***Operation Infinite Freedom - Situation Room

Pro-Clergy Militants Arrested in Iran

TEHRAN, Iran - Police on Saturday arrested dozens of pro-clergy militants who smashed their way into university dormitories and beat up sleeping students in a wave of violence aimed at putting down protests against Iran's Islamic government.

The Islamic regime is worried about alienating a restive public at a time when the United States has stepped up pressure against Tehran over its nuclear program and alleged links to the al-Qaida terror network.

In Washington, the White House called on Iran to "protect the human rights of the students."

A broken door of a student's room is seen at the Hemmat dormitory of Allameh Tabatabai University in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, June 14, 2003. Dozens of militants stormed at least two university dormitories, beating up students in their beds and detaining several of them as violence aimed at silencing government critics raged through Iran's capital.

A handout picture from the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) shows the aftermath of protests in front of the dormitory of Tehran University. According to the student news agency, some 500-600 students protested on the grounds of the dormitory, throwing stones at police guarding the entry to the site.

In this handout made available by (ISNA) the Iranian Students' News Agency, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is seen giving a speech in the southern city of Varamin. Khamenei accused the United States of stirring up trouble in the country after anti-regime protestors defied threats of a crackdown and took to the streets.

A handout picture from the Iranian Students' News Agency (INA) shows Iranian students detaining two men, suspected to be hardline militia members, during protests in front of the dormitory of Tehran University

The United States on June 14, 2003 denounced Islamic hard-liners who attacked pro-democracy demonstrators in Iran and called on the government to release those who have been jailed. 'We are alarmed at reports of arrests and provocative actions taken against students by regime forces and call upon the regime to protect the human rights of the students and to release those who have been arrested,' the White House said in a statement released in Kennebunkport where President Bush is spending a long weekend. In this photo, local residents join students protesting at the gates of the Tehran University dormitory complex on June 13, 2003. In Washington, the White House called on Iran to "protect the human rights of the students."

Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, center, meets with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, left, as Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi, right, looks on, in Tehran on Saturday on June, 14, 2003. Prince Saud al-Faisal arrived to deliver a message from Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Abdullah to President Khatami.

Broken doors of the student's room are seen at the Hemmat dormitory of the Allameh Tabatabai University in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, June 14, 2003. Dozens of hard-line militants stormed at least two university dormitories, beating up students in their beds and detaining several of them as violence aimed at silencing government critics raged through Iran's capital.

French Defense Minister Chides Rumsfeld

PARIS - France's defense minister criticized her American counterpart, Donald Rumsfeld, in an interview published Saturday as someone who considers the United States the world's only military, economic and financial power.

Michele Alliot-Marie also accused American industry of waging "economic war" by trying to "take over the capital" of European defense-related industries. Europeans must regroup to resist, she said, according to the interview in the daily newspaper Le Monde.

Alliot-Marie's blunt remarks recalled the bad blood between Paris and Washington over France's leading role in opposing the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

Rumsfeld's January dig at France and Germany as being part of "Old Europe" epitomized the problem that both Paris and Washington have been working to repair.

"The American defense secretary believes that the United States is the world's only military, economic and financial power," Alliot-Marie told Le Monde. "We do not share this vision."

Alliot-Marie also said Rumsfeld's thinking seems to be out of line with that of the U.S. military and intelligence services.

"During the period of Franco-American tension, relations between our intelligence services remained perfect," she said.

The article was reread and "amended" by her, which is a relatively common practice here, Le Monde noted.

Alliot-Marie's comments were geared to the opening of the Paris Air Show, the largest display of aeronautical technology and might in the world which is held every two years.

However, this year's show, which French President Jacques Chirac and Alliot-Marie visited Saturday, is a scaled-back affair, with no U.S. flyovers and the number of attending U.S. aircraft reduced from 11 to six.

The Pentagon's decision to trim its presence was widely seen as a snub of France because of its opposition to the U.S.-led war to remove Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

The French minister voiced concern over U.S. industrial might and tactics she said were akin to "economic war." She called on Europeans to "regroup" to better withstand the competition.

"American industry is in a logic of economic war," she said in Le Monde. "This attitude is not connected to the Iraqi episode. European industry must regroup to be in a position to resist them."

Alliot-Marie said she was "truly concerned" by efforts of some American companies to "take over the capital" of defense-related European enterprises and said she has asked for a study of the situation. She was not more specific.

"We must be vigilant and better foresee risks and dependencies ...," the minister said.

U.S. Seeks Arms of Iraq Militia Suspects

FALLUJAH, Iraq - U.S. Army units moved in force early Sunday to seal off the conservative town of Fallujah, west of Baghdad, intending to raid the homes of suspected militia leaders and search for illegal weapons.

Soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division's 2nd Brigade targeted locations where intelligence reports indicated militia operations were underway or weapons stockpiled for use against U.S. forces. The operation was called "Spartan Scorpion."

The initial thrust against the city 37 miles from the capital met no resistance, but Iraqis sounded sirens and flashed their porch lights in apparent warning to each other that American troops were coming.

An Iraqi man checks the clothes of fighters at a training camp in sahl where eighty-two fighters, including one foreigner, were killed when the US army stormed the camp

US army kills 82 fighters in Iraqi training camp: witnesses

SAHL, Iraq (AFP) - A massive US army attack on a desert training camp in Iraq earlier this week killed 82 fighters, some of who appeared to have been summarily executed, according to witness reports.

"In total 82 people died in the camp" including at least one non-Iraqi, AFP was told by the imam of the main mosque in the village of Rawa, near the camp at Sahl, near Iraq's border with Syria.

Rawa villagers who went to the camp had found the corpses of seven people who had been handcuffed and shot in the forehead, chest or in the back of the head, the imam, Sheikh Gharbi Abdul Aziz, said.

He said the villagers had found another 50 bodies all in a line at the camp, which appears to have been used as a training ground by die-hard supporters of ousted leader Saddam Hussein.

French are so tolerant:

Lourdes ... unholy row
Picture: REX

French cops gas heroes

By DAVID WOODING

BRITISH war heroes on a religious pilgrimage told last night of their shock when French police attacked them with tear gas in a hotel bar.

Scores of servicemen and their guests - some in wheelchairs - were stunned as 30 cops threw three gas canisters at them in the town of Lourdes, renowned for miracle cures.

One member of the official delegation of Catholic soldiers said: “All hell broke loose.

“People ran out coughing and choking. Some braved the fumes to help those in wheelchairs get out.

“They were in a terrible state afterwards. It all happened without a single word of warning.”

Police chiefs in Lourdes — visited by hundreds of thousands each year for its healing waters — said the 2am incident happened because the pilgrims were breaking a local by-law that bans late-night boozing.

But one soldier said: “Nobody told us to go to bed or keep the noise down. One minute everyone was having a convivial time and the next we were under attack.

“The whole episode was a disgrace. We were on a religious pilgrimage, yet we were treated like football hooligans.”

David Kelly, chaplain of the Royal Military College at Shrivenham, Oxfordshire, added: “There was no reason for this sudden onslaught.

“Everyone was celebrating the end of a very special trip when the police burst in and mayhem broke out.”

Heroes of Iraq and other conflicts were among 250 pilgrims enjoying a nightcap at the Hotel La Solitude in the town in the French Pyrenees.

They included a group from The Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, senior clergy plus sick and disabled visitors.

One soldier said: “We were all singing away quite merrily.

“It was a disgrace the way the cops acted. You’d think we were rioting.

“Why couldn’t they just ask us to keep the noise down or tell us all to head off to bed first? But nobody said a word.”

Lourdes police commissioner Didier Ribeyrolle admitted the use of tear gas was “inappropriate”

But he said: “The hotel showed a lax attitude to our by-laws. Some patrons may have been shocked by the methods used, but the rules must be respected.”

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2003261244,00.html

Top General Myers Says U.S. Must 'Go After' Saddam

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein is probably alive and the United States has to go after him, Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Fox News Channel on Saturday.

Myers also said there are at least five groups operating against U.S. and British forces in Iraq, that weapons of mass destruction will be found in time, and there was no attempt by the White House to falsify the existence of those weapons. "I think, probably the majority opinion is that he (Saddam) is alive and it's something that has to be dealt with ...," Myers told Fox anchor Rita Cosby. You know we're gathering a lot of his senior aides and folks that he worked closely with. We've got to go after Saddam as well, and we are."

Asked about recent attacks on U.S. soldiers. Myers replied: "... There are about five different groups in there that are fighting; they're the ones that are still loyal to the Baath party, and they think that maybe it will come back.

"There's this Ansar al-Islam group that's been in there since before we went in; they've been in there for years; other Jihadists had just come in to fight," he said.

"There was a lot of money in Iraq," Myers said when asked who was funding the fighters. "We know that there are groups inside Iraq that are sponsored by Iran. We know that some groups probably flow in from Syria, at least they have in the past. The borders on both sides are pretty porous."

Citing the assumption that Iraq had dual-use production facilities for weapons of mass destruction, chemical and biological weapons, Myers said, "It's not a question of whether they had or not. Obviously they had the capability. I think we just need to be patient. And this is going to take time. We've been there 90 days."

Myers denied that there was pressure from the White House to emphasize weapons of mass destruction in Iraq -- the primary cause the Bush administration cited for going to war.

"No, absolutely no pressure ever put on me and I don't know of any pressure. The intelligence community I think, called it as they saw it and I see most of it; I talk to a lot of them. I've never detected that."

Ahmed Chalabi, chairman of the Iraq National Congress, at the microphones, with Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.), left, Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Calif.), said Iraqis should be given more authority in their country. (Ray Lustig --

Iraqi Leader Criticizes U.S. (washingtonpost.com) The Bush administration is making a mistake by refusing to give Iraqis more authority over their own country, Iraqi National Congress leader Ahmed Chalabi said yesterday, warning that the decision to limit Iraqi influence could spark increased opposition to the U.S.-led occupation.

Chalabi, who has long favored the creation of a provisional Iraqi government, criticized the White House decision not to grant immediate responsibilities to Iraqis or allow them to choose members of a council designed to advise the occupation authorities.

"We have to open up an Iraqi political process immediately," Chalabi told Washington Post editors and reporters yesterday. He said an advisory group selected by L. Paul Bremer III, the U.S. administrator in Baghdad, would not be more representative than one the Iraqis themselves could create.

I missed Gen. Myers throwing out the first pitch at today's Yankees-Cardinals day for Flag Day. Our military leaders makes me feel safe. They don't BS.

Night, all. Sweet dreams.

(via American RealPolitik)

Thaksin discloses plot to bomb embassies during Apec summit

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra revealed yesterday a terrorist suspect from Singapore arrested here last month planned to blow up embassies in Bangkok during an Apec summit in October.

In a written confession, Arifin bin Ali implicated in his plot three local Muslims who were also in custody, Mr Thaksin said during his weekly radio address.

He said Mr Arifin also divulged the planned timings of the bomb attacks during the summit, which would be attended by leaders of Asia and Pacific nations, including US President George W. Bush.

Mr Arifin was arrested on May 16 and deported to Singapore the following day.

Information obtained from the suspect led to the subsequent arrests in Narathiwat province of Islamic religious school owner Maisuri Haji Abdullah, his son Muyahi Haji Doloh, and doctor Waemahadi Wae-daob.

Police suspect the four were members of Jemaah Islamiyah, an organisation that carried out last year's nightclub bombings on Bali.

US hails arrest in `dirty bomb' case

Suspect denies being member of a network

The arrest of a Thai man allegedly trying to sell radioactive material that could be used to build a ``dirty bomb'' on Friday culminated a nine-month investigation that began with a tip to US agents based in Bangkok, the US government said.

Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge hailed the arrest as an example of global cooperation in fighting terrorism. Homeland Security agents worked in partnership with Thai authorities and the US embassy to halt the sale of potentially dangerous materials, he said.

``This enforcement action represents an outstanding example of international cooperation in disrupting the proliferation of radiological material,'' he said.

Thai and US officials arrested Narong Paenanam, 44, in the parking compound of the Royal Pacific Hotel on Rama IX road following a joint investigation with Homeland Security agents that started in October 2002. Mr Narong was charged with having a restricted substance in possession with intent to sell after the officials found a metal box containing 30 kilogrammes of cesium-137, a radioactive substance which could be used to make a ``dirty bomb'' _ a conventional explosive which kills or injures through the initial blast and by airborne radiation and contamination.

He allegedly offered to sell radioactive cesium to a Thai agent working for the US embassy for 10 million baht.

Mr Narong, a native of Surin's Chumphon Buri district and a primary school teacher, denied he was part of a network of arms dealers trying to sell radioactive materials to some terrorist groups.

He said he was asked by a man identified only as Mr Mangkorn and a friend, heerasak Yingwattanakrai, to help sell the substance for them.

The impounded cesium-137 was brought into the country by AVM Chanak, surname unknown, who was an air force officer, four years ago, and fell into the hands of Mr Mangkorn and Mr Theerasak after he died, the suspect said. A 100,000-baht bail posted by Mr Narong's relatives was rejected by the North Bangkok District Court yesterday at the request of the Crime Suppression Division, which now could detain him for another 12 days pending further investigation.

CSD commander Surasit Sangkhapong said police had still to find out if terrorist groups were behind Mr Narong's attempted cesium-137 sale. ``The suspect admitted he possessed the substance but said he did not attempt to make a bomb and was not involved with any terrorist groups,'' said CSD Pol Maj Pongsawai Chamlamjiak.

Moving On To Next Thread
***Operation Iraqi Freedom***
Situation Room - Day 88

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