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Posted on 03/09/2006 10:08:04 PM PST by nwctwx
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http://intelligence-summit.blogspot.com/2006/03/pipeline-blast-hits-oil-supplies-in.html
Saturday, March 18, 2006
"Pipeline blast hits oil supplies in Nigeria"
PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria, March 18 (Reuters) -
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "In a statement issued by ENI headquarters in Italy, the company said: "The situation is under control and operations have commenced to define the extent of the pipeline damage and contain any associated pollution."
Militants demanding greater autonomy for Nigeria's poor oil heartland have carried out several attacks and kidnapped oil workers in the past three months.
A police spokesman in the region said no one was kidnapped or killed in the latest attack. Militants are holding three foreign oil workers hostage.
Royal Dutch Shell has cut its output by 455,000 bpd and other companies have shut another 100,000 bpd since Feb. 18. The latest explosion brought the total impact of the attacks to 622,000 bpd, 26 percent of Nigeria's 2.4 million bpd capacity."
http://www.jamestown.org/edm/article.php?article_id=2370883
"OFFICIAL MINSK IS PREPARING FOR A COUP"
By David Marples
Friday, March 17, 2006
Thanks to TigerLikesRooster for this thread (wtih photos):
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1598996/posts
"Indictment of N. Korean Gulag: 'Yoduk Story' (photos)"
Chosun Ilbo ^ | 03/17/06
Posted on 03/18/2006 10:04:13 PM PST by TigerLikesRooster
http://www.memri.org/jihad.html
NOTE: The following video clips (with links to the transcripts) are on the current front page of MEMRITV.org:
---
QUOTE:
http://www.memritv.org
CLIPS ON HAMAS CLIPS ON AL-QAEDA
#1074 - Sheik Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi's Conditions for Muslim Men Who Want to Marry Christian and Jewish Women in the West
Qatar TV - 3/12/2006 - 00:03:59
#1073 - Egyptian Performer Sha'ban Abd Al-Rahim Sings against Denmark and the Avian Flu, and Talks about His Life and Convictions
Dream2 TV (Egypt) - 3/1/2006 - 00:08:59
#1072 - Palestinian Minister of Religious Endowment Speaks in Praise of Martyrdom at Friday Sermon in the Presence of Abu Mazen
Palestinian Authority TV - 3/10/2006 - 00:02:03
#1071 - Iranian Energy Minister Parviz Fattah: Within Six Months Iran Will Begin Building a New Nuclear Power Plant
Iran Ch.1 - 3/12/2006 - 00:01:20
NOTE: The following text is a quote:
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http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Mar2006/20060318_4541.html
Citizen Tip Leads to IED in Afghan Mosque
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, March 18, 2006 – Thanks to a tip by a local Afghan citizen, coalition forces disarmed an improvised explosive device that had been placed in a mosque in the Pachir Wa Agam District of Nangarhar Province yesterday, officials in Kabul, Afghanistan, reported.
The Afghan citizen disclosed the IED's location to Afghan National Police officers, who in turn notified coalition forces. With permission from local religious leaders, explosive ordnance specialists entered the mosque and rendered the bomb harmless.
"The emplacement of an IED in a mosque or any other public building [to] target innocent Afghan citizens, is a heinous act," said Lt. Col. Paul Fitzpatrick, spokesman for the coalition's Combined Joint Task Force-76.
"That an Afghan citizen sought the help of [his country's] police and coalition forces clearly shows that the country is united and confident in its stand against extremists," he said.
(Compiled from a Combined Forces Command Afghanistan news release.)
Off Topic and ON THE NET...
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=19690_Another_Ho-Hum_Moronic_Convergence
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=19690_Another_Ho-Hum_Moronic_Convergence#comments
http://counterterror.typepad.com/the_counterterrorism_blog/2006/03/alqaida_in_saud_1.html
March 19, 2006
"Al-Qaida in Saudi Resurfaces with Martyrdom Video of Abqaiq Mastermind Fahd al-Farraj"
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "On March 15, Al-Qaida’s Committee in the Arabian Peninsula released the first edition of a new video series titled “Blood that will never be forgotten” commemorating its “martyred” operatives in Saudi Arabia."
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1599008/posts
"COMMENTARY: Blowing the CIA's cover"
Washington Times ^ | 3/19/6 | Martin Schram
Posted on 03/18/2006 10:52:03 PM PST by SmithL
Feeling very sorry for US citizens forced to test for TB or be infected due to uninforced and inadequate immigration laws.
Someone needs to round up the old hippies and ship them back to the commune.
For sure...what a gross-out.
Snip: According to an analysis conducted for the Sunday Gazette-Mail, 55 stocks in state pension portfolios belong to companies that have ties to the governments of Iran, Libya, North Korea, Sudan or Syria.
Palestinian gunmen abduct US teacher
Snippets : The teacher was abducted at the American University in Jenin, university officials said.
Furious Palestinians attacked offices linked to America and Europe, torching the British Council building in Gaza City and kidnapping a foreign employee of the Red Cross in Gaza. Gunmen also seized four guests _ including two South Korean journalists and a French woman _ from a Gaza City hotel and two Australian teachers at an American school.
How will Hoof & Mouth Disease come into the US?
Snip: As many as 80,000 illegal aliens cross the US border undetected every month. They cross from Mexican ranch country into US ranch country. They will carry any disease in Mexico into the USA, and nothing short of the threat of a firing squad will stop them.
Note: The following text is a quote:
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http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/s06030110.htm
SSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA
Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net -- E-mail: danjuma1@aol.com
Saturday, March 18, 2006
24 CHINESE HOUSE CHURCH LEADERS MISSING AFTER POLICE RAID
Attorneys For One Church Leader Find Evidence Of Forced Confession By Torture
By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service
MIDLAND, TEXAS (ANS) -- A Christian human rights watchdog organization says 24 House Church Leaders are still missing following a police raid on a house church leaders' meeting in Henan Province, and has released details of sustained extortion of confession by severe torture of one leader by Chinese authorities.
According to an eyewitness report, obtained by the Midland, Texas-based China Aid Association (CAA) and made available to ANS, at noon of March 13, a number of Public Security Officials raided a house church meeting at Wen County, Henan Province. Eighty Chinese house church leaders from different counties of Henan Province were attending a coworkers meeting.
CAA says all of the leaders were then taken into custody after the police searched their body and confiscated the cash on them.
It states: "While 36 from Wen County were released within 24 hours, 24 from other counties are still missing. None of their whereabouts are known. One of the leaders Pastor Li Gongshe was reportedly sent to a local hospital ER room for treatment of a broken rib due to a beating by the police."
CAA also released the Defense Statement yesterday in the case of a controversial religious group leader, Xu Shuangfu, by his defense Lawyers.
Regarding the case of Mr. Xu Shuangfu, his two lawyers Li Heping, Esq., of Global Law (Gaobo Longhua) Firm, Beijing and Zhang Lihui, Esq., of Beijing Branch of Xingyun Law Office, Zhejiang Province delivered their defense statement on March 2, 2006 at Shuangyashan Intermediate court, Heilongjiang province. (read the whole text at www.ChinaAid.org)
In their defense statements, the two lawyers presented their defense opinions in five parts in accordance with the law.
Concerning the procedures of this case, the two lawyers found "Defendant Xu Shuangfu of the case sustained extortion of confession by severe torture during the investigation stage."
The two lawyers stated that "in interviews by each defense attorney and court investigation, Xu Shuangfu stated that he had sustained extortion of confession by severe torture, and the severity of such torture went beyond the imagination of defense attorneys:
Denial of sleep continuously for long periods of time;
Pour hot pepper, gasoline, and ginger juice into the nostril;
Torture by front hanging in which the wrists were bound and hung upward above the ground;
Torture by rear hanging in which arms were stretched and bound backward through the crotch and hung upward;
Torture by electric instrument including three means: The first one was binding toes with copper wires and electrifying with electric club. The second one was binding fingers with copper wires and electrifying with electric club;
The third and the cruelest one was binding genital organ with copper wires and electrifying with electric club:6. Wearing noise helmet (The helmet, once turned on, would emit varieties of unbearable noise);
Hitting noise helmet with clubs (Sometimes the interrogators regard the noise level as too low so they hit the noise helmet with clubs);
Beating by iron links and clubs (Xu had several swellings on his head and one on his leg as a result of such beating);
Being bound onto an iron chair without food or drink for 48 hours in a row;
Shackling hands and feet during the investigation stage until December 15, 2005 except for five minutes of meal time;
Burning with big watt bulbs, etc.
CAA reports that "every torture session was aimed at compelling the defendant to confess certain fabricated facts.
"The torture would continue until the defendant confessed. Sometimes the interrogators directly pulled the defendant's fingers to sign or get finger print. In order to make the defendant confess the statement that 'the Eastern Lightning sect must be dealt with,' the interrogators used all kinds of torture techniques for the duration of 7 days and 7 nights. Though the defendant had never said this sentence, he was tortured so severely that he would rather die than live in such dreadful condition. So he finally confessed to whatever charges that they imposed on him."
The two defense attorneys stated that since "the interrogation depositions of Xu Shuangfu in this case were extorted by means of torture and belong to illegal evidence. These should be excluded and shall not be used as basis of verdict."
Furthermore, the defense attorneys stated "fifteen of seventeen specific cases accused in the indictment had already been tried without the presence of defendant Xu Shuangfu and the majority of verdicts had affirmed the so-called criminal facts of Xu Shuangfu. At this court trial the convicted verdicts are presented as evidence to prove the existence of comprehensive crime. This kind of circular argumentation is against logical thinking."
Concerning the facts of this case, the defense lawyers said that "the defendant as a preacher was completely aware of one of the Ten Commandments that Christians must abide by, i.e., 'Thou shall not kill.' And it was impossible that the defendant would misunderstand and authorize such an action." The defense attorneys further pointed out that "the background facts accused in the indictment are erroneous."
Concerning the evidence of this case, the attorneys "see the evidence proving guilt of the defendant is insufficient and inconsistent, and the confessions are all one-on-one implications."
They add: "The Criminal Procedure Law of our country strictly prohibits adoption of illegally collected evidence. Thus, this case certainly cannot reach a verdict against the defendant on the basis of illegal evidence."
The two defense attorneys also found that "the reasonable doubts in this case that cannot be excluded."
Concerning the crime of fraud, the defense attorneys argued that "the money offered by Christians to the church belongs to the properties of the church. There is no fact or act of fraud involved. Should the offerings to the church be regarded as fraud gains and confiscated and offering to the church be convicted and punished as fraud, it is not only a big joke of the world class, it will also create unnecessary doubt among personages of various circles at home a and abroad concerning the policy of freedom of religious belief of our country, and provide excuses for certain persons abroad to attack China for lack of religious freedom."
The two defense attorneys concluded that "judging from the trial of this case, the charges of suspected murder, detaining, and defrauding against the defendant brought by the public prosecutor have serious flaws in facts, evidence, law, and procedures. The facts are nonexistent and lack legal foundation; all of the evidence comprises of confessions from co-defendants of the same case that cannot be used as basis for verdict. Moreover there are severe extortions by torture in the procedures and the logic is reversed. Therefore, as defense attorneys, we declare that defendant Xu Shuangfu is not guilty based on facts and the law."
According to the prosecution paper, Mr. Xu Wenku (also known as Xu Shuangfu and Xu Shengguang) along with 16 of his top leaders was accused of having murdered 20 leaders from a group called Eastern Lightning from 2002 to 2004. Xu was also accused of having involved over 32 million Yuan ($4 million USD) fraud.
CAA says Xu has been the leader of the Chinese religious group known as the Three Grades of Servants with over half a million members nationwide. The organization believes that while many of the mainstream Chinese House churches identify Mr. Xu's group as doctrinally cultic, nevertheless, their basic constitutional rights should be protected.
CAA is calling upon the international community to continue to press the Chinese government to make sure the verdict should be based upon true evidence. It is believed that the first trial verdict could be delivered soon so that it won't become an issue when President Hu Jintao pays his planned state visit to the United States in June this year.
CAA urges the Chinese government to immediately release the arrested 24 pastors in Wen County.
Concerned individuals are encouraged to write to:
Premier Wen Jiabao, PRC
PO Box 1741, The State Council, Beijing, PRC (zip code 100017)
Contact Phone?+86-10-66012399
Email? gazette@mail.gov.cn
Ms. Wu Aiying, minister of Ministry of Justice of PRC
Tel:+86-10-65205114
Fax:+86-10-64729863
Email: pufamaster@legalinfo.gov.cn
Address?No. 10, Nan Da Jie, Chaoyangmen, Beijing City (Zip Code: 100020)
For more information:
China Aid Association, Inc.
PO Box 8513 Midland, TX 79708
Tel: (267) 205-5210 Fax: (432) 686-8355
Contact: Bob Fu
info@ChinaAid.org
www.ChinaAid.org
** Michael Ireland is an international British freelance journalist. A former reporter with a London newspaper, Michael is the Chief Correspondent for ASSIST News Service of Lake Forest, California. Michael immigrated to the United States in 1982 and became a US citizen in September, 1995. He is married with two children. Michael has also been a frequent contributor to UCB Europe, a British Christian radio station.
** You may republish this story with proper attribution.
ON THE NET
PERSECUTION.ORG
http://www.persecution.org
http://www.satp.org
http://www.saag.org
===
http://www.saag.org/papers18/paper1738.html
Paper no. 1738
16. 03. 2006
"ARMY HEAD COUNT: A MOMENT OF TRUTH?"
by Col R Hariharan (retd.)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1599027/posts
"North Queensland residents urged to evacuate (Australia)"
The Age ^ | March 19, 2006
Posted on 03/19/2006 1:04:48 AM PST by Dundee
===
===
http://www.theage.com.au
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/n-qld-residents-urged-to-evacuate/2006/03/19/1142703202029.html
"N. Qld residents urged to evacuate"
March 19, 2006 - 6:17PM
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Far north Queensland residents in cyclone Larry's path have been urged to evacuate as authorities compare the violent storm to Hurricane Katrina which devastated United States gulf states last year.
Larry could intensify to a category five - the most intense rating for a cyclone - by the time it hits south of Cairns between Innisfail and Cardwell early tomorrow, the Bureau of Meteorology said today.
Counter Disaster and Rescue Services (CDRS) executive director Frank Pagano said residents in low-lying beach communities along the stretch of coast in the cyclone's path should be "really considering" evacuating.
Mr Pagano said mandatory evacuations had not been ruled out as the category four cyclone, with wind gusts of up to 280kph, rapidly approached.
Disaster co-ordination centres were activated in Cairns and Townsville while the state government deployed response teams from Brisbane, in response to imminent destruction caused by gale force winds, torrential rain and flooding, he said.
"This is the most devastating cyclone that we could potentially see on the east coast of Queensland for decades," Mr Pagano told reporters in Brisbane. "There is going to be destruction - we are very certain this cyclone will not peter out.
"(Residents) should be really considering about evacuating any low-lying areas ... that may become mandatory in the future."
He compared the potential force of Larry to Katrina, which ravaged the United States' Gulf states in August last year, killing more than 1,400 people."
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1599028/posts
"Seven killed in Pakistani blast"
BBC UK ^ | 19 March 2006
Posted on 03/19/2006 1:14:34 AM PST by bd476
ON THE NET...
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/quakes_big.php
"Latest Earthquakes M5.0+ in the World - Last 7 days"
ON THE NET...
http://www.rewardsforjustice.net
http://www.rewardsforjustice.net/english/wanted_captured/index.cfm?page=Wanted_Terrorist
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