Posted on 06/15/2005 7:17:55 PM PDT by TexKat
Eddie Salazar and his mother Sheila, search for their sailor, U.S. Navy Interior Communications Electrician 2nd Class Julio Salazar during the deployment homecoming of the USNS Mercy, June 8, 2005. USNS Mercy rapidly deployed 11 days after the Dec. 26 tsunami for five months from the Naval Station San Diego, Calif, to help provide disaster relief to Southeast Asia. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Scott Taylor
Discussion on the capture in Mosul:
A top French court jailed three men for terrorist conspiracy on June 16 2005 after finding them guilty of helping 'shoebomber' Richard Reid, who narrowly failed to destroy a U.S. airliner over the Atlantic. The court found they had helped Reid during his stay in Paris ahead of his abortive attempt to destroy a Paris-Miami American Airlines flight mid-Atlantic in December 2001 with a bomb hidden inside one of his shoes.Shoebomber Richard Reid is shown in this December, 2001 police photograph. (Reuters - Handout)
Paris court convicts three aides to shoebomber Reid
PARIS (Reuters) - A top French court jailed three men for terrorist conspiracy on Thursday after finding them guilty of helping "shoebomber" Richard Reid, who narrowly failed to destroy a U.S. airliner over the Atlantic.
The court found they had helped Reid during his stay in Paris ahead of his abortive attempt to destroy a Paris-Miami American Airlines flight mid-Atlantic in December 2001 with a bomb hidden inside one of his shoes.
Jacqueline Rebeyrotte, presiding judge at the main Paris criminal court, sentenced Ghulam Rama to five years in prison and expulsion from France once his sentence was served.
Rama, 67, a Pakistani with joint British nationality, has already spent three years in jail awaiting trial. It was not immediately clear if he would appeal.
His co-accused, Frenchmen Hakim Mokhfi and Hassan El Cheguer, both aged 31, were each jailed for four years, one year suspended. The court ordered them released as they have been in preventive detention since June 2002.
All three men had pleaded not guilty.
During the trial, the court heard that according to French intelligence, Rama had used trips to Britain, New York, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia between 2001 and 2002 as cover while he organized terrorist attacks.
A French probe on Reid's activities in France revealed he had used a Paris cyber cafe to contact Pakistan, a trail that led them to Rama, president of the Straight Path Muslim charity.
Rama told police he saw Mokhfi and Cheguer with Reid. His lawyer said before the trial began that Rama was sick and confused when police first asked him if he recognized a photograph of Reid.
The French pair deny ever meeting Reid.
On the first day of the trial, Rebeyrotte read out a French intelligence report that said Rama met several people thought to be close to al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and other known Islamic extremists.
Fellow passengers overpowered Reid as he tried to detonate the custom-made device on the airliner. The British national was jailed for life by a U.S. court in January 2003.
Good morning DC. I have not heard anything about the additional 400 British troops lately.
By Jason Beattie Political Correspondent, Evening Standard
25 May 2005
A total of 400 more troops are being sent to Iraq, the Ministry of Defence announced today.
It will take the British deployment to 8,500 at the end of the month.
The MoD said the additional soldiers were needed to help train the Iraqi security forces. The announcement will dash hopes of an early withdrawal of British troops.
Under the changes, 4 Armoured Brigade will be replaced by 12 Mechanised Brigade, while the 1st Battalion of Scots Guards will be replaced by the 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, pictured in April 2005, leaves Friday on her first major Middle East trip seeking to boost momentum for US efforts to bring peace and democratic reform to the volatile region.(AFP/File/Rodrigo Arangua)
Rice making first major Mideast trip
Thu Jun 16, 8:17 AM ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice leaves Friday on her first major Middle East trip seeking to boost momentum for US efforts to bring peace and democratic reform to the volatile region.
Rice will visit the West Bank, Jerusalem, Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia before stopping in Brussels for a conference on Iraq and London for a meeting of the Group of Eight industrial powers.
It will be Rice's first big swing through the Middle East since becoming chief US diplomat in January. She made a brief stop in Israel and the West Bank in February and a lightning trip to Iraq in May.
The six-day journey will hit the pillars of US Middle East policy, from the quest for Israeli-Palestinian peace to the drive to stabilize Iraq and nurture reforms in conservative Arab states.
If the United States has been basking in a fledgling spurt of pro-democracy sentiment in the region since Iraq's landmark elections in January, critics say the movement appears to have lost some steam.
Iraq is still plagued by political squabbling and communal tensions. The Palestinians have postponed much-anticipated legislative polls and a move to open up Egypt's presidential election has been criticized as a sham.
"A few months ago the Bush administration had reason to hope that a spring of freedom might be beginning in the Middle East," the Washington Post wrote on Monday. "What's occurring, however, looks more like a stagnant summer."
Rice will go to the Palestinian town of Ramallah and Jerusalem at President George W. Bush's behest, looking to nail down final details of Israeli plans to withdraw from Gaza and part of the West Bank in August.
US officials said Washington wanted to make sure the Palestinians had capable institutions in place to handle security and other issues when the Israelis depart.
Rice was also likely to reassure the Palestinians that the pullout would be followed up by efforts to implement the US-backed peace "roadmap" aimed at establishing an independent Palestinian state.
"Certainly we have emphasized the (Gaza) disengagement is a way to accelerate progress toward the goals of the road map and to get back into the road map," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Wednesday.
Rice might also face some tough talks with Washington's usually solid ally Israel over the Jewish state's sales and and transfer of military equipment and technology to China.
Yuval Steinitz, chairman of the Israeli parliament's foreign affairs and defence committee and an ally of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said this week that ties were now at a "crisis" point.
In Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, Rice is expected to further efforts to nudge the three US allies to speed democratic and social reforms the Americans feel are crucial to defusing terrorist groups.
Cairo could be one of the more delicate stops on Rice's itinerary after she scrapped plans to visit the country in March in part because of the detention of an Egyptian opposition politician.
McCormack said Rice was expected to use the brief Egyptian leg of her trip make a statement on freedom and democracy in the Middle East, but he did not say exactly how or where.
Washington has been careful to stay out of the controversy sparked by President Hosni Mubarak's move to allow multi-candidate elections for his post after a quarter-century of running unopposed.
Egypt's opposition has complained the new rules are too restrictive to allow an effective challenge to Mubarak in September's vote. The United States has called for free and fair elections but welcomed the new reform.
"It's certainly a positive step. And it is a first step," McCormack said.
Rice will move on to Brussels on June 22 for an international meeting co-sponsored with the European Union on boosting efforts to stabilize and rebuild Iraq.
About 85 countries, regional groups and international organisations are expected to attend the gathering, which will mark an upturn in US-European cooperation on Iraq after the rifts triggered by the US invasion in 2003.
The United States might also be hoping for a new show of international support for Iraqi reconstruction as it faces an increasingly emboldened insurgency and brewing tensions among various communal groups.
Rice will wind up her trip in London to attend a ministerial meeting ahead of the Group of Eight summit in Gleneagles, Scotland on July 6-8. The meeting is expected to be dominated by aid to Africa.
Ziad Khasawneh, chief lawyer of ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, speaks during an interview with Reuters in Amman June 16, 2005. Khasawneh said on Thursday that Saddam Hussein's attorny in Baghdad was unaware until the last minute that his client was going to be questioned by a war crimes judge about the killing of Shi'ite villagers. REUTERS/Majed Jaber
The United States blasted Iran's electoral process on June 16, 2005 as a presidential campaign ended with moderate cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani in front but unlikely to win in the first round of a vote. A graphic shows the Iran's presidential candidates. Reuters/Graphic
Iran's presidential race ends with blast from Bush
TEHRAN (Reuters) - The United States blasted Iran's electoral process on Thursday as a presidential campaign ended with moderate cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani in front but unlikely to win in the first round of a vote.
Friday's vote contested by seven hopefuls could determine the fate of Iran's nuclear stand-off with the West and ties with arch-foe the United States, dubbed the "Great Satan" in Iran.
But whoever wins, real power in the country will still rest with conservative, anti-West religious authorities.
U.S. President George W. Bush criticised Iran's election process in which more than 1,000 would-be candidates were barred from running by the hardline Guardian Council supervisory body. Eight were allowed to stand, but one hardliner has quit.
"Power is in the hands of an unelected few who have retained power through an electoral process that ignores the basic requirements of democracy," Bush said in a statement.
About 300 people protested against the Islamic system in central Tehran, the semi-official ILNA news agency said. It said some were arrested because the demonstration was illegal.
Opinion polls indicate Rafsanjani, 70, who wants better ties with the West, will not win the 50 percent support he needs to avoid a deciding vote with his nearest challenger, possibly on June 24.
"The election ... is one of the most unpredictable in the history of the Islamic Republic of Iran ... All pundits believe that the president will be elected in the second round," the reformist Etemad daily said.
The polls show Rafsanjani's main rivals are conservative former police chief Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and reformist Mostafa Moin, an education minister under outgoing President Mohammad Khatami. Some have shown conservative Tehran mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has gained ground.
Such polls have often proved unreliable in past elections.
UPSET NOT RULED OUT
"There is very close rivalry between Moin and Rafsanjani, and also Qalibaf is not in a bad situation," Mohammad Reza Khatami, a Moin aide, told Reuters.
Analysts say an upset Moin victory cannot be ruled out and the outcome of a Rafsanjani run-off against Moin or Qalibaf would be hard to predict.
Rival young campaigners gathered on Tehran's streets Wednesday night, clogging traffic until the early hours of Thursday, in a bid to win over undecided voters.
But some revellers said they came out to enjoy a rare chance to party in public and mingle openly with the opposite sex.
"We don't get any fun. We came here because tonight the police will not touch us. Anyone who votes accepts the Islamic Republic," Mehdi, 23, said as cars passed with music blaring.
Candidates have sought to win over the young, a key constituency in the world's fourth-largest oil exporter where half the population is under 25. Candidates have promised to create more jobs and allow more social freedoms.
Supporters of Moin have complained of beatings by hardliners during more than two weeks of campaigning, prompting the president to call for action against those responsible.
"I ask you to identify those offenders and introduce them to the judiciary more seriously and more quickly," Khatami said in a letter to the interior and intelligence ministries, Iran's student ISNA news agency reported.
Khatami, who is not allowed to stand for a third four-year term, was elected by landslides in 1997 and 2001 with pledges to make society freer, but his reforms were repeatedly blocked by hardliners who control the courts and supervisory bodies.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the last word in matters of state in Iran's hybrid theocracy, has called for a high turnout to make Iran "immune to the enemies' plots".
Interior Minister Abdolvahed Mousavi-Lari said he expected more than half of the 47 million eligible voters, aged 15 and over, to cast a ballot.
Soldiers establish a security perimeter after exiting a U.S. Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter during a Quick Reaction Force exercise at the East River Range near Bagram, Afghanistan, on June 10, 2005. The Soldiers are from Alpha Company, 3rd Battalion, 141st Infantry Regiment of the Texas Army National Guard. DoD photo by Spc. Harold Fields, U.S. Army. (Released)
U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Dennis Nugent wades through water in the jungles of southern Guam during the Special Response Team Course patrol exercise held at Naval Forces Marianas Support Activity, Guam, on June 14, 2005. The specialized course is used to train security members in close combat, specialized weapons, building clearing techniques and military operations on urbanized terrain. Nugent is attached to the 613th Contingency Response Group. DoD photo by Tech. Sgt. Cecilio M. Ricardo Jr., U.S. Air Force. (Released)
American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, June 16, 2005 – Coalition and Iraqi security forces captured al Qaeda's top operative in Iraq's Mosul region without incident June 14, military officials in Baghdad announced today.
Muhammad Khalaf Shakar, also known as Abu Talha, is Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's most trusted operations agent in Iraq, officials said. Multiple intelligence sources led coalition forces to the terrorist's location in a quiet Mosul neighborhood.
According to former associates, Talha never stayed more than one night at any one residence and always wore a suicide vest, saying he would never surrender. Talha gave up peacefully to coalition forces and supporting Iraqi security forces, and is fully cooperating with coalition and Iraqi officials, according to a release from Multinational Force Iraq.
In other Iraq operations, cash and weapons were discovered and multiple terror suspects captured during several operations in and around Baghdad.
Iraqi police conducted an early-morning raid against a terrorist safe house in eastern Baghdad June 15.
Seven suspected terrorists were captured, along with a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, 29 AK-47 assault rifles, four bolt-action rifles, an automatic rifle, a motorcycle, four cases of 7.62 mm - ammunition, and three boxes of fuses.
Members of Task Force Baghdad's 720th Military Police Battalion provided support to Iraqi police during this mission, officials said.
Iraqi soldiers from 1st Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division conducted an early-morning raid in Baghdad June 14, resulting in the capture of two suspected terrorists.
Both terror suspects are believed to be responsible for a vehicle-bomb attackthat killed several Iraqi soldiers last month.
Coalition forces from 3rd Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, supported the operation from a distance but were not needed, officials said.
Later in the day, the Iraqi Interior Ministry's 2nd Public Order Brigade responded to a tip from an Iraqi citizen about a bomb-making facility near Salman Pak. When the Iraqi forces searched the facility, they found two bombs prepped and ready for use.
The same day, Iraqi security forces and U.S. Task Force Baghdad soldiers seized 15 terror suspects, cash, and weapons in central and south Baghdad.
Task Force Baghdad soldiers carried out the largest operation of the day, capturing two suspected terrorists and finding $57,000 in Iraqi and U.S. currency at a house in the Jihad district of central Baghdad. The soldiers also found a shotgun, two rifles, two scopes, a pistol, 10 assault rifle magazines, a computer, and a picture of Saddam Hussein.
Also June 14, Iraqi police conducted a cordon-and-search operation at a safe house in southern Baghdad and arrested eight suspects thought to have connections to terrorist activities in the Doura district.
In other combat operations, an Iraqi army patrol arrested a known terrorist in a parking lot in central Baghdad. The man was wanted for killings and kidnappings in central Baghdad.
Iraqi police and coalition forces working together in central Baghdad detained four more terror suspects after spotting a suspicious-looking vehicle near a bridge in central Baghdad. When the team searched the vehicle they found five AK-47s, nine magazines, and 42 rounds of ammunition.
On June 13, coalition forces recovered two improvised explosive devices in southern Baghdad with the assistance of a local resident. U.S. military officials said the citizen was a fixture along the heavily patrolled roads and is a reliable source of information for soldiers in the area.
Through an interpreter, the man informed Army 1st Lt. Scott Alpaugh of B Battery, 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, where two improvised explosive devices were hidden. Alpaugh's unit was on a routine mission to clear a major supply route of IEDs.
The young Iraqi man led the patrol to a deteriorated building that concealed the two IEDs. Two artillery rounds, one 122 mm and one 155 mm, already modified into IEDs, were found. The IEDs were ready for emplacement and positioned near a road with a previous history of dangerous attacks.
An explosive ordnance disposal team disarmed the IEDs. The patrol will keep the location under observation for the next few days in hopes of catching the terrorists involved, officials said.
(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq and Task Force Baghdad news releases.)
A Task Force Baghdad soldier views the aftermath of a terrorist attack against the Iraqi army in a rural area north of Baghdad, Iraq, June 14. The attack occurred shortly after noon when two cars, heavily laden with explosives, were detonated by insurgents as an Iraqi army convoy passed. Both terrorists were killed in the attack, which left four Iraqi soldiers wounded. Photo by Sgt. Kevin Bromley, USA
Sailor, Five Marines Killed in Iraq; Car Bomb Attack Fails
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, June 16, 2005 – Five Marines assigned to 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), were killed near Ramadi, Iraq, June 15 when their vehicle hit an improvised explosive device. A sailor assigned to the same unit also died June 15 from wounds received from enemy small-arms fire.
The names of the deceased are being withheld pending notification of family.
In other news from Iraq, terrorists launched an unsuccessful attack against an Iraqi army patrol in a rural area north of Baghdad June 14.
The attack occurred shortly after noon and involved two vehicle-borne IEDs. Insurgents detonated the cars, heavily laden with explosives, as an Iraqi army convoy passed.
Both terrorists died when they detonated their car bombs. Four Iraqi soldiers were wounded and were evacuated by air to a nearby hospital for treatment. All are expected to return to duty in the near future, officials said.
"The competence of the Iraqi army vs. the anti-Iraqi forces is clearly evident," said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Eric Wesley, commander of 1st Battalion, 13th Armored Regiment, 1st Armored Division. "Two terrorists are dead, and only four minor wounds were sustained by the Iraqi army."
The Iraqi army has an increasing role in security and stability operations in the Baghdad area. The Iraqi security forces' tactics and techniques have improved to a point where they are placing increased pressure on the terrorists, Wesley said.
"The Iraqi army is being extremely effective. ... They're seeing the Iraqi army in numbers that they have never seen before, and they are being targeted for this reason," he added.
(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq and Task Force Baghdad news releases.)
SOFIA, June 16 (Reuters) - A bomb exploded under a car in a suburb of Bulgaria's capital on Thursday, injuring its three occupants, the country's interior ministry said.
"A bomb went off under a vehicle. Three people were injured. There may be more," a spokesman told Reuters. He could not say who was responsible, but said it was unlikely to have been a terror attack.
Assassinations are common in the Balkan EU candidate, where foreign diplomats say violent criminal gangs control large parts of the economy. Scores of people have died in bloody gangland hits over the past year.
Despite efforts by police to solve the murders, there has not been a single conviction, which analysts blame on the country's inefficient and easily-corrupted investigation and judicial processes.
16 Jun 2005 14:24:17 GMT
Source: Reuters
AMSTERDAM, June 16 (Reuters) - The Netherlands launched a terror alert system for Amsterdam airport, the port city of Rotterdam, the nation's rail network and water supply on Thursday to help combat potential terrorist threats.
Following last year's train bomb attacks in Madrid which killed 191 people and wounded some 1,900, fears have grown of similar attacks in the Netherlands, which supported the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and sent troops there after the war.
The United States adopted a five-colour terror alert system after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in New York and Washington. Top European Union police officials last year discussed the possibility of an EU-wide terror security alert system.
The Dutch warning system is designed to coordinate the response by authorities to potential terrorist threats against key places such as Amsterdam's Schiphol airport and the city of Rotterdam, Europe's biggest port, the Justice Ministry said.
The national power grid is also expected to adopt the four-stage warning system of elevated risk, which is designed to help the government, officials and police coordinate their response to a threat.
The Dutch government, which says the threat of terrorism in the Netherlands remains "substantial," earmarked more than 400 million euros ($484.7 million) in January to fight terrorism amid fears of an Islamist attack.
A local Iraqi man lets U.S. Army Spc. Jonathon Gandy listen to his heart during a medical screening clinic in Al Mansour, an area of Baghdad, June 9, 2005. Gandy and fellow medics from A Company, 1st Battalion, 156th Armor Regiment, and Charlie Med, 199th Forward Support Battalion, both of the 256th Brigade Combat Team, set up operations for the local residents in the area. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Erin Robicheaux
U.S. Army Doctors Offer Hope, Health to Iraqis
During a visit to the Mansour area of Baghdad, U.S. Army medics were able to immediately treat many illnesses and recommend continuous monitoring for more serious medical problems.
By U.S. Army Spc. Erin Robicheaux 256th Brigade Combat Team
BAGHDAD, Iraq, June 16, 2005 — “Unfortunately, treating diabetes isn’t something that you can do in one day,” said U.S. Army Maj. Marc Dahman as he finished examining an Iraqi patient at his ad-hoc clinic.
On June 9, Dahman, a doctor with C Company, 199th Forward Support Battalion, and a group of medics from the 256th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division joined forces to bring health care to the people of the Mansour area of Baghdad.
Caring for cases like this diabetic patient were common obstacles throughout the course of the day.
“He had diabetes and didn’t know it. This was his first diagnosis, and his situation is very traumatic,” said Dahman, from Chicago, Ill.
“In a case like this, where it needs to be under control very soon, all we can do is identify the problem and strongly encourage the patient to see a civilian doctor,” said Dahman.
“We can recommend (the patients) to the Iraqi health care system, which is actually pretty advanced,” U.S. Army Lt. Col. Joseph Dore.
The problem is the treatment for diabetes and other cases seen by the Task Force Baghdad doctors required continuous monitoring, and this is something that was not possible for the medics.
Spc. Jonathon Gandy from Mansfield, La., a medic with Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 156th Armor Regiment, is also a pre-med student at Louisiana State University at Shreveport, and agreed there were many ailments which required more extensive treatment than the medics were equipped to give.
“One man came in with an old wound from the Iran/Iraq war-he got shrapnel in his left arm and it became disfigured,” he said.
The man lost movement in his arm and, Gandy said, it was virtually useless.
“He needs a prosthetic replacement, and we just don’t have the resources to do that,” he said.
There is hope for the people, though, said Lt. Col. Joseph Dore, 256th Brigade Combat Team Surgeon from Charlotte, N.C.
U.S. Army Maj. Wesley Thompson, from Fairfield, Ill., speaks with a man about his medical situation. Thompson and medical personnel traveled to the Al Mansour area of Baghdad to bring medical relief to the local population. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Erin Robicheaux
“We can recommend them to the Iraqi health care system, which is actually pretty advanced,” said Dore. But the cost for health care is an issue for a lot of the patients that the 256th medics see.
If the patient’s needs exceed the capacity of the Iraqi providers, the Iraqi Assistance Council at the embassy may be able to help, said Lt. Col. Virginia Yates, 3rd Infantry Division surgeon.
Though the functionality of a field clinic is not as advanced as a hospital or traditional doctor’s office, there are a number of illnesses that are treatable, Gandy said.
“We can cure acute illnesses such as bronchial infections, colds, sinus infections, things like that,” he added.
But even if the patient cannot be treated with the resources of the 256th, the medical staff can still ask questions, do physical examinations, and in most cases diagnose the patient right there.
A positive change that took place since the 256th Brigade Combat Team’s earlier clinics, is the abundance of pediatric medications available.
“We started out with nothing, and we really had no idea how these clinics were going to work, or even what types of patients we would see,” said Staff Sgt. Jessica Kelly, from Lafayette, La.
As the assistant to the brigade surgeon, Kelly quickly learned that the majority of their patients would turn out to be children.
“With each (clinic) you learn, and now we will be able to pass all of our knowledge onto the next unit, which is something that we didn’t have,” she said.
Over the months, the 256th has received donations of pediatric medications from hospitals, doctors’ offices, and even the 256th personnel’s colleagues.
Gandy recalled seeing a number of children at this clinic, in particular.
“A lot of them had bronchial infections, and that’s something that we could cure with antibiotics,” he said.
(Reuters)
16 June 2005
DUBAI - Al Qaeda’s wing in Iraq gave the US-backed government another 72 hours to free women prisoners, threatening to kill 36 Iraqi soldiers it holds hostage if it does not comply, according to an Internet statement on Thursday.
“We, the Al Qaeda Organisation in Iraq, announce extending the deadline to kill the 36 soldiers from the infidel guards to the next 72 hours,” the group led by Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi said in a statement posted on an Islamist Web site.
“Release the helpless Muslim women from the Interior Ministry prisons and other jails,” it added.
It was not immediately possible to verify the authenticity of the statement, which was signed off with a name that usually accompanies the group’s official announcements.
The Sunni Muslim group, which has often abducted and killed officials and soldiers, said a high-ranking officer was among the 36 troops it was holding.
The group said in an Internet posting on June 9 that it was holding the soldiers, and gave the Iraqi government 24 hours to release all women prisoners. It later extended the deadline by 72 hours and said it was interrogating the soldiers.
Iraqi police said on June 8 that 22 Iraqi soldiers from the mainly Shi’ite Muslim south had been kidnapped after leaving their base in the town of Qaim, a stronghold of the Sunni Muslim insurgency near the Syrian border in western Iraq.
Two days later, witnesses said the bodies of 16 people killed execution-style had been found dead in western Iraq, but it was not clear if the victims, who were in civilian clothes, were the soldiers.
Insurgents have stepped up attacks since a new US-backed Iraqi government was formed in late April, killing scores of police, soldiers, officials and civilians and challenging a cabinet that has promised to deliver stability.
16 June 2005
KUWAIT CITY - A previously unknown Arab group has claimed responsibility for the four weekend bombings in Iran’s southwestern city of Ahvaz that killed eight people, according to Thursday’s Al-Anba daily.
The bomb attacks on government buildings on Sunday were the deadliest in Iran in more than a decade.
An Iranian official blamed them on supporters of ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
“Sons of our glorious Arab nation, a new stage of our strong people’s struggle against the Persian occupier has started,” said a statement from the military wing of the Arab Struggle Movement for Liberating Ahvaz, published by the daily newspaper.
The statement said the group carried out the explosions in the city and vowed to “turn Ahvaz’s land and skies into an inferno,” with more attacks.
Editors of the daily could not be immediately reached for information on how the newspaper obtained the statements and a videotape purporting to show one of the bombings. Al-Anba published still images from the tape showing what looked to be a column of fire in the distance and people running for cover.
In a separate statement, the alleged movement’s political office said it has taken up arms to drive Iranians out of Ahvaz after Tehran closed all the “peaceful political doors” in their face, and called on other Arabs to join what it called the “struggle movement.”
Ahvaz was the site of two days of violent protests in April after reports circulated of an alleged plan to decrease Arab numbers in the area. Officials at the time confirmed one death but opposition groups said more than 20 demonstrators had been killed. Some 250 were arrested.
The protests were sparked after copies of a letter allegedly signed by former Vice President Mohammad Ali Abtahi circulated in the area which ordered the relocation of non-Arabs to Ahvaz and make them the majority ethnic group. Abtahi denied writing the letter.
Arabs make up about 3 percent of Iran’s population of 69 million; Persians account for 51 percent.
Intelligence Minister Yunesi said the bombings were committed by radicals who failed to capitalize on April’s protests.
(DPA)
16 June 2005
DUBAI - Saudi security authorities have arrested five African Al Qaeda militants suspected of killing a French engineer in the kingdom last year, the Arab News daily reported Thursday.
The gang members, all from Chad, confessed to killing Laurent Barbot, a French engineer who worked for a defence electronics company, the newspapers quoted the authorities as saying.
Barbot was followed by three of the suspects, who shot him with a machine gun when he stopped his car in September 2004 after leaving a supermarket in the eastern port city of Jeddah, the report said.
The gang also unsuccessfully tried to kill another foreigner, the newspaper reported, without giving details such as the potential victim’s nationality or when he was targeted.
It said gang members shot at the intended victim, but he escaped unhurt.
The gang also admitted to several armed robberies, the English- language newspaper reported.
Nicholas Burns told reporters that the United States favors adding at least two permanent members to the UN Security Council.(AFP/File/Sven Nackstrand)
US seeks at least two new permanent UN Security Council seats
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States announced it favored adding at least two permanent members to the UN Security Council, including Japan, and said it would propose specific criteria for candidates.
Washington also made clear its opposition to giving veto powers to newcomers, saying the privilege should be reserved for the current five permanent members -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.
"We will likely support adding two or so permanent members to the Security Council," Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns told reporters on Thursday, stressing that Japan was one of its prospective nominees.
Burns did not name the other countries the United States would back for admission into the Security Council.
Japan -- together with India, Brazil and Germany, nicknamed the Group of Four -- is lobbying for a permanent Security Council seat, and the quartet has circulated a revised draft proposal that would expand the body from 15 to 25 members.
The United States wanted a "modest" expansion of the council, and the proposal by the Group of Four is "not very digestable," Burns said.
He did not signal a preference for any candidate besides Japan, saying: "We think that it is very important that the Security Council enlargement should not be confined to debate on which part of the world should be represented."
The undersecretary for political affairs said other factors should be weighed, as well, including the size and population of the country, its military capacity and its potential to contribute to UN peacekeeping operations.
Other elements, he said, were adherence to democracy and human rights principles, financial contribution to the world body, and a candidate's record on counterterrorism and non-proliferation.
"The debate so far has largely been predicated by geographics," Burns said, saying the United States wanted a wider discussion on the matter, including reforms on the budget, administration and management of the world body.
"We will introduce early next week at the General Assembly" a proposal laying out the criteria for eligibility for both permanent or non-permanent membership in the Security Council, Burns said.
"This is a new American idea," he said.
His briefing came ahead of a rare, full-dress Washington press conference by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at the State Department later Thursday, in which she was expected to elaborate on the proposed US reforms for the UN.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf says that his forces have "broken the back" of al-Qaeda in the country.
Thursday, 16 June, 2005, 07:40 GMT 08:40 UK
Speaking at a meeting at the end of his three-day visit to Australia, Gen Musharraf said the al-Qaeda was "on the run" in Pakistan.
His comments came a day after a Taleban commander claimed that Osama Bin Laden and Afghanistan's former Taleban leader Mullah Omar are alive and well.
There is no way of independently verifying the commander's claims.
Gen Musharraf said that his forces had chased al-Qaeda out of the cities into the mountains and then "occupied their sanctuaries".
"Terrorism is to be confronted with force. We are doing that, and we have succeeded," Gen Musharraf told a meeting of businessmen in Sydney.
'Root causes
Gen Musharraf's comments come a day after Taleban commander Mullah Akhtar Usmani told Pakistan's privately-run Geo television that he was in touch with Mullah Omar and continued to take directions from him.
Pakistan is on the frontline in the war against terror, with its army hunting suspected al-Qaeda-linked militants in the unruly tribal region of South Waziristan bordering Afghanistan.
The US has offered $25m for Osama bin Laden's capture.
Osama Bin Laden is widely believed to be hiding in the area and President Musharraf told journalists in Canberra earlier this week that he was most certainly alive.
"I know that he is alive. Most likely he is alive, yes, because of our information and interrogation of various al-Qaeda operatives that we have apprehended," AFP quoted him as saying.
"Maybe he is in the border region in hiding wherever he sees a vacuum."
Gen Musharraf said that Pakistan could not fight terrorism and extremism alone in the subcontinent.
"We also believe that, along with action to eliminate and dismantle terrorist cells, there is need to address the root causes that lie in political disputes and deprivation and poverty that breed extremism," he said.
The Pakistani president said that a "solution of the Palestinian dispute and also the Kashmir issue" would help in countering al-Qaeda and resolving regional conflicts.
"We have broken the back of al-Qaeda by breaking their lateral and vertical linkages. They are on the run."
Iraq News, WASHINGTON - President Bush would have to start bringing home U.S. troops from Iraq by Oct. 1, 2006, under a measure a small bipartisan group of House lawmakers - including a Republican who voted for war - proposed Thursday.
Two Republicans and two Democrats introduced a resolution that would require the president to announce by the end of this year a plan for withdrawing troops and steps for following through on that plan.
It is the first such resolution put forth by lawmakers from both parties, although an overwhelming number of Democrats and six House Republicans voted in 2002 against sending troops to Iraq.
The Bush administration has insisted that a timetable for withdrawal can't be considered until Iraq's security forces are strong enough to protect their country from insurgents.
While many Democrats and some Republicans repeatedly have voted against continued funding for the war, there has been no concerted joint effort before to bring troops home.
A low-water mark of 41 percent of adults said in an Associated Press-Ipsos poll this month that they supported Bush's handling of the war in Iraq. And a Gallup poll released Monday found that six in 10 Americans say they think the United States should withdraw some or all of its troops from Iraq.
Car bombings and attacks by insurgents killed 80 U.S. troops and more than 700 Iraqis last month. Pentagon officials acknowledge the level of violence is about the same as a year ago.
Among the resolution's sponsors are Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., who voted for the Iraq war but now says the United States has done what it can in Iraq and the reason for going to war - Saddam Hussein's alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction - has been proven false.
"After 1,700 deaths, over 12,000 wounded, and $200 billion spent, we believe it is time to have this debate and discussion on this resolution," Jones said.
Two years ago, Jones helped lead an effort to ensure Capitol Hill cafeterias retooled their menus to advertise "freedom fries" instead of french fries to protest France's opposition to the war.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
