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Posted on 07/11/2005 8:12:04 PM PDT by nwctwx
The latest regarding Ahmed Ressam:
ON THE NET...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1451229/posts
Sentencing Expected For Ahmed Ressam
KIRO TV Seattle ^ | 7-26-05 | The Associated Press
Posted on 07/26/2005 7:07:44 PM PDT by NavyCanDo
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "SEATTLE -- Security will be high Wednesday for the sentencing of Ahmed Ressam at the federal courthouse in Seattle, KIRO 7 Eyewitness News reported. Ressam was convicted four years ago of plotting to bomb Los Angeles International Airport on the eve of the millennium."
(Excerpt) Read more at kirotv.com ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/580000/images/_583585_ressam_150.jpg
BBC News - Photo - Ressam
http://www.kirotv.com/news/4772240/detail.html
"Sentencing Expected For Ahmed Ressam"
POSTED: 2:10 pm PDT July 26, 2005
UPDATED: 5:00 pm PDT July 26, 2005
SEATTLE
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002402234_ressamsent26m.html
"Ressam won't resume talking in terror probe"
By Hal Bernton
Seattle Times staff reporter
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Ahmed Ressam, the Algerian who plotted to bomb Los Angeles International Airport in December 1999, will offer no further assistance to U.S. Justice Department officials prosecuting other terrorism cases, according to a filing yesterday by Ressam's attorneys.
That decision appears to mark the end of a last-ditch attempt to revive the cooperation of Ressam, a would-be al-Qaida bomber who emerged in the months before 9/11 as an important U.S. government informant. And it sets the stage for him to finally be sentenced tomorrow in U.S. District Court in Seattle for his failed millennium-eve attempt to create terror in Los Angeles."
http://www.seattlepi.com
PESHAWAR (The News) - A Pakistan Army general Monday admitted some pro-Taliban elements from Pakistan were crossing into Afghanistan and some Pakistani religious groups were offering support and cooperation to them.
Talking to a private television channel, Peshawar Corps Commander Lt Gen Syed Safdar Hussain said Taliban were fast "regrouping in Afghanistan with the support of some Pakistani religious outfits". He said Taliban would further reorganise for September elections in Afghanistan, fearing they might sabotage the electoral exercise.
Gen Safdar, however, refused to disclose names of the pro-Taliban religious groups. He said he did not know whether or not Osama bin Laden is alive. The commander said he could not rule out the possibility of presence of Osama bin Laden in the Pakistan-controlled tribal areas. "But if Osama is hiding somewhere in Pakistan, this would be in the knowledge of intelligence agencies, without a doubt." He, however said chances of Osama taking refuge in Afghanistan were bright since he would be more secure there than Pakistan.
http://www.afghannews.net/index.php?action=show&type=news&id=3030
Thank you and appreciated!
__________________________
Ummah Affected by Absence of Common Action, Says OIC Chief
Habib Shaikh, Arab News
JEDDAH, 27 July 2005 — The Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) has proposed a telethon to raise funds for victims of catastrophes in the Islamic world and urged member states to participate in this much-needed vital humanitarian project.
The proposal was made in a speech by Secretary-General Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu at the meeting of the ministerial follow-up committee of the 6th Session of the Islamic Conference of Information Ministers (ICIM) that began in Cairo on Monday. It was presided over by Egypt’s Minister of Information Anas El-Feki, and attended by 11 ministers and representatives of the member states who are on the committee.
Professor Ihsanoglu stressed the importance of creating a tangible mechanism to enable Islamic states to provide hasty and speedy relief to the victims in times of crises, catastrophes and disasters.
He said the OIC Secretariat General was working to start the project within the next few months with the cooperation of the media in the member states.
“The aim is to establish a mechanism that provides a strong and sustainable financial cover to provide urgent aid to the Islamic states and peoples affected by disasters,” he added.
He requested OIC member states to coordinate with the Secretariat General in order to pay relief aid without routine procedures that take time.
He said Western states mobilize all their technical, financial and human capabilities and efforts to help the affected people to send almost immediate aid and relief to them and launch campaigns to raise funds. The Ummah was affected by absence of organized and common action.
Professor Ihsanoglu highlighted the role of the media in presenting the various dimensions of the crises and catastrophes and mobilizing public opinion to help the needy by making generous donations in cash, kind and services.
Referring to the deadly blasts in Egypt, he said such criminal acts were condemned by all religions. He reiterated OIC and member states’ support to Egypt in combating terrorism in all its forms.
He extended his deepest condolences to the victims and wished speedy recovery to the injured.
The secretary-general welcomed the decision by the Islamic Group to participate in the World Summit for Information Society, which will hold its second meeting in Tunis in November.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=67562&d=27&m=7&y=2005
Prayers for you and your son Calpernia. Everything will go fine, I'm sure.
KANDAHAR: Fighting between Taliban militants and US and Afghan forces killed about 50 suspected militants and two Afghan soldiers, in the deadliest clashes in weeks ahead of crucial legislative elections, a provincial governor said on Tuesday.
The fighting late Monday in Uruzgan province’s Dihrawud district came during an offensive against a militant camp, which had been used as a base for attacks in neighbouring areas, Gov Jan Mohammed Khan said. About 25 suspected insurgents were captured, he said, adding that Afghan forces were still finding the bodies of militants on Tuesday. An American military spokeswoman said she had no details. But a US military statement on Monday said that heavy fighting in the area had killed one American service member, an Afghan soldier and 11 militants. Three US troops and one Afghan soldier were also wounded, it said.
The statement said American fighter jets and attack helicopters responded to a militant attack on a patrol that sparked the gunbattle.
Meanwhile, in fighting elsewhere, police arrested 10 suspected Taliban insurgents after clashes in southeastern Zabul province, said Ali Khail, a spokesman for the provincial governor. In neighboring Kandahar province, Taliban guerrillas attacked an Afghan patrol Monday night, triggering a gunbattle that left an Afghan soldier dead and a police officer badly wounded, said deputy district chief Haji Lala Khan.
The latest fighting comes three days after the US military operational commander in Afghanistan, Maj-Gen Jason Kamiya, said in an interview that fighting in recent months had devastated the ranks of the Taliban. More than 800 people have been killed in a major upsurge in violence since March and US and Afghan officials have warned that it may threaten the parliamentary elections on Sept. 18.
In eastern Paktika province on Tuesday, a candidate in the upcoming legislative elections was killed when a roadside bomb blew up next to his vehicle as he was taking his sick mother to hospital, local police chief Malik Khan said. The mother was wounded.
Meanwhile, more than 1,000 protesters on Tuesday chanted “Die America!” as they banged on the gates of the main US base in Afghanistan to demand the release of three local villagers detained in a raid.
The three men who were detained were arrested Monday night in a raid on Dheymullah village, about 3 kilometers (2 miles) from Bagram base, said local government chief Kaber Ahmad. “Those three were wanted by the Americans, but no one knows why,” he said. A US military spokeswoman in Kabul said she had no details about the demonstration. A military spokesman at Bagram did not answer his phone. ap
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_27-7-2005_pg1_1
Madressah hit by rocket
By Pazir Gul
MIRAMSHAH (North Waziristan), July 26: A madressah was hit by a rocket shell in Dattakhel tehsil on Monday night, partially damaging the building. No one was hurt. Witnesses said the rocket was fired at the nearby health care facility where the army troops operating in the border areas in the North Waziristan have set up a base camp.
The rocket fired from an unknown location past midnight on Monday hit boundary wall of the seminary about 25km west of Miramshah. Military sources said that the security forces collected 13 missiles from different parts of Miramshah on Tuesday.
They said that six of the seized missiles were six feet long, which were defused. Miscreants fired about 40 missiles in different parts of the volatile North Waziristan Agency on Sunday night, but did not cause casualty.
I heard a blurb on the radio tonight, of LAPD Police Chief William Bratton saying "LA is targeted, and will be hit....its not a question of if, but when" or something close to that. I can't find a print story online yet.
Thanks BurbankKarl for that update.
"North Waziristan"
Thanks Oorang.
I reread that line Granny and recollect one of my long-ago bosses once told me that every note should include who-what-when-where-why. Without that information the note becomes subject to interpretation and you may not be able to recollect details in a future timeframe perspective (what did I mean when I wrote that!!).
He said Western states mobilize all their technical, financial and
human capabilities and efforts to help the affected people to send
almost immediate aid and relief to them and launch campaigns to
raise funds. The Ummah was affected by absence of organized and
common action. <<<<<<<<<<
After the Dec. 2004 earthquake, there was a lot of talk about the fact that the muslim countries left it up to the West to rescue them, with money and services.
I found a couple groups at Yahoo, that were there and working on the reporting.
As I recall, Saudi gave a few million and not much else.
We had an Aircraft Carrier sitting there, the full group was working to save people and get in the supplies, amazing reports........
Then we were asked to leave, the natives were beginning to like what the U.S. did for them.
The muslim countries need to learn to take care of themselves.......but then they do, if there are too many of them, they set off a bomb and lower the population.
Yup. Guess I'll be scratching that off my "places to visit" list for a while.
Yep, I still remember the exploding "football."
ON THE NET...
http://www.altavista.com/news/results?q=%22terrorism+threat%22&nc=0&nr=0&nd=4
http://www.altavista.com/news/results?q=%22terrorism+threats%22&nc=0&nr=0&nd=4
http://www.altavista.com/news/results?q=%22threat%22&nc=0&nr=0&nd=4
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=%22terrorism+threats%22&btnG=Search+News
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=%22terrorism+threat%22&btnG=Search+News
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=%22threat%22&btnG=Search+News
Hearing radio talk about Hillary as projected next President and Bill expected to be sitting by her side (for possibly another 8 years), raises concern the sky really may be falling and the world as we know it will most certainly be coming to an end.
With Bush Sr. & Barbara becoming chummy with Bill Clinton, my imagination has no limits.
I'm sure you are right and thank you. I'm still scared to death though and appreciate the extra prayers! Thank you!
The Threat of Islamic Extremism to
Bangladesh
Drafted By: Dr. Sudha Ramachandran
http://www.pinr.com
The Bangladesh government's current
measures against Islamic extremists operating
on its soil could put the country's interests in
danger. With conditions in the country
conducive to the spread of Islamic extremism,
the government's relaxed approach to this
issue could enhance Bangladesh's
attractiveness as a haven for terrorists fleeing
counter-terrorism operations elsewhere.
Incidents of extremism and terrorism have
witnessed a sharp increase in Bangladesh in
recent years, with the number of attacks last
year exceeding the total number of incidents in
the preceding five years. Most of the attacks
have been directed against religious minorities,
secular intellectuals and journalists as well as
against politicians belonging to secular parties
and leftist activists. Islamist extremists have
sought to impose an Islamic way of life on
people in rural areas, often through the use of
force. Women have been coerced into veiling
themselves and men have been forced to grow
beards and wear skull caps.
Many who defy these rules have been tortured
and killed. Cultural groups and cinema halls
have been targeted as well. In August 2004, a
bomb blast at a rally being addressed by
Sheikh Hasina Wajed, former prime minister
and leader of the secular, center-left Awami
League, killed 21 people and injured hundreds.
This was the second attempt on her life, the
first being in 2000 when she was prime
minister. In January this year, former finance
minister Shah M.S. Kibria, also of the Awami
League, was assassinated.
These attacks are believed to be the work of
Islamist terror outfits like the Harakat
ul-Jihad-i-Islami, Harakat
ul-Jihad-i-Islami/Bangladesh (H.U.J.I.-B.), the
Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (J.M.J.B.)
and the Ahle Hadith Andolon Bangladesh
(A.H.A.B.). H.U.J.I.-B.'s links with al-Qaeda
are well known. It is said to have been set up
with seed money provided by Osama bin
Laden, and the group is a member of his
International Islamic Front (I.I.F.).
History of Islamic Fundamentalism in
Bangladesh
Neither Islamic fundamentalism nor extremism
is new to Bangladesh. Although it was linguistic
nationalism not religious nationalism that led to
the creation of Bangladesh in 1971, Islamist
forces have grown in strength thanks to
patronage by successive governments.
Following the assassination of its founding
father, the secular Sheikh Mujibur Rehman in
1975, the hold of fundamentalist forces over
the government -- whether military or
democratic -- witnessed a sharp increase.
Successive governments openly courted the
fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami. Discredited in
1971 for its collaboration with the Pakistan
Army during the Bangladesh liberation war,
Jamaat-e-Islami was resurrected by General
Ziaur Rehman in the late '70s. Jamaat leaders,
who had fled to Pakistan in the aftermath of the
1971 war, were brought back to Bangladesh by
Rehman. Jamaat's influence grew rapidly
thereafter. For instance, in the 1980s, General
Hussain Mohammad Ershad went a step further
and used Jamaat to counter the secular Awami
League.
But it was not just Bangladesh's military rulers
who wooed the fundamentalists. Political
parties and politicians courted them as well.
During Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's first stint
at the helm in the first half of the 1990s,
Jamaat and other fundamentalist outfits were
given free rein. Over the years, Jamaat set up
thousands of madrassas in Bangladesh, many
of which are known to recruit and train jihadi
fighters.
Fundamentalist activism in Bangladesh
received a big boost in 2001. General elections
in October brought to power a four party
coalition led by the center-right Bangladesh
Nationalist Party (B.N.P.) and including two
fundamentalist parties -- Jamaat-e-Islami and
the Islamic Oikya Jote. Jamaat has two
ministers in government. Even if Jamaat is not
directly involved in the recent terrorist attacks,
its inclusion in the coalition government has
encouraged radical Islamist groups to feel that
they enjoy protection from the government and
can act with impunity. The links between terror
outfits and sections of the government has sent
out a strong signal to the local police to refrain
from apprehending those who are engaging in
gun-running and violence.
Jamaat and Islamic Oikya Jote are not just
fundamentalist organizations. They support and
have links with the Taliban and al-Qaeda and
both parties have supported the terrorist
activities of the H.U.J.I.-B. Islamic Oikya Jote's
chairman, Azizul Huq, is said to be a member
of H.U.J.I.-B.'s advisory council.
The coming to power of a
fundamentalist-friendly coalition in Bangladesh
coincided with the fall of the Taliban regime in
Afghanistan and the loss of training camps in
Pakistan and Afghanistan. Their bases were
disrupted by counter-insurgency operations in
Afghanistan, so al-Qaeda fighters were forced
to look for new nests. Bangladesh emerged as
an attractive sanctuary. In April 2002, Bertil
Lintner wrote in the Far Eastern Economic
Review that after the fall of Kandahar in
Afghanistan in late 2001, hundreds of Taliban
and al-Qaeda fighters arrived by ship from
Karachi to the Bangladesh port city of
Chittagong. A few months later, Time
magazine's Alex Perry provided details on
southern Bangladesh having become "a haven
for hundreds of jihadis." The Bangladeshi
media too has reported extensively about the
activities of the extremists, especially of the
violence engineered by Bangla Bhai, leader of
the J.M.J.B.
Bangladesh's attractiveness as a safe haven for
terrorists is not new. Anti-India militants
fighting Indian security forces in the
insurgency-wracked states of India's northeast
have used Bangladesh as a sanctuary for
decades. Groups such as the United Liberation
Front of Assam (U.L.F.A.) and the National
Liberation Front of Tripura (N.L.F.T.) are known
to have set up training camps on Bangladeshi
soil and militants under pressure from
counter-insurgency operations in India have
taken refuge there.
India, which for years has been calling rather
unsuccessfully on the Bangladesh government
to close down anti-India militant training camps
on Bangladeshi soil, has also drawn attention
to the nexus between militants active in India's
insurgency-wracked northeast, Bangladesh's
Islamist extremists and al-Qaeda. It has called
attention to the cooperation between Pakistan's
Inter-Services Intelligence (I.S.I.) and
Bangladesh's Directorate General of Forces
Intelligence in fostering the terrorist network in
Bangladesh.
The Bangladesh government has reacted
fiercely to suggestions that the country is
becoming a haven for Islamic extremism. It
banned the distribution of the Far Eastern
Economic Review issue that carried Lintner's
"baseless" article. Newspaper offices have
been raided and journalists taken into custody
for investigating al-Qaeda activities in the
country. Its standard response to India's
allegations, for instance, has been outright
denial.
It was only on February 23, 2005 that the
Bangladesh government, under pressure from
the European Union, took some steps against
terror outfits. The J.M.J.B. and the Jama'atul
Mujahideen Bangladesh (J.M.B.) were banned.
Incidentally, until February 23, the government
had been dismissing reports of the J.M.J.B.'s
vigilante violence as a figment of the media's
imagination. Some leaders and cadres were
taken into custody in February but neither
Bangla Bhai nor Moulana Abdur Rahman, a
former activist of Jamaat-e-Islami who is now
the leader of the J.M.J.B., were arrested.
Strangely, the government did not take action
against H.U.J.I.-B. either.
Responding to the U.S. listing of H.U.J.I.-B. as
a terrorist group, Bangladesh's Foreign Minister
Moshed Khan said that he had not seen "such
activity [terrorism] in Bangladesh. … The way
Bangladesh is being painted with the same
brush time and again it seems that it is a
conspiracy and an orchestrated campaign by
some vested quarters." While the Bangladesh
government is now reluctantly admitting to the
presence of terrorist groups in the country, it
remains adamant that there are no al-Qaeda
operatives on its soil.
In addition to political compulsions to keep her
fundamentalist partners in the coalition
government happy, Prime Minister Khaleda
Zia's inadequate response against terrorists
and jihadis is prompted by her intense political
and personal rivalry with Sheikh Hasina.
Informed observers of the political scene in
Bangladesh say that the B.N.P. sees its
fundamentalist friends as useful weapons to
keep the Awami League in check.
The prime minister's reluctance to rein in her
fundamentalist partners in government and
take firm action against terrorism could prove
costly. Bangladesh's terror outfits are by no
means insignificant. H.U.J.I.-B., for instance, is
said to have thousands of fighters. Its original
mission might have been to set up Islamic rule
in Bangladesh but, over the years, its ambitions
and the geographical spread of its role have
grown substantially.
During the 1990s, it was involved in training
Muslim Rohingya insurgents from Myanmar and
it sent its cadres to fight in Afghanistan and
against Indian security forces in Jammu and
Kashmir. Post-9/11, its responsibilities in the
global jihad have grown. It appears to have
been made responsible for training jihadi
fighters from southern Thailand, Cambodia,
Indonesia and Brunei and it is sending its own
fighters to Indonesia, the Philippines and
Chechnya.
Conclusion
It would, however, be an exaggeration to
describe Bangladesh as being on the brink of
"Talibanization" as some reports in the media
have claimed. The average Bangladeshi is
uneasy with the steady Islamization of the
country. The country has a history of linguistic
nationalism triumphing over religious
nationalism and there is still a strong Bengali
culture that Bangladeshi Muslims and Hindus
share. This has acted as a brake against the
rising tide of extremism to some extent so far.
However, more powerful brakes will be needed.
And unless the Bangladesh government acts to
crack down on extremism and terrorism, the
potential threat that Islamic extremism in
Bangladesh poses to global security could turn
imminent.
Report Drafted By:
Dr. Sudha Ramachandran
Indian Police crack down on Osama MMS
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_27-7-2005_pg4_15
This is about cellphone video's of OBL, 9-11 attack and Iraq attacks.
It says arrest, they are cracking down, checking cell phones.
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