12:52PM - Abu Hamza to Be Extradited to the US
Hook-handed radical Islamist Abu Hamza al-Masri is to be extradited from Britain to the US. Article here.
Pamphlets purportedly from Baitullah Mehsud, a top man among insurgents fighting against Pakistan government forces, call for a cessation of violence by his followers. Those who don't comply risk punishment.
Details at BBC.
IHT is reporting that Justice Ministers in the EU say they will strengthen anti-terror regulations across all 27 countries. Those with weaker law will be brought up to par. Laws against incitement, terrorist recruiting and training will be strengthened.
A UK court has convicted several British Muslim men for charges which included raising funds for the insurgency in Iraq, as well as soliciting murder, and encouraging the murder of Coalition troops during the battle of Falluja and elsewhere. The six men convicted included Abu Izzadeen, Simon Keeler, Abdul Muhid and Shah Jalal Hussain. Some of the men were already serving time for other similar charges. Details.
Things are heating up in Pakistan as clashes between the locals and the Deobandi Sunni extremists leave several dead. A page with several links to stories here.
Richard Butler, a journalist for CBS who was kidnapped in Basra, has been discovered and freed by Iraqi police. Butler was kidnapped in February. The discovery of the journalist followed a firefight with occupants of the house where the hooded captive was being held. Two men escaped, one was captured and one killed. Details at National Post.
Al Sadr "Lieutenant" Riyadh al-Nouri has been assassinated by unknown gunmen near his home in Iraq today. Details at AP, including information on reactions here. (The article also has up to date information regarding recent US/Coalition military successes against those attacking Iraqi government and Coalition forces).
Nasreen Suleaman has revealed in UK court testimony that although she knew of a connection between a man she was interwiewing for a documentary and jihadis involved in the London Tube bombing she did not advise the interiewee to go to the police. Nor did she go to the police herself. Read about it at Jihad Watch.
Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced that Iran will add 6,000 nuclear centrifuges to the 3,000 they already have operating. Details and background at Breitbart.
5 days of fighting in Iraq followed the Iraqi Government's* disarmament demands to the Shi'ia militias. But the fighting in large part may be over. ISF pressure backed by Coalition tactical support in Basra and elsewhere has caused strong man and Shi'ia cleric Muqtada al Sadr to call off his Mahdi Army according to this report from BBC.
*In the person of Nouri al-Maliki, Iraqi Prime Minister. PM Maliki is a Shi'ia.
Important Arab heads of state who would normally attend the upcoming Arab summit hosted by Syria are staying away this time. Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt are instead sending representatives to the Arab summit meeting this weekend in Damascus. Yemen is sending their Vice-President. Lebanon, long a victim of Syria's violent interference in their internal affairs, is boycotting the gathering completely. The 5 leaders are no-shows because of Syrian President Bashar Assad's continuing support for Iran and their terrorist proxies, Hamas and Hezbollah. Analysts say it will send a powerful symbolic message not only to the Syrian leader and his Ba'athist regime, but also throughout the region according to this report from AP.
Two days of Mahdi Army violence in Basra and Baghdad (which included mortar attacks against the Green Zone) have broken the previous successful ceasefire called by their leader Mouqtada al Sadr. Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has told the Sadrists to turn over their weapons or else. If they do not they'll face the full brunt of the Iraqi security forces. (These Iraqi forces are just beginning prove themselves independently of the US Army). Details of the broken ceasefire at AP.
Top al Qaeda men responsible for training Britons to commit acts of jihadi terror have been tried, found guilty and sentenced in the UK. From AP:
Mohammed Hamid, who dubbed himself "Osama bin London," was sentenced to at least 7 1/2 years, but was told he could remain in jail for longer if authorities believe he continues to pose a risk to national security.More here.
Atilla Ahmet, who claimed to be the top al-Qaida organizer in Europe, was jailed for six years and 11 months.
Authorities say the pair trained hundreds of recruits at camps in picturesque rural spots, including a gang of East African men who made a failed attempt to bomb London's transit network on July 21, 2005 - two weeks after the July 7 subway and bus strikes that killed 52 commuters.
Iranian Grad rockets have hit Ashkelon, Israel over the weekend. Grads are capable of reaching farther into Israel from Gaza launch sites than the more rudimentary Qassams. The Grads are thought to have been smuggled into Gaza following the breach of the Egyptian border wall. Story here.
Pete Hegseth describes the sea change he's seeing in al Doura, Baghdad, Iraq, the neighborhood he knew as a war zone earlier in the war. Lively shops, street vibrancy and ability to go about unarmed among the people speak to the success of the surge, he says. Find the article at NRO.
Imad Mughniyeh, the man responsible for the deaths of 261 our Marines in Beirut, Lebanon during the Reagan administration has been assassinated in Lebanon. A longtime leader of Hezbollah, he was also responsible for the torture-murder of US Navy Diver Robert Stethem during the hijacking of TWA flight 857. Details.
USS Stethem website.
Correction: Muginiyeh was not killed in Lebanon, but in Damascus, Syria. Reports conflict as to the location and possible means of death. From an AP report:
Press TV reported that Mughniyeh was leaving his house and about to get into his car when it exploded. However, LBC, a Lebanese television station, said Mughniyeh was attending a ceremony at the Iranian school in Damascus and was killed as he left the function.Hezbollah is a terror group created and sponsored by Iran.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and 5 other detainees at Guantanamo Bay will be charged for capital crimes. From the International Herald Tribune:
The men will be charged with conspiracy and murder "in violation of the law of war," and with attacking civilians and civilian targets, terrorism and support of terrorism, Brigadier General Thomas Hartmann of the air force, legal adviser to the Defense Department's Office of Military Commissions, said at a Pentagon news briefing. He added that the detainees would be shown all the evidence against them and be afforded the same rights as American soldiers accused of crimes.More here.
Hook-handed radical Islamist Abu Hamza al-Masri is to be extradited from Britain to the US. Article here.
Five men were found guilty today in helping the London Transport bombers of 21 July, 2005 evade capture. The charges carry from 7 to 17 years.
The men's profiles and background info is available here.
A new law will allow members of Saddam's Ba'athist Party to reclaim their jobs in Iraq. Details from AP at Breitbart.
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