
Indonesian police remained on high alert as investigators stepped up efforts to identify the three suicide bombers responsible for the weekend carnage. No one has claimed responsibility.
Indonesian officials said police had evidence the three bombers had staked out their targets for at least six weeks before the attack.
Saturday's attacks have rekindled fears about terrorism in south-east Asia and prompted authorities across the region to increase security.
Officials in Thailand, which has been battling an Islamist insurgency in its south, on Monday said there would be increased security at tourist sites.
Australia and Britain said they had sent bomb and anti-terrorism experts to help the Indonesian investigation. Australia, which has had a close relationship with Indonesian authorities since the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 88 Australians, said it was sending 32 police officers to Bali, including bomb and counter-terrorism specialists. The UK sent four London Metropolitan police officers with experience in forensics.
The accelerating investigation came as financial markets largely shrugged off the potential economic impact of the attacks.
In spite of predictions of falls due to the bombings and an increase in domestic fuel prices by the government, the Indonesian rupiah was down only marginally against the US dollar on Monday â the first day of trading after the bombings â while the Jakarta Stock Exchange closed up 0.4 per cent. The rupiah gained 0.4 per cent to 10,265 against the dollar in early Tuesday trading.
Officials said among those killed by the bombs were 14 Indonesians, two Australians and a Japanese man.
Forensic experts in Bali recovered three heads believed to belong to the suicide bombers from the two bomb sites and police hoped the public release of pictures might lead to their identification.
A senior official said the three men were believed to be from the main island of Java and âpolice are banking that [the] public announcement of pictures will encourage family or kin in Java [to] come forward with more identification and evidenceâ.
Investigators have established that the three suicide bombers ârented lodging in Denpasar (the Balinese provincial capital) for [the] past six weeksâ, the senior Indonesian official told the Financial Times.
That would indicate a pattern similar to the 2002 Bali bombings, which killed 202 and were blamed on Jemaah Islamiyah. The bombers in that attack rented lodgings in Bali ahead of their attacks, with at least one key JI commander visiting to inspect their preparations.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/04/2005 01:03 ||
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THE Federal Government is providing $1 million to help Bali cope with the aftermath of the weekend terrorist bombings. The blasts set off by three suicide bombers killed 22 people including up to four Australians, and injured more than 120. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the package, being provided through the agency AusAid, would include $100,000 to boost Denpasar hospital's victim identification operations. "But also, we'll be setting aside some resources to assist locals who have been directly affected by the bombing," he said. "We're very struck by the enormous damage these bombings will do not just directly to people who have been in the way of the bombs, but also to the Balinese community, and we want to look at ways we might be able to provide broader assistance to Bali." Spending priorities for the rest of the money were still being considered, Mr Downer said.
Posted by: Oztralian [AKA] God Save The World ||
10/04/2005 00:00 ||
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Lesson learned = Kill foreigners and win the lotto.
BEIRUT, Lebanon - Lebanon's government appointed a new security chief Tuesday, replacing a powerful general implicated in the assassination of the former prime minister as authorities attempt to tackle a deterioration in law and order. The appointment came after months of political wrangling among factions in the half-Christian, half-Muslim Cabinet. The government has been trying to oust pro-Syrian officials, who are blamed for increasing lawlessness in the capital. The government postponed a decision on a long-awaited plan to overhaul the security services amid continuing discussions on whether to dissolve an intelligence gathering agency or simply name a new commander for it.
In the most prominent of several appointments, the Cabinet appointed army Brig. Gen. Wafiq Jizzini to head the Interior Ministry's General Security Department. He replaced Maj. Gen. Jamil Sayyed, a general and strong ally of Syria, who was arrested in August after being implicated with three other top generals in the Feb. 14 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The Cabinet also agreed on a new commander for the uniformed police outside the capital, Beirut, replacing an officer appointed by the previous pro-Syrian government. The Cabinet's choice will go to President Emile Lahoud, who has the final say.
Lebanon has witnessed a series of mysterious explosions in the past eight months and the government has acknowledged that it is not even close to arresting the culprits. Politicians fear more violence as a U.N. investigation into Hariri's Feb. 14 assassination nears its end.
In other appointments Tuesday, the government appointed Brig. Gen. Shawki al-Masri as the military chief of staff, replacing an officer who retired. Judge Antoine Kheir was made head of the Supreme Judicial Council, the highest judicial authority. Under Lebanon's sectarian system of power sharing, the major sects in the Muslim and Christian communities are allocated shares of senior positions in the civil service and armed forces.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/04/2005 11:55 ||
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How to save Syrian president Bashar Assad and his regime from toppling â or rather how to save him from himself? This was the main topic exercising Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and Saudi King Abdullah when they put their heads together in Riyadh Monday Oct. 3. They needed to talk urgently because the UN investigator of the Hariri assassination Detlev Mehlis reported to the UN secretary general Kofi Annan and the Security Council that he has finished his business in Damascus and would not be returning. He had gathered all the evidence he needs to indict two of Assadâs close kinsmen, his brother Maher, head of the presidential guard brigade, and brother-in-law, Assef Shawqat, who is married to his sister Bushra, for involvement in the assassination plot against the Lebanese leader.
The clincher was obtained, according to DEBKAfileâs intelligence sources, in a Lebanese security forces swoop on the MTC Touch mobile phone company in Beirut Sept. 27. (This network is owned by Kuwait-based Mobile Telecommunications Co.) The officers copied data from eight telephone lines and took several employes away for questioning. These lines were allegedly used by Maher Assad, Assef Shawqat and two Syrian strongmen, Syrian interior minister Gen. Ghazi Kenaan and director of Syrian Special Intelligence Gen. Rusoum Ghazaleh, and other Syrian intelligence officers for contacts with their Lebanese accomplices who staged the bombing-shooting attack in Beirut last February. These accomplices set up a headquarters in the Hamara district in two apartments. Four senior Lebanese security officers are also in detention over the crime.
In September, as the noose tightened around the neck of Assadâs nearest and dearest, Saudi king Abdullah and Mubarak rushed into rescue mode.
On September 23, DEBKA-Net-Weekly revealed:
The Saudi monarch is bidding for President George W. Bush to give the Syrian president another chance. He is offering a Saudi-Egyptian guarantee for Assad to live up to any obligations he may be persuaded to undertake. The scheme as put before Bush is embryonic. Neither side has accepted it. The Saudi ruler proposes to permit the Syrian president to tread the same path as Libyaâs Muammar Qaddafi in 2003, when he scrapped his weapons of mass destruction in return for admittance to Washingtonâs good graces.
The Assad version, if accepted, would consist of severing the links between the Damascus political and military elite and Iraqi Baathist insurgents and al Qaeda terrorists in Syria and Iraq. Top Saudi and Egyptian intelligence counter-terror experts would help the Damascus regime get rid of the terrorist elements which have struck root in Syria.
The banking systems of Syria and Lebanon will halt the flow of moneys from Saddam Husseinâs Baathists and al Qaeda accounts to bankroll the Iraqi insurgency. Like Libya, Syria would dismantle its chemical and biological weapons and its nuclear program, as well as its WMD-capable missiles.
Damascus would help America disband the Lebanese Hizballah terrorist organization, mainly by blocking Syrian arms supplies and providing Washington with intelligence on Hizballahâs arms caches. Damascus would also shut down the command centers, offices and the training facilities serving Palestinian terror groups in Syria for decades. This would entail the jihadist Hamas and Jihad Islami and the radical Palestinian âFrontsâ losing their sanctuaries.
That would get rather bloody. I'll have to lay in a couple cases of popcorn.
According to DEBKA-Net-Weeklyâs sources, the Saudi ruler has assured US officials he will insist on Assad going public on these steps for the sake of his rehabilitation - although easing into them gradually.
"Shouldn't take more than a couple of decades"
The quid pro quo proposed by Riyadh and Cairo is a halt on US and international pressure on the Syrian regime to mend its ways, the suspension of American economic sanctions and the resumption of economic assistance in the framework of a generous US-Saudi aid package to build a modern economy. Washington would have to lean hard on Ariel Sharon, or whoever succeeds him as Israeli prime minister, for peace talks culminating in the withdrawal from the Golan - on the same lines as the pull-back from Gaza and prospective evacuations of the West Bank.
Uh huh, you just knew they'd throw that wrench into the mix
DEBKA-Net-Weeklyâs Washington and Middle East sources report that the Bush administration has gone no further than cautiously considering the Saudi-Egyptian blueprint and discussing it. All the same, some parties, especially Saudi and Egyptian officials, are pushing hard to present Washingtonâs U-turn on Damascus as an accomplished fact.
Getting a little ahead of themselves
DEBKAfile adds: One of the parties keen on getting the Saudi-Egyptian plan off the ground leaked to the media Monday, the day Mubarak flew to Riyadh, that US officials had been testing Jerusalemâs preference for Assadâs successor. Israeli officials are reported to have said that Assad could stay - as long as he was âweakened.â This leak sounds like a ploy to convey the impression that the Egyptian-Saudi rescue blueprint is in the bag and has even found acceptance in Jerusalem. This is most improbable â especially since, according to our sources in Damascus, Assad is far from seizing the Qaddafi formula for changing his spots. There are serious obstacles to be overcome first.
1. He is still haggling on terms, guarantees for his regimeâs durability and which cronies can be saved from prosecution by the UN Hariri inquiry.
2. Assad has developed more than one lifeline. In addition to the Saudi-Egyptian rescue plan, he is cozying up to Moscow and to Tehran for an escape or counter-gambit against the US-French drive to bring him down and the UN investigatorâs findings. Some of the ideas floated between Damascus, Tehran and Moscow, might be of concern to Washington, US forces in Iraq and Israel. DEBKAfile will reveal these plans shortly.
3. The Syrian rulerâs fate hangs heavily on the final report Mehlis submits on the Hariri case. If he goes right to the top and assigns culpability to the president in person, not even the Saudi-Egyptian effort can save him. But if the finger of accusation stops at his close aides â such as his brother and brother-in-law, or lower echelons such as Generals Kenaan and Ghazale, Assad will hold the option of throwing them to the wolves and jumping aboard the rescue wagon.
4. He would have to be pretty nimble for this desperate ploy. The men he proposes to sacrifice might well have other plans, such as mounting a military coup to topple him to save themselves.
If they get even a hint he's thinking about throwing them to the wolves, Assad is going to have a unfortunate accident
Posted by: Steve ||
10/04/2005 09:45 ||
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Will Assad Save Himself by Going the Way of Qaddafi?
In a word, no. I doubt baby Assad has the strength to give up anyone big - he would be out in a flash. Better for him to play the Russky (Putty-the-whore) card. They would love to keep a client in the region.
#4
Funny, I thought they were doing everything they could do to stop the flow of terrorists to Iraq, and Bush was lying when he said they were'nt. Must of been an oversite.
#5
Like Libya, Syria would dismantle its chemical and biological weapons and its nuclear program, as well as its WMD-capable missiles.
I realize this is DEBKA, but that is an interesting little tidbit. I wasn't aware that Syria had an active community of scientists. (To be honest, I thought they were all shopkeepers, soldiers and terrorists.)
#7
sounds like that "hot pursuit" policy needs to be updated if they demand we talk about Golan, West Bank, yadda yadda first. We will be dictating the terms, ya pencil-necked geek
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/04/2005 12:40 Comments ||
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The following are excerpts from an interview with Egyptian General (Ret.) Muhammad Khalaf [1], which aired on Egypt 's Al-Mihwar TV on September 11, 2005.
Host: "The U.S. naively asks: 'Why do they hate us in the Middle East ?'" That of course wouldn't be what any Freshman high school jounralism student would recognize as a loaded question, hmmm?
Muhammad Khalaf: "There is nothing naive about it. This is the kind of thing they say as a pretext. The truth is that they understand, we understand, the American people understands, and the whole world understands that there is a comprehensive plan, and that 9/11 is just one of many small details of this plan, which is no longer concealed from anybody. Why do I sense that at any moment, this guy is gonna say "It's the JOOOOOSSSS?"
"It began with Bush Senior, who talked about a new world order. Yeah, that's it. He had four years in the White House, but that's all he talked about. Plans were made and became public. The National Defense University developed a plan in January 1999, according to which, with the fall of the U.S.S.R., no other superpower should be allowed to exist - not the U.S.S.R. again, and not even the countries included in the U.S.S.R., not China, or any other country. They began thinking about filling the vacuum formed in Asia with the countries that had left the U.S.S.R., and the plan for Afghanistan had been published a year before.
"There was another secret plan that became public - I'm not inventing this, it's taken from their own sources. Ahem, what sources?I'm not inventing anything. All this appears on the Internet. It all appears on websites which discuss some serious matters regarding 9/11. Websites like WhiteAlert? Or is it Antiwar.com?
"When we began talking about this... We, in the Arab world, are always accused of interpreting matters on the basis of conspiracy theories. Conspiracies are always possible, but nobody really expected that the U.S., the American White House, a law-abiding country, the country, which is a model of freedom and democracy for the entire world, would release a series of lies, which have not ceased until now - from 9/11, through the Anthrax [attacks], and to the purported WMDs in Iraq."
[...]
"Flight 11 took off at 7:55 from Boston 's airport, heading for Los Angeles. This plane took off at precisely 7:59. After it was already in the air... No, I'd just like to explain... 18 minutes after it took off... On board were 82 passengers and the four [hijackers]... After 16... after exactly 18 minutes [they] cut off... There is a system called the transponder, which tracks the plane's position. This system connects the plane to satellite navigation systems, because we should all know that even if the real pilot - not some other pilot who spent six months learning how to fly planes... If the connection with the transponder is lost, there is no way the pilot can set the plane's course. He can't simply look out of the window and go on. A plane at such an altitude, which went off track after 18 minutes... I have just one question. How can 18 minutes be enough time for four unarmed men to take over a plane with 82 passengers, to enter [the cockpit] and take over the plane, to switch off the instruments and to direct the plane... The plane turned to an angle of collision..."
Host: "You mean collision with the tower..."
Muhammad Khalaf: "...with the tower, at a distance of 300 km from it."
[...]
"There is a report that was released, and then disappeared. Dick Cheney was told..."
Host: "The vice-president?"
Muhammad Khalaf: "Yes. He was told over the phone... The president was flying Air Force One, the presidential plane, back to Washington. Cheney called him, not on the regular phone, but on the coded phone..."
Host: "The other one was broken..."
Muhammad Khalaf: "He called him and even the president, whose code name was 'Angel 1'... The American president was amazed that he was using the secret communications system which is saved for wartime. Cheney talked to him and said: 'This is an inside job in the White House. There are [enemy] agents in the White House.' He said these things. The American president slammed the phone down and said: 'Air Force One is next,' and gave the order to land. He was told there is a conspiracy. These things were published, but have not been repeated since.
"If we take into account who sold the communications systems - these were Israeli and Zionist companies that control the production of surveillance and communications equipment in the U.S.... There are many of these - so many that instructions were given later, in March, not to cooperate with foreign companies. To be precise, it is Comfrance [sic] - a company specializing in the manufacture of bugging equipment, and this is an Israeli company."
[...]
"When we look at how the Tower collapsed... The plane entered this way... Logically, and without any knowledge of engineering, if there was a fracture, the tower would tilt sideways at the point of fracture.
"A second point has to do with Tower No. 7, whose picture we just saw. Tower No. 7, which Mr. Nabil talked about, was far from the place. On the 911truth.org website, you can see footage of the tower collapsing of its own accord, and the dust emitted from its side has nothing to do with it. It was detonated. A ball of fire of such dimensions could not be created by... This is a cinematic production, like you see in action films."
[...]
"There is American terrorism."
Host: "Before you mention the American terrorism, we might not know this... When and where did the world's first terrorist operation take place?"
Muhammad Khalaf: "The world's first terrorist operation was an explosion that took place on September 16, 1920, in Wall Street, New York."
Host: "85 years ago."
Muhammad Khalaf: "On September 16, a car bomb..."
Host: "That was in September too."
Muhammad Khalaf: "Like the car bombs in Iraq, in 1920 - 35 fatalities."
Host: "In other words, 85 years ago."
Muhammad Khalaf: "...and hundreds of wounded, and the FBI began to investigate who carried it out on September 16, 1920, and still hasn't come up with an answer. This information is on the Internet."
Host: "What was the target?"
Muhammad Khalaf: "The financial and commercial district."
Host: "That one too?"
Muhammad Khalaf: "Yes. In the financial district. The investigation is still open."
[...]
"Some may ask: Is it logical that a government would kill its own people?"
Host: "That's an important question."
Muhammad Khalaf: "There is a plan called Northwoods, which was formulated in 1963 and also appears on the Internet. The U.S. does not balk at doing so. It is part of its bloody ideology. They took the land by force."
Host: "It does not balk at doing what?"
Muhammad Khalaf: "It does not balk at sacrificing a few innocent people, who would be considered martyrs and heroes, in order to accomplish its national policy. These things are on the website, and whoever logs on to 911truth.org and searches for 'Northwoods' will find the document. There is a picture of the document there. A picture of the plan of the north woods."
[1] Egyptian General (Ret.) Muhammad Khalaf made similar statements on May 8, 2005, on Egyptian TV Channel 1, http://memritv.org/Search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=728.
Posted by: The Happy Fliegerabwehrkanonen ||
10/04/2005 14:57 ||
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#2
Why didn't the interviewer do follow up questions concerning the Jooos, chemtrails, and UFOs? Seems logical to me.....
And are we getting our $2 billion/years worth paying off these guys so that they won't attack Israel? There is too much money in the ME and not enough brains to manage it.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/04/2005 15:39 Comments ||
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There is a system called the transponder, which tracks the plane's position. This system connects the plane to satellite navigation systems, because we should all know that even if the real pilot - not some other pilot who spent six months learning how to fly planes... If the connection with the transponder is lost, there is no way the pilot can set the plane's course.
Obviously not an Air Force general. The transponder only identifies the aircraft to air traffic control. Almost anyone who can read English knows that. Problem a lot of this guys have is that studying the Koran doesn't give you a clue how things work. As Bugs Bunny would say, "What a maroon."
#4
I don't know General. I heard it was all done by CIA/Mossad trained Muslim Space Alien Robots built by Halliburton in Israel. I read all about it on the internet.
Dont forget about the Nazi Moon Bases I saw the pictures of them at X.com and also about how the US covered it all up right hmmmmm.
Somebody needs to tell this guy that when they say dont believe everything you read applies times 100 to the internet were everything from flying pigs to aliens to whole made up universes are just one dot com away.
#6
I've stopped getting angry with these idiots, and now I just rest with the knowledge that people like this were put on the planet for the sole purpose of making the rest of us look smart.
#8
We have some serious synapse cross connections. Tear out the wiring and get a good cable splicer in here and reconnect everything. His transponder is squawking the wrong code again, and he is out of warranty.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/04/2005 17:06 Comments ||
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#9
Cheney, I mean Chainey, kills me- bravo. However, as you know Haliburton is too busy to divert the Nile at the present moment since they are quite consumed with the task of using said alien race from Proxima Centauri to destroy the New Orleans levee system.
#10
I read this article and the first thought, that came to my mind was that this has to be a fiction. Second was that if it is not I shouldn`t be laughing because this is sad.
Recently there was a show in tv about fake UFO videos, I guess Muhammad Khalaf has never seen it or anything else that can be done with computers. Or maybe it is just another evil master plan of US, to cover up the UFOs living among us. I guess that it is true if you really want to belive something you can always find proof. Some are sure that the world will end tomorrow. So he has his inside sources and extremly secter documentes he has found from the Internet.
Posted by: Laura ||
10/04/2005 17:50 Comments ||
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Laura - You can find "cover" for almost any whacked anti-American brain fart you can imagine here.
ISLAMABAD - A Pakistani military court on Tuesday sentenced four people to death and handed two others life terms for their role in a 2003 attempt to assassinate President Pervez Musharraf, officials said. They were involved in a plot by junior Pakistani air force officials to kill Musharraf by blowing up a bridge in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, near Islamabad, on December 14, 2003. Musharraf narrowly survived.
âFour junior officials have been sentenced to death and two others were given life imprisonment today,â a senior security official told AFP on condition of anonymity. An intelligence official also confirmed the judgment.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/04/2005 13:26 ||
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Rome, 4 Oct. (AKI) - The second edition of 'Sout al Khalifa', or Voice of the Caliphate, the 'news bulletin' produced by al-Qaeda mouthpiece the Global Islamic Media Front, has been broadcast on the Internet. The latest programme, which lasts around 19 minutes, opens with news from Palestine, and dedicates lengthy coverage to the kidnapping and killing of Sasson Nuriel, the Israeli businessman seized by a cell of the Palestinian militant group Hamas. The bulletin replays the video showing the hostage and repeats the allegation that he was a member of the Israeli security services.
The 'newsreader' - who has a subtle Egyptian accent and appears to be the same as appeared in the first edition aired on 21 September - then goes on to speak of the security situation in Gaza, which is described as highly volatile because of the Israeli air strikes.
The al-Qaeda bulletin also dedicates time to the last video featuring al-Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri and talks of Afghanistan and the suicide attack carried out last week by a Taliban bomber who drove a motorbike into a group of Afghan soldiers boarding a bus outside their training base in Kabul.
This is followed by the obligatory 'commercial break', in which they announce that in the next edition of the programme they will broadcast a message to Muslims working in the communications field.
The news bulletin then moves on to Iraq, and relays the latest statements issued in the last few days by various Islamic groups active in the country. The presenter also returns to the subject of the hurricanes in the United States, which were mentioned in the first edition, this time condemning the Muslim countries who sent aid to help the victims.
The news programme wraps up with a news story about Nigeria, where it says Muslims have been threatened by non-Muslims, like the Islamic citizens of Darfur in Sudan, who, the bulletin says, are coming under pressure from European states who plan to drive them from their territory because of the presence of oil deposits in their region.
The 'set' for the news programme is the same as the first edition. The face of the newsreader is covered and a copy of the Koran lies on the desk next to a Kalashnikov. However, the presenter appears to be different from the person who presented the 'special edition' broadcast last week to show solidarity with jailed Al Jazeera journalist Taysir Allouni, sentenced to seven years by a Spanish court for collaborating with a terrorist organisation. Allouni - who shot to fame as the satellite channel's Kabul correspondent and interviewed Osama bin Laden after the 11 September 2001 attacks - also features towards the end of the latest edition. In a second commercial break, a picture appears on screen showing him behind bars.
Technically, the 'al-Qaeda news bulletin' is far from professional, but despite the poor quality of its studio presentation the broadcast features smart graphics which suggest its post-production could have been done in a professional TV station.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/04/2005 12:05 ||
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When typing in the source link, be sure to include 'http://'.
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/04/2005 11:51 ||
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D'oh!
more:
Pakistan said Tuesday it had arrested a spokesman for the Taliban, and a bomb at the Pakistan-Afghan border killed three and wounded 20.
Local authorities said Taliban militants were responsible for the border bombing that killed a woman and two boys in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province.
Mullah Hakim Latifi (search), who has often claimed responsibility for the Taliban for attacks against U.S.-led coalition forces, was caught in southwestern Baluchistan province, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said.
Baluchistan borders Afghanistan, and members of the Taliban are believed to have sought refuge in the area.
The Taliban militia ruled Afghanistan until the United States ousted it in a 2001 invasion.
"It is a big success. We were looking for him for a long time," Ahmed said.
Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao confirmed the arrest. Another Interior Ministry official said Latifi had been using a Pakistani cellular phone and would be moved to Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, for questioning.
"He was tracked down on a tip in a Pakistani town," the official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to media.
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/04/2005 12:05 Comments ||
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#2
Arrested him in Pakland, ya say? Surely there's been some sort of mistake.
Tony Eluemunor - Bureau Chief, Abuja: An appellate court in London, the Crown Court, will today decide whether (Nigerian) Bayelsa State Governor, Depriye Alamieyeseigha, should be granted bail on the allegations of money laundering leveled against him. The substantive case comes up on Friday at the Bow Street Magistrate Court. The lower court refused him bail last Wednesday and remanded him in prison.
Alamieyeseighaâs counsel, Fidelis Odittah, is today expected to argue for bail on health grounds as his client was arrested in London on his way from Germany where he had gone for surgery. Meanwhile, a diplomatic source has disclosed in Abuja that the London police had expected to make a large haul of weapons when they arrested Alamieyeseigha last month.
According to the source, he was being suspected of backing terrorism and â based on intelligence reports forwarded to the British by the Nigerian authorities â of smuggling arms. That was why the British police made the arrest with 25 police vehicles, cordoning off the British Airways plane as it touched down in London. The police searched all his suitcases, looking for the arms. It was learnt that the Nigerian authorities had told the London police that Alamieyeseigha is not just a major sponsor of terrorism he enjoys close links with Osama Bin Ladenâs Al-Qaeda.
This was the connection Abuja reportedly made between his arrest and that of South South resource control activist, Asari Dokubo, who was incarcerated soon after the governorâs travail began. The source explained that since no arms were found on Alamieyeseigha, the Federal Government had to justify its terrorism allegation against him by arresting Dokubo who allegedly once said Osama bin Laden is his hero.
The London police had reportedly been told that the governor and his âterrorist cellâ had perfected plans to destablise Nigeria by ensuring that it is not governable and by making conditions impossible for oil production in the Niger Delta â thus threatening world supply.
Looks like that plan is well under way
Dokuboâs conversion to Islam and his religious title of âAlhajiâ makes him fit the Islamic terrorist bill. But those conversant with Rivers State politics have said again and again that Dokuboâs gang was sponsored by an unnamed governor for strong arm tactics during past elections. He came to national limelight when he fought a rival militia in gangland style, which nearly exposed the governor.
"Always two there are, no more, no less. A master and an apprentice."
Posted by: Steve ||
10/04/2005 10:56 ||
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Dan beat me to it, but this had been edited w/comments.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/04/2005 11:35 Comments ||
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The authorities in Pakistan say they have arrested Taleban spokesman Latifullah Hakimi.
"Our security forces captured him today, and he is in our custody," said Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao.
The BBC's Zaffar Abbas in Islamabad says Mr Hakimi was detained in Dera Ismail Khan in North West Frontier Province near the Afghan border.
Latifullah Hakimi has spoken regularly on behalf of the Taleban, which US-led forces drove from power in 2001.
The Taleban oppose the US-backed government of Hamid Karzai in Kabul and are blamed for a wave of attacks, mainly in the south and east of Afghanistan this year.
Mr Karzai's government has frequently accused Pakistan of not doing enough to curb incursions by Taleban fighters and other militants, which it says are based on Pakistani soil.
Islamabad denies the allegations.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
10/04/2005 09:38 ||
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Four people were killed in a rare afternoon ambush on a civilian pick-up truck in north east Uganda by Lords Resistance Army rebels, officials say. The rebels are suspected of shooting the driver and two passengers, and killing a fourth with an axe. The LRA continues to target civilians despite being weakened by more than three years of military pressure.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Republic of Congo has warned Uganda not to try to disarm an LRA force in its territory. DR Congo's United Nations ambassador, Atoki Ileka, told the UN Security Council that such an intervention into its eastern jungles would pose a threat to international peace and security. In 1998, Uganda was one of several countries to become embroiled in DR Congo's five-year civil war in which an estimated three million people were killed.
The BBC's Will Ross in the capital, Kampala, says one o'clock in the afternoon is considered to be one of the safer times to travel on the dirt roads in the isolated areas of northern Uganda. Survivors of the ambush on Monday say the vehicle, which was heading from Kitgum town to Orom in the north east, came under heavy gunfire and then caught fire.
Several wounded people were taken to hospital in Kitgum town where they are being treated for gunshot wounds. Amongst them a pregnant mother who had a lucky escape - she was shot in the stomach but both the mother and the unborn baby survived.
In recent days, our correspondent says, hundreds of people fled their homes after suspected LRA rebels burnt down up to 200 huts in the east of Uganda in Teso region - an area which has been relatively free from LRA attacks for almost two years. Last Thursday four farmers were killed near Palenga in Gulu district - their bodies hacked with machetes. People in northern Uganda wish more rebels would turn themselves in - to see security improve and more reunions between formerly abducted children and their families.
Some 450km away in the north-east of the DR Congo another group of the LRA continues to keep the Ugandan military busy. Trucks full of soldiers and military hardware have been moved to the Congolese border.
The army says this is a precautionary measure to prevent LRA rebels who recently crossed into DR Congo from attacking Ugandan civilians. Last week, Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni said if the Congolese authorities failed to disarm LRA members, the Ugandan army would enter neighbouring Congo to do so. Mr Ileka asked the Security Council to impose sanctions on Uganda including an arms embargo and the suspension of international aid. The UN mission in DR Congo has said it intends to use all means necessary to drive out the LRA group.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/04/2005 09:23 ||
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And just who is arming the LRA? Well, looky here, it's the National Islamic Front (NIF) crowd from Khartoum. They have provided Sudanese army officers to help LRA (the Ugandans have killed ceertain of them, as well as the arms and ammo out of Juba and Torit. Just as they arm and provice C2 for the Janjaweed in Darfur, they have been thrusting the Islamic spear into Uganda for years.
On the other hand, don't think for a moment the Sudanese have nothing to do with LRA in DRC...they do. Sudan borders a lot of countries, DRC being one of them.
Some 300 Algerian Salafite militants have indicated via their families that they wish to surrender and accept the government's proposed amnesty - endorsed overwhelmingly in last Thursday's referendum, unnamed sources have told the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat. Hassan Hattab, founder of the feared Armed Islamic Group (GIA) has been encouraging guerrillas still hiding out in the Algerian mountains to give up the armed struggle, al-Hayat reported. The government estimates there are currently some 1,000 militants still waging guerrilla warfare in Algeria Hattab is the GSPC, not the GIA founder. I guess he's back to being alive again ...
Hattab gave up guerrilla warfare a few years ago, and has distanced himself from the attacks of the other main Algerian Islamic terror formation - the Armed Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) - which is responsible for most of the attacks that continued to be carried out in Algeria, mainly against the military. The GSPC has rejected the amnesty and vowed to continue its Jihad, according to an Internet statement. Hattab was more or less forced out of the GSPC leadership by the late, unmourned Nabil Sahraoui and his al-Qaeda cohorts. It seems he's been flipped since, given there aren't all that other options for him these days.
In the run-up to the referendum, Hattab cast himself in the role of peacemaker, seeking to persuade die-hard guerillas to turn themselves in, the anonymous al-Hayat sources said. Although 10 GSPC members surrendered in Khemis and Meliana last Thursday evening, abou 100 kilometres west of Algiers, on Sunday militants kiled three civilians, according to national newspaper reports.
The Algerian opposition has challenged the government's official 97 percent 'Yes' result, its allegations of an 80 percent turnout in the referendum, and "the most complete transparency of the vote" proclaimed by interior minister Noureddine Yazid Zerhounii.
Said Sadi, president of the Rally for Culture and Democracy (RCD) party described the referendum as "laughable" and said the government had inflated the actual turnout four-fold. The plebiscite was "a farce from start to finish" and a "totalitarian tidal wave" Le Monde quoted Socialist Forces Front (FFS) party secretary Ali Laskri as saying.
Provided they were not involved in rape or mass killings, the so called "charter for peace and national reconciliation" grants a pardon to Islamic militants who rose up against the army-backed regime in 1992, after it cancelled elections that the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) was poised to win. It bans top Islamists from politics, a move analysts say was intended to ensure the support of Algeria's powerful army. The charter also praises the army for its role in protecting state institutions during the civil war.
Besides the Algerian opposition, human rights groups are critical of the proposed amnesty however. They claim it brushes atrocities committed by suspected Islamist militants - and also by Algerian security forces - under the carpet. They also fear Algeria's president Abdelaziz Bouteflike will use the referendum win to amend the constitution and obtain an unprecedented third term of office.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/04/2005 01:54 ||
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Happy Ramadan, asshats ...
At least 31 militants linked to Afghanistanâs toppled Taleban regime were killed in clashes with government forces near the border with Pakistan, the defence ministry said yesterday.
Afghan National Army (ANA) troops killed 28 insurgents who attacked an security post near the border in the southeastern province of Paktika late Sunday, ministry spokesman Mohammed Zaher Azimi said.
The attack at the Angor Hada post sparked a clash lasting several hours. âTwenty-eight bodies of the enemy were left at the site, four ANA soldiers were wounded and one of the wounded is in critical condition,â Azimi added.
The Afghan army seized two Russian-made rocket launchers and 10 rockets.
A second military source said the militants had been able to cross over from Pakistan under the cover of rockets apparently fired from Pakistani territory.
Another three militants were killed after they ambushed a truck transporting supplies for US-led coalition forces in the Sarobi area of the province, he said. A civilian driver was also killed.
âAn ANA patrol got to the area. As a result of a heavy exchange of fire, three enemy elements were killed and two of them were arrested with two AK-47 rifles. Two ANA officers were also wounded,â Azimi said.
He blamed the attacks on the âenemies of Afghanistanâ, a term often used for militants linked to the Taleban regime, which was ousted in a US-led campaign in 2001 for failing to surrender Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
In another attack on Sunday, two Afghan soldiers were wounded in a clash with suspected militants in neighbouring Zabul province, Azimi said.
Yesterday the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) in Afghanistan said Natoâs top decision-making body would visit the country this week to discuss plans to expand into the volatile south and probably the east.
Isaf has been in Afghanistan since late 2001 and came under Nato control in 2003. It currently operates in the capital, the north and the west of the country with US-led forces hunting Taleban and Al Qaeda in the south and east.
Meanwhile, Afghan President Hamid Karzai met yesterday French President Jacques Chirac at the start of a three-day official visit to Paris.
It is the Afghan leader's first foreign visit since parliamentary elections last month in his war-shattered country, the first in more than three decades. The results are expected late this month.
In an interview with the newspaper Le Figaro, Karzai said he wanted to see anti-terrorist operations take place in neighbouring countries to counter the violence which still racks Afghanistan.
âMost of the terrorist acts committed in Afghanistan aren't prepared in our country. That's why we have to crack down on where they are organised,â he said.
He said he was ânot accusing anyone in particular,â though he has in the past alleged Pakistan was not doing enough to stop groups based on its territory crossing over the border to launch attacks in Afghanistan.
Karzai and three ministers accompanying him were also to meet French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy and Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie during talks yesterday and today.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/04/2005 01:19 ||
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Daumn,sounds like the ANA has come along nicely.
MIRANSHAH, Pakistan - Six militants were killed in an attack on a Pakistani military checkpoint in a tribal area near Afghanistan, the latest casualties from a spate of violence in the region, officials said on Monday.
The insurgents were among a group of up to 30 who on Sunday surrounded the Zara Mela checkpost in North Waziristan, a restive region where Pakistani forces have recently launched an offensive against Al Qaeda-linked extremists. âSix of them were killed when soliders returned fire, but they managed to escape with five bodies,â a military official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Okay, so you got .. one .. confirmed KIA.
Earlier a local administration official said they had found one body as well as a shutter gun rifle and a wireless set at the site, some 40 kilometres (24 miles) east of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/04/2005 00:00 ||
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These guys always seem to haul the bodies away. Even in Afganistan this is reported. What is up with that? These guys are not the USMC.
More on yesterday's story. It's Ramadan! Happy holidays!
Police carry a bomb blast suspect, after he was beaten by bystanders, at a court building in Chittagong, Bangladesh, Monday, Oct. 3, 2005. (AP Photo/Mostafizur Rahman)
Authorities ordered extra police and paramilitary patrols nationwide after several bombs exploded at court buildings in three Bangladeshi towns Monday, killing two people and wounding several others, police said. Police arrested at least six suspects caught by the public at the bomb sites in Chandpur, Laxmipur and Chittagong, according to a statement from Police Headquarters in the capital, Dhaka. Police also said they found some of the suspects carrying handwritten statements calling for Islamic rule. "We are thoroughly investigating to find out who were behind these bombing attacks," said the statement, which was signed by police spokesman Mahmudul Kabir. No one claimed responsibility for the blasts, but police suspect Islamic militants who have been blamed for several bombings in recent months, Kabir said. The bombs were taken inside the courtrooms hidden inside large books, it said.
The old exploding Koran trick, was it?
In the city of Chandpur, 40 miles east of Dhaka, a 60-year-old man was killed and a lawyer was seriously wounded when two bombs went off at a court building, a police officer there said on condition of anonymity. Police arrested two suspects from the scene, he added. Almost simultaneously, two more bombs exploded at a courthouse in neighboring Laxmipur town, killing an 80-year-old man and injuring at least seven other people â including a judge and a policeman, according to police officers and doctors. One suspect was held from the scene. Another bomb went off at about the same time inside a court building in the city of Chittagong, injuring one person, said witnesses and police. Chittagong is Bangladesh's second-largest city, 135 miles southeast of Dhaka.
Mullah Mastermind was arrested yesterday, so they've gotta have Dire Revengeâ¢...
Three suspects were arrested at the blast scene, Police Commissioner Majedul Huq told reporters.
That's the good part about Bangla: if the innocent bystanders get ahold of you, you're toast. And they might hand you over to RAB if you survive that experience...
Huq said police later found three unexploded bombs. After Monday's attacks, security was tightened at courts, rail and bus stations, airports, shopping malls, banks, office buildings and foreign embassies. "We have alerted everyone to take all necessary steps against any suspicious persons or acts," said Mizanur Rahman, Dhaka metropolitan police commissioner.
"The horse is gone! Lock the barn door!"
The bombings came less than a day after two separate attacks, one thought to be the work of communists and the other blamed on Islamic radicals.
Maybe there is something to the story about them working together...
On Sunday night in the country's southwestern district of Satkhira, unidentified assailants hurled crude bombs at men playing cards at a village market, killing two and injuring three others. Two suspected members of Purbo Banglar Communist Party, a banned Maoist group, were later arrested, police officer Azam Khan said.
Playing cards being a boorzh-wah passtime?
Also Sunday, a bomb went off outside a hospital in the eastern town of Brahmanbaria, 50 miles east of Dhaka. Officials said no one was hurt. Near the hospital blast, police found a handwritten leaflet threatening "more attacks if restaurants stay open during fasting hours" during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins this week. Bangladesh has a Muslim majority but is governed by secular laws. Islamic militants have been blamed for most of the numerous blasts that have hit the country in recent months.
Police caught Sohrab Hossain Bellal, 21, and Abul Kalam, 18, on the spot. Bellal hails from Panshai village of Kachua upazila and Kalam comes from Ranisara village under Chandina upazila. They are class X students of a high school. Police also nabbed Zinnat Ali, 38, suspecting his involvement in the bombing. Zinnat hails from Diarmondal village of Faridganj upazila.
After the blasts, police encircled the court and gathered evidence. An army team led by Lieutenant Colonel BM Zahid inspected the spot. Three persons sustained injuries when a bomb went off on the ground floor of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrateâs court in Chittagong, soon after two persons accused in the August 17 bombing case â Arshad Hossain and Abdus Sattar Mollah â were taken there at around noon.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2005 00:00 ||
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You know the Afgan and Iraqi campigns are working when Muslems bomb Muslem contries that aren't "Islmamic"enough.But don't expect the Left to acknowledge that fact though.
The Joint Interrogation Cell, after questioning the six militants arrested after bombings at the Chittagong court building on Monday noon, came to know that they had links with the same group, Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh, that was responsible for the August 17 chain-bombing, said a senior official of the JIC.
I'm just so surprised.
He said, âWe have confirmed their identity as JMB activists and after interrogation we got some important leads.â
"Mahmoud! Hand me those pliers! I think we got a lead here!"
"Damn! That's a big 'un! You're gonna need a Number 7 for that!"
JIC comprises officials of the DGFI, Special Branch, Detective Branch and Chittagong Metropolitan Police. âDuring interrogation one of the arrested militants, identified as Shahadat Hossain of Thakurgaon, confessed that his party had planned a series of bomb attacks in the country. This time they targeted court buildings and in the future they have other targets,â said the official. âWe are now trying to detect the identity of local people who sheltered and helped these militants.â
"Come out witcher hands up, Grandmaw!"
âWe will continue to interrogate them here for more details, and they are unlikely to be sent to Dhaka for further interrogation as we have already made headway and got important leads,â he added.
"Lemme go to Dhaka! Please lemme go to Dhaka?... Ummm... What the hell's that?"
The police and intelligence officials have begun a massive hunt for one Abul Kalam Azad alias Mohammad, who commanded the militants involved in the August 17 bomb blasts in Chittagong city. Mohammadâs name came up in the confessional statements of the five Islamist militants arrested earlier who were brought to the capital to be questioned by the Joint Interrogation Cell, said informed sources.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2005 00:00 ||
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a'soundin like dem dar Chicommies and Spetzlammies are becomin' a' mighty ambitious and a'pecular.
The law enforcers are on the hunt for the associates of arrested Islamist extremist Mufti Abdul Hannan, who took part in the war in Afghanistan against Soviet invaders, and planned massive attacks to establish Islamic rule in Bangladesh. Sources in the intelligence agencies said that the arrested Mufti Abdul Hannan, leader of banned Islamist outfit Harkat-ul Jihad Al-Islam who is now on a 10-day police remand, was maintaining good contact with his comrades after they returned to the country. Hannan reportedly instigated them to wage a war against the âenemies of Islamâ and fight to make Bangladesh a completely Islamic state, said sources. Hannan is being interrogated by the Rapid Action Battalion at its headquarters.
"Aaaaiiiieeee!"
"Shuddup. Just answer the questions!"
During interrogation, Hannan reportedly reiterated that he was not involved in the August 17 countrywide blasts that killed three people and injured over 150.
"No, no! Certainly not!"
"Hit him again, Mahmoud!"
He reportedly disclosed the names of some militants, most of them from Gopalganj, who are active in the country, said battalion sources. As per his statements, the plainclothes teams of RAB and intelligence agencies have beefed up their drives to nab bombers, said the sources.
That's a comfort. To me, anyway.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2005 00:00 ||
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Perhaps Steve could take a whack at writing tomorrow's lede today.
#2
So when is he going to take a ride to search for weapons caches??? Or did I miss something?
Dang, I hate plot twists...
Posted by: DanNY ||
10/04/2005 8:15 Comments ||
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He reportedly disclosed the names of some militants
It brings a smile to my face knowing tonight he'll take officers to the "militants" hideout, and drop a shutter gun and a couple of corroded old bullets after he's shot trying to escape.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
10/04/2005 9:48 Comments ||
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#1 Perhaps Steve could take a whack at writing tomorrow's lede today.
Tales from the Crossfire Gazette - Crystal Ball Edition:
Listed Terror Mufti killed in "crossfire" incident.
Mufti Abdul Hannan, leader of banned Islamist outfit Harkat-ul Jihad Al-Islam who was being held on a 10-day police remand, was killed (insert date) last night in what is being reported as a "encounter" between the RAB and cadre members of the banned group.
Abdul was arrested as a result of secret information in a swoop last week and "confessed" during "interogation" to involvement in the August 17th blasts, as well as the Lindburg kidnapping, being the man on the grassy knoll in Dallas and providing steroids to Barry Bonds.
After his totally voluntary "confession", Abdul was taken by the RAB to the deserted brickyard behind the abandoned rail station at 4AM to recover a hidden arms cache. While approaching the lair, the RAB team came under wildly inaccurate fire by a cadre of miscreants, hooligans and want-a-be number threes. The RAB reluctantly returned fire. The gunbattle raged for 8 hours with an estimated 2 million shots fired.
Taking advantage of the confusion, Mufti Hannan slipped out of the handcuffs, leg irons, straight jacket and duct tape covering his eyes and mouth, broke open the door of the armored police van and attempted to flee between the two lines of blazing automatic weapons. He was "apparently" caught in the crossfire and received a single .22 gunshot wound behind the left ear.
The remaining Harkat-ul Jihad Al-Islam cadre members vanished into the night, leaving behind one shutter gun and three rounds of bullet. Abdul was transported to Gopalganj Regional Hospital Bar & Grill and pronounced dead. Abdul was wanted for docitry, smuggling, 17 murders, failure to yeild and stealing HBO. A file was opened.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/04/2005 14:23 Comments ||
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The Bagerhat police have arrested three more JMB activists, including two siblings, from a village under Mollahat upazila and Daulatpur in Khulna district on early Monday. The police said that the siblings, Kalim Mollah, 30, and Jasim Mollah, 22, are activists of the JMB, and their father, Hekmot Mollah of Udaypur village, is a close associate of Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai, the chief of banned Islamist outfit Jagrata Muslim Janata. The two were nabbed from Khulna while the other, Zillur Rahman, was arrested from his village in Mollahat. The three reportedly divulged important information in connection with the bomb blasts in Bagerhat town. It was alleged that Bangla Bhai took shelter in their house in 2003 when he allegedly went to Mollarhat in a bid to kill one Tarapada Poddar of Gaola.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2005 00:00 ||
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Bangla: Dad 'n' Lads Bust in Bagerhat
The Associates:
Hekmot Mollah
Kalim Mollah
Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai
Zillur Rahman
The Principles:
Bangla Bhai
went to Mollarhat,
to kill Tarapada Poddar of Gaola.
Pakistani security forces Monday claimed killing alleged guard of leading Al-Qaeda figure, Tahir Yuldashev, in North Waziristan tribal agency, bordering Afghanistan, as latest spate of violence claimed six casualties, said security sources. Late Sunday, suspected Islamic militants fired several rockets on a military checkpost on Till Mir Ali road near Mir Ali village, where forces were engaged in an operation, security sources told KUNA.
They said militants encircled the checkpost at the time when troops were asleep. Sources said there was heavy exchange of fire and forces also used fired mortar and shells. They added that more than three hour long exchange of fire killed at least four militants. They said rest of the militants fled and that forces could hold of only one militant. Sources said according to initial investigative reports, the dead militant has been identified as Abdul Rehman, a Spaniard. They said he is suspected guard of Tahir Yuldashev, a leading Al-Qaeda figure.
More from Pak Daily Times...
6 militants killed in attack on military Six militants were killed in an attack on a military checkpoint on Monday. The insurgents were among a group of up to 30 who on Sunday surrounded the Zara Mela checkpost in North Waziristan.
That seems to have worked well...
âSix of them were killed when soldiers returned fire, but they managed to escape with five bodies,â said a military official. Security forces killed around 60 to 70 militants, including 35 foreigners and a senior Al Qaeda leader from Chechnya, during an operation in the Khatti Kalli village in North Waziristan last week, military sources told Daily Times. Uzbek militant Qari Tahir Yuldeshevâs lieutenant nicknamed âChamakâ from Chechnya was killed in the operation on Saturday, sources said speaking on the condition of anonymity. âChamak was the commander of militants from Central Asian states â Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Chechnya,â they added. Sources said that Chamak received multiple bullet injuries on October 1 and was shifted to the compound of Haji Malik Muhammad Alam in Machikhel, about 12 kilometres northeast of Mir Ali town, in critical condition for treatment, but he succumbed to his injuries.
"Rosebud!"
"He's dead, Jim!"
âThere are three close associates of Tahir Yuldeshev â local cleric Maulana Sadiq Noor provides him with logistic support in North Waziristan, Malik Khandan is the Uzbek leaderâs commander in Afghanistan, while Chamak commanded the foreign militants in North Waziristan,â sources said. Information about the militants killed in the operation was gathered through the local population. âMilitants do not leave bodies behind. They retrieve and bury them quickly,â they said.
"Mahmoud! Hurry with that shovel! He's startin' to stink!"
"He smelled that way before he was dead!"
âFive militants killed on September 30 were buried in a single grave in Khatti Kalli village whereas another eight militants killed on October 1 were buried at four different places in Machikhel,â said the sources. However, they added that the alleged âAl Qaeda facilitator in North Waziristanâ, Maulana Sadiq Noor and his deputy Malik Khandan, escaped during the operation.
"Curly-toed slippers, don't fail us now!"
Sources said that the security forces demolished Noorâs hideout on Sunday after evacuating the women and children living inside the compound. Tribal sources in Miranshah told Daily Times that the militants suffered heavy casualties in the search operation in which gunship helicopters and fighter jets were used. Meanwhile, a tribal jirga pledged conditional support to the government, asking the army to involve the political administration and tribal elders whenever a military operation was planned.
"Yeah, just give our military operations coordinator a call!"
"Who's that?"
"Mahmoud the Weasel."
The jirga also demanded a ceasefire from the army during Ramazan, tribal Senator Mateen Shah told Daily Times by phone from Miranshah. He said that resistance to Khatti Kalli operation was an âaccidentâ due to a âmisunderstandingâ.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2005 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
A Yemeni court yesterday acquitted four Iraqis of plotting to blow up the US and British embassies in Yemen in 2003 and ordered their release. The trial, which began on Aug. 7, saw the four men tried for âtaking part in a criminal agreement to form an armed group,â aimed at launching attacks against Western targets. Prosecutors told the court the defendants were officers in the Iraqi intelligence service who came to Yemen in late 2002, three of them posing as teachers with the fourth acting as a businessman. The prosecution claimed that police had seized four suitcases packed with explosives and remote control detonators in the groupâs alleged safe house in Sanaa. Presiding judge Muhammad Al-Baadani said there was no proof of the menâs connection to the Iraqi intelligence service and gave them the choice of remaining in Yemen or returning to Iraq.
A man believed to be from Libya was among a group of five foreign nationals arrested yesterday and facing deportation accused of threatening national security. The Guardian has established that Britain and the Gadafy regime have begun talks to reach an agreement which would allow Libyans deemed by the UK to be a terrorist threat to be returned there.
A SUSPECTED Islamic extremist was in prison last night after a dawn raid on a house in Cardiff. The man, who has not been named, is due to be deported under special powers used by the Home Secretary, Charles Clarke. Mohammed Javed, chairman of Cardiff's Police Advisory Committee, said the detainee was from Libya.
A Swedish appeals court upheld a guilty verdict for two Iraqis charged with plotting and financing "terrorist crimes," but reduced their prison sentences. After being sentenced by a district court last May to seven and six years behind bars, Ali Berzengi, 29, and Ferman Abdullah, 25, were again found guilty in the Svea Appeals Court of "preparing terrorist crimes, preparing destruction perilous to the public and for breaking the ... financing law."
French police on Monday arrested three suspected members of the armed Basque separatist group ETA, including the second in command of its military wing, and found a weapons cache, authorities said. Another of those detained, 
Iraq's oil minister survived an apparent assassination attempt on when a roadside bomb blasted his motorcade, the latest attack on the energy industry that is vital to rebuilding the country's beleaguered economy. Near the Syrian border, U.S. troops backed by fighter aircraft broadened a push against militant insurgents, killing at least 12 in and around the town of Sida. 
How to save Syrian president Bashar Assad and his regime from toppling â or rather how to save him from himself? This was the main topic exercising Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and Saudi King Abdullah when they put their heads together in Riyadh Monday Oct. 3. They needed to talk urgently because the UN investigator of the Hariri assassination Detlev Mehlis reported to the UN secretary general Kofi Annan and the Security Council that he has finished his business in Damascus and would not be returning. He had gathered all the evidence he needs to indict two of Assadâs close kinsmen, his brother Maher, head of the presidential guard brigade, and brother-in-law, Assef Shawqat, who is married to his sister Bushra, for involvement in the assassination plot against the Lebanese leader. 
ISLAMABAD - A Pakistani military court on Tuesday sentenced four people to death and handed two others life terms for their role in a 2003 attempt to assassinate President Pervez Musharraf, officials said. They were involved in a plot by junior Pakistani air force officials to kill Musharraf by blowing up a bridge in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, near Islamabad, on December 14, 2003. Musharraf narrowly survived. 
MIRANSHAH, Pakistan - Six militants were killed in an attack on a Pakistani military checkpoint in a tribal area near Afghanistan, the latest casualties from a spate of violence in the region, officials said on Monday.
The Joint Interrogation Cell, after questioning the six militants arrested after bombings at the Chittagong court building on Monday noon, came to know that they had links with the same group, Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh, that was responsible for the August 17 chain-bombing, said a senior official of the JIC.
The law enforcers are on the hunt for the associates of arrested Islamist extremist Mufti Abdul Hannan, who took part in the war in Afghanistan against Soviet invaders, and planned massive attacks to establish Islamic rule in Bangladesh. Sources in the intelligence agencies said that the arrested Mufti Abdul Hannan, leader of banned Islamist outfit Harkat-ul Jihad Al-Islam who is now on a 10-day police remand, was maintaining good contact with his comrades after they returned to the country. Hannan reportedly instigated them to wage a war against the âenemies of Islamâ and fight to make Bangladesh a completely Islamic state, said sources. Hannan is being interrogated by the Rapid Action Battalion at its headquarters.
The Bagerhat police have arrested three more JMB activists, including two siblings, from a village under Mollahat upazila and Daulatpur in Khulna district on early Monday. The police said that the siblings, Kalim Mollah, 30, and Jasim Mollah, 22, are activists of the JMB, and their father, Hekmot Mollah of Udaypur village, is a close associate of Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai, the chief of banned Islamist outfit Jagrata Muslim Janata. The two were nabbed from Khulna while the other, Zillur Rahman, was arrested from his village in Mollahat. The three reportedly divulged important information in connection with the bomb blasts in Bagerhat town. It was alleged that Bangla Bhai took shelter in their house in 2003 when he allegedly went to Mollarhat in a bid to kill one Tarapada Poddar of Gaola.
Pakistani security forces Monday claimed killing alleged guard of leading Al-Qaeda figure, 
Six militants were killed in an attack on a military checkpoint on Monday. The insurgents were among a group of up to 30 who on Sunday surrounded the Zara Mela checkpost in 
