Jim Hake over at "Spirit of America" is starting a "Blogger Challenge" to see which blogs can raise the most money for the great things his charity is doing in Iraq. While I'm not big on contests (I hate to lose), I signed up immediately because I support so completely what Jim is doing. If you're not familiar with it, click on the link just above.....
#3
I have been supporting Jim Hake's program for about 8 months now. His group is positive, proactive, and placing their resources that best promote a healthy Iraq. Aside from a few local charities, the two others I give money to are Rantburg and Spirit of America, because they are making a real difference. I would urge everyone to support Hake's organization.
(also, the virtual food and drink and company at the Weelus O-Club are second to none, electronically speaking......)
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/19/2004 16:10 Comments ||
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Authorities have detained two residents of the southern province of Ingushetia on suspicion of being linked to terrorists who held more than 1,000 people hostage in a school in September, officials said Thursday. Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev has claimed responsibility for the school seizure, which ended in gunfire and explosions, killing more than 330 hostages. Nikolai Shepel, Russia's deputy prosecutor general and head of the investigation into the Sept. 1-3 school seizure in Beslan in North Ossetia, said a 16-year-old resident of neighboring Ingushetia has been detained on charges of possible links to the terrorists.
Shepel wouldn't elaborate, but the daily Gazeta identified the suspect as Marina Korigova, a college student, and said she has been in custody for about two weeks. Investigators said Korigova had had 16 telephone conversations with a man who had taken part in the seizure, Gazeta quoted Korigova's lawyer as saying. The lawyer, Sharip Tepsayev, said Korigova said the man was her neighbor and insisted that she had done nothing wrong. The daily Vremya Novostei said another resident of Ingushetia, Akhmed Merzhoyev, 28, also has been detained on charges of involvement in the school seizure. It quoted investigators as saying Merzhoyev had delivered food to the assailants at their camp in a forest before the attack and that he knew about their plans.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2004 1:27:16 AM ||
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THE lawyer representing a Melbourne man accused of aiding al-Qaeda today said he was confident the charges would be dropped because his client was denied legal representation early on.
"Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'!"
Solicitor Rob Stary said an interview between Joseph Thomas, also known as Jack, and Australian police in Pakistan was tainted because he was denied a lawyer and was detained and questioned under arduous conditions. Thomas, 31, was arrested during early morning raids yesterday as counter-terrorist police swooped on two Melbourne properties. "There is a real issue as to those circumstances surrounding his detention and how that impacted upon the interview that was conducted, whether, then, it could be said that his answers were voluntary," he said.
"Yeah! I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece!"
"It seems to me that if the charges rely on what occurred in Pakistan we would be confident that we would be successful." Mr Stary said Thomas had been interviewed by agents of the intelligence services of the United States, Australia, Pakistan and perhaps others. "By the time the final interview was conducted with him it is fair to say the whole process was tainted in my view," he said.
"An' I'm a lawyer, so I should know!"
"We have previously expressed our disquiet at the way he was detained. There are suggestions that he was manacled during his detention, possibly hooded and in a way that might not meet United Nations protocols on the detention of political prisoners.
"He doesn't know if he was hooded or not. He had his eyes closed."
Mr Stary said the question of admissibility of his statement would have to be decided by the court. "But I would be confident that it would be seen to be inadmissible in the way it was conducted," he said. "He did ask to obtain legal advice. He was aware that his family had engaged legal practitioners in Melbourne. The authorities were aware of that fact."
Posted by: God Save The World ||
11/19/2004 00:01 AM ||
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I've got to get me a dishtowel like that. It's really very becoming...
FORMER Melbourne taxi driver Jack "Jihad" Thomas faces up to 50 years' jail if convicted of links to al-Qaeda and helping the group prepare terrorist attacks. Joseph Terrence Thomas, 31, alternately known as Jack, was arrested during early morning raids yesterday as counter-terrorist police swooped on two Melbourne properties. Mr Thomas adopted the name Jihad - meaning holy war or struggle - after converting to Islam at the Newport mosque in the late 1990s. Australian Federal Police and Victoria Police security intelligence detectives raided his Werribee home about 7am, seizing documents and a computer.
No explosives?
He was charged on three counts by the AFP joint counter-terrorism team: receiving financial support from al-Qaeda, providing al-Qaeda with resources to help them directly or indirectly carry out a terrorist act, and having a false passport. He faces a maximum 25 years' jail for each of the two terror charges and two years' prison or a $5000 fine for the passport offence. Seated behind a glass partition with his head bowed, Mr Thomas was remanded in custody during a brief hearing in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court. He is the first Australian to be charged under new terror funding laws and the fifth to face charges under toughened anti-terror legislation introduced in 2002.
Mr Thomas will appear in the same court on February 10, but defence lawyers Lex Lasry, QC, and Robert Stary said he would apply for bail on Wednesday. He was taken to Barwon Prison's maximum-security Acacia unit where he faces a 23-hour lockdown and restrictions on visitors and phone calls. The charges relate to Mr Thomas's time in Pakistan from November 2002 to January 2003. Outside court, Mr Stary said the charges would be strenuously denied. He questioned why police waited 18 months to arrest Mr Thomas and how he was expected to know about laws enacted while he was overseas. "He had been away from Australia for months and months before the law was made," Mr Stary said. "There is no way Mr Thomas could have known about it."
Mr Thomas is a former schoolboy punk band member and avid skateboarder who later became a chef at top Melbourne restaurants, including Carmine's and Madame Jo Jo's. He also drove taxis and was a volunteer worker for the homeless. He was arrested in Karachi, Pakistan, on January 4 last year, as he tried to board a plane to Australia via Hong Kong. Although Pakistani authorities claimed he had had personal contact with Osama bin Laden, took explosives training and associated with an alleged planner of the September 11 attacks, he was released without charge five months later and deported. Mr Thomas was questioned by AFP officers in his Pakistani cell, but admissions he allegedly made are believed to be inadmissible because of the absence of a lawyer. Back in Melbourne, he refused to take part in a formal AFP interview. At the time, Mr Thomas's father Ian told the Herald Sun his son was not a radical. "The sole intention of Jack's trip was to pursue Islamic studies ... he never showed any radical tendencies," he said.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
11/19/2004 00:01 AM ||
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Jack the Rat Jihad Thomas is his full name.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/19/2004 1:26 Comments ||
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Belgium police have arrested a man suspected of threatening to ritually slaughter a senator who had criticised fundamentalist Muslims. Socialist senator Mimount Bousakla was put under police protection this week after receiving the death threats. Belgian Justice Minister Laurette Onkelinx and two other politicians have also received death threats, but it is unclear whether the cases are linked. The suspect is reported to have admitted threatening Ms Bousakla. The Antwerp senator appears to have been targeted after she said Belgium's umbrella group for Muslim organisations, the Muslim Executive, should have organised protests against the murder of the controversial Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh, who was killed in Amsterdam by an alleged Islamic extremist on 2 November. Ms Bousakla, 32, whose parents are Moroccan, came to prominence after writing a book about her cross-cultural upbringing called Couscous with Belgian Fries. She has received sporadic death threats ever since, but this time they were taken so seriously that she went into hiding and was given round-the-clock police protection.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/19/2004 9:10:54 AM ||
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1. Can we all agree that Bousakla IS a moderate Muslim? With the female equivalent of Cojones?
(while conceding that Muslim Executive, if moderate, is moderates without Cojones)
2. Can we now see WHY moderate muslims who dont have the cojones this lady has, dont speak out?
#2
If they don't start to speak out they will live lives dominated by terrorists. But I think the beheading tapes have made them see that in the long run this is a fool's bargain and that they must begin to take risks or risk losing it all.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/19/2004 10:32 Comments ||
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If the moderates don't speak out the terrorists win.
If the moderates speak out and are outnumbered and outgunned, the terrorists win.
I think LH will disagree but I think only if millions of Moslems embrace apostasy as a response to Islamic terror can Islam be saved.
Authorities in Spain have re-arrested a Syrian-born al-Jazeera television reporter charged last year with fundraising for al-Qaeda. Tayseer Alouni, a Spanish citizen who lives in Granada, was arrested on Thursday evening on his way home. Mr Alouni is one of al-Jazeera's best known reporters, and has interviewed Osama bin Laden for the Qatari channel. Officials are said to have feared that he would flee the country after confirmation that he would face trial. However, no official reason was given for taking him back into custody. Spain's EFE news agency reported that the decision was made after a judge linked him to the banned Islamic group, the Muslim Brotherhood.
Works for me.
Mr Alouni was held overnight in police custody in Granada and then transferred to the capital Madrid, the agency said. Mr Alouni was among 35 people arrested and charged with terror offences in September 2003 under orders from Spanish High Court judge Baltasar Garzon. He was accused of having links to al-Qaeda and using reporting trips to Kabul, Afghanistan, as a cover for fundraising activities. Confirmation that he and 20 others would be tried came earlier this week. Mr Alouni was released last year on bail of 6,000 euros (£4,200 or $7,800), and was not allowed to leave Spain without the court's permission. He also had to report to court weekly. Al-Jazeera has consistently stood by its reporter since his arrest and has accused the US and Israel of inciting Spain to incriminate him. Mr Alouni's wife, Fatima, told al-Jazeera that she was surprised at her husband's re-arrest and claimed that Judge Garzon had turned the issue into a "personal affair"
Posted by: Steve ||
11/19/2004 9:04:24 AM ||
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US anti-terrorism agents have arrested 14 mostly-Muslim suspects for offences ranging from alleged immigration fraud to illegal gun possession, court documents showed. Five residents of the northwestern city of Seattle were arrested for allegedly plotting to help Gambians illegally seek asylum in the United States by claiming they were refugees from strife-torn Sierra Leone.
Seattle again, huh? Seems to be a real hot bed of islamic types.
A further four were arrested and charged with an elaborate bank fraud scheme, while five men were arrested for illegally possessing guns, including an AK-47 assault rifle, documents showed. While the cases are not directly linked, a joint Federal Bureau of Investigation and police anti-terrorism task force discovered the alleged offences after launching a single investigation that later multiplied. "The cases themselves are not related, but one investigation led to another until there were three," said Emily Langlie, spokeswoman for the US Attorney's office in Seattle. Five people were charged with conspiring to "assist immigrants, primarily from The Gambia, in fraudulently obtaining asylum in the United States."
The arrests by the joint-terrorism task force came after officers executed around 12 search warrants in the Seattle area early yesterday. The warrants obtained by KOMO television indicated that agents were looking for training manuals instructing people how to shoot, assault or kill and were also seeking any information about training children for urban warfare. The Seattle area has been the site of a number of terrorism-related arrests by US authorities in the past three years since the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
11/19/2004 2:59:00 AM ||
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"US anti-terrorism agents have arrested 14 mostly-Muslim suspects..."
So...were most of the suspects Muslim...or...were all of the suspects 'mostly-Muslim'? If the latter, what's the avg. percentage? I'm approx. 65% Scottish, 20% Irish, 10% Welsh and 5% Cherokee. Were the suspects 75% Muslim / 25% 'other'? This is important. They may have been plotting to blow stuff up only 75% of the time.
Posted by: Old Fogey ||
11/19/2004 13:13 Comments ||
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#4
Seattle; lovely city inhabited by strange people.
Posted by: Old Fogey ||
11/19/2004 13:13 Comments ||
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Since Seattle is a hot bed of looney thinking and leftist behaviour, maybe we should arrest the whole town.
Why does this not surprise me that we have numbers of Islamonutjobs in Seattle. After all that little twerp that was going to blow LAX sky high was headed for Seattle when he was arrested.
Maybe we should send the Marines to Seattle after they settle up old scores in Fallujah.
A bomb exploded in front of Western District court in Pansodan, Rangoon on the early morning of 18 November. There was no report of injury or damage due to the explosion but there have been tight security checks at the court delaying legal procedures throughout the day, according to a legal staff speaking on condition of anonymity. The staff explained that the court is hosting a combination of legal procedures from the neighbouring southern district, Latha Township and divisional courts and it has always been busy with people.
The explosion coincides with one month long arrest of former "prime minister" and Military Intelligence Service (MIS) Chief General Khin Nyunt and people are said to be very interested in the incident. Previously, whenever there was a bomb explosion, people always assumed that it was done by the MIS agents and now people are wondering if the latest explosion is the handiwork of disgruntled MIS agents. Only a small number of people in Rangoon are pointing their fingers at one of the armed rebel groups fighting the junta. But the government controlled media and newspapers haven't said anything about the explosion so far. U Htay Aung, an exiled expert on the Burmese army told DVB that both assumptions could be wrong as the explosion could be set up by the ruling generals to vilify General Khin Nyunt and his associates, and it could not be by the armed groups as there is neither political nor military gain for them by planting bombs in Rangoon.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/19/2004 10:38:12 AM ||
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A gunfight between police and Muslim refugees from Myanmar left dozens wounded Thursday in Bangladesh, an official said. The shootout started after a group of refugees attacked a police officer and a government official who were visiting their camp in the southeastern district of Cox's Bazar, said local administrator Mohammad Habibur Rahman. The camp has about 8,000 Islamic refugees who entered Muslim-majority Bangladesh in 1991-92, claiming discrimination by the military regime in neighboring Myanmar, which is mostly Buddhist. A radical group among the refugees is demanding permanent settlement in Bangladesh.
Just chocked full of radical groups in that part of the world, aren't we.
On Thursday, refugees armed with guns, knives and sticks severely beat visiting police officer Mohammad Wahid, Rahman said. It was not immediately clear what sparked the fight. When police arrived to rescue Wahid, a gunfight and hand-to-hand brawl broke out, Rahman said.
"Everybody was kung-fu figh-ting ..."
Dozens of people, including Nurul Alam Choudhury, the government official in charge of the camp, were hurt. Wahid was hospitalized and in serious condition, Rahman said. Choudhury escaped with slight injuries. Police arrested nine refugees, while others involved in the fight fled into nearby forests. Police were looking for the fugitives, Rahman said.
Why bother? Let the tigers handle it.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/19/2004 12:06:35 AM ||
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Investigations of Maulana Nasiruddin (54), the Muslim cleric of Hyderabad, who was recently arrested by the Crime Branch have allegedly unearthed his links with the Communist Party of India (Maoist), the erstwhile People's War, and other naxalite groups active in Andhra Pradesh, the Crime Branch officials have said.
Nasiruddin, Cleric of Hyderabad! There's something about that name that makes me think the only man who could stop him is John Carter, Warlord of Mars.
One of the main conspirator in fanning communal passions and instigating terrorist activities in India, Maulana is said to have been working to create an umbrella organisation of all factions of SIMI, Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and other jehadis to intensify 'holy war' and terrorist attacks in India, believe investigators.
He's building SPECTRE
Maulana, during his sevenday police remand that ended on November 10, was grilled not only by the Crime Branch but also by central agencies like IB and CBI. On Friday, Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) DG Vanzara said that during interrogation Maulana had made several startling disclosures that exposed his links with hitman, Asghar Ali, who had shot down former state home minister Haren Pandya near Law Garden in 2003. "The Maulana has said in his confessional statement that Osama Bin Laden is his role model. He also said that he was instrumental in sending Asghar Ali to Pakistan for training and that Ali had done a great service to the cause of 'jehad' by killing the former minister," said Vanzara. The Crime Branch also claims to have unearthed links between the Muslim cleric and Abu Hamza, the alleged mastermind of the terrorist attack on Akshardham temple, now based in Saudi Arabia. Maulana has been associated with Jamat-e-Islami since 1968-70. "A hardcore jehadi activist, terrorist network set up by Maulana covers the entire country. While in Delhi during April 2001, he established a new organisation — Tehriq Tahkush Shayar Isla. He was aiming at an umbrella organisation that would launch a 'Khilafat movement' in the country for which he has also floated an outfit called Muslim Defence Force (MDF)," said Vanzara.
A big thinker, our Maulana
Vanzara claimed that two of Maulana's associates, Mohammad Hanif and Abdul Aziz, had gone to Bosnia for terrorist activities, and also to Chechnya where they were briefly detained by police for suspicious activities.
Lurking without the proper papers
As per the Crime Branch, the youth killed in the shoot-out in Hyderabad when Maulana was being arrested, Mujaheed Salim Azmi, also allegedly has a criminal background. Maulana's interrogation revealed that Mujaheed was wanted for allegedly sheltering the accused in the serial bomb blast case of Coimbatore. "The Tamil Nadu government had declared a reward of Rs 50,000 for any information leading to the arrest of Mujaheed," added Vanzara. "Mujaheed had gone to Pakistan through Nepal to escape arrest in other cases against him. In Kashmir, he stayed at the residence of a leader of All-Party Hurriyat Conference, Syed Shah Geelani, who the Crime Branch said runs a terrorist outfit called 'Aamiri Jehad'.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/19/2004 3:29:24 PM ||
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Cuz, it ain't friday without your nuggets Gwadar given to America Quoted in Nawa-e-Waqt leader of Jamhoori Watan Party Balochistan and Bugti tribal head Sardar Akbar Bugti said that Gwadar was being developed by Pakistan to give facilities to the biggest American naval fleet. For this the entire coastal land stretching 40 miles inland would be separated from Balochistan and given to the Americans who will control oil trade in the region and keep Iran under challenge. Well-known journalist Irshad Haqqani wrote in Jang confirming statement by the Baloch tribal leader Nawab Akbar Bugti that an American naval base — "the biggest in South Asia" — would be constructed in Gwadar to facilitate the operation of CENTCOM in the region. The "item" coincided with the official visit of the CENTCOM chief General John P. Abizaid and has prompted conspiratorial think-pieces. According to Nawab Akbar Bugti, the planned naval base will take the area stretching from Karachi to Jiwani (including Gwadar) away from Pakistan. In fact, the tribal chief claimed that the vast coastal belt stretching 40 miles inland had already been detached from Balochistan. He said his party would cooperate with any other party that planned to fight for the return of the Baloch territory from the United States. Nawab Akbar Bugti had a complete scenario to offer the bewildered journalists. Through a base in Balochistan, the United States was to establish its contacts with the Central Asian states struggling to shrug off the oppressive foreign policy yoke of Russia. From here the Americans would control the movement of oil and international shipping and "all other trade" in addition to challenging Iran. He had an interesting observation to make about China whose company has been given an "out-of-turn" contract by Pakistan to develop a deep-sea port at Gwadar. The Nawab said: China is merely a "contractor" and will collect its money and quietly step aside, after the port is complete, to allow the Americans to take over. China is not in a position to take a "takkar" (clash) with the United States; it couldn't even liberate nextdoor Taiwan from the Americans. It was merely interested in strengthening itself economically and had no stomach for war.
I see Karl Rove's handiwork here. Damm, he's good.
Imran Khan's party in doldrums
According to Khabrain, Insaf Party of Imran Khan was at sixes and sevens because of lack of attention by the leadership. Two factors had led to the scattering of the party in the four provinces. One, Imran Khan left Lahore and went to Islamabad from where he could not keep in touch with the provincial cadres.
Kind of like Tom Daschle.
How can you keep them down on the farm once they've seen Paree Islamabad?
Two, the second big leader Meraj Muhammad Khan left the party denouncing Imran Khan's method and style as party leader. Imran Khan's return from abroad at the time of writing was being awaited by the scattered party.
Turkey and Pakistan
Columnist Ataur Rehman writing in Nawa-e-Waqt said that the difference between Turkey and Pakistan was that in Turkey a government had come into being after a free and fair election and was able to deny the Americans facilities to attack Iraq. Turkey needed America for support for its entry in the European Union but it still remained a free country and refused the Americans. Turkey rejected a possible American aid of $25 billion, unlike Pakistan which provided America facilities for its attack on Afghanistan.
"So, all we need are free and fair elections and we can kick out those Americans who keep demanding free and fair.......wait a minute"
No 'azan' without 'beard'
According to Nawa-e-Waqt, an ASI of Ferozwala near Shahdara called Ghafoor took offence at a man saying azan on the mosque loudspeaker without a beard. Ghafoor got so angry on this sacrilege that he and his gang started firing at the muezzin without a beard. One woman got injured while the villagers complained about the Islamic policeman.
Was she the muezzin without a beard? Heard there's a lot of that going on.
Tablighi Jamaat member embezzles 25 crore
Daily Pakistan reported from Dipalpur, Sahiwal, that a cloth merchant named Haji Muhammad Yunus was an ardent member and supporter of Tablighi Jamaat but he was now nowhere to be seen after defrauding the widows and innocent people of the city of Rs 25 crore. He lured them in by announcing that he would give them free-of-usury (riba) income if they invested in his business. At first he gave them Rs 25,000 to Rs 40,000 as profit per year but then suddenly disappeared taking Rs 25 crore worth of deposits with him.
Charles Ponzi is alive and well and on the run in Dipalpur
Ahmedis are 'achchoot'
Abu Ammar Zahidur Rashdi wrote in daily Pakistan that a couple of Qadianis had written a book saying that their community had been forced to live like achchoot (untouchables) in Pakistan although Allama Iqbal had done bayat on the hand of their founder Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, and that had the Muslims accepted the Qadianis as their brothers the district of Qadian would have fallen to Pakistan and thus Kashmir could not have gone to India. The writer said that the Ahmedis were indeed achchoot in Pakistan but they had brought this down on themselves by holding a heretical faith.
I swear, this reads like a bad SciFi script.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/19/2004 12:54:16 PM ||
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is not in a position to take a âtakkarâ (clash) with the United States; it couldnât even liberate nextdoor Taiwan from the Americans.
I wasn't aware that we were imposing Evil Imperialist Crusader Occupation upon the poor people of Taiwan.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
11/19/2004 13:19 Comments ||
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Okay, come clean Fred, you've hooked up the NameGen to the UrduVerb Engine and Slaved them both to the Diesel Editor.
...Who, among the global millions who have watched NBC's videotaped-shooting, realize that a comrade of the Marine in question was killed by a booby-trapped corpse the day before? That same corpse-bomb wounded five others in the unit. And who, among those same millions, realize that even as Marine X, NBC's global anti-hero, was shooting the enemy he suspected was playing possum, just a block away, another explosive-rigged corpse was killing another young Marine?... Extenuating circumstances.
IRAQI forces, backed by US soldiers, stormed one of the major Sunni Muslim mosques in Baghdad after Friday prayers, opening fire and killing at least three people, according to eyewitnesses.
That's different. Usually it's the True Believers (TM) storming around with guns after Friday prayers.
About 40 people were arrested during the raid at the Abu Hanifa mosque in the capital's northwestern Azamiyah neighbourhood, witnesses said. Another five people were wounded. US troops were seen securing the outer perimeter of the area and sealing it off. Some American soldiers were also seen inside the mosque compound.
Hope they took their boots off...
Witnesses heard explosions coming from inside the mosque, apparently from stun grenades. Inside the office of the imam, books and a computer were found scattered on the floor, and the furniture was turned upside down.
Was it like that when the soldiers went in...or after they left?
At least 10 US armoured vehicles were parked in front of the mosque, along with two vehicles carrying about 40 Iraqi National Guards, witnesses said. Abu Hanifa mosque has long been associated with anti-American agitation and support for the former regime. Saddam Hussein was seen in the area as the city fell to American forces in April last year. US Marines fought a fierce gun battle with Saddam loyalists around the mosque on April 10, 2003, the day after the ousted ruler's statue was hauled down on Firdous Square. Yesterday, the Iraqi government warned that Islamic clerics who incite violence will be considered as "participating in terrorism".
Guess they meant it.
A number of them have been arrested, including several members of the Sunni clerical Association of Muslim Scholars which spoke out against the US-led offensive against Fallujah. "The government is determined to pursue those who incite acts of violence. A number of mosques' clerics who have publicly called for taking the path of violence have been arrested and will be legally tried," said Allawi's spokesman, Thair al-Naqeeb. "Some mosque clerics incite people to kill the police and the National Guard ... They're considered participating in terrorism."
Posted by: God Save The World ||
11/19/2004 10:00:01 AM ||
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#1
This is a major development. So far clerics in Iraq have gotten a free pass. The religious leaders wonât sanction legal action against clerics because it threatens their own religious authority. It is a big change for the Iraqi government to authorize this raid and the arrest of clerics. How will Sistani react? Will this increase the Sunni vs. Shiite tension?
In the past an Iraqi blogger (discussing Sadr) claimed that the clerics must be held accountable to secular authority for democracy to have a chance in Iraq.
#3
Maybe Allawi discussed this already with Sistani already. Accountaability and responisibility are important concepts in a country for its survival. Heaven knows we in the US are having to relearn these concepts.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/19/2004 11:52 Comments ||
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Wouldn't I love to be a fly on the wall at the Allawi-Sistani summit...
An intelligence official in Lahore said on Thursday the authorities had captured Osama Nazir, a member of the outlawed Jaish-e-Muhammad, for planning a grenade attack on a church in Islamabad two years ago. Five people, including two Americans were killed in the attack in March 2002. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Nazir was picked up at a mosque in Faisalabad this week. UPDATE: FAISALABAD, Nov 18: Osama Nazir, one of the alleged masterminds of attempts on the lives of President Gen Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, was picked up from a local madressah on Wednesday night.
Everyone's a mastermind, it seems.
Sources said the arrest was made when personnel of an intelligence agency and the Elite Force and police commandos raided the Madressah Fatehul Quran Al Arabia, adjacent to the Jamia Masjid Zikriya, in Civil Lines. The raiding party searched all rooms of the madressah and mosque compounds and took into custody belongings of some students. The team arrested Osama Nazir, a top ranking militant of the banned outfit Jaish-i-Mohammad, who carried a reward of one million rupees on his head. The team also recovered cell phones, computer disks, some documents and other material related to the jihadi organization and terrorist networks.
Excellent!
The sources said Osama Nazir was the second-in-command of Jaish-i-Mohammad and was a close associate of Jaish chief Maulana Masood Azhar. He had direct links with Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar and Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden. He had visited Afghanistan on various occasions, especially during the Taliban regime, and Kashmir.
Didn't everyone?
The sources claimed that Osama Nazir had been residing in the mosque in the vicinity of Civil Lines Police Station for almost a fortnight using a fake name. He was also allegedly involved in attacks on churches in 2002 and 2003 in different parts of the country. No government official or senior police officer was ready to comment on the arrest. However, one police officer on condition of anonymity confirmed the arrest, saying that 'secret agency personnel' had conducted the entire operation and police just assisted them. The man was taken to some unknown location for interrogation.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/19/2004 9:17:22 AM ||
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nice catch - keep going
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/19/2004 9:55 Comments ||
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Osama Nazir was reported KILLED in July 2004.
Now it is reported that this dead man has been arrested?
Someone has some explaining to do!
World Vision Australia, the last Australian aid agency operating in Iraq, has decided to end its operations there because it is too dangerous. The organisation says its decision to leave was made before the apparent murder of Care Australia's Iraq director, Margaret Hassan. World Vision Australia chief Tim Costello says the agency had been trying to improve sanitation and help in the rehabilitation of hospital patients. "It's work that now has to be handed back to the local Ministry of Health and the local government bodies there," he said. "Any dollars that we still have will go back to institutional donors, so it's sad that it's unfinished work. "Your first priority is always your own staff and it has just become intolerable and too dangerous." Mr Costello says the agency was the last Australian aid organisation in Iraq and aid workers have mixed feelings about leaving the country. "They're torn between leaving a job that they came to do and people that they've come to love and knowing that this is now a clear policy decision," he said. "It's not a difficult decision to make when you have policies that say, when it gets to this level you simply have to withdraw."
Posted by: God Save The World ||
11/19/2004 2:47:52 AM ||
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I want to be a doctor and do good stuff and all, but gosh I really cannot stand to be around sick people. I think I will go find a place to practice medicine where the people are all healthy.
Much more pleasent that way, dontchyathink?
Posted by: Michael ||
11/19/2004 11:54 Comments ||
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The group led by al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi said it beheaded two Iraqi National Guards in broad daylight in Mosul, a statement found on an Islamist site Friday said. "They were both slaughtered in Mosul in front of a large group of people," the statement by Al Qaeda Organization of Holy War in Iraq said, adding it happened Thursday afternoon. The claim, dated Nov. 18, could not be immediately verified.
Posted by: Destro ||
11/19/2004 5:39:46 AM ||
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#1
Wonder if al-Jezeera will deign to broadcast it? Fire up their core audience.
Also why are Iraqis surrendering to Wahabis and Baathists? The Iraqis have seen what happens when the "militants" get hold of prisoners.
Posted by: ed ||
11/19/2004 6:29 Comments ||
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#2
too busy covering a US Marine's self-defense
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/19/2004 8:35 Comments ||
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#3
I can see it now. The insurgents promising to look into this, and punish those responsible. The whole Arab world condeming and demanding punishment for the soldiers who killed unarmed men. Right?
Yeah right. This alone, should get the marine off.
MOSUL: Iraqi commandos backed by US troops were preparing to storm insurgent strongholds in the city of Mosul yesterday as US-led forces continued their bid to clear the city of rebels. "We are going to start with an area in the centre and then move to places like Al Yarmuk and Sheikh Fatehi Street further west," said Major General Rashid Flaih of a special commando force sent from Baghdad to help restore order in Iraq's main northern city. "We will seize all weapons that we find and cleanse this city of criminals and terrorists."
Excellent!
About 1,200 US soldiers and 1,600 Iraqi troops, including commando, national guard and army units, are taking part in the operation. Flaih said he suspects many rebels flocked to Mosul recently from Fallujah and Samarra after military operations in those two cities to the south. He said 24 suspects were arrested yesterday during raids on a hospital and homes in the Sheikh Fatehi area on the northwestern side of the city. In Al-Yarmuk district, two suspected insurgents were killed and a US soldier slightly wounded in a clash, according to a US military commander. Troops pulled up outside a grain and food distribution warehouse belonging to the Iraqi ministry of trade, from where they said insurgents were suspected of firing mortars, he said. All they found inside were a dozen frightened guards, but suddenly two rebels in an adjacent four-storey building fired on US troops, while one of them pulled out a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. Soldiers immediately opened fire, devastating the building and killing the insurgents.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/19/2004 12:18:22 AM ||
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#1
Oh yeah, announce the plan to all and sundry, General. Real smart.
#4
There's something truly humiliating about facing an enemy so good they can tell you their plan and there's still nothing you can do to stop them. That humiliation is a powerful weapon in the ME. It saves civilian lives and lets them know it doesn't pay to let the terrs infest the neighborhood. It also keeps the terrs on the run so that they can't go on the offensive. In every city, we find out where they stayed and who their friends are that will need close watching in the future. I just hope we don't stop chasing them till we kill them all or get to Tehran.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/19/2004 7:44 Comments ||
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#5
I think this basically a game of you can run but you can't hide.
#6
It's a head game. The terrorists can run but at some point they will not be able to hide. This also sends a message to the civil population. Don't hide these guys or we will turn you neighborhood to a pile of rubble. I am sure the pictures of how Fallujah looks today are in circulation. everyone is going to get the message soon. At some point the terrorists will be outed or the civilian population will take matter into their own hands.
#9
Willnot this chasing effort here be much more difficult than Fallujah? Mosul has 6?? times the population of F'jah.. We are playing a game of 'hide and seek' with the insurgents. Without the help of the locals pointing out the bad guys, it looks like a much bigger effort than F'jah. How many of the locals will support the insurgents versus supporting the TROOPS ??
#10
Three stages of Locals versus "insurgents"
(1) active support "Thank Allen you're here...drive the infidels out!"
(2) resignation "OK, you can hang here for a bit...but try not to defile my virgin daughter, ok?"
(3) opposition "Get the FUCK AWAY FROM ME AND MY CITY!!...I've seen Fallujah, and I hate YOU morons worse than the Americans!"
#11
yes Mosul is bigger than Fallujah, but it only a little over half the city that is the problem - there are large Kurdish and Turkmen minorities there, its only the Sunni Arab sections where the insurgents will hide.
The coalition hasnt amassed as large a force, but then the insurgents havent had the months to prepare defensive positions.
Probably not worse than Fallujah for coalition forces, but probably more insurgents will get away, as the cordon seems skimpier and last minute.
As for local support for the coalition within the Sunni arab pop of Mosul, thats real hard to say. There have been conflicting reports for the last 18 months - from this is a hotbed of former regime elements, to claims that Petraeus and the 101st had built up good contacts, etc. But how long are those contacts good for? Anyones guess, Id say.
#12
Those contacts are good for as long as you can protect them. That's why I suspect we may need more troops.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/19/2004 10:00 Comments ||
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#13
T-Cal
How do you know we don't have the help of locals pointing out bad guys? Nothing suggests we don't have that help in the article...or any other article I've read. Is that just an assumption on your part?
#15
The real story in this article is contained in the following sentence: "but suddenly two rebels in an adjacent four-storey building fired on US troops, while one of them pulled out a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. Soldiers immediately opened fire, devastating the building and killing the insurgents."
That's what will drive the Iraqi population's attitudes towards "insurgents" and will break the back of the "resistance."
#16
Plus getting them to run also opens up the "off camera" activities that even Tommy Franks said to expect. Plenty more goblins will die trying to run away. Intel gets better and better. I think announcing our plan is often part of the plan.
#17
MJH-
Yes, it is an assumption on my part that the Sunni insurgents will try to 'hide' or blendin with their fellow 'clansmen' in Mosul. Are they welcomed there? Are all Sunni Mosulites on the side of the troops?? It would make this thing alot easier if everyone were on the troopside pointing out the BAD GUYS..
#18
Part of the psyops is for the enemy to see itself on the defensive.
It doesn't so much matter if General Flaih gives correct info or purposely incorrect info or if he just shouts 'death and hell to the jihadis'. All that matters is that after his announcement there is a lot of shooting and dead jihadis (I would actually prefer he shouted 'death and...".
#19
Are all Sunni Mosulites on the side of the troops?? It would make this thing alot easier if everyone were on the troopside pointing out the BAD GUYS.
This will happen as elections draw near and average sunni voters realize that the bad guys are only going to succeed in depressing votes in sunni-majority districts.
Lesson: you bomb, you lose. Shi'a and kurds will utterly dominate the sunnis in that case.
#23
The General is telling the Islamofcists where the attack is coming hoping they won't be there when the attack goes in. He is looking for a few easy victories that will build up the confidence of the IPs and Defense Forces and the confidence of the citizens in them. Crawl before you walk deal. Screw the trolls they are all chickenshit.
Nepal's army Thursday denied a state-run radio report that hundreds of Maoists were killed in a clash with soldiers near the site of a road blockade west of the capital. "We don't have any information about the killing of hundreds of Maoists," an army official said when asked about the radio report late Wednesday. "I don't know on what basis the radio reported the killing of hundreds of rebels."
Rats.
The report said the rebels and the army were engaged in a fierce battle and scores of people were killed near the site of the blockade. The army official said eight soldiers were killed in fighting near the road blockade and that seven reported as missing elsewhere were safe. Nepal's Maoists staged a blockade of traffic Tuesday and Wednesday on a major road to and from Kathmandu in protest at the killing of four rebels. The blockade was centered where the rebels were killed last week in the district capital of Dhading, 90 kilometers (50 miles) west of Kathmandu on the road leading to the tourist destination of Pokhara.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/19/2004 12:04:45 AM ||
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#1
From StratgyPage: The army denied press reports that "hundreds" of rebels had been killed in recent battles. The number of dead rebels was closer to 50-100. Reporters are not able to get out into the bush and count bodies. Instead they get as close to the fighting as they can, and ask around for information on what has been going on. This often leads to distorted reports.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/19/2004 11:37 Comments ||
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The U.S. is offering $5 million for help in capturing Abu Musab al-Suri, an al-Qaeda weapons expert who is an ally of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a leader of the anti-U.S. insurgency in Iraq, the State Department said. Al-Suri, also known as Mustafa Setmariam Nasar, trained terrorists in poisons and chemicals at the Derunta and al-Ghuraba terrorist camps in Afghanistan, State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said in a statement in Washington. The $5 million bounty for al-Suri, offered through the State Department's Rewards for Justice program, may reflect growing U.S. concern with al-Qaeda's effort to develop and use weapons of mass destruction, said R.P. Eddy, a former National Security Council counter-terrorism director in the Clinton administration. ``The significance of the reward could be because of Zarqawi's role in Iraq, but I am more inclined to believe it is one of the first public steps in the Bush administration's invigorated focus on keeping WMD out of the hands of terrorists,'' said Eddy, now managing director of Gerson Lehrman Group, a research firm for investors in New York. The timing of the reward also may reflect growing U.S. awareness of al-Suri's activities as U.S. military forces explore sites in Iraq that had been controlled by al-Zarqawi and his allies, said Lorenzo Vidino an analyst at the Investigative Project, a Washington-based counter-terrorism institute.
Popped his pointy little beturbanned head up above the grass, did he?
U.S. forces in Iraq are in the second week of attacks in Fallujah, which the U.S. considered a haven for insurgents, foreign fighters and terrorists. Residents of the city harbored al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian who claimed responsibility for kidnappings and beheadings of foreigners in Iraq as well as other attacks, according to U.S. officials. Al-Suri, a Syrian with dual Spanish nationality, is wanted by authorities in Spain on suspicion of organizing the train bombing in March in Madrid that killed nearly 200 people. The State Department has no comment on the reasons behind the timing of the reward offer for al-Suri, spokeswoman Tara Rigler said. While al-Suri may have weapons expertise, his more significant role might be in providing religious justification for al-Zarqawi's actions, Vidino said. Al-Zarqawi is a ``high school drop-out, not very educated,'' Vidino said. ``When Zarqawi releases all these communiques with very high-level references to the Koran and Islamic writings, Zarqawi wouldn't be able to do that by himself. He'd need somebody to do it. And people think it's al-Suri.''
Actually, he could be quite capable of doing it himself. An intelligent man or woman can educate himself or herself. Lincoln was self-educated, for instance. I think it's pretty dangerous to underestimate an enemy like that.
He's managed to survive in an extremely violent, destructive culture in the middle of a war. Has to have some smarts.
Posted by: Robert Stevens ||
11/19/2004 00:01 AM ||
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Marines, sailors and soldiers of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) conducted a Humanitarian Assistance Operation, which provided medical and dental treatment to more than 115 Iraqis here, Nov. 12. The Medical/Dental Civilian Assistance Program, or MedCAP/DenCAP, was organized by MEU Service Support Group 11, 11th MEU (SOC), with help from soldiers of Detachment 1, Company C, 451st Civil Affairs Battalion, attached to the MEU. "Working with the local deputy minister of health, we tried to find some of the poorest areas in the province and identified a requirement in the village of Ash Shafiyah," said Lt. Col. Ted A. Ruane, commanding officer, MSSG-11, 11th MEU (SOC). "We were able to get supplies and many other things just came together at one time in order to make this mission happen." After establishing security and setting up the site, team members processed a total of 464 people. More than 115 Iraqis received medical treatment and dental treatment. The rest went through the line to get food, water and gifts, which included soccer balls, miscellaneous toys, backpacks, school supplies and hygiene items. Al-Jizm no where to be found to report the incident.
"A lot of what we saw were general aches and pains, and the more routine medical issues we face such as ear infections, upper respiratory infections, pneumonia, diarrhea and the occasional surgical case," said Army Maj. Tad Gow, nurse, 601st Area Support Medical Company, augmenting the MEU. "Many people here have crossed eyes or cataracts but we were limited in the kinds of treatment we could give. There were a lot of patients who just needed information." Medical and dental personnel gave hygiene and toothbrush classes, talked about its importance and how it could prevent diseases and generally allow them to maintain better health. "(Iraqis) don't know too much about good hygiene," Gow said. "Basic hygiene information tends to go a long way with them as far as having a positive effect on their health. Most of their problems are caused by their lack of information and general health knowledge."
According to Gow, the majority of patients attended were either children ages 1 to 5 or people older than 50. "These are the kinds of operations I think we're here for," Gow continued. "Of course our primary mission is to serve soldiers, sailors and Marines in an emergency but anything we can do to show the Iraqis that we really do care, that we are compassionate and not just for our own people will go a long way."
One of the challenges faced during the operation was the low number of Iraqis who went to see the dentist, although many of them needed dental treatment. "Most of the Iraqi's had teeth that were literally rotting in their mouths or so infected that they needed to come out," said Navy Lt. Brian Olsen, dentist, Health Services Detachment, MSSG-11, 11th MEU (SOC). "Because of Ramadan, they wouldn't let me pull their bad teeth out. If they bleed and swallow it, it would be considered breaking their fast." Makes sense to me.
According to Ruane, even with the challenges they faced, the operation was a textbook HAO. "It was amazing, with all the training that we did during workups, this operation actually went down just like we'd rehearsed it back in Camp Pendleton, Calif.," Ruane said. "We set up the site fairly quickly, we were able to process the people quickly and we had the security element in place. It was well rehearsed and well run." Ruane said the operation was a great opportunity for personnel of the unit to go out and support the local Iraqis. They got a sense of what they're doing in Iraq, that they are making a difference. "I think we made a difference in their lives," said Petty Officer 2nd Class Juan L. Reyes, dental technician, Health Services Detachment, MSSG-11, 11th MEU (SOC). "That little bit of knowledge we gave them about how to brush their teeth and proper hygiene, if they use it, could give them a healthier life."
Posted by: Jarhead ||
11/19/2004 00:01 AM ||
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#1
Many people here have crossed eyes
Was he talking mainly about kids? That's kinda weird.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/19/2004 10:27 Comments ||
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#4
Explains the problem with marksmanship
Posted by: Steve ||
11/19/2004 11:17 Comments ||
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#5
In all seriousness, I get the feeling that this kind of good-will can go a long way to secure the "support of the population" (even if the arab press ignores it, the locals are aware)
Lets them see more than just bullets. (How many "insurgents" care about people - other than as targets or bomb carriers/drivers?)
Posted by: GP ||
11/19/2004 13:00 Comments ||
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#6
This ain't just mercy. It's also good psy-ops.
Posted by: GP ||
11/19/2004 13:01 Comments ||
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The extradition hearing of suspected Al Qaeda member Ibrahim Ali Abubaker Tantoush was postponed yet again in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court today. The matter was delayed because no presidential permission for his extradition to Libya had been obtained. Because South Africa has no extradition treaty with Libya, presidential permission must be obtained before a person can be sent to that country for trial. South Africa, where the death penalty is unconstitutional, cannot extradite people to another country for trial if they face being put to death.
A Justice Department official at the court said the decision on extradition would not be made until an assurance that Tantoush would not be executed was received. Tantoush will appear again on May 17 next year. He is on R8,000 bail in South Africa pending the outcome of the extradition proceedings. He faces charges in Libya of stealing gold to fund Al Qaeda activities, but was arrested in Pretoria in February for allegedly being in possession of a fake South African passport. Tantoush's bail conditions were relaxed today, allowing him to report to the Brixton police station once rather than twice a month. He was reminded to stay away from airports and harbours, as in his original bail conditions. Today's postponement was the fourth delay in the extradition proceedings. Earlier this year, 702 Eyewitness News reported that Tantoush was a suspected Al Qaeda operative, alleged to have stolen large amounts of gold in 1985 to fund Osama bin Laden. He has also allegedly attended various Al Qaeda training camps. Tantoush reportedly denied the claims at the time, saying Libya wanted to punish him for his role in a student uprising in the late 1980s.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/19/2004 3:28:33 PM ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Authorities have detained two residents of the southern province of Ingushetia on suspicion of being linked to terrorists who held more than 1,000 people hostage in a school in September, officials said Thursday. Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev has claimed responsibility for the school seizure, which ended in gunfire and explosions, killing more than 330 hostages. Nikolai Shepel, Russia's deputy prosecutor general and head of the investigation into the Sept. 1-3 school seizure in Beslan in North Ossetia, said a 16-year-old resident of neighboring Ingushetia has been detained on charges of possible links to the terrorists.
Belgium police have arrested a man suspected of threatening to ritually slaughter a senator who had criticised fundamentalist Muslims. Socialist senator 
Investigations of 
Quoted in Nawa-e-Waqt leader of Jamhoori Watan Party Balochistan and Bugti tribal head Sardar Akbar Bugti said that Gwadar was being developed by Pakistan to give facilities to the biggest American naval fleet. For this the entire coastal land stretching 40 miles inland would be separated from Balochistan and given to the Americans who will control oil trade in the region and keep Iran under challenge. Well-known journalist Irshad Haqqani wrote in Jang confirming statement by the Baloch tribal leader Nawab Akbar Bugti that an American naval base — "the biggest in South Asia" — would be constructed in Gwadar to facilitate the operation of CENTCOM in the region. The "item" coincided with the official visit of the CENTCOM chief General John P. Abizaid and has prompted conspiratorial think-pieces. According to Nawab Akbar Bugti, the planned naval base will take the area stretching from Karachi to Jiwani (including Gwadar) away from Pakistan. In fact, the tribal chief claimed that the vast coastal belt stretching 40 miles inland had already been detached from Balochistan. He said his party would cooperate with any other party that planned to fight for the return of the Baloch territory from the United States. Nawab Akbar Bugti had a complete scenario to offer the bewildered journalists. Through a base in Balochistan, the United States was to establish its contacts with the Central Asian states struggling to shrug off the oppressive foreign policy yoke of Russia. From here the Americans would control the movement of oil and international shipping and "all other trade" in addition to challenging Iran. He had an interesting observation to make about China whose company has been given an "out-of-turn" contract by Pakistan to develop a deep-sea port at Gwadar. The Nawab said: China is merely a "contractor" and will collect its money and quietly step aside, after the port is complete, to allow the Americans to take over. China is not in a position to take a "takkar" (clash) with the United States; it couldn't even liberate nextdoor Taiwan from the Americans. It was merely interested in strengthening itself economically and had no stomach for war. 
About 40 people were arrested during the raid at the 
He said 24 suspects were arrested yesterday during raids on a hospital and homes in the Sheikh Fatehi area on the northwestern side of the city. In Al-Yarmuk district, two suspected insurgents were killed and a US soldier slightly wounded in a clash, according to a US military commander. Troops pulled up outside a grain and food distribution warehouse belonging to the Iraqi ministry of trade, from where they said insurgents were suspected of firing mortars, he said. All they found inside were a dozen frightened guards, but suddenly two rebels in an adjacent four-storey building fired on US troops, while one of them pulled out a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. Soldiers immediately opened fire, devastating the building and killing the insurgents.
U.S. forces in Iraq are in the second week of attacks in Fallujah, which the U.S. considered a haven for insurgents, foreign fighters and terrorists. Residents of the city harbored al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian who claimed responsibility for kidnappings and beheadings of foreigners in Iraq as well as other attacks, according to U.S. officials. Al-Suri, a Syrian with dual Spanish nationality, is wanted by authorities in Spain on suspicion of organizing the train bombing in March in Madrid that killed nearly 200 people. The State Department has no comment on the reasons behind the timing of the reward offer for al-Suri, spokeswoman Tara Rigler said. While al-Suri may have weapons expertise, his more significant role might be in providing religious justification for al-Zarqawi's actions, Vidino said. Al-Zarqawi is a ``high school drop-out, not very educated,'' Vidino said. ``When Zarqawi releases all these communiques with very high-level references to the Koran and Islamic writings, Zarqawi wouldn't be able to do that by himself. He'd need somebody to do it. And people think it's al-Suri.'' 
