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Arab Men Posing as TV Crew Arrested in Baghdad.
Reuters ^ | June 10 2004 | Michael Georgy

Posted on 06/10/2004 2:30:42 PM PDT by Dog

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Four Arab men posing as journalists were arrested this week when explosives residue was detected on them as they tried to enter the Baghdad headquarters of the U.S.-led administration, a senior U.S. army officer said.

The officer, a top security official in the compound which hosts news conferences given by senior U.S. and Iraqi officials and houses the U.S. consulate, said explosives were found in the men's hotel room after the arrests on Sunday.

They were posing as employees of an international television company and carried fake identification cards and were trying to drive a van into the compound when they were arrested, he said.

"The IDs looked real. But when we called the organization and asked if they were employees, they said they had not heard of them," the army officer, who asked to remain anonymous, told Reuters.

Scores of Western, Iraqi and Arab journalists as well as Iraqi employees of the U.S.-led administration enter the complex each week after tight security checks.

The area, part of the heavily fortified "Green Zone" in Baghdad, is often hit by mortar attacks.

"The four who were arrested may have just been gathering information on the compound or maybe they were just scouting it out. This case is serious," the officer said. He declined to comment on the nationality of the men.

U.S. military officials say foreign fighters are heavily involved in bombings gripping Iraq (news - web sites), including deadly attacks at the gates of the Green Zone that have killed dozens of Iraqis queuing up for work inside. One of the checkpoints at the compound includes an itemizer, a high-tech machine that scans equipment such as cameras for bomb residue. Some people who accidentally pick up explosives residue, such as journalists who cover bombings, sometimes set off the machine.

But the senior army officer said his troops arrest three to four people per week in cases similar to the four Arab men seen as security threats.

The U.S. military said explosive devices have been found inside the green zone but there have been no reports of bombings inside the area that includes palaces formerly belonging to toppled Iraqi president Saddam Hussein (news - web sites).

"The last time there was a bomb just outside here we tested the machine to make sure it works. Everybody that was near the bomb site that passed through here set off the system. It worked," the officer said.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: baghdad; iraq
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Sounds like what Al Qaeda did to the leader of the Northern Alliance pre-9/11....fake journalists.
1 posted on 06/10/2004 2:30:43 PM PDT by Dog
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To: Dog

As if the real kind existed any more.


2 posted on 06/10/2004 2:31:47 PM PDT by thoughtomator (Yitgadal v'yitgadash Shmei Raba)
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To: Dog

A thwarted kickoff to the Battle for Baghdad.

Great move to stop them. Just like the other triumph of rescuing those European hostages.

Now, I hope we find pfc Maupin and others alive and well.

This is excellent news.


3 posted on 06/10/2004 2:33:05 PM PDT by swarthyguy
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To: Coop; Cap Huff; Boot Hill; Miss Marple; oceanview; hchutch; Travis McGee

A page right out of the Al Qaeda playbook.


4 posted on 06/10/2004 2:33:16 PM PDT by Dog (In Memory of Pat Tillman ---- ---- ---- American Hero.)
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To: swarthyguy

I saw something today about the Italian hostages let me ping you.


5 posted on 06/10/2004 2:34:17 PM PDT by Dog (In Memory of Pat Tillman ---- ---- ---- American Hero.)
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To: Dog

Obviously from CNN. As I have posted here before, fire on anyone carrying an AK47, RPG or CNN camera. They are all the enemy.


6 posted on 06/10/2004 2:34:49 PM PDT by RetiredArmy ( I am a Vietnam Vet, thus I am a war criminal according to Flip Kerry.)
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To: Dog

Im sure it was just a big misunderstanding....


7 posted on 06/10/2004 2:34:52 PM PDT by samadams2000 (Liberalism is communism one drink at a time)
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To: Dog

Mahsood[sp?]


8 posted on 06/10/2004 2:35:31 PM PDT by VaBthang4 ("He who watches over Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps")
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To: Dog

When I hear about this it makes me mad . . . makes me want to do something rash like put panties on their head.


9 posted on 06/10/2004 2:35:35 PM PDT by Steve_Seattle
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To: Dog

Also reminscent of the 4 arabs in a van refused entrance to the President's hotel in Florida, early morning 9.11.

Disappeared, never to be seen again, as far as we know.

Same MO as the Massoud hit.


10 posted on 06/10/2004 2:36:17 PM PDT by swarthyguy
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To: Dog

Good work


11 posted on 06/10/2004 2:36:27 PM PDT by nuconvert ("America will never be intimidated by thugs and assassins." ( Azadi baraye Iran)
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To: thoughtomator

No doubt.

Let's just call them propagandists.


12 posted on 06/10/2004 2:36:50 PM PDT by Eagle of Liberty (Integrity is Doing the Right Thing When Nobody is Looking)
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To: Dog
Yes, an Itemizer could have saved Massoud from the suicidal TV cameraman that day.

Thankfully, we've got them and our grunts diligently use them.

13 posted on 06/10/2004 2:37:59 PM PDT by Southack (Media Bias means that Castro won't be punished for Cuban war crimes against Black Angolans in Africa)
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To: Dog
"He declined to comment on the nationality of the men."

Oh, that doesn't look right. Musta been a problem when posting to the site.

*tinker, tinker*

He (Saudi) declined (Saudi) to comment (Saudi) on the (Saudi) nationality of (Saudi) the men.

There you go. Got it reading right as rain now!

14 posted on 06/10/2004 2:38:17 PM PDT by LincolnLover (LSU: 2003 National Football Champions, GEAUXING FOR TWO in 2004!)
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To: Allegra

"keep your eyes open" ping


15 posted on 06/10/2004 2:39:13 PM PDT by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: GummyIII

interesting!


16 posted on 06/10/2004 2:39:52 PM PDT by Freedom2specul8 (Please pray for our troops.... http://anyservicemember.navy.mil/)
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To: Dog
A news crew exposed to plague or small pox won't set of the alarm though , but in time would do much more damage.

With an incubation period of say 10 -12 days the spread could be humongous. I bet its what they will do in America.

Walk into a train station or Airport and infect people headed all over the country.

In two weeks it couldn't be contained.

17 posted on 06/10/2004 2:40:37 PM PDT by DainBramage
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To: swarthyguy

I missed that one! If you still have a link, I'd like to read about it. No biggie if you don't have it.


18 posted on 06/10/2004 2:40:41 PM PDT by Freedom2specul8 (Please pray for our troops.... http://anyservicemember.navy.mil/)
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To: Dog

That reminds me of that Northern Alliance leader (name escapes me right now) who was assassinated just a day or so before 911 . Terrorists posing as newsmen. (Well, the line between the two is not always so sharp anyway, given recent actions in Iraq --- "news" reporters with photographers showing up before attacks, etc.)


19 posted on 06/10/2004 2:41:01 PM PDT by Cap Huff
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To: Cap Huff

Mashood.


20 posted on 06/10/2004 2:43:04 PM PDT by Dog (In Memory of Pat Tillman ---- ---- ---- American Hero.)
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