PROPAGANDA SHOP ... whose ?

The daily Mirror have given us some interesting information .. the 19 year old Jamaican who splurged £900 on exclusive scent yesterday, nor today their intrepid reporters have an unnamed source who tells them ...

PROPAGANDA SHOP.. FUNDED BY LOTTO CASH
By Jeremy Armstrong Daily Mirror 19 July 2005
The men who ran the Iqra Learning Centre in Beeston, Leeds - Mohammad Tafazal (AKA Taf) , army-trained Martin Abdullah McDaid and Naveed Fiaz - allegedly funded the store through grants to the Hamara Youth Centre, which received £589,000 in taxpayers' money made up of a £200,000 capital grant, a £200,000 neighbourhood renewal grant and a £189,000 EU building grant says the Mirror today .

Siddique Khan who died in the bombing was a regular companion of Fiaz for several years and the pair even visited our insider's home.

Keys to the "terror base" at 18 Alexandra Grove in Burley, Leeds, were regularly used by "brothers in arms" who came to the store and needed somewhere to stay.

The insider, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals, also says McDaid asked for high-security encryption for their computer systems so it would hard even for government agencies to access e-mails.

He claimed: "Hidden Agenda and Think Again (£5 a throw DVD’s the Mirror obtained) even stole material from the Government's own websites and then used it in the propaganda messages against them."

He went on: "Taf would tell us about how he could get money from the Hamara and said it all came from Leeds city council, community grants and even EU funding.

"I could not believe all this Government money was being used to pump-out such anti-Government, anti-West propaganda."

He said that the address where the DIY explosives were allegedly found - 18 Alexandra Grove in Burley - was immediately known to me because that was the place that was used to house any 'brothers' who needed somewhere to stay."

Police know the keys were with bomber Lindsay three weeks before the attacks.
Khalid Khaliq, the Ikra assistant being quizzed by police, was not at his family address yesterday. A man leaving Fiaz's home refused to comment and his partner Tracey Corrigan declined to come to the door.

Tafazal has not been seen at either of his addresses in Leeds for several days.
Abdullah McDaid referred us to his London-based solicitor!!!, who has declined to return our calls for the past five days.

"I could not believe all this Government money was being used........"

It may surprise the Mirror and their readers to know that the Governments (includng the UK) have setup "sting" sites to entrap paedophiles... they have encouraged the development of dissenting voices .. a famous case was the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh and "International Times" in the early 60's run by Jim Haynes ex US Army Intelligence...at the time the CIA have agreed they funded "Encounter".

Of course any such suggestion that this was the case in Leeds with the Iqra learning Centre would be far fetched, outrageous, without foundation, unsupported by evidence and complete nonsense.

Just like the idea that the 3 victims of the bombing from the locality , and their Jamaican friend were raging Jihadists and islamic fundamentalist seeking martyrdom.

Many years ago in the 60's there was an Alternative Bookshop in Leeds, near the Univerisyt, called Books of Leeds, which was funded and run by a lady who turned out to be the daughter of the UK Ambassador to Moscow. A chap who worked there, ended up in Pyongyang working as the official translator of the State newspaper in English of the DPRK, where I met him.

They attracted and supplied by post a nationwide audience for left wing and radical books .. Che , Regis Debray, the Spectaclists etc.,even Mao's Little Red Book.

Small world.

Footnote : Naveed Fiaz cannot be contacted by the Press because he was arrested by Police ( so far the ONLY person arrested) last Tuesday when they raided all the Leeds addresses, he is held under the Anti Terrorist legislation - no comment has been made by the Police. Now yer actual conspiracy theorist might make soemthing of that.... His brother, Ejaz is said to be a registered schizophrenic and moved to Luton from Leeds last year..

US department of Energy slips it out....high cost oil forever

The DOE has just slipped out on a very remote part of their site The following statement ((C) US Gubment I guess) is the full text, no heading, no contacts for Press Office - Nothing.


Hydrogen Cost Goal

In 2005, the Department of Energy developed a new hydrogen cost goal and methodology. The previous hydrogen cost goal of $1.50/gasoline gallon equivalent (gge, delivered, untaxed, 2001$, by 2010) was developed in 2002, and was based on hydrogen produced from distributed natural gas reforming. The strategy was that hydrogen should cost no more than gasoline on an equivalent energy basis. Since one kilogram of hydrogen contains approximately the same energy as one gallon of gasoline, the hydrogen cost goal was set at $1.50/kg (or $1.50/gge) to be equivalent to the untaxed cost of gasoline.

The new hydrogen cost goal of $2.00-3.00/gge (delivered, untaxed, 2005$, by 2015) is independent of the pathway used to produce and deliver hydrogen. In addition, the new methodology accounts for the energy efficiency of the gasoline hybrid vehicle and the fuel cell vehicle on a cost-per-mile basis. The cost goal was derived using the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) fuel-efficiency improvement factors and the Energy Information Administration (EIA) “High A” gasoline price projection for 2015. In the High A case, the U.S. economy is more vulnerable to limited oil supplies from foreign sources due to the increasing world and U.S. oil demand, resulting in higher oil prices. This case is more representative of the economic and energy security environment in which hydrogen must compete. (Emphasis mine)

The new hydrogen target is in alignment with the Hydrogen Fuel Initiative goal of enabling an industry commercialization decision by 2015, and will be used to guide the Department’s hydrogen and fuel cell research and development activities.
-----Ends

Now how will that play in Peoria ? The DOE say we have high gas prices forever ? I guess Toyota have struck really lucky to have plans to make 1 Mn Prius Hybrids worldwide this next 12 months.

FCUKED - House of Lords reports

I started the Forthcoming UK Energy Deficiency group (FCUKED) 3 years ago. It requires back of an enevelope math to see that with the absence of any nuclear or coal fired power stations being built or being considered that the dependency on imported gas (70% by 2020 at least) is a threat to UK security.

Wind / water / biofuels / energy efficiency are playing at the edges. I can't precis this report just read it for yourself - having of course read the comical White Paper New Labour issued a Stone Age (and several Energy Ministers )ago.

House of Lords, Science & Technology Committee, Report on Energy Efficiency, says ... amongst its 350 odd pages which a must and unput downable read... Remember for some reason they exclude transport air and land from the report which is odd but made the report manageable. Their conclusion makes it evident why the dear leader wants rid of the HOL.... well besides the brown nosers he appoints, Lord Warner etc (I could go on but won't)

"Energy efficiency has been drafted into the service of a wide range of policy objectives since the 1970s, but the way it has been understood and measured has been elusive and variable. We have been dismayed in the course of our inquiry by the inconsistency and muddle of much current thinking about energy efficiency.
This muddle is not the sole responsibility of Government, but only Government can resolve it. However, the current attempt to present energy efficiency as “the most cost-effective way to meet all [four] energy policy goals” only adds to the confusion. At the very least, careful oversight will be needed to ensure that the targets set for energy efficiency are defined, that conflict between them is avoided, and that progress is measured. We urge the Government to bring greater clarity and intellectual rigour to its presentation of energy efficiency.
[...]
Energy still figures low on most people’s priorities, and consequently as a nation we are profligate in our waste of energy. Long-term reductions in energy use will only be possible if the millions of users—individuals, businesses, schools and other public-sector bodies—are educated, encouraged, and given access to real-time information on their use of energy and its costs, economic and environmental."

see also ...

House of Lords, Select Committee on Economic Affairs, The Economics of Climate

...bit of a chnage from the fucking bombers anyway...

Dead Men. Tell no Tales

Well, as the belief in the "official" story of zealous angry young Muslims who have had their brains taken out and washed seems to be seen for the nonsense it is, the belief that these "bombers" were murdered, as were all the other victims has been set running.

The Mainstream Press , of course maintains an aloof silence. A theory has been floated that they were jihadist plotters but their handlers told them they could leave the bombs, then get off at the next stop. This does not survive much scrutiny or overcome the hurdle that these guys did not fit any Islamic fundamnetalist profile however hard you try.

The "official" line - trickling out through "attributions" to anonymous "senior officers " in the Police, MI5, for all I know the Boy Scouts however keeps changing.

The bombs were timed, ...er...no they weren't.
It was military HE from the Balkans..er.. no it was a home made brew...hey they actually have bombs from the cars in Luton... are these Forensic guys properly trained ?
The Egyptian biochemist is the mastermind...er...well no he isn't say ther Egyptian Government ... and boy do they have ways of making you talk !

You make your mind up...here's some recent discussion to help you do that.

http://xymphora.blogspot.com/
Who are the British authorities trying to protect?
Monday July 18th

http://www.williambowles.info/ini/ini-0348.html
Dead men tell no tales
Were the London bombings a set up?
by William Bowles and Edward Teague Friday, 15 July 2005

http://www.williambowles.info/ini/ini-0348a.html
Forcing the facts to fit the theory
by William Bowles • Sunday, 17 July 2005

http://kos.dailykos.com/story/2005/7/16/22343/3182
Suicide Bombers or Murdered Men? LONDON BOMBING (Updated)
by suskind
Sat Jul 16th, 2005 at 19:03:43 PDT

Of course, if you have a better theory, tell me ..or even better go to the MI5 website and tell them.



Pic courtesy Independent

Pick’n’Mix bombing

The beauty of recruiting mules means that you can have multiple recruiting centres, dispersed. Automatically they remain silent, drug men enforce discipline in well publicised and deadly fashion. Mum would never know, hey, says the man, show up at the mosque, study the Koran – who will guess what you are doin’ ?

Look serious man, this is serious bread man.

You have happy well paid mules, all you need is money – in terms of the endless plots, plotting and plotters, that operate in this seedy and murky world, we are talking peanuts.

One endless leitmotif is the fit, happy, smiling Asian who spends time down at the gym… lots of it …. Endlessly repetitive sets, day in day out. Time ? It’s something he has plenty of.

Far fetched this idea of recruting drug couriers from the jobless ? BBC Thursday, November 18, 1999

A drugs courier told Cardiff Crown Court how a team of former paratroopers recruited him to join a multi-million pound smuggling ring.

Mark Ralph, 34, was an unemployed factory worker when he was persuaded to become a drugs runner, carrying more than £4m in cannabis and amphetamines.

But Ralph became a police informant. The former soldiers of the Third Parachute Regiment are accused of using their military expertise to distribute cannabis and amphetamines in an operation spanning Britain.

Approached by gang

Ralph is alleged to have moved drugs worth £4m in 15 trips from Dover to south Wales. Ex-paras Adrian Howells, 32, John Davidson, 32, ex-soldier John Bloodworth, 29, are on trial for being part of the gang.

Ralph, of Cwmbran, South Wales, told the court he was approached by the gang after losing his job. He said: "I was paid £200 a trip to take money to Dover and bring drugs back and I was also paid to store drugs in my shed."

Business used as cover

But Ralph began giving information to the police.
The court was told the gang set up a second-hand car sales business as cover for their cash and for running couriers around the country.

Police found a military-style list of instructions to John Bloodworth from his ex-para brother Steven, 29.

John Bloodworth, of St Dials, Cwmbran, south Wales, Howells, of Thanet Gardens, Folkstone, Kent, and Davidson, of Odo Road, Dover, Kent, all deny conspiracy to supply amphetamine and cannabis.

Outsourcing a bombing

Maybe OBL decides to outsource his in house terrorist activity. With a myriad of willing or coerced (?) (the Coalition of the frightened Emirs) who do the funding they get a drug gang to do the dirty work .

Do this ......, 1 tanker full of LNG deliver anywhere up front - (1st delivery to Canvey island was re-routed 2 weeks ago) on completion of job 2 more tankers. Whatever.

Maybe it wasn't OBL, maybe they got paid in drugs ? I have heard but find it unbelievable that the CIA have in the past run drugs in the Far East. There are wild stories in the press that the now peaceful and subdued Afghanistan is producing heroin in large quantities. As UK armed forces are in charge of controls there is no possible chance of any of that being re-routed is there ?

The Bluetooth Bombers

The bloody silly conspiracy theory is gaining momentum. The Mirror and Aftonbladet have stories that now suggest that the bombers were used and manipulated. PC Plod has come to that thinking already. Now where did they get that idea from ?

Matey who missed the Northern Line was re-routed by an observer by mobile. "Go to Trafalgar Square, on the balcony in front of the door of the National gallery, 11.00 clock, woman with a red coat, Harrods shopping bag will meet you at 11.00." Whatever.

Or maybe automatic error default. Get tube else go to XXXXXXXXXXX

Wi-fi re-set of bomb timer by observer. Bluetooth.

Now we see Giuliani was in Harrogate last week. My, it was getting crowded with Americans around and about near Menwith Hill, Leeds, Harrogate.

NYPD website shows that a crack team of their guys was on a plane as soon as bomb went off to "re-inforce current liason team". Strange that the MSM haven't picked up on that or the Met crowing about their heavy level of US support. Probably too busy.

Leeds Visitor 3 days before the London Bombings

On July 4th, 3 days before the London Bombings, William Scott Ritter, ex marine, "ex" CIA, ex UNSCOM Weapons Inspector, a man arrested in 2001 for child sex offences in Albany upstate New York (he visited a Burger King after having arranged an Internet meet with a junior for sex sesions but met the Police - Google "Scott Ritter Burger King" for over 200 links to story ) visited Leeds.

The picture shows him neatly framed with the inverted US flag in the background - a criminal offence in the USA., before addressing the annual Independence Day protest organised by Lindis Pierce, Peace Protester who the Police wanted to serve an ASBO on, and now having failed to do so want her electronically tagged.

Later in the evening he addressed a crowd in Leeds. The previous weekend he had been in Edinburgh and adressed some G8 associated events.

Now the Metropolitan Police say an al-Quaeda operator entered the country and left just before the London bombings.

Just what was he doing in Leeds ?

As a footnote, the lady in the pic with glasses and board is Pam Chambers, an American from Philadelphia currently in Sheffield who has wide experience and contacts in the Middle East who kindly arranged for Lindis to "invite" Scott Ritter to the demonstration and for the talk later in the evening.(The other two are from BBC Look North in Leeds)

Synchroncity ?

Another bloody silly conspiracy theory

We all make assumptions. Four guys were carrying bombs that blew up. They knew each other, they had travelled together that day, twoAsians from Leeds, an Asian friend from Leeds who had moved to Luton and a West Indian guy who had recently arrived in Aylesbury.

The four men joined the Thamesmead train from Luton to London Kings Cross carrying rucksacks. They looked, said a police man who has seen CCTV footage from Kings Cross Main Hall," as though they were going on a walking holiday", smiling joking.

They split up, three to die within some 20 minutes, the fourth an eighteen year old another hour later on a bus where he was sat on the back seat upstairs.

All of them were carrying bombs that killed them.

You know that. Did they ?

Consider this news item from the Scotsman December 11th 2004.

Mohammed Hanif, 31, and Abdul Mateen, 22, from Deeplish in Rochdale were caught in Glasgow with 10kg of the drug, worth £1 million in street deals. Hanif claimed that Mateen had driven him to Glasgow to collect £500 owed to him for a car by another Asian. Strathclyde Police drug squad detectives, acting on a tip-off, arrested the pair and found the drugs in a car boot.The men said they knew nothing about the drugs.
http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=1162&id=1453462004

Drugs are a massive business, they are moved into and around the country endlessly, apparently with minimal disruption, 10Kg of heroin – (5 bags of granulated sugar) are worth £1Mn at street level.

What do we know ?

We know the bombs went off. We know the bombers did not act alone. Somebody somewhere sent them on their deadly mission.

So someone, somewhere, wanted to send four young Asian / Muslim men with primed and timed bombs onto London Transport.

Imagine being faced with this task. You are young management graduate , student officer , war gamer, member of a revolutionary Islamic jihad movment, a member of a state sponsored security organisation in the UK, Israel, the USA ?

Think out of the box.

Say you make it your business to get alongside the unemployed, the vulnerable, rebellious, anti-authoritarian youth. “ You want some money, you want to be in on the scene”.

“Take this package, meet a man – come back £100 cash. No questions”
“ Hire a car take this package, get a friend drive to this place, meet a man – come back collect £500 cash ”

He doesn’t look in the bag, these guys play hard ball. Take it. Deliver it. Get paid. Go away forget the man. Forget the face. Wait for the call. Everybody does it man. Seen the barred outside doors in Beeston. Inside as well. Drugs.Drugs. Play some football, in the park , cricket in season, go to the mosque like dad wants me to.

“ Take the car, meet a man all take one of the bags deliver to these 3 places – come back collect £ 1000. Cash”

…and so on. Maybe he even fits in a trip for himself, for others to Pakistan. To go to a madrassa ? To see the BIG man in Pakistan where it all comes from, seeping out of Afghanistan. Maybe go on Haj – that costs money, but he we have it.

Soon enough your man has bought himself , like one of the bombers a brand new red Mercedes. He’s not bought a car, he’s bought prestige, he’s a man on the street – everyone knows by what method, but hey he stands his round and his famil are very generous.

..and so on.

Then eventually we have a big deal, hire the cars, drive here, meet the man, take the train , take the four underground trains, the man will meet you, back on the train, back in the car, back here - £XXXX cash – luvvly jubbly.

Another big deal

Another

Then the BIG deal.

They’ve done this before. The bags, don’t look, don’t ask. 2 grand apiece and there’s going to be another run next week. Meet back as usual in the Starbucks near the British Library. 2 o-clock … and don’t switch your bloody phone on or use it.

But the don’t come back. One mother, anxious like mums are, is worried, her boy has been to London before, like he says, he’s never late for his mum. A good boy, he’s only young, maybe he has got in with some bad boys, been caught shoplifting but they all do it – he’ll grow out of it. Give the Police a call. It’s late. He should be in bed asleep at his age.

He is asleep. Forever.

Far fetched ? Find a fact that doesn’t fit.

Of course all sorts of people with all sorts of agendas are pointing their finger at Islamic fundamentalists – Al Quaida, Al Johnson, Al Read maybe. That’s an agenda that supports, a state of perpetual war, perpetual terror, a need for more legislation to restrict liberties, control freedoms, issue what will be (effectively) internal passports, or what we called in the days of apartheid, Pass books.

Now it’s a big jump to say that the main agents of this criminal endeavour are agents of a state – well take your pick, Israel, UK, USA or a religious grouping, Muslims, Zionists, Methodists – freelance embedded warriors in the State’s apparatus, MI6, Mossad, CIA.

It does show that there is more than one way of getting 4 young men on London Transport, whilst G8 is on, whilst President Bush is a guest in the country, to blast 50 odd travellers to their deaths. Of course you kill the couriers.

Dead men. Tell no tales.

"Ex" MI5 spy hard at work in Blackburn

"Ex" MI5 spy,David Shayler, marching against Jack Straw and peddling his girl friend's book.

Blackburn election time 2005

Blackburn 30.4.04 al-mahujiroun

Superintendant Peter Clark gets his men.....

London Transport CCTV footage shows that a group of 4 men carrying what are described as Army surplus backpacks who are from West Yorkshire men arrived in Kings Cross Station at approx 8.30 am last Wednesday 7th July. Some 20 minutes later 3 bombs exploded on tube trains which originated from there going East, West and South.

One hour later a third bomb exploded on the 30 London Transport bus then entering Tavistock Place.It is probable that the man on this bus was due to travel on a North Bound tube and was not destined to travel on that bus.

The four men are said to be British born, 3 from West Yorkshire and a fourth man possibly from Luton (see story below) where a suspicious car has been identified in the Luton Railway Station Car Park and secured for forensic examination. This may be a hire car, for which the owner apperaed today to collect. Documents and property found at the scenes of the bombings have been found identifying all four men, and other people from West Yorkshire. There is still insufficient evidence to say that three of the men died in the Tube bombings but it looks most likely that they did.

The parents of the fourth man who probably died in the bus bombing , his parents in Leeds, contacted the Police to notify he was missing on Thursday morning after the bombings.

In Leeds the Police have arrested one man, said to be a relative of one of the bombers, who is being taken to London. At least six properties are being searched and some property has been “made safe”.

Pic of Sayful Islam click here for story of Luton Muslim fundamentalists

Who Bombed London ?.....well certainly not this lot ..?

It is not difficult to find “experts” on the Web who point their fingers at London based al-Muhajiroun along with the comical Jihadist Omar Bakri and Abu Hamza.

This bunch of black garbed loony toons appeared on the streets of Blackburn at election time – co-incidentally on the same day that (ex?) MI5 spies, David Shayler and the glamorous Anne Machon put in an appearance hustling her new book …” Spies,Lies and Whistleblowers: MI5 and the David Shayler Affair” ..(Was £17.95, now remaindered.) al-Muhajiroun are rejected by every Muslim organisation in the UK.

Omar Bakri, is reported as saying in April 2004 that a group calling itself al-Qaida Europe "has a great appeal for young Muslims. I know that they are ready to launch a big operation."

Some two hours after the bombing a statement was briefly posted on an obscure website from a previously unheard of group claiming itself the Secret Organization of al-Qaida in Europe and claimed responsibility for the attacks in London (also misquoting Koranic verses). This in the fevered minds of “expert” conspirators could (?) that be Bakri's "Al Qaida Europe".

Bakri is said to be facing arrest. He took over from Hamza after his arrest. Most of the September 11 hijackers are said to have been through the London offices of Bakri and Hamza. Bakri said quite a lot in past. For example, he told the Italian Journal, Publica in an interview published on Sunday that there were several "freelance" militant groups in Europe, such as al-Qaida London and are prepared to launch attacks similar to those carried out by the al-Qaida network. Yeah ! Yeah ! Whatever.

These farcical fundamentalists share the distinction with the McCarthyite American Communist Party in receiving more money from the Government through their planted agents than from it’s members.

When Ronnie Kray wanted to hit you, he didn’t invite you outside, he offered you a cigarette and whilst your mouth was open, and your guard was down, ... taking the proffered fag, smashed you from the side, breaking your jaw in 2 places.

Professionals don’t send telegrams, even after the event. The bombings exploited very successfully, and very professionally, the evident, deep seated, crucial weaknesses at the heart of the system at a certain time (G8 in Scotland). Just like the Greenpeace climbers of Big Ben, the Queens “Balcony Batman” and his Whitehall ladderman colleague.

Every day that passes exposes those weaknesses and the confusion that reigns.

"Out of the blue......." OFFICIAL

Lord Stevens, (now a pensioner) ex cop, still however beavering away on his report into the death of Lady Diana, wrote in March 2005 in the News of the World, (that Icon of truthful reportage from the Murdoch stable), claiming that there are probably some 200 Osama Bin Laden trained terrorists walking free on the streets of Britain who(according to him) "would all commit devastating terror attacks against us if they could". When challenged about these remarks he couldn't or wouldn't provide any backup, evidence or any form of substantiation for his claim.

Now this descendent of Gypsy Petulengro tells us the Underground / Bus bombers were "almost certainly" British and he told the BBC,the attackers would not "fit the caricature al-Qaeda fanatic from some backward village in Algeria or Afghanistan".

Now I don't know where the quarry is where you can find the stuff that from which he manufactured his amazing crystal ball, but it sounds to me that ;

1. Lord Stevens ought to be helping the Police with their enquiries
2. ... or he should shut up.

Presumably if enough ideas are floated, chaos theory will predict one of them to be true..monkey on typewriters banging out Shakespeare are brought to mind.

It is 4 days since the outrage and we are told (after some revealing re-cantations over timings) ..

1. Co-ordinated bombing
2. Use of High Explosive
3. No warning
4. er.....

Jack Straw MP (AKA Foreign Secretary)tells us these are the hallmarks of Al Quaeda ? ..... They must make this stuff up as they go along. Simple me, I thought they flew planes into skyscrapers, had single massive vehicular bombs, suicide bombers...etc., But then I don't read Rupe's rags.

On Thursday the BBC reported that London's Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair ( Mystic Meg Steven's successor) told the BBC at 11.18 am (2.5 hrs after tube bombs)he knows of "about six explosions", one on a bus and the others related to Underground stations.

If they don't make it up, they get it wrong.

The more we are told, the less we know. The more we are not told, the more of a shambles this appears to be.

Charles Clarke MP (AKA Home Secretary, responsible for our protection) said in Parliament the day following the bombs..." The fact is we have a very effective intelligence service but we didn't predict this particular attack at this particular time.

"But, in fact, we don't think anything was missed and it simply came out of the blue.

There you go .... Johnny Terrorist - tricky fella to deal with dontcha know. Now you see him.... well. er .. no you don't.

The people of Birmingham are lucky that their Chief Constable knows how to deal with these terrorist swine ... send everybody home to an early bed ... that'll warn those murdering cowards.

This is a moment to seize. The Kaleidoscope has been shaken. The pieces are in flux. Soon they will settle again. Before they do, let us re-order this world around us. Tony Blair. Labour Party Conference Oct 2nd 2001

I haven't been posting here for as month because I have otherblogs with other concerns.
Paradoxical my last post related to the posters on Washingtoj area trains to be on the lookout for ...anything.

Probably the weirdest story to appear about the bombing is A New Zealander working for Reuters in London says 2 colleagues witnessed the unconfirmed shooting by police of two apparent suicide bombers outside the HSBC tower at Canary Wharf in London.

The first and overall impresson so far is of a complete shambles of a response.

We now discover that;

1. The central control (Gold Commander) did not know of any bombing until 9.17 am , a delay of 28 minutes.
2. The public were being told that the cause of problems was a "power surge" which was wrong.
3. According to eye witness accounts the first rescuers in the tunnels were Underground staff equipped with torches, no safety equipment , no sensors to detect gases, biological contaminants , no protective clothing - not even first aid kits.
4. We now discover 50 hours after the incidents, that the bombs were synchronised over at most 55 seconds and not over some 28 / 30 minutes as has been repeatedly publicised.
5. There is no evidence from TV footage, reporting, blogs, personal contact of any fielding of any Bio / nuclear / gas testing, operators, treatment units. ... or did they know they weren't needed ?

Now we have reports in the Scotsman that we seek extradition of "the usual suspects" from France.

Meanwhile we see, on the anniversary of the bombing by the French CGSE of the "Rainbow Warrior" was approved by President Mitterand personally.

Of course States don't get involved in international acts of terror....

Why Jack Straw talks to Hamas ?

LE MONDE | 09.06.05 | 13:54 Ex Nur-al-Cubicle

Expectations soared. After a lengthy period of inaction, Fatah, the principal faction within the Palestine Liberation Organization, finally scheduled its first party congress in sixteen years. The date was decreed: August 4th. The congress would have closed a chapter and injected fresh blood into its moth-eaten institutions, beginning with the Central Committee, the most important decision-making body within the movement. But the Revolutionary Council, the second most important body, decided on Sunday 5 June to postpone the date sine die—a decision which provoked both resentment and doubt.

Fatah, the movement in which the head of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, is a member, is not doing well. Its public image is tarnished. And Abbas paid dearly in the recent partial municipal elections, which had been called in December 2004 for Gaza and the West Bank.

Functional difficulties compound its poor public image: the inability to agree on a single slate in local precincts or to select candidates likely to garner the largest number of votes. Fatah, whose political weight was once crushing, is now challenged by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).

We must rebuild the base by reaching out to people, says Mohammed Shtayyeh, a Palestinian Authority minister close to Mr. Abbas. I was in favor of the postponement of the legislative elections--scheduled for July 17th but indefinitely delayed—because it seemed absurd to hold our congress following them. Common sense tells you that a party has to first rebuild its executive bodies so that it can select its candidates. We have to get busy, and quick! Time is running out. Internal elections have to be organized at every level and the Palestinian Authority cannot indefinitely put off the legislative elections, which could be held this fall, after the Gaza pullout. Officially, the party congress has been postponed for practical reasons.

Since the death of Yassir Arafat, Fatah is officially led by Farouk Kaddoumi in Tunis. Kaddoumi was hostile to the 1993 Oslo Accords and refuses to return to the Palestinian Territories. A complicated situation which does not lend itself to making the needed reforms.

For those who intend to keep their commitment to renew party cadres and ideas (and they are numerous inside Abbas’ entourage), the baulking comes from those who have everything to lose in the internal elections. Relations are horrible between the majority of the Central Committee and Abu Mazen –nom de guerre of Mahmood Abbas—who knows very well that they would have had done with him had the elections occurred, says Mamdu Nofal, a old associate of Yassir Arafat and member of a minority faction, FIDA.

In fact, Fatah, which had become "Arafatized" over the last ten years, now finds itself in a situation not unlike that of the Nasserite parties after the death of Nasser--without substance and without programs. It gives the impression that it is unable to modernize, he adds.

Mohammed Ourani, an MP close to Marwan Barghouti, the charismatic young Fatah leader sentenced to multiple life terms in Israel, has doubts himself. On the ground the situation risks becoming explosive very quickly. Expectations are extremely high and no one understands the current bottlenecks. We’re cornered. But no one is prepared to split. At worst, if nothing changes between now and the legislative elections, we’ll forgo the opinion of the Central Committee and run as independents.

The impasse works to the advantage of Hamas, to that point that some reformers within Fatah are beginning to wonder why there is contact with the Islamist movement, most notably by the British, which Jack Straw acknowledged on June 7th.

Even if it is out of the question for London—not to mention Washington—to consider Hamas as a possible partner in dialog, (perfidious Albion at work again !) some Palestinian observers fear a shift in which the Islamist movement would turn out to be a credible alternative to Fatah, lastingly weakened by its divisions.

Of course the winner gets the EU money to spend ......

Your neighbour is watching you.....

Washington area subway train poster - G Orwell would be lovin' it.

First Commercial Wave farm for Portugal

Ocean Power Delivery (OPD) will deploy unique sausage-shaped tubes off Povoa de Varzim ,Portugal creating the world's first commercial wave power plant, providing electricity to 1,500 homes from 2006.

Ocean Power Delivery (OPD) will build the wave farm about five kilometers (3.1 miles) off Portugal's northern coast, near Povoa de Varzim, OPD's Norwegian backer Norsk Hydro said.

Portuguese Enersis SGPS, part of the Semapa Corporation, is one of Portugal’s leading renewable energy companies with 100MW of mini hydro, 500MW of wind farms under operation/construction and a further 500MW under development.

They will install three wave power generation units with capacity of 2.25 for 8 million euros ($10.12 million), but the project could be expanded significantly
OPD's Pelamis P-750 wage energy converter is an elongated metal unit that looks like a big semi-submerged sausage, with hinged segments that rock with the sea, up and down and side to side, pumping fluid to hydraulic motors that drive generators. Based in Edinburgh, Scotland, OPD (www.oceanpd.com) has been developing the Pelamis technology for the past 7 years. Supported by the UK DTI and its investors including Norsk Hydro Technology Ventures, Sustainable Asset Management, the Carbon Trust and 3i plc, the prototype for the Portuguese machines was launched in February 2004 and is currently under test at European Marine Energy Centre, Orkney, Scotland

The power produced by the generators is fed into underwater cables and brought to land where it enters the power grid.

A 120-meter (394-foot) long prototype has been tested since February 2004 in the Orkney Islands. Norsk Hydro, the energy and aluminum group, owns 16 percent of OPD.

"The farm will...displace more than 6,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions that would otherwise be produced by conventional hydrocarbon-fueled power plants," Hydro said. Carbon dioxide is the main gas widely blamed for global warming.

A typical 30MW installation would occupy a square kilometre of ocean and provide sufficient electricity for 20,000 homes. Twenty of these farms could power a city such as Edinburgh says their website This project benefits from a special feed in tariff established by the Portuguese Government to support wave energy. The initial phase is also supported by the Demtec programme with a €1.25m grant provided by the Agência de Inovação


The deal with Enersis includes a letter of intent for a further 30 Palamis wave machines for a total of 20 megawatts before the end of 2006, subject to satisfactory performance by the initial installation, Hydro said.

"If all goes well, many additional sites producing up to a total several hundred MW could be developed along the coast," Norsk Hydro said although no costings are available for the production of electricity yet.

"We see this order as just the first step in developing the Portuguese market, which is anticipated to be worth up to a billion euros over the next 10 years," OPD Managing Director Richard Yemm said in the statement.

OPD is also in talks with Scottish Power, which has shown interest in installing a wave farm in the UK.

The European Union requires 22 percent of electricity consumption to come from renewable energy sources -- such as solar, wind and wave -- by 2010. 6% of European total demand is currently met by so called renewables.

Enersis is a unit of Portuguese cement company Semapa.

Norsk Hydro's partners in Edinburgh-based OPD are investors Sustainable Asset Management, the Carbon Trust and 3i plc. The firm also has financial support from the UK energy ministry.
A number of Portuguese organisations are currently involved in the project. These
include the Agência Portuguesa para o Investimento - API , Portuguese Wave Energy Centre , Instituto Hidrografico , and INETI .

The order follows high profile meetings held recently between British and Portuguese officials at the British Embassy in April. These were attended by the UK government’s Chief Scientific Advisor, Sir David King, who highlighted the need for immediate action to tackle the potential impacts of climate change.

Swiss vote for same sex partners to have equal tax & pension rights

Swiss voters go to the polls today to vote to end passport checks on the country's border by 2007 (i.e join the Shengen Agreement).

They also have the chance to vote on whether to allow registration of same-sex partnerships, allowing them many of the same rights as married heterosexual couples.

Opinion polls indicated a majority of voters support the measure, which would mean that registered same-sex couples are treated the same as married couples for tax and pensions purposes.

Jack Straw then Condi fit in trips to Israel

Jack Straw is scheduled to arrive in USsrael on Tuesday afternoon for a 2 day visit to USsrael and the PA to "take the pulse of the region" before Britain's assumes Presidency of EU on July 1. He is also expected to visit other countries in the region.Israeli Channel One announced Sunday(5th June) that US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice AKA "The Whore on terror", will visit Israel and the Palestinian Authority as part of a Middle East tour later this month prior to Sharon meeting Abbas at the end of the month.

USsrael will issue instructions to Straw on 4 main topics :

EU must press the PA to ensure that territory USsrael evacuates won't become staging post for international terrorism. EU to ignore call for Hamas to be taken off the terror list because it is a political party. To demand the full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1559, calling for Syria's full withdrawal from Lebanon, but also for the dismantling of the militias, especially Hizbullah. To take a more forceful position toward the Iranians regarding their nuclear program as demanded by AIPAC , Perle and his Zionist gangster lobby.

What is the betting Jack tells them to fuck off out of the Left Bank, bag and baggage, get rid of their nuclear weapons, stop arming China, interfering in Romania, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and start behaving towards the Arab population of Israel as though they were humans ? .. don't hold your breath.

Definitely not on the agenda will be discussion of the Israeli Navy detecting a sub snooping off its shores on November 9^th which belonged to the American navy and was on a spy mission, which USsraeli Channel Two TV reported today.

The Navy had detected the submarine after it had penetrated two nautical miles into USsrael's territorial waters, about 18 kilometers from shore.

The Navy followed the submarine for a few hours, but the moment it took active measures to close in on the submarine, it quickly turn and headed back to international waters.

United States has increased U.S. satellite monitoring of Israel to determine military movements, import and export of weapons and weapons tests. The Americans have also expanded the interception of signals communications from Israeli government and military facilities.(Remember the "USS Liberty")

The Widow Makers

January 2005 , approx 41,000 permanent resident aliens were in the United States armed forces - 3,639 Mexicans. The Mexicans arethe largest group among the 63 immigrants who have been killed in action in Iraq, say the Pentagon

Private Fonseca, who on Jan. 17 took a sniper's bullet in the stomach while patrolling in Ramadi, is only are accorded citizenship after death..

When they buried Private Fonseca on Feb. 2 in Mexico , an officer from the United States Army gingerly handed the flag that had covered his coffin to his teenage wife. Then a group of mariachis, including his father-in-law, belted out the classic "México Lindo y Querido" as they lowered the casket.

"Beloved and beautiful Mexico, if I die far from you, just say that I'm sleeping and bring me back to you," they sang.
Pic .Private Fonseca’s wife, Marlene Zaragoza, at home in Mexico NYT

Straws in the wind in the Soviet republics - US readies for action

Kazakhstan , hosted high level visitors including Turkish Prime Minister Recept Tayyip Erdogan who met Kazakh Prime Minister Daniyal Akhmetov for talks focused on expanding trade ties and cooperating in the fight against terrorism and organized crime. Ukrainian President Vladimir Yushchenko met with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev, who said that Kazakhstan might be willing to become a "shareholder" in a project to extend Ukraine's Odessa-Brody pipeline to Gdansk in order to gain access to the Baltics. Nazarbaev also attended the “opening” of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline in Baku on 25 May. And while Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan have yet to finalize an agreement on exports of Kazakh oil through the BTC, Prime Minister Akhmetov noted that Kazakhstan plans eventually to pump 30 million tons of oil each year through the newly inaugurated pipeline.

In Kyrgistan Acting President Kurmanbek Bakiev addressed a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna, urging donor states to boost investment and grant-based support for Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia. Back in Bishkek, the OSCE opened its election-observer mission in preparation for the 10 July presidential election in Kyrgyzstan. The plight of some 500 Uzbek asylum seekers in Kyrgyzstan continued to concern rights organizations, which urged the Kyrgyz government not to repatriate them.

Rumours over the possibility of a new military base in Osh, variously reported as Russian, Chinese, or affiliated with the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) or the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). Acting President Bakiev told a Russian newspaper that a base could appear within the framework of the CSTO or SCO, but other officials downplayed the idea.

The Kyrgyz government has hired international lawyers to track down foreign properties or businesses owned by Askar Akaev or those close to the ex-president, who was overthrown during an uprising in late March.

A state commission headed by acting Vice PM Daniyar Usenov has been probing the Akaev family finances in Kyrgyzstan since April 19.

So far, 114 criminal cases have been opened against companies connected with the Akaevs and their inner circle, though the ex-president has not been directly named. “If one calculates the damage done to the country from illegal privatisation, tax avoidance, non-payment of duties, illegal seizure of business from businessmen, in all areas, I would assess this at billions of soms,” said Usenov.

In Sunny Tajikistan, Ghaffor Mirzoev, former head of Tajikistan's Drug Control Agency and the presidential guard, faced 73 charges under 33 articles of the Criminal Code, including murder and terrorism, even as prosecutors extended the investigation period of his case for a sixth time (until 6 July). President Rakhmonov re-appointed General Rustam Nazarov to head the Drug Control Agency on 9 August who held the post before Mirzoev.

In November Tajikistan's Supreme Economic Court
lower court transferring ownership of a meat-processing plant, casino,
and store from Abdurasul Mirzoev, the brother Ghaffor Mirzoev, to the state..

Ghaffor Mirzoev is currently in jail awaiting trial on murder
and corruption charges.

Rumours have circulated in Dushanbe that a military coup is in the planning stages. Some troops in the capital have been placed on higher alert. Mirzoev is reported previously as saying he “will not take up arms, and I will not go against the people”.


A court sentenced seven members of the Bayat group to long jail terms for murder, assault, and robbery. The group had initially been presented as a religious extremist organization, but a prosecutor said that the investigation showed that it was instead an organized-crime group.

Over 83 percent of the country's 6.5 million inhabitants live below the national poverty line, according to the World Bank, while a full 17 percent are considered destitute.
"HIV/AIDS is on the rise in Tajikistan," Azamdjon Mirzoev, the director of the republican centre for AIDS prevention in, Dushanbe the Tajik capital.

As of February 2004, of the total 152 officially registered cases, 33 were recorded in January 2004 alone, Mirzoev said, warning that the real number could be 20 times the official figure.

With the first official case of HIV / AIDS was registered in 1991, 7 in 2000, 34 in 2001, 32 in 2002 and 42 in 2003.

But such a sharp increase in the number of cases registered was partly due to a lack of testing equipment. "Our laboratory hadn't worked from January 2002 until the middle of 2003 because we didn't have testing systems," Mirzoev explained. As for the root causes of the problem, Mirzoev cited illicit drug trafficking as one of the primary factors exacerbating the situation. "Before 1991 most of the drug addicts in Tajikistan were smoking hashish but after the borders became more open, heroin trafficking kicked off," he said, adding that based on some unconfirmed reports some seven to 14 mt of heroin was being kept on the Afghan border ready to be shipped via Tajikistan.

TB's hold on Central Asia strengthened after the break-up of the Soviet Union, and both incidence and mortality rates have increased alarmingly since the mid-1990s. A shortage of drugs and trained medical staff, and inadequate detection and diagnosis has contributed, along with poverty, poor living standards, poor nutrition and immune defences brought low by a general poor standard of health.

Beset by civil war for much of the 1990s, Tajikistan has suffered abominably. The World Health Organization put the incidence at 127 per 100,000 in 2001 and anticipated it would rise to 170 by 2004, one of the highest rates in the world.

Financial checks are now being carried out on the bulk of foreign NGOs organisations operating within the republic. And the Tajik interior ministry now requires foreign embassies and international organisations to inform it of the date and topic of any meetings with local NGOs, political parties and journalists, claiming that “their activity threatens the information security of the country and does not match the requirements of the development strategy for Tajik society".

The head of the United States National Democratic Institute, (AKA State dept. / CIA) which supports the development of political parties and debate, was refused an entry visa, and the organisation’s local office had difficulty in becoming registered. Internews is also said to be facing pressure from the authorities.

In Uzbekistan violence in Andijon continued to ripple through Uzbekistan. Human rights groups warned of a crackdown amid reports of arrests and harassment. (Pic - white gold of Uzbekistan - your next T shirt)

U.S. Ambassador to Uzbekistan John Purnell was present at a press conference in the Embassy cellars (Tashkent) on Friday, with delegation comprising Republican Senators John McCain, Lindsey Graham, and John Sununu.

Senator John McCain (Arizona) the senior Senator on the trip led the criticism. Calling the events in Andijon "shocking but not unexpected," McCain urged the Uzbek government to heed international calls for an independent investigation into the killings.

McCain recommended that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), of which Uzbekistan is a member, conduct that investigation and added that the U.S. government could not continue to enjoy good ties with Uzbekistan under the current circumstances.

"We believe there should be a complete investigation conducted by the OSCE and I believe that the United States must make the [Uzbek] government understand that a relationship is very difficult, if not impossible, if a government continues to repress its people," he said. "And history shows continued repression of human rights leads to tragedy such as the one that just took place."

Senator Sununu (New Hampshire) emphasized that the Uzbek government seemed to be backtracking on pledges of reform. Sununu said that compared to his first visit to Uzbekistan about three years ago, the situation in the country seemed worse now.

"At that time [three years ago] I think a lot of people were optimistic that there may be the beginnings of real reform or change in the country," Sununu said. "But today, I think the degree of economic and political repression we see is almost certainly greater."

"Of course, I am concerned about the impact of all these on the U.S.-Uzbek relations," he said. "There's no question about it. We will continue to urge Uzbek authorities to consider an international investigation. As the senator rightly points out, we think the OSCE is an excellent vehicle to participate in that kind of investigation."

The U.S. is in constant dialogue with the Uzbek authorities. However, Purnell said, the Andijon events "will undoubtedly have a real impact" on U.S.-Uzbek relations. He did not provide any other details.

The U.S. currently has hundreds of troops stationed at a military base at Dushanbe in Uzbekistan as part of the international coalition fighting terrorism in neighboring Afghanistan. So Washington has proven sympathetic to the Uzbek government's battle against what Tashkent calls religious extremists.

The news conference was attended by representatives of four Uzbek opposition groups whom the Government refuse to meet or negotiate with.

The three senators went on to Kyrgyzstan as they continued a regional (See previous post re departure of US and USraeli Embassy staff and families)

Meanwhile, President Karimov enjoyed a warm reception on a visit to China. Before leaving, he strongly rebuffed appeals for an independent investigation about Anijon killings. In China he signed a treaty on "friendly and cooperative partnership" and signed a deal for a $600-million oil joint venture.

The U.S. State Department designated the Islamic Jihad Group a terrorist organization, describing it as a splinter group of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and blaming it for a series of bombings and shootouts in Bukhara and Tashkent in March-April 2004 that claimed 47 lives. (see previous posts)

sniff...snifff... sumthin' in the wind. Watch this space

US and USraeli Embassies in Tashkent evacuated

Israel is removing embassy staff and families from Uzbekistan

Staff at the Israeli embassy in Uzbekistan and their families have been instructed to leave the country owing to heightened security concerns, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev told The Associated Press Friday. He gave no further details.
Haaretz said only ambassador Ami Mel and security guards were left on station in the capital, Tashkent.
The stories I’ve seen about the US embassy all say that some staff and all families are allowed to leave, but I certainly trust the information I’ve posted here that says families must leave.

Jerusalem Post

Staff at the Israeli embassy staff in Uzbekistan and families have been instructed to leave. Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev told AP. He gave no further details.

The US State Department on Thursday warned of potential terrorist attacks in Uzbekistan and gave permission for some if its embassy staff and their families to leave the country. The statement named the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, al-Qaida, the Islamic Jihad Union and the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement as among the groups active in the region.

Sounds like Mr K is going to get some heavy back up from his Friends in the War on Terror from the Whore on Terror in the State department.

Boeing Bombs...latest successes to be revealed

The Boeing Company will be at this year’s Paris Air Show, Le Bourget airfield, Paris. (in France)

Tuesday June 14th 0900 Future Combat Systems: Transforming the 21st Century Battlefield – Boeing Press Chalet

Roger Krone will provide an update on the largest program in the history of the United States Army. Conceived to incorporate simultaneous development of 18 new platforms and the network that connects them, Future Combat Systems promises to fundamentally alter the way the Army and joint forces operate.

Wednesday, June 15th 1000 On Target: International Weapons Briefing – Boeing Press Chalet

Mike Coggins, manager of International Business Development, Weapons, will highlight Boeing’s product offering in the international market and the latest successes of Laser Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) and Small Diameter Bomb.

I like that….. latest successes …. More dead rag heads and sand niggers, I guess.

Thoughts of the Great Leader

This document has recently become available and shows that The Great Leader was not as stupid as many maintain. More correspondence available shows that the USSR were totally opposed to providing him with the capacity for manufacturing nuclear weapons.

Report on the Visit by Erich Honecker to the DPRK,
18-21 October 1986
[Source: Foundation Archive of the Parties and Mass Organizations in the Federal
Archive [Berlin] (SAPMO-BA), DY 30, 2460. Translated by Grace Leonard.
Full text was published in CWHIP Bulletin 14/15, Issue 14/15, pp. 65-68]
[in the course of a far-ranging discussion with GDR leader Erich Honecker, whom Kim Il
Sung referred to as his “best friend,” Kim stated]

"As to the situation in South Korea, Comrade Kim Il Sung stated that the anti- American mood has grown even more among the population, and in religious circles.
But no rapid change in relations among the powers is to be expected.The US rejected proposals made by the DPRK for reducing tensions on the Korean peninsula because it [would] lose its reason for remaining in South Korea if the initiatives were realized.

Comrade Kim Il Sung affirmed that the DPRK does not intend to attack SouthKorea, nor could it. More than 1,000 US nuclear warheads are stored in South Korea,ostensibly for defense, and it would take only two of them to destroy the DPRK. The DPRK supports the proposals made by Comrade Gorbachev in Vladivostok and Reykjavik. Many problems could not be solved with South Korea. Progress in relations between the Soviet Union and the US would also help to resolve the Korea problem."

The ASBO no-one refuses

PRIVATE EYE has this wonderful story in "Funny Old World " this week (No 1133 Page 7)

"My client admits that he was drunk when he created a disturbance at Weymouth Bay Caravan Park," defending solicitor Roger Maxwell told Weymouth Magistrates Court. "He admits that he used threatening words and behaviour, he admits to shouting and banging on caravan doors, and he admits to swearing at the police when they handcuffed him. It is also true that he is already the subject of a two-year Anti-Social Behaviour Order. But in mitigation, I should point out that, due to administrative error, the wording on the ASBO specifically states that he is 'prohibited from not being drunk in a public place'"


After consultation with his fellow magistrates, Chairman of the bench Colin Weston passed judgement on thirty-eight-year-old Stephen Winstone. "It is fortunate for you that the ASBO has been badly written, because otherwise we would have been looking to sentence you to prison for up to a couple of years. However, you were technically fulfilling the terms of your ASBO by being drunk in public, so the court will show leniency to you. You are fined £100." (Dorset Echo, 17/03/05. Spotter: Sue Webb)

...a small and disorderly queue formed outside Weymouth Magistrates Court later all requesting being issued with an ASBO...

Yeah...yeah ..Whatever Part II

The Washington Post on May 12th reported -"Abu Karrar, 41, who said he was an Iraqi member of the insurgent group al-Qaida in Iraq, told a reporter near the town of Karabilah, where Marines were operating, that "we use the same method they use. They use what they call multinational forces, and we use our brothers, the Arabs and Muslims." (see recent pic enhanced by NASA of Abu Karrar)

Now today this guy is named by the Washington Post as replacing the mysterious Jordanian (1 or 2 legged) leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

So let's set up a Google search on "Abu Karrar", I guess it's going to be busy. By the way that's his "nom de guerre" so he actually might be someone else, or not exist, or be Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in a cunning disguise, or made up...or...

LUKOIL & Conoco Philips set to exploit Iraq oilfields

Exploitation of Iraqi oil fields has taken 3 years since the invasion. Now after much backstage wrangling the players (No 1 Vagit Alekperov see pic )are making their moves with the new Shia dominated Gubment. The Russian energy companyLUKOIL, the 20th biggest oil company in the world, has Mr Meyer of Conoco Philips on the board, they also never closed their office in Baghdad. LUKOIL is planning to start joint exploration of the West Qurna-2 oil deposit in Iraq with U.S. company ConocoPhillips (they have a 17.7% stake), LUKOIL President Vagit Alekperov announced Tuesday. CP took a stake in LUKOIL last September which they want to raise to 20%.

This deposit has estimated recoverable resources (according to Cambridge Energy Research Associates) at 11.3 billion barrels and is third biggest in Iraq.

"All conditions have currently been met in Iraq that are needed to start project implementation," Alekperov said. "In the near future, LUKOIL Overseas head Andrei Kuzyaev will fly to Baghdad and at the end of the year I might go there as well."

Alekperov is certain the Iraqi side sees the project's validity and assumes that Baghdad will not demand the revision of existing agreements.

Alekperov told journalists that the American company would participate in the exploration of the Iraqi deposit.

LUKOIL also plans to join efforts with ConocoPhillips on the U.S. market. After a visit last week by Vagit Alekperov to meet President Chavez LUKOIL will conduct exploration of Venezuelan oil deposits and produce oil that will be supplied later to U.S. refineries that belong to ConocoPhillips. The resulting oil derivatives will be sold at the more than 2,000 (ex Getty Oil) U.S.-based gas stations that belong to LUKOIL.

LUKOIL will also reduce oil supplies in the East. According to Alekperov, if the company had planned to supply three million tons of oil to China this year, it now is assuming the supply volume will not exceed two million tons this will free rail space for state-owned Rosneft, Interfax reports. Rosneft will supply China with 10 million tons of oil this year via national rail monopoly Russian Railways.

Lukoil produced 81.5 million tons of oil and 5.5 billion cubic meters of gas in 2003. According to Energy Intelligence Group. Their reserves are said to exceed those of Exxon. Vagit Yusopovitch Alekperov was born in Baku, Azerbaijan in 1950. His nicknames, "the General," "Alek the First" and "the Don," are indicative of his indisputable authority at LUKoil, whose name came from the first letters of the three companies that consolidated-- Langepas, Urai and Kogalym. Today LUKoil is among the world's most powerful oil companies,

In March 2004 , LUKOIL's chief executive Vagit Alekperov met Iraq's Oil Minister Ibrahim Bahr al-Ulum who has said that oil companies of different countries should do business in Iraq. According to him, talks with LUKOILl were held in December 2003. During their March 11th meeting in Baghdad, they signed a deal to train Iraqi oil industry employees and students. 40 Iraqi students will study in Russia's I.M. Gubkin Oil and Gas University. Their numbers were due to increase to 100 students in 2005.

Mr. Alekperov has moved into banking and the media. He and Lukoil control the Imperial Bank, several television stations and the newspaper Izvestiya.

For more information see

Oil is not well in Iraq Edward Teague

Yeah! Yeah!...Whatever

Zarqawi Reportedly Shot; 9 U.S. Troops Die in Attacks

By Ellen Knickmeyer and Saad Sarhan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, May 25, 2005; A01

BAGHDAD, May 24 -- Insurgent leader Abu Musab Zarqawi, the most-wanted man in Iraq, was shot and wounded in a weekend ambush by U.S. and Iraqi forces, according to one of his lieutenants and a statement attributed to his organization, al Qaeda in Iraq.

Several previous reports have had Zarqawi wounded or ill, noted Lt. Col. Steve Boylan, a military spokesman in Baghdad. "We don't know whether it's fact or fiction," Boylan said of Tuesday night's claim. "He continues to be our No. 1 target."

Asked about the reports, State Department spokesman Richard A. Boucher said in Washington, "I don't know."

So that looks pretty conclusive evidence so we'll run astory saying he's wounded.

(Pssst.... there is a $25MN price on his head...Zarqawi's NOT Boucher's )

Uzbeki Police arrest leading dissenter

Italian State Television say that Human Rights Watch announced that Saidiahon Zaynabitdinov a leading dissenter has been arrested by Police in Tashkent. He claims to have watched the Uzbek troops open fire on inoccent citizens in Andiajn.

Nothing more is known. No other news site carries any reports.

On the Spit Fines

Chewing gum is a spot on the pavement (US = sidewalk) a stain on the stone, that won’t budge – it costs local authorities a lot of money to remove.

Well, now the forces of Laura Norder are going to stop the spot, eradicate the stain.

Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 anyone can be fined on the spot up to £50 for littering – not something that absorbs PC Plod’s time or effort. Well the Anti Social Behaviour Act 2003 made littering illegal and the Clean Neighbourhood and Environment Act 2005 defines gum and smoking materials (not just butts) as litter. Local Authorities can now fine you for spitting gum – that means the new breed of ersatz plods, Street Wardens, “Community” Wardens and maybe even Traffic Wardens can fine the gum spitter (but not the swallower) up to £50 – er…on the spot.

The Chewing Gum Action Group, (honestly) sponsored by Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), includes chewing gum industry representatives, the Keep Britain Tidy Group, the DfES, the Local Government Association and the street-cleaning industry has launched a publicity drive which includes both "awareness-raising" advertising and publicity to reinforce strict enforcement measures. This includes posters in busy shopping areas and on telephone boxes and beer mats.

They want to stop gum- gobbing and save money for local authorities faced with big clean-up bills for scraping used gum off the streets.
A special trial began today in Preston and will be extended next month to Manchester and Maidstone.

Specially-designed disposal pouches will be handed out in pedestrian shopping areas. Local councils will also employ trained wardens to issue fines to those who drop gum.

Ben Bradshaw, the oleaginous Exeter MP who lives in Tony Blair’s trousers and is the Environment Minister (also singlehandedly has helped to effect the destruction of the North Sea Cod) said in Ministry Press Release:
"The Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act passed by Parliament before the election included a range of measures to improve the appearance of the local environment. One of them was making it clear that chewing gum is litter and that people who get caught dropping it are liable to be fined.

Reaction to the campaign will be assessed ( let me guess, ...... let’s roll it out nationwide) and the information used to develop a national campaign later this year.

So yet again this Gubment of obsessed micro-managers are flooding our streets, overlooked universally by CCTV cameras, with swarming uniformed Wardens with powers for on the spit fines.

“Man proud man dressed in a little brief authority”.
Measure for Measure (Isabella Act II,Sc. ii)

Want my reaction to the campaign ? I fucking despair.

Ever get that sense of deja vu all over again ?

AFX News Limited
US military confirms plans to consolidate its bases in Iraq
May 22nd 2005

WASHINGTON (AFX) - A US military spokesman in Iraq confirmed a Washington Post report that the US will consolidate its forces in Iraq onto four big air bases.

Lt. Commander Gil Mendez, subsequently told Agence France-Presse in Iraq that 'the information contained in The Washington Post article today accurately depicts the future plan for consolidating bases in Iraq.

The Post article listed 4 bases to be centred at Tallil in southern Iraq, Al Asad in the west, Balad in central Iraq and at Irbil or Qayyarah in the north.

The Post was unclear what happens to US-run detention centres in Iraq which currently hold over 11,000 (?) inmates........

Pentagon Expects Long-Term Access to Four Key Bases in Iraq
By THOM SHANKER and ERIC SCHMITT
New York Times Saturday 19 April 2003

American military officials, spoke this week, of maintaining perhaps 4 bases in Iraq that could be used in the future: the international airport just outside Baghdad; Tallil, near Nasiriya in the south; the third at an isolated airstrip called H-1 in the western desert, along the old oil pipeline that runs to Jordan; and the Bashur air field in the Kurdish north.

The military is already using these bases to support continuing operations against the remnants of the old government, to deliver supplies and relief aid, and for reconnaissance patrols. But as the invasion force withdraws in the months ahead, turning over control to a new Iraqi government…….

"There will be some kind of a long-term defense relationship with a new Iraq, similar to Afghanistan," said one senior administration official. These goals do not contradict the administration's official policy of rapid withdrawal from Iraq …….


Cakewalk In Iraq
By Ken Adelman
Washington Post Wednesday, February 13, 2002; Page A27

Even before President Bush had placed Iraq on his "axis of evil," dire warnings were being sounded about the danger of acting against Saddam Hussein's regime .....

George Galloway hasn't disappeared

Pendennis in the Observer on Sunday, tells the story of George Galloway's visit to Vietnam as a young MP who met with various local dignitaries who recalled the comrades they'd lost during the war. Their stories prompted the young George (now 51) to say he admired his hosts because they, like him, had suffered in the struggle against American imperialism. "I was kicked by a police horse during a protest outside the US embassy in Grosvenor Square,"

According to the Scotsman today GG (now the MP for Bethnal Green and Bow) will be carrying his fight into the heartland of the enemy where he is "set for a money-spinning speaking tour of America's Ivy League colleges" at £5,000 a pop, including Harvard, Princeton and Yale.

He is sure of a welcome according to the South Asia Tribune, "The paper you can Trust" published in Washington, who claim - "He has straddled on the waves of greatness on the wings of causes that demand justice and fair play. What profound devotion and commitment his sincerity voluntarily evokes was writ large on every face of his multi-nation, multi-ethnic, multi-religious followers who had jam packed the Friends Hall at Euston Square, May 18, in their enthusiasm to welcome back their hero after he had singed the holy beards with the filth of their lies in the insulated Senatorial four walls of Capitol Hill in Washington."

BBC listeners and viewers in Scotland have of course benefited from the reporting of GG's Senate triumph ( GG described as "Braveheart" ?) by Bob Wylie.

His presence in Washington begs two questions: why in the current climate of cost cuts, did BBC Scotland send its own man when the BBC’s Washington correspondent, Clive Myrie, was already there .... and more than up to the job?

If BBC Scotland sent anyone, why Wylie? A friend of Galloway who received an acknowledgement in Galloway’s entertaining and "fully authorised" autobiography?(< left)

Full transcript and access to complete video of GG's Senate testimony at Bellaciao

Sadr seeks credibility

Senior aides of Muqtada al-Sadr, Hazim al-Araji & Abdul-Hadi al-Daraji met Sheik Abdul Salam al-Kubaisi, spokesman for the Sunni Association of Muslim Scholars on Sunday (see AP pic). Their intention was to reduce tensions that have flared amid violence that has killed at least 550 people, including 10 Shiite and Sunni clerics, since the new Shiite-dominated government was announced on April 28.

Sadr is also seeking political credibility within the Shia communities – which is backed by military force. His offer of an alliance with the Sunni clerics predicates a joint wish to remove the US and allied forces from the country.

On Al-Arabiya TV last week ,Harith al-Dhari, a Sunni cleric leader blamed the death of Sunni clerics last week on the Badr Brigades. “The people that are behind the campaign of killings of preachers and worshipers are the Badr Brigade," he said. Brigade general secretary Hadi al-Amri in the heated exchange seen by many throughout the Middle East, denied the charge, and accused the Sunni clerical association of wanting to "push Iraq into a sectarian conflict." The militia leader Amri claimed that Dhari and his outspoken son, Muthanna, support the Al-Qaida-allied terrorist network of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Al-Sadr, in an interview on Al-Arabiya TV on Sunday said the talks were aimed at settling the feud between the cleric's association and the Badr Bridges.

"Iraq needs to stand side-by-side for the time being," al-Sadr said identifying the concerns that Iraq's Shiite and Sunni communities were pushing the country toward a civil war.

Sunni leaders announced on Saturday that they had formed an alliance of tribal, political and religious groups to help Iraq's once dominant minority regain power and influence following a Shiite rise to power after Saddam's demise.

The Sunni loss of power since the US inspired elections is seen by most observers as a key source of Iraq's soaring internecine strife which saw many more victims over the weekend.

Elsewhere Laith Kuba, spokesman for Iraq's prime minister, urged Sunni Muslim leaders to take a strong stand on the killing of security forces and others at the hand of the insurgents. Sunni extremists are believed to be driving Iraq's insurgency.

''They should also give their opinion about the killing of civilians,'' he said. ''The Iraqi people want to hear that.'' A court on Sunday sentenced to death three Sunnis claimed to be members of the Ansar al-Sunnah Army “terror group” for killing 3 Iraqi police officers last year.

Survivors and Toe Tags Offer Clues to Uzbek's Uprising

New York Times 23rd May 2005 C. J. Chivers reports from Karasu, Uzbekistan, and Karadariya for this article. Ethan Wilensky-Lanford contributed reporting from Karadariya, and Yola Monakhov from Andijon.

“Much about the events in Andijon, a city of 300,000 in the country's main cotton belt, remains unknown. Uzbekistan has blocked free travel to diplomats, human rights investigators and journalists seeking access to the city.”

This is as good as it gets for a factual clear report about events in Andijon - recommended reading.

26 June 2005 International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking

This year's theme is "Value yourself...make healthy choices"

Put it in your Diary

Poppystan - Karzai gets a kicking from US Embassy

United States Embassy in Kabul, the Afghan sent a 3 page cable to on May 13th to Secretary of State, Condoleeze Rice which the Washington Post claim to have seen.

This memo claims that an American-financed poppy eradication program to cut Afghanistan's huge heroin trade had been ineffective (A recently published US State Department report stated that, since 2003, the area under poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has tripled and now encompasses 510,000 hectares) in part because President Hamid Karzai "has been unwilling to assert strong leadership."

"Although President Karzai has been well aware of the difficulty in trying to implement an effective ground eradication program, he has been unwilling to assert strong leadership, even in his own province of Kandahar," said the cable, which was drafted by embassy personnel involved in the anti-drug efforts.


The cable also blamed the British, who have the top responsibility for counternarcotics assistance in Afghanistan, for being "substantially responsible" for the failure to eradicate more acreage. British personnel choose where the eradication teams work, but the cable said that those areas were often not the main growing areas and that the British had been unwilling to revise targets.

Officials worry that heroin trafficking could threaten the American-led reconstruction effort in Afghanistan and worsen corruption in the country's fledgling central government.(!)

"President Karzai is a strong partner and we have confidence in him," said the State Department spokesman, breezy Richard A. Boucher who seems to favour spectacles of the rosy tinted hue who concludes "We are succeeding in our overall effort" to address the drug problem.

American and Afghan officials decided late last year that a more aggressive anti-poppy effort was too risky. State Department officials had proposed aerial spraying of poppy-growing areas, but the plan was opposed by Chicago educated neo-con Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and American military officials in Afghanistan who agreed, though effective at killing poppies, spraying fields by aircraft could lead to protests and unrest. (Not to mention a lot of dead fliers and downed spraying planes – mind you didn’t some of those 9/11 guys trained on crop dusters – here’s their chance!)

A spokeswoman for the British Foreign Office defended the choice of targets. (natch)"We don't believe we are picking the wrong targets, but we have a long struggle to go," she said. "We work very closely with the U.S. and other partners."

A major reason Britain picked up the responsibility for counternarcotics efforts is that some 50 tons ends up every year up in European countries compared to the 20 tons estimated to go to the United States.

Since beginning work last month, the country's Central Poppy Eradication Force, an American-trained group, has destroyed less than 250 acres, according to the two American officials. Its original goal was to eradicate 37,000 acres, but that target has recently been “reduced” to 17,000 acres. (That is 50% in my arithmetic) With the poppy harvest now under way, the actual eradication levels will probably be far lower, (you bet!) the American officials said. ( I think they have confused acres with hectares here – the UK now use the latter)

Congress recently passed a supplemental spending bill that included $260 million for the State Department's anti-drug effort in Afghanistan this year.

A senior State Department official said that Mr. Karzai had wanted the eradication team to begin work before the poppy harvest season began in March, when he felt there was a better chance of persuading farmers to give up that lucrative crop. Because of bad weather (entirely unforeseeable of course) and other delays (?) the team did not begin work until early April.

The American officials involved said they also believed that Mr. Karzai might not want to challenge local Afghan authorities and thus incite opposition and even violence ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for next fall.

A State Department official said that the United States remained optimistic that, through a combination of eradication and reduced plantings, it could achieve a 70,000-acre reduction in poppy planting from last year's record crop, which was estimated at more than 500,000 acres.(unit of measure confusion again I think).

A Karzai spokesman, Jawed Ludin, said that foreign donors had failed to follow through on promises to help farmers shift to other crops and find other sources of income.

Mr. Karzai called for a "jihad" against drugs after his election last November, Mr. Ludin pointed out. He also noted that Mr. Karzai would risk losing his moral authority if promised assistance to the poppy farmers was not forthcoming.

"It is actually the international community that is showing a lack of seriousness, by failing to show that there is an alternative for farmers," he said.(i.e it’s not my fault Guv, I only work here)

On their first day of operations in early April, in the Maiwand district of Kandahar Province (Karzai’s hom epatch), the eradication force encountered armed farmers blocking the fields. Gunfire broke out, resulting in the death of at least one Afghan protester and the wounding of several others.

The American officials said they suspected the protesters had been organized by traffickers and local officials with a stake in the drug trade.(smart thinking there then).

Over the next eight days, according to the embassy cable, American and British officials in Kabul sought help from the Afghan minister responsible for the anti-drug effort, Habibullah Qaderi, to end the confrontation in Maiwand and a similar standoff in nearby Panjwayi. But he was unable to persuade the Kandahar authorities to help, the embassy cable said.

The embassy cable praised Muhammad Daoud, the deputy minister of the interior for the anti-drug effort, for trying to win access for the eradication teams, but it said he had "no support whatsoever from key members" of the government, "namely President Karzai."

President Karzai is due in Washington this week. Has he booked a return flight ?


PS The UN Office on Drugs and Crime remarks "The three neighboring provinces of Osh, Murghab and Andijan (common border area of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan) called "Osh Knot" covers an intensive cross border trafficking routes.

Avril Lavigne stalker jailed

A Seattle computer technician obsessed with Canadian rock singer Avril Lavigne was sentenced to 30 days in jail for stalking her last week.

James Speedy, 31, entered a plea of innocent in court, but during testimony, admitted to stalking the 20-year-old.

Prosecutors said he had "relentlessly" pursued the singer and had been arrested once before and ordered to stay away from Lavigne and her family. However, he admitted to the judge he showed up at a free ticket mini-concert the singer was giving at a Seattle mall less than 20 minutes from his home in mid 2004. He was arrested before she went on stage and later posted $5,000 bail and released.

Speedy claimed he had no intention of harming the star and had been encouraged to meet up with the star by his wife - so he could get his obsession out of his system.

He told the court: "I wanted to meet Avril Lavigne. I'm not in love with her. I didn't want to hurt her."

Judge Stephen Dwyer described him as being "in an extreme state of denial" and awarded the jail term. He said: "Quite frankly, almost anyone would suspect you're at least a strange-acting person."

Lynnwood Police have been investigating the case since last summer, when they were contacted by Ontario, Canada, police about harassing letters and e-mails sent to Lavigne, Detective Jerry Reiner said. "These did place the family of Avril Lavigne, and Avril Lavigne herself, in fear."

Lavigne was recently named one of the top stars under 25 by Teen People magazine.

She's currently on the road in South Africa and will do a European tour before returning for a North American leg that begins July 12 in her native Canada.

Report Washington Times

Ozat Uzbekistan !

Protestors outside Uzbeikistan Embassy 21 - 5 05


Craig Murray ex HM Ambassador to Uzbekistan joined a protest outside the Uzbeki Embassy in Holland Park, London yesterday to protest about the slaughter of the innocents in the Ferghana valley.

President Karimov has rejected UN Secretary general's call for an International investigation into the events of last weekend when up to 700 men, women and children were killed by Government military, Police and special forces resulted in the exodus of 500 Uzbekis to Kyrgistan.

Earlier this week a group of 37 Uzbeks protesting at the embassy , who threw red ink /paint over the Embassy were arrested and later released without charge.

"Official" Terrorist lights fires of resistance in Afghanistan

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar leads the Mujahideen faction, of fundamentalist Sunni Muslim Pashtuns, the Hezb-e-Islami, which was one of the groups that ended the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. His forces were a main beneficiary of the 7 mujahideen groups recognised by Pakistan and US intelligence agencies for the channelling of money and arms during the 1979-89 war. Among those arms were Stinger surface-to-air missiles. (The first Stinger was fired by a Hezb-e-Islami soldier near Jalalabad on September 25, 1986. The Stingers traced back to the Afghan Mujahedin have since been located in Chechyna. Tajikistan and the Philippines.) Mullah Omar supported him during this period.

Hezb -e - Islami clashed with other groups but refused to share power with Burhan-ud-Din Rabbani and Ahmed Shah Masood of the Northern Alliance for control of the capital, Kabul. As a result the The Hezb-e-Islami ( who with General Dostum) was blamed for the violence and destruction of that period, and Hekmatyr was called the butcher of the Muslims. Many Afghan observers accuse Hekmatyar of killing more Mujahideen members than Communists. After losing support from the Pakistan ISI and Saudi he was forced to flee Kabul when support shifted to the Taliban.

Hekmatyr ended up being given refuge in Tehran where the Iranians saw him as a useful Pashtun bargain counter. However his very vocal opposition to the US and their man Kharzai , became an embarassment and he was expelled and his offices closed on Feb 26th 2002.

Late 2002 it was reported that Hekmatyar was giving full support to Karzai administration, although the warlord's whereabouts were unknown. Soon after Afghan administration arrested 160 people in Kabul in a suspected anti-government plot who were said to be members of Hezb-e-Islami.

Another report claimed the CIA reportedly spotted him in the Shegal Gorge, near Kabul, and tried (unsuccessfully) to kill him with a modified anti-tank missile from a Predator unmanned spy plane. The US still had him in their sights and were said to be behind the arrest in Islamabad in October of his son, Ghairat Baheer.

On February 19, 2003 American tolerance snapped and the US DOS designated Gulbuddin Hekmatyar as a Terrorist.

All has been quiet so far this year, whilst the poppy harvest have been rolling in and the pipeline of drugs packed in bales of cotton shipped by Karimov’s daughter, to the West through Uzbekistan keeps rolling on. According to United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates, Afghanistan’s total opium output in 2004 was 4,200 tons, a 17 percent increase over the previous year. A recently published US State Department report stated that, since 2003, the area under poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has tripled and now encompasses 510,000 hectares. The report went on to suggest that Afghanistan stood on the brink of becoming a narco-state.Now the warlords see an opportunity to remove the puppet US administration in Kabul, whilst an increasingly desperate Kharzai is asking his US protectors to set up bases in Kabul and elsewhere.

There are reports that five parties met last week near Mazar-e-Sharif (N Afghanistan) and agreed to support the mass mobilisation of people against the US presence.and to turn it into a political movement. Among those present was former Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani, Ittahad-i-Islami Afghanistan, a representative of two local Tajik groups and a group came from neighbouring Uzbekistan.
Whilst Western Press reports have been anxious to suggest that the Afghan rioting last week was directly related to the Newsweek report of Koranic toilet douching ( a widely read weekly in Kabul ?) The Taliban radio and prayer leaders at local mosques, were asking Afghans to rise up against the American presence in the country. A prayer leader at a local mosque in Kabul, Maulvi Habibullah Shariati, was arrested when he told those who had gathered for the prayers to kick out the American forces from the country.

The Hizb-i-islami Afghanistan, a Taliban movement led by Maulvi Younus Khalis, as well as Gulbadin Hikmatyar's Hezb -e- Islami were the most active segments within the Pashtun-dominated cities of Kabul, Jalalabad, Khost, Asadabad and Kandahar, that were asking for a massive mobilisation against the US presence in Afghanistan.

Diplomatic sources in Kabul Sources in Kabul see a strong spring offensive that the Taliban fighters have launched, with a much wider and popular a wider political movement against the US.

UK / NATO military observers were seen in the region last week considering a call from the White House (Condi / Rummy et. al. as the ordure hits the aircon)to plunge UK troops into this bloody cauldron.

Watch this space for an announcement about troop movements from the Scotsman John Reid AKA Minister of Defence… augmenting NATO forces (now approx 500) …beefing up the response…sharing the burden…spreading the load … part of a widening response in the War on Terror… blah blah ... pulling US chestnuts out of the fire - re-run history reel .. Terrorist aided by US bites the hand that feeds ... Osama ? Hekmatyar ?

Get yer placards out.

Sadr stirs

Muqtada al-Sadr’s influence continues to grow in Iraq. He stands outside the conformist Iraqi political structure. U.S. and Iraqi forces hold 13 supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr after a swoop on a Shiite mosque in Mahmoudiya, 20 miles south of Baghdad. Iraqi troops confiscated weapons from the mosque . As a result Sadr called for massive demonstrations against the American occupation and the painting of Israeli and Stars & Stripes at the entrances of Mosques. His supporters made their mark.

More than 520 people have been killed since the country’s new Shiite-dominated government was announced April 28.