Posted on 02/15/2005 7:10:00 PM PST by TexKat
Standing Guard
Bump
North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il is one of the world's bizarrest figures. Now he says he has nuclear power.
Associated Press
February 16, 2005
BAGHDAD, Iraq - A U.S. soldier was killed in action in western Iraq, the U.S. military said Wednesday.
The soldier assigned to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force was killed Tuesday "while conducting security and stability operations" in volatile Anbar province, the military said in a statement.
No other details were available. The deceased soldier's name was withheld as is customary in the military, pending notification of next of kin.
Anbar is a vast territory west of Baghdad where insurgents have been active and includes the cities of Fallujah, Ramadi and Qaim on the border with Syria.
As of Tuesday, at least 1,464 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. At least 1,114 died as a result of hostile action, according to the Defense Department. The figures include four military civilians.
Wednesday February 16, 11:30 AM:
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Giuliana Sgrena, an Italian journalist kidnapped in Iraq, has appeared on a tape released by insurgents begging for her life and appealing for foreign troops to withdraw from Iraq.
"I beg you, put an end to the occupation. I beg the Italian government and the Italian people to put pressure on the government to pull out," she said on the undated tape, holding her hands in front of her in supplication.
Sgrena, 57, was seized in Baghdad on Feb 4.
Wed, Feb 16, 2005:
MOSUL, Iraq - A car bomb exploded alongside a U.S. military convoy in northern Iraq (news - web sites) on Wednesday, witnesses said.
Several people were injured in the blast near Mosul's Yarmouk Square, witnesses said. At least one U.S. military vehicle was damaged in the blast.
Iraqi and American officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
Wed Feb 16, 2005 12:03 PM GMT:
By Amer Mohammed
KIRKUK (Reuters) - Iraq's oil export pipeline to Turkey has been hit by sabotage and flows are likely to be halted until early next week, an Iraqi oil official has said.
Saboteurs also hit another line and gunmen opened fire on an army colonel in charge of security at oil pipelines at a northern town west of the oil city of Kirkuk. He died of his wounds on Wednesday, police said on Wednesday.
Police said Colonel Ibrahim Ahmed was killed in his car in the town of Ajeel west of Kirkuk.
Iraq had only just restarted crude exports along the pipeline from its northern fields via the refinery at Baiji to the Turkish port of Ceyhan on Monday, reopening a route that had been closed by sabotage since December.
Pumping had managed a flow rate of just over 100,000 barrels per day, and stocks in tanks at Ceyhan had reached only about 100,000-150,000 barrels, shippers said. The pipeline has the capacity to pump over one million bpd.
"It was hit by sabotage on Tuesday night and flows are expected to start again on Monday or Tuesday of next week," the Iraqi oil official told Reuters.
Insurgents are bent on blowing up pipelines and targeting energy security officials in a bid to weaken Iraq's U.S.-backed interim government, which depends heavily on revenues from crude sales and is struggling to rebuild the economy.
The interim government is struggling to impose security in a country where suicide bombings, kidnappings and oil pipeline sabotage have become a part of daily life since a U.S.-led toppled Iraqi president Saddam Hussein in 2003.
INTERNAL LINE HIT
Another explosion hit an oil pipeline east of the refinery city of Baiji on Wednesday, causing a large blaze and sending thick clouds of black smoke over the city, officials and witnesses said.
The pipeline hit was not thought to be the main northern export pipeline, but rather an internal line running to the Baiji refinery from the oil fields at Kirkuk, about 80 km (50 miles) to the northeast.
"It was sabotaged by a bomb at al-Fatha, seven km east of Baiji," Majid Menoun, director of pipelines at the Baiji refinery, told Reuters.
Others in Baiji said they heard a series of explosions early in the morning and more than one pipeline may have been hit, but their information could not immediately be confirmed.
Smoke pouring from the main blast blanketed Baiji and sent several people to hospital with breathing problems, doctors said. Firefighters were struggling to control the blaze.
Baiji is home to Iraq's biggest refinery. Crude oil is sent from there north to Ceyhan for export.
Dozens of pipelines run from Kirkuk to Baiji, around Baiji and then north and south from there and saboteurs often don't know which line they are attacking, although their chief target is the main export line.
© Reuters 2005.
Wednesday 16, February 2005:
Iraqi police said, Gunmen shot dead an Interior Ministry intelligence officer in a southern Baghdad neighborhood on Wednesday. Attackers opened fire on 1st Lt. Ghazi Hoshi as he was getting into hiscar to go to work in Dora. According to medical officials at a hospital where the casualties were brought, in another attack in the northern city of Mosul, gunmen seriously wounded a police colonel and killed his driver. In other violence Tuesday, assailants killed a former municipal official in eastern Baghdad. Also Tuesday, unidentified attackers killed a civil aviation official in western Baghdad, and shot dead a police sergeant as he was driving through the east of the city.
2005/02/16:
Samarra, Feb 16 - Eight Iraqis, many of them security forces, were killed overnight in attacks north of Baghdad, security and medical sources said Wednesday.
Near Dhuluiyah, 45 miles (73 kilometres) north of the capital, three soldiers were killed and two others wounded by a bomb concealed in the burnt-out shell of car abandoned on the roadside.
"The blast occurred near the village of Al-Amin," army Lieutenant Colonel Jomaa Mohammed told reporters.
In Dujail, 25 miles (40 kilometres) north of the capital, two Iraqi soldiers and an Iraqi contractor were killed in a mortar attack on an army base, local police said.
Clashes broke out overnight in the restive town of Baquba, 30 miles (48 kilometres) north of Baghdad, leaving one Iraqi policeman and two gunmen dead, security sources said.
"Witnesses said that the missile was fired from an unknown plane 20 km (12 miles) from the city." (2/16/2005)
Iran missile blast = MSNBC is reporting that it probably was a fuel tank from an Iranian plane.
Syria and Iran Say to Build 'Common Front':
Wed, Feb 16, 2005
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran and Syria, both locked in rows with the United States, said on Wednesday they will form a common front to face challenges and threats.
"We are ready to help Syria on all grounds to confront threats," Iranian Vice-President Mohammad Reza Aref said in Tehran after meeting Syrian Prime Minister Naji al-Otari.
Otari told reporters: "This meeting, which takes place at this sensitive time, is important, especially because Syria and Iran face several challenges and it is necessary to build a common front."
The United States on Tuesday recalled its ambassador to Syria for urgent consultations to show its deep displeasure with Damascus after Monday's killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.
U.S. officials said they were considering imposing new sanctions on Syria because of its refusal to withdraw its 14,000 troops from Lebanon and the U.S. belief that Syria lets Palestinian militants and Iraqi insurgents operate on its soil.
While acknowledging they do not know who was to blame for Hariri's car-bomb assassination, U.S. officials argued Syria's military presence and its political power-broking role were generally responsible for Lebanon's instability.
Syria rejects accusations it supports terrorism.
Washington has branded Iran part of an "axis of evil" along with pre-war Iraq (news - web sites) and North Korea (news - web sites) and accuses Tehran of seeking nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is solely for electricity generation.
President Bush (news - web sites) has dubbed Iran "the world's primary state sponsor of terror" and has warned the United States could use military action to prevent it acquiring a nuclear bomb.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&ncid=578&e=11&u=/nm/20050216/ts_nm/iran_syria_dc
By AHMED AL-HAJ, Associated Press Writer
SAN`A, Yemen - A suspected member of al-Qaida has turned himself in to the authorities and confessed to planning terror attacks against Western embassies in the Yemeni capital, security officials said Wednesday.
The man, identified only as a 30-year-old Yemeni extremist, has told his interrogators he belonged to a cell of the al-Qaida terror group and he planned to carry out a suicide attack on the U.N. offices in San'a last week, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The militant surrendered last week to the Yemeni intelligence department in San'a, the officials said. They did not say why he turned himself in.
After his surrender, police searched his house and confiscated weapons and explosives, the officials said.
The authorities also increased security outside the U.N. building as the militant said that he and fellow cell members had noticed it was not well protected. Soldiers now patrol the three-story villa around the clock.
The officials said the militant also confessed that he and five others, including Saudis, had planned to attack Western embassies, including the American and British embassies. The officials did not provide further details.
On Monday, 11 suspected members of the al-Qaida terror network went on trial on charges of planning attacks in Yemen and other countries.
Yemen, the ancestral home of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, has long been a haven for Islamic extremists. In recent years it has been the scene of numerous terrorist attacks, including the 2000 bombing of the destroyer USS Cole that killed 17 American sailors.
Following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, Yemen's government joined the American-led war on terror and cracked down on militants.
Good morning Gucho and everyone. Appears to be a somewhat active morning Gucho.
A fuel tank falling from an Iranian plane could have caused an explosion in Iran's Bushehr province, where the country is building a nuclear power plant, Iran state television said on February 16, 2005. The Arabic-language channel Al-Alam also quoted other witnesses as saying that an unknown aircraft fired a missile in a deserted area near the southern city of Dailam, which is in Bushehr province. (Reuters Graphic)
Falling Fuel Tank May Have Caused Iran Blast - TV
DUBAI (Reuters) - A fuel tank falling from an Iranian plane could have caused an explosion in Iran's Bushehr province, where the country is building a nuclear power plant, Iran state television said on Wednesday.
"A local source said the explosion could have been the result of the falling of an empty fuel tank from an Iranian plane," Al-Alam said.
The Arabic-language channel also quoted other witnesses as saying that an unknown aircraft fired a missile on Wednesday in a deserted area near the southern city of Dailam, which is in Bushehr province.
Iranian Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref (R) stands with Syrian Prime Minister Naji al-Otari during the official welcoming ceremony at Tehran's Saadabad Palace February 16, 2005. Iran and Syria, both locked in rows with the United States, said on Wednesday they would form a common front to face challenges and threats. (Raheb Homavandi/Reuters)
Syria and Iran Say Will Build 'Common Front'
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran and Syria, both locked in rows with the United States, said on Wednesday they would form a common front to face challenges and threats.
"We are ready to help Syria on all grounds to confront threats," Iranian Vice-President Mohammad Reza Aref said in Tehran after meeting Syrian Prime Minister Naji al-Otari.
Otari told reporters: "This meeting, which takes place at this sensitive time, is important, especially because Syria and Iran face several challenges and it is necessary to build a common front."
Syria's ambassador to the United States, asked by CNN what the common front with Iran entailed, stressed that it was not an anti-American alliance and said Syria was trying to improve its relations with Washington.
"Today we do not want to form a front against anybody, particularly not against the United States," Imad Moustapha said.
"Syria is trying to engage constructively with the United States ... We are not the enemies of the United States, and we do not want to be drawn into such an enmity," he added.
Washington recalled its ambassador to Syria for urgent consultations on Tuesday to show its deep displeasure with Damascus after Monday's killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.
U.S. officials said they were considering imposing new sanctions on Syria because of its refusal to withdraw its 14,000 troops from Lebanon and the U.S. belief that Syria lets Palestinian militants and Iraqi insurgents operate on its soil.
While acknowledging they do not know who was to blame for Hariri's car bomb assassination, U.S. officials argued Syria's military presence and its political power-broking role were generally responsible for Lebanon's instability.
Syria rejects accusations it supports terrorism.
Moustapha told CNN Damascus regarded its military presence in Lebanon as a "stabilizing factor" and said "we would be happy to withdraw the troops" if the Lebanese government asked Syria to do so.
Washington has branded Iran part of an "axis of evil" along with pre-war Iraq and North Korea and accuses Tehran of seeking nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is solely for electricity generation.
President Bush has dubbed Iran "the world's primary state sponsor of terror" and has warned the United States could use military action to prevent it acquiring a nuclear bomb.
By Maria Golovnina
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia said on Wednesday it wanted to supply Syria with advanced missile systems, a move certain to anger the United States which accuses Syria of having links to terrorism.
Russia had long denied reports it wanted to sell missiles to Syria, its Cold War-era ally. The United States and Israel have urged Moscow to drop any such plans, saying Russian arms supplies would only strengthen militants in the Middle East.
"Talks are underway with this country to sell it Strelets air defense short-range missile systems," the Defense Ministry said in a statement.
The statement said Strelets missiles are not man-portable and can only be used when attached to a heavy vehicle -- which officials believe makes them less attractive to militants than the relatively cheap and easy-to-use shoulder-fired missiles.
Earlier this week, a senior U.S. diplomat in Moscow said the United States remained concerned over any arms trading with Syria that could lead to missile technology falling into the hands of terrorists.
"Our bottom line is that they (the Russians) should not be providing any military assistance to Syria since they are a sponsor of terrorism," said the diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Relations between the United States and Syria are already tense and the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri this week has further strained them.
U.S. officials say Syria's military presence and political power-broking role are responsible for Lebanon's instability and on Tuesday Washington recalled its ambassador to Syria and said it was considering imposing new sanctions on Damascus.
SHOULDER-FIRED MISSILES
The news of Moscow's intention comes just days before Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Bush are due to sign a deal to curb trade in shoulder-fired missiles when they meet in Bratislava on Feb. 24.
Media reported earlier this year that Moscow was looking to sell Syria its flagship Igla shoulder-fired missiles, widely used by militants around the world. But the Defense Ministry on Wednesday reiterated that arms trade with Syria included no Igla missiles.
Russia has stressed it carries out arms exports strictly in accordance with international law and pledged to do nothing that would destabilize the Middle East.
Moscow -- already at odds with Washington over its nuclear ties to Iran -- has said U.S. terror accusations against Syria are hurting the Middle East peace process.
Moscow's efforts to forge closer ties with Syria are part of its plan to regain its long-lost influence in the Middle East.
During last month's visit by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Russia agreed to write off a huge chunk of Soviet-era debt held by Syria.
By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer
TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's intelligence chief on Wednesday accused the United States of flying spy drones over its nuclear sites and threatened to shoot down the unmanned surveillance crafts.
Intelligence Minister Ali Yunesi comments backed a report in The Washington Post on Sunday that quoted unidentified U.S. officials as saying the drones have been flying over Iran for nearly a year to seek evidence of nuclear weapons programs.
"U.S. spying activities over Iranian airspace have been going since a long time ago," Yunesi told reporters.
"Most of the shining objects that our people see in Iran's airspace are American spying equipment used to spy on Iran's nuclear and military facilities," the minister told reporters.
He said they would not reveal anything the United States doesn't already know.
"Our nuclear activities are open and very transparent. Our military activities are all legal," Yunesi said. He spoke while visiting a prison for dissidents under the shah that has been turned into a museum.
In London, meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said Iran will have the knowledge to build nuclear weapons within six months.
"This is not only Israel's problem, but an international problem, as the long-range missiles can reach Europe," Shalom said.
The United States accuses Iran of having a secret program to manufacture nuclear weapons. Iran denies this, saying its nuclear program is entirely for the generation of electricity.
The Washington Post reported the drones had been flying over Iran from U.S. military bases in Iraq and were equipped with air filters to pick up traces of nuclear activity.
In December, the Iranian air force was ordered to shoot down any unknown flying objects. At the time, there were reports in Iranian newspapers that Iran had discovered spying devices in unmanned planes its air defense force had shot down.
"If any of the bright objects come close, they will definitely meet our fire and will be shot down. We possess the necessary equipment to confront them," Yunesi said.
Last month, Yunesi said the United States had been conducting aerial surveillance, but he neither mentioned drones nor nuclear and military sites. Yunesi said U.S. commandoes had not entered Iran, adding the security forces would catch any American who did.
Iranian media has been gripped by a kind of "flying object" fever with dozens of reported sightings in recent weeks. State-run media has reported numerous sightings of unknown objects flying over parts of Iran where nuclear facilities are located.
The objects were spotted near Natanz — which has a uranium enrichment plant — and Isfahan, which has a facility for producing uranium hexaflouride gas, the feedstock for enriching uranium.
Uranium enriched to low grades is used for fuel in nuclear reactors. Further enrichment makes it suitable for atomic bombs.
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