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Thread Six: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1109459/posts |
Posted on 03/12/2004 8:23:06 PM PST by thecabal
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- This week's deadly train bombings in Spain will not lead to a rise in the U.S. color-coded terror threat alert system, a Department of Homeland Security spokesman said Friday.
"Based on the current intelligence, we have no specific indicators that terrorist groups are considering such an attack in the U.S. in the near term," said department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
BAGHDAD (AFP) - Outraged journalists claiming that two of their colleagues had been shot dead by US troops in Baghdad walked out of a press conference by Secretary of State Colin Powell, who expressed regret but said "mistakes happen."
"We representatives of the media, of the Iraqi media, the Arab media and the foreign media working in Iraq declare our condemnation of the incident, which led to the killing of the two journalists," said a representative.
"Martyr Ali al-Khatib and martyr Ali Abdul Aziz from the Al-Arabiya satellite station were killed at the hands of the American forces," he said, reading a petition at the highly secure headquarters of the US-led coalition.
He said Khatib and Abdul Aziz "were two innocent victims of the Iraqi people... without any reason because of the American measures, which have proved their failure in eliminating terrorism and the creation of a secure environment after a year of occupation, the occupation of Iraq.
"We ask for an open investigation... and we ask for enough security and guarantees for the press in Iraq, who are facing dangers to their lives."
The journalists, mainly Iraqis and Arabs, stood up and walked out, as Powell and US overseer Paul Bremer stood silently at the podium and watched them head for the door.
Commenting on the walkout, Powell said "the journalists just left to express their feelings, something that could never happen in earlier times in the history of Iraq, certainly not during the last 30 years" under regime of Saddam Hussein, ousted by the coalition last spring.
"I also regret the loss of life of the two journalists... I regret any loss of life, whether it's journalists, coalition soldiers, non-governmental organisation workers, missionaries, average Iraqi citizens just going about their daily life," he said.
"Let's be clear who is responsible for this: the terrorists, those individuals left over from the old regime who do not want to see Iraqi people live in peace. They do not want to see democracy take root," he said.
When asked specifically to comment on the claims that the two journalists had been shot by US soldiers, Powell said that, "at a scene where there has been a battle... mistakes happen and tragedies can occur. I don't know the details of this one, but I am confident it was not anything that was deliberate or intended."
"It will be looked into," he said.
Earlier Friday, Ahmed Saleh, a correspondent for Al-Arabiya television, told AFP that colleagues from 20 media organisations, both Arab and foreign, had planned to hand a petition to Powell and walk out of the conference.
Powell arrived in Baghdad earlier in the day on the eve of the first anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq.
Al-Arabiya cameraman Ali Abdul Aziz and journalist Ali al-Khatib, both Iraqis, were shot during an incident near the Burj al-Hayat hotel in central Baghdad, which was targeted by a rocket attack Thursday night.
Abdul Aziz was killed in the incident and Khatib died of his wounds Friday.
A US Army spokesman confirmed that "one Iraqi was shot and killed while trying to run a checkpoint near the Burj al-Hayat hotel" at 22:16 pm (1916 GMT) on Thursday.
The men's deaths would be the second and third of journalists at the hands of the US military since May 1 when US President George W. Bush declared major combat over.
The Paris-based media rights group, Reporters Without Borders, denounced Friday the "killing by US fire" of the two journalists and demanded an investigation into the incident.
"Since the start of the war on Iraq a year ago, six journalists died because of the actions of the US army," it said in a statement.
"The repetition of these acts... should force the US government to question the attitude of its troops... as no such act has been witnessed with any of the other forces on the ground in Iraq, including the British," it said.
The group said "the absence of any enquiry over the death of the four (other) journalists... and the Pentagon's refusal to admit any responsibility for these deaths have contributed to the repetition of the tragedy," it said.
"Systematic absolution of such tragedies encourages reckless and aggressive behavior" among US troops, it said.
Blasts Echo Across Baghdad Hours After Powell Visit
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Blasts echoed across central Baghdad and warning sirens sounded in the headquarters of the U.S.-led administration Friday, the eve of the anniversary of the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
At least two blasts followed the sound of mortars or rockets being fired. A U.S. military spokesman said there were no immediate reports of any casualties or damage.
The U.S. headquarters compound, which is known as the "Green Zone" and is one of Saddam's former palace complexes, has been targeted repeatedly by guerrillas firing rockets and mortars.
Friday's attack came less than an hour after President Bush ended a speech calling for unity and determination in the fight against terrorism.
Iraq's U.S. governor, Paul Bremer, spoke live to CNN from inside the Green Zone shortly after the blasts: "We think they are outside the green zone but we just don't know yet. It's only just happened."
Secretary of State Colin Powell had spent several hours in the headquarters compound earlier Friday before leaving for Saudi Arabia.
Both, I hope. They would be more effective at extracting information initially. When we get him we can always tell him we'll send him back whenever we need to encourage him to speak more freely...
CNN LIVE EVENT/SPECIAL
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Good morning, and thanks for coming. Laura and I are pleased to welcome you all to the White House.
Mr. Secretary, thank you for being here.
Members of my National Security Council are here, members of the administration, members of our armed forces, members of the United States Congress.
Thank you for being here.
Ladies and gentlemen.
I particularly want to thank the members of the diplomatic corps who are here, thank the ambassadors for coming today. We are representing 84 countries, united against a common danger, and joined in a common purpose.
BUSH: We are the nations that have recognized the threat of terrorism, and we are the nations that will defeat that threat.
Each of us has pledged before the world, we will never bow to the violence of a few. We will face this mortal danger and we will overcome it together.
As we meet, violence and death at the hands of terrorists are still fresh in our memory. The people of Spain are burying their innocent dead. These men and women and children began their day in a great and peaceful city, yet lost their lives on a battlefield, murdered at random and without remorse.
Americans saw the chaos and the grief and the vigils and the funerals, and we have shared in the sorrow of the Spanish people.
Ambassador Ruperez, please accept our deepest sympathy for the great loss that your country has suffered.
The murders in Madrid are a reminder that the civilized world is at war. And in this new kind of war, civilians find themselves suddenly on the front lines.
BUSH: In recent years, terrorists have struck from Spain to Russia, to Israel, to East Africa, to Morocco, to the Philippines and to America. They've targeted Arab states, such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Yemen. They've attacked Muslims in Indonesia, Turkey, Pakistan, Iraq and Afghanistan. No nation or region is exempt from the terrorist campaign of violence.
Each of these attacks on the innocent is a shock and a tragedy, and a test of our will. Each attack is designed to demoralize our people and divide us from one another.
And each attack much be answered, not only with sorrow, but with greater determination, deeper resolve, and bolder action against the killers. It is the interest of every country and the duty of every government to fight and destroy this threat to our people.
BUSH: There is a dividing line in our world, not between nations and not between religions or cultures, but a dividing line separating two visions of justice and the value of life.
On a tape claiming responsibility for the atrocities in Madrid, a man is heard to say, "We choose death while you choose life." We don't know if this is the voice of the actual killers, but we do know it expresses the creed of the enemy. It is a mindset that rejoices in suicide, incites murder and celebrates every death we mourn.
And we who stand on the other side of the line must be equally clear and certain of our convictions. We do love life, the life given to us and to all. We believe in the values that uphold the dignity of life: tolerance and freedom and the right of conscience. And we know that this way of life is worth defending.
There is no neutral ground -- no neutral ground -- in the fight between civilization and terror, because there is no neutral ground between good and evil, freedom and slavery, and life and death.
The war on terror is not a figure of speech. It is an inescapable calling of our generation.
The terrorists are offended not merely by our policies, they're offended by our existence as free nations.
No concession will appease their hatred. No accommodation will satisfy their endless demands. Their ultimate ambitions are to control the peoples of the Middle East and to blackmail the rest of the world with weapons of mass terror.
BUSH: There can be no separate peace with the terrorist enemy. Any sign of weakness or retreat simply validates terrorist violence and invites more violence for all nations.
The only certain way to protect our people is by united and decisive action.
In this contest of will and purpose, not every nation joins every mission or participates in the same way. Yet every nation makes a vital contribution, and America is proud to stand with all of you as we pursue a broad strategy in the war against terror.
We're using every tool of finance, intelligence, law enforcement and military power to break terror networks, to deny them refuge and to find their leaders.
Over the past 30 months, we have frozen or seized nearly $200 million in assets of terror networks. We've captured or killed some two-thirds of Al Qaeda's known leaders, as well as many of Al Qaeda's associates in countries like the United States or Germany or Pakistan or Saudi Arabia or Thailand.
We're taking the fight to Al Qaeda allies, such as Ansar al-Islam in Iraq, Jemaah Islamiah in Indonesia and Southeast Asia. Our coalition is sending an unmistakable message to the terrorists, including those who struck in Madrid: These killers will be tracked down and found. They will face their day of justice.
BUSH: Our coalition is taking urgent action to stop the transfer of deadly weapons and materials. America and the nations of Australia and France and Germany and Italy and Japan and the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom, Canada, Singapore and Norway have joined in the Proliferation Security Initiative, all aimed to bind together to interdict lethal materials transported by air or sea or land.
Many governments have cooperated to expose and dismantle the network of A.Q. Khan, which sold nuclear secrets to Libya, Iran and North Korea.
By all of these efforts, we are determined to prevent catastrophic technologies from falling into the hands of an embittered few.
Our coalition is also confronting the dangerous combination of outlaw states, terrorist groups and weapons of mass destruction.
For years, the Taliban made Afghanistan the home base of Al Qaeda. And so we gave the Taliban a choice: to abandon forever their support for terror or face the destruction of their regime.
BUSH: Because the Taliban chose defiance, our coalition acted to remove this threat, and now the terror camps are closed and the government of a free Afghanistan is represented here today as an active partner in the war on terror.
The people of Afghanistan are a world away from the nightmare of the Taliban. Citizens of Afghanistan have adopted a new constitution guaranteeing free elections and full participation by women. The new Afghan army is becoming a vital force of stability in that country. Businesses are opening. Health care centers are being established. And the children of Afghanistan are back in schools -- boys and girls.
This progress is a tribute to the brave Afghan people and to the efforts of many nations.
NATO, including forces from Canada, France, Germany and other nations, is leading the effort to provide security. Japan and Saudi Arabia have helped to complete the highway from Kabul to Kandahar, which is furthering commerce and unifying the country.
Italy is working with Afghans to reform their legal system and strengthening an independent judiciary.
Three years ago, the people of Afghanistan were oppressed and isolated from the world by a terrorist regime. Today, that nation has a democratic government and many allies, and all of us are proud to be friends of the Afghan people.
Many countries represented here today also acted to liberate the people of Iraq. One year ago, military forces of a strong coalition entered Iraq to enforce United Nations demands, to defend our security, and to liberate that country from the rule of a tyrant.
BUSH: For Iraq, it was a day of deliverance. For the nations of our coalition, it was the moment when years of demands and pledges turned to decisive action.
Today, as Iraqis join the free peoples of the world, we mark a turning point for the Middle East and a crucial advance for human liberty.
There have been disagreements in this matter among old and valued friends. Those differences belong to the past. All of us can now agree that the fall of the Iraqi dictator has removed a source of violence, aggression and instability in the Middle East.
It's a good thing that the demands of the United Nations were enforced, not ignored with impunity. It is a good thing that years of illicit weapons developed by the dictator have come to the end. It is a good thing that the Iraqi people are now receiving aid instead of suffering under sanctions. And it's a good thing that the men and women across the Middle East looking to Iraq are getting a glimpse of what life in a free country can be like.
There are still violent thugs and murderers in Iraq, and we're dealing with them. But no one can argue that the Iraqi people would be better off with the thugs and murderers back in the palaces.
Who would prefer that Saddam's torture chambers still be open? Who would wish that more mass graves were still being filled? Who would begrudge the Iraqi people their long-awaited liberation?
One year after the armies of liberation arrived, every soldier who has fought, every aid worker who has served, every Iraqi who has joined in their country's defense can look with pride on a brave and historic achievement.
BUSH: They've served in freedom's cause. And that is a privilege.
Today in Iraq, a British-led division is securing the southern city of Basra. Poland continues to lead the multi-national division in south-central Iraq. Japan and the Republic of Korea -- of South Korea have made historic commitments of troops to help bring peace to Iraq.
Special forces from El Salvador and Macedonia and other nations are helping to find and defeat Baathist and terrorist killers. Military engineers from Kazakhstan have cleared more than a half a million explosive devices from Iraq. Turkey is helping to resupply coalition forces.
All of these nations and many others are meeting their responsibilities to the people of Iraq. Whatever their past views, every nation now has an interest in a free, successful, stable Iraq.
And the terrorists understand their own interest in the fate of that country. For them, the connection between Iraq's future and the course of the war on terror is very clear. They understand that a free Iraq will be a devastating setback to their ambitions of tyranny over the Middle East. And they've made the failure of democracy in Iraq one of their primary objectives.
By attacking coalition forces, by targeting innocent Iraqis and foreign civilians for murder, the terrorists are trying to weaken our will. Instead of weakness, they're finding resolve.
BUSH: Not long ago, we intercepted the planning document being sent to leaders of Al Qaeda by one of their associates, a man named Zarqawi. Along with the usual threats, he had a complaint. "Our enemy," said Zarqawi, "is growing stronger, and his intelligence data are increasing day by day. This is suffocation."
Zarqawi's getting the idea. We will never turn over Iraq to terrorists who intend our own destruction. We will not fail the Iraqi people, who have placed their trust in us. Whatever it takes, we will fight and work to assure the success of freedom in Iraq.
Many coalition countries have sacrificed in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Among the fallen soldiers and civilians are sons and daughters of Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, the United Kingdom and the United States.
We honor their courage. We pray for the comfort of their families. We will uphold the cause they served. The rise of democratic institutions in Afghanistan and Iraq is a great step toward a goal of lasting importance to the world. We've set out to encourage reform and democracy in the greater Middle East as the alternatives to fanaticism, resentment and terror.
We've set out to break the cycle of bitterness and radicalism that has brought stagnation to a vital region and destruction to cities in America and Europe, and around the world.
BUSH: This task is historic and difficult. This task is necessary and worthy of our efforts.
In the 1970s, the advance of democracy in Lisbon and Madrid inspired democratic change in Latin America.
In the 1980s, the example of Poland ignited a fire of freedom in all of Eastern Europe.
With Afghanistan and Iraq showing the way, we are confident that freedom will lift the sights and hopes of millions in the greater Middle East.
One man who believed in our cause was a Japanese diplomat named Katsuhiko Oku. He worked for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq. Mr. Oku was killed when his car was ambushed.
In his diary he described his pride in the cause he had joined. "The free people of Iraq," he wrote, "are now making steady progress in reconstructing their country, while also fighting against the threat of terrorism. We must join hands with the Iraqi people in their effort to prevent Iraq from falling into the hands of terrorists."
This good, decent man concluded, "This is also our fight to defend freedom."
Ladies and gentlemen, this good man from Japan was right. The establishment of a free Iraq is our fight. The success of a free Afghanistan is our fight. The war on terror is our fight. All of us are called to share the blessings of liberty and to be strong and steady in freedom's defense.
It will surely be said of our times that we lived with great challenges. Let it also be said of our times that we understood our great duties and met them in full.
May God bless our efforts.
(APPLAUSE)
"It is more satisfying/noble to die with your teeth in/claws at the throat/heart of the enemy of nest/totem/civilization! Die, nest-molester!"
Being so familiar with our laughable "justice" system and kangaroo judiciary, I'd have to guess he'd be worse off in Pakistani custody.
By RIAZ KHAN, Associated Press Writer
WANA, Pakistan - Thousands of Pakistani army reinforcements joined a round-the-clock offensive Friday in lawless border villages where al-Qaida's No. 2 leader was believed to be surrounded along with hundreds of other militants hunkered down in heavily armed mud fortresses.
"A dozen or so" U.S. intelligence agents were in the tribal South Waziristan region "assisting Pakistan in technical intelligence and surveillance," said army spokesman Gen. Shaukat Sultan.
The Pakistani troops set up a cordon around a 20-square-mile area, as residents — many said to be sympathetic to the militants — streamed out of the besieged region in pickup trucks loaded with their families and possessions. Afghan authorities reported the arrests of midlevel terrorist leaders on their side of the border.
Sultan said the army believes a mix of foreigners and local Pakistani tribesmen were holed up in several villages in South Waziristan, where Pakistani paramilitary forces began an operation against al-Qaida and Taliban fugitives four days ago.
"From the type of resistance we are getting ... the militants could be anything from 300 to 400," he told a news conference.
Sultan said authorities' intelligence assessment was that a high-level fugitive was among the fighters, although he had not been seen and it was unclear whether it was Ayman al-Zawahri, who is Osama bin Laden's deputy.
"The type of resistance, the type of preparation of their defensive positions, the hardened fortresses they have made means we can assume that there could probably be some high-value target there," Sultan said from the army press office in Rawalpindi, a city near the capital, Islamabad.
But he disputed claims by four senior Pakistani officials that captured militants had revealed that al-Zawahri was among them, and possibly injured.
"So far, whatever people we have apprehended, we have not got confirmation from them," he said — but quickly added the army could not share such intelligence anyway in an ongoing operation.
Villagers in Wana, the main town in South Waziristan, said they could hear heavy guns firing through the night and see jet fighters in the area, as fighting spread Friday to two more tribal villages.
Helicopter gunships fired rockets at houses in Shin Warsak, five miles southwest of Wana, the villagers said. Residents reported seeing scores of army trucks carrying troops and weapons moving from Wana to the targeted areas.
Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf also said Thursday a "high-value" target was believed trapped. The four senior Pakistani officials told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity that intelligence indicated it was al-Zawahri.
U.S. national security adviser Condoleezza Rice said a "fierce battle was raging" but the United States did not have any independent confirmation that al-Zawahri was surrounded.
Pakistani Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayyat told AP that authorities hoped to wrap up the raid "during the next 48 hours."
Meanwhile, a spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai said U.S. and Afghan troops have captured "semi-senior" terrorist leaders along the border with Pakistan, as they tightened security along the rugged frontier.
Presidential spokesman Jawed Ludin said it was unclear if those detained had fled the battle in Pakistan, and declined to give any details of who might be in custody.
A Taliban spokesman, Abdul Samad, told AP in a phone interview that both al-Zawahri and bin Laden are alive and hiding inside Afghanistan, far from the Pakistani guns.
"Muslims of the world — don't worry about them, these two guests, they are fine," he said.
Villagers around Wana reported a lull in the fighting on Friday afternoon, amid reports that tribal elders were attempting to mediate with local authorities and establish a cease-fire. A noon deadline to surrender passed without a fresh attack.
An intelligence official said "dozens" of militants were killed Thursday. Sultan would not give a death toll for the day — reportedly the heaviest in the four-day offensive.
He said two militants were confirmed killed Friday, and eight captured. Among those captured were five foreigners, seized along with a large cache of weapons.
At least 43 people — 17 soldiers and 26 suspected militants — were killed earlier this week in fighting in the area.
Sultan showed pictures to journalists of two bloodied bodies recovered by Pakistani forces in the first day of fighting. He said one was believed to be a Chechen, the other Arabic, but their identities would have to be confirmed in DNA tests.
Sultan said Pakistani forces had underestimated the resistance they would face and had "barged into a hardened terrorists' den." He also said that the local "population is on the whole sympathetic" to the militants.
He accused the militants of using women and children as human shields as they retreated into fortress-like mud houses, preventing the troops from using artillery.
The Pakistani forces had surrounded a 20-square-mile area centered on Shin Warsak using an inner and outer cordon of troops numbering a "couple of thousand," Sultan said. He said the military was "quite certain that nobody could have escaped."
This semiautonomous tribal region, which has resisted outside control for centuries, has long been considered a likely hiding place for the top two al-Qaida leaders — but there was no indication bin Laden was with the Egyptian-born al-Zawahri. However, the two have traveled together in the past, and bin Laden and al-Zawahri appeared jointly in video tapes released shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.
The United States has offered a $25 million reward for information leading to al-Zawahri's capture. On Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives doubled the reward for bin Laden's capture to $50 million.
Al-Zawahri, a 52-year-old former Egyptian surgeon, is believed to be the brains behind the terror network, with bin Laden serving more as spiritual leader and financial backer. He is also thought to have served as the al-Qaida leader's personal physician.
_____
Associated Press reporters Munir Ahmad and Matthew Pennington in Islamabad contributed to this report.
An aerial photograph of a site in South Waziristan, Pakistan where Pakistani forces say they are battling heavily armed al-Qaida and Taliban fugitives holed up in fortresses, is shown in this image released by the Pakistani military, Friday March 19, 2004. The main hideout is marked with yellow dots. Thousands of Pakistani army reinforcements joined a major offensive Friday in tribal border villages where al-Qaida's No. 2 leader, Ayman al-Zawahri and hundreds of other militants are believed surrounded.(AP Photo/Pakistan Interservie Public Relations)
Negotiations - hostage component tied to it and depends the importance of the hostage. Could be a family member of someone important or other. Did not say who.
When asked if Mansoor thought that it was Zawahiri that was being protected, Mansoor replied that it was only 2 people that that could justify the kind of fighting going on and that was Zawahiri and/or OBL.
Also Mansoor mentioned blood found in an abandoned amoured vehicle that will have to be DNA tested by the US since Pakistan is not equipped to do DNA testing and something about Zawahiri's son being in custody.
Also a Wajahat Malik reporting to Fox News that some (about 10 terrorist) tried to escape the compound in Pakistan, one was shot and killed and is still lying in the street and the others ran back into the compound.
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