Posted on 06/04/2003 11:04:33 PM PDT by null and void
Good Morning.
Welcome to the daily thread of Operation Infinite Freedom - Situation Room.
It is designed for general conversation about the ongoing war on terror, and the related events of the day. Im addition to the ongoing conversations related to terrorism and our place in it's ultimate defete, this thread is a clearinghouse of links to War On Terrorism threads. This allows us to stay abreast of the situation in general, while also providing a means of obtaining specific information and mutual support.
A Dutch court has acquitted 12 men accused of plotting a holy war against the West and of helping to recruit Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters in the Netherlands.
The court found there was no evidence to convict the men.
The prosecution's case was damaged during the three-and-a-half week trial, when judges ruled evidence provided by the Dutch secret service inadmissible.
The court has also issued a rebuke to the prosecutors, accusing them of mistakes and carelessness.
The public prosecutor's office says it is planning an appeal.
It is the second major case lost by Dutch public prosecutors pursuing Al Qaeda-linked charges in the past six months.
A court in December cleared two men of plotting to bomb the US embassy in Paris, also due to insufficient evidence.
Heads up: USS Ronald Reagan to be commissioned July 12
USS Ronald Reagan Official Website ^ | 6/5/03
Posted on 06/05/2003 8:15 PM EDT by Wolfstar
PHOTO CAPTION: AIRCRAFT CARRIER REAGAN RETURNS -- The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), returns to Northrop Grumman Newport News Thursday afternoon, May 8, after successful builder's trials. During builder's trials, the ship undergoes extensive testing in a variety of areas. Ronald Reagan is the ninth Nimitz-class ship built by Northrop Grumman Newport News. It will be commissioned by the U.S. Navy on July 12, 2003, at the Norfolk Naval Base in Norfolk, Va. Photo by John Whalen, Northrop Grumman Newport News.
Latest word on her home port is that it will be San Diego.
And...how about a movie called Hillary's Choice on A & E.
Security vehicles surround the Virgin Blue plane after a man allegedly threatened the flight.
Man in custody after flight scare. 06/06/2003. ABC News Online
Doctors will assess a Melbourne man at a mental health unit this morning, after an incident on a Virgin Blue flight at Melbourne Airport yesterday.
The flight to Brisbane with 144 people on board was preparing for take off yesterday afternoon, when a man was overheard making a series of threats.
Police boarded the plane and arrested the 30-year-old without a struggle.
He was not found to be carrying a weapon and police are refusing to reveal details about the nature of the threats he is said to have made.
After being questioned at the airport for several hours, the man was transferred to a mental health unit at an undisclosed location.
He is expected to undergo psychiatric assessment this morning, before police decide whether to lay charges against him.
Posted on 06/05/2003 7:17 PM EDT by Canticle_of_Deborah
New York, Jun. 05 (C-fam.org/CWNews.com) - On Tuesday, a high-ranking UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) official called for the legalization of prostitution and for UNICEF to make condoms available "for everybody, everywhere and at all times." Speaking at the annual session of UNICEF's Executive Board, Urban Jonsson, UNICEF Eastern and Southern African Regional Director, said that UNICEF would need to pursue such "controversial ideas ... in the near future if we are to win the war against HIV/AIDS."
~~~
Greg Kelly's troops found UNICEF supplies at Uday's palaces on Apr.9, didn't they?
Now we know why Halloween was UNICEF collection day. I feel so used.
Al-Arian loses bid for speedy trial, case scheduled for 2005
A former professor accused of terrorism lost his bid Thursday for an immediate trial and could spend the next 18 months jailed under what he calls inhumane and unfair conditions before his case is heard.
Sami Al-Arian and three other men indicted as the U.S. operatives of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad will not go to trial until January 2005, U.S. District Judge James Moody decided. That decision now sets the stage for a series of legal battles in the mammoth and complex case.
Al-Arian's co-defendants wanted the delay so their attorneys could wade through thousands of hours of recorded telephone conversations, the contents of 30 computer hard drives and cases of documents gathered in the nine-year investigation of Al-Arian's Islamic charity and academic think tank.
Prosecutors say Palestinian Islamic Jihad is a terrorist group responsible for 100 murders in Israel and its territories. Al-Arian, a computer engineering professor who was fired by the University of South Florida after his indictment, has denied advocating violence.
Al-Arian and his attorneys, frustrated by their lack of success in winning any concessions since his February indictment, are already striking back.
Al-Arian, who is being held in a federal prison 80 miles north of Tampa, refused Thursday to participate in a video conference of the hearing fearing the judge won't yield to his requests to be physically present during court. His defense attorneys are refusing to apply for security clearances to view some of the evidence in the case saying doing so would set them up for breaking the law when they share that information with Al-Arian.
"We are drawing a line in the sand," Al-Arian attorney Jeffery Brown said. "This has been Big Brother."
The attorneys said they also will push to have all the 21,000 hours of recorded telephone conversations the FBI gathered in its nine years of investigating Al-Arian declassified. They also intend to renew their efforts to have him moved from the federal prison in Coleman because of difficulties traveling there and communicating with Al-Arian.
United States Suspects Government Role in Suu Kyi Ambush
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Thursday it suspected "government-affiliated thugs" of staging an ambush against Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The State Department called on the Myanmar government to provide a full account of the incident last Friday, in which diplomats believe Suu Kyi may have been injured.
Soon after the incident in the north of the country the authorities took Suu Kyi into what they called "protective custody." She has not had access to visitors since.
US lawmakers seek Myanmar sanctions, say Aung San Suu Kyi in "grave danger"
UNITED NATIONS - Chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix said Thursday the chances of discovering whether Saddam Hussein destroyed or concealed all illegal weapons are much better now because of "the new environment in Iraq."
With controversy swirling over the American and British failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Blix appeared before the U.N. Security Council to present his final report on the search for chemical and biological weapons, with his inspection teams barred from returning to Iraq by the United States.
"I trust that in the new environment in Iraq, in which there is full access and cooperation, and in which knowledgeable witnesses should no longer be inhibited to reveal what they know, it should be possible to establish the truth we all want to know," Blix said.
Speaking to reporters later, he refused to criticize the Bush administration, though he said any inspectors working "under an occupation of a few foreign states cannot have the same credibility internationally as international inspectors would."
The Hawks have the 14th selection in the draft... I know they need defensemen, but since NHL draftees are usually 3 years out, you really can't draft any needs. Any word on what the Hawks will do on draft day? If Thomas Vanek or Zach Parise can drop to the Hawks at 14, it will be a steal!!
The San Francisco-based company, which was awarded a $680 million contract to direct Iraq's reconstruction, announced last week it had hired its first Iraqi construction company and will hold a conference in Baghdad to invite Iraqi firms to bid for projects.
"Our goal is to ensure the maximum participation of Iraqis," said Valerie Kazanjian, a company spokeswoman. "We want to revitalize the economy. We want to make sure the money is going back to Iraq."
But a report Thursday by three watchdog groups criticized the company's record, alleging "environmental destruction, disregard for human rights and financial mismanagement" during its 100-year history building power plants, water systems and roads.
|
Q: How do you confuse a blonde? ~~~ A philosopher responds to the legalists (a NON-wanker!):
|
| By Keith Burgess-Jackson |
Remember the Alamaut
Tech Central Station ^ | 6-05-03 | Russell Seitz
 |
||
|
Night, all.
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) - Yasser Arafat charged that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon offered Palestinians nothing "on the ground" at a US-led summit, while four new deaths gave an internationally backed peace roadmap its first real test.
The veteran Palestinian leader's criticism came as hardliners on both sides indicated they could fiercely oppose the pledges made at Wednesday's Aqaba summit by the right-wing Sharon and his moderate Palestinian counterpart and Arafat rival, Mahmud Abbas.
But there was also a stark reminder that the summit offered no quick fixes to the bloody conflict as four people -- two young Israelis and two Palestinian militants from the Islamic group Hamas -- were killed.
"Until now, Sharon has done nothing on the ground," Arafat told reporters following a meeting with a UNICEF official in his battered compound in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.