Posted on 12/17/2006 4:03:30 PM PST by DAVEY CROCKETT
VEVAK learned its methodology from the Soviet KGB and many of the Islamist revolutionaries who supported Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini actually studied at Moscow's Patrice Lumumba Friendship University, the Oxford of terrorism. Documented Iranian alumni include the current Supreme Leader (the faqih) Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, under whose Velayat-e Faqih (Rule of the Islamic Jurisprudent) apparatus it has traditionally operated. Its current head is Cabinet Minister Hojatoleslam Gholam-Hussein Mohseni-Ezhei, a graduate of Qom's Haqqani School, noted for its extremist position advocating violence against enemies and strict clerical control of society and government. The Ministry is very well funded and its charge, like that of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (the Pasdaran) is to guard the revolutionary Islamic Iranian regime at all costs and under all contingencies.
From the KGB playbook, VEVAK learned the art of disinformation. It's not so difficult to learn: tell the truth 80% of the time and lie 20%. Depending on how well a VEVAK agent wants to cover his/her tracks, the ratio may go up to 90/10, but it never drops below the 80/20 mark as such would risk suspicion and possible detection. The regime in Teheran has gone to great lengths to place its agents in locations around the world. Many of these operatives have been educated in the West, including the U.K. and the United States. Iranian government agencies such as embassies, consulates, Islamic cultural centers, and airline offices regularly provide cover for the work of VEVAK agents who dress well and are clean shaven, and move comfortably within our society. In this country, because of the severance of diplomatic relations, the principal site of VEVAK activities begins at the offices of Iran's Permanent Mission to the UN in New York.
Teheran has worked diligently to place its operatives in important think tanks and government agencies in the West. Some of its personnel have been recruited while in prison through torture or more often through bribery, or a combination of both. Others are Islamist revolutionaries that have been set up to look like dissidents - often having been arrested and imprisoned, but released for “medical reasons”. The clue to detecting the fake “dissident” is to read carefully what he/she writes, and to ask why this vocal “dissident” was released from prison when other real dissidents have not been released, indeed have been grievously tortured and executed. Other agents have been placed in this country for over twenty-five years to slowly go through the system and rise to positions of academic prominence due to their knowledge of Farsi and Shia Islam or Islamist fundamentalism.
One of the usual tactics of VEVAK is to co-opt academia to its purposes. Using various forms of bribery, academics are bought to defend the Islamic Republic or slander its enemies. Another method is to assign bright students to train for academic posts as specialists in Iranian or Middle East affairs. Once established, such individuals are often consulted by our government as it tries to get a better idea of how it should deal with Iran. These academics then are in a position to skew the information, suggesting the utility of extended dialogue and negotiation, or the danger and futility of confronting a strong Iran or its proxies such as Hizballah (Hezbollah). These academics serve to shield the regime from an aggressive American or Western policy, and thereby buy more time for the regime to attain its goals, especially in regards to its nuclear weaponry and missile programs.
MOIS likes to use the media, especially electronic media, to its advantage. One of VEVAK's favorite tricks is setting up web sites that look like they are opposition sites but which are actually controlled by the regime. These sites often will be multilingual, including Farsi, German, Arabic French, and English. Some are crafted carefully and are very subtle in how they skew their information (e.g., Iran-Interlink, set up and run by Massoud Khodabandeh and his wife Ann Singleton from Leeds, England); others are less subtle, simply providing the regime's point of view on facts and events in the news (e.g., www.mujahedeen.com or www.mojahedin.ws). This latter group is aimed at the more gullible in our open society and unfortunately such a market exists. However, if one begins to do one's homework, asking careful questions, the material on these fake sites generally does not add up.
Let's examine a few examples of VEVAK's work in the United States. In late October, 2005, VEVAK sent three of its agents to Washington to stage a press event in which the principal Iranian resistance movement, the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MeK), was to be slandered. Veteran VEVAK agent Karim Haqi flew from Amsterdam to Canada where he was joined by VEVAK's Ottawa agents Amir-Hossein Kord Rostami and Mahin (Parvin-Mahrokh) Haji, and the three flew from Toronto to Washington. Fortunately the resistance had been tracking these three, informed the FBI of their presence in Washington, and when the three tried to hold a press conference, the resistance had people assigned to ask pointed questions of them so that they ended the interview prematurely and fled back to Canada.
Abolghasem Bayyenet is a member of the Iranian government. He serves as a trade expert for the Ministry of Commerce. But his background of study and service in the Foreign Ministry indicates that Bayyenet is more than just an economist or a suave and savvy businessman. In an article published in Global Politician on April 23, 2006, entitled “Is Regime Change Possible in Iran?”, Bayyenet leads his audience to think that he is a neutral observer, concerned lest the United States make an error in its assessment of Iran similar to the errors of intelligence and judgment that led to our 2003 invasion of Iraq, with its less than successful outcome. However, his carefully crafted bottom line is that the people of Iran are not going to support regime change and that hardliner President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad actually has achieved greater popularity than his predecessors because of his concern for the problems of the poor and his fight for economic and social justice. To the naive, Bayyenet makes Ahmadinejad sound positively saintly. Conveniently overlooked is the occurrence of over four thousand acts of protest, strikes, anti-regime rallies, riots, and even political assassinations by the people of Iran against the government in the year since Ahmadinejad assumed office. So too, the following facts are ignored: the sizeable flight of capital, the increase in unemployment, and the rising two-figure rate of inflation, all within this last year. Bayyenet is a regime apologist, and when one is familiar with the facts, his arguments ring very hollow. However, his English skills are excellent, and so the naОve might be beguiled by his commentary.
Mohsen Sazegara is VEVAK's “reformed revolutionary”. A student supporter of Khomeini before the 1979 revolution, Sazegara joined the “imam” on his return from exile and served in the government for a decade before supposedly growing disillusioned.
He formed several reformist newspapers but ran afoul of the hardliners in 2003 and was arrested and imprisoned by VEVAK. Following “hunger strikes”, Sazegara was released for health reasons and permitted to seek treatment abroad. Although critical of the government and particularly of Ahmadinejad and KhameneМ, Sazegara is yet more critical of opposition groups, leaving the impression that he favors internal regime change but sees no one to lead such a movement for the foreseeable future. His bottom line: no one is capable of doing what needs to be done, so we must bide our time. Very slick, but his shadow shows his likely remaining ties to the MOIS.
http://www.ocnus.net/artman/publish/article_27144.shtml
Agree a scary place and odd too.
Yes, those who lived by the sword, often died the same way.
It is so easy to die, point an empty gun at someone and it is instant death, no need of the in between messes.
Thanks, I saw an article on the floods, so he may well live in Florida.
There are two conflicting theories about Dmitry Kovtun. One theory is he may be the murderer or one of the murderers of Alexander Litvinenko and may have made mistakes in handling the substance used, Polonium-210. The other theory is that he is a victim just like Alexander Litvinenko.[citation needed] <<<
Now, that is a 50/50 chance of "who is guilty".
For some reason, I can't choose an opinion on this case, it is all so possible.
I would say that Kovtun looks like what he is, a youngish man who has been handed a death sentence.
The man is thinking thoughts, that cannot be put into words.
Russia is good at putting people in the hospital, often the mental hospital, so look for it to 'lodge in his brain'.
There is another picture here and to me it looks like Dmitry Kovtun already has some pits in his face that could be from poinsioning.
I am not finding WHAT business Dmitry is in.
____________________________________
Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun Interview on Ekho Moskvy
The Wall Street Journal has published some translated excerpts from an Ekho Moskvy interview with Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun. Complete transcript in Russian available here.
Host: What are the parameters of your partnership with Mr. Litvinenko?
Lugovoi: ...We've known each other for 10 years. However, before he left the country we just knew each other, we were acquainted, nothing more. We had neither business, nor personal contacts. He communicated with Boris Berezovsky and during that period I headed the security service of the public Russian television [ORT], and Boris Abramovich [Berezovsky] was the major shareholder of ORT then, so, naturally, I met with him [Litvinenko] to a certain extent. Then he left the country, and there were no contacts, no communications. Approximately a year ago he phoned me, and this was an absolutely unexpected call. He asked whether I ever come to London. Yes, I visit London quite frequently. I was there on 12, 13 occasions this year. He suggested that we should meet the next time I visit London. We met. He told me that he was ready to introduce me to certain British companies. Due to ethical considerations I'd rather not name them now. These are the companies which are interested in the Russian market, in investing in the Russian economy. After I told him about my business he decided that I could be of interest to them, could be useful to them. On the other hand I also take a certain interest in Britain. That's why, so to speak, our relations were limited to the following: Whenever my meetings with business partners were prepared and I came to London he accompanied me and attended these meetings, because he thought he could earn money in these situations, as well. Most likely, he wanted to try himself in business.
Host: What was Litvinenko's sphere of activities, what did he do?
Lugovoi: I don't have any idea about what he did, with the exception of what we discussed with him. Moreover, you have to understand, that in spite of the fact that over the past two to three years there wasn't much talk about him … maybe he was already … Nevertheless, a certain plume of scandal always existed. I tried not to go beyond the scope of business issues in my relations with him.
Host: So you didn't ask him personal questions?
Lugovoi: I never asked him personal questions, and, frankly speaking, he didn't bother me [about that] either.
...
Host: Did Litvinenko seem to you a person who was concerned or scared of something?
Kovtun: You know … how to put it better … Certainly there was a slight shade of paranoia. But nothing more than that.
Host: What's that? Please, explain.
Kovtun: There was some nervousness, tension in his behavior.
....
Host: Can you tell us about your last meeting on Nov. 1? How did it go?
Lugovoi: Very simply. On Nov. 1, I met with Dmitry [Kovtun] to talk about our project. By the way it wasn't far from the hotel. I had a telephone conversation with Alexander [Litvinenko], he knew that I was coming to London. I don't remember one thing: who phoned whom on the morning of Nov. 1. In the course of our telephone conversation he suggested that we should meet the same day -- on Nov. 1. I told him: "Listen, I'll meet with [Dmitry] today, then we'll attend a soccer game, and I'll be with my family [there]." There were plans to have a dinner before the soccer game, the pre-game, as we say in our soccer crowd. It's when gentlemen get together and drink beer, whisky, gin. And after a soccer game they also meet -- for a post-game.
However, he [Litvinenko] insisted: "Let's meet today, because I need to talk to you." I answered: "OK. But we'll meet in the hotel and only briefly." I came there with Dmitry, we called him, because we expected him [Litvinenko] to be in the hotel already, and we came a couple of minutes earlier. We sat down, ordered only some drinks to ourselves, no meals … We drank something … I think it was gin, something like that. He called me and said that he was there. I think that I even went to the entrance to meet him. We sat down.
Host: You don't remember now, or do you?
Lugovoi: I cannot tell you for certain. I wrote about it in the British Embassy very simply: "I think that there are video cameras in the hotel, please, pay immediate attention to this fact to avoid extra questions." I emphasized this. We sat down and talked for 20 to 30 minutes. I can assure you with 100% certainty that he didn't order anything, and we didn't offer anything to him either.
Host: So, he didn't eat anything during this meeting?
Lugovoi: Neither did we. The point is that my family went on an excursion with Vyacheslav [Sokolenko], and we were waiting for them to return, to change clothes for something warmer, for sweaters ... After that we planned to have dinner -- around [5 or 6 p.m.] -- before the soccer game. By the way, we did have a dinner in Piccadilly … in a steak house, and after that we went [to a soccer game]. So I can tell you that he ordered nothing, that we poured no drinks for him, and as regards more details, I, as a matter of fact, cannot recall any. Although, when we meet with the British police we'll certainly analyze this meeting in detail....
Host: If it's all that simple, what is there to analyze?
Lugovoi: They will certainly ask us which table we sat at and where exactly each of us was sitting. I must tell you that during this meeting my eight-year-old son ran to our table and I introduced Alexander to him. We stood there for some time talking and joking. Afterwards we left [the hotel] together … I think that my wife was standing right here. She knew Alexander and she greeted him. We agreed that … Yes, it's true, he came there. We didn't discuss anything in particular. He said that tomorrow we'd meet at 10:00. And I told him: "Sash, you could have told me about it on the phone, we could have arranged a meeting." The next day he called me at 7:30 in the morning, when I was just waking up. And he told me … but I've already told you about it.
...
Host: So, you asked him [Litvinenko] to keep politics out of the course of your joint activities?
Lugovoi: I didn't ask him about it. I simply told him one thing: "Sash, you have to understand one simple thing. If the proposals which you are trying to implement, are finally implemented, you need to make a principal decision: What do you want to do with your life?"
Host: Why did you tell him this? You suggested that he should make a choice?
Lugovoi: Why did I tell him this? Because, first of all, he after all … made really serious statements earlier. He formally … Although I said that there were no court rulings … and that everything related to his flight from Russia … whether it was betrayal or not … technically, it could be anything. No business would like to be involved with anything even slightly crime-related. Existence of criminal cases etc. -- in any event, it's a crime-related issue. Not from the point of view of politics, but from the point of view of mere existence. If any Western company starts business with someone and then understands that there are some law-related problems, it's not good. It's like that in any country. I had such problems myself when in 2002 it became known to everyone that I had spent one year and two months in Lefortovo [a Moscow prison, after being accused of conspiring to help a critic of Putin escape from prison]. I had problems.
http://www.robertamsterdam.com/2006/12/andrei_lugovoi_and_dmitry_kovt.htm
some good comment at link
[from a news group]
UNAVOIDABLE EXPLOSION IN PA
(Article by Dr. Guy Bechor, Yediot Ahronot, 17.12.06, p. A3)
[Translation provided by the GPO]
Abu Mazen's speech yesterday was met with genuine worry in the Palestinian
streets, despite the Fatah movement's rejoicing.
Everyone knows that the worst is yet to come.
It is uncertain whether Abu Mazen meant to dismiss Haniyeh's Government,
dissolve the Hamas Parliament and go to elections. His speech has a
tactical aspect of applying pressure on Hamas in order to advance a national
unity government but it seems that he has already missed the train.
Following a weekend of violence and counter-violence, the chances of such a government are negligible. In my opinion, there was no chance for it to
begin with.
The tension between the two sides is tremendous, with each faction yearning
to fight and arming itself with whatever comes to hand. That is what will
happen when events in the field oblige Abu Mazen to implement his call for
elections, the result of which will be a general conflagration. This is a
grave development for Palestinian society.
Hamas will in no way allow Fatah and Abu Mazen to cancel the great
accomplishment it reaped by legally gaining control over the parliament and
the government. In its view, this is not only a Palestinian development,
but rather a pan-Arab precedent of political Islam gaining control of an
Arab state.
If Hamas has no option, it will defend its accomplishment with armed force,
which it has. That is what happens when an undemocratic movement comes to
power democratically - and from that point on it is no longer interested in
hearing about democracy which might bring about its fall.
I do not ever recall such a serious exchange of accusations between Hamas
and Fatah, coming after a series of terrifying murders, which genuinely
shocked Palestinian society - murders and counter-murders, gunshots,
accusations, vehement cursing and specific threats. It seems that Abu Mazen
inadvertently brought the Palestinians closer yesterday to a general
deterioration.
Therefore, to the Palestinians' chagrin, this is the choice that they are
left with today: Between bad and worse.
Only a few years ago they had the world in their pocket. Israel was a
generous neighbor. Europe was smiling and America was supportive. With
great talent, the Palestinians wasted all of the credit that the world had
given them.
The Palestinians could have founded a flourishing, prosperous country next
to one of the strongest economies in the world -
Israel's. But they choose to become a new Somalia, with militia wars, a
tottering economy, revenge attacks and a totally wretched national future.
[The author is a Middle East and legal expert at Interdisciplinary Center in
Herzliya.]
Storm Track Infiltration: CyberJihad- The Voice of The Caliphate
http://www.bloggernews.net/13091
Storm Track Infiltration: CyberJihad- The Voice of The Caliphate
This post was written by WC on 16 December, 2006 (12:13) | All News
Terrorists are using the internet for everything from propaganda to planning attacks, wrote Tom Allard.
The setting is familiar to anyone who watches the evening news. A large, executive-style desk, a laptop perched on top, a logo in the background and a screen showing shifting images to reinforce the newsreader’s message. The only difference is the presenter, who is swathed in an Arab headdress and masked to hide his identity, and the subject of the broadcast, a call for an Islamic state for Iraq and a vow to use Iraq as a launching pad to crush the “Zionists” in Israel. Welcome to the “Voice of the Caliphate”, the latest offering from the Global Islamic Media Front, widely regarded as the mouthpiece of al-Qaeda and the worldwide jihadist movement. Distributed over the internet, the mock news format is just one of many employed by al-Qaeda’s highly sophisticated propaganda arm.
The Jihadists are now well versed in using the Internet for their propaganda, planning and recruitment purposes. It must be countered. But how?
Professor Bruce Hoffman, a Georgetown University academic and one of the world’s foremost terrorism analysts, says the use of the internet by jihadists has fundamentally changed the ground rules of terrorism. For the first time, the monopoly of commercial and state-owned media over the mass communication of a terrorist group’s message has been usurped. The implications, Hoffman says, are “enormous”, not least because terrorism, at its core, has ultimately been about generating publicity, communicating a message through a violent - and preferably spectacular - act to achieve a political outcome. “The art of terrorist communication has evolved to a point where the terrorists themselves can now control the entire production process,” he says.
Blogs, chat rooms, and video and audio files - there is little from the online world that jihadists have not employed to spread their message.
In September the Global Islamic Media Front released a video game, The Night of Bush Capturing, which can be downloaded off the web. As songs of praise to jihad play in the background, players work their way through six stages, including “Americans’ Hell” and “Bush Hunted Like a Rat”. The final mission is to slay George Bush, in one-on-one combat.
But propaganda and recruitment isn’t the only use of the Internet by Jihadists.
And it is not just the propaganda war, or using the internet to entice new recruits. The internet has also been a crucial planning tool and conduit for command and control for jihadists planning their attacks. The attacks of September 11, 2001, the Iraqi insurgency, the London bombings and the alleged terrorist plot in Sydney and Melbourne uncovered last year all used the internet to plan and execute operations. There is also the use of the web to raise money, everything from T-shirt sales to advice on how to undertake credit card fraud and the details of bank accounts where funds can be sent. More often than not, terrorists can spread their propaganda, plan their attacks and gather funds without being detected.
And some of the ways they use the technology of the Net are very creative.
Some of the techniques of evasion are disarmingly simple. Rather than send emails, some jihadists simply write and save draft emails, storing them in an account with a password that’s known to other members of the cell. Because they are never actually sent, they can’t be detected by intelligence agencies. Raisman points to a recent publication by the al-Fajr group, another communications arm of al-Qaeda and its fellow travellers. He said it contained a very sophisticated manual on internet security, how to avoid hackers, secure personal files and ensure any computer that is captured is of little value to Western authorities. Then there are offensive cyber operations, the possibility of terrorists bringing down critical electronic systems that underpin key sectors such as energy and banking.
So how are we doing? How well are we dealing with the new threat?
In testimony to the US Congress earlier this year, Hoffman warned the US was “dangerously behind the curve” in dealing with the terrorist presence on the web. The message should resonate in Australia, where the internet has wide penetration and is proving pivotal in inspiring militant Islamists. Indeed, when police and ASIO agents swooped on the homes of 19 alleged terrorists in Sydney and Melbourne last year, they found an astounding array of violent material on their computers. Their electronic library was as voluminous as it was disturbing, including recipes for homemade explosives, poems in praise of jihad and grisly video and audio files of beheadings and terrorist attacks.
Like Sean Connery said in the movie ‘Rising Sun’, as usual “We’re playing that most American of games – catch up.”
US releases anti-insurgency guide
The US military has released a new manual on counter-insurgencies - its first guide on the topic for 20 years.
The manual, which draws on lessons from Iraq and Afghanistan, underlines the need for troops to do more than fight.
Critics have accused the US military of inflaming insurgencies by failing to gain the trust of local people.
The US military says the 282-page manual, which contains chapters on intelligence and ethics in war, fills "a doctrinal gap".
'Handshake or hand grenade'
The US's first post-9/11 counter-insurgency manual tackles intelligence, developing and carrying out strategies and boosting local security.
It's this part - nation-building, counter-insurgency - which is the hard stuff that we haven't trained for
Col Steve Boylan
The manual says it aims to prepare US soldiers and marines "to be greeted with a hand grenade or a handshake, and to respond appropriately to each".
A spokesman for the US Army's institutes of military education said the manual "codifies a lot of what's happening in the field already".
Col Steve Boylan said it reflected the changing nature of war, which goes beyond traditional fighting into reconstruction and nation-building.
US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan have faced criticism for being heavy-handed and for sometimes failing to discriminate between insurgents and civilians.
"It's this part - nation-building, counter-insurgency - which is the hard stuff that we haven't trained for," Col Boylan said.
The guide, written with input from humanitarian agencies and media organisations, underlines the importance of integrating civilian and military activities.
"Political, social, and economic programmes are usually more valuable than conventional military operations in addressing the root causes of conflict and undermining an insurgency," it reads.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/6186987.stm
Published: 2006/12/17 02:07:57 GMT
© BBC MMVI
The linvinenko story gets deeper with every report.
I can imagine that a lot of folks will be attempting to send the message to Putin and his kgb, that they were not thinking as Linvinenko, that would be a deadly connection, or so it appears.
Interesting reading.
Plea to release Iraqi aid workers
The International Committee of the Red Cross has called for the immediate release of about 20 people seized from the Red Crescent offices in Baghdad.
Armed men wearing commando-style uniforms stormed the aid agency's office on Sunday, snatching 30 people.
Reports say that six of those kidnapped, mainly elderly men, have since been released.
The Red Cross called for the others to be freed, saying the Iraqi Red Crescent provided vital help for those in need.
"They do so with devotion and with humanity," ICRC Director of Operations Pierre Krahenbuhl said in Geneva.
"They must be respected and supported, not harmed."
Wave of attacks
The hostage-taking is the latest in a wave of such kidnappings and came as UK Prime Minister Tony Blair made a surprise visit to the Iraqi capital.
Officials described how a large convoy of new vehicles similar to those used by the Iraqi police drew up at the Red Crescent office in Baghdad.
Men in uniforms similar to those of the Interior Ministry's special commando forces got out and entered the building, saying they had been sent to check the premises.
Once inside, they rounded up all the men at gunpoint, including employees and visitors.
Three Iraqi guards from the nearby Netherlands embassy were also seized.
The Interior Ministry has said that none of its units had been on duty in the area at the time.
Infiltrated
The kidnappings are the latest in a long series of similar operations and the second in less than a week.
On Thursday, gunmen in military uniforms kidnapped up to 70 people from a commercial area in the Sanak area of the capital. At least two dozen people were subsequently freed.
Many of the kidnappings have been blamed on Shia militias masquerading as police commando units.
But there is also a suspicion that the police are so infiltrated by the militias that they are indistinguishable from each other, says the BBC's Jim Muir in Baghdad.
Criminal gangs seeking ransoms are also involved in kidnapping.
The Iraqi Red Crescent, the country's biggest humanitarian organisation, has previously been the target of the insurgency and random attacks.
On Friday, the organisation accused US troops of attacking its office and vehicles.
The Red Crescent, which has a staff of 1,000 and 200,000 volunteers, is the only Iraqi aid group working across the country's 18 provinces.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/6187357.stm
Published: 2006/12/18 02:29:06 GMT
© BBC MMVI
Bosnian Serbs 'lied about past'
US authorities have charged 16 people over concealing their previous service in the Bosnian Serb military when they applied for refugee status in the US.
One of the accused, Nedjo Ikonic, is alleged to have been involved in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre.
Swoops in six states led to 13 arrests - the other three are still at large.
"These cases demonstrate our resolve to identify and prosecute those who enter the US under false pretences," Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty said.
"Especially those who hide their military past."
The defendants failed to disclose their previous service in the Bosnian Serb military on immigration applications, it is alleged.
This enabled them to enter and live in the US after winning refugee status. One became a US citizen.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement Assistant Secretary Julie Myers said: "ICE will not allow the United States to be a safe haven for those who failed to disclose their service in military forces that were known to commit atrocities."
Special ICE agents carried out arrests over the past week in Florida, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and Colorado.
Three of the accused were still being sought, the ICE said.
The defendants face between five and 10 years in prison if found guilty.
Nedjo Ikonic is alleged to have commanded a police unit that took part in the Srebrenica massacre in which nearly 8,000 Muslim men and boys were killed.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/6185309.stm
Published: 2006/12/16 10:35:09 GMT
© BBC MMVI
Danish police arrest hundreds
Police in Denmark have arrested some 300 demonstrators in the capital, after a protest against the closure of a youth centre turned violent.
About 1,000 protesters in Copenhagen threw cobblestones, bottles and fireworks and erected barricades.
Police used teargas to try to break up the protests, comparing the scene on the streets to that of a "war zone".
The protesters are angry about orders for young squatters to leave a building occupied since 1982.
Local government sold the centre in 2000 and tension has been building since the sale.
"It was extremely violent," police spokesman Flemming Steen Munch said.
"It's been many years since we last had to use tear gas on the streets."
On Thursday, the group had held a peaceful demonstration to try to convince the city council to stop the eviction of the building's occupants.
Left-wing activists have been using the centre as a base for more than two decades.
Danish newspaper Jyllandsposten reported that one demonstrator was unconscious and that two police officers had been taken to hospital.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/6187213.stm
Published: 2006/12/17 07:25:52 GMT
© BBC MMVI
Thousands join pro-Kremlin rally
Tens of thousands of members of the pro-Kremlin youth group Nashi rallied in the Russian capital, Moscow, to wish World War II veterans a happy new year.
Police and the security service were deployed although the atmosphere was relaxed, with many participants dressed as Dyet Moroz, the Russian Santa Claus.
It follows Saturday's demonstration by opponents of President Vladimir Putin.
They were protesting against what they see as the increasing authoritarianism of the leadership.
Organisers had hoped up to 5,000 people would attend Saturday's opposition rally. Some witnesses said their numbers were dwarfed by the police and security service presence.
The demonstrations come 15 months before the next presidential election.
Although Mr Putin is not eligible to stand, analysts believe his popularity is such that whoever he backs is assured of an easy victory.
The Russian opposition has long been wracked by internal divisions, the BBC regional analyst Stephen Eke says.
But he adds that with parliamentary elections due next year, and presidential elections due early in 2008, they have begun to co-ordinate their efforts.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/6187675.stm
Published: 2006/12/17 12:11:45 GMT
© BBC MMVI
Global Crisis Watch
December 18, 2006 | Episode #38
Somalia under attack, Musharraf's exit strategy and the rise of sectarian violence in Southern Thailand
Global Crisis Watch calls to Buffalo, Chennai and Bangkok and discusses events in Somalia, Iraq, Pakistan and Thailand with Niagara University's Dr. Abdiweli Ali, former India intel chief and current Director of the Institute for Topical Studies, B. Raman, and Southeast Asia specialist Dr. Zachary Abuza.
Link: http://www.GlobalCrisisWatch.com/gcw/gcw_061218.mp3
29:30 minutes | 13.7 Megs
Notable Quotes from the Podcast
"Yesterday (Thursday) the TFG captured a member of the ICU who's actually not Somali - he is Oromo from Ethiopia - and he came to Baidoa on a clandestine operation to hit the city... with car bombs. Not only in Baidoa but actually, you know... Today and yesterday the police in Galkacyo captured a lot of explosive materials that the ICU brought to the city to wreak havoc... So what they wanted is to simultaneously Baidoa and also Puntland... War is imminent."
- Dr. Abdiweli Ali
"One thing I want to mention, and this is not much appreciated in the United States, when you fight against the terrorists it's not like a conventional war. It takes time for the results to become evident. Unfortunately, there is impatience in the United States. People want immediate results. Immediate results don't normally come in an unconventional war... So the expectation that there will be quick results in Iraq is unrealistic. It will take time and there is no point in being impatient and exerting pressure to achieve quick results because in terrorism, an unconventional war, with an enemy that you are unable to see it will take time."
- B. Raman on Iraq and the Iraq Study Group report
"Unfortunately, the international community has not reacted with the required firmness and the required promptness against North Korea so it has already conveyed a message to Ahmadenijad, the president of Iran. And he has been thinking that the international community is powerless to act against him... The wrong impression has also come to the hands of North Korea. What has been happening is the international community has been trying to explore ways of dealing through the United Nations. The United Nations is important but we are seeing how difficult it is to operate through the United Nations because of difficulties created by China, because of difficulties created by Russia, etc... The international community of those who agree on the dangers of the threat from Iran and North Korea should be prepared to operate outside of the United Nations."
- B. Raman on North Korea and Iran
"Musharraf is playing a very dangerous game. Both al Qaeda as well as the Taliban are operating in Afghanistan from their bases in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, mainly from North Waziristan and South Waziristan. They've got their sanctuaries, they've got their training camps and they're operating from there. As America noticed this week since November 25 there have been 10 acts of suicide terrorism in Afghan territory, the majority of them carried out by people who went from Pakistan... So he thinks it's in Pakistan's national interests ultimately to bring down the government of Hamid Karzai, to weaken it, so that some elements of Taliban will come to power. In Kabul he's playing a very dangerous game. In Pakistan, itself, the jihadi terrorist elements, the pro-al Qaeda elements, he thinks he needs their support in the elections that are due in Pakistan at the end of next year... So he has toned down the action against them."
- B. Raman on Pakistan and Musharraf
Playlist
A. R. Rahman - Dacoit Duel
A.R. Rahman - Lord An's Empire
Tan Dun - Farewell, Hero
Shigeru Umebayashi - Farewell 1
Global Crisis Watch is an independent and weekly 30-minute current affairs and news podcast focusing on the Global War on Terror, the War of Ideas, and indigenous pro-democracy efforts around the world. Hosted by Richard Lafayette in Minneapolis and co-hosted by Sasha Eckstein of BillRoggio.com and Nick Grace in Washington, DC, the show features interviews with brave activists and journalists about terrorism, democratization, and indigenous efforts to promote freedom and liberty.
Blog with information on searching the records for names and other info that might be of interest.
http://fazosowuyoqu.blogspot.com/index.html
http://hatewatchhallofshame.blogspot.com/2006/12/jdl-kahane.html
The JDL & Kahane
If this is "defending Judaism", it's a very sad day for Jews everywhere. This is, in reality, terrorism, and has been accurately labeled as such by the FBI, the BATF, the US Dept of State, the Canadian government, the European Union and the Israeli government. The JDL, and it's suborganizations of Kahane, Kach and Kahane Chai are banned in Israel. Bombings, shootings, murders, airline hijackings, threatening diplomats, taking over synagogues, beating people with clubs, taking over offices of Jewish philanthropies and demanding ransom, attacking police officers, burglary, invading embassies, assaulting diplomats, kidnapping, extortion, arson, international weapons smuggling, assaulting officials of the Jewish Welfare Association, soliciting murder, are not examples of any peace loving organization, they are examples of terrorism. The following is limited to JDL actions just in the USA, they have also been active in other countries, including Israel.
~ ~ ~
There is a very long list of dates and incidents, not pretty.
granny
There is still no precise information with regards to the number of hostages and terrorists killed. At first officials stated that during the course of the hostage rescue operation 37 terrorists were killed (RIA News). Then it was reported that the number was 34, and later - 42 (Interfax), and later still 50 terrorists: 32 men and 18 women. Since October 29th the last official tally has been 41 terrorists.
Then Moscow attorney general Mihail Avdyukov, while reporting information about bodies with gunshot wounds taken from the theatrical center, stated that there were 45 people killed in this manner:
41 terrorists;
2 persons who were not included among the hostages - Moscow resident Olga Romanova, who was shot by the terrorists when she attemped to enter the theater, and an as yet unidentified man who was killed by the terrorists while trying to enter the building the day before the assault;
2 dead hostages bore gunshot wounds. They had been shot by terrorists before the beginning of the assault.
The official number killed by gunshots remains unchanged.
But, judging from everything, the number of hostages dying from gunshot wounds needs to be increased, or the number of terrorists must be decreased, and the officials must admit that some of the dead hostages were mistaken for terrorists.
The fact is, that more bodies of dead hostages have been found with gunshot wounds.
According to official data there were only two hostages who died from bullet wounds, and they had been shot by the terrorists.
One of these, as was reported today by the famous pediatrician, Leonid Roshal, at a press conference, "received injuries incompatible with life" - ie, a bullet in the head, according to Interfax. Relatives of the deceased report to us that the name of the dead hostage was Pavel Georgievich Zaharov - a graduate of MISI Moscow Science Institute. He had been working at the Engineering Research Center SNIIP in Moscow for the last year, and died before the assault began.
Olga Chernyak of Interfax, who had been one of the hostages, reported that early on Saturday morning the terrorists "killed two hostages in front of us - a woman and a man. The man was shot in the eye, and there was a lot of blood... I was sitting in the middle of the hall, and it all happened right next o me." Today it has been reported that the woman was only wounded, the bullet passed through her and hit the man in the eye. Tamara Starkova was evacuated to Veteran's Hospital #1, and is in stable condition, according Dr Roshal via Interfax..
And so, going by the official data, one dead hostage still remains unaccounted for.
According to the authorities, the terrorists killed no one else. The law-enforcement agencies reported that during the assault special operations soldiers did not kill any of the hostages. Izvestiya quoted one of the 'Alfa' group commanders: "we killed all the terrorists and didn't even scratch a single hostage, none of our soldiers were injured during the assault.".
Now, however, among the hostages listed as missing or as having died from suffocation, cardiac failure, or as a result of aggravated chronic illnesses, a few bodies have turned up with gunshot wounds. Information about this is contained on the lists of those who died, which for more than a week have been circulating on Russian Internet publications.
Among the dead, killed either by the terrorists or during the assault:
Denis Petrovich Gribkov, age 30, died of gunshot wounds
Alena Polyakova, age 12, died of gunshot wounds.
The shootings of these two hostages were not officially recorded, possibly since they were not brought to hospitals. According to his relatives, Gribkov's body was found at Forensic Morgue #4, at 25 Volhovsky Alley, along with the bodies of the terrorists. He had been taken there straight from the theater.
No matter how hard you try, you cannot consider Gribkov the unidentified man who entered the theater just before the assault, because Gribkov had been among the spectators since the beginning of the muscal. Gribkov could be the second hostage killed by the terrorists before the assault, but it cannot be ruled out that he may have been mistaken for a terrorist during the assault. He may have been shot and sent to the morgue with the terrorists because he was assumed to be with them.
As far as 12-year-old Alena Polyakova is concerned, there is absolutely no official information.
Thus, there are 3 bodies for the two official deaths: Pavel Zaharov, Denis Gribkov, and the girl Alena Polyakova.
The latest issue of Versiya, which was almost not published because of threats from the FSB, asserts that 300 hostages perished at 'Nord-Ost'.
Reporters with the paper had gathered information the day after the release of the hostages that the number of hostages was considerably larger than reported officially. Proof of this assertion was forcibly taken from the paper's editorial offices, and reported here: FSB grabs information of the assault from editors
According to Versiya's sources in the special operations group, whose information was received by reporters the day after the hostage rescue operation,
firstly, the number of hostages was much greater than the official count - 750 hostages passed through Checkpoint 16 at Dubrovka, not counting the dead or those taken to hospitals;
secondly, the paper's sources at the Health Ministry reported that the number killed during the assault on the Dubrovka theater was about 300.
There is no way to check this information, Versiya reports, since all morgues have been off-limits since Saturday morning, and placed under police guard.
The journalists were able to find out that within Forensic Morgue #4 were 42 dead from 'Nord-Ost'.
Journalists from the newpaper Den simultaneously drove to all the city morgues and hospitals, but even though they were unable to gather complete figures, they counted 169 persons who were known to have been at the musical and had disappeared without a trace.
The official tally of the dead is 120. The list, howver, contains 121 surnames.
Today it was officially declared that the number of those who perished as a result of the seizure of hostages by terrorists at the theatrical center in Moscow has been set at 120 persons. According to RIA News, a press secretary for the Moscow Health Department reported that a 20-year-old Moscow resident had died last weekend "from cardiac insufficiency" at Veteran's Hospital #1. Later it became known that her name was Natalya Malenko.
So, there are 120 people on the list. If one does not count Olga Romanova, who was not a hostage, then the information thus far corresponds to the official tally of those killed.
But still unknown is the fate of another 92 persons who were known to be at the musical, and are listed as missing, and whose existence the Moscow city attorney continues to deny. Gribkov and Polyakova are also listed among these missing persons.
The Moscow city attorney again refutes that the missing were among the hostages.
The Moscow city attorney again as on last Thursday refuted media reports that there are unidentified persons among the hostages.
"All former hostages have been identified, all the dead have been identified, there is no one missing," read a press release by the directorate of information and community relations for Russian Attorney General's Office to Interfax on Monday.
As was emphasized by the attorney general, any statements by any of the relatives of former hostages that they cannot find their loved ones among those who were seized by terrorists on October 23rd, will for now not be acted upon.
Recall that the Georgian and Ukrainian embassies continue to search for 3 of their citizens who disappeared at 'Nord-Ost'. A statement by the extraordinary and plenipotentiary envoy of the Republic of Georgia in Russia, Teymuraz Gamtsemlidze, concerning the search for two Georgian citizens was broadcast by the radiostation Moscow Echo. The press center for the Ukrainian embassy in Russia also reported that a search was on for a missing Ukrainian, according to a report today by Interfax.
As of today there are 92 people listed as missing.
The total number of hostages at the Dubrovka theatrical complex on Melnikov St. stands at 984 persons.
The responsible agencies can get rid of all these questions about who was shot, suffocated, missing, written off, or hospitalized in an instant. All they have to do is publish all their lists of hostages, including those who died. Then the hundreds of "fake hostages" that the Attorney General keeps talking about can easily be revealed.
http://story.malaysiasun.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/b8de8e630faf3631/id/221243/cs/1/
Seek disclosure about WWII spy hero
Big News Network (UPI)
Saturday 16th December, 2006
Britain's first lady is fighting the MI6 spy agency to release top-secret files about a World War II spy who supplied vital Nazi intelligence.
Cherie Booth Blair, a prominent attorney, is demanding MI6 release all its information about secret agent Paul Rosbaud -- code named The Griffin -- so that the public can properly evaluate and appreciate the undoubtedly great contribution (he) made to the Allied victory at considerable personal risk, The Times of London reported Saturday.
The legal body that investigates the conduct of the Intelligence Service has declined to rule on the issue.
Rosbaud was one of the most important British agents of the war, Blair claims. A scientist bitterly opposed to the Nazi regime, he provided Britain with valuable intelligence on jet aircraft, radar, flying bombs and Nazi attempts to develop the atomic bomb.
Posing as a Nazi he supplied the Allies with vital intelligence without the Nazis suspecting him of being a spy.
At the end of the war, Rosbaud was spirited out of Germany in a British military uniform and settled in London. He died in 1963.
http://www.google.com/search?q=WWII+spy+hero+&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US
http://www.google.com/search?q=secret+agent+Paul+Rosbaud+--+code+named+The+Griffin+&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US
When I read these, I want to go and punch Putin in the nose.
There is no way that this does not go right back to him.
I have to feel that there is something dark lurking in the shadows, or there would be no need for all these fancy lies.
Why not tell the truth?
They did the same at Beslan, didn't they?
Instead of telling the world that they have been hard by the terrorists, they feel a need to act like it was nothing.
Or is it that a few hundred common peoples deaths, is just that, 'nothing'.?
I guess if I had lived in Russia, I would have been a lovly YOUNG corpse.
From the KGB playbook, VEVAK learned the art of disinformation. It's not so difficult to learn: tell the truth 80% of the time and lie 20%. Depending on how well a VEVAK agent wants to cover his/her tracks, the ratio may go up to 90/10, but it never drops below the 80/20 mark as such would risk suspicion and possible detection. <<<
Of course, Davey has the answer in her opening post for this thread, "The art of Disinformation".
Of course, a 12 year old girl, at the ballet, would get shot, why all the surprise........sarcastic comment, as I still want to poke a russian in the nose.
http://www.koat.com/news/10557821/detail.html
Ohio Plane Crash Kills 1
POSTED: 10:44 pm MST December 17, 2006
BUCYRUS, Ohio -- Authorities said a single-engine plane crashed on Sunday night in an open field near a residential neighborhood in Bucyrus killing at least one person onboard.
The identity of the victim has not released. Investigators are still trying to determine where the flight originated and how many people were in the plane.
The plane's destination also was unknown.
continued............
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