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http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=49601
Coalition Forces Detain 11 Suspects in Iraq Operations
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, April 17, 2008 – Coalition forces in Iraq detained 11 suspected terrorists today during countrywide operations targeting al-Qaida in Iraq leaders, military officials reported.
— In Mosul, coalition forces captured a wanted terrorist and also detained his suspected accomplice. The wanted terrorist in custody is linked to ordering assassinations, leading a bombing cell, overseeing attacks, and personally supervising car-bombing and suicide operations.
— In Baghdad’s Abu Ghraib sector, coalition forces detained a suspected car-bomb maker and six other suspects. Intelligence reports indicate the alleged bomb maker is associated with al-Qaida leaders in southern Baghdad.
— During an operation in Jalula, coalition forces detained an alleged explosives expert who facilitates the movement of foreign terrorists into Iraq.
— West of Beiji, coalition forces detained another suspected terrorist while targeting area al-Qaida leaders.
“Every capture of bombing-network leadership further degrades al-Qaida in Iraq’s ability to attack innocent Iraqis,” said Navy Cmdr. Scott Rye, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman. “We continue to work closely with everyday Iraqi citizens and Iraqi security forces to identify these terrorists and bring them to justice.”
In other news from Iraq, criminals in Baghdad’s Sadr City sector launched two rockets toward a coalition facility yesterday. Instead, the rockets struck near a mosque in Rusafa, killing one civilian and wounding 10 other people. A house also was damaged during the attack.
“These criminal elements who insist on ignoring the rule of Iraqi law are certainly not working in the best interest of Iraqis,” said Army Col. Bill Buckner, a Multinational Corps Iraq spokesman. “We will continue our efforts to bring these criminals to justice.”
Elsewhere, Iraqi soldiers are taking the lead during Operation Marne Piledriver, a joint U.S.-Iraqi offensive that was launched in the Mahmudiyah area April 15.
“The Iraqi soldiers took (the) initiative from the start,” said U.S. Army Pfc. Nathan Krueger, who is participating in the counterinsurgency operation.
Piledriver’s focus is to remove insurgents while stimulating local economic growth and development, officials said. “The main effort of our portion of Piledriver is to develop multiple (economic) projects as well as solid governance in the area,” U.S. Army Capt. Ryan Mayfield said. “We are providing support to the Iraqi Army wherever they deem it’s needed.”
In other April 15 operations, Iraqi soldiers discovered a weapons cache during a patrol in Haw al-Askery. A tip from a local resident led the soldiers to search inside the trunk of a car. The hidden cache contained: 24 60 mm anti-personnel improvised explosive devices, six rocket-propelled grenades, and two AK-47 rifle magazines.
Iraqi soldiers supporting Operation Marne Piledriver uncovered five weapons caches in Mahmudiyah on April 15. The caches contained: two 155 mm artillery rounds, one oxygen tank rigged as an improvised explosive device, a rocket launcher, two oxygen tanks, two 82 mm mortar tubes, a 3-foot tube of homemade explosives, and multiple pressure strips. Iraqi security forces are targeting insurgents with the help of coalition forces.
In addition, “Sons of Iraq” citizens security group members led U.S. soldiers and Iraqi policemen to a large, buried weapons cache in Tameem, a town east of Baghdad, April 14. The cache was found near the town’s police headquarters.
The cache contained: 389 82 mm mortar rounds, 96 125 mm tank rounds, 172 57 mm anti-aircraft rounds, 38 60 mm mortar rounds, 30 130 mm artillery rounds, 17 122 mm mortar rounds, 15 100 mm rockets, seven 155 artillery rounds, five 100 kg aircraft bombs, and four 120 mm mortar rounds. U.S. soldiers on the scene noted that although the munitions apparently had been buried for over a year, much of the ordnance could still be put to deadly use if it fell into the hands of insurgents.
(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq and Multinational Corps Iraq news releases.)
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/commissions.html
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=48930
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http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=49605
Charges Against 9/11 Mastermind, Co-conspirators Resworn
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, April 17, 2008 – Prosocutors in the case against the self-described mastermind behind the Sept. 11 attacks and five of his co-conspirators have amended the charge sheet against the detainees to further clarify their activities, a senior Pentagon official announced today.
The reswearing of charges involves the case against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, more commonly known by his initials, KSM, and five others in connection with the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York, the Pentagon and Pennsylvania, Bryan Whitman, deputy assistant secretary of defense, told reporters.
The other defendants in the “9-11 case” are Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarek bin Attash, Ramzi Binalshibh, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi and Mohammed al Kahtani. All are detainees at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detention facility.
The six were charged Feb. 11 with conspiracy, terrorism, murder in violation of the law of war, attacking civilians and civilian objects, intentionally causing serious bodily injury, destruction of property in violation of the law of war, terrorism, and providing material support for terrorism.
Mohammed, bin Attash, Binalshibh, and Aziz Ali also are charged with the substantive offense of hijacking or hazarding a vessel.
The charge sheet also named 2,973 people killed during the Sept. 11 attacks
In announcing the original charges, defense officials also announced their intent to seek the death penalty for all six defendants.
Army Col. Larry Morris, chief prosecutor for the Office of Military Commissions, decided to reswear the charges to add clarity, specify where the crimes occurred, and describe how they were committed, Whitman said today.
Reswearing charges generally occurs in light of new evidence or legal analysis developments as part of pretrial work before a case goes to court, Whitman said. It’s not an unusual practice, he said, and tracks with an established practice of filing superseding indictments within the federal court system, he said.
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The next step in the 9-11 case is for Susan J. Crawford, the Office of Military Commissions’ convening authority, to refer the charges, Whitman said. He compared this procedure to an indictment rendered in a civilian court, with the convening authority reviewing the charges and supporting evidence to determine whether probable cause exists to refer the case for trial. Crawford also also must determine whether the case should be capital.
Air Force Brig. Gen. Thomas Hartmann, legal advisor to the convening authority, has completed his pretrial advice and provided it to Crawford as part of that process, Whitman said.
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