(SomaliNet) At least five people were wounded in a shootout by soldiers of the transitional federal government when a bomb exploded in Mogadishu’s main Bakara market, near the buildings of the privately owned telecommunication companies – as the capital of Somalia is under massive search operations for the fourth day.
A local eyewitness told Somalinet that the blast was caused by a hand grenade bomb which was thrown to government soldiers who were in operation in parts of Bakara market. There is no immediate casualty on the soldiers but shots they fired caused the injury of five civilians who were around the site of the blast. Reliable sources say that the government soldiers received casualty from the latest bomb attack.
No cars and people are allowed to use the road of Wadnaha which passes side Bakara market, the target for the current on going search operations for weapons and suspects.
Meanwhile, Mogadishu is now getting deeper into violence as gun shots and explosions could be heard in every corner of the southern parts of the capital. The government soldiers are allegedly firing shots to every direction indiscriminately and continue looting the business areas, according to some sources.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/09/2007 00:00 ||
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[11124 views]
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The other terrorist “H. Abla” who joined the terrorist groups a few months ago has also been eliminated, according to El Khabar sources. However the three other killed terrorists are underway of identification. Security services have also managed to recover some machine guns and ammunition used by the dismantled terrorist group and the most important is that security forces have also dismantled more than 15 hand made antipersonnel mines.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2007 00:00 ||
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[11129 views]
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#1
“H. Abla”, AKA "The Spaniard"
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/09/2007 7:35 Comments ||
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#2
...wilayas quiet down already? Geeze...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
07/09/2007 9:42 Comments ||
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Three defendants in the 21 July terror trial have been found guilty of a plot to bomb London's transport network. Jurors found Muktar Said Ibrahim, 29, Yassin Omar, 26, and Ramzi Mohammed, 25, guilty of conspiracy to murder.
The verdicts of three other defendants, who all deny charges against them, are still being considered by the jury of nine women and three men.
Woolwich Crown Court heard how the cell tried to detonate bombs on three tube trains and a bus on July 21, 2005. The suspects had claimed the bombs were fakes, and the attacks had been intended as a protest against the war in Iraq.
Honestly, y'honour, it was, like, street theatre an' stuff. Art, ya know. Prolly should be gettin' grants an' an agent.
After unanimously returning three guilty verdicts against Ibrahim, Omar and Mohammed, jurors were sent out to continue their deliberations on the three other defendants, Hussain Osman, Manfo Kwaku Asiedu and Adel Yahya. The judge, Mr Justice Fulford QC, said he would accept a majority verdict of 10-2.
Posted by: lotp ||
07/09/2007 08:17 ||
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#1
Those stiff community service sentences will teach them a lesson but are sure to cause further alienation amongst our friends in islam which means peace by the way.
/everyone in the British Establishment, God help us
DETAINED Gold Coast doctor Mohamed Haneef will spend at least two extra days behind bars but is not expected to be questioned during that time.
The development came last night after a Brisbane magistrate extended an existing custody order by 48 hours.
The 27-year-old Gold Coast Hospital registrar has been held without charge for a week under federal counter-terrorism powers since he was arrested at Brisbane airport.
He is being questioned over the failed attacks in London and Glasgow airport, as well as his connection with an underground network of radical Islamist doctors.
It is understood the Australian Federal Police had initially asked for an extension of five days and that last night's extension effectively adjourns the application until tomorrow morning.
Dr Haneef will remain detained at the city watchhouse and is not expected to be questioned before then.
It is understood the extension will give the AFP time to respond to questions of law raised in yesterday's closed session hearing.
AFP boss Mick Keelty has said officers could then ask for yet more time to hold Dr Haneef.
Today, there are indications that the massacre might be much bigger than what I initially reported in “Bless the Beasts and Children.” Shortly after I published “Bless the Beasts and Children,” I asked a local Iraqi official about the village and the graves. The Diyala Provincial councilmen, Abdul Jabar, went on video explaining why he believes that there might be hundreds of people buried in the area, and he said the correct spelling is actually al Ahamir.
Be sure to read the whole thing to learn the results of Petraeus being shot.
#1
and not a peep from the NYTWAPOLATCBSNBCABCCNN. I guess if it were prisoners at Gitmo without inflated soccer balls, or terrorists forced to wear women's panties at Abu Ghraib...they would have been all over it.
#3
The story about Petraeus sounds authentic to me. My only reservation is that I would think that Petraeus would have been wearing a vest during the exercise. If it is a true story, then Congressmen and Senators with higher aspirations would do well to treat him respectfully. It's been my experience that military members of all ranks, veterans and military families to that type of leader are extremely loyal to that type of leader.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/09/2007 23:56 Comments ||
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[..]
They are undoubtedly concerned that should they clear the mosque in one final military attack, violence across the country will only increase. Already, scores - if not hundreds - of people have died in the mosque siege. Indeed, there is even talk of the unrest becoming so widespread that it would justify calling in North Atlantic Treaty Organization-led troops in Afghanistan to extend the "war on terror" into Pakistan territory.
For the al-Qaeda leadership sitting in the tribal areas, the situation is fast evolving into the promised battle of Khorasan. This includes parts of Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan from where the Prophet Mohammed promised the "end of time" battle would start.
Jihadist circles clearly want to exploit the crisis to boost themselves as major players, and envisage even a share in the power in Islamabad.
[..]
Three Chinese nationals were killed in Peshawar, NWFP, on Sunday. They are unlikely to have been preferred targets, but militants want to make the brutal point that the writ of the government means little in this area.
[..]
"I don't see any solution except that the militants are given a safe passage, otherwise the situation will deteriorate and go way beyond the control of the government," said Gul, who is considered one of the architects of the jihadist movements in Pakistan, Kashmir and Afghanistan.
"A serious situation is evolving and if any [further] operation is conducted against Lal Masjid it will simply radicalize the religious centers of the country. There are 250,000-275,000 mosques in the country. Think what would happen if all those centers were radicalized.
"The jihadis want this sort of situation, and eventually it will prompt Western armies to enter Pakistan to attack Taliban and al-Qaeda targets. The government should realize what lies ahead. It is a pity that our army was preparing youths to seize Lal Qala [the Red Fort of Delhi] and they ended up seizing the Lal Masjid," Gul said.
The Lal Masjid situation deteriorated on Sunday when a commando operation in the early hours of the morning went badly wrong. The commandos had planned to break down one of the mosque's walls, but were caught in a trap. The leader, Lieutenant-Colonel Haroon Ul Islam, died in the subsequent gunfight.
A Pakistani official told Asia Times Online on condition of anonymity, "They [those remaining in the mosque] are not ordinary students or jihadis. They are very well-trained militants. The way they trapped our commandos, it just could not be the handiwork of a Pakistani jihadi. We are sure that there are some Arabs inside, and possibly a high-value target is commanding them."
The establishment later gave out the names of two Arab commanders of al-Qaeda - Abu Zar and Abu Masoor - as being in the mosque. This could not be verified.
On Sunday, Ghazi sent text messages to the mobile telephones of all the journalists with whom he had previously been in contact, including this one. It read: "We have all tied bombs to our bodies. We will fight till the last and will not embarrass our friends."
[..]
#1
I'm afraid Perv might be the one who needs safe passage. Out of Pakiwakiland, that is. It will be interesting to see how much longer that boy can cling to what little power he still has in that country. With what little I know I wouldn't bet on anything. I just hope Bush has some viable contingency plans.
#4
Indeed, there is even talk of the unrest becoming so widespread that it would justify calling in North Atlantic Treaty Organization-led troops in Afghanistan to extend the "war on terror" into Pakistan territory.
Oh, joy! Miserable as it might be, cleaning out the rat's nest that is Pakistan needs to be done. If the terrorists manage to cap Musharraf we should use instability as a pretext to move in and confiscate all Pakistani nuclear weapons. As always, the terrorists simply do not understand how their crapulence may well lead to complete loss of prestige as a once-nuclear power that has been disarmed by the West.
For the al-Qaeda leadership sitting in the tribal areas, the situation is fast evolving into the promised battle of Khorasan. This includes parts of Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan from where the Prophet Mohammed promised the "end of time" battle would start.
Feh, "end of time" or "end of Islam"? Quite obviously this area has been a perpetual source of Muslim crapulence throughout Islam's entire history.
Jihadist circles clearly want to exploit the crisis to boost themselves as major players, and envisage even a share in the power in Islamabad.
I would sooner see Pakistan a glow-in-the-dark parking lot than ever have jihadists running the asylum freak show in Islamabad.
"I don't see any solution except that the militants are given a safe passage, otherwise the situation will deteriorate and go way beyond the control of the government," said Gul, who is considered one of the architects of the jihadist movements in Pakistan, Kashmir and Afghanistan.
One question: Why is Gul not at room temperature or, at least, in captivity? If this scum bag is "one of the architects of the jihadist movements", he really needs to catch a slug. More evidence of Musharraf's insincerity about truly fighting terrorism.
"A serious situation is evolving and if any [further] operation is conducted against Lal Masjid it will simply radicalize the religious centers of the country. There are 250,000-275,000 mosques in the country. Think what would happen if all those centers were radicalized.
Think what would happen if there were suddenly 250,000-275,000 new targets?
"Father of the Taliban" Maulana Sami ul-Haq, who is director and chancellor of a famous madrassa in NWFP and a politician, has warned that if Lal Masjid is destroyed, suicide attacks can be expected all over the country.
As with Gul, why is Maulana Sami ul-Haq still breathing? Despite what a crap shoot this is, I'm hoping that the Coalition or NATO would be willing risk the odds and see if Pakistan's terror structure can't be toppled for once and all. It is the source of far too much Islamic crapulence and the longer we delay this onerous task the more danger we place ourselves in.
#5
"It is a pity that our army was preparing youths to seize Lal Qala [the Red Fort of Delhi] and they ended up seizing the Lal Masjid,"
I recall the Taliban's Mullah Omar also talkig of taking the Red Fort
Posted by: John Frum ||
07/09/2007 15:59 Comments ||
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#6
From AP
Pakistan leaders' abrupt exits at a glance
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The careers of Pakistan's political leaders over the country's 60 years of existence have often been abruptly terminated — by coups, assassinations and, in one case, an air crash.
A brief history of turbulence at the top (including years in power):
_Liaquat Ali Khan, the country's first prime minister (1947-51), was assassinated.
_President Iskander Ali Mirza (1956-58) was exiled following a military coup.
_President Yahya Khan (1969-71) stepped down after defeat to India in a war that sealed Bangladesh's breakaway from Pakistan.
_Prime Minister and later President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (1971-77) was ousted in a military coup and hanged for murder in 1979.
_President Mohammed Zia ul-Haq (1977-88) died in a mid-air aircraft explosion.
_Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto (1988-90 and 1993-96) was twice ousted from power over corruption allegations and has lived in exile since 1999.
_Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (1990-93 and 1997-99) was ousted in a military coup by Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who has held power since — and has survived at least four assassination bids.
Posted by: John Frum ||
07/09/2007 17:38 Comments ||
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#7
John Frum - I recall the Taliban's Mullah Omar also talkig of taking the Red Fort
Huh... I visited the Red Fort back in 2002. There was a decent sized Indian-army barracks built right inside the walls. A bunch of goons trying to "take" that place would be interesting... for about 15 minutes.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
07/09/2007 20:01 Comments ||
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#8
The army is gone. The fort was handed over to the Archaeological Survey of India in 2003.
Posted by: John Frum ||
07/09/2007 20:24 Comments ||
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#9
Ah, well. Probably why they got brave and talked about trying something there. Always easier for the brave jihadi's when there's nobody to shoot back.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
07/09/2007 20:56 Comments ||
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#10
Wel-l-l, Pakistan = USA is no different than Dubya's critics since Y2000, i.e. DEGREE/MAGNITUDE OF "REDNESS" INSIDE THE COUNTRY. Remember, Anti-US > WOT = WAR BTWN LIMITED SOCIALISM VZ FULL/TOTAL SOCIALISM, and the related. FASCIST > both a hated Hitlerist-Rightist whom is also a well-meaning but error-prone LIMITED/DE-REGULATED COMMUNIST.
Unidentified militants blew up a Levies force vehicle by a remote controlled bomb on Sunday, killing one jawan and wounding seven others. The bomb was planted on a roadside at Yousufabad, around three kilometres north of Khar, the agency headquarters. The tribal policemen were on routine duty and were returning from Qazafi when the bomb exploded. Jawan Akhtar Zada died at the scene. Subedar Sardar Khan and jawans Muhammad Ali Jan, Noor Wali, Fazl-e-Subhan, Zubair Ali, Muhammad Akram and Abdul Azeem were rushed to a hospital.
On Saturday night, militants fired two rockets at the Warbano Levies checkpost in Nawagai tehsil and kidnapped Hawaldar Izzatullah, and jawans Bashir, Farhatullah and Sahibzada. The militants snatched wireless sets and weapons from the Levies personnel. The political administration arrested Qalam Khan, a pro-Taliban tribesman, on Saturday and the rocket attack may have been a reaction to his arrest. The political administration has called a grand jirga of elders.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2007 00:00 ||
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Lal Masjid deputy chief cleric Abdul Rasheed Ghazi invited reporters to a press conference in Lal Masjid on Sunday, but security forces refused entry to journalists and later, ARY Television reported, entered the Rawalpindi-Islamabad press club and harassed the journalists there. Ghazi had invited journalists for a press conference, pledging safe passage, but security forces believed it was a tactic to gain more hostages and thus did not allow reporters to enter the mosque. Ghazi was offered a telephonic press conference instead. Security personnel on Sunday evening accused journalists of violating curfew and told them they had been ordered to oust journalists from the danger zone, but an army major said it had been a misunderstanding, adding there were no orders to stop media coverage, the channel reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
... had been ordered to oust journalists from the danger zone, but an army major said it had been a misunderstanding...
"Dammit, Chaudry! I told you distinctly to put them into the danger zone!"
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
07/09/2007 9:43 Comments ||
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#3
Should have sent Alan; just being back from the Paleo playland, he would be well-versed in communicating with terrs......and gotten some juicy material for his soon-to-be-piblished- hostage-sequel.
Eight “high value terrorists” wanted by Pakistan and other countries are holed up inside Lal Masjid, while another was killed by security forces in the ongoing operation, Religious Affairs Minister Ejazul Haq said on Sunday. “Nine suspected terrorists said to be far more dangerous and harmful than Al Qaeda and Taliban operatives were hiding inside the mosque compound,” Haq told a press conference here. He refused to reveal the identities of these militants.
He said that security forces killed one of these suspected terrorists inside Lal Masjid on the second day of the ongoing operation. He was the mastermind of the failed suicide attack on Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in Attock in 2005, he said.
Haq said that the militants and not Abdul Rashid Ghazi, Lal Masjid’s deputy chief cleric, were controlling the mosque. “The militants are holding children and Ghazi hostage,” he said. He said that of those who had surrendered to the security forces, three girl students were still unclaimed. They were being kept at the Pakistan Sports Complex.
He said that about 500 male and female students were still stranded inside the mosque. He also ruled out the government launching any action against other madrassas in Pakistan, including Jamia Faridia.
AFP adds: The hardcore militants inside include two commanders from the banned Harkatul-Jihad-e-Islami, security officials said. “We believe there are militants from Harkatul-Jihad-e-Islami, which was involved in the [Daniel] Pearl murder. Based on intelligence we suspect that two commanders from the group are in there,” one senior official told AFP. “They have taken control and they are putting up fierce resistance.” The information was based on “intercepts” and other intelligence, the officials said.
A source inside the mosque said there was a “lot of tension among the various groups inside the compound on how to conduct the fight”. He identified one of the Harkatul-Jihad-e-Islami militants as Abu Zar, said to be a one-time accomplice of the group’s late leader Amjad Farooqi, who was killed by security forces in 2004.
He also named a Pakistani Taliban militant from Waziristan, Mohammad Fida, as the “security chief” of the compound. There was no official confirmation of the names.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Be on the lookout for any 6' 5" burka-wearers trying to sneak out; the Waziwomen's olympic basketball team has NOT been in training at Lal Masjid.
MINGORA (Swat): Four people were killed and a police officer, his driver and three civilians wounded in a roadside explosion near the police lines here on Wednesday.
And a policeman was shot dead, reportedly by militants, in SwatÂ’s Char Bagh Area.
NWFP police chief Sharif Virk blamed Maulvi Fazlullah, who leads a proscribed militant organisation, for the explosion and attack on a police station in Mata area of Swat district on Tuesday night.
The mortar attack on the police station left policeman Zahir Shah dead and wounded four others, officials said.
“Militant leader Maulvi Fazlullah has close links with the administration of the Lal Masjid and the provincial government is contemplating action against him,” Mr Virk told Dawn.
The cleric, who had recently signed an agreement with the provincial government, in broadcasts on his FM channel on Tuesday and Wednesday, asked his supporters to take up arms against the government to avenge the action taken against Lal Masjid and carry out suicide attacks.
Witnesses said an explosive device went off when an official vehicle carrying District Police Officer Dr Mazhar Kakakhel was passing through the area.
Four passersby were killed, while three civilians, the DPO and his driver were injured.
A soldier was killed and six others were wounded Sunday in a bomb explosion in Pakistan's Bajaur tribal agency along the Afghan border,
Hours after suspected militants kidnapped four soldiers in the agency...
hours after suspected militants kidnapped four soldiers in the agency. Suspected local Taliban militants blew up a security forces vehicle with a remote-controlled device while on routine patrol in Yusufabad area of the agency, tribal sources told KUNA. The explosion killed one soldier on the spot and wounded six others, two of them critically.
Three Chinese workers were gunned down and another was wounded Sunday evening local time in a robbery attempt near a northern Pakistani city, said police.
Unknown armed-men tried to snatch money from four Chinese men, working at an auto workshop, on Charrsadah road about 30 kilometers from Peshawar, the capital of North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), a local senior police official, Muhammad Ikram, told KUNA by telephone. Upon resistance, said Ikram, gunmen opened fire that killed three of them and seriously wounded another. However, he added, the wounded Chinese is said to be in stable condition.
He said it was totally a robbery case and rejected the impression that it was linked to the Mosque crisis in Islamabad.
"Certainly not!"
This incident took place in view of the demand from Beijing to Pakistan to take action against the Mosque vigilantes for kidnapping nine Chinese workers of an acupuncture clinic.
The former leader of Bosnia's Muslim army, Rasim Delic, is due to go on trial at the U.N. war crimes tribunal on Monday charged with responsibility for rape, torture and murder of Bosnian Croats and Serbs by his troops. Delic, one of the most senior Muslims to appear at the tribunal, is accused of failing to punish alleged atrocities committed by foreign Islamic fighters under his command, and of having been aware of their propensity for violence.
You'd have to be deaf, dumb, blind and a moron not to be.
Describes a fair bit of the EU, doesn't it?
Prosecutors, however, are seeking a last-minute suspension of the trial and its transfer to a Bosnian court after the tribunal judges limited the amount of time to hear prosecution witnesses, as the court came under pressure to wind up its work by 2010.
How on earth are the prosecutors gonna accumulate enough pension points with that sort of time pressure, I ask you?
Prosecutors say this limits the scope of the trial and makes The Hague, where those charged with the greatest responsibility are tried, an inappropriate venue.
You really cannot make this stuff up. don't even try. It takes trained Euros to do so.
On Friday they renewed their plea for a postponement, after a first request was denied on Thursday.
Many Islamic fighters, or "mujahideen", came from North Africa and the Middle East to support fellow Muslims during the conflict in the former Yugoslavia. They moved from giving out food to local Muslims to fighting alongside their forces.
The indictment details an occasion when mujahideen indiscriminately shot dead 24 captured Bosnian Croats outside the village of Maline in June 1993. It also alleges that in 1995 a captured Bosnian Serb soldier was beheaded in a prison camp and all other Serb prisoners were forced to kiss the severed head, which the mujahideen then placed on a hook in the room where prisoners were held.
Delic, 58, is one of a handful of Bosnian Muslims to stand trial in The Hague for alleged war crimes committed during the 1992-95 Bosnian war. Most accused are Serbs but the court has indicted senior figures from all three Bosnian ethnic groups.
Delic surrendered to the tribunal in February 2005, and had been given provisional release before he was recalled into custody in The Hague last month
The crimes are horrific. But the international tribunal is a farce - the utter triumph of process over substance.
Carla del Ponte wouldn't have it any other way.
Posted by: lotp ||
07/09/2007 00:00 ||
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[11125 views]
Top|| File under: Global Jihad
#1
There would be no surprise if Delic was aquitted of all charges. After all like already freed from the Hague Agim Ceku and Nasir Oric he's muslim and got an allah given patent to be innocent. Rapes, torture and murders? You must be kidding - all victims were kuffars, properly treated according to the (un)holy qur'an.
Those very bad, bloodthirsty guys usually are orthodox Christian Serbs (those bombed for 78 days in 1999), aren't they?...
Posted by: Matt K. ||
07/09/2007 1:06 Comments ||
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#2
Excuse me if I am not livid about the Bosnian Muslims and forgiving of the Croats and Serbs : trying to choose between those sides in the Balkans War is like trying to choose between the WaffenSS and the NKVD in WWII - no angels anywhere. The Serbian-dominated police and army were engaged in rolling genocide against the Muslims in the Balkans, and so got bombed over it. Which is good as far as I am concerned; only problem was that the Muslims didn't get bombed by us as well. But then, we supported the Soviet Union over Nazi Germany, and Stalin killed twice as many people as Hitler did. Often times, you need to pick a side to inflict enough damage to the really repugnant ones; unfortunately, you cannot always have a win-win like the Iran-Iraq War, where no matter which side died, the West won.
We can choose to side with neither but if we do we shouldn't be disappointed with the outcome. There was a difference between the SS and the NKVD. That's why we picked one and fought with it against the other. The error was that instead of holding our nose, we lied to ourselves about what a great ally we had. We did the same thing in the Balkans.
Next time we should stay out. It didn't really matter who won. And like the Iran-Iraq war, the west wins as long as the war goes on.
If you want to know how the Surge is going, this is a map of Baghdad made up by its own residents showing which neighborhoods are safe and which are dangerous.
The leader of an Al Qaeda umbrella group in Iraq threatened to wage war against Iran unless it stops supporting Shiites in Iraq within two months, according to an audiotape.
Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, who leads the group Islamic State in Iraq , said his Sunni fighters have been preparing for four years to wage a battle against Shiite-dominated Iran.
"We are giving the Persians, and especially the rulers of Iran, a two-month period to end all kinds of support for the Iraqi Shiite government and to stop direct and indirect intervention ... otherwise a severe war is waiting for you," he said in the 50-minute audiotape released Sunday. The tape, which could not be independently verified, was posted on a Web site commonly used by insurgent groups.
Iraq's Shiite-led government is backed by the U.S. but closely allied to Iran. The United States accuses Iran of arming and financing Shiite militias in Iraq — charges Tehran denies.
In the recording, al-Baghdadi also gave Sunnis and Arab countries doing business in Iran or with Iranians a two-month deadline to cease their ties.
"We advise and warn every Sunni businessman inside Iran or in Arab countries especially in the Gulf not to take partnership with any Shiite Iranian businessman — this is part of the two-month period," he said.
Al-Baghdadi said his group was responsible for two suicide truck bomb attacks in May in Iraq's northern Kurdish region. He said the attacks in Irbil and Makhmur showed the "Islamic jihad," or holy war, was progressing in the Kurdish areas.
At least 14 people were killed when a suicide truck bomb struck a government building in Irbil, Kurdistan's capital, on May 9. Four days later in Makhmur, another suicide truck bomb tore through the offices of a Kurdish political party, killing 50 people.
In the recording, the Islamic State of Iraq leader did not mention Saturday's deadly truck bomb in Armili, a Shiite town north of Baghdad, which killed more than 100 people. The attack was among the deadliest this year in Iraq and reinforced suspicions that Al Qaeda extremists were moving north to less protected regions beyond the U.S. security crackdown in Baghdad.
Al-Baghdadi criticized Kurdish leaders for their alliance with Shiites in Iraq's government and accused them encouraging unsavory morals.
"The leaders of apostasy ... have impeded the march of Islam in Muslim Kurdistan and helped communism and secularism to spread. ... They insulted the religious scholars ... encouraged vices and women without veils," he said.
Posted by: Captain Lewis ||
07/09/2007 10:00 Comments ||
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#5
He obviously reads the NYTs, especially Sunday's editorial where they advocate immediate surrender and retreat. The west-side eastern intellectual establishment (i.e. State department flunkies) has spoken and it is only a matter of time before Reid is emboldened again, with the help of Hagel, Domenici, Lugar, et.al. to force the POTUS hand. POTUS is very weak (immigration did him in for good). So, why not start positioning for post-USA create the necessary anarchistic vacuum so necessary for AQ to operate in unopposed. Of course, they are all a bunch of loonie idiots when it comes to geo-politics and even Iran is no pushover like Afghanistan, post-Soviets was. This plus Turkey ready to impose themselves on Kurdistan and the Sunnis looking to Syria and Saudi - we could finally have the big bang mid-east on fire scenario everyone has been predicting and waiting for. This could be the Mother of all popcorn wars.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
07/09/2007 11:01 Comments ||
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#6
Now is the time for the U.S. to offer the AQ nutz all the logistical support they need (one way of course) to expeditiously get to Iran.
#8
Truly precious. Just when you think Islamic crapulence can't get any worse better, it somehow manages to reach new lows heights. The irony of a terrorist organization attempting to sideline one of terrorism's biggest sponsors is difficult to appreciate adequately. More importantly, this would certainly seem to shred any deniability on Iran's part about their clandestine support for Iraq's insurgents. The MSM must up to around 10,000 RPM trying to spin this one against America.
This is going to be a cherry opportunity to see just how friable the MME (Muslim Middle East) actually is. While not much more than a turf battle between two crack dealers, Iran's further isolation will certainly be a plus. One can only hope that even a successful outcome for al Qaeda will not deter America from pursuing the necessary destruction of Iran's nuclear weapons R&D facilities. However, any substantial threat to Iran's quest for regional hegemony is a huge plus. That is should be accompanied by a widening rift between shiias and sunnis is iceing on the cake. I can only hope this presages an endless and costly battle of attrition between two of America's worst foes.
#10
Somebody pinch me, willya? I must be dreaming.
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/09/2007 14:01 Comments ||
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#11
The irony of a terrorist organization attempting to sideline one of terrorism's biggest sponsors is difficult to appreciate adequately.
The Byzantine labyrinth of mideast muslim politics is truly mind-boggling.
If AQ wants to war with Iran, they should. AQ is our enemy. AQ brought us 911 and the flight into the Pentagon, and a crashed plane in Pennsylvania.
However, I can see there might be some strategic benefits to Iraq if AQ turns their murderous mindset and guns against Iran. Both AQ and Iran will be distracted from Iraq while Iraq settles. Things are getting interesting if this is real. The rats might move into Iran from Iraq.
#14
If some naughty person were to spread a rumour that Imonajihad was caving into AlQada's demands with his crackdowns on women, it might work in the wests interest.
#16
A commenter mentioned secretly arming Al Qaeda in a fight with Iran. That is madness. Al Qaeda will kill us at the same time they are killing Iranians with those arms. Lets hope the CIA doesn't try that stunt, or those who do should face murder charges WHEN those weapons on turned on us.
Let the Islamic "radicals" cut each other's throats, but that should not stop us from going keep the heat on them as well. That only speeds the demise of both groups, to our complete benefit.
#17
Helmuth, it is not a matter of supplying weapons. I am sure they've got enough as it is. What I meant is the type of work that would result in something akin to AQ and Iran calling each other "a certifiable American spies". Of course, this can be expanded not only vis-a-vis, but withing camps themselves. And supplying intel on movement of each side to the other side.
#18
This is crap. The Iranians are supporting AQI and have been for years. Maybe not to the same degree as their boy Tater, but the support has been there. AQI is targeting and killing Americans. They destabilize the nascent government of Iraq. They sow sectarian discord. All of this works, eventually, in Iran's favor if the US finally pulls out. At that point the Iranians can pull the plug on AQI and kill them all with impunity. Then they have defacto control over Iraq. Of course this assumes Turkey, KSA and Kuwait do nothing.
Turkish military air ambulances on Sunday evacuated 21 people wounded in a suicide attack in a town north of Baghdad, for treatment in Turkish hospitals, the Foreign Ministry said.
Saturday's suicide truck bomb blast killed more than 100 people at a market in the farming town of Armili and was among the deadliest this year in Iraq. Two military air ambulances carrying 21 of the wounded landed at a military airfield late Sunday, Foreign Ministry Deputy Spokesman Adnan Kececi said. Most of the wounded would be treated at a military hospital in the Turkish capital, Ankara, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
A flurry of bombings in Baghdad killed 26 people Sunday, and officials said the death toll from a giant suicide truck blast that devastated the market of a Shi'ite town north of the capital a day earlier could be more than 130.
Officials had earlier said Saturday's bombing in the town of Armili killed 115 people, one of the deadliest attacks in Iraq in months. The blast suggested Sunni insurgents are moving further north to strike in less protected regions beyond the US security crackdown in Baghdad and on the capital's northern doorstep.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
A Jordanian man suspected of having al-Qaida links pleaded not guilty Sunday to charges of attempted premeditated murder in a shootout that wounded several police officers. Awni Ramadan Mustafa al-Mansi, 32, a Jordanian of Palestinian origin, also pleaded not guilty to illegal possession of weapons. Al-Mansi and a second gunman, Suleiman Ghayad al-Anjadi, allegedly opened fire at special forces who came to arrest them on January 9 at a hide-out in the northern city of Irbid. Police returned fire, killing al-Anjadi, who was on Jordan's "most wanted" terror list. If convicted, al-Mansi could face the death penalty. The hearing was adjourned until July 17.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq
A special IDF unit killed an Islamic Jihad operative at the southern entrance to Jenin overnight Sunday, Palestinians sources reported. The operative was identified as Muhammad Nazaal, 23.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Islamic Jihad
The security forces have finally forced the Islamic terrorists to the surface. This was done by identifying religious schools and villages where the terrorists were hanging out, and then making arrests. Large quantities of weapons and bomb making material have been found, and over a hundred people have been arrested in the last week alone. Religious schools are being shut if they are found to harbor terrorists. Last month, 160 arrests were made, and that total will double or triple this month. All this is the result of months of intensive intelligence work and sorting through thousands of incidents and individual records. The government is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in a new intelligence collecting and analysis system.
A fierce sea clash erupted between Sri LankaÂ’s navy and Tamil Tiger rebels off the countryÂ’s east coast overnight, the military said Sunday as two days of ground battles killed 28 combatants in the north and east.
The sea battle broke out when a flotilla of 15 rebel boats tried to attack naval boats patrolling off Kallarawa, a fishing village in the eastern Trincomalee district on Saturday night, said navy spokesman Cmdr DKP Dassanayake. He said the battle lasted nearly an hour, and that the insurgents were believed to have suffered heavy casualties before fleeing.
Tiger rebels said Sunday they lost two fighters during a three-hour sea battle with the Sri Lankan Navy. “Three Dvora FACs (fast-attack craft) were damaged in the (sea) clash. Two Sea Tigers were killed in action,” the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said in a statement..
Hours earlier, a ground battle between navy sailors and rebels in Kuchchaveli village near Trincomalee left three insurgents dead, Dassanayake said. Later, troops recovered three rebel bodies along with rifles, bombs and detonators. Meanwhile, soldiers ambushed a group of Tamil guerrillas riding on tractors Friday near the eastern area of Thoppigala, killing 15 people.
The attack came hours after rebels killed six soldiers in the region in a mortar attack, military spokesman Brig Prasad Samarasinghe said. Government forces have cleared the Tamil Tiger guerrillas from much of eastern Sri Lanka, but have been struggling to seize the eastern rebel bastion of Thoppigala for 14 years. The army began what it called a final push into the area in late April and said recently it hoped to rout the rebels by early next week.
However, previous claims of imminent victory have proven premature. In other violence, insurgents attacked soldiers in the northern Vavuniya district Friday, but troops fought back and killed two guerrillas, the Defense Ministry said. Hours later, soldiers observed armed rebels moving across a defensive line in the northeastern Welioya region and fired mortar rounds at them, killing two insurgents, the ministry said.
A spokesman for the rebels did not answer repeated telephone calls from The Associated Press on Saturday.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#18
Mariska sure favors her mother in this picture.
(I meant their faces are similar.)
BTW, Jayne died in a car crash in 1967 at age 34.
Mariska, then three-and-a-half years old, was asleep in the back of the car, and suffered a zig-zag scar on one side of her head. Jayne's two sons were also in the car, but were uninjured.
OT, thanks to whoever posted the background and the clip of "What's Opera Doc?" yesterday.
Rantapalooza returns Saturday August 4, halfway between DC and Baltimore!
Attendees include Fred, myself, and a special featured celebrity guest bon vivant and family, direct from the Queen City. This 'Palooza will be an evening affair and our carbon offsets will be quite costly as the venue is NOT serviced by any mass transport (though it *is* fairly convenient to BWI airport).
We look forward to meeting lots of Rantburgians. As always, please email me for location and directions, or leave a note in comments and I'll get back to ya.
#1
August -- such a hot month, only made good, cause it is followed by September. And deep in the heart of Texas, September is the month, that I declare my love for Texas, and vacate the state, any way I can. September continues to bring the heat, more of it, and by the, just wanting all that heat to go away. The only esape?
Get our of Texas... Fast.
Too bad.... the "Palooza" doesn't' match my gittin' out of Texas dates. October is my month.
But, I pledge here..... all of you there, get your speaker phones on loud, and I will do the same, to offer a big Texas hello and hug to all those there.
You ain't been hugged, till you have been hugged by a big hair, Texas woman!
#2
Well -- let's delete the above post. Was editing, and well, pressed an Enter key when I didn't mean to..... and voila.... all my "weaknesses" phobias, etc.... didn't get a chance to go through voice reading, making it through spell check! Sorry......
#5
Well, the fun of staying in Texas during August is to watch and listen to the White House Press corps whine and moan about having to come to Crawford...
Couldn't we hold a Rantapalooza in Texas some time? I can find us a place on the Riverwalk for the drinking part, and there is this divy little place on the Austin Highway that serves the best breakfast tacos in the world...
#7
OT -- I'm issuing a fatwa against Yusef Islam, for appearing in evil western garb at an evil western event. Additionally, Yusef Islam sang in a way where the hint of a melody (melody is an evil western invention) could be detected. Worst of all, he chose to sing a song written by an Evil Infidel, Cat Stevens.
Posted by: Captain Lewis ||
07/08/2007 8:32 Comments ||
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#8
I am a long-time lurker, and it might be fun to lurk in person.
#11
The only thing between DC and Baltimore that is of any importance is Ft. Meade and we all know what's there. Do you guys actually want to be that close to a bunch of eavesdroppers? Everything you'll talk about with a few scotches or mugs of beers in your liver will meet every filter criteria and you'll end up with subpoenas from Reyjes and Rockafeller. Then you'll have to explain to the American public just what the hell Rantburg is and that blows the lid off the site and invites all kind of trolls and things. Nope, I am not going to be part of that. Count me out.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
07/08/2007 10:28 Comments ||
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#12
It's all a nefarious plot by the Beltway-centric Rantburgers to embarass us West Coasters into having to send our regrets (they're endangered out here, y'know) and deny us our inalienable right to Life, Liberty, and not having to get strip-searched by the TSA!
I demand Justice!(just so's I can belittle her) I demand video! I demand a cheeseburger sent Federal Express!!
#14
Thanks for the invite, but can't this time. I love the insights on Rantburg as I've learned so much, and would love to meet, socialize and enjoy a good drink together, so hopefully I'll be able to make it next year.
Posted by: Jan back home ||
07/08/2007 13:53 Comments ||
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#15
Dang, the wife has us camping all through the summer. Drink a whole bunch for me, though, and I'll be with you in spirit.
Posted by: Jonathan ||
07/08/2007 14:31 Comments ||
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#16
August in DC is a good time, because all the congresscritters can't take the heat and humidity and go home for awhile. It's still not as good as Colorado, though. I'll have to attend in spirit, since I won't be able to be there in person. Enjoy, and if someone there is sober enough, a bit of live-blogging at the O-club would be deeply appreciated.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/08/2007 14:34 Comments ||
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#17
I'll do my best to be there, but unfortunately can't commit until closer to the time - work schedules & all. (If billable work is available, have to jump on it!)
It's on the calendar now, of course - will confirm closer to the appointed date.
Any hint as to where it will be exactly? Inquiring minds, etc.... ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/08/2007 15:31 Comments ||
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#18
I would love to be there, as one of the earlier posts said..."long time lurker, sometime poster"... However, work schedules won't let it happen. Throw back a few cold ones for those of us who can't make it but will be there in spirit.
#19
Long time lurker; shameless poster. Sometimes drinking when posting which I've found to be a bad idea for me. I've got to be in Ohio around that time. Thanks. Would be interesting to see some of the people at Rantburg. Interesting bunch.
#20
Will be thinking of u all - have a brilliant time!
Dare not travel anywhere on the useless passport that I have the misfortune of holding .......... will say no more!
#21
I'd love to come! Unfortunately, work is going to impede yet another truly fun possibility in my life. Rats. Enjoy, folks. I'll be jealous.
Posted by: Mac ||
07/08/2007 22:53 Comments ||
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#22
I'm putting in my request for next years outing to be in D.C. proper. If its in the Federal City, I might know someone that can keep me out of jail. Otherwise I'll end up in the slammer with the restayuhz.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
07/08/2007 23:10 Comments ||
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#24
Crap oh crap oh crap! I'll be in DC this weekend but think the date is going to be a no go. Please send info just in case. Would be fantastic to meet the Burgers!
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.
(SomaliNet) At least five people were wounded in a shootout by soldiers of the transitional federal government when a bomb exploded in Mogadishu’s main Bakara market, near the buildings of the privately owned telecommunication companies – as the capital of Somalia is under massive search operations for the fourth day. 
The 4-day military operation led by the national army in Sohane region bordering Blida and Boumerdés wilayas has ended up by the killing of five terrorists among six who made up the armed group. The most noticeable achievement of the military operation is the killing of the terrorist Aksil Mneouer known in Boufarik locality in Blida who was wanted by security services since a few months after he re-joined the terrorist groups when released after serving a five-year prison sentence.
Three defendants in the 21 July terror trial have been found guilty of a plot to bomb London's transport network. Jurors found Muktar Said Ibrahim, 29, Yassin Omar, 26, and Ramzi Mohammed, 25, guilty of conspiracy to murder. 
A soldier was killed and six others were wounded Sunday in a bomb explosion in Pakistan's Bajaur tribal agency along the Afghan border, 
A Jordanian man suspected of having al-Qaida links pleaded not guilty Sunday to charges of attempted premeditated murder in a shootout that wounded several police officers. Awni Ramadan Mustafa al-Mansi, 32, a Jordanian of Palestinian origin, also pleaded not guilty to illegal possession of weapons. Al-Mansi and a second gunman, Suleiman Ghayad al-Anjadi, allegedly opened fire at special forces who came to arrest them on January 9 at a hide-out in the northern city of Irbid. Police returned fire, killing al-Anjadi, who was on Jordan's "most wanted" terror list. If convicted, al-Mansi could face the death penalty. The hearing was adjourned until July 17.
