Posted on 09/03/2006 3:43:51 PM PDT by Gucho
SNIPPET: "Al-Qaeda's number two in Iraq -- has been arrested."
This guy is a stone-cold jihadi in my opnion.
GOOD arrest.
Bump to another GREAT thread, Gucho.
American Forces Press Service
BAGHDAD, Sep. 3, 2006 – Soldiers from 1st Iraqi Army Division assumed control of the Abu Ghraib prison here from U.S. Army Task Force 134 in a ceremony here Sept. 1. Iraqi soldiers will provide security for the facility – now vacant -- until the Ministry of Justice dispatches its own security detail.
“Returning the empty prison to the control of the Ministry of Justice clearly says that enforcement of the rule of law is a cornerstone of the constitutional government of Iraq,” said Col. Monam Hashim Fahed, the Iraqi battalion commander.
Marines from 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 5, will remain with the Iraqi brigade for a short time and serve as a training cadre to assist the Iraqi unit through the initial stages of their mission, officials said. Additionally, an RCT-5 military transition team that has mentored the brigade for the last year will continue to advise the Iraqi commanders and supply any requested guidance.
“It highlights the continued responsibility of the Iraqis,” said Army Lt. Col. Scott Marley, the military transition team leader.
(From a Multinational Corps Iraq news release.)
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By Patti Bielling - Special to American Forces Press Service
WINTHROP, Wash., Sep. 3, 2006 – Task Force Blaze is returning home to Fort Lewis, Wash., today, following a three-week deployment to fight wildfires in the state’s north-central region.
Spc. Aldo Gonzalez lights a fire as part of a burnout operation. Gonzalez is one of 550 soldiers making up Task Force Blaze, which deployed to firelines Aug. 17 to assist civilian firefighters with containing the huge Tripod Complex fire near lex fire near Winthrop, Wash. Gonzalez is an Avenger crew member assigned to 5th Battalion, 5th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, Fort Lewis, Wash. (Photo by Patti Bielling)
The military had worked side by side with civilian firefighters since mid-August, filling a crucial need for ground crews.
Employing the 550 soldiers on the Tripod Complex and Cedar Creek fires freed 25 civilian fire crews for other missions, said Doug Shinn at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.
“Deploying Task Force Blaze allowed us to diversify our assets,” Shinn said. “We were able to reallocate civilian crews to other large fires or to initial attack of fires throughout the West.”
The soldiers helped protect about 500 structures near Mazama, and they helped battle flames and construct 50 miles of fireline to contain the 230-square-mile Tripod Complex fire near Winthrop.
Task force commanders and staff worked with incident managers every day and contributed to the decision-making process in a very positive way, said Jeff Whitney, Tripod Complex incident commander.
“What I’ve seen from the Task Force Blaze leaders is what we in the firefighting community study – qualities like sole attention on the welfare of the troops, willingness to do whatever is required of them, unyielding focus on the mission, and a willingness to lead and be present,” he said. “The respect, integrity and service they display are exemplary.”
Task Force Blaze comprises soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment; 23rd Chemical Battalion; 5th Battalion, 5th Air Defense Artillery Regiment; 4th Battalion, 6th Aviation Regiment; 29th Signal Battalion; and the 28th Public Affairs Detachment.
The task force serves under the operational control of the United States Army North, Fort Sam Houston, Texas. The command is the Army component of United States Northern Command, which is responsible for providing defense support of civil authorities.
Although military ground crews are redeploying, four Air Force crews will continue to fly air tanker missions called MAFFS, which are named for the Military Airborne Firefighting System mounted in the back of a C-130 aircraft.
“MAFFS are a really valuable initial attack tool,” said Col. Dave Hall, defense coordinating officer at the fire center. “Some upcoming predicted weather events – dry lightning, winds, high temperatures – dictate that the Fire Center keeps this initial attack capability available for now.”
As the hot and dry weather continues in much of the western United States, the National Interagency Fire Center advises that the public can play a role in preventing wildland fires. A car’s hot exhaust system, a discarded cigarette butt or a campfire can spark a fire, officials said.
In addition, homeowners can protect their property by creating “defensible space” around structures – maintaining a clearing of 30 feet around homes, creating fuelbreaks such as driveways, gravel walkways and lawns around structures, and removing firewood as well as fallen branches, needles and other fire fuels around their property.
(Patti Bielling is assigned to U.S. Army North Public Affairs.)
Smoke from the Tripod Complex fire encircles Steve Hiscock, a civilian firefighter and military crew advisor to Task Force Blaze. The 550-soldier task force deployed Aug. 17 from Fort Lewis, Wash., to assist civilian firefighters with containing the huge blaze near Winthrop, Wash. (Photo by Patti Bielling)
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You're very welcome Gucho.
Sunday, September 3, 2006
Sun Sep 3, 12:59 PM ET - Map showing the locations of the latest violence in Afghanistan. Four NATO soldiers and more than 200 insurgents have been killed in the first two days of a major anti-Taliban operation under way in southern Afghanistan. (AFP)
Sunday, September 3, 2006
Sun Sep 3, 12:59 PM ET - Map showing the locations of the latest violence in Afghanistan. Four NATO soldiers and more than 200 insurgents have been killed in the first two days of a major anti-Taliban operation under way in southern Afghanistan. (AFP)
September 3, 2006
Afghan and members of the NATO led Coalition forces are seen in the southern city of Kandahar Afghanistan on Sunday, Sept. 3, 2006. NATO and Afghan forces using air strikes and artillery killed dozens of suspected Taliban in a major operation in southern Kandahar province, the alliance said Sunday. The Afghan Defense Ministry, citing intelligence reports, said 89 militants had died during two days of fighting. (AP Photo/Allahuddin Khan)
DOD report: Iraqis turning to militias for safety
Pentagon sees some improvements, but civil war remains a risk
By Jeff Schogol - Stars and Stripes Mideast edition
Saturday, September 2, 2006
ARLINGTON, Va. — The war in Iraq has transformed from an insurgency into a fight between Sunni and Shiite extremists, with Iraqis turning to their local militias for security, a Defense Department report says.
The Defense Department is required to give Congress a report on stability and security in Iraq every three months.
The number of average weekly attacks on U.S. forces, Iraqi forces, and Iraqi civilians from May 20 to Aug. 11 was reported at 792, an increase of 24 percent from the average of 641 weekly attacks from Feb. 11 to May 19, officials said.
Released Friday, the report is the second consecutive report to cite a marked increase in violence.
While the Sunni insurgency remains “potent and visible,” the violence in Iraq is now defined by sectarian strife, in which civilians are dying at a rate 1,000 per month higher than in the previous three months, the report says.
“Conditions that could lead to civil war exist in Iraq. Nevertheless, the current violence is not a civil war, and movement toward civil war can be prevented,” the report says, repeating almost verbatim the recent congressional testimony of Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The report attributes the most significant increases in sectarian violence to Sunni and Shiite death squads, made up of terrorists, militias and in some cases from rogue elements of Iraqi security forces.
In particular, members of the Mahdi Army, nominally under the control of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, frequently make up such death squads, the report says.
Speaking to reporters Friday, officials insisted Iraqi security forces continue to make progress.
The Iraqi security forces now have about 278,000 troops and police officers, an increase of 14,000 security personnel since May, said Rear Adm. Bill Sullivan, director of the Joint Staff. The Joint Staff assists the Joint Chiefs in carrying out their responsibilities.
By the end of the year, Iraqi security forces should be at their authorized end-strength of 325,000, Sullivan said.
But while many Iraqis express confidence in Iraqi troops and police, Iraqi civilians are increasingly turning to local militias for protection from sectarian violence and social services, the report says.
“With the extended formation of the national government and capable ministries, these armed groups have become more entrenched, especially in some primarily Shia sections of Eastern Baghdad and certain Sunni neighborhoods in Western Baghdad,” the report says.
The report also notes that initial efforts by the Iraqi government to stem sectarian strife in Baghdad failed to result in a significant reduction in violence.
This summer, U.S. and coalition troops launched the first phase of Operation Together Forward in Baghdad.
But a few weeks into the operation, average weekly attacks across Iraq stood at 23.7, almost identical to the average of 23.8 attacks per week in the two months prior to the operation, the report says.
“Moreover, the rate of sectarian-motivated murders and execution-style killings continued to rise, primarily in and around Baghdad,” the report says.
Phase II of Operation Together Forward began in August involving troops with the Alaska-based 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, who were extended for up to four months, along with troops from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, who were moved up from Kuwait.
U.S. troop strength in Iraq now stands at about 140,000, up from 127,000 earlier this summer, officials said.
Asked if U.S. and coalition forces are winning the war in Iraq, Sullivan replied, “Yeah, I think we’re making — we’re making progress, yes.”
The report also mentions improvements to Iraqi infrastructure in the last three months with an extra 1.2 million people have access to potable water and electricity averaging 14 hours per day in Iraq, an increase of three hours a day over the previous quarter.
Meanwhile, insurgent attacks against Iraqi infrastructure continue to decline, down significantly from 2004, the report says.
http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=39755
Stars and Stripes - Pacific edition
Monday, September 4, 2006
The storm that slammed into Wake Island earlier this week has been downgraded from a super typhoon but still packs considerable punch as it heads toward central Japan, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center.
By Saturday afternoon, Typhoon Ioke, with wind speeds of 132 miles per hour, was almost 1,500 miles east-southeast of Tokyo.
“At this time we’re still evaluating whether it will hit land,” said Capt. Jason Blackerby, typhoon duty officer for the center. “We believe the more likely scenario is that it brushes by just to the east of Japan.”
At 6 p.m. Saturday, Ioke was 1,350 miles east-southeast of Tokyo, moving west-northwest at 17 mph, packing sustained winds of 127 mph and gusts of up to 155 at its center. If it remains on its forecast track, Ioke will pass 130 miles east of Yokosuka Naval Base at 2 a.m. Thursday with sustained winds of 92 mph and gusts up to 104 at its center.
“It will still be formidable,” Blackerby said.
Ioke was at super-typhoon strength when it pummeled Wake Island on Thursday. Damage had yet to be assessed Saturday but weather officials had predicted that the storm would demolish anything not made of concrete.
Wake, an atoll with an airstrip between the Marianas Islands and Hawaii, has served for decades as a way station for U.S. forces. Evacuated off the island last week before the typhoon hit were about 200 people, most of them from the small U.S. military detachment that has been stationed there.
Maj. Clare Reed, spokeswoman for the 15th Airlift Wing at Hickam Air Force Base in nearby Hawaii, said Friday that a fly-over assessment would be conducted at some point over the weekend to see what remained of the airfield and the island.
EagleCash provides convenience for troops
Smart card used to pay for small items while deployed
By Lisa Burgess - Stars and Stripes Mideast edition
Saturday, September 2, 2006
ARLINGTON, Va. — Servicemembers and contractors in Iraq and Kuwait have a new way to pay for the little things that help make a long deployment bearable: EagleCash, a pre-paid smart card program co-sponsored by the U.S. Army and the Treasury Department.
Instead of standing in long check-cashing lines at the finance office, and then paying cash at post/base exchanges, post offices, barbershops and elsewhere, EagleCash participants pay for their purchases by swiping plastic cards in a special machine, Graham Mackenzie, Treasury’s stored value card program manager, told Stars and Stripes Thursday.
The amount of the sale is electronically subtracted from the amount of money the soldier has loaded onto his card. When the card’s balance is low, a soldier can go back to the self-serve kiosk and recharge the card with more cash, pulling from his bank or credit union account back home.
Unlike most debit cards, the card is free and there is never a fee for using it, whether to pay for purchases or at the self-serve kiosk, to check an account history and change the card’s balance, Mackenzie said.
Servicemembers “love EagleCash, because it is such a useful budgeting tool,” Mackenzie said.
EagleCash got its start in Bosnia and Kosovo in 1999.
Over the last two years, EagleCash has expanded to U.S. bases in Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
And in July and August, the sponsors sent a team to install EagleCash at 12 Army bases in Iraq and Kuwait. In Iraq, those locations are Camps Liberty, Victory, Slayer, Striker, Baghdad International Airport, Speicher, and Balad/Anaconda, Mackenzie said.
In Kuwait, EagleCash is available at Camps Arifjan, Buehring, Virginia, Ali Al Salem Air Base, and the Kuwait Naval Base, he said.
To date, servicemembers in Iraq have signed up for more than 6,000 free EagleCash cards, logging more than 9,000 transactions at the self-serve kiosks and more than 40,000 transactions at the swipe terminals — more than $25 million in spending, Mackenzie said.
EagleCash cards are available to any servicemember at their local finance office, as well as contractors whose companies have check-cashing agreements with the U.S. military, Mackenzie said.
http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=39760
By Staff Sgt. Christopher Hanna - Co. A, 4th Spt. Bn., 1st BCT, 4th Inf. Div.
Sep 3, 2006
CAMP TAJI, Iraq – Soldiers from Company A, 4th Support Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, provided a helping hand to the Iraqi police Sunday when they picked up disabled police vehicles from areas throughout the 1st BCT area of responsibility north of Baghdad.
The vehicles are being recovered from police stations and brought to Camp Taji, where mechanics from the 463rd Military Police Company, attached to the 1st BCT, are repairing the vehicles and then redistributing them back to the Iraqi police stations.
“This is a great way for us to help the Iraqis take control of their own country,” said Staff Sgt. Tracey Mayhan, senior heavy wheeled vehicle operator, Co. A. “Some of these vehicles are only a few months old, but because of the constant use and road conditions the Iraqi police encounter on a daily basis, they are in pretty bad shape.”
The repairs on the vehicles range from a flat tire or dead battery to no tires, batteries or in some cases, even engines. Repairing the vehicles is one of the programs Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers are providing in support of the Iraqi police.
“When we first arrived, their level of functionality was the lowest it could possibly be,” said Sgt. 1st Class Ronnie Hudson, operations sergeant, 463rd MP Co. “In the seven months I’ve been here, almost every station has improved dramatically.
“They were really low on resources and personnel. Since then, they’ve gained a lot of resources and personnel, which has improved their functionality as police stations. These vehicles should have a huge affect on their communities and help them get the (terrorists) out of their cities.”
ADDITIONAL PHOTOS:
CAMP TAJI, Iraq – Staff Sgt. David Maye, truck driver, Company A, 4th Support Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, ties down an Iraqi police vehicle to the back of a wrecker in Taji Saturday. Soldiers of the company took eight disabled IP trucks from the Taji Police Station and brought them back here, where they will be refurbished and redistributed back to the police stations. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Brent Hunt, 1st BCT PAO, 4th Inf. Div.)
CAMP TAJI, Iraq – Staff Sgt. Tracey Mayhan, truck driver, Company A, 4th Support Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, checks to ensure an Iraqi police truck is strapped down properly to the back of a wrecker in Taji Saturday. The company picked up eight disabled IP vehicles from the Taji Police Station and brought them back to Camp Taji, where they will be refurbished and returned to the police station. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Brent Hunt, 1st BCT PAO, 4th Inf. Div.)
Residents of the Ghazaliya neighborhood of Baghdad wait in line Aug. 26 , 2006 for medical treatment conducted by Iraqi doctors of the 6th Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Brigade, Iraqi National Guard, along with U.S. Multi-National Division – Baghdad doctors. (U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Brett Cote)
By Multi-National Corps, Public Affairs Office, Camp Victory
Sep 3, 2006
CAMP AL ASAD, Iraq – U.S. Marines detained 16 confirmed insurgents and 24 suspected insurgents yesterday throughout the Haditha Triad region in western Al Anbar Province, Iraq.
Marines from the Hawaii-based 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, known as “America’s Battalion,” captured the known and suspected insurgents during both routine and pre-planned counterinsurgency operations in the “Triad” region.
Some of the insurgents captured are known for intimidating the local populace, attacking Coalition and Iraqi forces, and providing logistical support to local insurgents. In one captured insurgent’s home, a Marine patrol discovered various materials used to construct improvised explosive devices (IEDs), an AK-47 assault rifle with multiple round cartridges and binoculars.
Furthermore, a U.S scout sniper team fired upon anti-Iraqi forces, which were firing upon a Marine M1A1 tank on a road in Haditha. Two of the insurgents were killed; one was critically wounded and medically evacuated to a U.S. military medical facility for treatment. This follows a day after a separate scout sniper engagement which resulted in one insurgent being killed while digging a hole in a spot where numerous IEDs have recently been discovered or detonated.
“The Battalion’s successes over the last several days are really the result of the anti-Iraqi forces conducting attacks out of desperation. They see the growing capability of the Iraqi Army and recent fielding of the Iraqi Police as the clear beginning to the end of their influence in the Triad,” said Lt. Col. Norm Cooling, commanding officer of 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment.
The Haditha Triad is a region made up of three neighboring cities – Haditha, Barwanah and Haqlaniyah – with a combined population of about 70,000, nestled along the Euphrates River about 160 miles northwest of Baghdad.
Third Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, which is part of Regimental Combat Team 7, arrived in Iraq in March and has spent the past five-plus months providing security to the Haditha “Triad” region and mentoring Iraqi Security Forces.
RCT-7 is the U.S. military unit responsible for western Anbar Province, an area more than 30,000 square-miles in size which stretches from the Jordanian and Syrian borders hundreds of miles east to Hit, a city about 70 miles northwest of Ramadi.
Happy Labor Day, Gucho.
Thanks for the ping and the excellent linkage.
God bless W and our troops.
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Thank you, Dinah Lord. God bless W and our troops.
Bump! I agree, Lnda.
September 03. 2006 - 4:47PM
By SUZAN FRASER - Associated Press Writer
ANKARA, Turkey - A remote-controlled bomb exploded Sunday in a tea garden in southeastern Turkey, killing two people and wounding seven, a local government official said.
The blast in the town of Catak, near the border with Iran, occurred as police arrived at the scene to investigate a suspicious package at the outdoor cafe, where people drink tea, eat snacks and play backgammon.
Autonomy-seeking Kurdish rebels were suspected as being behind the bombing, a police official said.
Two people, including a police officer, died of injuries in hospital, the government official said. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of rules that bar civil servants from speaking to journalists.
Television footage showed medics carrying the injured in bloodied clothes from ambulances onto stretchers and into the emergency service of a heavily guarded hospital. One relative could be seen arguing with police as she tried to go in and then fainting.
Earlier this week, a Kurdish militant group believed to be linked to the main guerrilla group, the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, claimed responsibility for a wave of bombings in tourist resorts and in Istanbul that left three people dead and dozens injured, including 10 Britons and other tourists.
More than 37,000 people have been killed since the guerrillas took up arms for autonomy in the Kurdish-dominated southeast in 1984.
Turkey has been pressuring the United States and Iraq to wipe out rebel hide-outs in neighboring Iraq. The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Washington and the European Union.
YAHOOO !!!
Bump!
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Sep. 3, 2006 – An Iraqi Army unit caught a mid-level leader of an illegal militia group during an early-morning Aug. 31 raid in southeastern Baghdad, according to Multinational Corps Iraq officials.
The Iraqi soldiers, accompanied by coalition advisers, were specifically looking for the militia’s chieftain, officials said, noting that he is believed to be responsible for inciting sectarian violence, fear and instability through acts of intimidation and murder. He also was wanted for authorizing the acquisition and use of heavy weapons and improvised explosive devices employed in attacks on Iraqi citizens and coalition troops.
No civilians or Iraqi or coalition forces were killed or injured during the raid, officials said.
In other news, Iraqi security forces and U.S. soldiers from the 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, found an apparent enemy bomb-making facility and seized other weapon caches Aug. 30 during operations in Adhamiyah, Iraq.
The site yielded a large supply of bomb-making material and engineering books.
In another action, American soldiers with the 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, found a mortar base plate, a mortar bipod, 12 60mm mortar rounds, three full AK-47 rifle magazines, a pistol belt and various terrorist equipment during a search of a school in Adhamiyah. An explosive ordnance disposal team destroyed the captured material.
Later, the 17th Infantry Regiment soldiers discovered a smaller weapons cache hidden in an ice cream/bakery shop in Adhamiyah. The soldiers seized a set of body armor, two rocket-propelled grenade launchers, four RPGs, three bandoliers, various bomb-making materials, a belt of rifle ammunition and loose rounds. An EOD team buried the cache to make it unavailable to the enemy.
As of Aug. 31, Iraqi and U.S. troops in support of Operation Together Forward had cleared more than 36,000 buildings, 32 mosques and 26 Baghdad neighborhoods. They’ve detained 42 terrorist suspects, seized more than 900 weapons, registered more than 184 weapons and found 18 weapons caches. Operation Together Forward is the concentrated effort of Iraqi and coalition forces to bring the security situation under control in the Iraqi capital.
The combined forces also have replaced 444 doors, 18 windows and 656 locks damaged during clearing operations, and have removed more than 17,000 tons of debris and trash from Baghdad streets, officials said.
(Compiled from Multinational Corps Iraq news releasees.)
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(Thank you for pointing out this news item, Cindy.)
Sep. 4, 2006
By NASSER KARIMI - Associated Press Writer
TEHRAN, Iran, (AP) -- The U.N. chief got little satisfaction Sunday at the close of his trip to Tehran, snubbed by Iran's leader over international demands to stop enriching uranium and ignored in warnings not to incite hatred by questioning the Holocaust.
In a provocative move on the final day of Kofi Annan's two-day visit, Iran announced it would host a conference to examine what it called exaggerations about the Holocaust, during which more than 6 million Jews were killed by the Nazis.
The move was sure to draw new international condemnation of Iran's stance on Jews. Hours after the announcement, Annan repeated his displeasure over an exhibition in Tehran of cartoons mocking the Holocaust that was opened as a response to Western caricatures of Prophet Muhammad.
"I think the tragedy of the Holocaust is an undeniable historical fact and we should really accept that fact and teach people what happened in World War II and ensure it is never repeated," Annan told reporters.
He commented after a meeting with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but the hard-line Iranian leader didn't accompany the U.N. chief to the news conference.
Ahmadinejad has drawn strong condemnations around the globe for calling the Nazis' slaughter of Jews a myth and saying Israel should be wiped off the map or moved to Germany or the United States.
The Holocaust exhibit is being held to underline outrage over Prophet Muhammad caricatures in Western media. Islam forbids picturing Muhammad at all, but Muslims also were angered by the cartoons' negative tone, such as one showing the prophet wearing a turban shaped as a bomb with a burning fuse.
Annan first raised his concerns about the exhibit during a meeting Saturday with Iranian Foreign Minister Manoucher Mottaki, according to the U.N. chief's spokesman, Ahmad Fawzi. He quoted Annan as saying that "we should avoid anything that incites hatred."
Annan's visit came after Iran ignored the U.N. Security Council's Thursday deadline for Tehran to halt uranium enrichment, opening the door to possible sanctions over concerns that the Iranians are trying to develop atomic weapons.
"On the nuclear issue, the president reaffirmed to me Iran's preparedness and determination to negotiate" a solution to the nuclear confrontation, Annan said at the news conference.
However, Ahmadinejad "reiterated that he did not accept suspension before negotiations," the U.N. chief said, conveying Iran's rejection of a condition set by the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany.
In June, the six nations offered Iran a package of economic and diplomatic incentives to limit its nuclear program. Iran didn't respond until Aug. 22, rejecting the condition that it stop enriching uranium before talks. The content of its response has not been made public.
Tehran hid its nuclear program for 18 years and its continued lack of full cooperation with U.N. inspectors has increased suspicions about Iranian aims. The oil-rich nation insists the program is peaceful, intended only to produce fuel for nuclear reactors that generate electricity.
Iran's slowness in responding to the incentives package prompted the Security Council to issue a resolution July 31 ordering it to halt uranium enrichment by the end of August.
On Sunday, Mottaki said the council issued the resolution "under pressure from the United States and Britain" and described it as a "mistake" and a "black mark against them."
State television quoted Ahmadinejad as saying he was ready to negotiate, but the onus was on Western countries to repair relations with Tehran.
"Iran's trust has been undermined during the past three years," he said. "They (the West) should try to win our trust to solve the issue."
Although Iran's defiance of the U.N. deadline opens the way for the Security Council to consider sanctions, it is unlikely punitive measures will come soon. Both Russia and China, which are among the council's veto-holding permanent members, oppose strong sanctions.
The European Union is taking another shot at diplomacy this week, with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana planning to meet with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani. But the bloc said Saturday that it would not give much time for the effort to produce results.
Annan got a more favorable response from Iranian leaders on Lebanon, where Tehran is a backer of the Hezbollah guerrilla group and is believed by many to be its top arms supplier.
Ahmadinejad "reaffirmed his country's support for the implementation of resolution 1701," Annan said of the U.N. resolution that ended the 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah and calls for preventing the rearming of the Shiite militants in Hezbollah.
But Annan did not disclose the specifics of his talks on Lebanon. Mottaki, after meeting with Annan on Saturday, made a vague promise to support the resolution, but did not directly mention Hezbollah.
Annan said Friday that Syria, another key Hezbollah ally, promised to patrol its side of the frontier to prevent arms deliveries, though Israel was skeptical that would happen.
Still, the Syria stopover has been Annan's most upbeat on his tour of the Middle East to promote peace.
He had little success in Beirut, where Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said Lebanon would be the last Arab country to make peace with Israel. In Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert rebuffed Annan's call for quickly lifting its air and sea blockade of Lebanon.
Associated Press
Afghanistan Suicide Bombings Take Mostly Civilian Toll
American Forces Press Service
KABUL, Afghanistan, Sep. 3, 2006 – Civilians make up more than 84 percent of the people killed by suicide bombers throughout Afghanistan this year, military officials here reported today.
As of Aug. 12, officials at Combined Forces Command Afghanistan said, 105 out of the 124 people killed by suicide bombers were civilians.
During that period, five coalition servicemembers were killed, while 14 Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police were killed. The other 105 suicide-bombing fatalities were innocent civilians, officials said.
“This is what the Taliban extremists offer the people of Afghanistan – death and destruction,” said Army Col. Thomas Collins, coalition forces spokesman. “These suicide bombers place no value on human life and continue to threaten the safety of the Afghan people. They hide behind the mask of being devout, but nowhere in the Koran does it say the killing of innocent civilians is justified.”
Collins said that Taliban extremists purposely inflict death and destruction on their own people and show no remorse for their actions. “Their blatant disregard for human life cannot be justified under any circumstance,” he said.
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=679
(From a Combined Forces Command Afghanistan news release.)
Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin dead
Tragedy ... Steve Irwin - pictured here with his wife Terri - has died aged 44 in a horrific accident involving a stingray while filming an underwater documentary in Queensland / News Limited newspapers
By staff writers
September 04, 2006 - 02:14pm
He was killed in a freak accident in Cairns, police sources said today.
It is understood he was killed by a stingray barb that went through his chest and reportedly into his heart .
He was swimming off the Low Isles at Port Douglas filming an underwater documentary when the tragedy occured.
The Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) was called about 11am (AEST) and an emergency services helicopter was flown to the crew's boat on Batt Reef, off the coast near Cairns, with a doctor and emergency services paramedic on board.
Irwin had a puncture wound to the left side of his chest and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Irwin's body is being flown to Cairns.
One report today said his American-born wife Terri was trekking on Cradle Mountain in Tasmania and was yet to be told of her husband's death.
The Irwins have two children - a daughter, Bindi Sue Irwin, eight, and a three-year-old son, Robert (Bob) Clarence Irwin.
Steve Irwin - known worldwide as the Crocodile Hunter - is famous for his enthusiasm for wildlife and his catchcry "Crikey!".
In an sad twist, it has been reported that his new documentary was aimed at demystifying the stingray.
Irwin's Crocodile Hunter program was first broadcast in 1992 and has been shown around the world on cable network Discovery.
He has also starred in movies and has developed the Australia Zoo wildlife park, north of Brisbane, which was started by his parents Bob and Lyn Irwin.
Tributes have already started pouring in for the larger-than-life character.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, who used a photograph of his family at Australia Zoo for his official Christmas card last year, hailed Mr Irwin for his work in promoting Australia.
Irwin was heavily involved in last year's "G'Day LA" campaign.
"The minister knew him, was fond of him and was very, very appreciative of all the work he'd done to promote Australia overseas," a spokesman said.
A Tourism Queensland spokeswoman said the death was shocking and paid tribute to Irwin's "enormous contribution" to his adopted state.
Louise Yates said it was impossible to quantify how much Mr Irwin had meant to the Queensland tourism industry.
"I don't think we could even estimate how much he brought us through his personality and his profile and his enthusiasm about Queensland," she said.
"It would be difficult to estimate how much he was worth. And it would be difficult to underestimate."
She said Irwin had been a larger-than-life ambassador.
"It's not just what he brought but what he took with him when he travelled, his passion."
Australia Zoo, on southeast Queensland's Sunshine Coast, employs more than 500 people and attracts thousands of visitors every day.
But Ms Yates said it would be "unfair and unjust" to put a dollar value on Irwin's worth to the state, because of how much he had given.
With The Courier Mail and AAP
In a file photo Australian Steve Irwin, of the TV show 'The Crocodile Hunter,' holds a nine-foot female alligator in company with his American wife Terri, who is from Eugene, Oregon, at his 'Australia Zoo' in Beerwah, Queensland, Australia, June 18, 1999. Steve Irwin, the Australian television personality and environmentalist known as the Crocodile Hunter, was killed Monday., Sept. 4, 2006, by a stingray barb during a diving expedition, Australian media reported. (AP Photo/Russell McPhedran)
Map: Location of fatal Stingray attack.
By ARON HELLER - Associated Press Writer
Sun Sep 3, 2006 - 6:58 PM ET
JERUSALEM - The father of a soldier held captive by Gaza militants for more than two months said Sunday there has been no progress in the intensive efforts to free his son.
"I am aware of contacts but not of advancement, and therefore I am not encouraged," Noam Shalit told Israel Radio. "The advancement is only in the newspapers."
The Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot reported Sunday that a deal brokered by Egypt was in the works to free Cpl. Gilad Shalit in return for 800 Palestinian prisoners, to be released in three stages.
On Saturday, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said negotiations were ongoing to secure Shalit's release and that Israel was waiting for a Palestinian "initiative" that spelled out Palestinian conditions for a prisoner exchange.
Hamas-linked militants captured Shalit from an Israeli army post near Gaza on June 25. The attack sparked an ongoing Israeli offensive against Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 200 people, many of them militants.
On July 12, Hezbollah guerrillas waged a cross-border raid of their own from Lebanon that captured two more Israeli soldiers, leading to a 34-day conflict in Lebanon. No word of the soldiers' conditions has been given since their captures.
Israel has called for the unconditional release of the three soldiers, but is widely believed to be conducting secret back-channel negotiations through Egyptian and European mediators to secure the soldiers' release.
Before the Lebanon crisis erupted, Egypt had proposed a plan for Hamas to free Shalit and for Israel to later release an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners. Egypt would vouch for Israel's promise to eventually release the prisoners, but the releases would not be simultaneous to prevent the appearance of an exchange.
When the plan fell through, Egyptian officials blamed Hamas, and Mubarak suggested that "other parties" had convinced Hamas to pull out of the deal, apparently referring to Syria where the group's top leadership lives.
Osama al-Muzaini, a Hamas member who is one of the links to the kidnappers, said he knew nothing new about the status of the Shalit negotiations.
"Unfortunately nothing is moving," he said.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas said Sunday that he hoped "the Egyptian efforts will be fruitful in this issue."
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said he was unaware of any negotiations to free Shalit, but called for his immediate release.
Shalit's father called on Hamas' leaders to at least make a humanitarian gesture.
"One of the signs that will show that they want to move forward is a sign of life from Gilad, to show he is alive and well," he said. "This will show that they are ready and interested in moving forward.
Police: Iraqi soccer star kidnapped
Updated: Monday September 4, 2006 - 2:05AM
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- A popular Iraqi soccer player who was a member of the country's Olympic team has been kidnapped in Baghdad, police said.
Ghanim Ghudayer, 22, considered one of the best players in Baghdad's Air Force Club, was kidnapped on Sunday evening by unknown assailants in the al-Amil neighborhood where he lives in the western part of the capital, police 1st Lt. Mutaz Salahiddin said.
Some of the kidnappers were dressed in military uniform, Salahiddin said.
Samir Kadhim, head of the Air Force Club, said Ghudayer had been preparing to go to a training session when he was intercepted by the assailants in two vehicles.
Iraqi sports officials and athletes have frequently faced threats, kidnappings and assassination attempts.
In July, Iraq's national soccer coach, Akram Ahmed Salman, resigned after receiving death threats against him and his family.
Earlier that month, unknown gunmen kidnapped the chairman of Iraq's National Olympic Committee and at least 30 other officials, including the presidents of the taekwondo and boxing federations, in a brazen daylight raid on a sports conference in the heart of Baghdad.
The abduction came after Iraq's national wrestling coach, a Sunni, was killed in a Shiite district of Baghdad.
Soccer is popular in Iraq, where the national team's successes in the past three years have provided a joyous distraction from the daily violence.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/soccer/09/04/iraqi.athlete.kidnapped.ap/index.html
Associated Press
Gunman Opens Fire on Tourists in Amman; Briton Killed, Six Others Wounded
By JAMAL HALABY
AMMAN, Jordan Sep 4, 2006 (AP) — A gunman opened fire on tourists near a popular Roman ruins site in Jordan's capital on Monday, killing a British man and wounding five other foreigners and a local police officer, officials said.
It was the first major terror attack in Jordan since triple hotel blasts in the capital that killed 63 people, including three suicide bombers, last November, and came despite stepped up security across the country.
It was not immediately clear if the attacker who was taken into custody had acted alone or as part of larger terror ring, but officials said they would consider the attack a terrorist act unless the man was found to be mentally unstable.
Nasser Judeh, a government spokesman, declined to say if the assailant was believed to be linked to any known terror organization. "The investigation is under way and it's still early to tell," he told The Associated Press.
The group al-Qaida in Iraq claimed responsibility for last November's attack and is believed to have militants who operate in Jordan.
The gunman struck outside the Roman amphitheater, a popular tourist destination in Amman, in broad daylight. Police overpowered and arrested him at the scene, Judeh said.
Interior Minister Eid al-Fayez said a British man was killed, while two British women, a Dutch man, an Australian woman, a New Zealand woman and a tourist police officer were injured.
"This is a cowardly terrorist attack, which we regret took place on Jordanian soil," al-Fayez told reporters at the scene.
"This operation is considered a terrorist act unless the man is found to be deranged," he said. He said the gunman was being interrogated and that the authorities were checking if he had accomplices.
Judeh said the wounded were rushed to a nearby state hospital with injuries of medium severity.
An witness to the attack in Amman's bustling downtown district said he saw one of a group of seven tourists die of his wounds at the scene.
The gunman, clean-shaven and in his mid-30s, surprised the tourists from the opposite side, wielding a gun and shouting "Allahu akbar," or "God is great," before he fired several shots directly at them, said the Iraqi witness, Mohammad Jawad Ali.
The area in which the attack occurred is frequented by low-income and unemployed Jordanians and Iraqis in a district populated by conservative Muslims.
The British Embassy said it could not confirm the death, but a consular team was on the way to scene and was coordinating with Jordanian police.
There have been attacks against foreigners in recent years in Jordan a key U.S. ally and the authorities say they have foiled a number of deadly militant terror plots.
The worst was last November's triple Amman hotel blasts claimed by al-Qaida in Iraq, in which the majority of the victims were Jordanian women and children.
In November 2003, a gunman with no known terrorist links, opened fire at the southern Jordan-Israel border crossing, north of Aqaba, wounding five people and killing a foreign tourist.
Following the November suicide blasts, the authorities tightened security around all tourists attractions and hotels across the kingdom. More metal detectors and police patrols were positioned outside these locations.
Associated Press writers Dale Gavlak and Shafika Mattar in Amman reported to this story.
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2392473&page=1
Associated Press
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