Archive for January, 2006
Telling political parties in OTHER countries what to believe.
LONDON, England (CNN) — The international community is willing to provide crucial aid to Palestinians if the new Hamas-led government commits to non-violence, recognizes Israel’s right to exist and accepts current Mideast peace agreements, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan has said.
Annan made the statement Monday at the end of a meeting of the Mideast Quartet, composed of the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations.
He described the session as a "very useful and constructive" meeting to discuss the rise of Hamas — long considered a terrorist organization by the West — in Palestinian politics.
Al Zawahiri makes largest blunder ever, calls Bush a Loser.
(CNN) — Osama bin Laden’s right-hand man, Ayman al-Zawahiri, appeared in a new video Monday, saying he is alive and well just weeks after a U.S. missile strike targeted him in Pakistan.
He also called President Bush a "loser" and the "butcher of Washington."
"I will meet my death when God wishes," al-Zawahiri said in the three-and-a-half minute video, which was broadcast on the Arabic-language television network Al-Jazeera.
Al-Zawahiri taunted the U.S. president, saying, "Bush, do you know where I am? I am among the Muslim masses, enjoying their care with God’s blessings and sharing with them their holy war against you until we defeat you." (Transcript)
Special; note from Ms Julie
White House rewrite of reality called into question
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Sunday ridiculed as "bizarre" a U.S. report that senior al Qaeda leaders were killed in a CIA attack on a home along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
"There is no evidence, as of half an hour ago, that there were any other people there," Aziz said on CNN’s "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer."
"The area does see movement of people from across the border. But we have not found one body or one shred of evidence that these people were there."
U.S. counterterrorism officials have said they believe the January 13 attack killed four to eight al Qaeda-affiliated "foreigners" attending a dinner meeting. Knowledgeable sources have said that their bodies were removed from the scene by comrades and buried elsewhere. (Full story)
Clearly it’s crystal clear.
(CNN) — A CIA official believes an audiotaped message threatening the United States is from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who warns that plans for terror attacks are under way — and also offers a "long-term truce."
"The war against America and its allies will not be confined to Iraq," the voice on the tapesaid, adding that "Iraq has become a magnet for attracting and training talented fighters."
"It’s only a matter of time," the voice said, referring to attacks. "They are in the planning stages, and you will see them in the heart of your land as soon as the planning is complete."
Top U.S. officials responded by saying the United States would not be swayed in its fight against terrorists.
My what a surprise. and we used to be anti-Shiite..
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — Iraq’s Shiite-led United Iraqi Alliance won the December 15 parliamentary election, according to final uncertified results announced Friday.
The alliance, part of the transitional government’s ruling coalition, earned 128 seats in the 275-member Council of Representatives — not enough for it to retain an absolute majority.
The Kurdish bloc — which also governed the transitional administration with the United Iraqi Alliance — won 53 seats. The Kurds make up about 20 percent of the estimated 25 million Iraqis. They were brutally repressed under toppled Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
Trading women?
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — An American journalist’s kidnappers threatened to kill her unless the United States releases all female Iraqi prisoners within 72 hours, the Arabic-language TV network Al-Jazeera said after it aired a video showing her Tuesday.
Al-Jazeera released no details on how it obtained the video, which it said is from her kidnappers.
On its English-language Web site, the Qatar-based network said the abductors identified themselves as members of a previously unknown armed group called the "Brigades of Vengeance."
No one had previously claimed responsibility for the abduction.
Further along the path to Democracy
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — An engineer was kidnapped and 10 Iraqis were killed Wednesday when gunmen attacked three vehicles in western Baghdad, police said.
The vehicles belonged to a firm in charge of protecting employees of the Iraqna telecommunications company. They were driving in the al-Jamia neighborhood when the ambush occurred about 9:45 a.m. (1:45 a.m. ET) Seven bodyguards and three drivers were killed, and the engineer, who is from Malawi, was kidnapped, police said.
About 30 minutes earlier, three Iraqi police and one civilian were killed in a roadside bomb attack on a police patrol in al-Sa’diya, about 45 miles (70 km) east of Baquba. Four police were also wounded.
’Father’ Terrorists target Blair
LONDON, England — Fathers’ rights campaigners planned to kidnap British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s youngest son for a publicity stunt, according to reports in the British media.
Citing an unnamed security source, The Sun newspaper on Wednesday said people on the fringe of the Fathers 4 Justice (F4J) group aimed to snatch 5-year-old Leo Blair and hold him for a short period.
Following the report, the group — which campaigns for the rights of divorced fathers — suspended its activities and confirmed that police had questioned some of its former members before Christmas.
According to media reports, police foiled the plan at an early stage, and it was unclear whether the people involved had the capability to carry it out or how far the scheme had progressed.
What’s a little graft between friends?
WASHINGTON (CNN) — House Speaker Dennis Hastert is making moves to push fellow Republican Rep. Bob Ney from his post as chairman of the House Administration Committee, Republican sources said Friday.
Hastert, who voiced his support for Ney just days ago, is under pressure from his own caucus to take a stand against ethical misconduct, the sources said.
Ney is linked in documents to the investigation of lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who recently pleaded guilty to fraud, conspiracy and tax-evasion charges stemming from an influence-peddling scheme. (Full story)
