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Today's Headlines...
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| 200 kiddies hostage in North Ossetia |
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9/1/2004 Afghanistan/South Asia
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Hundreds of protesters attack mosque in Nepal to protest deaths of 12 in Iraq
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#2 Nepalese Muslim groups have condemned the killings saying the "inhuman act is against Islam".
By thier silence, the Islamic groups of Nepal and elsewhere allow this stuff to happen, and when it get's out of control, they don't see they are just as responsible as the idiot's who did this. |
| Posted by: plainslow 2004-09-01 8:15:19 AM Comment
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#5 Plainslow: “they don't see they are just as responsible as the idiot's who did this”
No, they aren’t “just as responsible”. The terrorists who did it are bloody murders. The Muslims who don’t speak out are in denial that their religion encourages and harbors bloody murders. Or in some communities they may be Muslims who fear to speak out because they are intimidated by those who do support bloody murders. Or they are members of Muslim communities that neither encourage nor condone violence toward non-Muslims and feel no connection with or responsibility for the sects that do support terrorism.
Muslims who don’t speak out against terrorists are somewhat to blame for the poor global reputation of Islam just as those on Rantburg who fail to condemn extreme statements such as those by Plainslow are responsible for pushing moderate Muslims toward radicals.
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| Posted by: Anonymous5032 2004-09-01 9:14:17 AM Comment
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| #6 I'm sure every harsh comment on Rantburg creates another jihadi. The actual contents of the Quran aren't nearly as important as rude comments on the Internet. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford
[http://www.kloognome.com]
2004-09-01 9:39:07 AM Comment
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| #7 Anon5032-What extreme statement did plainslow make? |
| Posted by: jules 187 2004-09-01 9:40:47 AM Comment
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Bombing kills 4 in Baluchistan
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A bomb explosion killed four people and wounded fifteen others at a sweet shop in Qalat, a small town 140km south of Quetta on Tuesday. The three dead included two intelligence officers.
According to police, the homemade bomb had been planted inside the shop. The explosion occurred at about 1130am, said Provincial Home Secretary Abdul Rauf. No one has claimed responsibility for the blast and it was not immediately clear who was behind it. Police said investigations were underway.
The three men who died were intelligence officers Syed Tauqir Shah and Mushtaq Shah, and the shopkeeper, Sheikh Manzoor. The fifteen wounded were taken to Qalat Civil Hospital.
It wasn’t clear if the two law enforcement agents were the targets, although police official Salim Lehri said they routinely went there for breakfast and lunch. It is believed the two officers were eating when the bomb exploded.
The explosion also damaged several nearby shops and an electrical transformer that caused a power cut in the area.
Officials say the violence in Balochistan is not connected with the ongoing military campaign against Al Qaeda militants in the semi-autonomous western tribal regions of Pakistan.
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Mob sets fire to mosque in Nepal
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Commies or royalists?
A mob set fire to Kathmandu’s biggest mosque on Wednesday after Islamic militants in Iraq killed 12 Nepalese hostages, witnesses said.
The protestors also destroyed furniture and electrical equipment in the Jama Masjid mosque, they said. Riot police used batons to try to control the angry protestors, the police said.
Meanwhile, hundreds of angry youth even attacked private employment agencies in Kathmandu, blaming them for sending the 12 Nepalese jobseekers to Iraq.
They also smashed the windows of the government Department of Labour and Employment office in the capital, the police said. The government, wary it will be targeted for its failure to secure the release of the hostages, beefed up security at important offices, an official said.
Demonstrations erupted in the capital Kathmandu late on Tuesday after news that the 12, who had left the impoverished kingdom in search of jobs, had been executed by militants who had abducted them about 10 days ago, accusing them of co-operating with US forces.
Around 50 people demonstrated outside a mosque in Kathmandu on Tuesday night. They burnt tyres and demanded punishment for those behind the murders, the police said.
A statement announcing the killings was posted on an Islamist website by an Al Qaeda-linked group called the Army of Ansar al-Sunna and accompanied by pictures and video footage of the killings.
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#1 Commies or royalists? Methinks rightfully pissed off Hindus.
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| Posted by: GK 2004-09-01 2:29:58 AM Comment
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#2 Cause/Effect
Nepal is 3.8% Muslim and 86.7% Hindu according to the CIA World Factbook. It is also the officially Hindu state in the world. |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2004-09-01 2:30:01 AM Comment
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| #3 The Kathmandu street is royally pissed, all right. The offices of Qatar Airlines (first choice of Al JuhZero) also caught it. |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2004-09-01 2:55:15 AM Comment
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#4 The Nepalese should be pissed. Here is a photo of the bodies lined up in a pit. Looks like they were shot at the top of the photo, then lined up for presentation.
Yahoo photo link |
| Posted by: ed 2004-09-01 3:15:47 AM Comment
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#5 Very sad ed. Couldn't they have just taken a knee for mohhamed.(
So much for that. Damn! |
| Posted by: Lucky 2004-09-01 3:26:09 AM Comment
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India plans to build long-range missiles with Israel
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NEW DELHI: India, which tested an indigenously-built ballistic missile on Sunday, is holding talks with Israel about joint production of a long-range missile, the country’s chief military scientist announced on Tuesday. “Wherever they have strengths, we want to jointly develop the missiles so that both countries can benefit and share designs, costs and risks,” V.K. Atre told reporters in Hyderabad, the hub of India’s missile-building facilities.
| India has Israel as a partner, while Perv has ... ... North Korea. |
Atre did not elaborate about the system which India hopes to build jointly with Israel. He said talks are being held between India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation and its state-owned Israeli counterpart. Atre denied that Israel was already helping India to build guided missiles and said defence cooperation was confined to research and the development of sensors and fibre-optic gyroscopes for the military. India, which treated Israel like a pariah for decades, has in recent years forged close military links. It is acquiring two Phalcon Airborne Early Warning Systems from the Jewish state at a cost of a billion dollars. On Sunday, India successfully tested its medium-range Agni-II (Fire) missile, which has a maximum range of 2,500 kilometres (1,560 miles) and can carry a one-tonne nuclear warhead.
India is also planning to test its Agni-III missile which has a range exceeding 3,000 kilometres but has not announced a date, reportedly due to pressure from the United States to delay the test. The Indian army has already armed itself with Agni-I missiles, which have a range of 700 kilometres. India and Pakistan held nuclear tests within two weeks of each other in 1998. Since then they twice came close to war in their dispute over Kashmir but relations been recently been improving.
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| #1 I was sure Israel had made a deal with India. Does India have some subs too? |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2004-09-01 1:11:34 AM Comment
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| #2 India will be commisioning the first of a batch of nuclear subs in a few years. Israel has tested submarine-fired missiles off the coast of India in the past. |
| Posted by: Paul Moloney 2004-09-01 3:12:59 AM Comment
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| #3 Yup as I thought, they got a deal. Hope Israel gets some nukes at sea to counter Iran soon. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2004-09-01 3:19:54 AM Comment
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9/1/2004 Africa: Horn
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9/1/2004 Africa: Subsaharan
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Oil security, al-Qaeda offshoots worry the US
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The United States is urging oil-producing West African states to step up their defences against terrorism amid signs that new groups linked to Al-Qaeda are emerging across the continent, a top US general said yesterday.
General Charles Wald, deputy commander of the United States European Command (EUCOM), said key producers had not yet done enough to improve shipping security and protect critical energy infrastructure such as pipelines and offshore rigs from possible terrorist attacks. "We think they need to, we’re advising that they do, and we think they need to do it fairly rapidly. Our feeling is they need to step out on this."
Wald was speaking after a trip last week to Nigeria, Angola, Gabon, Sao Tome and Cameroon, accompanied by Republican Chuck Hagel of the Senate foreign relations committee.
This region, the Gulf of Guinea, now provides around about 15% of US oil supplies and that share is projected by experts to grow. Worries about security of oil supplies have helped push crude to record highs recently on world markets.
Wald was speaking at EUCOM’s headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, from where it oversees an area of responsibility totalling 91 countries and territories, covering all of Europe and most of Africa. As part of a US strategy to help African countries boost their counter-terrorism defences, US special forces have trained local forces in Mali and Mauritania this year in skills such as marksmanship, communications and navigation. A team of 25 marines recently completed an eight-week course in Chad, and has moved on to Niger.
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9/1/2004 Britain
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Captain Hook de-arrested but still detained
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Muslim cleric Abu Hamza is no longer being questioned by UK authorities on alleged terror offences after being de-arrested.
But he remains detained at the high-security Belmarsh prison, where he has been since May following an extradition request from the US.
Hamza was arrested at the prison in south-east London last week under the Terrorism Act 2000 and taken to Paddington Green police station for questioning on suspicion of being involved in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism.
The cleric faces 11 charges in the US where he is accused of playing a key role in Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda terror network.
The allegations also relate to a hostage-taking incident in the Yemen in 1988 in which three Britons were killed.
Hamza is also accused of trying to set up a terror training camp in the US state of Oregon and sending another radical Islamic fundamentalist to Afghanistan to fight the Taliban.
Detectives at Scotland Yard were understood to be probing allegations relating to the provision of support for terrorism, rather than involvement in any specific plot.
The full extradition hearing is due to resume at Bow Street Magistrates’ Court in central London on October 19.
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| #1 I hope they jail him in Oregon. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-09-01 1:53:18 AM Comment
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#3 Usually they say "released". Heh.
"Mr... [looks down at form] ...Hamza. I've got good news for you. The charges have been dropped. You're free to go..."
"Really?! Ululul-"
"...back to your cell [snigger]"
"-ulu...poo! You infidel camel-suck-mmph-ow! [sounds of a scuffle]" |
| Posted by: Bulldog
2004-09-01 9:20:04 AM Comment
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9/1/2004 Caucasus
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Hostage-takers demand Russian withdrawl from Chechnya
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The attackers who raided a school in Russia’s North Ossetia autonomous republic are now demanding the withdrawal of Russian troops from the republic of Chechnya, where small groups of rebels are still fighting for independence, ITAR-TASS reported Wednesday. They are also demanding the release of terrorists who were arrested in the republic of Ingushetia in June following a terrorist attack on police stations there, and that the President of Ingushetia Murat Zyazikov and a well-known Moscow-based pediatrician Leonid Roshal arrive at the school building for talks. Roshal represented the government as a negotiator during the siege of a Moscow theater in 2002
Earlier in the morning armed and masked attackers took up to 400 people hostage, including 200 children. The attack happened on the first day of the Russian school year when many parents escort their children to school. Russian President Vladimir Putin has cut short his holiday and returned to Moscow from the Black Sea resort of Sochi due to the hostage crisis. He held a meeting with Russia’s top law enforcement officials at the Vnukovo airport in Moscow a few minutes after his arrival. Putin looked alarmed and disturbed when shown on Russian television meeting with Nikolai Patrushev, the director of the Federal Security Service. Putin did not make any statements to the media.
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| #1 I think we should storm the Moskkk in Fraudi Arabia, and hold that big square rock hostage, until Islam agrees to withdraw from the rest of the world. Suicide will suffice in most cases. Let's see how they like being held hostage. |
| Posted by: Victory Now Please 2004-09-01 9:55:45 AM Comment
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| #2 VNP-Motion seconded. |
| Posted by: jules 187 2004-09-01 9:58:16 AM Comment
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Russian hostage-takers refuse talks with Muslim leader
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The attackers who took up to 400 children and adults hostage in Russia’s North Ossetia earlier Wednesday have refused to talk with the leader of the Muslim community in the region, Mufti Ruslan Valgatov, the Itar-Tass newsagency said. "He is trying to establish a contact with the terrorists," Itar-Tass quoted officials in the city of Beslan as saying. The attackers, however, refused to negotiate with Valgatov and insisted on talks with the president of Russia’s North Ossetia republic. North Ossetia is predominantly Christian but has a small Muslim community. The adults and school children were kept captive when about 25 to 30 attackers with explosive belts and guns stormed the school in a covered truck of the type often used for troop transport. The attackers warned that they would blow up the school in Beslan if police tried to enter the school. The hostages were rounded up in the school gym and ordered to face the floor, according to Itar-Tass. Attackers threw a video tape out of the window, demanding the release of all terrorists arrested in the raids in Russia’s Ingushetia republic on June 21-22.
At least three civilians were killed during the seizure in the region bordering the volatile Chechnya, a duty officer at the regional Interior Ministry was quoted by Itar-Tass as saying. "One body lies near the entrance and two others are on a road near the fence," he said, adding that the militants opened fire as people tried to approach to recover the bodies. The footage on television channel NTV showed attackers in camouflage with guns control positions around the school and othermen in civilian dress with light automatic rifles pace nervously. It also showed a girl in a floral dress and a red bow in her hair run around a corner after escaping from the school, which just opened again after the summer vacation. Up to 50 children, who had apparently hidden during the seizure, managed to escape from the school, Itar-Tass said. Just before the seizure, a large number of parents had accompanied their children to a ceremony marking the start of a new school year. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin cut short his seaside holiday on Wednesday and headed back to Moscow. The Interfax news agency quoted the Kremlin as saying that Putin had discussed the crisis with his interior minister and the head of the FSB security service.
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Gunmen holding over 200 children hostage in North Ossetia
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This would be Basayev’s MO, looks like he’s building up to a big and bloody finale ...
Armed attackers on Wednesday took at least 200 schoolchildren hostage in the southern Russian province of North Ossetia, Itar-Tass news agency quoted local officials as saying. Interfax news agency quoted local police as saying women and men wearing belts of explosives were among the attackers in the Ossetian town of Bislan, not far from the rebel province of Chechnya. A gunbattle broke out with police near the building after the assault on the school. It said at least one man had been killed in the shootout. The agency said the gunmen may also have attacked a second school, but other agencies did not confirm this. The gunmen staged their attack on the first day of the new school year. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s envoy in the region said: "At the moment police are being called to the scene. It is not immediately clear how many schoolchildren and parents have been taken. "There is a shootout in the area," the envoy, Vladimir Yakovlev said.
| Hostages for hostages, reprisals for atrocities: Inform the Islamic Heroes™ that for every hostage killed, two members of their immediate families will be killed. |
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| #1 Ah brave terrorists..going after children I see. The bastards. |
| Posted by: Valentine 2004-09-01 3:47:48 AM Comment
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#2 Dateline: Moscow 11/12/2002
"If you are prepared to become a radical Muslim and undergo circumcision, I invite you to Moscow."
"Our nation is multi-confessional, we have specialists in this field who can deal with this. I suggest you have an operation so that nothing grows out of you again," the Russian leader said.
Mr. Putin, don't wait for them to come to Moscow, it's time you to send your specialists to chechnya, doctors-without-borders-style, yeah? |
| Posted by: Dripping Sarcasm 2004-09-01 8:06:10 AM Comment
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| #3 Encyclopedic Dan Darling, or other reader: There was a discussion, I think in LGF, about 1-2 weeks ago, where someone mentioned a friend who encountered ominous warnings in a Jihadi bulletin board. The discussion contained links, etc. The preductions in this case seem to have played out with some fidelity. Do you or anyone else here recall that discussion, and can you get me a link to it? Thanks. |
| Posted by: longtime lurker 2004-09-01 8:42:54 AM Comment
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| #4 Right now it looks like Basayev's launched a series of major attacks in and outside of Chechnya. Whether this is something he came up with on his own (and he's certainly a bloodthirsty enough bastard) or whether this is being internationally coordinated with the rest of al-Qaeda remains to be seen. If it's the latter, then we should know soon enough. |
| Posted by: Dan Darling
[http://www.regnumcrucis.blogspot.com]
2004-09-01 9:26:59 AM Comment
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Hostage Taking in Two Schools in Northern Ossetia
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gazeta.ru reports that two schools are in the hands of insurgents.
Sorry, only Russian link for now.
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| #2 Chechen terrorist scumdogs? |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2004-09-01 2:49:44 AM Comment
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#3 Schools, Children...
Who else? |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2004-09-01 2:54:27 AM Comment
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#4 ITAR-TASS talks about 200 children been taken as hostages.
Oh boy. That could be troublesome. Forget about gas this time.
Brave Jihadis. What kind of virgins do you get for killing school children? |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2004-09-01 3:16:13 AM Comment
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| #5 Several teacher killed already, terrorists said to wear bomb vests. |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2004-09-01 3:25:16 AM Comment
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#6 Brave Jihadis. What kind of virgins do you get for killing school children?
School children. |
| Posted by: Another Dan 2004-09-01 3:25:40 AM Comment
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| #7 This is right out of the Basayev playbook. The plane booms and attacks inside Moscow, the raid into Ingushetia, ect, he's been building up for another grand finale a la the Moscow theater seige. |
| Posted by: Dan Darling
[http://www.regnumcrucis.blogspot.com]
2004-09-01 3:27:50 AM Comment
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| #8 time for Putin to take out a Saudi school to show he knows who the hell is paying for this crap. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2004-09-01 3:28:00 AM Comment
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| #9 The "bury in pig skin" approach should really be considered. |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2004-09-01 3:28:03 AM Comment
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| #10 Sorry, TGA. I just had a spirited "jihad" discussion with my sister and need to work on the ol' blood pressure. That, plus my spontaneous disgust over this news item may have unintentionally come across as sarcasm. If I've never said it before, thank you for your posts and comments. You're truly one of the main reasons that I keep lurking around here. |
| Posted by: Another Dan 2004-09-01 3:29:39 AM Comment
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| #11 Welcome :-) |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2004-09-01 3:31:56 AM Comment
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| #12 I wonder if the school is in an ethnic Russian neighborhood? I thought most Ossetians were Muslim. If the hostages are mostly Muslim children, I don't see how this could play well in the wider Islamic audience. |
| Posted by: ed 2004-09-01 3:34:45 AM Comment
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| #13 I think the Roman method with some modification could be applied. The condemmed was sewn into a bag with a dog, ape and some other animal. The bag was then tossed into a river. This could be modified with a pig, and a dog. Sew whats left into a pig, head poinitng away from Mecca (after removing the nether regions.) I imagine you would soon find few who would volunteer for "jihad". |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2004-09-01 3:34:56 AM Comment
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| #14 Yoo-hoo, Mohammedan scum, Russia isn't Spain. |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2004-09-01 3:42:33 AM Comment
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#15 Actually, a minority of Ossettes are Muslims, but most are (or were, pre-USSR) Orthodox Christians. Also, by ethnicity and language, they're Iranian/Persian and not too closely related to anyone else in the immediate neighborhood. Consequently, they're traditionally one of the more Russophile tribes in the Caucasus and don't get along too well with their neighbors, especially the Ingush (kissing cousins to the Chechens). For the handful of you who don't know about South Ossetia (it's been in the news lots lately too), it's part of Georgia and by its own admission wants to return to Moscow's control.
(Sorry. I'm a Caucasus geek.) |
| Posted by: Another Dan 2004-09-01 3:48:40 AM Comment
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| #16 CNN has a grainy picture now of a little kid, maybe mid- or -late elementary. How courageous. Also, this town is right inside the border from Ingushetia (close to Chechnya too). |
| Posted by: Another Dan 2004-09-01 3:52:48 AM Comment
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#17 They started school today and parents accompany their kids on their first day at school. Expect a good number of 6 and 7 year olds.
I can't think of anything more despicable and vile (except the apologists spinning the action).
Goodbye Grosny. |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2004-09-01 3:59:49 AM Comment
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| #18 And CNN still calls them "armed attackers" and "rebels". |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2004-09-01 4:01:47 AM Comment
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#19 Are these pro-Georgians that want our help holding off the bear? Does the group who is doing this understand that hurting children is most likely to intimidate no one, to convince no one and to win-over no one (except the Palestinians?)
I don't know which side is right in this conflict, but why don't we all support killing these perpetrators and all their associates then we can get back to the argument after we have buried these creeps in a septic tank. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-09-01 4:21:09 AM Comment
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#20 SH, the previous Georgian administrations (especially Gamsakhurdia but, to a lesser extent, Shevardnadze too) tended to buddy-up with the Chechens. And yes, Georgia is now our buddy. So the friend of our friend is our enemy, in this case.
My dream scenario would be for Saakashvili and Putin to reach a behind-closed-doors deal, with Georgia cutting the Chechens loose in exchange for Putin dropping the S. Ossetian and Abkhazian mafia states. Then the alignments would all make sense.
I can dream, can't I? |
| Posted by: Another Dan 2004-09-01 4:35:22 AM Comment
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| #21 Dan, I am up for any deal that brings peace as long as these child molesters are stacked like cord-wood prior to negotiations. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-09-01 4:37:31 AM Comment
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| #22 (raises a cup to Super Hose's sentiments) |
| Posted by: Another Dan 2004-09-01 4:45:47 AM Comment
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| #23 Before I shuffle along to bed, here's a recent article with some background on the Ossetians (heavier on the south than the north). Be warned: Gary Brecher's amoral nihilism is pretty non-Rantburgish (his Moore-esque appearance doesn't help), but he still knows the area. |
| Posted by: Another Dan 2004-09-01 4:57:54 AM Comment
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#24 I'll be very surprised if this turns out to be anyone other than Chechens. Some/all of the attackers are wearning bomb belts, both sexes, sounds like a re-run of the Moscow theatre siege.
Difficult to imageine getting lower than this (but I'm sure they'll try...) |
| Posted by: Lux 2004-09-01 5:10:20 AM Comment
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#27 ANY - COMMENTS - FROM - OUR - REGULAR - ISLAMOMURDER - APOLOGISTS - ?
Reports say they've already killed some teachers. Does that give you a warm glow, Gentle? |
| Posted by: Bulldog
2004-09-01 5:34:35 AM Comment
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| #28 Not a lot - should imagine shit-fer-brains Murat and Gentle are whipping themselves into a frenzy of ululation over the latest atrocity committed by their ilk. |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2004-09-01 6:04:27 AM Comment
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#29 I think the Roman method with some modification could be applied.
I think the method the Romans applied to the Spartacists should be applied. From Grozny to Petropavlosk. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford
[http://www.kloognome.com/]
2004-09-01 6:59:20 AM Comment
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| #30 Don't be hasty brainless dUcK, nobody can be happy about child murderers (Bush included), they are worse than terrorists |
| Posted by: Murat 2004-09-01 7:37:53 AM Comment
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| #31 How many of those dead Armenian kids did your grandad murder eh, Murat? |
| Posted by: Anonymous6234 2004-09-01 7:46:40 AM Comment
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| #32 None, the "Armenian genocide" is nothing more than a fairytale with lots of fabrications |
| Posted by: Murat 2004-09-01 7:55:03 AM Comment
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#34 Naturally the demons in the school are demanding the release of prisoners, the most common of Mohammedan terrorist demands, and the most frequently appeased.
If any harm comes to those children, if some are rescued but others are not, then every prisoner whose release was demanded should be shot or hanged at once and the video broadcast all over the Muslim world.
Bush and Sharon can't do this kind of medieval stuff, Putin can and the Russian street would cheer him for it.
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| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2004-09-01 8:07:17 AM Comment
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| #35 Coming to a theater of war near you: Vlad the Impaler, Part 2. |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2004-09-01 8:08:45 AM Comment
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#36 Coming to a theater of war near you: Vlad the Impaler
Yep I admit, that one is killed by my grandpa. |
| Posted by: Murat 2004-09-01 8:33:34 AM Comment
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#37 Bush and Sharon can't do this kind of medieval stuff, Putin can and the Russian street would cheer him for it.
But can the CIA, I mean supporting Chechen rebels against Russians, worked in Afghanistan. |
| Posted by: Murat 2004-09-01 8:35:17 AM Comment
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#38 Take your drooling dope fantasy conspiracy fantasies to someone who will buy them, Murat. I suggest the Euro media you sold your soul to. Maybe you can buy it back and sell it to the Iranians for TWO of their many-times-recycled 60s dope-fantasies.
You backward-ass baboons amaze me. You are literally stuck in the 1960s, enslaved by every word some asshat on tv tells you, and not realizing that this is an obsolete American method, even as you make your make your pathetic pig-squeals attempting to demonize us with it.
Your grandpa never killed anything but the dogs they cooked for dinner. |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2004-09-01 8:42:17 AM Comment
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#39 If they want prisoners released, I say put them in a truck and send them to grozny. Then, if the children are released or not, make the rubble bounce in grozny. Fuck these animals. Where's our islamo-whore gentle at to defend these scum? Huh? Where are you whore? These are YOUR people. Fine, upstanding muslim scum. Islam has truly become a pestilence upon our world. And if you people don't clean up your act and join the civilized world, well, we'll end you. We'll have no choice.
scum sucking pieces of pig shit. |
| Posted by: AllahHateMe 2004-09-01 8:52:06 AM Comment
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#40 A father of one of the children was killed when he tried to stop the child-hostage takers.
Muslims better take a close look at what is happening in Nepal. People are sick of Islam's evil ways. |
| Posted by: TS(vice girl) 2004-09-01 9:01:41 AM Comment
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| #41 On #18 (TGA): CNN just gets worse and worse. Isn't most of it owned by the Saudis? |
| Posted by: Bryan 2004-09-01 9:06:44 AM Comment
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| #42 Russian-imposed media blackout in Chechnya in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... |
| Posted by: Bulldog
2004-09-01 9:11:26 AM Comment
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| #43 Take each terrorist in jail whose release they are demanding, and suspend them head down in a black cauldron of bubbling pig's blood, once every 10 minutes, until the children are released. |
| Posted by: Ptah
[http://www.crusaderwarcollege.org]
2004-09-01 9:21:44 AM Comment
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#44 ...nobody can be happy about child murderers...
Except the Palestinian Authority. |
| Posted by: jules 187 2004-09-01 9:37:22 AM Comment
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#45 Sorry. I'm a Caucasus geek
Dont apologize - geekie info of this sort is why many of us come here - and put up with all the BS. |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2004-09-01 9:41:37 AM Comment
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#46 ...the "Armenian genocide" is nothing more than a fairytale with lots of fabrications
Yeah. About half a million. Right, douchebag? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2004-09-01 9:51:45 AM Comment
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#47 8 people killed so far...no word on if any of them are children.
Of course if it's 8 adults, then the children just watched their parents be slaughtered. |
| Posted by: TS(vice girl) 2004-09-01 9:53:16 AM Comment
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#48 Bush and Sharon can't do this kind of medieval stuff, Putin can and the Russian street would cheer him for it.
Correction: Bush (Blair) and Sharon can't do this -- yet. Give a few more attacks by these 'big brave muslims warriors for Islam' and they would be cheered on as well.
BTW: Where are the mythical moderate muslims? 'Religion of Peace' my ass.
TS (vice girl) having children watch their parents get slaughtered is the muslim way. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool
2004-09-01 10:00:43 AM Comment
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Chechen clerics to support Moscow-backed president
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| Islamic officials of Chechnya will support the newly elected Chechen president in his work to achieve peace and stability, the republic’s Mufti Akhmad-Khaji Shamayev told Interfax on Monday morning. "He is a courageous general with strong will, who starting from the moment he was elected chairman of the public council for control over the restoration of Chechnya’s economy and social sphere, demonstrated that he is also a developed politician, capable of solving complicated economic and organizational issues," Shamayev said. Alkhanov "is a man of honor, his word and duty, which is of great significance for any leader," he said.
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Al-Guardian on Chechen black widows
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Dusk was falling over the Chechen village of Kirov-Yurt when the Russian troops approached Uvais Nagayev, 32, at the gate of his family house. They asked him and his friend Zaur Dagayev, 29, for their passports, beat them to the ground, and dragged them to a nearby cemetery.
They made the men lie down on gravestones and shot them. Mr Dagayev was killed outright. Mr Nagayev, wounded, managed to crawl home under cover of darkness. Six days later, on May 3 2001, he was taken from his home again by Russian troops. This time he did not return.
His family heard nothing more of him until a Russian security officer told them he had been tortured, forced to confess some unspecified crimes, and killed. His body was blown up with explosive, a common tactic to hide the identity of victims.
Continued on Page 71
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| #1 Next time kill the wives as well. |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2004-09-01 4:24:23 AM Comment
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9/1/2004 China-Japan-Koreas
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Brit Minister to visit North Korea
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In a small softening of relations between North Korea and the west, it was announced yesterday that Bill Rammell of the Foreign Office is to become the first British minister to visit the communist state. The breakthrough came after North Korea agreed that Mr Rammell would be entitled to raise human rights issues, as well as nuclear disarmament concerns. Mr Rammell has been critical of North Korean human rights abuses in debates in parliament, as well as in meetings with North Korean ministers visiting Britain. But the subject has been banned from discussion for any visiting Foreign Office ministers.
| Couldn't offend the Norks, they might vomit grass all over the carpet. |
Mr Rammell reiterated yesterday that if North Korea also cooperated over its nuclear programme, all kinds of possible aid would be made available. "They have to irrevocably commit to getting rid of their nuclear weapons: that is the absolute bottom line," he said yesterday, adding that if Pyongyang were to do that, Britain could consider granting aid and even start trade. Mr Rammell said: "They should look at the example of Libya and look what progress a country can make if it genuinely starts to renounce its nuclear weapons capability. He added that he wanted to get beyond the automatic denials on human rights abuses, saying he was not naive about the likely pace of progress.
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| #1 Curious, the UK was the imtermediary between the US and Daffy Duck as well. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-09-01 2:07:03 AM Comment
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9/1/2004 Europe
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Ex-Macedonian minister arrested over ’terrorist’ killings
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| Police in Croatia have arrested a former Macedonian minister over allegations he ordered the murders of seven South Asian men in March 2002. At the time of the deaths, then-Interior Minister Ljube Boskovski said the men were Islamic militants. But prosecutors say the men were innocent and their deaths were staged in an attempt to make Macedonia appear active in the US-led war on terror. Mr Boskovski, who also has Croatian citizenship, has denied the charges. He was arrested in Bale village in Croatia’s north-west. He has been living openly there since May, when he fled Macedonia after Macedonian authorities issued a warrant for his arrest. Six other men, including several police officers, have also been charged with the murders of the six Pakistanis and one Indian months after the 11 September 2001 attacks in the US. Mr Boskovski says he has taped proof that the men were planning terrorist attacks and "absolutely" denies allegations that the killings were staged.
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France Nervously Awaits Fate of Iraq Hostages
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PARIS (Reuters) - Relatives of two French reporters held hostage in Iraq waited anxiously on Wednesday for news of their fate after a deadline for Paris to scrap a ban on Muslim headscarves in schools apparently passed without incident.
French President Jacques Chirac again rejected the demands by militants holding Georges Malbrunot and Christian Chesnot that the law be revoked, as Foreign Minister Michel Barnier drummed up a chorus of Arab support for France's position.
Tension rose as the reported deadline neared on Tuesday night, but was replaced by confusion after an Arab League official said he believed it had been extended by 48 hours starting on Monday, not 24 hours as previously reported. That theory appeared to be strengthened by the absence of a new message from the kidnappers on Tuesday night. The apparent reprieve was not enough to console friends and relatives of the two men, who disappeared on Aug. 20 on their way from Baghdad to Najaf.
Chesnot is a reporter for Radio France Internationale and Malbrunot writes for the dailies Le Figaro and Ouest France.
| Thought that being French they could go anywhere without security, eh? |
"The first week we were less worried and then on Saturday, we really began to be very concerned," Bernard Malbrunot, brother of one of the hostages, told France 2 television. He was referring to a video of the two men issued on Saturday by the Islamic Army in Iraq, a shadowy militant group, in which it gave France 48 hours to revoke the controversial ban on girls wearing headscarves in school.
Arabic television station Al Jazeera quoted a statement on Monday as saying the militants had extended the deadline by 24 hours. The two reporters said in a video aired on Monday that they would be killed unless France retracted the headscarf ban. "Certainly the hostages are alive -- we saw them briefly yesterday (in the video) -- but I think the mood and our morale have considerably worsened," said Jean de Belot, editor-in-chief of Le Figaro.
Barnier returned to Egypt on Tuesday night after meeting King Abdullah in Jordan on a whistlestop tour of Middle East capitals designed to garner support.
| Yeah, that'll do a lot of good. |
Islamic militant group Hamas joined groups including French Muslims opposed to the headscarf ban, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and aides to anti-U.S. cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in urging freedom for the journalists.
The kidnappings stunned France, which opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and also objected to pre-war sanctions. Giant photos of Chesnot and Malbrunot were projected on the front of Paris town hall, while supporters held demonstrations of solidarity across the country.
| Of course, no word about actually doing something, like the Foreign Legion, or a special detachment of the French special forces, or a sneaky intel group. |
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| #1 France? Hell no! The "France d'en haut" (Upper France), and specially the chattering classes, await nervously for the fate of two of its members. Not France. |
| Posted by: JFM
2004-09-01 1:05:29 AM Comment
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#2 If the cut-throats let the poor sods go, due to some sort of french solidarity to islam or an arab thingy, what does that say about the french and their myopic world view?
To me, France looks rediculous. They have spoiled their relationship with their natural, cultural allies, and have made a bed with a bunch of buggering brothers.
That smell you smell. It was there all along and you smelled it but acted as though it were cuisine. Idiots! |
| Posted by: Lucky 2004-09-01 1:05:59 AM Comment
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| #3 What's the courier route to Al Jazeera look like--especially now that they've been kicked out of Iraq? Does Al Jiz have a section on their web site that gives instructions on how to deliver your jihadi snuff flicks? |
| Posted by: Classical_Liberal 2004-09-01 1:22:41 AM Comment
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| #4 Ah, the trials and tribulations of negotiating with terrorists. Of course, France could have taken a stand against terrorism, but if they did that they would not have the opportunity of all this subterfuge, non? |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2004-09-01 1:24:37 AM Comment
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| #5 Non indeed! |
| Posted by: Lucky 2004-09-01 1:29:37 AM Comment
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| #6 It is odd to think that people may die over the right to wear a doo rag to school. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-09-01 2:08:24 AM Comment
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#7 The problem SH is thats its not a doo-rag. It's an 'In your face' political statement. It says "we're apart from you."
But I know what you mean, in our lazez fare attitudes it all seems so riduculous. But it's not. It is the front lines in this war and I'm with the Frenchies on it. Good luck to them.
Man, what a deal islam is, eh!
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| Posted by: Lucky 2004-09-01 3:16:33 AM Comment
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| #8 It's also the democratic principle. What the hostage-takers object to is immaterial. Forget for a moment what they say their objection is, and consider what in effect they're trying to do: overrule a democratically elected leadership and control a nation's dometic policy at the barrel of a gun. That's the real issue here. Not headscarves. The hostages wouldn't be dying for 'doo rags' - they'd be dying as a sacrifice for democracy. |
| Posted by: Bulldog
2004-09-01 5:28:15 AM Comment
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#9 Lucky:
And yet despite the fact that it is a statement of political strength, the muslim leadership in france is now telling the community to go along with the ban. What's more, they're finally speaking out against terrorism. Why? Because they see there could be a backlash against them in france. This is the loudest and most widespread condemnation of islamic terror by muslims I can recall. I guess they support terror unless it has personal consequences. Thus, I would advocate that we make sure terror has consequences for the supporters of terror.
Terror will end if the muslim community puts an end to it. Internally. It must come from their own renaissance/reformation, not from the west. I'm not very optimistic.
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| Posted by: PlanetDan
2004-09-01 9:47:45 AM Comment
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| #10 If these two are killed, and there is no backlash in France, it will encourage their own homegrown islamo-assholes to do similar stunts |
| Posted by: Frank G
2004-09-01 9:51:49 AM Comment
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9/1/2004 Home Front: Politix
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FBI suspect specialized in Iranian affairs
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The Pentagon analyst at the center of an FBI investigation involving classified information being given to Israel is a career civil servant who specialized in Iranian affairs within the policy branch of the Office of the Secretary of Defense under Donald H. Rumsfeld.
Lawrence A. Franklin, 57, is suspected of passing classified information about U.S. policy with Iran to a pro-Israel lobbying firm in the District, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which passed on the information to Israeli officials.
Mr. Franklin began his Pentagon career as a Defense Intelligence Agency analyst specializing in Soviet affairs. Sometime after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, he turned his focus to the Middle East and learned Farsi, the predominant language of Iran.
A former co-worker said Mr. Franklin held strong views on the problem of Iran and was regarded as an advocate of regime change in Tehran. Another co-worker described Mr. Franklin as an Irish Catholic who, as a career official, was nonpolitical.
Mr. Franklin also was part of a special analysis unit within the Office of Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Policy that examined classified intelligence assessments of ties between Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and the al Qaeda terrorist organization.
The Office of Special Plans, headed by William Luti, deputy undersecretary of defense for special plans and Near Eastern and South Asian affairs, found more extensive connections between Iraqi intelligence and al Qaeda terrorists than CIA and other intelligence agencies.
Some in Congress and the administration have criticized the unit as an effort by Mr. Rumsfeld to set up a separate intelligence service in the Pentagon.
Michael Ledeen, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, said he worked with Mr. Franklin and described him as "a very diligent, hardworking analyst who was good with details."
Mr. Ledeen said he was present at a meeting in 2001 in Rome with Mr. Franklin and Manucher Ghorbanifar, an Iranian expatriate who provided information to the Pentagon.
"That meeting produced very high-quality information that we did not have, which, according to American armed forces in Afghanistan, saved American lives," Mr. Ledeen said.
However, the CIA and State Department took steps to shut down the information channel because of distrust of Mr. Ghorbanifar, who was involved in the 1980s arms-for-hostage affair known as Iran-Contra.
Mr. Franklin, who lives in West Virginia, has been on sick leave in recent weeks and could not be reached for comment.
Mr. Ledeen said he doubts that Mr. Franklin improperly passed any information to Israel.
Sensational and inaccurate press reports on Mr. Franklin are "a disgusting example of McCarthyism," Mr. Ledeen said.
"They are destroying an excellent civil servant on the basis of zero information," he said. "If the FBI had information, they’d be indicting him, instead of leaking it. They don’t have a case."
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#1 Is it possible that he was receiving information from an Israeli source?
I'm not sure how this would have been Rumsfeld's problem. I guess that would depend on how long he has been passing information - if he has. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-09-01 1:58:05 AM Comment
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Rush Limbaugh Interview with President Bush
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Here is the Money Quote
(Preisdent Bush)
We will stay on the on the offense. We will bring them to justice in foreign lands so we don’t have to face them here at home," and that’s because you cannot negotiate with these people. And in a conventional war there would be a peace treaty or there would be a moment where somebody would sit on the side and say we quit. That’s not the kind of war we’re in, and that’s what I was saying....
... It’s a totally different kind of war. But we will win it. Your listeners have got to know that I know we’ll win it, but we’re going to have to be resolved and firm, and we can’t doubt what we stand for, and the long-term solution is to spread freedom. I love to tell the story, Rush, about a meeting with Prime Minister Koizumi. He’s my friend. He’s the prime minister of Japan. It wasn’t all that long ago that my dad, your dad, and others dads were fighting against the Japanese, but because after World War II we believed that Japan could self-govern and could be democratic in its own fashion, Japan is no longer an enemy; it’s a friend, and so I sit down with him to help resolve issues like the North Korean peninsula. In other words, we’re working together to keep the peace. The same thing is going to happen in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that’s when I say the transformational power of liberty. That’s what I’m talking about.
[added emphasis mine]
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#1 I listened to this - and when George Bush isnt reading from a script, but speaking from his heart to people (and not hostile reporters who badger him), he is absolutely a solid speaker - he comes across genuine, honest and dedicated to his beliefs, much more personable than his scripted speeches. This interview harks back to him with the bullhorn on the rubble on 9/14/01, with the firefighters and construction workers.
His is also aware of his limitations and admits them (unlike Kerry, blaming others around him, like the secret service agent for tripping him), as evidenced by this quote about his fumble of a phrase with Matt Lauer the other day:
"I probably needed to be a little more articulate."
I hope the left keeps "misunderestimating" him, just like the Taliban did. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2004-09-01 12:20:40 AM Comment
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#2 I think he did well when he clarified his "can't win the WOT" statement to "there won't be a VT day" when UBL signs a peace treaty.
I would have gone for a statement that went something like: "we will never kill the last terrorist because there will always be someone willing to die for a mistake."
Far fewer Americans would understand my overly nuanced statement. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-09-01 12:37:07 AM Comment
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#3 This is exactly what I understood him as saying in the first place: that this is not the kind of war that will have a definitive ending, such as with a signing of surrender documents on the deck of the USS Missouri.
I myself don't find Bush all that hard to understand; but his awkward manner in off-the-cuff speech makes him a rich mother lode of material for people who want to misunderstand him and like to twist words. |
| Posted by: Dave D. 2004-09-01 6:00:12 AM Comment
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| #4 We can win a war against the Islamic terrorism that's hogging the limelight at the moment, and I'm sure we will do, but you can't defeat terrorism. What is terrorism? Mainly murder, just done for political or religious ends. It's been around for millennia, and will be around for the forseeable future, I'm sure. |
| Posted by: Bulldog
2004-09-01 6:27:24 AM Comment
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| #5 Bush actually made a reference to Islamic terrorism a few weeks ago, a very pointed one. I expect a lot more of that in his second term, once he is free of the constraints imposed by re-election politics. |
| Posted by: Dave D. 2004-09-01 6:36:02 AM Comment
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9/1/2004 Home Front: WoT
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Democrats Intend to Try Captured Terrorists with Courts-Martial
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From The Washington Post
Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards said yesterday that a John F. Kerry administration would scrap the military commissions created by President Bush to try suspected al Qaeda and Taliban fighters detained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and would instead establish a new system modeled on military courts-martial. "The Bush administration has ignored the model of the military courts-martial. We will use that model as a basis for future trials of detainees," Edwards said in a statement e-mailed in response to a question posed to him over the weekend. "We will ensure that this process, from the quality of translators to the treatment of evidence to the selection of judges, is handled with the seriousness and competence that is essential for such sensitive national security cases." ...
Critics have charged that the commission rules favor the government, and that, among other things, they allow hearsay evidence and permit exculpatory evidence to remain secret from defendants. .... By shifting to a court-martial approach, Kerry would have appeals handled by a court of appeals for the armed forces, which is independent of prosecutors and the Defense Department. The appeals process, like most other procedures in a military trial, is almost identical to that of a civilian trial. ...
| Not to point out the obvious, but enemy troops aren't subject to U.S. military courts martial. They're intended to enforce the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Enemy troops are subject to their own rules and regulations, in the present case shariah law. Military tribunals are intended to enforce the laws of war, wich fall neither under the UCMJ nor under shariah, but may be codified in the Geneva Conventions and various international agreements. I think what Edwards is proposing is a mere change in the procedures used, which would appeal to his fastidious lawyer's soul and give him something to talk about, while implying that what's being done now is wrong. |
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| #1 And if found guilty, will be busted down to private. |
| Posted by: ed 2004-09-01 9:30:23 AM Comment
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Justice Dept Overturning Convictions of Three Moslems in Detroit
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From The Washington Post
The Justice Department will ask a federal judge in Detroit to dismiss the convictions of three men in a high-profile terrorism case last year, saying it has uncovered serious prosecutorial misconduct in the case. Department lawyers have told U.S. District Judge Gerald Rosen and defense attorneys that the convictions should be thrown out because prosecutors failed to share potentially exculpatory evidence with the defense during last year’s trial, legal sources said last night. The convictions of two Moroccan immigrants for conspiracy to provide material support for terrorism and of a third man on document fraud charges represented one of the government’s most significant victories in the war on terrorism in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. ....
A filing from the Justice Department is expected as early as today seeking to have the convictions overturned and detailing the alleged misconduct. The department is expected to say that it will not seek reinstatement of the terrorism-related charges against defendants Karim Koubriti and Abdel-Ilah Elmardoudi but will seek to retry them and a third man, Ahmed Hannan, on document fraud charges. ...In the first terrorism-related trial since the Sept. 11 attacks, Elmardoudi, 37, of Minneapolis, and Koubriti, 26, of Detroit, were convicted in June 2003 of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists and document fraud. Hannan, 35, of Detroit was convicted of document fraud, and Farouk Ali-Haimoud, 22, of Detroit was cleared of all charges.
Justice Department officials, including Attorney General John D. Ashcroft, asserted the men were in a sleeper cell associated with al Qaeda and had plans to secure weapons and attack targets in the United States and abroad. Authorities stumbled on some of the men when they raided a Detroit apartment shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks in a search for Nabil al-Marabh, who was on a terrorist watch list. They later termed the apprehension one of the most significant in the United States in the war against terrorism.
Continued on Page 71
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| #1 Illustrates the utter silliness of treating terrorists as criminals. |
| Posted by: Anonymous6236 2004-09-01 9:04:49 AM Comment
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US investigating the theft of official vehicles and uniforms
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U.S. intelligence agencies are investigating a series of thefts of official vehicles and uniforms, including an Air Canada uniform, amid fears al-Qaeda operatives could be acquiring such items for a terrorist attack.
Reports about stolen government and company identity cards, trucks and uniforms have been coming in from across the United States in recent months, leading to warnings the incidents might be related to a terrorist plot.
Terrorists could try to use uniforms and vehicles to evade security at airports and other sensitive sites, according to U.S. intelligence reports that noted Islamic terrorism groups have employed similar tactics overseas.
One Department of Homeland Security (DHS) report includes the May 25 theft of an Air Canada uniform on a list of "suspicious incidents" in the United States. The uniform was stolen from a vehicle in Washington, D.C.
Laura Cooke, an Air Canada spokeswoman, said yesterday the uniform was that of a customer service agent and the theft was immediately reported to the U.S. Transportation Security Administration.
Air Canada pilots are required to keep strict control of their uniforms and to report lost or stolen uniforms to the chief pilot and corporate security, she said.
But such incidents have U.S. security officials concerned.
"Attempts to acquire official identification, uniforms or vehicles to facilitate attacks or smuggle personnel or weapons would be consistent with the tactics and techniques of al-Qaeda and other extremist groups," a Homeland Security report says.
"Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups likely view the theft or other illegal acquisition of official identification, uniforms or vehicles as an effective way to increase access and decrease scrutiny in furtherance of planning operations."
Although the department says it has no evidence al-Qaeda is behind the thefts, the report says "there is indeed precedent" for the use of such stolen items in the execution of terrorist attacks. Terrorists have attacked heavily guarded buildings in Iraq and Saudi Arabia by impersonating emergency workers and driving stolen ambulances and police cars, it says.
U.S. intelligence reports are filled with references to the theft of official badges, cars and uniforms, many of them related to the airline industry. For example, in February, 2003, seven uniforms were stolen from the car of a U.S. airline employee while other valuables were untouched.
Among other incidents cited by the department:
- The credentials of a Federal Aviation Administration employee were stolen from a car in Oklahoma City in January. The ID card allows the bearer to enter an airline cockpit.
- A U.S. Air Force member stationed at Tinker Air Base in Oklahoma reported several uniforms had been stolen from his home in July, 2003.
- In May, 2004, a Southwest Airlines pilot reported a bag containing his ID and flight manuals had been stolen from his car.
The U.S. Postal Service is particularly concerned "that postal vehicles could be obtained by terrorists to provide an attack delivery system capable of undermining and penetrating a target’s security perimeter," a report notes.
"DHS reminds all recipients to remain vigilant to the disappearance of -- or unauthorized inquiries regarding -- official identification badges, decals, uniforms, government licence plates and vehicles," an intelligence report says.
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Suspicious person investigated at LAX
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On July 24 the FBI was called to Los Angeles International Airport because a "suspicious person" was videotaping parts of the airport that go beyond tourist interest.
USC Professor Richard Dekemjian, a terrorism expert, told NBC4, "He’s not just taking only pictures of an airplane, but the police station, the loading of baggage. It’s just too detailed and the whole combination of things would make an agent suspicious."
It did, according to an LAX Police log. Eduardo Henrique De Lima, 25, of Brazil videotaped the Los Angeles Police Department substation, the tower, ramp areas, runways, and airfield at LAX.
In addition, De Lima had maps of the airport. The limited records released by LAX officials don’t specify what kind of maps, but sources said they weren’t tourist maps.
Sources said De Lima was interviewed at length by the FBI and was deemed not to be a threat. According to documents he was turned over to immigration because of an expired student visa. De Lima was then held at a detention facility in Lancaster, Calif., for a few weeks, given a hearing, and returned to Brazil, according to immigration officials.
Law enforcement sources said De Lima was on his way to Portland, Ore., when he was stopped by police at LAX. NBC4’s Ana Garcia talked to De Lima on the phone while he was in the detention center, before he was returned to Brazil.
De Lima told Garcia his intentions were purely, "innocent" and said he was, "videotaping the airport for a friend in Portland." De Lima said he wanted to "show him the sights", yet he admitted there were no other sights on his tape. What De Lima did not explain on the phone was why he videotaped the police station.
LAX officials have refused to discuss De Lima’s case with Channel 4, but there is a similar case in Charlotte, N.C. Just four days before De Lima was picked up at LAX, Kamran Akhtar of Pakistan was detained for videotaping office buildings, including the FBI’s. Akhtar has been indicted on immigration charges and authorities said he’s not linked to terrorism either. Akhtar’s family said he just likes taking pictures of buildings.
The ACLU wonders if the government has gone too far. Ranjana Natarajan, from the ACLU of South California, said, "We’re concerned that over 2,000 people have been detained since Sept. 11, 2001 and the vast majority of those people were never charged with one criminal act. What they were charged with were bureaucratic immigration violations and certainly to hold people for months and months for those types of violations makes us raise our eyebrows and wonder whether civil liberties are being stomped on."
Dekemjian said police are reacting to new information. "We hear of evidence that Islamics have been recruiting non-Muslims in Latin America to send them up north."
Dekemjian also said that terrorists are always updating their video library of American sites. "Some of these people may be innocent in subcontracting to come in and take pictures."
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| #1 I hope they have a talk with Eduardo's "friend." |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-09-01 4:35:48 AM Comment
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Trucker shot by state trooper being investigated for terrorist ties
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Authorities say the unusual behavior of a New York truck driver who was pulled over for speeding and then shot during a confrontation with a state trooper has prompted them to investigate possible terrorist ties.
Mohammed Medhat Karim, 46, was pulled over Monday by Tennessee Highway Patrol Trooper Thomas C. Kilpatrick for speeding on U.S. Highway 64 in Wayne County, about 80 miles southwest of Nashville.
As Kilpatrick was returning with the citation, authorities said Karim backed into the trooper’s car, and "there was a confrontation at that time."
Kilpatrick fired several shots, striking the driver in his chest, according to reports. Karim somehow took the gun away from the trooper, got back in his rig and drove about a mile before apparently realizing he had been shot and pulled over, authorities said. He was then arrested.
"It’s a very strange set of circumstances," said District Attorney General Mike Bottoms, who called for the probe. "We’re trying to find out why a driver would act the way this one did for a speeding ticket."
Maj. Gen. Jerry Humble, director of Tennessee’s Homeland Security, said authorities "don’t have any indication right now" that Karim may be tied to terrorists, but they’re just being "cautious." "It’s normal procedure," Humble said. "This is the world we live in after 9/11, so this is the steps we have to take. Law enforcement never know what’s going to happen."
Humble agreed with Bottoms that it was Karim’s "actions" that "raised our eyebrows," not his foreign-sounding name or the fact that President Bush was in town Tuesday to speak to the American Legion national convention.
"It was irrational behavior from a commercial truck driver, and this was a crime," Humble said. Karim’s tractor trailer has been impounded, he said, and it’s going to be off-loaded. Authorities haven’t yet learned what cargo the truck was carrying.
Meanwhile, Karim remains at Vanderbilt University Medical Center where he was listed in critical condition Tuesday.
No charges have been filed against him, and his driving record was not available under New York privacy laws. Kilpatrick has been placed on administrative leave with pay.
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| #1 Pulling over to facilitate receipt of medical attention would be considered irrational behavior for a suicide bomber. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-09-01 2:03:31 AM Comment
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| #2 How the hell did he take the gun away from the highway patrolman? This story is bizarre. |
| Posted by: John in Tokyo 2004-09-01 2:34:06 AM Comment
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| #3 Where the hell was that cops back-up weapon and why the heck didn't he dot the perps eyes? |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2004-09-01 2:38:44 AM Comment
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| #4 Here in a Tennessee Troopers "back-up weapon", if he has one, is kept in the patrol car. It's usually a shotgun. As for taking away the Trooper's weapon, in a struggle it depends on the size and strength of one's adversary. It's not like in the movies where someone gets shot and immediately falls over dead. Unless there is a heart shot or a head shot a person can keep going for quite some time. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2004-09-01 8:00:39 AM Comment
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9/1/2004 Iraq-Jordan
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Senior Sadr Aide Assassinated In Iraq
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BAGHDAD, Sept 1 (AFP) - A senior aide to radical Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr was assassinated on the road between the holy city of Najaf and Baghdad, an official from the movement said Wednesday. Sayed Bashir al-Jazaeri was killed Tuesday when his car came under fire as he was returning from Najaf, which was until recently the scene of fierce fighting between US forces and Sadr's militia, a spokesman for one of the cleric's offices said. Jazaeri headed one of Sadr's local offices near the capital, said Sayed Naim al-Qaabi. The cleric told AFP the attack might have been perpetrated by Kurdish hit squads extremist Sunni Muslim organisations Iranian controllers cutting links or former members of Saddam Hussein's regime, and accused the government of failing to provide security in this area south of Baghdad. "Even the Iraqi government said that lots of important personalities were targeted in this area. Why is it doing nothing about it?", he asked. | Cuz the right people are dying? |
On Wednesday morning, Iraqi National Congress leader Ahmed Chalabi told reporters as he prepared to take the oath at the interim parliament's opening session that he had just escaped an assassination attempt on the same road.
The cities of Laitifiya, Mahmudiya and Iskandariya command access to the road which runs south of Baghdad to the holy Shiite cities of Najaf and Karbala.
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#1 The tuber himself next, hopefully.
Strike a blow for democracy - take out dic-Taters before they have a chance to root! |
| Posted by: Bulldog
2004-09-01 9:58:40 AM Comment
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#2 The cleric told AFP the attack might have been perpetrated by extremist Sunni Muslim organisations or former members of Saddam Hussein's regime
dont make sense - havent we been told repeatedly that Fallujah and the Sunni insurgents support Sadr??
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| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2004-09-01 9:59:32 AM Comment
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#3 accused the government of failing to provide security in this area south of Baghdad
sometimes the things you start have unintended consequences, huh, asshole? |
| Posted by: Frank G
2004-09-01 10:03:30 AM Comment
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Hezbollah/Iranians have major presence in Basra
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So sez Asia Times anyway
According to Asia Times Online contacts in the south, the Lebanese Shi’ite militia Hezbollah has deeply infiltrated Basra and surrounding areas, so much so that it virtually runs the province, with the help of Shi’ite militias, and is committed to establishing vilayat-e-faqih (rule by the religious clergy according to the Shi’ite faith). Most of Iraq’s eligible males received military training under the Ba’ath rule of Saddam Hussein, and now the Shi’ite militias have equipped them with arms and ammunition. According to the contacts, much of this activity is being bankrolled through "welfare funds" ostensibly given to mosques and shrines by Iranian intelligence. Also, Iranian Shi’ites are said to be flooding across the porous border in their thousands, including Iranian revolutionary guards, who have already established pockets, especially in Ammarah and Basra. The former residence of the governor of Basra..is now being used by Iranian intelligence under the cover of the Sayyed al-Shohada political party. The party is like many Shi’ite militias and calls itself a branch of the al-Majlis al-Alla (Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution in Iraq - SCIR) led by Ayatollah Abdul Aziz al-Hakim. However, the office bearers of the organization are not known to local Iraqis, and are generally believed to be Iranian.
The Iraqi Hezbollah now has its headquarters right in the middle of Basra, in the old police headquarters. The police have offices in a new building in front of the Shatul Arab waterway. The Iraqi Hezbollah has also established a powerful branch in Ammarah. This combination of Shi’ite militias (reinforced with Iranians) and Iranian intelligence in Basra and Ammarah is taking place under the watchful eyes of the British, who are responsible for security in the south, but they are reluctant to precipitate a major clash, so have kept their distance. These Iranian supported-militias are one part of the Shi’ite political puzzle. There are, of course, other key pieces, notably Muqtada, who if nothing else has earned himself a reputation for opportunism and unpredictability.
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#1 I wouldn't be surprised. British troops have shamefully allowed no-go areas to become established in large parts of Basra where God-knows-what is going on. Presumably this is because:
a) the British forces are inadequate (undermanned and underequipped - the Landrovers, nifty though they are, are death traps for patrolling in urban areas where IEDs are the enemy's weapon of choice).
b) Blair won't risk the political damage that greater numbers of British casualties would cause, so he's ordered our troops to pretty much remain on base.
Something needs to be done to rescue the situation before Basra gets out of hand entirely. |
| Posted by: Bulldog
2004-09-01 8:37:24 AM Comment
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| #2 agreed bulldog , but i expect our surveillance of the situation will be top notch . The time for hands on operations will come soon enough |
| Posted by: MacNails 2004-09-01 8:44:28 AM Comment
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#3 "...Something needs to be done to rescue the situation before Basra gets out of hand entirely."
Of course, Iran must be occupied next just as planned in 1998, and now we have sufficient grounds -- who do these Moslems think they are?! |
| Posted by: UFO [http://politicsandcurrentevents.com]
2004-09-01 9:01:35 AM Comment
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| #4 No need to occupy, just need to blow that power station into a million pieces. Can't have someone who thinks he has a hotline to Allan with his finger on the red button. I believe the Iranian people will eventually get fed up with constant subjugation from a leadership with a stone-age mindset and do the job themselves. |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2004-09-01 9:08:32 AM Comment
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#5 "...I believe the Iranian people will eventually get fed up...."
We can't wait for that to happen, resolution on Iraq which was also written in 1998 has been carried out and we must act before too many Americans die there and the country loses the will to fight. |
| Posted by: UFO [http://politicsandcurrentevents.com]
2004-09-01 9:26:55 AM Comment
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| #6 Getting Iraq and Afghanistan straightened out with fledgling democracies may be the catalyst we need.. direct action highly improbable unless the mullahs act first. I think that this would be an opportune moment to reinforce Basra with the Ghurkas. |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2004-09-01 9:35:33 AM Comment
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| #7 Unfortunately, I don't think we have the time to let Iranians take the initiative, either. Half-to-most of the problems we're having in Iraq are Iran-sponsored, which is costing coalition lives and jeopardising Iraq's future, whilst Iran itself is thundering on towards arming itself with nuclear technology. At the moment, the sands of time are running in Iran's favour. We need to turn that sand on its head. |
| Posted by: Bulldog
2004-09-01 9:39:37 AM Comment
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| #8 Daily Telegraph article implied a firm cordon around central Basra, with Brit troops responding with deadly force to attacks on them, resulting in significant baddie casualties. Apparently quite similar to the USMC approach in Fallujah. Talks of deal with Sadrists in Basra, parallel to talks of deal in Sadr City - no clear confirmation in either case. |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2004-09-01 9:46:13 AM Comment
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#9 UFO: We can't wait for that to happen, resolution on Iraq which was also written in 1998 has been carried out and we must act before too many Americans die there and the country loses the will to fight.
UFO hopes that Uncle Sam will lose the will to fight, even while he himself cannot summon the will to fight for the other side. This is why UFO's jihadi pals will fail - because guys like UFO are all talk and no action. UFO really needs to go to the nearest mosque and donate to the friendly local jihadi charity so that they won't have to kidnap innocent civilians for ransom. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei
[http://www.polipundit.com]
2004-09-01 9:46:46 AM Comment
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#10 Which DT article, Lh? I'm guessing not recent. From the balance of what I've heard in the last few weeks, the situation in Basra has deteriorated significantly. I'm sure the British forces are responding to attacks with deadly force, but the fact seems to be that they're restricting their movements so as to avoid confrontation and keep it to a minimum.
Unless we've just launched an offensive... |
| Posted by: Bulldog
2004-09-01 9:50:18 AM Comment
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| #11 A couple of days ago - it ALSO suggested that the brit forces ARE staying out of central Basra, and that the anti-Sadr elements in Basra are unhappy with this, and hinted that its about keeping casualties down. No offensive. But still not different from US approach in Anbar province. |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2004-09-01 9:56:49 AM Comment
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Chalabi escapes assassination attempt
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Gunmen opened fire Wednesday on a convoy carrying former Iraqi Governing Council member Ahmad Chalabi in an apparent assassination attempt that wounded two of his bodyguards, Chalabi’s spokesman said.
Chalabi’s convoy was attacked in southern Baghdad at about 7:30 a.m. as he returned from the holy city of Najaf, said spokesman Mithal al-Alusi.
"The doctor (Chalabi) is in good health. He is safe but two of his bodyguards were injured, " al-Alusi said.
A warrant issued by an Iraqi court accused him of counterfeiting old Iraqi dinars, which were removed from circulation after the ouster of Saddam Hussein last year. Chalabi denies the allegations, saying he collected the fake currency in his role as chairman of the Governing Council’s finance committee.
Despite the warrant, the Iraqi Interior Ministry has said it won’t arrest Chalabi until unspecified legal issues are cleared up, leaving him free to move around the country.
Chalabi’s nephew, Salem Chalabi - who heads the special tribunal in charge of trying ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein - faces separate murder charges.
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9/1/2004 Israel-Palestine
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Israel vows 'global' war on Hamas
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Israel has vowed to hit Hamas leaders "wherever they are" and accelerate work on its West Bank barrier after the deadliest suicide bombings for months. Soldiers have already demolished parts of the houses of the two Palestinians named as perpetrators of the attack. Sixteen people were killed by the two bombers in near-simultaneous explosions on buses in Beersheba, southern Israel. Militant group Hamas said it was behind the attack to avenge the assassination of two of its leaders. Correspondents say that, since the deaths of Ahmed Yassin and Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi in March and April, Israel had put on hold further killings of high-echelon Hamas figures. "The policy now is to hit Hamas leaders wherever they are," a senior security source is quoted as saying on Wednesday. | Warm up the Helicopters Of Doom |
Israeli officials are pointing the finger of blame at Syria, where Hamas political chief Khaled Meshaal has since emerged as the movement's undisputed leader. | He's now looking for a really deep hole. |
The local leaders in Gaza, Mahmoud al-Zahhar and Ismail Haniyeh, have gone underground since the Yassin and Rantissi assassinations. | Six feet under ground would be nice. |
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Paleos Celebrate Beersheba Murders
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Palestinians celebrate Beersheba attacks
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
While hundreds of Palestinians took to the streets in major cities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to celebrate the double suicide bombings in Beersheba, Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat reiterated his call for sacrificing millions of martyrs to liberate Jerusalem.
Women in Nablus ululated in joy as Arab satellite TV stations interrupted their normal programs to break the news of the bombings. Scores of gunmen opened fire into the air, shouting "Allahu Akbar!" or God is Great.
Similar expressions of joy were reported in Tulkarm and Jenin.
I thought everyone in Jenin was dead? No? Could the BBC have been wrong?
In Gaza City, hundreds of Palestinians marched in the streets carrying pictures of slain Hamas leaders Ahmed Yassin and Abdel Aziz Rantisi. The protesters hailed the suicide bombers as heroes and urged Hamas to launch more attacks inside Israel. Some of the demonstrators handed out sweets to the crowd as a sign of their jubilation.
We need a special Rantburg Heli-zap bar to hand out on appropriate occasions. Allahu Zap-bar!!
The attacks in Beersheba took place as Arafat was meeting with hundreds of supporters from the West Bank town of Salfit. Arafat told the crowd that the Palestinians were determined to sacrifice millions of Iranians people to liberate Jerusalem.
"We will march towards Jerusalem, we will sacrifice millions of martyrs," Arafat said in his famous battle cry.
Ok with me.
"Jerusalem is the capital of the state of Palestine."
Come and take it.
PA officials said the visit was in solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners’ hunger strike. As Arafat flashed V-for-victory signs at the crowd, many chanted, "With our blood, with our soul, we will fer-ti-lize this hole we will redeem Abu Amar [Arafat] and Palestine."
Bilal Azril, secretary-general of Fatah in Salfit, said the rally was organized in solidarity with Arafat and the prisoners.
Arafat later issued a statement condemning the twin suicide bombings in Beersheba and calling for keeping Israeli and Palestinian civilians outside the cycle of violence.
Ah, yes, if they just stop killing bus bombers, we will stop bombing buses. Nobody but an anarchist or a Kerry-toon would believe this.
"The position of the Palestinian Authority is clear," said the statement issued by Arafat’s office in Ramallah. "We are against any aggression against Palestinian and Israeli civilians."
Then his lips fell off.
*snipped---very long, go to link.
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#1 "Women in Nablus ululated in joy...."
I read it wrongly for a second: I thought it was "urinated".
Created quite a funny image.
Come to think of it, maybe it was a typo. Wouldn't put anything past these Paleos. |
| Posted by: Bryan 2004-09-01 8:21:14 AM Comment
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#2 Problem: Bus bombs.
Solution: Artillery strikes. Leave nothing standing and then move the fence out to enclose the new rubble. Repeat as necessary. |
| Posted by: ed 2004-09-01 9:03:46 AM Comment
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| #3 I'm sure gentle was probably ululating with joy as well. Celebrating the death of innocent Jewish people. Islam at its finest. |
| Posted by: AllahHateMe 2004-09-01 9:09:31 AM Comment
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#4 fence along northern west bank - no booms in Tel Aviv or Netanya. No fence along southern West Bank - bus boom in Beersheva.
Answer - COMPLETE THE FENCE!!!!! |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2004-09-01 9:48:23 AM Comment
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#5 I have a feeling Gentle felt NO disgust at reading about the hundreds of Palestinians [who] took to the streets in major cities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to celebrate the double suicide bombings or that Women in Nablus ululated in joy as Arab satellite TV stations interrupted their normal programs to break the news of the bombings
No disgust and revulsion at the perpetrators of this attack on INNOCENT CIVILIANS, some of whom probably agree with her on certain topics.
No disgust and revulsion at the use of such tactics.
No disgust that her own people found this worthy of celebration. That they find support in their holy book for such actions. The bombing of a bus is a holy endeavor and to be celebrated. How revolting a culture they have created for themselves.
Yet, I wonder what her response will be when Israel goes after the perpetrators (who will likely hide amongst innocent civilians themselves!)?
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| Posted by: PlanetDan
2004-09-01 10:03:38 AM Comment
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The BBC’s BBC-speak in Report on Bus Terror
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I couldn’t find a URL on the BBC radio World Service report - possibly because it’s not on the web. The URL is for the written report by the same journalist - Jon Leyne - and is a bit more innocent than the radio version, which went as follows:
“This was....the end of a summer of relative calm in Israel. The Israeli government believes that respite was the result of the controversial barrier now being built in and around the West Bank.”
Translation from BBC-speak to ordinary language is necessary to understand the subtleties of the BBC’s anti-Israel stance:
“Believes” – The BBC cannot bring itself to concede that the barrier has been extremely successful in stemming terror.
Translation: The Israelis are misguided in their belief that the barrier prevents attacks.
The report continues:
“Spokesmen were quick to point out that the latest attack happened near a section where the barrier has yet to be built.”
“Quick to point out….” – The BBC would like us to believe that the Israeli spokesmen saw this as an opportunity to defend the barrier when they were probably just reacting with shock and horror to this inhuman double-bombing and simply mentioned that the barrier could have prevented it.
Translation: The Israelis take every opportunity (even a bombing as horrific as this) to try to gain sympathy and score political points.
The PC brigade at the BBC should ponder the following question:
Is the BBC so devoid of humanity where Israelis are concerned that it cannot produce a factual report of a brutal terrorist attack without lacing it with subtle, insulting innuendo?
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#1 I must do something about this computer illiteracy of mine. Here's the above-mentioned URL. Hopefully it will work:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3616334.stm
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| Posted by: Bryan 2004-09-01 8:07:04 AM Comment
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| #2 An excellent analysis of the subtlty of MSM propaganda. |
| Posted by: virginian 2004-09-01 8:09:50 AM Comment
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| #3 Thanks virginian. I was wondering how long Leyne took to dream up that report. Not long, I suppose. The PC-speak must be automatic by now. |
| Posted by: Bryan 2004-09-01 8:27:43 AM Comment
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| #4 Whilst a staunch defender of the Beeb's existence (sport wihout commercials), a fan of their journalism I am not, (my views have recently changed after similar analysis, Bryan). Maddening isn't it? |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2004-09-01 8:32:02 AM Comment
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| #5 Yes. BBC Watch (www.bbcwatch.com) does an excellent job keeping track of the Beeb's excesses and trying to get them to live up to their charter. |
| Posted by: Bryan 2004-09-01 8:40:33 AM Comment
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#6 This is fun, why stop there?
Translation of the rest of the article: The bombing was timed to coincide with the announcement of the upcoming scheduled vote in parliament to withdraw from Gaza. A protest of useful idiots seems to have been quickly (previously?) organized to appear at the bombing site. No mention of just how sick the concept of protesting at a site of carnage and horror really is.
While the idea for a pullout was previously unpopular, it is now currently popular enough to carry a vote. The BBC strangely wants to leave the reader with the impression that this bombing will increase political dissent over this issue, despite common sense dictating this will most likely further Israeli desire to disentangle themselves from the Palestinians.
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| Posted by: B 2004-09-01 9:50:20 AM Comment
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9/1/2004 Russia
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Russian Mufti tells hostage takers to release infants because all babies are born Muslim
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Mufti Ruslan Valgasov of North Ossetia has appealed to the gunmen who have seized a school in Beslan and taken hostage hundreds of children and adults to free at least infants, who, according to his information, are present among the hostages, and organize food supply for the captives. "Children are Allah Most High’s pure and innocent creatures. As Prophet Mohammed said, ’every baby is born a Muslim’, or, in other words, a creature obedient to God, and therefore any Muslim who harms a child harms his younger brother," the mufti told Interfax. Valgasov also urged the attackers "to come to their senses and comprehend their deeds and remember Judgement Day, when we will all answer for our deeds."
Sick F’s
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| #2 You were born crying, weren't you? Maybe that's what he means. |
| Posted by: Bulldog
2004-09-01 9:41:23 AM Comment
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| #3 hmmmm, the Mufti didn't offer to exchange himself for hostages? Islamic Heroes™ in action again..... I'm thinking a Saudi royal needs to be capped every time one of their spawn commits an attack like this. We (and Putin) surely know who's the finance arm for these terrorists. Take em out |
| Posted by: Frank G
2004-09-01 9:47:57 AM Comment
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#4 Islamic apologist demographers use the 'all babies are born Muslim' when they claim very high numbers of Muslims as a percentage of the world's population.
A scam for everything and everything a scam. |
| Posted by: mhw 2004-09-01 10:00:50 AM Comment
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Putin says al-Qaeda involved with Chechen festivities
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And he’s probably right ...
Russian President Vladimir Putin linked last week’s mid-air destruction of two passenger airliners to the Al-Qaeda network and said it was evidence of international terrorism on Russian soil in Chechnya.
"The fact that an international terrorist organization linked to Al-Qaeda took responsibility for the blowing up of two planes shows once again the link between destructive elements in Chechnya and international terrorism," Putin said here.
A group calling itself the Islambouli Brigades claimed responsibility in an Internet posting for the downing of the planes and warned they would carry out further operations in the future "to back and assist our brothers in Chechnya."
Putin, flanked by French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, did not say whether he was referring to that group and, if so, whether authorities had independently established ties between that group and Al-Qaeda.
Putin said Russia "has fought, is fighting and will continue to fight" separatist rebels in Chechnya, a Russian republic in the Caucasus that has been wracked by war with federal forces for most of the past decade.
But he added that Moscow was prepared "to continue dialogue with any forces interested in a political solution in Chechnya," a comment that coincided with remarks published in a newspaper Tuesday from the republic’s newly-elected leader.
The United States on Monday slammed the vote a day earlier in Chechnya in which a Kremlin-anointed career police officer was elected to lead the republic and called for an end to human rights abuses there "committed by all parties."
The visiting leaders of France and Germany however declined to press Putin on the issue and instead gave him a wide diplomatic berth for dealing with it as he saw fit.
"A political solution is necessary and this is what Russia wants," Chirac said of Chechnya.
"But a political solution has a limit," he added. "It is a limit that everyone can understand and that no one can seriously contest ... the territorial unity of the Russian Federation".
Schroeder struck a similar note. Sunday’s elections, he said, "demonstrate that Russia wants a political solution" there.
The German leader flew into this Black Sea resort late Monday and held a first meeting with Putin, but Chirac arrived only early Tuesday after an overnight flight from Paris where he faced a crisis over the abduction of two French journalists.
In his rhetoric, Putin has sought to -- and in large measure succeeded in -- linking separatist rebel forces in Chechnya to Al-Qaeda and international terrorism, an effort tacitly endorsed by the West after the September 11 attacks in the United States.
Russia’s FSB intelligence service said Tuesday that they had confirmed the two planes were brought down by two passengers aboard the aircraft.
Those passengers, both women, were carrying passports bearing the names Amnat Nagayeva and Satsitsa Jebirkhanova. Those names belong to two women from Chechnya.
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9/1/2004 Southeast Asia
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Indonesian police reject legal bid to spring Bashir
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Indonesian police rejected a legal bid to release terror suspect Abu Bakar Bashir, saying they have indisputable evidence of the Islamic cleric’s involvement in a Jakarta hotel bombing.
Bashir’s lawyers have brought a lawsuit against police anti-terror forces for wrongfully arresting and detaining the cleric on a warrant linking him to the October 2002 Bali bombings.
The April 30 arrest, made as Bashir stepped out of jail having served time on other charges, was made prior to a ruling by Indonesia’s top court outlawing the retroactive use of a new anti-terror law to cover the Bali attacks.
But following last month’s Constitutional Court ruling, police amended the charge sheet, principally tying him to an August 2003 attack on Jakarta’s Marriott hotel that left 12 dead.
Police lawyer Syitono told a pre-trial hearing in Jakarta that Bashir was also linked to the uncovering of a haul of weapons in Semarang, a city on the island of Java.
"Based on the result of expanded investigation, the plaintiff is not only linked with the Bali bombings but he is also connected with the Marriott bombings and the discovery of weapons and explosive in Semarang," he said.
Prosecutors have confirmed that Bashir will appear in court charged with the Marriott attack under the tough new anti-terror law, which carries a possible death sentence.
The legal challenge by Bashir’s lawyers, on which judges will rule next Monday, is the latest hitch in the battle to bring the elderly cleric to court, but few expect it to succeed.
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Malaysia sez MILF holding up peace talks
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Talks to end a 30-year Moro rebellion in Mindanao could face fresh delays, with the main rebel group yet to approve guidelines for deploying foreign peace monitors, a Malaysian diplomat said Tuesday.
Malaysia, which has been brokering talks since 2001 to end the conflict in Mindanao, has put together an international team of peace monitors to prevent government troops and rebels from breaking a year-long truce.
"We’re still waiting for the terms of reference from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)," Mahinder Singh, a senior official at the Malaysian embassy, told reporters in Manila.
The terms of reference are guidelines regulating the role of peace monitors in Mindanao.
The deployment of foreign peace monitors is one of three preconditions set by the MILF before formal talks resume to end the rebellion that has claimed over 120,000 lives since the 1970s. Talks have been on hold for nearly three years.
The government has already pulled troops out of Buliok, a rebel enclave it captured last year, and agreed to drop murder cases against 185 MILF leaders in connection with two bomb attacks in Davao City that killed 38 last year.
Apart from Malaysia, only Brunei has committed troops to a 60-member team from Muslim countries to monitor a fragile cease-fire between government troops and MILF rebels in five areas in Mindanao.
Malaysia is still awaiting word from Bahrain, Indonesia, Libya and Saudi Arabia.
Both government and rebel leaders have agreed talks should begin before October 15 when the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins.
Eid Kabalu, spokesman for MILF, said the rebel group had sent its own version of the guidelines to Kuala Lumpur more than a week ago.
"We are ready for the talks," he said. "We did our own homework and are waiting for Malaysia to schedule the talks."
Two members of the government peace panel said the rebels had yet to comment on guidelines drafted by Malaysians on the deployment of cease-fire observers. But they also maintained that there were no more obstacles to the resumption of formal talks.
"There are no more problems," said Rodolfo Garcia, a retired general who was named to the government’s peace panel, told Reuters. "All concerns that were raised by the MILF had been addressed. We are just waiting for the go signal from Malaysia."
The signal may come after next week when senior Malaysian government officials will discuss their country’s role in the talks.
"There might be a decision after a high-level meeting on September 3," another Philippine government official familiar with the talks told Reuters.
"An advance team of 10 officers is already on standby in Kuala Lumpur and ready for deployment to Mindanao."
Talks between the government and MILF started in late 1996 but nearly collapsed twice when troops launched attacks in May 2000 and in February last year.
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MILF massing in Isulan
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Tension was building in Mindanao on Tuesday after a large group of Muslim separatist guerrillas gathered near a military detachment ahead of proposed peace talks, a military official said.
About 200 Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guerrillas moved into the village of Camanga near the town of Isulan on Mindanao island on Monday, said Brigadier General Alexander Yano, the chief military representative on a joint panel monitoring a 13 month-old ceasefire between the two sides.
The military declined to say what triggered the sudden rebel movement, but it followed an armed clash last week near the town of Mamasapano.
The monitoring teams are meeting to try to defuse the situation ahead of planned peace talks in Malaysia, Yano told reporters.
Talks are ongoing "to avert any further hostilities because we also have troops deployed very near the area," Yano said.
"It’s too close for comfort. There could be a shootout."
The military has asked the rebels to leave and has also pledged to pull back its own forces, said Yano. He said the rebels appeared willing to move as early as Tuesday.
He said most of the rebels came from Mamasapano, the scene of the most recent clash between the MILF and government forces last week.
In the same week a second clash occurred near the town of Ampatuan, leaving one soldier and two MILF rebels dead.
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Filippino military clashes with Abu Sayyaf
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ARMY troops clashed with suspected Abu Sayyaf bandits in Baiwas, Sumisip, Basilan Monday morning in a bid to wipe out the Al-Qaeda-linked radical terrorists in the island.
Southern Command spokesman Major Bartolome Bacarro said soldiers from the 55th Infantry Battalion chanced upon the group as they were patrolling the bandit’s lair in the village, at about 9:30 a.m.
However, there were no immediate reports of casualties from both sides, according to Bacarro.
The troops took some of the bandits’ weapons they left behind, consisting of one M-16 assault rifle, one M203 Garand rifle, and several rounds of ammunitions, including six from 40 mm mortars.
The troops on Basilan were earlier directed by Southcom chief Major General Generoso Senga to intensify their campaign against the remaining Abu Sayyaf group.
Comdr. Mingkong, who is the military’s main target, along with Abu Sayyaf prison escapee Abu Black, leads the remaining Abu Sayyaf group.
Mingkong is reportedly leading some 20 armed followers and still roaming the mountains of Basilan after their overall leader Kadaffy Janjalani reportedly fled the area to Central Mindanao two years ago.
Also in the list of the army anti-terror drive in the said province is Comdr. Suhu Salajain, who was implicated in the Basilan kidnappings in the past years.
The army in the island neutralized Mingkong’s late father, who was also known as an Abu Sayyaf fighter, some months ago, according to 103rd Army Brigade Commander Col. Raymundo Ferrer.
The down-sized Abu Sayyaf group in Basilan is reportedly engaged in extortion activities, mostly victimizing passenger jeepneys in their desperate bid to survive in the jungles as they no longer enjoy support for funds from friendly foreign radical forces, and due to the currently intensified drive against terrorism the region.
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9/1/2004 Syria-Lebanon-Iran
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US-Iran relations continue to pose problems
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Iran, a country that has bedeviled the United States for decades, could prove to be the biggest foreign policy challenge facing whoever wins the presidential election. The Iraq war and a spy scandal linking the Pentagon and Israel could complicate U.S. hopes of halting Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
Both President Bush and Democratic nominee John Kerry say they want to use diplomacy -- although with different approaches -- to prevent a hostile Islamic state in the volatile Middle East from arming itself with nuclear weapons.
But U.S. ability to sound the international alarm on Iran has been damaged after much of its intelligence on Saddam Hussein’s weapons programs proved to be wrong. And its credibility could be further hurt by suspicions that a Pentagon official passed secrets about Iran to Israel.
Neither Bush nor Kerry advocates a preemptive strike on Iran. "The military option is always the last option for a president, not the first," Bush said in an interview broadcast Tuesday on NBC’s "Today" show.
Yet Iran, by many standards, poses a greater threat than Saddam ever did.
As they did with Iraq, U.S. officials suspect Iran has chemical and biological weapons. But Iran’s nuclear program is much more advanced than Saddam’s program was believed to be. U.S. officials say Iran could produce weapons-grade uranium within a year and a nuclear weapon three years after that.
Iran says its nuclear program is for making electricity, not weapons. The nuclear program was in the spotlight Tuesday as the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported the arrest of a group of spies, including several who passed the secrets abroad.
Intelligence Minister Ali Yunesi said members of the Mujahedeen Khalq, an armed opposition group, were behind the spying.
In addition to nuclear worries, the United States has long considered Iran the world’s most active state sponsor of terror. Iran has supported militant Palestinian groups, and U.S. officials say it has been a safe haven for Al-Qaida members.
In 2001, Bush called Iran part of an "axis of evil." Yet his administration has been divided on how to deal with it. Some, many with Pentagon ties, favor a tougher approach. Others, many in the State Department, believe accommodation with Iranian moderates is possible.
In a speech Monday, Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards said the Bush administration "has stood on the sidelines" while both Iran and North Korea "advanced their nuclear programs."
Kerry holds out some hope that a negotiated solution with Iran is possible. He said the United States and other nations should "call their bluff" by offering nuclear fuel for peaceful purposes, then taking back the spent fuel so it can’t be used for weapons.
If that process fails, the United States could try to ensure that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) takes the issue to the U.N. Security Council, where Iran could face sanctions.
Bush administration officials have suggested that it is too late for incentives. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice said recently that Iran "has to be isolated in its bad behavior, not engaged."
The United States is expected to request U.N. Security Council action if the IAEA condemns Iran on Sept. 13. Yet the prospects are uncertain. Russia, which is building Iran’s nuclear reactor, has a veto.
Bush has demanded that Iran give up its nuclear program, but it’s unclear what he would do if Iran refuses and the United Nations doesn’t act.
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#1 Okay, time to set up the board. We took out the holy shits main enemy, saddam. Would it have been better to take out saddams main enemy, Iran?
Both were/are freaking hostlie.
I think that; We hope that Iranians will do the deed as they are sick and tired of being part of Bielzabubs daily soap opera. That if the populace can't or won't rise up, ala Iraqies, that some sort of "new age" attack, that won't killl mass amounts of Iranians, the key, must happen.
Or do we play a holding action, stoping the developing of first strick weopons; for how long?
What will Bush do? What would Kerry do? |
| Posted by: Lucky 2004-09-01 2:24:25 AM Comment
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| #2 Let's assume Bush wins the election. I think what he would LIKE to do is take down Iran. The question is can he? Do we have the military assets to do it (assuming we won't use nukes)? Could he justify such a war politically? Could he justify the expenditures it would require? This is a big problem, because the alternatives are pretty bleak. If we don't do something about Iran, that country will continue to be a sanctuary and a sponsor of jihad, and continue to send jihadis into Iraq to prolong the insurgency. It would also demonstrate to the world that rogue nations can get away with it, standing up to the US, bringing our interventions to nought. Even if we suppress the insurgency, there's still the problem of nukes. Iran having nukes would allow them to intimidate Iraq into submission after we leave. And the whole ME. |
| Posted by: virginian 2004-09-01 7:41:28 AM Comment
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US, France want Syria out of Lebanon
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The United States is calling for the immediate withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon, according to a a draft resolution circulated in the U.N. Security Council late Tuesday.
The new measure also offers support for elections under the current Lebanese constitution, which would rule out a second term for pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud.
The United States decided to press for a resolution - with the support of France, Lebanon’s former colonial ruler - after what many saw as a Syrian-engineered move to change the constitution to extend Lahoud’s term.
The resolution calls on the council "to consider additional measures," which are not specified, if the Syrians and Lebanese don’t comply.
Lebanon accused the United States and France Tuesday of trying to "blackmail" it and Syria, and create trouble between Beirut and Damascus.
U.S. deputy ambassador Anne Patterson said the United States wants the Security Council to vote on the draft resolution "hopefully by Wednesday or Thursday." But the draft is almost certain to face opposition from Algeria, the only Arab nation on the council, and probably from Russia and China, which traditionally oppose council interference in a country’s internal affairs.
In Washington, the Bush administration sharply criticized Syria for meddling in Lebanon’s politics, and a senior U.S. diplomat was likely to go to Damascus for high-level talks.
But Lebanese Foreign Minister Jean Obeid said Lebanese-Syrian relations are a matter for both countries to decide. He said Lebanon "completely separates between dealing with our internal affairs and international attempts at blackmail with the aim of fomenting a dispute between us and our brothers (in Syria)."
The draft resolution, obtained by The Associated Press, calls for "the strict respect of Lebanon’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, unity and political independence."
It "demands that Syrian forces withdraw without delay from Lebanon" and declares the Security Council’s "support for a free and fair electoral process in Lebanon’s upcoming presidential election conducted according to Lebanese constitutional rules devised without foreign interference or influence."
The Lebanese Cabinet last week approved an amendment to the constitution to allow Lahoud to stay in power three more years.
Parliament, instead of voting for a new president for the next six years, will have to vote on an extension to Lahoud’s term, which expires Nov. 24. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri called late Tuesday for a meeting of the 128-member legislature on Friday to amend the constitution to extend Lahoud’s term.
The draft resolution asks Secretary-General Kofi Annan to report on implementation within 30 days. It was not drafted under Chapter VII of the U.N. Charter, so military action would not be an option.
The Lebanese Foreign Ministry said in a letter to the Security Council that U.N. action would be "a dangerous precedent."
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9/1/2004 Terror Networks
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Bush says 75% of al-Qaeda leadership neutralized
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President Bush said on Tuesday he would tell the Republican convention that three-quarters of known al Qaeda leaders have been captured or killed, an increase from an earlier estimate of two-thirds.
For months, the CIA had privately advocated switching to the 75 percent figure, though the White House balked at using it publicly. Critics say the estimate is meaningless as losses by a decentralized al Qaeda are ever harder to estimate.
Bush told conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh that during his speech accepting the Republican nomination on Thursday he would "tell the people that three-quarters of the known al Qaeda leadership has been brought to justice."
"And we’re still obviously on the hunt," Bush added.
White House officials said the change took new information about arrests and the al Qaeda network into account, and was not politically timed for the Republican convention, where Bush’s war on terror is a central theme.
A CIA spokesman said the 75 percent estimate "is absolutely consistent with our view."
John Pike, a defense analyst with GlobalSecurity.org, said recent arrests may have helped prevent attacks against the United States but it was hard, because of the decentralized nature of al Qaeda, to estimate losses.
"That’s been a pretty slippery issue right there," he said.
Flynt Leverett, who was a senior director on Bush’s National Security Council and now an informal adviser to Democratic rival John Kerry, called it a "meaningless assertion."
"We don’t really know at this point the real map of the al Qaeda network as it has morphed," Leverett said.
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#1  |
| Posted by: Murat 2004-09-01 3:33:35 AM Comment
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| #2 Fat boy counts his IQ on one hand. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2004-09-01 3:35:44 AM Comment
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| #3 I could not agree with you more Murat. Muslims are LOSERS. |
| Posted by: ed 2004-09-01 3:37:07 AM Comment
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| #4 I think he meant Bush dear Ed. I like this fat guy. |
| Posted by: Murat 2004-09-01 4:05:37 AM Comment
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| #5 Be his tool, Murat. He cares for you. He's looking out for your interests. Just ask him. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-09-01 4:10:12 AM Comment
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| #7 Moore's debating skills are indeed on a par with yours, Murat: pathetic. You're a joke. A bad one at that. |
| Posted by: Bulldog
2004-09-01 5:29:33 AM Comment
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| #8 He is just a nice fat guy who is against fools Bulldog, if he had been English he would have been anti-Blare too. |
| Posted by: Murat 2004-09-01 5:52:04 AM Comment
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#9 it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
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| Posted by: Howard UK 2004-09-01 6:00:03 AM Comment
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| #10 I figured it out. Fatboy is showing us how islamo-fascists wipe their ass. No wonder we can't sell them toilet paper. Too bad Moore is so fat he has to get someone else to do the job. He has to hand sign for it. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2004-09-01 6:19:07 AM Comment
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#11 Oh yes, a really nice guy; a man of the people. An anti-materialistic egalitarian who's selflessly taking blows for the little guy. You're such a tool, Murat. I'm sure you'd get on really well, if you could buy Moore's time for a while.
"Michael Moore reportedly left London under a cloud of bad feeling amid claims he was not paid enough for his recent one-man show at the Camden Roundhouse. The director and star of the acclaimed Bowling For Columbine played a sell out two month run at the London venue before Christmas, but the London Evening Standard says he was irritated to be paid as little as £500 for each gig. The Standard quotes "a source" saying Moore threw a temper tantrum on the penultimate night. "He completely lost the plot," says the unnamed member of staff. "He stormed around all day screaming at everybody, even the £5-an-hour bar staff, telling us how we were all conmen and useless. Then he went on stage and did it in public." Enraged staff, the Standard continues, refused to work on Moore's final night until the comic apologised, delaying the start for over an hour."
He's very anti-Blair. So was Saddam. He's pro-Castro, pro-Kim Il-Sung, pro-twats the world over. I'm not at all surprised you like him. |
| Posted by: Bulldog
2004-09-01 6:23:02 AM Comment
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| #12 Don't be that unfair Bulldog, the fat guy has guts, showing up at a Republican convention and telling Bush he's got two months left, that's style man. |
| Posted by: Murat 2004-09-01 7:18:02 AM Comment
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#13 ...the fat guy has guts...
No one's gonna argue with that.
...showing up at a Republican convention and telling Bush he's got two months left, that's style man.
Yep, the 'L' for loser sign - class. Kindergarten class. He's going to look even more of a fatgut Krispy Kreme Kretin when Bush wins in November, donchathink? |
| Posted by: Anonymous6234 2004-09-01 7:39:09 AM Comment
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