UK fertiliser bomb plot-from BBC News 5/01/2007 hat tip Bill Warner
Babar arrested Queens NY
Mohammed Junaid Babar from the Islamic Center of Queens aka Masjid al-Fatima
More see
Go here for Pictures: Fertiliser bomb plotters
The back yard of Mohammed Junaid Babar's Pakistan house where a test explosion was carried out.
Thu 3 May 2007
Americans, wake up – and do it soon or you’re not going to recognize what’s left of this once great nation. This country’s laws, security, and moral fiber are being assaulted and pummeled every day – both from the inside and out. And you don’t need to look very far or hard to find what I’m talking about. As if it wasn’t enough of a challenge for this most powerful nation in the history of mankind to face the increasing omnipresence of terrorism (yes, Harry and Nancy, it is global), we have a Congressional majority that has never learned the lessons of history and, what’s worse, that doesn’t recognize terrorism until after it’s too late. And we all should know what happens when we don’t learn from history and/or recognize a true threat. Just ask those that paid the price under the “leadership” of Neville Chamberlain.
But on this first day of May, 2007, it is only appropriate that we should turn our attention to another serious threat that is hitting even closer to home – runaway (mostly illegal) immigration – or more accurately stated, broken borders, broken laws, overburdened infrastructure, and misdirected politicians. Liberal (aka misdirected) politicians on both sides of the Congressional aisle do not care about broken borders, broken laws, or overburdened infrastructure – they unabashedly view today’s immigration “issue” as an opportunity to win the allegiance of Hispanic voters – pure and simple. When you combine the greed of liberal politicians with the unethical and unprofessional conduct of the mouthpiece and conduit for transmission of this misinformation, the mainstream media, we have a formidable threat from within that is aiding and abetting those that are not American citizens. Compounding the threat criminally, financially and culturally, this strange symbiotic relationship expects American citizens to look the other way as illegal aliens are allowed jobs, healthcare, in-state tuition rates, voting rights, and no expectation to learn English.
It’s not new news that we in the Chicago area are not alone in experiencing the abuses of the MSM - thanks most notably to the irresponsible journalistic practices of the Chicago Tribune. When it comes to putting a biased spin on immigration, no one trumpets the charge like the Trib. In a span of 2 days and 2 issues, here’s what the Trib and their masquerading journalists fed us on the subject of immigration:
From the Olivo “news” article – Flor Crisostomo is identified as an illegal immigrant who will publicly flaunt her displeasure with immigration laws and enforcement at today’s immigration rallies. Flor states that “Our community is very angry, very, very angry” and that “We’re not delinquents”. Delinquent – maybe not, criminal – yes. Antonio, she knowingly broke the law – get your head out of your behind and your emotion out of your article – stick with the facts. No one forced her to come here and no one legally opened the door for her. She says she did not come here to live on welfare – that “there’s a bigger problem that needs to be fixed”. The bigger problem is that she’s here illegally. The fact that she feels she deserves to be here is not America’s problem – it’s hers and she needs to work within the framework of the law.
Sunday, April 29 – National Correspondent Michael Martinez joins the editorial whining with his “news” article on how deportation causes immigrant families to be divided. Actually Michael, that’s a remarkably distorted way of viewing why the children were left stranded – by blaming it on the deportation. In my most irrational of moments, I cannot imagine choosing to leave my kids behind if I were deported. These parents have the option to bring their kids back to the country of origin with them – who in their right mind would consider anything but that option – it is poor judgment. I don’t care how bad conditions are – parental love and guidance are more important that the prospects of leaving children to fend for themselves. It seemed fitting to read that one of the children left behind was playing video games – sounds like the $400 a month in food stamps that we subsidize may not be necessary.
Monday, April 30 – Washington Bureau Correspondent Karoun Demirjian is allowed to mix his editorial opinions in a front page article entitled “Senators grasp a chance for reform” – where’s the corresponding article entitled “Senators rediscover brass balls – decide to enforce existing laws”. Even the caption under the picture of Chapaquiddick Kennedy and John McCain describes them as part of a group of “bipartisan” senators. Now how in the hell is a picture of a far-left Democrat and a left-leaning Republican a depiction of bipartisanship? Nice try at trying to demonstrate collaboration between the Right and the Wrong, Karoun. Next time look for two people that truly don’ think alike.
In the same April 30 article, a picture is shown of President Bush in a U. S. Border Patrol truck in Arizona. The caption under the picture states that “An immigration reform plan could be one of Bush’s last chances for a domestic achievement and could help raise the party’s standing among Latino voters.” This writer, so blinded by his bias and political flip-flopping experiences, is unable to see past his two left hands. There is a political ideology, Mr. Demerjian, which does not establish its postures based upon wind direction – it’s called conservatism. We do not choose to do or support that which is designed to gain a higher percentage of the electorate – we support what is right for the individual and for this country as a whole. Succumbing to a political agenda that provides no long term development for individuals or benefit to this country is a gross mistake that could very well bring our demise.
In fairness to the Tribune, they are certainly not without co-conspirators. Unfortunately, they have the lion’s share of the printed media market in this great metropolitan area and choose to use it with unequivocal disregard for unbiased reporting. The fact that they are not alone is what’s most alarming – every news item that we read needs a discerning eye and mind to sort out the facts from the fiction.
Oh and BTW, whatever happened to the desire for skills and education as criteria for immigrating to this country? It shouldn’t make any difference if they are Canadian, Italian, Irish, Mexican, Norwegian, Chinese, Jews, Christians, Muslims (wait a minute, I need to think about this one), Buddhists, or whatever. But if we don’t have the need and/or they don’t have viable resumes, there is nothing that should require us to open our borders.
Americans, please wake up – and speak up. Our lives, our futures, and our country are at risk if we allow these assaults to continue.
By Rick who is On the Right Side of the Issues
The Day of Islam
The Annihilation of America and the Western World
FREE OFFER – Get this book FREE, Click Here
To Be Published May 21, Order Your Copy Today!
In two previous books, Osama's Revenge and The Al Qaeda Connection, seasoned investigative reporter Paul Williams revealed the alarming potential for nuclear terrorism on U.S. soil and the sinister connections among organized crime, illegal immigrants, and al Qaeda.
Now, Williams broadens his focus beyond al Qaeda to provide readers with newly uncovered information on terrorist activities in Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, other Muslim countries—and our neighbor Canada! What emerges is a harrowing picture of international terrorist activities, all aimed at the destruction of the United States and the collapse of the Western world.
This cataclysm will usher in The Day of Islam, the dream of radical Muslims to see all of humankind fall in submission before the throne of Allah. Based on the "forgotten testimony" of the FBI's "Confidential Source One," as well as other sources, Williams first presents evidence of Osama Bin Laden's purchase of highly enriched uranium in Sudan and nuclear devices from the Chechens and the Russian Mafia. He then offers further information on the workings of Pakistani scientists and technicians from the A. Q. Khan Research Facility to maintain and upgrade al Qaeda's "bespoke nukes" (with explosive yields in excess of ten kilotons) for the "American Hiroshima."
This information comes with empirical proof that should dispel any doubts that these weapons not only have been developed but have also been forward-deployed from the seaport at Karachi to strategic locations within the Western world. Keeping the focus on Pakistan, he predicts a nightmarish scenario if President Pervez Musharref should be overthrown and his arsenal of sixty-eight nuclear weapons falls into the hands of radical mullahs.
Williams also examines the role of the Iranians both in sponsoring terrorism and in planning the American Hiroshima. In addition, he uncovers many unreported and startling accounts of the terrorist activities of Hezbollah in America and presents evidence that the marriage between Hezbollah and al Qaeda has been consummated.
Finally, he presents intelligence showing that grave threats to America come, not from just our southern border, but from Canada and its amazingly open policies regarding radical Islam. The greatest threat of all, he concludes, comes from within—not only from the radical mosques within every major American city but also the Islamic paramilitary compounds in rural areas throughout the country, including Islamberg in New York State, where new recruits are trained for the great jihad against the United States under the very nose of FBI and Homeland Security officials.
Sure to be controversial, this shocking exposé sends a wake-up to Americans lulled into a false sense of security in the post-9/11 era. Paul L. Williams, Ph.D., is a journalist and the author of Osama's Revenge: The Next 9/11 and The Al Qaeda Connection, among other books. The winner of three first-place Keystone Press Awards for journalism, he has also served as a consultant for the FBI, editor and| To: Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission By Michael Devolin Apr 22, 2007 - 1:56:35 PM |
I’m writing this letter as an ordinary Canadian citizen, to officially voice my objections to McMaster University’s application for a seven-year renewal of its operating license for its nuclear program.
I strongly object to McMaster University being granted license for a seven year extension of its nuclear research program precisely because of the fact that many of its staff are not only Muslims, but also, and more importantly, because these same Muslims originate from countries where the generally desired efficacy of Islam as a religion is hatred and acts of violence, not only against Muslims of opposing sects and doctrines, but also against all non-Muslims, and especially Jews. These Muslims I’m referring to - Muslims involved in McMaster Univerity’s nuclear research program-were surely inculcated by what is known most commonly by now as Islam’s culture of violence and hatred during their years living in those countries where this same malefic violence and hatred [of the West] is regarded as unremarkable.
I am most anxious about the fact that these particular Muslims now have access to Canada’s "nuclear capabilities." Has the staffs (those who are of the Muslim faith) of McMaster University with access to the Nuclear facilities been fully investigated as to what sect of Islam is their personal choice? Please consider that those of the Wahhabists sects of Islam (and there are many) are not at all forthcoming about this fact. Fanaticism within Islam is widespread, and this same fanaticism does not remain in the Muslim Middle East immediately those who follow its tenets immigrate to our Canada.
CISIS has been warning for quite some time that Islam’s fanaticism is now a reality for Canada. Luc Portelance of CSIS has stated, "Terrorism is dangerous ideology, and a global phenomenon...Canada is not immune from this ideology." What is missing in his statement is the fact that, without exception, the terrorism Mr. Portelance refers to is an Islamic phenomenon. We are told that "Islamist" is now the preferred, politically correct term for the adherents of Islam who choose to murder innocents as means of palliating their religiously-inspired and discomposing contempt for the less observant and less-enlightened of mankind, Muslim and non-Muslim alike. But the truth of the matter-a most portentous truth, in my opinion-is that these so-called "Islamists" are inconspicuously invariably of those whom we refer to in the politically-correct, phrasal idiom as "moderate" Muslims, and only later (and this is the security imbroglio we are now facing as a nation) do they become the terrorists and insidious elements we read about daily in the newspapers.
Raheel Raza (Their Jihad, Not My Jihad) has written of Islam’s many extreme and varied ideologies that, "It had been happening here in Canada to the extent that hate was being spouted through places of worship and by people who make it their day job to incite young people in this hatred. Towards what they perceive to be the imperial powers, the western occupation of parts of the world." My questions to these Muslims involved in McMaster University’s nuclear research program would be in regards to how they deem this democracy they live in, the values it espouses, and how compatible is their preferred sect of Islam to this same democracy. Are these same Muslims perhaps of those who "make it their day job to incite young people in this hatred"? What other Islamic organizations are they involved with? What are their preferred politics? Do they condone and/or advocate Islam’s barbaric Sharia Law, as opposed to our Western style justice system? Sharia Law is not a justice system I would ever welcome into this country. Neither would I welcome those of Islam who condone its implementation into our present justice system. Much of the Middle East and Africa is suffering from the insalubrious effects of this atrocious "rule of law."
As part of my objection to McMaster University being granted another seven years to continue its nuclear research program, I ask that his commission give much thought to the words of the journalist Steven Stalinsky, who wrote, "As the war on terror continues, the voices from the Arab and Muslim world celebrating death over life have been heard more often than those criticizing this philosophy." I would ask you to consider how active have these Muslim scientists been or with what manners of voice have they protested against the bloodshed and carnage perpetrated upon innocent Muslim, Jews, and Christians around the world? If not actively and loudly contumacious toward those of Islam’s more disagreeable and dark side, then in what measure does their religion figure in their involvement in McMaster University’s nuclear research program? Is there even the slightest possibility of the knowledge they garner from McMaster Univerity’s nuclear research program one day becoming complicit in catastrophic acts of terrorism not only against Canada and innocent Canadians, but also against our Western allies and their civilian populations?
The above are prudent questions indeed. I believe these are not the questions, however uncomfortable and politically incorrect, the governing body of McMaster University are asking those Muslims involved in their nuclear research program. I also believe that now is far too late to begin asking these questions: the advantage and safety of prudence has already been forfeited by the incautiousness of those of McMaster University who cannot see beyond their zeal for discovery the grave and threatening possibility of a cataclysmic terrorist attack as a direct consequence of their foolish obduracy.
I beg this commission to consider that there is nothing for you to lose in refusing McMaster University another seven years to wilfully endanger the entire continent of North America, and maybe beyond. And there is only prestige for you to gain in preventing acts of terrorism upon Canadian soil against Canadian citizens who deserve to feel safe within the borders of this great and noble country we call home.
"Why do expressions of tolerance, moderation, rationalism, compromise, and negotiation horrify us [Muslims], but when we hear fervent cries for vengeance, we all dance the war dance... Why do other people love life, while we love death and violence, slaughter and suicide, and even call it heroism and martyrdom? -- Al-Afif Al-Akhdar, Tunisian intellectual
With sincerity and respect and an intense love for my country.
Michael Devolin
© Copyright 2002-2007 by Magic City Morning Star
Via The Telegraph: Caught in the middle of the Helmand river, the fleeing Taliban were paddling their boat back to shore for dear life.Smoke from the ambush they had just sprung on American special forces still hung in the air, but their attention was fixed on the two helicopter gunships that had appeared above them as their leader, the tallest man in the group, struggled to pull what appeared to be a burqa over his head...
...By the time the gunships had finished, 21 minutes later, military officials say 14 Taliban were confirmed dead, including one of their key commanders in Helmand...
"Some of them were trying to get the heavy machine-gun up a small hill to engage us," Lt Denton said. "Capt Staley used the 30mm gun to take out the two guys who had taken off, and then we fixed on the ones with the heavy machine-gun. They were huddled around a large boulder and we shot them. We put as many rounds around it as we could, because if they got to it they could cause us trouble. But they never had a chance to set it up."
Using its cannon and then its rockets, the Apache finished off all the Taliban fighters it could find, then launched nail-filled rockets and dropped white phosphorous to destroy the motorcycles and the machine guns. After the shooting stopped, 12 Taliban were confirmed dead...
.....for now, the American airmen are not losing any sleep over it. "When you are on top of the enemy you look, shoot and it's, 'You die, you die, you die..."
If you are a Taliban fighter, get your affairs in order post haste.
Also see See-Dubya at Hot Air, Blue Crab Boulevard and Reihl World View.
Following the conviction of five Muslims on conspiracy and terrorism charges, the UK government has also announced that a Muslim who tried to buy SAMs to shoot down airplanes was recently sentenced to nine years in prison.
Secretly.
A Briton who allegedly tried to buy missiles to shoot down airliners has been jailed, it has emerged following the Old Bailey fertiliser bomb trial.
Reporting restrictions covering the conviction of Kazi Nurur Rahman have been lifted.
Rahman, 29, was arrested in November 2005 after trying to buy three Uzi sub-machine guns in a police sting. He pleaded guilty and was jailed for nine years but details were kept secret because of his links to the defendants.
Rahman was arrested only four months after the 7 July attacks in London and when sentencing him in May last year (2006) the judge, Mr Justice David Calvert-Smith, said: “These negotiations were conducted in the immediate aftermath of the worst terrorist outrage ever perpetrated on these shores.
”What was intended was the deaths of large numbers of people in this country.“
When Rahman’s home in Manor Park, east London was searched police found literature relating to the 9/11 ”martyrs" and details of guerrilla warfare and how to execute prisoners.
LONDON (Reuters) - A judge jailed five "cruel and ruthless" Britons for life on Monday for plotting al Qaeda-inspired bomb attacks on targets across Britain ranging from nightclubs to trains and a shopping center.
The trial revealed that police tracking the gang had established links between them and British Islamists who killed 52 people in suicide bombings in London on July 7, 2005.
"The sentences are for life. Release is not a foregone conclusion. Some or all of you may never be released," judge Michael Astill said at London's Old Bailey court.
"You have received and taken advantage of the benefits that this society offered you, yet you sought to destroy it," he said after one of the longest jury deliberations in British history.
The gang planned to use 600 kg (1,300 lb) of ammonium nitrate fertilizer to make bombs in revenge for Britain's support for the United States after the September 11, 2001 attacks, prosecutors said.
Britain's opposition parties and survivors of the July 7 bombings demanded a public inquiry into the deadly attacks, but Britain's Home Secretary (Interior Minister) John Reid dismissed the call, saying it was not the right time.
""I do not believe a public inquiry is the correct response at this time because it would divert the energies and efforts of so many in the security services and the police," he said.
Spies had seen Mohammed Sidique Khan, the suspected ringleader of the July 7 bombings, and accomplice Shehzad Tanweer with the men in the days leading up to their arrest, but discounted them because they were not involved in the plot.
"We were deceived," said Jacqui Putnam, who was on board an underground train blown up on July 7.
"We were told that these four characters were not affiliated with al Qaeda and were working entirely independently. We were told that, when it was known that they weren't -- because they had been under surveillance."
The government praised the police for their work.
"Five dangerous terrorists are now behind bars thanks to the hard work of our police and security services," Reid said.
"It's not the first time they have averted a very serious threat to life in this country. This is an endless task."
AL QAEDA "BEHIND" PLOT
Counter-terrorism experts said the gang could have produced a "formidable weapon" more powerful than some of the devices used in devastating attacks around the world in recent years.
"There is no doubt at all the carnage would have been immense," London's anti-terrorism chief Peter Clarke told Reuters. "I have no doubt at all they are clearly linked straight into the heart of al Qaeda."
Prosecutors said the men only needed to decide on a target when they were arrested in 2004 before carrying out what would have been the first homegrown attack by Islamic militants.
After the longest terrorism trial in British history, the men -- Omar Khyam, Anthony Garcia, Jawad Akbar, Waheed Mahmood and Salahuddin Amin -- were found guilty of plotting to cause an explosion likely to endanger life.
"You are considered cruel, ruthless misfits by society," said the judge as he passed sentence.
Two other suspects were cleared of all charges.
The conspiracy, dubbed the "British Bomb Plot" by U.S. officials, was said by prosecutors to be truly international.
Training was carried out at camps in Pakistan; technical help with detonators was provided by Canadian Momin Khawaja.
The chief prosecution witness was U.S. militant turned informant Mohammed Babar, a self-confessed al Qaeda supporter who set up the camps but testified against his co-conspirators.
Babar agreed to give evidence as part of a plea bargain negotiated in 2004 after he admitted a number of terrorism offences in New York.
(Additional reporting by Luke Baker and Peter Graff)
The associates of the 6 arrested Al Muhajiroun members demonstrated today outside the Paddington Green Police Station, chanting “Hands off Muslims!” and “UK — You will pay!”
About 100 Muslim men and women, some with scarves obscuring their faces, others waving placards and flags, walked from Regent’s Park Mosque to Paddington Green Police Station, where they believe outspoken Islamic militant Abu Izzadeen is being held with five others arrested Tuesday. ...
The protest began shortly after midday prayers at Regent’s Park Mosque, where Anjem Choudary, the former leader of the outlawed militant group al-Ghurabaa, addressed the crowd, demanding that they join him in protesting the detention of Izzadeen — a former spokesman for his group.
“You are living under oppression, the government is terrorizing the Muslim community,” he told worshippers. “It’s about time you stand together.”
The crowd, escorted by police, made its way to Paddington Green, waving placards and shouting slogans. Abu Saliyah, one of the speakers, said the British government was at war with Islam.
“They bomb us, and occupy our land, and here they arrest at you early in the morning!” he said, to cries of “UK — You will pay!” and shouts of “Allahu Akbar! (God is Great)”
But he predicted the ultimate victory of Muslims over their enemies. “One day, my dear Muslims, the flag of Islam will fly over Downing Street!” he said, to renewed shouts of “Allah Akbar!”
Also see:
The Jawa Report: Muslims Publicly Demonstrate Six Arrests as ‘Crusade’, Privately Support Terror.
The al-Qaeda leader who is thought to have devised the plan for the July 7 suicide bombings in London and an array of terrorist plots against Britain has been captured by the Americans.
Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi, a former major in Saddam Hussein’s army, was apprehended as he tried to enter Iraq from Iran and was transferred this week to the “high-value detainee programme” at Guantanamo Bay.
Abd al-Hadi was taken into CIA custody last year, it emerged from US intelligence sources yesterday, in a move which suggests that he was interrogated for months in a “ghost prison” before being transferred to the internment camp in Cuba.
Abd al-Hadi, 45, was regarded as one of al-Qaeda’s most experienced, most intelligent and most ruthless commanders. Senior counter-terrorism sources told The Times that he was the man who, in 2003, identified Britain as the key battleground for exporting al-Qaeda’s holy war to Europe.
Abd al-Hadi recognised the potential for turning young Muslim radicals from Britain who wanted to become mujahidin in Afghanistan or Iraq into terrorists who could carry out attacks in their home country. He realised that their knowledge of Britain, possession of British passports and natural command of English made them ideal recruits. After al-Qaeda restructured its operations in Pakistan’s tribal areas he sought out young Britons for instruction at training camps. In late 2004 Abd al-Hadi met Mohammad Sidique Khan and Shehzad Tanweer, from Leeds, at a militant camp in Pakistan and, in the words of a senior investigator, “retasked them” to become suicide bombers.
They were sent back to Britain where they led the terrorist cell that carried out the 7/7 bombings, killing 52 Tube and bus passengers.
Pakistani intelligence sources said that Abd al-Hadi was also in contact with Rachid Rauf, a Birmingham man now in prison in Pakistan and alleged to be a key figure in last summer’s alleged plot to blow up transatlantic airliners in mid-flight.
Abd al-Hadi has also been linked to a number of other foiled al-Qaeda plots to carry out attacks in Britain. But the Security Service, which has previously sent officials to question detainees at Guantanamo Bay, may not have the opportunity to question him directly.
The Government’s recently adopted position in favour of closing Guantanamo Bay is likely to act as a bar on agents travelling there. British Intelligence would have to rely on relaying questions it would like asked by American interrogators.
Security sources said they assessed Abd al-Hadi as a key operational commander, high up the chain in the al-Qaeda structure who was behind many key plots in the UK.
He had a close link with another arrested al-Qaeda figure and, the sources said, would have “a wealth of information”. He is thought to have been in contact with Osama bin Laden before his capture and might be able to provide information about his leader’s whereabouts.
Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman, said that Abd al-Hadi had been classified as a “high-value detainee” at Guantanamo, and joined 14 others, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the 9/11 mastermind, as the most senior terror suspects at the Cuba prison.
Mr Whitman refused to say when or where he was captured, or by whom. “Abd al-Hadi was trying to return to his native country, Iraq, to manage al-Qaeda's affairs and possibly focus on operations outside Iraq against Western targets,” Mr Whitman said.
He added that he was a key al-Qaeda paramilitary leader in Afghanistan in the late 1990s, and between 2002 and 2004 led efforts to attack US forces in Afghanistan with terrorist units based in Pakistan.
In a lecture this week Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, commander of Sctoland Yard’s Counter-Terrorism Command, said that the central al-Qaeda leadership was behind a spate of terror plots against Britain.
He said: “We have seen how al-Qaeda has been able to survive a prolonged multinational assault on its structures, personnel and logistics. It has certainly retained its ability to deliver centrally directed attacks here in the UK. In case after case, the hand of core al-Qaeda can be clearly seen.”
Sources said last night that few figures had been more important at the centre of the revived al-Qaeda. Abd al-Hadi is credited with forming its alliance with the insurgency in Iraq.
US officials said he was associated with leaders of other extremist groups allied with al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan, including the Taleban.
Michael Scheuer, former head of the CIA’s bin Laden unit, told The Times that catching Abd al-Hadi was important but that it did not spell the end of al-Qaeda.
He said Abd al-Hadi had been an important figure in developing al-Qaeda’s strategy in the insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan and also helped to redirect its terrorist strategy in Europe.
Mr Scheuer, a senior fellow at the Jamestown Foundation in Washington, said: “It is a blow for al-Qaeda, especially in Iraq, where it will have consequences.
“But al-Qaeda always plans for succession, and there will have been someone lined up to take his place. It is nonsense to think that al-Qaeda is dead.”
A Taliban commander, that is.
(I think that might be a rhetorical question on his part.)
A Taliban commander was among 16 people killed in Afghanistan, as Afghan and NATO forces surrounded around 200 Taliban fighters in southern Uruzgan province, officials said on Tuesday.Eleven Taliban were killed when Afghan and NATO forces attacked their hideout in the Seuri district of southern Zabul province Monday night, General Rahmatullah Raoufi, army commander for regional south said.
He said joint forces acting on a tip-off surrounded the Taliban compound and asked them to surrender, adding that the joint forces opened fire after being fired on by the insurgents from inside the compound. The ensuing battle left eleven Taliban dead. None of the Afghan or NATO troops was wounded.
...
Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary said the militants came under siege when they gathered for a meeting in the Chora district of the province and were warned to surrender or face attack.
He said the surrounded militants included some top Taliban commanders, but did not name any. However, Deputy Interior Minister Abdul Hadi Khalid told the security commission of the upper house of parliament Monday that it was possible that Mullah Dadullah, the top rebel commander for the southern region, could be among the fighters under siege.
Dadullah is believed to have been responsible for the recent beheading of an Afghan journalist and his driver.
The Taliban rejected the claim that their fighters, including Mullah Dadullah, are surrounded by Afghan forces, saying there was no need for such a large number of their fighters to gather in one place.
Note the "commander" killed is apparently not Dadullah, or at least there's no positive indication it's him.
Correction: The first sentence's linkage of the 200 surrounded Taliban and this attack made me believe they were in fact related -- which they appear not to be. Sorry for passing that erroroneous reading on to you.
Thanks to Allah for noting that.
 Cho Was a Terrorist! | |
| Media Joan Swirsky April 23, 2007 | URL: http://www.newmediajournal.us/staff/swirsky/04232007.htm |
| |
Here’s a disturbing and emotionally powerful online exhibit, showing the awful damage inflicted on civilian victims by terrorist suicide bombings, through the use of hospital X-ray images: ">The X-Ray Project.
Readers at work should be aware that the page has an audio track; you can turn it off with the ‘Audio’ link at upper right of the display area.
(Hat tip: LGF readers.)
Walking through the small lobby of the Nuclear Research Building, a plain building on the western side of the McMaster University campus, and up a flight of stairs, it is a short stroll past professors' offices and humming laboratories to a glass and metal door.
At this side of the door is an electronic keypad c
On the other side of the door is a glassed-in bridge that stretches some 10 metres to a low-power nuclear reactor used mainly by scientists and students for scientific and medical research.
This is ground zero for an acrimonious dispute over contentious allegations -- statements that brought stern condemnation, a multi-million-dollar lawsuit and a counter-punch from an unapologetic protagonist.
Officially opened in 1959 by John Diefenbaker, McMaster's nuclear reactor is a distinctive, cylindrical, concrete structure that once looked space-aged but now looks worn and tired, with rust from exposed metal parts staining its grey facade.
The reactor's operating licence expires at the end of June. The university has applied for a seven-year renewal, an extension being recommended by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission's staff.
Against the backdrop of the licence renewal an odd public relations battle is playing out. McMaster is suing an American author for claims in a book published last year that lax security at the reactor and the school's abundance of Egyptian-born professors is letting al- Qaeda pull off an "American Hiroshima" -- the planned detonation of nuclear bombs in U.S. cities.
The allegations are made in The Dunces of Doomsday by Paul L. Williams and the university minces no words describing it. "We regard Mr. Williams' allegations about McMaster as being on a par with UFO reports and JFK conspiracy theories," said Peter Downard, a Toronto lawyer representing the university in the case. "The notion that because there are people on faculty from Egypt that Mc- Master is then a haven for terrorism is not only logically offensive, it smacks of racism," he said.
McMaster's nuclear reactor, which has a good safety record, has weathered its share of suspicion over the decades. It has shed environmental fears by residents living nearby. It endured strident protests by anti-nuclear activists among its student population. And it has outlasted its original estimated lifespan.
This latest tarring, however, as a supposed "virulent hive of al-Qaeda operatives" involved in planning the deadliest wave of terrorist attacks, is one aspersion too many for the university. McMaster officials refer to it as an "urban myth" that will not go away, largely thanks to Mr. William's repetition of the allegations in radio interviews and to their spread on the Internet. In his book last year, Mr. Williams writes: "Following the success of 9/11, Adnan el-Shukrijumah received his commission to serve as the field commander for the next attack on U.S. soil -- the so-called American Hiroshima. In preparation for this mission, he -- along with fellow al-Qaeda agents Anas al-Liby, Jaber A. Elbaneh and Amer el-Maati -- was sent to McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, a facility that housed a fivemegawatt nuclear research reactor.
"At McMaster University, where the al-Qaeda agents may have registered under fictitious names, Shukrijumah and friends wasted no time in gaining access to the nuclear reactor and stealing more than 180 pounds of nuclear material for the creation of radiological bombs."
The university's lawsuit, claiming more than $2-million in damages, says the allegations are false and defamatory.
Those men never registered as students and there is no nuclear material missing from the reactor, the university says. In previous interviews with the National Post, reactor officials said Mr. Shukrijumah, nor anyone who resembles him, has ever had unescorted access to the facility. "McMaster has an excellent reputation for the safety and security of the operation of its nuclear reactor," the university's statement of claim says.
Even Mr. Williams' publisher now agrees. "WND Books/Cumberland House Publishing made statements, including a statement contained in The Dunces of Doomsday, referring to the theft of 180 pounds of nuclear material at McMaster University, the infiltration of McMaster University by terrorists and consequent risk to the public. Those statements were without basis in fact," says a statement from the publisher. "WND Books/Cumberland House Publishing unreservedly retracts the statements."
The retraction ended its status as a defendant in the university's lawsuit, although the book is still available for sale. Mr. Williams, however, remains defiant.
"I could have signed off and had this go away. I welcome this. These people have to be exposed, they're a dangerous organization," he told the National Post.
"I love them coming after us. At the end of the day these people are going to be bloodied because what I am saying is true. They are not going to walk away from this unscathed because I will proclaim what is going on at McMaster from the rooftops," he said.
The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, the government agency that regulates nuclear energy and materials, supports McMaster in this controversy as best it can. "We can confirm that there has never been a report of any nuclear material that has been lost or stolen from McMaster's reactor," Barclay Howden, director-general of the CNSC, says in a letter regarding "false media allegations."
But Mr. Williams is quick to note the letter says no material has been reported missing--not that no material is actually missing. Herein lies the difficulty of the controversy: Mr. Williams and the university are both trying to prove what is likely unprovable. The very nature of the allegations require an inside view of national security agencies and terrorist networks, both secret by definition.
It is doubtful that the FBI knows with much precision what Adnan el-Shukrijumah has been up to. And Mr. Shukrijumah, who has a US$5-million bounty on his head, has not been granting interviews. Even Canadian corporate secrecy conspires against McMaster's efforts to dispel Mr. William's notions -- the official security report on its reactor is also a secret. Nuclear reactors in Canada are inspected and graded on nine safety areas by the CNSC. The latest report on Mc- Master, dated March 23, 2007, gave it a B grade in eight of those areas, meaning it meets the commission's requirements.
On the ninth area, security, the commission does not release its reports. Aurele Gervais, spokesman for the CNSC, said even the letter grade is considered secure information. McMaster presumably received a passing grade, however, as the commission's licence review is positive and concludes that the university is qualified to protect both "national security" and "the health and safety of persons."
With the lawsuit filed in Ontario Superior Court and Mr. Williams living in Pennsylvania, the author has now taken to the Internet to elicit support.
A Web site seeking donations to his defence fund features a photograph of the World Trade Center, which was destroyed in the deadly terror attack on Sept. 11, 2001, and portrays Mr. Williams as a staunch defender of America.
"Williams refuses to be intimidated, and indeed welcomes the lawsuit ? He will be able to expose what he believes could well be the nerve center for Osama's 'American Hiroshima' project to blow up 10 American cities with suitcase nukes," the site says. "Thank you and God bless you, and God bless America!"
As for McMaster, Mr. Downard's final words on Mr. Williams also have an American ring to them: "We look forward to seeing him in court." No date for a court hearing has been set. A public hearing on McMaster's licence renewal is scheduled for May 16 in Ottawa.
Ahumphreys@nationalpost.com
