Posted on 02/26/2005 7:20:48 PM PST by TexKat
A British soldier surveys the scene from the top of an armoured vehicle after insurgents detonated a bomb in the west of Baghdad, killing two civilians who were passing by in a vehicle, in Iraq Saturday, Feb. 26, 2005. It was not clear what the target was although a U.S. tank was nearby at the time but was not damaged in the blast. (AP Photo/Mohammed Uraibi)
A young boy rides his bicycle in front of a Danish armoured vehicle as it patrols during a morning raid in search of wanted men and illegal weapons, in al-Hartha north of the southern town of Basra in Iraq Saturday, Feb. 26, 2005. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)
Task force commander leaves for Pentagon
MICHAEL GILBERT; The News Tribune
Last updated: February 26th, 2005 02:35 AM
Brig. Gen. Carter Ham’s first and only assignment at Fort Lewis didn’t last long. He was here four months before the Army shipped him off to Mosul, Iraq, last January. But he played a major part in the fortunes of Fort Lewis troops, thousands of whom worked under his leadership in northern Iraq the past 13 months.
The post held a ceremony to say farewell Friday to the 53-year-old commander of Task Force Olympia, who’s back from Iraq but on his way now to a new job at the Pentagon.
Ham will be “deputy director for regional operations to the joint staff,” a liaison between U.S. Central Command and the Pentagon’s Joint Chiefs. Centcom, located at MacDill Air Force Base near Tampa, Fla., is responsible for combat operations in Central Asia and the Middle East.
Maj. Gen. Jimmie Collins, the deputy Fort Lewis commander, pinned him with a Bronze Star medal and praised him as “dedicated, committed, a team player, a war fighter without rival.”
A self-effacing Army general is a rare thing, but Ham joked with well-wishers that he thought Collins must’ve been talking about someone else.
“This past year has been the defining period of my life,” he said. “There have been triumphs and tragedies both large and small.”
Ham and the task force staff of about 100 soldiers from Fort Lewis directed U.S. and Iraqi military operations across the northern quarter of the country. They coordinated the fight against insurgents, the buildup of Iraqi security forces and $80 million in reconstruction projects.
Throughout his tenure, Ham was known for speaking bluntly about what was happening in the north, good or bad.
He was upfront about the level of fear insurgents were sowing across Mosul, a city of 2 million people. And he acknowledged being surprised by the Nov. 10 insurgent attacks that swept the city and caused three-quarters of Mosul’s 4,000 police officers to run away.
Ham also took personal responsibility for the security breach Dec. 21 that allowed a suicide bomber to get into the Forward Operating Base Marez chow hall and kill 22 people, including 14 U.S. troops – six from Fort Lewis.
“Clearly in this instance, I failed to identify some shortcoming that allowed this to occur,” Ham told reporters in the days after the bombing.
He did not try to hide his pessimism heading into the Jan. 30 elections. But few people in Iraq were happier when election day in Mosul went off with almost no trouble and turnout exceeded the modest expectations of U.S. and Iraqi leaders.
“With apologies to my bride, that was the most significant day of my life,” Ham said Friday.
Ham and his wife, Christi, were prepared to retire and had bought a home in Columbus, Ga., when he was nominated for brigadier general in 2003. They sold the house and moved to Fort Lewis in August when he was assigned to be the post’s deputy commanding general for training and readiness.
In December, he got the call to put together the Task Force Olympia staff and get over to Mosul. Task force members worked out of Saddam Hussein’s former presidential palace north of the city, returning to Fort Lewis in late January.
Ham joins the ranks of other Fort Lewis’ wartime generals. The last was Lt. Gen. Calvin Waller, who was the post commander in 1990 when he was summoned to Saudi Arabia to help lead Operation Desert Storm. The post’s deputy commander at that time, Maj. Gen. Paul Schwartz, also went to the war.
Before that, the last Fort Lewis generals to go to war were those from the 4th Infantry Division, which deployed to Vietnam in 1966.
MARSHALL LOEB; MarketWatch
Last updated: February 26th, 2005 02:35 AM
Two new scams are preying upon relatives and friends of American servicemen and women who have died in Iraq. Both of the scams are perpetuated via e-mail, according to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, part of the Department of Homeland Security. They entice the recipient to share personal and financial information.
The friend scam: This comes via an e-mail supposedly from a “friend of a friend of the deceased soldier.” The sender promises, on behalf of your family, to secure money that is owed to your deceased relative.
The Iraqi bank scam: This is similar to the well-known “Nigeria scam.” The sender asks for your help to retrieve funds looted from the Iraqi Central Bank in exchange for a share of the money.
The back story is real – Saddam Hussein authorized the withdrawal of millions before the U.S. invasion in March 2003 – but government investigations of the matter ended a year later.
By Sgt. 1st Class Doug Sample, USA
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Feb. 26, 2005 -- Coalition soldiers are assisting relief agencies in Afghanistan, delivering food and supplies to help Afghan citizens in remote villages through one of the country's harshest winters in recent history, a Combined Forces Command Afghanistan spokesman said today.
During a briefing from Kabul, Army Maj. Steven Wollman said soldiers from the 25th Infantry Division (Light), in a military operation dubbed "Operation Bear's Paw," have been distributing food provided by the World Food Program to citizens of Zabol province.
He said soldiers have been using military vehicles to deliver tons of food, and that when roads are blocked by snow and ice, are using CH-47 helicopters to move food and supplies to stranded villagers.
The coalition has coordinated with the World Food Program to airdrop food and other aid in Ghor province beginning next week, he added.
Wollman said the coalition will "continue to coordinate with governmental officials and international relief organizations to help the people of Afghanistan through the winter."
During the briefing, Wollman also reported that progress is being made daily to rid the countryside of illegal weapons.
During the past week, he said, eight weapons caches were discovered -- two by the Afghan National Army and two more by coalition forces. Four caches were turned over by local Afghan citizens, he said.
One of the caches found by an Afghan patrol in Herat province contained three trucks containing rockets, mortars, and small-arms ammunition.
Another weapons stockpile turned in by a local citizen in Helmand province contained 97 82 mm mortar rounds, 76 anti-personnel mines, 24 rocket-propelled grenades and thousands of rounds of small-arms ammunition.
Wollman said all of the ammunition and weapons discovered were either destroyed or secured for use by the Afghan National Army.
When did the Danish show up in Iraq?
HADITHA, Iraq - US and Iraqi troops swept into towns along the Euphrates river valley on Saturday in a push to flush out insurgents, and the government said it was closing in on al Qaeda's leader in Iraq , Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
As politicians haggled in Baghdad over who will get which posts in the new government, US Marines and Iraqi soldiers fought militants in the towns of Haditha and Ramadi, capital of the vast and often lawless western province of Anbar.
Some intelligence reports have suggested Jordanian militant Zarqawi, who has claimed responsibility for many of the deadliest attacks in the country who has a $25 million US bounty on his head, has been hiding in the Haditha area.
The Iraqi government said on Friday it had captured one of his senior aides, Abu Qutaybah, close to the border with Syria, and has vowed to get Zarqawi himself.
"We are at the closest point to Zarqawi," Iraq's minister of state for national security, Kassim Daoud, said on Saturday.
Iraq's government has said several times it was close to capturing Zarqawi.
Troops in tanks and armored cars stormed Haditha in the middle of the night, blowing up a weapons cache and exchanging small arms fire with guerrillas. But if militants were holed up there, they appeared to have fled and resistance was light.
In Ramadi, witnesses reported fierce gun battles between US troops and insurgents. One said a US armored Humvee was destroyed, although this could not be confirmed. A hospital official said at least three people were killed and 17 injured.
Anbar province, which accounts for nearly a third of Iraq's area and stretches from Baghdad to the western borders with Jordan, Syria and Saudi Arabia, has long been a thorn in the side of troops trying to stamp out the insurgency.
Militants have effective control of some towns and villages, and the US military acknowledged this week the security situation in the province had deteriorated too far.
"River blitz"
Since they launched the River Blitz offensive six days ago, US and Iraqi troops have arrested around 150 suspected insurgents and seized bomb-making equipment and weapons including machine guns, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades.
At least four Marines have died, pushing the number of US troops killed in combat in Iraq since the start of the war in March 2003 to over 1,130.
The extent to which Anbar lies beyond the pale of Iraqi authority was shown by last month's election, when only two percent of the province's mostly Sunni Muslim population voted.
Some Sunni Arabs boycotted the ballot, others said the violence made voting simply too dangerous. As a result, Sunni Arabs fared badly in the polls and Iraq's long-oppressed Shi'ite majority prospered at their expense.
But neither the main Shi'ite coalition which topped the polls, nor the other Shi'ite party of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, has the two-thirds parliamentary majority needed to form a government and will have to cut deals to get what they want.
The beneficiaries could be the Kurds, whose main coalition won 25 percent of the vote and will have 75 seats.
Since the election, the number of insurgent attacks in Iraq has fallen, although the country is still plagued by violence.
Gunmen opened fire on two Ministry of Trade trucks between the southeastern city of Kut and Baghdad, killing two drivers, police said.
Two Iraqi soldiers were killed and nine wounded when a suicide bomber attacked their checkpoint near Musayyib, south of Baghdad, police sources said. Three cars were set ablaze.
A car bomb killed two civilians and injured three in western Baghdad on Saturday. Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the bomb, saying its suicide bomber had attacked two US tanks.
Another car bomb went off in the restive northern city of Mosul, close to a US convoy, witnesses said. The US military had no immediate word on casualties.
Reuters/abs-cbnNEWS.com
Article from JUNE 26, 2003 Speech by The Ambassador of Denmark to the United States of America, Ulrik A. Federspiel to The Federal City Club, Washington DC. Denmark's Foreign Policy Facing the Challenges of the Post-9/11 World
We felt that it was our duty to support the United States when the call was – for once – coming from the other side of the Atlantic.
Our moral support in the war against Iraq was important. In more tangible terms, we supported the war by deploying intel-assets and vessels to the Persian Gulf. Furthermore, we have deployed 380 troops, including special forces, to assist British soldiers in their mission in the Basra area. The Danish troops were the first stabilization forces to arrive in the region.
Associated Press ROCK HILL, S.C. - The Army Reserve company that drew attention when some of its soldiers refused a mission to transport fuel along a dangerous road in Iraq has returned home, with members honoring the officer who led the unit through the controversy.
The 343rd Quartermaster Company came back to the Rock Hill Memorial Army Reserve Center on Friday, and returning soldiers presented the unit's flag to the company commander, Capt. Victor Baez-an. He took charge after some members of the unit balked at the Oct. 13 mission, saying their vehicles were in poor condition and did not have armor.
"He pretty much came in and wiped the slate clean," Sgt. Anthony Amo said. "He put pride back into this unit. He made us all keep our heads up high, no matter what people said about us. He made us proud to serve our country."
Twenty-three reservists refused to deliver supplies from Tallil air base near Nasiriyah to Taji north of Baghdad. The military has disciplined the soldiers by giving them extra duties or reducing rank.
"Everybody came out of this, and we came out of it together," Baez-an told the troops Friday. "Don't let Oct. 13 define you guys. You define yourself."
Forty-two of the 119 troops currently assigned to the 343rd arrived Friday from Fort Stewart, Ga. Four remained at Fort Stewart for medical treatment and others arrived earlier or returned to their homes in other states, said Maj. Bill Ritter, spokesman for the 81st Regional Readiness Command.
During its yearlong deployment, the unit delivered 2.5 million gallons of fuel, 1.3 million cases of water and 300,000 cases of rations, the Army said.
(AFP)
26 February 2005
BAGHDAD - At least two people were killed on Saturday when a bomb exploded near the headquarters of Iraq’s leading Sunni Muslim religious organisation, as four others died in attacks elswhere and a number of Iraqis were reported snatched in a spate of kidnappings.
The violence rumbled on a day after four US soldiers and 13 Iraqis were killed and three British soldiers jailed for abusing Iraqi civilians.
It also came as the extremist network led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Al Qaeda supremo in Iraq and one of the world’s most-wanted men, was banned under Australia’s counter-terrorism laws.
Zarqawi’s group has claimed responsibility for bombings, kidnappings and murders in Iraq, including the recent bombing of the Australian embassy in which two Iraqis were killed and two Australian soldiers wounded.
A group linked to Zarqawi claimed responsibility for an attack Friday that killed three of the US soldiers.
A pamphlet handed out north of Baghdad, signed by the Omar al-Hadid Brigade, said “Tarmiya was the tomb of dozens of their soldiers who were given a lesson that they will never forget.” It pledged yet more “painful strikes” against the US Army in the coming five days.
Australian Attorney General Philip Ruddock said “the advice is that (Zarqawi’s) organisation has played a significant role in a large number of identified attacks that have occurred in Iraq. Our interest is to have the organisation prescribed.”
Ruddock said any Australian found involved with Zarqawi would be charged.
Amid the daily diet of ambushes and bombings, a US general has ruled out a timeline for a full transfer of security to Iraqi security as the political bargaining for a new government, premier and president lumbered on.
Two people were killed and two wounded in Baghdad when a bomb went off as a car passed near the Umm al-Qura mosque, headquarters of the Committee of Muslim Scholars, which groups Iraq’s senior Sunni clerics, said witnesses and medics.
Three Iraqi women died when mortar rounds struck homes in the area around Dhuluiyah, said security sources.
And on the main road between the northern oil capital of Kirkuk and Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit, a Turkish driver burnt to death in the cabin of his truck after it was hit by an anti-tank rocket, police said.
More than 20 other Iraqis were wounded in two mortar attacks near the rebel cities of Samarra and Balad, police and medics said.
South of Baghdad, an insurgent died when when his car exploded prematurely near a police roadblock in the town of Mussaieb, said police.
Meanwhile, police said 11 people, including four women, a policeman and two civil servants, have been kidnapped in a string of abductions since Friday in the same area south of Baghdad, known as the “triangle of death”.
Gunmen snatched the four women in four separate incidents in the towns of Latifiyah and Mahmudiyah on Friday.
Two of them had been travelling back with their families from pilgrimage to the Shiite Muslim holy city of Karbala when they were ambushed on the road.
In Germany, three British soldiers were jailed Friday for abusing Iraqi civilians and were dishonourably discharged from the army.
Corporal Daniel Kenyon, 33, was jailed for 18 months after being found guilty of three charges.
Lance Corporal Mark Cooley, 25, was jailed for two years for disgraceful and cruel conduct for driving a forklift truck with a bound Iraqi suspended from the prongs.
Lance Corporal Darren Larkin, 30, was sentenced to five months in jail after he pleaded guilty to assault. He had been pictured standing on an Iraqi.
Britain’s army chief, General Mike Jackson, and Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon apologized to Iraqis for the soldiers’ behavior.
Jackson said he was “appalled and disappointed” when he first saw photographs of the Iraqis being mistreated at a camp near Basra in May 2003, which emerged at the trial.
As political maneuvring for a new Iraqi government continued back in Baghdad, a US general said there was still no timeline for US troops to fully hand authority to their Iraqi counterparts.
Major General William Webster, who takes over responsibility for security in Baghdad on Sunday, said such a move, a mantra for US officials and military leaders since the 2003 invasion, would be ”event-driven”.
The Iraqi army numbers more than 50,000 soldiers. The government has said it wants 100,000 troops trained by July and 150,000 by year-end.
On the diplomatic front, interim Iraqi President Ghazi al-Yawar received an invitation from Algerian National Assembly President Abdul Kader Ben Saleh to attend the March 22-23 annual Arab League summit to be held in Algiers.
U.S. and Iraqi troops swept into towns along the Euphrates river valley on February 26, 2005 in a push to flush out insurgents, and the government said it was closing in on al Qaeda's leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. As politicians haggled in Baghdad over who will get which posts in the new government, U.S. Marines and Iraqi soldiers fought militants in the towns of Haditha and Ramadi, capital of the vast and often lawless western province of Anbar. In this photo, a U.S. soldier looks out from his tank's hatch on Baghdad's airport road. Photo by Akram Saleh/Reuters
A father and children look on as an armoured amphibious Vehicle patrols in Haditha west of Baghdad. At least 10 people were killed and 11 kidnapped in Iraq as the interim government claimed that the noose was tightening on Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the man blamed for much of the violence(AFP/Jaime Razuri)
A detained Iraqi man shows where a rifle is hidden as troops of the 1st Battalion 7th Marines take part in a house-to-house search patrol in Haditha west of Baghdad.(AFP/Jaime Razuri)
Iraqi police arrive at their station with a suspected kidnapper under arrest covering his face with his t-shirt, February 26, 2005. Police arrested a gang of four aleged criminal kidnappers and released a hostage. Criminal kidnaps for ransom have become a common crime in Iraq since the U.S. lead invasion two years ago. REUTERS/Ali Jasim
Iraqi police arrive at their station with alleged kidnappers under arrest and covering their faces with their shirts, February 26, 2005. Police arrested a gang of four alleged criminal kidnappers and released a hostage. Criminal kidnappings for ransom have become a common crime in Iraq since the U.S. lead invasion two years ago. REUTERS/Ali Jasim
A convoy of Danish military vehicles drive past an Iraqi boy during a military security operation near Iraq's second largest city of Basra, February 26, 2005. A female Danish military intelligence officer and four male military police sergeants will go on trial in Copenhagen on May 2 for allegedly abusing 11 Iraqi prisoners last year, judicial sources said. The trial will be the first in Denmark in which soldiers are accused of violating the Geneva Convention on the protection of civilians in times of war. REUTERS/Atef Hassan
An alleged kidnapper (L) is shown off by a masked policeman after being arrested in Baghdad, February 26, 2005. Police arrested a gang of four alleged criminal kidnappers and released a hostage. Criminal kidnappings for ransom have become a common crime in Iraq since the U.S. led invasion two years ago. REUTERS/Ali Jasim
An Iraqi policeman points his weapon towards a suspected kidnapper after being arrested in Baghdad, February 26, 2005. Police arrested a gang of four alleged criminal kidnappers and released a hostage on Saturday. Criminal kidnaps for ransom have become a common crime in Iraq since the U.S. led invasion two years ago. REUTERS/Ali Jasim
27 February 2005
WASHINGTON — US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has put off plans to visit Egypt, where the jailing of an opposition politician has raised deep US concerns, US officials said on Friday. Rice will go to London for a meeting on Tuesday to promote Palestinian political, security and economic reforms and she had considered going to Egypt afterwards, US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters.
Meanwhile, detained Egyptian opposition leader Ayman Nour has gone back to his cell after he ended his hunger strike at the hospital.
The Ghad Party leader was questioned about allegations that the party submitted forged documents in its application for recognition.
(AP)
27 February 2005
BERLIN — German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said in comments released yesterday that he was satisfied the US has no intention of attacking Iran in the standoff over the country’s nuclear programme.
During a European tour this week that included a meeting in Germany with Schroeder, US President George W. Bush addressed worries in Europe and the Middle East about the US stance. Bush said it is “simply ridiculous” to say the US is preparing a strike on Iran.
“He said the words ‘Iran is not Iraq’ deliberately — no one, and that includes the American government, is thinking of military action against Teheran,” Schroeder said in an interview with the weekly Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.
However, the newspaper quoted Schroeder as saying he had made clear to Bush that Germany would not participate in any possible military action. Schroeder was one of the leading opponents of the US-led war in Iraq two years ago.
Together with France and Germany, Britain has spearheaded diplomatic efforts to persuade Teheran to end nuclear activities that could be used to make weapons — an aim that Iran denies. Washington has been less patient, pushing for the matter to be referred to the UN Security Council and refusing to rule out military strikes.
Bush’s visit to Germany on Wednesday highlighted an improvement in relations that were strained by the disagreement over Iraq.
“Harmony is perhaps the wrong word,” Schroeder was quoted as saying in the interview excerpts released yesterday. “But there is a very good working relationship, in terms of content and personally.”
RIYADH — Saudi security forces arrested two wanted militants in the capital yesterday, a security source told AFP.
The two suspects were detained following a raid on a house in the Al Aqeeq neighbourhood of north Riyadh, the source said, requesting anonymity. They surrendered without putting up any resistance.
Hundreds of suspects have been rounded up since Saudi Arabia began battling a wave of unrest blamed on Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda network in May 2003.
26 February 2005
DUBAI - The Foreign Ministry will accept female employees for the first time in its history when it takes on 36 women in about three weeks, Saudi media reported on Saturday.
The ministry’s director of administration, Prince Khalid bin Saud, said women would take on a variety of jobs in the political, economic, women’s rights and computer departments. The ministry currently employees about 2,000 people.
Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the foreign minister, revealed plans to hire women last week, saying they were part of a general process of political reform.
(Reuters)
26 February 2005
DEIR AL-GHOSON, West Bank - Israeli and Palestinian forces arrested eight men on Saturday over a suicide bombing at a Tel Aviv nightclub that killed four Israelis and endangered Middle East peacemaking efforts, witnesses said.
In some of the strongest Palestinian condemnation of an attack during more than four years of bloodshed, President Mahmoud Abbas called the bombers “terrorists” and blamed outsiders opposed to his two-week-old ceasefire with Israel.
“We will bring them to justice. We will not allow anyone to sabotage the ambitions of our people,” Abbas told reporters.
The bombing late on Friday shattered several weeks of calm after a de facto truce by militants, who have yet to formalise the ceasefire agreed between Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at a groundbreaking Feb. 8 summit.
Ambulances rushed to the popular karaoke club in a scene of flashing lights and blood-stained pavement that many Israelis had begun to believe they had put behind them. Pieces of flesh were sprayed on parked cars.
Hospital officials said the bomber killed at least four people and some 50 were wounded.
Israeli troops pushed into the West Bank village of Deir al-Ghoson before dawn, grabbing five men, including two brothers of the suspected bomber. Palestinian forces later picked up three men believed to have links to Islamic militants.
Israeli officials said the bombing proved that the Palestinian strategy of trying to win over the militants to ratify the truce had failed and tougher action was needed.
“Words are not enough. We must see action,” said Gideon Meir of Israel’s Foreign Ministry. “We must see arrests, collecting illegal weapons from those terrorist organisations ... The only language they understand is force.”
A 25-nation conference in London this week is due to look at ways to help Palestinians improve security forces and build Israeli confidence in their ability to prevent attacks.
SUSPICIONS OF OUTSIDE INVOLVEMENT
Sharon was to weigh Israel’s response to the bombing at a meeting with security chiefs on Saturday.
Responsibility for the attack, the first suicide bombing in Israel in nearly four months, remained unclear.
A cell of the militant Islamic Jihad group in the West Bank claimed the attack, but the faction’s leadership in the Gaza Strip denied any knowledge and said it would continue to maintain calm. Other mainstream groups also denied any role.
Israeli media said Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas, who have recently come under Palestinian suspicion, may have had a hand in the bombing to try to stop peace efforts. There was no immediate comment from the Iranian-backed group.
Abbas said “there is a third party which wants to sabotage this process” but did not point a finger directly at Hezbollah.
The family in Deir al-Ghoson announced through loudspeakers that Abdullah Shelbayeh “had carried out a martyrdom operation”. But there was little sign of the celebration that often followed bombings.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice demanded that Palestinian leaders find those responsible and “send a clear message that terror will not be tolerated”.
Washington has stepped up efforts to revive the peace process after Abbas was elected to succeed late President Yasser Arafat with a pledge of non-violence.
Abbas has hoped to win over the militants to his ceasefire rather than use force to rein them in.
“For more than two months there was calm and quiet and the Palestinians enjoyed this as well,” said taxi driver Eli Yehezkel amid the debris in Tel Aviv. “Now we are back to checkpoints and a process of bloodletting.”
Palestinian militant factions have said they are still not satisfied with Israeli gestures meant to build confidence -- such as the release of 500 out of 8,000 prisoners and an end to army raids and assassinations.
The groups also want a more sweeping Israeli pullback from Gaza and parts of the West Bank, which is slated to begin on July 20.
In a video image taken from Al-Iraqiya television, alleged insurgent Egyptian Mustafa al-Sayyed Madbouli gives his televised confession, in Iraq Wednesday. (AP Photo/Al-Iraqiya TV)
Iraqi TV airs tape of purported Syrian intelligence officer involved in insurgency
February 24, 2005 - 12:41
BAGHDAD (AP) - The Syrian intelligence officer who appeared on the U.S.-funded Iraqi state television station had a stark message about the insurgency - he'd helped train people to build car bombs and behead people.
"My name is Anas Ahmed al-Essa. I live in Halab. I am from Syria," he said by way of introduction - naming what he said was his home in Syria. Halab is another name for Aleppo, a city north of Damascus.
"What's your job?" he was asked by someone off-camera. "I am a lieutenant in intelligence."
Then a second question. "Which intelligence?" The reply: "Syrian intelligence."
And so began a detailed 15-minute confession broadcast by al-Iraqiya TV on Wednesday, in which the man, identified as Lieut. Anas Ahmed al-Essa, 30, said his group was recruited to "cause chaos in Iraq . . . to bar America from reaching Syria."
"We received all the instructions from Syrian intelligence," said the man, who appeared in the propaganda video along with 10 Iraqis who said they had also been recruited by Syrian intelligence officers.
Later, al-Iraqiya aired another round of interviews with men it said were Sudanese and Egyptians who also trained in Syria to carry out attacks in Iraq.
Syrian officials could not immediately be reached for comment on the claims, which were not possible to authenticate independently.
An Iraqi special forces commander, Brig.-Gen. Abu Al-Walid, said his forces arrested the men in Mosul on Jan. 29, one day before the national elections. He said they included eight Syrians, one Lebanese, 12 Egyptians and 10 Sudanese.
He said the men were found with explosives, weapons and maps for balloting centres in Mosul.
On Thursday, Iraqi police said they arrested four other suspected terrorists during raids in Baghdad - two Syrians and two Iraqis believed to have carried out other attacks.
The videos were broadcast as the Bush administration steps up pressure on Syria to stop meddling in Iraqi affairs by allowing insurgents to cross into the country to fight coalition troops and by harboring former Iraqi regime members. Syria has denied the charges.
Top officials in Iraq's U.S.-backed interim government have called on Syria to hand over former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party who fled there after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, which Syria vehemently opposed.
Al-Iraqiya TV can be seen nationwide and is believed to be widely watched by Iraqis - mainly those who cannot afford satellite dishes offering the Persian Gulf-based Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya stations. But the station, which went on the air in May 2003 with help from the Pentagon, is viewed by many Iraqis as an American propaganda tool.
Wednesday was the first time the channel showed someone it claimed was a Syrian intelligence officer.
All those interviewed in the first video apparently were detained in the northern city of Mosul. It was not known where the interviews were made, and no date was provided.
A man identified as one of al-Essa's aides, Shehab al-Sabaawi, said the group used animals for training in beheadings. Al-Essa said it required "at least 10 beheadings" for a member to be promoted to a group leader.
"I had to send a report to Syria about how the operations are going," he said.
Weapons, explosives and equipment were all provided by Syrian intelligence, the man claimed, adding that group members received $1,500 a month.
Al-Essa said money was his motive for accepting an offer by a Syrian intelligence colonel he identified as Fady Abdullah to carry out attacks inside Iraq.
"I was trained on explosives, killing, spying, kidnapping . . . and after one year I went to Iraq with Fady Abdullah," al-Essa said.
He claimed he infiltrated Iraq in 2001, about two years before the U.S. invasion, because Syrian intelligence was convinced that American military action loomed.
An unidentified Iraqi officer introduced the video, saying all insurgent groups in Iraq were covers for Syrian intelligence. He named a number of well-known groups, including one which has killed and beheaded foreigners.
Israelis are seen enjoying a warm day at Tel Aviv's beachfront through the shattered window glass of an office building next to the site of a suicide bomb attack that killed four Israelis Friday night, in Tel Aviv Saturday Feb. 26, 2005. Palestinian security forces on Saturday arrested two suspected militants in connection with the attack acting on orders from Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to track down and punish those responsible.(AP Photo/Barkay Wolfson)
Israel Says Will Strike Syria if Needed
By JOSEF FEDERMAN, Associated Press Writer
JERUSALEM - Israel's defense minister on Saturday blamed Syria and a Palestinian militant group based there for a suicide bombing that killed four Israelis outside a Tel Aviv nightclub and shattered an informal truce, prompting him to freeze plans to hand over security responsibilities in the West Bank. Syria denied the charges.
Israel has attacked Syrian targets in the past and will do so again if it deems necessary, another senior Israeli defense official said Sunday. Deputy Defense Minister Zeev Boim said Israel will attack Syrian targets if it feels that is the way to stop attacks that originate in Damascus.
The suicide bombing, which broke two weeks of relative calm, has threatened to derail an informal cease-fire declaration by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. It also could spark new tensions between longtime foes Israel and Syria.
Abbas angrily accused a "third party" of orchestrating Friday's attack to sabotage the Mideast peace process, and his security officials said the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah, which is backed by Syria and Iran, was involved.
In Beirut, Hezbollah, denied the accusations, and Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian militant group with members in Lebanon and Syria, claimed responsibility, reversing initial denials by its members in the Palestinian territories.
The conflicting accounts created a rare sense of mystery around the attack, which also wounded dozens.
In the past, militant groups have been quick to praise their members for carrying out deadly bombings. But Islamic Jihad waited nearly 24 hours to claim the attack outside a crowded nightclub. The delay raised speculation among Palestinian officials that Islamic Jihad was acting on behalf of Hezbollah.
If the bombing had been planned by militants in the Palestinian territory, Abbas would be under tremendous pressure to crack down. But since it looked as if the bombing was linked to Islamic Jihad in Syria, and perhaps inspired by Hezbollah, Israel was likely to give him more leeway.
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz blamed Syria after meeting with senior security commanders late Saturday in Tel Aviv. "The defense minister ruled that Israel sees Syria and the Islamic Jihad movement are those standing behind the murderous attack in Tel Aviv," a statement from Mofaz's office said.
The Bush administration strongly condemned the bombing and welcomed the Palestinian leadership's response.
"Such brutal attacks that kill and wound innocent Israelis cannot be tolerated by the Israeli people. Nor should they be tolerated by the Palestinian people, for such attacks undermine their hopes for a better future," the White House said in a statement.
U.S. officials have been in touch with the Palestinians "to urge immediate and credible action" to determine who is behind this terrorist act and to bring them to justice," according to the statement.
Israel and the United States have demanded that Syria close the headquarters of Palestinian militant groups in Damascus and end its support for other militant organizations.
Syria also faces pressure to withdraw troops from Lebanon amid accusations it was behind a massive bombing on Feb. 14 that killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 16 other people. Syria has denied involvement in the slayings.
Israeli security officials said the country had no immediate plans to attack Syria but will launch a diplomatic effort in hopes of winning U.N. condemnation of Damascus. In 2003, Israeli warplanes bombed an Islamic Jihad base in Syria in retaliation for a suicide bombing that killed 19 people at a restaurant.
Syria quickly rejected the charges. Damascus "had nothing to do with the Tel Aviv operation and that this (Islamic Jihad) movement's office is closed in Syria," a foreign ministry official told reporters on condition of anonymity.
Israeli security officials said they might resume assassinating Islamic Jihad leaders in the Palestinian territories because the informal truce no longer applied to them.
Such a move, which Israel recently agreed to halt as part of a reinvigorated peace process after the death of Yasser Arafat and the election of Abbas, would likely mean the end of the carefully crafted Feb. 8 cease-fire.
In a further strain, Mofaz froze plans to withdraw troops from five West Bank towns and hand over security responsibilities to the Palestinians. The handover was among the most significant gestures by Israel after the cease-fire.
In the West Bank, Abbas met earlier Saturday with security officials and Cabinet ministers to discuss a response to the attack. He also reiterated his support for the truce and said he was exchanging information with Israel, the United States and Europe.
"We believe there is a third party that wants to sabotage this process, and to harm our people and our national goals," Abbas said. "We will not hesitate to track them down and bring them to justice and punish them."
Abbas didn't elaborate on the third party, but Palestinian officials said he was referring to Hezbollah. Security officials have said the guerrilla group is the biggest threat to the cease-fire.
Abbas said the major Palestinian militant groups — Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades — had all condemned the attack. But late Saturday, Islamic Jihad, which is based in Syria, posted an announcement on its Web site claiming responsibility.
The claim was attributed to the Al-Quds Brigades, the group's military arm. It identified the attacker as Abdullah Saeed Badran, 21, from near the West Bank town of Tulkarem.
The statement said the group carried out the attack after the expiration of a monthlong pause in a period of "calm" that it had promised to the Palestinian Authority. The Arab TV station Al-Jazeera also aired a videotape Saturday showing a man claiming to be Badran vowing to carry out the attack.
"Let the Zionists know that they will not have security. Their houses and their cities' streets will not be safe because this country is not your country. Get out of it," the man said.
Badran, a university student, was a devout Muslim but had no history of militant activity, his parents said.
In a phone call from Lebanon, an official from the Syria-based leadership of the Islamic Jihad militant group also claimed responsibility for the bombing.
A senior Palestinian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, disputed the claim, saying Hezbollah was responsible for arming the bomber and giving the orders for the attack. He also accused Hezbollah of persuading Islamic Jihad to accept responsibility to deflect attention.
Palestinian police have arrested two suspects with ties to Islamic Jihad. Israeli forces also arrested two of the bomber's brothers and four neighbors in his home village, including the local mosque preacher. The alleged driver who transported the bomber was also arrested.
In contrast to the dozens of previous suicide bombings, no celebrations were held in the West Bank on Saturday and militant groups didn't hang the customary posters of congratulations at the bomber's home. Many residents expressed anger.
"If Hezbollah was behind this attack, I as a Palestinian tell them, 'Deal with your own problems and stay out of ours,'" said Akram Abu Sbaa, 38, a resident of the West Bank town of Jenin.
February 26, 2005 - 21:03
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) - Pakistan has "broken the back" of al-Qaida by dismantling its network and arresting hundreds of suspects, a top government official said Saturday. President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, meanwhile, urged Pakistanis to reject extremist elements in the next parliamentary elections and to strengthen democratic institutions.
Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao said the remnants of Osama bin Laden's terror network were on the run.
"Their network is no more in tact. They are scattered and not in a position to even plan attacks," Sherpao said in this northwestern border city. "The al-Qaida leadership is no more effective."
His comments came two days after Musharraf said Pakistani security forces had destroyed al-Qaida-linked militants' "sanctuaries and communication systems" along the border with Afghanistan. However, Musharraf said Pakistan, a key ally of the United States in its war on terrorism, still had no clue about bin Laden's whereabouts.
On Saturday, Musharraf said he had restored democracy, but some extremist elements were working against the process.
"We need enlightened and moderate leadership, not those extremist elements who think they are more pious," Musharraf said at a public meeting.
A coalition of six Islamic groups called Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal, or MMA, has said it would launch a protest campaign next month to pressure the president to reduce his powers. Without naming MMA, Musharraf asked people not to vote for such elements in the next elections.
"You should reject those elements who don't want to see real democracy," he said.
Pakistan has arrested more than 700 al-Qaida suspects since the Sept. 11 attacks, including top leader Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who was captured near the capital, Islamabad, in March 2003.
Sherpao said Pakistani security agencies had recently arrested more terror suspects, but he gave no details. The majority of the suspects were later handed over to the U.S. officials.
February 26, 2005 - 20:56
JENIN, West Bank (AP) - Palestinians expressed anger Saturday at an overnight suicide bombing in Tel Aviv that killed four Israelis and threatened a fragile truce, a departure from former times when they welcomed attacks on their Israeli foes.
Official condemnations and denials were followed by public anger toward the perpetrators as Israeli blamed Syria and the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, which claimed responsibility for the attack. The Palestinians pointed fingers at the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah. Syria denied the allegations.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas convened his top security chiefs directly after the bombing and issued a strong statement pledging to track down and punish the culprits. The three main Palestinian militant groups - including Islamic Jihad - initially denied involvement. A branch of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in the West Bank city of Nablus, even condemned the attack.
"We will not allow anyone to sabotage our national goals, aspirations and ambitions," Abbas said Saturday in the West Bank town of Ramallah. "All Palestinian factions, including the prisoners, were outraged by this operation. I emphasize that there is another party that wants to sabotage the peace process."
Palestinians, weary after four years of violence, welcomed an Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire declaration at a Mideast summit in Egypt on Feb. 8, and many accused Hezbollah of intentionally trying to destroy the truce.
"If Hezbollah was behind this attack, I as a Palestinian tell them, 'Deal with your own problems and stay out of ours,"' said Akram Abu Sbaa, 38, of Jenin.
Another Jenin resident, Bashar Jalloudi, 40, said Hezbollah's alleged involvement in the Tel Aviv bombing would only hurt Palestinian interests at a time of relative calm.
"Where was Hezbollah when we were being killed and our homes were being demolished? They were standing on the sidelines watching with their hands tied," Jalloudi said.
Friday night's bombing, carried out by an attacker from the West Bank town of Tulkarem, killed four people and wounded about 50 others.
If a Palestinian group is found responsible, it could derail the ceasefire and put tremendous pressure on Abbas to crack down, as Israel has demanded. If an outside group was involved, Israel is likely to give him more leeway.
Israel blamed Syria and Islamic Jihad. Palestinian security officials said Hezbollah was to blame. Both Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah receive backing from Damascus.
In contrast to the dozens of previous suicide bombings, no celebrations were held in the West Bank on Saturday and militant groups didn't hang the customary posters of congratulations at the bomber's home.
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