Posted on 03/14/2005 3:32:22 PM PST by Straight Vermonter
Iraq Forces Capture Two Saddam Relatives
Mon Mar 14,11:55 AM ET
Add to My Yahoo! Middle East - AP
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Security forces in Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s hometown captured two of the ousted dictator's relatives, who allegedly were helping insurgents launch attacks in Iraq (news - web sites), the government said Monday.
The two were identified as one-time Saddam bodyguard Marwan Taher Abdul Rashid and his cousin, Abdullah Maher Abdul Rashid — who also was the brother-in-law of Saddam's son, Qusai, state-run Iraqiya television reported.
The two were captured March 8 in Tikrit, Saddam's hometown north of Baghdad, the government said in a statement.
Abdullah Maher Abdul Rashid was strongly believed to have "used big amounts of money that he received from Qusai ... to finance terrorism in Iraq," the statement said.
Marwan Taher Abdul Rashid "was once a bodyguard for Saddam Hussein and has been involved in number of attacks against the security forces," the statement said, giving no other details.
The two are not listed on any of the American most-wanted lists.
Qusai Hussein and his brother, Odai, were killed July 22, 2003, by U.S. troops during a shootout in the northern city of Mosul.
Last month, Saddam Hussein's half brother, Sabawi Ibrahim al-Hassan, a most-wanted leader in the Sunni-based insurgency, was detained. Al-Hassan was believed to have been financing insurgents from exile in neighboring Syria. His arrest was announced Feb. 27.
JEDDAH: Saudi security forces shot dead one man and arrested another in a raid on a suspected militant's house in Jeddah on Sunday, officials and witnesses said.
They said a woman was also killed and five policemen were wounded in the early morning clashes at the apartment in the northern part of the Red Sea city. Officials said she was apparently a neighbour.
The incident came less than a week after the US embassy in Saudi Arabia issued a warning of a heightened threat in Jeddah, where militants attacked the US consulate three months ago.
"It was a raid to arrest wanted people classified as terrorists," said Interior Ministry security spokesman Brigadier-General Mansour Turki. He said security forces were fired on and may have been attacked with hand grenades.
Saudi Arabia has been battling al Qaeda militants for nearly two years. Despite recent successes by security forces, diplomats say militants may be planning further attacks in the world's biggest oil exporter.
Neighbours identified the dead man as Saed al-Youbi. Witnesses saw his bloodied body being carried out of the building after the shooting.
Security sources said the raid took place after Saed's relative Ibrahim al-Youbi, who was being followed by authorities, arrived in Jeddah and came to his apartment.
Security forces tried to enter at 6.30am but came under fire. Reinforcements arrived 30 minutes later and they stormed the building.
Five of the security forces were injured, some of them seriously, witnesses who helped transport them to hospital told Reuters.
Police at the scene said both Youbi relatives were suspected militants. But Turki said it was possible only the arrested man was wanted by authorities.
Riyadh has vowed to uproot al Qaeda militants who aim to topple Saudi Arabia's pro-Western monarchy and expel Westerners from the birthplace of Islam.
Interior Minister Prince Nayef has said 90 civilians and 39 members of the security forces were killed in the last two years, which had also caused 1 billion riyals ($NZ370.62 million) in damage. Police killed 92 militants in the same period.
Foreigners in the kingdom remain on edge.
Last month British defence firm BAE Systems, which employs hundreds of Westerners, raised the alarm after saying it had received intelligence of possible militant attacks.
Security sources in Jeddah said late on Saturday they were searching for a car seen circling suspiciously around the US consulate complex. The car had false number plates, they said.
In December, al Qaeda militants stormed the consulate, killing five locally employed staff before they were shot dead by security forces.
KASHMIR: In yet another major breakthrough in Kupwara, financial chief of Hizbul Mujahideen Farooq Ahmad Dar was killed alongwith his close associate in at Handwara on Saturday.
Another senior commander of the outfit Nazir Ahmad Bhat alias Hashim was killed by the troops at Nowbug village of Bijbehara on March 9. Bhat was on the top on the list of security forces in Anantnag district for the past 14 years.
Self-styled battalion commander of Hizbul Mujahideen Zuber alias Nadeem and his deputy Razak alias Hikmatyar fell to the bullets of security forces on February 21 at Billawar in Kathua district.
Mohammad Rafiq Kachroo, divisional commander of Hizb was killed alongwith two of his accomplices in Banihal area on March 4. He had joined the outfit in early stages of militancy and was wanted since then, the sources said.
The outfit also lost 12 more militants in various encounters in Anantnag, Poonch and Doda between February 25 and March 11, the sources said adding these include four group commanders and one sector commander.
Pakistan-based Lashker-e-Toiba outfit also suffered heavy casualties with 13 of its activists including six top commanders gunned down by the security forces in different encounters in Baramulla, Udhampur, Poonch, Doda, Pulwama and Kulgam between February 24 to yesterday, the sources said.
Four hardcore militants of Jaish-e-Mohammad including a group commander were killed in Pulwama on March 4 and another area commander of the outfit Bashir Ahmad Malla was killed at Walerhama in Anantnag yesterday, they said.
The sources said 13 more militants whose identities could not be established were also killed during the period.
SV-Dar is a huge "get" for the Indians.
125 Al-Qaeda members arrested on dhows stopped in Gulf waters: expert
DUBAI - Fourteen dhows intercepted in Gulf waters since January carried 125 suspected Al-Qaeda members who have been detained by US or other authorities, a counter-terrorism expert in the region said Monday.
The traditional wooden boats "are being used here in the Gulf by Al-Qaeda on a daily basis," Bob Newman, director of international security and counter-terrorism services with GeoScope Group, said on the sidelines of an Airport, Port and Terminal Security (APTS) Middle East conference in Dubai.
"So far this year, 14 dhows have been intercepted in the Gulf region. Many more have been stopped," said Newman, whose Colorado-based organization provides teams to help track down terror suspects at the planning stage.
Their 125 crew members, who he said had all admitted to being "members" of Al-Qaeda, were either sent to the United States "or to countries they were coming from or going to".
The dhows were being used to move personnel, weapons and money, he said.
Maritime authorities are "also finding a lot more drugs. Al-Qaeda are financing weapons and logistics via opium", because the United States has "seized their money" since the September 11, 2001 attacks, he said.
Amid the threat from Al-Qaeda to Gulf countries, "governments in the region are cooperating heavily with each other," Newman told reporters.
Saudi Arabia, which has been battling a deadly wave of violence since May 2003 blamed on Al-Qaeda sympathisers, has thwarted "an incredible number of attacks", he said.
But the threat is "still brewing" in neighbouring Kuwait, the site of four gunbattles in January between Islamist militants and security forces, he said.
"We collect (arrest) people from all over, from taxi drivers in Qatar to janitors in Kuwait," said Newman. Plans for attacks on "governments, embassies and housing compounds in the region" had been uncovered.
The threat in the area is highest in Saudi Arabia, "Kuwait is number two," with Qatar behind, said Newman. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) government, meanwhile, "has been very quiet in its counter-terrorism plans."
There have been "between 10 and 12 ... very quiet, major arrests throughout the UAE" since 2002, said Newman, adding that all were allegedly Al-Qaeda members who included Tunisians, Algerians, Iranians, Syrians and Saudis.
"They were not doing operational planning here, but were only here for meetings and just passing through," he said.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The government on Monday announced the arrests of 103 alleged members of MS-13, a street gang rooted in Central America where members have been known to behead enemies and attack with grenades and machetes.
The arrests, in seven cities since early January, are the first of a nationwide crackdown on Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, which is one of the largest and most violent street gangs in the United States. Federal officials estimate between 8,000 and 10,000 MS-13 members live in 31 states — the majority of them in the country illegally. There have been machete attacks in U.S. cities along the East Coast.
Agents with the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement used information from state and local law enforcement authorities to target MS-13 activities in the New York, Washington, Los Angeles, Baltimore, Newark, Miami and Dallas metropolitan areas.
Half of the suspects charged in the sting, nicknamed "Operation Community Shield," have prior arrests or convictions for violent crimes, including murder, sodomy, assault and arson. All of them can be deported for violating immigration laws, said Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Michael Garcia.
Seen this?
THE WEEKLY PIRACY REPORT
http://www.iccwbo.org/ccs/imb_piracy/weekly_piracy_report.asp
This is major news.....but of course if it isn't Michael Jackson or Martha Stewart...it don't lead.
More good news for our side.
Thanks..very interesting. :^)
Thanks much for the ping SV.
>> Fourteen dhows intercepted in Gulf waters since January carried 125 suspected Al-Qaeda members <<
First I've heard of this. Great find! Thanks again.
((( TM Ping )))
"Fourteen dhows intercepted in Gulf waters since January carried 125 suspected Al-Qaeda members who have been detained by US or other authorities"
Is this why the Dhow Jones in Dubai is down?
;)
I'm really surprised that none of us (to my knowledge) had heard about the large number of arrests from the Gulf dhows. It's an impressive number.
Hahaha!
It certainly is.
And thanx for the ping
That settles it. I'm docking all our paychecks!
you mean we're all in the doghouse....?
Go get 'em. And I'll say a short prayer that any guards and well behaved, non-Al Qaeda prisoners stay down and out of the line of fire.
I'll take FNC any day of the week.
Aaarghhh thanks fer the link matey!
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