Saudi authorities on Friday announced the arrest of 41 suspected militants, including those captured during a series of simultaneous raids earlier this month in which al-Qaida's leader in Saudi Arabia was killed.
An Interior Ministry statement outlined the Aug. 18 operation in Riyadh and Medina, which killed al-Qaida's Saudi chief, Saleh Mohammed al-Oufi, and two other militants. Authorities identified, for the first time, two other militants slain during raids in both cities. One was Majed Hamed Abdullah al-Hassiri, a 29-year-old Saudi who was No. 14 on a list of 36 most wanted terrorists sought for connection to terror attacks in the kingdom dating back to 2003. He was killed in a shootout with police in Riyadh. The other slain Saudi militant, Mohammed bin Abdullah Owaidah, died in the same shootout in Medina that also killed al-Qaida chief al-Oufi.
The statement also provided details about several swoops that netted at least 41 people on July 25 and Aug. 18 in Riyadh, Medina and the northern town of Arar, including non-Saudis. Among the 41 was Mohammed Saeed Mohammed al-Sayam al-Umari, 25, who was arrested in Medina on July 25 and was No. 10 on the list of 36 most wanted terrorists. Since May 2003, Islamic militants have carried out numerous suicide bombings and kidnappings and have regularly battled security forces. The attacks, which have tended to target Westerners and housing complexes were Westerners live, have been blamed on the al-Qaida terror group and its allies. Saudi forces say they have gotten the upper hand against terror cells, killing or capturing all but one figure on a previous most wanted list of 26 militants. Saudi national Talib Saud Abdullah al-Talib, who was No. 16 on the earlier list, remains at large.
More, from Arab News...
A ministry official said that during a raid on two residential locations in Arar near the border with Iraq, security forces arrested two members of the same group and seized weapons and âmotorcycles used to smuggle individuals out of the country.â The official said security forces began tracking down the cell targeted in last weekâs offensive after arresting Mohamed ibn Saeed Al-Amri, one of the militants on a wanted list of 36, in Madinah on July 25.
âThirteen members of the group were subsequently caught and various weapons seized,â the official said. A total of 28 more suspects had been rounded up since the start of the campaign on Aug. 18, he added. The ministry said those arrested were of various nationalities but did not reveal their names. Security forces have uncovered weapons and parts of RPGs and machine guns dumped in a 150-meter-deep well in Madinah. They have also seized weapons kept in a warehouse in Madinah, SR186,000 in cash, telecommunication devices and various documents. Last weekâs Cabinet meeting commended the security officers for their âpre-emptive operationâ to crush terrorists and foil terrorist attacks.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/27/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11125 views]
Top|| File under:
It is a liaison that would once have turned many military top brass purple with rage. Five years after the ban on homosexuality in the armed forces was lifted, the Royal Navy is entering into a partnership with Stonewall and actively seeking gay recruits by advertising in the pink press.
Subject to smutty innuendo ever since Churchill supposedly dismissed Britain's naval tradition as "nothing but rum, sodomy and the lash", the navy will today cast off centuries of repression and inhibition by seeking Stonewall's advice on the recruitment and retention of gay and lesbian sailors.
In a transformation likened by activists to turning round a supertanker, the navy will pay the pressure group for advice on curbing prejudice and ensuring gay personnel have equal rights to housing, benefits and pensions.
The partnership with Stonewall "will help the lesbians and gays within the Royal Navy be more comfortable and honest about their sexuality if they wish to", said the spokesman. "But no one has to reveal their sexual orientation in the armed services. It's an entirely private matter."
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/27/2005 13:58 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11130 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
The Royal Navy - this years sponsor of "The Village People" reunion tour.
#4
new Brit O-Club hit line: Mind if I push in your stool?
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/27/2005 15:58 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Maybe "nothing but rum, sodomy and the lash" *should* be their new recruiting slogan.
Posted by: Eric ||
08/27/2005 16:25 Comments ||
Top||
#6
The Royal Navy - this years sponsor of "The Village People" reunion tour
Reminds me of a story from my own USN active duty time in the 1970's. We were at quarters one morning, and we noticed some unusual activity on the forecastle of the USS Hepburn a couple of piers over (32nd Street, San Diego) - looked like guys in some sort of costume, with other guys wrangling lights and camera equipment. I noticed someone wearing an Indian feather headdress, and another guy in a construction worker's hard hat, and said to nobody in particular, "if I didn't know better, I'd swear that was the Village People on the Hepburn's forecastle!". We later heard that indeed they WERE the Village People, filming a USN recruiting commercial. Of course, the commercial never aired...apparently someone at CRUITCOM with some pop-culture savvy clued in the brass as to the VP's fan demographics.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
08/27/2005 19:37 Comments ||
Top||
#7
What did one Gay Royal Navy sperm say to the other Gay Royal Navy sperm?
Where are we going to find an egg in all this shit?
Police said yesterday they were questioning three men arrested under the Terrorism Act in Wales. Gwent police said the three were arested in Newport in South Wales. All are residents of the area. The arrests, according to a spokeswoman, was an on-going security operation. The arrests comes days before the scheduled meeting of European Union foreign ministers due to take place at the Celtic Manor Resort near Newport in early September. All 25 EU foreign ministers are expected to be at the two-day summit which will be hosted by British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/27/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11131 views]
Top|| File under:
ROME: The Italian lawyer for a suspect in the failed July 21 London transport bombings held in Rome on Friday formally appealed a decision to extradite him to Britain. Antonietta Sonnessa, defence lawyer for Hamdi Issac, told reporters in Rome she had lodged an appeal against the extradition, which a court ruled last week should take place before September 21. Italy's highest court has 20 days to rule on the appeal. Sonnessa said in the wake of last week's extradition ruling that she intended to appeal on the grounds that in its extradition request, Britain had not included details about the nature of the explosive Issac had allegedly used and that documentation was therefore incomplete.
The Rome court said last Wednesday the documentation was "absolutely complete," although the judge acknowledged that Italian judicial authorities may want more information on the nature of the makeshift devices that failed to explode on July 21, particularly their explosive power. The Ethiopian-born Issac, 27, also known as Osman Hussain, left London by train on July 26, travelling to Rome via Paris and Milan. He was arrested in Rome, where he has a brother, on July 29.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/27/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11127 views]
Top|| File under:
Shamil Basayev, the warlord behind last year's bloody school siege in Beslan, was named second-in-command of Chechnya's rebel government yesterday in a sign of the separatists' growing radicalism.
Since fleeing to the forests after Russian troops reclaimed control of Grozny in 2000, Chechen rebels have maintained what they claim is a legitimate cabinet. Basayev was named to the post by Abdul-Khalim Sadulayev, the rebels' president, who succeeded Aslan Maskhadov, killed by special forces in March.
Maskhadov, who was seen as a relative moderate, had marginalised Basayev and promised to prosecute him for the Beslan massacre if he retook Chechnya from the current pro-Moscow administration.
Basayev admitted in an interview with an American television station last month that he was a terrorist, but claimed his actions were justified by Russian suppression.
"It ain't me, it's them!"
Analysts said his appointment was likely to bolster the rebels' power to attract funding from Islamic radicals abroad. But some commentators said it would play into Moscow's hands by tarring the entire separatist movement with the brush of extremism.
The late Maskhadov had condemned terrorist acts and had given the rebels a veneer of respectability. "From a PR point of view, giving Shamil this role is a great mistake that will only make Moscow happy," said one Chechen resident of Moscow, who once knew the warlord. "But he has always wanted to be part of a legitimate administration and he genuinely believes that's what this is."
'cause legit gummints always go tramping around in the woods to keep from being helizapped.
Under a decree published on the rebel website Kavkaz Tsentr yesterday, Basayev was given responsibility for "power structures" including a national security service and an anti-terrorism centre.
A spokesman for the pro-Moscow administration in Grozny ridiculed the rebels' cabinet arrangements, saying: "They can make him president of the universe if they want. It's just laughable."
The rebels' leader, Sadulayev, a Muslim cleric, also appointed Akhmed Zakayev, Maskhadov's former envoy in London, to the post of culture minister in his new cabinet. Mr Zakayev, who has said in the past that Basayev should not be an "official representative of the Chechen people", did not respond to requests for comment yesterday.
Chechen culture minister?
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/27/2005 01:27 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11127 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
There isn't anyone who I hate more than OBL, but this jerkoff runs a close second.
I would dearly love to see that animals head on a pike.
French authorities have expelled an Algerian man believed to have links to a terrorist network, the French interior ministry has announced. Khellaf Hamam, 38, was repatriated by boat from the port city of Marseilles. Hamam was arrested in 2003 and convicted of recruiting and training youths for the jihad - the Holy War - in Bosnia and Afghanistan.
France has expelled four radical Islamists in the wake of the July bomb attacks in London. French authorities are currently planning to expel 10 more people over the next few weeks. The zero-tolerance policy towards religious figures who preach hatred and other Islamic extremists was introduced as a preventive measure against possible attacks in France. The country has also restored border controls with its EU neighbours.
In July, French interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy told a newspaper that at least seven French citizens had died fighting "for al-Qaeda's cause" in Iraq and elsewhere, some of them in suicide attacks.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/27/2005 01:19 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11128 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Of course to the BEEB, he's an Islamist militant.
Three Chechen men who sparked a massive police search in the northern German city of Hamburg after being overheard allegedly planning an attack are in custody, authorities said on Friday. Hamburg police chief Reinhard Chedor said one of the men was arrested and the other two had turned themselves in. "I do not believe at the moment that there were any real plans for an attack," Chedor told a press conference.
The men are aged from 21 to 25. Chedor said he was convinced that the three were the suspects caught on film by a surveillance camera boarding a bus in Hamburg on Wednesday. According to a police spokesperson, the three men were overheard by what is being referred to as a "credible source" at the Holstenstrasse bus stop near a local railway station in the Altona district of the city. The witness told police he heard one of the men use the phrase "Tomorrow we will stand as heroes before Allah" before the three suspects boarded a bus heading away from the city center.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/27/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11128 views]
Top|| File under:
NEW YORK (AP) - A federal judge blocked the release of information about random bag searches in New York City subways, saying officials may be able to prove that the success of the program depends on its secrecy.
U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman's decision Friday overruled a magistrate judge who had ordered the city to disclose details such as the number of days during a one-month period that searches were conducted. Berman said the magistrate judge did not adequately consider the city's concerns. He said it would serve little purpose to allow the New York Civil Liberties Union, which sued claiming the searches were unconstitutional, to see sensitive information about the searches before public officials and experts testify at a hearing next month. ``The city may be able to demonstrate that the Subway Search Program effectively deters terrorism precisely because it is random and unpredictable,'' the judge wrote in a decision released Friday.
And there's no reason to show the ACLU anything. If they want to argue the searches are illegal, fine, make the argument in court. But they don't have any standing to look at information gleaned from searches.
The bag searches in nation's largest subway system began last month after the deadly mass transit bombings in London.
Christopher Dunn, associate legal director of the NYCLU, said the information was critical to deciding whether the subway searches are effective and constitutional. ``If the city's not prepared to release this information, we are exploring ways to obtain it ourselves,'' he said. ``Many New Yorkers are very unhappy about this program. We've gotten a constant stream of complaints about the program.''
A city law office spokeswoman did not immediately return a telephone message seeking comment.
In its lawsuit, the NYCLU maintained that most entrances to the city's 468 subway stations had no checkpoints and that the program was so ineffective that innocent riders were subjected to pointless and unconstitutional invasions of privacy. Lawyers for the city argued that the program was effective largely because of its unpredictability.
Something you can't expect the ACLU to understand, let alone take seriously.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/27/2005 02:21 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11128 views]
Top|| File under:
ACLU vs WOT,
a
non-elected enity unaccountable/responsible for any consequences or dammages wrought by terrorism, forces legal actions to stop or advise/revise policy of our elected representives, public servants and profesionals sworn to protect us.
A reasonable case could be made that the ACLU has already caused the death of thousands of Americans, domestic cases alone, not to mention all the international cases.
The ACLU also has a chilling effect against new ideas and/or prompt implimentation of policy to save life. [everything has to go through the f******* wonderbar laywers first]
American civil Legislative Usurpers®
Posted by: Red Dog ||
08/27/2005 4:49 Comments ||
Top||
#3
entity
damages
implementation
/oh well..good batting av..
Posted by: Red Dog ||
08/27/2005 5:05 Comments ||
Top||
#4
The city may be able to demonstrate that the Subway Search Program effectively deters terrorism precisely because it is random and unpredictable
It may also effectively deter terrorism simply because it is there. That's one more obstacle for a terrorist to overcome. The searches may never find anything, but that's immaterial. They are an effective deterrence. That the first judge didn't see this, is remarkable.
Posted by: Rafael ||
08/27/2005 5:17 Comments ||
Top||
#5
That the first judge didn't see this (refering to "random and unpredictable") is remarkable.
Posted by: Rafael ||
08/27/2005 5:20 Comments ||
Top||
#6
A common sense from a member of the Bench---will wonders never cease?
An Algerian man wanted by Britain in connection with last monthâs deadly London bombings has been caught in Thailand, the Immigration Police commissioner said yesterday.
Lt-General Suwat Thamrong-srisakul said Atamnia Yachine, 33, was arrested on Wednesday in the Sukhumvit Soi Nana area on a charge of possessing 180 fake French and Spanish passports.
Yachine is believed to have been providing terrorists behind the London bombers with bogus travel documents, Suwat said.
Four bomb attacks rocked London on July 7, killing 52 and injuring more than 700 passengers on three crowded tube trains and a public bus.
An Immigration Police source said the bureau had planned to parade Yachine along with two suspected foreign paedophiles in front of the media on Wednesday but the British Embassy had asked them not to.
Police were tipped off to Yachineâs whereabouts when an unspecified number of people were intercepted with 452 false European passports at Bangkok International Airport earlier this month. Those suspects were believed to have purchased some bogus passports from Yachine, Suwat said.
Authorities traced calls from the mobile phone of one of the airport suspects and developed a lead that took them to the Algerian passport counterfeiter.
A senior police officer familiar with the case said authorities here were debating whether to detain the Algerian longer to dig out more leads from him or hand him over immediately to the British government.
Thailand has long been accused of being a magnet for transnational criminals to come and make all kinds of illicit deals and purchases.
Government has ordered tight security measures all over Mindanao following a report that Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) bomb operatives are planning to launch terror attacks in key cities in the island.
Major General Agustin Dema-ala, chief of the Army's 6th Infantry Division (ID), confirmed receiving reports that the JI has deployed at least 31 bomb operatives.
Dema-ala was quick to add that government forces are now monitoring movements of the bomb operatives.
It may be recalled that an 81-mm mortar type bomb was found and successfully diffused by military explosive experts in front of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) building in Kabacan, North Cotabato on Wednesday.
Police and military officials said the new JI graduates were responsible for planting the powerful bomb.
Dema-ala said all the military and police units in the region are now implementing round-the-clock inspection of all vehicles coming in and out of the area.
Dema-ala also said Abu Sayyaf leader Khadafy Janjalani and his armed followers were able to escape from the hands of government troops who pursued them since last week. They have reportedly fled to the towns of Datu Piang and Talitay in Maguindanao province.
He added that the Army's informants in the area have told him that Janjalani and his cohorts were "spotted" in the towns.
He did not give further details but said Janjalani's group is transferring from one place to another in order not to be cornered by the pursuing troops.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/27/2005 01:23 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11125 views]
Top|| File under:
Military and police units are hot on the trail of six members of the Jemaah Islamiah and the Abu Sayyaf Group who are reportedly planning to carry out a âgrand planâ to launch massive attacks in key cities across the country, particularly in Metro Manila and Mindanao. Showing pictures of the six suspects, a highly placed source told The Manila Times that these were the personalities expected to enforce the four-pronged attack of the terrorist groups. The modes of attack include kidnapping, suicide bombings, simultaneous bombings using of car bombs and suicidal attacks. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said four are members of the Abu Sayyaf while the rest are Indonesians who are members of the Jemaah Islamiah.
That's a fairly ambitious plan for only six guys, unless they are the brains/money men controlling the cannon fodder/muscle.
The Times learned that a planned attack during the Kadayawan Festival in Davao City last week was foiled because the suspects were unable to obtain local support for their operations. The suspects were also identified before they could carry out their plan. âThey had the firepower and the capability to carry out the attack even without local support. What they did not have was a means to extricate the Mastermind⢠and the Handler® themselves from the scene after they carry it out,â the source said. He added the suspects âcouldnât even buy support,â noting that they were âshort on funds.â
Looky here. All the springs just popped out of my sympathy meter.
The source explained that last December military and police teams arrested three JI members and their Batik Islam guide who had âa substantial amount of foreign currencyâ and a large volume of explosive ingredients.
I'm not familiar with Batik Islam.
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front has evicted the terrorist groups from the Liguasan Marsh in Maguindanao. A document obtained by The Times showed the JI calling the MILF âa prickly thornâ to its operations because of the alleged âfalling outâ and a plan to transfer its base of operations from MILF-controlled territories.
But my surprise meter just twitched. A turf war between MILF and JI. This could get messy.
The document also stated that the MILF was planning to âsellâ them (JI and ASG) out.
Speaking of selling, I'm taking bids for the popcorn concession and skybox naming rights...
Hard-pressed for funds and âmoralâ support, the Jemaah Islamiah and the Abu Sayyaf were reduced to âbeggingâ for financial backing from foreign sources, specifically from Middle Eastern financiers. The source said this was the reason why the two groups have been sending out proposals and seeking funds for their plan of mass destruction.
Color me skeptical, but I hardly think either JI or Sayyaf is strapped for cash. Though it would make me incredibly happy if it turns out to be true. To my untrained eye, this looks like disinformation from the terroristas or the Philippine gov't, or both.
The August 10 Zamboanga twin blasts had a dual purposeâto ease the pressure on Abu leader Khaddafy Janjalani and several members of his group, who were trapped in Maguindanao and to prove to their potential financiers that they are âdetermined and planning to carry out war in cities in Mindanao and other places.â
Insh'allah.
Meanwhile the discovery by members of the Explosives and Ordnance Division, K-9 units and the Kidapawan City Special Weapons and Tactics of an improvised explosive device at a Land Transportation Office branch in Barangay Poblacion, Kabacan, Cotabato, is closely being investigated in connection with the âgrand plan.â The device, composed of a live World War II-era 81 mm mortar with fuse rigged with a nine-volt battery, a blasting cap and an electric timer, was placed inside a Nokia 3315 box.
Any of you ordnance/arty folks have an opinion on the boom-worthiness of WWII mortars?
#1
Any of you ordnance/arty folks have an opinion on the boom-worthiness of WWII mortars?
Yes. Eat our popcorn about 1000 feet off.
Small arms ammo can be and is quite stable and safe even after all these years - heard recently that some WWII German ammo was found in Iraq, and I know that when the B-52 force lost its .50 caliber tail guns in the early 90s, they were still using ammo manufactured during WWII. But larger ammo, especially HE or AP gets horribly unstable as time goes by. A WWII mortar round is far more likely to kill the guys handling it than any potential targets.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
08/27/2005 0:37 Comments ||
Top||
#2
this message paid for by George Soros
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/27/2005 1:03 Comments ||
Top||
The Scorpions have investigated a claim that a clandestine organisation based in Cape Town shipped 10 al-Qaeda operatives to South Africa from Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2003 and 2004.
The organisation allegedly set them up with almost £1-million (R12-million) and false South African citizenship - before they were transferred to Britain.
Intelligence sources revealed to The Saturday Star that the "Pakistani" operative named "Mr Butt", who allegedly arranged the whole deal, was understood to be none other than Africa's most notorious gun-runner, Tajikistan-born ethnic Russian Victor Anatoliyevich Bout.
Bout, 38, apparently first set up shop in South Africa in 1997. He is being probed by United States authorities for alleged ties to both the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
The startling claims - which the Scorpions swore were groundless - were made exclusively to this newspaper by "LW", a 61-year-old "freelance undercover agent", and self-described specialist in laundering drug money.
He claimed the objective of the 10 al-Qaeda operatives in the United Kingdom might be connected to the bloody London terrorist bombings last month that claimed 56 lives.
Born in Uruguay but now a US citizen, "LW" claims to have built a 39-year career freelancing for various government agencies like the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) by infiltrating drug cartels like the late Pablo Escobar's infamous Medellin cocaine empire in Colombia.
The Scorpions investigated "LW's" claims to have infiltrated the "Cape Town al-Qaeda cell" with an offer to use his expertise as a money launderer to transfer the £1-million for the UK-targeted operation into SA.
But Makhosini Nkosi, spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) under which the Scorpions falls, said "LW" was "offering services to the NPA as an informant - until his information was proved to be unreliable. All contact with him was terminated".
The outfit run by "Mr Butt" allegedly turned out to be nothing more than a credit-card fraud operation with no links to terrorism.
The government source said "LW" "told us a story of al-Qaeda and a couple of million pounds, but we looked at it and it was bulls**t. He is a rogue".
The source then strongly warned this newspaper that pursuing the story could prove "dangerous".
"LW" said that if he had lied, "why did the Scorpions give me a letter of introduction to the DEA office in London in 2003?"
Former London DEA agent Ira Israel, speaking from Arizona this week, confirmed that "LW" did "come with a letter, and I believe it was from your Scorpions, saying something like he was legitimate and he had dealt with them".
"LW" claimed that his task for "Mr Butt" would have been to channel the £1-million from a bank in Britain, and then, having deducted his 12 percent commission (£120 000), via a bank account in Hong Kong for a "company selling African curios over the Internet".
The remaining money would then be "cleaned" via "LW's" Swiss bank account.
The final stage would be for "LW" to set up 10 bank accounts in South Africa under the fictional names of the "al-Qaeda" men, then move the money into South Africa, converting it into the equivalent of R9,8-million and dividing it into the 10 accounts.
But, instead, "LW" was compelled to return to the US in 2003 to face massive tax-evasion charges for, he claims, not declaring income derived from his work for the DEA.
The Inland Revenue Service in Washington confirmed he was indicted for evading $250 336 (R1,6-million) in tax on $769 597 in earnings between 1989 and 1991.
In September 2003 he was sentenced to five years' probation, and ordered to pay 10 percent of his earnings, plus a $283 422 fine. He paid - despite living under the roof of the West Palm Beach Salvation Army.
"LW" said he also told Britain's Secret Service (MI5) and the FBI about the alleged plot to insert "al-Qaeda operatives" into Britain. The FBI, he claimed, had shown him photographs of the man he called "Mr Butt".
He further claimed the bureau refused to allow him to launder the money as planned. But he maintained that the money was laundered by someone else and alleged that the 10 men did relocate to Britain via South Africa "sometime in 2003/2004".
Special Agent John Stewart of the FBI's Miami Division, responded with a brief "yeah" when "LW" was described to him, but said: "The bureau's policy is we don't comment on ongoing investigations or people who assist us."
In 2002, Bout's alleged business partner, Sanjivan Ruprah of Kenya, was arrested by Belgian police. Ruprah allegedly introduced South African mercenary outfit Executive Outcomes to ousted Liberian leader Charles Taylor. Al-Qaeda allegedly set up shop in Liberia under Taylor in 1998.
In a February 2001 interview with Ekho Moskvy radio in Moscow, following press reports that he had sold arms to the Taliban and al-Qaeda, Bout said: "I am not, and never have been, associated with al-Qaeda, the Taliban or any of their officials, officers or related organisations.
"I am not, nor are any of my organisations, associated with arms traffickers and/or trafficking or the sale of arms of any kind anywhere in the world."
But in 2002, Peter Hain, Britain's lead investigator into the affair, said: "Bout undoubtedly did supply al-Qaeda and the Taliban with arms."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/27/2005 14:52 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11132 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
The Scorpions are who?
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/27/2005 15:37 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Weasel words from a weasel
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Peter_Hain
I dont know, but every time this arse puts jam on his bit of bread and it falls on the floor, the jam lands first. No pleasing some, and no saying sorry, I got it wrong.
#3
80's-90's German rock band - Klaus Meinke heads it...good songs "Rock You Like A hurricane", "The Zoo" , but I had no idea they also did this stuff....
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/27/2005 16:34 Comments ||
Top||
#4
The Scorpions are members of a South African elite policing unit
Two Sunni Arab tribes, one loyal to al Qaeda and the other to the government, clashed in western Iraq, killing at least 20 people and wounding scores, clerics and hospital officials in the town said on Saturday.
The tribes fought months ago and violent confrontations erupted again on Friday and Saturday near Qaim, where U.S. Marines launched several offensives to root out insurgents from May to July.
Clerics in the town say members of the Karabilah tribe -- allied to al Qaeda -- attacked homes of the rival Albu-Mehel tribe -- many of whom are members of Iraq's new security forces in their province of Anbar.
Witnesses from the town said the tribes were involved in intense firefights and mortar attacks in the streets. The U.S military confirmed that two tribes were fighting but had no information on casualties.
Sheikh Nuri al-Rawi, the preacher of the town's main mosque, was wounded when gunmen shot him twice outside his mosque, his aide said.
Hospital officials say they have received 20 bodies in the past day but that the death toll is likely to be much higher as tribes often perform quick burials and the hospital is in the control of al Qaeda -- leaving Albu-Mehel to send their casualties elsewhere.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/27/2005 14:51 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11127 views]
Top|| File under:
Provide a source for your post. If you don't your post will be deleted. I just dumped the "Al Sharpton" post for precisely this reason.
We focus on the WoT and matters related to the WoT. That includes general thuggery around the world, such as Zim-bob-we, and the politics surrounding the WoT. The farther away it is from that, the less likely people here want to read it. We assume y'all read other weblogs for that stuff. Weird animal stories, of course, are always welcome: they go into the SAST as a 'non-WoT' item. But domestic issues in Australia, surface crawlers on Mars, and the general firmness of J Lo's butt shouldn't be posted here.
Please format the post. That means, help us make the post readable. Think of it as a chance to teach English composition to the MSM. Delete the fluff and the stuff we already know. If there are no line breaks, put them in. If there are too many line breaks, take some out. Some sources (e.g., BBC) think that each and every sentence should be a new paragraph. Other sources (e.g., myway.ap.news) think that an entire story is a single paragraph, three pages long. Some gentle editing to make a post readable really helps all of us, especially the moderators who then don't have to go back and re-edit stuff.
Your comments are in highlight (yellow) text. Start them on a separate line. Don't put a leading line space before or after. Strikout text is always fun, but many here complain when we use too much of it. Unless you've got a sure-fire 'mad-libs' winner, use strikeout text sparingly.
Check for duplicates before you post. I miss that one myself sometimes (thanks to Emily and Steve for the gentle 'gotchas').
And as always, thanks for all your support. You make Rantburg a special place.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/27/2005 13:30 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11133 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Steve,sometimes I post something that may or may not be related to WOT,but I think may be interesting,funny or just plain bizzar.When I do I put them on opinion page.Is this permissable or should I not post these snippets at all?
#2
Steve, don't forget that new military tech toys plays big as well (i.e., Strategy Page stuff and Science) and fit in with WoT
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/27/2005 15:33 Comments ||
Top||
#3
I wouldn't post dupes if the steenkin' AOS wasn't so fast, dammit
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/27/2005 16:22 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Please change this to 'Check for duplicates just before you post'.
Sometimes I have checked for dups, found none, then spent 10 mins entering the article,previewing, etc.. then posting -- only to find that someone had posted it already (during the time I was editing it...).
I'm tellin' ya,we need a glossary! (Well, some of us do!)
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/27/2005 18:20 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Bobby----AoS stands for the Army of Steves. We had a lot of Steves, so we lumped them all together as the Army of Steves. The main man of the Army of Steves was Steve Russell in Iraq, who made things happen. Type Steve Russell in the Search box and that should bring up articles on Steve Russell. And that brings you up to date on the AoS.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/27/2005 18:31 Comments ||
Top||
#7
bobby - they're competent, fast, and many - watch out for them
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/27/2005 19:28 Comments ||
Top||
#8
Correction: it's the Army of Steve -- we're all one :-)
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/27/2005 20:33 Comments ||
Top||
#9
Raptor: bizarre goes in SAST, page 3. Ditto funny, though it has to be funny :-)
Interesting goes in the appropriate heading on page 3. Too many times these things have ended up on SAST -- if it's interesting and cultural, it goes in 'Culture Wars', etc.
Captain: Techy kind of stuff goes in 'Tech', but again if it's way away from the WoT we may can it. Military tech is almost always okay.
CF: I agree, it's wise to check right before you click 'Submit'. With a tabbed browser it's easy to keep several windows up (Firefox on PC or Mac, Safari on Mac). But a lot of the formatting buttons work only with IE on the PC, so you're forewarned.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/27/2005 20:37 Comments ||
Top||
Lyndon LaRouche goons are handing out materials, accepting money, and advocating against the President at my Post Office.
I just went up to my local Post Office to send out some packages. Two LaRouche goons had a table just outside the entrance to the P.O. with homemade signs and lots of professionally printed literature . They asked me if I wanted to "send Bush back to the zoo, he escaped." I walked on by, but other patrons were giving them cash and accepting their handouts.
I asked one of the employees if these guys had a permit or permission to be there. He waffled and said that the goons didn't have any documentation, but they claimed they were "allowed" (or maybe "had the right") to be there.
I'm angry. I do not want any advocacy at the Post Office. If the LaRouchies can be there, so can PETA, so can MoveOn, so can Stormfront. Can you imagine the carnival at EVERY Post Office?
So...what's my next step? Call the cops, call the USPS, call the mayor, call the Washington Post? I'm open for ideas...
P.S. If I stood next to them with a sign that says "I (heart) President Bush and I support the War in Iraq," how long would it be before I got shut down?
#1
Give a call to the local American Legion or Veterans of Foreign Wars post, perhaps they can find some supporters to offset the nuts.
Posted by: DanNY ||
08/27/2005 12:45 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Well the point is I don't want ANY advocacy groups soliciting at the PO. I don't want to run a gauntlet of earnest true believers every time I buy stamps...
The regulations do not prohibit members of the public from engaging in other forms of expressive activities on the exterior areas of Postal Service property that are open to the public. For example, leafleting, distributing literature, picketing, and demonstrating by members of the public are prohibited only in lobbies and other interior areas of Postal Service property that are open to the public. These activities are not prohibited on exterior areas of Postal Service property, such as Postal Service sidewalks and parking lots. More at the link.
If I stood next to them with a sign that says "I (heart) President Bush and I support the War in Iraq," how long would it be before I got shut down?
#4
They used to be in downtown Boston all the time. I used to always ask them if Lydon was out of the can yet and back to working the credit card scams. I used to say it when there were a lot of people hanging around and I used to say it loud..
#5
You should first talk to the Postmaster, Seafarious, and then go up the food chain if you run into an appeaser. If they are on a sidewalk, then it may be a City problem. In which case, you will have to deal with their law enforcement folks. Success will depend on how they enforce the laws on the books. We are getting into a free speech issue here, so it could be a sticky wicket.
Lyndon LaRouche, eh? That guy and his groupies, have been around bugging everyone since Hector was a pup. The perpetual candidate.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/27/2005 13:07 Comments ||
Top||
#6
How close to the doorway are they? Maybe they're breaking some city ordinance concerning fire safety.
Posted by: Rafael ||
08/27/2005 13:16 Comments ||
Top||
#7
I agree with the advice to see if you can get a group to back you and work with you on this. The VFW or American Legion may have a friendly lawyer who would do a little footwork and file complaints in the right format, citing this or that code.
My experience with the LaRouchites is that they're nasty bullies when they think you're weak, but are pretty cowardly when confronted headon by a group willing to play the legal games.
#12
Can you borrow a car with big boom base and with the 4th of July rendition of Stars and Strips playing pull up and park to where the bumper just nudges against the table legs ... as you are going in for A stamp.
#13
If your PO is typical, there are random dysfunctional carriers, possibly carying. Time to sequester arms, set up scapegoats...oh, shit, nevermind. We're on the good sucker side
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/27/2005 21:30 Comments ||
Top||
#14
I got a dog that farts alot.
Posted by: Red jr. ||
08/27/2005 21:59 Comments ||
Top||
#15
remind them tha Lyndon is a Trotskyite and one really doesn't want to see ice picks appearing in post offices.
SRINAGAR, India - A wave of five grenade blasts on Friday left 13 people wounded in a town in Indian-ruled Kashmir, among them four border guards and a five-year-old girl, police said.
The explosions went off within three hours in Sopore, 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of the summer capital Srinagar, targeting soldiers patrolling on foot and in vehicles, a police spokesman said. âMost of the injured were bystanders,â he said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/27/2005 02:16 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11128 views]
Top|| File under:
Somalia is a breeding ground for terrorists, Foreign minister Mr Abdullahi Sheikh Ismail said in Nairobi yesterday. Ismail said the terror cells in his country were growing by the day due to lack of a functioning government. "I have said this before and I am repeating it here today; Somalia is a breeding ground for terror gangs. Unless something is done urgently the situation will sooner than later get out of hand," warned Ismail.
The minister was briefing the media at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi, shortly after returning from a four-day State visit to Saudia Arabia where he accompanied President Abdullahi Yusuf.
Ismail said President Yusuf discussed terrorism at length with the Saudi Crown King and agreed to cooperate to stem the global menace. The two leaders also mooted a bilateral cooperation with the Saudi authorities agreeing to help Somalia in its reconstruction exercise. Saudi Arabia is one of the major Arab League countries that last April pledged to advance Somalia $28 million (about Sh2 billion) for reconstruction.
President Yusuf, accompanied by First Lady Hawa Abdi Samatar, arrived at 12.10pm aboard a Saudi Kingâs regal jet. He made a one-and-half hour stopover and held closed-door discussions with Kenya Government officials led by Foreign Affairs assistant minister Moses Wetangula. Also at the airport were Kenyaâs ambassador to Somalia, Mohamed Affey, special envoy to Somalia Peace Talks, Bethuel Kiplagat, and several Somali Cabinet ministers and MPs.
Yusuf later left JKIA for Jowhar, a town north of Mogadishu, aboard a chartered 16-seater jet belonging to Knight Aviation.
The location of the Somali government is still a contentious matter that has attracted a war of words between Parliamentary Speaker Sherrif Sheikh Hassan Aden and ministers.
There was a lapse of security at the airport as some of the members of President Yusufâs delegation had their luggage loaded into waiting cars, which were later driven into the city through the VIP gate. Ordinarily, the luggage could have been screened for safety reasons had it been taken through the normal airport check-in procedures.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/27/2005 01:17 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11126 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Smart guy. Must be why he's foreign minister...
Pakistan sentenced five men, including a soldier, to hang for their involvement in an al Qaeda-inspired assassination attempt on President Pervez Musharraf in late 2003, a military spokesman said on Friday.
"They were convicted in the assassination attempt on the president on Dec. 25, 2003," he told Reuters, referring to an attack in which suicide car bombers rammed Musharrafâs motorcade killing 15 people. He declined to say where the trial was held but said, "the trial was held under relevant provisions of law and then they were given sentences."
Last week a soldier was hanged for his role in the first attack, in which the presidentâs car passed over a bridge seconds before it was blown up.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/27/2005 01:11 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11126 views]
Top|| File under:
The militant group Hamas on Saturday released a rare videotape of a man it said is the shadowy bombmaker who has eluded Israeli forces for more than a decade. The man, who was identified as fugitive bombmaker Mohammed Deif, described Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip as a victory for armed resistance, rejected calls for his group to disarm, and vowed to continue attacks on Israel until the Jewish state is erased from the map. Deif, widely believed to be at the top of Israel's most-wanted list, is responsible for the deaths of dozens of Israelis in suicide bombings.
Deif, who has escaped three Israeli attempts to kill him, has been living underground since 1992. Among the assassination attempts was a missile strike in 2002 in which he lost an eye. Legend in the Gaza Strip has it that he is extremely self-reliant and can stay in the same hiding place for months on his own. He is so shadowy that the most recent photograph of him is from the 1980s, though he has periodically issued crackly, tape-recorded statements. In the video, the man identified as Deif sat in a chair, wearing a dark shirt and waving his hand as he spoke in a deep voice. A dark shadow covered his face, but the video was of high quality. It was stamped with the logo of the Hamas military wing. Hamas militants delivered the tape to The Associated Press, apparently making good on recent statement that a tape of Deif would be released. In the speech, the figure praised the hundreds of militants who have died in attacks against Israel, and said the violence had driven Israel out of the Gaza Strip.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/27/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11128 views]
Top|| File under:
#2
....and how is this different than Nazi Germ. I guess Lattte drinkin lefties here at Starbucks just know sumpin I don't. But, either way give 'em a state. Didn't work for Germany, but hey, who am I. Does Howard Dean stand by these remarks. Boxer (somebody point the middle east out for her) how's 'bout you. Kos, stop bein a war profiteer.
#3
No more "capturing" terrorists. Each foray into the West Bank or Gaza should be an expedition to deep-six whomever it is they're going after. PERIOD.
Posted by: jason newcomb ||
08/27/2005 6:24 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Macrofromac: WTF? You gotta stop eating those brownies of .com's.
Posted by: Weird Al ||
08/27/2005 10:02 Comments ||
Top||
#6
"He is so shadowy that the most recent photograph of him is from the 1980s, though he has periodically issued crackly, tape-recorded statements"
Allah, please don't make me brave, but intelligent.
"Among the assassination attempts was a missile strike in 2002 in which he lost an eye."
If all the terrorists are one eyed, we should target all the one eyed Muslims. I could be wrong, I read some reports a while back that he actually in Hamascusâ¢.
An Israeli officer was wounded on Friday when he was attacked with stones in the main street between Nablus and Qalqilia. A group of youths attacked the officer, also a settler, while he was riding a motorbike near Azzon town, said Palestinian sources. The officer fell from his bike and the attackers stole his firearm, added the sources.
Israeli forces, in response, raided Palestinian houses in Azzon town searching for the youths who seized the Israeli firearm. Earlier during the day, Israeli Army troops detained a Palestinian in his 30s for stabbing an Israeli soldier with a sharp object, Israel Radio said. The radio said the Palestinian attacked the soldier near Al-Ibrahimi mosque, inflicting medium wounds.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/27/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11128 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Methinks the Israelis should resurrect that automated stone-throwing machine they contrived many years ago, and use it where warranted.
#2
nah... a stone is as deadly as a bullet. Send bullets back. Atacking an armed Israeli (or any country) soldier is asking to be killed....help them along
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/27/2005 11:53 Comments ||
Top||
Some 14 people including four soldiers and a five-old female baby were wounded in a series of attacks waged by armed groups in the town of Sopore in Jammu and Kashmir in northern India on Friday, security sources said. The sources in Srinagar, provincial capital of the violence-infested state, said unknown attacks hurled hand-grenades at a public location in Sopore in the north of Kashmir, wounding some 14 people including four troops and a baby.
Separately, gunmen tossed two hand-grenades on a military vehicle of the Indian border forces in the region of Lalbab Sahib in Sopore. The hand-grenade missed the target and blew up on a street wounding seven civilians. Later in the day, a similar incident occured in Iqbal Market wounding four soldiers and two civilians. The main market of the city also witnessed a similar incident that seriously wounded one person.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/27/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11125 views]
Top|| File under:
Authorities of an airport in Bangladesh halted work for two hours on Friday at the air facility after being warned about a bomb aboard an aircraft flying to Dubai with 150 passengers on board. The Indo-Asian News Service quoted an official of Bangladeh's civil aviation as saying in the capital Dhaka that the authorities at Shah Amant Airport in the southern city of Chittagong halted traffic for two hours after the observation tower received a telephone call from an anonymous caller warning that a bomb had been planted on board of the aircraft.
The airport received the bomb alert one hour before the Biman airways aircraft was scheduled to take off with 180 passengers aboard it. Security personnel thoroughly searched the plane but no bomb was found, after which normal work resumed at the air facility.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/27/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11124 views]
Top|| File under:
KARACHI: An office-bearer of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) district Thatta was killed in Thatta on Friday when he was on the way to his house after attending a party meeting. According to a press statement issued by the media cell of Bilawal House, the party activist, Haji Qasim Samoon, hailing from Tehsil Mirpur Sakro, was killed by supporters of a rival group.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/27/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11127 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Sindhis - where you find the city of Karachi - are not violently opposed to the PPP. What is happening in the Pakistan terrorist entity is the settlement occupation by Punjabi jihad terrorists. One platform of the Sindhi based KSM party endorses the abolishment of Jamaat-i-Islami. The US should be dissassociating from the terror entity, and supporting its breakup.
Posted by: Vlad the Muslim Impaler ||
08/27/2005 0:31 Comments ||
Top||
In separate incidents, seven people were offloaded from various international flights at the Islamabad International Airport on Friday. According to immigration officials, Abdul Hameed and Bakhtiar Khan from Swat were offloaded from the Doha-bound flight QR 398 for carrying stolen and invalid passports respectively. Abdul Hameed was intercepted by immigration officials on his way to the plane and was found to be carrying a stolen passport. Bakhtiar Khan was prevented from boarding the same flight after it was discovered that he had pasted his photograph over someone else's passport.
In another incident, a passenger Usman Ali was offloaded from a Canada-bound flight because of an expired visa. Similarly, a couple was prevented from boarding Paris-bound flight PK 733 as their travel documents were invalid. A woman, Irshad Begum, was offloaded from a Manchester-bound flight as she did not have proper travel documentation.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/27/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11129 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
he had pasted his photograph over someone else's passport
Sounds like something a 3rd grader would be doing for grins.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/27/2005 1:06 Comments ||
Top||
#3
It is a rite of passage, Kalle. You are not a man until you forge or steal a passport. It's a cullllllllllltural thannnnnnnng, so it must be respected and acknowledged.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/27/2005 12:41 Comments ||
Top||
#4
What?!! Hey wait a second! You mean to tell me that one can forge travel documentation abroad or enroute through foreighn lands and just merely be barred from getting on a flight as thier only consequence?!! There's something wrong in that picture, especially in the age of 9-11. How about being charged with a slew of capital offenses for fraud on an international scale - especially when this relates to travel under suspicious circumstances?!?!
#5
andreamada----remember they took the forgers et al off at Islamabad, Pakistan. This is out of respect for the destination country's laws only, heh heh. The airlines do not want to have to pay for a return trip when destination's Immigration folks reject them.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/27/2005 13:13 Comments ||
Top||
Shaikh Abdur Rahman, the suspected mastermind of hundreds of near-simultaneous bomb attacks across the country last week and who is on the run, has been charged in his absence in a Bangladesh court, police said Friday. âWe filed cases against Shaikh Abdur Rahman and a court (Thursday) issued a warrant of arrest against him,â Bangladesh Inspector General of Police Abdul Kaiyum told AFP.
He said Rahman, leader of the extremist Jamaatul Mujahideen, had been charged with masterminding the August 17 attacks in which 434 small bombs exploded in 63 main cities and towns across Bangladesh, killing two people and injuring more than 100. The specific charges, another police officer said, were criminal conspiracy and exploding a bomb, which respectively carry jail terms of eight years and life. Leaflets bearing Jamayetul Mujahideenâs name and calling for the introduction of Islamic law were found at blast sites. âWe have evidence he was the mastermind of the attack. Based on our primary investigation we went to the court to get a warrant of arrest against the Jamayetul Mujahideen leader,â Kaiyum said.
The national police chief said they had stepped up their hunt for Rahman and believed he was still hiding in the country. Government spokesman Mohammad Mohsin told a press briefing Thursday that four followers of Jamayetul Mujahideen have confessed that the group was involved.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/27/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11126 views]
Top|| File under:
Authorities in Morocco and Turkey have arrested two men for unleashing computer worms that disrupted networks across the United States last week, the FBI said on Friday. Farid Essebar, 18, of Morocco, and Atilla Ekici, 21, of Turkey, are believed to have been responsible for the Zotob worm that hit the Internet less than two weeks ago, along with predecessors called Rbot and Mytob released earlier, the FBI said. Zotob caused computer outages at more than 100 U.S. companies, including major media outlets like CNN and The New York Times, but it did not create widespread havoc along the lines of previous malicious software programs like SQL Slammer and MyDoom.
Close teamwork among the FBI, Microsoft Corp. and authorities in Morocco and Turkey was essential to the case, said FBI Cyber Division Assistant Director Louis Reigel. "This case happened very quickly," Reigel said on a conference call. "Had we not had those entities involved in this investigation, I suspect it would still be ongoing today." Reigel said Essebar wrote the malicious code and provided it to Ekici for a fee. The two men will face prosecution in their native countries and FBI officials will provide evidence, he said.
Zotob targeted a recently discovered flaw in the Plug and Play feature of Microsoft's Windows 2000 operating system. Newer versions of the software were not affected. Users who heeded a prior warning from Microsoft and updated their systems were not victimized by the worms, but those who did not keep their systems up to date could have their computers taken over by remote servers or see them shut down and start back up repeatedly. Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith said the worms had a limited impact because more consumers were keeping their software up to date and using firewalls and anti-virus software.
The software industry was taking threats more seriously as well, he said. Microsoft's team of 50 investigators was able to analyze the worms and find out where they were coming from, he said. The team began work on the case in March after the release of Mytob, but Zytob provided the evidence to track them down, he said. "We have important work ahead of us to strengthen computer security but we've also come a long ways in a short time, and the fact that we were able to see these arrests in less than two weeks and see them halfway around the world really drives that point home," Smith said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/27/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11133 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Authorities in Morocco and Turkey have arrested two men for unleashing computer worms that disrupted networks across the United States last week,..
woe is me, that damn wurm turned again.
Posted by: MoroTurk Man ||
08/27/2005 1:25 Comments ||
Top||
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Saudi authorities on Friday announced the arrest of 41 suspected militants, including those captured during a series of simultaneous raids earlier this month in which al-Qaida's leader in Saudi Arabia was killed.
Police said yesterday they were questioning three men arrested under the Terrorism Act in Wales. Gwent police said the three were arested in Newport in South Wales. All are residents of the area. The arrests, according to a spokeswoman, was an on-going security operation. The arrests comes days before the scheduled meeting of European Union foreign ministers due to take place at the Celtic Manor Resort near Newport in early September. All 25 EU foreign ministers are expected to be at the two-day summit which will be hosted by British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.
Shamil Basayev, the warlord behind last year's bloody school siege in Beslan, was named second-in-command of Chechnya's rebel government yesterday in a sign of the separatists' growing radicalism.
Three Chechen men who sparked a massive police search in the northern German city of Hamburg after being overheard allegedly planning an attack are in custody, authorities said on Friday. Hamburg police chief Reinhard Chedor said one of the men was arrested and the other two had turned themselves in. "I do not believe at the moment that there were any real plans for an attack," Chedor told a press conference.
Military and police units are hot on the trail of six members of the Jemaah Islamiah and the Abu Sayyaf Group who are reportedly planning to carry out a âgrand planâ to launch massive attacks in key cities across the country, particularly in Metro Manila and Mindanao. Showing pictures of the six suspects, a highly placed source told The Manila Times that these were the personalities expected to enforce the four-pronged attack of the terrorist groups. The modes of attack include kidnapping, suicide bombings, simultaneous bombings using of car bombs and suicidal attacks. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said four are members of the Abu Sayyaf while the rest are Indonesians who are members of the Jemaah Islamiah. 
Somalia is a breeding ground for terrorists, Foreign minister Mr Abdullahi Sheikh Ismail said in Nairobi yesterday. Ismail said the terror cells in his country were growing by the day due to lack of a functioning government. "I have said this before and I am repeating it here today; Somalia is a breeding ground for terror gangs. Unless something is done urgently the situation will sooner than later get out of hand," warned Ismail.
Pakistan sentenced five men, including a soldier, to hang for their involvement in an al Qaeda-inspired assassination attempt on President Pervez Musharraf in late 2003, a military spokesman said on Friday.
The militant group Hamas on Saturday released a rare videotape of a man it said is the shadowy bombmaker who has eluded Israeli forces for more than a decade. The man, who was identified as fugitive bombmaker Mohammed Deif, described Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip as a victory for armed resistance, rejected calls for his group to disarm, and vowed to continue attacks on Israel until the Jewish state is erased from the map. Deif, widely believed to be at the top of Israel's most-wanted list, is responsible for the deaths of dozens of Israelis in suicide bombings.
Some 14 people including four soldiers and a five-old female baby were wounded in a series of attacks waged by armed groups in the town of Sopore in Jammu and Kashmir in northern India on Friday, security sources said. The sources in Srinagar, provincial capital of the violence-infested state, said unknown attacks hurled hand-grenades at a public location in Sopore in the north of Kashmir, wounding some 14 people including four troops and a baby.
Authorities of an airport in Bangladesh halted work for two hours on Friday at the air facility after being warned about a bomb aboard an aircraft flying to Dubai with 150 passengers on board. The Indo-Asian News Service quoted an official of Bangladeh's civil aviation as saying in the capital Dhaka that the authorities at Shah Amant Airport in the southern city of Chittagong halted traffic for two hours after the observation tower received a telephone call from an anonymous caller warning that a bomb had been planted on board of the aircraft.
KARACHI: An office-bearer of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) district Thatta was killed in Thatta on Friday when he was on the way to his house after attending a party meeting. According to a press statement issued by the media cell of Bilawal House, the party activist, Haji Qasim Samoon, hailing from Tehsil Mirpur Sakro, was killed by supporters of a rival group.
