Posted on 08/07/2006 3:43:15 PM PDT by DAVEY CROCKETT
Tehran & Damascus Move to Lebanon Lebanon-born Walid Phares is a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. Author of the recent book Future Jihad, he was also one of the architects of 2004s United Nations resolution 1559, which called for the disarming of Hezbollah. NRO editor Kathryn Lopez recently talked to Phares about whats going on in the Mideast, what happened to the Cedar Revolution, and this war were all in.
Kathryn Jean Lopez: What is Future Jihad? Are we seeing it in the Mideast now?
Walid Phares: Future Jihad, which has already begun, refers to a new and potent form of Islamic terrorism, characterized by a Khumeinist-Baathist axis. These are the two trees of jihadism, so to speak the Salafism and Wahabism embodied in al Qaeda and the sort of jihadism led by Iran and also including Syria, Hezbollah, and their allies in Lebanon.
The alliance has not been in entire agreement as to strategy. The al Qaeda branch began its Future Jihad in the 1990s; its efforts culminated on 9/11 and have continued explosively since then. The international Salafists aimed at the U.S. in the past decade in order to strengthen their jihads on various battlefields (Chechnya, India, Sudan, Algeria, Indonesia, Palestine, etc.). Weaken the resolve of America, their ideologues said, and the jihadists would overwhelm all the regional battlefields.
As I argue in Future Jihad, bin Laden and his colleagues miscalculated on the timing of the massive attack against the U.S. in 2001. While they wounded America, they didnt kill its will to fight (as was the case, for instance, in the Madrid 3/11 attacks). I have heard many jihadi cadres online, and have seen al Jazeera commentators on television, offering hints of criticism about the timing. They were blaming al Qaeda for shooting its imagined silver bullet before insuring a strategic follow up. But bin Laden and Zawahiri believe 9/11 served them well, and has put a global mobilization into motion. Perhaps it has, but the U.S. counter strategy in the Middle East, chaotic as the region currently appears, has unleashed counter jihadi forces. The jury is still out as to the time factor: when these forces will begin to weaken the jihadists depends on our perseverance and the public understanding of the whole conflict.
The other tree of jihadism, with its roots in Iran, withheld fire after 9/11. They were content to watch the Salafists fight it out with the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan and Iraq, not to mention within the West, as terror cells were hunted down. Ahmedinejad, Assad, and Nasrallah were analyzing how far the US would go, and how far the Sunnis and Salafis would go as well.
The fall of the Taliban and of the Baath in Iraq, however, changed Iran and Syrias patient plans. The political changes in the neighborhood, regardless of their immediate instability, were strongly felt in Tehran and Damascus (but unfortunately not in the U.S., judging from the political debate here), and pushed the Khumeinists and the Syrian Baathists to enter the dance, but carefully. Assad opened his borders to the jihadists in an attempt to crumble the U.S. role in Iraq, while Iran articulated al Sadrs ideology for Iraqs Shiia majority.
A U.S.-led response came swiftly in 2004 with the voting of UNSCR 1559, smashing Syrias role in Lebanon and forcing Assad to withdraw his troops by April 2005. In response, the axis prepared for a counter attack on the Lebanese battlefield by assassinating a number of the Cedar Revolution leaders, including MP Jebran Tueni. In short, the attacks by Hamas and Hezbollah and the kidnappings of soldiers were the tip of an offensive aimed at drawing attention away from Irans nuclear weapons programs and Syrias assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri. Hezbollah was awaiting its moment for revenge against the Cedar Revolution too.
What we see now is 1) a Syro-Iranian sponsored offensive aimed at all democracies in the region and fought in Lebanon; 2) Israels counter offensive (which it seems to have prepared earlier); and 3) an attempt by Hezbollah to take over or crumble the Lebanese government.
Lopez: So did the Cedar Revolution fail?
Phares: Actually, it would be more accurate to say that the Cedar Revolution was failed. The masses in Lebanon responded courageously in March 2005 by putting 1.5 million people on the streets of Beirut. They did it without no-fly-zones, expeditionary forces, or any weapons at all, for that matter, and against the power of three regimes, Iran, Syria, and pro-Syrian Lebanon, in addition to Hezbollah terror. The revolution was for a time astoundingly successful; since then it has been horribly failed, and first of all by Lebanons politicians themselves. One of their leaders, General Michel Aoun, shifted his allegiances to Syria and signed a document with Hezbollah. Other politicians from the March 14 Movement then stopped the demonstrations, leaving them with the support of God knows what. They failed in removing the pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud and brought back a pro-Syrian politician to serve as a speaker of the house, Nabih Berri. Meanwhile, even as they were elected by the faithful Cedar Revolution masses, they engaged in a round table dialogue with Hezbollah, a clear trap set by Hassan Nasrallah: Lets talk about the future, he said with the implication, of course, that they forget about the Cedar Revolution and the militias disarming. While political leaders sat for months, enjoying the photo ops with Hassan Nasrallah, he was preparing his counter offensive, which he unleashed just a few days before the Security Council would discuss the future of Irans nuclear programs.
The Lebanese government of Prime Minister Seniora also abandoned the Cedar Revolution. His cabinet neither disarmed Hezbollah nor called on the U.N. to help in implementing UNSCR 1559. This omission is baffling. The government was given so much support by the international community and, more importantly, overwhelming popular support inside Lebanon: 80 percent of the people were hoping the Cedar Revolution-backed government would be the one to resume the liberation of the country. Now Hezbollah has an upper hand and the government is on the defensive.
The U.S. and its allies can be accused of certain shortcomings as well. While the speeches by the U.S. president, congressional leaders from both parties, Tony Blair, and Jacques Chirac were right on target regarding Lebanon, and while the U.S. and its counterparts on the Security Council were diligent in their follow up on the Hariri assassination and on implementing UNSCR 1559, there was no policy or plan to support the popular movement in Lebanon. Incredibly, while billions were spent on the war of ideas in the region, Lebanese NGOs that wanted to resume the struggle of the Cedar Revolution and fighting alone for this purpose were not taken seriously at various levels. Policy planners thought they were dealing with the Cedar Revolution when they were meeting Lebanons government and Lebanese politicians. The difference between the high level speeches on Lebanon and the laissez-faire approach from lower levels is amazing. Simply put, there was no policy on supporting the Cedar Revolution against the three regimes opposing it and the $400 million received by Hezbollah from Iran.
The Cedar Revolution was basically betrayed by its own politicians and is now essentially without a head. Nevertheless, as long as the international support remains, the Revolution will find its way and will face the dangers. The one and a half million ordinary citizens who braved all the dangers didnt change their minds about Hezbollahs terror. The resistance and counter-attack was to be expected. Unfortunately, thus far Iran, Syria, and Hezbollah have outmaneuvered the West and are at the throats of the Cedar Revolution. The international community must revise its plans, and, if it is strongly backed by the U.S. and its allies, including France, the situation can be salvaged. The good seeds are still inside the country.
More at link...
Google Alert - bomb threat
False school bomb threat rumours cause chaos in Hat Yai
Thai News Agency MCOT - Bangkok,Thailand
SONGKHLA, Sept 19 (TNA) - Panicked parents rushed to pick up their
children
at several Hat Yai schools after hearing rumours about bomb threats on
Tuesday. ...
http://etna.mcot.net/query.php?nid=24894
Bomb threat made to Centereach High School
Newsday - Long Island,NY,USA
A bomb threat was made to Centereach High School, Suffolk police said
today
-- the second time in as many days a local high school was faced with
the ...
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-libomb0920,0,5192460.story?coll=ny-top-headlines\
Nasrallah's Malaise
By Ehud Yaari
Jerusalem Report, October 2, 2006
http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC06.php?CID=977
Hassan Nasrallah is showing clear signs of "dejection, melancholy and
depression," according to the editors of the Lebanese daily al-Safir,
who
are counted among the most steadfast supporters of the leader of
Hizballah.
Alongside a tiresomely long interview with him, published on September
5,
they note that the man radiates a sense of "disappointment and
distress."
It is no trifling matter that Nasrallah, who is always punctilious in
demonstrating self-confidence and determination, comes across this way
to
those visiting him in his hideout. "I myself don't even know where I
am," he
told his interviewers. "They have moved me from one hiding place to
another
dozens of times."
Nevertheless, his words were as polished and considered as usual, and
included the now-familiar remarks about Ehud Olmert's "stupidity,"
fictional
accounts of his ongoing communications with fighters on the frontline
during
the war, and wild exaggerations about his achievements in the last
round.
This is the same Nasrallah that we have known for years, and at the
same
time, a different Nasrallah than we have seen before. An analysis of
the
text helps solve the riddle of why Nasrallah is so frustrated even as
he
claims "victory," and what the source of his anxiety is, even though,
in his
assessment, he succeeded in "defeating" the Israeli army.
The impression given is that Nasrallah is worried about not being able
to
continue the armed muqawama, or resistance, in the new framework of UN
Security Council Resolution 1701. He understands that in South Lebanon,
in
the area below the Litani River and on the slopes of Mount Hermon along
the
contours of the Hazbani, his people will no longer be able to set up
open
military camps. In addition, they have lost the numerous positions they
had
seized close to the border with Israel following the Israeli withdrawal
of
May 2000, and from now on, they will have to conceal their weapons in
secret
mountain caches, outside the villages. Hizballah's southern "Nasr"
(Victory)
unit will no longer be able to move freely in the area, where the
15,000
soldiers of three regular brigades of the Lebanese Army will be manning
roadblocks and carrying out patrols, bolstered by the troops of an
upgraded
UNIFIL force.
There are already signs that Hizballah has started moving its military
equipment from the South toward the Lebanese Biqa. In other words,
Nasrallah
understands that the South has ceased to be "Hizballahstan" and he is
conceding the role that he had taken upon himself in the past, to serve
as
the guardian of Lebanon's border.
Moreover, Nasrallah fears that under these circumstances, he stands to
lose
control over portions of the Shiite community. Indeed, there is growing
evidence of disaffection with Hizballah, and reservations on the part
of
some of the Shiite middle class, and among the local village
leaderships,
about the disaster visited upon them by Nasrallah's belligerent
adventurism.
Nasrallah's promises to provide generous and speedy compensation to the
thousands of families who lost their homes are not being realized. So
far,
only a few hundred families have received downpayments on the $12,000
each
is supposed to receive to cover a year's rent pending the
rehabilitation of
their permanent homes. At least 30,000 families, most of them Shiite,
are
expecting funds from Nasrallah's "Construction Jihad" organization-a
huge
financial burden even for Iran, and all the more so considering that
the
Lebanese government will receive hundreds of millions of dollars from
the
Arab states and other donor nations to compete with Hizballah for the
hearts
and minds of the victims.
Nasrallah is now forced to rely more than he would like on his
partner/rival
in the Shiite sector, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a sleek and
shrewd
politician who heads the more secular "Amal." Nasrallah has suddenly
taken
to calling Berri "my big brother," and is advising all the other actors
in
the Lebanese arena to accept the aid of Berri's "infinite wisdom." All
this
smacks of Nasrallah conceding his seniority, if only temporarily, in
the
Shiite leadership.
What's more, Nasrallah fears rising tensions between the Sunnis and
Shiites
in Lebanon. He is trying with all his might to avoid open
confrontation, but
Sunni public opinion, under the leadership of the Hariri family and its
loyalists, has turned largely against him. Hizballah is now forced to
rely
on second echelon Sunni elements in Tripoli and other places, but at
this
stage, he has squandered any opportunity of getting the central pillars
of
the Sunni minority to identify with his positions.
Surprisingly, Nasrallah's standing among the Christians is somewhat
better
for now. That is because of the alliance he struck before the war with
the
strongest Maronite, Gen. Michel Aoun. Together they are pressing to
rout the
anti-Syrian government headed by Fuad Siniora, or at least to broaden
the
coalition by adding more partners from Hizballah, along with Aoun's
faction
(the Patriotic Current) and other figures such as the Christian
Suleiman
Franjieh from the north, the Druze Majid Arslan and the Sunni Omar
Karameh.
But the Aoun-Nasrallah alliance is not firm and may not hold up over
time.
And herein lies Nasrallah's concern that he will be left without any
powerful allies in the Lebanese arena, amid growing pressure on him to
disarm, as demanded by the March 14 anti-Syrian coalition.
Nasrallah has apparently come to the conclusion that he was too hasty
in
pulling the trigger on July 12, and admits that he did not expect so
strong
an Israeli reaction. From his perspective, the war did not end with the
cease-fire, and the results will only become clear once the dust kicked
up
by the internal wrestling in Lebanon has dispersed.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/09/19/wafghan19.xm
l
Troops die as Taliban bomber hits children
By Tom Coghlan in Kabul
(Filed: 19/09/2006)
Daily Telegraph
Canadian soldiers handing out sweets and pens to laughing Afghan
children
were attacked by a Taliban suicide bomber yesterday. Four soldiers died
and
25 to 30 other people, most of them children, were injured.
In other attacks at least 14 Afghans died, with up to 20 people
injured. The
deadliest was in the normally quiet western Herat province, when a
bomber on
a motorcycle blew himself up, killing 11 and wounding 18, including the
province's deputy police chief, whom police said was the main target.
A bomb victim
A wounded man lies on a hospital bed in the Afghan city of Herat after
a
suicide bomber killed 11 people and wounded 18
The explosion occurred minutes after an attack in the capital Kabul,
when a
suicide car bomb killed three policemen and injured several bystanders.
The Canadian soldiers died when their foot patrol was attacked by a
bomber
on a bicycle in Kafir Band, a village in southern Kandahar province's
Panjwayi district.
A spokesman for the United Nations said some of the injured, who
included 12
Canadians, were in a critical condition.
A Canadian army spokesman said that two children were evacuated by air
while
others were driven to hospital in commandeered civilian vehicles as
troops
struggled to cope with the casualties.
Major Quentin Innes said that the bomber approached a patrol of
soldiers who
were clearing a route for the arrival of a humanitarian aid convoy. He
said
that many children had surrounded the soldiers.
"Kids were running towards the Canadian convoy because they were giving
out
pens and notebooks to the children," said Mohammed Karim, who said he
had
witnessed the attack. "There was a crowd of kids laughing and shouting,
'Give me one, give me one'. At this time a man riding on a bicycle
approached the crowd and detonated his explosives in the crowd.
"With the explosion, all the shouting of the kids was ended and you
could
hear cries and people running to all sides. Some of the wounded were
also
running."
The incident, for which the Taliban claimed responsibility, occurred
about
20 miles from Kandahar city in an area which was recaptured from
Taliban
fighters after heavy fighting last week during Operation Medusa, a
large
Canadian led offensive which Nato claims killed 500 insurgents.
The insurgency, launched after the Taliban government was toppled by an
American-led coalition in 2001, is this year going through its
bloodiest
phase, with more than 2,000 people killed.
Nato chiefs have made an urgent call for an extra 2,000 troops to
tackle the
resistance in the lawless and opium-producing south, where 4,500
British
troops are among the 10,000-strong foreign force.
The UN's special representative in Kabul, Tom Koenigs, said: "I am
appalled
at the blatant disregard for human life in which so many children's
lives
are being treated with such disregard.
"I believe that this attack amounts to a serious violation of
international
humanitarian law."
Google Alert - Suspicious Package found
Suspicious package prompts court evacuation
ABC Online - Australia
Northern Territory police say a suspicious package has been found in
the
toilets on the ground floor of Darwin's Family Court building. ...
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200609/s1744630.htm
Violent crime rose in 2005, FBI says
http://159.54.227.3/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060919/NEWS/609190363
Violent crime rose in 2005, FBI says
Associated Press
Sept. 18, 2006 01:00 PM
Arizona Republic
WASHINGTON - Violent crime rose 2.3 percent last year, the first
increase
since 2001, the FBI reported Monday.
The agency found there were 1.39 million violent crimes - which include
rape, murder, robbery and aggravated assault - reported in the United
States
in 2005, up from 1.36 million the previous year.
continues.....
Violent crime rose in 2005, FBI says
http://159.54.227.3/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060919/NEWS/609190363
Violent crime rose in 2005, FBI says
Associated Press
Sept. 18, 2006 01:00 PM
Arizona Republic
WASHINGTON - Violent crime rose 2.3 percent last year, the first
increase
since 2001, the FBI reported Monday.
The agency found there were 1.39 million violent crimes - which include
rape, murder, robbery and aggravated assault - reported in the United
States
in 2005, up from 1.36 million the previous year.
continues.....
[I think she lives in or near this report, I have heard a couple of her interviews and liked what I heard. granny]
BREAKING/Exclusive: Why FBI Raided Largest U.S. Islamic Charity Today
http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/2006/09/breakingexclusi.html
http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/001403print.html
By
http://www.debbieschlussel.com/
Debbie Schlussel
Letters released allegedly from al-Qaida leaders to al-Zarqawi
http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=40140
http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=40140
By
mailto:giordonoj@estripes.osd.mil
Joseph Giordono, Stars and
Stripes
Mideast edition, Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Iraqi officials have released copies of a letter purportedly written by
senior al-Qaida leaders to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in the days before
al-Zarqawi was killed in an American airstrike.
The letter, part of a trove of documents taken after the airstrike and
now
being released by the Iraqi government, outlines attempts to foment
sectarian violence and provides a window into the inner working of
al-Qaida
in Iraq, led by al-Zarqawi and nominally part of the larger al-Qaida
framework.
The letter was released Monday by Mowaffak al Rubaie, the Iraqi
National
Security adviser, but distributed by public affairs officials at the
U.S.
military command in Baghdad.
According to a translation provided by Rubaie's office, the letter was
sent
from Attyia al-Jaza'ri, an Algerian high-ranking figure of al-Qaida.
Among
highlights of the letter:
* Al-Zarqawi is criticized for making military political decisions
without asking higher leaders of al-Qaida outside of Iraq.
Indeed, the
letter writer criticizes al-Zarqawi and reminds him that he is viewed
only
as an operational commander, not as a political or religious leader.
* The letter says that senior al-Qaida leadership in Pakistan and
Afghanistan are "unhappy with methods in Iraq," particularly attacks
targeting civilians and possibly turning Iraqis against the group.
* Al-Jaza'ri purportedly asks al-Zarqawi to step down as al-Qaida in
Iraq leader in favor of other, better-qualified men.
Al-Zarqawi and five others were killed on June 7 when an F-16 dropped
two
500-pound bombs on a home near Baqouba where he was meeting his
spiritual
adviser.
"Attached are documents that Dr. Rubaie's office has asked us to
forward to
the western press," read a message from the U.S. press center in Iraq,
in
releasing the letter. "We have no knowledge of the matters contained in
this
message. If you have any questions, please contact the government of
Iraq."
VATICAN: AL-QAEDA LINKED GROUP CALLS FOR SHARIA TO PUNISH POPE
Google Alert - bomb threat
Teen Faces Felony Charges In School Bomb Threat
NewsNet5.com - Cleveland,OH,USA
BRUNSWICK, Ohio -- A Brunswick High School student who admitted making
a bomb threat to the school last week has been suspended. ..
http://www.newsnet5.com/education/9886324/detail.htm
Police investigate bomb threat at Jordan
Palo Alto Online - Palo Alto,CA,USA
... Jordan Middle School in Palo Alto, but the police were on campus
too,
to assure parents and teachers that they didn't believe an e-mail bomb
threat against the ...
http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php?id=3682
See all stories on this topic:
http://news.google.com/news?ie=utf8&oe=utf8&persist=1&hl=en&client=google&ncl=http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php%3Fid%3D3682
No, no date, it was in the newsletter.
LOL, they all sound familiar to me now.
The crimes that involve a fake police officer, bother me, there are a bunch of them almost weekly, in Denver.
Could it be related to the games people play today?
I notice more of them in liberal areas.
I have noticed that the liberals, always want the Gov. to arrest someone, more than others do.
Smoking on the street, a liberal will call the cops on you, they are amazing.
Hope you are listening to Savage, as he listens to the Iran Pres. talk at UN.
http://www.google.com/search?q=impersonation+of+a+police+officer&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US
News:
http://news.google.com/news?q=impersonation%20of%20a%20police%20officer&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wn
Wow:
http://www.google.com/search?q=+wanted+for+impersonation+of+a+police+officer&btnmeta%3Dsearch%3Dsearch=Search+the+Web&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape%3Aen-US&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
Now, while I think of it, a cop, said that if you are a single or anyone, who does not know why a cop, not in a normal car is attempting to stop you, to call 911 on cellphone and report it, to not stop, and to drive to the police station, 911, will tell you if it is a real cop, and that you are on the way to the station, where you willl wait for him.
I think that I heard him on the Denver radio, a month or so ago.
On this, I don't know where to start:
http://news.google.com/news?q=%20wanted%20for%20impersonation%20of%20a%20police%20officer&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wn
Even a 10 year old arrested:
http://news.google.com/news?client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape%3Aen-US&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&tab=wn&q=arrested+for+impersonation+of+a+police+officer&btnG=Search+News
http://www.google.com/search?client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape%3Aen-US&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=arrested+for+impersonation+of+a+police+officer&sa=N&tab=nw
GOOD NEWS........................................
the kidnapped baby that is now 11 days old, has been found, alive, within the hour, found near her home.
Mir, pretty well said what your post said.
It was by accident that I caught him, on replay.
I couldn't handle the Denver, interview of a Bush hater.
http://www.timesledger.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17192159&BRD=2676&PAG=461&dept_id=573700&rfi=6
09/13/2006
Man impersonated officer in Astoria, police say
By:
ASTORIA - Police arrested a man on charges of trying to impersonate a police officer in an Astoria furniture shop last Thursday, according to the Queens district attorney.
Advertisement
Igal Nisanov allegedly entered Piros Custom Furniture on 31st Street near the corner of 25th Avenue and demanded money from the shopkeeper while flaunting a phony police badge, the DA said. Police responded after the store owner reported the incident, arrested Nisanov and recovered the fake badge, according to authorities.
The DA said that Nisanov, 22, was arrested at the store and later charged with criminal impersonation and harassment Friday.
http://www.timesledger.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17214047&BRD=2676&PAG=461&dept_id=573700&rfi=6
09/18/2006
80 arrested in gang-related drug busts in Rockaway
By:Stephen Stirling
Police in Rockaway swept through three housing complexes last week, arresting more than 80 people connected to a gang-related drug ring after an eight-month investigation, the Queens District Attorney said.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly and Queens DA Richard Brown held a press conference to announce the arrest and indictment of dozens of individuals - including 29 alleged members the Crips street gang - after court-authorized wiretaps helped police uncover a drug ring that was yielding an estimated $30,000 a week in profits in the Ocean Bay, Beach 41st Street, and Ocean Village housing complexes, according to police.
Over the course of the last eight months, police said undercover officers purchased heroin, marijuana and powdered and crack cocaine from drug dealers on more than 200 separate occasions in and around the complexes, including several purchases in drug-free school zones.
"These arrests - and the seizure of drugs, guns, and other contraband resulting from this investigation - should serve as a warning to both drug dealers and violent criminals alike that the law enforcement community, in spite of the diversion of significant resources to prevent terrorism and protect our city, will continue to aggressively track down those individuals who traffic in drugs and seek to put them in prison for a long time," Brown said.
The DA said as of Monday, police have 81 people in custody in relation to the investigation and are seeking the arrest of 15 others. The defendants have been charged with a myriad of drug and weapons offenses, including at least one instance in which a defendant used a child to deliver drugs to an undercover officer, Brown said.
According to police, more than 5 kilograms of cocaine, several thousand dollars in cash, and four guns were confiscated in the raids, which took place over the last month.
Click to learn more...
Reach reporter Stephen Stirling by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300 Ext. 162.
http://www.timesledger.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17203952&BRD=2676&PAG=461&dept_id=573700&rfi=6
09/15/2006
Three Somali men arrested for possession of khat
By:John Tozzi
Police arrested three Somali nationals Wednesday after they were found in Fresh Meadows with 13 pounds of a northern African plant banned in the United States for its stimulant effects, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.
Advertisement
Abdiwlid Hoosh, 30, of Kansas City, Mo., signed for a package containing the plant, called khat, at a UPS office at 190th Street and Horace Harding Expressway around 1 p.m. Sept. 13, the DA said. Shortly after, Hoosh and two other men were spotted by narcotics officers chewing the substance in their car, according to the DA. The suspects were identified as Tanad M. Sheekh of Manhattan and Ali H. Farah of Columbus, Ohio.
Brown said the 13 pounds of khat had a street value of $5,400. Chewing the leaves releases the amphetamine cathinone, a stimulant. The leaves are legal in England, where the package was sent from, but in the United States khat is listed in the same drug classification as heroin and cocaine.
The three were arraigned on charges of criminal possession of a controlled substance, Brown said. If convicted, they could face up to eight years in prison.
http://www.timesledger.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17196254&BRD=2676&PAG=461&dept_id=551067&rfi=6
Queens Arabs seek more voice in Congress
By Adam Pincus September 14, 2006
Many Queens Muslims believe their relationship with the borough's congressional delegation has deteriorated since Sept. 11 because the lawmakers have taken foreign policy positions that are damaging to the Arab world.
Despite an increase in communication between Arabs and Muslims in Queens and their
(full article contains 790 words)
You must be a Registered User
to view the requested article.
Registration provides you with free access to articles and stories in this section of the site.
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.