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 2004’s United Nations resolution 1559, which called for the disarming of Hezbollah. NRO editor Kathryn Lopez recently talked to Phares about what’s going on in the Mideast, what happened to the Cedar Revolution, and this war we’re 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 didn’t 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 Syria’s 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 Sadr’s ideology for Iraq’s Shiia majority.
A U.S.-led response came swiftly in 2004 with the voting of UNSCR 1559, smashing Syria’s 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 Iran’s nuclear weapons programs and Syria’s 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) Israel’s 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 Lebanon’s 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: “Let’s talk about the future,” he said — with the implication, of course, that they forget about the Cedar Revolution and the militia’s 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 Iran’s 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 Lebanon’s 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 didn’t change their minds about Hezbollah’s 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...
http://www.theconservativevoice.com/article/18760.html
Reflections on Ramadan:The Pope Must Die
Here we go again.
The often-outraged Muslim mob is once again garbed in full and bloody
rage.
This time the offense involves comments made by Pope Benedict XVI
during a
lecture. Quoting a 14th century Byzantine emperor who described the
prophet
Mohammed's view of forced conversion by the sword, as "evil and
inhuman."
The words caused mayhem within the Islamic world, escalating to
firebombed
churches and culminating with the murder of an Italian nun working in a
Somali hospital.
In London, extremists have declared that those offending Islam must
die.
"Whoever insults the message of Mohammed is going to be subject to
capital
punishment," declared Anjem Choudary, a lawyer who organized the brutal
violence that occurred after the publication of Danish cartoons deemed
offensive earlier this year.
So now, the Pope must die.
"We swear to send you people who adore death as much as you adore
life," was
the not-so-veiled threat, evoking images of zealot suicide bombers. In
response, the Vatican sent emissaries to Muslim countries attempting to
quell the chaos.
Though Pope Benedict issued a rare papal apology, American Muslims
joined
the fray, deeming the apology inadequate. Ahmed Rehab, Chicago director
of
the Council on American-Islamic Relations, was quoted as saying, "Pope
Benedict's apology is incomplete because it expresses remorse for
Muslim
anger to his questionable selection of quotations, rather than his own
poor
judgment in choosing them." The Los Angeles Times editorially chastised
the
Pope, but was curiously hushed regarding the threats against him.
The past is prologue. Turkish Muslim, Mehmet Ali Aca, critically
wounded
Pope John Paul II in 1981. Frail and ailing, he was also targeted by Al
Qaeda-funded militants during a visit to the Philippines in 1995.
Pope Benedict's efforts at deflecting further unrest have met with
disfavor.
His apologies, it seems, are not quite good enough. An Iranian
newspaper
wrote his words were, "code words for a new crusade."
Turkish clerics
decreed his contrition wasn't properly articulated, suggesting the Pope
fall
on his knees before leading Muslim clerics in issuing his regrets.
Radical Muslims illogically promote the idea that the war against
terrorism
is a war against Islam. Many mosques seethe as hotbeds of anti-American
hatred, yet we hear little opposition from the faithful-even the
"home-grown." The same is true in European counties where Islamic
communities spawn violence. Certainly, not all Muslims follow this
mantra,
but where is the outcry in opposition to the militant fanatics in their
midst?
Islam cannot be discussed by non-Muslims without insult being inferred.
Their standards regarding freedom of speech differ greatly from
Westerners.
Islamic law stipulates Muslims can peacefully co-exist with Christians
and
Jews only if the non-Muslims acknowledge their second-class status;
agreeing
to such harsh restrictions in numerous areas of society, as the
inability to
hold authority over Muslims, being subject to imposition of extra
taxes, and
not insulting Muhammad. A perceived slur, even unintentional, results
in the
revocation of the non-Muslim's conditional co-existence.
We are in the midst of a clash of civilizations, in which one side
desires
supreme dominance. As Muslim populations swell throughout Europe and
the
United States, this crisis will exacerbate. As long as parents find
pride in
their children's martyrdom as human missiles, with no sane voices
calling
for a halt to the madness, implications for the future are terrifying.
It is
inconceivable that Christians or Jews would behead those with whom they
disagree, or celebrate their holiest of days with a call for the
execution
of the religious leader of another faith; though such actions are
commonplace for practitioners of the "religion of peace."
If we care about our progeny, we must address this malevolence with
swift
certainty. Otherwise, how do we answer the generations we leave exposed
to
irrational fundamentalist zealots posing as credible religious agents?
http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/115943567445510.xml&coll=2
FBI, bomb squads to work closer
Bomb technicians will be federally deputized
Thursday, September 28, 2006
CAROL ROBINSON
News staff writer
The FBI announced Wednesday it is joining forces with bomb squads throughout the state to better respond to the threat of improvised explosive devices or weapons of mass destruction.
Though bomb technicians statewide have always worked closely together, under the new partnership with the FBI, they will be federally deputized. That means that in the event of a major incident, jurisdictional boundaries would be more easily crossed. Any overtime, training and equipment costs will be covered by the federal government.
"The events of 9-11 taught us that we cannot defeat our enemies alone," said Carmen Adams, special agent in charge of the FBI's Birmingham division. "We need to find new ways of doing things to defeat today's sophisticated criminals and terrorists."
All certified bomb technicians nationwide already are trained at the FBI's Hazardous Devices School at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville. The six-week program teaches them everything from rendering a package safe to operating bomb robots.
Under the new partnership, "We're going to do some post-blast and other training events so we can be up to date on some of the render-safe policies that are out there," said FBI bomb technician Kerry Straub.
Adams said the partnership won't change the regular duties of local police department bomb squads. "The daily incidents will remain the primary jurisdiction of those departments," Adams said. "What this does is a force multiplier for the FBI."
The agencies included in the partnership are the FBI and the Alabama Bureau of Investigation; the Birmingham, Hoover, Tuscaloosa, Huntsville, Gadsden, Florence and Trussville police departments; and the Tuscaloosa County and Jefferson County sheriff's departments.
The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives isn't named in the partnership, but has its role, Adams said. "While the FBI has primary jurisdiction with regard to the terrorism investigations, ATF absolutely has a role," Adams said. "I think we've reached a point in time that we don't have the luxury of being territorial. We respond together as a law enforcement community.
"I would call it being prepared for the worst and hopefully we don't have to encounter it and deal with it, but we would certainly rather be trained and all be operating off the same sheet of music in responding than to have an incident and try to figure out what's the best way to do something," she said.
Jefferson County Sheriff Mike Hale and other law enforcement leaders lauded the plan.
"We've done it on a handshake a lot of times," Hale said. "9-11 has ensured that we've come together formally and closes the gaps. It's a good day."
E-mail: crobinson@bhamnews.com
© 2006 The Birmingham News
© 2006 al.com All Rights Reserved.
http://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/story.php?ID=21884
Students demand answers from FBI
By Xianglin Liu
September 28, 2006
The Muslim Students Organization and Students for Progressive Action, waving signs that read “Charity is not Terrorism” and “FBI: We want answers,” vented dissatisfaction Wednesday at Speaker’s Circle over the Sept. 18 FBI search of the home of Shakir Hamoodi, a Columbia Islamic leader and charity activist.
“This is not just a Muslim issue, this is an American issue,” said Faeza Khan of the Muslim Students Organization. “We are not here to condemn the FBI. We are here to raise awareness of what has happened and what effect that can have on all MU students.”
The FBI searched Hamoodi’s home on the same day it searched the offices of Life for Relief and Development, a Muslim charity in Detroit with which Hamoodi is affiliated.
Arreya Bond of Students for Progressive Action said she will send a letter that bears approximately 200 signatures and demands an explanation for the search by the FBI. The letter was
drafted by Steve Jacobs, a member of Mid-Missouri Peaceworks.
— Xianglin Liu
.
Copyright © 2006 Columbia Missourian
http://www.kctv.com/global/story.asp?s=5476861&ClientType=Printable
FBI Joins Probe of Racist Graffiti in Sedalia
Sep 29, 2006 03:07 PM
SEDALIA, Mo. (AP) -- Sedalia Police say the FBI is helping them in their investigation of racist graffiti scrawled on property belonging two interracial couples.
Detectives say they have four possible suspects, but no arrests have been made. Those still considered suspects have agreed to take voice stress analysis, similar to a lie detector test.
FBI agents are helping with handwriting analysis, but police say the process is difficult because the graffiti was printed.
The interracial couples said racial slurs were written on a car and a house on Sept. 9th and 10th.
The property damage could be considered a hate crime if police can prove that it was racially motivated.
---
Information from The Sedalia Democrat: http://www.sedaliademocrat.com
Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.ktvn.com/dyn_fullnews.asp?area=fullTopStory&storyid=7409
Teen Who Vandalized Churches Sentenced
9/26/2006
A 19-year-old man who vandalized six Douglas County churches in June has been sentenced to four year probation.
Jonathan Walker was sentenced to probation on Monday. He’ll also have to complete 200 hours of community service.
Walker and three minors admitted to the crimes and are responsible for paying back the $7,000 it cost to clean up the mess.
On June 6, Walker and his accomplices spray painted obscenities and satanic graffiti on area churches.
Walker say it’s a prank that went too far.
If Walker violates his probations in the next four years, he’ll be sentenced to two years in the Douglas County Jail.
Found this odd article, will try to post the heart of it]
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/09/30/world/printable2053800.shtml
But authorities later said they were no longer certain the disappearance was caused by a collision with a private jet as they earlier maintained.
"During the afternoon, there was another incident with a Legacy airplane, made by Embraer," federal aviation authorities said in a statement issued early Saturday morning. "It is impossible to confirm that there is a relation between the incident which caused the (Legacy) crew to perform an emergency landing in Cachimbo and the disappearance of the Gol airplane."
Initially, authorities reported the collision was near the Serra do Cachimbo region in Para state but the Legacy managed to land at the Cachimbo base despite suffering damage. The aviation agency said the plane disappeared about 130 miles south of the city of Cachimbo, some 1,250 miles northwest of Rio de Janeiro.
The jetliner had been scheduled to make a stop in Brasilia before heading to Rio's Antonio Tom Jobim International Airport. Manaus is a major river city in the heart of the Amazon rainforest some 1,700 miles northwest of Rio.
Snipped from the article................
http://www.zaman.com/?bl=international&alt=&trh=20060928&hn=36861
http://www.zaman.com/?bl=international&alt=&trh=20060928&hn=36861
Summit Likely to Give Islam Official Status in Germany
By Yusuf Bal, Berlin
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
zaman.com
http://www.zaman.com/
The Islam Summit, organized by the Federal Ministry of the Interior in
Germany, convenes Wednesday in Berlin under the chairmanship of
Interior
Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU)
party.
Some 15 institutions representing Muslims, as well as federal and local
representatives from Germany, joined the summit.
The guest list became an issue of conflict, just like in the Adaptation
Summit previously held by Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The Milli Gorus (National View) movement was not called to the summit,
whose
aim was to solve problems with Muslims in different areas.
A message to accept Islam as an official religion such as Christianity
and
Judaism is expected to be given at the summit.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1711046/posts
Woman Accused of Supporting Terror Group
AP ^ | 9/29/6 | DAISY NGUYEN
Posted on 09/29/2006 10:23:01 PM PDT by SmithL
A naturalized U.S. citizen from Iran who was found in Iraq was indicted Friday on charges of providing support to a terrorist organization that seeks to overthrow the Iranian regime, federal prosecutors said.
Zeinab Taleb-Jedi, 51, then a resident of Herndon, Va., went to Iraq in 1999 to attend a training camp run by the Mujahedin-e Khalq, or MEK, the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles said in a statement.
MEK, also known as the People's Mujahedin of Iran, and its affiliates were deemed foreign terrorist organizations by the U.S. State Department in 1997. The designations bar anyone in the United States from providing material support.
The group was founded in Iran in the 1960s and moved to Iraq in the early 1980s to base its activities against Iran's government. The group had sided with Iraq in its 1980-88 war against Iran.
The State Department says the MEK groups were funded by Saddam Hussein, supported the seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979 and are responsible for the deaths of Americans in the 1970s.
Taleb-Jedi was discovered by coalition forces at a camp called Ashraf Base about 40 miles northwest of Baghdad, the U.S. attorney's office statement said. It was unclear when.
U.S. forces took control of the camp and sent many members back to Iran on condition that they leave MEK, said Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the attorney's office.
"An investigation reveals that she played an active role at the camp," Mrozek said.
Taleb-Jedi was indicted by a federal grand jury in New York City on one count of providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization. She faces up to 15 years in federal prison if convicted.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
America's Muslims Aren't as Assimilated as You Think
By Geneive Abdo
Sunday, August 27, 2006; B03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/25/AR2006082501169_pf.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/25/AR200608250
1169_pf.html
If only the Muslims in Europe -- with their hearts focused on the
Islamic
world and their carry-on liquids poised for destruction in the West --
could
behave like the well-educated, secular and Americanizing Muslims in the
United States, no one would have to worry.
So runs the comforting media narrative that has developed around the
approximately 6 million Muslims in the United States, who are often
portrayed as well-assimilated and willing to leave their religion and
culture behind in pursuit of American values and lifestyle. But over
the
past two years, I have traveled the country, visiting mosques,
interviewing
Muslim leaders and speaking to Muslim youths in universities and
Islamic
centers from New York to Michigan to California -- and I have
encountered a
different truth.
I found few signs of London-style radicalism among
Muslims
in the United States. At the same time, the real story of American
Muslims
is one of accelerating alienation from the mainstream of U.S. life,
with
Muslims in this country choosing their Islamic identity over their
American
one.
A new generation of American Muslims -- living in the shadow of the
Sept.
11, 2001, attacks -- is becoming more religious. They are more likely
to
take comfort in their own communities, and less likely to embrace the
nation's fabled melting pot of shared values and common culture.
Part of this is linked to the resurgence of Islam over the past several
decades, a growth as visible in Western Europe and the United States as
it
is in Egypt and Morocco. But the Sept. 11 attacks also had the dual
effect
of making American Muslims feel isolated in their adopted country,
while
pushing them to rediscover their faith.
continued...........
Zawahiri Attacks Bush in New Video Posted on Web
Friday , September 29, 2006
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,216697,00.html
Al Qaeda's no. 2 Ayman al-Zawahiri called President Bush a "deceitful charlatan" in a new video message posted on the Internet Friday by the group's media arm.
"Why don't you tell them how many million citizens of America and its allies you intend to kill in search of the imaginary victory and in breathless pursuit of the mirage towards which you are driving your people's sons in order to increase your profits?" Zawahiri asked in the video found on the Internet by the terrorist tracking organization SITE.
The new 17-minute video message, titled "Bush, the Pope of the Vatican, Darfur, and the Crusader Wars," was posted in two parts and carried the label of As-Sahab, Al Qaeda's media arm.
In the first part, which carries English subtitles, Zawahiri is in an office with a lamp, a cannon and a flag bearing "No God, but Allah." In the second, the deputy Al Qaeda leader appears dressed entirely in white and there is no background.
"Bush, you deceitful charlatan, be aware that the liberation of our captives is a debt on our shoulders which we must fulfill, with Allah's help and power," Zawahiri said in the video.
"You are not facing individuals or organizations, but rather are facing the Muslim nation in which the spirit of Jihad flows and which refuses humiliation under Zionist/Crusader arrogance" he said.
The video was the latest to come from Zawahri since earlier this month. Al Qaeda released a string of videos for the anniversary of Sept. 11, showing increasingly sophisticated production techniques in a likely effort to demonstrate that it remains a powerful, confident force despite the U.S.-led war on terror.
An intelligence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said U.S. experts view the tape as a typcial propaganda message, whose main thrust is a call for more people to join the jihad.
It wasn't immediately clear when the message was recorded, but Zawahri made a reference to the pope, indicating the message was produced sometime after Pope Benedict XVI's controversial comments about Islam on Sept. 12, the official said. SITE said the message was posted on Sept. 29.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
September 29, 2006 PM Anti-Terrorism News
Al Qaeda's No. 2 Zawahiri Blasts Bush, Pope in New Video
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,216697,00.html
New Video Released With Al Qaeda #2 Ayman al-Zawahiri
http://counterterrorismblog.org/2006/09/new_video_released_with_al_qae.php
A Video Speech from Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri: Bush, the Pope of the
Vatican, Darfur, and the Crusader Wars, by as-Sahab Productions
http://siteinstitute.org/bin/articles.cgi?ID=publications215406&Category=publications&Subcategory=0
Online Video Web Link to Zawahiri Message
http://www.lauramansfield.com/zawahiri_092906.rm
Treasury Updates Anti-Terrorist Financing Guidelines for Charitable
Sector
http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/hp122.htm
Hamas rally draws tens of thousands - to denounce Israel and state they
will never recognize its right to exist
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20501067-1702,00.html
Iraq announces Baghdad curfew until Sunday
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/233264/1/.html
NATO soldier killed in Afghan explosion
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/afghanistan;_ylt=ApKAA4qZk5Trmfjf2n9FdbTOVooA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl
Bush insists progress being made in Afghanistan
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060929/ts_nm/security_bush_dc_1;_ylt=ApXmPdA0LLyU0dOllMivYFvOVooA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl
Bush Defends Approach to War on Terror
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/29/AR2006092900453.html
(India) Four more arrested for Mumbai train bombings
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2006/September/subcontinent_September1108.xml§ion=subcontinent&col=
Somali Islamic militias to unite, official says
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/africa/09/29/somalia.ap/index.html
Somalia: Islamic Courts Close Radio Station
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Security&loid=8.0.345448165&par=0
Somali Justice Advocacy Center Appalled at Photo of Osama Bin Laden on
Somali Jihadist Web Page, Level of Anti-Jewish Propaganda
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=73460
Iran mulled nuclear bomb in 1988
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5392584.stm
Explosion hits Iran-Turkey gas pipeline-reports
http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=8786
Pearl father: Punish al Qaeda No. 3
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/09/29/pearl.claim.ap/
Hezbollah's New Mission - The "resistance" takes aim at the Lebanese
government.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/012/752bhtyr.asp
Kyrgyzstan: Mob goes unpunished as intolerance of religious freedom
rises
http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=846
(Maryland) Alleged arms brokers for terrorist group charged - Suspects
accused of trying to buy weapons in Md. for Tamil Tigers organization
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-arms0929,0,5089978.story?track=rss
(UK) Arsenic in 'Muslim holy water' - Zam Zam water comes from Saudi
Arabia
http://www.yorkshiretoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=55&ArticleID=1796298
(Pakistan) Commentary - Karachi: Metropolis of Terror
http://www.kashmirherald.com/main.php?t=OP&st=D&no=103
Commentary: The Terror War Meets the Culture War
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,216557,00.html
Commentary: A Patient Enemy: On 9/11 America entered a war that the
Terrorists had already begun
http://counterterrorismblog.org/2006/09/a_patient_enemy_on_911_america.php
Commentary: The World is in Exile
http://www.arutzsheva.com/article.php3?id=6573
http://www.yorkshiretoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=55&ArticleID=1796298
Arsenic in 'Muslim holy water'
High arsenic levels have been found in bottled water claiming to come from a sacred Muslim site, the food watchdog said yesterday.
The Food Standards Agency is warning consumers not to drink products labelled as Zam Zam water.
Tests carried out by Leicester City Council this month revealed high arsenic levels in the drink.
It follows tests last year which showed arsenic at almost three times the permitted level in bottles of Zam Zam on sale in the UK.
Arsenic can increase the risk of cancer in some cases, according the Food Standards Agency.
The Agency has written to local councils asking them to clamp down on the sale of Zam Zam water.
"Genuine Zam Zam water, which is sacred to Muslims, comes from a specific source in Saudi Arabia and cannot legally be exported from that country for commercial sale," the FSA said.
"Therefore, any product found in the shops would have an uncertain origin and could pose a safety risk to consumers."
29 September 2006
US unable to confirm Muhajir in Qaeda Iraq audio
Reuters.uk - UK
... "The voice matches the previous tape," said a ... prominent al
Qaeda
figures such as Osama bin Laden's second-in ... The video, posted last
Saturday, depicted a masked ...
http://today.reuters.co.uk/News/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-09-29T203420Z_01_N29203425_RTRUKOC_0_UK-SECURITY-IRAQ-QAEDA.xml
[a post for study and research]
http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/hourlyupdate/148885.php
Published: 09.29.2006
Young woman dies from gunshot wounds suffered in drive-by shooting
By Alexis Huicochea
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
A 19-year-old Tucson woman died late Thursday, nearly three hours after she and a friend were wounded in a drive-by shooting on the South Side, police said Friday.
No arrests have been made in connection with the shooting.
Jerrica Nuanez and her 24-year-old friend were sitting in a car in the parking lot of a strip mall in the 6100 block of S. Nogales Highway, near East Bilby Road, around 8:45 p.m. when a minivan with several people inside drove up and made contact with them, said Officer Frank Amado, a Tucson Police Department spokesman.
Shots were fired from the van into the victims' car, he said. Nuanez and the man with her suffered one gun shot wound each.
The pair drove away from the parking lot to a neighborhood in the 6000 block of South Nelco Place, near Bilby and South Park Avenue, where residents called 911, Amado said.
Both Nuanez and her friend were taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead at 11:54 p.m., Amado said. Her friend's injuries were considered non life-threatening.
The minivan that the suspects were in was either blue or green, Amado said. No suspect descriptions were available Friday and a motive had not been established.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call 911 or 88-CRIME, the anonymous tip line of the Pima County Attorney's Office.
Contact reporter Alexis Huicochea at 629-9412 or ahuicochea@azstarnet.com
All content copyright © 1999-2006 AzStarNet,
http://www.azstarnet.com/news/148951
Text message leads to rescue of Mass. teen from Ga. home
The Associated Press
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 09.30.2006
HOGANSVILLE, Ga. — A man is being held on false imprisonment and aggravated sodomy charges after a 17-year-old Massachusetts boy he met online text-messaged his family saying he was being held against his will on the man's west Georgia farm, police said.
A judge set a $1 million bond Friday for Ted Roy Williams, 58, who was arrested a day earlier. Police continued questioning the teen Friday afternoon.
Williams met the boy on the online networking site MySpace.com two weeks ago and persuaded him to visit him in Georgia, Troup County Sheriff's Lt. Rick Massie said.
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Body Found in Ocean
Homicide Squad detectives are investigating the death of a 40-year-old man who was found off the shore of Atlantic Beach on Sept. 18 at 8:10 a.m.
Nassau police say that a private fishing boat discovered the body of Paul Labella of Brooklyn, floating in the water about 1.5 miles south of Long Beach in the Atlantic Ocean. Upon arrival, Marine Bureau recovered the body. Labella was wearing a black wet suit and diving gear.
He was taken to the Nassau County Medical Examiner’s Office. New York City Police Department’s Missing Person Squad is investigating further.
http://www.longislandpress.com/index.php?show=article&cp=216&a_id=9871
http://www.longislandpress.com/index.php?show=article&cp=216&a_id=9871
Fire Investigation
Arson/Bomb Squad detectives are investigating a fire that occurred in Plainview on Sept. 17 at 5:15 p.m. Nassau police say that the fire started in the rear of a store on Woodbury Road and spread to three neighboring stores.
The Syosset Fire Department responded and extinguished the flames with the assistance of about 150 firefighters from other departments including Plainview, Jericho, Hicksville, Bethpage, Glenwood Landing, Melville, Roslyn, Oyster Bay and Cold Spring Harbor.
Four firefighters were injured and treated at North Shore University Hospital. The investigation is ongoing.
http://www.longislandpress.com/index.php?show=article&cp=216&a_id=9871
Identity Theft Arrest
Fifth Squad detectives arrested an Oceanside man on Sept. 19 for theft and identity theft that occurred in Valley Stream. Nassau police say that Charles Indiviglio, 40, schemed to defraud customers of J&J Perfection along with his wife Joanne, who was previously arrested for taking money for home improvement work which was never started. He was charged with identity theft, fraud and three counts of grand larceny.
http://www.longislandpress.com/index.php?show=article&cp=216&a_id=9871
Forgery Arrest
Crimes Against Property Squad detectives arrested a Queens woman for forgery in Hewlett on Sept. 21 at 7 p.m. Nassau police say that Indira Balliram, 31, of Springfield Gardens, while employed as a cashier for Five Towns Kosher Meat Market on Peninsula Boulevard, used a skimming device to steal personal credit card information from customers, which she later used to create forged credit cards and make fraudulent purchases totaling more than $6,000. Detectives were notified by Citigroup. She was charged with identity theft, possession of a forged instrument and criminal possession of computer material.
http://www.longislandpress.com/index.php?show=article&cp=217&a_id=9870
Shooting Incident
Fifth Squad Detectives are seeking the public’s assistance in their investigation of the shooting of a 20-year-old man in Bellport on Sept. 18 at 12:25 a.m. Suffolk police say Shati Roy of Shirley was struck by a bullet at the intersection of Taylor Avenue and Brookhaven Avenue. Reportedly, a passenger in a moving vehicle fired several shots, one of which hit the victim in the leg. Roy was taken to Brookhaven Memorial Hospital where he was treated and released. The investigation is continuing. Fifth Squad detectives request that anyone who has any information about this incident, or who may have witnessed this crime, to call them at 854-8552 or call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS.
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