Free Republic

SNIPPET: "An Irish jihadist living in Pakistan’s Swat valley says he is preparing to wage war against British and allied troops in Afghanistan. Khalid Kelly, a former altar boy from the Liberties area of Dublin who used to be known as Terry, told The Sunday Times he is undergoing weapons training in Pakistan’s mountainous tribal region in order to fight jihad against the enemies of Islam. His dream is to face a British soldier in combat, although he would “settle” for an American, he said. “I’m already on the path to jihad. I’ve already picked up a gun and done...

SNIPPET: "An al Qaeda leader wanted by the US for a string of deadly attacks has been named the new leader of terror group's network in East Africa. Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, one of several al Qaeda leaders charged with carrying out the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, was appointed the leader of al Qaeda in the Horn of Africa. Fazul was "inaugurated" during an open ceremony in the southern city of Kismayo, according to a translation received by The Long War Journal of an article posted Waaga Cusub, a website operated by the Hawiye clan,...

Yesterday marked the 30th anniver sary of the capture by Khomeinist "stu dents" of the US Embassy in Tehran, triggering the 444-day hostage crisis. The Iranian public seized the chance to reject the regime -- even as the surviving hostage-takers have largely come to regret their actions. For months, Iran's state-controlled media had tried to build up the day as a "turning point" for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's troubled second term. The occasion was supposed to highlight Ahmadinejad's "victory over the American Great Satan" and Washington's implicit acceptance of Iran's nuclear project in recent talks in Geneva and Vienna.

The source of anti-American Islamic Terrorism started today, Nov 4, 1979, in Tehran, Iran. Thank You Jimmy Carter, for abandoning the Shah

The deal for the Chancery building in London’s Grosvenor Square with Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment was agreed by the US Ambassador to the UK, Louis Susman.

Leaders of Iran's opposition movement are to make an unprecedented apology to the US on the 30th anniversary of the storming of the American embassy in Tehran. In a gesture likely to provoke fury among hardliners in the Tehran regime, they will apologise on Wednesday for the hostage crisis that gripped the world for 444 days and led to a decisive break between Iran and the US, which is now routinely denounced as "the Great Satan". Organisers of the Green Movement, the umbrella group that seeks to overturn the official result of the June presidential election, plan to use the...

The U.S. government has decided not to seek the death penalty against a Guantanamo detainee charged in the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa. A letter released Monday advises a federal judge that Attorney General Eric Holder told prosecutors not to seek the death penalty in the New York trial of Ahmed Ghailani (guh-LAHN'-ee). His trial is scheduled for September 2010.

Today local radio America has spread a version that states that the US embassy in Tegucigalpa would host the paralell govt. of Manuel Zelaya. The version says that the ambassador Hugo Llorenz has ready 6 limousines ready to transport the members of Zelaya's cabinet to the embassy. Some of his top officials are wanted by honduran justice.

MOGADISHU, Somalia - American special operations forces killed an al-Qaida terrorist during a helicopter commando assault in Somalia on Monday, NBC News reported. U.S. officials told NBC that Saleh Ali Nabhan, suspected in the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania and the 2002 bombing of a resort hotel in Mombasa, Kenya, was killed when at least one U.S. special operations helicopter opened fire on a suspected al-Qaida convoy south of Mogadishu. Ali Nabhan was also suspected of operating al-Qaida training camps inside Somalia, NBC reported. Two men were killed and two others wounded when foreign troops in helicopters...

WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Clinton ordered an investigation on Tuesday into the Animal House revels of private guards at the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan - including booze, hookers and other "deviant behavior." "These are very serious allegations, and we are treating them that way," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said of photo and e-mail evidence of the "climate of fear and coercion" at the living quarters of ArmorGroup guards. The investigation by the State Department's inspector general follows a shocking report to Clinton by the nonprofit Project on Government Oversight detailing a "Lord of the Flies environment" at the...

A large blast ripped through the centre of Afghanistan's capital Kabul on Saturday, Reuters witnesses said, and smoke could be seen rising above the city's diplomatic quarter. . .

KABUL (AP) - Afghan army officers and witnesses say one of the five rockets that has slammed into Kabul fell near the American Embassy. The rocket's impact could be seen about 200 meters (yards) down from the U.S. Embassy on a main road in central Kabul. Security officers say the rocket hit the house of a senior Interior Ministry official but caused no casualties. At the scene, Maj. Ghulam Rasul of the Afghan national army said he believed the five rockets that hit early Tuesday were fired from a long range.

Note: The following text is a quote: YOU ARE HERE: Home > Reports > Consular Affairs Bulletins > Report Warden Message: Ecuador Conterfeiting Problems CONSULAR AFFAIRS BULLETINS Americas - Ecuador 30 Jul 2009 U.S. Embassy Quito issued the following Warden Message on July 30, 2009: The U.S. Embassy and Consulate General in Ecuador wish to inform American citizens visiting or resident in Ecuador of the continuing problem of counterfeit U.S. dollars circulating within Ecuador. We remind American citizens to check your currency carefully when leaving any banking institution or private business within Ecuador. Recently, we’ve received reports of counterfeit bills...

SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq (AP) - The U.S. State Department says it's investigating reports that three Americans have been detained by Iranians after wandering near the border in the self-ruled Kurdish region in northern Iraq. Two Kurdish officials say the three Americans apparently were arrested after entering Iranian territory without permission. One security official says the missing Americans were tourists on an outing. The official says the three contacted a colleague Friday and said "they had mistakenly entered Iranian territory and troops surrounded them." The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information. State Department spokesman...

The 2010 trial for a Guantanamo detainee charged in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Africa has been moved further from the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. Federal Judge Lewis Kaplan moved the trial from Sept. 13, 2010, to Sept. 27, 2010, after defense lawyer Gregory Cooper complained. Cooper said the first date would prejudice the jury against Ahmed Ghailani (guh-LAHN'-ee).

Valletta, Malta, Jul 8, 2009 / 12:14 am (CNA).- The editor of a Malta newspaper has commented on President Barack Obama’s choice of Prof. Doug Kmiec as ambassador to Malta, describing the appointment as “somewhat of a poisoned chalice” and noting the controversies concerning Kmiec and his campaign to elect Obama to the American presidency.Noel Grima, editor of the Malta Independent Online, said that though Kmiec was a Catholic and a pro-life person he has “fallen foul” of some Catholic leaders for his public stances on abortion and other pro-life issues.Noting Kmiec’s past as a law school dean, a law...

HARARE: Zimbabwe's state media reported Monday that President Robert Mugabe described the US assistant secretary of state for African affairs as ``an idiot'' after an acrimonious meeting between the two at an African summit in Libya. The state Herald newspaper carried the remarks after a briefing Mugabe gave to Zimbabwean reporters at the end of last week's summit of the continentwide African Union. US Embassy officials in Zimbabwe and Ethiopia, where Assistant Secretary of State Johnnie Carson is visiting, would not comment on the remarks. According to the Herald paper, Mugabe said nothing came out of those talks. ``You wouldn't...

July 3, 2009 SNIPPET: "Belgrade, 3 July (AKI) - A special Belgrade court on Friday sentenced 11 members of a radical Islamic Wahabi movement to more than 60 years in prison after they were found guilty of planning terrorist activities and illegal weapons possession. Fifteen members of the group were arrested in Serbia’s southern Sandzak region, which has a substantial Muslim population. The trial started in January last year but 12 members of the group refused to engage defence lawyers, saying they did not recognise a Serbian court and could be “judged only by Allah”...."

I was one of those who went “toe to toe” with my colleague during the last hotly contested Presidential campaign in the United States of America. For me, it was never about my being an enthusiastic supporter of the other major candidate - I was not. It was about the threshold foundational concern that reveals the very heart of Catholic Social Justice thought, the inviolable dignity of every human life. This is the key to the whole social justice teaching of the Catholic Church. I contended then and now that it must also be the door through which we proceed...

Another Chicago area resident, Fay Hartog-Levin, a longtime Democratic activist and fund-raiser and an early career supporter of Barack Obama, was tapped Thursday to be ambassador to the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Her husband, Daniel Levin, is the chairman of The Habitat Company and the founder of the East Bank Club. Valerie Jarrett, before joining the Obama White House as a senior advisor, was the President and Chief Executive Officer of The Habitat Company. Levin's cousins are Michigan Democrats, Sen. Carl Levin and his brother, Rep. Sandy Levin. A Winnetka resident, Hartog-Levin is a senior consultant at the Res Publica...

The American embassy held its annual party celebrating the birth of the United States. Israeli leaders from the military and political classes were in attendance along with the American staff of the embassy. From both the right and left the participants sat together and were entertained by American music, food and fireworks. Prime Minister of the Jewish state, Binyamin Netanyahu addressed the gathering.

“This was the heyday of [Ayatollah] Khomeini’s theocratic vision, when Iran thought it really could export its revolution across the Middle East, providing money and arms to anyone who claimed he could upend the old order.” He may yet turn out to be the avatar of Iranian democracy, but three decades ago Mir-Hossein Mousavi was waging a terrorist war on the United States that included bloody attacks on the U.S. embassy and Marine Corps barracks in Beirut. Mousavi, prime minister for most of the 1980s, personally selected his point man for the Beirut terror campaign, Ali Akbar Mohtashemi-pur, and dispatched...

Nov. 4 will mark the 30th anniversary of one of the darkest days in American history. A horde of Iranian militants poured down Taleghani Street in Tehran, crashing through the gates of the U.S. embassy, taking 52 Americans hostage. Bound and blindfolded, our countrymen were paraded in front of TV cameras and threatened for 444 days. It took more than five months for the emasculated Jimmy Carter presidency to hatch a rescue attempt. -SNIPPeople said at the time: What good does this do? America cannot chip away at totalitarianism with mere words! How wrong they were. An American president's words...

Gunmen shot and killed an American man Tuesday as he left his car in the capital of the West African nation of Mauritania, police and witnesses said. Two men had initially tried to kidnap the man, but he resisted and they shot him when they realized they could not overpower him, a police officer said. The office did not give his name because he was not authorized to speak to the press. Witness Bilal Ould Mohamed and other neighbors said the man was a U.S. professor teaching at a center specializing in computer science in El Kasr, a lower-class neighborhood...

He may yet turn out to be the avatar of Iranian democracy, but three decades ago Mir-Hossein Mousavi was waging a terrorist war on the United States that included bloody attacks on the U.S. embassy and Marine Corps barracks in Beirut.

President Barack Obama on Thursday tapped four big Democratic Party donors for plum ambassadorships in Europe and Latin America while naming six career diplomats to posts in Africa, the Mideast and the Pacific. Washington lawyer Howard Gutman, who raised more than $500,000 for Obama's campaign and personally contributed the maximum $4,600 to it, was nominated to be the next U.S. envoy to Belgium, the White House said in a statement. Gutman also contributed $2,300 to now Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan group that tracks money in politics. Obama...

Iraqi authorities have detained five U.S. citizens in connection with the death of an American contractor in Baghdad, officials said Sunday, in what could be the first case of Americans facing local justice under a joint security pact that took effect this year. The body of Jim Kitterman, who was reportedly bound, blindfolded and stabbed, was found in his car last month in the protected Green Zone where his small construction company was based. It was an unprecedented slaying in the sprawling district and occurred at a time when blast walls are coming down and Iraqi forces are assuming greater...

US Embassies to Invite Iranian Diplomats to Celebrate Fourth of July The Obama administration has authorized its embassies to invite Iranian diplomats to U.S. Independence Day celebrations on the Fourth of July. Officials say the State Department sent a cable to all its embassies on Friday, telling them they "may invite representatives from the government of Iran" to their annual holiday parties.

Hot dog diplomacy: US embassies open to Iranians on July 4 Jun 2 02:55 PM US/Eastern Opening a round of hot dog diplomacy with Iran, the State Department said Tuesday it is letting US embassies invite Iranian diplomats to their Fourth of July celebrations this year. It would be the first time in nearly 30 years that Iranian diplomats have been on the guest list for these affairs, which often feature hot dogs and other traditional Independence Day fare. State Department spokesman Robert Wood said a cable went out to US diplomatic missions last week advising that Iranian diplomats "may...

Some Americans are having a gay old time in Iraq. On Friday, a gay pride theme party was held at Baghdaddy's, a bar in the U.S. Embassy complex in Iraq frequented by State Department employees and contractors. "Come celebrate the start of Summer with color," the invitation read, "and in costume! Dress in DRAG or as a GAY ICON." Prizes were awarded for best-dressed gay icon and best lip-sync performance....

In the short time that President Obama has been in office, there have been many breaches of foreign protocol such as an overt familiarity with the British Queen and bowing to the Saudi King. But the most significant indiscretion will occur tonight as homosexuality is promoted in our embassy in a foreign land — in Baghdad, Iraq, no less.

The trial of the first Guantanamo detainee to be held in a U.S. court will be conducted in New York's Southern District, Attorney General Eric Holder announced Thursday. The decision to hear the case of Ahmed Ghailani in New York comes almost eight years to the day that four of his co-defendants were convicted after a Southern District trial for their roles in a massive al-Qaida conspiracy to kill Americans abroad that resulted in the destruction of two U.S. embassies in Africa, killing 204 people and injuring thousands. "By prosecuting Ahmed Ghailani in federal court, we will ensure that he...

This Warden Message alerts U.S. citizens to the latest information regarding H1N1 Influenza A. The Mexican Secretariat for Communications and Transportation has announced enhanced health screening for all international passengers departing Mexico from the following six airports: Mexico City (Benito Juarez), Guadalajara, Monterrey, Cancun, Cabo San Lucas, and Puerto Vallarta. Any passengers displaying obvious flu-like symptoms may have their temperature taken by health officials; tests for the H1N1 virus may then be administered to those with fevers. Passengers with high temperatures or testing positive for the H1N1 virus will be denied boarding. All passengers should allow ample time for any...

WASHINGTON, April 28, 2009 – Army Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry retired here today, 24 hours before being sworn in as the U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, dons a U.S. Army ball cap at the conclusion of the retirement ceremony for Army Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, Pentagon, Hall of Heroes, April 28, 2009. Eikenberry retires after 35 years of service and will be sworn in as the new U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan in a ceremony tomorrow by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. DoD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st...

The Vatican has blocked the appointment of Caroline Kennedy as US ambassador, according to reports. Vatican sources told Il Giornale that their support for abortion disqualified Ms Kennedy and other Roman Catholics President Barack Obama had been seeking to appoint. Mr Obama was reportedly seeking to reward John F Kennedy's daughter, who publicly gave her support to his election bid. She had been poised to replace Hillary Clinton as New York senator, but dropped out amid criticism that she lacked enough experience for the job.

According to James Morrison at The Washington Times, the Vatican has rejected three candidates to serve as US ambassador to the Vatican because of the nominees' support for abortion: The Vatican has quietly rejected at least three of President Obama's candidates to serve as U.S. ambassador to the Holy See because they support abortion, and the White House might be running out of time to find an acceptable envoy before Mr. Obama travels to Rome in July, when he hopes to meet Pope Benedict XVI. Italian journalist Massimo Franco, who broke the story about the White House attempts to find...

https://www.osac.gov/Reports/report.cfm?contentID=100164 YOU ARE HERE: Home > Reports > Consular Affairs Bulletins > Report Warden Message: Islamabad Heightened Security CONSULAR AFFAIRS BULLETINS South / Central Asia - Pakistan 9 Apr 2009 RELATED REPORTS 3 Apr 2009 WARDEN MESSAGE: PAKISTAN TERROR THREAT 30 Mar 2009 WARDEN MESSAGE: PAKISTAN POLICE TRAINING CENTER ATTACK 17 Mar 2009 WARDEN MESSAGE: PAKISTAN CONSULAR SECTION REOPENING 14 Mar 2009 WARDEN MESSAGE: PAKISTAN LONG MARCH CLOSURES 12 Mar 2009 WARDEN MESSAGE: PAKISTAN LONG MARCH DEMONSTRATIONS STARTING MARCH 12 U.S. Embassy Islamabad released the following Warden message on April 9: This Warden Notice is to notify American citizens that...

As President Barack Obama continues to focus on his political base and push through policies that are anathema to the pro-life movement, he is having difficulty finding a suitable candidate to represent his administration at the Vatican. According to Massimo Franco, author of "Parallel Empires," a recently published book on U.S.-Vatican relations, the Obama administration has put forward three candidates for consideration but each of them have been deemed insufficiently pro-life by the Vatican. One of the few conditions the Vatican places on diplomats accredited to the Holy See is that they hold pro-life views in line with Church teaching....

Seasoned U.S. diplomat Chris Hill showed some jitters on Wednesday over being nominated as next U.S. ambassador to Iraq. “I just don’t want to screw it up,” said Hill, in fairly undiplomatic language at a confirmation hearing in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. As new U.S. ambassador, Hill would oversee the drawdown of U.S. troops. Hill has faced some opposition as next U.S. ambassador to Iraq but he had a fairly smooth hearing on Wednesday. Critics Arizona Sen. John McCain and Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback, who have questioned Hill’s lack of Middle East experience and whether he was tough enough...

Al Gore seeks release of Americans March 21, 2009 Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore has asked United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for help in obtaining the release of two journalists being held by North Korea. The two work for Current TV, an organization co-founded by Gore in 2005. CNN reported yesterday it’s not immediately clear what Clinton can do. The United States is also asking Beijing for help, and China said it is investigating, according to CNN. The journalists, Chinese-American Laura Ling and Korean-American Euna Lee, were captured Tuesday while filming North Korea near the China-North Korea...

U.S. Embassy Antananarivo issued the following Warden Message on March 11: Due to the unstable political situation in Madagascar, the U.S. Embassy has authorized departure of non-emergency personnel and family members of Embassy employees. Additionally the Peace Corps has decided to send all Madagascar-based Peace Corps volunteers to South Africa and temporarily suspend their Madagascar program. At this time, the embassy is encouraging non-emergency staff and family members to depart while commercial air is still readily available. We encourage all Americans in Madagascar to monitor the situation closely and consider departing the country while commercial air is still operating normally....

HAVE we no shame as a nation? After the conviction for rape of American Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith by a lower court, and the issuance of a ruling by no less than the Supreme Court ordering the Philippine government to start negotiations for a new detention locale for the Marine, Smith remains in cozy comfort on US Embassy grounds, thumbing his nose at Filipino authorities. Supporters of Nicole, the Filipina who went public with her complaint of rape against Smith and his comrades, thought the Supreme Court had given her an early Valentine’s gift when it ruled that confinement or...

If the Guantanamo prison base is shut down, critics say, some military combatants currently held there will be sent back to their home countries — where they will rejoin terrorist groups and ultimately kill Americans. It's already happened. A New York woman was killed in a terrorist attack at the U.S. Embassy in Sana, Yemen, in September. And U.S. counterterrorism officials have now confirmed that Said Ali al-Shihri, 35, who was released from the Guantanamo Bay prison center in 2007, is the deputy leader of Al Qaeda in that Mideast country and is a suspect in the attack. State Department...

The U.S. State Department says one of its diplomats has been found dead in his home in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa. A State Department official, who asked not to be identified, said 25-year-old Brian Adkins was found dead Saturday. The official says U.S. diplomatic security is investigating the death as a suspected homicide. The State Department has not officially released details of Adkins' death. Adkins was a foreign service officer in the consular section of the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa. He was on his first diplomatic assignment."

The news that Andrew Warren, the CIA station chief in Algeria, allegedly drugged and raped two local Muslim women at his U.S. embassy residence in North Africa would be shocking anywhere around the globe — at anytime. But the fact that this happened in Algeria, presently, could not be worse news for world security. If a CIA presence in Algeria was unwelcome before, no doubt Warren’s actions (Warren is a self-described convert to Islam) have greatly jeopardized the CIA’s legitimacy and credibility in a volatile nation that has become the newest laboratory for al-Qaeda’s deadly biological warfare program. According to...

(CNN) -- The U.S. Embassy in Yemen warned Americans there Monday it has received a report of a possible attack against its compound in Sanaa. The embassy, in a warden message, said it "has received a threat against the embassy compound regarding a possible attack which could take place in the foreseeable future."

Threat temporarily closes US consulate in Dubai The consulate located in the Dubai World Trade Center will be closed for American citizen services and visa interviews, Tuesday's announcement said. The statement did not elaborate on the nature of the security information.

Crowd tries to attack US Consulate in Karachi Sunday, 11 Jan, 2009 | 08:13 PM PST | KARACHI: Police say a crowd tried to attack the US Consulate building in Karachi during an anti-Israel protest, but security forces managed to repel them. Police say they fired tear gas shells and baton charged the crowd, forcing it to disperse. Pakistan has witnessed several protests against Israel due to its strikes on the Gaza Strip. Police official Ameer Sheikh says that during Sunday's protest, hundreds began marching toward the consulate. He says some were carrying bricks and sticks. Roads to the consulate...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 6, 2009 – U.S. Marines raised the American flag yesterday during the dedication ceremony for the new U.S. Embassy in Baghdad as Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker declared “a new era” for Iraq and the Iraqi-U.S. relationship. U.S. Marines raise the American flag during the dedication ceremony for the new U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Jan. 5, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Derren J. Mazza  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John D. Negroponte and almost 1,000 invited guests looked on as the embassy’s Marine security detachment...

Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/pa/pa_4398.html Travel Alert U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Bureau of Consular Affairs This information is current as of today, Thu Dec 25 2008 00:39:54 GMT-0800 (PST). India December 24, 2008 The Department of State warns U.S. citizens that there is a high threat of terrorism throughout India, and advises U.S. citizens traveling to or already in India to maintain a high level of vigilance and to take appropriate steps to increase their security awareness, especially during the end-of-year holidays until India’s Republic Day, January 26. This Travel Alert expires on January 31, 2009 and...