Oct. 11 - This is not a surprise (Bomb caused ferry blast in Philippines that killed more than 100 in February) but I do find it depressing. Would I feel more sanguine if I managed to regard it a mere nuisance?

When the left is willing turn a blind eye to suffering around the world and the right is the side that grieves, it does indeed render labels meaningless.

Kerry is not a liberal, at least not in the classic sense of the word. He may be a sanctimonious, self-serving scumbag, but he is not a liberal.

Damn, now I'm channeling Star Trek.

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June 24 - A bomb exploded on a bus in Istanbul and police suspect it detonated prematurely while being transported to another location (Turkey bus explosion kills four.) A smaller blast earlier in Ankara wounded two.

A NATO summit will be held in Istanbul early next week.

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June 23 - There had been warnings that the Chechnyan rebels would launch a new military offensive, but the large number of attackers was a surprise (Dozens die as Chechen rebels sweep into city.)

CNN is putting the death toll at 92, and says at least three towns in southern Ingushetia were attacked.

Col. Ilya Shabalkin, head of the press service for Anti-Terrorist Operations in the Caucasus, told CNN the attacks were carried out by 50 to 100 fighters that included Chechen, Ingush and "possibly" foreign fighters. An Interior Ministry source told Interfax that about 200 rebels took part.

Shabalkin said the acting head of the Ingush Interior Ministry was among the dead. He said the fighters wanted to call attention to themselves to attract money from international terrorist organizations.

those responsible for the deadly attacks should be "found and destroyed. Those whom it is possible to take alive must be handed over to the courts."

Initial reports put the number of attackers at 200-300, but the Gzt.ru website on June 23 quoted "an informed source in the Russian power structures" as saying that up to 1,500 fighters participated in the raids, with at least 80 of them involved in the attack on the Interior Ministry building in Nazran alone. According to the website, some 20 other installations around the republic were attacked. An unnamed source close to the investigation now under way into the attacks told Interfax that the goal of the attackers, who were outfitted in spetsnaz special forces uniforms and ski-masks, was to kill law-enforcement personnel. (Interfax, June 23)

Reports on the attackers' origins have been contradictory. A spokesman for the Ingushetian branch of the FSB, Aleksei Baigushkin, said that foreigners, including Turks and Algerians, were involved, but that Chechens formed the attacking group's "backbone." Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin's envoy to the Southern Federal District, Vladimir Yakovlev, said that prior to the attacks, the fighters had trickled into Ingushetia from neighboring Chechnya and North Ossetia. An unnamed official in North Ossetia's Interior Ministry, however, categorically denied Yakovlev's assertion, saying, "We don't have such fighters". (Newsru.com, June 22)

An Ingushetian traffic policeman who was briefly detained by some of the fighters told the independent Ingushetiya.ru website that all of them spoke Ingush and that while their faces were covered by masks, he could tell by their voices that they were young. The traffic policeman said that after he was released, fighters who were also Ingush stopped him several times on the way into Nazran. "They said that they were getting revenge for murders and kidnappings of their friends," the traffic policeman told the website. "And that they were killing employees of [the Ingushetian police's] criminal investigation [department], spetsnaz and OMON [special police units] for helping the Russian special services". (Ingushetiya.ru, June 22)

Likewise, Rossiiskaya Gazeta cited local residents as saying that the attackers were Ingush, "which partially refutes the version about the invasion from Chechnya," and quoted a Russian special services source as denying that they had also crossed over from North Ossetia. "According to our source, most likely no one came from anywhere," the government newspaper reported. "In the evening, people simply put on camouflage clothing, took weapons out of hiding places and went out to the streets to fight". (Rossiiskaya Gazeta, June 23)

[...]

A Nazran resident told Ingushetiya.ru that he had spoken to some of the fighters involved in the attack on the Interior Ministry building, who identified themselves as Ingush. They claimed they had "persuaded" Basayev to carry out the attacks in order to "teach a lesson" to the Interior Ministry, FSB and other special services units that have reportedly been involved in "extra-judicial punishment" and kidnappings in Ingushetia.

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June 3 - Two quick articles on China: Beijing stifles 3 dissidents and Lone Man Stages Brief Demonstration in Tiananmen.

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May 22 - From The Telegraph (UK), Envoy injured by blast:

The British high commissioner to Bangladesh and his bodyguard were among 50 people injured yesterday when a bomb was thrown near a Muslim shrine.

Two people were killed in the blast from the bomb which struck Anwar Choudhury, 43, in the stomach before rolling away to explode.

[...]

Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, said he was "deeply shocked" adding: "Details of exactly what happened and the nature of the injuries are not clear."

The shrine has been attacked before and it was not clear if the diplomat was the target.

A senior doctor who treated Mr Choudhury said he had soft tissue injuries in his right leg, but was "in good health". Mr Choudhury and his bodyguard, who was also lightly injured, were flown to Dhaka on a Bangladeshi air force helicopter sent by Begum Khaleda Zia, the prime minister.

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May 2 - Pakistani police have uncovered and foiled a plot to use a truck bomb to blow a hole in the outer wall of a prison in which several terrorists are detained awaiting trial. Prisoners inside were to use smuggled explosives and weapons to make their escape (Mass al-Qa'eda jailbreak foiled by Karachi police.)

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May 2 - Al Qaeda, the refuge of those who are "in despair," dabbles in the Australian stock market with some help from a country some believe to be an ally: Aussie stocks help fund al-Qaeda:

AL-QAEDA is secretly investing in blue-chip Australian stocks and using the profits to help finance terrorism.

British intelligence agencies have established the terror group is also targeting top technology and defence corporations in Australia, Singapore and other Pacific Rim countries.

They say al-Qaeda is laundering billions of dollars it earns through drug-running, with the help of China's Secret Intelligence Service. [Emphasis added.]

US Treasury agents, working closely with European intelligence services, believe more than $A1 billion has been invested in stocks by al-Qaeda since the start of the year. [That's Australian dollars, btw.]

The money has been laundered through unsuspecting banks as far apart as Australia, Japan, Germany and Ireland.

British intelligence agency MI6 has also established that al-Qaeda's partner in the drug running was the China SIS.

Please, is really anyone surprised that Communist China may be less than an honourable member of the world community? PM Martin may think that the Chinese, who are wholeheartedly repressing human rights and reneging on agreements over Hong Kong, should have a seat at his G-20 table, but is that to protect Canadian trade with China or because he thinks the Chinese have anything to offer to the future?

[Note to those who read the article: CSIS in this case refers to the Chinese, not Canadian, intelligence agency.]

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May 2 - A brief article from Insight Magazine probes a question that hasn't been addressed on this continent enough: the extent to which Southeast Asia is Al-Qaeda's 'Second Front'.

Answering this question is harder than it appears in large part due to the patterns of denial by southeast Asian countries. Prior to the October, 2002, terrorist attack in Bali, for example, the Indonesian government had strenuously denied there were organized terrorist organizations there but if there was any upside to that attack, it was exposing the vast Jemaah Islamiah network that had penetrated even Australia itself.

As noted here, Thai officials have been divided over who was responsible for coordinated attacks that were launched April 28 on police stations and check points with some blaming the attacks on youth gangs.

There are some very serious concerns about that region:

The London-based analysts cite as an example an event that transpired on June 13, 2003. Acting on information received from U.S. investigators, according to the report, Thai authorities "seized a large amount of radioactive material" that originated from Russian stockpiles and that was smuggled into Thailand through Laos. The material, Cesium-137, a radioactive derivative of nuclear power plants, was to be used for a "dirty bomb."

Some analysts believe that Thailand and Southeast Asia, including parts of northern Australia, have been designated by al-Qaeda as a "second front" in the war on terror.

Last February, CNN had an online three part analysis of terrorism in southeast Asia:
Part I, Uncovering southeast Asia's jihad network,
Part II, Building al Qaeda's Asian network, and
Part III, Terrorism's new frontline.

These reports are worth the time it takes to read them. Although dated, there are some very familiar names that come up including my personal favourite, Jabarah, a Canadian from nearby St. Catharines who was eventually captured in Thailand. [I made the same mental slip again. This must be Freudian ...]

Things are not exactly tranquil in Indonesia these days; although the reaction to the arrest of Abu Bakar Bashir for his part in the Bali attack have not led to more than sporadic riots, his supporters are blaming pressure from the USA and Australia for the arrest rather than evidence of Bashir's central role in Jemaah Islamiah. (Diversion tactics are a major propaganda tool in Indonesia, too, it seems.)

As always, it is easier to see the rioters than those who continue with their daily lives; although the firm rejection of an Islamic fundamentalist state in the recent elections in Malaysia and this article about the Malaysia economy indicates that comparisons between southeast Asia and the Mideast have some interesting dissimilarities.

Just as economic opportunities play a role in combating terrorism, the threat of terrorism plays a role in reducing international investments which reduces economic opportunities. [Note to anti-globalization nuts: Shut. Up. How they can invoke anti-imperialism while urging measures that force people to live in poverty redefines either ignorance or cruelty. There are no noble savages, just people dying of malaria, malnutrition, AIDS and sometimes outright starvation.]

One lapse of the article is not taking a closer look at how Australia is leading the anti-terrorism efforts in the region, but then Australia itself is reticent on the subject. From what I've read in the Autralian press, though, it is fairly evident that Australia is monitoring that region, which although it may seem far away, is truly North America's western flank.

Note to Sen. Kerry and the state of California: screw Old Europe. The only thing they watch is their own backsides slipping deeper into irrelevance. Look to the west, old man. Dissing our true western allies really pisses me off, and if the media would pay more attention to that front I might regain some respect for them.

Insight Magazine is a sister publication of the Washington Times and UPI. I hope that the Times will begin to take more notice of Australia and the western front.

13:23: On Friday, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Commission demanded demanded Thailand investigate the killings. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said:

"It is my job and we can cope with this matter. We are trying to explain this to foreigners. But if they do not understand or ignore our explanation, I don't care because we are not begging them for food," Thaksin said.

The Acting UN High Commissioner, Bertrand Ramcharan, gets his say here.

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Apr. 29 - Interesting update to this story about co-ordinated attacks on Thai police stations and checkpoints in an apparent effort to steal weapons: Thailand split over deadly attacks. The controversy is over who is to blame for the attacks: criminals, or Islamic separatists. There are also suggestions of non-Thai organization of the attacks and the possibility that the police were tipped off ahead of time and thus prepared.

As I noted yesterday, separatists have organized raids to steal firearms and explosives in Thailand before.

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Apr. 28 - Co-ordinated dawn assaults of suspected separatists armed with machetes and a few guns on 10 police stations and security checkpoints was fought off resulting in over 112 dead in southern Thailand.

Thailand's Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, said that the attackers wanted to steal the weapons and sell them, but weapons and explosives have been stolen in the past and there have been several terrorist attacks by Islamic separatists in the region.

CNN says it was 15 police stations, and 107 attackers, 3 policeman and 2 soldiers were killed.

On Wednesday afternoon, police stormed a mosque in which said a gang had holed up using rocket propelled grenades and tear gas. 30 were killed.

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Apr. 12 - The name of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar has come up again, this time calling for an Afghan uprising.

This shouldn't be a surprise (which isn't to say that I would have preferred to be disappointed):

In a statement obtained by The Associated Press on Sunday, Hekmatyar calls for an Afghan uprising in a competitive spirit with Iraq. He welcomed the uprising by supporters of the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who have been battling U.S. forces in Iraq.

Afghans "like Iraqi mujahedeen, will choose the way of uprising against the occupiers," said the Pashtu-language statement, translated by AP.

Hekmatyar heads Hezb-e-Islami, an Islamic guerrilla faction that fought invading Soviet forces in Afghanistan in the 1980s. He has reportedly joined forces with the Taliban against the U.S.-backed government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

There is more about Gulbuddin Hekmatyar here, here, here, here, and a short biography that only covers up to 1997 here. (By the way, if you chose to do your own google search is name is often inverted, as Hekmatyar Gulbuddin.)

The man arrested for the bombing attack that killed Canadian Cpl. Jamie Murphy on Jan. 27 was said to be a disciple of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.

An odd twist is an incidence of kidnapping in Afghanistan:

KABUL (AP) - Dozens of suspected Taliban kidnapped an intelligence chief and two soldiers in a central Afghan province, a local government official said Monday, and there were conflicting reports about their fate.

The three men were abducted Thursday near Chenartu, a town 355 kilometres southwest of Kabul in Uruzgan province, said Fazel Rabi, a senior official in the provincial government. Authorities were negotiating their release, he said.

But Mullah Hakim Latifi, who claims to speak for the Taliban, told The Associated Press that Hamidullah and the soldiers had been killed. The Taliban, which was ousted by a U.S.-led coalition in late 2001, would swap the three bodies for that of a Taliban held by Uruzgan officials, he said.

[...]

Taliban militants are also blamed for a string of kidnappings, including the abduction last month of a Turkish engineer working on a U.S.-financed road project in neighbouring Zabul province.

Remember those who serve.

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Apr. 6 - Timing is everything, they say. When the eyes of the world are focused on Iraq, China lays down the law in HK.

China has declared that it alone has the power to determine what changes may happen in Hong Kong.

In a clear message that China's central government is tightening its control over the rule of law, news Chinese delegates on Tuesday said they had decided the territory must submit proposed political reforms to Beijing for approval.

In recent months, Chinese President Hu Jintao's administration has played hardball, worried calls for more democracy in the territory will spill over to the mainland.

Beijing is also concerned about losing control over the territory, prompting it to issue rhetoric not seen in decades.

It stressed that Hong Kong's ruling elite must consist of "patriotic" elements and has labeled pro-democracy politicians "unpatriotic."

Apr. 7 - 12:13: And leaders in Hong Kong protest the decision.

Opposition parties in Hong Kong attacked the ruling as an infringement on the 50-year period of autonomy China promised when it replaced Britain as Hong Kong's sovereign power in 1997, and as a big step back for democracy.

The Civil Human Rights Front, a broad coalition of pro-democracy groups, announced Tuesday night that it would hold a march on Sunday afternoon to protest Beijing's decision.

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Apr. 2 - The hunt is on for Abou Saleh, a Chechen said to be one of bin Laden's most senior bomb experts, who was recruited by a deported terrorist, Willie Brigitte, to carry out a terrorist attack in Australia.

Brigitte told interrogators he had been ordered by Pakistan-based al-Qaeda operatives to meet Salah in Sydney to help him prepare an Australian atrocity.

According to the French dossier on the Australian terror threat, Salah and Brigitte were to work with Pakistan-born Sydney architect Faheem Khalid Lodhi to prepare "an attack of great size" in Sydney.

The dossier said Salah was also the commander of a series of vast terror-training camps in Pakistan.

A report on transport security prepared by Australian officials was distributed at an anti-terrorism conference in Manila organized by the ASEAN Regional Forum. It stated that terrorists may be planning to attack shipping lanes with a "crude nuclear device". Jemaah Islamiyah is said to be thriving despite the crackdown by the Indonesian government and

... appeared to be pursuing terror training and links with groups from the Philippines to Pakistan.

"The overall picture ... is that South-East Asia remains a front line in the fight against terrorism. More attacks that threaten the safety and security of regional communities are inevitable," said an Australian government report. [Original ellipses]

[...]

One indication that the group [Jemaah Islamiha] was determined to survive was its effort to link up with organisations beyond South-East Asia, the report said, citing the discovery of a Jemaah Islamiah unit, identified as the al-Ghuraba cell, in Karachi, Pakistan, last year.

The cell, composed of Malaysians, Indonesians and Singaporeans, was established to train future religious and military leaders, it said.

Another Pakistan-based terror group, the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, has also been linked to the Karachi cell, the report said.

It said there were indications that Jemaah Islamiah was working with extremist groups in the southern Philippines "to the point of sharing training facilities and operational expertise".

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Apr. 1 - Thailand - 1.3 tons of ammonium nitrate have been stolen in the southern part of the country and security forces placed on high alert.

58 sticks of dynamite and 170 detonators were also stolen.

Bhokin Bhalakula, the interior minister, said his immediate fear was an attack on Hat Yai - a southern town popular with tourists from neighbouring Malaysia - at next week's Thai new year water festival.

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Mar. 31 - The violence in Uzbekistan lessened today and several people arrested.

Police were scouring the capital Wednesday in pursuit of fugitive militants, and reportedly arrested at least 30. A police official said those in custody so far were adherents of the strict Wahhabi Islamic sect, which was believed to have inspired al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, and not members of an extremist group President Islam Karimov has implied were behind the attacks.

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Mar. 31 - The Mar. 29 (Monday) arrest in Ottawa of 24-year old Mohammad Momin Khawaja, a software developer who works on contract with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, makes for a very interesting supposition:

Mohammad Momin Khawaja, 24, is charged under the Anti-Terrorism Act with participating in the activity of a terrorist group and facilitating a terrorist activity.

According to an RCMP news release some of the activity may have taken place in London, England. more...

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1 Hey Debbye - Just a formating note...because you split your post between your blockquote tags, the main page doesn't dsiplay correctly (the left column appears underneath the main column, instead of on the side where it should be). I'm fairly certain this can be corrected by breaking up the post before you start the quote (in this particular instance); and can be avoided by remembering to make the post separations outside those tags. :-) Austin

Posted by: Austin Fusilier at April 01, 2004 10:59 PM (6/yat)

2 Thanks Austin, I'll try it. And let me know of any other tips - I'm still getting used to MT platform (which is so terrific compared to blogger.)

Posted by: Debbye at April 04, 2004 08:16 AM (1v4Vp)

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Mar. 30 - In Uzbekistan, 43 people have been killed in the past two days in terror-related events. The suicide attack in a market was shortly followed by series of attacks primarily against police and state authority targets in which 23 have been killed. The account of events is swift, and the article includes a time-line from the 1991 declaration of indepedence from the Soviet Union through to the present.

Apr. 1 - 21:48: This and this are excellent summaries of events.

In the Phillippines, four members of Abu Sayyaf were arrested and 80 lbs. of dynamite were seized and authorities believe the arrests prevented a planned attack on Manila of the same scale as the Madrid train bombs.

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Mar. 29 - Incoming Spanish government to double Afghanistan contingent.

After the increase, the total Spanish force in Afghanistan will be 250.

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Mar. 29 - Putting a bomb outside a large children's store is surely one definition of evil: Blast rips through Uzbek market in Tashkent, the capital city of Ukbek. It killed two and injured at least 20. It is suspected that a woman was a homicide bomber.

Uzbekistan became an ally of the USA in the build-up to the Afghanistan war and allowed air bases for our military. The country has a poor human rights record, and has suffered from terrorist attacked conducted by the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan which is said to be linked to al Qaeda.

CNN has the war on terror in death quotes in an article about death from terrorism. Nice.

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Mar. 27 - Thai bomb blast injures at least 30. A bomb on a motorcycle exploded outside a bar on the Malaysian border. Two of the injured were in serious condition, and most of those injured were Malaysian tourists. The recent elections in Malaysia was a rejection of the Islamist party.

No one has taken responsibility for the blast and the police did not speculate on the motive, but there have been a number of terrorist attacks in the region killing nearly 50 people, mostly security personnel. more...

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