Posted on 07/07/2005 2:34:43 PM PDT by Straight Vermonter
Stay Angry
Five Americans held as Iraq insurgents
WASHINGTON - The U.S. military is holding five U.S. citizens suspected of insurgent activities in Iraq, a Pentagon spokesman said Wednesday.
They were captured separately and don’t appear to have ties to one another, spokesman Bryan Whitman said. He declined to identify them, citing a Pentagon policy that prohibits identification of detainees.
Three of those being detained are Iraqi-Americans; another is an Iranian-American; the fifth is a Jordanian-American, Whitman said. The three Iraqi-Americans were captured in April, May and June, officials said. The Iranian-American was captured May 17, one official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the cases.
One of the Iraqi-Americans allegedly had knowledge of planning for an attack, and another was possibly involved in a kidnapping. The third was “engaged in suspicious activity,” Whitman said, declining to be more specific.
The Jordanian-American was captured in a raid late last year and is suspected of high-level ties to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian terrorist and leading al-Qaida ally in Iraq. Officials announced his capture in March.
<snip>
Held in Iraq for now
All five are in custody at one of the three U.S.-run prisons in Iraq — Abu Ghraib, Camp Bucca or Camp Cropper, Whitman said, declining to provide their precise location. The International Committee of the Red Cross has had access to all five prisoners, Whitman said.
A panel of three U.S. officers rules on whether each prisoner is properly held; that has already taken place for the Jordanian-American. Whitman did not say whether the three Iraqi-Americans or the Iranian-American have been through this process.
Beyond that, their capture presents a complex legal issue for the U.S. government. Whitman said it is not certain whether they will be turned over to the Justice Department for investigation or to the new Iraqi legal system, which has handled the prosecution of other foreign fighters who came to Iraq to fight the U.S.-led occupation and new Iraqi government.
Syria seen stepping up aid to Iraq-bound insurgents (Excerpt)
By Rowan Scarborough
Syrians are increasing assistance to foreign fighters preparing to enter Iraq and kill civilians and U.S. troops, despite months of pressure on Damascus from Washington to crack down on the jihadists.
A U.S. official said recent intelligence shows that Syria is the home to Web sites that exhort militants to come to the country for preparation to fight and die in Iraq.
Syrians also are providing barracks-like housing as the recruits from Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Morocco and other Muslim countries prepare for a jihad, or holy war. The fighters also receive weapons, training and money in Syria.
The Syrian government denies that it is helping the terrorists. American commanders in Iraq have refrained from publicly saying the Ba'athist regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad is actively assisting the insurgency.
The Web sites and housing are why U.S. commanders, in hearings last month, referred to Syria's capital of Damascus as the "hub" for foreigners entering Iraq and carrying out daily suicide car bombings.
Previously, officials have said that terrorists receive phony identification cards and passports in Syria and that they use the papers to cross Iraq's porous border. But fresh intelligence reports show that the staging in Syria is becoming more elaborate, the official said.
U.S. officials say privately that they think it is impossible for hundreds of jihadists to move in and out of Syria on a weekly basis without the government's approval.
Gen. John Abizaid, the top U.S. commander in the region, testified on Capitol Hill last month that the flow of foreign terrorists from Syria is increasing, despite Washington's sending high-powered delegations to Damascus to warn of serious consequences and its imposing economic sanctions.
Imad Moustapha, the Syrian ambassador to Washington, has denied repeatedly that his Ba'athist government aids Iraq-bound terrorists. When U.S. officials made similar charges a month ago, Mr. Moustapha told CNN that Syria was ending anti-terrorism cooperation with Washington.
He added, "We are trying to tell the United States: 'We are willing to engage with you constructively. We want a good relationship with you, but you have to stop this unfair media campaign against Syria, because we think it is unfair and it is unconstructive.'?"
Over the weekend, the Syrian Arab News Agency reported that government troops clashed with militants near Damascus and captured Jordanian Sharif Aye Saeed al Smady. The Associated Press reported that al Smady had escaped from a Jordanian courthouse, where he had been on trial on murder charges.
The announcements seemed timed to counter Washington's criticisms that Syria is not doing enough to stop the Syria-to-Iraq terror route.
Taliban rebels surrender under Afghan government amnesty
Fourteen Taliban rebels linked to a commander who's on a US list of most wanted militants, have surrendered as part of an Afghan government amnesty.
Their leader, Jalaludin Haqani was the Taliban regime's former minister of frontiers and tribal affairs.
He has a five-million-US dollar price on his head on a list of Al-Qaeda and other militants wanted by the United States since the September 11 attacks.
Under his command, the group said its job in Pakistan was to torch schools, attack government institutions and coalition forces.
Earlier this year 18 militant commanders linked to warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who is also wanted by the US, joined the government's side
Pakistani Troops Clash With Militants (Excerpt)
By RIAZ KHAN,
PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- Government troops clashed with suspected militants in a tribal region in northwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, leaving one soldier dead and two others wounded, a senior commander said.
Six foreign militants were arrested after the shootout in Shawal, a rugged area in North Waziristan tribal region, said Lt. Gen. Safdar Hussain, who commands thousands of troops deployed to the regions bordering Afghanistan.
The shootout occurred when troops returned fired after being shot at from a pickup truck at a roadblock, Hussain said told reporters in the northwestern city of Peshwar.
After the gunbattle, troops seized the vehicle and arrested four of the attackers, but other militants fled, he said.
A search party later clashed with the escaped attackers, leaving one soldier dead and two injured, Hussain said. Two more militant suspects were captured during the operation, he added.
Chechen warlord killed
GROZNY, July 6 (RIA Novosti) - Duk Vakhi Gubashev, a Chechen warlord known as Batya ("old man") has been killed in Chechnya, according to the Interior Ministry.
The provisional press center of the Interior Ministry in the North Caucasus said Gubashev was killed by federal special forces.
At the site, the police found and confiscated a load of weapons, ammunition and special communications devices, and also a written manual of how to make explosive devices, a phone book with foreigners' phone numbers, and a map of the Moscow subway.
The press center said Gubashev's rebels and a group of Arab mercenaries had mined roads, prepared terrorist attacks, and recruited local residents, particularly among young people.
The militants also opened new bases, kept in contact with other rebels, provided them with food and weapons, and also helped them get into mountainous regions of the republic.
The band operated in the southern mountainous areas of Chechnya
.
Indonesian police name 11 militants as suspects in terror probe
Two of 11 militants identified yesterday have been accused by Indonesian police of involvement in a deadly suicide attack on the Australian Embassy. They were arrested last month.
The men - among 17 seized in the same series of sweeps - are accused of harbouring terrorists, providing explosives and financing attacks, said Col. Zainuri Lubis. All face a maximum penalty of death, he said. Two of the men are accused of providing detonating devices and explosives for the 2004 Australian Embassy bombing in Jakarta that killed 10 people, he said. Three others will be charged with harbouring fugitive Malaysian terror suspects Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Mohd Top, believed to be key figures in the regional al-Qaeda linked terror group Jemaah Islamiah. The remaining suspects are accused of providing unnamed terrorists with transportation and money, and with involvement in the slaying of a Christian prosecutor last year on Slaws Island, Lubis said.
Naming someone a suspect is a formal step in an Indonesian police investigation that means officers have enough evidence to detain them while preparing formal charges. All 11 terror suspects will be charged under Indonesia's anti-terrorism law, Lubis said, adding that the six other men arrested in last month's raids have been released.
Jemaah Islamiah has been blamed for the embassy bombing, the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings and a 2003 attack on the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta.
Scores of militants in all three attacks have been arrested and convicted. Three were sentenced to death for the Bali blasts, and several more are serving long prison terms. Most of those arrested were minor players in the attacks. Many claimed to know nothing about the charges they were accused of, and were poorly defended in court.
Two Hizb militants arrested with 100 kg of explosives
Two suspected Hizbul Mujahideen militants were arrested with 100 kg of explosives besides other weapons in Badgam district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said today.
They said the militants, Shoukat Ahmad Khanday and Abdul Hamid Ganai, were arrested from a hideout in at Yarikhah village in Badgam last night in a joint operation by the Rashtriya Rifles and the local police.
Besides 100 kg of explosives, the security forces also seized five rifle grenades, four AK magazines with 118 rounds, a pistol magazine, some detonators and Rs 40,250, in cash from them, they said.
Khanday was from Watheread village in Badgam while Ganai hailed from Karhama village in Baramulla district, the officials said adding that they were being interrogated.
| Terrorist Scorecard | |
| The Iraqi "Deck of Cards" Scoreboard | |
| Centcom's New Iraq Scorecard | |
| Saudi Arabia's Most Wanted Scorecard | |
| Saudi Arabia's Most New Wanted Scorecard | |
|
Ping
Is there a particular reason that American Citizens arrested for terrorist activities directed at our own interests are not immediately stripped of their citizenship?
How would that be different than if a US citizen durring WWII had gone and joined the German or Japaneese army to fight against the US?
I think it's a good idea to keep them in Iraq. Let the new Iraqi government try them. The ACLU can't do a darned thing about the Iraqi government!
And all five are still alive?
Unfortunately we didn't need the reminder today. God bless the UK.
Your new site is looking great!
See This?
U.S. Filmmaker Among 5 Arrested in Iraq
AP on Yahoo ^ | 7/7/05 | Jeremiah Marquis - AP
Posted on 07/07/2005 11:50:58 AM CDT by NormsRevenge
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1438395/posts
LOS ANGELES - Cyrus Kar's family says his passion for the documentary film he was working on about an ancient Persian ruler led to his being locked up in a military jail outside Baghdad in May.
Kar was arrested after Iraqi security forces allegedly seized several dozen washing machine timers — components frequently used in terrorist bombs — in the taxi in which he was traveling. Kar says the timers were owned by the driver.
Now, relatives of the 44-year-old Iranian-American and U.S. Navy veteran have sued the government to gain his freedom. They contend Kar's detention tramples on his constitutional rights and claim FBI officials have already cleared him of suspicion.
"I'm here to beg President Bush... to release an innocent boy," Kar's aunt, Parvin Modarress, said at a news conference Wednesday to announce the lawsuit in Washington, D.C. "He went to Iraq to do his dream work, to make a documentary."
Kar is one of five U.S. citizens suspected of insurgent activities in Iraq, a Pentagon spokesman said. They were captured separately and do not appear to be related, spokesman Bryan Whitman said. He declined to identify them, citing a Pentagon policy that prohibits the identification of detainees.
Besides Kar, three of those being detained are Iraqi-Americans and a fifth is a Jordanian-American, Whitman said. The three Iraqi-Americans were captured in April, May and June, officials said.
Born in Iran, Kar became immersed in American culture after immigrating as a child, according to his family.
The Los Angeles resident served in the Navy for several years and studied marketing at San Jose State University and business at Pepperdine University. He worked in the computer industry during Silicon Valley's tech boom.
Several years ago, Kar decided to try his hand at filmmaking.
Kar began working on a documentary about Cyrus the Great, a Persian king during the 500s B.C. and the author of the first human rights charter. He interviewed experts and scholars and shot up to 60 hours of footage at archaeological sites in Afghanistan, Iran and Tajikistan, according to his family.
On May 17, officials and family say, he was traveling with an Iranian filmmaker after leaving a Baghdad hotel when their taxi was stopped at a checkpoint and the washing-machine timers were found.
"I think most people would agree that's somewhat suspicious," said Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. John Skinner. "All of the facts need to be thoroughly questioned."
Kar's relatives say FBI agents searched his home and Agent John D. Wilson in Los Angeles told them weeks ago that Kar's story had checked out.
They say Wilson told them that Kar passed a polygraph test, had been cleared of any charges, and that the washing machine timers belonged to the taxi driver, who was transporting them to a friend.
FBI spokeswoman Cathy Viray declined to comment.
Incarcerated at Camp Cropper, near Baghdad International Airport, Kar spoke several times with his family during monitored 10-minute conversations.
They say he sounded tired in the first call in May, irate in the second, saying he was frustrated that the military could hold him.
"I'm hurt by our government," said Kar's cousin Shahrzad Folger. "I'm hurt that they would do this to one of their own citizens, to one of their veterans."
ST, on a day like today all I'm looking forward to is dead bodies. Thanks for the ping though. May our brothers in Breat Britain find solice in all the hard word our comrades are facing. thanks for everything...
Babbar Khalsa International, Terrorist Outfit, Punjab
http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/states/punjab/terrorist_outfits/BKI.htm
Formation
Even after the terrorist-secessionist movement for Khalistan was comprehensively defeated in 1993, there remain a handful of terrorist outfits chiefly supported by Pakistan and some non-resident Indian Sikh groups who continue to propagate the ideology of Khalistan. One of the most prominent among them is the Babbar Khalsa International (BKI). It is among the oldest and most organised Khalistan terrorist groups.
The BKI traces its origin to the Babbar Akali Movement of 1920 and is believed to have assumed its present form after the Baisakhi 1978-clashes between the Akhand Kirtani Jatha and Nirankaris and more particularly when some followers of Bibi Amarjit Kaur brought out some leaflets styling themselves as Babbar Khalsa after the killing of Nirankari chief Gurbachan Singh, on April 24, 1980. Subsequently, the outfit started targeting all those who sympathised with the Nirankaris.
Sukhdev Singh Babbar and Talwinder Singh Parmar were the founding members of this organisation. The first unit of the BKI was founded in Canada in 1981 under the leadership of late Talwinder Singh Parmar. The outfit at present is active in the USA Canada, the UK, Germany, France, Belgium, Norway, Switzerland and Pakistan. Talwinder Singh Parmar, a co-founder of the BKI, formed the Babbar Khalsa (Parmar) faction in 1992, when he split from the BKI after serious differences erupted between him and its leadership of. The Parmar faction has a presence in the UK, Germany, Belgium and Switzerland.
Objective
The BKI wants an independent Sikh state called Khalistan.
Click on link for more
See reply 7
are not immediately stripped of their citizenship?
This requires a trial. Too the best of my knowledge this hasn'r happened in modern times. I believe Jefferson Davis had his removed.
As always a great thread and thanks for taking the time putting it together for us.
BUMP
Thanks much!
That's scary.
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