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Posted on 03/12/2004 8:23:06 PM PST by thecabal
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- This week's deadly train bombings in Spain will not lead to a rise in the U.S. color-coded terror threat alert system, a Department of Homeland Security spokesman said Friday.
"Based on the current intelligence, we have no specific indicators that terrorist groups are considering such an attack in the U.S. in the near term," said department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Mansoor Ijaz: corpse has been sent to Baghram AFB for DNA testing where Ayman al Zawahir's son Khalid al-Zawahiri is in American custody. Son gives clues to al-Qaeda lairs - SpecialsGlobalTerrorism - www. ...
Mansoor: Task Force 121 were the ones to kill Ayman al-Zawahiri but wants the Pakistanis to get the credit.
Bill Cowan on Fox News: The apprehension of the Pentagon to admit to American troops being on the ground in Pakistan is because it would bring all types of trouble to Pervez Musharraff. The Pentagon will never admit to this.
Greg PalkotPresently there are negotaitons going on for the surrender of the militants, Al Queda's rainbow coalition. There have been hundreds killed, many on both sides.
Major Bob Bevelacqua:As it should be is downplaying or in all honesty stated that Task Force 121 never crossed into Pakistan, so how do we know if the corpse is that of Al-Zawahiri. Bevelacqua does not buy the phone intercept scenerio. I get the feeling that Bevelacqua does not care for the reporting of Mansoor Ijaz. I wonder if Mansoor has bodyguards.
Meanwhile another war has broken out in another area of Afganistan Afghan Minister, 50 to 100 Others Killed
By STEPHEN GRAHAM, Associated Press Writer
KABUL, Afghanistan - Soldiers loyal to a local commander shot and killed Afghanistan's aviation minister Sunday in the western city of Herat, setting off a big gunbattle in which as many as 100 people died vicious factional fighting, the commander told The Associated Press.
In Kabul, President Hamid Karzai's Cabinet convened in emergency session after the killing of minister Mirwais Sadiq — a son of Herat's powerful governor — and dispatched extra troops to try to calm the city.
Presidential spokesman Khaleeq Ahmed said only that the minister had been shot in his car and circumstances were unclear.
However, a top Herat military commander, Zaher Naib Zada, told AP by telephone Sunday night that his forces had killed Sadiq in a confrontation after the minister went to Zada's home to fire him.
Afterward, Zada's forces and soliders loyal to Sadiq began fighting with machine guns, tanks and rockets for control of the city's main military barracks. Zada said between 50 and 100 soldiers were killed in the first hours of the ongoing battle.
Sadiq is the third leading figure of Karzai's government, and the second aviation minister, to be killed.
The father of the slain minister, Ismail Khan, is a former anti-Soviet commander who runs a large private army and has had firm control over Herat since the fall of the Taliban in late 2001. But there have been persistent tensions — and occasional factional fighting — between his men and those loyal to rival warlords. Sadiq was widely viewed as his father's representative in Karzai's government.
State television had reported that Sadiq's father, Khan, had escaped a separate attack unhurt. The presidential spokesman and other officials, however, said there had been no attack on Khan.
Aid workers in the city speaking by phone reported gunfire and heavy explosions and said they had been ordered to stay indoors. U.N. workers scrambled into a bunker at their headquarters.
A police officer, Fahim, reached by telephone at the main police station, gave a different account, saying Sadiq had gone to Zada's residence to ask him about the killing of three civilians by Zada's forces two days earlier.
Karzai's defense and interior ministers were preparing to travel to Herat to try to determine the circumstances of the killing, and the battles that followed, his spokesman said.
The president, who escaped a 2002 attempt on his life, said in a brief statement from Kabul that he was "deeply shocked" by the killing and offered condolences to Ismail Khan.
Karzai's first civil aviation minister, Abdul Rahman, was assassinated Feb. 14, 2002, at Kabul's airport, in circumstances that remain unclear. Gunmen shot and killed Vice President Abdul Qadir in the capital on July 6, 2002.
Both of those killings remain unsolved.
Karzai has been constantly shadowed by Afghan and American bodyguards armed with automatic weapons since a September 2002 assassination attempt in the southern city of Kandahar. Three people, including the gunman, died in that attack.
His government includes an uneasy alliance of former warlords who had joined forces to help the United States rout the former Taliban government. His government still is trying to assert control nationwide, including over Herat and its customs revenue as a major port of entry on the Iranian border.
By DANIEL COONEY, Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Insurgents fired a rocket at U.S. troops in western Iraq, killing two soldiers, while in Baghdad rockets fired toward the U.S.-led coalition headquarters Sunday killed two Iraqi civilians and injured a U.S. soldier, U.S. officials said.
The attack in Baghdad came a day after the first anniversary of the start of the war that ousted Saddam Hussein.
A 1st Infantry Division soldier was also killed Sunday in an apparent accident during a weapons firing exercise in Samarra, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of Baghdad, Army spokeswoman Maj. Debra Stewart said. The incident was under investigation.
One of three rockets fired in Baghdad landed inside the coalition headquarters, but did not cause significant damage, a U.S. official said on condition of anonymity. The wounded soldier was hit by flying glass. Staff and journalists in the compound were instructed to take cover inside a bunker.
Two rockets landed outside the compound in the upscale neighborhood of Mansour, killing two Iraqi civilians and wounding five, the official said. However, officials at the nearby Yarmouk Hospital said one person died and 10 were wounded. Residents said the rockets landed in a street, damaging several cars and shops.
"This is a terrorist act. There are no military targets in Mansour," said Raed Abdul Saheb, a doctor at the hospital.
Mortar and rocket attacks on the coalition headquarters are common. The assaults often miss and hit nearby neighborhoods.
The rocket attack in western Iraq occurred Saturday evening near the city of Fallujah, where anti-U.S. rebels are active, the official said. Five soldiers and a sailor were also wounded, in addition to the two soldiers killed, she said. No other details were available.
In the northern city of Kirkuk, unidentified gunmen inside an ethnic Turkman youth center fired at Kurds waving flags to celebrate the Kurdish new year, killing one and wounding four others on Sunday, said Abdul-Salam Zangana, a security official at a hospital.
The millions of Iraqis who exulted in Saddam's downfall did not publicly celebrate the first anniversary of the start of the war, nor were there street protests from those who enjoyed his patronage — partly because public gatherings are vulnerable to suicide attackers, car bombs, shootings and other violence.
Even those who opposed Saddam are uncomfortable with the invasion and extended occupation of Iraq by foreign armies.
Many Iraqis fear daily they will be caught in the crossfire of the conflict between U.S. forces and anti-American insurgents and other shadowy assailants, and said they felt more insecure now than they did before the United States launched military strikes.
Hours after U.S. Marines officially took control Saturday from the 82nd Airborne Division of a swath of territory west of Baghdad, the U.S. military said rebels had killed a U.S. Marine in the area, Anbar province, a day earlier. Two Marines also died in combat Wednesday in Anbar, which includes parts of the so-called Sunni Triangle where guerrilla attacks have been fierce.
At the handover ceremony at a U.S. base in Ramadi, Marine commander Maj. Gen. James Mattis issued a warning to insurgents.
"We expect to be the best friends to Iraqis who are trying to put their country back together. And for those who want to fight, for the foreign fighters and former regime people, they'll regret it. We're going to handle them very roughly," he said.
Thousands of war protesters marched in Asian, American and European cities on the first anniversary of the invasion, demanding the withdrawal of U.S.-led troops from Iraq.
In other developments:
_A U.S. military helicopter was shot down Friday by rebels near the town of Amariya, west of Baghdad. The two crewmen escaped injury and the helicopter was recovered, said Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, deputy director of U.S. military operations.
_The U.S. military said it charged six soldiers, members of a military police unit, Saturday over the alleged abuse in November and December of about 20 Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison on the outskirts of Baghdad.
By AHSANULLAH WAZIR, Associated Press Writer
WANA, Pakistan - Fighting between Pakistani troops and suspected al-Qaida militants ebbed Sunday as tribal elders said they would try to negotiate an end to the largest battle yet against suspected terrorists along the Afghan frontier.
A 25-member council is to begin talks with the militants Monday morning under the protection of a white flag, said Brig. Mahmood Shah, chief of security for the tribal area in South Waziristan province.
Pakistani forces took advantage of Sunday's pause in fighting to search nearby homes. The military believes a "high-value" target is holed up in the besieged area, but it is uncertain if is al-Qaida commander Ayman al-Zawahri, Uzbek militant Tahir Yuldash, or another terrorist.
Some 5,000-6,000 Pakistani forces are fighting 400-500 foreign militants and Yargul Khel tribesmen. Shah speculated the shooting had abated because the militants were conserving ammunition.
"They may be facing a shortage of ammunition. Heavy firing has almost entirely stopped and they are only using light weapons," he said.
Shah said two Chechens were killed trying to break through a military cordon Sunday. The military has arrested more than 100 suspects but has refused to give updates of casualties.
In neighboring Afghanistan, U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad told The Associated Press the United States was "very encouraged" by the ongoing Pakistani offensive. He said senior Taliban and al-Qaida leaders were plotting attacks on Afghan and U.S. targets from Pakistan.
"We know several key Taliban figures are there, and there is some sense that some of the remaining al-Qaida leaders are in the border area on the other side," Khalilzad said.
Shah said fighting would stop Monday morning while the council was negotiating, though he refused to call it a cease-fire. Shooting could still break out because it is a tribal tradition to continue fighting even while negotiations are under way, he said.
The council will be carrying a list of three government demands: that the fighters free 12 soldiers and two government officials taken captive last week; that they hand over tribesmen involved in the fighting; and that they kick out any foreigners or show the military where to track them down.
Shah reiterated a pledge not to turn any captured Pakistanis over to a foreign country, presumably the United States. That promise did not apply to the foreign militants.
Security officials said their prisoners included Pakistanis, Arabs, Chechens, Uzbeks and ethnic Uighurs from China's predominantly Muslim Xinjiang province. They added it is difficult to distinguish the foreigners from locals, as they have often lived in the region for a long time and speak the local Pashto language.
The operation is the largest by Pakistan in its lawless tribal regions bordering Afghanistan since it threw its support behind the U.S.-led campaign against al-Qaida. Thousands of tribespeople have fled their homes.
According to local government officials and intelligence officers, about two dozen local people were killed in an attack on five vehicles Saturday. Army spokesman Shaukat Sultan said the vehicles were fired on because they were trying to escape a military cordon.
In a separate incident, at least seven people were killed when their bus was hit by a stray rocket fired by militants, Sultan said. However, locals said it was hit by gunfire and rockets from a Pakistani helicopter.
Tribesman Zain Ullah said 12 of his relatives, including five women, died in the bus attack.
At the hospital in Wana, three miles from the fighting, dozens of victims' relatives wailed and cursed the Pakistani army and President Gen. Pervez Musharraf.
"Pakistani soldiers are like beasts," said tribesman Mukhtar Wazir, as he watched three wounded children receive treatment. "Musharraf is evil, Bush is Satan."
___ Associated Press reporter Stephen Graham in Kabul, Afghanistan contributed to this report.
State veterinarian Walt Cook assists a striken elk back to health at the State Veterinary Laboratory, March 6, 2004, in Laramie, Wyo. Experts report at least 289 elk have fallen ill and died in south-central Wyoming over the past month. The animals slump to the ground eventually succumbing to thirst, scavengers or, mercifully, the guns of Wyoming Game and Fish Department employees. An intensive effort has yet to yield an answer to the dieoff, which experts say is unheard of in any scientific literatureworldwide. (AP Photo/Wyoming Game and Fish Department)
By MEAD GRUVER, Associated Press Writer
LARAMIE, Wyo. - As the Wyoming countryside begins to thaw, biologists and game wardens are canvassing the rugged terrain to solve an alarming mystery: Why have hundreds of elk slumped to the ground and died in less than two months?
Despite intensive research, the wildlife deaths have stymied state officials, who have investigated a host of theories ranging from deliberate poisoning to exposure to heavy metals.
"The only time we've ever seen any deaths like this before have been winter-related deaths — severe winters, starvation-type things — which is not the case," state veterinarian Walt Cook said.
At least 289 elk have been affected in south-central Wyoming since early February. The sick animals usually slump to the ground and cannot get up. Many eventually die of thirst. Some have also been euthanized by employees of the state Game and Fish Department.
Cook's specialty is investigating mysterious animal deaths. He first looks for the telltale brain perforations of chronic wasting disease, the deer-and-elk version of mad cow disease.
But chronic wasting disease was quickly ruled out after the first sick elk turned up Feb. 6. Also crossed off the list have been most viruses and bacteria, as well as malnutrition, exposure to heavy metals such as arsenic, and the possibility of poisoning from a leaky gas well or pipeline.
Officials have discounted any foul play because deliberate poisoning of so many wild animals would be virtually impossible.
"We've basically ruled out all those common things, and so now we're just looking at what are all the uncommon things," Cook said.
Officials are also checking whether the elk may have become so frightened they ran themselves to exhaustion; been bitten by ticks, which carry a mild toxin in their saliva; or consumed monensin, a feed additive for cattle that is poisonous to many animals including elk.
For a time, researchers used a helicopter to find as many afflicted elk as possible, but at $900 an hour the flights were becoming expensive.
Lately they have focused on lab work, which begins with driving into the rough country near the Continental Divide and traipsing through melting snow and mud to snip plant specimens and scoop up elk droppings.
At the lab's warehouse-sized autopsy room, some elk have been dissected for analysis by pathologists and toxicologists. Tissue samples were sent away for more detailed tests.
Another idea has been trying to keep four sick elk alive by rehydrating them and providing nourishment. But after a week, one died, two worsened and had to be euthanized, and the fourth did not improve. That ruled out vitamin or mineral deficiency.
The failures have been frustrating to employees.
"As you can imagine, it was a pretty heavy emotional toll on them because they were shooting most of these elk to put them down," Cook said. "And they were continually asking us, do we absolutely have to do this? Is there any other option?"
Valerius Geist, an elk expert in British Columbia, said he has never heard of such a die off in his 48 years of research in the field.
With so many possibilities ruled out, about the only one left is that the elk ate a toxic plant.
Any toxin in the air or water would likely affect a variety of animals, including antelope and deer. And if that happened, elk are the toughest and would probably be the last to fall, not the first.
Elk also dine from a different menu than other vegetarians of the backcountry. Antelope and deer might not be eating toxic plants.
"The thing that really makes this unusual is we have about 50 elk that are about 10 miles north of this herd ... and they're fine," said Greg Hiatt, a state wildlife biologist.
Scientists speculate that a plant species the elk were used to eating may have become poisonous. Geist said plants can become more toxic the more they are grazed. "That's how they protect themselves," he said.
Another possibility is that the elk arrived in Wyoming from elsewhere, perhaps as far away as Colorado, and ate a toxic plant without knowing any better.
Lab tests should shed light on those theories. When the results are complete, Cook wants to gather possible poisonous plants and feed them to healthy elk to see if they develop similar symptoms.
"If they do, then we'll have the answer. If they don't, it's one more thing to cross off the list and move on," he said.
___
On the Net:
Wyoming Game and Fish: http://gf.state.wy.us/
See posts 2715 on this thread.
And also 2706 to see that Hamid Mir first reported about the alleged nuclear bomb purchase back when he interviewed bin Laden
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