Posted on 12/17/2006 4:03:30 PM PST by DAVEY CROCKETT
Mother, son sentenced to 40 years for transporting PKK explosives
Saturday, December 30, 2006
DÄ°YARBAKIR - Anatolia news agency A mother and son were sentenced on Friday to a total of 40 years for transporting and possession of explosives belonging to the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
The Diyarbakır Fourth Criminal Court sentenced 47-year-old Elfo �rper and her son Mehmet Salih �rün to 18 years, 9 months and 21 years, 3 months' imprisonment, respectively.
Defense lawyer Tahir Elçi said Ã�rper had just wanted to help her son, arguing: �The only accusations directed at my clients are the transportation of the explosives from à �ırnak's Uludere region to Batman. There is no evidence they were involved in any other activity. Ã�rper has said that she didn't know the material had anything to do with the organization.�
�rper, who doesn't speak Turkish, asked the court to release her. Through her translator, she said she hadn't known the material was explosives, arguing, �I had wrapped it around me to prevent it from being stolen.� Her son argued that he had transported the explosive material because he was frightened of the PKK.
The material was 4 kilograms of highly volatile A-4 explosive.
A third suspect, Abdulhakin Cengiz, was arrested during the exchange of the explosives.
Cengiz was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment and a YTL 6,000 fine.
© 2005 Dogan Daily News Inc. www.turkishdailynews.com.tr
Prayer in Virginia public school: Muslim prayer, of course, prayed by non-Muslims
http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/014630.php
December 31, 2006
Prayer in Virginia public school: Muslim prayer, of course, prayed by
non-Muslims
"Not only will he learn about the culture by wearing traditional Muslim
clothing and praying five times a day, but 'Also going without pork for
30
days, that's going to be rough but we'll make do,' said Morris." In a
public
school. Imagine the outcry if the teacher were having his students
dress as
monks and pray Christian prayers. But we all know, of course, that
Christian
prayer is not allowed in American public schools. Muslim prayer,
obviously,
is another story: I was an expert witness a few years ago on a case in
California that challenged exercises such as these. We lost.
"Living as Muslim," by Kelly Creswell for WHSV.com
http://www.whsv.com/news/headlines/5022016.html
with thanks to
Cindy:
The Spotswood High School students are researching the Muslim culture
and
finding out how much no one really knows about this culture that is
sometimes is negatively stereotyped by the public.
"What's the first thing that comes to your mind when I say Islam?" said
Casey Morris.
"Iraq," a fellow student replied.
That's what Casey Morris hopes to eliminate through his research
project,
the stereotypes the public has about Muslims. Not only will he learn
about
the culture by wearing traditional Muslim clothing and praying five
times a
day, but "Also going without pork for 30 days, that's going to be rough
but
we'll make do," said Morris.
Morris says he is prepared for the criticism that comes along with it.
"Yeah, we're probably going to get some funny looks as we go down the
hallway. I'm expecting comments maybe here and there. You know what,
I'll be
honest, I'll be disappointed if we don't get some," said Morris.
Members of the Muslim community here in the Valley say many people
don't
understand the Muslim culture.
"Any effort that tries to educate people and increases to their
information
can turn very positive towards wider benefit of our society," said
Zulfiqar
Ishaq, a member of the Muslim community.
Morris' goal is to get a big dose of multiculturalism.
"Alan and I will obviously come out of the deal with a great
understanding
of the culture with great respect and appreciation for the Islamic
culture
and hopefully we'll impart some of that upon other people too," said
Morris.
"What's the first thing that comes to your mind when I say Muslim?"
asked
Morris.
"Umm, prayer books?" replied a student.
Morris says he and his classmate will start the actual project January
2 and
go for the whole month. They will capture everything on video and put
together a documentary not only showing what they learned, but the
local
attitudes toward Muslims as well.
Statement from the Arab Ba'th Socialist Party threatening revenge for the execution of Saddam Hussein
This is a statement from the Arab Ba'th Socialist party threatening
revenge
for the execution of Saddam Hussein. This was
posted in both English and Arabic on a jihadist website.
The Arab Ba'th Socialist Party had issued a statement last week before
the
execution promising dire consequences
if the execution occured.
Revenge and revenge for the father of all Arab and Muslim martyrs:
Saddam
Hussein
The Arab Baath Socialist Party
In the name of God the Most Beneficent the Most Merciful
The Arab Baath Socialist Party
One Arab Nation, with an eternal mission
Unity, Freedom, Socialism
Revenge and revenge for the father
of all Arab and Muslim martyrs:
Saddam Hussein.
Freedom loving Iraqis!
Sons and daughters of our glorious Arab nation!
Today the new Safawide have obeyed the orders of the Criminal crusader
George Bush through executing the symbol of your honor and your
dignity, the
leader of the believers in God and in the Arabity the father of the
Arabs
and the Muslims martyrs, in modern times: Saddam Hussein. Saddam
Hussein who
humiliated the US in Revolutionary Iraq and sealed the door in the face
of
the new pagan Persian fire worshippers Iranians who wanted to reign on
the
Arabs and Muslims under the leadership of criminal Khomeiny and his
tail the
other criminal Khamenei. Today Saddam Hussein has realized the dearest
of
his wishes whiches to join the Arabs' and the Muslims' martyrs eternal
cortege and has become from the instant of his execution the supreme
symbol
for Islam and Muslim principles and the identity of the Arab carriers
of the
message of Islam.
Those who think that the execution of Saddam will be his end, make a
mistake
and a terrible mistake. For Saddam today doesn't exist materially and
can be
killed, but has become a formidable force which move tens of millions
Arabs,
Muslims and honorable people of the world to deepen and to widen the
holy
Jihad against the US and its allied and in particular Iran..
Saddam Hussein is no more a prisoner in the hands of the enemy but he
has
become a prison for the enemy and a stimulant to mobilize millions of
Arabs
in the holy Jihad march against the crusaders, Safawides and Zionists.
Sons and daughters of our glorious Arab nation!
Today have fallen the last masks from the criminal ugly faces which set
for
the execution day and in particular Britain, Iran and the Zionist
Entity.
That is why we are not surprised to see among the first who enjoyed the
execution of the modern time saint Saddam Hussein, the criminal
Safawide Ali
Khameinei and his friend in their unholy alliance, Zionist Entity prime
minister and criminal Bush.
Through Saddam Hussein's execution the Zionists have realized their
vendetta
against Saddam's launching of 43 missiles which destroyed their
security
theory.. By executing Saddam Hussein, the Safawide achieved a hope
cradled
by their criminal Khomeiny and their present criminal Khameinei when
the
glorious Saddam Qadissya has stopped the flows of the pagan Persian
hatred
to cross through Iraq to the rest of the Arab homeland and the Islamic
world.. Yes! Indeed, ye Mujahedeens on the soil of Iraq.. Saddam
Hussein was
executed only because he was the dignity title of the Arabs and Muslims
and
the mighty barrage which protected them from US and Iran evil... That
is why
every Arab and every Muslim should pray the lord for the father of all
martyrs: Saddam Hussein, and must choose once and for all to back or to
join
the holy Jihad ranks.
Jihad heroes!
Today is your great day! Strike without a mercy your two enemies in
Iraq
Iran and the US. Let aside your organizational titles and take the
honor
stand which is yours i.e. to avenge Saddam Hussein. Whatever were your
opinions there is no disagreement that saddam Hussein is the Jihad, the
Arab
and Islamic symbol who rejected to compromise on the principles until
the
very last instants of his terrestrial life.. Strengthen your Jihadi
unity..
May Saddam Hussein's martyrdom be an opportunity to achieve the unity
of the
Jihad factions to avenge Saddam Hussein and millions of Iraqi, Arabs
and
Muslims martyrs immolated by the US, the Zionist Entity and Iran.
Learned and educated Arabs!
It is your day too, ye the nation intelligence and its brain! Expose
the
criminal Iranian role into what is happening in Iraq such as organized
destruction undertaken by Iran in coordination with the US in order to
change its national Arab identity and to annex it to the Persian
empire..
Strip the mask from Hizbollah which played an important role to prepare
for
the execution crime when artificially making up the suspicious Lebanon
battle as a cover up for what was going on in Iraq and grant Iran a
qualification it doesn't deserve and that it is fighting the US in Iraq
despite being the most ferocious enemy for the Iraqis as show the facts
on
the terrain. Expose this criminal party and its Safawide leader who
claim to
combat the Zionist Entity which participate into killing Iraq and its
People.. Trample on the mercenaries filthy faces which defend Iran in
amongst your ranks and divulge their servility towards Iran whose
sielence
is bought against shed Iraqi pure blood on the hands of Nasrallah
pupils and
those who trained them to kill Iraqis in Lebanon. Iran and Zionist
entity
being the first which rejoiced and welcomed the President's execution
leave
no doubt that their alliance is strong and going and they basically
don't
disagree!
Baathists Mujahideens!
The Lord today is testing your perseverance and your patience through
the
execution of your leader and the secretary general of your Party.. That
is
why your greatest riposte will be through your resistance and your
unity to
protect it from the infiltrated criminals, those who were vomited by
the
Party march and who speaks in its name here and there. Let your
destructive
riposte be the widening of the Jihad against the Occupation and against
Iran
and avoid any reactions against Iraqis.. for this is exactly what the
US and
Iran want i.e. to move your holy Jihad against the US-Iranian
Occupation
into a civil war.
Concentrate your guns on the US and Iranian heads and never deviate
from
this objective.. You should know that the martyr -President execution
is the
strongest US and Iranian defeat indicator . So hold on tight on your
guns..
and widen your move on the land of Jihad.. Clean yourself from the
collaborators and the debased.. May Saddam Hussein's banner be the
eternal
banner for liberation.. and may Saddam Hussein blood be, as he wished,
a
fire to clean our ranks and enforce our resistance and widen our
Jihad..
Our revenge from the US and Iran is to defeat the Occupation and make
it
endure more losses.. Our revenge is to cut any link with any
individuals or
any side which defends Iran crimes and collaborate with the Iranian
Party in
Lebanon and which is hiding under the name of Hizbollah. Our revenge is
to
strengthen the Iraqi Resistance unity and direct all its guns against
the US
and Iran.. Our revenge is to bring to accountability every one who
participated directly or indirectly in the martyr Saddam Hussein
killing
crime.
Religious leaders, Shia or Sunni.
Martyr Saddam Hussein's execution is a test for you, your Islam and
your
patriotism. Organize prayers for his pure soul and curse the US and
Iran and
their supporters and followers. Unite your ranks while your sons and
daughters are getting closer and closer to the decisive victory.. God
willing!
Guns bearers!
The decisive day is looming. Let Iran and the US bear the consequences
of
their crimes through achieving a faster victory.. For, by God almighty
the
victory will be not sweet enough unless inflicting more humiliation to
Iran
and the US. Our patriotic and national wishes will only be achieved
through
making Saddam Hussein the eternal symbol of our nation and our Party
dignity
!
Glory and eternity to the father of Arab nation and Islam's martyrs:
Saddam
Hussein!
Dishonor to the US and to Iran!
Dignity! All dignity to the heroes Mujahideens, Saddam Hussein's
avengers
and of all Iraq and the glorious Arab nation's martyrs!
We the real men, we wow to make Saddam Hussein shrine a centre for a
continuous revolution against the US, Iran and the Zionist Entity.
The Arab Baath Socialist Party Iraq leadership
Baghdad - Saddam Capital city
30th December 2006
Karachi suicide bombings have Al Qaeda links
http://www.teluguportal.net/modules/news/article.php?storyid=26967
Karachi suicide bombings have Al Qaeda links
Karachi, Jan 1 (IANS) Three major killings in this Pakistan port city
last
year were the handiwork of religious extremist groups with links to the
Al
Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Afghanistan's Abdullah Mehsud-led terror
group,
say investigators.
Referring to three suicide bombings in Karachi, the authorities said
that
terror groups with different priorities have ganged up.
Karachi has itself been a hotbed of terror groups and houses the Binori
madrassah that at one time hosted Osama bin Laden.
Karachi Police are "specifically worried about the Laskhar-e-Jhangvi,
Al
Qaeda and the Abdullah Mehsud-led group of Afghanistan", Daily Times
said.
The first suicide bombing March 3 last year took place behind the US
consulate, killing diplomat David Foy and three others. Two men,
Anwarul Haq
and Usman Ghani, are being tried in an anti-terrorism court for the
attack.
The alleged suicide bomber was identified as Raja Mohammad Tahir, a
resident
of Karachi, who had spent time in Afghanistan and Wana in Pakistan's
tribal
area, and had alleged links with Al Qaeda.
The car that was used in the attack had been fitted with the explosives
in
Wana, the police claim.
The second suicide bombing took place April 11 at Karachi's Nishtar
Park at
an Eid Milad-un-Nabi prayer congregation. It was thought to be a clash
between the Wahabi and Barelvi schools of Islamic thought.
More than 60 people died, including the entire top hierarchy of the
Sunni
Tehreek (of the Barelvi school of thought). During investigations, the
police, who termed it the biggest terrorist attack of the year, began
to
suspect that it was sectarian.
CID investigators said that for the first time it has been proved that
Al
Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi were involved in the sectarian case.
The third suicide attack was on July 14 in which prominent cleric
Allama
Hasan Turabi was killed along with his nephew outside his house in
Gulshan-e-Iqbal. The police caught a group from Karachi and identified
the
suicide attacker as a 16-year-old of Bengali origin, Abdul Karim.
The police followed clues that took them to Wana, leading them to
conclude
that the Lashkar-e-Janghvi, Al Qaeda and the Abdullah Mehsud-led group
were
behind the job.
Investigators told Daily Times that some Jhangvi men with links to
Karachi
went to Wana where they got in touch with the Abdullah Mehsud-led
group.
They then befriended Abdullah Mehsud's cousin, Abid Mehsud. Through
Abid
they developed more links with Al Qaeda in Karachi and upon Abid's
advice,
they roped in some young men from Orangi Town locality.
[Toys were used in Florida, about 4 years ago, a gal in the same hotel gave a tourist family a big teddy bear for the small boy.
The bear did not pass the scanner at the airport, it had a gun in it.
The family was cleared of all connections.
Of course, it has been used in Iraq and other war areas.
granny]
Brave Mujahideen plant bombs in toys
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,20997042-1702,00.html
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,20997042-1702,00.html
Bombs found hidden in toys - police
From correspondents in New Delhi
January 01, 2007 05:06am
Article from: Agence France-Presse
TWO suspected Islamic militants had been arrested with explosives
hidden
inside toys which they planned to blow up at a busy market in New Delhi,
Indian police said today.
Samimullah and Ali Mohammad, both from Indian Kashmir, were arrested at
a
New Delhi railway station on suspicion of belonging to pro-Pakistan
militant
group Lashkar-e-Taiba, senior police official Karnal Singh said.
The arrests came amid tight security in the Indian capital ahead of New
Year
festivities.
"We received a tip-off that the two men would be coming by train from
Jammu
(the winter capital of Indian Kashmir)," Mr Singh said.
"We detained them and during interrogation they admitted to being
members of
the Lashkar, and their plan was to plant two explosive devices."
In their luggage, a bomb disposal squad found two boxes with the toys -
a
toy duck and a toy bus - filled with explosives, he said.
"It took the squad around three hours to deactivate the two bombs."
Lashkar-e-Taiba, one of several groups battling Indian rule in Kashmir,
was
blamed for the October 29, 2005 triple bomb attacks in New Delhi, just
ahead
of the main Hindu festival of Diwali.
Those attacks killed 66 and injured at least 200 others.
The group was also blamed for the July 11 commuter train attacks in
Mumbai
this year that killed 186 people and injured about 800.
New Delhi has been under a security blanket for the past week ahead of
New
Year festivities and in the run-up to the country's 58th Republic Day
celebrations on January 26.
Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
Russia, Belarus Sign Last-Minute Gas Deal
Russia and Belarus signed a last-gasp agreement Sunday on Russian
gas supplies in a deal that averts a threatened supply cut that
would likely have hit deliveries to Western Europe.
To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the
internet address below:
http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=evu63cIfwf2zzI1&req=l%3Devu63bIfwf2zzI1
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
Germany assumes EU, G-8 presidencies
The New Year has seen Germany assume the presidencies of both the
Group of 8 industrialised nations and the European Union, and the
government of Chancellor Angela Merkel has some ambitious plans. In
her New Year's address, the chancellor said Germany would work to
revive the stalled Middle East peace process and salvage the
European constitution. The constitution has been on ice since it was
rejected by voters in both France and the Netherlands 18 months ago.
The chancellor also warned that only a united Europe could tackle
the challenges posed by globalisation, terrorism and war.
Bulgaria, Romania join EU
The European Union has grown to 27 member states, with the entry of
Bulgaria and Romania this New Year's Day. German Foreign Minister
Frank-Walter Steinmeier travelled to the Romanian capital,
Bucharest, to mark the occasion. Steinmeier told reporters that the
entry of the two communist nations marked an end to the historical
division of Europe. Steinmeier has since flown on to the Bulgarian
capital, Sofia. The New Year has also seen Slovenia adopt the
European Union's common currency, the euro. That brings the number
of EU nations in the eurozone to 13.
Six killed in US air raid in Baghdad
Six people have been killed after a US warplane has launched an air
strike on a building in Baghdad. A US military statement said the
attack had targeted a suspected safehouse for al-Qaeda terrorists.
But a member of parliament from the Iraqi National Dialogue party
said the target had been his office. The attack comes a day after
the Pentagon announced that the number of US troops killed in Iraq
since the 2003 invasion had reached 3,000. Meanwhile, the Iraqi
government has banned the private television station Al-Sharkiya,
accusing it of inciting sectarian violence. It wasn't immediately
clear what impact the banning order would have, since the station is
based in Dubai.
Search on for missing Indonesian plane
Fear are growing concerning the fate of around one hundred
passengers who were travelling in an aeroplane caught in bad weather
flying over Indonesia. The Boeing 737-400 passenger plane, operated
by Adam Air, sent out a distress signal before losing contact with
air traffic controllers. The Indonesian Transport Minister, Hatta
Radjasa, said that emergency crews were on their way to search for
survivors near Mamuju in South Sulawesi province, 750 kilometres
south-west of the plane's intended destination in the north-east of
Sulawesi island. Air traffic controllers lost contact with flight
KI-574, which was carrying 96 passengers and six crew, while it was
flying at 35,000 feet between the Java and Sulawesi islands.
Russia and Belarus sign gas deal
Russia and Belarus have signed a gas price deal after last-minute
negotiations beat a midnight deadline, averting potential supply
disruptions to Europe. The head of Gazprom Alexei Miller said a
mid-term agreement had been reached on gas prices and on transit
shipments to Europe. Belarus's Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky said
the former Soviet state had agreed to pay Gazprom $100 per 1,000
cubic metres of gas up from $46 -- more than twice the current rate.
Russia had been pushing for $105 and had threatened to cut off gas
supplies to Belarus on New Year's Day if no deal was reached.
AFP photographer kidnapped in Gaza
A journalist is reported to have been kidnapped by masked gunmen in
the Gaza Strip. Palestinian security sources said a photographer
working for the French news agency Agence France Presse or AFP was
apparently abducted by five armed men outside Gaza City offices.
Two confirmed dead after Madrid bombing
The Ecuadorian government has confirmed the death of two
of its citizens in Saturday's bombing of Madrid's
international airport by the Basque separatist group ETA.
At least 26 people were injured. ETA claimed
responsibility for the bombing, ending a truce that had
been in place since March. Thousands of people
demonstrated against ETA in Madrid and other cities, some
demanding that the government of Prime Minister Jose Luis
Rodriguez Zapatero resign.
Ban Ki-Moon takes the reins of UN
South Korea's Ban Ki-moon has taken office as the United Nations'
eighth secretary-general. The 62-year-old diplomat defeated six
other candidates vying for the post and won final approval from the
General Assembly in October. Ban has said he will work to build a
more peaceful, prosperous and just world. The outgoing
secretary-general Kofi Annan's 10-year tenure ended at midnight on
Sunday.
Somalia offers amnesty to rebel fighters
Somalia's prime minister, Ali Mohamed Gedi, has ordered all Somalis
to hand over their weapons within three days. He was speaking at a
press conference in the capital, Mogadishu. Somalia's transitional
government has also offered amnesty to Islamist fighters who lay
down arms. Earlier, forces of the rebel Somalia Islamic Courts
Council fled their last stronghold near the southern port town of
Kismayu. Reports said they were headed towards the Kenyan border as
government and Ethiopian soldiers advanced. The rebels fled
Mogadishu on Thursday after an offensive by Ethiopian forces.
Israel begins easing West Bank controls
Israel has begun easing restrictions at checkpoints in the occupied
West Bank. The move is part of a series of confidence-building
measures promised by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert at a summit with
Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas last month. Israeli defence
minister Amir Peretz had said that Israel would dismantle 59 of
about 400 roadblocks in the West Bank in two phases. Palestinians
travelling across the West Bank are forced to pass through dozens of
checkpoints erected to control the movement of militants.
Thai military blames opposition for blasts
The chief of Thailand's junta, General Sonthi Boonyaratglin, has
blamed politicians from the government of ousted Premier Thakshin
Shinawatra for the deadly bombings that rocked Bangkok on New Year's
eve. Warning that more attacks were possible, he told reporters on
Monday that opposition politicians wanted to undermine national
security and the economy. Eight apparently coordinated explosions in
Bangkok late on Sunday left three people dead and injured more than
30 others,including nine foreign tourists. Speaking through his
lawyer, Thakshin denied any involvement in the attacks.
Pope urges gov't to work for peace
Pope Benedict XVI has called for the nations of the world to work
for world peace and human rights. In his annual New Year's speech
the Pontiff wished a crowd of tens of thousands in St. Peter's Square "peace and well being" in 2007.
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
Need a good laugh? Then check out DW-WORLD.DE'S From the Fringe
Special, which regularly brings you quirky stories from and about
Germany. To find out more, go to
http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=evu63cIfwf2zzI2&req=l%3Devu63bIfwf2zzI2
For more information please turn to our internet website at
http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=evu63cIfwf2zzI3&req=l%3Devu63bIfwf2zzI3
Book on Gandhi banned. Gandhi is the psec minorityist icon now.
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060908/haryana.htm#1
Book on Gandhi banned
Shubhadeep Choudhury
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh:
Close on the heels of the controversy sparked off by two NCERT history
books
in Haryana, timely action by the state government has scuttled the
possibility of unrest on account of another book.
The government has decided to ban a book on Mahatma Gandhi, written by
Anand
Prakash Madan of Panchkula, for remarks made in it about the Father of
the
Nation.
Madan's book, ''Mahatma Gandhi — A Curse for Bharat'', is in the nature
of
propaganda material and should under no circumstances be compared with
the
NCERT books written by historians of some repute.
In the latter books some observations were made about the nature of the
Jat
rebellion in North India at the fag end of Mughal rule. The Opposition
INLD
twisted the strictly academic exercise suitably to corner the state
government,
which fell into the trap rather easily.
Madan's book, on the other hand, is full of invectives against the
Mahatma
and can well qualify for a textbook for the training of Hindu fanatics.
The
title of the book, brought out by a Delhi-based publisher, is itself
suggestive
of the contents and so is the cover. The word Mahatma is defaced by a
red
line cutting right through the word to show that Madan did not agree
with
the
appellation given to Gandhiji by Tagore. Gandhiji is portrayed as
anti-Hindu
while Jinnah gets a pat on the back from the writer for being a
"reasonable
man". Nehru, too, is not spared and is written off as a dandy.
The government, "after carefully going through the book", has come to
the
conclusion that it contains "objectionable and derogatory" remarks
against
Mahatma Gandhi and "tends to promote feelings of enmity, hatred and
ill-will
between different communities".
The government has found the publication an offence under Section 153-A
of
the IPC. The government, in exercise of powers under sub-section (1) of
Section
95 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, has decided that every
copy of
the book in Haryana will be forfeited with immediate effect.
A notification in this regard is being issued tomorrow. It is not
really too
bad for the writer, who may actually have written the book only to get
himself some publicity. What he may not have bargained for is a police
case,
which is going to be registered by the Panchkula police against him
soon.
--
Let noble thoughts come from all sides.
aa no bhadraah krtavo yantu vis'vatah
S. Kalyanaraman
Israel is the Only Middle East Ally for Americans
Angus Reid Global Monitor : Polls & Research
Israel is the Only Middle East Ally for Americans
December 30, 2006
www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/14256
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Many adults in the U.S. believe Israel is a partner, according to a poll by Opinion Research Corporation released by CNN. 42 per cent of respondents describe Israel as an ally of the United States.
Conversely, 40 per cent of respondents believe Saudi Arabia is friendly to the United States. In addition, 77 per cent of respondents think Iran is either unfriendly or an enemy of their country, and 57 per cent feel the same way about Syria.
In July and August, Israel waged war against Lebanon-based Hezbollah militants. On Aug. 18, U.S. president George W. Bush discussed the ceasefire in the Middle East, saying, "The issue is broader than just Hezbollah. The issue is also Syria and Iran, two nations that supported Hezbollah in its attempts to create enough havoc. I guess people feel like they could take political advantage of the situation, we just can't let them do it."
In April 2005, Bush met with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah in Texas. The two leaders issued a joint statement, where their two nations re-committed to "fostering values of understanding, tolerance, dialogue, co-existence, and the rapprochement between cultures (and) fighting any form of thinking that promotes hatred, incites violence, and condones terrorist crimes which can by no means be accepted by any religion or law."
On Dec. 6, the Iraq Study Group- a bipartisan panel of experts- presented its findings on how to deal with the situation in Iraq. The ten members called for a quicker process to train Iraqi forces, engaging with Iran and Syria in a dialogue aimed at stabilizing Iraq, and pulling back U.S. combat troops by early 2008.
Polling Data
For each of the following countries, please say whether you consider it an ally of the United States, friendly but not an ally, unfriendly, or an enemy of the United States.
Israel:
Ally 42% Friendly 39% Unfriendly 8% Enemy 5%
Saudi Arabia
Ally 18% Friendly 40% Unfriendly 18% Enemy 18%
Iran
Ally 4% Friendly 14% Unfriendly 29% Enemy 48%
Syria
Ally 8% Friendly 23% Unfriendly 29% Enemy 28%
Source: Opinion Research Corporation / CNN
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,019 American adults, conducted from
Dec. 15 to Dec. 17, 2006. Margin of error is 3 per cent.
Gazans fear influential radios will lead them to civil war
By Diaa Hadid
ASSOCIATED PRESS
9:15 a.m. December 31, 2006
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20061231-0915-gaza-radiowars.html
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – The fighting between Hamas and Fatah
militants hasn't played out just in the streets of the Gaza Strip. The rivals also pummeled each other over the airwaves with
such epithets as “mercenary death squads,†“child killers†and
“Zionists.â€
The rhetoric, coupled with the stations' power to quickly rally
their armed supporters in the streets, has led to fears that the
broadcasters could fan the flames into full-blown civil war.
“If we wanted, we could burn down Gaza,†said a smiling Ibrahim
Daher, director of Aqsa Radio, the Gaza voice of Islamic Hamas.
Fatah has been locked in a power struggle with Hamas since losing
legislative elections in January, which handed Hamas control of
most of the Palestinian government. The tensions have routinely
erupted into fighting, most recently after a drive-by shooting
Dec. 11 which killed the children of a senior security official
loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah. That round of fighting
killed 17 people.
For the next two weeks, Hamas' Aqsa Radio and Fatah's Radio
Shabab enthralled listeners as they reported fierce clashes and
angry marches, and gave air time for callers and leaders to abuse
their opponents.
On Radio Shabab, callers described Hamas gunmen as “child
killers†– a reference to the drive-by shooting – or as “the
mullahs†– a jab at Hamas' close ties to Shiite Iran.
Hamas' Aqsa Radio rarely reported Hamas gunmen's deadly assaults
on Fatah targets. The broadcasts regularly labeled opponents as
“mercenary death squads†and “coup plotters.â€
One senior Hamas official called his rivals “Zionists†–
tantamount to a death sentence in Gaza's militantly anti-Israel
society. In another report, an Aqsa correspondent reported –
falsely – that Fatah gunmen were firing at their own supporters
in the southern town of Khan Younis.
“Radios play at incitement,†said Daher. “There's no neutral
radio in Gaza, it's all factional.â€
Even so, Daher and all the other stations said they tried not to
incite people against each other.
Ibrahim Abu Naja, head of a mediation committee that got Hamas
and Fatah to halt fighting, saw things differently. “We are aware
of how major a role radio plays in creating tensions and
provoking fighting,†he said.
Abu Naja said he repeatedly demanded that radio stations tone
down their rhetoric.
The medium had traditionally played a far different role in
radio-crazy Gaza, where 15 stations – some funded by political
groups and charities, others by ads – vie for the ears of 1.4
million Palestinians living on a narrow strip of Mediterranean
coastline. The programs go beyond just news and music, providing
crucial services to Palestinian society.
One of the most popular is a call-in program for families of the
thousands of Palestinians in Israeli jails. The broadcasters link
families with their imprisoned relatives, and the conversations
are often heart-wrenching. Children tell their imprisoned fathers
they're behaving well. Tearful mothers remind their jailed sons
to dress warmly, fathers send greetings. The conversations often
bring the radio hosts to tears.
More recently, radio has also been an effective weapon in the
battle against Israel. In November, after Israel ordered a Hamas
commander to evacuate his house, saying it would be bombed in 15
minutes, Aqsa Radio came to the rescue.
It called on people to flock to the house as human shields.
Crowds gathered on the roof, and the house was saved. The tactic
was used to save four other targeted houses.
With a lull in the recent infighting, the radio stations have
toned down as well. But with no political solution in sight, the
radios may yet wage another battle.
“Radio is in every house, every car and every street. It can
cause a revolution or quell one. That's a dangerous role,†said
Salah al-Masri, director of Al-Quds Radio, funded by the radical
Islamic Jihad militant group.
“I bet you, in a few hours, I can orchestrate a protest. The
question is what kind. We can launch a protest against the
Israeli occupation, or at (Abbas), or fire rockets,†he said.
from AlertNet
2007-Jan-01 22:44:59
Photographer, Palestinian gunmen abducted in Gaza
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L01887004.htm
2007-Jan-01 22:41:28
Iraq govt to probe filming of Saddam hanging
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/MAC171273.htm
2007-Jan-01 22:22:52
Iraq civilian deaths hit new record -ministry
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/MAC176186.htm
2007-Jan-01 18:28:36
Prisoners clash with guards in Iraq jail
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IBO157796.htm
2007-Jan-01 18:20:11
ANALYSIS-Iraqis see U.S. push against Sadr's Mehdi Army
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/KAR150366.htm
2007-Jan-01 18:09:13
FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, Jan 1
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L01874645.htm
2007-Jan-01 18:04:23
Iraq shuts TV channel for inciting sectarianism
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/PAR149158.htm
2007-Jan-01 18:04:10
FEATURE-Dead leaders drive Lebanese political life
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L22152595.htm
2007-Jan-01 18:02:25
EXCLUSIVE-US sought to delay Saddam execution-Iraqi source
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/MAC154835.htm
2007-Jan-01 17:48:07
FACTBOX-Military and civilian deaths in Iraq
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L01859254.htm
2007-Jan-01 17:40:33
Two U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IBO163170.htm
2007-Jan-01 17:28:57
Two U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IBO162802.htm
Source: Shenzhen Economic Daily [trans. by submitter, edited]
http://paper.sznews.com/szsb/20061231/ca2545788.htm
China: Undiagnosed respiratory illness
Upcoming Significant Events:
January 3, 1989 - India
Kashmiri Separatist Campaign
Moslem Kashmiri militants began their campaign for independence from India.
January 4, 1948 - Burma
Independence Day
The various groups and regions within British Burma joined together and proclaimed the Union of Burma as an independent republic outside of the British commonwealth.
January 4, 1986 - Libya
Two Libyan Planes Shot Down
U.S. war planes shot down two Libyan war planes over the Gulf of Sidra.
January 5, 1956 - Laos
Lao Patriotic Front Founded
The Lao Patriotic Front (LPF) was established by the Pathet Lao (Communist Lao faction) under the tutelage of Vietnamese Communists.
January 6, 1963 - Colombia
ELN Begins Insurgency
The National Liberation Army (ELN), a leftist guerrilla organization that has frequently targeted American interests in the energy sector, begins its insurgency.
January 6, 1986 - Liberia
New Constitution Inaugurated
No information provided.
January 6, 1989 - India
Indira Gandhi Assassins Hanged
Two of prime minister Indira Gandhi's Sikh bodyguards were hanged for her assassination on October 31, 1984.
http://www.smdailyjournal.com/article_preview.php?id=68889
Printed from THE DAILY JOURNAL, dtd. 01/01/2007
Local briefs
Shooting victim identified.
The San Mateo County Coroner identified a 19-year-old woman who was fatally shot Friday night in East Palo Alto as Melevea Fifita, an East Palo Alto resident.
Fifita was shot shortly after 10:30 p.m. Friday in the 2600 block of Fordham Street, police reported. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Responding officers also found a second victim, a 21-year-old San Francisco woman, who was taken to a local hospital for treatment of her injuries. She was listed in serious but stable condition Saturday, police reported.
The Police Department does not have anyone in custody for the shooting. Anyone with information is asked to call police detectives at (650) 853-3177 or (650) 853-3183. Anonymous calls can be made by dialing (650) 853-8477.
Explosive detonated in San Bruno
A bomb squad detonated an explosive device found at a San Bruno residence on Saturday after people in the surrounding area were evacuated from their homes, a police sergeant reported.
San Bruno police Sgt. Troy Fry said seven residences were evacuated near the 600 block of Green Avenue in San Bruno around 3 a.m. on Saturday after the discovery.
The device, which was unspecified, was detonated without injury, according to the sergeant. It turned up as a result of a joint investigation involving San Bruno police and a narcotics task force from the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office. A sheriff’s bomb squad detonated the device, Fry reported.
San Carlos bank robbed
A man entered a bank in San Carlos Saturday, showed a handgun, demanded money and then fled the bank, according to San Carlos police.
The suspect entered Citibank in the 700 block of Laurel Street around 9:25 a.m. wearing a ski mask.
After showing the weapon and demanding money, he exited the bank through a back door, police said.
The suspect was described as a white or Hispanic man, 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighing about 150 pounds. He was wearing a white or light-colored hooded sweatshirt, jeans and light-colored tennis shoes, according to police.
Anyone with information is asked to call San Carlos police at (650) 802-4277.
Police dog missing
The Palo Alto Police Department is asking for the public’s help in finding a police bloodhound reported missing since Tuesday.
According to police, Luke, a 3-year-old canine, was involved in the Police Department’s part-time pilot program that utilizes a bloodhound for tracking purposes and is owned by a Palo Alto police officer.
Luke went missing on Tuesday from the officer’s home in Newark.
Anyone with information regarding Luke’s whereabouts is asked to call the Police Department at (650) 329-2413.
Pacifica resident arrested for stabbing
An 18-year-old Pacifica resident was arrested early Friday morning on suspicion of stabbing and seriously injuring a Half Moon Bay man Thursday night, Pacifica police reported.
Anthony Campos was arrested shortly after 4 a.m. and was booked into the Redwood City main jail on suspicion of attempted murder, police reported.
Police and fire units responded to a report of a stabbing victim at 11:19 p.m. Thursday near the Starbucks coffee shop in the Linda Mar Shopping Center, located at state Highway 1 and Linda Mar Boulevard. Police found 19-year-old James Jordon, a Half Moon Bay resident, lying on his stomach inside a parked car. He appeared to be suffering from a single stab wound to the center of his lower back, police reported.
Witnesses told police that the stabbing had occurred a short distance away in the area of Linda Mar Boulevard and Madeira Drive, where police later found two knives. Investigators have not yet determined whether either knife was the one used to stab Jordon, police reported.
Jordon was taken to San Francisco General Hospital and treated for a collapsed left lung and a laceration to his diaphragm area. According to a police report, doctors have said they do not believe Jordon’s injuries are life threatening at this time.
http://www.smdailyjournal.com/article_preview.php?type=lnews&id=68917
Printed from THE DAILY JOURNAL, dtd. 01/02/2007
San Bruno home was weed farm
By Dana Yates
What started as a routine roof fire resulted in a $1 million drug bust that required the bomb squad to detonate a pipe bomb in San Bruno neighborhood Friday evening.
San Bruno fire crews responded to a report of a roof fire at 8:15 p.m. at a house in the 3100 block of Fleetwood Drive. Firefighters quickly put out the fire, but discovered a large amount of marijuana inside the residence. San Bruno police determined the house was converted into a large-scale marijuana growing operation and called on the San Mateo County Narcotics Task Force to take over the investigation, according to a report issued Sunday by Leo Capovilla, special agent supervisor for the task force.
Agents discovered 1,298 marijuana plants in various stages of growth. The two-story, three bedroom, two-bath house was fully converted and didn’t appear to have anyone living there. There were numerous overhead lights, an elaborate filtering and ventilation system and more than 60 grams of dried marijuana ready for sale. Agents also discovered weapons, including an AK-47 with high velocity ammunition magazines and money, according to the report.
Agents also found paperwork leading them to another house on Green Avenue in San Bruno.
Agents arrested Aaron George Seits, 23, at the Green Avenue house. A subsequent search of the residence revealed what appeared to be a pipe bomb. Agents evacuated the house and called the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office Bomb Squad, which confirmed the explosive nature of the device. Several adjacent neighbors were evacuated while the bomb squad detonated the device on scene, according to the report.
An additional search of Seits’ residence revealed a police scanner, additional weapons, ammunition and stolen property.
The operation is estimated at more than $1 million, according to the report.
Seits, a self employed electrician, was booked into San Mateo County Jail and is charged with marijuana cultivation, possession of marijuana for sale, possession of an assault weapon, possession of an explosive device, transporting high capacity magazines into the state, altering or removing serial numbers from weapons, possession of stolen property.
His bail is set at $175,000 and he will be arraigned this afternoon.
Dana Yates can be reached by e-mail: dana@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 106. What do you think of this story? Send a letter to the editor: letters@smdailyjournal.com.
http://www.katc.com/global/story.asp?s=5878506
Authorities: Pipe bomb found outside West Baton Rouge church
PORT ALLEN, La. West Baton Rouge Parish sheriff's deputies and agents with the F-B-I are investigating who placed a pipe bomb outside a Baptist church near here.
The state police's Hazardous Material Unit safetly detonated the improvised explosive device at about nine p-m yesterday (Sunday), four hours after the device was found outside the Erwinville Baptist Church on Louisiana Highway 413.
No injuries were reported and no arrests have been made.
The sheriff's office is working with the Federal Bureau of Investigations to find out who planted the bomb outside the church.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press.
http://www.katc.com/Global/story.asp?S=5878896
N.O. police investigate string of murders
NEW ORLEANS -- New Orleans police are investigating three murders reported within a three hour period on New Year's Eve. A fourth man was killed on New Year's Day.
The first shooting was reported at about 7 p.m. At a FEMA trailer, authorities found a 42-year-old man shot several times in the back of the head. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Less than two hours later authorities found an unidentified victim lying on a sidewalk. He sustained multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene.
The third homicide was reported at 10:12 p.m. Police said they found a 57-year-old man shot to death inside a home.
On Monday, officers found a man lying on the sidewalk with multiple gunshot wounds to his head and body. He was pronounced dead on the scene.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press.
Threat from jihadis freed by courts
http://www.gulfnews.com/world/Pakistan/10093537.html
Threat from jihadis freed by courts
The Telegraph Group
Karachi/London: Anti-terrorism forces in Pakistan have been told to
brace
themselves for a wave of atrocities.
Intelligence officials warned that the security situation is now more
precarious than it was before the September 11 attacks on New York and
Washington.
Senior officers say they are "back to square one" in their fight
against
international terrorist groups after the release of dozens of militants
by
Pakistani courts.
High-ranking police officials say as many as 80 hardcore militants are
on
the loose after being cleared by the courts or released on bail.
They are believed to have been involved in crimes including the
attempted
assassination of President Pervez Musharraf and a suicide attack on the
American consulate in Karachi.
A memo sent by Pakistan's interior ministry to law enforcement agencies
around the country warns of a plot to use suicide bombers to target
Britons
and Americans, including diplomats, in a coordinated campaign involving
some
of the country's most notorious terrorist groups.
The ministry warned that the bombers were also believed to be looking
at
high-profile individuals and military installations as potential
targets.
Groomed
Last month, Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller, the head of MI5, warned of
the
growing threat from within Pakistan.
She said young British Muslims were being groomed to become suicide
bombers
and that most of the 1,600 suspects being tracked by her agents were
British-born but linked to Al Qaida in Pakistan.
MI5 is reported to have compiled detailed dossiers on British Muslims
travelling to jihadist training camps in Waziristan, on the border with
Afghanistan, the region where the United States believes Osama Bin
Laden is
hiding.
At least two of the British Muslims involved in the Tube and bus
bombings in
London on July 7 last year are known to have visited training camps in
Pakistan.
Anti-terrorism officers in Pakistan say they are deeply alarmed by the
security situation. "We are back to square one and the situation is
more
precarious than it was before 9/11," one senior officer told The Sunday
Telegraph.
"They are planning more attacks. They have got huge backup. There are
so
many youths who are joining them. The old ones who are released from
the
prison are guiding and training the new cadres."
The interior ministry memo warns: "We would like to direct all the
concerned
security departments to tighten security around important personalities
inside Pakistan, and to keep a constant eye on the movement of people
who
had previously provided shelter to militants linked to terror
organisations."
Counter-terrorism officials are aghast at the decision by the courts to
free
so many people suspected of involvement in attacks. Police say many
have
since disappeared off the radar of intelligence agencies and are
believed to
be planning to strike.
Among those released recently are Sohail Akhtar (aka Mustafa), the
operational commander of the outlawed Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami group.
He has been blamed for a campaign that included a suicide attack in
Karachi
in which 11 French engineers died, the suicide attack on the US
consulate,
and the failed attempt on the president's life. Intelligence officers
say
Mustafa - who was initially sentenced to death before a court
overturned the
verdict - is also believed to have travelled to Iraq to establish
contact
between Al Qaida and terrorists there. His interrogators described him
as "a
terrorist genius".
One official said: "He was the one who cobbled together all the
jihadis,
working under various organisations, by coining the slogan, 'The ways
should
be different but the goal should be one'."
Precise instructions
Officials said they had intercepted jihadist manuals which Mustafa
wrote
while in the prison, in which he had set out precise instructions on
how to
carry out attacks and maintain security.
Other militants released by the courts include Fazal Karim, who is
believed
to have been present at the killing of the American journalist Daniel
Pearl,
and Qari Mohammad Anwar (also known as Abu Darada). Anwar was arrested
at an
Al Qaida safe house in Karachi along with Khalid Al Atash - who is
wanted by
the FBI in connection with the USS Cole bombings off Yemen - and Ammar
Al
Balochi, who was allegedly involved earlier this year in a plot to
attack
Heathrow airport.
The government called a meeting in Islamabad last week to discuss the
release of militants. It may put forward a strategy to deter the courts
from
clearing suspects or releasing them on bail.
But police admit that their own methods have contributed to the
problem. A
senior official said police had taken to producing false witnesses
because
members of the public were too scared to testify in court. In addition,
officers did not have the modern forensic tools to gather evidence.
Weren't those weenie liberals telling us the Baath Party was secular not too long ago? :-)
I think this 2005 article, fits what is floating around in my mind. granny]
Mon, 18 Jul 2005 10:16:56 -0400 (GMT-04:00)
Subject: [unitedstatesaction] 2005-0718: US - Homegrown Jihadists
Homegrown Jihadists
By Robert Spencer
FrontPageMagazine.com | July 18, 2005
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=18801
Ali Al-Timimi was a popular lecturer at the Center for Islamic
Information and Education at the Dar al Arqam Islamic Center in Falls Church, Virginia. But now he has been sentenced to life in prison for calling
upon Muslims there after 9/11 to join the Taliban and fight against
American troops in Afghanistan. He was a primary inspiration for the
"Virginia jihad network" which aided a jihadist group in Pakistan and played
paintball in order to train to fight U.S. forces.
According to CNN, Timimi told his hearers that "Islamic history
justifies attacks on civilians, that those fighting Americans in Afghanistan
would die as martyrs and how to reach a terrorist training camp in
Pakistan."
The London bombings have underscored the necessity to take this kind of
language seriously. When people declare war on the United States, we
should take their words with the utmost seriousness. Timimi's prosecutor,
Gordon Kromberg, stated: "Al-Timimi hates the US and calls for its
destruction. He's allowed to do that in this country. He's not allowed to
solicit treason, as he did. He deserves every day of the time he will
serve."
Yet Timimi declared himself a "prisoner of conscience." Mahdi Bray, the
executive director of the Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation
and self-styled "country Muslim from Norfolk, Virginia," was also aghast
at Timimi's sentence: "What he said was perhaps repugnant and
inflammatory," Bray conceded, "but was it really his intent to have people go
and take his words and translate that into going and killing other human
beings, specifically Americans?"
If that was not his intent, what was? Speaking about attacks on
civilians, martyrs' deaths and fighting Americans doesn't admit of much of a
metaphorical interpretation. Would Bray have us believe that Timimi was
referring to jihad as a spiritual struggle, and that by the Taliban he
meant "holiness" and by the Americans, "sin"? Sometimes words mean just
what they appear to mean.
Some of the tendency not to take such talk seriously comes from a
general state of denial about jihadist activity in the United States. But
Timimi is by no means the first homegrown jihadist. Khalid Sheikh
Mohammed, who was identified in the 9/11 Commission Report as the "principal
architect of the 9/11 attacks," studied in the United States for several
years, beginning in 1983. He received a degree in mechanical
engineering from North Carolina A & T in 1986, and went to Afghanistan the next
year to wage jihad against the Soviet Union. When he came to America to
study, he had already joined the Muslim Brotherhood, the forefather of
the terrorist groups Hamas and Al-Qaeda. Yet if American officials were
aware of this at all at the time, they evidently didn't think it was
important enough to merit a denial or revocation of Mohammed's visa, or
close surveillance of his activities.
Nor is Timimi the first American citizen, or the second after John
Walker Lindh, to become involved with the jihad. Maher Hawash, the Intel
video technology wizard who pled guilty in August 2003 to conspiring to
aid the Taliban, was a naturalized American citizen. Another American
citizen, former Council on American Islamic Relations communications
specialist Randall Todd "Ismail" Royer, is now serving twenty years in
prison for his role in the same "Virginia jihad network" with which Timimi
was involved. Royer, a St. Louis native and convert to Islam,
stockpiled arms and, according to his indictment, planned "to prepare for and
engage in violent jihad on behalf of Muslims in Kashmir, Chechnya, the
Philippines and other countries and territories, against countries,
governments, military forces and peoples that the defendants and their
conspirators believed to be enemies of Islam."
Sahim Alwan is also an American citizen. A leader of the Yemeni
community in Lackawanna, New York and onetime president of the mosque there,
he has the distinction of being the first American to attend an Al Qaeda
training camp. Why did he go? He was convinced to do so by Kamal
Derwish, an Al Qaeda recruiter. Alwan explained that Derwish taught him that
the Qur'an "says you have to learn how to prepare. Like, you gotta be
prepared just in case you do have to go to war. If there is war, then
you would have to be called for jihad. And that was the aspect of the
camp itself, for going and learn how to use weapons, and stuff like that."
The London bombings are just the latest indication that such statements
should be regarded with the utmost seriousness. Yet most analyses of
the bombings and other acts of Islamic terrorism continue to be invested
with a curious unreality and unwillingness to take such words at their
face value. Jihad, we hear endlessly from Islamic apologists, is a
spiritual struggle. Terrorism? It's in the eye of the beholder, as news
talking head Brian Williams reminded us when he recently equated the
Founding Fathers with modern-day jihad terrorists. The movement in the
universities and the mainstream media to drain the word terrorism of its
particular meaning and its application to our enemies is far advanced
– and so are its effects. The assault by the ACLU and people like
David Cole on the provision of the Patriot Act that allows the FBI to
conduct surveillance on individuals and groups who call for jihad could
paralyze the agency's ability to stop these people before they can act.
Bassam Khalaf was fired from his job as a baggage screener at Houston's
George Bush Intercontinental Airport on July 7. Airport officials
discovered that under the name "Arabic Assassin," he had recorded a rap CD
entitled Terror Alert, on which he described himself as a "crazy,
suicidal Arabic ... equipped with bombs" and threatened to hijack a plane on
September 11, 2005 and fly it into a building.
A statement on his website says, "I CHOSE THIS NAME BECAUSE IT FITS ME.
IM ARABIC AND ILL ASSASSINATE YO A**." Yet despite the forthright
bloodlust in his lyrics, he professed to be bewildered about his firing: "I
kept my music and my job separate," he protested. "What does my music
have to do with my job?" About his firing, he said: "I know part of it
is racially motivated."
People often mean what they say. While Khalaf may well turn into the
ACLU's next poster child, there needs to be a thoughtful public debate
about whether the United States can still afford the luxury of treating
all such cases as freedom of speech or civil rights issues. Khalaf
himself is most likely nothing more than a harmless buffoon, but Houston
Airport officials would have been foolhardy in the extreme to assume that
that was all he was. Khalaf's activities and associations should be
carefully and thoroughly investigated; the time when officials had the
luxury of disregarding such statements is long past.
If he and others like him are simply ignored, or casually and
thoughtlessly granted a license to speak and act freely under the guise of
"freedom of speech," we find to our dismay that one of these homegrown
jihadists, like Timimi and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the rest, actually
meant what he said.
[Thinking of your article that had the nail bombs used in Thailand, of yesterday, found this London article with the nail bombs ready to use, I also recall seeing photos of these.
Maybe the reason nailbombs made such an impression on me, is that after one of the Israel bus bombs, on a site, Israel I think, there were photos of the doctors, and patients, as they tried to remove the nails.
I can still almost count those in the body of a fleshey blonde lady of about 35, who had been hit with many hundreds of them, she had holes every inch or two.
Her body looked exactly like that of my daughter would have looked, if it had been she.
So I do not forget.
granny]
The deadly nailbombs meant for London commuters
July 27, 2005
The deadly nailbombs meant for London commuters
The London Times
By Jenny Booth, Times Online
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,22989-1710339,00.html
Shocking new images have emerged of unexploded bombs, some packed
around with nails, which were found in a car left behind by the July 7
London bombers.
In total, 16 bombs were found in the red Nissan car parked at Luton
railway station. It is is believed the car was rented in Leeds by Shehzad
Tanweer, one of the four bombers who killed themselves and 52 others in
a co-ordinated attack on three London Underground trains and a bus
earlier this month.
The sheer number of devices has raised fears that the scale of the July
7 bomb plot was much larger than originally imagined.
The presence of nailbombs graphically illustrates that the bombing cell
wanted to inflict the maximum possible pain, injury and risk of death
on innocent London commuters, security analysts say.
"You see what is bulging on the sides of the bottle are nails. Many,
many nails," said Robert Ayers, a security expert who was shown the
pictures by the American ABC News channel last night.
"And the nails are put there so that when the bomb goes off, the nails
will tear tissue and kill people in the area. Bombs don't kill by
concussion. Small bombs, they kill by the blast effects of fragments of
glass or metal, and this is designed to kill people."
Meanwhile police were continuing to question Yasin Hassan Omar, named
by police as one of the would-be terrorists in the attempted second wave
of London bombs on July 21. Omar is believed to have been on the run
since a bomb failed to detonate on a tube train at Warren St station last
Thursday. Three others, whose devices also failed to go off, are also
wanted by police.
Omar was felled with a Taser stun gun after a scuffle with police
officers who raided a house at 04.30.
Police found a suspect package and more than 100 nearby homes were then
evacuated on Army advice as the bomb squad moved in. He was taken to
Paddington Green high security police station in Central London for
questioning.
Shortly after his arrest, three other men were held in a raid two miles
away in Bankdale Road in the Washwood Heath area of Birmingham and are
being held by local police. The raids were carried out by 50 officers
from the Metropolitan Police Anti-Terrorist Branch and West Midlands
Police. No shots were fired.
Meanwhile today Luton airport was closed and flights thrown into
disarray as a man was arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act as he
was about to catch a Ryanair flight to the southern French city of Nimes.
It was not clear if this was in connection with the bombings.
Two other men travelling on a train from Newcastle to King's Cross were
arrested last night after the train was stopped at Grantham in
Lincolnshire. Police said that the arrests, under the Terrorism Act 2000,
followed a tip-off from two off-duty Metropolitan Police officers on the
train.
Andy Wilkinson, an electrician who lives in Heybarnes Road, Birmingham,
said that he saw the suspect being led out in a white forensic suit
with his hands bound by plastic ties. He said the suspect looked like Omar
but could not confirm that it was him.
Mr Wilkinson, 41, said: "It was about 5.10am and all we could hear was
a right racket - people trying to break a door down. I looked out of
the window and the road was full of armed police and they had got the
road closed off.
"After 10 or 15 minutes they brought a guy out. He looked like the
darkest-skinned one in the photos of the four suspects released by the
police - the one with the curly hair.
"They had him dressed in one of those white suits. He had plastic cuffs
on the front and just after he came out, they brought a woman out and
she looked Filipino."
Mr Wilkinson said the maisonette property that was raided had been
rented for a long time. He said: "According to the old bloke who lives next
door, they come and go and they are not there all the time. It's almost
like it's a letter drop. You don't see them for three days at a time."
Bedfordshire Police said that a man was detained at Luton airport as he
prepared to take a flight to Nimes. The flight was delayed for several
hours while police checked the aircraft and sparked a major security
alert at the airport.
Deputy Chief Constable Martin Stuart said: "I would like to reassure
everybody that their safety is our priority and apologise for the delay
to this flight, but it is important that all calls to the police are
thoroughly investigated. Again, we apologise for the inconvenience this
has caused."
Today's arrests in Birmingham are thought to be of major significance
in the hunt for the bombers. Detectives fear they may still be in
possession of explosives after reports that on the day after the failed July
21 attacks they returned to the tower block flat rented by Omar that
they had used as a bomb factory in New Southgate, North London.
It is also understood that police have recovered a large amount of
chemical compounds from a lock-up near the tower block which could have
been used to make home-made explosives. Two other North London premises,
in Finchley and Enfield, were raided by Scotland Yard's anti-terrorist
branch this morning, although no arrests were made.
The body of the Brazilian man shot dead by police will be flown back to
his home country tonight. Jean Charles de Menezes, 27, was shot eight
times in the head at Stockwell Station on the London Underground on
Friday.
Today his family said in a press conference that the electrician had
acted as "training" for the security forces. They said that by shooting
dead 27-year-old Jean Charles de Menezes the police had learned the
wrong course of action - and were now using stun guns instead.
Alex Pereira, 27, said his cousin's death had given police a lesson
they needed. "They learned, it means that my cousin was training. They
killed one person to learn that lesson, I hope they never kill again."
He added: "They would never have learned this if my cousin had not
died."
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