I went to this website to find out what was being said about al Zawahri given the reports I have been hearing in the USA media from the USA government bolstering the claims by Bush that Iraq was the central battlefield for al Qaeda and global jihad. I found these articles and kept nosing around a bit.
Also included is background information from "The Weekly Standard." The reason some of the media prints these ? Documents ? is to benefit people who travel into these areas. If it gives them an edge on violence all the better.
I basically see this letter as a friendly letter considering the discussion is about terrorists. If someone in the USA wrote a letter like this they would be in prison with no trial date. At any rate this is what Bush/Cheney and USA Intelligence is claiming as 'the quintessential information' about the priorities of al Qaeda and global Jihad as if this is something new.
The "NEW" aspect is that the 'bloodiness' of the violence is supposed to stop and if people are to be demised they are supposed to be killed and not tortured emotionally for the world to see on the web. This letter was supposed to have been some time in June or July this year. There is a misnomer that goes along with this, I think, and maybe I need to put it into context as 'walk a mile in the shoes of.' This letter is a pep talk. A keep the faith talk. It is intended to end 'crude' techniques and add instead integrity to the 'status' of Jihad and warriorship. At least this is my take on it realizing this is somewhat intended to add emotional terror to societies but more to bolster the 'individual bomber/warrior/follower/believer' of these networks.
When one considers this was a letter issued in June/July this year there has been a decline of reports (I note the word reports) of kidnappings and decapitations. To that end it would seem the letter is valid. To believe these men met their demise with the earthquake is premature as there have been not only attacks in southern Russia but also India's Kashmir. Not the Pakistan Kashmir but the Indian Kashmir killing three Indian soldiers which is business as usual.
Am I worried? Am I as worried as the media would like me to be?
No, to both questions. I don't consider any of the material here about al Qaeda or it's members as required reading but only reference points for me and anyone who cares to. I am not worried because this is from al Jazeera, a valid and extremist Arab news agency, and if there were victory after victory of any entity that resembled a terrorist it would be reported here. It isn't. What I see is a continued dismantling of terrorist networks in Iraq. Article after article regarding the capturing and killing of Al-Zarqawi's aids and his Iraqi network continues to be noted along with propaganda and proclaimed successes as in Jordan.
I guess you can decide for yourself how much brevity you give this. I object to Bush's Culture of Fear and being treated as AN OBJECT of it. That is what this is all about. I want to keep an open mind to issues of danger BUT I am not willing to be brainwashed or terrified by USA media.
The al-Zawahiri Letter
A window into the mind of the enemy.
by Dan Darling
10/12/2005 7:20:00 PM
THE FULL TEXT of the just-released letter from al Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri to Iraqi insurgent leader Abu Musab Zarqawi, dated July 9, 2005, makes it clear that not only are al-Zawahiri and bin Laden symbolic leaders to the global jihad, but they are still active in running their terror network, too.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/006/205kmpux.asp
English Translation of Ayman al-Zawahiri's letter to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
10/12/2005 12:00:00 AM
English Translation of Ayman al-Zawahiri's letter to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
In the name of God, praise be to God, and praise and blessings be upon the Messenger of God, his family, his Companions, and all those who follow him.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The gracious brother/Abu Musab, God protect him and watch over him, may His religion, and His Book and the Sunna of His Prophet @ aid him, I ask the Almighty that he bless him, us, and all Muslims, with His divine aid, His clear victory, and His release from suffering be close at hand. Likewise, I ask the Almighty to gather us as He sees fit from the glory of this world and the prize of the hereafter.
1-Dear brother, God Almighty knows how much I miss meeting with you, how much I long to join you in your historic battle against the greatest of criminals and apostates in the heart of the Islamic world, the field where epic and major battles in the history of Islam were fought. I think that if I could find a way to you, I would not delay a day, God willing.
… 9-My greetings to all the loved ones and please give me news of Karem and the rest of the folks I know, and especially:
By God, if by chance you're going to Fallujah, send greetings to Abu Musab alZarqawi.
In closing, I ask God entrust you all with His guardianship, providence and protection, and bless you all in your families, possessions and offspring and protect them from all evil and that He delight you all with them in this world and the next world, and that He bestow upon us and you all the victory that he promised his servants the Believers, and that He strengthen for us our religion which He has sanctioned for us, and that He make us safe after our fear.Peace, God's blessings and mercy to you.
Your loving brother
Abu Muhammad
http://weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/006/203gpuul.asp?pg=2
Al-Zawahri warns UK of more attacks
Friday 05 August 2005, 11:07 Makka Time, 8:07 GMT
The al-Qaida deputy said bin Laden had offered a truce
Al-Qaida's second in command Ayman al-Zawahri has warned Britain in a video aired on Thursday that Prime Minister Tony Blair's policies will bring more destruction to London.
He also warned the United States that al-Qaida would continue to launch deadly attacks until US troops quit all Muslim countries.
"Blair's policies brought you destruction in central London and will bring you more destruction ... ," al-Zawahri, Osama bin Laden's deputy, said in a tape aired on Aljazeera.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/41F14605-4546-4EFA-9DFF-41E356B3CBFB.htm
Al-Qaeda issues new threats against US
Sunday 03 August 2003, 8:20 Makka Time, 5:20 GMT
Zawahri is said to be Osama bin Laden's right-hand man.
An audio tape purportedly of top al Qaeda official Ayman al-Zawahri warned the United States on Sunday it would pay a high price if it harmed any of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.
The voice on the tape, broadcast by the Dubai-based Arabic television al-Arabiya, also told the United States that the "real battle" against it has not started yet.
"America has announced it will start putting on trial in front of military tribunals the Muslim detainees at Guantanamo and might sentence them to death," said the voice, which al-Arabiya television identified as Zawahri's.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/FDF28047-D9AB-463F-8040-141189097911.htm
Al-Qaida blasts US notion of 'freedom'
Thursday 10 February 2005, 22:19 Makka Time, 19:19 GMT
Ayman al-Zawahiri (R) is thought to be Usama bin Ladin's deputy
Al-Qaida's deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has condemned the American concept of freedom in a taped speech broadcast by Aljazeera.
Aired on Thursday, the audiotape message said the freedom sought by millions in the Islamic world was "not the freedom to destroy others ... it is not the freedom that allows [America] to support oppressive regimes".
Al-Zawahiri said he could not accept Washington's continued promotion of "Israel's freedom to annihilate Muslims".
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/A78B0598-F7D6-48BF-90B3-CC044767C7BF.htm
US army says al-Zarqawi deputy killed
Wednesday 28 September 2005, 0:25 Makka Time, 21:25 GMT
Al-Qaida's second-in-command in Iraq has been shot and killed by US-led forces in Baghdad, the US military says.
Abu Azzam, a financier and religious aide to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, believed to be of Palestinian origin, was shot and killed on Sunday when US and Iraqi forces raided a house in Baghdad on the basis of information provided by an Iraqi citizen, Iraq's National Security Adviser Muwaffaq al-Rubaei said.
"We had a tip from an Iraqi citizen that led us to him," said Lieutenant-Colonel Steve Boylan, a spokesman for the US military in Iraq.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F9AE7757-522E-4DBC-BC6A-E70CA2A0420E.htm
Cleric says al-Zarqawi died long ago
Saturday 17 September 2005, 8:12 Makka Time, 5:12 GMT
Al-Qaida's leader in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is dead but Washington continues to use him as a bogeyman to justify a prolonged military occupation, an Iraqi Shia cleric says in an interview.
Sheikh Jawad al-Kalesi, the imam of the al-Kadhimiyah mosque in Baghdad, told France's Le Monde newspaper on Friday: "I don't think that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi exists as such. He's simply an invention by the occupiers to divide the people."
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/73570F02-EA07-492F-9E04-C080950DF180.htm
Al-Zarqawi declares war on Iraqi Shia
Wednesday 14 September 2005, 22:37 Makka Time, 19:37 GMT
Iraq's al-Qaida leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has declared "all-out war" on Shia Muslims in Iraq in response to a US-Iraqi offensive on the town of Tal Afar, according to an audio clip posted on the internet.
"The al-Qaeda Organisation in the Land of Two Rivers (Iraq) is declaring all-out war on the Rafidha (a pejorative term for Shia), wherever they are in Iraq," said the voice which could not be immediately verified but sounded like previous recordings attributed to al-Zarqawi.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/407AAE91-AF72-45D7-83E9-486063C0E5EA.htm
Al-Qaida denies role in Iraq stampede
Saturday 03 September 2005, 0:06 Makka Time, 21:06 GMT
The Iraqi section of Al-Qaida, headed by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has said it was not involved in the stampede that killed almost 1000 people on a Shia pilgrimage in Baghdad earlier this week.
"The Al-Qaida organisation in Mesopotamia denies any implication in the events at (the mosque at) Kadhimiya, we have nothing whatsoever to do with it," said a statement posted on the internet and signed by Abu Maissara al-Iraki, head of the group's information department.
It was not possible to verify the authenticity of the statement.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F593E89B-B081-4823-A9D6-67EDC9BCC473.htm
Al-Zarqawi group claims Jordan attack
Tuesday 23 August 2005, 18:55 Makka Time, 15:55 GMT
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's group in Iraq has claimed responsibility for the weekend rocket attack that narrowly missed US warships anchored at the Red Sea port city of Aqaba in Jordan.
Al-Zarqawi's al-Qaida-linked group on Tuesday was the second to claim responsibility for the rocket attack, but the authenticity of the statement, signed by group spokesman Abu Maysara al-Iraqi, could not be verified.
The first claim was issued by the Abdullah Azzam Brigades shortly after the Katyusha rockets were fired from a hilltop warehouse, overlooking Aqaba and its port.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/C86C5213-4585-4CFA-A8F6-F62E8EE66F76.htm
Al-Zarqawi aide killed, US officials say
Monday 15 August 2005, 13:11 Makka Time, 10:11 GMT
A top aide to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, head of the al-Qaida operation in Iraq and accused of masterminding high-profile bombings in the country, has been killed by Iraqi security forces, US defence officials said.
But the battlefield success hardly impressed two leading US senators, who on Sunday questioned the Pentagon's handling of the situation in Iraq and said they no longer had confidence in Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
Abu Zubair, also known as Muhammad Salah Sultan, was shot and killed in the northern city of Mosul on Friday, when he got caught in an ambush set up by Iraqi security forces, the officials said, confirming a report by Mosul police.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F8EA829A-7B07-480B-BCD0-91D6A0F0E1DB.htm
Al-Qaida: US faked al-Zawahiri letter
Friday 14 October 2005, 0:35 Makka Time, 21:35 GMT
A purported al-Qaida web posting has charged the United States with fabricating a letter in which the group's No 2 allegedly wrote to its leader in Iraq asking for money and laying out the group's plans for the Middle East.
"We in al-Qaida declare that there is no truth to these claims, and they are baseless, except in the imagination of the politicians of the Black (White) House," according to the statement on a web site known as a clearing house for al-Qaida material.
The statement was signed by Abu Maysara, who claims to be spokesman for al-Qaida in Iraq. It could not be authenticated.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F73A57D8-D113-4FF9-8A61-D384B80A2DFF.htm
Results 1-10 of 57
NEXT>
1 - US army says al-Zarqawi deputy killed (9/27/2005)
Al-Qaida's second-in-command in Iraq has been shot and killed by US-led forces in Baghdad, the US military says.
2 - Cleric says al-Zarqawi died long ago (9/17/2005)
Al-Qaida's leader in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is dead but Washington continues to use him as a bogeyman to justify a prolonged military occupation, an Iraqi Shia cleric says in an interview.
3 - Al-Zarqawi declares war on Iraqi Shia (9/14/2005)
Iraq's al-Qaida leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has declared "all-out war" on Shia Muslims in Iraq in response to a US-Iraqi offensive on the town of Tal Afar, according to an audio clip posted on the internet.
4 - Al-Qaida denies role in Iraq stampede (9/2/2005)
The Iraqi section of Al-Qaida, headed by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has said it was not involved in the stampede that killed almost 1000 people on a Shia pilgrimage in Baghdad earlier this week.
5 - Al-Zarqawi group claims Jordan attack (8/23/2005)
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's group in Iraq has claimed responsibility for the weekend rocket attack that narrowly missed US warships anchored at the Red Sea port city of Aqaba in Jordan.
6 - Al-Zarqawi aide killed, US officials say (8/15/2005)
A top aide to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, head of the al-Qaida operation in Iraq and accused of masterminding high-profile bombings in the country, has been killed by Iraqi security forces, US defence officials said.
7 - Jordan keeps al-Zarqawi mentor in jail (7/21/2005)
The Jordanian authorities are still holding a former mentor of Iraq's most wanted man, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, on charges of conspiracy a week after he was initially released from jail
8 - US arrests top al-Zarqarwi aide (7/13/2005)
US forces have captured a key aide of Iraq's al-Qaida leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, top US General Richard Myers says.
9 - Al-Zarqawi mentor rearrested (7/6/2005)
The Jordanian authorities have arrested the spiritual mentor of Iraq's al-Qaida leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Aljazeera reports.
10 - Al-Zarqawi tape defends Iraq attacks (7/6/2005)
The reputed leader of al-Qaida in Iraq has said the Iraqi army is as great an enemy as the Americans, brushing aside calls for him to abandon the uprising in favour of peace talks with the Iraqi government and the US.
Results 1-10 of 57
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/8F088BDE-BD6C-4FB7-B995-26D554AB2E58.htm
Poll - Here is a perspective you didn't expect, huh? Nine thousand random opinions is respectable. I mean these are people that can afford computers and receive information from them so they are not illiterate either.
Do political considerations influence disaster relief decisions?
Yes : 85%
No : 15%
Number of pollers : 9090
From: 10/10/2005
To: 14/10/2005
http://english.aljazeera.net/english/DialogBox/PollContainer.aspx?chGuid=%7b54C8AFC7-8C97-4C4F-B38D-D41E6169C42E}
Today's Headlines from al Jazeera
Europe mobilises against avian flu
Thursday 13 October 2005, 19:28 Makka Time, 16:28 GMT
Experts fear the virus could spread to western Europe
Britain's chief vet has said there is a risk of a deadly strain of bird flu spreading to the UK as Greece announced a regional conference to study combatting the disease.
"Confirmation that highly pathogenic avian influenza has been found in Turkey and that avian influenza is now also in Romania is of concern. It shows that there is a risk to the UK," Debby Reynolds, chief vet at the UK's Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, told a news conference on Thursday.
"We will now carry out an assessment immediately to determine what the risk is and whether any further measures need to be taken," she added.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/122365D8-02BD-4126-B849-C5C80E505E42.htm
UN to evacuate staff from Darfur
Thursday 13 October 2005, 19:03 Makka Time, 16:03 GMT
The violence has hindered aid access to 650,000 refugees
The United Nations is to evacuate some staff from Sudan's West Darfur state because of an increase in violence, a spokeswoman said.
"It's a precautionary measure because of the violence. Just in case one would need an evacuation, you'd have fewer people to evacuate," said UN spokeswoman Radhia Achouri said on Thursday.
It was not clear how many staff would be evacuated.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/AAFD9490-BF68-4C3C-AB24-8BA31BE97E02.htm
Many killed in southern Russia clash
Thursday 13 October 2005, 17:48 Makka Time, 14:48 GMT
Nalchik in Kabardino-Balkariya is the scene of the gun battle
A total of 12 civilians, 12 policemen and about 20 fighters have been killed during attacks by Chechen separatists on police and army buildings in the southern Russian town of Nalchik.
"As a result of the operation, 12 police were killed and 12 civilians, and also about 20 fighters. Additionally, 12 fighters were detained," deputy state prosecutor Vladimir Kolesnikov was quoted as saying by Itar-Tass news agency
The firefight on Thursday is still going in Nalchik, the main city of the southern Russian region of Kabardino-Balkariya, including in a school near a police station.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/ABC78AA2-3A45-4C30-8B1A-463C604CD430.htm
Kashmir bomber targets Indian troops
Thursday 13 October 2005, 17:56 Makka Time, 14:56 GMT
Kashmir's main rebel group has suspended operations
A Kashmiri woman has died after a crude bomb she was carrying exploded in quake-hit Indian-administered Kashmir.
An Islamist separatist group, Jaish-e-Mohammed, said on Thursday that she had blown herself up near an Indian army vehicle.
A Jaish spokesman calling himself Abu Qadama said that the bomber called Hafsa was an important member of Banaat ul-Aisha, the women’s wing of the group.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/B4332E6F-E759-49B2-8735-3500D945E52A.htm
Detainees vote in Iraq's referendum
Thursday 13 October 2005, 15:20 Makka Time, 12:20 GMT
Thousands of Iraqi detainees who have not been brought to trial have been allowed to vote in Iraq's constitutional referendum at prisons such as the notorious Abu Ghraib detention centre, officials said.
It was not immediately known if the voters included prisoner Saddam Hussein.
The Independent Electoral Commission in Iraq had said the former leader would be allowed to vote, but its general director, Adel Allami, said on Thursday he did not know whether Saddam was.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/11E803E2-7AB8-4DAF-ABBF-12D91321AD30.htm
Al-Sistani calls for 'yes' vote
Thursday 13 October 2005, 11:22 Makka Time, 8:22 GMT
Iraq's revered top Shia cleric Ayat Allah Ali al-Sistani has called on Iraqis to approve the new constitution after political leaders agreed on amendments aimed at winning the backing of the Sunni Arab minority.
"Anyone who contacts the grand ayatollah's office is told that he instructs Iraqis to vote 'yes'" in Saturday's crucial vote, said an official from his office in the Shia holy city of Najaf.
Al-Sistani, who rarely speaks in public, was one of the driving forces behind the landmark January elections that saw the majority Shia community and secular Kurds head Iraq's new parliament.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/C033EBD7-F70F-4685-83E8-69141EF924F5.htm
CIA: US ignored Iraq turmoil forecasts
Thursday 13 October 2005, 2:40 Makka Time, 23:40 GMT
The Bush administration paid scant attention to prewar US intelligence on Iraq predicting the ethnic and tribal turmoil that now threatens the future of the country, a newly released 2004 CIA report says.
The report said US policymakers instead concentrated more on the agency's assessments of Iraq's weapons programme, which helped them make the case for the March 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq but which turned out to be flawed and misleading.
"Intelligence assessments on post-Saddam issues were particularly insightful," said the report.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/ACB30318-2E46-45C1-AE99-3E357A765F38.htm
Jordan booms as Iraqis flee hardships
Wednesday 12 October 2005, 12:15 Makka Time, 9:15 GMT
Baghdad was invaded and went bust. About 950km west across the desert, Amman went boom.
Not for the first time, stable, peaceful Jordan is serving as a haven for refugees from a strife-torn neighbour, its streets filling with Iraqis of every stripe, from big-spending members of Saddam Hussein's ousted ruling class to impoverished street vendors and prostitutes.
While some residents of the hilltop, sand-coloured capital are complaining, the government is happy with an influx of Iraqi cash to offset its $7 billion foreign debt.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/E038A064-2F72-4614-AC77-BB47F54C233E.htm
Opinion
Iraq's federalism ensures justice
By Ali al-Awsi
Thursday 13 October 2005, 19:52 Makka Time, 16:52 GMT
Since the establishment of the Iraqi state in 1921, there has been little improvement in democratic conditions for ordinary Iraqi citizens.
Successive regimes have failed to get to grips with many issues, the main one being the discrimination among Iraq's regions, and this underlines the need for federalism as a solution to these persistent problems which have left Iraqis living under injustice and discrimination.
Iraqis and Arabs alike have been living with values inherited from successive tyrannical regimes which left behind suffocating legacies and robbed the people of their will.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/D05CEB24-496C-4DA4-A989-4D01779439AE.htm
Where does terrorism start?
By Soumaya Ghannoushi
Monday 03 October 2005, 18:00 Makka Time, 15:00 GMT
It is interesting that while medieval Europe strove to dissociate the great achievements of the flourishing Islamic civilisation from the religion of Islam, today's West insists on referring all Muslims' ills, from democratic failure to economic decadence, to the Islam religion.
The terrorist plague is no exception. Its agents, we are told, are the product of an "evil ideology which must be uprooted".
Even so, this is only half of the truth. The questions we can not avoid are: why are would-be bombers driven towards this evil theology and not any other, after all it is hardly the only one on offer within the intensely diverse intellectual and political Islamic map?
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/27D5268D-D1E6-401E-86FB-1B14E5BD5A3E.htm
'Suicide' by Syrian interior minister
Wednesday 12 October 2005, 17:07 Makka Time, 14:07 GMT
Kanaan reportedly committed suicide in his Damascus office
(image placeholder)
Syrian Interior Minister Ghazi Kanaan, a former military intelligence chief in Lebanon, has committed suicide, the state news agency said.
"General Ghazi Kanaan, minister of the interior, committed suicide this morning in his office in Damascus," Sana said.
"The relevant authorities are investigating," the agency added.
The suicide comes days before the expected release of a UN report into the assassination of a former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri.
Kanaan, 63, was intelligence chief in Lebanon from the 1980s until 2003, presiding over Syria's control of its neighbouring country.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/5EA9584E-9949-4A49-BF5F-1E79D7490688.htm
Low-key funeral for Kanaan
Thursday 13 October 2005, 13:33 Makka Time, 10:33 GMT
Official reports are that Kanaan shot himself in the mouth
Syrian Interior Minister Ghazi Kanaan's body has been moved to his hometown for a low-key funeral, a day after he killed himself with a bullet to the brain.
Damascus Attorney-General Mohammed al-Loji said forensic examinations and a probe of his office had concluded that he shot himself in the mouth with his own pistol in his office on Wednesday.
Al-Loji "announced the end of the inquiry into the circumstances of the death of Ghazi Kanaan after technical procedures were carried out and the body was examined by three coroners", Syrian Arab News Agency (Sana) reported.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/42AEBBA4-483D-4DF0-9920-96806E99456D.htm
Somali pirates hijack second UN ship
Thursday 13 October 2005, 3:18 Makka Time, 0:18 GMT
The ship was carrying food aid for Somalia's poor
A second UN-chartered vessel carrying aid for hunger-stricken Somalis was hijacked on Wednesday at a small port south of Somalia's coast, becoming the fourth ship to be seized in the region since June.
The freighter had offloaded 400 tonnes of the total 850-tonne cargo of food aid in the port of Merka, about 100km south of Mogadishu, when six armed men stormed the ship and forced it to leave the port, the World Food Programme said in a statement.
Andrew Mwangura of the Seafarers' Assistance Programme told journalists the ship's captain called the Kenyan port city of Mombasa and reported the hijack.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/30EA6831-2B80-4AAE-A98B-90A2531B9D91.htm
Bali a soft target, experts say
By Marianne Kearney in Jakarta, Indonesia
Monday 03 October 2005, 20:20 Makka Time, 17:20 GMT
More than 100 people were injured in the triple blasts
Lulled into a false sense of security by the logic that lightning does not strike the same place twice, thousands of tourists had been returning to Bali over the past two years, only to be caught up again in another attack.
Almost three years to the day after the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings, the popular island resort made headlines when 26 people were killed and several others injured in near simultaneous attacks against tourist centres on 1 October.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/7A4027DD-1AEB-49A1-BA07-3F180D8667FB.htm
Chavez ousts US missionary group
Thursday 13 October 2005, 8:13 Makka Time, 5:13 GMT
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has ordered a US-based Christian missionary group working with indigenous tribes to leave the country, accusing the organisation of imperialist infiltration and links to the CIA.
Chavez said missionaries of the New Tribes Mission, based in Sanford, Florida, were no longer welcome. He spoke at a ceremony in a remote Indian village where he presented property titles to several indigenous groups.
"The New Tribes are leaving Venezuela. This is an irreversible decision that I have made," Chavez
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/AE8B31F6-68F5-4128-B360-D5CAC9824BEA.htm
The Political Parties of Iraq - There are currently 38. Some of these parties have a long history. Many more emerged after the beginnings of the United Nations Oil for Food Program. Some have come to prominence after the USA Coalition invasion. One gets the idea the Iraqis understand the concept of representation and democracy for longer than anyone wants to admit. Bush states he is bringing democracy to the people or Iraq. "W"rong. He removed their dictator. The Iraqis had a representative parliament previous to the invasion. They ran elections for representation to the parliament. This process is not new to the Iraqis. It is however a restructuring that allows the dominance of exiles and the rise of the Shi'ites. Previous to the USA Coalition invasion Chalibi did not control the Ministry of Oil in Iraq, however, he has a long history of extortion of banks. Chalibi now has his own little corner of the world compliments of the USA Military and taxpayer.
Iraqi National Congress
It is a secular opposition group founded in June 1992 by convicted fraudster Dr. Ahmed al-Chalabi. It was based in London and moved to Iraq following the US occupation.
With support from the CIA, the INC attempted an insurgency in northern Iraq but its members were eventually crushed by Iraqi government forces who killed 200 of their supporters and forced thousands more to flee.
The INC then received considerable support from the US who later trained 1000 of its followers in a special camp in Hungary. About 700 of those, now named the “Free Iraqi Forces”, moved to Baghdad along with the occupation forces.
Iraqi National Accord
It was created in late 1990 and it is largely made up of former Ba’athists and military officers who opposed Saddam Hussein's leadership. Their main constituency is Sunni Arabs in central Iraq and its secretary general is Dr Iyad Alawi.
Iraqi Communist Party
It was established in 1934 and played a vital role in 1948 when Baghdad was the scene of a general strike demanding higher wages.
After the July 1968 coup, the Ba’ath surprisingly offered three ministerial posts to the ICP; but ICP made participation conditional upon full democratisation.
As the Ba’ath built stronger links with East European countries, and proclaimed a National Action Charter of November 1971 which spoke of the need for an alliance with "progressive forces", the ICP began negotiations and publicly accepted participation in a National Progressive Front (NPF) government in April 1972. However their relations with the ruling Ba'athists deteriorated and their members were persecuted.
Constitutional Monarchy Movement
It is led by Sharif Ali bin al-Hussein, the cousin of the deposed and killed King Faisal II, and a London-based banker. It favours a constitutional monarchy with an elected government. It was affiliated to the INC, within which Sharif Ali is a member of the presidency council. Sharif Ali bin Hussein returned to Iraq in early June, 2003.
Democratic Centrist Tendency/Independent Democrats Movement
It is led by Adnan Pachachi, former Iraqi foreign minister (1966-1967) and ambassador to the UN (1959-65, 1967-68). Pachachi has declared his opposition to working with a US military governor in Iraq. He supports a UN-administered transitional period, and is considered a liberal secular Arab nationalist. He vocally opposed the process of awarding out contracts to US firms after the ousting of the Ba’ath regime. Pachachi returned to Iraq in early May, 2003.
Free Iraq Council
It is a London-based organization led by Sa’ad Salih Jabr, son of Iraq's first Shi’a prime minister Salih Jabr. It was created after the invasion of Kuwait. He had attempted to coordinate anti-Saddam forces in Iraq from February 1992, but coup attempts were aborted when their plot was uncovered in April 1992 and 300 officers and civilians were arrested, and many executed.
Worker-Communist Party of Iraq
It was established in 1993 out of a merger between smaller communist groups. The IWCP is represented in KDP territory though it is, strictly speaking, an illegal party and is not officially registered nor is it authorized to engage in political activities.
It opposed the US invasion of Iraq, and refused to attend the London conference of December 2002.
Iraqi Homeland Party
It was founded in Jordan in 1995, as a Sunni grouping with proclaimed liberal credentials. It is led by Mish'an al-Jaburi and came to be based in Damascus with its newspaper (al-Ittijah al-Akhar) published from Holland. It has distanced itself from the groups seeking to coordinate with the US.
Iraqi National Alliance
It is a reformist grouping formed in exile in 1992 by former Ba’athist and Nasirists and it is led by Abdul-Jabbar al-Qubeisi, a former leader of the pro-Syrian Ba’ath. It is also associated with the Iraqi writer Abd al-Amir al-Rikabi, who was recently in contact with the deposed regime of Saddam Hussein.
The Iraqi Baath Party
By Aljazeera
Thursday 23 June 2005, 15:53 Makka Time, 12:53 GMT
Shortly after the defeat of the Arab forces in Palestine in 1948, three young Syrian men arrived in Baghdad, to continue their studies.
The three men, Fayiz Ismail, Wasfi al-Ghanim and Sulayman al-Eisa - returned to Syria and joined political scientist Zaki al-Arsoozi, who was intent on founding al-Baath (renaissance) party.
Al-Arsoozi's desire was to restore Arab pride. The men joined the party and pledged to carry the Baathist name back to Baghdad.
Upon their return to Baghdad in 1949, they established the Iraqi Baath Party. The party membership grew steadily from just 50 members in 1951 until they gained recognition by the Baath National Leadership in Damascus.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/AFBF5651-45AF-45E7-910E-ECA0AFEA24C1.htm
Islamic Dawa Party
It is a Shi’a Islamist group which until recently was based in Tehran and funded by Iran. It calls for the establishment of an Islamic state in Iraq.
It was established in 1958, as a political wing of the Association of Najaf Ulama, a political-religious organisation that had been established in late 1957 to combat communism.
The group was blamed by the Saddam government for actions that led to the Iraq –Iran war in 1980.
The D’awa Party members staged a major assassination attempt on Saddam Hussein in July of 1982, bombed the Ministry of Planning in August of 1982, and attacked Saddam Hussein’s motorcade in April of 1987. Its formerly exiled leaders, including Muhammad Bakr al-Nasri, have now returned to Iraq, and set up headquarters in Baghdad.
The Supreme Assembly for Islamic Revolution in Iraq
It is a Shi’a group led by Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim . It has been funded by Iran since it was established in 1982.
SAIRI was the main vehicle for Shi’a opposition to Saddam Hussein, with cells operating secretly in Southern Iraq. It had approximately 8000 guerrilla fighters operating inside south/central Iraq prior to the ousting of the Ba’ath (including the Badr corps, operating out of Iran).
SAIRI opposed the US-led war in 1991, claiming the invasion of Kuwait was a pretext for aggression against the Iraqi people; it called on Iraqis to confront foreign aggression.
However in December 2001, it seemed to welcome outside military intervention to topple Saddam Hussein, and supported the idea of creating a one year transitional government followed by elections.
During the US invasion, SAIRI urged its followers not to oppose the US forces, and to remain neutral, and called for the UN to take over the administration of Iraq.
Its main base is now in the city of Kut, where Abd al-Aziz al-Hakim the brother and deputy of Muhammed Baqir has been based since 16 April.
SAIRI now strongly supports the immediate end to the US military presence in Iraq, and argues that an Islamic republic will be installed through the majority support of the people after an intermediate stage.
On 10 May, Muhammad Baqir crossed over to Basra and then to Najaf, and later opened an office in Baghdad.
On 29 August, 2003 the party suffered a blow when al-Hakim was killed in a car bomb blast in the southern city of Najaf outside the Imam Ali mosque
Islamic Task Organisation
Often referred to as the Islamic Action Organisation, ITO also calls for the establishment of an Islamic state in Iraq.
It was founded by Muhsin al-Husseini who was assassinated in Beirut 1980 and now it is led by Ridha Jawad Taqi and funded by Iran and Syria.
The Islamic Task Organisation, was formed in the city of Karbala in 1961, and is largely aligned with the Islamic Dawa Party and like Da’wa it favored military action as a way of bringing Islamic rule to Iraq and had an active role in the 1991 uprising.
ITO Leadership returned to Karbala on 22 April 2003.
Jund al-Imam
It is a Shi'a grouping that was established in 1969. It was reconstituted in 1979, and is now led by Sa'd Jawad.
Iraqi Islamic Forces Union
It is a faction that split from SAIRI in 2002 . It opposed any coordination with the US in overthrowing Saddam Hussein.
Jamaat al-Sadr al-Thani
It emerged in April 2003, following the ousting of Saddam Hussein, to take effective control of large urban areas of Iraq, including the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf.
It is led by Muqtada al-Sadr, the son of Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr, who was assassinated, along with two of his sons, on 19 Feb 1999 soon after publicly criticising the government's restrictions on Shi'a worship.
After the killings, Muqtada stayed in the country and attempted to mobilise the Shi'a community on the basis of his father's teachings. He is highly critical of those who either were outside the country (e.g. SCIRI's leadership, INC) or were quiescent (e.g. Ayat Allah Sistani).
The movement strongly opposes US presence in Iraq. On 13 April, 2003 it temporarily surrounded the homes of Grand Ayat Allah Ali Sistani (head of Hawza al-Ilmiya, the highest seat of learning in Najaf, and a marja') and Ayatollah Sa'id al-Hakim (nephew of Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim), ordering them to leave Najaf.
Free Officers' Movement
It is a national officer opposition group that favoured a three-pronged infantry assault on Baghdad from the Kurdish Iraq, Kuwait and Jordan, without the use of US ground troops.
It stated that the US should not target the Iraqi army. The Free Officers Movement claimed that it could raise 30,000 fighters. It has the support of the Shi'a Muslims in Southern Iraq and is led by Brigadier General Najib al-Salihi.
The movement has taken up the new name of the Free Officers and Civilians Movement.
Higher Council for National Salvation
It was established by Wafiq al-Samarra’i, a former head of Iraqi Military Intelligence until 1991, with the rank of Major-General. He supported covert operations to assassinate Saddam Hussein and instigated the plans for the March 1995 coup attempt.
Iraqi National Movement
It is a national officer opposition group that was formed through a merger of two other groups. It claims to include prominent both Sunni and Shi’a Arabs, with a particular emphasis on the central provinces.
It has been adamant in support for federalism based on sectarianism in a post-Saddam Iraq. The Secretary General is Major General Hasan al-Naqib and it was established in 2001, as a Sunni-dominated split from the Iraqi National Congress.
Iraqi National Coalition
It is another national officer group. It sought to replace Saddam Hussein with a democratic, pluralist and federal system of government.
It opened 11 volunteer centres around the world, in order to recruit and train Iraqi exiles to fight Iraqi forces, alongside American troops.
Kurdistan Democratic Party
It is a Kurdish ethnic group which seeks an independent state for Kurds in Northern Iraq.
It was established by Mullah Mustafa Barzani in Tehran in December 1945, as the Kurdish Democratic Party, after Ahmed Barzani (Mustafa's brother) launched a Kurdish insurgency for independence from Iraq in 1931, which was finally crushed by a joint Iraqi-Turkish campaign in 1935.
The Kurdistan Democratic Party is one of the two main Kurdish parties. It rejected the March 1974 Autonomy Law, due to a dispute on the size of the area of the autonomous region and later started a rebellion in April 1974.
In 1975 Mustafa Barzani went into exile in Iran and then the US and the KDP almost collapsed.
Mustafa's sons, Mas’oud and Idris Barzani, took command of the KDP (KDP - Provisional Command), with Mas’oud as official leader from 1979, when Mustafa died.
In 1996 it collaborated with the Iraqi army in an attempt to destroy its Kurdish rival, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan(PUK), but the two groups are not in an armed conflict at the present time.
It reached an agreement, on 8 September 1998, with the PUK to share administration of the Kurdish Autonomous Region, with KDP left in control of Irbil and Dahuk governorates.
The KDP drew up a “draft constitution” for a "Federal Republic of Iraq" consisting of Arab and a Kurdish regions in July 2002. It was suspicious of US attempts to use Kurdish-controlled areas of Iraq from which to plan or launch an attack, with Barzani stating his continued opposition in January 2003.
It moved to Baghdad after the overthrow of Saddam’s regime and has set up a Baghdad headquarters.
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan
The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan the second major Kurdish ethnic party seeks an independent state for Kurds in Northern Iraq.
It was based in Damascus, and aligned itself closely with the Syrian government, which trained and armed it along side Iran. The PUK was supportive of US plans to invade Iraq, and called for US cooperation with its forces in order to “liberate” Iraq.
It is led by is Jalal Talabani and used to be funded by Syria and Libya.
The PUK is the other main Kurdish party, which broke away from the Kurdistan Democratic Party in 1975. It now controls the Sulaymaniyya governorate as well as parts of Ta'mim, Salah al-Din and Diyala governorates.
From May 2003, it has begun work on three oil development projects, in collaboration with the US and Turkish companies, in northeastern Iraq. It moved to Baghdad after the overthrow of Saddam’s regime where it set up new headquarters.
Kurdistan Socialist Democratic Party
It is a splinter group from the KDP led by Muhammad Haji Mahmoud and it receives support from the PUK and Iran, and has bad relations with the KDP. Its executive council is based in Sulaymaniyya, where they participate in the PUK-led government.
Islamic Movement of Iraqi Kurdistan
It was founded in 1986 by Sheikh Uthman Abd al-Aziz and several other Sunni mullahs who were all part of the non-political "Union of Religious Scholars". Initially, it worked from mobile offices, and most of its support came from Sulaymaniyya.
The IMIK operated from Halabja. IMIK holds two ministerial posts in the PUK-dominated government from Sulaymaniyya, the Ministry of Waqf and the Ministry of Justice.
Kurdistan Revolutionary Party
The Kurdistan Revolutionary Party was set up in 1972 after a conflict with Mustafa Barzani by a group of former members of the KDP. Two years later, the KRP joined the government-supporting National Progressive Front (NPF), the only organisation in Iraq to which parties other than the Ba’ath Party were admitted. The Secretary-General of the party was Abd al-Sattar Tahir Sharif. He fled Iraq in 1999. The party supported the Baghdad regime and played practically no active role in northern Iraq.
Kurdish Revolutionary Hizb Allah
The KRH was set up in 1988 and is a splinter group of the Kurdish Hizb Allah, which had joined SCIRI. The KRH is under the leadership of Adham Barzani, a cousin of Masuud Barzani. The KRH is a small military organisation, which has a few offices in the vicinity of Diyana and Hajj Umran near the Iranian border. This organisation receives both military and financial support from Iran, but has little influence on Kurdish society.
Conservative Party of Kurdistan
The CPK was set up in late 1991. The party is mainly clan-based and not very ideological. It has links with the Surchi tribe.
At first, it maintained normal contacts with the KDP and the PUK. Since 1995-96, however, relations with the KDP have deteriorated considerably. The party has ceased to operate in KDP territory, although the CPK has never officially been banned. The party does operate in PUK territory, and until recently had a minister in the PUK government.
Kurdistan Islamic Union
The KIU is part of the Muslim Brotherhood. The branch in Kurdistan is in principle independent and is directly responsible for policy matters. The KIU receives a lot of support from various countries around the Arabian Gulf under the leadership of Salah al-Din Muhammad Baha’al-Din.
The party is striving to set up an Islamic state in Iraq in which the rights of the Kurds are recognised. It is chiefly active among students (reportedly winning nearly 40% of the vote in Dahuk University student elections), but also has an adult political base, particularly in Irbil and enjoys good relations with both the PUK and the KDP. It professes non-violence, and supports the Islamic Kurdish League, which provides services to the poor.
Kurdistan National Democratic Union
It was set up in March 1996 in the province of Irbil where it also has its headquarters. The YNDK was in the first instance an extension of the PKK, but the founders of the former party quickly turned against the PKK. During the conflict between the KDP and the PUK the party split into two groups. One group was under the PUK and the PKK, the other under the KDP.
Kurdistan Toilers' Party
It was founded on 12 December 1985 and is now led by Qadir Aziz.
The relatively small KTP is included in the PUK-dominated government. The KTP does not enjoy good relations with the KDP and has no offices in KDP territory. There has, however, never been any serious confrontation between the two parties.
Action Party for the Independence of Kurdistan
It is a splinter organisation of the ICP and was originally affiliated with both the PKK and the PUK. The fairly small PKSK, led by Yusuf Hanna Yusuf (Abu Hikmet), is represented in the KDP government in Irbil, where the PKSK also has a party office. The party is on good terms with the KDP.
Al-Ansar / Ansar al-Islam / Jund al-Islam / Hamas
It is a grouping originally part of the IMIK based around Khurmal, which split off from it during a conference in early 1998, after the IMIK's decision to join the PUK government.
It has been led by Najm al-Din Faraj Ahmed (Najmuddin Faraj), better known as Mullah Krekar, who lived in Pakistan in the 1980s and studied Islamic jurisprudence under the late Dr Abd Allah Azzam.
From December 2001, when Mullah Krekar took full charge of the organisation, the group has come to be called al-Ansar (Ansar al-Islam). It controls villages in the Surren Mountains, an area between Halabja and the Iranian border, with its base in Biyare .
Their base at Biyare was overrun, with about 70 personnel killed, by a joint PUK-US Special Forces operation on 28 March 2003.
Islamic Group of Kurdistan
It is a breakaway faction of the IMIK that was formed by Mullah Ali Bapir in May, 2001. It is largely made up of former members of Harakat al-Nahda who were disgruntled with their merger with the IMIK in August 1998.
Although it does not oppose cooperation with secular groups in principle, and is partly funded by the PUK. It has not taken a role in the PUK administration. It is based in Khurmal.
Iraqi Turkman Front
It is a Turkman ethnic group made up of a coalition of 26 Turkman groups including: the Turkman Shura Council, the Iraqi Turkman National Party, the Turkmaneli, and the Independent Turkmans.
It strongly supported having a major role in the future governance of Kirkuk and Irbil, which it identifies at Turkman territory.
It had voiced concerns over the US invasion because of the chaos that it caused in northern Iraq, but was subsequently invited to participate in US-coordinated opposition group meeting. It is led by San'an Ahmad Aghaand funded by Turkey.
The Iraqi Turkman Front was established in April of 1995. Its headquarters were attacked by the KDP in July 2000.
Iraqi Turkman Democratic Party
It was launched in London in late July 2002; and led by Ahmet Gunes. Founding statement was highly critical of both the Iraqi regime and economic sanctions on Iraq; and supported federalism in Iraq, but with northern Iraq not as a specifically Kurdish enclave. It seems to be a member of the Coalition of Iraqi National Forces.
Assyrian Democratic Movement
It is an Assyrian ethnic opposition group which seeks an autonomous state for Assyrians in Iraq. It has four of the five seats reserved for Assyrians in the Kurdish parliament. It is led by Secretary General Yonadam Kannaand its funding is unknown.
The Assyrian Democratic Movement (Zowaa) was established on 12 April, 1979 to satisfy the political objectives of the Assyrian people in Iraq.
Assyrian National Congress
It took up armed struggle against the Iraqi regime from 1982 under the leadership of Gewargis Khoshaba.
It has four of the five seats reserved for Assyrians in the Kurdish parliament.
Assyrian Patriotic Party
An umbrella group, based in California which incorporates the Bet-Nahrain Democratic Party and the Assyrian American Leadership Council. It signed a confederation agreement with Najib al-Salihi's Free Officers Movement on 15 June 2002.
Assyrian Progressive Nationalist Party
It was established on 14 July 1973, acting through the Assyrian Cultural Club in Baghdad. It came into alliance with the ADM until 1991, but has since acted independently in northern Iraq. Leaders include Albert Yelda and Nimrud Baito.
Anyone and everyone is a target
By Ahmed Janabi
Thursday 22 September 2005, 18:55 Makka Time, 15:55 GMT
Kurdish deputy Faris Hussein fell to assassins' bullets recently
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Nowadays in post-invasion Iraq, everybody is on somebody's hit-list. Different political groups have emerged with totally contradictory interests and views, and some are resorting to violence against rivals.
Iraqi political analyst Liqa Makki said the hit-list phenomenon has in the past afflicted many countries, but Iraq's case is much too complex.
"The most confusing thing about them is the diversity of targets. It is painful to say it, but we have to acknowledge that those who carry out those assassinations have managed to make every Iraqi think that he or she is a potential target somehow," he said.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/2C0DF1DB-10B4-45EE-B890-30BA350A44FA.htm
List of assassinated Iraqis
Thursday 22 September 2005, 18:52 Makka Time, 15:52 GMT
The following is a list of names of some Iraqis assassinated after the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003.
Professors and professionals:
- Dr Abd al-Latif al-Mayyah - Political Science
- Dr Nafi Aboud - Arab Literature Professor
- Dr Falah al-Dulaimi - Assistant Dean
- Dr Sabri al-Bayati - Geography Professor
- Dr Hisham Sharif - Head of History Department in Baghdad University
- Dr Khalid Muhammad al-Janabi - Islamic History Professor
- Dr Ali Abd al-Hussein Kamil - Physics Professor
- Dr Muhammad al-Rawi - Physician
- Dr Asad Salim al-Sharida - Dean of Engineering Department in Basra University
- Dr Abd al-Jabar Mustafa - Dean of Mosul University
- Dr Majid Hussein Ali - Nuclear Scientist
- Dr Marwan al-Rawi - Engineering Professor
- Dr Imad Sarsam - Osteologist
- Dr Muhanad al-Dulaimi - Science Professor
- Dr Ghalib al-Hiti - Chemical engineering Professor
- Dr Sabah Mahmud - Dean of College of Education
- Dr Muhammad al-Adramli - Chemist
- Amir Mizhir al-Dayni - Communications Engineering Professor
- Basim al-Mudaris - Chemist
- Iman Younis - Head of Translation Department - Mosul University
- Dr Hazim al-Ani - Pediatrist
- Dr Suhad al-Abadi - Physician
- Dr Sadiq al-Ubaidi - Neurologist
- Dr Laila Saad - Dean of College of Law - Mosul University
- Dr Muhammad al-Talqani - Nuclear Scientist
- Isam Said Abd al-Halim - Geological expert at the ministry of construction
- Dr Amir al-Mallah - Oculist
- Talib Dahir - Nuclear scientist
- Baha al-Din Muhei al-Din - Air Force major General
- Abd al-Rahman Muhammad Ali - Air Force Brigadier General
- Akram al-Bayyati - Army Major General
- Kadhim Saddam - Air Force Colonel
- Sabah Bilal - retired army officer
- Yashar Jankiz - Chairman of Prisoners and Martyrs Association
- Akram Qarbadli - journalist
- Ibrahim Ismail
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/4A142858-766E-4A64-BB69-D89920CC9F5F.htm
Aljazeera Code of Ethics
Thursday 15 July 2004, 20:45 Makka Time, 17:45 GMT
The code was announced on July 12 at the Doha conference
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Being a globally oriented media service, Aljazeera shall determinedly adopt the following code of ethics in pursuance of the vision and mission it has set for itself:
1. Adhere to the journalistic values of honesty, courage, fairness, balance, independence, credibility and diversity, giving no priority to commercial or political considerations over professional ones.
2. Endeavour to get to the truth and declare it in our dispatches, programmes and news bulletins unequivocally in a manner which leaves no doubt about its validity and accuracy.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/07256105-B2FC-439A-B255-D830BB238EA1.htm
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