Al Qaeda-Linked American Terrorist Unveiled, as Charges Await Him in U.S.

Well well here is more news... A normal american guy turns Jihadi and its quite shocking how common people are turning to hardline fundamentalistic Islam. His School mates call him normal but how to findout whats in somebody's head ? There are audio releases and may be there should be a jubilee celebration of this audio / video releases in favour / against ISLAM. Its become a ritual now.  FOX NEWS

By Mike Levine

 Memri.org

A still image accompanying a new audio tape from Abu Mansour al-Amriki, a member of the Al Qaeda-linked Somali terrorist group al-Shabaab.

A week after the 9/11 attacks, a young Muslim at the University of South Alabama told the school's newspaper it was "difficult to believe a Muslim could have done this."
Now, eight years later, he is professing to launch attacks himself and calling on others to join the fight, as terror-related charges await him at home in Alabama, FOX News has learned exclusively.
Abu Mansour al-Amriki — or "The American" — has become one of the most recognizable and outspoken voices of terrorist propaganda.
He has been in war-torn Somalia for several years, fighting the secular government there with a group known as al-Shabaab, which has ties to Al Qaeda and was labeled a terrorist organization by the U.S. government last year. Only recently has he taken on a starring — and jarring — role in al-Shabaab's outreach efforts.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has been looking into him for several years. In fact, a grand jury in Mobile, Ala., has already indicted him on charges of providing material support to terrorists, a source said. It's unclear when the indictment was filed.
Al-Amriki first surfaced in October 2007, when Al-Jazeera TV aired a report about the "common goal" of Al Qaeda and hard-line militants in Somalia. The report described al-Amriki as "a fighter" and "military instructor," but he concealed his face with a cloth wrap throughout the report.
 

In April, he showed his face for the first time, during a highly-polished, 30-minute recruitment video posted online. It featured anti-American hip-hop and sporadic images of Usama bin Laden.
In the video, he purportedly led a group of al-Shabaab militants in an ambush of pro-government forces in Somalia. Speaking about one man killed in the fight, he said, "We need more like him, so if you can encourage more of your children and more of your neighbors, anyone around, to send people like him to this jihad, it would be a great asset for us."
The violent world that 25-year-old al-Amriki now inhabits is a stark contrast to the sleepy, suburban life he left behind.

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• Al Qaeda-Linked American Terrorist Condemns, Mocks Obama in New Audio Tape

He was born Omar Hammami in May 1984, and he grew up outside Mobile, Ala., in the city of Daphne.
Despite inching toward a population of 25,000 in recent years, Daphne still maintains "the ambience of a small town where the people are friendly and caring, and newcomers soon become good friends," according to the city's Web site. The city has streets with names like "Whispering Pines Road."
In fact, U.S. News & World Report calls it one of the "Best Places" in the country. And among Daphne's top assets, according to the city's Web site, are its "reputable schools."
Hammami attended Daphne High School. He was raised Baptist like his mother, but his father is Muslim, and "some time in high school" Hammami converted to Islam, a woman who went to high school with Hammami told FOX News.
The woman, Shellie Brooks, said she is not sure what led Hammami to convert. But the father of a student who went to school with Hammami said Hammami would tell others "he was not fulfilled by his Baptist experience."
Brooks said Hammami would take time out from classes throughout the day to pray.
"It was kind of odd just because it had never been done before," Brooks said. "There weren't many Muslims that went to Daphne High School. He basically just went outside, and you'd see him kneeling and praying as Muslims do."
She said, "Everybody was really accepting of it."
After converting, he frequented the Islamic Society of Mobile, one of the most popular mosques in the Mobile area. A call to the mosque was not returned.
As for Daphne High School, it looks like the all-American high school straight out of the TV show "Friday Night Lights" — complete with the picturesque football field and massive flood lights. Before classes each morning, a small group of students gathers in front of the school to hold hands in Christian prayer. A short time later, a different group carries out an American flag, lifts it to the top of a pole, and stands hands-over-hearts as the "Pledge of Allegiance" is recited over a loudspeaker.
The school's principal, Don Blanchard, remembers Hammami as a good student who didn't get into too much trouble.
"Omar, he was just one of us, he was a good kid," Blanchard said.
Brooks described Hammami as a "very intellectual guy."
"He was in honors classes, and any gifted classes he was in," she said. "He was really well liked. He had a tons of friends, and of course things changed a bit when he converted because his beliefs changed."
According to school yearbooks, Hammami didn't participate in any organized school activities. But his last school photo in 2001 shows a smiling, skinny boy with short hair — almost unrecognizable as Abu Mansour al-Amriki except for the unmistakable nose and ears. That same year, at age 17, he left high school a year early and enrolled at the University of South Alabama in Mobile.
Shortly after he started classes at the University of South Alabama, Al Qaeda launched the 9/11 attacks. A week later, the school newspaper The Vanguard ran a story about the impact the attacks might have on Muslim communities. It quoted the new president of the school's Muslim Student Association: Omar Hammami.
"Everyone was really shocked," Hammami told The Vanguard at the time. "Even now it's difficult to believe a Muslim could have done this."
Hammami told The Vanguard he was worried there could be misguided acts of retribution against Muslims.
"The only way to diffuse this is to get the word out," said Hammami, who would later drop out of college and travel to several countries before landing in Somalia. "With ignorance comes fear and with fear comes violence."
Violence is what Hammami, as al-Amriki, now says is necessary in Somalia — even as he remembers the life he left behind in Alabama.
"The only reason we're staying here away from our families, away from the cities, away from, you know, ice, candy bars, all these other things is because we are waiting to meet with the enemy," he said in the April video posted online.
Blanchard expressed surprise that the person he once knew could now be in Somalia.
"I guess you never know what's going to happen the next day, or what somebody, what influences they may have or come across that leads them on a path other than what it appeared that they might be on," Blanchard said.
Al-Amriki's most recent message came out in July, a month after President Barack Obama promised "a new beginning" with the Muslim world during a speech in Cairo.
"Despite the fact that you have been ... forced [by Muslim fighters] to at least pretend to extend your hand in peace to the Muslims, we cannot and shall not extend our hands," al-Amriki said in an audiotape. "Rather, we shall extend to you our swords, until you leave our lands."
The United States and other countries have recently been assisting Somalia's government in its battle against al-Shabaab. Somalia has had no stable government since 1991, when dictator Siad Barre was ousted from power. A newer secular government has had trouble keeping Muslim militants at bay, and in 2006 fighting with al-Shabaab intensified after Western-backed Ethiopian forces invaded Somalia. U.S. officials say if al-Shabaab prevails, Somalia could turn into a haven for Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups.
The FBI, in particular, has been keeping a close eye on al-Shabaab's moves. In addition to Hammami's case, for much of the past year the FBI has been looking into how dozens of young men from the Minneapolis area and elsewhere were recruited to train and possibly fight alongside al-Shabaab in Somalia.
In October 2008, 27-year-old college student Shirwa Ahmed of Minneapolis became "the first known American suicide bomber" when he blew himself up in Somalia, killing dozens, according to the FBI. Since then at least four more men from Minneapolis have been killed in Somalia, according to their families.
A grand jury in Minneapolis has been investigating the case for several months, and three men have already pleaded guilty to terror-related charges, including providing material support to terrorists. The indictments said the men traveled to Somalia "so that they could fight jihad" there.
The FBI in Mobile and Washington declined to comment for this article, referring questions to the U.S. Attorney's office in Mobile, which could not be reached.

How plot to bomb Clinton in Kenya was foiled

Oh! so the Mrs Clinton had her first taste of being in / on the field and missed the opurtunity to meet the jihadi plans. NATION

President Kibaki (right) and Prime Minister Raila Odinga (left) receive US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (centre) at the Agoa forum during her visit to Kenya in August. Photo/FILE 

By MUGUMO MUNENE, News EditorPosted Saturday, September 5 2009 at 22:30

A group of terrorists operating from Somalia had planned three bomb attacks in Nairobi during the visit by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last month, the Sunday Nation can reveal.
A senior counter-terrorism official has recounted how the terrorists planned to stage simultaneous attacks at the Hotel InterContinental, the Kencom Bus Stage and the adjacent Hilton Hotel. Mrs Clinton stayed at the Hotel InterContinental during her visit.
The plan was hatched in Somalia and thwarted by Kenyan security officials who intercepted communication between the plotters and their accomplices in Nairobi.
The security official – whose identity cannot be revealed without compromising antiterrorism operations – said that the terrorists linked to the Al Shabaab group had wanted to embarrass Kenyan and US governments but their plans were thwarted before the attackers could cross the border.
“The threats were neutralised a week to the Agoa meeting in combined efforts by the military and other security agencies,” the official said. “The operation in Nairobi netted five crucial suspects, one of whom carries Danish identification documents but is believed to be a Somali national. The other four, one of whom is a woman, hold Kenyan identification documents believed to be fake. Investigations into their identity and plan are on.”
The official added: “While in the past the real target of the attacks has been Western interests, the Al Qaeda leadership has since made Kenya a new target. So serious is the threat that during the Agoa meeting, the Al Qaeda intended to strike at the heart of Nairobi during the rush hours.”
According to the security official, the masterminds of the attack were in contact with Mr Saleh Nabhan, one of the most wanted men by the FBI, and whose personal assistant, a man identified as Anas, is believed to have been coordinating the plan.
Mrs Clinton was in Nairobi in August to officiate at trade talks between her government and African countries courtesy of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, an American law that seeks to promote trade between the US and Africa. While in Nairobi, Mrs Clinton and her entourage were booked at Hotel InterContinetal. She arrived in the country on August 4 and left on August 7.
To reassure themselves, Kenyan security officials detailed officers from the elite presidential guard to her entourage. The streets around the hotel and those adjacent to the Kenyatta International Conference Centre, the venue of the meeting, had been closed to normal traffic as part of the security measures.
The information about the threat and what Kenyan security officials did to stop the deadly plans was shared with US security officials and has also been captured in a security dossier prepared for circulation in top security echelons.
The presence of Al Shabaab operatives in the country, the Sunday Nation learnt, is facilitated by helpers living mainly in Mombasa and Nairobi’s Eastleigh, South B, South C and Komarock estates.

Last month, Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, Defence minister Yusuf Haji and Internal Security minister George Saitoti launched a public education programme in which political and religious leaders teamed up to discourage young men from North Eastern Province from recruiting into Al Shabaab.
Kenya has been in terrorism news since August 7, 1998 when bombers struck in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam killing close to 250 people and injuring close to 5,000. Later on November 29, 2002, terrorists struck in Mombasa, this time delivering a truckload of explosives to the Kikambala Paradise Hotel where they left 15 people dead. An attempt to bring down an Israeli jetliner which was taking off from the Moi International Airport failed.
Counter-terrorism officials are now investigating how Somali nationals are bribing their way into government offices and acquiring Kenyan identification documents.
“This has made Kenyan travel documents to be subjected to serious scrutiny by foreign governments,” says a government security brief seen by the Sunday Nation. “More recently, the Al Shabaab/Al Qaeda operatives have sought to penetrate the Kenyan justice system by going to court to bar deportation of their associates.”
The dossier talks of judges and court clerks who have previously been bribed by operatives but does not name them. During her visit, one of Mrs Clinton’s concerns that she raised with Kenyan leaders was about Somalia and the threat of extremism posed by al Shabaab. While in Kenya, Mrs Clinton met with Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.

Five dead in ongoing protest in China

The separatism in china is growing and the Uighars are revolting. Call it Islamic separatism or chinese oppression doesnt matter but the fire has been lit. IBNLIVE

Urumqi (China): Five people died in unrest this week in the far-west Chinese city of Urumqi, its deputy mayor said on Friday, after a third day of protests which were broken up by police using tear gas.

Han Chinese protesters massed in the capital of the Xinjiang region, angry at authorities they blamed for failing to control a spate of syringe attacks and being slow to bring to trial ethnic Uighurs charged with deadly rioting on July 5.

The demonstrations are a rare direct challenge to the government by middle class urbanites, and could inflame ethnic resentments as Beijing prepares to showcase the nation's achievements on October 1, the 60th anniversary of Communist rule.

Troops blocked protesters' access to neighbourhoods that are home to Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking Muslim people native to the energy-rich region.

Faced with deteriorating support among the majority Han Chinese, Beijing dispatched public security minister Meng Jianzhu to Urumqi, where he urged officials to "restore social order as soon as possible".

The unrest came two months after deadly ethnic riots swept the city, killing at least 197 people, most of them Han Chinese.

The July 5 riots began after police stopped Uighurs demonstrating against the deaths of Uighur factory workers attacked by Han co-workers in southern China in late June.

Among the five who died on Thursday, two were "innocent civilians", while police were still investigating the other deaths, Deputy Mayor Zhang Hong told a news conference.

However, he did not specify the ethnic backgrounds of the dead nor how they died.

On Thursday, thousands of Han Chinese demanded the resignation of the region's powerful Communist Party secretary, Wang Lequan, who has held the post for 14 years.

Friday's evening television news showed Wang grimly taking notes at a meeting held by public security minister Meng.

Meng repeated government accusations that separatists, trying to stir up instability, were behind the syringe attacks.

"Maintaining stability is the central task of overriding importance in Xinjiang at the present time," he said.

Twenty-one Uighurs had been detained for the syringe attacks, Zhang said, adding that four have already been indicted. Most of the victims were Han Chinese, he added, but other ethnicities were also attacked.

Syringe attack warnngs

Alarm spread after government text messages a week ago warned of attacks with syringes. Some parents were afraid to send their children to schools which opened earlier in the week.

In one protest, a group of young Han Chinese men unfurled a Chinese flag and tried to lead a march to the central People's Square shouting "safety".

Police snatched away the flag, but people returned later to march with some of the red propaganda banners that festoon the city.

Angry crowds confronted paramilitary troops and police at intersections, demanding "more rights for Han people".

"These Uighurs have been stabbing us with needles," said a man trying to push through barriers sealing off a Uighur neighbourhood. "We need to take care of the problem."

For Uighurs, the crowds were a frightening reminder of attacks on their neighbourhoods on July 7 when Han Chinese demanding revenge for the riots two days earlier.

Uighurs said many young men have been detained without cause since July.

"There have been many Uighurs beaten up," said a Uighur woman who paused on her way to work to watch the crowds.

"If you just brush against someone, they might think that you tried to stab them."

Xinjiang's population is divided mainly between Uighurs, long the region's majority group, and Han Chinese, many of whom moved there in recent decades and who now make up about half the population. Most Urumqi residents are Han.

"I think the government has been way too lax towards the Uighurs," said a Han shop owner who identified himself as Zhang.

"This policy has got to change. We shouldn't have all these minorities. We should only have one Chinese ethnicity."

China says Uighurs campaigning for independence are allied with Islamist militants in the region. Deadly bomb attacks have occasionally hit government targets in Xinjiang.

The Xinjiang government, apparently trying to calm tempers, announced on Thursday that 196 suspects have been charged over the July riot. Fifty-one were indicted and will face prosecution.

Urumqi hospitals are treating 531 victims of syringe stabbings, the Xinhua news agency said, with 106 of them "showing obvious signs of needle attacks".

Rumours of AIDS patients attacking people with hypodermic needles have previously rattled parts of China, but were later shown to be unfounded.

Afghan anger after scores die in NATO air strike

The fireworks and bloodbaths have come to stay here or so it looks like. Reuters

By Fraidoun Elham

KUNDUZ, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A U.S. warplane summoned by German troops fired on hijacked fuel trucks in Afghanistan before dawn Friday, killing as many as 90 people in an incident that could trigger a backlash against NATO.

NATO initially said it believed the casualties were all Taliban fighters, but later acknowledged that large numbers of wounded civilians were being treated in hospitals in the area.

Villagers said their relatives were siphoning fuel from the hijacked trucks and were burned alive in a giant fireball. Patients arrived in hospitals completely covered with burns.

President Hamid Karzai's office gave a death toll of 90. It said he was deeply saddened and had sent investigators.

"No civilians must be harmed during military operations," Karzai said in a statement. "Targeting civilians under no circumstances is acceptable."

The incident, which took place in the northern province of Kunduz, could reignite outrage against foreign troops two months after the new U.S. and NATO commander in the country announced measures to stop civilian deaths he says undermine the war.

Provincial officials, who themselves could face a backlash over civilian deaths, said Taliban fighters were killed as well as civilians. Provincial Governor Mohammad Omar said he believed half of those killed were militants, while provincial police chief Abdul Razzaq Yaqubi said 55 of the 90 dead were fighters.

Mohammad Sarwar, a tribal elder in the province, said Taliban fighters had hijacked the tankers and were offering fuel to a crowd of villagers when the tankers were bombed.

"We blame both the Taliban and the government," he said.

Reuters reporters saw several young men with severe burns arrive at the hospital by ambulance, where doctors said 13 people were being treated including three children.

Lieutenant-Commander Christine Sidenstricker, press officer for the U.S. and NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), said Afghan authorities had reported two fuel trucks hijacked. NATO aircraft spotted them on a river bank.

"After observing that only insurgents were in the area, the local ISAF commander ordered air strikes which destroyed the fuel trucks and killed a large number of insurgents," she said.

ISAF spokesman Brigadier-General Eric Tremblay later said: "It would appear that many civilian casualties are being evacuated and treated in the local hospitals."

A U.S. defense official said the strike was carried out by an American F-15 jet. Germany's Defense Ministry said permission to fire had been granted by a German commander on the ground.

The strike took place near the border with Tajikistan, in a part of the country once seen as safe but where Taliban attacks have become increasingly frequent and fighters have asserted control of remote areas. The Taliban consider fuel shipments a strategic target because NATO forces depend on them.

The Kunduz area is patrolled mainly by NATO's 4,000-strong German contingent which is barred by Berlin from operating in combat areas further south. Germany holds a general election in three weeks and the incident will add fuel to a raging domestic debate about a war that is deeply unpopular there.

NEW ORDERS

Preventing civilian deaths has been one of the main themes of the new ISAF commander, U.S. Army General Stanley McChrystal, who took command in June and says the main goal of the war is to defend Afghan civilians, not hunt down insurgents.

Under orders he issued in July, aircraft are not supposed to fire unless they are sure there is no chance civilians can be hurt, or they are responding to an immediate threat.

The United Nations deputy envoy in Kabul, Peter Galbraith, said an investigation must answer "why an air strike was employed in circumstances where it was hard to determine with certainty that civilians were not present."

A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said fighters had captured the two fuel tankers. One had become stuck in mud by a village, and the fighters went to try to tow it when residents gathered to siphon off the fuel and the crowd was struck.

U.S. President Barack Obama has made stabilizing Afghanistan a foreign policy priority although public support for the war has eroded as U.S. combat deaths have risen to record levels.

(Additional reporting by Hamid Shalizi and Peter Graff in KABUL, Hans-Edzard Busemann in Berlin, Avril Ormsby in London and Adnrew Gray in Washington; Writing by Peter Graff; Editing by Matthew Jones)

Afghan anger after scores die in NATO air strike

The fireworks and bloodbaths have come to stay here or so it looks like. Reuters

By Fraidoun Elham

KUNDUZ, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A U.S. warplane summoned by German troops fired on hijacked fuel trucks in Afghanistan before dawn Friday, killing as many as 90 people in an incident that could trigger a backlash against NATO.

NATO initially said it believed the casualties were all Taliban fighters, but later acknowledged that large numbers of wounded civilians were being treated in hospitals in the area.

Villagers said their relatives were siphoning fuel from the hijacked trucks and were burned alive in a giant fireball. Patients arrived in hospitals completely covered with burns.

President Hamid Karzai's office gave a death toll of 90. It said he was deeply saddened and had sent investigators.

"No civilians must be harmed during military operations," Karzai said in a statement. "Targeting civilians under no circumstances is acceptable."

The incident, which took place in the northern province of Kunduz, could reignite outrage against foreign troops two months after the new U.S. and NATO commander in the country announced measures to stop civilian deaths he says undermine the war.

Provincial officials, who themselves could face a backlash over civilian deaths, said Taliban fighters were killed as well as civilians. Provincial Governor Mohammad Omar said he believed half of those killed were militants, while provincial police chief Abdul Razzaq Yaqubi said 55 of the 90 dead were fighters.

Mohammad Sarwar, a tribal elder in the province, said Taliban fighters had hijacked the tankers and were offering fuel to a crowd of villagers when the tankers were bombed.

"We blame both the Taliban and the government," he said.

Reuters reporters saw several young men with severe burns arrive at the hospital by ambulance, where doctors said 13 people were being treated including three children.

Lieutenant-Commander Christine Sidenstricker, press officer for the U.S. and NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), said Afghan authorities had reported two fuel trucks hijacked. NATO aircraft spotted them on a river bank.

"After observing that only insurgents were in the area, the local ISAF commander ordered air strikes which destroyed the fuel trucks and killed a large number of insurgents," she said.

ISAF spokesman Brigadier-General Eric Tremblay later said: "It would appear that many civilian casualties are being evacuated and treated in the local hospitals."

A U.S. defense official said the strike was carried out by an American F-15 jet. Germany's Defense Ministry said permission to fire had been granted by a German commander on the ground.

The strike took place near the border with Tajikistan, in a part of the country once seen as safe but where Taliban attacks have become increasingly frequent and fighters have asserted control of remote areas. The Taliban consider fuel shipments a strategic target because NATO forces depend on them.

The Kunduz area is patrolled mainly by NATO's 4,000-strong German contingent which is barred by Berlin from operating in combat areas further south. Germany holds a general election in three weeks and the incident will add fuel to a raging domestic debate about a war that is deeply unpopular there.

NEW ORDERS

Preventing civilian deaths has been one of the main themes of the new ISAF commander, U.S. Army General Stanley McChrystal, who took command in June and says the main goal of the war is to defend Afghan civilians, not hunt down insurgents.

Under orders he issued in July, aircraft are not supposed to fire unless they are sure there is no chance civilians can be hurt, or they are responding to an immediate threat.

The United Nations deputy envoy in Kabul, Peter Galbraith, said an investigation must answer "why an air strike was employed in circumstances where it was hard to determine with certainty that civilians were not present."

A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said fighters had captured the two fuel tankers. One had become stuck in mud by a village, and the fighters went to try to tow it when residents gathered to siphon off the fuel and the crowd was struck.

U.S. President Barack Obama has made stabilizing Afghanistan a foreign policy priority although public support for the war has eroded as U.S. combat deaths have risen to record levels.

(Additional reporting by Hamid Shalizi and Peter Graff in KABUL, Hans-Edzard Busemann in Berlin, Avril Ormsby in London and Adnrew Gray in Washington; Writing by Peter Graff; Editing by Matthew Jones)

Car bomb damages stock exchange in Athens

The clear up's begun after a car bomb was detonated outside the Greek capital's stock exchange building..

Athens bourse attack reminds of BSE scar

Car bomb seems to have reached the greek capital. TOI

MUMBAI: The car bomb blast that has damaged the Athens Stock Exchange luckily seems to have only slightly injured one person.

The Greek government has denounced it as the work of a far left group, most probably the Revolutionary Struggle urban terrorist organisation, which was established after last year’s riots over the police shooting of a teenage boy. But whatever the local reasons, there are some in Mumbai who will feel a chill of recognition.

It is 16 years since the Bombay Stock Exchange was attacked during the 1993 bomb blasts in the city. Dalal Street has moved on since then, and shows next to no sign of the blasts, but there are still those who were wounded both physically and mentally, and who have grounds to regret the attraction that stock exchanges have always held for terrorists.

Such prominent symbols of capitalism are naturally tempting targets. And the fact that they tend to have more people moving through them and less security than major banks adds to their allure. Perhaps the first bomb attack on a stock exchange took place as far back as 1920 in New York. On September 16, a crude bomb made of dynamite was exploded, causing extensive damage mainly due to the 500 pounds of small weights that were packed with it.

In a prefiguring of many later attacks the bomb was loaded on a vehicle, a horse-drawn cart at that time, which was completely destroyed. 33 people were killed in what was the worst urban attack for a long time in the US.

Unusually, no one claimed to be behind the bombing, though suspicion fell on the several anarchist and violent labour movements at that time. Such violent attacks are thought to have been instrumental in undermining the electoral viability of the Communist movement in the US.

In more recent times exchange attacks were a speciality of the Irish Republic Army. In their struggle against the British government, such attacks were seen as a good way to destabilise London’s claims to being an international finance centre.

In 1990, they blew a hole in the London Stock Exchange, though no one was hurt thanks to the then IRA policy of tipping off the police in advance of an attack. The IRA’s aim was to cause fear and chaos rather than actual loss of lives.

But a couple of years later this caution was suspended in a devastating attack on the Baltic Exchange, the centre for international trade in shipping futures. Three people died in that attack and the building was so severely damaged it had to be demolished, giving way for the iconic new Swiss Re building on that spot, which is known as the Gherkin due its unusual shape. This has already become a symbol of the renewed strength of London as a financial centre.

The Baltic Exchange case shows the drawback with stock exchanges from the long term point of view of terrorists, especially the anti-capitalist kind. Far from being particularly vulnerable targets, stock exchanges are particularly suited to revive themselves.

Most trading is online today, making physical premises less important and ensuring that the victims are mostly just clerical and administrative staff.

Afghanistan deputy spy chief among 23 dead in blast

Reuters report

By Rafiq Sherzad

MEHTAR LAM, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed Afghanistan's powerful deputy head of intelligence and at least 22 other people in an attack on Wednesday claimed by the Taliban.

Abdullah Laghmani, deputy head of the National Directorate for Security, was one the highest-ranking security officials in President Hamid Karzai's government to be killed in the conflict. The Taliban said he was targeted for assassination.

In other developments, new preliminary vote tallies showed Karzai inching closer to a first-round victory in last month's presidential election but the outcome remains so close that fraud investigations could decide if a run-off is needed.

The poll was a major test for Karzai after eight years in power and for U.S. President Barack Obama's strategy of sending more troops to fight an increasingly lethal foe in what Washington sees as the frontline in its war on terrorism.

Laghman province governor Lutfullah Mashal, who escaped injury in the latest attack, told Reuters the bomber burst from a shop and blew himself up while officials were getting into cars outside a mosque in the provincial capital Mehtar Lam.

He said the 23 dead included two provincial officials as well as Abdullah Laghmani.

A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said the Islamist group had sent a suicide bomber to carry out the Mehtar Lam attack.

"Laghmani was one of the most important targets for the Taliban that we successfully eliminated," Mujahid said by telephone from an undisclosed location.

KARZAI LEADS

Afghanistan's election commission released new partial results from the presidential election which showed Karzai maintaining his lead over his main rival, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, 47.3 percent to 32.6 percent.

The tally, with more than 60 percent of polling stations counted, suggests Karzai could yet be on course to a win in a single round, although the outcome is close enough that investigations into fraud allegations could prove decisive.

Votes have yet to be tallied from many parts of the south where Karzai draws strong support. Abdullah accuses Karzai's camp of stuffing ballot boxes there on a massive scale.

An independent Electoral Complaints Commission, headed by a Canadian, is probing 652 complaints it considers serious enough to alter the outcome. It can set aside questionable ballots or order results from whole districts be excluded from the count.

A second round run-off must be held if no candidate wins more than 50 percent, most likely in early October.

President Obama's envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, said the process of counting ballots and investigating fraud needs to run its course.

"During the process there will be many claims of irregularities," he said in Paris, where he met officials from other donor countries to discuss Afghanistan. "It happens in democracies, even when they are not in the middle of a war."

International officials initially hailed the August 20 election because Taliban militants failed to scupper it. Those assessments have become more guarded as fraud charges have mounted.

Violence in Afghanistan this year reached its highest level since the Taliban were ousted by U.S.-backed Afghan forces in 2001 and escalated further in the run-up to the ballot.

Obama has sent thousands of extra troops to Afghanistan this year, the deadliest of the 8-year-old war for foreign troops.

HUGE ATTACK

The attack in Laghman was one of the biggest this year.

A Reuters witness in Mehtar Lam, a town in mountains about 100 km (60 miles) east of Kabul, saw a pickup truck carrying wounded people covered in blood. Eight ambulances left the scene headed toward Jalalabad, the nearest major city.

"By conducting such a vicious act and killing of religious scholars and innocents, the terrorists showed that they trample Islamic values on the orders of their masters and can go to any extent in committing a crime," Karzai said in a statement.

The commander of the 103,000-strong U.S. and NATO force in Afghanistan said this week the situation was serious and deteriorating and existing military strategy must be changed.

In rare good news, the United Nations reported that land under opium poppy cultivation had fallen by nearly a quarter this year. The biggest fall was in Helmand, Afghanistan's most violent province and site of major U.S. and British offensives this year.

Afghanistan produces 90 percent of the world's opium used to make heroin. Political leaders and military commanders believe the illegal trade funds the insurgency, fuels corruption and undermines the government they are fighting to support.

(Additional reporting by Hamid Shalizi, Sayed Salahuddin, Jonathon Burch in KABUL; Estelle Shirbon in PARIS; Writing by Peter Graff; Editing by Angus MacSwan) (For more Reuters coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan, see: here)

Al-Qaeda militant killed in North Caucasus

A member of Al-Qaeda has been killed by police, along with another militant, in Russia's Republic of Dagestan in the North Caucasus.

Suicide bomber kills 12 in Pakistan

A militant blew himself up at a police station in Pakistan's northwestern Swat Valley.

Georgian involvement in Afghan war - key to NATO door?

American military specialists are beginning to train Georgian troops set to join the war in Afghanistan. But, the question remains, what is behind Tbilisi's decision to throw their servicemen onto the frontline?

Arroyo to seek Africa help vs pirates

Global ntion enquirer 
Well may be but it needs an international will to face the sea pirates and wipe them off the seas. Unless somecountries supporting are cornered it cannot be achieved.

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MANILA, Philippines—President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will seek the support of the 53-nation African Union (AU) to combat international piracy, particularly in Somali waters, which has affected many Filipino sailors, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Monday.

The President’s lean delegation left for Tripoli Monday at the invitation of Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi for a special summit of the AU which coincides with the 40th anniversary of the Libyan Revolution.

The delegation is composed of Foreign Secretary Alberto G. Romulo, Labor Secretary Marianito Roque, National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales, Press Secretary Cerge M. Remonde and Foreign Undersecretary Rafael Seguis.

DFA spokesperson Ed Malaya told the Inquirer in an interview that based on a report of the Philippine embassy in Tripoli, all the activities lined up in Libya would be austere as they would take place during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

He said the President would immediately proceed to the summit that began on Sunday.

The AU, which is currently chaired by Libya, is the premier institution and principal organization for the promotion of an accelerated socioeconomic integration of the African continent. The summit will discuss peace and security issues on the African continent, including international anti-piracy efforts off the Somali coast.

A total of 42 Filipino seamen are still in the custody of Somali pirates. Different rebel groups now run most of Somalia even though a transitional federal government was recently recognized by the United Nations.

The International Maritime Bureau, a nonprofit organization helping fight sea piracy, said the number of ships attacked this year had doubled.

According to its latest report, a total of 78 vessels were boarded by pirates worldwide, 75 vessels were fired upon, and 31 vessels were hijacked with 561 crew taken hostage, 19 injured, seven kidnapped, six killed and eight missing.

President Arroyo warned of a “surge” in pirate attacks, particularly on Filipino seafarers.

“The East African monsoon is almost over and we can expect a surge in pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia,” she said in a speech shortly before boarding a Philippine Airlines flight at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at 12:10 a.m. Monday.

Ms Arroyo noted that more than 200 Filipino seafarers had suffered in the hands of African pirates, even if many of them had been freed.

“We are vigorously working to protect our seafarers and this is an issue where Africa’s collective efforts to bring stability and order to the affected areas will be crucial,” she said.

“Africa is increasingly important to the Philippines,” she said. “The peace and stability of Africa directly impact on our energy security, but more importantly, on the safely and welfare of many of our overseas Filipinos, including our seafarers.”

The Libya trip is also intended to boost the Philippines’ bid for observer status in the influential Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).

Ms Arroyo pointed out that African nations formed the majority in both the Non-Aligned Summit and the OIC.

She said the AU Summit “presents a unique and unparalleled platform for us to engage the leaders of Africa to support the first Special NAM Ministerial Meeting on Interfaith Dialogue and Cooperation for Peace and Development which the Philippines will host in December.

During the summit, the delegates will participate in three workshops on specific peace and security issues, an executive council meeting, and an assembly, according to the DFA.

On the sidelines of the summit, the President will engage the leaders of African states and push for stronger relations with the African continent.

The DFA said the summit would provide the President an opportunity to invite African states, which are also members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), to attend the first Special NAM Ministerial Meeting on Interfaith Dialogue and Cooperation for Peace and Development which the Philippines will host on Dec. 1-3.

Today, the President is set to meet with the leaders of Libya led by Gadhafi. She is also expected to meet with Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajakasa and Pakistan President Yousaf Raza Gillani.

US soldier killed by roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan

A US Soldier killed and who caes when a 100 and 1000 people killed by suicide bombers through decades. It doesnt even make in to the news pages. monster and critics

Kabul - A US soldier was killed in a roadside bomb blast in southern Afghanistan, the NATO alliance said Tuesday.
   The soldier, who was serving under the banner of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), died of wounds he sustained in a roadside explosion Monday, an ISAF statement said.
   The incident happened on the same day two other US soldiers and two British troops were killed in the southern province of Helmand in similar attacks.
   Monday's deaths took the total number of US soldiers killed in Afghanistan in August to 48, making it the deadliest month for US troops since their deployment to Afghanistan in late 2001.
   More than 300 foreign troops have lost their lives this year, more than in any other year since the invasion. More than 100,000 international troops from 42 nations are currently stationed in Afghanistan.
   A total of 210 British soldiers have also been killed in Afghanistan since the conflict began. During a visit to troops in Afghanistan Saturday, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown promised to provide greater protection from roadside bombs which have claimed dozens of lives in recent months.
   On Monday, NATO's top commander in the country, US general Stanley McChrystal, called for a revised strategy in the war against terrorism.
   McChrystal, in a strategic review of the war with the Taliban and their associates in al-Qaeda, called the situation 'serious' but said 'success is achievable and demanded a revised implementation strategy, commitment and resolve, and increased unity of effort.'
   Under US President Barack Obama's new strategy more than 20,000 additional US troops have been sent to Afghanistan to reverse gains made by the Taliban and to help create a functioning government.

Suicide Blast Kills 16 in Pakistan's Swat Valley

The blasts are in a series of attacks on the pakistani forces. VOA

By Ayaz Gul
Islamabad

A Pakistani police officer stands at the site of a suicide bombing in Mingora, the main town of Pakistan's troubled Swat Valley, Sunday, 30 Aug. 2009

Officials in Pakistan say a suicide bomb has killed at least 16 police recruits in the Swat region, where Taliban insurgents have had their stronghold until recently. This is the second major suicide bombing in the country's northwest within the past week, raising fears Taliban militants have regrouped and are hitting back.

Provincial Information Minister Iftikhar Hussain tells VOA the deadly suicide attack in Mingora, the main town of the Swat Valley, targeted a police training facility and instantly killed 14 people.

The minister says that up to 70 volunteers for a new community police force were holding their daily drills when a suicide bomber entered the training ground and detonated his explosives. He described condition of some of those wounded in the attack as critical.

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has condemned the attack and has reiterated Pakistan's resolve to fight militancy.

The Swat Valley was under the control of Taliban extremists for more than three years. Under intense international criticism and pressure the Pakistan army launched a major offensive in early May to secure Swat and surrounding districts. The military operation, officials say, has killed more than 1,800 militants and has driven out others from the scenic Pakistani region.

The fighting forced nearly a million people to flee Swat to safer areas. But most of the dislocated families have returned to their homes since the military declared the region cleared of militants in July. Pakistan has seen frequent suicide terrorist attacks within the past two years, killing nearly 3,000 people. But the violence had subsided since the Swat operation was launched and a U.S drone strike killed top Pakistani Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud.

Pakistani officials claimed the military successes have also caused infighting among Taliban groups over who should replace Mehsud. But insurgents have declared another militant commander, Hakeemullah Mehsud, as their new chief and have rejected reports of infighting among their ranks.

Observers say the attack in Swat, as well as a massive suicide bombing in the Khyber border region three days ago that killed more than 22 security personnel, indicate the Taliban have regrouped to hit back.  

Blast kills 16 Pakistan cadets; NATO trucks bombed

AP Islamabad please learn from the mistakes adn stop sponsoring terrorism coz, it can turn against you anytime as is evident.

By KAY JOHNSON and ASIF SHAHZAD (AP) – 1 day ago

ISLAMABAD — Bombings targeted a Pakistani police station and set a NATO fuel convoy ablaze Sunday, killing 16 cadets in the northwest's Swat Valley and threatening the supply line to international forces in Afghanistan in a separate attack near the border.

The two blasts hours apart and hundreds of miles from each other came as Pakistani officials said the Taliban were ramping up strikes to avenge recent setbacks, including the loss of territory to the military and the death of their top leader in a CIA missile strike near the Afghan border.

Pakistan's military has in recent months intensified its fight against the al-Qaida-linked extremists, who threaten stability in the nuclear-armed nation and are suspected of helping plot attacks against U.S. and NATO troops across the border in Afghanistan.

The suicide attack in Swat underlined the army's struggle to maintain order in the valley recently retaken from the militants, while the bomb on the NATO convoy — which sent flames through a line of backed-up fuel tankers at the border — killed one driver and destroyed 16 trucks.

At least 16 police cadets died Sunday after a suicide bomber sneaked into the courtyard where they were training in Swat's main town of Mingora and detonated his explosives, local government official Atifur Rehman said. It was the deadliest attack since an army offensive ended Taliban rule there.

Investigators later sifted through the blackened wreckage in the courtyard littered with body parts, shredded uniforms and police berets.

Authorities were looking into reports the attacker may have donned a uniform and slipped into the station posing as one of the dozens of recruits, Deputy Inspector General Idrees Khan of the district police said.

"We are investigating whether the bomber climbed over the wall of the police station, or whether he was already present among the police cadets," Khan said. He blamed the attack on a decision to relax a daily curfew in the area for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, and police quickly blocked off roads and ordered residents back indoors.

The army's offensive to take back the area was its largest in years after periodic peace deals with the militants. The Taliban's takeover of parts of Swat, a former tourist enclave, about two years ago became a symbol of their expansion in the mostly Muslim country of 175 million.

Pakistan's army says it is restoring order to the valley and surrounding areas, but Sunday's attack indicated that while the Taliban may no longer be able to impose their harsh interpretation of Islam there, life is far from normal for the hundreds of thousands who are now returning after fleeing the army's fierce three months of fighting to wrest back control.

Provincial minister Bashir Ahmed Bilour blamed the Taliban for the suicide attack and said Pakistanis must be "mentally prepared" for more bombings until the Taliban are crushed.

The Pakistani Taliban have vowed revenge after the loss of Swat and the death of their top leader, Baitullah Mehsud, in a CIA missile strike Aug. 5 further west near the Afghan border. At least 40 U.S. drones have fired missiles into Pakistan's lawless border areas, targeting militant leaders believed to threaten the war effort in Afghanistan.

The other blast Sunday ripped through a line of trucks ferrying fuel to NATO troops in Afghanistan, setting several oil tankers ablaze at a backed-up border crossing in southwestern Baluchistan province, police said.

The blast appeared to be the second terrorist attack in a week to target a border crossing.

Local police chief Hasan Sardar said flames and smoke were billowing into the sky Sunday night as authorities struggled to control the blaze near the Chaman border crossing in Baluchistan province in Pakistan's southwest.

Police officer Gul Mohammad said from the scene that a bomb was suspected. He said security officials had earlier found and defused another explosive device lying near one of the NATO tankers.

"This was another bomb, which we could not find in our earlier search, that exploded," Mohammad told the AP.

He said one driver who was asleep in his cab died, and 16 trucks were destroyed.

An eyewitness, Haji Mahmood, said he saw some men in a car and two on a motorcycle spraying the vehicles with a volley of bullets before the blast.

Chaman is one of two main crossing points for supplies for American and NATO troops fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan. The foreign troops get about 75 percent of their supplies through Pakistan.

Some 1,000 trucks, many of them NATO tankers, were backed up on the road leading to the border because the Chaman crossing had been closed for two days in a dispute between customs officials over fruit inspections, police officer Abdul Rauf said. Afghan officials closed the border on Saturday in retaliation for lengthy inspections by Pakistani customs that were holding up Afghan trucks carrying grapes and pomegranates, he said.

Rauf said that he heard the explosion and saw at least three oil tankers, two container trucks and two dump trucks on fire.

Another suicide bombing Thursday killed at least 19 guards further north at the Torkham border crossing, the other main route into Afghanistan and gateway to the famed Khyber Pass.

Associated Press Writer Matiullah Achakzai in Chaman contributed to this report.

No bomb fragments found in Jolo blast site

Phillipines hit by another bomb blast. terror has no boundaries and certainly no rules.

By Julie Alipala
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 17:37:00 08/31/2009

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines - The Western Mindanao Command said no fragment of the bomb that exploded Sunday night in Jolo, Sulu has been found.

Two soldiers were injured when an improvised bomb exploded on an interior road in the village of Bus-bus in Jolo, Sulu, on Sunday night.

But Maj. Gen. Ben Dolorfino, Western Mindanao Command chief, said it was surprising that not a single trace of fragment was recovered from the blast site.

"Walang na recover yung mga miyembro ng EOD (Members of the Exlosives and Ordnance Unit did not recover anything), but the explosion resulted in a two-foot crater along the road," he said.

Dolorfino declared the attack as the handiwork of terrorists. "Definitely it's terrorism," Dolorfino said, but he did not blame any specific group.

Supt. Alibuddin Esmail, provincial police chief, said those who planted the bomb were just trying to make their presence felt.

"Nagpaparamdam lang at walang intention pumatay. Nagpaparamdam na nandiyan pa sila (They just want to make their presence felt)," he said.

Esmail said the bomb was planted near the premises of Philippine Air Force camp and the local Department of Public Works and Highways office, not near the airport as earlier reported.

Dolorfino said two members of the 545th Engineering Brigade -- Private First Class Nasser Asid and Pfc. Sajirun Jamil -- sustained shrapnel wounds on their backs.

Dolorfino said the soldiers were on their way back to camp and were riding on a motorcycle when the bomb exploded as they passed by the road.

Indonesian police: Terrorist infiltrated airline

AP Well tried and Indonesian police stop sleeping man. You need to pick up the challenge and then everything will settle down. Coz there is no alternative to fighting back.

By NINIEK KARMINI (AP) – 1 day ago

JAKARTA, Indonesia — A suspect wanted in connection with hotel suicide bombings in the Indonesian capital infiltrated the national airline in a plot to carry out a "bigger attack," the police chief said Monday.

The suspect, identified only as Syahrir, was recruited by a militant network and had been working as a technician with the airline, Garuda Indonesia, said National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri.

Documents seized by police uncovered the plot to strike Indonesia's airline sector, he said, without providing details about when or how the attack was supposed to have taken place.

Syahrir resigned from the airline and remains at large, Danuri said.

The blasts at the J.W. Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels on July 17 killed seven people and wounded more than 50 others, ending a four-year pause in terror attacks in the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation.

Syahrir is the brother-in-law of a militant suspect shot dead by police earlier this month in an hours-long standoff in Central Java province, Danuri said.

The dead suspect, Ibrohim, had been working as a florist at the two hotels for years before smuggling in explosives and the bombers for the July attacks, police say.

Danuri declined to provide further information to reporters after making his comments to parliament's foreign affairs and security committee, but the details appear to support theories by terrorism experts that militants infiltrated potential targets years in advance.

Additional evidence was also found about a plot to assassinate President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in retaliation for the execution of three convicted Bali bombers in 2008. Danuri provided no further details.

Police were still searching for several suspects in the recent hotel bombings, including the alleged mastermind, Noordin Muhammad Top, said to head a breakaway faction of the regional terrorist network Jemaah Islamiyah.

Indonesia suffered bombings between 2002 and 2005 that together killed more than 240 people, most of them foreign tourists on the resort island of Bali.

Danuri said 455 suspected militants have been detained in Indonesia since 2002, and 347 received prison sentences ranging from a few months to the death penalty. Some 192 have served prison terms and been released.

One of the four fugitives in the Jakarta hotel bombings was a convicted bomb-maker named Urwah who was sentenced to seven years but released and "returned to his old habitat," Danuri said.

Police have said they were investigating the possibility the July bombings were carried out with foreign funding, which terrorism experts believe could indicate links to al-Qaida.

Authorities say the terrorism network was involved in four major attacks in Indonesia, including the two Bali bombings in 2002 and 2005, the J.W. Marriott bombing in 2003, and a blast at the Australian Embassy also in Jakarta in 2004.

Car bomb in southern Russia kills 1, injures 13

ETAIWANNEWS

A man who was stopped by traffic police in Russia's southern region of Dagestan detonated explosives in his car Tuesday, killing a passer-by and injuring 13 other people.Dagestan Interior Ministry spokesman Mark Tolchinsky said the blast occurred at a traffic checkpoint on the outskirts of Dagestan's capital city, Makhachkala. Tolchinsky told the AP that the police post was partly destroyed in the blast. In stopping the car, the traffic police managed to avert a large-scale terrorist attack in Makhachkala, Dagestan's Interior Minister Ali Magomedov said in a statement. Dagestan suffers such attacks frequently. The violence, which plagues a broader area within Russia's North Caucasus, stems from two bloody wars in nearby Chechnya and is blamed on separatists. Russian news agencies reported a separate blast in Chechnya Tuesday that injured three troops belonging to the region's Interior Ministry. This year has seen an intensification in such attacks. The director of Russia's main security agency the Federal Security Service told Russian news agencies Tuesday that he had received a presidential order to "prepare and realize additional measures to neutralize the terrorist threat" in the region. It was unclear what that meant. Russia earlier this year announced an end to large-scale counterterrorism operations in Chechnya and other regions that was introduced for postwar stability, but the attacks have continued nonetheless. Ingushetia, a sliver of land to Chechnya's west, has suffered possibly the worst of this year's violence. Its leader was almost killed in a suicide bomb blast in June. Another suicide bomber drove a van full of explosives into a police station last month, killing 21 people _ mostly police. Russia's worst terrorist attack occurred exactly five years ago in the North Caucasus town of Beslan, in North Ossetia. On Tuesday relatives of 334 people killed in a botched attempt to rescue over 1,000 hostages from a local school mourned their dead.

Years wasted in Afghan effort, UN official says

Well its a realistaion that has not come very late but nevertheless co-ordinated and concerted efforts do pay off. Yahoo

By JASON STRAZIUSO, Associated Press Writer Jason Straziuso, Associated Press Writer – 2 hrs 55 mins ago

KABUL – The international community has wasted years in Afghanistan by not coordinating its efforts, a top U.N. official said Tuesday on the eve of a meeting by U.S. and European envoys to discuss the country's recent election and deteriorating security.
Senior officials from 27 countries — including special U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke — were to meet Wednesday in Paris, where officials were expected to urge Afghans to take more responsibility in the almost eight-year international effort to rebuild the country.
Kai Eide, the top U.N. official in Afghanistan, said the international community needs to embrace well-coordinated, big-picture goals that will help Afghanistan in the long term.
"The piecemeal approach is not going to get results," Eide said. "Enough is enough with the piecemeal approach."
Eide did not elaborate, but he and other critics have complained that foreign governments tend to favor funding small, relatively easy projects without a national impact rather than major missions — such as overhauling the transport network — which would serve as an economic engine for the whole country.
The Paris meeting comes as the country faces mounting security and political challenges. Fighting is increasing; August was the deadliest month of the war for U.S. forces with at least 49 deaths, followed closely by July with 44.
Uncertainty over the outcome of last month's presidential election hang over the political front following delays in the vote count and allegations of widespread fraud.
Vote tallies released Monday from the Aug. 20 balloting showed President Hamid Karzai leading with 45.8 percent. Challenger Abdullah Abdullah trailed with 33.2 percent. Ballots have been counted from almost half of the country's voting stations. Karzai needs 50 percent of the votes to avoid a runoff.
Hundreds of Afghans from the country's ethnic Pashtun south — Karzai's stronghold — met with Abdullah in Kabul on Tuesday to show their support. The tribal leaders alleged that massive fraud had taken place in the south, and that some districts that had no voting stations still somehow sent thousands of ballots to Kabul to be counted.
The support from the Pashtun tribesman is significant in a country where tribal allegiances trump almost everything. Karzai is an ethnic Pashtun, while Abdullah is half Tajik and half Pashtun, but is primarily seen as the northern, Tajik candidate.
Abdullah, who has also accused Karzai's supporters of intimidating voters and large-scale ballot-stuffing, said Tuesday he would not strike a deal in order to achieve "power or position" in office.
"I would like to assure you that I will not make any deal over your rights and the trust you have in me; I am not ready for any kind of deal," Abdullah told supporters at a meeting in Kabul.
He also said he was ready to challenge any decision he sees as violating the constitution. "We have legal ways, peaceful ways to struggle to win our rights, and we will not ignore our right," he said.
Although he didn't mention what legal steps he would take, Abdullah appeared to hope election officials would send the election into a second round.
On the other side of town, a group of about 60 pro-Karzai parliamentarians called on Afghans to let the election commission carry out its work. A written resolution said that the encouragement of Afghans to protest the election results would "disrespect the blood of those countryman who devoted their lives to provide the opportunity to hold this election" — a message likely aimed at Abdullah supporters.
"Any announcement of not accepting the results of the election would cause violence and instability in the country and that can cause a serious negative effect on democracy and national interest in our country," the resolution said.
As Abdullah ramps up his accusations that Karzai supporters committed widespread fraud, many fear that Abdullah supporters could take to the streets.
U.S. officials had hoped the presidential election would establish an Afghan government with the legitimacy to combat the Taliban, corruption and the country's huge drug trade. The fraud allegations, however, have raised the specter of more violence.
Taliban attacks spiked this summer, and U.S. military leaders are considering asking for more troops to combat the increasing violence.
President Barack Obama has already committed 21,000 new American forces to Afghanistan this year — an increase that will bring the total U.S. commitment to 68,000 by the end of the year. A record 100,000 U.S. and NATO troops are stationed in Afghanistan.
An American service member died Tuesday of wounds suffered in a bombing the day before in southern Afghanistan, the U.S. command said.
The death was the first for the U.S. in September and comes after the deadliest month of the eight-year Afghan war for American troops. At least 49 U.S. troops died in Afghanistan in August, according to a count by The Associated Press based on official announcements.
___
Associated Press reporter Rahim Faiez contributed to this report.

UN condemns ETimor militia leader's release

well be it the militia or otherwise they have fought and the result was material enough to justify their fight. He has been in jail and is been given amnesty. Does the International community need to poke in every issue of an independent nation. Yahoo

Tue Sep 1, 10:57 am ET

DILI (AFP) – The United Nations condemned Tuesday the release of an Indonesian former militia leader accused of taking part in a massacre of civilians in East Timor in 1999.
The UN said earlier this week that Martenus Bere had been released Sunday ahead of national celebrations commemorating 10 years since East Timor won independence from Indonesia in a UN-backed referendum.
East Timor's government has refused to confirm Bere's release but Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah told AFP on Tuesday that Bere had already been moved from detention to Indonesia's embassy in Dili.
"He's still in Dili and we're now processing his return to Indonesia," Faizasyah said.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokeswoman Marie Okabe said in a statement Tuesday that the UN position was clear.
"If the reports are true, his release is contrary to the Security Council resolutions which set up the UN Mission in (East Timor) and seriously undermines the global principle of accountability for crimes against humanity," Okabe said.
"The UN's firm position is that there can be no amnesty or impunity for serious crimes such as war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
"In that context, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights strongly opposes the release of someone for whom an arrest warrant of this nature has been established."
Bere was detained in East Timor on August 8, five years after being indicted for his role in the 1999 Suai Church massacre, in which up to 200 people were killed.
Timor's leadership has been criticised for opposing prosecution for those responsible for abuses during Indonesia's bloody 1975-1999 occupation of the half-island, which killed around 100,000 people.
President Jose Ramos-Horta says restoring good relations with Indonesia is more important than "prosecutorial justice", and has said he will not let his country be used as an "experiment" in international justice.
The opposition Fretilin party however says he is out of touch with the East Timorese people, many of whom continue to demand justice for gross human rights abuses committed during the Indonesian occupation.

Nigeria amnesty panel says in talks with militant leaders

The African continent has been distrubed area for a long time and more and more diplaced internally, victims are moving and growing. Here is an effort to amnesty. Yahoo

38 mins ago

ABUJA (AFP) – A Nigerian presidential panel on implementing an amnesty for armed activists announced Tuesday that it was holding "informal talks" with key leaders of the various groups in the oil-rich Niger Delta.

"We, members of the amnesty panel, are in informal talks with everybody including Tompolo and Ateke Tom," the panel's spokesperson, Timiebi Koripamo-Agary, told AFP.

Government "Tompolo" Ekpemupolo of the Federated Niger Delta Ijaw Communities and Ateke Tom of the Niger Delta Vigilante force are two of the leaders of the region's militant groups, which have in the past three years sabotaged oil installations and kidnapped hundreds of oil workers.

"There is no negotiation, no formal dialogue but we are in talks informally, explaining to them that it is in their best interest to embrace the amnesty offered them," Koripamo-Agary said.

President Umaru Yar'Adua last June declared an unconditional amnesty for all militants in the region who laid down arms to embrace peace.

The amnesty runs from August 6 to October 4.

In response, the most sophisticated of the militant groups, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) declared a 60-day truce.

While some of the activists have publicly denounced the militancy and surrendered their arms, there are yet many other groups yet undecided on the amnesty offer.

Militant activities have disrupted operations of oil companies in southern Nigeria, resulting in a sharp decline in production and consequently a loss of revenue for the country.

Groups such as MEND say that they are fighting to ensure that the people of the Niger Delta benefit from the oil income.

Iraq: Key figures since the war began

Some facts woth a look on IRAQ action by the International forces. AP on YAHOO

By The Associated Press The Associated Press – 18 mins ago

U.S. TROOP LEVELS:

_October 2007: 170,000 at peak of troop buildup.

_Aug. 31, 2009: 130,000

CASUALTIES:

_Confirmed U.S. military deaths as of Sept. 1, 2009: at least 4,337.

_Confirmed U.S. military wounded (hostile) as of Aug. 31, 2009: 31,483.

_Confirmed U.S. military wounded (non-hostile, using medical air transport) as of Aug. 1, 2009: 38,199.

_U.S. military deaths for Aug. 2009: 7. This is the lowest number since the war began in March 2003.

_Deaths of civilian employees of U.S. government contractors as of June 30, 2009: 1,395.

_Iraqi deaths in August 2009 from war-related violence: at least 425, up from last month's 309, which was one of the lowest numbers of Iraqis killed since the AP began tracking war-related fatalities in May 2005.

_Assassinated Iraqi academics as of June 16, 2009: 423.

_Journalists killed on assignment as of Sept. 1, 2009: 139.

COST:

_Nearly $679 billion, according to the National Priorities Project.

OIL PRODUCTION:

_Prewar: 2.58 million barrels per day.

_Aug. 26, 2009: 2.33 million barrels per day.

ELECTRICITY:

_Prewar nationwide: 3,958 megawatts. Hours per day (estimated): 4-8.

_Aug. 25, 2009, nationwide: 6,490 megawatts. Hours per day: not available.

_Prewar Baghdad: 2,500 megawatts. Hours per day: not available.

Note: Current nationwide figure for average hours of electricity per day and Baghdad figures for the average amount of electricity generated (megawatts) are no longer reported by the U.S. State Department's Iraq Weekly Status Report.

TELEPHONES:

_Prewar land lines: 833,000.

_July 30, 2009: 1,200,000.

_Prewar cell phones: 80,000.

_July 30, 2009: An estimated 17.7 million.

WATER:

_Prewar: 12.9 million people had potable water.

_July 30, 2009: 21.2 million people have potable water.

SEWERAGE:

_Prewar: 6.2 million people served.

_July 30, 2009: 11.3 million people served.

INTERNAL REFUGEES:

_July 2009: at least 2,764,111 are currently displaced inside Iraq.

EMIGRANTS:

_Prewar: 500,000 Iraqis living abroad.

_June 5, 2009: more than 1.5 million.

All figures are the most recent available.

___

Sources: The Associated Press, State Department, Defense Department, Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, The Brookings Institution, U.N. High Commission for Refugees, International Organization for Migration, Committee to Protect Journalists, National Priorities Project, The Brussels Tribunal, and the U.S. Department of Labor.

___

AP news researchers Julie Reed and Rhonda Shafner compiled this report.