Yesterday, the "Islamic State of Iraq"--an Al-Qaida-dominated umbrella coalition of extremist Sunni insurgents in Iraq--issued several policy statements regarding ongoing events outside of Iraq. Responding to this week's release of the findings of the Iraq Study Group (ISG), the Al-Qaida faction formerly led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had this to say:
"The military leaders of the crusader coalition forces, realized the necessity of withdrawing from the bog they put themselves in 4 years ago, because of the stupidity and recklessness of their government, and after the U.S. policy in Iraq reached a dead end; and, after the Bush administration realized too late the impossibility of achieving victory in Iraq, and impossibility of establishing a democratic state in Iraq serving as a model for the large Middle East led by Israel. After all these dreams vanished... the politicians in the Crusaders coalition stopped talking about victory or defeat in war, but all their talk and their imagination now is about one and only demand, and that is: not enabling the true mujahideen and Muslims from winning the fruits of this blessed jihad, and this is what the recommendations of the so-called "Baker-Hamilton Committee" are based upon. This committee is trying to do the same thing as the Sykes Picot accord, which was held around a century ago."
"Sykes Picot agreement came to divide the Ottman Caliphate and the region to secular countries loyal to the Crusaders occupied countries and circling around them, but Baker-Hamilton's committee came to confirm this division, and to make sure that Muslims do not cross these borders (Sykes Picot borders) in their jihad. And sadly some Muslims, mainly raised on weak positions by their clerics, they still dream of Sykes Picot's Iraq, secular national Iraq, but not the Islamic Iraq. According to their view, there is no Islamic Iraq which can be part of the large Islamic state--instead, their ultimate goal is to attain a united Iraq or a united Arab world!! But creating a Caliphate [Islamic empire] on Islamic land and working towards uniting Muslims from China to Spain does not even cross their mind--to the contrary they might reject it, because it opposes their national orientation which has been adopted by some Islamists without knowing it... All our mujahideen brothers should be aware of maneuvers and gimmicks, and not be up for grabs to the crusader enemy. And they should not enable the climbers and opportunists to grab the fruits of the blessed jihad."
In a second separate statement, the Al-Qaida-led coalition in Iraq offered its congratulations to the Islamic Courts militia in Somalia on the recent reported "victories" against their "crusader and apostate" enemies:
"We were delighted and filled of joy after hearing the good news from the jihad land in Somalia. And recently, the brothers in the Islamic Courts--may Allah grant them victory--rebuffed a large attack carried out by the apostate Somalia government's army, supported by the crusader Ethiopian army on the city of Dinsor. And we ask Allah to enable the brothers there to defeat the apostates and their allies, and to establish an Islamic State in the land of Somalia which Allah founded from jihad."
Hundreds of thousands of Hezbollah supporters poured into downtown Beirut on Sunday, demanding the prime minister cede some power to the opposition or step down.
Holed up in his fortified office downtown, Prime Minister Fuad Siniora said he was open to dialogue between with the opposition, and acknowledged the political crisis was threatening Lebanon's security, economy and the entire political system.
“We don't want Lebanon to be an arena of the wars of others. Lebanon is a nation, not an arena,” he said in a veiled reference to Hezbollah's backers in Syria and Iran.
Political unrest has split the country along dangerous sectarian lines, with most Sunni Muslims supporting the U.S.-backed Sunni prime minister and Shiite Muslims backing the militant Hezbollah. Christian factions are split between the two camps.
Sunday's demonstration could be a tipping point in the political crisis, ten days after a coalition of largely pro-Syrian opposition groups launched a series of rallies against Mr. Siniora's anti-Syrian government.
“Let the government fall!” an organizer shouted through a loudspeaker, with the crowd roaring in approval. “Do you want blood or what?” he asked, addressing Mr. Siniora.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1751439/posts
"Algeria bombing kills one, wounds American"
Reuters ^ | 12/10/06 | Lamine Chikhi
Posted on 12/10/2006 3:20:00 PM PST by Valin
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "ALGIERS (Reuters) - A bomb exploded beside a bus carrying foreign oil workers in an upscale Algiers suburb on Sunday, killing the Algerian driver and wounding nine people, including four Britons and an American, authorities said. The bombing, the first armed attack on expatriates in years, took place in a heavily protected neighborhood that is home to some government ministers as well as the Sheraton Hotel, where several foreign firms have their offices. "I was in a bus when I heard a big explosion. Then we heard gunfire," Mohammed Aziouz, an 18-year-old student traveling in another bus nearby at the time, told Reuters. "A moment passed. And then police wearing 'ninja' balaclava hoods entered our bus and started checking identity papers. Those who didn't have them were taken out for verification. The smell of (explosive) powder was very intense.""
Thanks for update Ian.