Warning: Undefined array key "rbname" in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 14
Hello !
Recent Appearances... Rantburg

Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Hezbollah's new terror project mastermind: 'Worst of the worst'
2019-03-15
[Jpost] Ali Mussa Daqduq, Nasrallah's former bodyguard, is said by the IDF to be the mastermind behind Hezbollah's Golan Project.

Six years after senior Hezbollah operative Ali Mussa Daqduq was released from an Iraqi prison for the murder of five American servicemen, he has resurfaced mere miles from Israel’s border on the Syrian Golan Heights as the criminal mastermind of a new and dangerous Hezbollah terror network.

According to the IDF, Daqduq is the leader of Hezbollah’s clandestine "Golan Project" ‐ a terrorist network which the IDF believes is aiming to build up its capabilities to one day launch serious attacks against Israel such as rocket and infiltrations into communities on the Israel Golan Heights.
Link


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
IDF: Hezbollah Head Of Golan Operations Murdered U.S. Troops In Iraq
2019-03-14
[Jpost] The Hezbollah terrorist organization has begun an attempt to establish and entrench a covert force in the Syrian Golan Heights.

The Lebanese Shi’ite terror group Hezbollah is building a new and dangerous terror network in Syria’s Golan Heights without the knowledge of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Supressor of the Damascenes...
, the IDF has revealed.

"The Hezbollah terrorist organization has begun an attempt to establish and entrench a covert force in the Syrian Golan Heights that is designed to act against Israel when given the order," the IDF said on Tuesday.

According to the IDF, the network ‐ called "The Golan Project" ‐ is currently in its initial stages of establishment and recruitment and is not yet operational.

It is led by senior Hezbollah commander Ali Mussa Daqduq, who spent five years in an Iraqi prison for a 2007 attack that killed five American soldiers in the Karbala Governorate. He was released in 2012, went back to Leb and was sent to Syria this past summer to establish the Golan terror network.

Other senior Hezbollah operatives involved in the clandestine project have been identified by the IDF as Bashar and Ismail Mustafa, Talal Hassoun and Fahim Abu Qais.

According to senior intelligence officers in the IDF’s Northern Command, Hezbollah’s Golan Project began in the summer following the reconquering of the Syrian Golan by regime troops.

All actions of operatives are compartmentalized and kept secret from each other and the local population to advance their project without the regime knowing.

"Hezbollah is taking advantage of the fact that Assad is busy in the north of the country and that villagers in the Syrian Golan need the money," the senior officers said, stressing that "if Assad is serious then he has to have full control and know what is happening in his territory."

The Hezbollah forces of Evil are currently focusing on familiarizing themselves with the Syrian Golan Heights and on gathering intelligence on Israel and the border area. They are also working to establish intelligence gathering capabilities against Israel, operating from civilian observation posts and regime military positions near the border.

The Golan Project has its headquarters in Damascus and the Lebanese capital of Beirut, and there are tens of operatives operating in the Syrian towns of Hader, Quneitra and Erneh who collect intelligence on Israel and military movement on the Israeli Golan Heights.

"The proximity of these communities to Israel is what allows the operatives to conduct observations continuously and without revealing their true goal ‐ to convey information about the regular activities of our forces to Hezbollah and the leaders of the network," the military said.

According to the senior officers, the operatives have weaponry available from the civil war and if needed, will receive additional weaponry from Leb or existing arsenals kept by Hezbollah and Iran in Syria.

While some of the operatives have taken part in attacks against Israel in the past, other local Syrian villagers joined for financial reasons. A portion of the operatives have undergone training by Hezbollah in sabotage, sharpshooting and firing Grad rockets
...Soviet-developed 122-mm rockets, usually launched from trucks. Newer versions are reported to have a range of up to 30 km....
"The Northern Command and the 210th Division have identified the enemy’s movements and are acting to strengthen the security response at the border by strengthening intelligence gathering capabilities, fire capabilities and are defending the sector with increased forces," said Brig.-Gen. Amit Fisher, Commander of the 210th Division.

According to Fisher, IDF troops "are operating overtly and covertly to locate the enemy, force them away from the border and ensure security near the border."

Last week, Syrian media reported that the IDF shelled Hader, and a similar incident occurred on February 11 with local Syrian media reporting that the IDF shelled a position in the city of Quneitra.

Prime Minister and Defense Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later admitted that the IDF had struck positions in Syria’s Quneitra district in February, stating that Israel is "operating every day, including yesterday, against Iran and its attempts to establish its presence in the area."

Senior officials later admitted that the shelling targeted Iranian-backed Shi’ite bandidos turbans who were trying to set up a base of operations near the Israeli Golan Heights.

Israel captured the Golan Heights, some 1,200 square kilometers, from Syria during the Six Day War in 1967 and unilaterally annexed it in 1981. The 1974 ceasefire accord signed following the Yom Kippur War the previous year established a buffer zone between the two enemy countries. It was patrolled by UN troops until peacekeepers were kidnapped by Syrian rebels 2014.

Syrian troops recaptured southern Syria seven years after losing the area to rebel groups and returned to its positions along with Hezbollah operatives. Both UN peacekeepers and Russian military police have been deployed along the Golan Heights border.

"We hold the Syrian Regime as the sovereign its territory and expect it to honor the terms of the 1974 Separation of Forces Agreement," the military said on Tuesday, adding that "we expect it to prevent any hostile elements, including Hezbollah, from operating out of its territory. The IDF will not allow any attempt by Hezbollah to entrench itself near the border and we will act with all our might to force this terrorist organization out of the Golan Heights and ensure the stability of the region."

After Hezbollah cell in Syria exposed, PM says it’s the ‘tip of the iceberg’

[IsraelTimes] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a warning to Iran and Hezbollah that "Israel knows what you’re doing, Israel knows where you’re doing it," hours after Israel announced it had uncovered a terror cell in the Syrian Golan Heights.

The Hezbollah cell is "just the tip of the iceberg," Netanyahu, who also serves as defense minister, said on Wednesday.

"This morning Israel exposed a Hezbollah terror network on the Golan Heights. Hezbollah is a terror organization. It’s a proxy of Iran. It does Iran’s bidding and this terror network is part of Iran’s aggression against Israel," Netanyahu said in a video statement.

"So I have a clear message for Iran and for Hezbollah," he added. "Israel knows what you’re doing, Israel knows where you’re doing it. What we’ve uncovered today is just the tip of the iceberg. We know a lot more."

He warned: “Israel will continue to do all that’s necessary to defend itself. We will continue to use all means, overt and covert, to block Iran’s effort to use Syria, Lebanon and Gaza as forward bases for attacking Israel.”
Link


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Executioner of Captured American Troops to Be Set Free Thanks To Obama
2012-08-05
An Iraqi court has rejected a request to send a Hezbollah commander to the United States for trial. Ali Mussa Daqduq, a Lebanese militant, has been held in Iraq for the 2007 killings of five American soldiers, four of whom were captured, tortured and shot execution-style. But now the Iraqi central criminal court has ordered that Daqduq be freed immediately. The Court stated:


It is not possible to hand [Daqduq] over because the charges were dropped in the same case. Therefore, the court decided to reject the request to hand [him] over to the U.S. judiciary authorities, and to release him immediately.
Link


Iraq
US asks Iraq to extradite Hezbollah suspect
2012-06-01
The United States has formally asked Iraq to extradite a suspected Hezbollah operative accused of killing American troops, a U.S. official told Reuters, amid heightened concerns in Washington that he may go free.

It was not immediately clear when the request was filed and Iraqi officials approached by Reuters denied knowledge of it, casting doubt on whether an extradition was seriously being considered at this point in Baghdad.

The fate of Ali Mussa Daqduq has been vexing American officials since last December, when the United States was forced to hand him over to Baghdad after failing to secure a custody deal ahead of the U.S. military's withdrawal from the country.

Link


Iraq
Iraq lawyer predicts Hezbollah prisoner to go free
2012-04-19
A Hezbollah commander accused of targeting U.S. soldiers in Iraq may be released from prison within weeks, his lawyer predicted Wednesday, claiming that flimsy American evidence has kept his client behind bars for nearly five years.
There is an alternative way of handling this...
The case has been a thorn in diplomatic relations between Baghdad and Washington since the American military pullout last December. U.S. terror experts have described Ali Mussa Daqduq as among "the worst of the worst" militants and would remain a severe threat to Americans if freed.

Daqduq's attorney, Abdul-Mahdi al-Mitairi, said he expects Iraqi courts to agree that there is not enough evidence to keep him in prison.

"Legally, the investigation judge should have already released him for a lack of evidence, but he was under pressure from the Americans," al-Mitairi said in an interview Wednesday with The Associated Press.

"Now we are waiting for the case to be transferred to a criminal court in the coming few weeks, and I think he will be released after the first trial session," al-Mitairi said.

Daqduq is a Lebanese commander for Hezbollah, a Shiite militant group linked to numerous deadly attacks. U.S. officials say he trained Shiite militias in Iraq and helped plot the 2007 killing of four American soldiers in the holy city of Karbala, about 90 kilometers (55 miles) south of Baghdad.

Daqduq was captured later that year and held in U.S. custody in Iraq as officials tried to decide where to charge him. When the American military left Iraq late last December, U.S. officials were forced to hand over Daqduq to Iraqi authorities -- despite fears in Washington that he would be quietly freed by the Shiite-led government in Baghdad.
Link


Iraq
Iraq: US hands over detainees save Hezbollah agent
2011-11-22
The U.S. handed over all of the remaining detainees in U.S. custody in Iraq Tuesday, except for a Lebanese Hezbollah commander linked to the death of four American troops, Iraqi and American officials said.

The prisoner transfer marks another step toward the American military's withdrawal from Iraq, as it plans for all U.S. troops to be out of the country by the end of this year.

It still leaves the contentious issue of what to do with a prisoner that many in the U.S. worry will walk free if he's handed over to the Iraqi government.
This is exactly why we have Gitmo...
Iraqi Deputy Justice Minister Busho Ibrahim said 37 detainees were transferred to Iraqi custody Tuesday morning.

A U.S. military official confirmed all the remaining prisoners were transferred with the exception of Hezbollah operative Ali Mussa Daqduq, who he said is still in American custody while the U.S. weighs his situation.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.

Link


Iraq
'Hizbullah Commander' Arrested in Iraq Could Get Military Tribunal in U.S.
2011-09-26
[An Nahar] The B.O. regime is considering a military trial in the United States for a Hizbullah commander now jugged in Iraq, U.S. counterterrorism officials said, previewing a potential prosecution strategy that has failed before but may offer a solution to a difficult legal problem for the government.

While the U.S. hasn't made a decision, officials said a tribunal at a U.S. military base may be the best way to deal with Ali Mussa Daqduq, who was captured in Iraq in 2007. He has been linked to the Iranian government and a brazen raid in which four American soldiers were kidnapped and killed in the Iraqi holy city of Karbala in 2007.

No military commission has been held on U.S. soil since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. President George Bush tried holding a few suspected beturbanned goons at military bases inside the U.S., but each detainee ultimately was released or transferred to civilian courts.

President Barack B.O. Obama has said that, because of changes to the military commissions that give prisoners more rights, he supports them as an option in the fight against terrorism.

But a tribunal for Daqduq probably would draw criticism from both liberals, who say a civilian court should be used, and conservatives, who don't want suspected beturbanned goons brought to the U.S. regardless of the venue.

The Bush administration had planned to prosecute Daqduq in an American civilian court. To prepare for that, intelligence officials questioned Daqduq, then had the FBI restart the interrogation from scratch so his answers would be admissible in court.

In a twist of political irony, however, that plan has been effectively scuttled because of opposition from Bush's own Republican Party.

A decision must be made soon. Daqduq is among a few of the remaining U.S. prisoners who, under a 2008 agreement between Washington and Storied Baghdad
...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate...
, must be transferred to Iraqi custody by the end of 2011. U.S. officials fear that if he is turned over to Iraq, he will simply walk free.

Link


Terror Networks
Hezbollah leader could get military tribunal in US
2011-09-25
Ay Pee summarized: Ali Mussa Daqduq, captured in Iraq in 2007, has connections to Iran and to the kidnap and murder of four American soldiers in Karbala that year. If he is brought to the U.S. to be tried by military tribunal, it will be the first on U.S. soil since 9/11. If nothing is done, he must be turned over to Iraq by the end of this year. Why a military tribunal can't be constituted for this case in Iraq or Guantanamo Bay is not explained, although thus far Guantanamo Bay has only been used for Sunni Al Qaeda associates, not Shiite Hizb'allah members.
Link


Iraq
U.S. Transfer of Hizbullah Fighter to Iraqi Authorities on Hold
2011-07-23
[An Nahar] Iraq's Justice Ministry said Friday that plans to transfer a top Hizbullah commander who's being held in Storied Baghdad
...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate...
from U.S. to Iraqi custody have been put on hold.

The turnabout comes as 20 U.S. senators ask the Pentagon to take "whatever steps you can" to prevent the transfer out of fear that the Islamic exemplar, Ali Mussa Daqduq, will escape or be released by Iraq's government.

Just two days ago, Justice Ministry front man Haidar al-Saadi said the U.S. would transfer custody of Daqduq by the end of this week.

U.S. forces have held Daqduq since his 2007 capture for allegedly cooperating with Iranian agents to train Shiite militias to target American soldiers.

He is one of about 10 detainees whom the U.S. must either prosecute or hand over to Iraq by the end of the year.

In a letter dated Thursday, 20 U.S. senators asked Defense Secretary Leon Panetta
...current Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Panetta served as President Bill Clinton's White House Chief of Staff from 1994 to 1997 and was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1993....
"to take whatever steps you can to block Daqduq's transfer to the Iraqi government and out of U.S. custody."

"If he is released from United States custody, there is little doubt that Daqduq will return to the battlefield and resume his terrorist activities against the United States and our interests," the senators wrote in the letter signed by 19 Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Sen. John Maverick McCain
... the Senator-for-Life from Arizona, former presidential candidate and even more former foot soldier in the Reagan Revolution...
of Arizona, top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Senate Homeland Security Committee chairman Joseph Holy Joe Lieberman
...what a Democrat maverick would look like if the Democrats had mavericks...
, an independent senator from Connecticut, also signed the letter.

Link


Iraq
US DOJ plans to prosecute Hezbollah commander captured in Iraq
2011-05-17
By BILL ROGGIO May 16, 2011This is one bad dude -- read it all

The US Department of Justice is planning to prosecute Ali Mussa Daqduq, a dangerous Lebanese Hezbollah and Iranian Qods Force agent who is responsible for organizing the Shia terror groups in Iraq and the kidnapping and murder of US soldiers.

The proposed prosecution was disclosed in a letter written by five US senators to US Attorney General Eric Holder, asking the Justice Department to clarify the status of Daqduq and inquiring why Daqduq will not be transferred to the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. The letter, which was signed by US Senators Charles Grassley, Orrin Hatch, Jeff Sessions, John Cornyn, and Tom Coburn, was sent to the Department of Justice this evening. A copy of the letter was obtained by The Long War Journal [see Threat Matrix report, Text of letter to the Department of Justice on Ali Mussa Daqduq].

"We are deeply concerned that the Administration and the Department of Justice are moving forward with plans to prosecute Ali Mussa Daqduq in federal court for clear violations of the laws of war that occurred in Iraq," the senators said.

The senators believe that Daqduq should be prosecuted by a military commission and not in a federal court as "his actions clearly defy the laws of war." The senators are also concerned that Daqduq would eventually be freed if transferred to the Iraqi government.

"Moreover, we are concerned that if Daqduq is left in the custody of the Iraqi government, AAH [the Asaib al Haq or League of the Righteous] will successfully negotiate his release," the letter continued. "There is little doubt that Daqduq will return to the battlefield and resume his terrorist activities against the United States and our interests."

Daqduq is perhaps the most dangerous of the Shia terror commanders captured by US forces in Iraq since 2003. Daqduq has a pedigree with Lebanese Hezbollah, Iran's proxy militia and terror group that is based in Lebanon. At the time of his capture in March 2007, he was a 24-year veteran of Hezbollah. He has commanded both a Hezbollah special operations unit and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah's security detail.
Link


Terror Networks
Hezbollah Brigades propaganda specialist captured in Baghdad
2008-07-21
By Bill Roggio

Coalition special forces teams, likely the terrorist hunter-killer teams of Task Force 88, have captured a Hezbollah Brigades propaganda specialist during a raid in New Baghdad.

The propaganda specialist was positively identified by his wife after the raid, and he later admitted to his role in seeding websites with attack videos.

"The man uploads web sites with imagery and video taken from attacks on Iraqi Security and Coalition forces," Multinational Forces Iraq reported in a press release. "Reports indicate this is part of a propaganda effort in order to earn money and support from their Iranian financiers."

Little information is publicly available on the Hezbollah Brigades, or the Kata'ib Hezbollah. Multinational Forces Iraq indicates the group receives support from Iran and is an “offshoot of Iranian-trained Special Groups."

The logo used by the Hezbollah Brigades is nearly an exact match of the one used by Lebanese Hezbollah, which is directly supported by Iran. The logo shows an arm extended vertically, with the fist grasping an AK-47 assault rifle. US forces captured Ali Mussa Daqduq inside Iraq in early 2007. Daqduq is a senior Hezbollah commander who was tasked with setting up the Mahdi Army Special Groups along the same lines

The Hezbollah Brigades began uploading videos of attacks on US and Iraqi forces this year.

The group has claimed responsibility for the July 8 improvised rocket-assisted mortar attack on Joint Security Station Ur in Sadr City [see video]. One US soldier and one interpreter were wounded after eight of the makeshift "flying IEDs" detonated near the outpost. Shia terror groups have launched a handful of IRAM attacks on US and Iraqi outposts in Baghdad.
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2008/06/mahdi_army_uses_flyi.php

Hezbollah Brigades also posted video of an attack on a US patrol with an Iranian-supplied, armor-piercing, explosively formed projectile, or EFP.

The capture of the Hezbollah Brigades propaganda expert is the latest in a series of raids against Shia terrorists. Scores of Special Groups operatives have been captured over the past month, including senior leaders, weapons smugglers, financiers, trainers, and cell leaders.


Link


Iraq
Iraqi police nab Special Groupies behind 2007 Karbala attack
2008-06-12
Iraqi police have captured three Iranian-backed Special Groups operatives behind the kidnapping and murder of five US soldiers at the Karbala Provincial Joint Coordination Center in January 2007. Meanwhile, US troops captured another Special Groups leader in the Al Kut region,

The Iraqi police captured the three "key criminals" behind the 2007 Karbala attack in Musayyib, just south of Baghdad, on June 5. The three Special Groups operatives are "suspected of trafficking and emplacing explosively formed projectiles." Explosively formed projectiles are the signature weapon of Shia terrorists with links to Iran.

The US military immediately suspected Iran's Qods Force, the elite external operations branch, of being behind the 2007 attack in Karbala. The raid was well planned and executed, as the attackers looked American, spoke English, used American equipment. One US soldier was killed and three wounded during the initial attack, and four soldiers were subsequently taken hostage. They were executed shortly afterward after Iraqi police and Coalition forces tracked their movement eastward towards Iran and went into pursuit. US satellite imagery specialists found a mockup of the Karbala Provincial Joint Coordination Center at an Iranian base in southern Iran.

The US military gained insight on the Karbala attack and Iran's involvement in operations in Baghdad and the South after stepping up pressure on the Iranian networks in late 2006 and throughout 2007. The US military killed or captured multiple high-level Iranian-trained agents and a Qods Force leader of one of the three sub-commands commands inside Iraq.

Multinational Forces Iraq killed Azhar al Dulaimi, the leader of the Karbala attack, during a raid north of Baghdad in May 2007. Dulaimi is described as the mastermind and tactical commander of the Karbala attack, as well as other high profile terror attacks in Iraq. Dulaimi was a senior leader in the Qazali network, which General David Petraeus noted was behind the planning, organization and execution of the Karbala attack.

The Qazali Network was led by Qais Qazali, the former spokesman for Muqtada al Sadr, the leader of the Mahdi Army. US forces captured Qazali and his brother Layith in early 2007. Muqtada al Sadr has called for the release of Qazali in the past.

Coalition forces also captured Ali Mussa Daqduq, a senior Hezbollah operative, and Mahmud Farhadi, the Qods Force officer in charge of the Zafr Command, one of the three units subordinate to the Ramazan Corps, Iran's military command directing operations inside Iraq.
But wait, there's more!
Senior Special Groups leader captured near Al Kut

Coalition special forces teams also captured a Special Groups leader in the town of Numaniyah near Al Kut in Wasit province. The operative is described as an "Iranian-trained improvised explosive device expert" who "traveled to Iran several times for explosives training. Intelligence sources also said the suspect has numerous Iranian contacts with whom he would meet when smuggling weapons and bomb-making materials into Iraq." US and Iraqi forces detained four other senior Special Groups leaders in Wasit province since June 3.

Iraqi security forces have stepped up operations against the Mahdi Army Special Groups and the Iranian supply lines in Basrah, Dhi Qhar, Wasit, Kabala, and Najaf provinces over the past several weeks. Scores of Special Groups leaders have been captured or killed during operations to disrupt the terror networks.
Link



Warning: Undefined property: stdClass::$T in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 132
-12 More