In September and October 1981, Wood and Wagner stayed in Raleigh, North Carolina while Wood did location work for the science-fiction film Brainstorm.[15] Wood then spent most of November in California shooting interior scenes with Christopher Walken and other cast members on the MGM lot in Culver City.[15]
After Thanksgiving, Wood, Wagner and Walken went on to Catalina Island for the weekend and on the night of November 28 their yacht (Splendour) was anchored in Isthmus Cove. Also on board was the boat's skipper, Dennis Davern, who had worked for the couple for many years. Wood apparently tried to either leave the yacht or secure a dinghy from banging against the hull when she accidentally slipped and fell overboard. A woman on a nearby yacht said she heard calls for help at around midnight. The cries lasted for about 15 minutes and were answered by someone else who said, "Take it easy. We'll be over to get you".[7] "It was laid back," the witness recalled. "There was no urgency or immediacy in their shouts".[7] An investigation by Los Angeles County coroner Thomas Noguchi resulted in an official verdict of accidental drowning. Noguchi concluded Wood had drunk "seven or eight" glasses of wine and was intoxicated when she died. There were marks and bruises on her body which could have been received as a result of her fall.[7] Noguchi later wrote had Wood not been intoxicated she likely would have realized her heavy down-filled coat and wool sweater were pulling her underwater and would have removed them.[16] Noguchi also wrote that he found Wood's fingernail scratches on the side of the rubber dinghy indicating she was trying to get in. Wood was 43 at the time of her death and is buried in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/15/2009 16:19 Comments ||
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#7
Thanks for posting that GB. Her voice is amazing, stops me in my tracks and that song is wonderful.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
09/15/2009 23:25 Comments ||
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#8
Thanks, GBMC - I had no idea the Stones had ever put out such a nice song.
Lord knows it's never played on the radio. :-(
Y'all can pre-order Susan Boyle's CD through Amazon for $9.99 - click through from Rantburg (ad is to the right) and Fred gets a small cut. I always go to Amazon through Rantburg, even it I'm not planning on buying anything - ya' never know.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/15/2009 23:35 Comments ||
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Posted by: 49 Pan ||
09/15/2009 22:34 Comments ||
Top||
#2
I will do what I can, at this moment in time I support as many British Soldiers Charties that I can. Supporting our allies in the USA in not a problem. God bless America and the UK too.
Posted by: Dave UK ||
09/15/2009 23:21 Comments ||
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(AKI) - A rebel commander, has laid down his arms in western Badghis province. Mullah Salam said he decided to renounce militancy, accusing Taliban fighters of targeting civilians, Afghan news agency Pajhwok reported.
Badghis police chief Brig. Gen. Syed Ahmad Sami, told Pajhwok that Salam surrendered with an ally named Mullah Bahauddin.
The commander handed over to police personnel an RPG-7, a rocket launcher and a machine gun. Salam was a sub-commander of Maulvi Abdul Qudoos, the Taliban commander in Dara-i-Bum area of Badghis' Maqur district.
Anti-terrorism officials have remained in contact with other Taliban fighters who are allegedly on the point of switching sides, Gen. Sami said.
Also on Monday, police said they killed a militant and injured two others in an hour-long firefight in southern Ghazni province. But insurgents claimed one of their fighters and four policemen were killed in the gun-battle, which took place on the main Kabul-Kandahar Highway.
In the western province of Herat, three people were arrested on Monday when police found explosives in their truck in Injeel district.
The explosives had been concealed along with four remote-controlled bombs under materials in the truck.
The fighters were shifting the explosives from the volatile south to Herat City, police said.
Also on Monday, a roadside bomb hit a vehicle belonging to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) in Adraskan district. The explosives placed in a jerry can hit the ISAF vehicle but no one was hurt, district chief Nisar Ahmad Popal said.
But Qari Jamal, who introduced himself as a local Taliban commander, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the vehicle was destroyed and all those on board were killed, Pajhwok reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/15/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Taliban
#2
WAFF > MORE BRITONS TRAVELING TO SOMALIA FOR "JIHAD" [INTEL CHIEFS > SOMALIA is likely the next battlefield/challenge in GWOT agz Islamist Terrorism-Militancy].
(CNN) -- A U.S. Special Forces raid in Somalia may have killed a wanted al Qaeda terrorist, U.S. officials said Monday. Special Forces used a helicopter to fire on a car in southern Somalia on Monday, killing several people, including one the U.S. military believes was Saleh ali Saleh Nabhan, a senior al Qaeda operative. Nabhan has been tied to several attacks in East Africa, including the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, according to the sources.
Nabhan has been on the FBI's most wanted list for several years. The officials who talked to CNN are familiar with the latest information on this incident but did not want to be identified because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
The helicopter flew from a U.S. Navy warship offshore, one of the sources said. The ship kept watch on the operation and was ready to rescue the U.S. troops if they got into trouble. The official said the troops landed to take away the body believed to be that of Nabhan for positive identification. The United States had intelligence that he was in the area, and was monitoring the situation for several days, the sources said.
President Obama signed off on the operation, a senior U.S. official told CNN's Ed Henry.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/15/2009 00:00 ||
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[11128 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
#1
The Washington Post now states Helicopter-borne Special Forces troops attacked and killed a top al-Qaeda-linked suspect in a raid in southern Somalia early Monday, U.S. officials said...At least four helicopters participated in the raid, launched from a nearby U.S. naval vessel, a senior military official said. At least one of them landed, and troops retrieved the bodies. "You want to go in there, do this fast, and get out before you're detected," the official said.
#2
It looks like our Navy cleverboots have more than just pirates in mind when they went on patrol. I wonder what interesting stories we civilians will never hear...
Posted by: Dave UK ||
09/15/2009 5:02 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Isn't it murder to kill someone in a foreign country you are not at war with? No trial or anything? Pelosi should demand an investigation immediately.
And because the above may not be sarcastic from all quarters I do not understand why US officials are saying anything at all about it. They should just attribute it to Venusians.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
09/15/2009 11:12 Comments ||
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#8
tw wins.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
09/15/2009 12:09 Comments ||
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#9
"The ship kept watch on the operation and was ready to rescue the U.S. troops if they got into trouble."
Thank God they didn't get into trouble, but I wonder how a ship was going to rescue the troops, or if they meant that a rapid force was on helicopters ready to go in to assist.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
09/15/2009 12:54 Comments ||
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#13
Glad the US is doing this. "President" O'Bumble gets one right. The US needs to follow up with an ARCLIGHT strike on one of the Pirate ports - it doesn't matter which. I'll bet Al-Shabaab is getting anywhere from a third to half of all ransoms being paid. Cutting those off would be a severe blow to them.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/15/2009 15:07 Comments ||
Top||
ION GUAMPDN > SOMALI MILITANTS VOW TO AVENGE [retaliate agz USA per se for Nabhan death/
strike]; + PRAVDA > AL QAEDA SLOWLY MAKES IT WAY TO SOMALIA AND YEMEN.
* WND > VIDEO > AL QAEDA IS THE ARMY OF THE MAHDI.
[Bangla Daily Star] Two alleged criminals, including an outlawed party leader, were killed yesterday in separate "shootouts" with the law enforcers in Mohammadpur of the capital and Kushtia.
They are Abu Bakkar Roni alias Lal Roni, 25, an accomplice of top terror Imon, and Samir Uddin, 38, a commander of outlawed Gono Bahini.
Acting on a tip-off, a team of Rab conducted a drive in Mohammadpur area to arrest criminals. Sensing the presence of law enforcers, the criminals opened fire on the Rab personnel in front of Chandrima Real Estate at around 1:30am. A gunfight ensued as the team retaliated.
After the incident, Roni was found dead on the spot while his cohorts managed to flee the scene.
Rab members recovered a pistol and two bullets from the spot.
Assistant Superintendent of Police Talebur Rahman of Rab-2 told The Daily Star that Roni, hailed from Munshiganj, was accused in several cases, including five for murder.
The Rab are clearly working overtime to reduce the presence of the criminal class. There is an assembly line feel to this report, the usual breathtaking creativity eschewed.
In Kushtia, a police team of Islamic University Police Station had a gunfight with a group of gangsters near Berbaradi GK (Ganges-Kabadak) canal at about 4:00am.
Probably a bunch of Islamic University students. They're like that, you know, running about in gangs, causing trouble.
Police sources said they found a gathering near the canal while patrolling the area. As they reached the spot, the criminals opened fire on the police forcing them to retaliate.
Samir, leader of outlawed Gono Bahini, was found dead lying on the spot after the incident.
His accomplices, however, managed to flee.
One LG gun and two bullets were recovered from the spot.
Samir was an accused in seven cases, including three murders.
With this, the death toll reaches 22 in the district from "crossfire" in last 18 days.
None of whom were properly loved by there mothers, or they wouldn't have gone to the bad like that.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/15/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under:
#1
My bet is Rantburg is one of the very top entries in the Bangla Star's referrer logs. Some enterprising Rantburger ought to call the managing editor there and ask him if the reporting and editorial staff follow Fred's interlinear comments with glee, or otherwise get him to comment on the formulaic code they use in these stories and how it's understood locally. Would be interesting.
The British leader of the plot to bomb seven transatlantic planes is facing the prospect of dying in jail after a judge said today he was likely to remain a dangerous and motivated terrorist for the rest of his life.
It's surprises like this that prove the universe is independent of our thoughts.
Abdulla Ahmed Ali was one of three men sentenced to life imprisonment after being convicted last week of planning to lead a squad of suicide bombers in smuggling liquid explosives aboard planes heading from London to North America. The al-Qaida plot could have killed 1,500 people. Passing sentence, Mr Justice Henriques said the terrorists were involved in "the most grave and wicked conspiracy ever proven within this jurisdiction. The intention was to perpetrate a terrorist outrage that would stand alongside the events of September 11 2001 in history."
He told Ali, 28, the ringleader and a former mobile phone salesman: "You have embraced Islamic extremism and it is that burning extremism that motivated you throughout this conspiracy and is likely to motivate you again. You are likely to remain a serious danger to the public for an indeterminate time."
Ali, of Walthamstow, east London, was sentenced to life and told he must serve 40 years before he could be considered for parole. It is the joint highest sentence handed down in a British terrorism case.
The judge made it clear the evidence pointed to an attack within days. The cell was arrested on 9-10 August 2006. An email sent by Ali to his controllers in Pakistan on 6 August showed the terrorists were close to staging the attack.
The three men, and a fourth member of the cell convicted of conspiracy to murder, were given life with minimum terms of between 22 and 40 years in prison before they can be considered for release.
Assad Sarwar, 29, from High Wycombe, will serve a minimum of 36 years. The judge called him a "vital and leading member" of the plot, "trained in bomb making in Pakistan". He bought litres of chemicals to make explosives and in one day made 83 phone calls seeking hydrogen peroxide. "You were the trained chemist and quartermaster and you were in direct communication with Pakistan," the judge said.
Tanvir Hussein, 28, of Leyton, east London, was described by the judge as Ali's "right-hand man", modifying the batteries, bottles and bulbs that were to be used to make the bombs to be smuggled past airport security. He was told he would serve 32 years without parole, with the judge accepting he was not a religious fanatic but perhaps had been blinded by his "long-term loyalty to Ali".
The cell's fourth member, Umar Islam, 31, of Plaistow, east London, convicted of conspiracy to murder, was told he would serve a minimum of 22 years. The former bus inspector was described by the judge as a "foot soldier" who was unaware the target was blowing aircraft out of the sky.
Nadim Radford QC, representing Ali, said he was a victim of political turmoil. Radford said of the defendants: "They were caught in a political turmoil of their own making, where they misjudged what they should do. He was very greatly affected by what he felt was the harm being done to innocent people from his similar background."
Radford said the airlines plot was at an early stage when police broke it up.
Which should make it ok. After all, the lads never actually blew up any airplanes. They only planned meticulously and acquired the weapons to execute their plan.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/15/2009 00:00 ||
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[11123 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Britain
#1
It won't take 40 years until Brits need another oil deal.
A suspected Al Qaeda cell - the first uncovered in the U.S. since 9/11 - drew round-the-clock FBI surveillance Tuesday as authorities said they thwarted its plans for a major terror attack.
Scores of FBI agents inundated Denver as they closed the noose on the five-man cabal with ties to World Trade Center mastermind Osama Bin Laden's terrorist group, sources told the Daily News. One of the suspects visited New York last week toting bomb-making plans after a trip to Pakistan - home to most of Al Qaeda's leadership, sources said. "The FBI is seriously spooked about these guys," a former senior counterterrorism official told The News. "This is not some ... FBI informant-driven case. This is the real thing."
Najibullah Zazi, seen last week praying and chatting with other worshipers at the Masjid Hazrat-I-Abu Bakr Islamic Center in Queens, was one of the quintet under intense scrutiny, sources said. He recently traveled to Pakistan, where Al Qaeda's major leaders - including Bin Laden - remain hunkered down.
Zazi - known around the mosque as "Naji" - ran a coffee and doughnut cart in Manhattan before moving to suburban Denver this year, other members of the center said Tuesday. He was described as a religious man, sporting a long, bushy beard, who hailed from eastern Afghanistan. Interviewed outside Denver, Zazi said he knows he is under investigation but is innocent.
Zazi apparently lived recently in the same Flushing neighborhood where FBI agents swarmed into three apartments this week, bashing down doors and carrying search warrants seeking bomb-making materials.
"I didn't know what he was up to," said mosque President Abdulrahman Jalili, 58, after he was contacted by the FBI about Zazi. "Islam is against terrorism. It is a religion of peace."
The religion may be. Some significant number of believers are most definitely not.
The operative was recently overseas visiting Pakistan and possibly other countries, police sources said. He drove from Denver to Queens carrying documents and papers about bomb-making and bombs, the sources said. Zazi remained under constant surveillance in suburban Denver Tuesday, three sources said.
Red flags about an impending attack went up last week when Zazi visited with several people in a single day and there was worrisome information collected from wiretaps, sources said. Zazi was stopped at the George Washington Bridge on his way into the city. Authorities later seized his rental car from a Queens street, sources said.
Two mosque members said Zazi was apolitical. "I haven't seen him talk politics," said Mohammad Aziz, 51, of Queens, who hosted a dinner for the suspect and a local imam two years ago.
Zazi, who has a wife in Pakistan, said he was coming to New York to renew his peddler's license for the coffee wagon.
The Queens apartment raids were triggered by the Denver investigation, the operative's New York visit and the timing of the upcoming UN General Assembly. New York authorities also detained several men - later released - in a hunt for bomb-making components, explosive powders and fuses. "The hallway was filled with guys with armor," said one man awakened when the FBI broke down a the door of a neighbor with ties to the mosque. "Heavy armor." Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said unspecified material was seized from the apartments and shipped for analysis.
(AP) - The investigation of a suspected al-Qaida associate prompted the "preventive" raid of three New York City apartments—but authorities said the target of any terror attack plan remained unclear. The searches early Monday came after the man, who was under surveillance for possible links to the terrorism network, visited New York City over the weekend and then left the area, said Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y.
A White House spokesman said Obama, who spoke on Wall Street on Monday, had been briefed on the investigation.
No arrests were announced. Neither the FBI nor the NYPD would discuss the whereabouts of the al-Qaida suspect or whether anyone was being held for questioning in New York.
New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne confirmed that searches were conducted in the borough of Queens by agents of a joint terrorism task force.
Residents in the Flushing neighborhood of Queens on Monday described officers armed with search warrants swarming their immigrant neighborhood at about 2:30 a.m. Akbari Amanullah, a cab driver who lived in an apartment with four other natives of Afghanistan, said when he arrived home from work afterward, he was told that one of his roommates had been taken away. Amanullah said about a dozen FBI agents went to his fifth-floor apartment at about 2:30 a.m. One man at a three-story brick apartment building in the neighborhood confirmed Monday that authorities had been at his apartment, but he wouldn't identify himself or comment further. Nearby resident Kabir Islam said he saw FBI agents and police officers surrounding the apartment when he arrived home after 3 a.m.
NEW York City police and the FBI have raided homes in the borough of Queens as part of an investigation that has tracked a man suspected of sympathising with al-Qaeda.
NYPD and FBI officials provided few details, calling it part of an ongoing investigation by a joint terrorism task force, but members of US Congress said there was no imminent danger.
Authorities launched the raids after a suspect they had under surveillance met with people in Queens, the ethnically diverse borough across the East River from Manhattan.
Neighbours at one apartment building, where the home of five Afghan men was searched, described an operation in which heavily armed FBI agents arrived in a phalanx of unmarked vehicles and stormed the building in the early morning hours.
"It was scary. I wasn't going to stop the FBI and ask them what was going on," Melissa Khan said.
At another building, agents took away four Bosnians - a couple and their two adult children - from an apartment they have shared for three years.
At least two of the Bosnians appeared to have returned home by last night.
A man who answered the door there refused to speak to reporters.
A neighbor who identified herself as Carol Lechner said she believed a son of the couple, a student at Queens College, remained in detention.
At the home of the five Afghanis, a man who identified himself as Amanulla Akvari, a 30-year-old taxi driver, said the FBI raided the apartment at 2:30am local time.
He was brought in for questioning and released and said he had no idea why his home was targeted, adding that he believed one of his roommates was arrested.
"There is very good reason to believe that there is a connection to al-Qaeda or to al-Qaeda supports," Republican congressman Peter King said.
"(They) would not have moved as quickly as they did if they did not believe there was real potential."
The New York Times, citing an unnamed senior law enforcement official, said authorities had uncovered a small group who espoused a militant ideology aligned with al Qaeda.
Neither a specific plot nor a target of any planned attack had been detected, but their activities had aroused enough suspicion to obtain search warrants, the Times said.
#8
Apparently the suspect under surveillance was an Afghan from Denver visiting Queens. The new Bin Laden tape was just released but pre-emptive arrests are surprising.
New York City police and the FBI raided at least one home in the borough of Queens early on Monday as part of an investigation into suspected terrorism, focusing on one man who has been under surveillance, officials said.
Members of U.S. Congress briefed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation said there was no imminent danger. "There was nothing imminent, and they are very good now at tracking potentially dangerous actions and this was preventive," said Charles Schumer, a U.S. Senator from New York who was among those briefed by FBI officials.
The New York Times, citing an unnamed senior law enforcement official, said authorities had uncovered a small group of people who espoused a militant ideology aligned with al Qaeda. Neither a specific plot nor a target of any planned attack had been detected, but their activities had aroused enough suspicion to obtain search warrants, the Times said.
Schumer told reporters the rumors indicated the terrorist threat was related to an upcoming appearance in New York by President Barack Obama but authorities learned that this was not true.
Peter King, a Republican congressman from New York who was also briefed on the case, told ABC News: "He was being watched and concern grew as he met with a group of individuals in Queens over the weekend.
"The FBI went to court late last night for an emergency warrant to conduct the raids this morning," ABC quoted King as saying.
NYPD and FBI officials provided few details, calling it part of an ongoing investigation of the joint terrorism task force. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly declined to say more, telling reporters only that it was part of an ongoing investigation and "normal procedure." A congressional aide said members of the Senate Homeland and Governmental Affairs Committee were given a classified briefing on the raid.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/15/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
Burqa-clad assailants armed with Kalashnikov rifles and hand grenades attempted to attack an oil terminal in southern Pakistan but were thwarted by a security guard who was gunned down as the suspects escaped, officials said Tuesday.
The three attackers, dressed in the all-encompassing garment traditionally worn by Muslim women, tried on Monday to enter the terminal in the port city of Karachi where oil supplies arrive for the country's largest refinery, police said.
Posted by: ed ||
09/15/2009 09:49 ||
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Top|| File under:
(Xinhua) -- Pakistani police on Monday arrested the mastermind of life attempt on Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Hamid Saeed Kazmi, local TV channels reported.
The accused was identified as Abdul Karim and arrested from Rojhan area of south Punjab along with his accomplices. The police had continued raids to arrest others involved in the case.
The accused is also involved in several cases of different nature and belong to defunct organization, said the reports.
The Pakistani religious minister was injured in a shooting attack on his car outside his office in Islamabad on Sept. 2. A driver of the minister was killed in the attack.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/15/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan
[Dawn] Pakistani authorities sacked more than 700 police who failed to show up for work after they were threatened by a militant leader in the famed Khyber tribal region, an official said Monday.
'A total of 715 Khasadar (tribal policemen) refused to report to duty after a threat by a militant leader. I have terminated their service,' Tariq Hayat, the top administrative official in the tribal district, told AFP.
Until last week, there were about 2,500 tribal police in Khyber. Hundreds of them in the lawless district that borders Afghanistan were given 24 hours' notice to report but 715 failed to do so, the senior official said.
Authorities sacked 358 tribal policemen on Sunday and another 357 on Monday, Hayat said.
'All these refused to come to the office for duty,' Hayat said, adding that he would advertise for new recruits.
Militant commander Mangal Bagh, who has ties to the Taliban, used a radio broadcast to threaten that lawmakers, army soldiers and paramilitary troops who did not resign would see their homes demolished and face other harsh penalties.
Hours after his speech Thursday, militants blew up three houses belonging to Khasadars, residents said.
A suicide bomber killed 22 tribal policemen last month and on September 1, Pakistan launched a military offensive against Mangal's militant group Lashkar-e-Islam in Khyber, location of the fabled Khyber Pass into Afghanistan.
Khasadars are specially recruited tribesmen who bring local expertise to the job of tracking down militant centres and hideouts.
Militants from Pakistan's feared Tehreek-i-Taliban have adopted similar intimidation tactics in the northwest Swat valley. Hundreds of police deserted during a violent uprising launched two years ago.
The military says it has killed around 170 militants in Khyber but such tolls are impossible to confirm independently.
Khyber is on the main land and supply route through Pakistan into Afghanistan, where international forces are battling a Taliban insurgency.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/15/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[Dawn] One soldier and eight militants, including their local leader, were killed in an encounter in the Kamarkhel area of Bara in the Khyber tribal region on Monday.
According to the FC media cell, the militants were hiding in the Naraikarawal village when security forces engaged them. After a fierce encounter, the area was cleared of the militants.
The local militant leader killed in the encounter was identified as Nawaz. His body is in the custody of security forces.
The security forces seized a huge cache of weapons from militants' hideouts in the area. In another incident, two young tribesmen were killed for violating curfew near Bara bazaar.
Sources said that the victims, one of them a schoolboy, were taking a relative to Dogra hospital in Bara when security forces opened fire on them. They died on the spot.
KHASADARS
The political administration has given advertisements in newspapers for the recruitment of fresh Khasadars in the Khyber Agency.
Official sources said that the advertisements had been given to replace the sacked khasadars. The minimum age limit is 18 years and the maximum 25. Matriculates and intermediates will be given preference.
The new recruits would be taken from Qambarkhel, Shalobar, Malikdinkhel, Akakhel and Zauddin-Zakhakhel tribes of the agency.
Sources said that retired personnel of security forces would get 15 years relaxation in age limit. The last date for application is Sept 22. The advertisement would appear in newspaper on Tuesday.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/15/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Lashkar-e-Islami
[Iran Press TV Latest] Attacks by government troops and a US drone have killed at least 30 pro-Taliban militants, leaving several others injured in northwestern Pakistan.
A missile allegedly fired on Monday by an unmanned US aircraft targeted a vehicle believed to be carrying pro-Taliban insurgents in the North Waziristan tribal district, near the Afghan border.
Four militants were killed in the attack five others were wounded.
According to a statement issued by the Pakistani army on the same day, government security forces in the Charbagh area killed 4 militants, including two commanders identified as Maqbool and Shaukat, a Press TV correspondent reported.
Security forces also killed eight insurgents on the Jholagram-Kalangi road, where one soldier was also injured. In the Kuz Bamakhela area near Matta one militant was reported to have been killed and three others were arrested while one soldier was also killed.
During another operation by security forces in a cave at Manasar near Gat, two militants were killed. In Dir, one insurgent was killed while one explosive-laden vest and one improvised explosive device (IED) were recovered.
In related activities, local security officials told Press TV that government forces pounded militant hideouts in the Sarwekai and Kotkai areas in South Waziristan Agency, killing 10 militants, including a key commander, and injuring several others.
Ten houses used by the militants and five shops were also destroyed during the operation.
Also on Monday, at least 14 policemen were injured in a remotely-detonated bomb attack in Mansehra city of Hazra Division in northwest Pakistan.
District Police Officer Akhtar Hayat Khan Gandapur told Press TV that the bomb, planted by the side of a road, went off when a police van was passing.
The van was carrying prisoners from the Central Mansehra Jail to Abbottabad court.
The injured were transferred to the Ayub Medical Complex, in Abbottabad. Three of the injured policemen are said to be in critical condition.
Pakistan's tribal region is considered a redoubt for al-Qaeda-linked and pro-Taliban militants, who use the rugged terrain to plan and launch attacks.
So far over 2,000 militants and 200 soldiers have been killed in the clashes, according to a Pakistani army report.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/15/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: TTP
[Dawn] Five people were killed and three others injured when missiles fired from a drone hit a car in a village in Mirali tehsil of North Waziristan on Monday.
The attack which took place at dawn also damaged several houses in the village of Khushali Torikhel.
Local people who retrieved bodies from the wreckage, said the drone continued to hover over the area after the attack.
AFP news agency quoted a local government official as saying that those killed in the strike were militants belonging to Al Qaeda and two of them were believed to be foreigners.
Local people said the vehicle was parked outside a building and was preparing to leave when it exploded in a fireball in a massive blast.
'We were sleeping in our home after saying dawn prayers when we heard a huge blast. Children started screaming and we thought it landed in our home,' one Haider Khan told AFP by telephone.
'Later on, I found out it landed about 500 metres (yards) away,' he said.
'Its occupants died and four others, who were apparently there to see them off, were wounded,' said Ameerullah Khan who lived near the site of the strike.
'I saw from the roof of my home the blown-up car. Flames continued to rage for almost half an hour,' he added.
The political administration imposed a curfew for an indefinite period in several parts of the agency. Sources said announcements were made from mosques warning people against violation of curfew.
Educational institutions have remained closed for a week because of curfew in parts of the agency.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/15/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan
#1
TOPIX > US PLANS AFGHAN STRATEGIC SHIFT + US MULLS MOVING FORCES EASTWARD.
* SAME > BAKU: THERE MUST BE STABILITY IN THE CAUCASUS. TURKISH FM [Armenia versus Azerbaijan]; + RUSSIA'S POSITION IN THE CAUCASUS WEAKENS.
HMMMM, HMMM, dare the usa = POTUS Obama reach a "crossing the Yalu" moment?
[Dawn] Security forces killed 16 militants, at least two of them senior Taliban members, while one soldier was killed in clashes during searches in Swat on Monday, the military said.
The forces also intensified a hunt for the Pakistani Taliban leader in the Swat valley, military officials said.
Security forces have made gains against the militants recently, months after Taliban advances and bomb attacks raised fears for Pakistan's future and contributed to a slide in investor confidence.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Sunday, the top Taliban leader in the Swat valley, about 120 km northwest of Islamabad, was surrounded, adding the back of the Taliban insurgency had been broken.
The military's chief spokesman was more cautious, saying efforts were being made to capture the Swat Taliban chief, a self-styled cleric called Fazlullah, but media reports of his imminent capture were speculation.
Military officials in the former tourist valley said troops were searching in different places and clashes had erupted.
'Our teams are carrying out search operations, particularly for him in two or three areas. For sure he can't flee from Swat,' said a senior military official who declined to be identified, referring to Fazlullah.
'We'd like to capture him today,' the official said, while declining to say when he might be tracked down.
'We don't want to waste time with such operations but you can't give a timeframe.'
The army launched an offensive in the Swat valley in late April and killed more than 2,000 fighters, according to the army. There has been no independent verification of that estimate.
The Pakistani Taliban under the overall command of Baitullah Mehsud were held responsible for a wave of attacks across the country from 2007, including the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in December that year.
Mehsud was killed in a missile attack by a US drone aircraft in his South Waziristan stronghold in early August.
US and Pakistani officials said Mehsud's death left the militants in disarray and riven by rivalry but analysts say it is too early to say if their setbacks are a permanent blow or if they might regroup and strike back.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/15/2009 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Six bullet-riddled bodies, believed to be of militants, were found in Charbagh, Matta and Khwazakhela areas of Swat on Monday.
At least 105 suspected militants surrendered in Kanju and 44 in Matta.
According to the ISPR, 16 terrorists and a soldier were killed during the Rah-i-Rast operation in the Malakand division.
A lashkar formed in Peochar launched an operation with the help of security forces to look for militants in the area.
At least eight militants were killed when security personnel foiled an attack on the Malakand fort on Sunday night.
A group of militants on a pick-up opened fire on security personnel near Chorbal Chowk and fled towards Lower Dir.
Troops caught up with the attackers in the Tarai area and killed eight of them in an exchange of fire. One security man was injured. A rocket launcher, seven Kalashnikovs, three rocket shells and 1,400 rounds were found in the vehicle.
The bodies were placed in Zafar Park, Batkhela, for identification. According to the ISPR, security forces killed militant 'commanders' Maqbool and Shaukat and three other terrorists in Charbagh.
A solider was also killed and 10 militants were captured. According to the Swat Media Centre, security forces blew up houses of three militant leaders, Mohammad Tahir, Ilyas and Hakim, who were involved in an attack in the Thana area of Malakand.
APP adds: According to the ISPR, two terrorists hiding in a cave were killed in Manasar. Another terrorist was killed in Shagai area of Dir.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/15/2009 00:00 ||
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Pakistani officials have warned that Rashid Rauf, the terrorist linked to the trans-Atlantic airline bomb plot, bas been involved in grooming two dozen British recruits to carry out new attacks.
Pakistan intelligence said that Rauf, who mysteriously escaped from police custody and was then reported killed by a missile fired by US drone last November, used the name Khalid to recruit fellow Britons for training at a camp in the tribal areas of Pakistan.
One official said that Rauf was involved with a group of Arab and Uzbek terrorists in a camp in Matta Cheena village in south Waziristan.
Rauf is said to be a key lieutenant of the group's leader, explosives expert, Abu Nasir. "He is an explosive expert who has effectively devised methods of explosives using easy-to-get ingredients that are virtually undetectable or can raise no alarms for authorities," said the intelligence source.
"We know that they are planning a very serious attack and it is very important for us to arrest all of them.
"If they are able to strike it is going to give a bad name to Pakistan once again for no reason."
Intercepted emails and text messages between Pakistan and the UK had indicated Rauf's involvement under the name Khalid after the authorities decrypted the communications.
British security and intelligence officials have said they believe Rauf may have survived the missile strike and could be planning further attacks.
A US informant called Bryant Neal Vinas, who has admitted planning a suicide attack, was arrested by the Pakistanis last November and said he had met Rauf shortly before the missile strike.
He gave information that has led to the arrest of two cells allegedly planning attacks during a European summit in Brussels and last Easter in Manchester.
Monitoring of the movements of Rauf's relatives has continued despite claims that he has been killed.
Security officials in Pakistan said that Rauf's wife and in-laws, who are based in the city of Bahawalpur, a dusty backwater in the far south of the country's dominant Punjab province, had made no formal request to the government to collect his remains.
"His family [Rauf's in-laws] are under constant surveillance," said one counter-terrorism official. "So we know that no-one went to receive the body, no-one made contact with anyone in Waziristan to ask about the body."
Other Pakistani sources have said they believe Rauf is probably dead and a senior interior ministry official in Islamabad said "he [Rauf] is not on any list of wanted persons".
Rauf was arrested in Bahawalpur in 2006, where he had married into the city's foremost Islamic extremist family, which was then headed by Masood Azhar, founder of the banned Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist group.
Maulana Suhaib, Rauf's brother-in-law and a teacher at the madrassa attended by the 28-year-old, said Rauf had adopted a fresh identity.
"We were told his name was Khalid, a rich businessman and very religious," he said. "We did not know that his actual name was Rashid Rauf. Even on the marriage certificate he identified himself as Khalid."
Another brother-in-law, Suhaib Ahmed said the family had not received confirmation of his death from the government, an important obligation under Islamic tradition. "We have had no contact, and have no source of information, to verify it," he said. "There are many games being played. We can't understand what the game is, and what its objectives are," said Mr Ahmed.
"The body has not come to us. If he was killed, then the government must give us the body.
"My sister [Rauf's wife] demanded, through the media, that we must be given the body, so we can bury him in the proper Islamic way." Mr Ahmed said.
A relative on Rauf's side of the family also dismissed reports of his death.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/15/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
who has effectively devised methods of explosives using easy-to-get ingredients that are virtually undetectable or can raise no alarms for authorities," said the intelligence source.
"Raise no alarms for authorities?" I'd wager that was the EASY part.
Four mortar shells landed in the Green Zone as Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Iraq Tuesday on a previously unannounced mission to help the country resolve its differences ahead of America's military withdrawal.
The shells were heard as they were fired from across the river on the east bank of the Tigris and at least one explosion was audible. There was no immediate word on any casualties or damage in the Green Zone or in any other areas of the capital. The U.S. military said they had initial reports that "one round of indirect fire impacted near the International Zone, not in it."
Biden, who oversees Iraq policy for the Obama administration, made his last visit to the country on July 4 to spend the U.S. Independence Day with the troops. During that trip, he also met with his son, Beau, who is an Army captain serving in Iraq. "I'm coming back to spend time with the Iraqi leadership with whom I might add I have been talking to on a basically weekly basis," Biden said.
Iraq's government hopes that on this visit the U.S. vice president will have suggestions on how to ease tension with Syria, which Iraq's prime minister has accused of harboring Saddam Hussein loyalists wanted in recent bombings that killed more than 100 people.
Iraqi leaders also plan to discuss their preparations for January's national elections and persistent violence in the country's north, said an Iraqi government official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief reporters.
Posted by: ed ||
09/15/2009 15:57 ||
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NINEWA / Aswat al-Iraq: An Iraqi army soldier was killed by gunmen in northern Mosul on Monday, according to an army source.
"An Iraqi soldier was killed on Monday (Sept. 14) by unknown gunmen at a checkpoint in al-Sukar neighborhood in northern Mosul," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "The armed men fled to unknown place," he added.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/15/2009 00:00 ||
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Aswat al-Iraq: Security forces arrested on Monday a woman, suspected of recruiting female bombers, according to a security source. "The forces arrested the woman in al-Musayyab town, north of Hilla on Monday (Sept. 14)," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "They found amounts of explosives and sticky bombs in her possession," he added. "The woman confessed to recruiting a group of female bombers, including her daughter," he noted.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/15/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
confessed to recruiting a group of female bombers, including her daughter
#2
I assume her recruitment method is the usual one for females. Orcs doesn't even come close. She will find herself in the deepest circle of hell, daily experiencing the close personal attention of Satan's nastiest demons.
Aswat al-Iraq: Three civilians were wounded in a bomb explosion, while two suspected gunmen were arrested in the south of Khanaqin, a security source said on Monday. "An improvised explosive device went off Monday (Sept. 14) near a civilian vehicle on the main road between Hamrien region and al-Saadiya district, south of Khanaqin, injuring three civilians," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "A security force arrested two suspected gunmen in al-Asakra village in al-Saadiya district," he added. He gave no more details.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/15/2009 00:00 ||
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Ma'an/Agencies -- Egyptian security forces destroyed 10 tunnels used to smuggle goods into the besieged Gaza Strip after a tip off from an arrested smuggler last week, AFP reported on Monday.
According to an Egyptian security source who spoke to AFP, the tunnels were found north of the Egyptian border town of Rafah late on Sunday after a smuggler named Muhammed Ash-Shaer informed the forces of their location. The tunnels were then immediately destroyed, the source told AFP.
According to the report, Ash-Shaer was arrested last week at the Rafah border crossing as he tried to enter Gaza on false documents.
Ash-Shaer was one of the most wanted smugglers in the area and could provide vital information on smuggling networks operating in Egypt, the official told AFP.
Tunnels provide a lifeline to Palestinians in Gaza who have lived under an Israeli-imposed siege for over two years. Israel, with the cooperation of Egypt, has blockaded the Gaza Strip since the Hamas movement took full control of Gaza in June 2007.
Today, the tunnels are the only reliable means of importing goods into Gaza. They are used to bring in food, fuel, toys, cigarettes, and any other items made scarce by the siege. Weapons are also reportedly brought in through the tunnel.
US-backed Egyptian forces have attempted to clamp down on the tunnel trade.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/15/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
I guess they didn't pay their operating fees to the Egyptian officials.
#2
Today, the tunnels are the only reliable means of importing goods into Gaza. They are used to bring in food, fuel, toys, cigarettes, and any other items made scarce by the siege. Weapons are also reportedly brought in through the tunnel.
There, fixed it for ya.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
09/15/2009 18:24 Comments ||
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#3
But I don't understand - the idiots people in Gaza can't import goods from Egypt?
What, are the evilllll Jooooooos in charge of Egypt too? What other possible reason could there be for not letting them cross the border on the surface like normal people?
Oh, wait....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/15/2009 20:42 Comments ||
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Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden warned the American people over their government's close ties with Israel in an apparently new audio tape posted on an Islamist Web site on Monday.
"The time has come for you to liberate yourselves from fear and the ideological terrorism of neo-conservatives and the Israeli lobby," Bin Laden's latest tape said.
The message, entitled "A statement to the American people", was around 11 minutes long and was posted a few days after the eighth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Reuters was not immediately able to verify its authenticity but the Web site often is used by supporters of al-Qaida.
In the tape, the Al-Qaida leader said there had been no real change in American policy because U.S. President Barack Obama had retained people like U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates from the administration of former President George W. Bush.
The Web site had said earlier this month it would soon carry a "present" to Muslims from bin Laden on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan.
The tape made reference to Obama's speech in Cairo in June, suggesting the message was recorded afterwards. The speaker also appeared to refer to criticisms former U.S. President Jimmy Carter made in June of Israel's Gaza invasion earlier this year.
Why am I not surprised to see that tool be utilized by bin Laden?
By extension, IMO this directly infers that OSAMA believes POTUS Bammer = USA won't be able to stop PAN-ISLAMIST NUCLEARIZATION EITHER [StratWeaps, WMDS-CBRN] 2010-2012, be it IRAN nor the MILITS-TERRS.
#2
"The time has come for you to liberate yourselves from fear and the ideological terrorism of neo-conservatives and the Israeli lobby," Bin Laden's latest tape said.
#3
WAFF.MEMRI.org = Osama repor proclaims in his new Message that the Islamists WILL FIGHT ON AGZ THE USA UNTIL IT DISINTEGRATES LIKE THE USSR, + that THEIR MAIN WEAPON WILL BE THEIR PATIENCE.
AS I was telling some friends last nite, WORLD MIL HISTORY > US + EUROS like to fight SHORT WARS, while MUSLIMS WAGE LONG WARS = WARS/CONFLICTS OVER GENERATIONS.
A group linked to Al-Qaeda has claimed last week's rocket salvo from Lebanon into Israel, a US-based group that monitors jihadist websites said on Monday.
The attack from south Lebanon into northern Israel was claimed by the Brigades of Abdullah Azzam, Battalions of Ziad Jarrah, in a statement Sunday by the al-Fajr Media Centre on jihadist forums, SITE Intelligence Group said.
The rocket fire came in response to "flagrant hostility" displayed by Israel towards Palestinians and Muslims, SITE quoted the statement as saying.
At least two rockets fired from the village of Al-Qlaileh in southern Lebanon slammed into Israel on Friday, triggering retaliatory artillery fire. No casualties were reported on either side in the attack, the third this year.
A UN official in Lebanon said at the weekend that extremists tied to Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon may have been behind the attack. "My understanding is that they (the investigations) are focusing on the extremist groups that might be linked to the refugee camps," Milos Strugar, political advisor for the UN force stationed in Lebanon (UNIFIL), told AFP.
Israel has lodged a complaint with the United Nations over the attack and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said Israel held the Lebanese government responsible for rocket fire from its territory.
Abdullah Azzam was Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden's mentor. He was killed in a 1989 bomb blast. Curiously, the Azzam kaboom was engineered by Ayman al-Zawahiri, Maker of Islamic Saints.
Lebanese Ziad Jarrah was one of the plotters of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States which destroyed the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York and killed nearly 3,000 people. Jarrah is believed to have been one of the hijackers of United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed into Pennsylvania, killing all aboard.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/15/2009 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
(AKI) - A rebel commander, has laid down his arms in western Badghis province. Mullah Salam said he decided to renounce militancy, accusing Taliban fighters of targeting civilians, Afghan news agency Pajhwok reported. 
(CNN) -- A U.S. Special Forces raid in Somalia may have killed a wanted al Qaeda terrorist, U.S. officials said Monday. Special Forces used a helicopter to fire on a car in southern Somalia on Monday, killing several people, including one the U.S. military believes was Saleh ali Saleh Nabhan, a senior al Qaeda operative. Nabhan has been tied to several attacks in East Africa, including the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, according to the sources.
[Bangla Daily Star] Two alleged criminals, including an outlawed party leader, were killed yesterday in separate "shootouts" with the law enforcers in Mohammadpur of the capital and Kushtia.
New York City police and the FBI raided at least one home in the borough of Queens early on Monday as part of an investigation into suspected terrorism, focusing on one man who has been under surveillance, officials said.
(Xinhua) -- Pakistani police on Monday arrested the mastermind of life attempt on Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Hamid Saeed Kazmi, local TV channels reported. 
[Dawn] Five people were killed and three others injured when missiles fired from a drone hit a car in a village in Mirali tehsil of North Waziristan on Monday.
[Dawn] Security forces killed 16 militants, at least two of them senior Taliban members, while one soldier was killed in clashes during searches in Swat on Monday, the military said.
Pakistani officials have warned that Rashid Rauf, the terrorist linked to the trans-Atlantic airline bomb plot, bas been involved in grooming two dozen British recruits to carry out new attacks. 
Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden warned the American people over their government's close ties with Israel in an apparently new audio tape posted on an Islamist Web site on Monday. 
