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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 ...
The Associated Press
3/19/04 3:14 PM
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The State Department on Friday renewed a reminder to U.S. citizens that anti-American violence, including terror strikes, posed a potential threat in the Middle East and North Africa.
The department said, "Credible information has indicated terrorist groups may be planning attacks against U.S. interests in the Middle East."
These may include suicide operations, bombings, hijackings or kidnappings, the department said.
http://www.nj.com/newsflash/international/index.ssf?/newsflash/get_story.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?a0683_BC_US-MideastTravel&&news&israel
From correspondents in Doha
March 20, 2004
A SPOKESMAN for Afghanistan's Taliban militia threatened today to launch strikes on US forces targeting Taliban and al-Qaeda militants on the Afghan-Pakistani border, in a tape aired on Al-Jazeera news channel.
"We will attack American forces if they launch attacks in these areas, on both sides of the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan," said the spokesman, identified as Mulla Abdul Latif Hakimi.
His threat came after the Pakistani military said its forces had cornered up to 400 heavily armed al-Qaeda fighters believed to be protecting a "high value target" in a remote tribal area near the Afghan border.
As troops closed in, diehard fighters were digging in for a "fight to the end", officials said.
There is speculation a top al-Qaeda leader, possibly Osama bin Laden's deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri, is among the group.
The Pakistani operation in a rugged, autonomous tribal region, about 300km west of Islamabad, came as US and Afghan forces stepped up action over the border in southeastern Afghanistan.
An Afghan military officer said about 50 al-Qaeda operatives had already fled to the Afghan frontier towns of Urgun, Gayan and Barmal, where sympathy for the Taliban runs high.
US forces have unleashed a new offensive dubbed Operation Mountain Storm in southeast Afghanistan targeting al-Qaeda leaders. It has been under way since March 7.
Pakistani forces "are hunting the mujahideen" said Hakimi, according to an Arabic translation of his remarks.
"That is why we will launch operations against them.
"They are now carrying out their operations in North and South Waziristan, in the tribal regions. Hakimi was shown with a white turban wrapped around his head and face.
Taliban Spokesman Denies Threatening Pakistan
By Saeed Ali Achakzai
CHAMAN, Pakistan (Reuters) - A Taliban spokesman denied Friday having threatened revenge on Pakistani forces for hunting Taliban and al Qaeda militants along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
"I have not given any such interview," Abdul Latif Hakimi told Reuters after Al Jazeera television broadcast a video in which a man with the same name made the threats. The man's face was covered.
"None of the Taliban spokesmen have issued any statement like that," Hakimi said by telephone from an undisclosed location.
"We do not interfere in other countries' affairs," said Hakimi. "It is up to Pakistan wherever it wants to conduct an operation. What objection can we have? We have our own country."
In the video the man vowed the Taliban would attack U.S. and Pakistani forces if they did not stop hunting Taliban and al Qaeda militants.
He accused Pakistan of betraying the Taliban "in a way history won't forget."
In late 2001, U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban from power in Afghanistan, accusing it of supporting Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda.
U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan and Pakistani troops have launched new offensives on either side on the border in remote and mountainous areas in an effort to kill or capture Taliban and al Qaeda leaders, including bin Laden.
Pakistani forces said they were fighting a fierce battle on Friday with 300-400 foreign militants and Pakistani tribal allies after encircling them near the Afghan border.
Officials have said the militants might include bin Laden's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri.
Islamists Crowd Storms Restaurant Over Alcohol
MANAMA (Reuters) - Some 100 Bahraini Islamists shouting "God is Greatest" stormed a French restaurant serving alcohol in the pro-Western Gulf Arab state and threatened diners with knives, witnesses said on Thursday.
One diner managed to wrest a knife away from the Islamists and stabbed one with it, causing him severe injuries, a witness said.
They said the assailants, opposed to the consumption of alcohol banned by Islam, also threw gasoline bombs at customers' cars parked outside the restaurant near the capital Manama late on Wednesday, damaging nine vehicles.
"Abound 100 young men, shouting Allahu Akbar (God is greatest), came to the restaurant carrying knives and shouted at the customers: Why do you drink?," Jahanshah Bakhtiar, owner of La Terrasse Restaurant, told Reuters.
"They were acting as if they had the right ideas and people should obey them," he said, adding that there were about 40 customers in the restaurant.
FRONT PAGE MAGAZINE.com: "TERROR'S SOUTH AMERICAN FRONT" by Erick Stakelbeck (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "There have also been reports that Imad Mugniyah, head of Hizbollah’s security apparatus, has guided some of the group’s activities in the area from his base in the Middle East. Muginyah is the suspected mastermind behind several infamous terrorist attacks, including the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut and the 1992 car bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Argentina.") (March 19, 2004) (Read More...)
INTERNET HAGANAH: "A MESSAGE TO THE SPANISH PEOPLE: THE NEGLECTED THREAT QA'IDAT AL-JIHAD" by Reuven Paz, PRISM Series of Special Dispatches on Global Jihad, No.2/2 (March 19, 2004) (Read More...)
Words that mean the same: American Justice and Joke. Slapping traitors and terrorists on the wrist doesn't cut it in my way of thinking. The ACLU and attorneys have made a mockery of our courts. And judges, who used to render fair verdicts are now egotists who use the gavel to render popular, personal or right-wing verdicts. A murderer can have a lesser sentence than someone who shoplifted in this country, depending on how much money you have for legal counsel. ***GRRRRRR*** If punishment is more severe in Pakistan, I suggest we leave them in Pakistan.
Chlorine gas?
Just another thing we'll never hear another thing about I'm sure. I'm glad your son got you out of there. Mustard color smoke does not sound good at all. Please be careful tomorrow. We want you back with us safely.
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