Posted on 02/26/2007 4:18:14 PM PST by DAVEY CROCKETT
No one to counter Chavez In a region where the leading ideology is Bolivarianism, there is not one leader positioned to offer a better idea for a brighter future.
Commentary by Sam Logan for ISN Security Watch (23/02/2007)
For over two decades, the prevailing ideology in Latin America was neo-liberalism, a Washington-born idea that claimed the power of open markets would lift the region’s poor from misery. It did not, and corruption ran rampant.
While democracy still remains strong, resentful voters ushered in a new generation of neo-populist leaders touting a new idea: a form of socialism, called Bolivarianism, that has slowly but surely become the loudest and most prevalent ideology.
Bolivarianism is anti-capitalist, supports nationalization, regional trade with like-minded countries and above all, suggests that a country should rely on itself or fellow socialist states, not imperialist powers, as a source of the economic growth that will lift all from poverty. It is a sort of refurbished socialism that is not a guiding light for the future.
Latin America cannot readily absorb the economic shock of open markets, nor can it get bogged down in the trappings of old socialist ideas. A blended ideology must be promoted, but the problem is that no one is strong enough to counter Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, the leader of Bolivarianism.
Chavez calls it Socialism for the 21st Century. Cuba's Fidel Castro passed him the torch. Leaders around the region pay homage to their own past as socialist upstarts through hugging and laughing with Chavez on the international stage while taking care of often pro-capitalist, neo-liberal business at home.
Brazilian President Luis Inacio “Lula” da Silva is a perfect example. He has the leftist background and eye for fiscal conservatism to become a great ideological counterweight to Chavez. His politics represent an ideal blend for the region. But his politically weak position at home and strong voices from his own left deter any would be shouting match with Chavez.
Within a week after winning his second term in office, Lula visited Chavez for a photo opportunity on a bridge linking both countries. That was in November, and it looks like Lula’s administration will remain bogged down until March as he struggles to get past his party’s sordid past and form a working cabinet willing to share the same table.
Argentina of the past could have been a counter weight to the Bolivarian ideology. But since Nestor Kirchner has come to power, Argentina has become a Venezuelan puppet.
Chavez has literally bought the support of his southern neighbor with over US$3 billion in purchases of Argentine debt. The most recent purchase occurred on 16 February, when Venezuela dumped another US$750 million into Argentine government coffers.
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has the politics to promote an ideological battle with Chavez. Colombia has been a model of economic growth through a mixture of neo-liberal policies and social programs. But Uribe has serious problems.
Political allies are falling like dominos due to links with former paramilitary leaders. And if Uribe took the time to speak out for neo-liberalism and against Chavez, he would be dismissed as another of Washington's puppets. Colombia is a top recipient of US aid.
The only other leader who could take up an ideological fight with Chavez is Mexican President Felipe Calderon. He has the right politics and his country has a history of not blindly supporting the US. Voting against the US invasion of Iraq at the UN is a clear indication. But Calderon won on the thinnest possible mandate. His opposition controls enough seats in the Mexican Congress to block any unwanted initiative, and his focus is on Mexican organized crime, not on verbal sword play with Chavez.
Finally, the US has launched a diplomatic offensive in the region. This is to be a year of engagement, but the US president is clearly obsessed with the war in Iraq, not with putting a muzzle on Venezuela’s leader for the sake of the region’s future. Washington is doubly discredited, first for promoting an ideology that clearly did not work, and second for doing nothing about it.
Latin America needs an independent leader willing to stand up to Chavez, but that leader does not exist on the region’s geopolitical map. Bolivarianism will continue to seep into the minds and hearts of millions across Latin America. Chavez and his pool of allies will control the headlines until the next round of presidential elections tell the world how the region has embraced this new ideology.
As Chavez puts it, Socialism for the 21st Century is just getting started. If that is true, then he will continue to trumpet his ideology until Latin Americans learn, the hard way, that Bolivarianism did not carry them much farther from poverty than neo-liberalism. Disillusionment with reality may then spread faster than hope for the future.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sam Logan is an investigative journalist who has reported on security, energy, politics, economics, organized crime, terrorism and black markets in Latin America since 1999. He is a senior writer for ISN Security Watch based in Brazil.
The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author only, not the International Relations and Security Network (ISN).
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/03/18/asia/AS-GEN-Malaysia-Kitche...
Muslims deny that Thai restaurants provide funding to insurgent terror
The Associated Press
Published: March 18, 2007
KOTA BARU, Malaysia: In a dingy restaurant, adorned with posters of
Mount Fuji and African scenery, Sharifa Saleh has built a new life as a
cook, escaping the terror and poverty in her native Thailand.
Like Sharifa, tens of thousands of Thai Muslims have poured into
Malaysia since 2004, driven by a separatist Islamic insurgency in
Thailand's southern provinces that form the Buddhist country's
underbelly where good jobs are scarce and violence plenty.
And like Sharifa, many have found work in the Thai eateries — popularly
known as tom yam kung restaurants because of the ubiquitous tom yam soup
they serve — dotting the length and breadth of neighboring Malaysia.
The tom yam restaurants came under spotlight after Thailand's prime
minister, Surayud Chulanont, claimed recently that many of them are a
significant source of funding and recruitment for the separatists.
Malaysia — offended by the implication that it was a breeding ground for
terrorist support — denied the accusation. Independent analysts and
diplomats interviewed by The Associated Press also say there is little
evidence of big-time conspiracies cooking in the kitchens of the tom yam
restaurants.
Saroja Dorairajoo, a Singapore academic who did her doctoral research on
southern Thailand for six years with a focus on tom yam restaurant
workers, said "there are links for sure" between separatist groups and
tom yam restaurants.
"But how extensive they are ... I am not so sure. I don't think they are
(extensive)," Dorairajoo said in an interview. "In the past perhaps, but
not currently. When Surayud made that statement I was a little surprised."
Still, "If you look at the literature of restaurants they are supposedly
innocuous places. Nobody thinks of looking for separatists in a
restaurant. But the very fact that it's innocuous gives it so much
security, gives the person who's there so much security," she said.
Dorairajoo said some of the tom yam restaurants are run by former Thai
separatists who fled to Malaysia, a natural haven for refuge. Thai
Muslims and Malaysia's Malay Muslims are of the same ethnicity, speak
the same language and many have family links.
People living close to the border have dual citizenship and the border
is virtually nonexistent, in places only a narrow river that one can
wade through. The governments of Thailand and Malaysia only recently
agreed to end dual citizenship.
There are no figures on how many tom yam restaurants there are in
Malaysia. The number is estimated to be about 5,000, of which about
2,000 are owned by Thai Muslims.
Most of them are little more than hole-in-the-wall shacks with zinc
roofs, plastic chairs and rickety tables. That description fits the T.C.
Maju Restoran where Sharifa works in Kota Baru, the capital of the
northeastern state of Kelantan.
She came with her husband and sister-in-law a few years ago, and found
the job with the help of relatives in Kelantan. It was becoming
difficult to live on paddy farming back home in Tak Bai town, she said.
Sharifa said four of her cousins were among the 85 people killed in the
infamous Tak Bai tragedy on Oct. 25, 2004. The victims died of
suffocation when security forces arrested 1,300 people and piled them on
top of each other in trucks, making them lie face down.
"I don't know whom to blame," said Sharifa. "There is silence in the
village. Nobody talks about it," she said. "I was angry and sad but
couldn't do anything."
Anger against the Thai government and military's heavy-handed ways is
evident among the Thai workers in Malaysia. But the tom yam restaurant
workers reject any suggestion they support the insurgency back home or
that they have any links.
"I am compelled to support the separatists' ideology because the
government is not doing anything right," said Mohammed Romli Yussof, 32,
a tom yam restaurant cook from the Thai province of Pattani.
"But I will never give them (militants) any money. I don't know how the
money will be used. If it is to explode bombs, then definitely not,"
said Yussof, 32.
Yussof, Sharifa and others interviewed by The AP say they send money
back home regularly, but only to family. Sharifa, her husband and Yussof
earn 40 ringgit (US$11; €9) each a day, double the amount they made in
Thailand.
Remittances from Thais working in Malaysia are "perhaps the most
important part of the economy" of southern Thailand, according to a 2005
study by Zachary Abuza, an expert on Southeast Asian insurgencies who
teaches at Simmons College, Boston.
His study says an estimated 230,000 Thai Muslims — one-fifth of southern
Thailand's work force — work in Malaysia and remit 6 billion Thai baht
(US$171 million; €134 million) annually. There are no figures on how
much money comes from the tom yam restaurants.
Nazri Aziz, a Malaysian Cabinet minister and the patron of the Malaysian
Tomyam Restaurant Operators Association, or PERTOM, said he would never
allow the organization to be involved in the insurgency.
"We are ready to cooperate with Thailand in this matter because we will
not protect any PERTOM member involved in this," he said.
http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?ID=342760&Category=24
Muslim insurgents murder school children
Sunday, March 18, 2007
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - A deadly attack on an Islamic school in
Thailand's restive south that left three students dead and seven injured
sparked hundreds of Muslim villagers to rioted Sunday in protest.
Police blamed the attack in the southern province of Songkhla on Muslim
insurgents, but villagers said they didn't believe Muslims were behind
the violence.
More than 500 protesters gathered outside the school, parading the dead
children's bodies through the crowd and setting fire to two buildings at
a nearby government-owned school. Some hurled stones at police.
The attack occurred late Saturday evening at the Bamrungsart Pondok
school, a Muslim boarding school in Songkhla province, said police Col.
Thammasak Wasaksiri.
Attackers hurled explosives onto the school grounds and opened fire with
assault rifles into the sleeping quarters of the school, Thammasak said.
He said police believe Muslim insurgents staged the attack and hoped to
convince local residents that authorities were behind it _ a ploy to win
villagers over to the insurgents' cause.
But the protesting villagers said Sunday morning they didn't believe
that Muslims had staged the attack.
"The villagers are accusing paratroopers of attacking the school,"
Thammasak said.
Thailand's three Muslim provinces have hundreds of religious Islamic
schools, some of which authorities have accused of harboring insurgents
and serving as a training ground for violence.
Drive-by shootings and bombings occur almost daily in Thailand's three
Muslim-majority provinces _ Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani, and
increasingly in the neighboring province of Songkhla.
Gen. Virote Baucharoon, the army commander in charge of the restive
provinces, said that security forces had recently raided an Islamic
school and confiscated an M-16 assault rifle, bullets, a computer with
suspicious material on the hard drive and other documents believed to be
linked to the insurgency.
"This leads us to believe that religious schools are involved with the
ongoing violence," he said.
Though Buddhist teachers have been targeted in the past, children have
largely been spared.
The victims of Saturday's violence were identified as a 12-year-old and
two 14-year-olds. Injured students, ranging in age from 13 to 17, were
being treated for gun wounds and other injuries, Thammasak said. More
than 75 students were in the school's dormitory at the time of the attack.
Violence in the south has increased since a military-installed
government took power in September following a coup that ousted
then-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-03/18/content_5863319.htm
Arab parliament leaders seek partnership with EU
www.chinaview.cn 2007-03-18 17:42:47
TUNIS, March 17 (Xinhua) -- European and Mediterranean nations
should forge a comprehensive partnership covering such areas as
politics, economy and culture, the speaker of the Tunisian parliament
said on Saturday.
Speaking at a meeting of the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary
Assembly, Fouad Mebazaa urged the assembly to continue efforts to
strengthen dialogue between the two sides of the Mediterranean Sea.
The assembly comprises 240 lawmakers from European Union members and
10 Mediterranean nations.
At the meeting, Arab parliament leaders also emphasized the
importance of maintaining stability in the Middle East.
Amr Moussa, secretary general of the Arab League, called on EU and
Mediterranean nations to back policies designed to achieve
denuclearization in the Middle East and the Mediterranean.
The conflict between Israel and Palestine has impaired the region's
peace process, said Ahmed Fathi Sorour, speaker of the Egyptian people's
assembly. Peace can only be realized through reconciliation and mutual
respect between different nations, Sorour said.
http://www2.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0703185603005952.htm
Turkish envoy, FM official discuss case of Iranian disappeared in Turkey
Tehran, March 17, IRNA
Iran-Turkey-Envoy
Turkish Ambassador to Tehran Husun Gurcan Turkoglu in a meeting with an
official from foreign ministry discussed with him the case of Iranian
citizen Alireza Asgari who has disappeared in Turkey.
The Turkish diplomat told the Iranian official that his government was
seriously following up the case.
According to Foreign Ministry Media Department report on Saturday,
Turkoglu in a meeting with Director General of the western Asia Rasoul
Islami referred to a statement released by the Turkish foreign ministry
spokesman.
The spokesman had said what the Turkish media published about Asgari was
mostly 'speculation'.
ISLAMICIZATION OF ANTWERP
By Paul Belien
Majadele refuses to sing national anthem
Rightist MKs slam Israel's first Arab minister, who said in newspaper
interview he would not sing anthem, because song was written 'only for
Jews'
Amnon Meranda YNET Published: 03.17.07, 23:37 / Israel News
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3377681,00.html
Rightist Knesset members strongly criticized Minister Raleb Majadele
Saturday, after he said in an interview to Yedioth Ahronoth this
weekend
that he refuses to sing Israel's national anthem, Hatikva.
In the interview, Majadele said, "Of course I would not sing the anthem
in
its current form. But before we talk about symbols, I want to talk
about
equal education for my children. It's more important that my son would
be
able to buy a house, live with dignity. the Arabs are not in a mood to
sing
right now."
Majadele told Ynet following interview that, "As a government minister,
I
swore allegiance to the laws of the State of Israel, and I intend to
honor
them." Majadele noted that he expresses his respect to the national
anthem
by standing up whenever the song is being sung.
"To the best of my knowledge, the law does not require me to sing the
anthem, but to honor it. I fail to understand how an enlightened, sane
Jew
allows himself to ask a Muslim person with a different language and
culture,
to sing an anthem that was written for Jews only," he added.
'Majadele must apologize'
Majadele's statements prompted harsh responses among right-wing MKs. MK
Arieh Eldad (National Union-National Religious Party) said that a man
who
refuses to sing the national anthem should not be a minister.
"I don't want to force Minister Majadele to sing the anthem, but I
don't
want to see as a minister a man who does not identify with Israel's
character, and who declares he does not identify with the national
anthem,"
he stated.
MK Zevulun Orlev (National Union-NRP) was also furious with Majadele's
words
and said that the prime minister should order the minister to
apologize.
"Majadele's statements should raise deep concern. They represent a
clear
violation of his ministerial oath to be loyal to the State of Israel
and its
laws. I call on the prime minister to demand that he make it clear he
is
loyal to the State of Israel as a Jewish state," he declared.
Tibi: Attacks are hypocritical
Meanwhile, MK Ahmed Tibi voiced his support for Majadele, and said that
he
too never sings the anthem.
"The attacks on him from the Right are hypocritical, self-righteous and
ridiculous. Hatikva's words cannot be sung by any Arab citizen," Tibi
said,
adding that any reasonable Jew should sympathize with this sentiment,
"Including honest rightists who have already accepted the fact that the
words are aimed at the Jewish, not the Arab, soul."
"Lately we have witnessed a torrent of anti-Arab statements, and this
should
be understood in this context," he concluded.
MK Sa'ar: 'Fatah has surrendered to Hamas'
JPost.com Staff, THE JERUSALEM POST Mar. 18, 2007
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1173879109032&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
"The new Palestinian Authority government is a Hamas government in
every
way," MK Gidon Sa'ar (Likud) said on Sunday morning, adding, "Fatah has
surrendered to Hamas."
In an interview with Israel Radio, Sa'ar stressed that Hamas was still
a
major terror group, noting that the weapons flow to Gaza had increased
six-fold in the last year.
"We need to stop this arms flow," said Sa'ar. "We don't want another
inquiry
commission following another conflict we were unprepared for."
http://www.bakutoday.net/view.php?d=33605
Indian Gold Firm Facing Uncertain Future In Armeniaq
Radio Free Europe 16/02/2007 21:20
Environment Minister Vartan Ayvazian on Friday again accused an Indian-owned company developing the bulk of Armenia’s gold reserves of large-scale fraud and mismanagement, insisting that the Armenian government revoke its operating license.
Trend
Indian Gold Firm Facing Uncertain Future In Armeniaq
Radio Free Europe 16/02/2007 21:20
Environment Minister Vartan Ayvazian on Friday again accused an Indian-owned company developing the bulk of Armenia’s gold reserves of large-scale fraud and mismanagement, insisting that the Armenian government revoke its operating license.
“They are not doing a good job,” Ayvazian told reporters. “Shouldn’t we punish them? They have wreaked havoc on the mines.”
“I called for them to be stripped of the license long ago, but was told that there are no sufficient grounds for that,” he complained.
The Armenian subsidiary of the London-based Vedanta Resources was reportedly placed under a criminal investigation last month after Ayvazian’s ministry issued a fresh report accusing it of underreporting ore extracted from its Zod and Meghradzor gold mines. The ore is turned into gold at a smelter in the southern town of Ararat.
Prosecutors reportedly raided the offices of the Ararat Gold Recovery Company (AGRC) last month amid media speculation that the Armenian authorities have decided force Vedanta to sell it to a Russian mining giant. The speculation followed President Robert Kocharian’s late January meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that focused on economic issues. Kocharian described mining as a new promising area of Russian-Armenian economic cooperation.
AGRC already faced fraud allegations in 2004 after a regular inspection of its gold mines by the Environment Ministry’s Ecological Inspectorate. The agency charged in a report that the company underreported 900 kilograms of gold to evade millions of dollars worth of taxes. The Indians strongly denied the allegations and took the ministry to the court. Still, they had to pay a $500,000 fine in an out-of-court settlement reached in March 2005.
Later in 2005, officials from the Ecological Inspectorate again inspected the mines and claimed to have uncovered another 1.3 tons of hidden gold. AGRC was also found guilty of serious violations of safety regulations which Ayvazian said have killed five company workers in recent years. The findings of the second inspection are also challenged by the company in the court.
Vedanta has been dogged by controversy ever since its 2002 takeover of AGRC, until then a joint venture of the Armenian government and the Canadian company First Dynasty Mines. It pledged to breathe a new life into the Armenian gold industry by making large-scale investments and significantly boosting production levels. However, AGRC’s output has since declined considerably despite a surge in the international price of gold.
Its Indian executives have blamed the decline on high costs allegedly incurred during ore’s transportation by rail from Zod to Ararat. Two years ago they asked the government in Yerevan to build a new ore processing plant near Zod. The government has rejected the $85 million project, strongly opposed by environmentalists, citing the area’s proximity to Armenia’s ecologically vital Lake Sevan.
http://www.bakutoday.net/view.php?d=34032
Azerbaijan is demanding an explanation from Iran after helicopters from the neighboring nation violated its airspace, a top official said Monday - an incident that could add to tension between the countries.
Iranian helicopters violated Azerbaijan's airspace several times while escorting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on a visit to northern Iran last Thursday, State Border Service chief Elchin Quliyev said.
Azerbaijani officials complained to Iranian border officials and the military attache in the capital, Baku, and a deputy foreign minister was to raise the issue during a visit to Teheran this week, Quliyev said.
Relations between the countries are strained by concerns in Azerbaijan over the treatment of ethnic Azeris in Iran, where they are the largest minority, and over the influence of Iran in Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic that is predominantly Muslim but is a secular state.
[The Black Widows who crashed the 2 Russian airplanes, is part of this group]
http://www.google.com/search?q=nogay+battalion&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
http://www.google.com/search?q=Tukuy-Mekteb+village&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
http://www.google.com/search?q=Nogay+fighters&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
http://www.google.com/search?q=The+sabotage+battalion+of+nogay+fighters&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
http://www.google.com/search?q=Nogay+mujahideen&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
http://caravanofmartyrs.wordpress.com/2007/03/07/sheikh-yusuf-bin-salih-al-iyairi-a-letter-in-defense-of-the-mujahideen/
http://caravanofmartyrs.wordpress.com/2007/03/17/nogay-diversion-battalion-is-ready-for-fighting/
Nogay diversion battalion is ready for fighting! March 17, 2007
Posted by Caravan of Martyrs in News. trackback
On the photo above amir of the Nogay diversive battalion, Tahir Batayev is represented.
Last time Russian occupiers reported about almost general destruction of Nogay battalion entirely recently, on 1 March of this year. But also thus far of similar statements there was an innumerable quantity. Frantic lie continues since 2003.
Already on December 15th 2005 band chief NVF “UFSB” of Stavropol territory Oleg Dukanov at the specially arranged press conference asserted that last remainders of djamaat were destroyed, which is consisted of two hundred Nogay mujahideen. As occasion served the loss of amir Azhmambetov. Large explosions on gas pipes and electric railways in Stavropol, Minvody and Kislovodsk covered with the same.
But exactly in year, on December 25th 2006, structural subdivisions of djamaat will count in three regions of Stavropol territory - Neftekumsk, Levokumsk and in Stepnovskoye. And those not less the same Dukanov in response to journalist Mikhail Zakharov from Neftekumsk question “is it possible to say that Nogay djamaat no longer exists?”, he will say: “barely they exists”. But he misfired and notes: “It is bad fact that into unlawful activity, including connected with the terrorism, young people are implicated. Only recently established the personalities of five inhabitants of Stavropol eastern regions, which were supplemented number of illegal armed units. It is necessary to recognize that these alarming tendencies in many respects are connected with unemployment and disastrous material position of people “.
March 17, 2007 PM Anti-Terrorism News
Update: Iraqis killed by chlorine bombs - 8 killed, 350 injured by
three suicide bombers with chlorine tanks
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6461757.stm
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070317/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq;_ylt=A0WTcU.VGvxFTYgA4Eas0NUE
(Utah) Sulejman Talovic's Salt Lake City Murder Spree Was An Act Of
Jihad - Bosnian Muslim rampage at Utah mall "textbook study" of jihadist
attack -see External Signs of Radicalization and Jihadist Militancy at
JihadMonitor.com
http://www.pipelinenews.org/index.cfm?page=saltlake31607.htm
http://www.jihadmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/externals.pdf
(Thailand) 3 children killed in Thai school attack - Insurgents
attacked Islamic school with explosives & assault rifles
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070318/ap_on_re_as/thailand_southern_violence;_ylt=A0SOwkcxvfxFATcBPiWs0NUE
Serbian: Four alleged Muslim terrorists arrested
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1173879105889&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
(India) Five Maoist rebels shot in Chhattisgarh
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Five_Maoist_rebels_shot_in_Chhattisgarh/articleshow/1775040.cms
(Iraq) Foes change their focus - blatant attacks by al Qaeda in Diyala
province
http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20070316-102940-2568r.htm
(Iraq) Sunni militants disrupt plan to calm Baghdad - Bombings by Sunni
militants now greater danger than Shia gangs
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/03/17/africa/web.0317insurgent.php
Iran defiant in the face of U.N. sanction
http://www.washingtontimes.com/upi/20070317-124155-9515r
(Canada) Government seeks ban on evidence in terrorism trial -- of
Ottawa's Momin Khawaja
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=1e7a4332-543a-430c-9b08-03f69b6ea010
Freed Hamas leader shuns terror tactics - Salah Arouri, released after
15 years, urges political action
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/03/18/wmid18.xml
(Philippines) Key Abu Sayyaf man nailed after 4 years on the run - Omar
Opik Lasal alias Merang Abante
http://www.gulfnews.com/world/Philippines/10111778.html
(Nigeria) Troops Search For Kidnappers In Nigeria
http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0WTTklUwPxFMg8BIATQtDMD;_ylu=X3oDMTBjMHZkMjZyBHBvcwMxBHNlYwNzcg--/SIG=12o0edmsc/EXP=1174278612/**http%3a//www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/03/18/ap/world/main2581629.shtml
Saudi Arabia Routinely Frees Detainees - Gitmo Bay prisoners feed
within weeks of return
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/17/AR2007031701378.html
(U.S.) Amid Concerns, FBI Lapses Went On - FBI used flawed procedures
to obtain phone records despite escalating concerns
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/17/AR2007031701451.html
(Ireland/UK) Continuity IRA have denied involvement in murders
http://www.utvlive.com/newsroom/indepth.asp?id=80874&pt=n
(Sri Lanka) Five soldiers and four civilians die after a LTTE ambush;
Navy sinks three Sea Tiger boats
http://www.asiantribune.com/index.php?q=node/4946
(North Korea) Envoys Hash Out Details On N. Korea Deal
http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0WTTkpzwPxF3bkAXgfQtDMD;_ylu=X3oDMTBjcXBoZjEwBHBvcwMzBHNlYwNzcg--/SIG=12o1bg5dd/EXP=1174278643/**http%3a//www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/03/18/ap/world/main2581627.shtml
March 18, 2007 Anti-Terrorism News
Iraqi police: Three killed in Baghdad attacks
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1173879110726&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
(Iraq) Six US troops killed in Iraq
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070318/wl_afp/iraq_070318103127;_ylt=AoXP4QarKV61v7QTE_IMqgtX6GMA
(Iraq) Video shows bomb blowing up U.S. vehicle
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070318/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_video_2;_ylt=AsJYaHsGCSPdr8BUQDAn2n1X6GMA
(Iraq) U.S. Troops Nab 12 Suspected Al Qaeda Terrorists in Raids Across
Iraq - Sunday in raids across Iraq, the military said
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,259382,00.html
(Iraq) US general upbeat on Iraq 'surge'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6463529.stm
(Afghanistan) Taliban: kidnapped Italian journalist released
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-03/18/content_5863405.htm
(Afghanistan) Taliban says Italian journalist handed to Afghan elders
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070318/wl_sthasia_afp/afghanistanitalytalibankidnaprelease_070318111509;_ylt=AnFVG.4M1PnY86dsNFM.qSTOVooA
(Afghanistan) Militants cut off noses, ears of Afghans - of three
Afghan drivers supplying US military bases
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070318/wl_asia_afp/afghanistanunrest_070318080415;_ylt=An0_JfQ2wude1UP5EoNqb03OVooA
(Pakistan) Bomb blast at music market in northwestern Pakistani city
wounds 2 men, police say
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/03/18/asia/AS-GEN-Pakistan-Bomb-Explosion.php
(Pakistan) Balochistan cities hit by rockets, bomb blast
http://www.dawn.com/2007/03/18/top6.htm
Pakistan lawyer: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's claim to be used in defense
of suspect in Daniel Pearl's killing - to defend Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/03/18/asia/AS-GEN-Pakistan-Terrorist-Confession.php
ABC: Pearl Family Doubts KSM Confession
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/03/exclusive_pearl.html
(Somalia) Witnesses: Somali police chief shot dead - was leading a
crackdown on insurgents
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070318/ap_on_re_af/somalia_1;_ylt=AoKbgBboo_HyvXqNUJC3QHOQLIUD
(Iran) Delayed nuke plant bolsters Iran resolve
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070317/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_nuclear_reactor_3;_ylt=AprdN5ba.IFrt3J3hgZWBZ9Sw60A
(Iran) U.S. position complicates resolution of Iran problem: Russian FM
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-03/18/content_5861254.htm
Israel, U.S. scale back war-game amid Iran face-off
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070318/ts_nm/israel_usa_iran_dc_1;_ylt=AnXGzfHUy25tqiZkm99atBdSw60A
Hamas affirms firm opposition to recognizing Israel
http://www.kuna.net.kw/Home/Story.aspx?Language=en&DSNO=962683
Israel refuses to release frozen Palestinian assets -- Radio
http://www.kuna.net.kw/Home/Story.aspx?Language=en&DSNO=962600
U.S. to allow some contacts with non-Hamas ministers
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070318/pl_nm/palestinians_usa_dc
(Syria) Report: France urged Israel to hit Syria
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1173879109084&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
(Canada) Montreal a terror haven - Thirty Montreal-area Muslims
suspected of being terrorists are under heavy police surveillance, a Journal
de Montreal reporter contends in a new book
http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=41d89474-2a04-476b-a64b-42bb845894be
(Philippines) Fugitive linked to Al Qaeda is caught - Merang Abante of
Abu Sayyaf group
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-fg-briefs18.5mar18,1,6239980.story?coll=la-news-a_section&ctrack=1&cset=true
(Philippines) Police say anti-terror law can pin down communists
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/man/2007/03/18/news/police.say.anti.terror.law.can.pin.down.communists.html
(Malaysia) Muslims deny that Thai restaurants provide funding to
insurgent terror
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/03/18/asia/AS-GEN-Malaysia-Kitchen-Conspiracy.php
Malaysia introduces mandatory death for terror
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070318/wl_afp/malaysiaattackssecuritylaw_070318081224;_ylt=ArcLbakpwoWUqqZ0ssXV0hcTv5UB
(US) State Department's anti-terror initiative has uncertain future
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-terrorside18mar18,0,4159049.story?coll=la-home-headlines
(Spain) ETA Again Launches Extortion Campaign - Protests Against
Zapatero
http://www.playfuls.com/news_10_19680-ETA-Again-Launches-Extortion-Campaign-Protests-Against-Zapatero.html
Norway recognizes new Palestinian government
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/03/17/europe/EU-GEN-Norway-Palestinians.php
Sri Lanka says sinks big rebel arms transport ship
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070318/wl_nm/srilanka_attack_dc_1;_ylt=AjJwNfqmblk3cg6vFPZumdItM8oA
Other News:
Washington Post: CAIR shill slams Secular Islam Summit, backs caliphate
supporter
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/015700.php
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/16/AR2007031601941.html
(Florida) Two South Florida Mayors Fall for Islamist Infiltration --
Family Security Foundation
http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/challenges.php?id=810332
(Minneapolis) Target shifts Muslims who won't ring up pork --
Department stores in Minn. reassign some cashiers over religious conflict
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17665989/
March 17, 2007
Sadr Urges Followers to Resist U.S. Forces; Thousands Rally
Sadr lashes out at the U.S., and while he's at it, Israel. Oh, and Satan. By Karin Bruillard and Sudarsan Raghavan for the Washington Post:
BAGHDAD, March 16 -- Firebrand Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on Friday called upon followers inside his stronghold of Sadr City to resist U.S. forces who are trying to stabilize the capital. Officials in his organization said the cleric was advocating a peaceful uprising.
"Raise your voices, all of you loving your brothers and united against your enemy saying as your leader taught you, 'No America, no Israel, no, no Satan,' by standing and demonstrating that way," Sadr said in a message distributed at the Kufa mosque in southern Iraq, according to a translation by the Washington-based SITE Institute, which tracks militant groups. In recent weeks, Sadr has appeared to cooperate with U.S. and Iraqi troops as they implement a month-old security plan in Baghdad and other parts of the country, even as he has continued to criticize the American presence in Iraq.
On Friday, thousands of Sadr's followers demonstrated in several parts of Iraq, including Sadr City, to protest the U.S. role. They denounced the neighborhood security outposts and garrisons being set up under the plan and demanded a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops.
Sadr's statement came one day after gunmen attacked a convoy carrying the mayor of Sadr City, Rahim al-Darraji, leaving him seriously wounded and killing at least two of his bodyguards. Darraji, a Sadr appointee, took part in negotiations with U.S. officials to allow American troops to conduct security sweeps and build a garrison in Sadr City.
It was unclear whether Sadr, whose Mahdi Army militia has often attacked U.S. and Iraqi forces, was issuing a call to arms. "The statement calls for calming down and self-control and to be careful and cautious of the occupation forces and their agents, because we have become surrounded by them from all sides," said Haider al-Tarfy, a senior Sadr representative. Friday's communique was not Sadr's first condemnation of the American presence.
Last week, Sadr asked his supporters to "demand the occupier leaves our dear Iraq so that we could live in independence and stability." In late February, he said, "The security plan will not be good if it is controlled and ruled by our enemies, the occupiers." Those statements did not incite violence.
As U.S. troops have carried out raids in Sadr City as part of the security plan, the Mahdi Army has lain low. Friday's statement appeared to address recent public comments by U.S. military officials suggesting that the militia's low profile represented tacit cooperation with the security plan.
Posted at March 17, 2007 01:13 PM
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/2007/03/015696print.html
Date: Fri 16 Mar 2007
From: Kristin Mansfield
Addendum -- Response to RFI: Undiagnosed die-off, pygmy rabbits - USA
(WA)
Excellent article. Thanks for the ping...I've posted it on the site.
http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2007/03/18/business/030607tysonrecall.txt
Tyson Beef Recall - E.Coli...thought you all should know.
Thanks for the alert, you are right, it did need to be listed.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1802966/posts
Iran to hit back at US "kidnaps".
The Sunday Times ^ | March 18, 2007 | Uzi Mahnaimi
Posted on 03/18/2007 5:17:30 PM PDT by MaDeuce
IRAN is threatening to retaliate in Europe for what it claims is a daring undercover operation by western intelligence services to kidnap senior officers in its Revolutionary Guard.
According to Iranian sources, several officers have been abducted in the past three months and the United States has drawn up a list of other targets to be seized with the aim of destabilising Tehran’s military command.
In an article in Subhi Sadek, the Revolutionary Guard’s weekly paper, Reza Faker, a writer believed to have close links to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, warned that Iran would strike back.
“We’ve got the ability to capture a nice bunch of blue-eyed blond-haired officers and feed them to our fighting cocks,” he said. “Iran has enough people who can reach the heart of Europe and kidnap Americans and Israelis.”
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk
http://atng.xpam.de/
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