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Arabia
Did the Houthis sink a warship or hit an oil tanker?
2018-07-29
[AsiaTimes] Mystery surrounds alleged rebel attack on Saudi ship in critical Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

Saudi Arabia has suspended its oil tanker transits through the Red Sea after one of them reportedly was hit by Houthi fire. According to some reports the damaged tanker, which did not leak oil, was being taken to a nearby Saudi port for repairs. Kuwait is also likely to suspend oil-tanker transits through the Bab el-Mandeb strait.

The Houthis are fighting Saudi-led coalition forces for control of the strategic Red Sea port city of Hodeida. Hodeida, which is near the Bab-el-Mandeb, is a strategic city for Yemen. More than 70% of its imported supplies, including famine relief and medical aid, flow through the port. For the Saudis and their allies, controlling the port is important in order to stop the Yemeni rebels from affecting the movement of tankers as they carry Persian Gulf oil though the Red Sea and the Suez Canal over to Europe and United States’ east-coast refineries. The Bab-el-Mandeb strait is only 29 kilometers wide.

The Houthis say that the Saudi claim that oil tankers were attacked is a deliberate provocation and while they did launch an attack it was against Saudi warships off the coast of Hodeida. Houthi leaders claim their forces sank a Saudi warship, identified as a French-built Lafayette-class frigate called Al-Damman.

The Houthis are sensitive that any attack on an oil tanker would be a provocation that would undermine Iran as much as Saudi Arabia, and Iran is their principal sponsor, providing most of their military arms. The conflict between Yemen and the Saudi-led coalition (which basically means Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) in its essence is a fight over whether Yemen will be controlled by Sunni or Shiite forces.

Lafayette-class frigates operate with different naval forces including those of France, Singapore and Taiwan.

Al-Damman (Hull 816) is one of three modern, heavily armed frigates operated by the Royal Saudi Navy. The other two are named Al-Riyadh (Hull 812) and Al-Makkah (Hull 814). All three of these frigates (Al-Dammam was delivered in 2004) have stealth characteristics including low-power diesel engines and a special heat-dissipation system. The ships’ engines sit on sound-absorbing mounts, and the ship itself is partially demagnetized to protect it from magnetic mines.

In the narrow Bab el-Mandeb, the stealth features might prove less useful, since the ships would be visible from the shore and could be targeted with line-of-sight weapons. Alternatively, Al-Damman could have been hit by Houthi drones carrying high explosives. Whether a single drone, or for that matter a single missile, would be able to destroy the Damman is an open question.
Lots more speculation and background at the Asia Times link
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Southeast Asia
Top Abu Sayyaf leader killed in fierce gun battle
2014-07-26
A top Abu Sayyaf leader was killed early afternoon Thursday following a skirmish between the terrorists extremists and members of the Philippine Army's 18th Infantry Brigade.

Lt. Col. Jose Paolo Perez said the terrorist militant leader Sulaiman Ajanti, alias Ulay, was killed together with two of his followers, Damman Hasalal and Jakaria Kulok, in Ungkaya Pukan town in Basilan province.

Two people from the Civilian Voluntary Organization (CVO), a pro-government militia, were also reported killed during the firefight which lasted about 20 minutes. Two other CVO members were injured in this incident, as were five of Ajanti's men.

Perez said the Philippine military had been conducting a campaign to neutralize this group.

According to military reports, the Abu Sayyaf had been involved in the July 12 kidnapping of American nationals who were on vacation in Mindanao. The hostages were reportedly brought to Basilan and held captive for weeks before they were separately recovered.

Ajanti's group are also suspected of the kidnapping of a government social worker in 2013 in Sumisip, Basilan.
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Arabia
Saudi blogger/activist jailed for 'annoying others'
2010-08-11
Sheikh Mekhlef bin Dahham al-Shammari, a writer/blogger, human rights activist and social reformer, is in jail. Why? For "annoying others." He has not yet been formally charged.

Al-Shammari has often written about poverty and unemployment in the kingdom, accusing the government of ignoring these problems because it is obsessed with public morality and keeping men and women apart. He has also highlighted the government's failure to promote tourism, and its discrimination against the Shiite minority. Although a Sunni, he was critical of the influential Saudi preacher Mohammed al-Arifi for referring to one of Iran's most respected Shiite clerics, Grand Ayatollah Ali al Sistani, as an "obscene atheist."

In an article published in April of last year, "My Dear Christian", al-Shammari contrasted the work of an American Christian who was killed while helping to protect Palestinian Muslim children with the conditions imposed by Saudi Muslim charities that require its recipients exhibit proper Islamic conduct.

Al-Shammari has been arrested several times in recent years, in part because of his defense of Saudi Arabia's Shiite minority. He told Human Rights Watch that prosecutors used his articles to accuse him of spreading discord among Muslims. His articles criticizing the conservative interpretations of Islam promoted by Saudi officials led to his arrest on May 15, after which he was released on bail. His latest arrest took place on June 15 in Jubail. He was transferred to Damman prison at the start of this month.

Al-Shammari is not the first blogger jailed for seemingly arbitrary reasons in Saudi Arabia. For example, Fouad al Farhan, a blogger known for advocating political reforms, was arrested in 2007 in Jeddah. His arrest was reported by other Arab bloggers, and the Saudi authorities also confirmed he was being held in solitary confinement for "interrogation." No official charges were ever cited or laid. He was released from prison on April 26, 2008. Al Farhan, who is in this thirties, was one of the first Saudi bloggers to dispense with a pseudonym on his site. He was also the first cyber-dissident to be jailed in the country -- but he's far from the last.
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Arabia
"Dead" Saudi al-Qaeda member posts audiotape online
2005-09-15
Always remember to cut off the head. A stake through the heart never hurt anyone either ...
An Al Qaeda militant on a Saudi most wanted list denied in an audiotape posted on the Internet on Thursday that he had been killed in a shootout with Saudi forces last week. “The interior ministry claimed to have killed me. God have mercy, I am still alive,” said the voice on the tape attributed to Mohammed al-Suwailmi.
"You're dead. Shuddup and lie down!"
“It is proof of the impotence of the apostate government,” he said in the recording that could not be authenticated.
"No, really! See? I'm breathing... in... out... in... out... in... out..."
"Shuddup. Embalm him, Mahmoud."
Saudi authorities had initially said Suwailmi was one of most wanted five militants killed in gunbattles in the eastern town of Damman last week, but later said it was his brother Ahmed.
... thereby showing that, while the apostate gummint might be impotence, it has an available stash of little blue pills.
Four security men were also killed in the three-day battle in Dammam, the main city of the oil-rich Eastern Province, which ended on September 6 with the storming of a militant hideout.
This proves yet again that we can't trust Prince Nayef's interior ministry. Wonder if al-Oufi also made out intact?
They admitted a day after the initial identification was made that it was his brother, not him. You know how that DNA stuff works — it did prove that Mohammed and Ahmed both had the same father and mother. But they were probably hoping that.
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Arabia
Five Militants Slain in Three-Day Battle Belonged to Al-Qaida
2005-09-08
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - Five militants killed during a three-day battle with security forces this week have been identified as al-Qaida members on the country's most-wanted list, the Saudi Interior Ministry said Thursday.
Comes as a surprise, doesn't it? They keep telling us that terrorism isn't associated with Islam, so I was expecting them to be Shriners...
Four policemen were also killed in the confrontation in the eastern Saudi city of Damman. The battle ended about midday Tuesday when special forces stormed the seaside villa the militants had taken over. "It became clear that five of the deviant group were killed and authorities proved through DNA testing that they were part of a group of wanted men previously announced," said the statement, which was carried on the official Saudi Press Agency. Saudi Arabia uses the term "deviant group" to describe al-Qaida.
They call "spades" something else, too...
Thursday's statement was the first time that the authorities had given a final tally of the militants slain. One had already been identified as the No. 3 on the kingdom's new most-wanted list: Zaid Saad Zaid al-Samari, 31, a Saudi. The other four, all Saudis, were named in the statement as: Saleh Mansour Mohsen al-Fereidi al-Harbi, 22; Sultan Saleh Hussan al-Haseri, 26; Naif Farhan Jalal al-Jehaishi al-Shammari, 24; and Mohammed Abdel-Rahman Mohammed al-Suwailmi, 23.
Give our warmest regards to Himmler, boyz...
The government is waging a campaign against Islamic militants who have staged numerous terror attacks since May 2003.
An occasionally desultory campaign, an often unfocused campaign, but still a campaign...
In a bid to cripple the economy, the militants have tended to target Westerners, who occupy important positions in the oil industry. King Abdullah, who ascended the throne in early August after the death of his half-brother Fahd, has vowed to push ahead with the crackdown. Al-Qaida seeks to topple the Saudi royal family because of its close ties with the West, particularly the United States. During the past year, Saudi forces have claimed a series of victories, killing or capturing all but one of the figures on the first list of 26 most-wanted militants, which was issued in December 2004.
... which has since been followed by, I believe, two subsequent lists of 36...
Link


Arabia
Terrorists Wiped Out in Dammam
2005-09-07
"Wiped out" is good...
Saudi security forces stormed a major Al-Qaeda hide-out in the eastern city of Damman yesterday, killing all terrorists inside.
"They're dead, Jim!"
Four security men were also killed in the operation. In a brief statement, the Interior Ministry said security forces had “ended their operations,” which began Sunday in the main city of Eastern Province, losing four men, in addition to 10 wounded. Police are purging the site where “charred remains” were found, the ministry said without giving the number of suspected militants killed. The reference to “charred remains” suggested some of the militants had blown themselves up.
"You'll never take us alive, cop— [KABOOM!]"
An official earlier said five militants, in addition to two policemen, were killed in the confrontation, which started with a shootout in another neighborhood Sunday. Those casualties preceded the storming of the hide-out in the Al-Hamra district of Dammam, which is just 10 kilometers away from the oil center of Dhahran. Witnesses saw ambulances and civil defense vehicles entering the scene of the gunbattle, which was cordoned off. Clashes intensified in the run-up to the raid. At one point, the thud of explosions could be heard across the city at the rate of one per minute, residents said. Saudi special forces stormed the building at 1 p.m. yesterday after intensive gunfire had weakened the militants over the last two days. They also cut electricity and water to the building.
"Mahmoud! I'm thirsty!"
"What happened to our water?"
"I used it to put out the fire!"
Informed sources told Arab News that a militant who tried to run away from the building was gunned down by security men yesterday morning.
"Curly-toed slippers, don't... Ow!... Ooch!... fail... Aaaaiii ieeee!...me now... rosebud!
Militants killed one of their colleagues when he attempted to surrender to security authorities on Monday.
"Don't shoot, coppers! I surr— Ow!... Rosebud!"
Arab News learned that the building, which the terrorists rented for SR40,000 belonged to a security officer working at the Interior Ministry.
Fair took my breath away. How about you? Who'da ever thunkit?
Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki, spokesman of the ministry, described the operation a big success. He said the storming of the building was delayed in order to protect the lives of security officers, especially after learning that the terrorists were carrying a large number of weapons and explosives. “We also wanted to catch the terrorists alive in order to get more information,” he said.
Just kill 'em all and then round up their friends, family, and acquaintances...
Medical sources said more than 50 people, including security officers, were wounded in the operation. They are under treatment at Dammam Central Hospital. Majed Al-Shammary, a police officer from Tabuk, died during the storming of the hide-out. Prince Jalawi ibn Abdul Aziz, deputy governor of the Eastern Province, accompanied by Prince Muhammad ibn Nayef, assistant interior minister for security affairs, yesterday visited the wounded officers in hospital. Speaking to reporters, Prince Jalawi described the anti-terror operation as a major security achievement. He also commended the valor of Saudi security forces and their dedication toward the Kingdom’s security.
I notice no princes seem to have nobly sacrificed themselves in storming the building...
Police searched the building minutely to ensure it was free of explosives. Officers destroyed a number of bombs in the building with controlled explosions. They also seized a large cache of weapons from the hide-out including guns, machine guns, explosives, gas cylinders and computers. The ministry has said that the two militants slain in Dammam Sunday were sought by the authorities, without saying if they were on a published list of most-wanted militants.
Link


Arabia
Islamic Militants Battle Saudi Forces
2005-09-06
Islamic militants battled Saudi special forces for a third day Tuesday in a seafront district of this eastern city, with the extremists appearing to be determined to fight to their last bullet. Three militants and two police officers were killed in the early hours Tuesday, a security official said in Riyadh, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The fighting intensified after daybreak, when a military helicopter dropped off a team of commandos near the villa where the militants were holed up. Rocket propelled grenades exploded, and the black smoke billowing from the roof of the militants' villa became thicker.

Police cordoned off the entire Mubarakiah district in Damman, 250 miles northeast of the capital Riyadh. Police checkpoints did not allow any vehicle to leave the neighborhood Tuesday. Residents were kept awake for a second night Monday by sporadic gunfire and the deafening explosions of rocket propelled grenades, fired by the special forces at the villa.

A convoy of security vehicles brought in fresh troops and ammunition on Tuesday morning. A line of ambulances was parked at the perimeter of the battle zone. Late Monday night officials at Damman Central Hospital said about 30 Saudi police officers, including some critically wounded, had been admitted. Security officials declined to give overall figures for the dead and wounded.

Late Monday a security official said one of the two militants killed Sunday was No. 3 on the country's most wanted list. He was identified as Zaid Saad Zaid al-Samari, 31, a Saudi sought in connection with the numerous terror attacks launched in the kingdom since May 2003. The shootout caused the U.S. Embassy to close the American consulate in Dhahran, 15 miles southwest of Dammam, on Monday.

Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman Mansour al-Turki has said security forces are facing an unknown number of militants armed with firearms and homemade explosives. "We are dealing with people who have a tendency to blow themselves up and we know they have a significant number of weapons and explosives and might take actions that will have a negative effect," al-Turki told the AP.

The Interior Ministry has said the gunmen are affiliated to a "deviant group," the term the Saudis usually use for the local branch of the al-Qaida network. Since May 2003, Islamic militants have carried out numerous attacks, suicide bombings and kidnappings in the kingdom. They have tended to target Westerners in a bid to cripple the economy. Westerners occupy important positions in the oil industry. Al-Qaida wants to topple the Saudi royal family because of its close ties with the West, particularly the United States.

The violence in Dammam flared as the U.S. Homeland Security adviser, Frances Townsend, met King Abdullah and other top Saudi officials Monday in Riyadh. The deputy commander of the U.S. Central Command, Air Force Lt. Gen. Lance Smith, met Saudi deputy defense minister, Prince Khalid Bin Sultan.
Link


Southeast Asia
Tawi-Tawi politicians linked to kidnapping
2004-06-09
THE military is looking into the possibility that some politicians in Tawi-Tawi may be involved in the kidnap-for-ransom activities, following the discovery of a barangay chief and his brother, who were allegedly providing protection to a suspected group of Abu Sayyaf kidnapers in the village of Mag-Saggad, Panglima Sugala, in the town of Bato-Bato, Monday.

Naval Task force 62 Commander Navy Capt. Feliciano Angue, revealed that marine troops, backed up by the police, scoured the village, where they found its chieftain identified as Nasser Dammang on the side of the armed group that engaged his forces in nearly an hour of firefight.

Angue said Dammang’s brother identified as Barly Galib was captured during the encounter that started at 3:55 pm and lasted up to 4:45 pm, resulting to one death on the side of the armed elements, who withdrew to the forests after they were completely overpowered by the troops.

Angue disclosed that Dammang and Galib are brothers of the out-going vice mayor of the place.

"He (Dammang) knows his brother’s involvement with the kidnap-for-Ransom Group (KRG), and he may even be involved with the same group," Angue bared.

Angue said it is "very probable" that certain politicians in the area are involved in the activities attributed to the Abu Sayyaff terrorist group operating in the archipelago, including the recent kidnapping of Indonesian tugboat skipper Sam Walter Pel and his two Malaysian crew Wong Sien Nung and Toh Chien Tiong.

During the latest operation, troops claimed one casualty on the side of the armed group while no one suffered on their side.

Recovered from the fleeing armed group were an M-16 rifle with magazine and ammo, a .45 Caliber pistol with its magazine and ammo, an M-79 grenade launcher with ammo and two Icom Hand-held radios.

The body of the slain suspected bandit was retrieved by his relatives.

Angue said their massive search and rescue operation for the three hostages being held captive by the suspected Abu Sayyaf kidnapers will expand to other areas of the archipelago after a search in their suspected initial hideout in the small islands of Mapun and Turtle in Taganak yielded negative results.

"Our continuous operation will intensify until we can wipe out the lawless elements and save the three hostages from their hands," Angue vowed.

In their first massive assault against the outlaws in the Tawi-Tawi, three suspected kidnapers were killed while seven others were captured.

The seven were turned over to the police in the province and are presently facing kidnapping charges, according to Angue.

In the said offensive, back-up air force planes sunk two speedboats of the lawless band, resulting to undetermined others believed to have perished, according to an earlier report reaching the Southern Command from Angue.

The seven suspected Abu Sayyaf bandits had said during the tactical interrogation that they were simple agar-agar growers in the area.

But Angue countered they have strong evidence to prove otherwise.

The outlaws occupied the villagers’ still-houses in Umapuy and converted them as their bunkhouses.

Angue, however, denied reports that the houses were destroyed during the assault.

"We inspected the area and their houses are untouched. In fact, they have already returned to their respective places," Angue said.

The three Asian sailors were seized in the high seas of the border between Sabah, Malaysian and Tawi-Tawi on April 11, while their tugboat Ocean 2 was towing a barge loaded with pebbles intended to Solomon Island, in Malaysia, when 10 heavily armed men on board their fast craft intercepted them and headed towards Tawi-Tawi with their victims.
Link


Arabia
Hostage: Security Forces Allowed The Gunman To Escape
2004-06-01
A nationwide manhunt is under way in Saudi Arabia for at least three Islamic militants who evaded capture after a bloody 25-hour hostage siege in Khobar. Police have set up checkpoints to catch the gunmen who killed 22 people and took about 50 foreigners hostage. Officials say the group’s leader was wounded and captured, but that the others escaped using hostages as human shields and then hijacking a car. But one hostage has claimed security forces allowed the gunman to escape.

The Saudi Interior Ministry says the foreigners who were killed came from Britain, Egypt, India, Italy, the Philippines, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sweden, and the US. It said 25 people of different nationalities were wounded.
VICTIMS’ NATIONALITIES
Eight Indians
Three Filipinos
Three Saudis
Two Sri Lankans
One American
One Italian
One Swede (Australian)
One South African
One Briton
One Egyptian
The Interior Ministry said 41 hostages were freed on Sunday morning when Saudi commandos stormed the Oasis residential compound, which houses company executives. In all, 22 people were killed. Thirteen people were gunned down on Saturday, and nine hostages were killed after they reportedly tried to escape during the night. A staff member from the compound has relayed an account from a freed hostage who said a deal was done in which the gunmen were allowed to escape in exchange for not blowing up the building. That version of events has not been confirmed, but BBC Middle East correspondent Paul Wood says questions are being asked about exactly what did happen.
1. Al-Khobar Petroleum Centre: Four gunmen arrive at 0715 Saturday, shoot at guards, enter building and fire at employees.
2. Arab Petroleum Investments Corp: Gunmen shoot British employee dead in his car at gate.
3. Oasis compound: Gunmen enter compound and take about 50 people hostage on sixth floor of hotel building. At 0530 on Sunday, Saudi forces land on roof and storm building. Nine hostages are found dead, 41 are released. Three militants escape, one is arrested.
The Saudi ambassador to Britain, Prince Turki al-Faisal, has rejected any idea of collusion between the attackers and the security forces and insisted the authorities were fighting terror groups using all means available. He told the BBC’s Today programme that the attackers go for the softest targets and if they really did have helpers in positions of authority they would be able to attack much more high-profile targets. Security sources said a car the militants used to escape had been found abandoned on the outskirts of the nearby city of Damman.

The UK ambassador to Saudi Arabia has warned that more attacks are likely. Sherard Cowper Coles said there was no intelligence about specific threats, but that a picture was emerging of scores of militants actively planning attacks of the kind seen in Khobar. Britain is advising against all but essential travel to Saudi Arabia, but has not yet followed the US in telling its citizens to leave. An audiotape posted on an Islamic website claimed the attack for al-Qaeda. "We will cleanse the Arabian peninsula of infidels," the tape said.
Link


Home Front: Culture Wars
Trial of pervert minister begins
2004-03-18
(AP) - Despite efforts by dozens of protesters to block it, the United Methodist Church trial of an openly lesbian pastor got under way with one witness warning clergymen not to "replicate the crucifixion of Jesus." Dozens of supporters of the Rev. Karen Dammann were arrested Wednesday in this Seattle suburb as they tried to block the start of the trial before a church panel that will determine whether she should continue her ministry.
How can you provide spiritual guidance when you’re actively and openly rebelling against God?
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Arabia
Saudi survey claims Osama has been rejected
2003-08-03
A new poll of citizens in Saudi Arabia reveals that they reject the international acts of terror claimed by Osama bin Laden as not being consistent with the values of the Saudi people, nor with the values of Islam.
Sounds like a whole-cloth propaganda piece to me...
The survey of 600 Saudi citizens was commissioned by the Arab American Institute of Washington, DC, as part of an on-going study of Saudi attitudes. The survey was conducted by in-person interviews in the principal areas of Riyadh, Jeddah, and Damman. Saudis are nearly unanimous (95 percent) in their belief that Osama’s claimed actions are not consistent with their values, and 88 percent say the actions are not consistent with the values of Islam. More than nine in ten feel the actions have harmed both the Kingdom and the people of Saudi Arabia. Nearly all (99 percent) agree that the May 12, 2003 terrorist attacks on the expatriate compound in Riyadh are not consistent with the values of Saudis or with the values of Islam, and 93 percent agree that the attacks have harmed the Kingdom and its people.
The numbers are out of line. For believable propaganda, you've got to have a healthy majority but not unanimity, and you've got to be able to plot your trend even if it's phony. 99 percent is way too high. If you ask a representative sample of Americans if 9-11 represented a sneak attack by bloodthirsty Islamists on our country, 80 percent will say yes, 10 percent will say no, it was something else, and 10 percent will ask if today's Thursday.
More than eight in ten say Osama does not speak for them or their family. They are unanimous (100 percent) in their belief in respect for human life, and more than nine in 10 say innocent citizens did not deserve to die in the World Trade Centre attack.
Nope. Doesn't jibe with what we've seen before. Gotta tone it down. Gotta be more subtle, showing improvement over the past glee at the attacks on the WTC, but nothing close to 90 percent yet. Save that for a year or two from now...
More than nine in 10 say the people of Saudi Arabia have no quarrel with the people of the US, yet their overall impression of the American people is 70 percent unfavourable, 24 percent favourable. Last year, the sentiment was 51 percent unfavourable and 43 percent favourable.
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