How Warheads Slipped By
WASHINGTON – New details about how six nuclear warheads came to be flown across country by mistake point to security failures at multiple levels, according to interviews with current and former U.S. officials briefed on the initial results of an Air Force investigation.
The warheads that were attached to the plane at North Dakota’s in Minot Air Force Base just after 9 a.m. on Aug. 29 remained without special guard for more than 15 hours. They remained on the plane at the flight’s destination, an air base in Louisiana, for nearly nine hours more before being discovered. In total, the warheads slipped from the Air Force’s nuclear safety net for more than a day without anyone’s knowledge.
British commandos join raid to rescue soldiers kidnapped by Taleban
British special forces commandos were involved in a dramatic operation at dawn yesterday to rescue two Italian soldiers kidnapped by the Taleban in western Afghanistan.
The involvement of two teams of Special Boat Service (SBS) commandos in the successful mission to free the Italians from their captors emerged in Rome when officials from the Italian Defence Ministry announced the successful conclusion of the rescue operation.
Defence sources in London disclosed that the SBS commandos had been monitoring the suspected hideout where the two Italian soldiers and their interpreter were being held. The SBS surveillance teams were in Lynx helicopters, and when the Taleban kidnappers emerged in two vehicles from their compound the British special forces commandos opened fire.
Al-Qaeda in Iraq Publishes List of Tribal Leaders It Intends to Assassinate Before ‘Id Al-Fitr
The Islamist website http://www.elshouraa.ws/vb, hosted by SoftLayer Technologies Inc. in Texas, USA, has published a list of names, some with photos, titled “Pictures of the Infidels and Apostates Wanted by the Islamic State of Iraq.” The message accompanying the list praises the September 13, 2007 assassination of Al-Anbar Salvation Council head ‘Abd Al-Sattar Abu Risha by the ISI,(1) and threatens other tribal leaders who oppose Al-Qaeda: “We killed your leader and sheikh on the first day of Ramadan, as we promised you. You should know that the ISI will prevent most of your [other] leaders from offering up their holiday prayers [on 'Id Al-Fitr at the end of the month of Ramadan]. You will never see ‘Id Al-Fitr, because [the jihad fighters] have turned [this] Ramadan into a grave for the apostates. [Abu Risha] is the first… dead hypocrite of this month – [the month of] jihad and mujahideen – and will be followed by many others.”
To view the photos and names, as they appear in the posting visit: More . The individuals crossed out have already been assassinated by the ISI.
Blakehill Farm GCHQ site
After WWII, GCHQ set up an “experimental radio station”, a top secret research facility, on the site of the RAF’s wartime airfield at Blakehill Farm, Cricklade near Swindon, Wiltshire (pictured further below in a Pilot’s Eye View, from my regular expert contributor). It was not too far away from GCHQ’s new post-war HQ in Cheltenham. It consisted of huge communications masts arranged in mysterious strategic patterns in the middle of the old airfield and the site was still active in some capacity until the mid 1990s.
Explosive-formed penetrator strikes MND-B patro
One Multi-National Division-Baghdad Soldier was killed and another wounded when an explosive-formed penetrator detonated on their patrol during combat operations in an eastern section of the Iraqi capital Sept. 22.
Units operating in this area continue to conduct targeted raids and clearing operations in order to disrupt insurgent and militia elements operating in this section of the Iraqi capital.
Sept. 23 airpower summary: B-1Bs bring on the firepower
oalition airpower supported coalition ground forces in Iraq and International Security Assistance Force troops in Afghanistan during operations Sept. 23, according to Combined Air and Space Operations Center officials here.
An Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II dropped a general purpose 500-pound bomb on an enemy rocket position near Shkin. The on-scene joint terminal attack controller confirmed the target was destroyed.
In Asadabad, A-10s struck an enemy position and a compound with guided bomb unit-12s, a general purpose 500-pound bomb, and cannon fire. The JTAC confirmed the strike was successful.
Terror: Al Qaeda’s Feuds and Fears
Lonely, marginalized and suddenly suspicious that he was losing his grip over the organization he helped create, Osama bin Laden finally decided that enough was enough. At least that’s the explanation sources close to him are giving for why, after three long years of silence, the Qaeda leader has released one video and two audiotapes in the past month, including last week’s audio message calling for a jihad against Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. According to Omar Farooqi, a Taliban liaison officer with Al Qaeda, bin Laden recently learned that a faction within his own organization had been conspiring to sideline him, insisting—unnecessarily, bin Laden now believes—that he remain secluded for security reasons. CIA officials told NEWSWEEK they could neither confirm nor reject the theory.
Bin Laden had long been chafing at this imposed gag order, says Farooqi, who learned from Sheik Saeed, Al Qaeda’s senior leader in Afghanistan, and other top operatives that bin Laden became “extremely upset” earlier this year when he discovered that some of his lieutenants feared he was dead. Bin Laden has always loved talking to the media—he used to infuriate his onetime protector, Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, by holding press conferences—and, according to Farooqi, bin Laden had only reluctantly gone along with the advice that his safety required absolute silence.
Italian commandos rescue 2 kidnapped intelligence operatives in Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan – Italian commandos, aided by other NATO forces and aircraft, rescued two kidnapped Italian intelligence operatives Monday in a daring ambush and gunbattle that left at least nine of the captors dead in western Afghanistan.
Although both freed Italians were wounded – one of them seriously – Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi said the operation was a success and could put a dent in Afghanistan’s rising kidnapping industry.
Former Punjab cops wants to testify at Air India probe
OTTAWA – The former head of the Punjab police says if a controversial human rights group is allowed to testify at the Air India inquiry about the death of the bombing mastermind, he should also have a chance to provide evidence here.
But K.P.S. Gill said in an interview from Delhi Sunday that he has not been approached by the Air India inquiry about allegations police under his charge killed Canadian Talwinder Singh Parmar in October 1992 after Parmar confessed to a role in the Air India bombing.
Diana: The unseen evidence which has been mysteriously ignored until now
Over English tea served in fine china cups at a sumptuous Paris apartment last November, an astonishing meeting took place to discuss the death of 36-year-old Diana, Princess of Wales.
The conversation was cordial. A butler carrying a teapot and tray of delicate sandwiches moved smoothly between the guests in the richly decorated drawing room of a building owned by the British Government, near the famous Champs Elysees.
Army broadcasts Rangoon warning
Lorries with loudspeakers have been driving through Burma’s main city of Rangoon warning residents to stop anti-government protests.
The broadcasts threatened that “action will be taken against those who violate this order”.
But hundreds of monks and civilians defied the threats and began fresh protests at the Shwedagon pagoda.
Guantanamo detainee loses appeal
A Guantanamo Bay detainee accused of links to al-Qaeda will face a military commission after an appeal court overturned a judge’s ruling.
A US military appeals court ruled that Omar Khadr, a Canadian citizen, is an “unlawful enemy combatant” and can be tried on terror charges.
Navy Helicopter Crashes at Fena
A Navy helicopter crashed into Fena Reservoir last night, killing one of four crew members on board.
Rescue units from the Navy and Guam Fire Department responded to the 911 call, which was made by officials at the Guam airport’s flight control tower at 10:17 p.m., said GFD spokesman Firefighter Angel Llagas.
A Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 25 aircraft that was conducting a training mission crashed in the lake at the Naval Magazine Area in Santa Rita, said Navy spokesman Lt. Donnell Evans. Information on how or why the helicopter crashed was unavailable last night.
Navy Copter Crashes in Guam; 1 Killed
HAGATNA, Guam (AP) — A U.S. Navy helicopter crashed late Monday during a training mission on Guam, killing one of four people on board, the Navy said.
The helicopter from the Sea Combat 25 squadron crashed into the Fena Reservoir on Navy property near Naval Magazine in Santa Rita.
Afghan ‘warrior culture’ expects Canadians to keep fighting
KABUL — For residents of Afghanistan’s bustling capital, the prospective departure of Canada’s soldiers by February 2009 produces mostly quizzical looks. It seems inconceivable that NATO’s International Security Assistance Force would withdraw its troops, leaving these war-weary people to the mercy of the Taliban and al-Qaida.
Even the more benign alternative to a complete withdrawal — training Afghan soldiers and police to look after security while western nations focus on humanitarian and development work — is at best undesirable.
Police knew about Air India confession, inquiry hears
OTTAWA — The RCMP’s Air India Task Force thoroughly investigated the purported confession of bomber Talwinder Singh Parmar and concluded it contained false information about the terrorist plot, the judicial inquiry heard Monday.
Insp. Lorne Schwartz said details of the alleged confession billed as “seismic evidence” at the Air India inquiry were in the hands of RCMP investigators in 1997, who followed up with interviews across Canada, in India and eventually in Pakistan.
Czech police arrest three people thanks to SIS
Prague/Valleta (Malta), Sept 24 (CTK) – Czech authorities have detained three persons and have found five missing persons and 10 people declared persona non grata in the Czech Republic thanks to the Schengen Information System (SIS) that the country joined on September 1, the Interior Ministry told CTK today.
Interior Minister Ivan Langer (senior governing Civic Democrats, ODS) has provided this information to his counterparts from the new EU member states who have met in Malta.
Why I want to keep fighting in Iraq
Kirkuk, Iraq – Despite strong public appeals by Gen. David Petraeus and President Bush this month, American views on the Iraq war remain dim. The latest Pew survey shows that 54 percent say US troops should come home as soon as possible, while 47 percent believe the US will probably or definitely fail to achieve its goals in Iraq. Many experts and politicians, meanwhile, have suggested the war can’t be won.
I am a US soldier in Iraq. And I disagree. It’s not too late to succeed. The stakes in Iraq are too high not to keep fighting for progress.
As a National Guardsman serving on a Provincial Reconstruction Team, I’ve seen what is working on the ground in Kirkuk, a city in northern Iraq.
Mujahideen Carry Out Fresh Attacks Near University in Somalia
Mujahideen Carry Out Fresh Attacks Near University in Somalia
Sep 24, 2007
By Umm Saad, Jihad Unspun | Translation Copyright © Jihad Unspun 2007
As Somalia spirals into a bloody war, the brutality of the so-called interim army backed by Ethiopian forces is being avenged on a near daily basis by Mujahideen who remain equally committed to returning the Islamic Court to power and expelling the occupiers.
Last week, so-called army forces fired on Shabelle Media, an indepent media outlet, and continued their seige until the news outlet announced it was closing down its operations. This is just one indicator of the heavy handed tactics to come as Somalia spirals into full scale war.
14 terror accused will go directly to trial
BRAMPTON – The case against 14 men who were arrested in Canada’s largest terrorist sweep will go directly to trial, after federal prosecutors stunned the accused and their lawyers by suddenly stopping a preliminary hearing.
Many of the lawyers for the Toronto-area men accused of plotting to detonate truck bombs were “totally shocked” when Crown attorneys announced in the morning that they would be filing a direct indictment against their clients.
FBI Investigates Anti-Jena 6 Web Site
The FBI is investigating a white supremacist Web site over an anti-Jena 6 posting that revealed the phone numbers and addresses of five of the six teens accused of beating a white student in Jena, Louisiana.
The case of the Jena 6 has become a popular cause — even across international borders — and is attracting the support of everyone from Al Sharpton to David Bowie, who donated $10,000 to the legal defense fund.
Nine LTTE men killed in heavy fighting: Sri Lankan military
Colombo, Sept. 25 (AP): Sri Lankan troops firing mortar shells and artillery killed nine Tamil Tiger rebels and wounded 36 others during a heavy daylong battle in northern Sri Lanka, the military said on Tuesday.
The fighting in the Mannar area along the border between rebel-controlled territory and government-held areas began Monday morning and did not subside until early Tuesday, military officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters.
Four soldiers were wounded in the fighting, the military officials said.
Burma’s rulers threaten military force against protesters
Burma’s ruling junta today threatened to use military force against the Buddhist monks leading the biggest anti-Government protests in 20 years.
Vehicles mounted with loudspeakers toured the centre of Rangoon, Burma’s largest city, broadcasting warnings of military action.
Army trucks were said to be parked outside the Shwedagon Pagoda, Burma’s most holy shrine, which has become a focus for the protests.
Algerians mobilised in Iraq as suicide bombers or mercenaries
According to figures related to the so-called “Algerian fighters abroad”, armed organizations in a number of countries where there are security crises, military conflicts or wars prefer armed people coming from Algeria.
This policy comes within the import of “resistants”, jihdists and often “suicide bombers” and “mercenaries” used in bloody clashes.
Investigations show that “recruitment networks” are based on the use of religion and hard social conditions to push people to vengeance.
Navy to seal off southern sea borders
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Navy will set up 17 Coast Watch stations, worth up to P17 billion, to guard the country’s porous southern sea borders against terror groups and other transnational criminals, one of the officials on top of the project said.
At the same time, the Navy is awaiting an Executive Order from Malacañang that will define the roles of the Navy and other government agencies like the Coast Guard, the police, and the customs and immigrations bureaus under the Coast Watch South concept, said Lieutenant Commander Jorge Ibarra, chief of the International Affairs branch, under the office of the Deputy Navy Chief for Plans.
7 hurt as troops, Abu Sayyaf clash in Basilan
MANILA, Philippines — Seven civilians, mostly students, were caught in a crossfire between elements of the military and the Abu Sayyaf bandits in Tipo-Tipo, Basilan Tuesday, a police official said.
The clash at Barangay (village) Baguindan, a stronghold of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), happened around 1 p.m., said Senior Superintendent Salik Macapantar, Basilan police chief.
Macapantar said police were moving the wounded civilians to the Basilan provincial hospital.
Argentina fury at UK bid for Falkland seas
Argentina has reacted furiously to plans by Britain to lay claim to vast new tracts of potentially oil and gas-rich territories in the seas off the Falklands.
In a move likely to add new heat to the long-running diplomatic dispute, British officials are preparing to submit a bid to the United Nations to prove that thousands of extra square miles of the surrounding ocean floor are geographically part of the islands.
The claim follows a new approach in international law which holds that a nation’s legitimately-held territory can extend up to 350 miles from its coast, if it can verify that it is part of the shoreline’s underlying continental shelf
Analysis on hard disks to be completed in a week: police
Bangalore, Sept. 25 (PTI): Analysis of the two high capacity hard disks seized from the residence of late Kafeel Ahmed, the main suspect in the botched UK terror plot, is expected to be completed in about a week’s time, a top police official said today.
“It will take us about a week to analyse the data retrieved by Forensic Science Laboratory, Hyderabad,” Gopal Hosur, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) told PTI. Kafeel, who drove a burning jeep into the Glasgow airport on June 30, succumbed to burn injuries on August three.
Muslim volunteer at hospital suspended
A MUSLIM has been suspended from his voluntary job at a hospital after police raised concerns.
British-born Usman Ali worked as a volunteer at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich, for more than a year and led Friday prayers for staff and patients.
The 30-year-old used to be a member of the now banned Al Muhajiroun group.
Mr Ali was also kicked out of the Greenwich Islamic Centre in Plumstead Road, for allegedly showing videos of planes crashing into the World Trade Center to children while chanting “God is great”.
Hizballah hijacks case of German-Israeli Daniel Sharon for propaganda
The pro-Iranian Lebanese Shiite group has seized on Sharon’s accidental detention in the course of a suspected murder probe in Beirut, to depict him as belonging to a 250-strong Israeli spy ring equipped by the German BND external intelligence with German passports. The 32-year old Sharon is said to have been on a mission to prepare the US-Israeli attack on Iran.
No source in Israel or Germany confirms this tale.
Monday, Sept 24, the Phalange leader Samir Geagea also claimed Sharon’s arrest had “foiled a big terrorist attack in Lebanon. What has Lebanon come to when an Israeli agent can operate in the heart of Beirut?” he asked.
Military is ‘baiting’ insurgents in Iraq
A Pentagon group has encouraged some U.S. military snipers in Iraq to target suspected insurgents by scattering pieces of “bait,” such as detonation cords, plastic explosives and ammunition, and then killing Iraqis who pick up the items, according to military court documents.
The classified program was described in investigative documents related to recently filed murder charges against three snipers who are accused of planting evidence on Iraqis they killed.
“Baiting is putting an object out there that we know they will use, with the intention of destroying the enemy,” Capt. Matthew P. Didier, the leader of an elite sniper scout platoon attached to the 1st Battalion of the 501st Infantry Regiment, said in a sworn statement. “Basically, we would put an item out there and watch it. If someone found the item, picked it up and attempted to leave with the item, we would engage the individual as I saw this as a sign they would use the item against U.S. Forces.”
THE PENTAGON’S COUNTERSPIES COUNTERINTELLIGENCE FIELD ACTIVITY (CIFA)
Today the National Security Archive publishes a collection of documents concerning the organization and operations of the Pentagon’s Counterintelligence Field Activity (CIFA) and the TALON/CORNERSTONE database it has maintained. As the Defense Department announced on August 21, today that database will be terminated while work on new procedures for reporting of threats to the Defense Department and its facilities continues. In the interim, threat reports will be transmitted to the FBI.
Letter bomb woman ’shunned’ – court
A woman who opened a letter bomb told a court that she has been shunned by colleagues who blame her for the injuries they received in the explosion.
Karen Andrews was working in the post room of the DVLA headquarters in Swansea when she opened a padded envelope on February 7.
Miles Cooper, 27, from Cherry Hinton, Cambridge, is charged with sending seven letter bombs made from party poppers and nails or broken glass, over a period of two weeks earlier this year.
On Monday, the court was told by prosecutor John Price that the series of attacks had caused “widespread public alarm” as police and public alike tried to work out where the next bomb would arrive.
Video: Al Qaeda’s child jihadi
Continuing with our theme of unspeakably disgusting video this morning. This is the Palestinians’ specialty, of course, although when it comes in the context of a school pageant there’s at least some ambiguity as to whether the kids realize what they’re doing or whether it’s just cowboys and Indians. This comes from the Islamic State of Iraq, a.k.a. Al Qaeda’s Iraqi front group, so our budding mujahedeen here may well be out in the field and already living the dream. The Taliban’s allegedly sent six-year-old suicide bombers after U.S. troops and has for sure used prepubescent warriors to behead accused spies, but this is the first time I’ve seen anything like a child martyrdom video.
US attacks Burma ‘reign of fear’
US President George W Bush has condemned Burma’s “reign of fear” and said Americans were outraged by the country’s human rights record.
He was speaking after tens of thousands of monks and other civilians marched through Rangoon in another day of mounting anti-government protests.
They were defying the army’s warning to stay off the streets.
In a speech to the UN General Assembly, Mr Bush also announced new sanctions against Burma’s military rulers.
Sept. 24 airpower summary: Globemasters provide heavy airlift
Coalition airpower supported coalition ground forces in Iraq and International Security Assistance Force troops in Afghanistan during operations Sept. 24, according to Combined Air and Space Operations Center officials here.
An Air Force MQ-1B Predator fired a Hellfire missile at an enemy vehicle near Farah to deny future use by insurgents.
In Kandahar, Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt IIs strafed an enemy compound with cannon rounds. The on-scene joint terminal attack controller confirmed rounds hit the target and the desired result was achieved.
Czechs hand over Swedish terrorism suspect to United States
Prague (dpa) – The Czech Republic extradited Tuesday Lebanese-born Swedish citizen to the United States where he is suspected of scheming to run a terrorist-training camp, the Czech justice ministry said.
Oussama Kassir was arrested at Prague international airport in December 2005 during a stopover of his flight from Stockholm to Beirut.
A US federal court had requested his extradition in February 2006, which Kassir had unsuccessfully fought from a Czech jail.
Kassir faces a life sentence in the US for allegedly taking part in a conspiracy to set up a Jihadist terrorist camp in the north- western US state of Oregon and for allegedly running internet sites that carried instructions on how to make explosives and poisons for use in terrorist acts.
Blast in Spain’s Basque country — no injuries
MADRID – A blast occurred outside a police station overnight in the Basque town of Zarauz in northern Spain, shattering windows but causing no injuries Tuesday, a police spokesman told AFP.
“The device went off about 1:30 in the morning (2330 GMT), but did not cause any damage to people, while shattering several windows and leaving a crater about one metre in diameter,” the spokesman said.
He added there was no indication as to who was responsible, although suspicion immediately fell on armed Basque separatist group ETA, which ten days earlier was suspected of placing a homemade explosive device under a policeman’s car.
The Middle East Blog, TIME: Muslim Denounces Terrorism!
Brother Osama:
How much blood has been spilled? How many innocent children, women, and old people have been killed, maimed, and expelled from their homes in the name of “al-Qaeda”?
Are you happy to meet Allah with this heavy burden on your shoulders? It is a weighty burden indeed – at least hundreds of thousands of innocent people, if not millions.
Canadian killed, 4 wounded in clash with Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – Before boarding a military flight to Afghanistan last month, Cpl. Nathan Hornburg told a newspaper in his hometown that the danger would not deter him.
“It’s more of an argument we should be there – we know it’s a mess and that’s why we’re there,” he told the Calgary Sun in July, before deploying in late August.
On Monday, Hornburg became the 71st Canadian soldier to die in Afghanistan, killed in a mortar attack during a counter-insurgency operation in one of the most dangerous districts in the country.
The 24-year-old was a mechanic with the King’s Own Calgary Regiment.
Taliban reaching farther, attacking more
KABUL, , 25 (UPI) — Emboldened Taliban fighters are attacking more and moving closer to the center of Afghanistan’s government, intelligence analysts said.
An increasing number of attacks just outside Kabul show the Taliban is taking advantage of Afghanistan’s weak government, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.
“The Taliban’s ability to sustain fighting cells north and south of Kabul is an ominous development and a significant lapse in security,” said a recent analysis by NightWatch, written by John McCreary, a former top analyst at the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency.
West warns Myanmar, China and India stay quiet
LONDON, Sept 25 (Reuters) – The United States announced new sanctions on Myanmar on Tuesday and urged others to follow suit as fears rose that military rulers would crack down on the Asian nation’s biggest pro-democracy protests in nearly 20 years.
Europe and Japan urged restraint but reaction from Myanmar’s key neighbours India and China was muted as the junta poured troops into the centre of the main city Yangon.
Soldiers and armed police surrounded the Sule Pagoda, focus of two days of mass protests led by thousands of maroon-robed Buddhist monks, witnesses said.
President George W. Bush announced new U.S. sanctions against Myanmar’s military rulers and urged other countries to follow suit, saying Americans were “outraged” by rights abuses.
Bin Laden: A Fallen Star
Osama Bin Laden’s recent televised appearance has failed to elicit the impact he desired after a disappearance of three years in which there has been increasing speculation about him and his fate.
The image of Al Qaeda’s leader has been ingrained in the minds of his supporters as a rebel or revolutionary who is mounting a horse and brandishing a weapon, or practicing his shooting and fighting skills or the art of bombing or as a tired man due to running to and away from the Afghan mountains. Meanwhile, those who reject his violence only see the image of someone taken in by the devil in such a way that he has lost all feeling of humanity.
In both cases, the man’s presence had an impact and influence, as the entire world anxiously awaited him.
Terror training for city stores
Dozens of retailers in Dundee city centre have been taught how to deal with a terrorist attack.
Managers from about 40 shops have been attending a training event run by Tayside Police and Dundee City Council, called Project Argus.
They were given information about how to prepare for and recover from scenarios such as a bomb blast.
The authorities stressed there was no intelligence to suggest the city has ever been a terrorist target.
Stores evacuated after bank robber leaves hoax explosive
Boston (AP) — A strip mall was evacuated and a day care center locked down after a bank robber ran from a bank in Manchester and left behind a device that he said was explosive.
Police say the device was a hoax — a box with lights that was made to look like a bomb.
The Pine Island Plaza on Brown Avenue, which includes about 20 businesses, was evacuated and the nearby New Beginnings Child Center locked down as a bomb squad investigated the device.
Businesses re-opened late this morning.
The robbery occured at about 9:30 at a Bank of America branch in the plaza.
‘Madeleine photograph’ being taken seriously
The image of a little blond-haired girl was taken by a Spanish couple while they were on holiday there at the end of August.
The picture was taken by Spanish tourists
It shows a fair haired young girl accompanied by a number of Moroccan adults.
On returning home to Albacete in south east Spain, the couple passed the picture on to the Spanish National Police provincial headquarters in the city.
Government official Jose Herrero Arcas said the photograph had then been handed over to Interpol.
9/11 widow to speak tonight
Deena Burnett, widow of Tom Burnett, a passenger on United Airlines Flight 93, will be the speaker at the Arkansas State University Mountain Home’s Jim and Jill Gaston Lecture Series this evening.
Tom Burnett learned of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon while aboard Flight 93 through a series of telephone calls with Deena.
Military: 60 Taliban killed in clash
KABUL, Afghanistan — A daylong battle in southern Afghanistan’s poppy-growing belt Tuesday killed more than 60 Taliban fighters and one soldier from the U.S.-led coalition, military officials said.
Dozens of insurgents attacked a joint coalition-Afghan patrol near the town of Musa Qala in Helmand province with machine guns, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades, the U.S.-led coalition said in a statement. Taliban reinforcements flowed in from Musa Qala all day, it said.
Officers of Belarus KGB to take part in Baikonur-Anti-Terror 2007 exercises
Officers of the State Security Committee of Belarus will take part as observers in the joint operatively-strategic command-staff exercises Baikonur-Anti-Terror 2007 scheduled to take place on September 26-28 at the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, news agency BelaPAN reports, referring to the chief of the KGB Information and public relations centre Valery Nadtochayev. The Belarus delegation will be headed by the chief of the KGB Antiterrorist centre Oleg Tchernyshev.
According to the head of the CIS Antiterrorism centre Andrei Novikov, during the exercises it is planned to fulfil practical tasks of organization of carrying out of operatively-search actions on revealing subversive and terrorist groups and carrying out of special actions on clearing hostages and neutralization of terrorists at an ecologically dangerous object intended for maintenance of preparation of launching space vehicles. In the course of the exercises the „members of subversive and terrorist group” would seize an oxygen-nitric factory and take its working personnel as hostages. An operative staff and the FSB of Russia Special-task centre will carry out an operation on clearing hostages and neutralization of terrorists at the seized enterprise.
Minsk-based paper Belorusskiye novosti writes that Novikov’s information that employees of the KGB of Belarus will carry out the role of educational terrorists has not been confirmed by Valery Nadtochayev.
Burma Top Brass Reportedly Meets as Mass Protests Continue
Mass demonstrations continued across Burma on Tuesday, as junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe was reported to have summoned military commanders to an emergency meeting to discuss the crisis.
Soldiers eye on protesting monks from behind barricades in Rangoon on September 25
Following an eighth day of demonstrations in Rangoon, around a dozen trucks carrying armed troops and police were seen heading into the heart of the city, taking up positions around the City Hall.
About 30,000 monks and 70,000 members of the public marched through downtown Rangoon on Tuesday, ignoring warnings by the regime that legal action would be taken against demonstrators. Loudspeaker vehicles toured the streets broadcasting the warning, as crowds headed for the Shwedagon Pagoda for the start of a mass procession to the Sule Pagoda in the city center.
The demonstration passed off peacefully, although The Associated Press reported that five truckloads of troops were seen heading downtown after the procession had ended.
About 200 members of the opposition National League for Democracy took part in the demonstration, together with members of the All Burma Federation of Students’ Unions. The students waved the “fighting peacock” flag, a symbol of their struggle against the military regime.
The NLD issued a statement on Tuesday supporting the monks and calling for a start to a process of national reconciliation.
A joint statement issued on Tuesday by the Alliance of All Burma Buddhist Monks and the 88-Generation Students group urged the public to join monks in calling for national reconciliation, the release of all political prisoners and an improvement in the living standards of the people.
Detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was moved to the notorious Insein prison from her Rangoon lakeside home at University Avenue, the Reuters news agency reported. Meanwhile Britain’s ambassador Mark Canning said in an interview with Reuters that Burma’s defense ministry appeared to be leading the government’s response to the protests, spearheaded by young Buddhist monks. “They both assured me that it would be dealt with in a “correct” fashion, whatever that means,” he said.
Safety of Thai Citizens in Burma a Concern
The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs says it is concerned for the safety of Thai citizens who live in Burma, as the military junta has again warned monks to cease protests demonstrations against the junta.
About 250 Thai citizens live in Burma, almost all doing business or living with their Burmese families in Rangoon.
There has been no official reaction from the Thai government on the unfolding events in Burma.
If the Burmese junta cracks down on the protest demonstrators, it will send thousands of people feeling to the Burma-Thailand border area, where they will seek refuge and assistance.
Surin Pitsuwan, a veteran Thai politician and former foreign minister, who will take over the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations on Jan. 1, 2008, said the size of the demonstrations could prompt the regime to crackdown with violence.
