Iranian Alert -- DAY 46 -- LIVE THREAD PING LIST

The Iranian Student Movement Up To The Minute Reports ^ | 7.25.2003 | DoctorZin

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To find all the links to all 46 threads since the protests started, go to:

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Join Us at the Iranian Alert -- DAY 46 -- LIVE THREAD PING LIST

Live Thread Ping List | 7.25.2003 | DoctorZIn

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[DoctorZIn]

The Middle East: The Realities

By Charles Krauthammer
Washington Post | July 25, 2003

Amid the general media and Democratic frenzy over Niger yellowcake, it is Bill Clinton who injected a note of sanity. "What happened often happens," Clinton told Larry King. "There was a disagreement between British intelligence and American intelligence. The president said it was British intelligence that said it. . . . . British intelligence still maintains that they think the nuclear story was true. I don't know what was true, what was false. I thought the White House did the right thing in just saying, 'Well, we probably shouldn't have said that.' " Big deal. End of story. End of scandal.

The fact that the Democrats and the media can't seem to let go of it, however, is testimony to their need (and ability) to change the subject. From what? From the moral and strategic realities of Iraq. The moral reality finally burst through the yellowcake fog with the death of the Hussein brothers, psychopathic torturers who would be running Iraq if not for the policy enunciated by President Bush in that very same State of the Union address.

That moral reality is a little hard for the left to explain, considering the fact that it parades as the guardian of human rights and all-around general decency, and rallied millions to prevent the policy that liberated Iraq from Uday and Qusay's reign of terror.

Then there are the strategic realities. Consider what has happened in the Near East since Sept. 11, 2001:

(1) In Afghanistan, the Taliban have been overthrown and a decent government has been installed.

(2) In Iraq, the Saddam Hussein regime has been overthrown, the dynasty has been destroyed and the possibility for a civilized form of governance exists for the first time in 30 years.

(3) In Iran, with dictatorships toppled to the east (Afghanistan) and the west (Iraq), popular resistance to the dictatorship of the mullahs has intensified.

(4) In Pakistan, once the sponsor and chief supporter of the Taliban, the government radically reversed course and became a leading American ally in the war on terror.

(5) In Saudi Arabia, where the presence of U.S. troops near the holy cities of Mecca and Medina deeply inflamed relations with many Muslims, the American military is leaving -- not in retreat or with apology but because it is no longer needed to protect Saudi Arabia from Hussein.

(6) Yemen, totally unhelpful to the United States after the attack on the USS Cole, has started cooperating in the war on terror.

(7) In the small, stable Gulf states, new alliances with the United States have been established.

(8) Kuwait's future is secure, the threat from Saddam Hussein having been eliminated.

(9) Jordan is secure, no longer having Iraq's tank armies and radical nationalist influence at its back.

(10) Syria has gone quiet, closing terrorist offices in Damascus and playing down its traditional anti-Americanism.

(11) Lebanon's southern frontier is quiet for the first time in years, as Hezbollah, reading the new strategic situation, has stopped cross-border attacks into Israel.

(12) Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations have been restarted, a truce has been declared and a fledgling Palestinian leadership has been established that might actually be prepared to make a real peace with Israel.

That's every country from the Khyber Pass to the Mediterranean Sea. Everywhere you look, the forces of moderation have been strengthened. This is a huge strategic advance not just for the region but for the world, because this region in its decades-long stagnation has incubated the world's most virulent anti-American, anti-Western, anti-democratic and anti-modernist fanaticism.

This is not to say that the Near East has been forever transformed. It is only to say that because of American resolution and action, there is a historic possibility for such a transformation.

But it all hinges on success in Iraq. On America's not being driven out of Iraq the way it was driven out of Lebanon and Somalia -- which is what every terrorist and every terrorist state wants to see happen. And with everything at stake, what is the left doing? Everything it can to undermine the enterprise. By implying both that it was launched fraudulently (see yellowcake) and, alternately, that it has ensnared us in a hopeless quagmire.

Yes, the cost is great. The number of soldiers killed is relatively small, but every death is painful and every life uniquely valuable. But remember that just yesterday we lost 3,000 lives in one day. And if this region is not transformed, on some future day we will lose 300,000.

The lives of those as yet unknown innocents hinge now on success in Iraq. If we win the peace and leave behind a decent democratic society, enjoying, as it does today, the freest press and speech in the entire Arab world, it will revolutionize the region. And if we leave in failure, the whole region will fall back into chaos, and worse.

http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=9100

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[DoctorZIn]

Iranian official tells of coercion

By JEFF SALLOT and ROBERT MATAS
From Friday's Globe and Mail

Ottawa and Vancouver — A senior Iranian official says he was threatened with prosecution if he did not participate in a cover-up of the beating death in custody of Montreal photojournalist Zahra Kazemi.

The official said yesterday he was coerced into falsely stating that she died of a stroke this month when in fact her skull was fractured by a violent blow sometime after her arrest in Tehran.

The official, Mohammad Hussein Khoshvaqt, said a prosecutor accused Ms. Kazemi of being a spy, and warned him he could be arrested for assisting a spy because he was the official who issued her press credentials.

In a letter to the Speaker of the Iranian parliament, Mr. Khoshvaqt said state prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi dictated a statement to the effect that Ms. Kazemi, 54, had died of a stroke. "Then he got it typed on a paper with a Culture Ministry emblem, got me to sign it and sent it to IRNA [the official Islamic Republic News Agency]."

Mr. Mortazavi is implicated in the harsh interrogation of Ms. Kazemi.

In a second development, Iranian authorities tried to draw a parallel between Ms. Kazemi's death in custody and the fatal shooting by a Port Moody, B.C., police officer of a machete-wielding B.C. youth of Iranian origin.

Mr. Khoshvaqt, a senior official in the Iranian Culture Ministry, which deals with journalists, said he was held against his will and allowed to leave the prosecutor's office only after IRNA published the false story.

Mr. Khoshvaqt's letter was reprinted yesterday in the reformist newspaper Yas-e-Nou and posted to the paper's Web site.

Another official in the Culture Ministry told The Associated Press that the letter is authentic.

Mr. Mortazavi is notorious for his crackdown on independent journalists and intellectuals who are critical of hard-line clerics.

He was identified in a report by a special Iranian cabinet committee as one of the officials who interrogated Ms. Kazemi in the days after her arrest last month. Some dissident exile groups said Mr. Mortazavi may have struck the blow that fractured the journalist's skull.

He is also the official who pressed for Ms. Kazemi's burial in Iran after her death on July 10, over the objections of the Canadian government and her son. Canada has withdrawn its ambassador in protest and is considering trade and other sanctions.

Ms. Kazemi's son, Stephan Hachemi, wanted the body returned to Canada for an independent autopsy. Ms. Kazemi held Canadian and Iranian citizenship. Iran did not recognize her Canadian citizenship.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi accused Canadian police of killing an Iranian youth in Port Moody, B.C., and Canadian news media of censoring the story.

Echoing the words used by Canadian officials in the Kazemi case, Mr. Asefi said Iran "will urge the Canadian government, through diplomatic channels, to deliver a prompt, transparent and satisfying explanation of the horrifying crime."

Mr. Asefi was referring to the widely reported shooting of Keyvan Tabesh, 18, on July 14 in the climax to an apparent road-rage incident. He was shot by a plainclothes police officer.

Port Moody police said Mr. Tabesh, carrying a machete, ran toward the officer. However, Mr. Tabesh's family questions whether Mr. Tabesh knew that it was a police officer pointing a gun at him.

The case is under investigation.

There is no legitimate comparison between the Port Moody case and Ms. Kazemi's death in custody, said Reynald Doiron, a spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs in Ottawa.

But Mr. Asefi said in Tehran: "The crime perpetrated by Canadian police . . . has caused fear and horror among the Iranian community in Canada."

Sharam Golestaneh, president of the Ottawa-based exile group Committee for Defence of Human Rights in Iran said, "That is absolutely not true. There is no parallel between the way the police operate in a democracy like Canada and the dictatorship in Iran."

The suggestion of a political motive for the shooting caught police in Port Moody by surprise.

"It's amazing how politics works," Constable Brian Soles of the Port Moody Police Department said yesterday in an interview.

The incident and the investigation are "free from any political interference," he said.

"Politics is not part of this. . . . No one has phoned us to speed up our investigation or told us to do anything."

Port Moody Police have announced an investigation into the shooting and an internal review into the force's handling of the incident. No date has been set for the completion of the two investigations, Constable Soles said.

Liana Wright of the B.C. Coroner's Services said the coroner will decide whether to hold an inquest after the criminal investigation is completed. The autopsy report would not be available to the public until after the police complete their work, she said.

Rita Tabesh said her family was shocked to learn his case had been raised by the Iranian government.

"We were surprised," she said, speaking from the family's Burnaby home. "We never talk to the government."

When she learned her brother's death was being reported in Iran, she phoned her husband, who is visiting relatives in Iran, to ask him to call TV stations there and tell them to stop broadcasting the story.

"We don't want the government to use our family," she said, adding the family simply wants to know why her brother died.

With reports from the Associated Press and Canadian Press

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20030725.ukaze0725/BNStory/National/

[DoctorZIn]

Iran says it still holds 100 Al Qaida members

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Thursday, July 24, 2003

Iran has announced that it is still holding a large number of Al Qaida members.

Iranian officials have confirmed that senior Al Qaida agents are among the detainees. They said at least 100 Al Qaida members remain in custody.

"Since the collapse of the Taliban regime we have arrested a large number of them," Iranian Intelligence Minister Ali Yunesi said on Wednesday.

Last year, Iran was said to have detained 500 Al Qaida members who fled from Afghanistan in late 2001 and early 2002, Middle East Newsline reported. Most of the Al Qaida members were said to have been released.

"Many of them have been expelled and a large number of them are in our custody — a mixture of big and small members. I said big and small members."

Yunesi did not elaborate. He did not identify any of the Al Qaida detainees and refused to provide a figure for those being held by Iran.

"Wherever we learn of some clues about people connected to Al Qaida, we launch intelligence operations and arrest them," Yunesi told a news conference. "We are ready to hand over those Al Qaida members with whose countries we have friendly ties."

Interior Minister Abdolvahed Mussavi Lari was quoted by the official Islamic Republic News Agency as saying that Teheran plans to soon extradite Al Qaida members. Lari said some of the Al Qaida agents would be sent to countries that have signed agreements with Iran. He said others would be placed on trial.

Earlier, Western diplomatic sources said Iran has been holding such Al Qaida leaders as the son of Osama Bin Laden, the No. 2 member of the movement, Ayman Zawahiri, and operations chief Seif Al Adel.

The sources also said Abu Musab Zarqawi and training chief Abu Mohammed Al Masri have been captured over the last few months.

Iran has acknowledged that it is holding Al Qaida spokesman Suleiman Abu Gheith, a Kuwaiti native. But Kuwait has rejected Iran's extradition of Abu Gheith to the sheikdom.

Iran and Saudi Arabia have also discussed the extradition of Al Qaida insurgents to the kingdom. Earlier this month, the two countries signed an accord that would allow for the extradition of suspects.

The United States has tried to obtain Iranian agreement for the extradition of at least two Al Qaida insurgents, Al Adel and Al Masri, both connected to the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa. Egypt is said to have relayed a request for the extradition of Zawahiri, head of the Jihad insurgency group.

"I think it is significant that they have now acknowledged rather publicly the presence and detention of Al Qaida members," U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said in Washington. "We are not in receipt of those names."

http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/front_3.html

[AdmSmith]

RAFSANJANI REPORTEDLY IN SECRET TALKS WITH U.S

"Al-Sharq al-Awsat" reported on 23 July that Iranian and U.S. officials met on the sidelines of a recent conference in London. Representing the Iranian side were Economic Affairs and Finance Minister Tahmasb Mazaheri, Islamic Revolution Guards Corps founder Javad Mansuri, and Petroleum Ministry adviser Hussein Kazempur-Ardabili (a former ambassador to Japan who was accused by Japanese police of illegal weapons exports; see "RFE/RL Iran Report," 27 March 2000).

These individuals were acting as envoys of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Expediency Council Chairman Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani, and President Hojatoleslam Mohammad Khatami only learned about the meeting a week later. The topics of discussion were Iranian nuclear activities, Iranian support for terrorist groups, Iranian activities in Iraq, and the Iranian human rights record, according to "Al-Sharq al-Awsat."

The Iranian envoys tried to convey the impression that only Hashemi-Rafsanjani can secure acceptance of Washington's demands, and this would be done in exchange for U.S. backing of Rafsanjani's bid for the 2005 presidential election. The U.S. side was unenthusiastic about the offer and about such secret dialogues. BS

source: RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 7, No. 139, Part III, 24 July 2003

[firewalk]

Good morning
Thanks for the ping

[nuconvert]

I thought it was pretty obvious why Clinton "injected a note of sanity" as Mr.Charles Krauthammer put it.
Clinton knew the 9/11 Report was coming out and it was the CIA and FBI under HIS watch that did most of the screwing up. He was already putting up a defense for his own Intelligence mishandlings, by "pardoning" President Bush for his. Don't want to turn all the screw-ups Mr Clinton made into a 2week story, do we democrats and left-wing media? Especially if the new rumblings about Hillary running in '04 have any validity. (And Bill thinking about new political aspirations.)

[nuconvert]

This hasn't got a snowball's chance....

[Ronin]

This is horrifying. I fear for the universe. I actually have to agree with Clinton on something.

Ye Gads!!! I wonder if the Devil has his warm winter woolies on...

[Ronin]

Very good point. I should have thought of it myself.

[ShakeNJake]

Everytime I start to feel that same way, I remind myself that Clinton does nothing without an ulterior motive. He is certainly NOT motivated by a desire to help out Pres. Bush. His comments are just a smokescreen that he intends to deflect any critizism of HIS actions and the intel collapse that ocurred during his 2 terms in office.

So, in essence, we are not "agreeing" with Clinton.

[F14 Pilot]

Iran admits holding key Al-Qaeda members

TEHERAN - Iran has acknowledged for the first time that it is holding senior figures from Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network and said it expected to try, deport or extradite them soon.

The United States has demanded that Teheran turn over any prisoners to face justice.

Iranian Intelligence Minister Ali Yunesi gave no names but said top Osama aides were among 'many' Al-Qaeda members detained by security forces since the Taleban militia in neighbouring Afghanistan was overthrown in 2001.

'Some have been expelled or handed over to their country of origin.

'We are still holding many others, small and big,' he told reporters after a weekly Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

Interior Minister Abdolvahed Mousavi Lari said some of the detainees would be extradited to their home countries while others would be tried in Iran.

The rest would be deported to the countries from which they entered Iran, he told the official Irna news agency.

It was the first public admission by top government officials that Iran is holding some key members of Al-Qaeda, which Washington holds responsible for the attacks in the US on Sept 11, 2001.

Previously, Iran has said it was still trying to identify the detainees.

Diplomats said part of the reason for Teheran's reticence was the fact that many of the detainees had been stripped of their nationalities by Arab governments, complicating the Islamic regime's efforts to negotiate their handover.

Wednesday's admission came two days after US President George W. Bush increased pressure on Iran by accusing it of harbouring and assisting terrorists.

In strongly worded comments at the White House, he said: 'This behaviour is completely unacceptable and states that support terror will be held accountable.'

The Bush administration said it could not confirm Mr Yunesi's comments and questioned whether Aal-Qaeda members in Iran were in prison or being harboured by the government.

Still, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said 'the statements would appear to confirm what we and others believe to be a significant Al-Qaeda presence in Iran to include members of its senior membership'.

'These terrorists, we've made very clear, must be brought to justice,' he added.

US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Iran 'needs to deport these people either to jurisdictions where they're wanted for crimes, or to their home countries'.

Iran has denied it harbours al-Qaeda members.

Mr Yunesi said: 'As soon as we get any information about those linked to Al-Qaeda or its members, we immediately start our intelligence activities and arrest them.

'We are determined to confront them and we have done that. And this confrontation is not to make anyone in particular happy.'

ABC News reported that the CIA had confirmed that Al-Qaeda's security chief Saif Al-Adel and spokesman Sulaiman Abu Ghaith were in Iranian custody.

Media reports and intelligence sources have also said Iran is believed to be holding Al-Qaeda's No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahri. -- Reuters, AFP, AP

http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/world/story/0,4386,201400,00.html

[F14 Pilot]

Government spokesman: Iran will not follow EU policies


Tehran, July 23, IRNA -- Government spokesman Abdollah Ramezanzadeh
here on Wednesday reacted to EU foreign ministers anti-Iran statement
and said that Iran will not follow Europe's policies.
Speaking to reporters after the cabinet weekly meeting, he replied
to a reporter who asked about his view on EU recent decisions saying
that the EU outlooks expressed yesterday mark their own policies.
"Our policies are determined in accordance with national interests
and we shall always make decisions on the basis of our own principles
and in line with our public interests," he noted.
Ramezanzadeh said, "We have already declared our positive stance
on the additional protocol to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
(NPT) of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the related
negotiations. However, our trust on the issue should be attracted."
According to a section of the Western media, EU foreign ministers
in their Monday meeting in Brussels declared that if Iran does not
cooperate with IAEA, further expansion of Iran-EU ties will be
endangered.

http://www.irna.ir/en/tnews/030725174835.etn06.shtml

[DoctorZIn]

Several arrested following Military depots' arson

SMCCDI (Information Service)
Jul 25, 2003

Several soldiers and militiamen have been arrested following the incendie that destroyed, on Wednesday, the Ghassr e Firoozeh Military depots by destroying millions of dollars of goods.

These suspects who have been placed, already, under duress in order to extract "confessions on link with US Intelligence" are kept by the Intelligence offices of the Pasdaran Corp. responding to the regime's Supreme Leader offices. The names of several of them are "Soldier Asghar Roohi", "Soldier Seyed-Jalil Guilani" and "Soldier Reza Shadloo". They will be facing death penalty following their forced confessions.

The situation among the military forces is very tense and many of them are rejecting the rule of the Islamic regime hoping for an occasion to defect.

Several of them have been killed in mysterious incidents, over the last weeks, and each time the files have been confiscated by the Intelligence offices of the Pasdaran Corp. which has attributed, later, these deaths to "suicide".

http://www.daneshjoo.org/generalnews/article/publish/article_1403.shtml

"If you want on or off this Iran ping list, Freepmail me”

[DoctorZIn]

WHAT'S NEXT FROM AL QAEDA?
The Protean Enemy

July 01, 2003
Foreign Affairs
Jessica Stern

Despite the setbacks al Qaeda has suffered over the last two years, it is far from finished, as its recent bomb attacks testify. How has the group managed to survive an unprecedented American onslaught? By shifting shape and forging new, sometimes improbable, alliances. These tactics have made al Qaeda more dangerous than ever, and Western governments must show similar flexibility in fighting the group.

WHAT'S NEXT FROM AL QAEDA?

Having suffered the destruction of its sanctuary in Afghanistan two years ago, al Qaeda's already decentralized organization has become more decentralized still. The group's leaders have largely dispersed to Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, and elsewhere around the world (only a few still remain in Afghanistan's lawless border regions). And with many of the planet's intelligence agencies now focusing on destroying its network, al Qaeda's ability to carry out large-scale attacks has been degraded.

Yet despite these setbacks, al Qaeda and its affiliates remain among the most significant threats to U.S. national security today. In fact, according to George Tenet, the CIA's director, they will continue to be this dangerous for the next two to five years. An alleged al Qaeda spokesperson has warned that the group is planning another strike similar to those of September 11. On May 12, simultaneous bombings of three housing complexes in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, killed at least 29 people and injured over 200, many of them Westerners. Intelligence officials in the United States, Europe, and Africa report that al Qaeda has stepped up its recruitment drive in response to the war in Iraq. And the target audience for its recruitment has also changed. They are now younger, with an even more "menacing attitude," as France's top investigative judge on terrorism-related cases, Jean-Louis Brugui_, describes them. More of them are converts to Islam. And more of them are women.

What accounts for al Qaeda's ongoing effectiveness in the face of an unprecedented onslaught? The answer lies in the organization's remarkably protean nature. Over its life span, al Qaeda has constantly evolved and shown a surprising willingness to adapt its mission. This capacity for change has consistently made the group more appealing to recruits, attracted surprising new allies, and -- most worrisome from a Western perspective -- made it harder to detect and destroy. Unless Washington and its allies show a similar adaptability, the war on terrorism won't be won anytime soon, and the death toll is likely to mount.

MALLEABLE MISSIONS

Why do religious terrorists kill? In interviews over the last five years, many terrorists and their supporters have suggested to me that people first join such groups to make the world a better place -- at least for the particular populations they aim to serve. Over time, however, militants have told me, terrorism can become a career as much as a passion. Leaders harness humiliation and anomie and turn them into weapons. Jihad becomes addictive, militants report, and with some individuals or groups -- the "professional" terrorists -- grievances can evolve into greed: for money, political power, status, or attention.

In such "professional" terrorist groups, simply perpetuating their cadres becomes a central goal, and what started out as a moral crusade becomes a sophisticated organization. Ensuring the survival of the group demands flexibility in many areas, but especially in terms of mission. Objectives thus evolve in a variety of ways. Some groups find a new cause once their first one is achieved -- much as the March of Dimes broadened its mission from finding a cure for polio to fighting birth defects after the Salk vaccine was developed. Other groups broaden their goals in order to attract a wider variety of recruits. Still other organizations transform themselves into profit-driven organized criminals, or form alliances with groups that have ideologies different from their own, forcing both to adapt. Some terrorist groups hold fast to their original missions. But only the spry survive.

Consider, for example, Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ). EIJ's original objective was to fight the oppressive, secular rulers of Egypt and turn the country into an Islamic state. But the group fell on hard times after its leader, Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, was imprisoned in the United States and other EIJ leaders were killed or forced into exile. Thus in the early 1990s, Ayman al-Zawahiri decided to shift the group's sights from its "near enemy" -- the secular rulers of Egypt -- to the "far enemy," namely the United States and other Western countries. Switching goals in this way allowed the group to align itself with another terrorist aiming to attack the West and able to provide a significant influx of cash: Osama bin Laden. In return for bin Laden's financial assistance, Zawahiri provided some 200 loyal, disciplined, and well-trained followers, who became the core of al Qaeda's leadership.

A second group that has changed its mission over time to secure a more reliable source of funding is the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), which, like EIJ, eventually joined forces with the Taliban and al Qaeda. The IMU's original mission was to topple Uzbekistan's corrupt and repressive post-Soviet dictator, Islam Karimov. Once the IMU formed an alliance with the Taliban's leader, Mullah Omar, however, it began promoting the Taliban's anti-American and anti-Western agenda, also condemning music, cigarettes, sex, and alcohol. This new puritanism reduced its appeal among its original, less-ideological supporters in Uzbekistan -- one downside to switching missions.

Even Osama bin Laden himself has changed his objectives over time. The Saudi terrorist inherited an organization devoted to fighting Soviet forces in Afghanistan. But he turned it into a flexible group of ruthless warriors ready to fight on behalf of multiple causes. His first call to holy war, issued in 1992, urged believers to kill American soldiers in Saudi Arabia and the Horn of Africa but barely mentioned Palestine. The second, issued in 1996, was a 40-page document listing atrocities and injustices committed against Muslims, mainly by Western powers. With the release of his third manifesto in February 1998, however, bin Laden began urging his followers to start deliberately targeting American civilians, rather than soldiers. (Some al Qaeda members were reportedly distressed by this shift to civilian targets and left the group.) Although this third declaration mentioned the Palestinian struggle, it was still only one among a litany of grievances. Only in bin Laden's fourth call to arms -- issued to the al Jazeera network on October 7, 2001, to coincide with the U.S. aerial bombardment of Afghanistan -- did he emphasize Israel's occupation of Palestinian lands and the suffering of Iraqi children under un sanctions, concerns broadly shared in the Islamic world. By extending his appeal, bin Laden sought to turn the war on terrorism into a war between all of Islam and the West. The events of September 11, he charged, split the world into two camps -- believers and infidels -- and the time had come for "every Muslim to defend his religion."

One of the masterminds of the September 11 attacks, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, later described violence as "the tax" that Muslims must pay "for gaining authority on earth." This comment points to yet another way that al Qaeda's ends have mutated over the years. In his putative autobiography, Zawahiri calls the "New World Order" a source of humiliation for Muslims. It is better, he says, for the youth of Islam to carry arms and defend their religion with pride and dignity than to submit to this humiliation. One of al Qaeda's aims in fighting the West, in other words, has become to restore the dignity of humiliated young Muslims. This idea is similar to the anticolonialist theoretician Frantz Fanon's notion that violence is a "cleansing force" that frees oppressed youth from "inferiority complexes," "despair," and "inaction," making them fearless and restoring their self-respect. The real target audience of violent attacks is therefore not necessarily the victims and their sympathizers, but the perpetrators and their sympathizers. Violence becomes a way to bolster support for the organization and the movement it represents. Hence, among the justifications for "special operations" listed in al Qaeda's terrorist manual are "bringing new members to the organization's ranks" and "boosting Islamic morale and lowering that of the enemy." The United States may have become al Qaeda's principal enemy, but raising the morale of Islamist fighters and their sympathizers is now one of its principal goals.

FRIENDS OF CONVENIENCE

Apart from the flexibility of its mission, another explanation for al Qaeda's remarkable staying power is its willingness to forge broad -- and sometimes unlikely -- alliances. In an effort to expand his network, bin Laden created the International Islamic Front for Jihad Against the Jews and Crusaders (IIF) in February 1998. In addition to bin Laden and EIJ's Zawahiri, members included the head of Egypt's Gama'a al Islamiya, the secretary-general of the Pakistani religious party known as the Jamiat-ul-Ulema-e-Islam (jui), and the head of Bangladesh's Jihad Movement. Later, the IIF was expanded to include the Pakistani jihadi organizations Lashkar-e-Taiba, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, and Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, the last an anti-Shi'a sectarian party. Senior al Qaeda lieutenant Abu Zubaydah was captured at a Lashkar-e-Taiba safe house in Faisalabad in March 2002, suggesting that some of Lashkar-e-Taiba's members are facilitating and assisting the movement of al Qaeda members in Pakistan. And Indian sources claim that Lashkar-e-Taiba is now trying to play a role similar to that once played by al Qaeda itself, coordinating and in some cases funding pro-bin Laden networks, especially in Southeast Asia and the Persian Gulf.

In addition to its formal alliances through the IIF, bin Laden's organization has also nurtured ties and now works closely with a variety of still other groups around the world, including Ansar al Islam, based mainly in Iraq and Europe; Jemaah Islamiah in Southeast Asia; Abu Sayyaf and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the Philippines; and many Pakistani jihadi groups. In some cases, al Qaeda has provided these allies with funding and direction. In others, the groups have shared camps, operatives, and logistics. Some "franchise groups," such as Jemaah Islamiah, have raised money for joint operations with al Qaeda.

Perhaps most surprising (and alarming) is the increasing evidence that al Qaeda, a Sunni organization, is now cooperating with the Shi'a group Hezbollah, considered to be the most sophisticated terrorist group in the world. Hezbollah, which enjoys backing from Syria and Iran, is based in southern Lebanon and in the lawless "triborder" region of South America, where Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina meet. The group has also maintained a fundraising presence in the United States since the 1980s. According to the CIA's Tenet, however, the group has lately stepped up its U.S. activities and was recently spotted "casing and surveilling American facilities." Although low-level cooperation between al Qaeda and Hezbollah has been evident for some time -- their logistical cooperation was revealed in the trial of al Qaeda operatives involved in the 1998 embassy bombing attacks in east Africa -- the two groups have formed a much closer relationship since al Qaeda was evicted from its base in Afghanistan. Representatives of the two groups have lately met up in Lebanon, Paraguay, and an unidentified African country. According to a report in Israel's Ha'aretz newspaper, Imad Mughniyah, who directs Hezbollah in the triborder area, has also been appointed by Iran to coordinate the group's activities with Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

The triborder region of South America has become the world's new Libya, a place where terrorists with widely disparate ideologies -- Marxist Colombian rebels, American white supremacists, Hamas, Hezbollah, and others -- meet to swap tradecraft. Authorities now worry that the more sophisticated groups will invite the American radicals to help them. Moneys raised for terrorist organizations in the United States are often funneled through Latin America, which has also become an important stopover point for operatives entering the United States. Reports that Venezuela's President Hugo Ch_z is allowing Colombian rebels and militant Islamist groups to operate in his country are meanwhile becoming more credible, as are claims that Venezuela's Margarita Island has become a terrorist haven.

As these developments suggest and Tenet confirms, "mixing and matching of capabilities, swapping of training, and the use of common facilities" have become the hallmark of professional terrorists today. This fact has been borne out by the leader of a Pakistani jihadi group affiliated with al Qaeda, who recently told me that informal contacts between his group and Hezbollah, Hamas, and others have become common. Operatives with particular skills loan themselves out to different groups, with expenses being covered by the charities that formed to fund the fight against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, the Bush administration's claims that al Qaeda cooperated with the "infidel" (read: secular) Saddam Hussein while he was still in office are now also gaining support, and from a surprising source. Hamid Mir, bin Laden's "official biographer" and an analyst for al Jazeera, spent two weeks filming in Iraq during the war. Unlike most reporters, Mir wandered the country freely and was not embedded with U.S. troops. He reports that he has "personal knowledge" that one of Saddam's intelligence operatives, Farooq Hijazi, tried to contact bin Laden in Afghanistan as early as 1998. At that time, bin Laden was publicly still quite critical of the Iraqi leader, but he had become far more circumspect by November 2001, when Mir interviewed him for the third time. Mir also reports that he met a number of Hezbollah operatives while in Iraq and was taken to a recruitment center there.

NEW-STYLE NETWORKS

Al Qaeda seems to have learned that in order to evade detection in the West, it must adopt some of the qualities of a "virtual network": a style of organization used by American right-wing extremists for operating in environments (such as the United States) that have effective law enforcement agencies. American antigovernment groups refer to this style as "leaderless resistance." The idea was popularized by Louis Beam, the self-described ambassador-at-large, staff propagandist, and "computer terrorist to the Chosen" for Aryan Nations, an American neo-Nazi group. Beam writes that hierarchical organization is extremely dangerous for insurgents, especially in "technologically advanced societies where electronic surveillance can often penetrate the structure, revealing its chain of command." In leaderless organizations, however, "individuals and groups operate independently of each other, and never report to a central headquarters or single leader for direction or instruction, as would those who belong to a typical pyramid organization." Leaders do not issue orders or pay operatives; instead, they inspire small cells or individuals to take action on their own initiative.

Lone-wolf terrorists typically act out of a mixture of ideology and personal grievances. For example, Mir Aimal Kansi, the Pakistani national who shot several CIA employees in 1993, described his actions as "between jihad and tribal revenge" -- jihad against America for its support of Israel and revenge against the CIA, which he apparently felt had mistreated his father during Afghanistan's war against the Soviets. Meanwhile, John Allen Muhammad, one of the alleged "Washington snipers," reportedly told a friend that he endorsed the September 11 attacks and disapproved of U.S. policy toward Muslim states, but he appears to have been principally motivated by anger at his ex-wife for keeping him from seeing their children, and some of his victims seem to have been personal enemies. As increasingly powerful weapons become more and more available, lone wolves, who face few political constraints, will become more of a threat, whatever their primary motivation.

The Internet has also greatly facilitated the spread of "virtual" subcultures and has substantially increased the capacity of loosely networked terrorist organizations. For example, Beam's essay on the virtues of "leaderless resistance" has long been available on the Web and, according to researcher Michael Reynolds, has been highlighted by radical Muslim sites. Islamist Web sites also offer on-line training courses in the production of explosives and urge visitors to take action on their own. The "encyclopedia of jihad," parts of which are available on-line, provides instructions for creating "clandestine activity cells," with units for intelligence, supply, planning and preparation, and implementation.

The obstacles these Web sites pose for Western law enforcement are obvious. In one article on the "culture of jihad" available on-line, a Saudi Islamist urges bin Laden's sympathizers to take action without waiting for instructions. "I do not need to meet the Sheikh and ask his permission to carry out some operation," he writes, "the same as I do not need permission to pray, or to think about killing the Jews and the Crusaders that gather on our lands." Nor does it make any difference whether bin Laden is alive or dead: "There are a thousand bin Ladens in this nation. We should not abandon our way, which the Sheikh has paved for you, regardless of the existence of the Sheikh or his absence." And according to U.S. government officials, al Qaeda now uses chat rooms to recruit Latino Muslims with U.S. passports, in the belief that they will arouse less suspicion as operatives than would Arab-Americans. Finally, as the late neo-Nazi William Pierce once told me, using the Web to recruit "leaderless resisters" offers still another advantage: it attracts better-educated young people than do more traditional methods, such as radio programs.

Already the effects of these leaderless cells have been felt. In February 2002, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, the British national who was recently sentenced to death for his involvement in the abduction and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, warned his Pakistani interrogators that they would soon confront the threat of small cells, working independently of the known organizations that Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf had vowed to shut down. Sure enough, soon after Omar Sheikh made this threat, unidentified terrorists killed 5 people in an Islamabad church known to be frequented by U.S. embassy personnel, and another group killed 11 French military personnel in Karachi in May. And in July, still other unidentified terrorists detonated a truck bomb at the entrance of the U.S. consulate in Karachi, killing 12 Pakistanis.

JOINING THE FAMILY

Virtual links are only part of the problem; terrorists, including members of bin Laden's IIF, have also started to forge ties with traditional organized crime groups, especially in India. One particularly troubling example is the relationship established between Omar Sheikh and an ambitious Indian gangster named Aftab Ansari. Asif Reza Khan, the "chief executive" for Ansari's Indian operations, told interrogators that he received military training at a camp in Khost, Afghanistan, belonging to Lashkar-e-Taiba, and that "leaders of different militant outfits in Pakistan were trying to use his network for the purpose of jihad, whereas [Ansari] was trying to use the militants' networks for underworld operations."

Khan told his interrogators that the don provided money and hideouts to his new partners, in one case transferring ,000 to Omar Sheikh -- money that Omar Sheikh, in turn, wired to Muhammad Atta, the lead hijacker in the September 11 attacks. According to Khan, Ansari viewed the ,000 gift as an "investment" in a valuable relationship.

Still another set of unlikely links has sprung up in American prisons, where Saudi charities now fund organizations that preach radical Islam. According to Warith Deen Umar, who hired most of the Muslim chaplains currently active in New York State prisons, prisoners who are recent Muslim converts are natural recruits for Islamist organizations. Umar, incidentally, told The Wall Street Journal that the September 11 hijackers should be honored as martyrs, and he traveled to Saudi Arabia twice as part of an outreach program designed to spread Salafism (a radical Muslim movement) in U.S. prisons.

Another organization now active in U.S. prisons is Jamaat ul-Fuqra, a terrorist group committed to purifying Islam through violence. (Daniel Pearl was abducted and murdered in Pakistan while attempting to interview the group's leader, Sheikh Gilani, to investigate the claim that Richard Reid -- who attempted to blow up an international flight with explosives hidden in his shoes -- was acting under Gilani's orders.) The group functions much like a cult in the United States; members live in poverty in compounds, some of which are heavily armed. Its members have been convicted of fraud, murder, and several bombings, but so far, most of their crimes have been relatively small scale. Clement Rodney Hampton-El, however, convicted of participating with Omar Abdel Rahman in a 1993 plot to blow up New York City landmarks, was linked to the group, and U.S. law enforcement authorities worry that the Fuqra has since come under the influence of al Qaeda.

Still another surprising source of al Qaeda recruits is Tablighi Jamaat (TJ), a revivalist organization that aims at creating better Muslims through "spiritual jihad": good deeds, contemplation, and proselytizing. According to the historian Barbara Metcalf, TJ has traditionally functioned as a self-help group, much like Alcoholics Anonymous, and most specialists claim that it is no more prone to violence than are the Seventh-Day Adventists, with whom TJ is frequently compared. But several Americans known to have trained in al Qaeda camps were brought to Southwest Asia by TJ and appear to have been recruited into jihadi organizations while traveling under TJ auspices. For example, Jose Padilla (an American now being held as an "enemy combatant" for planning to set off a "dirty" radiological bomb in the United States) was a member of TJ, as were Richard Reid and John Walker Lindh (the so-called American Taliban). According to prosecutors, the "Lackawanna Six" group (an alleged al Qaeda sleeper cell from a Buffalo, New York, suburb) similarly first went to Pakistan to receive TJ religious training before proceeding to the al Farooq training camp in Afghanistan. A Pakistani TJ member told me that jihadi groups openly recruit at the organization's central headquarters in Raiwind, Pakistan, including at the mosque. And TJ members in Boston say that a lot of Muslims end up treating the group, which is now active in American inner cities and prisons, as a gateway to jihadi organizations.

As such evidence suggests, although it may have been founded to create better individuals, TJ has produced offshoots that have evolved into more militant outfits. In October 1995, Pakistani authorities uncovered a military plot to assassinate Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and establish a theocracy. Most of the officers involved in the attempted coup were members of TJ. The group is said to have been strongly influenced by retired Lieutenant General Javed Nasir, who served as Pakistan's intelligence chief from 1990 to 1993 but was sacked under pressure from the United States for his support of militant Islamists around the world.

Totalitarian Islamist revivalism has become the ideology of the dystopian new world order. In an earlier era, radicals might have described their grievances through other ideological lenses, perhaps anarchism, Marxism, or Nazism. Today they choose extreme Islamism.

Radical transnational Islam, divorced from its countries of origin, appeals to some jobless youths in depressed parts of Europe and the United States. As the French scholar Olivier Roy points out, leaders of radical Islamic groups often come from the middle classes, many of them having trained in technical fields, but their followers tend be working-class dropouts.

Focusing on economic and social alienation may help explain why such a surprising array of groups has proved willing to join forces with al Qaeda. Some white supremacists and extremist Christians applaud al Qaeda's rejectionist goals and may eventually contribute to al Qaeda missions. Already a Swiss neo-Nazi named Albert Huber has called for his followers to join forces with Islamists. Indeed, Huber sat on the board of directors of the Bank al Taqwa, which the U.S. government accuses of being a major donor to al Qaeda. Meanwhile, Matt Hale, leader of the white-supremacist World Church of the Creator, has published a book indicting Jews and Israelis as the real culprits behind the attacks of September 11. These groups, along with Horst Mahler (a founder of the radical leftist German group the Red Army Faction), view the September 11 attacks as the first shot in a war against globalization, a phenomenon that they fear will exterminate national cultures. Leaderless resisters drawn from the ranks of white supremacists or other groups are not currently capable of carrying out massive attacks on their own, but they may be if they join forces with al Qaeda.

MODERN METHODOLOGY

Al Qaeda has lately adopted innovative tactics as well as new alliances. Two new approaches are particularly alarming to intelligence officials: efforts to use surface-to-air missiles to shoot down aircraft and attempts to acquire chemical, nuclear, or biological weapons.

In November 2002, terrorists launched two shoulder-fired SA-7 missiles at an Israeli passenger jet taking off from Mombasa, Kenya, with 271 passengers on board. Investigators say that the missiles came from the same batch as those used in an earlier, also unsuccessful attack on a U.S. military jet in Saudi Arabia. And intelligence officials believe that Hezbollah contacts were used to smuggle the missiles into Kenya from Somalia.

Meanwhile, according to Barton Gellman of The Washington Post, documents seized in Pakistan in March 2003 reveal that al Qaeda has acquired the necessary materials for producing botulinum and salmonella toxins and the chemical agent cyanide -- and is close to developing a workable plan for producing anthrax, a far more lethal agent. Even more worrisome is the possibility that al Qaeda, perhaps working with Hezbollah or other terrorist groups, will recruit scientists with access to sophisticated nuclear or biological weapons programs, possibly, but not necessarily, ones that are state-run.

To fight such dangerous tactics, Western governments will also need to adapt. In addition to military, intelligence, and law enforcement responses, Washington should start thinking about how U.S. policies are perceived by potential recruits to terrorist organizations. The United States too often ignores the unintended consequences of its actions, disregarding, for example, the negative message sent by Washington's ongoing neglect of Afghanistan and of the chaos in postwar Iraq. If the United States allows Iraq to become another failed state, groups both inside and outside the country that support al Qaeda's goals will benefit.

Terrorists, after all, depend on the broader population for support, and the right U.S. policies could do much to diminish the appeal of rejectionist groups. It does not make sense in such an atmosphere to keep U.S. markets closed to Pakistani textiles or to insist on protecting intellectual property with regard to drugs that needy populations in developing countries cannot hope to afford.

In countries where extremist religious schools promote terrorism, Washington should help develop alternative schools rather than attempt to persuade the local government to shut down radical madrasahs. In Pakistan, many children end up at extremist schools because their parents cannot afford the alternatives; better funding for secular education could therefore make a positive difference.

The appeal of radical Islam to alienated youth living in the West is perhaps an even more difficult problem to address. Uneasiness with liberal values, discomfort with uncertain identities, and resentment of the privileged are perennial problems in modern societies. What is new today is that radical leaders are using the tools of globalization to construct new, transnational identities based on death cults, turning grievances and alienation into powerful weapons. To fight these tactics will require getting the input not just of moderate Muslims, but of radical Islamist revivalists who oppose violence.

To prevent terrorists from acquiring new weapons, meanwhile, Western governments must make it harder for radicals to get their hands on them. Especially important is the need to continue upgrading security at vulnerable nuclear sites, many of which, in Russia and other former Soviet states, are still vulnerable to theft. The global system of disease monitoring -- a system sorely tested during the sars epidemic -- should also be upgraded, since biological attacks may be difficult to distinguish from natural outbreaks. Only by matching the radical innovation shown by professional terrorists such as al Qaeda -- and by showing a similar willingness to adapt and adopt new methods and new ways of thinking -- can the United States and its allies make themselves safe from the ongoing threat of terrorist attack.

---

Jesica Stern is Lecturer in Public Policy at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government and the author of The Ultimate Terrorists and the forthcoming Terror in the Name of God: Why Religious Militants Kill.

From Foreign Affairs, July/August 2003

http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20030701faessay15403-p10/jessica-stern/the-protean-enemy.html

[DoctorZIn]

WHAT'S NEXT FROM AL QAEDA?

Jessica Stern
From Foreign Affairs, July/August 2003

Summary: Despite the setbacks al Qaeda has suffered over the last two years, it is far from finished, as its recent bomb attacks testify. How has the group managed to survive an unprecedented American onslaught? By shifting shape and forging new, sometimes improbable, alliances. These tactics have made al Qaeda more dangerous than ever, and Western governments must show similar flexibility in fighting the group.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/952345/posts?page=16#16

"If you want on or off this Iran ping list, Freepmail me”

[nuconvert]

Question?

With so many different terrorist groups in Iran having offices on the main Ave in Tehran, so their existence condoned, why are al Qaeda singled out? Why reveal the existence of an al Qaeda terrorist (or 2) in the country, but not those belonging to other groups? Do they not have as much money or backing as the other groups?

[DoctorZIn]

Good question.

[DoctorZIn]

"The Iranian Government are Liars"

July 25, 2003
Vancouver Sun
Nicholas Read and Petti Fong

The family of the late Keyvan Tabesh, who was shot and killed by a Port Moody police officer July 14, was shocked Thursday to find itself in the eye of an international political storm.

Family members say they had no idea the Iranian government was going to use the death of their 18-year-old son and brother to deepen a diplomatic incident with Canada.

"We were surprised," said Keyvan's sister, Rita, in an interview at the door of the family home in Burnaby. "We never talk to the government."

"The problem is between Keyvan's family and the police," she said softly, but with emotion. "It is a social problem, not a political problem."

Keyvan, 18, was shot by a Port Moody police officer July 14 when he approached the officer with a machete in his hand.

Police say Keyvan had earlier struck another vehicle with a machete and that the police officer followed the car in which he was riding into the Port Moody cul-de-sac where the shooting occurred.

Amir Aghaei, another passenger in the car with Keyvan, also approached the officer and was wounded.

In Iran, the government, which is embroiled in a high-level diplomatic dispute with Canada over the beating death in Tehran of Canadian-Iranian journalist Zahra Kazemi, said Thursday there is "fear and horror" among Canadian-Iranians following the shootings.

The Tabeshes are landed immigrants with family members still in Iran,

Rita said as soon as she learned that news of her brother's death was being reported in Iran and that his name was being mentioned by Iranian government officials, she phoned her husband, who is visiting relatives in Iran, to ask him to phone TV stations there and tell them to stop broadcasting the news.

"I told him to phone the media and tell them to stop spreading news in Iran," Rita said.

On Thursday, Rita and Keyvan's father, Nasser, didn't want to talk about what happened to Keyvan, saying only that the family plans to pursue the matter in court. Keyvan's mother, Forough Jabalameli, has been quoted as saying her son did not know he was being confronted by a policeman because the officer was dressed in civilian clothes and driving a vehicle without police markings.

Rita and Nasser both said Thursday Keyvan's death was not the business of the Iranian government, and they didn't want what happened to him to be used for political purposes.

"We don't want the government to use our family," Rita said. "We just want to know why the police killed our brother.

"We just want justice for our son," said Nasser. "We are not a political family. We are living in Canada now and we want justice in Canada."

The Tabeshes left Iran in 2000 and came to Canada for its educational opportunities, Rita said. Keyvan was finishing his last year of high school when he was killed, she said.

Amir Aghaei, who has recovered from his wound, was not available to comment Thursday, but his father, who declined to give his first name, said he agreed with the Tabeshes that what happened to his son was a matter for Canadian, not Iranian, authorities.

"The Iranian government are liars," Aghaei said. "This is not Iran's business. This happened in Canada, not Iran."

He said Amir has recovered from his injury, and the family plans to consult a lawyer to deal with the issue here.

"We will get a lawyer and we now will do everything by the law," he said. "It's a Canadian problem, not an Iranian problem."

He also said he did not want to talk about what happened between his son and the police.

Aghaei said he and his wife were "very, very upset" when they heard the news about the Iranian government involvement. "You have to know we will solve this problem in Canada," he said. "We love Canada."

Pari Saeedi, a spokeswoman with the Iranian-Canadian Community of Western Canada, said the Iranian government's comments are in direct retaliation for the Canadian government's demand for answers in Zahra Kazemi's death.

"This is bullying and the Canadian government should not buy it. They're covering their crime. Whatever happened here will be thoroughly investigated," she said Thursday.

Saeedi left Iran in 1985 and said she remains too fearful to return to visit her family. Relatives and friends still living in Iran tell her the country remains a virtual prison.

"You can close your eyes, shut your mouth and go back to see your family. And if you do see something or say anything they don't like, they'll torture you," she said.

Ken Taylor, a former Canadian ambassador to Tehran, said the Iranian government's call for transparency is "outrageous."

"It's total mischief and absolute nonsense to try and link the two cases together," said Taylor, who was Canada's ambassador to Iran in 1979-80. "It weakens their own case by taking this step."

Taylor said the police investigation into the Port Moody shooting is going to be transparent and will follow a set of procedures because the course of justice in Canada is subject to rules of law.

The Vancouver police department is offering assistance to the Port Moody police investigation into the shooting.

Inspector Chris Beach, who is in charge of the VPD's major crimes section, said a team of investigators is helping with the case.

The Iranian government's suggestion that the investigation into the Port Moody shooting may not be transparent shows poor knowledge of how the Canadian justice system works, according to Beach

"It's a ridiculous suggestion," Beach said. "It shows a complete lack of understanding. This is an investigation."

Port Moody Police Chief Paul Shrive said the homicide investigation is continuing into Tabesh's shooting and witnesses are still being interviewed.

"The attempts by any individuals whether in this country or outside to put any political spin will just not be entertained by us," Shrive said Thursday. "We're keeping our nose to the grindstone and investigating this homicide without any interference."

The unidentified officer who fired the shots joined the force two years ago from the RCMP and has 25 years of policing experience. He is on leave.

http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/story.asp?id=F74551EF-28FD-4404-9724-DE05586A436B