Posted on 08/07/2006 3:43:15 PM PDT by DAVEY CROCKETT
Tehran & Damascus Move to Lebanon Lebanon-born Walid Phares is a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. Author of the recent book Future Jihad, he was also one of the architects of 2004’s United Nations resolution 1559, which called for the disarming of Hezbollah. NRO editor Kathryn Lopez recently talked to Phares about what’s going on in the Mideast, what happened to the Cedar Revolution, and this war we’re all in.
Kathryn Jean Lopez: What is “Future Jihad”? Are we seeing it in the Mideast now?
Walid Phares: “Future Jihad,” which has already begun, refers to a new and potent form of Islamic terrorism, characterized by a Khumeinist-Baathist axis. These are the two trees of jihadism, so to speak — the Salafism and Wahabism embodied in al Qaeda and the sort of jihadism led by Iran and also including Syria, Hezbollah, and their allies in Lebanon.
The alliance has not been in entire agreement as to strategy. The al Qaeda branch began its “Future Jihad” in the 1990s; its efforts culminated on 9/11 and have continued explosively since then. The international “Salafists” aimed at the U.S. in the past decade in order to strengthen their jihads on various battlefields (Chechnya, India, Sudan, Algeria, Indonesia, Palestine, etc.). “Weaken the resolve of America,” their ideologues said, “and the jihadists would overwhelm all the regional battlefields.”
As I argue in Future Jihad, bin Laden and his colleagues miscalculated on the timing of the massive attack against the U.S. in 2001. While they wounded America, they didn’t kill its will to fight (as was the case, for instance, in the Madrid 3/11 attacks). I have heard many jihadi cadres online, and have seen al Jazeera commentators on television, offering hints of criticism about the timing. They were blaming al Qaeda for shooting its imagined “silver bullet” before insuring a strategic follow up. But bin Laden and Zawahiri believe 9/11 served them well, and has put a global mobilization into motion. Perhaps it has, but the U.S. counter strategy in the Middle East, chaotic as the region currently appears, has unleashed counter jihadi forces. The jury is still out as to the time factor: when these forces will begin to weaken the jihadists depends on our perseverance and the public understanding of the whole conflict.
The other “tree” of jihadism, with its roots in Iran, withheld fire after 9/11. They were content to watch the Salafists fight it out with the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan and Iraq, not to mention within the West, as terror cells were hunted down. Ahmedinejad, Assad, and Nasrallah were analyzing how far the US would go, and how far the Sunnis and Salafis would go as well.
The fall of the Taliban and of the Baath in Iraq, however, changed Iran and Syria’s patient plans. The political changes in the neighborhood, regardless of their immediate instability, were strongly felt in Tehran and Damascus (but unfortunately not in the U.S., judging from the political debate here), and pushed the Khumeinists and the Syrian Baathists to enter the dance, but carefully. Assad opened his borders to the jihadists in an attempt to crumble the U.S. role in Iraq, while Iran articulated al Sadr’s ideology for Iraq’s Shiia majority.
A U.S.-led response came swiftly in 2004 with the voting of UNSCR 1559, smashing Syria’s role in Lebanon and forcing Assad to withdraw his troops by April 2005. In response, the “axis” prepared for a counter attack on the Lebanese battlefield by assassinating a number of the Cedar Revolution leaders, including MP Jebran Tueni. In short, the attacks by Hamas and Hezbollah and the kidnappings of soldiers were the tip of an offensive aimed at drawing attention away from Iran’s nuclear weapons programs and Syria’s assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri. Hezbollah was awaiting its moment for revenge against the Cedar Revolution too.
What we see now is 1) a Syro-Iranian sponsored offensive aimed at all democracies in the region and fought in Lebanon; 2) Israel’s counter offensive (which it seems to have prepared earlier); and 3) an attempt by Hezbollah to take over or crumble the Lebanese government.
Lopez: So…did the Cedar Revolution fail?
Phares: Actually, it would be more accurate to say that the Cedar Revolution was failed. The masses in Lebanon responded courageously in March 2005 by putting 1.5 million people on the streets of Beirut. They did it without “no-fly-zones,” expeditionary forces, or any weapons at all, for that matter, and against the power of three regimes, Iran, Syria, and pro-Syrian Lebanon, in addition to Hezbollah terror. The “revolution” was for a time astoundingly successful; since then it has been horribly failed, and first of all by Lebanon’s politicians themselves. One of their leaders, General Michel Aoun, shifted his allegiances to Syria and signed a document with Hezbollah. Other politicians from the “March 14 Movement” then stopped the demonstrations, leaving them with the support of God knows what. They failed in removing the pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud and brought back a pro-Syrian politician to serve as a speaker of the house, Nabih Berri. Meanwhile, even as they were elected by the faithful Cedar Revolution masses, they engaged in a round table dialogue with Hezbollah, a clear trap set by Hassan Nasrallah: “Let’s talk about the future,” he said — with the implication, of course, that they forget about the Cedar Revolution and the militia’s disarming. While political leaders sat for months, enjoying the photo ops with Hassan Nasrallah, he was preparing his counter offensive, which he unleashed just a few days before the Security Council would discuss the future of Iran’s nuclear programs.
The Lebanese government of Prime Minister Seniora also abandoned the Cedar Revolution. His cabinet neither disarmed Hezbollah nor called on the U.N. to help in implementing UNSCR 1559. This omission is baffling. The government was given so much support by the international community and, more importantly, overwhelming popular support inside Lebanon: 80 percent of the people were hoping the Cedar Revolution-backed government would be the one to resume the liberation of the country. Now Hezbollah has an upper hand and the government is on the defensive.
The U.S. and its allies can be accused of certain shortcomings as well. While the speeches by the U.S. president, congressional leaders from both parties, Tony Blair, and Jacques Chirac were right on target regarding Lebanon, and while the U.S. and its counterparts on the Security Council were diligent in their follow up on the Hariri assassination and on implementing UNSCR 1559, there was no policy or plan to support the popular movement in Lebanon. Incredibly, while billions were spent on the war of ideas in the region, Lebanese NGOs that wanted to resume the struggle of the Cedar Revolution and fighting alone for this purpose were not taken seriously at various levels. Policy planners thought they were dealing with the “Cedar Revolution” when they were meeting Lebanon’s government and Lebanese politicians. The difference between the high level speeches on Lebanon and the laissez-faire approach from lower levels is amazing. Simply put, there was no policy on supporting the Cedar Revolution against the three regimes opposing it and the $400 million received by Hezbollah from Iran.
The Cedar Revolution was basically betrayed by its own politicians and is now essentially without a head. Nevertheless, as long as the international support remains, the Revolution will find its way and will face the dangers. The one and a half million ordinary citizens who braved all the dangers didn’t change their minds about Hezbollah’s terror. The resistance and counter-attack was to be expected. Unfortunately, thus far Iran, Syria, and Hezbollah have outmaneuvered the West and are at the throats of the Cedar Revolution. The international community must revise its plans, and, if it is strongly backed by the U.S. and its allies, including France, the situation can be salvaged. The good seeds are still inside the country.
More at link...
http://www.kuna.net.kw/home/story.aspx?Language=en&DSNO=908739
Qaida may see more losses than gains in Iraq as country enters civil war --
POL-UN-AL-QAIDA-IRAQ
Qaida may see more losses than gains in Iraq as country enters civil war --
UN UNITED NATIONS, Sept 27 (KUNA) -- A UN report on Wednesday said that as Iraq continues to slide towards civil war, Al-Qaida "may paradoxically see more losses than gains." The report, presented to the Security Council by Argentinean Ambassador Cesar Mayoral, Chairman of the Security Council Committee concerning Al-Qaida and the Taliban, said Al-Qaida has gained by continuing to play a central role in the fighting and in encouraging the growth of sectarian violence and Iraq has provided many recruits and an "excellent" training ground.
But, the report added, Al-Zarqawi's death, "while a significant blow" to terrorists in Iraq, "may not have been totally unwelcome to the Al-Qaida leadership.
The report, put together by the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team related to the committee, stated three reasons for that: First - it eliminated an alternative focus to Bin Laden and Al-Zawahiri, Second - it removed a particularly bloodthirsty criminal who undermined the righteous image of Al-Qaida that Bin Laden tried to portray.
Third - it removed the most repellent image of terrorism in Iraq, which may have dissuaded many from joining its ranks, and caused divisions among those that did. The report also said that the team was told by several intelligence and security agencies that fewer foreign fighters have been killed or captured in Iraq over the last few months because many of them returned home disappointed.
Many of these, upon arrival to their homeland from Iraq, expressed their "dissatisfaction that, upon arrival in Iraq, they were asked to kill fellow Muslims rather than foreign soldiers, or even told that there was no role for them except as suicide bombers." The report stated that while Al-Zarqawi's successor - Abu Hamza Al-Muhajir, an Egyptian - will continue to provide Al-Qaida in Iraq with links to external groups, his appointment "may give rise to further tensions between a 'foreign' leader and the Iraqi regional commanders." "The prominent role of Al-Qaida may diminish as the violence escalates between communities, and distinctions blur between sectarian attacks on markets and places of worship, or purely criminal kidnapping and protection rackets on the one hand, and the fight against Iraqi and non-Iraqi forces on the other," the report stated.
It noted that the two terrorist organizations have suffered losses in Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia.
It said there have been many arrests and disrupted plots in those countries, "only some of which have been announced publicly." As to the Taliban, the report said it continued to benefit from a close relationship with Al-Qaida and non-Afghans are still found fighting alongside the Taliban.
It stated that by since 2002, Pakistani authorities arrested 1,000 recruits, including 86 Saudis, 70 Algerians, 28 Indonesians, 22 United Arab Emirates, 20 Egyptians, 20 Moroccans, 18 Malaysians, 11 Libyans, 11 Britons, 7 Kuwaitis, 5 Americans and two Australians.
It added that Al-Qaida attack techniques have also become more evident in Afghanistan, with at least 56 suicide bombings between January and July of this year, compared to only 21 in 2005 and only 10 between 2001 and 2004.
Moreover, it added, new explosive devices are now used in Afghanistan within a month of their first appearing in Iraq.
It also noted that while the Taliban have not been found fighting outside Afghanistan-Pakistan, there have been reports of them training in both Iraq and Somalia. The report said the team witnessed an "increasing willingness of states to band together to prevent the movement of terrorists and their supporters across borders, and these efforts have made a difference." It added, however, that at the same time, "there is no doubt that listed persons continue to travel and the problems of un-policed borders, and widely available stolen, falsified or forged documents remain persistent and difficult to address." The report also warned that many countries are only looking for ways to "suppress" the problem of Terrorism, but "not to defeat it." The team admitted in the report "it is clear that there are no easy solutions." (end) sj.
rk
KUNA 271931 Sep 06NNNN
bump for later
http://www.thetowntalk.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060927/NEWS01/609270329
This is a printer friendly version of an article from thetowntalk.com
Back Article published Sep 27, 2006
Strange twists examined in Zwolle woman's death
By Vickie Welborn
vwelborn@gannett.com
(318) 871-0172
ZWOLLE -- Sabine investigators are certain a 24-year-old Zwolle woman found dead early Monday inside her burned home is a homicide.
Questions still linger as to the cause and whether Latasha Nigreville's lifestyle, that at one time revolved around the Goth movement, has a connection.
In another twist, investigators are trying to determine if an incident Friday night in which an improvised explosive device was thrown from a vehicle near two women who were walking on the school track is related. The vehicle, occupied by two men, reportedly had been seen at Nigreville's residence.
"We're still trying to determine if there's a connection," said Sabine Parish Deputy Coroner Ron Rivers, who also works part time as a Zwolle patrol officer.
About 10 people have been interviewed so far in Nigreville's death, Sabine sheriff's Chief Deputy Travis Bennett said.
A 30-year-old man, considered a "person of interest," was arrested Monday on unrelated bench warrants issued for his failure to appear in court. The Zwolle man has been described as Nigreville's boyfriend.
Investigators still are awaiting the final autopsy results on Nigreville's cause of death, Bennett said.
A preliminary report did not indicate there was trauma to her body, but tests are being performed to determine if she was sexually assaulted, Rivers said.
"It is presumed at this point that she was dead prior to the fire," he added.
Her body was found in the living room of her home in Zwolle. The cause of the fire that originated in the front room is still unknown.
Investigators with the Bureau of Tobacco, Alcohol and Firearms and State Fire Marshal's Office joined Sabine sheriff's Detective Jack Staton, Zwolle Police Chief Marvin Frazier and representatives of the district attorney's office and North Sabine Fire District at the scene most of Tuesday. They sifted through the charred remains in search of evidence.
The Bureau of Tobacco, Alcohol and Firearms also is interested because of the improvised explosive device that was recovered from the Friday night incident, Rivers said.
Rivers was called to the Zwolle Elementary School parking lot Friday night when Edith Garner and Dawn Maxie reported that a burgundy car occupied by two men drove slowly around the school property. The car left but returned as the two women stood by their vehicle. The burgundy car did not have its headlights on.
As it got closer to the women, a smoking object was thrown into the parking lot about 30 feet away. It exploded "with a loud bang," Rivers' report states. The liquid on the ground had an odor of some sort of acid. The bottle, a plastic SunnyD bottle, contained small rocks and bits of aluminum foil.
Nigreville was at the center of a controversy that rocked the small Sabine Parish community six years ago. In late September 2000, Nigreville, then an 18-year-old Zwolle High senior, was arrested for communicating a bomb threat. Nigreville was hospitalized after the incident, and the charge was not pursued.
"She was determined to be potentially suicidal, and we had her committed," DeSoto-Sabine District Attorney Don Burkett said.
During the same time frame, Zwolle was abuzz as rumors of the Goth movement, a subculture fascinated with the dark and mysterious side of life and usually marked by members' attire of black clothing and faces of white makeup. Talk of cult activities such as digging up graves, marking people for death and sacrificing animals involving some Zwolle High students caused weeks of unrest leading up to the annual Tamale Fiesta.
One high school student did commit suicide, and fears were heightened with Nigreville's threat. Nigreville was among the students associated with Goth-like activities.
Law-enforcement investigators took the community's concerns seriously. Area clergy members got involved. Ultimately, no evidence was found to point to an organized Goth or Satanic cult at Zwolle High.
"We are looking at everything right now and just to see if there is a possible cult connection to Nigreville's death," Rivers said.
Nigreville's boss, Sharon Pearce, manager of Bill & Sissy's Diner in Zwolle, described Nigreville as withdrawn and quiet, but a good employee. Nigreville had lived in Houston for the past few years but returned less than a year ago and had been working for the past six months as a cook and dishwasher.
"Hopefully, we'll turn up something soon" on Nigreville's death, Bennett said.
[This is about as weird as they come...granny]
http://www.thetowntalk.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060927/NEWS01/609270327
Article published Sep 27, 2006
LSUA student arrested in computer tampering case
By Mandy M. Goodnight
mgoodnight@thetowntalk.com
(318) 487-6465
A 31-year-old Louisiana State University at Alexandria student is in custody after being accused of downloading student information and administrative files, Rapides Parish sheriff's detectives said.
Michael Todd Hudspeth of Alexandria turned himself in Tuesday to the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office.
The student was arrested on two misdemeanor charges in connection with the investigation, Detective Mike Stephan said.
The confidential information of as many as 1,000 LSUA students were viewed and downloaded last week after authorities say a campus computer was left unattended and was not properly logged out.
Hudspeth is suspected of going into the campus library after it had closed and using computers that had been left logged on, Stephan said.
Investigators say Hudspeth loaded the confidential information onto an external media and left the campus with it. The Sheriff's Office did conduct a search warrant at a residence in Alexandria last week in connection with the case.
Among the information downloaded were students' full names, Social Security numbers and addresses.
The university and investigators are working to determine whose information was accessed without permission. The unauthorized access could involve current and past students.
There is no evidence that the information has been used in a malicious manner, Stephan said.
However, investigators said, Hudspeth did not say why he downloaded the information.
LSUA sent out letters Friday to students informing them of what happened. The university also is working to develop a special web site so that students can confidentially check to see what if any of their information was downloaded.
More information on the special site is forthcoming on the university's Web site, www.lsua.edu, officials said.
In addition, Chancellor Robert Cavanaugh said LSUA is in the process of making its records system more secure. The Sheriff's Office and LSU System officials are helping in the process.
Hudspeth was arrested on charges of criminal trespassing and computer tampering. Computer tampering carries a sentence of not more than six months in jail, a fine of not more than $500 or both.
http://www.thetowntalk.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060928/NEWS01/609280315/1002
Article published Sep 28, 2006
20 arrested in drug sting
Approximately 80 officers from federal, state and local law-enforcement agencies arrested 20 people Wednesday, including six for distribution, in a drug sting in Alexandria and Rapides Parish, according to a media release.
The distribution arrests included Jimmy Quinney, 52, of 3503 Willow Glenn Road, Alexandria; Anthony Madaleno, 24, of 1506 Marilyn Drive, Alexandria; Timothy Jones, 25, of 3223 Hynson St., Alexandria; Derrick Voorhies, 23, of 1824 Harris St., Alexandria; Serlento Bowie, 20, of 2624 Wise St., Alexandria; and Robert Peavy, 53, of 15 Melmoore Drive, Pineville.
Also arrested was Glenn Smith, 24, of 2907 Locust St., Alexandria, on charges of armed robbery, attempted aggravated kidnapping and simple arson.
To report suspicious drug activity, call (318) 767-2585.
# From staff reports
http://www.thetowntalk.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060928/NEWS01/609280321/1002
Article published Sep 28, 2006
5 cited in railroad crossing enforcement
The drivers of five school buses with children aboard were among 33 vehicles cited Wednesday by Louisiana State Police and Union Pacific Railroad police in railroad crossing violations.
The operation was conducted primarily in the Ball and Tioga areas. The purpose was to educate drivers on the dangers of disobeying traffic laws concerning railroad crossings, a Troop E release states.
Individuals are 30 times more likely to die when involved in a collision with a train than with a car, truck or bus, State Police said. It also takes the average freight train traveling at 60 mph almost 1.5 miles to come to a stop, they said.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1800440,00050006.htm
Somalia Prez escapes attack; 11 dead
Reuters
Baidoa, September 19, 2006
A car bomb killed five people and wounded several others outside parliament in Somalia's provincial capital Baidoa on Monday in an assassination attempt on President Abdullahi Yusuf.
Six attackers were killed in a gunbattle with Yusuf's bodyguards after the explosion, which took place as lawmakers approved a new cabinet, Foreign Minister Ismail Hurre Buba said.
"A car exploded when the president's convoy was passing on the way to his residence," Hurre told the agency. "It was an assassination attempt on the president."
Yusuf escaped unharmed, but Hurre said five people were killed in the blast he said bore the hallmarks of Al-Qaeda.
"It was characteristically an (Al) Qaeda-type attempt (with) a car being put next to other cars and an explosion taking place through remote control," he said.
However, Interior Minister Hussein Mohamed Farah Aideed said it was too soon to point the finger at any group. He added that security forces arrested two suspects.
The attack is sure to heighten tensions in the volatile nation of 10 million, between the internationally recognised but weak government and Islamists who control Mogadishu and a large swathe of southern Somalia.
An agency reporter at the scene saw black smoke billowing from burning cars close to the parliament building, which he said appeared to have dead bodies in them.
Government militiamen quickly cordoned off the area around the parliament building, a converted grain warehouse in the town 240 kms (150 miles) from the capital Mogadishu.
Scores of relatives thronged Baidoa's main hospital, where one casualty was admitted with his hand blown off.
Both Minister Hurre and Islamist spokesman Abdirahim Ali Mudey said Monday's violence was linked to the murder on Sunday of an Italian nun shot in Mogadishu.
"We think that the attempt in Baidoa is associated with the assassination of the Italian nun. Whoever was behind that is behind this," Hurre told a news conference in Nairobi.
But senior Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Ahmed blamed foreign interference, singling out Ethiopia, which witnesses and regional experts say has deployed troops to Somalia to protect the government in its second year of power.
"I accuse foreign sides, particularly Ethiopia because it seeks to send foreign troops (to Somalia) and wants to justify its position at the United Nations," Ahmed told al Jazeera.
"... there seems to be many conspiracies being made against this country," he added.
The Islamists and the government have held two rounds of talks in the Sudanese capital Khartoum, pledging to form a joint military force.
"It will jeopardize the peace process if it becomes very obvious that the Islamists are behind this terrorist act," Hurre said, adding that the government was still prepared to meet with "moderate elements" of the Islamic courts.
In July, Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi said Al-Qaeda had training bases in Somalia and was intent on plunging the nation, without effective central rule since 1991, into further chaos.
Witnesses said the parliamentary session carried on as normal after the blast, with 174 lawmakers out of the 199 present approving the cabinet. Gedi had named new ministers after Yusuf declared the earlier cabinet ineffective and dissolved it on Aug 7.
The violence was the latest to target political figures. In July, gunmen shot dead a Somali minister in Baidoa. In 2005 Gedi survived two assassination attempts in Mogadishu and Jowhar.
Somalia descended into lawlessness in 1991 when warlords toppled military dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and the country's 14th attempt at central administration since the ouster has been stymied by infighting and the newly empowered Islamists.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1807723,00050001.htm
Suspicious package prompts evacuation of federal courthouse
Press Trust of India
Washington, September 27, 2006
A federal courthouse within sight of the Capitol building was evacuated on Wednesday when a suspicious package was found near the building.
Sheldon Snook, chief of staff to Chief Judge Thomas Hogan, said fire alarms were sounded and the building was cleared as a precaution. Law enforcement officials were surveying the area around the building's entrance.
Evacuation of the E Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse occurred shortly before a hearing was to begin in the CIA leak case.
Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald and about eight of his associates were forced to leave the building and join more than 100 others on the sidewalks nearby.
The defendant in the case, former White House aide I Lewis "Scooter" Libby, and his legal team had not arrived.
The judges of the US District Court for the District of Columbia were moved across the street to the District of Columbia Superior Courthouse.
Thanks to Milford421, for posting this.
BREAKING NEWS: Exide plant fire - Tenn.
http://www.tricities.com/tristate/tri/news.apx.-content-articles-TRI-2006-09-28-0026.html
Thursday, Sep 28, 2006 - 07:44 AM
News Channel 11 Staff Reports
Bristol, Tennessee fire crews are on the scene of a fire at the Exide
battery plant.
Authorities say the fire broke out around 6:20 this morning on the
west side of the building. The fire is now under control.
Bristol, Tennessee Police have closed off the Exide Drive area
including parts of the Volunteer Parkway and Highway 394.
NewsChannel 11 has a crew on the scene and we'll have more information
as soon as it becomes available.
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/under-investigation/
Thanks to Milford421, I assume a pumping station is for water?
[under-investigation] Explosions precede fires at Dominion pumping station in Jackson Township, OH
http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?Category=9&ID=310127&r=8
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
JACKSON TWP. Two small explosions led to a pair of fires at Dominion
East Ohio's pumping station at West Boulevard and Lake O'Springs
Avenue NW on Tuesday night.
Township firefighters were called to the building at 5435 West Blvd.
about 7:15 p.m. Tuesday after a neighbor reported hearing an
explosion. However, there was no fire and everything appeared to be
under control, said Battalion Chief Lee Antonacci.
But at 9:08 p.m., another blast brought firefighters back to the
scene, where a small fire was found in a filtration system outside
the building and another blaze was inside the compressor building.
The flames were quickly extinguished with no major damage resulting,
except to the filtration system.
A Dominion employee was taken to Mercy Medical Center with breathing
difficulties. No information about his condition was available late
Tuesday.
At 11 p.m., Antonacci said firefighters were still on the scene as a
precaution, but everything appeared to be back to normal.
September 28, 2006 Anti-Terrorism News
(UK) Pakistani intel (ISI) accused of al-Qaida help - BBC broadcast
states document accuses ISI of indirectly supporting terrorist groups and
should be disbanded
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060928/ap_on_re_eu/britain_pakistan
(Pakistan) Musharraf denies Pak supports terrorism, says Osama in
Afghan
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/theworld/2006/September/theworld_September985.xml§ion=theworld
Angry Musharraf to raise ISI collusion claims with Blair
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2379063,00.html
(Pakistan) In tribal Pakistan, an uneasy quiet - Pact fails to deter
backing for Taliban
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15037065/from/RS.2/
Senate Likely to Approve Detainee Interrogation Bill - House approved
Wednesday
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,216223,00.html
NATO likely to meet most Afghan troop shortfalls
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060928/wl_sthasia_afp/natoafghanistanmilitary_060928101119
(Iraq) Twin bomb blasts kill five - in Baghdad
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20492733-1702,00.html
(Iraq) Suicide car bomb kills 2 Iraqi soldiers - in Shaab
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060928/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_violence;_ylt=Ajzg0x3ABCju97MLoTwE6J4LewgF;_ylu=X3oDMTBjMHVqMTQ4BHNlYwN5bnN1YmNhdA--
Iraq convicts 22 suspected insurgents
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060928/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_convictions;_ylt=AlxABjWmIICfAA7cNZGh6xsLewgF;_ylu=X3oDMTBjMHVqMTQ4BHNlYwN5bnN1YmNhdA--
(Iraq) 40 tortured bodies found in Baghdad
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/iraq;_ylt=AgGCgUKm8Iq16d0Pog5wa9RX6GMA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl
(Iraq) US seeks action on Shia death squads
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2378845,00.html
Quarter million Iraqis flee sectarian violence
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060928/wl_nm/iraq_dc;_ylt=Ajwb8F1OjyF8XIpD_XUfzNzuOrgF;_ylu=X3oDMTA4NTMzazIyBHNlYwMxNjk2
Indonesian wife (of Omar al-Farouk) denies slain Al-Qaeda fugitive a
terrorist
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060928/wl_mideast_afp/iraqattacksqaeda_060928095517;_ylt=AlRoTwuN86zhqt9GVnvv6U5X6GMA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl
Poll: Iraqis Back Attacks on U.S. Troops
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,216237,00.html
Abizaid says al-Qaida must be controlled
http://www.washingtontimes.com/upi/20060927-105403-1990r.htm
(Thailand) Six injured in bomb blast in south Thailand
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/003200609281122.htm
(India) Powerful bomb recovered in Manipur
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/004200609281231.htm
(India) One man convicted, five others acquitted in Mumbai bombing case
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2006/September/subcontinent_September1062.xml§ion=subcontinent&col=
(India) Kashmiris protest planned execution of militant
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1159193334862&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Philippines wants to blacklist Islamic group - Rajah Solaiman
Revolutionary Movement
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1159193335227&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Report: Suicide bombers follow Quran, concludes Pentagon briefing -
report alleges Counterintelligence Field Activity study
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52184
(Israel) Palestinian Fatah Leader Barghouti: More kidnappings if top
Palestinian prisoners not freed
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3308928,00.html
(Australia) Terror suspect Jamal back in Sydney
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20490010-1702,00.html
French intelligence examined in 'Guantanamo six' trial - court
postpones verdict
http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel_id=25&story_id=33381
(Belgium) Third Night of Ramadan Rioting in Capital of Europe
http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/1384
(Saudi Arabia) OIC to revive news agency, TV network to counter Western
"bias"
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/theworld/2006/September/theworld_September955.xml§ion=theworld
Assailants throw gasoline bombs at Russian mosque
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1159193335945&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Second attack in three days against a Chaldean church
http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=7321
http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=113172
Al-Qaeda operative had Indonesian wife
Jakarta (dpa) - The Indonesian wife of a senior al-Qaeda figure killed
in
Iraq by British troops doubted Tuesday that her husband is dead,
according
to local reports.
Mira Augustine, who last saw Omar al-Farouq prior to his arrest in West
Java
by Indonesian and US intelligence officials in 2002, said she had not
been
informed by authorities, according to Detik.com online news portal.
"I don't believe it because the news is still not confirmed and is
unclear,"
she was quoted as saying from her home in Bogor, West Java province. "I
hope
it is not true."
She said that if her husband, who escaped from US military custody in
Afghanistan in 2005 and was considered a senior al-Qaeda operative, is
dead,
she wanted his body returned to Indonesia for burial.
Al-Farouq, a native Iraqi, was sent by al-Qaeda to South-East Asia to
plan
attacks on US embassies and other Western targets in the region.
He was captured by Indonesia's State Intelligence Agency, which under a
rendition agreement handed him over to US Central Intelligence Agency
officials who immediately flew him out of the country, a senior
Indonesian
counter-terrorism official told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
The terrorist suspect was one of a group of inmates at Bagram Air Force
Base
in Afghanistan who inexplicably escaped from detention there, and
worked his
way back to Iraq.
A spokesman said some 250 soldiers stormed a house in which al-Farouq
was
staying in the port of Basra late Sunday.
Farouq - who has been linked to a series of kidnappings and murders and
was
believed to be a top lieutenant of Osama bin Laden - was shot when he
resisted arrest, according to the British Foreign Ministry.
Thanks to Milford 421 for this post.
[under-investigation] Unknown Chemical Explodes in Home - Dep. Hospitalized - FL
http://cbs4.com/topstories/local_story_271073748.html
BSO Deputies Hospitalized After Chemical Explosion
(CBS4 News) POMPANO BEACH Two BSO deputies were hospitalized early
Thursday morning due to exposure to an unknown chemical.
The deputies were serving a search warrant at a home located at 1549
NE 48th Street in Pompano Beach around 3:00 a.m. when there was a
small explosion inside the home.
The deputies were not hurt but were taken to the hospital as a
precaution because of exposure to the unknown chemical that exploded.
The suspect, wanted on an assault charge, was taken into custody
without incident.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
http://www.janes.com/security/international_security/news/jir/jir060926_2_n.shtml
Fourth-generation warfare and the international jihad
By Shane Drennan and Andrew Black
The future generation of international jihadists will form a fluid, non-hierarchical movement of autonomous armed groups instigating simultaneous armed struggle, according to a leading radical Islamist ideologue.
Mustafa Setmariam Nasar, also known as Abu Musab al-Suri, presents a cogent analysis of the global jihad in a series of now widely referenced online tracts, and establishes the strategic guidance for the development of what he calls the "international Islamic resistance generation".
In January 2005, only weeks after the US government posted a USD5 million reward for information leading to his apprehension, Nasar returned from a self-imposed two year hiatus to post a 1,600-page treatise under the pen name Abu Musab al-Suri, entitled The call for a global Islamic resistance (Da'wat al-muqawamah al-islamiyyah al-'alamiyyah). Despite his capture in Pakistan on 1 November 2005 and his continuing detention, Nasar's legacy will endure, much like that of radical Islamist ideologues Sayyid Qutb or Hassan al-Banna, as he has successfully laid the literary foundation for the third generation of international jihadists.
Nasar's goal is best described as a movement of autonomous jihadists constituting a global insurgency. Upon the successful establishment of these autonomous jihadists operating in both Dar al-Harb and Dar al-Islam, Nasar believes that this self-perpetuating global insurgency will sap the US and the West of their strength by forcing them to fight on hundreds of fronts. In so doing, Nasar is reliant upon awakening the Muslim masses resident in both the Arab world and the West, a point he elaborates to great length throughout his teachings and writings. In this way, Nasar will be the ideological progenitor not just of a global insurgency, but of a generation of international Islamic resistance.
Despite the significant issues inherent in disseminating a 1,600-page treatise to the multilingual global jihad, evidence of Nasar's enduring legacy materialised in September 2005. An individual calling himself Abu Muhammad al-Hilali published a document on the Al-Hesbah internet forum detailing instructions and analysis for the jihad in Egypt and the Sinai in particular.
In Al-Qaeda's search for new fronts: instructions for jihadi activity in Egypt and Sinai, published in October 2005, the academic Reuven Paz wrote that what is of particular interest in Hilali's posting is that he refers directly to the writings of Nasar and uses Nasar's abstract, analytical approach. One topic addressed specifically by Hilali and first mentioned by Nasar is the targeting of tourists in Muslim countries. Consider that since the publication of Nasar's book, Egypt experienced attacks on tourists in several popular Sinai holiday resorts in 2004, 2005 and 2006.
422 of 4,429 words
© 2006 Jane's Information Group
Jane's Information Group is an impartial supplier of authoritative and accurate information and inclusion of this material in its information services in no way implies its endorsement or support of the views expressed therein.
[End of non-subscriber extract]
http://www.thehawaiichannel.com/news/9941624/detail.html
Passengers Felt Terrorists Overran United Flight
Airline Says Passengers' Safety Was Not In Question
POSTED: 6:05 pm HST September 26, 2006
UPDATED: 6:18 pm HST September 26, 2006
HONOLULU -- Passengers on a United Airlines flight to Honolulu this
summer
told KITV that they thought they were being hijacked.
A man was speaking a foreign language on the intercom and men wearing
matching shirts were blocking the aisles, passengers said.
Despite the passengers' fears, United said it did not feel anyone was
in
danger. So, law enforcement was not called in.
Now, the passengers' fear has turned to anger toward the airline.
"I thought that I was going to die," passenger Ethel Walker said.
"It certainly occurred to me that we may be living through a terrorist
incident," passenger Steve Bartlett said.
Bartlett and Walker of Makiki were seated together on a July 10 flight
from
San Francisco. About an hour out of Honolulu, visions of the Sept. 11
hijackings came to their minds when a voice spoke a foreign language
over
the intercom.
"That gave me a warning that, OK this is pretty powerful. If he can
take
over the (Public Address) system like this," Walker said.
The two passengers saw more than a dozen young men in matching green
shirts
all around the cabin.
"I would describe them as somewhat confident, a little bit swaggering,"
Bartlett said.
"I decided if I am going to die, I am going to die trying to do
something
about this," Walker said.
Walker left her seat after the foreign voice spoke a second time and
found a
flight attendant who appeared scared to her.
"I got close to her and I said, 'Are we OK? Are we safe? I am afraid.
In
fact, we are all afraid.' She said, 'I've lost control of my station,'"
Walker said.
Walker said another passenger told her she was thinking the same thing
as
another passenger spoke.
"She said, 'My husband and I, and my sons, and I were planning on how
we
were going to take the terrorists down,'" Walker said.
A Transportation Security Administration investigator told Walker and
Bartlett in a letter that "United Airlines acknowledged a serious
disruption
on your flight... the result of unruly Brazilian teenagers on a tour...
managed by one chaperone."
United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said in a written statement that it
took
no action because "at no time did we feel the safety of our passengers
was
in question."
"I don't know what was on those kids' minds that day, but United failed
us,"
McCarthy said.
Walker said she was so shaken by the incident she has been getting
counseling and has given up the traveling she loves.
http://www.wpxi.com/news/9927013/detail.html
Police Find Suspicious Remote In Stolen Car
Driver Jumps From Vehicle, Runs
POSTED: 8:47 am EDT September 25, 2006
UPDATED: 9:34 am EDT September 25, 2006
PITTSBURGH -- Officials are investigating after a suspicious car was found overnight in Homestead .
Police said they spotted a man driving a stolen car around 1:30 a.m. Monday on Amity Street .
He jumped out of the vehicle and ran, officials said.
When police looked inside the car, they found a remote control board that looked suspicious.
Officer Jeff DeSimone said, "We called Allegheny County Bomb Squad out. Right now, they retrieved the device and X-rayed the device. There is a circuit board. It doesn't appear to be any explosive in the device; however, they will go through the car to see if something might be in the car."
No other details are being released at this time.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1710002/posts
suspicious powder found in D.C. congress building (news flash on CNN)
CNN ^ | 29 september 2006 | myself
Posted on 09/28/2006 9:00:15 AM PDT by Btrp113Cav
just saw it on cnn, it was a quick news flash anyone else see it?
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1710003/posts
Iraq Qaeda calls for biological warfare against US
AFP ^ | September 28 2006
Posted on 09/28/2006 9:01:40 AM PDT by jmc1969
Al-Qaeda's chief in Iraq called for launching biological warfare on US troops in the war-torn country, in an audio-clip posted on the Internet.
"My message to the pioneers ... especially atomic and explosives experts: We are in urgent need for you, as the American bases are the perfect place for non-conventional experiments of biological and dirty (warfare)," said the voice, purportedly that of to Abu Hamza al-Muhajer.
Muhajer said the group was launching a new "all-out offensive ... to uproot the infidels and the apostates," from Iraq, in reference to the US-led coalition forces and their supporters among the Iraqis.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1709996/posts
Iraq terror leader recruits scientists
Associated Press ^ | PATRICK QUINN
Posted on 09/28/2006 8:52:20 AM PDT by 300magnum
CAIRO, Egypt - In a new audio message Thursday, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq called for explosives experts and nuclear scientists to join his group's holy war against the West. He also said that more than 4,000 foreign insurgent fighters have been killed in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
That comment was believed to be the first major statement from insurgents in Iraq about their losses.
"The blood has been spilled in Iraq of more than 4,000 foreigners who came to fight," said the man, who identified himself as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir — also known as Abu Ayyub al-Masri — the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq. The voice could not be independently identified.
The Arabic word he used indicated he was speaking about foreigners who joined the insurgency in Iraq, not coalition troops.
The speaker said "the field of jihad" could provide scientists with an avenue for experimentation.
"The field of jihad (holy war) can satisfy your scientific ambitions, and the large American bases (in Iraq) are good places to test your unconventional weapons, whether biological or dirty, as they call them," he said.
In the recording, al-Masri's also urged Muslims to make Ramadan a "month of holy war" and called for insurgents in Iraq to kidnap Westerners. Sunni Arabs began observing Ramadan in Iraq on Saturday, while Shiites were to begin Monday.
Al-Masri called on insurgents in Iraq to capture Westerners so they could be traded for the imprisoned Egyptian sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman, who was convicted in 1995 of conspiring to blow up New York City landmarks.
"I appeal to every holy warrior in the land of Iraq to exert all efforts in this holy month so that God may enable us to capture some of the Western dogs to swap them with our sheik and get him out of his dark prison," the voice on the tape said.
Al-Masri, a Sunni Muslim, has been relatively silent since taking over control of al-Qaida in Iraq earlier this year — a sharp contrast with al-Zarqawi, who frequently issued audiotapes and even a videotape that showed his face a few weeks before his death.
Al-Masri is believed to have succeeded Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who died in a U.S. airstrike north of Baghdad in June, as the head of al-Qaida in Iraq.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1709996/posts
Iraq terror leader recruits scientists
Associated Press ^ | PATRICK QUINN
Posted on 09/28/2006 8:52:20 AM PDT by 300magnum
CAIRO, Egypt - In a new audio message Thursday, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq called for explosives experts and nuclear scientists to join his group's holy war against the West. He also said that more than 4,000 foreign insurgent fighters have been killed in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
That comment was believed to be the first major statement from insurgents in Iraq about their losses.
"The blood has been spilled in Iraq of more than 4,000 foreigners who came to fight," said the man, who identified himself as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir — also known as Abu Ayyub al-Masri — the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq. The voice could not be independently identified.
The Arabic word he used indicated he was speaking about foreigners who joined the insurgency in Iraq, not coalition troops.
The speaker said "the field of jihad" could provide scientists with an avenue for experimentation.
"The field of jihad (holy war) can satisfy your scientific ambitions, and the large American bases (in Iraq) are good places to test your unconventional weapons, whether biological or dirty, as they call them," he said.
In the recording, al-Masri's also urged Muslims to make Ramadan a "month of holy war" and called for insurgents in Iraq to kidnap Westerners. Sunni Arabs began observing Ramadan in Iraq on Saturday, while Shiites were to begin Monday.
Al-Masri called on insurgents in Iraq to capture Westerners so they could be traded for the imprisoned Egyptian sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman, who was convicted in 1995 of conspiring to blow up New York City landmarks.
"I appeal to every holy warrior in the land of Iraq to exert all efforts in this holy month so that God may enable us to capture some of the Western dogs to swap them with our sheik and get him out of his dark prison," the voice on the tape said.
Al-Masri, a Sunni Muslim, has been relatively silent since taking over control of al-Qaida in Iraq earlier this year — a sharp contrast with al-Zarqawi, who frequently issued audiotapes and even a videotape that showed his face a few weeks before his death.
Al-Masri is believed to have succeeded Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who died in a U.S. airstrike north of Baghdad in June, as the head of al-Qaida in Iraq.
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