Posted on 02/26/2007 4:18:14 PM PST by DAVEY CROCKETT
Muslim Insurgents Murder School Children (back)
March 19, 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.
Source: http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?ID=342760&Category=24
Insurgents Disrupt Train Services in Pakistan (back)
March 19, 2007
Islamabad : Train service between Pakistan 's Quetta city and the rest of the country was suspended after a 'powerful blast' blew up railway tracks near Spizend in the province.
A two-foot portion of the track was blown up in a powerful blast,' a railway official said, adding that railway traffic with the rest of the country had been badly affected.
Railway authorities told mediapersons that the explosive device blew up the track early yesterday, causing suspension of train services on the main line.
In a similar act of intended sabotage, a gas pipeline in the Pir Koh gas field area in the province was also blown up on Sunday, causing suspension in supply to the main purification plant
'It was a 16-inch-diameter pipeline which supplied gas to the plant from well No 40 of the Pir Koh gas field,' security officials in Sui were quoted as saying in the media today. They said that the blast had caused a five-foot-long hole in the pipeline.
Oil and Gas Development Corporation (OGDC) personnel, who rushed to the site to repair the damage, were reported as saying that gas supply would be restored soon.
Pakistan's restive Balochistan province has been faced with growing insurgency by local nationalists who have targeted gas pipelines and train tracks to disrupt the infrastructure in the country.
The insurgents have demanded greater share in the royalty for the local people and the provincial government in the natural resources being exploited by the government in Islamabad .
Source: http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=83229
Column One: As Syria Prepares for War (back)
March 19m 2007
by Caroline Glick
This has been a banner week for Syrian diplomacy. First, together with their big Iranian brothers, the Syrians were given a place at the table alongside US officials at the conference on Iraqi security in Baghdad last weekend.
At the same time as their underlings exchanged recriminations with the US , Syrian dictator Bashar Assad and Iranian Defense Minister Mustafa Muhammad Najjar merged the Syrian and Iranian militaries at a summit in Damascus . On Sunday Najjar explained the deal to reporters saying, 'We consider the capability of the Syrian defensive forces as our own and believe that expansion of defensive ties would ... help deal with the threats of the enemies.' Najjar added that Iran 'offers all of its defense capabilities to Syria .' The meeting was capped off on Monday when Najjar signed a memorandum of understanding on military cooperation with his Syrian counterpart Hassan Turkmeni.
Tuesday, US Assistant Secretary of State for Refugees Ellen Sauerbrey became the first senior US official to visit Syria since Damascus engineered former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri's assassination in February 2005.
Following closely on Sauerbrey's heels was the EU's foreign policy chief Javier Solana. Like Sauerbrey, Solana was the first senior EU official to set foot in the Syrian capital since Hariri was murdered. Unlike Sauerbrey, who came and left without making a sound, Solana used the occasion to drop a diplomatic bomb.
Standing next to Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moualem Wednesday, Solana announced, 'We would like to work as much as possible to see your country Syria recuperate the territory taken in 1967.' Israel should be very concerned by Solana's statement. Seventeen years ago, an American diplomat made a similar statement to another Arab dictator. It was swiftly followed by war.
On July 25, 1990 then US ambassador to Iraq April Glaspie held a fateful meeting with Saddam Hussein. It occurred against the backdrop of a massive Iraqi military build-up along the Kuwaiti border. Glaspie received a cagey and defensive reply from Saddam when she asked the meaning of the deployment. According to the protocol of the meeting which she sent that day to Washington , Glaspie told Saddam that the US took no position on intra-Arab disputes.
At the time, and since, the common view has been that Saddam interpreted Glaspie's statement as American acquiescence to Iraq 's invasion of Kuwait which took place eight days later.
Solana's statement that Europe supports the reassertion of Syrian control over the Golan Heights came in the midst of a massive Syrian deployment of offensive weapons systems close to its border with Israel . Early this week, Israeli military commanders revealed that since last September, Syria has deployed between 1,000 and 3,000 missiles and rockets close to that border.
This revelation followed the apparent murder of Russian journalist Ivan Safronov. Safronov, who fell to his death from his fifth floor apartment window in Moscow on March 2, told his editors at the Kommersant newspaper just before his death that he was working on a story exposing Russian sales of advanced Iskander missiles to Syria and jetfighters to Iran .
This week, Michael Maples, the director of the US Defense Intelligence Agency, announced that ' Syria has a program to develop select biological agents.' Maples explained, ' Syria 's biotechnical infrastructure is capable of supporting limited biological agent development.' He added that Syria is seeking to install biological and chemical warheads on its missile arsenal.
Indeed, according to opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu, over the past year Syria has increased its military outlays by a factor of ten.
Syria is using the smokescreen of near weekly protestations of interest in negotiating with Israel to divert attention away from its clear preparations for war. Rather than see these statements for the psychological warfare antics they are, Israeli leftists have pounced on them. Led by the Haaretz newspaper, the Israeli Left is exerting massive pressure on the rudderless Olmert-Livni-Peretz government to force it to open negotiations with Damascus - negotiations that would lead to Israel's surrender of the Golan Heights in exchange for a piece of paper from Iran's Arab colony.
Due to the government's general incompetence, it is unable to formulate a coherent policy towards Syria . The Left's calls for surrender talk consequently dominate the public debate on Syria . This in turn has paralyzed the state bodies responsible for taking measures to prepare the IDF and the public for the prospect of war.
The IDF's public assessment of the Syrian threat is evidence of the confusion. Last month, Military Intelligence chief Maj.-Gen. Amos Yadlin addressed the Syrian threat at the government's intelligence assessment meeting. Yadlin said, 'The chances of a full-scale war initiated by Syria are low, but the chances of Syria reacting militarily against Israeli military moves are high.' Yadlin's statement was presented to the public as good news. But it was not good news. Syria will not initiate a full-scale war against Israel because it would lose a full-scale war. Syria 's comparative advantage against the IDF is found in the area of low-intensity warfare, and as Yadlin noted, there is every reason to expect that it is this sort of warfare that Syria is preparing to initiate.
Over the past several years, Syria has built up massive artillery, missile and rocket arsenals capable of causing extensive damage to the IDF and to Israeli communities in the Golan Heights and the Galilee . So too, Syria fields a highly trained commando corps capable of exacting physical losses and tactical setbacks to the IDF.
Syria has two good reasons to go to war against Israel . Since 1973, every Arab state and terrorist organization that has gone to war against Israel has benefited from their aggression. Syria no doubt expects for the pattern to continue. In all likelihood, if Syria is able to fight Israel to a stalemate as Hizbullah did last summer, the Israeli Left, the EU and the US can be expected to increase their pressure for an Israeli surrender of the Golan Heights .
Moreover, a war with Israel would shore up Assad's dwindling support at home. Sherko Abbas, a Kurdish-Syrian exile living in the US , heads the Kurdistan National Assembly of Syria. He explains that due to Syria 's economic weakness and the Assad government's profligate corruption, the regime is widely despised by its Syrian subjects. According to Abbas, the organized domestic opposition to the regime crosses ethnic lines and includes Kurds, Druse, Alawites, and even members of Assad's family clan.
Three years ago, regime-sponsored Sunni thugs attacked Kurdish soccer fans in Dayz az Zawr, a Kurdish city along the border with Iraq . The attack led to three days of Kurdish anti-regime riots. Rioters destroyed regime monuments and burned government offices. Brutally quelled, the riots left 85 Kurds dead, hundreds wounded and thousands imprisoned.
Numbering between 2.5-3 million, Kurds make up some 15 percent of the Syrian population. On Monday, hundreds of thousands of Kurds flocked to cemeteries to publicly commemorate the anniversary of the riots. As Abbas sees it, the fact that the Kurds were unafraid to publicly commemorate their uprising is proof of the regime's weakness.
Most Israeli politicians claim that were the regime to be overthrown, it would be replaced by the Muslim Brotherhood. The specter of an Islamist government arising in Syria is seen as sufficient reason for the Israeli government to do nothing to destabilize the Assad regime despite its strategic partnership with Iran .
Abbas disputes this view. He claims that the Muslim Brotherhood is a spent force in Syria . 'If the Brotherhood were capable of replacing the regime, it would have overthrown it when there was a chance in 2004,' he argues.
To offset his regime's unpopularity, over the past few years Assad has imported more than 100,000 'immigrants' from Iran . These new Persian-speaking Syrians are keen to influence their adopted society. To this end, they have built new Shi'ite mosques throughout the country and are paying Syrians to convert to Shi'ite Islam.
According to Abbas, the regime has settled its new loyalists in Damascus , Latakiya, Homs and Aleppo . All these areas - in close proximity to Lebanon and Israel - are of strategic importance to the regime.
By the same token, repeated press reports from Syria over the past year indicate that Assad replaced his Syrian security detail with a new presidential protection force comprised of members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps and Hizbullah.
With Syria clearly on war footing, there are several moves Israel must make right now. Militarily, Israel must prepare for war. The IDF should be pre-positioning equipment in the Golan Heights, training its reserves and regular forces for war, and updating its doctrine for fighting in the Golan Heights . So too, municipal authorities should be readying their bomb shelters for another war and preparing contingencies to evacuate civilians from the North.
If Syria does initiate hostilities, the IDF's goal must be to destroy the Syrian military and avoid a stalemate at all costs.
Diplomatically, Israel must work to cancel the diplomatic gains that Syria made this week. The goal must be to return Syria to the international isolation it has been relegated to since it engineered Hariri's murder.
Israel must also identify and assist forces in Syria working to undermine and topple the regime. Last week the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee invited Syria 's US-based agent Ibrahim Suleiman, who held contacts with the far-left former director-general of the Foreign Ministry Alon Liel, to address its members. That invitation should be rescinded. Rather than Suleiman, the Knesset should invite regime opponents to speak to its members.
Working with the Kurdish opposition, the US-based Center for Democracy in the Middle East operates a satellite television station that runs limited broadcasts into Syria in Kurdish, Arabic and Persian. The station educates its viewers about the regime's corruption, suppression of human rights and democracy. It calls for peaceful coexistence with Israel and the rest of Syria 's neighbors. Israel should be helping to fund, expand and run these broadcasts.
For its part, the regime itself announced this week that it is planning to launch a satellite television station that will advance the Syrian-Iranian line to the Arab world. Imagine how refreshing it would be for audiences to have the opportunity to watch something other than jihad on television.
In all its dealings with Syria , Israel must understand that today Syria is a clear enemy whose interests are diametrically opposed to the interests of the Jewish state. As a result, in all arenas and at all times, Israel should be working to weaken and destabilize the regime. There is much it can do to advance this purpose.
Unfortunately, until the current government is replaced, it is hard to imagine how this can happen.
Source: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1173 879095693&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Iran Develops Double-Launching Mobile Air Defense System (back)
March 19, 2007
(3/19/2007): Iran has developed a new mobile air defense system which can launch two ground-to-air missiles simultaneously.
The Islamic Republic's state-run television reported on Friday that the development of the new system has been in continuation of Tehran 's efforts to provide its key military, oil and gas, and nuclear facilities with adequate protection.
The new Iranian system is designed to destroy multiple air targets with high precision in any weather condition, the TV report said.
Merely defense-oriented in its military programs, Iran has been seeking to either upgrade or develop its own air defense systems. Tehran also imports advanced weapon systems from its traditional suppliers of military equipment, including Russia .
Russia has recently completed the delivery of 29 TOR-M1 (SA-15 Gauntlet) air defense missile systems to Iran under a $700 million contract signed at the end of 2005.
Source: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=3058§ionid=3510101
FW: ALERT - Cell Phone Guns - Video (back)
March 19, 2007
Fellow UACT Members, Associate and Friends: I received the following from one of my Intel sources. This is very disturbing and ups the threat in the war on terror. Especially domestically. This could very well be the reasons so many cell phones are being purchased in bulk amounts. It's very possible that they are being converted over to weapons such as these. Please share this will all you know and especily those in law enforcement. Thank you all.
: New Weapon On The Market:Release to all Departments: At first sight it looks like a regular cell phone - same size, same shape, same overall appearance. But beneath the digital face lies a .22-caliber pistol, a phone gun capable of firing four rounds in quick succession with a touch of the otherwise standard keypad. ( Video after article ) The US Department of Homeland Security and the FBI are aware of the device and have instructed baggage screeners to be on the lookout for suspicious mobile phones. This is especially after 9/11. European law enforcement officials - stunned by the discovery of these deadly decoys - say phone guns are changing the rules of engagement in Europe . Airport authorities across Europe are implementing systems to X-ray all cell phones
'We find it very, very alarming,' says Wolfgang Dicke of the German Police union. 'It means police will have to draw their weapons whenever a person being checked reaches for their mobile phone.' The FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and the U.S. Customs Service say they've been briefed on the new weapons. 'This criminal invention represents a potentially serious threat to law enforcement and the public,' said U.S. Customs Service Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly.
'We received word about these guns last month. We have since alerted our field personnel to be on the lookout for 'cell phone guns' at U.S. ports of entry.' Guns on the Move These new covert guns were first discovered in October when Dutch police stumbled on a cache during a drug raid in Amsterdam . In another recent incident a Croatian gun dealer was caught attempting to smuggle a shipment through Slovenia into Western Europe . Police say both shipments are believed to have originated in Yugoslavia . Interpol sent out a warning to law enforcement agencies around the world. European border police and customs officers are at a heightened state of alert at all ports, airports and border crossings.Realistic Appearance 'If you didn't know they were guns, you wouldn't suspect anything,' said Ari Zandbergen, spokesman for the Amsterdam police. 'Only when you have one in your hand do you realize that they are heavier,' says Birgit Heib of the German Federal Criminal Investigation Agency. The guns are loaded by twisting the phone in half. The .22-caliber rounds fit into the top of the phone under the screen. The lower half, under the keyboard, holds the firing pins. The bullets fire through the antenna by pressing the keypad from numbers five to eight.
Amsterdam police says they are very sophisticated machines constructed inside gutted cell phones which do not light up or operate as real phones. 'These are very difficult to make. We believe experts are involved,' says Zandbergen. U.S. authorities, including the FBI, ATF, Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. Customs Service Authority have been supplied detailed information and pictures of these new weapons. 'They've been given a heads up,' said Jim Crandall, ATF spokesman. To date no phone guns have been discovered either in the United States or in the process of being smuggled in, authorities say. But they know it's only a matter of time. F
AA spokeswoman Rebecca Trexler said airport security officers had been trained to deal with this new threat. 'We don't want to tell the bad guys exactly what we're looking for,' she says, 'We are trying to stay one step ahead.'Will Affect Travelers Airport authorities across Europe are implementing systems to X-ray all cell phones, those procedures will likely be followed by airports around the world. 'This is just one more item that we need to pay special attention to because nowadays, of course just about every passenger carries a mobile phone,' says the spokesman for Frankfurt airport security. Customs officials in the U.S. say their safety procedure has normally been to require travelers to turn their phones on, however that may no longer be enough.
Cell phone users will have to be made aware that reaching for their phones in some circumstances could be misinterpreted as a threat by authorities.
Video of this weapon:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hJvZ48oKM8&mode=related&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xd1SRtkhh-U
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7483965502740562909&q=.22+Cal+Cell+Phone&hl=en
Source:unknown
It was about 2000 that I saw the first bulletin on the cellphone gun, it was from a Texas Police Department.
No wonder, the police keep shooting people with a phone in their hand, I had forgotten about them.
granny
The Jihadism of Fools
By Fred Halliday
Winter 2007
http://dissentmagazine.org/article/?article=732
[worth reading]
Pakistan: Musharraf Rules Out Imposing Emergency; Speaks on Iran, US 'Pressure'
Words and sentences within double slant lines are in English
Originally published on 3/19/2007 by Geo News TV in Urdu
Program: "Today With Kamran Khan"
Reception: Good
Duration: 60 Minutes
Karachi Geo News television in Urdu at 1700 GMT on 18 March resumes relay from its Karachi studio regularly scheduled "Today with Kamran Khan" program after the lifting of 15 March government-imposed ban on it for its coverage of the suspension of the Pakistan's Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chadhury.
In today's program, Kamran Khan interviews President Pervez Musharraf on the present judicial crisis, freedom of press, the present situation in the country and regional issues like situation in Iran and Afghanistan and the reported US "pressure" on Pakistan regarding the war against terror.
Kamran Khan begins by saying that last 10 days have been //tumultuous// as //unprecedented scenes// were witnessed during this period. Khan asks Musharraf did the government ever thought that the //fallout// of the action taken against the Chief Justice will be such "unprecedented". Musharraf says: "//honestly//, the //fallout// was more than expected, but //at the same time// I would like to say that it was //exaggerated//. //Actually// the //fallout// was not as much as was shown [on TV channels]."
Kamran Khan says the nation was "//stunned//" by the action taken against the Chief Justice and it looks like the government's action was "hasty". Musharraf says the government action was not hasty and "all legal //norms// were followed." Musharraf says he has been receiving "//complaints//" against the Chief Justice for quite some time, but he was just "sitting on them." Continuing, Musharraf says but the complaints kept coming and if these complaints were against the Chief Justice, "it was no more a small issue." Musharraf says "//confidentiality//" had also to be maintained because of the importance of issue.
Kamran Khan says although there were complaints against the Chief Justice, especially on his son's appointment in the Pakistan Police Service and on his non-observance of protocol, but a perception was also being created that he was admitting "//public interest cases//" in the Supreme Court and was dealing with the cases of "//missing persons//" and that is why the government took the action. Musharraf says: "This is absolutely wrong perception. //Absolutely wrong//." Musharraf says if the Chief Justice takes suo motto action in any public litigation cases, he pays tributes to him. Regarding the missing person cases, Musharraf says: "I was myself was concerned as the //human rights// activists were criticizing it." Continuing, Musharraf says he and his government has no agenda of the "//political victimization//" and it is not his nature to indulge in such acts like "abducting" persons. Musharraf says: "I can say with full //confidence// that the //vast majority// of these persons are missing of their own will." Musharraf says: "you should ask this question [of missing persons] to the //organizations//, which, I say, claim to hold aloft the banner of Islam and which lure them into carrying out //suicide bombing// and taking them to all parts of world for jihad." Musharraf adds that the human right activists should understand this "//environment//" of [jihadi organization's recruitment drive] in Pakistan and the action taken by the Pakistan government against it. Musharraf says: "//I am not in favor of this kind of activity// that persons are //picked up//. //I will be the last man to encourage this kind of victimization of individuals.//"
Kamran Khan says pictures were shown on television channels of Musharraf wearing Army uniform meeting the Chief Justice at the Army House after judicial reference was filed against the Chief Justice and the swearing in of the acting Chief Justice immediately after that. Khan asks Musharraf if he wants to take nation into confidence about what transpired during his meeting with the Chief Justice on 9 March. Musharraf says there has been some "//misperceptions//" and some //lack of information// of the exact situation. Giving background of the case, Musharraf says the Chief Justice himself called on him about 3 weeks ago at the Presidency. Musharraf says at the meeting the Chief Justice expressed concern about the media reports about him and sought assistance from him. Musharraf says he assured the Chief Justice that he would find out if anyone is doing something wrong by design. Continuing, Musharraf says but he continued to receive complaints against the Chief Justice and a reference was prepared at the Law Ministry and the Prime Minister's Secretariat. Musharraf says the Chief Justice once again called on him on his on request on 9 March at the "//camp office// and not at Army House and he is "//normally in Army uniform//" at the camp office. Musharraf says by 9 March he had already received a reference against the Chief Justice. Musharraf says he told the Chief Justice about all issues contained in the reference. Musharraf discloses that as the reference came from the Prime Minister's Secretariat, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz was also present during the 9 March meeting. Musharraf says: "//I wanted an explanation from him [the Chief Justice] to judge is this [reference] worthwhile to send to the Supreme Judicial Council//." Musharraf adds: "//I have a responsibility to the nation [as President]. There are legal responsibilities. So, I have to fulfill that responsibility." Musharraf says if a reference comes to him, he is duty-bound to take action on it. Musharraf says he also handed over to the Chief Justice the evidence of each charge contained in the reference. Musharraf says: "//I think we followed to the dot all norms of justice.//" Continuing, Musharraf says: "//I took decision [to make the Chief Justice non-functional and refer his case to the Supreme Judicial Council] on my conscience, on my honest conscience in national interests." Musharraf says it was up to the Chief Justice to resign or contest the case and he decided to contest the case.
Kamran Khan says the "//restraining orders//" against the Chief Justice have been widely challenged and it is being said the orders were not legal. Musharraf says he is not a legal expert, but he received the legal advice that he has the power to issue restraining orders.
Kamran Khan says the leaders of public opinion and constitutional experts are speaking against the steps taken immediately after the departure of the Chief Justice from the meeting with Musharraf on 9 March to restrict his movements, cutting off his telephone line and not allowing him to meet anyone. Khan says these steps "//shocked// and "//stunned//" the nation. Khan asks why these steps were taken. Musharraf says the government was concerned that there should not be a "//media trial//" and "//politicization// of the issue and there was also a //security aspect//. Musharraf says he is not involved in taking decisions at "//tactical level//, but if any of this step of imposing restrictions or any other such action was taken at "//tactical level//," "//it should not have been done//." Musharraf says when these things came to his knowledge, he "//corrected the situation//." Musharraf says he got involved in removing these restrictions on the Chief Justice as he thought these steps were "unnecessarily creating confusion." Musharraf asserts that he is freedom-loving and says: "//I believe in freedom of speech and expression, freedom of the media//."
Kamran Khan says the complaints were being received against the Chief Justice for quite some time well before the 9 March action and asks Musharraf whether efforts were made to apprise the Chief Justice about the complaints against him and explanation sought from him before 9 March. Musharraf says he told the Chief Justice about the complaints at his earlier meeting about 3 weeks before 9 March. Musharraf, however, does not disclose the charges contained in the reference because the case is sub judice. When Kamran Khan asks why the important legal advisers of the government like Sharifuddin Pirzada are distancing themselves from the case, Musharraf says he consulted Sharifuddin Pirzada in this case and his views were taken and he was onboard. Musharraf says but as Sharifuddin Pirzada's name has also been referred in the case, he cannot be part of the bench. Kamran Khan asks why Justice Rana Bhagwan Das, the senior most judge of the Supreme Court, who is on leave abroad, is being kept out of the case. Musharraf says these are mere "rumors", which can prove very "//damaging//." Musharraf says Rana Bhagwan Das's leave was sanctioned by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry himself and not him. Musharraf also defends the constitution of the Supreme Judicial Council as per the legal procedures. Musharraf assures that when Justice Rana Bhagwan Das returns from the leave on 24 March, he would become the acting chief justice of Pakistan as per the law.
Kamran Khan asks Musharraf whether the "//violent//" action of the law enforcement agencies against generally peaceful recent protests by the lawyer community bothers him. Musharraf says: "//Certainly it bothers me//." Regarding the dimensions of the protest, Musharraf says only 200 to 300 people, including politicians and other elements, demonstrated at the Supreme Court in Islamabad out of the 4,000 lawyers in Islamabad-Rawalpindi area. Musharraf says he feels "greatly disturbed" at the violence witnessed during the protest rallies, but sometimes the police action is in response to the violence started by demonstrators. Musharraf says protest demonstrations in the past like the one to protest Danish newspaper's blasphemous cartoon resulted in loss of billions of rupees to public property. Musharraf alleges that some people disguised as lawyers are involved in the present protest demonstrations.
Coming back to the legal aspects of the action taken against the Chief Justice, Musharraf says it was a "//legal issue//" and was handled as per "constitutional ways" and according to the law. Musharraf says all decisions were taken according to constitutional and legal norms, but the "//problem areas// lie in its //tactical handling// at the ground level. Musharraf says the problem was compounded by the involvement of "//political forces//" and the politicians politicized the issue because of their vested interests and with a view to "//destabilize// the government." Musharraf says there was also an "//over-hype// from the media side. Musharraf says other problem arose because of the mishandling of protests by the law enforcement agencies. Musharraf says the government also did not explain the case properly. Musharraf adds: "//I think right on the first day there should have been some spokesman who should have come// and explain //A to Z legal situation// to the nation on the TV." Musharraf hopes that the media would also adopt a "//balanced// attitude and be "//just and fair//." Musharraf says he requests the lawyer community not to "//pressurize// the judiciary and get involved in political activity. Musharraf says it is simply a judicial case and let the Supreme Judicial Council decides the case. Musharraf says the political parties should not take "//advantage//" of the situation and says: "I am issuing a //warning// that we will not allow them [political parties] to take advantage of the situation. //Do not politicize. The government will not allow you to politicize and take political advantage through this very judicial and constitutional case.//" Musharraf also advises law enforcement agencies to exercise "//restraint//", but act to prevent any sabotage.
Kamran Khan notes that Musharraf has insured media freedom in Pakistan to an unprecedented level. Kamran Khan says in his programs he had always given credit to the Musharraf government for insuring freedom of media, but it looks like the government suddenly lost "patience" with the media during last one week and even asked the private TV channel to take some programs off the air and his "Today with Kamran Khan" program was banned and Geo News office in Islamabad was attacked. Khan ass Musharraf how he views the present scenario. Musharraf says he is a "//strong believer// in the freedom of media as freedom of speech and expression is "//an essence of democracy//." Musharraf then cites in details actions taken by him to allow private TV channels to function freely which also created thousands of jobs. Musharraf, however, adds that but "//freedom//" comes with "//responsibility//. Musharraf urges the media to show its responsibility by not giving "//one-sided//" version of the events. Musharraf says even independent autonomous regulatory authorities free from government interference have been set up to interact with the media. Regarding the police action at Geo News office in Islamabad, Musharraf says "//it is condemnable//" and assures a full investigation of the case. Musharraf says all the people involved in the incident, including the police inspector in charge, have been suspended. Musharraf says but the dismissed police inspector is "missing," which looks like a part of larger "conspiracy." Musharraf says: "But let me assure you that it is not a //conspiracy// against the media. If there is any conspiracy, it is by somebody against the government and Pakistan."
Kmran Khan asks Musharraf if the government thinks "//massive efforts//" are required to rebuild its image damaged by the events of last 10 days. Musharraf says the government is taking stock of the situation and wants to see that the situation is "//defused//."
Kamran Khan says the reports say that the situation has deteriorated to an extent that Musharraf has to "clamp state of emergency" and "postpone the elections." Khan says the government coalition parties are saying that if a situation regarding Iran arises, the elections will be postponed. Khan asks whether he is not comfortable with the ideas of elections this year. Musharraf says: "//elections will be held on time. This is my assurance to the nation.//" Continuing, Musharraf says: "//Army will never be used// and there is no such situation [that warrants calling of Army] and //I will never use the Army at all. This is not their job//. Musharraf adds: "there is no //emergency situation// and state of emergency will not be clamped."
Regarding the Iran situation, Musharraf says: "we are against //any military action// and we have clarified this many times. //But if something happens and if there is a fallout here, I can't even predict what is the fallout//." [Sentence as heard] Musharraf says: "we have carried out our studies and thought about it. //we need to protect ourselves from any negative fallouts.// God willing, //we will protect ourselves. We will go forward on the course, which is elections this year when the 5-year tenure of the assemblies is completed. This is it, I am firmly resolved to do that and I will do it.//"
When Kamran Khan asks Musharraf whether he would continue as chief of army staff, Musharraf says "he would not violate the Constitution" and beyond that he would not like to comment on the issue, which has larger implications.
Kamran Khan notes that lately Benazir Bhutto-led Pakistan People's Party has distanced from anti-government activities of other political parties. Khan asks Musharraf whether he is ready to reciprocate Benazir Bhutto's gestures. Sidestepping the question, Musharraf says this is a election year and every action and statement will have a political fallout. Musharraf says: "post-2007 elections scenario will be very important and serious as Pakistan's future is linked with it. //Pakistan is faced today by multifarious external issues and international issues// like Afghanistan, Al-Qa'ida, and Taliban. So that is why in such a situation I have said that in these elections //moderate forces must defeat extremist forces.//" Musharraf assures that the elections will be "//fair and transparent//." Musharraf says all parties will be allowed to contest and he cannot say more than that because it will have political fallout.
Kamran Khan says "various examples of US //pressure// on Pakistan have surfaced" and the US media, the Congress as well the establishment officials have expressed "//disquiet// about Pakistan. Khan says reports are also saying that "President Bush through Vice President Dick Cheney sent a strong message to President Musharraf." Khan asks Musharraf what was the US strong message and how did he respond. Mushrraf says: "there was no strong message. And, if there is a strong message, I am also not a soft-spoken person. There was no such strong message." Musharraf says only those persons are giving "//negative fallout//" of Pakistan who do not understand reality. Musharraf says he has "//conviction in the reality of environment//." Musharraf says "there is a mistake in the analysis of existing environment and there is a difference of opinion //in the west, some circles in the United States and the media, foreign media.// //That does not mean that we should buckle. I have rationale and I am very sure of the environment.//" Continuing, Musharraf says all foreign dignitaries who visit Pakistan, including Vice President Dick Cheney, came on "//fact-finding mission//." Musharraf says: "//nothing will be allowed to take place against Pakistan. [Sentence as heard] We will not allow any foreign agency coming and attacking and bombing our area//." Musharraf says he fully understands the present situation and adds: "//the environment is very, very clear, crystal clear. There are two opposing forces in Afghanistan, and I repeat in Afghanistan, not in Pakistan. These are Afghan forces, Afghan government and coalition forces and United States, of course, its forces versus Taliban. And with Taliban, Al-Qa'ida also get involved. This is it. But there is support from our side. This is the environment. But if anyone presumes this environment to be Afghanistan versus Pakistan//, he is totally wrong, totally wrong." Musharraf wonders why Pakistan is being blamed as it is the only country, which is taking action and has suffered a lot. Musharraf says he does not care what the international media says, but he would like to change their attitude because Pakistan is on the right course. Musharraf, however, admits that Pakistan should try to stop support being provided from its side to across the border.
OSC cannot process Kamran Khan's interview with Musharraf beyond this point because the interview was recorded only until 1900 GMT due to technical reasons.
: Karachi Geo News TV in Urdu -- 24-hour satellite news TV channel owned by Pakistan's Jang publishing group, broadcast from Dubayy. Known for providing quick and detailed reports of events. Programs include some Indian shows and dramas which the group claims are aimed at promoting people-to-people contact and friendly relations with India.
Sounds like he might be and is giving instructions for fellow like minded individuals.
What are the baloons? Couldn't find it at the site.
Militant warns of more terror attacks
March 18 2007 at 10:59AM
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=123&art_id=vn20070318104335121C293223
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=123&art_id=vn2007031810433
5121C293223
By Chris Brummitt
Kudus - An alleged leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah militant group said
bombings in Indonesia have hurt Islam's cause there, but he warned of
more
attacks by small terror groups working independently and influenced by
Internet teachings.
Abu Rusdan's interview on Friday with the Associated Press underscored
how
the terror campaign has divided the militant movement in the world's
most
populous Muslim nation, and pointed to a possible opening for
authorities
trying to further isolate extremists.
Rusdan is an Afghan-trained militant believed by police and the United
States to be a key leader in Jemaah Islamiyah, the shadowy South-east
Asian
network that spawned many of the region's terrorists and is believed to
have
received funds and direction from Al-Qaeda.
In the interview in his large family house in Kudus, a town on
Indonesia's
main island of Java, Rusdan declined to condemn the militants
responsible
for the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings and other attacks, saying only
that
their actions "were counterproductive".
"We cannot call what they did an act of evil, let alone terrorism," he
said.
"But we must see the objective facts: Those actions did not bring
positive
results in efforts to spread the faith in Indonesia."
"We need to tell them to think again," he said.
The Bali bombings killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists, and
thrust the
mostly moderate, secular country on to the front lines of the war on
terror.
Three other suicide attacks on Western targets in the country have
since
killed more than 40 other people.
Rusdan, 46, said he had no role in terrorist activities, but he danced
around questions over his involvement in Jemaah Islamiyah.
Police and analysts say he took over as head of the group's
"mainstream"
faction in 2002 - after the arrest of former leader Abu Bakar Bashir -
but
likely had no direct knowledge of the bombings carried out.
Rusdan was arrested in 2003 and sentenced to three-and-half years in
jail
for hiding one of the militants convicted in the Bali blasts, but he
was
released in late 2005.
Indonesia has not made membership of Jemaah Islamiyah a criminal
offence.
Rusdan said more attacks, carried out by independent groups, were
likely.
"No one can control groups who want to do those kinds of actions," he
said.
"Many people are not satisfied about the conditions in Indonesia.
"They can do many things under the influence of teachings on the
Internet or
books that are circulating widely."
Rusdan left for Afghanistan in 1985, but he declined to talk about his
activities there.
He then lived in Malaysia, where he was close to some of South-east
Asia's
most notorious terrorists, including Hambali, who is now in US custody.
In 2005, the US government listed Rusdan as a terror leader and ordered
banks to block any financial assets he may have there. - Sapa-AP
About the middle of the page, there was a line of balloons on the lake photo, said they were ready for shooting.
A thought that just came to me, after mulling around why you would shoot at balloons floating in the lake.
That is target practice, for the sharp shooters.
A balloon, floating on the lake, moving gently, would be like shooting a human head, on a body that was moving.......bobbing gently up and down.
also check your mail.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1803954/posts?page=25
Iraq insurgents used children in car bombing: general
Associated Press via Yahoo.news.com ^ | March 20, 2007 | Jim Mannion
Posted on 03/20/2007 2:23:42 PM PDT by WmShirerAdmirer
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Insurgents in Iraq detonated an explosives-rigged vehicle with two children in the back seat after US soldiers let it through a Baghdad checkpoint over the weekend, a senior US military official said Tuesday.
The vehicle was stopped at the checkpoint but was allowed through when soldiers saw the children in the back, said Major General Michael Barbero of the Pentagon's Joint Staff.
"Children in the back seat lowered suspicion. We let it move through. They parked the vehicle, and the adults ran out and detonated it with the children in the back," Barbero said.
The general said it was the first time he had seen a report of insurgents using children in suicide bombings. But he said Al-Qaeda in Iraq is changing tactics in response to the tighter controls around the city.
A US defense official said the incident occurred on Sunday in Baghdad's Adhamiyah district, a mixed neighborhood adjacent to Sadr City, which is predominantly Shiite.
After going through the checkpoint, the vehicle parked next to a market across the street from a school, said the official, who asked not to be identified.
"And the two adults were seen to get out of the vehicle, and run from the vehicle, and then followed by the detonation of the vehicle," the official said.
"It killed the two children inside as well as three other civilians in the vicinity. So, a total of five killed, seven injured," the official said.
Officials here said they did not know who the children were or their relationship to the two adults who fled the scene. They had no information about their ages or genders.
"The brutality and the ruthlessness of this enemy hasn't changed," said Barbero, deputy director of regional operations of the Joint Staff. "They are just interested in slaughtering Iraqi civilians, to be very honest."
Attacks on Iraqi civilians are down by a third and sectarian murders have fallen by 50 percent since mid-February when US and Iraqi forces began moving into Baghdad as part of a new security crackdown, the general said.
On the other hand, there has been no let-up in attacks on US forces by Al-Qaeda in Iraq and other Sunni extremist groups, he said.
The incidence of car bombings and suicide attacks, which are typically carried out by Sunni extremist groups against Shiites, also have gone up even though their effectiveness is down, he said.
"As our checkpoints, and control points have been more effective, as they try to execute these high profile attacks with these vehicle-borne IEDs (improvised explosive devices) in Baghdad, we're stopping a lot of them at these checkpoints and they are not getting to their intended targets," he said.
But he said they will change their tactics.
Barbero pointed to the recent use of chlorine bombs as another example of the shifting tactics.
Three trucks with chlorine were blown up by suicide bombers over the weekend in Al-Anbar province, killing two policemen and releasing toxic fumes that sickened an estimated 350 people.
Barbero said Al-Qaeda in Iraq appeared to be resorting to use of chlorine bombs to intimidate tribal leaders that have turned against them in Al-Anbar.
"We assess those as relatively ineffective. However, that is an emerging tactic that we are seeing."
"We think it will continue to be exercised in Iraq. Chlorine is readily accessible and we've had a number of these," he said.
He said US commanders remain concerned about the Shiite militias led by radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, even though US forces are now operating freely in Sadr City and his Mahdi army militia is quiet.
Sadr is still in Iran but in communication with leaders of his movement in Iraq, he said.
"Where we are with the leaders of his movement is at a pretty delicate point, and I probably don't want to talk any more about his followers, and where we are in our relationship with them," he said.
Yes, nightmares, so are all the fires at the schools.
http://www.google.com/search?q=fires+at+the+schools&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
News:
http://news.google.com/news?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&tab=wn&q=fires+at+the+schools&sa=N&start=10
Several show here:
http://news.google.com/news?q=school+fire&btnG=Search+News&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&client=firefox-a&um=1&tab=wn
Try checking a few pages of this one, I see one exploded in Florida this morning:
http://news.google.com/news?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&client=firefox-a&um=1&tab=wn&q=explosive+device+school&btnG=Search+News
http://news.google.com/news?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&client=firefox-a&um=1&tab=wn&q=gun++school&btnG=Search+News
Looks like a school bus accident, 32 minutes ago, 17 in hospital:
http://news.google.com/news?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&client=firefox-a&um=1&tab=wn&q=school+bus+incident&btnG=Search+News
http://www.yakima-herald.com/page/dis/288464733367327
Published on Tuesday, March 20, 2007
NEW: Sheriff looking for tips in school bus, weapon incident
YAKIMA -- Sheriff's deputies need the public's help identifying who pointed a gun at a school bus yesterday in the Tampico area west of Yakima.
The incident occurred at 4:30 p.m. on North Fork Road. Deputies were told that somebody in a speeding black two-door car with tinted windows pointed a large revolver at the bus.
The car, which had a chrome-ringed sunroof, was last seen heading east on Ahtanum Road and may have turned south on 79th Avenue in the Wiley City area.
The occupants were described as males. Further details were not available. Chief Criminal Deputy Ed Campbell said he is waiting on reports.
"My kids go to school out there, and something like this is not cool, regardless of whether it was a real gun or not," he said.
To report a tip, please call 574-2500.
-- Chris Bristol
http://www.yakima-herald.com/page/dis/288460843856768
Published on Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Two men charged with arson in firebombing
By ROD ANTONE
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC
Prosecutors have charged two men and are looking for a third in connection with a firebombing on Jerome Avenue last month.
Brandon Lee Lansden, 20, and Patrick Michael Allaire, 21, were arraigned Monday afternoon in Yakima County Superior Court on first-degree arson charges. Investigators on Friday also issued an arrest warrant for a third suspect, identified as Edwin Charles Duncan, 28.
According to an affidavit filed in superior court, Lansden and Allaire both named Duncan as the "instigator" of the Feb. 25 firebombing at 2202 Jerome Ave. Both said they each made a Molotov cocktail and drove over to the house, where they noticed the lights were on and a vehicle parked in the driveway.
Yakima police said at the time of the firebombing, there were four people in the house -- a mother and her three children -- not three, as police reported in a news release last week. The family escaped uninjured, but police said that about 15 minutes before the firebombing, two of the children had been in the room where the suspects allegedly threw incendiaries through a window.
"We are taking this case very seriously because of the potential of it being 10 to 15 minutes from being a homicide investigation," said Yakima fire Detective Jim Fuehrer.
According to the affidavit, the firebombing might have been in retaliation for an earlier assault, which is being investigated as a separate case.
Allaire and Lansden are being held in lieu of $100,000 bail.
[Interesting cartoons and subjects chosen for them]
International Women's Day – Cartoons in Arab Press Criticize Women's Status in Arab World
By: O. Winter
http://www.memri.org/bin/opener_latest.cgi?ID=IA33507
On the occasion of International Women's Day, March 8, 2007, the Arab press published numerous cartoons dealing with status of women in the Arab world. Some focused on the women's role as housewives who spend their time cleaning, cooking, and caring for the children, and on the men's role as figures of authority who exploit and oppress them.
Other cartoons criticized the hypocrisy of the male-dominated establishment, ridiculing male public figures who give lofty speeches on Women's Day, but in actuality do nothing to promote women's equality.
Still others emphasized the contrast between the spirit of International Women's Day - celebrating women's rights and liberation - and the actual status of women, who are still oppressed and deprived of their rights.
The following are examples of the cartoons:
Thanks to Milford421 for this report:
bizjournals.com
Derailments prompt federal inspection of N.Y. train tracks
Tuesday March 20, 11:08 am ET
The federal government has begun inspecting nearly 1,300 miles of
track across New York state in the wake of several train derailments.
Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Boardman, the former
transportation chief in New York state, was in Albany, N.Y., Monday
to announce the plan to improve rail safety.
"A safe railroad begins with safe track, but it doesn't end there,"
Boardman said. "Railroads needs to embrace a 'culture of safety' and
find new ways to prevent the kind of accidents that have disrupted
lives and commerce and shaken our confidence in the safety of
tracks."
Over the last several weeks serious derailments have occurred on
tracks and rail overpasses in Western New York.
FRA will be using a vehicle called T-16 to inspect rail lines used
by CSX Corp., extending from Buffalo to Albany including the lines
to Niagara Falls and to Ripley at the Pennsylvania border.
Oneida was the site of the most recent derailment on March 12
involving 79 CSX cars moving from Buffalo to Selkirk, N.Y., which
resulted in a fire and evacuation of some residents. There were no
injuries.
The inspection, officials said, will measure whether the two track
rails are level and if the width between the rails is acceptable to
avoid derailments.
Boardman also said that he met with CSX senior executives to discuss
the railroad's recent safety record and the results of a focused
inspection on CSX property conducted in January.
Published March 20, 2007 by The Business Review
http://biz.yahoo.com/bizj/070320/1434345.html?.v=1
Uranian-Japanese Friendship
Japanese need Russian uranium. In Japan want not only enriching uranium
in Russia, but having an access to local uranium deposits. New Japan
legislation on nuclear industry might make Japanese ambitions reality,
according to experts.
Japan had found Russia a partner in nuclear sphere. First stage of
cooperation with Russian companies is producing enriched uranium for
own
nuke industry, and a second stage- participation in Russian deposits
exploitation. According to Wednesday edition of Yomiuri Shimbun,
"This summer, Moscow and Tokio might sign an agreement on producing
the enriched uranium by Russian Holding "Atomprom" for
Japan". It will cover re-cycling of Uranian pole used at British
power stations and stored recently in the UK.
Moreover, a possibility to enrich Uranium digged by Russian companies
in
Kazakhstan is recently under consideration in Japan also.
An agreement might be signed during a top official summit prior to
summer-2007, a newspaper was informed. N-olTrn
Sources: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/business/20070301TDY01005.ht
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070222TDY01001.htmm
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/business/20070301TDY01005.htm
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/business/20070222TDY03004.htm
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/business/20070222TDY03004.htm
http://www.gazeta.ru/2007/02/21/oa_232207.shtml
http://www.gazeta.ru/2007/02/21/oa_232207.shtml
Selection List: UK Arabic Press 20 Mar 07
Originally published on 3/20/2007 by UK Arabic Press -- OSC Report in Arabic
London Al-Hayah (Internet Version-WWW) in Arabic 20 Mar 07
(Influential Saudi-owned London daily providing independent coverage of Arab and international issues; commentaries occasionally critical of US policy)
1. A 700-word report citing Iraqi sources on "dialogue" between the Iraqi government and seven armed factions that have expressed their opposition to the Islamic state announced by Al-Qa'ida (OSC plans to text this item)
2. A 500-word report on statement by Yunadim Kanna, deputy chairman of the Iraqi Constitution Committee announcing that "a committee will be set up to examine the amendments requested by some political quarters." Kanna is also quoted as saying that the committee was formed after an in-depth study of the current constitution in its political and economic aspects, and is reviewing "the contentious articles" flagged by the various political parties (OSC does not plan to process this item)
3. A 600-word report citing "high-level" Syrian sources on outcome of the visit by the EU's Javier Solana (OSC plans to text this item)
London Al-Sharq al-Awsat (Internet Version-WWW) in Arabic 20 Mar 07
(Influential Saudi-owned London daily providing independent coverage of Arab and international issues; editorials reflect official Saudi views on foreign policy)
1. A 500-word article by Chief Editor Tariq al-Humayd on issues to be discussed at the upcoming Riyadh Arab summit (OSC plans to text this item)
2. A 500-word report making a brief reference to a statement made by the Saudi cleric Shaykh A'id al-Qarni in a seminar in Riyadh. Al-Qarni urged mosque imams not to discuss Darfur and Chechnya but instead, "focus on local social issues" such as family problems. (OSC does not plan to process this item)
London Al-Quds al-Arabi in Arabic 20 Mar 07
(London-based independent Arab nationalist daily with an anti-US and anti-Saudi editorial line; generally pro-Palestinian, tends to be sympathetic to Bin Ladin)
1. A 700-word editorial viewing current situation in Iraq and raising doubts about US President Bush's statement that US strategy in Iraq will bear fruit in a few months' time. The editorial also argues that "Bush must admit his role in this catastrophe which he caused not only for Iraq but for the international community as a whole" (OSC plans to text this item)
Negative selection:
(Internet) Ilaf WWW-Text in Arabic 20 Mar 07
(Electronic London daily providing independent coverage of Arab and international issues; headed by Al-Sharq al-Awsat's former chief editor)
I have started posting for the night, they will be to all, not as pings to each of you.
There are quite a few of the translations, will see what is of use.
FBI Warned It Could Lose Spying Power
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070320/national_security_letters.html?.v=1
FBI Warned It Could Lose Spying Power
Tuesday March 20, 2:58 pm ET
By Julie Hirschfeld Davis, Associated Press Writer
Lawmakers Warn FBI It Could Lose Broad Spying Power Following
Revelations of Abuses
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Republicans and Democrats sternly warned the FBI on
Tuesday that it could lose its broad power to collect telephone,
e-mail and financial records to hunt terrorists after revelations of
widespread abuses of the authority detailed in a recent internal
investigation.
continued............
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