In two prior articles,[1] we looked at the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS = Farsi: VEVAK=Vezarat-e Ettela'at va Amniat-e Keshvar).
The following essay is a third installment in what looks to be a growing research project. Reference to the earlier papers is suggested for those new to the subject.
Founded in 1984[2] and ranked by experts as one of the world’s largest and most active intelligence agencies in the Middle East and possessing a global reach,[3] VEVAK’s activities and structure are shrouded in mystery, but its presence has been felt keenly with over 450 acts of terrorism carried out in less than a quarter of a century.
With an almost unlimited budget, and a command structure reporting direct to the Supreme Leader (Farsi: faqih) Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the secretive agency is one of the key pillars of the theocratic regime.[4]
Led from 1999 until mid-2005 by the notorious hanging judge Hojjatol-Islam Ali Younesi,[5] it is now headed by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s appointee, Hojjatol-Islam Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ezhei, 51, formerly Prosecutor and Judge of the Special Tribunal for Clergy, and formerly Special Prosecutor in the MOIS, as well as a founding official and member of the staff selection board for MOIS[6]
Although a government ministry, because of its secret budget and lack of accountability to either the cabinet or the Majlis (parliament), VEVAK remains above the law, being accountable only to the Supreme Leader. Under such conditions it is easy to see how it has become a major vehicle for political repression.[7]
VEVAK agents traditionally have been tested vigorously before receiving security clearance and being trusted to take part in sensitive operations that could implicate the highest levels of the government if leaked to the public. Members, handpicked from other security agencies throughout Iran, are first required to torture and execute dissidents so as to test their loyalty to the regime and the Supreme Leader. Only the most loyal are inducted into the ranks of VEVAK.[8]
One of the primary methods used by VEVAK is the dissemination of disinformation, a trick learned from the KGB playbook. Indeed, the largest directorate within the Ministry of Intelligence and Security is the Department of Disinformation (Farsi: Nefaq) which is charged with the task of creating psychological warfare and misinformation about enemies of the regime.
Former VEVAK chief Hojjatol-Islam Ali Younesi admitted publicly on Iran State Television in October 2004 that the agency employed several thousand individuals just to staff that section. Some of those working in that department are former resistance members that were either seduced (with money, etc.) or coerced into assisting the regime. The regime gives high priority to this department and pays its agents handsomely.
In recent months, at the direction of Ahmadinejad, VEVAK has revived and expanded its directorate of Foreign Affairs to recruit foreigners to work with the intelligence agency.[9]
Although much of the increased budget for this directorate is earmarked for recruitment of those that will serve as jihadists in Iraq and/or Afghanistan,[10] VEVAK also recruits spies[11] as well as agents to serve in its disinformation campaign.
The recruitment methodology is basically the same for jihadists, spies and disinformation agents even if the three are different types of activities requiring different characteristics and skills.
(VEVAK has been spending millions of dollars a year to fund disinformation by Farsi language Press, Radio and TV stations all over the world, specially Europe and the USA and has paid former military officers, generally with failed careers, to attack their colleagues or higher ups on Farsi language press outlets, to reduce their reputations inside Iran in the event the West wanted to use any of them for regime overthrow).
Recruiting agents begin the process, spotting and identifying candidates. After the initial contact, a positive response results in the following process being initiated:
• Once recruited, the regime’s local embassies take over in contacting such individuals;
• Then the prospective recruits are informally interviewed by undercover MOIS agents in those countries and under such pretexts as seminars, visits, getting to know the Islamic Republic, etc., before they are sent to Iran;
= Once in Iran, the MOIS and Qods Force take it forward from that point. If the individual is willing to cooperate, the agents sign a contract with him and dispatch him to designated camps which are located in the suburbs of Tehran and the holy city of Qom for additional trainings.[12]
If one surfs the net looking at sites that discuss Iran, one may encounter ads for cheap flights, special tours, and subsidized seminars in Iran; but beware, there is no such thing as a free lunch when it comes to Iran!
As pointed out in the earlier articles, VEVAK agents have been trained to use the old KGB 80/20 formula: tell the truth 80% of the time and spread lies 20%; attack the regime 80% of the time and the resistance 20%. It’s amazing how successful the formula has proven to be.
Occasionally an agent will up the percentage to 90/10 so as to better hide his/her real intentions, but the percentage never drops below 80/20, as that would risk detection.
Now, let’s begin to examine the list of candidates that work for VEVAK. Our first subject is already known to those who read my first paper on VEVAK.[13]
I am referring to British-born Anne Singleton and her Iranian-born husband, Massoud Khodabandeh, currently of Leeds, England who organized and run the pro-regime/anti-resistance website Iran-Interlink.org.
In the late 1980’s, Ms. Singleton worked with a pro-resistance Iranian student group in London, but was dismissed on moral grounds. Massoud Khodabandeh and his older brother Ibrahim were both members of the resistance movement group, Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK, also known as the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran=PMOI) in the 1980’s when they lived in England.[14]
Massoud abandoned his affiliation with the PMOI in 1996. Singleton and Khodabandeh married sometime after that and subsequently were recruited by VEVAK,[15] apparently after the agency had coerced the Khodabandeh brothers’ wealthy elderly mother to assist them or lose her extensive property in Tehran.
Using wire-taps and monitoring her contacts abroad with her sons, VEVAK was able to flip Singleton and Masoud Khodabandeh to its service. On the invitation of her mother-in-law, Singleton made several trips to Iran[16], including a visit to Tehran in the winter of 2002 where she was met at Mehrabad Airport by VEVAK agents interested in her background.
She apparently volunteered to work on her brother-in-law, and then spent the month in training before returning to England and going on to found the Iran-Interlink website in the winter of 2002.[17] The trips to Iran as well as to Singapore (where VEVAK generally holds briefings for its foreign agents) made the resistance suspicious of the Khodabandehs and tipped them off as to their new loyalties.[18]
In 2004 she was seen in Evin Prison with VEVAK agents visiting her brother-in-law, Ibrahim, who had been arrested by the Syrians and extradited to Iran. Ibrahim has since recanted his MEK affiliation and now likewise works for VEVAK’s anti-resistance campaign.[19]
The Khodabandehs have been very active over the years in VEVAK’s campaign to vilify the MEK. The materials disseminated on the Iran-Interlink site are all produced by VEVAK in Tehran.[20]
Iran-Interlink.org[21] is probably the most sophisticated of the regime’s anti-resistance websites. Other sites include several that are disguised to look like resistance sites, such as www.mojahedin.ws[22],
www.hambastegimeli.net[23],
www.iran-aawa.com[25], or neutral as www.perseetavenir.com[26]
and www.iranpeyvand.com,
and those that clearly are anti-resistance, such as
www.irandidban.com,
www.theblackfile.com, www.pars-iran.com,
www.nejatngo.org,
and www.negaheno.net.
Anyone associated with these websites should be considered a VEVAK agent or loyal supporter of the IRI regime.
Our next subject is Mahtub (Mahtaub) Hojjati, aka Mathilde Fein, Mattie Fein, Mattie Lolavar, and Mattie Lolavar-Cohen.
Ms. Hojjati is the founder and self-appointed president of a very new Iranian opposition think tank in Washington, DC, the Institute for Persian Studies, which she claims aims to replace the current regime of Iran with a democracy.
At first glance, Hojjati sounds as if she has all her priorities in the right place. But when one examines her words more carefully, things begin to go awry. In a recent interview with Global Politician Associate Editor Ryan Mauro[27], Ms Hojjati attacks the idea of American funding for the establishment of indigenous Iranian civic organizations and programs, and lambastes the largest, oldest, best-organized and most popular of resistance groups, the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK), saying it “commands no indigenous adherents in Iran.”[28]
When asked about the Iran Policy Committee’s suggestions[29] that the MEK be removed from the US Department of State’s Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) list[30] she says:
“The MEK should not be removed. The signal to the people of Iran would be devastating because they despise the MEK for its treason in the Iraq-Iran war. … Any U.S. support of MEK would dishearten many Iranians, continue to cultivate mistrust that the U.S. is far removed from the desires of the Iranian people, and would be a set-back to the U.S.”[31]
Ms. Hojjati’s views of the MEK seem just a little too close to those of the regime. When 50,000 Iranians can be gathered from around the world to attend a rally in support for the National Council of Resistance of Iran and the MEK in the Paris suburbs[32] and 5.2 million members of the Iraqi anti-fundamentalist coalition Solidarity Congress commend the MEK[33], Hojjati’s suggestion of MEK unpopularity rings very hollow.
So too, the $75 million democracy promotion fund which Hojjati decries is intended for just the type of projects that Dr. Haleh Esfandiari of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Kian Tajbakhsh formerly with the Open Society Institute of U.S. billionaire George Soros, and Ali Shakeri of the Center for Citizen Peacebuilding were engaged in developing.
For the most part, it seems that only the regime found such actions to be in any way objectionable, because of its fear of a “velvet revolution”[34].
Dare we ask why an “opponent” of the regime appears to be protecting it from the two things it fears the most? Is it possible that Ms. Hojjati isn’t quite what she wants us to think she is?
Dr. Kaveh L. Afrasiabi is a political scientist who has taught at Tehran University, and Boston University, as well as done research at UC Berkeley and Harvard. He is an author of several books on modern Iran and a prolific essayist in the world press.
Despite his impressive academic credentials, I believe that he serves as an apologist for the Tehran regime. To substantiate my claim, I suggest that we look at some of his recent writings.
Let’s start with the Washington Post’s Post-Global Power Barometer interview by the Denver Research Group, Inc., entitled “A unique perspective on Iran; an interview with Kaveh Afrasiabi”[35]
When queried about the popularity of the nuclear program within Iran, Afrasiabi replied: “The Iranian people are solidly behind the government's nuclear program...” Such an answer is refuted by the recent poll by Ken Ballen of Terror Free Tomorrow that found that only 29% support the current nuclear program,[36] a drop of about 5% from a poll taken almost five years ago!
Most Iranians don't care about nuclear power; they do care about the horrible state of their economy. Next, when asked about the intentions behind Iran’s nuclear program, Afrasiabi gave a very long reply that suggested that the nuclear program was purely a defensive mechanism instituted after the trauma of the Iran-Iraq War of 1980-1988, ignoring that Ayatollah Khomeini prolonged that war by at least six years.
He then stated: “It is baffling to the Iranians why Iran should be denied the right enjoyed by Brazil, Japan, and others with impunity, and why there should be continuing sanctions when Iran is fully cooperating with the IAEA (which has confirmed time and again the absence of any military diversion)?[37] [Italics are mine]
As regards the intent of the Iranian nuclear program, 18 years of keeping it clandestine, and 5 years of obfuscation and non-cooperation with the IAEA[38] should make clear to all just what Tehran wants.
Besides, Japan and Brazil possess nuclear power but haven’t threatened to destroy their neighbors or produced weaponry; neither of them has conducted clandestine programs like Iran’s. Lest we forget, let me remind that last year the regime rejected the offer of a transparent light-water reactor system that was made by the “5+1”[39] negotiating group.
Now Afrasiabi would have us believe that Tehran only wants electric power?
Afrasiabi is just like his fellow Iranian academicians, Vali Nasr[40] and Ray Takeyh[41]: Iran is too strong to bully into submission[42]; it would be much wiser to give poor, misunderstood Tehran more carrots, hold all the sticks, and slowly everything can be worked out!
Meanwhile, our potential future friend (the Islamic Republic of Iran) is supplying the radical Shia militias of Iraq (Jaish al-Mahdi and the Badr and Wolf Brigades of SCIRI/SIIC) as well as al-Qa‘eda and the Taliban with explosively formed projectiles/penetrators (EFP's) that are killing our troops in Iraq[43] and Afghanistan.[44]
Indeed, since dialogue between the US and Iran about Iraqi security began, Iran has increased its supplying of weaponry to the insurgents[45] and upgraded their training in the use of mortars and rockets.[46]
Claiming that Iran only wants to be recognized as a regional power and isn't interested in spreading its revolution's radical Islamism would be plausible only if one closed one's eyes to the horrible Islamist repression occurring daily in Hezbollah-controlled south Lebanon[47], Hamas-controlled Gaza[48], and the environs of radical Shiite (al-Dawa and SCIRI/SIIC, etc.), IRGC supported, militia-controlled Basra.[49]
If you aren’t a fundamentalist Muslim in those areas, keep out of sight; your life is not worth the price of a cup of coffee.
Iranian-born, Oxford-trained scholar Ray Takeyh is currently a senior fellow for Middle East studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. Dr. Takeyh has trumpeted the same message for over five years: get rid of the sticks and offer better quality carrots to the Islamic Republic.
Iran is open to dialogue and can be reached if only we would be serious in our attempts to do so. In article after article, it’s the same message—engaging Iran in a dialogue is the only way to solve our problems.
Takeyh suggests that somehow dialogue will melt the hearts of the clerics and turn them into moderates that respect human rights and the concept of a civil society.
Let’s examine one of Takeyh’s recent essays—“The Iran Puzzle”[50] to see how he operates. Suggesting that Tehran no longer fears regime change[51] and now is willing to work out a pragmatic deal with the US, Takeyh seems to read events with a very special set of rose-colored lenses.
The recent spate of executions[52] and this summer’s Bassiji campaign to enforce strict compliance with the Islamic dress code which has resulted in the detention of over 93,000 women[53] might suggest that the regime is not as confident about its control[54] of the discontented masses as Takeyh wants us to believe.
Throughout his essay, Takeyh tries to give the impression that Iran has moved far away from the Islamic revolutionary fervor of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and that despite Ahmadinejad’s fiery rhetoric[55], the leadership has become pragmatic.
Indeed the vast majority of Iranians reject Khomeinism, but Supreme Leader Khamenei and his inner circle of fellow clerics, supported by the veteran leadership of the Islamic Revolution’s Guards Corps (IRGC = Farsi: Sapeh-e Pasdaran), retain their desire to spread their revolution to other countries.[56]
Iran’s financial, logistical, organizational, and military support for the Badr and Wolf Brigades of SCIRI/SIIC of Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim and the Jaish al-Mahdi of Moqtada al-Sadr in Iraq and its offshoots[57], of Hassan Nasrallah’s Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Ismail Haniyeh’s Hamas in Gaza through the work of the Qods Force should be seen in this context.[58]
When Takeyh writes: “Yet Iran is no longer committed to refashioning regional norms in its image.”[59], he must be referring to the Iran on another planet, because this planet’s IRI, led by Khamenei, is doing a lot to spread the faith. A tour of Basra in Iraq, Gaza City, or almost any village in south Lebanon will present just how “disinterested” Iran is to spread its revolution.
Rather than repeat the many valid points presented in his lengthy exposé of Dr. Takeyh’s campaign to facilitate dialogue with Tehran at almost any price, I refer the reader to Hassan Daioleslam’s recent article “Pro-Ayatollah Disinformation and Manipulation Campaign by Washington Think Tankers”, published in Global Politician.[60]
Bottom line: Dr. Ray Takeyh of the Council on Foreign Relations should be seen for what he is: an agent of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s campaign to turn back sanctions and buy more time to complete its nuclear program. It also should be noted that his wife, Suzanne Maloney[61], a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow and until recently at the State Department as chair of the Iran desk of the Policy Planning Staff, was responsible for vetoing expenditure of much of the $75 million democracy promotion fund earmarked for Iran.[62]
How convenient for the IRI regime!
(And what a perfect conduit for introducing VEVAK manufactured infiltrator Amir Abbas Fakhravar, whose VEVAK file abstract clearly shows he is not who he appears to be, to the inner circles of American corridors of power and influence via the State Department)
Professor Paul Sheldon Foote of California State University at Fullerton (Accounting)[63] spent time in pre-revolutionary Iran where he met his wife Badri. A self-styled old school conservative (he likes to call neo-conservatives “Neo-Trotskyites”), he is a frequent contributor to VEVAK sites such as Iran-Interlink,[64] hambastegimeli.net,[65] and Mojahedin.ws.[66]
Foote serves as the regime’s “attack-dog” against the Iranian resistance organizations NCRI and MEK and their supporters, and is also an apologist for the Tehran regime.
Now, not everyone needs to like the NCRI and MEK; we do live in a free country and have a right to pick whom we support and whom we don’t. But unlike Dr. Kenneth Timmerman who is a vocal opponent of the MEK but even more vociferous critic of the Tehran regime, Foote defends the IRI.
I guess that being as conservative as he claims to be allows him to be comfortable with the conservatism of Iran’s radical Islamist mullahs.
Safa Haeri is the Iranian born editor-in-chief of the Iran Press Service, an internet website claiming to be a fully independent and private news gathering and disseminating service based in Paris, France,[67] that presents news and opinions from Iran and the Iranian diaspora.
Carrying a variety of sources, the IPS website appears at first glance to be a neutral website, featuring news and opinions from all. However, when one checks out Haeri’s columns and letters, his pro-regime, anti-resistance position becomes fairly clear.
A sampling of Haeri’s material will make my point. In a letter to Dr. Patrick Clawson and Dr. Daniel Pipes, posted at Dr. Pipes’ website, Haeri wrote:
“That the US could benefit from the Mojahedeen for espionage and spy activities, might be. For how many items, I don't know, considering that 90 per cent of [what] the organization had said about Iran were (sic) wrong, except the recent disclosures, which, don’t forget, were first provided by some Iranian officials.
Anyhow, but you must be SURE that if there is only one thing that could mobilize all Iranians behind the mullahs[, it] is the US backing the MEK, not a military attack, nor bombing out Iranian nuke installations.”[68] (sic)
Haeri has taken much liberty with the truth. Check my endnotes as regards the accuracy of the MEK’s reports[69] and as to their popularity[70] in Iran—a very different picture will emerge.
Now let’s look at Haeri’s “reporting”.
A quick perusal of his August 20, 2005 column entitled “All MKO say are pure lies”[71] will show that he interviewed known VEVAK agent Massoud Khodabandeh who runs the VEVAK financed Iran-Interlink website from his home in Leeds, England.
Khodabandeh was indeed a member of the MEK before leaving and then being seduced financially by VEVAK, but he never was a senior officer in the MEK as Haeri contends.
However, Massoud Khodabandeh is one of nine VEVAK agents and two Iranian embassy associates detained by the French police for attacking Iranian dissidents in Paris in mid-June of this year.[72] Haeri’s column is full of distortions and lies. Among the more blatant is the following:
The Mojaheedin collaborated…to overthrow the former Shah of Iran. As part of that struggle, they assassinated at least six American citizens, supported the takeover of the U.S. embassy, and opposed the release of American hostages. …
Not only the group engaged in Iraq’s war against Iran and killed thousands of innocent Iranians, not only the group collaborated actively with Iraq’s secret services in the slaughter of Iraq Kurds and Shi’ites and took part in Iraq’s attack on neighbouring Kuwait, but is [sic] also killed many of its own members, as reported by the New York-based Human Rights Watch.[73]
To refute these charges that the regime bandies about so freely, one only need consult the texts of the independent Iran Policy Committee,[74] the European Parliament’s Friends of a Free Iran,[75] or the report commissioned by former House Majority Leader Richard Armey and Dr. Neil Livingstone: DLA Piper’s Iran: Foreign Policy Challenges and Choices.[76]
It is interesting to note that Mr. Haeri’s articles are regular features at VEVAK websites such as Iran-Interlink,[77] mojahedin.ws,[78] or survivorsreport.org.[79] It seems that Mr. Haeri is not as independent and private as he would like us to believe.
Finally we come to the class of “useful idiots” (Dhimmis)
In this category we need to place Dr. Gareth Porter for his defense of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Sepah-e Qods, the IRGC’s most ruthless and blood-spilling unit. In an essay published on August 2, 2007, in American Prospect entitled “The Iran attack that wasn’t”[80], Porter tries to extricate Iran’s Qods Force from any involvement in the Karbala attack of January 20, 2007, in which five American soldiers were killed, four with a bullet to the back of the head, execution style, after having been kidnapped.
Claiming that Iranian involvement in the raid was a fiction dreamed up by the White House in order to fan the flames of war-fever against Iran, Porter likewise claims that the Iranian regime is innocent on the charge of supplying arms and explosives that are being used to kill American troops.
The only problem with Porter’s fantasy is that the local Iraqi newspapers[81] carried the news that the local radical Shi‘ite governor of the Karbala prefecture had given orders for the convoy to be waved through the check-point without inspection and that all the locals knew that these were Qods Force vehicles.
Porter is correct when he says the Americans were highly embarrassed by the attack, but that’s about as far as his accuracy goes. Just like the later incident involving the capture of the 15 British sailors, the IRGC bragged ahead of time[82] that it could do something of this nature to even the score for the Irbil raid.[83]
Although my source indicated that the convoy was flagged through the Karbala checkpoint[84] without inspection, Steve Schippert’s investigation[85] of January 26, 2007, provides an excellent open-source based analysis.
So too, apparently satellite photos of Iran indicate that the IRGC had constructed a mock-up of the Karbala PJCC facility prior to the attack.[86]
No, neither Porter nor I have access to classified information; but, however I flip the coin, like Schippert, it lands with the Qods Force being the likely culprit.
Gareth Porter has a long track record of opposition to war; in many ways that is very admirable, if somewhat naïve.
However, saying categorically that Iran had no hand in the Karbala incident, and claiming that the White House is now pushing a false story just because General David H. Petraeus would not substantiate earlier press questions about Iranian involvement is not only naiveté in the extreme, but also serves to once again release from culpability a regime that has a 28-year track record of attacking our citizens.
I do not speak for the White House or the Pentagon, but I can fully understand General Petraues’ reluctance to indict the Qods Force before being sure that the government was prepared for the possible repercussions.[87]
Now that overwhelming evidence of Iranian support for
attacks on our personnel has been substantiated, there is no reason to deny the evidence of the Qods Force involvement in the Karbala incident, Gareth Porter’s political fantasies notwithstanding.
Although far from exhaustive in coverage of the subject—the Iranian regime having the budget and foresight to employ thousands of agents in its intelligence service—I hope that this exposé serves to call attention to VEVAK’s extensive disinformation campaign and thereby combat it in some small measure.
It is essential for us to realize that our conflict with Iran is played out at many levels, and that the public learn to read commentaries, opinion-editorials, and reports with a careful and critical eye. If one asks the crucial question Quo bene? (“Who benefits?”), the author’s motives become clear.
When the author protects the interests of the Islamic Republic of Iran, even having attacked it, one should suspect VEVAK involvement. Remember Jefferson’s warning: “The price of liberty is eternal vigilance.”[88]
E N D N O T E S :
[1] “Iran’s VEVAK: Disinformation, Inc.”, www.GlobalPolitician.com, September 17, 2006 (also see:
http://www.iranterror.com/content/view/229/46/ ) and “Iran’s Foreign Agents of Disinformation: More
About VEVAK”, www.GlobalPolitician.com , November 17, 2006 (also see:
http://www.iranterror.com/content/view/239/47/.)
[2] http://www.fas.org/irp/world/iran/vevak/history.htm.
[3] http://www.fas.org/irp/world/iran/vevak/ops.htm.
[4] “Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security”, Iran Focus Special Report-Part 1, May 6, 2005,
http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=2020.
[5] Ibid.
[6] http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=3315, (see # 3).
[7] Iran Focus Special Report-Part 1, op. cit.
[8] Ibid.
[9] http://www.ncr-iran.org/content/view/3799/153/.
[10] Ibid.
[11] http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/849508.html.
[12] See note 9, loc. cit.
[13] See note 1.
[14] Abbas Davari, About MOIS publication“Saddam’s Private Army”…, Amirkhiz Publications, Ashraf,
July 2005, pp.6-8. (http://www.mojahedin.org/links/books/Saddams_private_Army.pdf).
[15] http://www.iranterror.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=97&Itemid=47.
[16] Abbas Davari, loc. cit.
[17] See note 15.
[18] Abbas Davari, loc. cit
[19] See note 15; see http://www.irandidban.com/master-e.asp?ID=13554, for sample of Ibrahim’s work.
[20] Abbas Davari, p.9.
[21] Not to be confused with IranInterlink.info, a resistance website dedicated to unmasking the regime’s
IranInterlink.org website’s disinformation and falsehoods.
[22] Not to be confused with Mojahedin.org, the official site of the resistance group, Mojahedin-e Khalq.,
available in Farsi, Arabic and English.
[23] Not to be confused with the legitimate resistance website www.hambastegimeli.com.
[24] This site is in Farsi and German with links to others in French and Dutch, as well as its English link back to IranInterlink.org.
[25] This site is in Farsi and German with links to others in French and Dutch, as well as its English link back to IranInterlink.org.
[26] Website in French.
[27] http://globalpolitician.com/articledes.asp?ID=3117&cid=2&sid=4.
[28] Ibid.
[29] http://www.iranpolicy.org/uploadedFiles/Appeasing_the_Ayatollahs_Book.pdf, see fig. 6, ¶ 5 & 6, p. 98.
[30] In 1997 the Albright State Department acquiesced to a request by President Khatami that the MEK be
placed on the FTO as a sign of good will on the part of the United States towards the IRI in order to
promote a warming of the frigid relations between the two nations. “One senior Clinton administration
official said inclusion of the People's Moujahedeen was intended as a goodwill gesture to Tehran and its
newly elected moderate president, Mohammad Khatami.” (quote from: Norman Kempster, “U.S.
Designates 30 Groups as Terrorists”, Los Angeles Times, October 9, 1997, p. A 16),
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/17593864.html?dids=17593864:17593864&FMT=ABS&
FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Oct+9%2C+1997&author=NORMAN+KEMPSTER&pub=Los
+Angeles+Times&edition=&startpage=16&desc=U.S.+Designates+30+Groups+as+Terrorists.
[31] See note 27.
[32] http://www.times-series.co.uk/search/display.var.1536854.0.residents_join_protest_for_iran.php.
[33] http://www.globalpolitician.com/articledes.asp?ID=2635&cid=2&sid=38, and http://www.ncr-
iran.org/content/view/1791/70/.
[34] http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0523/p99s01-duts.html, and http://www.ft.com/cms/s/226595e0-08cb-
11dc-b11e-000b5df10621,dwp_uuid=fc3334c0-2f7a-11da-8b51-00000e2511c8.html.
[35] http://www.secure-x-001.net/SecureGeo/Issue/SecureObservationComments.asp?
IssueFunction=103&Site=109&Portal=1
[36] http://www.oss.net/dynamaster/file_archive/070726/8d6ef131abe9314b880d4ae5cabc4070/
COMMENTARY%20WSJ.pdf
[37] See note 35. It may be noted that Dr. Afrasiabi has been engaged in this type of apologia for some time;
see his October 3, 2006 article “What nuclear adventurism? Letter to Akbar Ganji” at Iranian.com
(http://www.iranian.com/Afrasiabi/2006/October/Ganji/index.html).
[38] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/09/AR2007080901929.html and
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/23/AR2007052300315.html
[39] “5 + 1” refers to the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (the U.S., U.K., France,
Russia and China) plus Germany.
[40] See note 1, above.
[41] See below.
[42] See his article “How Iran will fight back” of December 18, 2004, at World Security Network.com
(http://www.worldsecuritynetwork.com/showArticle3.cfm?article_id=10689) in which he accurately
outlines much of Iranian strategy in play today, two and a half years later.
[43] http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/08/world/middleeast/08military.html?_r=1&oref=slogin.
[44] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/05/30/wafg330.xml and
http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=11868.
[45] http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/07/24/iraq.main/index.html.
[46] http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L19220153.htm.
[47] http://www.csi-int.org/lebanon_immediate_release_c.php and
http://globalpolitician.com/articles.asp?ID=2433&print=true.
[48] http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-06/19/content_6264405.htm,
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1186066387589&pagename=
JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull, http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-08-11-voa10.cfm,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/13/AR2007081300429_pf.html,
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=17&article_id=84681,
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/26/wgaza126.xml, and
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article2332461.ece.
[49] http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,2083387,00.html.
[50] http://prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_iran_puzzle.
[51] Ibid.
[52] http://opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110010434.
[53] http://www.ncr-iran.org/content/view/3950/127/ and http://www.ncr-iran.org/content/view/3867/152/,
( French original at: http://www.afrique-asie.fr/article.php?article=176).
See also Dr. Mehdi Khalaji (Next Generation fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy),
“‘Bad Veils’ and Arrested Scholars: Iran’s Fear of a Velvet Revolution”, Policy Watch #1236, May 24,
2007, which states: “According to Iranian police officials, more than 150,000 women were arrested in
Tehran just last month for ‘bad veils’.”
(http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC05.php?CID=2607).
[54] http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,292198,00.html and
http://australianetwork.com/news/stories_to/1996913.htm.
[55] http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article538795.ece and
http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=2684.
Also see: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iran/ahmadinejad.htm,
especially ¶ “Presidential Record”, sub-section “Political Rhetoric”.
[56] http://www.heritage.org/Research/Iran/em977.cfm. For methodology, see below, note 58.
[57] http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/article/20070806/NEWS/708060344/1055/yourlife04.
[58] http://www.iranterror.com/content/view/28/42/ and. http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/
malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/iran_e0307.htm.
[59] See note 50, op. cit.
[60] http://www.globalpolitician.com/articledes.asp?ID=3198&cid=1&sid=27.
[61] http://www.state.gov/s/p/47013.htm.
[62] http://www.meforum.org/article/1701, see his note 13 and the paragraph preceding it. Also see
http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID={046095EF-ACDA-48DF-BB0F-EA6B68330102}.
[63] http://www.zoominfo.com/Search/PersonDetail.aspx?PersonID=-118645.
[64] See examples: http://www.iran-interlink.org/files/info/Apr05/Foote250405.htm, http://www.iran-
interlink.org/files/info/Sep05/Foote150905.htm, and http://www.iran-
interlink.org/files/info/Sep05/Foote230905.htm.
[65] This site automatically links to mojahedin.ws.
[66] This site automatically links to mojahedin.ws.
[67] http://www.iran-press-service.com/envoi.html.
[68] http://www.danielpipes.org/comments/9155.
[69] The following has been written about the NCRI reports: “In the summer of 2002, the NCRI disclosed
information about a number of Iranian nuclear sites that were either unknown or poorly understood at the
time. The information proved accurate and triggered a strong international reaction.”*
*(Source: http://www.iranwatch.org/wmd/wmd-iranmissileessay.htm), and for missile systems, see: http://www.missilethreat.com/missilesoftheworld/id.108/missile_detail.asp and
http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/report/2004/new-project.htm. Also see: http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070816/FOREIGN/108160081/1001&template=nextpage.
[70] As regards the popularity of the MEK and NCRI, see Ryan Mauro’s interview with Ramesh Sepehrrad in
Global Politician: http://www.globalpolitician.com/interview.asp?ID=93 (latter portion of interview), as
well as the last four paragraphs of David J. Jonsson’s recent essay, “U.S. Iran Talks: A wakeup call” in
Global Politician at http://www.globalpolitician.com/articledes.asp?ID=3272&cid=2&sid=4.
[71] http://www.iran-press-service.com/ips/articles-2005/august-2005/mko-lies-20805.shtml.
[72] http://www.ncr-iran.org/content/view/3708/127/.
[73] http://www.iran-press-service.com/ips/articles-2005/august-2005/mko-lies-20805.shtml.
[74] Iran Policy Committee, Appeasing the Ayatollahs and Suppressing Democracy: U.S. Policy and the
Iranian Opposition, Washington, DC, 2006. See especially chapter 2.
[75] http://www.iranterror.com/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=104.
[76] DLA Piper, Iran: Foreign Policy Challenges and Choices—Empowering the Democratic Opposition,
includes: GlobalOptions, Inc., “Independent Assessment of the Mujahedin-e Khalq and National Council
of Resistance of Iran”, November 2006.
[77] Example: http://www.iran-interlink.org/files/News3/Oct05/IPS201005.htm.
[78] http://www.mojahedin.ws/article/show_en.php?id=840.
[79] http://www.survivorsreport.org/htmfiles/2005/SR0905.htm.
[80] http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_iran_attack_that_wasnt.
[81] http://www.islammemo.cc/article1.aspx?id=30864.
[82] http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3359485,00.html.
[83] http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/01/30/iraq.main/index.html.
[84 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16826151/.
[85] http://analysis.threatswatch.org/2007/01/.
[86] Michael Mecham, “Iranian Connection: The Iranian Connection”, Aviation Week & Space Technology,
New York: June 4, 2007, Vol. 166:21, p. 17. This report is also sited in the following articles:
http://billroggio.com/archives/2007/06/us_finds_karbala_pjc.php and
http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2007/06/us_finds_karbala_pjcc_mockup_i.asp.
[87] http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1583523,00.html?cnn=yes.
[88] Although it arrived to late to be used as a reference, I would like to call attention to the excellent new
monograph by Kimberly Kagan, “Iran’s Proxy War against the United States and the Iraqi
Government”, Iraq Report, The Institute for the Study of War and the weeklyStandard.com, August 20,
2007, and note its extensive documentation of Iranian involvement in the Iraqi insurgency. See:
http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/IraqReport06.2.pdf.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
CONFLICT & TERROR 05/06
Clan fight displaces hundreds in Philippine south
Hundreds of people fled their homes on a remote southern Philippine island on Monday after fighting broke out between two rival political families, local and police officials said. Julasirim Kasim, police chief on Jolo island, said sporadic gunfire could be heard around Luuk town even after Marine troops were sent to prevent the violence from escalating. Full Story
Police and army officers tied to attempt on Karzai's life
Afghanistan's defense minister confirmed Sunday that a police captain was connected with the group behind the assassination attempt on President Hamid Karzai a week earlier and that an army officer supplied the weapons and ammunition used in the attack. Full Story
China virus toll continues rise
The toll from an intestinal virus that has affected thousands of children in central China is continuing to rise, as officials work to rein in the outbreak. A child died in Zhejiang province, bringing the number of deaths from Enterovirus 71 to 26. Full Story
Dozens of Indian officials quit after Maoist threat
At least 64 district politicians in one of India's poorest states have resigned en masse, citing threats from Maoist insurgents, officials said on Monday. Officials from the National Democratic Alliance in the eastern state of Bihar quit their party posts on Sunday after 37 of them were kidnapped and then released last week by insurgents, who accused them of failing to check police abuses on local inhabitants. Full Story
Police official killed by suspected communist rebels in Philippines
A police official was killed Monday in an attack by suspected communist hitmen outside his house in an eastern Philippine city, officials said. Superintendent Narciso Guarin, a regional deputy chief for human resources, was gunned down as he stepped out of his house in Legazpi City, Albay province, 330 kilometres south of Manila. Full Story
Indonesian police arrest alleged Bali bomb plotter
Indonesian police said Monday they had arrested a key member of radical Islamist group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) who allegedly helped plot a suicide bombing on the resort island of Bali in 2005. Faiz Fauzan, 28, who was paraded before the media at a press conference, was a close aide to the group's fugitive alleged terror mastermind, Malaysian national Noordin Muhammad Top, a police spokesman said. Full Story
Chopper hit by rebel fire in Afghanistan
A civilian helicopter was hit by insurgent gunfire in mountainous eastern Afghanistan on Monday, forcing it to make an emergency landing at a NATO military base, the alliance force said. No one was injured in the incident in Kunar province, which borders Pakistan, NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said. Full Story
Hundreds stage anti-pollution march in China
Hundreds of people marched in a western provincial capital over the weekend to protest environmental risks they say are associated with the construction of a petrochemical factory and oil refinery, witnesses said Monday. It was the latest in a series of rare but increasingly ambitious grass-roots movements in Chinese cities aimed at derailing government-backed industrial projects that could damage the environment and people's health. Full Story
Ministers rallying round Brown
Labour ministers are rallying round Gordon Brown following a disastrous showing in the local elections. The prime minister is under attack from some backbenchers after huge losses. Full Story
German police say they stopped May Day deaths
The May Day clashes between left- and rightwing demonstrators in Hamburg would have resulted in deaths without police intervention, a spokesman said Friday. Surveying the wreckage in the northern German port a day after the riot, Peter Born, who heads a police special team, said one clash between around 100 extremely violent demonstrators on each side had been particularly unnerving. Full Story
Man briefly holds three Jews captive in Warsaw
A man claiming he had a bomb held three Jewish teenagers captive briefly Monday in their hotel room in Warsaw, where they were staying for Holocaust commemoration ceremonies, police said. The 23-year-old man identified only as Mohammad A. pulled the three Brazilian youths into a sixth-floor room of Warsaw's Holiday Inn after 9 a.m., said police spokesman Mariusz Sokolowski. Full Story
Austrian police: Suspect's dungeon plans date back to 1978
An Austrian man came up with the idea for a windowless warren under his apartment building years before locking his daughter in a cell secured by sophisticated electronics, locks and a half-ton door, authorities said Monday. Full Story
UN and NGOs rush to ready aid for Myanmar cyclone victims
U.N. agencies and independent humanitarian groups rushed Monday to prepare assistance for victims of a devastating cyclone in Myanmar, while awaiting a formal go-ahead from the military regime in the Southeast Asian nation. Full Story
Cruise ship evacuated off Latvian coast
Latvia's coast guard on Monday removed more than 650 people from a stranded cruise ship after tugboats failed to pull the luxury liner off an underwater sand bank in the Baltic Sea. In a five-hour operation, 651 passengers most of them elderly Germans and 11 crew members were transferred from the 201-meter-long (660-foot-long) Mona Lisa onto two naval ships, coast guard officials said. Full Story
EU drops plans to limit cabin-baggage size
Airlines across the European Union will continue to be allowed to set the size of carry-on baggage they accept after the EU's executive body dropped plans to bring in EU-wide laws on Monday. Full Story
Murdered French aid worker flown home from Chad
The body of a French aid worker shot dead by highwaymen in war-stricken eastern Chad was flown home Sunday to Paris, where his family and colleagues held a closed-door memorial service in his honour. Full Story
Lebanon looking into alleged Hezbollah cameras at airport
Lebanon began an investigation Monday into allegations that the militant Hezbollah group set up surveillance cameras near the Beirut airport to monitor the comings and goings of anti-Syria Lebanese politicians and foreign dignitaries. Full Story
Haiti riot instigators set deadline to install PM
Slum leaders in the southern town of Les Cayes who started Haiti's recent food riots handed lawmakers an ultimatum on Monday to install a new government within a week or face more protests. Full Story
Neo-Nazi killing puts spotlight on Italian militants
The death on Monday of a man attacked by neo-Nazis threw the spotlight on political militancy in Italy, prompting the opposition to ask if a right-wing sweep at an April election had fed a climate of intolerance. Full Story
Courtesy Terrorism Research Center, Inc.
Hundreds of people fled their homes on a remote southern Philippine island on Monday after fighting broke out between two rival political families, local and police officials said. Julasirim Kasim, police chief on Jolo island, said sporadic gunfire could be heard around Luuk town even after Marine troops were sent to prevent the violence from escalating. Full Story
Police and army officers tied to attempt on Karzai's life
Afghanistan's defense minister confirmed Sunday that a police captain was connected with the group behind the assassination attempt on President Hamid Karzai a week earlier and that an army officer supplied the weapons and ammunition used in the attack. Full Story
China virus toll continues rise
The toll from an intestinal virus that has affected thousands of children in central China is continuing to rise, as officials work to rein in the outbreak. A child died in Zhejiang province, bringing the number of deaths from Enterovirus 71 to 26. Full Story
Dozens of Indian officials quit after Maoist threat
At least 64 district politicians in one of India's poorest states have resigned en masse, citing threats from Maoist insurgents, officials said on Monday. Officials from the National Democratic Alliance in the eastern state of Bihar quit their party posts on Sunday after 37 of them were kidnapped and then released last week by insurgents, who accused them of failing to check police abuses on local inhabitants. Full Story
Police official killed by suspected communist rebels in Philippines
A police official was killed Monday in an attack by suspected communist hitmen outside his house in an eastern Philippine city, officials said. Superintendent Narciso Guarin, a regional deputy chief for human resources, was gunned down as he stepped out of his house in Legazpi City, Albay province, 330 kilometres south of Manila. Full Story
Indonesian police arrest alleged Bali bomb plotter
Indonesian police said Monday they had arrested a key member of radical Islamist group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) who allegedly helped plot a suicide bombing on the resort island of Bali in 2005. Faiz Fauzan, 28, who was paraded before the media at a press conference, was a close aide to the group's fugitive alleged terror mastermind, Malaysian national Noordin Muhammad Top, a police spokesman said. Full Story
Chopper hit by rebel fire in Afghanistan
A civilian helicopter was hit by insurgent gunfire in mountainous eastern Afghanistan on Monday, forcing it to make an emergency landing at a NATO military base, the alliance force said. No one was injured in the incident in Kunar province, which borders Pakistan, NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said. Full Story
Hundreds stage anti-pollution march in China
Hundreds of people marched in a western provincial capital over the weekend to protest environmental risks they say are associated with the construction of a petrochemical factory and oil refinery, witnesses said Monday. It was the latest in a series of rare but increasingly ambitious grass-roots movements in Chinese cities aimed at derailing government-backed industrial projects that could damage the environment and people's health. Full Story
Ministers rallying round Brown
Labour ministers are rallying round Gordon Brown following a disastrous showing in the local elections. The prime minister is under attack from some backbenchers after huge losses. Full Story
German police say they stopped May Day deaths
The May Day clashes between left- and rightwing demonstrators in Hamburg would have resulted in deaths without police intervention, a spokesman said Friday. Surveying the wreckage in the northern German port a day after the riot, Peter Born, who heads a police special team, said one clash between around 100 extremely violent demonstrators on each side had been particularly unnerving. Full Story
Man briefly holds three Jews captive in Warsaw
A man claiming he had a bomb held three Jewish teenagers captive briefly Monday in their hotel room in Warsaw, where they were staying for Holocaust commemoration ceremonies, police said. The 23-year-old man identified only as Mohammad A. pulled the three Brazilian youths into a sixth-floor room of Warsaw's Holiday Inn after 9 a.m., said police spokesman Mariusz Sokolowski. Full Story
Austrian police: Suspect's dungeon plans date back to 1978
An Austrian man came up with the idea for a windowless warren under his apartment building years before locking his daughter in a cell secured by sophisticated electronics, locks and a half-ton door, authorities said Monday. Full Story
UN and NGOs rush to ready aid for Myanmar cyclone victims
U.N. agencies and independent humanitarian groups rushed Monday to prepare assistance for victims of a devastating cyclone in Myanmar, while awaiting a formal go-ahead from the military regime in the Southeast Asian nation. Full Story
Cruise ship evacuated off Latvian coast
Latvia's coast guard on Monday removed more than 650 people from a stranded cruise ship after tugboats failed to pull the luxury liner off an underwater sand bank in the Baltic Sea. In a five-hour operation, 651 passengers most of them elderly Germans and 11 crew members were transferred from the 201-meter-long (660-foot-long) Mona Lisa onto two naval ships, coast guard officials said. Full Story
EU drops plans to limit cabin-baggage size
Airlines across the European Union will continue to be allowed to set the size of carry-on baggage they accept after the EU's executive body dropped plans to bring in EU-wide laws on Monday. Full Story
Murdered French aid worker flown home from Chad
The body of a French aid worker shot dead by highwaymen in war-stricken eastern Chad was flown home Sunday to Paris, where his family and colleagues held a closed-door memorial service in his honour. Full Story
Lebanon looking into alleged Hezbollah cameras at airport
Lebanon began an investigation Monday into allegations that the militant Hezbollah group set up surveillance cameras near the Beirut airport to monitor the comings and goings of anti-Syria Lebanese politicians and foreign dignitaries. Full Story
Haiti riot instigators set deadline to install PM
Slum leaders in the southern town of Les Cayes who started Haiti's recent food riots handed lawmakers an ultimatum on Monday to install a new government within a week or face more protests. Full Story
Neo-Nazi killing puts spotlight on Italian militants
The death on Monday of a man attacked by neo-Nazis threw the spotlight on political militancy in Italy, prompting the opposition to ask if a right-wing sweep at an April election had fed a climate of intolerance. Full Story
Courtesy Terrorism Research Center, Inc.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Saturday, May 3, 2008
AL QAEDA WAS IN IRAQ BEFORE US ATTACK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h12xcyi6D6M
Al Qaeda Document: Zarqawi Came to Iraq Before The War To Prepare The Fight Against U.S
Al Qaeda document March 16 2008 jveritas
On February 17 2008, Al-Ekhlaas which is the largest terrorist forum on the internet published an Al Qaeda document that talks about the life of Abou Musaab Al Zarqawi and indicates that Zarqawi came to Iraq before the war to prepare the terrorist insurgency against the US troops. According to the document Zarqawi arrived to the Sunni areas in central Iraq.
This document was written by one of Al Qaeda top leaders called “Saif Al Adel”.
There were many accounts about Zarqawi presence in Iraq before the war in particular in Northern Iraq with “Ansar Al Islam” an active Al Qaeda affiliated terrorist group that was present in the Kurdish areas of Iraq long before the war started. The document also proves that Ansar Al Islam helped Al Qaeda members establish themselves in Iraq before the war started.
The author of the document wrote that there were no relations between Saddam regime and Al Qaeda but this does not negate at all the most important fact that Al Qaeda was in Iraq before the war for the sole purpose of preparing for its most important front to fight the U.S and it is now in Iraq where Al Qaeda is suffering its most crushing defeat since its existence.
It is very important to note that despite the author of the document denial of a relationship between Saddam regime and Al Qaeda it does not mean that Saddam regime was not aware of Al Qaeda presence in Iraq.
In fact the documents clearly points out that Zarqawi went to the Sunni areas in Central Iraq before the war and these areas were totally controlled and loyal to Saddam regime and it very hard to imagine that Zarqawi stayed and prepared his terrorist sleepers cells in these Sunni areas without the approval of Saddam regime.
El-Ekhlaas terrorist forum is a password protected so you cannot access the document unless you are registered there as a member.
Below is a partial translation of Al Qaeda document written by “Saif Al Adel”.
… " We started the work and the contact with the leadership, and we began to support and help the leadership again, and this was our goal after we left Afghanistan. We began establishing the fighter groups. On one hand to return to Afghanistan and conduct planned operations there, and on the other hand we began to study the situation of the groups and bothers to find new places for them.
After long discussions, brother Abou Mussab with his Palestinian and Jordanian companions decided to go to Iraq because of their dialects they can quickly mix and assimilate in the Iraqi society.
Our analysis was that the Americans were going to make the mistake sooner or later to invade Iraq, that this invasion will lead to the fall of the regime, and that we should play an important role in the confrontation and resistance, and that this is our historical chance to establish the Islamic State who will have the biggest role in removing injustice and establish justice in this world allah willing.
I was in agreement with brother Abou Mussab regarding this analysis. There were no relation between Al Qaeda and Saddam regime that is worth mentioning, as opposite to what the Americans are saying so they can create excuse and legal justifications according to their laws that they imposed on the world that is enslaved by the West, the Israelis and the Anglo-Saxons.
The plan was to have our brothers enter Iraq from the North, where the road is not controlled y the regime, and then go down South to the Sunni areas where we have some of our brothers. Also the brothers in “Ansar Al Islam” showed their willingness to give us any help to achieve this goal.
The Americans noticed that the Iranians were having a blind eye against our activities in Iran so they began a media attack against Iran accusing them of helping Al Qaeda and international terrorism. The steps taken by the Iranians had confused us and had caused 75% of our plans to fail.
Many of our comrades were arrested. 80% of Abou Musaab Al Zarqawi group members were arrested. There should be a quick plan to arrange the escape of Zarqawi and the remaining of his group, the destination was Iraq and the route was the Northern borders between Iraq and Iran. The goal was to reach the Sunni areas in central Iraq and the beginning of the preparation to confront the US invasion and defeat it allah willing.
The choice was not arbitrary but a studied one.
When he said goodbye to me leaving for Iraq, Abou Musaab has added a new dimension to his personality. This new dimension focused on punishing the Americans for the crimes that they committed in their bombing of Afghanistan and that he witnessed in his own eyes, the hate and hostility that Abou Mussab had for the Americans guaranteed to form new traits to Abou Musaab personality."
End of partial translation.
Al Qaeda Document: Zarqawi Came to Iraq Before The War To Prepare The Fight Against U.S
Al Qaeda document March 16 2008 jveritas
On February 17 2008, Al-Ekhlaas which is the largest terrorist forum on the internet published an Al Qaeda document that talks about the life of Abou Musaab Al Zarqawi and indicates that Zarqawi came to Iraq before the war to prepare the terrorist insurgency against the US troops. According to the document Zarqawi arrived to the Sunni areas in central Iraq.
This document was written by one of Al Qaeda top leaders called “Saif Al Adel”.
There were many accounts about Zarqawi presence in Iraq before the war in particular in Northern Iraq with “Ansar Al Islam” an active Al Qaeda affiliated terrorist group that was present in the Kurdish areas of Iraq long before the war started. The document also proves that Ansar Al Islam helped Al Qaeda members establish themselves in Iraq before the war started.
The author of the document wrote that there were no relations between Saddam regime and Al Qaeda but this does not negate at all the most important fact that Al Qaeda was in Iraq before the war for the sole purpose of preparing for its most important front to fight the U.S and it is now in Iraq where Al Qaeda is suffering its most crushing defeat since its existence.
It is very important to note that despite the author of the document denial of a relationship between Saddam regime and Al Qaeda it does not mean that Saddam regime was not aware of Al Qaeda presence in Iraq.
In fact the documents clearly points out that Zarqawi went to the Sunni areas in Central Iraq before the war and these areas were totally controlled and loyal to Saddam regime and it very hard to imagine that Zarqawi stayed and prepared his terrorist sleepers cells in these Sunni areas without the approval of Saddam regime.
El-Ekhlaas terrorist forum is a password protected so you cannot access the document unless you are registered there as a member.
Below is a partial translation of Al Qaeda document written by “Saif Al Adel”.
… " We started the work and the contact with the leadership, and we began to support and help the leadership again, and this was our goal after we left Afghanistan. We began establishing the fighter groups. On one hand to return to Afghanistan and conduct planned operations there, and on the other hand we began to study the situation of the groups and bothers to find new places for them.
After long discussions, brother Abou Mussab with his Palestinian and Jordanian companions decided to go to Iraq because of their dialects they can quickly mix and assimilate in the Iraqi society.
Our analysis was that the Americans were going to make the mistake sooner or later to invade Iraq, that this invasion will lead to the fall of the regime, and that we should play an important role in the confrontation and resistance, and that this is our historical chance to establish the Islamic State who will have the biggest role in removing injustice and establish justice in this world allah willing.
I was in agreement with brother Abou Mussab regarding this analysis. There were no relation between Al Qaeda and Saddam regime that is worth mentioning, as opposite to what the Americans are saying so they can create excuse and legal justifications according to their laws that they imposed on the world that is enslaved by the West, the Israelis and the Anglo-Saxons.
The plan was to have our brothers enter Iraq from the North, where the road is not controlled y the regime, and then go down South to the Sunni areas where we have some of our brothers. Also the brothers in “Ansar Al Islam” showed their willingness to give us any help to achieve this goal.
The Americans noticed that the Iranians were having a blind eye against our activities in Iran so they began a media attack against Iran accusing them of helping Al Qaeda and international terrorism. The steps taken by the Iranians had confused us and had caused 75% of our plans to fail.
Many of our comrades were arrested. 80% of Abou Musaab Al Zarqawi group members were arrested. There should be a quick plan to arrange the escape of Zarqawi and the remaining of his group, the destination was Iraq and the route was the Northern borders between Iraq and Iran. The goal was to reach the Sunni areas in central Iraq and the beginning of the preparation to confront the US invasion and defeat it allah willing.
The choice was not arbitrary but a studied one.
When he said goodbye to me leaving for Iraq, Abou Musaab has added a new dimension to his personality. This new dimension focused on punishing the Americans for the crimes that they committed in their bombing of Afghanistan and that he witnessed in his own eyes, the hate and hostility that Abou Mussab had for the Americans guaranteed to form new traits to Abou Musaab personality."
End of partial translation.
Friday, May 2, 2008
CONFLICT & TERROR 05/02
Officials: Iraq sends delegation to Iran
Iraqi officials say the government has dispatched a delegation to Iran to discuss concerns about the arming and training of Shiite militias in Iraq. Full Story
One killed, dozen wounded in Pakistan blast
A blast at an office of a radical Islamic group in northwestern Pakistan killed a man and wounded over a dozen people on Thursday, witnesses said. There were conflicting reports about the cause of the blast in the office of a religious group called "Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice" in Bara town in the Khyber tribal region along the Afghan border. Full Story
Blasts in Afghanistan kill 1 NATO soldier, 8 civilians
Separate roadside bomb attacks hit a NATO patrol and two civilian vehicles in Afghanistan, leaving nine people dead and 10 others wounded, officials said Thursday. A blast targeting a NATO patrol south of Kabul killed a NATO soldier and wounded four others Wednesday, the military alliance said in a statement. Full Story
Hamas military leader killed in Gaza air strike: Israeli army
An air strike on Thursday killed a Hamas military leader in Gaza who took part in the 2006 capture of an Israeli soldier, the Israeli military said. The Israelis "targeted and identified hitting Nafiz Mansur, a Hamas terror operative who was involved in terror attacks against Israel," it said in a statement. Full Story
Thousands hit the streets to mark May Day in Indonesia
Thousands of workers marched through the streets of several Indonesian cities on Thursday to mark International Labour Day, demanding higher wages and opposing the so-called outsourcing practices in the country. In the capital Jakarta, more than 15,000 police officers were deployed, backed by water cannons, to monitor thousands of protestors from a number of labour organizations marching through the city's streets, said Jakarta city police spokesman I Ketut Untung Yoga Ana. Full Story
Israeli minister: Iran could have bomb technology this year
An Israel Cabinet minister says Iran could have nuclear bomb technology in 2008, at least a year earlier than previously believed. Shaul Mofaz, a former defense minister and military chief, said in a speech Wednesday at Yale University in the United States that Iran could have the knowhow to build nuclear arms within months, his spokeswoman Talia Somech said Thursday. Full Story
Water Crisis to End in Six Months: Minister
The water shortage in Makkah, Jeddah and Taif will be solved within six months when the third desal plant in Shuaiba will start pumping water to the three cities, according to Minister of Water and Electricity Abdullah Al-Hussayen. He also announced the arrival of the first floating desalination plant in Jeddah, and said the plant with a daily capacity of 50,000 cubic meters would beef up the city's water network. Full Story
High diesel prices hurt Dubai's transport firms
Dubai's transport companies are feeling the heat of high diesel prices at the fuel stations in the emirate as they find it difficult to pass on the rising fuel cost to their customers. The price of diesel at the pumps operated by Dubai retailers Enoc and Emarat is 80 per cent higher than the price charged by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) service stations in Abu Dhabi and the Northern Emirates. Full Story
Pakistan's Sharif vows to reinstate sacked judges
Former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif said on Thursday he would not budge an inch from his demand for the reinstatement of judges removed by President Pervez Musharraf. "We cannot accept the November 3 action under any circumstances," Sharif told private Pakistani Geo television from Dubai, where leaders of Pakistan's ruling coalition were due to hold a second round of talks on Thursday. Full Story
Mine kills two police commandos in Sri Lanka
Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels on Thursday set off a roadside mine in Sri Lanka, killing two police commandos, as violence raged on across the north, the defence ministry said. The Claymore mine, packed with steel balls, exploded in Kebethigollewa as troops were clearing the road for mines, the military said, adding that troops fired at fleeing guerrillas and shot dead two rebels. Full Story
Philippine troops wound top al-Qaida-linked militant
A top al-Qaida-linked militant long hunted by U.S. and Filipino troops was wounded during a military attack on a rebel encampment in the southern Philippines, a military spokesman said Thursday. Philippine troops bombarded the Abu Sayyaf camp with artillery and mortar fire near Jolo island's Indanan township on Wednesday, killing at least one militant and wounding rebel commander Isnilon Hapilon in the hand, regional military spokesman Maj. Eugene Batara said. Full Story
Courtesy Terrorism Research Center, Inc
COMBO IRAQ UPDATE PLUS CONFLICT & TERROR
Coalition Forces in Iraq Kill, Detain Terrorism Suspects
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, May 1, 2008 – Coalition and Iraqi forces killed and captured suspected terrorists in various operations around Iraq over the past two days, military officials reported.
During operations in Iraq today:
— Coalition surveillance teams in the Tigris River Valley, 85 miles south of Mosul, saw armed men entering a vehicle behind a targeted building. Coalition aircraft engaged the vehicle and killed five of them. The vehicle then erupted with secondary explosions, indicating that weapons and ammunition likely were inside. Ground forces killed an additional suspected terrorist in the raid and detained another.
— An air weapons team used a Hellfire missile to engage and kill three enemy fighters in a vehicle around 2 a.m. in northeastern Baghdad. Earlier in the evening, coalition forces saw the men placing a homemade explosive before fleeing in the vehicle.
— Coalition aircraft struck a known Iranian-backed senior “special groups” leader in the Sadr City section of Bagdad at 2:17 p.m. The leader is responsible for criminal acts against Iraqi citizens and coalition forces, according to military intelligence. It is unclear whether the air strike injured or killed the targeted suspect, officials said.
— Troops captured an alleged suicide-car-bombing associate in Abu Ghraib, 10 miles west of Baghdad, and another man believed to be preparing to carry out a suicide attack.
— Iraqi and coalition forces in Tuz, some 50 miles south of Kirkuk, detained two suspected terrorists while targeting an individual believed to have long-standing ties to the local al-Qaida in Iraq network.
— Coalition troops captured two wanted individuals in Mosul during a raid targeting associates of al-Qaida in Iraq leaders.
— Coalition forces captured an alleged bombing network associate in Beiji.
In Iraq yesterday:
— Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, came under indirect fire and heavy machine gun fire from a vehicle in northeastern Baghdad. The soldiers retaliated and killed seven attackers.
— Soldiers from 1st Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, attached to the 4th Infantry Division’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team, saw enemy fighters loading multiple rockets onto a launch sled in Sadr City at about 3 p.m. The soldiers engaged the men before they could fire the rockets, killing five of them. About 20 minutes later, troops killed another man as he attempted to recover the rockets, which coalition forces later destroyed.
— Attackers in Sadr City fired rocket-propelled grenades at soldiers from 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 68th Armor Regiment. The soldiers returned fire and killed three enemy fighters.
— Soldiers from 4th Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, received rocket-propelled-grenade and small-arms fire while emplacing barriers in northeastern Baghdad. The troops returned fire and killed three enemy fighters.
— Soldiers from 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, operating an unmanned aerial vehicle, witnessed two armed men, including one bearing a rifle on the rooftop of a house. Soldiers fired one Hellfire missile from the UAV, killing both enemy fighters and destroying their weapon.
— Enemy fighters attacked soldiers with small-arms fire in northeastern Baghdad around 8:10 p.m. The soldiers retaliated and killed two attackers.
— Soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division’s 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 68th Armor Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, positively identified an Iranian-backed “special groups” operative with an RPK machine gun. Acting in self-defense, the soldiers returned fire and killed the individual.
— Troops captured a wanted man and detained an additional suspect while targeting al-Qaida in Iraq operatives in Baghdad’s Mansour neighborhood. The wanted man is believed to be associated with an al-Qaida in Iraq leader responsible for car bombing and suicide attacks in the Iraqi capital.
— Coalition forces captured two suspected al-Qaida in Iraq terrorists in Mosul, using information gleaned from an April 21 operation. One suspect is a wanted man allegedly associated with several senior terrorist leaders in the city.
— Iraqi and coalition forces nabbed an alleged al-Qaida in Iraq operative in Kirkuk and an additional suspected terrorist. The alleged operative is believed to have ties to senior terrorist leaders both in Kirkuk and Mosul.
(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq and Multinational Corps Iraq news releases.)
Chief of rebel group killed in Indian Kashmir-police
Security forces in Indian Kashmir shot dead a senior leader of a Pakistan-based militant group late on Tuesday, dealing another blow to militants in the region, police said. This year nearly a dozen senior rebel members have been killed in gun battles in the troubled region, according to police. Full Story
Olympic torch arrives in Hong Kong
The Olympic torch returned to Chinese soil Wednesday after a turbulent 20-nation tour, landing in the bustling financial capital of Hong Kong, where officials deported at least seven protesters before the flame's arrival. A marching band and flag-waving children in red and white tracksuits greeted the torch at the airport, where it arrived from Vietnam. Full Story
New U.S. carrier in Gulf a 'reminder' to Iran-Gates
The U.S. Navy has temporarily added a second aircraft carrier in the Gulf as a "reminder" to Iran, but this was not an escalation of American forces in the region, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Tuesday. Speaking to reporters during a trip to Mexico, Gates flatly denied a suggestion that the presence of two U.S. carriers in the Gulf could be a precursor to military action against Tehran. Full Story
Israeli ex-generals, Palestinian officials say Israel can remove 10 key checkpoints
Israel should remove 10 major West Bank checkpoints to give a badly needed boost to the Palestinian economy and can do so without compromising security, a group of Israeli ex-generals and Palestinian officials said in a joint report Wednesday. The 10 checkpoints cause major disruptions to Palestinian trade and movement, said the report, whose authors include two former chiefs of Israel's military government in the West Bank. Full Story
UAE imports 18% of inflation
About 18 per cent of UAE inflation is imported through depreciation of the dollar-pegged dirham, according to official government figures quoted by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry.The rising cost of imports, as a result of currency depreciation, is causing the UAE to import a significant portion of its inflation, said a senior economist at the Dubai Chamber, citing data from the Ministry of Economy. Full Story
Iran stops conducting oil transactions in U.S. dollars
Iran, OPEC's second-largest producer, has completely stopped conducting oil transactions in U.S. dollars, a top Oil Ministry official said Wednesday, a concerted attempt to reduce reliance on Washington at a time of tension over Tehran's nuclear program and suspected involvement in Iraq. Full Story
Two killed in Tibet-linked clash
Two people were killed in western China when police moved to arrest an alleged pro-Tibet rioter, state media reported. A policeman and the suspect were shot dead in the incident in Dari County, Qinghai province, Xinhua said. Full Story
Nepal Maoists threaten to go it alone in new govt
Nepal's ex-rebel Maoists, surprise winners in landmark polls this month, will lead the new government with or without the help of the parties they defeated, their spokesman warned Wednesday. "We will lead the government as we are the biggest party," spokesman Krishna Bahadur Mahara told AFP on the sidelines of a Maoist central committee meeting. Full Story
Suspected separatists kill three in Thailand's deep South
Suspected separatists killed three people and injured five others in attacks Wednesday, coming on the heels of the fourth anniversary of the Thai military's attack on a sacred mosque in Pattani, once an independent Islamic sultanate. In the first incident, unknown assailants attacked a ten-wheel truck in Saiburi district, Pattani, killing its driver and injuring a second man, at 9:10 am. Full Story
Georgia-Russia tensions ramped up
Russia has warned it will retaliate if Georgia uses force against its breakaway regions. Moscow has accused Georgia of preparing to invade Abkhazia, and says it is boosting Russian forces there and in the South Ossetia region. Full Story
North Korea heading towards famine: report
Soaring global food prices and reluctant donors are pushing North Korea back towards famine, which could see the secretive government turn even more repressive to keep control, a paper released on Wednesday said. "The country is in its most precarious situation since the end of the famine a decade ago," said the paper from the Washington-based Peterson Institute for International Economics. Full Story
EU hails Turkey free speech move
The EU has described a vote by the Turkish parliament to soften its controversial law limiting free speech as a "welcome step forward". Under the law, intellectuals including Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk have been accused of "insulting Turkishness". Full Story
A vexing reminder of war in Chechnya's booming capital
The surprise lay under tiles in the basement of the kindergarten on Kadyrov Street, to be found by laborers toiling in the war zone-turned-construction site of Chechnya's capital city. The bodies were exhumed and reburied with respect, though there was no pause in the banging of hammers and plastering of walls to accommodate a forensic study of the basement. That, human rights workers say, is nothing unusual in a city more or less at peace now, but with many grim basements and much rebuilding under way. Full Story
EU cracks door for Serbia in advance of vote
With a fresh round of tight elections looming in Serbia, the European Union on Tuesday signed a pre-membership pact with Belgrade in a bid to help pro-Western forces avoid defeat by nationalists at the polls May 11. European ministers overcame sharp internal divisions over the Serbian government's failure to hunt down war crimes suspects and signed an agreement giving the clearest signal yet that Serbia can eventually join the 27-nation bloc. Full Story
Former chief of Serbian secret police goes on trial in The Hague
Slobodan Milosevic is dead, but a new trial of his regime has begun with the prosecution of the former chief of his secret police, once considered the second most powerful man in Serbia. The defendant, Jovica Stanisic, whose trial at the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague began Monday, was one of Milosevic's closest aides during Serbia's 1990s wars against Croatia and Bosnia, and prosecutors have presented him as the key strategist of the wars that were often fought through covert and violent police campaigns. Full Story
Bosnia war victims angry about EU pact with Serbia
Relatives of victims of Bosnia's 1995 Srebrenica massacre accused the European Union on Wednesday of failing to live up to its own principles by signing a pre-membership pact with Serbia. The EU signed the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with Serbia on Tuesday despite Belgrade's failure to arrest war crimes fugitives such as Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic, indicted for genocide for the massacre at Srebrenica of 8,000 Bosnian Muslims. Full Story
Erdogan: Opposing Qatar equal to racism against capital
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused those opposed to Qatar's involvement in the sale of Sabah-atv of discrimination yesterday. It's simply equal to racism against capital Erdogan said in Parliament, addressing his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputies. The opposition is critical of Erdogan's visit to Qatar and the flow of Qatari capital to the Galik Group, which officially took over some media assets including Sabah newspaper and the atv channel. The group's Qatari partner financed part of the $1.1 billion payment to the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF). Galik Group's top executive is Erdogan's son-in-law. Full Story
Turkish unions and government at loggerheads over May Day in Taksim
The Turkish government insists on its position not to open Istanbuls Taksim for May Day celebrations, as the unions vowed to hold the celebrations with some 500,000 people in the controversial square, the sides said in simultaneous press meetings on Wednesday. Taksim is not among the places that such celebrations could be held, the Turkish interior minister said. The unions declared in a joint statement some 500,00 people will attend Taksim Square for the celebrations. It is feared that the extraordinary security measures that the Istanbul governorship will take could turn the celebrations violent. Full Story
Russia rejects Georgia's reasons for blocking WTO bid
Georgia's move to block talks on Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization over Russian support for Georgian breakaway regions is unjustified, Moscow's chief WTO negotiator told a business daily. Georgia announced on Tuesday it would not continue talks on Russia's WTO bid until Moscow revokes its decision to strengthen ties with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, two separatist regions bordering on Russia that Tbilisi says Moscow is trying to annex. Full Story
Chechnya: Is Kadyrov Maintaining Hold On Power?
Just over one year after President Vladimir Putin handed him the Chechen leadership, Ramzan Kadyrov has taken innumerable steps to tighten his grip over the war-battered republic. But the recent standoff between his forces and a rival pro-Kremlin clan underscores the volatile situation in Chechnya as it rebuilds from more than a decade of war against separatist rebels. Kadyrov's fighters last week reportedly engaged in a deadly clash with servicemen from the Vostok battalion, commanded by Sulim Yamadayev, after their motorcades failed to give way near the Chechen town of Argun. Kadyrov and Yamadayev, both former separatist rebels, have each pledged loyalty to Putin, who is due to step down after Dmitry Medvedev is sworn in as Russia's new president on May 7. Full Story
Chinese virus infections rising
The number of children infected with a deadly virus in eastern China has increased by nearly 700 in the past two days. The virus, Enterovirus 71, has killed 20 children since it was discovered in Fuyang, a city in Anhui province. Full Story
Three explosions, two blamed on ETA, hit Spanish Basque country
Three explosions, two blamed on ETA separatists, shook the Basque country in northern Spain early Thursday, damaging buildings but causing no casualties, the Basque autonomous police told AFP. Full Story
Top Somali Islamist killed in airstrike
An Islamic insurgent group says the man believed to be the head of al-Qaida in Somalia has been killed in an airstrike along with eight other people. Full Story
Suicide attack kills 10 in northwest Pakistan: official
A suicide bomber blew himself up at the office of a radical Islamic group in northwest Pakistan Thursday, killing 10 people and wounding around a dozen, a security official said. Full Story
Protests at Carrefour stores in China: state media
Hundreds of protesters demonstrated Thursday outside stores belonging to French supermarket chain Carrefour in four cities in China, state media reported, in a new sign of anti-French sentiment. Full Story
Fighting kills 73 in Sri Lanka; army takes rebel base
A roadside bomb suspected to have been planted by Tamil Tiger rebels killed two police commandos on Thursday while Sri Lankan troops captured a rebel base in the north west, the military said. The capture of the rebel camp in Mannar comes a week after one of the bloodiest battles in the country's long civil war in the same area. Full Story
Turkish police break up Istanbul May Day protests
Turkish riot police used water cannons and tear gas to disperse crowds gathering for an outlawed May Day rally in central Istanbul on Thursday, witnesses said. Full Story
Chavez orders expropriation of Venezuela's largest steel maker
President Hugo Chavez on Wednesday ordered the expropriation of Venezuela's largest steel maker after attempts by the government to acquire a majority stake in the company failed. Full Story
Afghan officials: Al-Qaida link in assassination plot
Weekend plot to kill Afghan President Hamid Karzai was masterminded by militants with links to the al-Qaida who reside in Pakistan's lawless tribal areas, an Afghan intelligence official said Thursday. Full Story
Nine dead in Iraq car bomb attack
At least nine civilians have been killed and 23 wounded in a bomb attack in central Baghdad, Iraqi police say. A parked car packed with explosives was detonated as an American patrol passed, a police source told the BBC. Full Story
Japan evacuates hundreds after latest gas suicide
Hundreds of people were evacuated from their homes in northern Japan on Thursday over fears about hydrogen sulphide gas produced by a man who used it to commit suicide, the latest in a series of such cases. Full Story
Courtesy Terrorism Research Center, Inc.
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, May 1, 2008 – Coalition and Iraqi forces killed and captured suspected terrorists in various operations around Iraq over the past two days, military officials reported.
During operations in Iraq today:
— Coalition surveillance teams in the Tigris River Valley, 85 miles south of Mosul, saw armed men entering a vehicle behind a targeted building. Coalition aircraft engaged the vehicle and killed five of them. The vehicle then erupted with secondary explosions, indicating that weapons and ammunition likely were inside. Ground forces killed an additional suspected terrorist in the raid and detained another.
— An air weapons team used a Hellfire missile to engage and kill three enemy fighters in a vehicle around 2 a.m. in northeastern Baghdad. Earlier in the evening, coalition forces saw the men placing a homemade explosive before fleeing in the vehicle.
— Coalition aircraft struck a known Iranian-backed senior “special groups” leader in the Sadr City section of Bagdad at 2:17 p.m. The leader is responsible for criminal acts against Iraqi citizens and coalition forces, according to military intelligence. It is unclear whether the air strike injured or killed the targeted suspect, officials said.
— Troops captured an alleged suicide-car-bombing associate in Abu Ghraib, 10 miles west of Baghdad, and another man believed to be preparing to carry out a suicide attack.
— Iraqi and coalition forces in Tuz, some 50 miles south of Kirkuk, detained two suspected terrorists while targeting an individual believed to have long-standing ties to the local al-Qaida in Iraq network.
— Coalition troops captured two wanted individuals in Mosul during a raid targeting associates of al-Qaida in Iraq leaders.
— Coalition forces captured an alleged bombing network associate in Beiji.
In Iraq yesterday:
— Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, came under indirect fire and heavy machine gun fire from a vehicle in northeastern Baghdad. The soldiers retaliated and killed seven attackers.
— Soldiers from 1st Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, attached to the 4th Infantry Division’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team, saw enemy fighters loading multiple rockets onto a launch sled in Sadr City at about 3 p.m. The soldiers engaged the men before they could fire the rockets, killing five of them. About 20 minutes later, troops killed another man as he attempted to recover the rockets, which coalition forces later destroyed.
— Attackers in Sadr City fired rocket-propelled grenades at soldiers from 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 68th Armor Regiment. The soldiers returned fire and killed three enemy fighters.
— Soldiers from 4th Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, received rocket-propelled-grenade and small-arms fire while emplacing barriers in northeastern Baghdad. The troops returned fire and killed three enemy fighters.
— Soldiers from 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, operating an unmanned aerial vehicle, witnessed two armed men, including one bearing a rifle on the rooftop of a house. Soldiers fired one Hellfire missile from the UAV, killing both enemy fighters and destroying their weapon.
— Enemy fighters attacked soldiers with small-arms fire in northeastern Baghdad around 8:10 p.m. The soldiers retaliated and killed two attackers.
— Soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division’s 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 68th Armor Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, positively identified an Iranian-backed “special groups” operative with an RPK machine gun. Acting in self-defense, the soldiers returned fire and killed the individual.
— Troops captured a wanted man and detained an additional suspect while targeting al-Qaida in Iraq operatives in Baghdad’s Mansour neighborhood. The wanted man is believed to be associated with an al-Qaida in Iraq leader responsible for car bombing and suicide attacks in the Iraqi capital.
— Coalition forces captured two suspected al-Qaida in Iraq terrorists in Mosul, using information gleaned from an April 21 operation. One suspect is a wanted man allegedly associated with several senior terrorist leaders in the city.
— Iraqi and coalition forces nabbed an alleged al-Qaida in Iraq operative in Kirkuk and an additional suspected terrorist. The alleged operative is believed to have ties to senior terrorist leaders both in Kirkuk and Mosul.
(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq and Multinational Corps Iraq news releases.)
*******************************************
Chief of rebel group killed in Indian Kashmir-police
Security forces in Indian Kashmir shot dead a senior leader of a Pakistan-based militant group late on Tuesday, dealing another blow to militants in the region, police said. This year nearly a dozen senior rebel members have been killed in gun battles in the troubled region, according to police. Full Story
Olympic torch arrives in Hong Kong
The Olympic torch returned to Chinese soil Wednesday after a turbulent 20-nation tour, landing in the bustling financial capital of Hong Kong, where officials deported at least seven protesters before the flame's arrival. A marching band and flag-waving children in red and white tracksuits greeted the torch at the airport, where it arrived from Vietnam. Full Story
New U.S. carrier in Gulf a 'reminder' to Iran-Gates
The U.S. Navy has temporarily added a second aircraft carrier in the Gulf as a "reminder" to Iran, but this was not an escalation of American forces in the region, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Tuesday. Speaking to reporters during a trip to Mexico, Gates flatly denied a suggestion that the presence of two U.S. carriers in the Gulf could be a precursor to military action against Tehran. Full Story
Israeli ex-generals, Palestinian officials say Israel can remove 10 key checkpoints
Israel should remove 10 major West Bank checkpoints to give a badly needed boost to the Palestinian economy and can do so without compromising security, a group of Israeli ex-generals and Palestinian officials said in a joint report Wednesday. The 10 checkpoints cause major disruptions to Palestinian trade and movement, said the report, whose authors include two former chiefs of Israel's military government in the West Bank. Full Story
UAE imports 18% of inflation
About 18 per cent of UAE inflation is imported through depreciation of the dollar-pegged dirham, according to official government figures quoted by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry.The rising cost of imports, as a result of currency depreciation, is causing the UAE to import a significant portion of its inflation, said a senior economist at the Dubai Chamber, citing data from the Ministry of Economy. Full Story
Iran stops conducting oil transactions in U.S. dollars
Iran, OPEC's second-largest producer, has completely stopped conducting oil transactions in U.S. dollars, a top Oil Ministry official said Wednesday, a concerted attempt to reduce reliance on Washington at a time of tension over Tehran's nuclear program and suspected involvement in Iraq. Full Story
Two killed in Tibet-linked clash
Two people were killed in western China when police moved to arrest an alleged pro-Tibet rioter, state media reported. A policeman and the suspect were shot dead in the incident in Dari County, Qinghai province, Xinhua said. Full Story
Nepal Maoists threaten to go it alone in new govt
Nepal's ex-rebel Maoists, surprise winners in landmark polls this month, will lead the new government with or without the help of the parties they defeated, their spokesman warned Wednesday. "We will lead the government as we are the biggest party," spokesman Krishna Bahadur Mahara told AFP on the sidelines of a Maoist central committee meeting. Full Story
Suspected separatists kill three in Thailand's deep South
Suspected separatists killed three people and injured five others in attacks Wednesday, coming on the heels of the fourth anniversary of the Thai military's attack on a sacred mosque in Pattani, once an independent Islamic sultanate. In the first incident, unknown assailants attacked a ten-wheel truck in Saiburi district, Pattani, killing its driver and injuring a second man, at 9:10 am. Full Story
Georgia-Russia tensions ramped up
Russia has warned it will retaliate if Georgia uses force against its breakaway regions. Moscow has accused Georgia of preparing to invade Abkhazia, and says it is boosting Russian forces there and in the South Ossetia region. Full Story
North Korea heading towards famine: report
Soaring global food prices and reluctant donors are pushing North Korea back towards famine, which could see the secretive government turn even more repressive to keep control, a paper released on Wednesday said. "The country is in its most precarious situation since the end of the famine a decade ago," said the paper from the Washington-based Peterson Institute for International Economics. Full Story
EU hails Turkey free speech move
The EU has described a vote by the Turkish parliament to soften its controversial law limiting free speech as a "welcome step forward". Under the law, intellectuals including Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk have been accused of "insulting Turkishness". Full Story
A vexing reminder of war in Chechnya's booming capital
The surprise lay under tiles in the basement of the kindergarten on Kadyrov Street, to be found by laborers toiling in the war zone-turned-construction site of Chechnya's capital city. The bodies were exhumed and reburied with respect, though there was no pause in the banging of hammers and plastering of walls to accommodate a forensic study of the basement. That, human rights workers say, is nothing unusual in a city more or less at peace now, but with many grim basements and much rebuilding under way. Full Story
EU cracks door for Serbia in advance of vote
With a fresh round of tight elections looming in Serbia, the European Union on Tuesday signed a pre-membership pact with Belgrade in a bid to help pro-Western forces avoid defeat by nationalists at the polls May 11. European ministers overcame sharp internal divisions over the Serbian government's failure to hunt down war crimes suspects and signed an agreement giving the clearest signal yet that Serbia can eventually join the 27-nation bloc. Full Story
Former chief of Serbian secret police goes on trial in The Hague
Slobodan Milosevic is dead, but a new trial of his regime has begun with the prosecution of the former chief of his secret police, once considered the second most powerful man in Serbia. The defendant, Jovica Stanisic, whose trial at the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague began Monday, was one of Milosevic's closest aides during Serbia's 1990s wars against Croatia and Bosnia, and prosecutors have presented him as the key strategist of the wars that were often fought through covert and violent police campaigns. Full Story
Bosnia war victims angry about EU pact with Serbia
Relatives of victims of Bosnia's 1995 Srebrenica massacre accused the European Union on Wednesday of failing to live up to its own principles by signing a pre-membership pact with Serbia. The EU signed the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with Serbia on Tuesday despite Belgrade's failure to arrest war crimes fugitives such as Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic, indicted for genocide for the massacre at Srebrenica of 8,000 Bosnian Muslims. Full Story
Erdogan: Opposing Qatar equal to racism against capital
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused those opposed to Qatar's involvement in the sale of Sabah-atv of discrimination yesterday. It's simply equal to racism against capital Erdogan said in Parliament, addressing his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputies. The opposition is critical of Erdogan's visit to Qatar and the flow of Qatari capital to the Galik Group, which officially took over some media assets including Sabah newspaper and the atv channel. The group's Qatari partner financed part of the $1.1 billion payment to the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF). Galik Group's top executive is Erdogan's son-in-law. Full Story
Turkish unions and government at loggerheads over May Day in Taksim
The Turkish government insists on its position not to open Istanbuls Taksim for May Day celebrations, as the unions vowed to hold the celebrations with some 500,000 people in the controversial square, the sides said in simultaneous press meetings on Wednesday. Taksim is not among the places that such celebrations could be held, the Turkish interior minister said. The unions declared in a joint statement some 500,00 people will attend Taksim Square for the celebrations. It is feared that the extraordinary security measures that the Istanbul governorship will take could turn the celebrations violent. Full Story
Russia rejects Georgia's reasons for blocking WTO bid
Georgia's move to block talks on Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization over Russian support for Georgian breakaway regions is unjustified, Moscow's chief WTO negotiator told a business daily. Georgia announced on Tuesday it would not continue talks on Russia's WTO bid until Moscow revokes its decision to strengthen ties with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, two separatist regions bordering on Russia that Tbilisi says Moscow is trying to annex. Full Story
Chechnya: Is Kadyrov Maintaining Hold On Power?
Just over one year after President Vladimir Putin handed him the Chechen leadership, Ramzan Kadyrov has taken innumerable steps to tighten his grip over the war-battered republic. But the recent standoff between his forces and a rival pro-Kremlin clan underscores the volatile situation in Chechnya as it rebuilds from more than a decade of war against separatist rebels. Kadyrov's fighters last week reportedly engaged in a deadly clash with servicemen from the Vostok battalion, commanded by Sulim Yamadayev, after their motorcades failed to give way near the Chechen town of Argun. Kadyrov and Yamadayev, both former separatist rebels, have each pledged loyalty to Putin, who is due to step down after Dmitry Medvedev is sworn in as Russia's new president on May 7. Full Story
Chinese virus infections rising
The number of children infected with a deadly virus in eastern China has increased by nearly 700 in the past two days. The virus, Enterovirus 71, has killed 20 children since it was discovered in Fuyang, a city in Anhui province. Full Story
Three explosions, two blamed on ETA, hit Spanish Basque country
Three explosions, two blamed on ETA separatists, shook the Basque country in northern Spain early Thursday, damaging buildings but causing no casualties, the Basque autonomous police told AFP. Full Story
Top Somali Islamist killed in airstrike
An Islamic insurgent group says the man believed to be the head of al-Qaida in Somalia has been killed in an airstrike along with eight other people. Full Story
Suicide attack kills 10 in northwest Pakistan: official
A suicide bomber blew himself up at the office of a radical Islamic group in northwest Pakistan Thursday, killing 10 people and wounding around a dozen, a security official said. Full Story
Protests at Carrefour stores in China: state media
Hundreds of protesters demonstrated Thursday outside stores belonging to French supermarket chain Carrefour in four cities in China, state media reported, in a new sign of anti-French sentiment. Full Story
Fighting kills 73 in Sri Lanka; army takes rebel base
A roadside bomb suspected to have been planted by Tamil Tiger rebels killed two police commandos on Thursday while Sri Lankan troops captured a rebel base in the north west, the military said. The capture of the rebel camp in Mannar comes a week after one of the bloodiest battles in the country's long civil war in the same area. Full Story
Turkish police break up Istanbul May Day protests
Turkish riot police used water cannons and tear gas to disperse crowds gathering for an outlawed May Day rally in central Istanbul on Thursday, witnesses said. Full Story
Chavez orders expropriation of Venezuela's largest steel maker
President Hugo Chavez on Wednesday ordered the expropriation of Venezuela's largest steel maker after attempts by the government to acquire a majority stake in the company failed. Full Story
Afghan officials: Al-Qaida link in assassination plot
Weekend plot to kill Afghan President Hamid Karzai was masterminded by militants with links to the al-Qaida who reside in Pakistan's lawless tribal areas, an Afghan intelligence official said Thursday. Full Story
Nine dead in Iraq car bomb attack
At least nine civilians have been killed and 23 wounded in a bomb attack in central Baghdad, Iraqi police say. A parked car packed with explosives was detonated as an American patrol passed, a police source told the BBC. Full Story
Japan evacuates hundreds after latest gas suicide
Hundreds of people were evacuated from their homes in northern Japan on Thursday over fears about hydrogen sulphide gas produced by a man who used it to commit suicide, the latest in a series of such cases. Full Story
Courtesy Terrorism Research Center, Inc.
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