Replies

Afghan ‘US spy’ killed in North Waziristan
Saturday, February 03, 2007

MIRANSHAH: A beheaded body was found in North Waziristan with a note saying he was “spying for the US”, political administration said Friday.

The murder came a day after three government officials were gunned down near Miranshah, the regional headquarters of North Waziristan. The note identified the alleged spy as Ghafoor, resident of Tanai village in Khost province of Afghanistan, the administration told Daily Times.

It said that the decapitated body was found in a ditch beside a road near Ghulam Khan, a border village in the west of Miranshah. “Those who spy for America will meet this fate,” the note in Pushto language read. It did not mention who beheaded him.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007/02/03/story_3-2-2007_pg7_50

Kyrgyz authorities arrest militant linked to Al Qaeda
Saturday, February 03, 2007

BISHKEK: Kyrgyz authorities have arrested an alleged member of a regional militant Islamic group linked to Al Qaeda, prompting a protest by his supporters, the Interior Ministry said Friday.

Atabek Abdumomunov, 32, a suspected member of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan who was wanted by the neighbouring country’s authorities since 2001 for his alleged involvement in bombings, was arrested in his home town of Uzgen by Kyrgyz security officers on Thursday, the ministry’s press office said.

Officers also seized a sawn-off rifle, a handmade pistol, bullets and CDs, video and audio tapes with religious content in Arabic at his home, the Ministry said.

About 20 of the suspect’s relatives and supporters protested his arrest for several hours outside the regional administration building demanding his release, the Osh regional police department said. Kyrgyz news agencies reported Friday that the protest involved up to 100 participants and that they attempted to block the road linking Osh, the country’s second largest city, with the capital, Bishkek.

The IMU is blamed for several attempted border incursions into Uzbekistan through Kyrgyzstan in 1999-2001 and bombings in both countries and another ex-Soviet republic in Central Asia, Tajikistan.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C02%5C03%5Cstory_3-2-2007_pg4_17

Morocco jails eight for al-Qaeda ties
February 3, 2007

A Moroccan court on Friday jailed eight Islamists for up to 10 years for plotting attacks and belonging to the al Qaeda network, court officials and lawyers said.

The court in Sale, a twin city to Rabat, convicted Ben Moujane Mohamed for "belonging to al Qaeda and preparing terrorist attacks". Mohamed, who was captured in 2002 by the US military in Afghanistan and jailed at Guantanamo Bay prison, was handed over to Morocco early last year. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Friday, Sale court officials and lawyers said.

The court, in a separate case, condemned six Islamists to between one and 10 years for plotting attacks and attempting to get military training with al Qaeda-linked guerrillas in Algeria. Algerian authorities seized the six men early in 2006 before they joined the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) which led an insurgency in Algeria.

Last month, the GSPC adopted the name Al Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb, saying it had the approval of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden for the change.

Excerpted

http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Morocco-jails-eight-for-alQaeda-ties/2007/02/03/1169919568512.html