ON THE NET...
ICC-CCS.ORG - THE WEEKLY PIRACY REPORT
http://www.icc-ccs.org/prc/piracyreport.php
Thanks to Brad's Gramma for the ping to this thread.
The following post is an exact quote:
===
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1454837/posts
School bus drivers on the watch for possible terrorists
WTNH Television ^ | 8/1/2005 | Puppage
Posted on 08/01/2005 10:37:05 AM PDT by Puppage
(Danbury-AP, Aug. 1, 2005 8:33 AM) _ School bus drivers are learning to watch out for a new kind of danger.
Beginning this month, the Connecticut School Transportation Association will begin offering free training to teach bus drivers how to evaluate potential terrorist threats.
About 200 of the state's safety instructors will be trained so they can teach drivers at the regional and local level. The training will include who and what to look for and how to perform routine inspections of buses before picking up students.
Drivers who see anything suspicious before or during their routes will be trained to call a special hotline staffed by operators trained to address school bus issues. The operators are responsible for evaluating the situation and calling police.
The program is based on a national effort by the American Trucking Association in response to potential terrorist threats.
http://www.foxnews.com
Headlines only -- no url yet:
"British Cops Arrest Two More in Botched Attacks"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,5252829-105806,00.html
Jihad with that?
The holy war donation tins may have gone from the fast food joints of
Lahore but the president of Pakistan apparently still needs the
militants he is supposed to be rooting out, writes Declan Walsh
Declan Walsh
Monday August 1, 2005
Guardian Unlimited
A week ago a donations box for jihad sat on the counter of the Subway sandwich
restaurant in Gulberg, a bustling middle-class suburb of Lahore. By Friday it was
gone.
"Sorry, management ordered us to remove it," said the cashier behind the till.
The transparent box - one of hundreds in businesses across the city - solicited
contributions to Jamaat-ud Dawa, an Islamic charity widely seen as a front for a jihadi
militia fighting Indian forces in the disputed territory of Kashmir.
The boxes were withdrawn as part of a wide-ranging crackdown on domestic militants
after allegations that the perpetrators of the recent bomb attacks in London had
contacts with at least two Pakistani groups.
In the past week, the president of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, has ordered a freeze on
such fundraising, the arrest of more than 600 people and the expulsion of foreign
students from madrasa religious schools.
But President Musharraf has ordered several such sweeps since 2001, only for the
militant groups to spring up again after lying low for a while. Sceptics are unsure
whether there is serious intent behind the present crackdown. "If you want to make a
contribution, just wait a few months," the Subway cashier said. "By then the boxes
should be out again."
Diplomats and analysts say Mr Musharraf is reluctant to dismantle the jihadi groups -
which have waged a violent campaign in Kashmir since the late 1990s - because they
provide useful leverage in negotiations with Pakistan's old foe, India.
There was substantial progress towards peace between the two countries earlier this
year but the process has slowed over the past month.
The worry for the west is that the groups operating in Kashmir - fired up by Islamist
ideology and anger over the US invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq - are lending their
expertise in violence to al-Qaida.
Bomb attacks on westerners, two assassination attempts on Mr Musharraf and the
murder of the American reporter Daniel Pearl have all been attributed to Pakistani
militants with al-Qaida links.
The London bombers appear to have moved in the same militant circles. Last week,
the New York Times reported that the Circle Line bomber, Shehzad Tanweer, was
trained at a camp north of Islamabad run by the Kashmir militant outfit
Jaish-i-Mohammad.
There are also unconfirmed reports that Tanweer visited a madrasa run by Jamaat-ud
Dawa. Since splitting from the militant group Lashkar-i-Taiba in December 2001,
Jamaat has claimed to prosecute jihad through good works, not guns.
Jamaat tends to the sick of Pakistan using a fleet of 150 ambulances, 600 medical
dispensaries and a team of doctors, said the Pakistani information secretary,
Mohammad Yahya Mujahid, in Lahore.
Wearing a long, scraggly beard of the type usually associated with deeply
conservative Muslims, Mr Mujahid said that the organisation runs 137 schools and 40
madrasas. It also sends a team of clerics to mosques around the country to "preach
and discuss political issues facing Islam".
And, most importantly, according to Mr Mujahid, Jamaat has severed all ties with the
Lashkar-i-Taiba gunmen in Kashmir. "That chapter is completely closed," he said.
But few believe him, not least the Pakistani police. About 115 Jamaat members were
arrested last week under anti-terrorist laws, although more 75 of them have since
been released.
"Our people are always arrested but the courts let them go," Mr Mujahid said
confidently. "We are law abiding citizens."
Groups such as Jamaat-ud Dawa present a sharp dilemma for Mr Musharraf. Although
their madrasas do not train fighters, analysts say, they provide a pool of indoctrinated
young men from which the militant wings can recruit.
The young jihadis are directed to a network of secret training camps in a heavily
forested area in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir. Some of the same camps are allegedly
linked to al-Qaida.
Two al-Qaida fighters captured recently told investigators in San Francisco they were
trained at a camp run by Kashmir militants near Rawalpindi.
The claim remains unconfirmed, and the interior minister says such training camps do
not exist.
Last week Mr Musharraf vowed to arrest every extremist "bigwig" in Pakistan. But if he
cracks down too strongly on the Kashmir groups, he risks a backlash from powerful
Islamic parties.
Nevertheless, diplomats say it is a step he must take to root out his country's
troubled association with al-Qaida.
"We need to see action across the board, a complete change of policy - not just
selective actions," one diplomat said.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005
Rocket launchers in Nuevo Laredo
By Bill
Created 07/30/2005 - 03:38
The Brownsville Herald [1] reports that the US has temporarily closed its consulate in Nuevo Laraedo following a gunbattle
the night of July 28 between drug traffickers armed with grenades, rocket launchers and heavy machine guns. US
Ambassador Tony Garza said in a written statement that the consulate would suspend all operations except for emergency
services for US citizens through at least Aug. 5. The closure comes two days after Garza announced that escalating violence
has prompted the State Department to extend a travel advisory for the entire Mexican side of the border until further notice.
“As part of our security assessment, we will be gauging what should be a swift and certain response from the government of
Mexico, to bring this situation under control,†Garza said. Consulate officials in Nuevo Laredo are expected to reschedule
visa appointments, putting travel plans on hold for Mexican citizens.
According to the Mexican attorney general’s office, residents of the city’s Colonia Campestre district reported hearing
several rounds of shots at a home on the 2400 block of Calle Mexicali around 8 PM. No one was found inside the modest
home, but it appeared to have been damaged by rocket launcher blasts and machine-gun rounds. Mexican federal agents
discovered an abandoned Chevrolet Tahoe, three AK-47 assault rifles, two 9 mm handguns, a hand grenade and hundreds
of rounds of ammunition. Agents also found two grenade-damaged vehicles on nearby Calle Anahuac. No injuries or arrests
were reported at either location.
According to State Department figures, over 100 have been killed in drug trafficking violence on northern Mexican border
since June. At least eight of those deaths include Nuevo Laredo police officers and commanders.
See our last post [2] on Nuevo Laredo.
Links
[1] http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/ts_more.php?id=66341_0_10_0_C
[2] http://www.ww4report.com/node/690
Source URL: http://www.ww4report.com/node/838
http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEH20050731103829&Page=H&Title=Top+Stories&Topic=0
Rape of India Lady by 3 officials of Pakistan Army.
Other Pakistan/India news.
(Note that Jihad Unspun is owned by: Bev Kennedy*** granny
http://www.honestreporting.com/articles/critiques/Jihad_Unspun_and_Google_News.asp
Jihad Unspun and Google News
A pure propaganda site is indexed by the innovative, popular Google News.
The Google search engine is the most popular method in the world for finding information
online, handling more than 200 million search requests a day. Building on their success,
Google has now developed Google News (www.news.google.com), a portal that is quickly
becoming one of the most influential sources of world news.
Here's how it works: Google News has accepted
thousands of news sources for inclusion in a pool, which
Google's computer continually scans by algorithm to
group articles by topic. When the user types in a search
word, such as 'Israel', Google News presents links to
hundreds of relevant news stories on that topic. (Greater prominence is given to articles
more recently released, and more popular online.)
But with the proliferation of vitriolic anti-Israel and anti-Semitic material on the web (the
number of neo-Nazi websites in Germany, for example, has tripled in the past four years)
and much of it deliberately disguised in 'news format', the question is: What does Google
News consider a legitimate news source ? as opposed to fiction or propaganda? The Google
News website states only:
While the sources of the news vary in perspective and editorial approach, their
selection for inclusion is done without regard to political viewpoint or ideology.
This goal to present a broad spectrum of viewpoints is praiseworthy, but HonestReporting is
concerned with Google News' acceptance of one particular site ? Jihad Unspun ? as Mideast
'news', despite the site's record of blatantly distorting established facts, glorifying terror, and
publishing highly defamatory anti-Semitic material. Jihad Unspun's articles appear
prominently on searches for Israel-related topics on Google News. But click through, and this
is what Jihad Unspun serves up:
? Outrageous 'Zionist conspiracy' theories, such as the canard that 9/11 was a sinister Zionist
plot, as were the recent Istanbul bombings: 'Zionist Intelligence Engineered Istanbul Blasts'.
? The authors generally refuse to call Israel by name, employing instead the terms 'Zionist
forces' and 'Hebrew state'. Some examples:
'Resistance Fighters Attack Zionist Vehicles' (i.e., deadly terror attacks on
Israeli civilian cars)
'Zionist Chief of Staff Promises More Suffering for Palestinians'
'Hebrew State Refuses British Involvement'
'Zionist Terrorist Forces Demolish More Palestinians Homes, Mosque'
? All of Israel is referred to as 'occupied territory' and all Israelis are 'settlers'. For example,
a report on the closing of the Sbarro's pizzeria, site of the horrific 2001 bombing, reads:
Owners of a Zionist restaurant in central occupied Jerusalem have failed to
convince customers to frequent it anew. Clients deserted the 'Subaru'
restaurant after a Palestinian commando blew himself up in it about three
years ago, killing 17 settlers and wounding tens others.
? The site publishes the writings of the rabidly anti-Semitic Edgar J. Steele, including an
article with these passages:
It isn't Arabs rigging the US stock market and commodities futures markets - it
is jews.
It wasn't Arabs who sent our military into Afghanistan and Iraq - it was jews
It wasn't Arabs who forged the Anne Frank "diary" - it was jews.
It wasn't Arabs who lied about gas chambers at Dachau and Auschwitz - it was
jews.
It wasn't Arabs who demolished the World Trade Center - it was jews.
It wasn't Arabs who had Jesus Christ crucified - it was jews.
The owner and publisher of Jihad Unspun is Khadija Abdul Qahaar
(a.k.a. Bev Kennedy), who converted to Islam after 9/11, became
an advocate for its most radical fringe, then launched the website
without any journalistic credentials.
While the site is duly protected by the First Amendment (we found no
overt calls to murder), the material Jihad Unspun publishes does not
meet a reasonable definition of 'news', but is rather anti-Israel and anti-American
propaganda that masquerades as news. Google News recognizes this loophole in its system ?
in March of last year Google News responded to an email campaign protesting the inclusion
of the radical Indymedia site (where the term 'Zionazis' was prevalent), and removed
Indymedia from their service.
With the highly influential Google News still a work-in-progress (it remains in experimental
'beta' mode), HonestReporting encourages subscribers to write to Google News at
news-feedback@google.com, encouraging the removal of Jihad Unspun from their list of
legitimate news sites. Though the goal of providing a spectrum of news sources is laudable,
hateful propaganda has no place on Google News.
Thank you for your ongoing involvement in the battle against media bias.
HonestReporting.com
Two Freight Trains Collide/sideswiped, near St. Louis.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1454962/posts
This one will give you nightmares.......
granny
TerroristWarning.com Terrorism Headlines 08/01/2005
National:
TerroristWarning.com Editors Note - wilth all the talk and theories of a potential Al Qaeda nuclear or radiological attack within the United States in the coming 2 weeks, we
thought it appropriate to include the following first link...
[Virginia Dept of Emergency Management] USA - Nuclear - Terrorism Information: The Facts - How to Prepare - How to Respond
http://www.vdes.state.va.us/prepare/terrorismtoolkit/terrguide/weapons/nuclear.htm
[WND] USA - Chertoff warns of nuclear terror
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/printer-friendly.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45539
[Kyodo News] USA - IAEA warns of nuke terror threat, cites 121 trafficking cases in 2004
http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=8&id=345033
[SFTT.org/DefenseWatch] USA - Ed Offley: Good News and Bad: We’re Preparing for Terror Combat Here
"The bad news is that DoD planners fully anticipate that "multiple, simultaneous mass casualty incidents" involving WMD weapons at the hands of al Qaeda or like-minded
groups "represent the most immediate challenge to the nation's security" and will remain so for at least the next decade"
http://www.navyseals.com/community/articles/article.cfm?id=7549
[AP] NEW YORK - Guard troops go active to step up transit safety [ TW Editor note, Thanks to PurePursuitIntelNetwork.com for sending us this article.]
"Gov. George E. Pataki on Friday ordered hundreds of National Guard troops to state active duty to increase security at New York City mass transit facilities"
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20050730/3070885.asp
[MensNewsDaily.com Eva Ellsworth] USA - Talk Radio Host Silenced by CAIR? [ TW Editors note - And what happened to Graham's freedom of speech? ]
http://mensnewsdaily.com/blog/ellsworth/2005/07/talk-radio-host-silenced-by-cair.html
[CNSNews.com] USA - Talk Show Host Under Fire for Comments About Islam
"Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said it received complaints Monday from Muslim listeners who heard WMAL's Michael Graham say "Islam is a terrorist
organization," "Islam is at war with America," "The problem is not extremism. The problem is Islam," and "We are at war with a terrorist organization named Islam."
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=\Culture\archive\200507\CUL20050726b.html
[CNSNews.com ] USA - Group Authoring Fatwa Has Links to Bin Laden Ally
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=\Culture\archive\200507\CUL20050729a.html
[TheRaphi.com] USA - CAIR Founded by Islamic Terrorists?
http://www.theraphi.com/da/july/29b.html
[American Daily ( Commentary)] USA - Politicians admit Muslim religion lights the terrorist match
"Muslim organizations threaten lawsuits of anyone connecting Islam to "Islamist fanaticism" as our government attempts to convince the public that mainstream Islam is
peaceful"
http://www.americandaily.com/article/8511
[AP] USA - Federal Judge Says Patriot Act Too Vague
"too vague to be understood by a person of average intelligence and are therefore unconstitutional"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/29/AR2005072901660_pf.html
[WND] USA / MEXICO BORDER - Minutemen launch new mission
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45510
[Reuters] USA / MEXICO BORDER - Policeman kills US tourist in northern Mexico
"policeman fatally shot a US tourist in increasingly violent northern Mexico in an apparent accident"
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N31497847.htm
[Houston Chronicle] USA / MEXICO BORDER - U.S. closes consulate in violent border city
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/3288875
[Houston Chronicle] USA / MEXICO BORDER - Culberson plan would authorize border militias [Has 46 Republican co-sponsors]
" introduced a bill late Thursday to let Texas and other border states establish armed militias to catch people trying to illegally cross from Mexico and Canada"
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/3287223
[AP] USA / MEXICO BORDER - Official Alleges Misspending of Homeland Security Funding
"none of that money has reached Arizona, the nation's busiest illegal entry point along the nation's southern border"
http://www.kpho.com/Global/story.asp?S=3663622&nav=23Kucmmx
[KUTV] UTAH - HAZMAT Crews Discover Suspicious Substance [ In Hotel ]
"substance believed responsible for sending over fifty people to the hospital Saturday morning "
"hotel patrons began coughing and complaining of difficulty breathing"
http://kutv.com/topstories/local_story_212182406.html
[KSL TV] UTAH - Chemical that Caused an Evacuation is Still a Mystery [ Also nausea]
http://tv.ksl.com/index.php?nid=39&sid=222522
[Reuters] USA - U.S. looking for possible links in BP blasts
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2005-07-31T141553Z_01_MOL980439_RTRUKOC_0_ENERGY-BP-EXPLOSION.xml
[Farm Bureau News] USA - Animal Rights Extremists Still in Business
“The animal rights movement is growing whether you like it or not—it’s unstoppable,” said Steven Best, an associate professor at the University of Texas-El Paso and
environmental activist"
http://www.fb.org/views/focus/fo2005/fo0725.html
[San Diego Union Tribune] USA - Animal activists released after 17 days in federal jail
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20050730-9999-7m30release.html
[Fox News] USA - Pentagon to Increase Domestic Surveillance for Counterterrorism
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,164328,00.html
[KTOK] OKLAHOMA - Air Force Took Seriously Man's Missile Claim
http://www.ktok.com/cc-common/feeds/view.php?feed_id=135&feed=/local.html&instance=1&article_id=26812
[AP] MEXICO - Explosions Kill Four; Injure Nearly 30 in Western Mexico
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBY0NR5VBE.html
[New York Daily News] NEW YORK - Suspicious package causes evacuation of Port Authority
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/breaking_news/story/333477p-284947c.html
[WPRI] RHODE ISLAND - Bomb threat at TF Green Airport
"bomb threat was called into Delta Airlines"
http://www.wpri.com/Global/story.asp?S=3664159&nav=F2DOcn6m
International:
[WND] MALACCA STRAIT - Private navies combat Malacca Strait pirates
"Waterway now so dangerous for shipping, Lloyd's classifies major seaway as warzone"
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45535
[News24] SOUTH AFRICA - 'Nuke spy' lawyer arrested
"suspicion of disclosing information in a nuclear espionage case"
http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1746657,00.html
[Siber News Media] SRI LANKA - Eravur man arrested for possessing explosives
http://www.sibernews.com/content/view/1449/29/
[Kent Online] UNITED KINGDOM - Alert over home-made device strapped to tree
http://www.kentonline.co.uk/medway/news.asp?article_id=21620
[Christian Science Monitor] SUDAN - Plane carrying Sudan VP goes missing
"plane carrying the former rebel who ascended to Sudan's No. 2 leadership post after a recent peace agreement went missing Sunday in bad weather on its way back from
Uganda"
http://www.csmonitor.com/newsinbrief/brieflies.html#WORLD15:57:53
[AP] SUDAN - Sudanese Vice President, 14 Others, Killed in Helicopter Crash, Official Says
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBY47TAUBE.html
[AP] ISRAEL - Israel Threatens Massive Ground Operation
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050731/D8BMF03G0.html
[London Telegraph] SAUDI ARABIA - Police investigate Saudi link to London attacks
http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/07/31/nbomb31.xml
[Times of India] INDIA - Why there are no Indian Muslims in al Qaeda
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1186717.cms
[Arab News] YEMEN - Yemeni Security Official Escapes Attempt on Life
"explosive device blew up under his car in Sanaa yesterday"
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=67702&d=30&m=7&y=2005
[Reuters] YEMEN / USA - Yemen says U.S. to release 7 Guantanamo detainees
http://ca.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2005-07-31T133928Z_01_N31496665_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-SECURITY-YEMEN-USA-COL.XML
[AP] AFGHANISTAN - Massive weapons cache seized in Afghanistan
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2005-07-31-afghanistan_x.htm?POE=NEWISVA
[The Age] AUSTRALIA - Pizza shop explosion suspicious [Explosion]
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/pizza-shop-explosion-suspicious/2005/07/31/1122748511180.html?onfiltered=true
[Australian] ITALY - Italy bans Islamic burqas
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16110721%255E2703,00.html
[BBC] SAUDI ARABIA - King Fahd of Saudi Arabia dies
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4734175.stm
[Bangkok Post] THAILAND - Bomb explodes at Big C in Pattani
"One man was injured and two cars were damaged after a remote-controlled bomb exploded at the Nong Chik branch of Big C superstore"
http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/02Aug2005_news16.php
[Reuters] ISRAEL - Bomb blows up outside Palestinian official's house
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L01633756.htm
[Reuters] PHILIPPINES - Philippine army arrests bomb suspect in south
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/MAN314546.htm
[Itar-Tass] RUSSIA - Basayev behind Znamenskoye bomb blast
http://www.tass.ru/eng/level2.html?NewsID=2279322&PageNum=0
Today in History:
August 1, 1987 - Saudi Arabia
Iranians Riot In Mecca
Iranian pilgrims rioted in Mecca, resulting in more than four hundred deaths.
August 1, 1960 - Benin
Independence Day
#
August 1, 1927 - China (People's Republic of)
Army Day
Celebrates the first uprising by the Chinese Communist Party in Nanchang, Jiangxi
Province, against the nationalist government of Chiang Kai Shek.
August 1, 1291 - Switzerland
Independence Day
No information provided.
August 1, (year ?) - Angola
Armed Forces Day
No information provided.
August 1, (year ?) - Asia and Pacific
Ashura (10th of Muharam)
Marks the martydom of Ali Hussein, the tenth Imam of Islam. Significant to Shi'a
Moslems. Marked by emotional processions (involving self-flagellation) in Shi'a areas.
Upcoming Significant Events:
August 2, 1964 - Vietnam
Tonkin Gulf Incident
No information provided.
August 2, 1980 - Italy
Bologna Train Station Bombing
Neo-Fascists bombed a train station in Bologna.
August 2, 1990 - Iraq, Kuwait
Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait
Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait and seized control of the country.
August 3, (year unknown) - Cyprus
Makarios Memorial Day
No information provided.
August 3, (year unknown) - Malaysia
Malaysian National Day
No information provided.
August 3, 1960 - Niger
Independence Day
No information provided.
August 3, 1978 - Equatorial Guinea
Military Junta Takes Power
No information provided.
August 4, 1975 - Malaysia
JRA Members Seize Embassies
Members of the Japanese Red Army (JRA) seized the consular sections of the American
and Swedish embassies, taking fifty-two hostages. The hostages subsequently were
released after five JRA members were set free in Japan.
August 4, 1983 - Burkina Faso
Coup Overthrows the Government
Coup led by Thomas Sankara overthrew the government.
August 5, 1960 - Burkina Faso
Independence Day
No information provided.
August 5, 1962 - South Africa
Arrest of Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela was arrested and subsequently sentenced to life in prison for sabotage
and plotting to overthrow the government.
August 5, 1988 - Pakistan
Shiite Leader Assassinated
Arif Hussain Al-Hussaini, a leading Shiite religious and political leader in Pakistan, was
shot to death in Peshawar.
(China reports on Iraq news).......
http://www2.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-07/29/content_464513.htm
U.S. weighs protecting foreign diplomats
(AP)
Updated: 2005-07-29 09:19
The U.S. military is considering offering protection to foreign diplomats in Baghdad after
al-Qaida agents killed three Arab envoys this month, the American ambassador said
Thursday, Associated Press reported.
"Coalition forces... are planning to look at this problem and see what could be done to fix the
security for the diplomats," Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad told reporters. "It's very
important for foreign diplomats who come here to have a sense of security."
He spoke a day after Iraq's most feared terrorist group announced it killed two Algerian
diplomats ¡ª including the country's chief envoy in Iraq ¡ª because of their government's
ties to the United States and its crackdown on Islamic extremists.
Chief envoy Ali Belaroussi and diplomat Azzedine Belkadi were kidnapped outside their
embassy in Baghdad's western neighborhood of Mansour. Al-Qaida in Iraq claimed
responsibility.
The group ¡ª headed by Jordanian terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi ¡ª also
claimed responsibility for the kidnap-slaying of Egypt's top envoy and the attempted
abduction of two other Muslim diplomats in a campaign to undercut support for the new
Iraqi government within the Arab and Muslim world.
The United States has urged Arab and Muslim countries to deepen their diplomatic ties to
Baghdad ¡ª a strategy that seems at risk after the brutal attacks.
Khalilzad said no final decision had been made on offering protection, and some Arab
diplomats may fear the presence of U.S. forces around diplomatic missions could actually
draw insurgent attacks.
"We have not accepted taking on the mission at this point," Khalilzad said. "But what we've
agreed is, we will look at this, see what the problem is, and what the options might be for
assisting."
It was not clear exactly how many diplomats the U.S. might be called on to protect. There
are more than 40 foreign missions and some 500 diplomats in Iraq.
Both the Algerians and the Egyptian diplomat had no personal bodyguards. Belaroussi told
colleagues he felt no need for security because of Algeria's good relations with the Iraqi
people and its opposition to the U.S.-led invasion.
In Algeria, police detained Ali Belhadj, a former deputy leader of the banned Islamic
Salvation Front, after he publicly praised Iraq's insurgency and condoned the killing of the
two diplomats, an Algerian newspaper reported Thursday.
Belhadj, freed in 2003 after serving a 12-year prison sentence, was apprehended Wednesday
after making the comments in a telephone interview with Al-Jazeera television, El Watan
newspaper reported.
The kidnappings were part of a surge in insurgent attacks after the Shiite and Kurdish-led
government was announced April 28. The U.S. military announced Thursday two American
soldiers were killed and one was wounded in a roadside bombing the day before in Baghdad.
Another American soldier died Wednesday in a non-hostile vehicle accident in central Iraq,
the U.S. military said. That brought to eight the number of Americans killed in Iraq since
Sunday night, when four members of the Georgia National Guard died in a bombing in
Baghdad.
As of Wednesday, at least 1,782 members of the U.S. military had died since the beginning
of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. At least 1,376 died
as a result of hostile action.
Also Thursday, U.S. Marine jets dropped laser-guided bombs and other ordnance on
insurgent positions northwest of Baghdad, killing nine insurgents ¡ª including five Syrians,
the U.S. military said.
The airstrike was launched after troops from the U.S. 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment
and the Iraqi 1st Division came under fire in a village west of Haditha, 140 miles northwest
of Baghdad.
Jets from the 2nd Marine Air Wing dropped three laser-guided bombs and one global
positioning system guided bomb, destroying all three buildings, the statement added.
French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy also told a newspaper that at least seven people
from France have been killed in Iraq after joining insurgents there.
"At least seven people from France have died there fighting for al-Qaida's cause, some in
suicide attacks, and about 10 others are still there," Sarkozy told Le Parisien in an interview
being published Friday.
The interior minister said he wanted to reinforce surveillance of flights to Syria, Pakistan and
Afghanistan, which he said are stopovers for Europeans heading to Iraq to join militant
groups.
Elsewhere, insurgents launched coordinated attacks against four Iraqi army checkpoints
along a road between Baqouba and Baghdad, killing six Iraqi soldiers, police said. At least
eight people ¡ª three soldiers, four policemen and one civilian ¡ª were wounded as fighting
continued into late afternoon.
In Baghdad, a train carrying fuel exploded into flames when it was hit by a bomb, killing two
people and wounding six, police said. The bomb appeared aimed at a nearby police
commando checkpoint, police said. An Internet posting in the name of al-Qaida in Iraq
claimed responsibility.
This is page 2, does not sound to me as tho it is under control, there are 4 pages, but the print is much too small, so I quit.......granny
http://www2.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-07/29/content_464423_2.htm
Death toll up; disease 'under control'
By Bao Daozu (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-07-29 06:01
Yang Weizhong, Director of the Office of Disease Control and Emergency Response of
China Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), made the remarks in Ziyang
yesterday in a brief interview with journalists.
With a chart showing the epidemic in Ziyang to be in decline, Yang said he was still not sure
when the epidemic would be over.
The epidemic situation seems to be very localized now, Robert Dietz, a spokesman for the
World Health Organisation (WHO), was quoted as saying.
In South China's Guangdong Province, the Guangdong Yongshun Biology Pharmaceutical
Factory is stepping up production of a vaccine to protect pigs against the disease, Wu
Weirui, board chairman of the factory told China Daily yesterday.
A large amount of the vaccine, enough for at least 20 million pigs, will be sent to Sichuan by
next Wednesday, he said.
Since the outbreak was discovered on June 24, Ziyang has done its utmost to prevent the
spread of the disease, said Chen Nenggang, deputy mayor of Ziyang.
The city has issued more than 2 million posters urging farmers not to slaughter or eat sick
pigs, the only ways humans can become infected.
At least 50,000 health workers and officials were sent to nearly 1.4 million farming
households, to register every pig in the region, Chen said.
Ziyang also set up 39 temporary roadside quarantine stations to stop dead pigs from being
transported to market, he added.
The Sichuan provincial government has designated four medical facilities in Ziyang, Neijiang,
Zigong and Suining as treatment centres for farmers showing symptoms of the disease.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/01/AR2005080100376.html
Sudanese VP, former rebel leader Garang killed in helicopter
crash
Posted on Monday, August 1, 2005 at 12:40pm
Sudan's vice president and former southern rebel leader John Garang
has died in a helicopter crash, officials said, dealing a blow to a
landmark peace deal signed in January with Khartoum to end more than
20 years of civil war. "The presidency has followed the reports about the
disappearance of the aircraft of Sudanese Vice-President John Garang
and it is confirmed beyond doubt that it crashed in the Amatonj
mountains," said a statement from Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir.
"It resulted in the death of John Garang and six people accompanying
him as well as seven members of the crew of the Ugandan presidential
aircraft," said the statement, which was read on state television. The
Amatonj mountains are in the Eastern Equatorial province of Sudan near
the border with Uganda. A Ugandan official later said in Kampala that
the wreckage of a crashed Ugandan helicopter and the bodies Garang
and the 13 other people on board had been located in a remote area of
southern Sudan. Full Story
( I didn't get the link for the above article, L.A. Times maybe, the above link is to the riot story below, the newsletter fought me on clipping it, and the site would not open for me, so all I got was the clipping...granny)
Sudan Turns Violent After Garang's Death
Posted on Monday, August 1, 2005 at 6:52pm
Rioters burned cars and threw stones in Sudan's capital on Monday after
a helicopter crash killed the country's vice president, who until recently
was a southern rebel leader. Sudanese leaders appealed for calm and
said the nation's peace process would remain on track. But some
southern Sudanese said they were suspicious about the circumstances of
the death of John Garang, who was a key figure in a fledgling peace deal
between the predominantly Arab Muslim government and the Christian
south. Full Story
There are many links to the worlds latest reports on terror news at this site.
http://www.terrorism.com/
amas camp: Sun, fun ... indoctrination
What Palestinians view as respite from poverty, Israelis call terror
training for youth
San Francisco Chronicle
Matthew B. Stannard, Chronicle Staff Writer
Sunday, July 31, 2005
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/07/31/HAMAS.TMP
Seventeen-year-old Osama Abu Asi knows what Hamas stands for: swimming
lessons, horseback riding, potato sack races and other summertime fun
-- including religious education and paramilitary training.
This is summer camp in the Gaza Strip, as organized by Harakat
al-Moqawama al-Islamiyah, the Islamic Resistance Movement, better known as
Hamas -- which is officially regarded by the United States and many other
countries as a terrorist organization that has killed hundreds of
Israelis.
All summer long, at camps in playgrounds, in dirt-poor neighborhoods
and on glittering Mediterranean beaches, Palestinian boys and young men
get together in safe, well-managed, comfortable facilities decorated
with the fluttering green flags of Hamas.
"In this camp we learn the important things of life -- good behavior,
respect," said Osama, who was spending the summer at a Hamas-run camp on
the beach outside Gaza City.
They also learn how to sing "intifada songs," including one urging them
to "kill Zionists wherever they are, in the name of God."
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's spokesman Ra'anan Gissin
described the summer camps as "indoctrination camps" comparable to the Hitler
Youth camps, and accused Hamas of taking advantage of Gaza parents'
desperate economic straits by offering to care for and feed their children
while concealing the organization's true motives.
"This is where you create cultural hatred, so by the age of 15 or 16
you can send them out as suicide bombers. That's the whole purpose of
them," he said.
Osama didn't see it that way. "They are not terrorists. We've been
trained and taught to live and forgive. That is the lesson here."
As he spoke, fellow campers ran laughing through the shimmering
breakers, rolling in the white sand. Nearby, a group of camp "graduates" --
young men now regulars in Hamas -- played volleyball in an enclosed area.
Up the beach, families relaxed under tents, while women walked into the
sea wearing long dresses and with their hair covered by a hijab,
maintaining their modesty in the surf.
Other campers gave similar responses when asked what they were learning
from the bearded instructors who stood nearby as they spoke and
sometimes whispered suggested answers.
"Math, sports, swimming, Islamic behavior," said Ibrahim El-Kanua, 12,
at a camp in a playground near the Jabaliya refugee camp where he
lives. "I learned how to respect and honor."
The camps are especially popular with Palestinian families in Gaza,
where Hamas is perceived as both less corrupt and more administratively
competent than the ruling Fatah party of President Mahmoud Abbas.
The movement did well in municipal elections in December, January and
May, and now controls 50 of 121 Palestinian local governments, mostly in
the Gaza Strip. Observers believe it would have done equally well in
parliamentary elections that have been postponed.
For Gaza parents, the camps provide an alternative for their children
during the summer school holidays when there is little to offer in the
way of recreation on Gaza's dusty streets, and kids are often seen
playing in the raw sewage that flows to the sea.
"The Hamas summer camp is teaching them good behavior, teaching them to
honor and respect people, instead of losing them to the streets," said
60-year-old Abdullah Fatah, as he came to check on his four
grandchildren enrolled in a playground camp near his home in the Jabaliya refugee
camp.
"(Hamas) follows Islam. Because they follow Islam, I trust them. I
would follow them anywhere."
More than 80 percent of the 1.3 million people in the Gaza Strip live
below the poverty line, with an unemployment rate of 50 percent. More
than half of the population is 14 years old or younger.
"If Hamas won't watch them, who would keep them busy during the summer
break?" asked Ibrahim Salah, an accountant who is also head of Hamas'
education department. "When they're in the hands of Hamas, they're in
good hands."
At Hamas camp, every camper gets a crisp green baseball cap. Camp
officials said they have already given out 12,000 caps this year in 60 Gaza
summer camps, out of 100,000 caps they ordered from a Chinese company.
"This is one of the basic things we can provide these kids -- a cap and
a T-shirt," said Jasser Shameyah, a Hamas administrator. "We try to
take them once in a while to a playground, special beaches with entry fees
-- we can pay up to five shekels a kid."
At four separate camps visited earlier this month, the campers, who
ranged in age from about 8 to 18, were organized into groups of a dozen or
so with individual instructors, playing tug-of-war and wrestling,
learning the Quran -- campers easily recited long sections by heart -- and
munching on pita bread stuffed with hummus and a mystery meat as
unidentifiable as that in any Boy Scout lunch.
Fatah, the ruling Palestinian party in the occupied territories, and
other groups -- Islamic Jihad and Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, for example
-- also offer camps. But a tour of camps in Gaza found most bearing the
green flag of Hamas.
Some American and European programs offer summer camps in Gaza, which
bring Jewish and Muslim children together and emphasize peace and
reconciliation. But those groups tend to attract far fewer children, from
mainly well-to-do backgrounds, and put them in a Western environment, one
Hamas instructor asserted, where girls without head coverings are
thrown in with boys, something many Muslim parents consider unacceptable.
Hamas, following its interpretation of Islamic principles, runs
separate camps for boys and girls. The children pay for the camp on a sliding
scale -- from a shekel (about 25 cents) to 10 shekels for the duration,
depending on their ability to pay, Hamas officials said.
"The main reason for Hamas summer camp is just for fun, to take them
from the killing environment. They've gone through things they weren't
prepared for," Salah, the Hamas education chief, said. "The main thing is
to teach them to love their nation, Palestine. We're all one nation."
But while Hamas leaders point to their social programs as the reason
for the camps' popularity, Israelis -- and some Palestinians -- are far
more critical of what the young campers are learning besides horseback
riding and the backstroke.
At one beach camp, attended by approximately 100 kids, an instructor
wore a heavy flannel shirt under which a webbed belt could be seen
strapped to his stomach. Asked by a reporter what it was, he answered, with a
broad smile, "Boom!"
The instructor led a group of young teenagers through marching drills
on the sand -- facing movements, close quarter drill. With a smile at
the reporter, he put a megaphone to his lips.
"What are you?" he called.
"Monsters!" the kids replied.
"What are you?!"
"MONSTERS!"
As the instructor, Sa'eb Dormush, stepped aside for an interview, a
youth in the group shouted out "moqawama!" -- resistance.
"That is the first word they learn when they are born," Dormush said
with a laugh. "This is the next generation."
Across camp, a group of younger children -- most between 10 and 12 --
sat in a circle in the sand singing one of the "intifada songs" they
learn at camp. One boy sang verses in a rolling soprano as the others
joined in on the one-word chorus.
"We don't want to sleep.
HA-A-MAS!
We want revenge.
HA-A-MAS!
Raise it up.
HA-A-MAS!
Rifle fire.
HA-A-MAS!
If it will take a thousand martyrs.
HA-A-MAS!
Kill Zionists.
HA-A-MAS!
Wherever they are.
HA-A-MAS!
In the name of God.
HA-A-MAS!"
(clipped from article)