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Gov’t troops raid ‘Abu-JI meeting’; 10 killed--generalUpdated 03:45pm (Mla time) Nov 20, 2004 By Agence France-Presse The Philippine military has killed up to 10 people in an air raid on a suspected meeting between the Abu Sayyaf kidnap gang and Jemaah Islamiyah extremists, a senior military official said Saturday.But the claim was denied by a spokesman for the country's main Muslim separatist group who charged that the attack had hit members of his organization in violation of a ceasefire in place with the government.Four MG-520 helicopters and two OV-10 planes blasted two houses in the marshlands of the southern province...

Philippine security forces have arrested several suspected members of Muslim militant group Jemaah Islamiah (JI) in Manila. Police and military officials says the suspects are part of a group planning bomb attacks to disrupt the inauguration of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. The arrests come as security forces boost their presence in the capital to guard against threats to tomorrow's ceremonies. The forces are also being deployed to control protest marches planned by opposition groups who say Ms Arroyo cheated in May 10 elections. "We got them with the PNP [Philippine National Police]," a military intelligence official said. JI is believed...

Blood Money Former Exec: American Company Paid Terrorist Group to Protect Overseas Interests By Brian Ross and Rhonda Schwartz April 16 — Before his company sent him overseas, Allan Laird, a former Denver-based mining executive, had never heard of Abu Sayyaf. As Laird quickly learned when he arrived in the Philippines, Abu Sayyaf is one of the world's most-feared terrorist organizations, closely connected to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network. Laird said he also soon discovered the company for whom he formerly worked, Echo Bay, was regularly paying Abu Sayyaf and other terror groups in the Philippines in exchange for...

MANILA (Reuters) - The United States has asked Manila to extradite one of six suspected Muslim militants arrested last week on suspicion of planning bomb attacks, believing he beheaded a U.S. tourist in 2001, Philippine officials said on Tuesday. They said the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation had requested that Alhamser Limbong, alias Kosovo, be tried in a U.S. court for the abduction of three American nationals from a beach resort in May 2001 and the beheading of one of them. "They have a photograph of Kosovo on their wanted lists," said government prosecutor Nestro Lazaro. A team of FBI...

The President of the Philippines says security forces have foiled a Madrid-style attack on civilian targets in Manila. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo says security personnel have arrested four suspected militants and seized a large amount of explosives. "We have pre-empted a Madrid-level attack on the metropolis by capturing an explosive cache of 36 kilograms of TNT," President Arroyo said. She says the explosives were "intended to be used for bombing malls and trains in Metro Manila". "The most dangerous terrorist cell of the Abu Sayyaf has been dismantled," Ms Arroyo said. Ms Arroyo, a staunch supporter of the US war...

6 killed as rebels clash in Mindanao Six New People's Army (NPA) rebels were killed when guerilla units supposed to be meeting to plan a joint attack mistook each other for government troops, the military said Monday. Guerrillas from one unit of the NPA ventured into the territory of another last week to join forces for the assault, local military commander Lt. Col. Johnny Macanas said. But under cover of darkness, they mistook each other for soldiers and opened fire in the confusion, Macanas said. The joint attack they were planning was to have been carried out on March...

Former Navy SEAL fights deporting of adopted son By JON FRANK, The Virginian-Pilot © January 3, 2004 Last updated: 1:11 AM Jim Schombs Anyone interested in trying to help Julius Schombs stay in the country should contact one of Virginia’s U.S. senators. Sen. George Allen 202-224-4024 Web site: allen.senate.gov/email.html Sen. John Warner 202-224-2023 Web site: warner.senate.gov/contact/contactme.htm VIRGINIA BEACH — When Jim Schombs returned to the United States from the Philippines in 1986, he brought with him a new wife and her 5-year-old son, Julius. Mother and son were natives of the faraway island of Negros Occidental, and Schombs wanted...

Math & Design in the Universe - Updated

Math is the universal language, but it is not a human construct. Sure, we create symbols for numbers and mathematical computations, but math itself is more fundamental. 2 + 2 = 4 is universally true, universal in the sense that everywhere in the universe it is true. It does not matter what symbols we create to communicate “2 + 2 = 4” — the equation always remains true. This math can be used so precisely to describe and understand the universe, it is almost as if it is part of the universe itself. A language imbedded in creation, something so...

<p>Hillary Clinton's PI Anthony Pellicano starts his trial today on two felony counts of possessing unregistered firearms (handgrenades) and C-4 explosives. He was arrested November 2002 after FBI agents searched his office as part of an investigation into threats made to Los Angeles Times reporter Anita Busch, who was investigating a possible connection between actor Steven Seagal and an alleged Mafia associate.</p>

Philippine troops slay top Abu Sayyaf guerilla involved in US hostage killing ZAMBOANGA -- A Muslim Abu Sayyaf guerilla suspected of involvement in the 2001 killing of a US hostage was shot dead and two other rebels captured in separate police operations in the southern Philippines, an official said on Wednesday. Senior Abu Sayyaf leader Que Alkisam Alfa was killed in a gunbattle on Monday when troops caught up with him in a coastal town in southern Tawi-Tawi province, regional police chief Acmad Omar said. Alfa had escaped from nearby Basilan island last year amid a massive military manhunt. He...

U.S. June personal income rose 0.3 pct Friday August 1, 8:28 am ET WASHINGTON, Aug 1 (Reuters) - U.S. Commerce Department personal income and spending estimates, in seasonally adjusted annual rates. Percent Changes, current dollars . June May Apr Mar Personal Income 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.3 Wages/Salaries 0.3 0.2 unch 0.2 Disposable Income 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.2 Personal Consumption 0.3 0.4 0.1 0.8 Durables 0.4 0.4 2.6 3.1 Nondurables 0.4 unch -1.3 0.9 Services 0.2 0.6 0.4 0.4 Saving Rate, pct 3.3 3.3 3.4 3.3 Percent Changes, chained '96 dollars . June May Apr Mar Personal Consumption 0.1 0.5 0.3...

<p>Today: Philippine troops trained and armed by U.S. special forces have the notorious Abu Sayyaf rebels on the run, but Filipino Muslim separatists say the campaign tramples on their struggle for rights.</p> <p>Monday: An exclusive visit to the captured camp of "Commander Bravo," a key leader of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, provides an inside look at the war between Philippine forces and the rebels. .</p>

Manila says 50 rebels killed in anti-terror strikeZAMBOANGA - Government troops have killed more than 50 Muslim separatist guerillas in a major anti-terrorist operation in southern Philippines, a senior military official said on Sunday. Government troops opened extensive ground operations against the separatist bases after Philippine President Gloria Arroyo ordered 'selective aerial and artillery attacks to dislodge embedded terrorist cells'. The military fired at least 135 artillery rounds on Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) positions in two areas of Mindanao island over the past 24 hours, southern Philippines military chief Major General Roy Kyamco told reporters, though no bodies have...

Indon hostage escapes Abu Sayyaf captorsPosted: 5:03 PM (Manila Time) | Mar. 28, 2003 Agence France-Presse ZAMBOANGA--An Indonesian sailor held captive by Abu Sayyaf gunmen in Mindanao has escaped during a military offensive, ending nine months in captivity, the military said Friday. Two kidnapped Indonesians remain unaccounted for following the recovery of 27 year-old Julkipli. The authorities said they could not independently confirm his report that one of his colleagues died in captivity. Troops engaged an Abu Sayyaf unit in a gunbattle near the town of Patikul on Jolo island late Thursday, allowing Julkipli, 27, to give his captors the...

KL nabs two JI membersKUALA LUMPUR -- Police have arrested a Malaysian air force official and a library security guard on suspicion that they are members of the Islamic terror group Jemaah Islamiah (JI), which has been blamed for the Oct 12 Bali bombings, police said on Saturday.The suspects are believed to belong to a JI cell that in the past has arranged accommodation and transport for new recruits traveling through Malaysia on their way to terrorist training camps in the southern Philippines. Both Malaysian, the two were detained in Sabah state on Borneo island, a senior police official said...

ANYONE WATCHING?

The Nadir Nader of Irrelevancy On behalf of disgruntled Sacramento Kings fans (and people who just plain hate the L.A. Lakers) everywhere, "consumer advocate" and former Green Party Presidential aspirant Ralph Nader blasted the National Basketball Association (NBA) yesterday for what he deemed "decisive incompetence." Like hundreds of thousands of other armchair referees, Nader directed his ire toward the officials for Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals, which apparently took place sometime last week. (NBA fan, I am not.) Nader demanded that NBA commissioner David Stern--and the United States Congress (just kidding)--launch an investigation into the officiating of the...

Suspected terroristsarrested at NAIAPosted: 7:07 PM (Manila Time) | Mar. 15, 2002By INQ7.net SUSPECTED terrorists linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network were arrested Friday at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport after security personnel discovered explosives and bomb-making equipment in their handcarried luggage during metal detector checks, a report from GMA-7 News said. The report aired over GMA-7's Saksi newscast revealed three Indonesians – Agus Dwikarna, 41 years old, Tamsil Linrung, 38, and Abdul Jamal Balfas, 37 – were pounced upon by airport security at the NAIA entrance before checking in for a Lufthansa LH 745 flight bound for...