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Fearing Taliban, Pakistan Cops resign

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 06:44:17 GMT

SWAT: Ismaeel Khan is one of hundreds of cops in the restive valley of Swat who have recently resigned after being threatened by Taliban militants to either quit or face "dire consequences." "Around 400 cops, including myself, have resigned from our posts as we all still want to live," Khan, 42, a head constable in Swat police, told IslamOnline.net. Mujahideen of the pro-Taliban Tehrik Nifaz Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TSNM) of Maulvi Fazlullah issued a warning to local policemen last month to resign from their posts. "We don't want to fight you (local policemen) as you are our own people," read one of several pamphlets circulated by TSNM militants. "Therefore, it is in your better interest to either leave your jobs or get ready for dire consequences." The pamphlets advised local policemen to advertise their names in local newspapers if they quit their jobs. Khan, like many colleagues, was initially defiant to cow to the threats but continuing ambushes targeting military and police convoys changed his mind. "I consulted with my other friends, who all were of the same opinion that we should quit our jobs to save our lives." They published a joint advertisement in a local newspaper informing the Taliban militants that they have quit the police force. "It was a hard decision to take as I left my 16-year long service," said a visibly moved Khan. A senior police officer of the North Western Frontier Province (NWFP), which borders Afghanistan, confirmed the resignation of around 350 local policemen. "Yes, ads regarding their resignations from the police force are being published in local newspapers in order to save themselves and their families from Taliban," he told IOL requesting anonymity. "We cannot stop them. We are fully aware of their position. They are locals and they have to live there." Hijacked Dream Khan, the head constable in Swat police, believed he had no other option but comply to the militants' demand. "It was my job. I had been earning livelihood for my family, but I realized that there was no other option left for me because of the complete insecurity," he told IOL. "Even army troops who live in heavily cordoned off places are not safe, let alone us (policemen) who are locals and an easy target." Some 102 policemen have been killed in the past 10 months in militant attacks in Swat and neighboring areas. Many of them were first kidnapped and later slaughtered by suspected Taliban militants, while some of them reportedly committed suicide. "It was a hard decision to take as I left my 16-year long service," said a visibly moved Khan. He was about to be promoted to the rank of assistant sub-inspector before his resignation. "I had been waiting for this moment for last many years. In police departments, promotion for rankers (those who joint the police department as constable and do not appear in particular examinations) is always a dream. "In fact, I had started receiving advance greetings, but my dream was hijacked by insecurity and uncertainty," he lamented. The senior NWFP police officer said they have recommended to the federal and the provincial governments announcing some incentives for the Swat police in order to boost up their morale. "However, I doubt that it will yield any positive results because life is more precious than any incentives." Source: IslamOnline

Secret Pakistan-US Deal

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 07:30:35 GMT

A clandestine agreement between the new Pakistani leadership and the US allows American drones to strike targets inside the restive tribal belt where suspected Al Qaeda and Taliban militants are reportedly taking shelter. "Under this secret deal, Pakistan will keep complaining about US air strikes. It will also summon the US ambassador to the Foreign Office to register its protest, but no action on the ground would be taken," a senior official of President Asif Ali Zardari-led government told IslamOnline.net on the condition of anonymity. The deal reportedly clinched after Zardari's first official visit to Washington in September. "The secret accord provides new mechanics for coordinating predator attacks and a jointly-approved list of high-value targets," said the official. Thirteen people were killed and many injured in a US missile attack on a residential compound in North Waziristan on Friday, November 7. Local sources told IOL that most of the deceased were women and children. Some 15 attacks have been conducted by US drones in South and North Waziristan during the last two weeks, killing over 200 tribesmen, mostly children and women. However, US and Pakistani intelligence officials insist that some top Al Qaeda leaders, including its deputy chief of operations Khalid Habib, were among the dead. According to Pakistani officials, Habib was killed on October 16 in a predator strike on targets in South Waziristan. "Now, officially, Pakistan will oppose any violation of its airspace and issue statements protesting the drone attacks, but will not go beyond that," said the government official. Pakistan is the key supply route for US troops in Afghanistan. Security analysts believe that if Islamabad had been serious about its protest, it would have at least threatened to halt supplies to Americans forces in neighboring Afghanistan. Economic Price Sources link the secret deal to Pakistan's crashing economy and dire need of financial assistance. "The US administration has made it clear that the drone attacks are essential to get rid of Al Qaeda and Taliban leaders, who have been hiding in South and North Waziristan," said the senior government official. "And if Pakistan doesn't allow that then it (US) will not help arrange an International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan." Pakistan is desperately seeking a sum of 5 billion dollars to avoid a default. Government officials say negotiations with the IMF have almost been completed, and a loan will soon be issued. Well-paced government sources say Pakistan agreed to the secret deal with Washington after the World Bank cancelled last month its 300-million-dollar loan, which had already been approved. "It was certainly not the IMF that pressurized the World Bank. It was America that forced the World Bank to do that," said the senior government official. But the government categorically denied any such secret deal with Washington. "This is totally baseless," Ashfaq Gondal, the federal secretary information, told IOL. "There is no secret accord with US. Only Pakistani forces are responsible for any action within its territory." He insists that had there been any such deal, the president and his premier could not have protested American strikes in the tribal area. "The president and the prime minister have continuously been condemning such attacks. They are against our sovereignty," said Gondal. Asked why Islamabad stops at mere publicized protest, Gondal said: "I can't tell you right away what action Pakistan can take against the strikes. But I totally deny any such secret deal." Source: IslamOnline

Israeli officer who shot a handcuffed young man in Bil'in acquitted

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 21:06:49 GMT

Press sources in the 1948 occupied lands reported that the Israeli military prosecutor Avihai Mandelblit decided Tuesday not to impose a harsh penalty on the Israeli border officer who deliberately shot a handcuffed Palestinian young man in Bil'in. The Israeli prosecutor said that the indictment filed against officer Omri Boberg would be confined to "improper conduct" while Israeli military elements said that the decision was fair enough for the circumstances of the incident. For his part, lawyer Dan Yakir, from the association for civil rights, said that despite the sharp criticism of the higher court against this decision, the military prosecutor did not backtrack on his decision to consider the criminal act against the Palestinian young man improper conduct. In another context, the family of prisoner Ahmed Abu Al-Rub from Jenin appealed to human rights organizations to urgently intervene and pressure the IOA to release their son in order to provide him with proper medical treatment abroad. The prisoner's father stated that his son, who has spent seven years in Israeli jails, is suffering from a disease in his brain cells which led him to lose his ability to stand on his feet and his life is in real danger, pointing out that the prison administration did not provide him with proper medical treatment. Source: The Palestinian Information Center Kavkaz Center

Afghan officials aided an attack on U.S. invaders

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 19:32:11 GMT

An internal review by the American military has found that a local Afghan police chief and another district leader helped Taliban rebels carry out an attack on July 13 in which nine United States soldiers were killed and a remote American outpost in eastern Afghanistan was nearly overrun. Afghan and American forces had started building the makeshift base just five days before the attack, and villagers repeatedly warned the American troops in that time that rebels were plotting a strike, the report found. It said that the warnings did not include details, and that troops never anticipated such a large and well-coordinated attack. The assault involved some 200 fighters, nearly three times the number of Americans and Afghans defending the site. As evidence of collusion between the district police chief and the Taliban, the report cited large stocks of weapons and ammunition that were found in the police barracks in the adjacent village of Wanat after the attackers were repelled. The stocks were more than the local 20-officer force would be likely to need, and many of the weapons were dirty and appeared to have been used recently. The police officers were found dressed in "crisp, clean new uniforms," the report said, and were acting "as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred." The attackers were driven back after a pitched four-hour battle, in which American artillery, warplanes and attack helicopters were ultimately called in. Still, the rebels fought in ways that showed imaginative military training, if not sophisticated weapons. In the midst of the battle, American soldiers were at times flushed out into the open when they fled what they thought were grenades, but were in fact rocks thrown by Taliban attackers, the report said. The day before the attack, the rebels began flowing water through an irrigation ditch feeding an unused field, creating background noise that masked the sounds of the advancing fighters. The base and a nearby observation post were held by just 48 American troops and 24 Afghan soldiers. Nine Americans died and 27 were injured, most in the first 20 minutes of the fight. Four Afghan soldiers were also wounded. The intensity of the attack was so fierce, the report said, that American soldiers shot at insurgents as close as about 15 yards away, often until their weapons jammed, and at rebels who shimmied up trees overhanging their positions to shoot at the Americans. The attack on the outpost, near Wanat, caused the worst single loss for the American military in Afghanistan since June 2005, and one of the worst over all since the invasion in late 2001. It underscored the vulnerability of American forces in Afghanistan, as well as the continuing problem posed by uncertainties over the loyalties of their Afghan allies, especially the Afghan police. The military investigating officer, an Army colonel whose identity was not disclosed in a redacted copy of the report provided to The New York Times, recommended that the police chief and the district governor be replaced, if not arrested. But the senior American commander in eastern Afghanistan, Maj. Gen. Jeffrey J. Schloesser, decided after conferring with American forces that relieved the unit, that the district governor had probably been acting under duress and had been cooperative with American troops, according to the general's spokeswoman, Lt. Col. Rumi Nielson-Green. Colonel Nielson-Green said in a telephone interview on Monday that while the governor had been absolved, it was unclear whether the police chief in Wanat was complicit. A spokesman for Afghan Defense Ministry officials said the Americans had never discussed these complaints with them. Hajji Abdul Halim, deputy governor at the time of the Wanat attack, and now the acting governor of nearby Nuristan Province, said Monday that both officials had been detained briefly and then released. "We suspected them after the incident, but the American forces released the district governor after two days of custody," he said in a telephone interview. The report, which was completed on Aug. 13 and declassified in recent days to allow military officials to brief family members of those who were killed, did not assign blame to any commanders of the unit involved - the Second Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team - a unit that was in the final days of a 15-month deployment when the attack took place. "The actions by leaders at all levels were based upon sound military analysis, proper risk mitigation and for the right reasons," the report said. It concluded that despite reports earlier in July that 200 to 300 rebels had been massing to attack another remote outpost in the vicinity, the commanders at Wanat had no reason to expect such a large frontal assault. "The enemy normally conducts probing attacks prior to conducting an all-out, large-scale attack," the report said, quoting the investigating officer as concluding that it "was logical" to think that an initial probing attack would involve only about 20 rebels seeking to gauge defenses and the reaction of American and Afghan forces. However, the report criticized the "incredible amount of time" - 10 months - it took the NATO military authorities to negotiate arrangements over the site of the outpost, giving adversaries plenty of time "to plan coordinated and complex attacks." Some details of the attack have been described in recent months by publications including The New York Times, The Army Times and Vanity Fair. But the 44-page report offers the most extensive account so far. At the time of the attack, American and Afghan forces were still building fortifications of sandbags and earthen barriers around the main outpost and a small observation post about 100 yards away. In some places, those troops were protected only by strands of concertina wire and a ring of gun-mounted, armored Humvees, the report said. The rebels apparently detected the vulnerability and moved to exploit it. On the evening of July 12, the rebels slipped into the village, undetected by the Americans, ordered the villagers to leave and set up firing positions inside houses and a mosque. At 4:20 a.m. on July 13, the rebels struck with a fusillade of heavy machine-gun fire and rocket-propelled grenades, destroying the Americans' most potent weapons: 120-millimeter mortars and a TOW missile launcher. At the same time, the rebels blasted the observation post with rifle fire and more grenades. Within 20 minutes, all nine Americans inside the observation post were dead or wounded. Three times, teams of soldiers from the main base ran a gantlet of hostile fire to resupply the observation post and carry back the dead and wounded. Within 30 minutes, American fighter-bombers were blasting the rebel positions, followed by Apache helicopter gunships. Just days after the attack, American forces abandoned the outpost at Wanat, but Colonel Nielson-Green said the military continued to patrol in the region from a larger base four miles away. "This was a complex attack carried out by rebels who clearly knew the terrain and maintained radio silence," she said.

Source: Agencies

Kavkaz Center

Pamphlets protesting the execution of Amrozi and friends circulating widely in Solo

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 08:51:27 GMT

The objections over the execution of the Bali Bombers, Amrozi and friends, are appearing again in some districts. In Solo, pamphlets protesting the execution were widely circulating. The pamphlets without the stamp or signature mentioned that Amrozi and friends are Mujahideen who are conducting Jihad on Allaah's name and not terrorists. The pamphlets also warned the possibility of tribal, religious, racial or inter-groups conflicts in Indonesia triggered by the execution of Amrozi and friends. The execution according to them is an act of MURTAD, KAFIR and LAKNAT as Amrozi and friends are Mujahideen. The pamphlets could be found in many Masjids in Solo. It might be that the pamphlets were produced by the activists from the Masjids all over Solo, who believed that the decision for the execution is an act of cruelty and that the government were not being just to the Islamic ummah. Hundreds of Muslims In Convoys Through The Town Of Solo Protesting The Execution Of Amrozi and Friends Hundreds of Muslims from a variety of backgrounds, societal organizations, and mosque youths, today (31/10/08), were in convoys circulating peacefully the town of Solo in an effort to protest the decision for the execution of Amrozi and friends. The protest began from Masjid Salamah and would end with a brief oration in Bunderan Gladak which have been the centre for demonstration by the elements in Solo. According to one of the participants in the convoy, their protest was as an act of solidarity and in defense of the Mujahideen like Amrozi, from the tyranny of the government. "My participation in this protest is as a form of my solidarity as well as my effort in defending them (the Mujahideen) from the tyranny of the government who have planned to execute the Mujahideen like Imam Samudera," thus Zaki, one of the participants in the convoys told muslimdaily.net. After the convoys ended, according to plan, they would continue their peaceful procession heading towards Lamongan to receive the arrival of Amrozi and Mukhlas. They would come in stages and in waves with cars and motorcycles. "After the convoys ended, we would continue towards Lamongan after the �asr prayer," one of the participants said. Abu Bakar Ba'asyir Rejects The Execution Of Amrozi and Friends The objections over the execution of the three prosecuted Bali Bombing 1 case, Amrozi and friends, are reappearing in some districts, amongst them is Solo. In a statemet today after the Friday prayer, 31st November 08, Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, as the Amir of Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid (JAT), announced his objection over the execution of Amrozi and friends this early November. In a press release he gave in Masjid Salamah Solo, Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid, the organization led by Abu Bakar Ba'asyir gave out five messages and statements relating to the execution of Amrozi and friends. Abu Bakar Ba'asyir believed that the execution that will be carried out by the government is a cruel decision. According to him the decision is contradictory to Allah's law and are not based on facts. "The decision is in violation of the basic principles of the acts, article 28 (1) UUD 1945 and article 1 KUHP" he added. Abu Bakar Ba'asyir also called for the government to find the masterminds of the acts of violence (including mosque bombings) in Moluccus Islands, Ambon, Lampung, Tanjung Priok, as well as Poso which slaughtered much more victims than the Bali Bombing, to be equally executed. But predictably those massacres of the Muslims instigated by the Christians of course did not get much international media coverage. And as it appeared the Christian instigators of those massacres were given protection and asylum by America! Source: Theunjustmedia Kavkaz Center

Peace Jirga or a new formula to compensate for the U.S. fiasco in Afghanistan

Sat, 01 Nov 2008 15:56:49 GMT

In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful A Pashto proverb says: "I am beating you hither; you are sounding back thither." The fact of the matter is that Afghanistan has been chafing under the occupation of the US Alliance of crusaders for the last seven years. Our national independence, our religious and Islamic values, the Afghan dignity and pride have lost their true meaning as a result of the encroachments and aggressions of tens of thousand of troops hailing from more than 38 countries. The brutality and barbarism being perpetrated by the invading army is trampling on our atmosphere, land and villages. Still more, every other day, the invaders are threateningly speaking of bringing additional forces . All these notwithstanding, neither a jirga, the arbitraries, nor any entity of justice came forward to hint to those who are responsible for the current crisis and catastrophe in Afghanistan and expose those who are behind all this mess? Similarly, nor they rose to the occasion to portray the players bent on further expanding and accelerating this brutality. It is a matter of a shocking concern that, on the one hand our land and country are under occupation; our home and hearth have been ruined; our people have been forced to immigration and displacement; they have been shackled and tortured and, above all, these flagrant violations are continuing intermittingly.

Despite all these, a peace jirga is ostensibly held to establish peace. The participants, even by the way of inadvertence, do not point to the brutalities and atrocities committed by the foreign troops in Afghanistan and the region; they did not raise their fingers to this serious issue, nor to the bloodshed unleashed by the troops. Even the participants could not say that the presence of the foreign troops in Afghanistan was itself a problems. By and large, the participants of the jirgas are striving, on the behest of the USA, to put the blame on those who are protecting and safeguarding our national dignity, integrity and sovereignty of the land. They insist on these heroes to lay down their arms and submit themselves to Bush with a full surrender without demur. If they claim that is not the case, then, we see this hard fact like a broad day light that the people of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq are wading through a river of blood and dust; they are stranded and displaced in their own homeland. The main cause behind all these mishaps is the presence of the Crusaders Alliance; the occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq by this Alliance and the support being extended to them by some other countries. Even today, if the US-led Alliance leaves Afghanistan, and puts an end to the diabolical policy of arrogance in this part of the world, then it is clear to all that peace will return and the masses will take a breath of relief; economic prosperity will usher in; countries and tribes will embark on a path of co-existence on the basis of fraternity and friendship. We ask the participants of the so-called peace mini-jirga, among whom do you intend to make peace? If you are trying to make peace between Pakistan and Afghanistan, they have their own State institutions and the norms of good neighborliness are well-known to them, they can resolve their pending issues through diplomatic channels. Then what is the role of this mini-jirga's holding this meeting? We know that no serious difference does exist between the people of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Had it been the case, they must have held the peace jirga to solve it. In other words, had there been such a conspicuous issue between the two countries, we would have accepted their rationale of holding the regional jirga. However, the fact is that Bush has ensconced himself in the so-called peace jirga, acting by proxy. We question whom he does represent in the peace-making process of the jirga? But if the issue is not between the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan and there is a third power, which they consider as a threat - i.e the Taliban. Then it would have been more rationale to have extended a invitation to them to tell their side of the story, to tell why they have put their lives in danger and avowed to lay down their lives and are calling people to jihad and struggle and have opted for a militant approach to resolve the problem. But we see, the real contending party is out of sight; it is being ignored. Both the plaintiff, the witness and the judge are all hailing from the same household, and are calling this gathering of theirs as the peace jirga of the tribes residing on both sides of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Now when the so-called peace jirga's meetings are continuing in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, our message to them is that such farce jirgas for peace and stability will not succeed because the Mujahid people of Afghanistan know the substance of such shallow jirgas. They know the calibre of the government sponsored intermediaries and the true features of the members of such jirgas who are tasked under the US agenda to achieve a certain goal and put sugar-coated tablets down the throats of the people. Last but not least, to keep the kettle boiling for fermentation of the political game. Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
Source: Theunjustmedia

Kavkaz Center

U.K. commander in Afghanistan resigns

Sat, 01 Nov 2008 15:03:28 GMT

The commander of British special forces in Afghanistan has resigned after expressing concerns about military equipment failures. The Daily Telegraph newpaper reported on Saturday that Major Sebastian Morley, commander of SAS (Special Air Service) troops in Afghanistan, had "resigned in disgust". Morley reportedly said that military commanders and government officials repeatedly ignored his warnings about the safety of Snatch Land Rovers used by the British army in Afghanistan. The Daily Telegraph said Morley was especially angry over the June 17 deaths of four of his soldiers, including Corporal Sarah Bryant, the first female soldier from the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) to die in Afghanistan. The soldiers died when an explosion hit their vehicle near Lashkar Gah in southern Afghanistan. The Telegraph reported the soldiers had been travelling in a Snatch Land Rover at the time of the incident. 'Personal reasons' Al Jazeera's Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from Kabul, said: "The ministry of defence brushed aside those accusations saying that the four soldiers would definitely have died even if they were driving a heavy armoured vehicle because of the power of the landmine." A defence ministry spokesman confirmed Morley had resigned, but stressed there were also "personal reasons" for his decision to step down on Friday. The spokesman, who declined to be named, said the SAS commander had previously expressed concerns about military equipment but did not mention that in his resignation. "Equipping our personnel is a clear priority and we are absolutely focused on providing them with a range of vehicles that will protect them from the ever-shifting threats posed by the enemy," the ministry said in a statement issued on Saturday. Gordon Brown, the British prime minister, announced on Wednesday that Britain would buy $ 1.13bn worth of 700 new and upgraded armoured vehicles to protect its forces in Afghanistan. 'Inadequate' troop equipment "This new package worth 700 million pounds to boost security for its own troops in Afghanistan is seen by many as if the ministry is caving into these accusations and pressures," Al Jazeera's Ahelbarra said. "Morley was not the only man to have stepped down or resigned. There were four other high officers who resigned in Afghanistan because they said the ministry of defence failed to provide adequate equipment to its troops in the volatile region." The ministry of defence describes Snatch Land Rovers as protected patrol vehicles for use in "low-threat areas". Originally used in Northern Ireland, they are now deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, the ministry says. Britain has at least 7,800 troops serving in the Nato-led Isaf force in Afghanistan, where the Taliban has mounted increasing attacks in recent months. Source: Al Jazeera and agencies Kavkaz Center

US-IRAQ: Detainees may go from frying pan to fire

Sat, 01 Nov 2008 12:56:06 GMT

An estimated 17,000 Iraqis detained in their own country by occupying US forces may soon face transfer into an Iraqi government detention system where reports of abuse and torture are commonplace, says a leading human rights advocacy group. A Human Rights Watch (HRW) statement Wednesday focuses on the potential for detainee transfers according to the stipulations of the US-Iraqi security deal, a draft of which is currently before Iraq's cabinet and parliament for approval. There are reports this week that the cabinet has decided to reopen negotiations on some aspects. "Human Rights Watch called on the US government to ensure that detainees are not in danger of being tortured by establishing a mechanism that would provide each detainee with a genuine opportunity to contest a transfer to Iraqi custody, and by verifying the conditions of Iraqi detention facilities to which they could be transferred, through inspections whose results are made public," said the statement. HRW's statement points to the fact that such a mechanism, or at least something which accomplishes the same check on transfers, is required by international law both in the laws of armed conflicts, as codified for prisoners of war in the Geneva Conventions, and the U.N. Convention Against Torture, which was signed and ratified by the US It is illegal to transfer a prisoner into a situation where they face a credible risk of torture or abuse. The controversial US-Iraqi security pact, known as a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), is being designed to allow US forces to wage war in Iraq after the U.N. mandate under which they currently operate expires at the end of this year. But the SOFA, which was originally scheduled for completion this summer, has been bogged down by US reluctance to give in to the ever increasing demands of Iraqi authorities emboldened by their successes in passing legislation and suppressing what had, until this year, been a persistent insurgency. Two of the provisions deal with Iraqis currently being detained by the US "We're getting out of the detention business," Brig. Gen. David Perkins, a spokesman for the US-led forces in Iraq, told the New York Times this week. The detention of Iraqis has been a public relations disaster for the US occupation, particularly after the Abu Ghraib scandal, where photos of prisoner abuse ended up in the media, causing global outrage. "I know that the US has an interest in getting the detainees off their hands, and I know that Iraqis want to have detention powers," the executive director of HRW's Middle East and North Africa Division, Sarah Leah Whitson, told IPS. "I also know that [the Iraqi authorities] don't feel equipped [to deal with a flood of detainees]." Those ambiguities, said Whitson, are apparent in the vague text of the current SOFA draft, where the two provisions dealing with detainees contradict each other somewhat. "I would say that [the detainee issue] is not consistently addressed in the security agreement," Whitson told IPS. "In the current agreement, [the US] is supposed to release the detainees. But in another part of the agreement, they're supposed to transfer the detainees." It's not clear which of the provisions apply under what circumstances. Whitson says inconsistencies should be concretely cleared up, though it is not of central importance to HRW. "Per se, it doesn't matter who is detaining [Iraqis] or who has the right to detain them," Whitson said, "but how they are being treated wherever they are being detained." "There is a really serious risk of torture and abuse of detainees," she said. In a 2005 report from HRW, nearly every interviewed prisoner in the Iraqi detention system, regardless of whether they were common criminals or anti-government insurgents, complained about some kind of maltreatment. "It's an ongoing problem and I don't think you'd find the Iraqi government denying that there's a problem in the Iraqi detention system," Whitson told IPS. Because of the secrecy of the military reviews that give a shaky legal justification to the detentions, little about the charges against detainees are known. But it is widely assumed that many of those in US custody ended up there because they were anti-government insurgents or anti-US fighters. Because of this, the freeing of detainees, when it should arise, has struck fear into some of Iraq's politicians. "The draft security pact says that the Americans will release all the detainees from their bases as soon as the pact is signed, which means they'll release criminals from Qaeda and militants," said Haider Al-Abbadi, a senior politician in Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Dawa party, according to the New York Times. Sectarian rifts could play into both this calculation as well as the potential for harm to prisoners transferred into Iraqi custody. Many of the former insurgent fighters detained by the US are likely to be Sunnis, who made up the bulk of the anti-government forces. But the deep-seated resentment of Sunnis, who were the minority ruling sect under the former dictatorship of Pres. Saddam Hussein, by Shias, who now dominate the central government and control most ministries, could potentially lead to harsh conditions for Sunni inmates. While the transfer of current detainees is unclear in the SOFA, one change that appears likely to make it through this draft states that the US will no longer be able to detain suspected insurgents for more than 24 hours. At the peak of detention by US forces in the fall of 2007, some 26,000 Iraqis were being held. Two thousand of the 17,000 still in custody are set to be released next month. In the same statement, HRW also took the opportunity to address another issue in the SOFA -- the authority to prosecute those responsible for abuses, potentially including US forces and contractors. "Human Rights Watch called on the Iraqi and US governments to ensure that whatever form a security agreement may take," the statement said, "it will not allow a legal vacuum in dealing with military personnel and contractors who commit abuses." By Ali Gharib and Zainab Mineeia
Source: IPS News Kavkaz Center

Israel builds museum on Muslim graves

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 16:31:38 GMT

An Israeli court ruling allowing the construction of a Jewish museum over graves of some companions of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) in Al-Quds is sparking a controversy. "Israeli is declaring a global war on Muslims and Arabs," Sheikh Raed Salah, leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel, told a press conference on Thursday, October 30. "A general of the [prophet's] Companions is buried in this cemetery." Sheikh Salah noted that thousands of other Muslims have been buried in the cemetery, putting the number at 70,000 thousands until 1948. Israel's High Court on Wednesday, October 29, rejected an appeal by two Muslim groups to halt the building of a Jewish museum on the site of a Muslim cemetery in central Al-Quds. The court argued that the cemetery has been in public use since the municipality authorities put a parking lot over a small section of the graveyard in the 1960s. It claimed that a proposal put forward by the museum planners to rebury the bones or cover the graves was "satisfactory" to resolve the issue. The court said the construction of the museum, halted in 2006 after human remains were discovered during the digging, can resume immediately. The Mufti of Al-Quds, Sheikh Mohammed Hussein, said the verdict was a "grave decision which harms the Muslim holy sites." He described the construction of the $ 250-million museum by a Los Angeles-based Jewish group as "act of aggression." Help Plea Sheikh Salah appealed to the Muslim world to intervene to halt the construction on the Muslim cemetery. "We have sent messages to the Arab League and the Organization of the Islamic Conference to stop this crime." The Muslim leader said the court verdict was part of the Israeli policies to judaize the holy city. "But we will not give up our rights." Israel captured Al-Quds in the 1967 war and later annexed the holy city, in a move not recognized by the international community. The city is home to Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam's third holiest shrine and the first Qiblah [direction Muslims take during prayers]. Al-Quds is also home to some of the holiest Christian worship places, including the Jerusalem Church and the Greek Orthodox Church. Archmandrite Atallah Hanna also criticized the Israeli court ruling. "This is the true face of the occupation," he told the same press conference. The Christian clergy reaffirmed the unity of Palestinian Muslims and Christians in the face of Israeli aggressions. "We stand shoulder to shoulder in the same trench." Source: IOL Staff Kavkaz Center

Syrians stage mass protest over deadly US raid

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 09:02:15 GMT

Tensions rise between Damascus, Washington over American air raid that killed Syrian civilians. Thousands of people began marching in the streets of Damascus on Thursday to protest at a deadly American raid on a village near the Iraqi border which Syria has branded a barbaric act. Security was boosted around the area in central Damascus housing the US embassy which was closed on Thursday ahead of the demonstration because of the potential threat of violence. "Colonialists, listen, the people of Syria will never be brought to their knees," cried youths as they gathered in the city centre. "God, Syria, Bashar," they chanted, referring to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Demonstrators waved Syrian flags and banners reading "No to American terrorism" and "American democracy -- the killing of civilians at Abu Kamal," the area targeted in Sunday's US raid. The US embassy announced on its website that it had closed for Thursday because of a possible demonstration and "therefore, American citizens should avoid these vicinities as well as the vicinity of the US embassy in Damascus." Damascus says eight civilians, including children, were killed in a helicopter assault on Sunday launched by US troops from Iraq on a Syrian village near the border. A US official in Washington has said the operation targeted a top militant who smuggled arms and fighters into Iraq but officially the State Department and Pentagon have declined to comment. On Tuesday, Syria protested to the UN Security Council over what it branded a barbaric action by the United States. On Wednesday, Iraqi demonstrators gathered in the Abu Rumaneh district near the Iraqi and US embassies, chanting slogans condemning the helicopter raid and brandishing placards. Some of protesters brandished placards slamming the incident, one of which read: "Iraqis in Syria denounce the vile American aggression against Syrian people and territory." Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Meqdad said his government -- which has already demanded the closure of the American school and the US cultural centre -- is awaiting an explanation from Washington and Baghdad about the raid before deciding whether to take further retaliatory steps. Syria said it is still awaiting an explanation from Washington. "Syria is awaiting official explanations from the US and Iraqi governments on this unacceptable violation of Syrian sovereignty before taking additional measures," Meqdad said. The state news agency SANA, which quoted Meqdad, said he was speaking at a meeting with ambassadors accredited to Damascus to brief them on "this aggressive and unjustified act." Iraq on Tuesday had slammed the deadly American helicopter raid. "The Iraqi government rejects the US helicopter strike on Syrian territory, considering that Iraq's constitution does not allow its land to be a base for launching attacks on neighbouring countries," Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in a statement. "We call upon American forces not to repeat such activities and Baghdad has launched an investigation into the strike." On Monday Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, said: "Killing civilians in international law means a terrorist aggression." Syria and the United States have long had a rocky relationship. Source: Agencies

Truth be told, Iraq is still a living hell

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 08:55:52 GMT

John McCain likes to say, "we're winning in Iraq, and we'll come home with victory." Maybe so, but it depends on how you measure victory. Without question, violence in Iraq has declined. Sectarian violence has diminished, fewer people are dying, the number of deadly bombings has dropped. But let's put this in perspective. I was first posted to Iraq for several months at the end of 2003. And beginning that November, a loud bomb blast jolted me out of bed almost every morning. Over the next few weeks, insurgents began killing foreigners they happened to see on the streets. At about this time, the end of 2003, Iraq came to be seen as the most dangerous place in the world. Of course, in the following years the violence increased manyfold. Particularly after the bombing of a Shiite mosque in Samarra two years ago, Iraq fell into a state something close to hell on Earth. But then, after the American troop escalation early this year, violence dropped precipitously. Today it's at about the level I endured in 2003, when a bomb blast woke me up almost every morning - only now the streets are even more dangerous for foreigners. It's been frozen at that level for months. Public attention to Iraq has plummeted, as has press coverage. The number of American correspondents based there has fallen from 219 a year ago to 39 today. In recent election-related polls, only about 20 percent of those questioned said Iraq remains a top priority. Economic concerns are trumping the war, as they should, while McCain's, and President Bush's, descriptions of the status quo in Iraq are serving to anesthetize the electorate so that no one seems to know or care about what's really going on. A few days ago, I spoke to an Iraqi journalist about life in Baghdad right now. "You can't ever trust the relative sense of security because it may be different for you," this journalist said. "After 6 or 7 p.m., you can't be outside. It's not safe. After dark I go inside and hide somewhere. I fall asleep very frightened." The journalist cautioned me not to use her name. If it got out that she was consorting with foreigners, insurgents "would kill me and my family." Neither the White House nor the McCain campaign will tell you any of this. Without saying so explicitly, the Republicans leave the impression that Iraq is now a nearly pacific place. But let's look at the actual statistics for September - as compiled for the Brookings Institution's Iraq Index. Last month, 98 Iraqi policemen were killed. On about two days out of every three, a bomb killed two or more people. Over all, those bombings killed 164 people and wounded 366 others. These and other attacks killed 500 Iraqi civilians, about 17 a day. Seventeen American soldiers died; 102 were wounded. About 19,000 Iraqis remain in American military prisons. Almost 3 million Iraqis driven from their homes still are not willing or able to return. Even now, almost five years after the invasion, Baghdad residents get just over 11 hours of electricity each day, compared to 20 hours before the war. At the same time, no one is kidnapping foreigners any longer. Helicopters aren't being shot down. Attacks on oil pipelines have virtually ceased. As for the carnage, while the violence remains frighteningly high, in January of 2007 there were at least two bombings every day, and more than 3,700 Iraqi civilians died. The big news stories in Iraq today tell of the bustling street life, children playing in the parks, schools reopening, some blast walls in Baghdad coming down. That is a welcome change - so it is news. The run-of-the-mill violence is no longer news. But it continues, relegated to one-paragraph news stories. Here are headlines from a sample of these stories from the first three days of this week: Seven killed, 20 injured in three separate attacks in Iraq; Two killed in Baghdad bombings; Police defuse roadside bomb in central Baghdad; New wave of violence against journalists in Iraq; Bombs strike bus, taxi in Baghdad, killing 4; Iraqi police kill female suicide bomber; 15 killed, 44 wounded in violence by Tuesday afternoon. My point is not to diminish the genuine accomplishments of the U.S. military. Iraq is less violent. But it remains so far from the ostensible goal - a unified, democratic, safe and stable nation, as Bush, McCain and Sarah Palin put it - that when the Republicans suggest it's just within reach, they are foisting a lie upon the American people. Joel Brinkley is a former Pulitzer Prize-winning foreign correspondent for The New York Times and now teaching at Stanford University. Contact him at Source: Thenewstribune

Afghanistan: Three Shaheeds stormed the building in Kabul

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 08:31:59 GMT

A blast has ripped through the puppet "information and culture ministry" in the centre of the Afghan capital, Kabul, killing at least five people, officials say. "It was a suicide bomber and there are casualties. Our ambulances are busy but the number is unclear," Abdullah Fahim, a puppet "health ministry" official, said. Azizudin, a puppet "police official" at the site, said Thursday's explosion caused massive damage to the building, which is located in the city centre, at a busy intersection. The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the blast according to the AP news agency. Zabiullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, said three Shaheeds stormed the building by throwing hand grenades at the guards at the main gate. Abdul Jabar, a security guard near the building, said the bomber shot two puppet "policemen" outside the "ministry" building before entering the large conference hall inside where he blew himself up. One of the side walls of the building collapsed, while glass littered the roads nearby and office equipment was scattered over the area, a spokesman for the so call "health ministry" said. Al Jazeera's correspondent in Kabul, said: "Eyewitnesses said the suicide bomber apparently made his way to ministry and then blew himself up when inside the offices. "They have retrieved a number of bodies, but don't have a final death count. "Police and the security officers have told us to leave the area because they have some concerns that there might be another bomber or bomb inside." Source: Agencies

Syria Condemns US 'War Crime'

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 14:28:56 GMT

Syria accused the US on Monday, October 27, of committing an outrageous crime in attacking a border village, with the official media branding the attack a "war crime". "This is an outrageous crime and an act of aggression, of course," Syria's press attaché at its embassy in London, Jihad Makdissi, told the BBC News Online. "If they (the United States) have any proof of any insurgency, instead of applying the law of the jungle and penetrating, unprovoked, a sovereign country, they should come to the Syrians first and share this information." Eight people, including a father and his four children, were killed when four US helicopters attacked a building site on Sunday in the village of Al-Sukkiraya, which lies just eight kilometers (five miles) from the border. Syrian state television broadcast pictures of the scene, showing a building site with bloodstains on the ground, and the bodies of victims lying in the morgue. Damascus has summoned the official US and Iraqi representatives to protest the attack. The US, which accuses Syria of failing to stem the flow of foreigner fighters into Iraq, has yet to comment on the attack. Sergeant Brooke Murphy, a US military spokeswoman in Baghdad, told AFP that the military was "in the process of investigating" the incident. In Washington, a Pentagon spokesman declined to comment. Commander Darryn James told AFP that there was "no response" from the US Department of Defense about the Syrian reports. The Iraqi defense ministry also refused to comment, on the grounds the incident took place inside Syria. If confirmed, the US attack would be the first of its kind into Syrian territory. War Crime The Syrian press attaché said the US attack violates international law. "This administration ... have proved to be irrational and they have no respect for international law or human rights," said Makdissi. "We expect a clarification, and of course Syria reserves the right to respond accordingly in the proper way." Syrian official media denounced the US strike as a "war crime". "The American forces from Iraq committed cold-blooded murder," the government newspaper Tishrin wrote. "They committed a war crime in killing eight Syrian civilians in a quiet village." Last year, Israeli planes bombed a facility, which US officials have claimed was a nuclear plant. The Bush administration has accused Damascus of harming instability in Iraq, despite assertions by Iraqi officials that Syria was helping stabilize the country. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani told US President George W. Bush last month that Iran and Syria -- long targets of US blame over the deadly unrest in the country -- no longer pose a problem. Iraqi officials have also said that Syria has been boosting border security.

Source: Agencies
Kavkaz Center

Tanzanian fear at Islamic courts

Sat, 25 Oct 2008 16:04:56 GMT

Churches in Tanzania have petitioned against a proposal to set up Kadhi (Islamic) courts to handle disputes among the Muslim community.

They will create religious tension in a country that prides itself on high levels of religious and social tolerance, the church leaders say.

The petition was signed by 64 leaders from the Christian Council of Tanzania (CCT) and Pentecostal churches.

A BBC reporter says public opinion is sharply divided over the issue.

MPs were also split over introducing Kadhi courts, which deal with domestic issues such marriage and divorce, during parliament's session in August.

Muslims make up nearly half of the population on mainland Tanzania.

The semi-autonomous archipelago of Zanzibar, where 99 % of the population is Muslim, has had Kadhi courts as an official part of its justice system since 1985.

Secular state

The BBC's John Ngahyoma in the main city of Dar es Salaam says that although the government has not yet made a decision, there is a good chance that it will allow the courts.

The government is also considering joining the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), a move that has been met with criticism by Christian leaders.

Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Bernard Membe said the government would seek the people's consent on whether Tanzania should join the OIC, Tanzania's Guardian newspaper reported on Thursday.

Church leaders say that joining the OIC would contravene the country's constitution as Tanzania is a secular state. Source: Agencies Kavkaz Center

Americans last ditch attempt

Sat, 25 Oct 2008 12:58:24 GMT

In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful The US and its alliance of the warlords have not been able to build a peaceful, prosperous Afghanistan after the passage of seven years and despite their using of various tactics of terrorism and occupation. Nor they have been able to establish a central, successful and representative government, nor an administration based on their vision and pre-conceived formulas. This is because they wanted to impose on the Afghans a surrogate regime nurtured in the nursery of the West, being headed by a quasi-Afghan faces. Thus, the US wanted to keep the Afghan patriotic nation chained in its colonial tentacles. However, our rich history has it that stooges never flourish in this land of free people. They are immediately regurgitated out and dispelled. Hence we are now witnessing this hard fact that the US and its colonial ambitions are nearing to the verge of perdition thanks to the blessing of Allah, the unwavering resistance and sacred struggle of the Afghan people. Their economic ascendancy is tapering down; their global dominance is falling smithereens. They are now resorting to their final bobby-trap which, experience has showed, have no prospect in this land. The Americans are determined to form tribal militias via dispensation of dollars and play the tribal people against the Mujahideen. During his visit to Afghanistan, US Defence Secretary, Robert Gates, indicated that they were pondering to hammer out a new strategy for Afghanistan and the region, because the tribal militias strategy has proved its effectiveness in Iraq. The US Defence Secretary and the masterminds behind the formation of the tribal militias should know that the tribal militias strategy was never a successful one in Iraq either. The lull in fighting in Iraq allegedly ascribed to the formation of Al-Sahwa militia does not mean that indignation against and opposition to the presence of the Americans stationed there, have mitigated but only fighting among armed ethnic factions have spiralled down. Last week, the Pentagon acknowledged that in every 24 hours, 10-15 martyrdom attacks are carried out against US forces, either killing or injuring ten American troops on an average. On the other hand, the Americans should not look at Afghanistan in the spectacle of Iraq. Here sectarian differences do not exist among the people in the tribal areas as it is the case in Iraq. Should that had been the case, the Americans might have taken advantage of that and tipped the people against Mujahideen. Now, we are beholding that the people of the tribal areas are bonded and infatuated by the spirit of Jihad and patriotism, making it almost impossible for the Americans to take a breath of relief as a result of their resorting to the rallying of people to weaken the Mujahideen. The most obvious and fresh experience about the formation of militias in Afghanistan is the despicable experience of the Russians, which is hated and deplored by all the Afghan nation. When the Russian were about to flee from Afghanistan, they turned to forming militias under the name of Gailam Jan Militia, Jabbar Militia and other militias built on the basis of ethnicity and region. Americans have to analyze the role, reputation and history of these unscrupulous militias and then take up the strategy of militia formation. Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
Source: Theunjustmedia

Kavkaz Center