Posted on 03/06/2005 11:41:04 AM PST by Straight Vermonter
Saudi Paper Reports Arrest of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
It is being reported by the Saudi newspaper, Al Watan that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has been captured and arrested. al-Zarqawi is the leader of the al-Qaeda resistence movement in Iraq and is believed to be the mastermind behind scores of suicide bombings,kidnapping and beheading of several foreigners in Iraq.
The Saudi paper is reporting that the announcement of al-Zarqawi's arrest was delayed "until a new Iraqi government is in place" and went on to say that the so-called right-hand man of Osama bin Laden had been in custody since February of this year.
Pakistani Police Kill 2 Suspected Militants, Arrest 12
Pakistani officials say they have killed two suspected Islamic militants and arrested another 12 in separate raids.
Police say they killed two foreign militants and arrested another 11 during a raid Saturday in a village in the remote North Waziristan region, which borders Afghanistan. They say a shootout erupted after security forces surrounded the hideout of the suspected militants.
The Pakistani armed forces have launched several operations in recent years to flush out suspected al-Qaida and Taleban fighters they believe have taken refuge in remote border regions.
Earlier, police announced the arrest of Ramzan Mengal, a man they described as a senior member of the outlawed Sunni Muslim militant group, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.
They said they arrested him Friday in the southwestern city of Quetta in connection with attacks on Shi'ite Muslims that have claimed more than 100 lives.
SV- Mengal's arrest likely comes as the result of Wednesday's arrest of Mohammed Sohail.
Iraqi and US Forces Organize Operations in Samarra
Iraqi and US forces in Iraq are organizing operations in the Iraqi city of Samarra, where Al-Qaeda follower Abu Musab Zarqawi is thought to be hiding.
An official from the Iraqi Foreign Ministry announced: "We have received information that Zarqawi is hiding in or around Samarra. The goal of the operation is to establish whether or not this is correct."
3 LeT men killed in Delhi: Police
New Delhi, Mar 6: Three militants allegedly belonging to the Lashker-e-Toiba were killed late Saturday night in the capital, police said on Sunday.
“The militants who were killed in a shootout were reportedly going to attack the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun,” the police said.
“The plans of the militants were foiled when Delhi Police on the basis of information from two terrorists arrested earlier with grenades raided a house in Suraj Vihar in north-western part of the capital.
“The terrorists hiding inside started firing and even threw two hand grenades at the police team,” a police officer said.
”We had information that Hamid would come here to take some explosives. So we launched this raid on that basis,” said Karnail Singh, Joint Commissioner, Special Cell.
After an encounter that lasted for over an hour, the police had shot down the three militants.
While two of the militants, Shahnawaz and Bilwal are allegedly from Pakistan, Shams alias Parvez is from Patna.
“All three of them are believed to have links with the Lashkar outfit. A Pakistani passport has been recovered as well from one of these terrorists,” the police said.
”We have recovered a Pakistani passport from the site and the name on that passport is Sadiq,” added Singh.
Three AK-56 rifles, a satellite phone and large quantity of ammunition has also been recovered from the militants, the officials added.
KABUL, March 06 (Online): Sixty-member Taliban group has joined Afghan government, said Afghan officials. Afghan official news agency reported that 60-member Taliban group has reunited with the government in Deh Chopan area of Zabul province after following a prolonged dialogue.
Deh Chopan is the district where unrest prevailed during past two years. Afghan troops in collaboration with the coalition forces had conducted four operations against anti-government elements in that area. Tribal leader in Paktia and members of the Loya Jirga have welcomed talks between the Taliban and Afghan government.
Malik Nadir Khan, member of the Loya Jirga told that both the Taliban and the common people were very much pleased over the government-Taliban pact, saying the Taliban were also their brothers, they were the sons of the soil and the country could not be built by an individual. It may be mentioned here that the coalition forces' commanders had said a week ago that special cards would be given to the Taliban coming into normal life.
3 LeT militants killed in police encounter
NEW DELHI: Three militants, reportedly belonging to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), were shot dead in a late evening encounter with a special team of police on Saturday in Uttam Nagar. The three were apparently planning to strike at the Indian Military Academy (IMA) in Dehradun.
The encounter followed a tip-off during a routine arrest by the police. Two men, Hamid and Sariq, were arrested on Saturday by the special cell in Mukhamba Chowk, in Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar in northwest Delhi, for possessing 10.5 kg RDX. On interrogation, the men revealed that their associates were hiding in Uttam Nagar.
A team of 25 police personnel, including members of the special cell, went to Kakrola Modh, where the three LeT militants were operating from a house in an unauthorised locality. The police team had to face severe firing after it reached the hideout at 8.45 pm. The police fired in retaliation and the shootout lasted for almost an hour. Finally, the police team managed to shoot all three militants. No police personnel were injured. Jt CP, special cell, Karnal Singh, said: "The three have been identified as Bilawal and Shahwanaz from Pakistan and Shams, an Indian." Ashok Chand, ‘DCP, special cell added: "A satellite phone, incriminating defence-related documents, three rifles and large quantities of explosives and hand grenades have been recovered from the militants."
Hamid, one of the two men arrested earlier in the day, has also revealed that the militants were contemplating attacking the IMA. Police suspect that the militants were accompanied by more accomplices, who may have fled to Haryana. Senior police officials said that a team would be sent there for further investigations.
2 more suspected Abu Sayyaf militants nabbed
TWO more suspected members of the Al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf have been arrested in a crackdown launched by Philippine forces in the wake of a series of deadly bombings last month, the military said Sunday.
Army intelligence operatives apprehended Ahib Buday, 40, in Maguindanao province in the main southern island of Mindanao on Saturday, the military said in a statement.
Buday was wanted over the bombing of a bus in Manila's Makati financial center on February 14 that left six dead and over 100 injured. But it was not clear what his alleged role in the attack was.
Two other bombs that exploded in the southern cities of General Santos and Davao on the same day also left several dead.
On Friday, authorities nabbed the alleged supplier of explosives used in the attacks, claimed by Abu Sayyaf in retaliation for Manila's offensive against Muslim rebels in Mindanao.
Meanwhile, the military said another alleged Abu Sayyaf member, Rasidin Mohammad, was captured by troops in the southern city of Zamboanga Friday.
Mohammad allegedly took part in the kidnapping of a group of Filipino tourists and three Americans from a Philippine resort in 2001. Two of the Americans died in captivity.
Both men were in military custody "for tactical interrogation" before being turned over to police for proper filing of charges, the military said.
The Abu Sayyaf, founded in the early 1990s by Afghan-trained Islamic scholar Abdurajak Janjalani, is a small but brutal group of militants that analysts say is fast becoming a major threat in the region.
Last year, it was blamed for the firebombing of a passenger ferry on Manila Bay, killing over 100 in the Catholic Philippines' worst militant attack.
Could you please put me on your ping list.
It's great that you do these summaries.
You got it.
Big operation underway in Samarra Iraq hunting for the Z man..
It would be nice to start the week with a video of Z-man getting his beard checked for lice for all the world to see.
Iraqi sources have told a Saudi newspaper that al-Qaeda's man in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has been arrested. Al Watan daily said Sunday that the official announcement on the arrest was delayed until a new Iraqi government is in place. The purported arrest supposedly took place on the Iraqi - Syrian border, the report added.
It should be mentioned that CNN aired on Saturday new pictures believed to show al-Zarqawi, who is America's most-wanted man in Iraq.
The Saudi paper said that the arrest of al-Zarqawi was completed ahead the recent visit of US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in Iraq. This visit took place early February.
© 2005 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
There is a reason that those bastards being posed against that wall.
1 Good job!
2 On rereadinging this post I noticed a definite....trend, the use for the words killed, captured, nabbed,...etc. It brings a smile to my face.
GOSH! I hope nothing bad happens to them.
No one's gonna out sarcasm me!
Nice catch!
Check out #26
I'll believe it when I see Katie Couric interviewing him. (imagining her nodding thoughfully to his well received comments...)
RE: Post #26
Interesting. Just not enough detail for me, and the hand over the face obscures too much.
If it's him, the truck photo would also suggest that they didn't know it was him at the time. If they picked him up and knew it was him, I'd imagine they'd transport him in a much more secure and surreptitious way.
Well if this is true, February was a great month in the great year so far, 2005!
Interesting in the truck, the one who looks like Z is covering his face while the others aren't.
Did anyone see the latest photos of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi that were posted on Fox over the weekend?
I was taken by the thought of how much they looked like police photos - first the side view, then the frontal view, etc.
It crossed my mind that they have him when I saw the photos.
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