Posted on 12/17/2006 4:03:30 PM PST by DAVEY CROCKETT
Malaysian aviation safety authority says RPX Airlines Boeing 737-200F
runway
skid-off a result of landing short
Investigations are continuing into a Boeing 737-200 freighter that
skidded
off a runway in Kuching, East Malaysia but the Malaysian department of
civil
aviation (DCA) has disclosed that the aircraft landed short of the
runway.
At 05:52 on 13 January the aircraft landed at Kuching airport but it
landed
aroud 20-30m (66-100ft) short of the runway threshold, says a DCA
spokesman
in Kuching, adding that there are skid marks and broken runway lights
that
show the aircraft landed short (pictured below).
It “didn’t make it onto the centre of the runway” and instead
skidded
along the right side of the runway and along the shoulder before
skidding
off and resting about one kilometre from the runway threshold, says the
spokesman.
Weather conditions at the time of the accident “were very foggy”,
he
says.
The aircraft’s main under-carriage was damaged as a result of the
impact
as were the wings, says spokesman, adding that impact also caused one
of the
aircraft’s engines to come off and the second engine later came off
when
the 737-200 was being towed away.
Engine parts and other debris from the 737-200 was found along and near
the
edge of the runway, says the DCA, which confirms the airport was closed
following the accident but re-opened at 12:00.
There were no fatalities and the aircraft was transporting mail from
West
Malaysia to Kuching, which is the main city in East Malaysia’s
Sarawak
province.
Malaysian firm Gading Sari Aviation Services had been wet-leasing the
aircraft from Indonesian cargo-carrier RPX Airlines.
According to Flight's ACAS fleet database the 737-200, registration
PK-RPX,
was built in 1970.
Officials at RPX Airlines in Jakarta were unavailable for comment.
http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2007/01/18/211586/pictures-malaysian-av
iation-safety-authority-says-rpx-airlines-boeing-737-200f-runway-skid-off-a.
html
Russia to Renew Aircraft Fleet by 2020
The aircraft fleet of Russia’s Air Forces will be completely renewed
by
2020, the RBC news agency quoted Air Forces Chief Commander Vladimir
Mikhailov as saying.
The planes will be replaced “in two flows,” Mikhailov said, via
upgrading and supplies of new aircraft. All arms of airpower will get
new
planes. The strategic air forces, for instance, will be armed with new
Tu-160 bombers, “two unites each two or three years,” Mikhailov
promised. This move, the analysts said, will enable to step up the
strength
of these planes to 30.
Russia’s Air Defense won’t be ignored. Quite soon, the first
regiment
armed with S-400 air defense systems will be put in combat alert in the
Moscow Region’s Elektrostal.
Moreover, the supplies of Pantsyr small-range air defense systems are
scheduled to begin in the near term. Pantsyr will defend strategic
facilities “at the nearest approaches.”
http://www.kommersant.com/p-9891/Planes_renewed/
http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/876/Baghdad_Map_Hot_Spots
Baghdad Map: Hot Spots
Tracking What's Happening in the Iraqi Capital
By ZEYAD Posted 7 hr. 24 min. ago
http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/nation/16498393.htm
Posted on Fri, Jan. 19, 2007
U.S.: Ex-Guantánamo youth is captured again
BY BEN FOX
Associated Press
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVY BASE, Cuba -- Nearly three years after his release, an Afghan who was one of three teens held at the Guantánamo prison camp has been recaptured in Afghanistan fighting against U.S. forces, a senior camp official says.
The Afghan, who was about 15 when he was swept up along with hundreds of others and taken to Guantánamo Bay, is among a small number of former prisoners who have been killed or recaptured following their release by U.S. authorities, said Paul Rester, director of the Joint Intelligence Group at the detention center.
The former detainee would now be about 19.
He was captured more than a year ago after a shootout with U.S. troops, according to Rester, who said in an interview that there are no plans to bring him back to Guantánamo Bay, where the military holds nearly 400 men on suspicion of links to al Qaeda or the Taliban.
''He's not been brought back here,'' he said.
``We're not bringing anybody here.''
Authorities did not release the young man's name, and the detention center commander, Navy Rear Adm. Harry B. Harris, said details about his capture remain classified. A Pentagon spokesman also declined to comment.
continued.............
http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/16504701.htm
Posted on Sat, Jan. 20, 2007
4 drug traffickers extradited to U.S.
LISA J. ADAMS
Associated Press
MEXICO CITY - Mexico extradited four major drug traffickers to the U.S. on Friday, a sign that the nation's new president will deliver on his promise for more cooperation in fighting cross-border crime.
Osiel Cardenas, the purported Gulf cartel leader who is believed to still be running the drug organization from behind bars in Mexico, was extradited along with 13 others wanted in the U.S., all of whose appeals against extradition had run out, the Attorney General's office said in a news release.
The United States has long been frustrated by Mexico's reluctance to extradite Mexican drug lords also wanted in the U.S.
Mexico has said the suspects had to face justice in their own country first.
But that attitude changed under former President Vicente Fox, who promised to hand over top criminals to the U.S.
President Felipe Calderon initiated an aggressive push against drug gangs shortly after taking office on Dec. 1.
"Today, both the Mexican and the American people can celebrate a monumental moment in our two nations' battle with the vicious drug traffickers and criminals who threaten our very way of life," U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza said in a statement.
In addition to Cardenas, Mexico extradited Ismael and Gilberto Higuera Guerrero, brothers and former chiefs in the Arellano-Felix cartel in Tijuana and Mexicali, and Hector Palma Salazar, former leader in the Sinaloa cartel of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, who escaped from prison in 2001 and is still at large.
Ten others wanted on charges of murder, drug trafficking and sex-related crimes, also were extradited, officials said.
"I cannot say enough about the extraordinary leadership, courage and conviction demonstrated by President Calderon, his Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora, and the hundreds of dedicated law enforcement professionals on both sides of our border who have made this day possible," Garza said.
© 2007 AP Wire and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.centredaily.com
CK: "Voice of Beslan": General Prosecutor's Office should take notice of Saveliev's report
Caucasian Knot / Memorial
19/1/2007
"Voice of Beslan": General Prosecutor's Office should take notice of
Saveliev's report
The victims of the Beslan terror act who have addressed the parliament
of North Ossetia with a request to hear at its sitting in the presence
of the victims the alternative report of State Duma deputy Yuri
Saveliev, hope that the conclusions of the report will be recognized by
the investigation.
"We want the investigators of the General Prosecution Office, in whose
investigative procedure the basic case on Beslan terror act is, to
consider Yuri Saveliev's conclusions, in which we trust absolutely,"
Ella Kesaeva, chair of the "Voice of Beslan" Committee, has stressed.
In
her opinion, the parliament of North Ossetia "should demonstrate their
civil position in relation to Saveliev's report and assess its
conclusions."
The members of the other victims' committee - "Beslan Mothers" - hope
that should the parliamentarians give a positive assessment of
Saveliev's report, its conclusions "will find reflection in the
criminal
case." In their opinion, a complete version of Yuri Saveliev's report
should be published and attached to the main case on the terror act.
Author: Alana Besolov, CK correspondent
http://eng.kavkaz.memo.ru/newstext/engnews/id/1173060.html
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/chechnya-sl/
United Muslim forum needed
http://www.dawn.com/2007/01/20/nat15.htm
United Muslim forum needed
By Our Reporter
ISLAMABAD, Jan 19: Speakers at the 28th International Hussainia
Conference, held here Friday, called for the formation of a united
Muslim forum at the international level to face the upcoming
challenges.
They urged the West not to label Muslims as terrorists and stressed
that
Islam was a religion that preached peace and tolerance.
Around 1,400 ulema and mashaikh from across the country participated in
the two-day international conference and eulogised of Imam Hussain
(AS).
Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Muhammad Ejaz ul Haq urged the
nation to show unity and foil the designs of the evil forces, working
to
create disunity among the Islamic Ummah.
Chief Minister Sindh Arbab Ghulam Rahim stressed the need for
projecting
the true image of Islam and propagating peace and tolerance.
He urged the religious scholars belonging to all sects to make
concerted
efforts for bringing religious harmony in the country.
The custodian of the shrine of Hazrat Shaikh Abdul Qadir Geelani, Pir
Hamid Jeelani said the entire life of Hazrat Imam Hussain (AS) was a
beacon of light for the Muslims. "During the battle between good and
evil, Imam Hussain (AS) presented the true character of a Muslim," he
remarked.
The head of Muslim Conference Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan said the lofty
sacrifices made by Hazrat Imam Hussain and his family were a source of
permanent guidance for the Muslim world.
Leader of Pakistan Awami Tehrik Agha Murtaza Poya in his speech said
the
Karbala battle carried the message of joint struggle against evil
forces.
Renowned scholar from the US, Imam Luqman Ali Ansari, stressed the
"need
for self-conscience."
He said affection and harmony could be used as an effective method to
address the imminent problems.
Syed Sabtain Shaikiri of World Muslim Scholar's Association and Syed
Mehdi Raza Shah Subzwari, Sajjada Nashin of Hazrat Qalandar Lal
Shahbaz,
highlighted the great sacrifices of the battle of Karbala.
Chairman Markazi Imam Hussain Council Dr Ghazanfar Mehdi said that
Hazrat Imam Hussain (AS) "sacrificed everything while truly following
the path of Islam for the protection of Shariat-i- Muhammadi's
principles."
WILD-WEST APPROACH TO PERSONAL SECURITY GAINS ADHERENTS IN KYRGYZSTAN
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav011907.shtml
WILD-WEST APPROACH TO PERSONAL SECURITY GAINS ADHERENTS IN KYRGYZSTAN
Daniel Sershen 1/19/07
Print this article Email this article
The January 18 shooting of Yrysbek Zhooshbekov, director of the massive
Kara Suu market in southern Kyrgyzstan, is the latest in a series of
high-profile murders that have placed Kyrgyzstan's political and
business communities on edge. Experts say a surge in gun-related crime
and a loosening of firearm regulations is promoting a Wild-West
approach
to security.
On December 14 the Kyrgyz parliament overrode a presidential veto of a
law authorizing legislators to carry firearms. The measure sailed
through parliament in light of the killings of three MPs since the
Tulip
Revolution of 2005. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].
Legislation passed last November, meanwhile, gives private citizens the
right to use weapons in defense of property. That move was widely seen
as a reaction to the looting that accompanied the revolution that
ousted
former president Askar Akayev. [For background see the Eurasia Insight
archive].
"If the state cannot provide for the protection of personal property,
the private businessman must do it, as in any democratic country,"
lawmaker Kubatbek Baibolov said during a parliamentary debate on the
issue, according to state news agency Kabar.
Given its Soviet history of strict gun control and relatively limited
access to firearms, Kyrgyzstan can hardly be considered a hotbed of
proliferation. A 2004 report by the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey
contrasted Kyrgyzstan's low levels of gun possession and related crime
with post-conflict states such as Georgia and Tajikistan, which
experienced a spike in the availability and use of weapons.
However, the experience of the Tulip Revolution encouraged a growing
number of Kyrgyz to take safety into their own hands. "The situation
has
changed quite profoundly. I would say that following the March events
in
2005, there is this underlying sense of the government losing, or
partially losing, its monopoly of violence," said Stina Torjesen,
co-author of the Small Arms Survey report, which is being reissued in
the coming weeks to account for the shift since Akayev's departure.
The report's authors gained access to Interior Ministry data outlining
a
"very significant increase" in both gun crime and the number of
licenses
issued since March 2005, according to Torjesen. Although her team did
not repeat the extensive household survey that was done for the 2004
edition, additional research and interviews indicate that a lack of
public confidence in law enforcement is fueling the trend, she said.
"Demand [for weapons] has increased, but there's also a normative
change, which I think the new legislation is proof of. Whereas the
Kyrgyz elite before was very averse to the idea of legitimizing weapons
possession by ordinary civilians," she said, now officials are
signaling
that it is acceptable.
Viktor Yartsev, manager of Bishkek's main gun shop, said gun sales
jumped during the period immediately after March 2005, but he denied
that it had become a trend. "There was a tendency of growth, but not
such that one could say there were avalanches of demand," he said. "The
peak has already passed."
Yartsev, whose shop shares space with the hunter's association that
approves the vast majority of private gun licenses, said the firearm
registration process in Kyrgyzstan remains quite strict. Based on the
association's membership of approximately 12,000, he estimated that the
number of registered personal firearms in Kyrgyzstan did not exceed
20,000.
Torjesen also felt that it was too early to interpret the rise in
firearm ownership and related crime as a drastic shift toward a more
permissive gun culture. Rather, she said, certain segments of society
seemed increasingly willing to use guns as a way to ensure safety or
solve disputes.
If the trend continues, she said, gun violence may become increasingly
common, despite cultural and historical factors to the contrary.
"Perhaps you more get into a Latin American scenario, where you have
strong elements of crime and, again, a very problematic functioning of
the police force," she suggested, but not "full-scale mobilization and
full-scale proliferation."
Torjesen saw the largely nonviolent opposition protests at the end of
2006 as positive from a gun control perspective. [For background see
the
Eurasia Insight archive]. "The voicing of grievance by the Kyrgyz
citizen has not yet resulted in more gun use, and I think that's a
really important and positive aspect to emphasize in the case of
Kyrgyzstan," she said.
Editor's Note: Daniel Sershen is a freelance journalist based in
Bishkek.
Posted January 19, 2007 © Eurasianet
[snips from list]
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070120/ap_on_to_in_hi/history_11
Today is Saturday, Jan. 20, the 20th day of 2007. There are 345 days left in the year.
Today's Highlight in History:
On Jan. 20, 1981, Iran released 52 Americans it had held hostage for 444 days, minutes after the presidency had passed from Jimmy Carter to Ronald Reagan.
Ten years ago: President Clinton and Vice President Gore were sworn in for second terms of office. In his inaugural address, Clinton called for an end to "the politics of petty bickering and extreme partisanship."
Five years ago: Two Marines were killed, five injured when a U.S. military helicopter crashed in Afghanistan. "A Beautiful Mind" was named best drama and its star, Russell Crowe, the top dramatic actor at the Golden Globe Awards; Sissy Spacek was named best dramatic actress for "In the Bedroom" while "Moulin Rouge" was awarded the Globe for best musical or comedy.
One year ago: Michael Fortier, the government's star witness in the Oklahoma City bombing trials, was released from federal prison after serving more than 10 years for failing to warn authorities about the plot. Japan halted all imports of U.S. beef because of mad cow fears.
Thought for Today: "To enjoy life one should give up the lure of life." — Mohandas K. Gandhi, Indian religious leader (1869-1948).
http://misskelly.typepad.com/miss_kelly_/2007/01/speaking_of_haf.html
January 18, 2007
Speaking of Hafiz Saeed and the LeT...
Well, actually we were speaking about Imam Hafiz Muhammed Masood, former former imam from the Islamic Center of New England. While no local papers have reported this, Masood happens to the brother of Hafiz Saeed, the founder of a notorious terrorist group in Pakistan, Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET). It's been reported in newspapers in India and Pakistan, but not in the U.S. Not sure why, that sounds like news to me.
It also turns out that the other arrested imam, Hafiz Muhammad Hannan of the Islamic Society of Lowell, is Saeed's brother-in-law. And Hafiz Mahmood Hamid, the imam of the Islamic Society of Greater Worcester, is Saeed's brother. What a curious family affair we have going on here in Massachusetts! What are the chances?
I described Lashkar-e-Toiba a bit in a previous post ("the most feared terrosist group in Kashmir"), so I won't go into details. Let's just say these guys (LeT) are bad guys. LeT is banned in Pakistan, and Hafiz was under house arrest under recently. Saeed started a new organziation, Jamaat ud Dawa (JuD), which claims to provide humanitarian aid and social services. Both LeT and JuD are declared terrorist organizations by the U.S.
To give you a flavor of LeT, here are two recent articles about that group:
1) Earlier this month, Indian police arrested two suspected LeT militants who had stuffed eight toys with more than 2 pounds of plastic explosives. They planned to blow up a market in New Delhi. "In their luggage, a bomb disposal squad found two boxes with the toys - a toy duck and a toy bus - filled with explosives..." So who was going to carry the explosive-filled toy duck and toy truck? Children?
2) On the Islamic Network website, one finds a charming story about "The Excellent Character of the Mother of Shaheed Abu Dujanah":
"This mother had four sons. Whilst nourishing her sons with her milk, this great mother also instilled in them the love of Jihad. Time passed and the sons grew older. Umm Abu Dujanah repeatedly reminded her sons, “Along with my milk I have also given you the zeal for Jihad and martyrdom. Sons, get ready, the battlefield is beckoning you”.
One son trained to join join Abdullah bin ‘Ateek.
"Abdullah Bin ‘Ateek is an advanced training programme designed for only the most capable and advanced brothers. With Allah’s blessings and help Abu Dujanah completed the course successfully and was now waiting to enter the “valley of death”."
Read the whole thing, it is a total celebration of Umm Abu Dajanah, a mother who has raised her children to become shaheeds, suicide bombers in "Occupied Kashmir." The first son does indeed become a shaheed (martyr). Alhumdulillah.
"The next day, I travelled to Umm Dujanah’s village, to congratulate her.....At that moment, the mother turned her attention towards me and said, “Make sure you come to celebrate Abu Dujanah’s funeral. My next missile I have prepared in the shape of Ali (another son). Whenever the Mujahideen require his assistance, he is at their service."
"The events on the day of the funeral were extraordinary and unexpected. Umm Abu Dujanah was addressing her sisters, sisters-in-law and various other female relatives saying to them, “Today I will see what wedding gift you give to my Dujanah (her dead son). Today is his Walima. Open your hearts and give generously. I will see how much you love my son”. After listening to this great mother, many of her female relatives started donating to the Jihad fund. .... Rings and earrings were also collected. Umm Dujanah herself donated 100,000 rupees to the Jihad fund when her son obtained Shahaadah, and gave it to him as a gift. What a unique gift!"
"These qualities can only be obtained by that mother who teaches herself and her children to live in accordance to the light of the Deen and teaches them the true way of Islam, who strives to make them Mujahideen, and instils in them the zeal to die for Islam.”
I have a very difficult time imagining that any mother desires this for her sons, to die as suicide bombers. Hard to imagine that mothers - who bring life into the world - would worship death.
The connection to Hafiz Saeed is, according to this account, he was recruiting young men to become fighters and shaheeds in Kashmir. Now, maybe Hafiz Saeed is the black sheep of the family, and his brothers and brother-in-law are nothing like him. But let's look closely at this, OK? Perhaps the Boston Globe can send a reporter over to Pakistan to do some investigative reporting.
January 18, 2007 | Permalink
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» The Islamic Society of Boston's New Face, New Cash, and a Grand Jury for the Immigration Imams... from Solomonia
Miss Kelly has four must-read posts on local stuff with national reach (in each case I've provided a snip of the post, but there's much more at the links): First,... [Read More]
Tracked on January 19, 2007 at 09:37 AM
Comments
Best wishes to the 72 brides . . .
http://misskelly.typepad.com/miss_kelly_/2007/01/investors_busin.html
January 18, 2007
Investor's Business Daily Not Buying CAIR's Population Estimate
The Investor's Business Daily has a editorial today that debunks the oft-heard statement that there are 7 or 8 millions Muslims in the U.S. today. From their editorial:
"Since Muslim Keith Ellison's election to Congress, there's been a lot of noise in the media about the growing clout of the 8 million-Muslim electorate. Eight million?"
"It seems the size of the Muslim population in America jumps by an additional million every other year or so. (I've noticed that myself....MK) Just a couple of years ago the consensus number bandied about in the media was 7 million. Before 9/11 it was 6 million."
".... While the number of Muslims is growing thanks to higher birthrates and immigration, it's nowhere near CAIR's claim. Even the most generous independent estimate puts it at half that size, or 4 million."
It turns out that CAIR (Council on Islamic American Relations) had a gentleman named Ihsan Bagby develop the 6 million estimate a few years ago. Is he a experienced in demographics? population statistics? No, but he is a CAIR board member. His methodology, according to the IBD editorial:
1. With help from CAIR researchers, Bagby called the nation's 1,209 mosques and interviewed 416 of them, asking them how many people were involved in their mosque in any way. The average response was 1,625, which is probably high, given that two imams claimed 50,000 when the nation's largest mosque — Dar al-Hijrah in the D.C. suburbs — has only about 3,000.
2. Bagby then multiplied that fuzzy participation figure by the 1,209 mosques and came up with 2 million "mosqued Muslims."
3. Next, he multiplied that sum by a magical factor of three to capture Muslims who might not participate in mosque activities, and arrived at the original 6 million guesstimate for the size of the Muslim population in America.
That's a made-up number, and is about twice as high as other population estimates by other, independent groups, like the U.S. State Department and the Brittanica Book of the Year. As the editorial points out:
"The Pentagon.... does not question the number. Neither does the White House, Congress nor the media — no matter how fantastic the number gets. But it's the Wahhabi lobby's big lie. CAIR and other militant Muslim groups use it to intimidate politicians, corporations and media to change policy."
"But don't buy it. It's a total exaggeration."
Reporters and newspapers rarely question the inflated estimate either. But we do!
January 18, 2007 | Permalink
http://misskelly.typepad.com/miss_kelly_/
Imam Masood Subject of Federal Grand Jury?
Leave it to Lane Lambert of the Patriot Ledger to get the scoop here. Imam Hafiz Muhammed Masood, one of two area imams arrested in religious visa fraud charges last November (2006), apparently was the subject of a Federal Grand Jury this week. From the Patriot Ledger:
"With his visa status already in question, the spiritual leader of the Islamic Center of New England’s mosque in Sharon may soon be a man without a home. The directors of the Islamic Center have given the Imam Muhammed Masood and his family notice to leave their residence on the grounds of the Sharon mosque."
"Brookline attorney George Garfinkle, representing the board, said last night the Pakistani cleric has been asked to leave ‘‘sometime soon,’’ though not by a specific date. ‘‘The government is leaning on them, and they’re trying to do the right thing legally,’’ Garfinkle said. It’s unclear where the imam and his family would live while he awaits a visa hearing."
"Garfinkle also confirmed that some former Islamic Center board members have been called before a federal grand jury in Boston over the past month in connection with the investigation of Imam Masood’s alleged visa violations. He did not identify who was called. Board president Rashid Noor of Norton declined comment about the grand jury appearances. Imam Masood is expected to have a visa hearing within the next few months. He could be deported at that time."
Lambert provides more details in his article about Imam Masood, with some history of his visa issues. Although the current Islamic Center of New England (ICNE) board staunchly supported Imam Masood when he was arrested in November, it looks like Masood is being cut loose. As B.B. King sang, "It went all right 'til it went all wrong."
You can read about Federal Grand Juries here and here. They are used to gather evidence to determine if a federal crime has been committed.
".... Generally, federal grand juries tend to meet when prosecutors need them to consider proposed indictments or to investigate possible criminal activity.... They decided whether someone should be charged--"indicted"--for committing a crime.... Federal grand juries concentrate on investigating and bringing charges for federal crimes."
It's been fairly quiet around here but clearly the feds have been on the case.
Amd what of Imam Hafiz Hannan, the imam from the Islamic Society of Greater Lowell, who was also arrested last November? Nary a peep on Hassan.
January 19, 2007
IMMIGRATION CONSEQUENCES - AIDING AND ABETTING THEFT
Gonzales v. Duenas-Alvarez (2007) U.S. (U.S. Sup. Court, 1/17/07, 05-1629)
Aiding and abetting a theft is included within term "theft offense" in 8 U.S.C. section 1101(a)(43)(G) and therefore conviction for Vehicle Code section 10851(a) which penalizes driving or taking a vehicle or being a party or accessory to taking, is a removable (deportable) offense.
http://zionism-israel.com/israel_news/2007/01/palestinians-launch-on-line-resistance.html
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Palestinians launch on-line resistance
http://zionism-israel.com/israel_news/2007/01/palestinians-launch-on-line-resistance.html
Palestinians launch on-line resistance
by Khaled Abu Toameh
The Jerusalem Post, Jan. 18, 2007
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1167467756956&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Hamas's armed wing, Izaddin Kassam, launched its first English language Web site on Wednesday. The group, which is responsible for dozens of suicide and rocket attacks against Israel, already has a Web site in Arabic [www.alqassam.ps].
Palestinian Authority officials in Ramallah told The Jerusalem Post that the new site was launched thanks to money raised by Hamas leaders during their recent visits to some Arab and Islamic countries.
"Hamas has collected millions of dollars to improve its information campaign," said one official. "Hamas's official web site, The Palestinian Information Center, recently underwent a major face-lift that cost tens of thousands of dollars."
In addition to Arabic, English, French and Russian, The Palestinian Information Center, which was inaugurated in 1997, also publishes in Melayu, an Austronesian language spoken in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei and Thailand, and Urdu, an Indo-Aryan language spoken in Pakistan and some parts of India.
The decision to launch an English Web site comes at the peak of the power struggle between Hamas and Fatah, which is also being waged in the media. Fatah has several sites that Hamas has accused of inciting against the Islamic movement and its leaders.
Last week, the Fatah-controlled Palestine Press site [www.palpress.ps] claimed that PA Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh had cursed Allah during a meeting in Gaza City. In response, a number of Hamas-affiliated sites ran a story claiming that senior Fatah leader Azzam al-Ahmed was the one who had made the blasphemous remark.
And while Fatah's Web sites repeatedly run stories highlighting the "blunders and incompetence" of the Hamas-led government, Hamas's sites have branded some Fatah leaders, particularly Muhammad Dahlan, as an Israeli and American agent.
Izaddin Kassam is not the first Palestinian armed group to publish its own Web site. Fatah's armed wing, the Aksa Martyrs Brigades, also has a Web site, but it is only in Arabic [www.kataebaqsa.org]. In 2004, the Aksa Brigades accused the CIA of closing down its Web site on the Internet under pressure from "Jewish groups."
Other armed groups that already have [Arabic language] sites on the Internet include the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the [Fatah-affiliated] Abu Rish Brigades, the Popular Resistance Committees and Islamic Jihad.
Both the Kassam and Aksa sites publish "military communiques" detailing daily "resistance operations against the Israeli enemy." Each group also has a list of its "martyrs" who were killed during the second intifada, including the Fatah and Hamas suicide bombers.
The current lead story on the Izaddin Kassam site refers to allegations made earlier this week by Fatah officials to the effect that Hamas was planning to assassinate senior Fatah leaders in the Gaza Strip using booby-trapped underground tunnels.
Abu Obaida, a spokesman for the Izaddin Kassam group, is quoted as describing the Fatah allegations as "cheap lies." He claimed that the underground tunnels were dug by Hamas to foil any attempt by the IDF to invade the Gaza Strip.
Earlier this week, Hamas accused Fatah of launching an attack on its Web sites, forcing them of them to close down temporarily. Hamas officials said the attack, which began on January 10, was carried out by "Zionist groups and their local collaborators." In a statement, Hamas condemned the attacks as a "criminal and illegal act of sabotage reflecting a mentality of terrorism."
http://zionism-israel.com/israel_news/2007/01/road-collapses-in-gaza-city-revealing.html
Friday, January 19, 2007
Road collapses in Gaza City revealing tunnel- in case of attack by Israel or for domestic targets?
http://zionism-israel.com/israel_news/2007/01/road-collapses-in-gaza-city-revealing.html
Road collapses in Gaza City revealing tunnel - in case of attack by Israel
or for domestic targets?
Date: 19 / 01 / 2007 Time: 12:44
www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=18744
[Ma'an is an independent Palestinian news agency]
Gaza - Ma'an - A tunnel, located below one of the main streets in Gaza City, collapsed on Thursday as some heavy cars passed over it.
The Fatah movement is saying that this tunnel, located under a junction on Salah Addin Street, was intended for targeting Fatah leaders.
In a statement sent to Ma'an, the Fatah movement said, "After the tunnel collapsed, there were a number of armed men from the Hamas movement present who prevented the journalists from taking photos. [They] made the photographer of Palestine TV hand over the tape which he had filmed under the threat of arms".
Fatah added, "These tunnels are being dug and prepared on the main roads and in residential areas not for the purpose of resistance but for other objectives such as targetting leaders and officials from the Fatah
movement."
Fatah warned all parties, including the government, to bear responsibility for such actions.
Meanwhile, Hamas and their armed wing, the Al Qassam Brigades, said that these tunnels are part of their military plans to confront any possible Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip and warning against reveal their plans.
posted by News Service at 12:28 PM
African Muslims in fiery reaction to Somalia conflict
http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article19837
African Muslims in fiery reaction to Somalia conflict
Saturday 20 January 2007 03:00.
Jan 19, 2007 (LONDON) --- The war in Somalia began in early December
2006,
a period which saw a lot of shuttle diplomacy between Ethiopia, the
USA,
Somalia's rival groups - the Transitional Federal Government and the
Union of Islamic Courts - and several international organizations
including the UN and The Arab League.
The cloud of war had hung on the Horn of Africa nation since November,
when the security chief of the powerful Islamic Courts Union, Shaykh
Yusuf Muhammad Siyad Indha Ade, invited foreign jihadists to wage war
against Ethiopia. Shaykh Indha Ade's threats came shortly after
Al-Qaidah's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, had called for
suicide
attacks against Ethiopian troops fighting in Somalia.
Many Muslims and Islamic organizations saw the war as a veiled attack
on
Islam as it aimed to unseat a group espousing the hard-line Islamic
persuasion. A group that had imposed sharia'h law in areas under its
control.
US involvement
Somalia's pro-Islamist www.qaadisiya.com web site reported on 27
December that the American government was "directly involved in the
invasion of Somalia by the Tigrayan [Ethiopian] crusaders". It added US
spy planes had been confirmed to be directly and indirectly involved in
"the war Meles Zenawi has launched against Somalia".
The perception that the war was an attack on Islam was confounded by
the
involvement of the USA, which earned the conflict comparisons with
Iraq.
The comparisons were reinforced by US rhetoric that Somalia harboured
Al-Qai'dah elements.
One Kenyan Muslim leader put it that "the US destroyed Iraq after
claiming it had weapons of mass destruction. It failed to show the
world
such weapons after the invasion. This may turn out to be the case in
Somalia".
The USA's involvement convinced the Islamic Courts sympathizers that
the
war was being instigated by the Americans seeking revenge for the 1993
Black Hawk campaign, which left 18 US soldiers dead.
Eastern Africa
The most opposition in east Africa to Ethiopia's campaign in Somalia
came from Kenya's coastal and northeastern regions, which are home to
the majority of the country's Muslims.
There has been no recorded opposition from the leading and most vocal
of
Kenya's Muslim bodies, Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims, to the recent
war. However, in November 2006, its national chairman, Prof Abdulghafur
al-Busaidy, accused the USA of trying to tarnish the reputation of the
Somalia's Islamic courts, saying: "We, the Supreme Council of Kenya
Muslims, strongly condemn the machination of the government of the USA
in brainwashing the international community to support an imaginary
terror attack."
He went on to say: "According to the council, the USA wants to tarnish
the image of the Islamic courts, which have succeeded in bringing about
security in Somalia."
The Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya (CIPK) and opposition
Shirikisho Party of Kenya denounced the US raids saying: "It is sad and
embarrassing that a global giant can descend on peasants, pastoralists
and fishermen and kill and destroy them using bombs. Kenya and Ethiopia
should not support the US wars."
The two organizations accused President George Bush of being "bullish
on
the entire world." They blamed him for "encouraging terrorism in the
world by oppressing the poor".
The overriding Muslim sentiment was that the USA would be disgraced if
it destroyed Somalia and found no Al-Qa'idah elements in the country.
Apart from organizational reaction, some Kenyan Muslims showed their
disapproval in their individual ways. Kenya's Standard newspaper web
site reported on 11 January that scores of Kenyan youths of Somali
descent had enlisted to fight alongside the Somalia Islamists and that
many had been killed in the battlefield, a fact the Kenyan government
confirmed.
"Connivance"
Kenyan Muslims were so incensed by the war that they turned to
criticizing their government over its perceived inaction, considering
that it currently holds the chairmanship of the influential regional
body, IGAD.
The Muslim weekly newsletter, Friday Bulletin, even accused the Kibaki
government of "connivance" in the Somalia war. The bulletin did not
hide
its admiration for the Islamists. In an editorial on 12 January, the
newsletter wrote: "The popular courts routed the warlords who had
turned
Somalia into the world's most anarchic state during a civil war
spanning
16 years which left a million people dead."
On 12 January, it reported that, "after six months of Islamic rule
which
ushered in a climate of peace, Somalia is now descending to chaos
thanks
to the Ethiopian invasion and occupation of the country. Fears of a
return to anarchy have also been exacerbated by the US, which is now
unleashing its deadly war machine on the people of Somalia in the guise
of fighting terrorists".
The newsletter proceeded to offer some advice to the "invaders":
"Somalis have a tendency to fight each other when they are by
themselves, but unite and resist any outside force, which automatically
becomes the common enemy. It happened to the British in the 20th
century
and to the Americans in 1993. It is happening to the Ethiopians today."
Worth noting is that there was no noticeable opposition from the
Christian-dominated parts of Kenya to the Ethiopian incursion. The lack
of national unity on the issue, helped to crystallize Muslim support
for
the Islamists.
In Uganda, the Somalia conflict coincided with renewed interest in the
peace talks between the Museveni government and the rebel Lord's
Resistance Army to end the two-decade insurgency in the country's
north.
Besides, the Somalia conflict came at a time when leaders of the Uganda
Muslim Supreme Council, were mired in scandal over claims that they had
sold Muslim land in the capital to private investors. This could
explain
why there was neither interest in nor significant reaction to the
Somalia campaign.
The Ugandan government is in the initial stages of deploying troops to
Somalia, but this too, has not elicited Muslim comment.
West Africa
There has been very little reaction to the conflict from west Africa;
not even from Muslim-dominated northern Nigeria.
However, Hamadou Toure, writing in Burkina Faso's government-owned
Sidwaya newspaper on 11 January said "As things stand, the Somali
crisis
appears to be one crisis too many. The African Union is overwhelmed.
The
USA, which does not need any kind of mandate from the UN, is at the
borders to hunt down 'its terrorists'...It is a tough intervention that
does not seek to establish a democratic state, but is rather limited to
a mere 'terrorist hunt'."
Southern Africa
South African Muslims, on their part, voiced great disposal for the
war.
The Muslim Judicial Council described "Ethiopia's American-backed
invasion of Somalia", as "criminal and a violation of law".
In a press statement, the organization said "the lawless and shameful
killing and bombing of a large number of 'Islamic extremists' suspected
of being involved in the bombings of the two US embassies in Africa is
criminal and a violation of any legal process".
The council went on to appeal to the South African government to
intervene in favour of the Islamists, saying: "We wish to make the
following demand to the South African government that it intervenes
immediately on behalf of the Somali people by ensuring that the
respected and credible leadership of the Islamic Courts Union be
protected."
Writing in South Africa's private The Star newspaper, the chairman of
the Media Review Network, Iqbal Jassat said, "This [war] is being
orchestrated by the Americans via their warlords and neighbouring
Ethiopia. My earlier appeal to the African Union, therefore becomes all
the more urgent, given that the clock is ticking away. The imperialist
agenda pursued by the Bush administration spells disaster if it remains
unchecked"
Significantly, though, is that no reactions were registered from
Muslims
in countries neighbouring South Africa.
(BBC Monitoring)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1770643/posts
Law would make Minutemen guilty of 'domestic terrorism'
worldnetdaily ^ | Posted: January 20, 2007 | By Jay Baggett
Posted on 01/20/2007 3:57:27 AM PST by ovrtaxt
INVASION USA
Law would make Minutemen
guilty of 'domestic terrorism'
'Patrolling to detect alleged illegal activity'
while carrying any weapon would be felony
21 doctors, officials go on trial in Kazakhstan charged with causing HIV outbreak
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/01/19/asia/AS-GEN-Kazakhstan-AIDS.php
21 doctors, officials go on trial in Kazakhstan charged with causing
HIV
outbreak
ALMATY, Kazakhstan: Twenty-one doctors and health officials accused of
causing an HIV outbreak went on trial in Kazakhstan on Friday, local
authorities said.
Blood transfusions from unchecked donors or contaminated needles have
been blamed for the infections among 87 children, most under the age 3.
Twelve mothers have also tested positive for HIV since the first child
cases were registered in the city of Shymkent last summer.
Seven children had died of AIDS-related diseases, the regional health
department said Friday.
The 21 defendants in the closed trial face negligence charges, the
regional administration said. Earlier, prosecutors said some of the
accused were also charged with bribery, extortion and theft of state
funds.
Authorities have checked more than 9,500 children who were feared to
have contracted HIV at hospitals in Shymkent, 1,600 kilometers (990
miles) south of the capital, Astana.
The Central Asian nation has been shocked by the outbreak, and
subsequent nationwide inspections have revealed numerous cases of
incompetence and corruption among doctors and nurses.
a good blog on Afghamistan, appears to be the diary of someone there, good clean daily reports.
At the end of the page, are wonderful photos, of the tiled buildings there.
http://mazar-i-sharif.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2007-01-01T00%3A00%3A00%2B01%3A00&updated-max=2008-01-01T00%3A00%3A00%2B01%3A00&max-results=9
Radical Shia cleric condemns aide's arrest in Baghdad
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stories/s1830489.htm
Radical Shia cleric condemns aide's arrest in Baghdad
Last Updated 20/01/2007, 12:17:33
The movement in Iraq led by the radical Shi'ite cleric, Moqtada al
Sadr,
has condemned the arrest of one of its most prominent officials.
The official has been identified as media director Sheikh Abdel Hadi
al-Duraji, who's accused of leading an armed group involved in numerous
killings and abductions.
He was detained by security forces during a raid against the Shi'ites'
stronghold in eastern Baghdad.
The arrest has coincided with the arrival in the southern city of Basra
of the US Defence Secretary, Robert Gates -- who repeated Washington's
view that coalition forces must succeed in Iraq.
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