Archive for category Southeast Asia

foreshadowing

Jan 20

Posted by A. Peasant in 9-11, Afghanistan, CIA, Clinton, Corruption & Crime, Diplomats, India, Military, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Philippines, Southeast Asia, Terrorism | No Comments

Robert Gates, Secretary of Defense, warns that South Asian militant groups threaten to destabilize the entire region and could trigger a war between “nuclear armed Pakistan and India.”

(Just for the record, India is also “nuclear armed.“)

Watch Mr. Gates reflect anxiety, set expectations, and proactively absolve India for whatever it might do in response to “some provocative act:”

Reflecting anxiety in the region about New Delhi’s reaction if it were attacked by a militant group with roots in Pakistan, Mr Gates said restraint by India could not be counted on. He added that militants under Al-Qaeda’s ’syndicate’ - which includes the Taleban in Pakistan and Afghanistan, as well as Pakistan-based Islamist group Lashkar-e-Taiba - posed a danger to the region as a whole.

They are trying ‘to destabilise not just Afghanistan, not just Pakistan, but potentially the whole region by provoking a conflict perhaps between India and Pakistan through some provocative act,’ Mr Gates said during a visit to New Delhi. ‘It’s important to recognise the magnitude of the threat that the entire region faces,’ he said following talks with his Indian counterpart, A.K. Antony.

…’I think it’s not unreasonable to assume India’s patience would be limited were there to be further attacks,’ Mr Gates warned.

New Delhi suspects the Pakistani intelligence service of supporting terror groups that target India and has consistently called on Islamabad to crack down on militants operating on its soil. Mr Gates described India as a vital partner in the struggle against extremist threats, expressed appreciation for its economic aid to Afghanistan and said that he had discussed how to bolster US-India military cooperation.

It appears that whatever happens, Pakistan will be blamed. If India retaliates — even out of proportion — it sounds like that will be overlooked by the US, given that it’s not “unreasonable to assume India’s patience would be limited were there to be further attacks.”

Interesting. Which country has suffered more from terrorism in recent memory? India, or Pakistan?

India had the Mumbai attack in 2008 (173 deaths). India blames Pakistan for Mumbai.

Meanwhile, in 2009 alone, over 3,500 people have died from terrorist attacks in Pakistan.

And who is responsible for all the terrorism in Pakistan? Good question.

The Pakistan government has been provided a variety of proofs of involvement of Indian government and especially the Indian intelligence agency behind the continuous chaos in various parts of Pakistan, particularly NWFP province’s Malakand division and tribal agencies of North and South Waziristan where Pakistan army is fighting a war against terrorists.

…These investigations indicate that the Pakistani law enforcing agencies found highly credible evidence proving that the Indians were not only giving comprehensive financial support to terrorists in Balochistan but were also providing them with huge caches of all sorts of weapons and other military equipment.

…The Daily Mail’s [of Pakistan -- ed.] findings indicate that not only this but the Pakistani security forces also seized a large amount of Indian currency and Indian medicines from the deserted or conquered hideouts of militants in different operations in Swat and Waziristan.

… In addition, the security forces also seized huge amount of currency bills of Indian currency either from the arrested militants or from the captured hideouts. The investigations reveal that trade in Indian currency in all parts of Afghanistan is quite open and normal and one can buy anything at anywhere with Indian currency in any part of Afghanistan. According to some reports, the Indian currency is more acceptable than the US Dollar in Afghani business markets.

^^^^^^^

Over the last several weeks the contrived Clash of Civilizations has flared up in Malaysia over the use of the word Allah in Christian churches. After a week or two of that, the US Embassy in Malaysia warned that tourists to the Sabah state were at risk of attack by criminal and terrorist groups.

This warning precipitated a prompt response. The Malaysian government tightened security and quickly dismissed the warning. The Malaysian government then summoned the US envoy for an explanation of the misleading advisory.

This is the explanation:

The US advisory did not give details of the possible threat, but noted that Al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf militants based in the southern Philippines - a short boat ride from Sabah - have kidnapped foreigners from Sabah’s secluded resort areas in the past.

^^^^^^^

Abu Sayyaf has an outstanding terrorist pedigree. It can be linked back to Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda, 911, the CIA, ISI, etc.

In particular, for the purposes of this thread, the Abu Sayyaf can be linked back to Pakistan.

[Privilege speech of Sen. Aquilino Pimentel at the Senate, July 31, 2000]

In the early 1980s, the CIA actively recruited, “armed and supported” moujahideens or volunteer Muslim warriors to fight the CIA sponsored-US proxy war in Afghanistan against the Russians who had invaded the country in 1979 and had put up a puppet regime there. Chalmers Johnson, Blowback, p. 13 et

Thousands of Muslim fighters from many parts of the world, including many young men from the Muslim-dominated areas in Mindanao, enlisted to fight in Afghanistan. After all, the dollar-denominated monthly pay plus incentives of $100 to $300 a month was certainly attractive enough for the jobless and impoverished Muslim youths. John K. Cooley, Unholy Wars, p. 107

These young warriors were, then, trained to – and many did - fight in Afghanistan supported with funds and equipment by the CIA and its network of friendly foreign funders which at that time included Osama bin Ladin, a highly successful Arab business man in the construction industry. Bin Ladin subsequently fell out of grace with the CIA which has since been trying to get him either literally or extradited to the US for his complicity in the bombing of the World Trade Center in New York in 1993.

…In the case of the Filipino Muslim Moujahideens, most came back to various parts of Mindanao from their base in Peshawar, Pakistan.

In the words of John K. Cooley in his book, Unholy Wars, “This group (of Filipino Muslim Moujahideens) was the core of an armed guerilla band of several hundred men who xxx moved from its Peshawar, Pakistan base to the southern Philippine Islands after the end of the Afghan war. Under the name of the Abu Sayyaf group, it operated on the fringe of the Moros Muslim insurgency.”

Thus was the Abu Sayyaf born.

The Abu Sayyaf took its name from Professor Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, an Afghan intellectual, who had preached an ultra-conservative Islamic ideology called Wahabi.

Cooley calls the Abu Sayyaf in the 1990s as “the most violent and radical Islamist group in the Far East, using its CIA and ISI (Pakistan’s intra-military directorate for intelligence services) training to harass, attack and murder Christian priests, wealthy non-Muslim plantation-owners and merchants and local government in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao.” [p. 63]

Thus we can see that the CIA and ISI created this problem, the Abu Sayyaf, with an assist from Saudi Arabia, which spawned Wahhabism.

According to Senator Aquilino Pimentel, military and police personnel then cultivated informers within the Abu Sayyaf, and some members received military intelligence services IDs, safe-houses, safe-conduct passes, firearms, cell phones and financial support. In his speech, he demanded that these traitors to the Philippines be held accountable for their corruption.

Since that speech in 2000, the Abu Sayyaf has certainly not been contained. They operate from the island of Jolo. It appears they stepped up their attacks in 2009.

In 2000, Abu Sayyaf took about 20 people – most of them Western tourists – captive from an island resort across the Malaysian border. They were all released within three months after the Libyan government paid a ransom of around $10 million, media reports said at the time.

…Last year [2008], Muslim rebels generated more than 22 million pesos (SFr528,000) in ransom payments from at least six kidnappings, including the high-profile abduction of three members of a local television network, according to the Philippines military.

…About two dozen people have been kidnapped in 12 incidents on two restive southern islands since January [2009], authorities say.

In September 2009, two US Navy men and one Filipino Marine were killed in a roadside bomb.

Abu Sayyaf is believed to have about 400 fighters, to have received funds from al-Qaida and is suspected of sheltering militants from the larger Southeast Asian terror group Jemaah Islamiyah. An estimated 600 U.S. troops are currently stationed in the Philippines, mostly in the southern front lines of the Philippine military’s operations against the Abu Sayyaf group and Jemaah Islamiyah.

In November 2009, the group beheaded a teacher.

In December 2009, they burst through a jail wall and freed 31 inmates.

^^^^^^^

In July of 2009, the Philippine government deployed hundreds of troops on Jolo and Basilan islands to finish off the 400 member Abu Sayyaf.

Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro ordered the military last week to launch new assaults against the militants on Jolo and Basilan islands after the militants freed Italian hostage Eugenio Vagni — the last of three Red Cross aid workers who were kidnapped on Jolo in January. Without any hostages to worry about, government forces can now carry out more offensives, regional military commander Maj. Gen. Benjamin Dolorfino said.

…The government has opened peace talks with a bigger Muslim separatist group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), but the Abu Sayyaf is not covered by the talks. A report by the US Pacific Command describes the Abu Sayyaf as “a cross between a chilling gang of bandits and a franchise operation of al-Qaida.” “Since the early 1990s, it has terrorized the southern Philippines with kidnappings, bombs and outright massacres; it has also been linked to several international terrorist plots and militants,” the report noted. More recent reports said the Abu Sayyaf, under new leadership, has been able to link up with the Indonesian Jemaah Islamiyah, said to be behind a regional Islamist terror campaign, including two recent bombings in Jakarta.

By November, after the beheaded school-teacher incident, hopes faded. The Abu Sayyaf would (miraculously) defy the sustained US-backed campaign to finish them off.

The beheading of a kidnap victim is the latest proof that a small number of Islamic militants in the Philippines are defying a sustained US-backed military campaign to extinguish them, observers said. The grisly development this week came just ahead of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to the Southeast Asian nation, throwing the spotlight on joint efforts by Filipino and American forces to crush the Abu Sayyaf.

It’s always very helpful when they “throw the spotlight on.” In any case, regrettable.

And then Hillary Clinton arrived, and the kidnapped priest from Ireland, Michael Sinnot, was released by the MILF. MILF is another long-standing and much larger terrorist group in the Philippines, originally accused of abducting the priest, but later cleared and thanked for securing his release.

The release of the 79-year-old missionary coincided with the arrival in Manila of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, prompting speculation that it was timed to coincide with her visit, the way the release of a kidnapped Red Cross worker was made on the day US Central Intelligence Agency head Leon Edward Panetta flew to Manila.

Although the Asia Times reported that the US Embassy held clandestine meetings with MILF a month earlier, at their camp. Evidently the US Embassy personnel do not fear the MILF. In fact, they have warm and friendly relations. Everyone wants peace, evidently.

Despite the row over Sinnot’s kidnapping, senior US Embassy officials in Manila have held clandestine meetings with MILF leaders in their Maguindanao camp. The US Embassy has kept mum on the meetings, but on its website, the MILF confirmed in a statement that it had held talks with a visiting group of American diplomats led by the US Embassy charge d’affaires, Leslie Basset, on October 16.

Lasting for two hours, the meeting “was warm and forthright”, the MILF said and quoted Basset as saying that the US was willing to play a role in the peace talks. “Helping attain and sustain peace, security and development in Mindanao is a priority concern of our government,” the MILF quoted Bassett as saying.

^^^^^^^

In August 2009, GMANews.TV reported the statements of Lt. Senior Grade Nancy Gadian at a press conference held before an inquiry by the Senate oversight committee on the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) into the activities of US troops in the Philippines.

Gadian, a whistleblower, was invited to the hearing.

Gadian earlier this year exposed the alleged misuse of the P42-million fund allotted for the joint military exercises between the Philippines and the US by high ranking military officials.

Gadian made the following statements:

US soldiers have joined Philippine troops in actual combat against Muslim rebels.
The American soldiers were embedded in local units.
About 500 US soldiers were assigned in Mindanao as “the first line of defense against the enemy.”
US troops usually engaged in operations in Mindanao without informing heads of the Philippine military in the area.
Philippine forces are fighting the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf terrorist group and other armed groups in Sulu.
American troops are stationed in Mindanao even without any Balikatan exercises going on.
The Philippine government does not monitor the deployment and movement of these troops in the country’s southern region.
Americans in Mindanao usually have programs or projects which they do not tell the leadership of the Southern Command. They just go to areas where they want to go.

Gadian’s affadavit also states:

The US military of building permanent structures in different military camps in the country. She said US forces have established “permanent” and “continuous” presence in Zamboanga, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi in the south.
The Philippine military has no access to the camps built by the US soldiers in these areas since they are “fenced off by barbed wires and guarded by US Marines.”
These structures are indications the US troops had no intention of leaving the country, which is a violation of the Philippine Constitution.
The “arrogant” behavior of many US military officers toward Filipinos.
Some US military men bringing Filipino women prostitutes to different areas in the camp.
“On the whole, their assertions of power and authority appear like they rule over us and the country.”

^^^^^^^

Given that the CIA helped create Abu Sayyaf; and given the US military’s unrestrained access to the very areas of the Philippines where Abu Sayyaf allegedly operates from; and given the history of connections between Abu Sayyaf militants and their military handlers; and given the warm and friendly relations between US Embassy personnel and MILF leaders…

Can we not imagine that Robert Gates’ foreshadowing remarks about provocative actions might, perhaps, have something to do with Abu Sayyaf?

Abu Sayyaf - ready to come out of the crock pot

Jan 19

Posted by A. Peasant in Corruption & Crime, Military, Philippines, Southeast Asia, Terrorism | No Comments

1. Malaysia finds US threat alert misleading

KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIA’S government has urged the United States to review what it called a ‘misleading’ travel advisory warning of possible attacks on foreigners on Borneo island. The US warned its citizens last week that criminal and terrorist groups could be plotting attacks in Malaysia’s eastern Sabah state in Borneo. The alert urged Americans to ‘avoid or use extreme caution’ especially when traveling to remote island resorts in Sabah.

A Malaysian Foreign Ministry official met with the US ambassador to the country, Mr James R. Keith, on Monday to emphasise that the security in Sabah was ‘not as perceived’ in the advisory, the ministry said in a statement. Foreign Ministry Deputy Secretary General Radzi Abdul Rahman told Mr Keith that the warning ‘could create a wrong, misleading and negative impression to the outside world on the security situation in Malaysia’, according to the statement issued late on Monday.

‘Foreign travellers and tourists need not be unduly worried when coming to Sabah as the situation there is peaceful,’ the statement added. A US Embassy representative in Kuala Lumpur declined to comment. The US advisory did not give details of the possible threat, but noted that Al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf militants based in the southern Philippines - a short boat ride from Sabah - have kidnapped foreigners from Sabah’s secluded resort areas in the past. -- AFP

source: straits times

2. Abu Sayyaf Group - Philippines, Islamic Separatists - official CFR report: http://www.cfr.org/publication/9235/ — see full report

Abu Sayyaf mostly operates in the southern Philippines, specifically in the Sulu Archipelago and the easternmost island of Mindanao. But the group has acted in other parts of the Philippines, and in 2000, its members crossed the Sulu Sea to Malaysia for a kidnapping. Since 2001, Philippine military operations, supported by the United States, have weakened Abu Sayyaf on Basilan Island and in the Sulu islands southwest of Baslian.

…The 2008 U.S. State Department estimates the group to consist of between two hundered and five hundred members.

3. 911 timeline: bin laden’s brother-in-law Khalifa sets up aq fronts in Philippines — 1987-1991

Mohammed Jamal Khalifa, bin Laden’s brother-in-law, moves to the Philippines and sets up numerous financial fronts to benefit al-Qaeda. Khalifa is not only one of bin Laden’s brothers-in-law, but he also says that during the 1980s, “Osama was my best friend. More than a brother….” [Australian, 1/16/2003; CNN, 11/25/2004] In the mid-1980s, Khalifa was already a very senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood in Lebanon and ran the Peshawar, Pakistan, office of the Muslim World League, where he was active in sending recruits to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan (see Late 1980s). Sent to the Philippines by bin Laden in 1987 or 1988, he soon marries two Filipino women. He sets up more than a dozen businesses and charities, all of which appear to be fronts to fund the Abu Sayyaf and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) militant groups:

more here

4. July 2009: Philippine troops deployed to quell abu sayyaf by years end – OR NOT!

Hundreds of marines and army troops have been deployed to two islands in the southern Philippines for a new offensive aimed at eradicating al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf militants by the end of this year, officials said Sunday.

Troops also have been ordered to hunt down three key members of the Southeast Asian radical network Jemaah Islamiyah who have been hiding with the Abu Sayyaf. Jemaah Islamiyah figures are suspected of involvement in Friday’s twin hotel bombings in the Indonesian capital, but authorities so far have not linked the fugitives in the Philippines to the Jakarta attacks.

The Philippines’ 120,000-strong military has previously tried but failed to finish off the 400-member Abu Sayyaf. [amazing - ed.]

The government has opened peace talks with a bigger Muslim separatist group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), but the Abu Sayyaf is not covered by the talks. A report by the US Pacific Command describes the Abu Sayyaf as “a cross between a chilling gang of bandits and a franchise operation of al-Qaida.” “Since the early 1990s, it has terrorized the southern Philippines with kidnappings, bombs and outright massacres; it has also been linked to several international terrorist plots and militants,” the report noted.

More recent reports said the Abu Sayyaf, under new leadership, has been able to link up with the Indonesian Jemaah Islamiyah, said to be behind a regional Islamist terror campaign, including two recent bombings in Jakarta.

more @ siia

5. meanwhile, close confidant of Philippine president dies suddenly of heart attack at age 51

MANILA - PHILIPPINE Press Secretary Cerge Remonde, a staunch defender of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, died on Tuesday following a heart attack, officials said. He was 51.

Remonde was found unconscious and ’slumped inside the bathroom’ of his home and was rushed to the Makati Medical Center where doctors failed to revive him, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said. Remonde wasn’t breathing and had no pulse and heart beat when he was brought into the emergency room, hospital spokesman Dr. Eric Nubla said. Attempts to resuscitate him failed. There was no immediate comment from Mrs Arroyo. Remonde was a radio commentator and head of the Philippine broadcasters’ association before joining the Arroyo government as press undersecretary in 2001 and head of the Government Mass Media Group, which oversees state radio and television stations and news agency. In 2006, he was chief of presidential management staff until his appointment as press secretary early last year.

‘Indeed this is a very big loss,’ said Mr Ermita, the most senior Cabinet official. ‘He is a very, very close confidant of the president - that is how important his job was.’ — AP

source: straits times

6. August 2009: US troops joined combat in Mindanao, Navy whistleblower

American troops stationed in the southern Philippines have been active in combat operations with the Philippine military, the former Navy officer who exposed irregularities in the use of funds for the yearly joint RP-US military exercises said on Wednesday.

Lt. Senior Grade Nancy Gadian, whistleblower on an alleged fund mess in the RP-US Balikatan exercises in 2007, said in a press conference that US soldiers have joined Philippine troops in actual combat against Muslim rebels.

“During encounters in the actual terrain, embedded po yung sundalong Amerikano (the American soldiers were embedded in local units),” she said. Gadian, who was head of Civil Military Operations Task Group of Balikatan in 2007, also said that about 500 US soldiers were assigned in Mindanao as “the first line of defense against the enemy.”

She added that US troops usually engaged in operations in Mindanao without informing heads of the Philippine military in the area. Philippine forces are fighting the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf terrorist group and other armed groups in Sulu.

The press conference was held ahead of an inquiry by the Senate oversight committee on the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) into the activities of US troops in the Philippines. Gadian was among the resource persons invited to the hearing. The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) declined to comment, saying Gadian’s charges would be answered in the Senate hearing scheduled on Thursday.

...In the press conference, Gadian said American troops are stationed in Mindanao even without any Balikatan exercises going on, and that the Philippine government does not monitor the deployment and movement of these troops in the country’s southern region. …In her affidavit, Gadian also accused the US military of building permanent structures in different military camps in the country. She said US forces have established “permanent” and “continuous” presence in Zamboanga, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi in the south.

She added that the Philippine military has no access to the camps built by the US soldiers in these areas since they are “fenced off by barbed wires and guarded by US Marines.” Gadian likewise said these structures are indications the US troops had no intention of leaving the country, which is a violation of the Philippine Constitution. Article XVII, Section 25 of the 1987 Constitution prohibits the presence of foreign military bases, troops or facilities in the country except “under a treaty duly concurred in by the Senate.”

‘High-handed, imperious conduct’

The ex-Navy official also complained of the “arrogant” behavior of many US military officers toward Filipinos. “They are not calling us by our names. Masakit pong isipin ‘yun kasi hindi naman po ako aso para tawagin basta-basta through their mere fingers (The thought of them calling us like dogs through their mere fingers is really painful),” she said in the press conference. Gadian also observed some US military men bringing Filipino women prostitutes to different areas in the camp. “On the whole, their assertions of power and authority appear like they rule over us and the country,” she said in her affidavit. - GMANews.TV

more at source

HMM. PUT IT TOGETHER.

follow the finger to the Philippines

Jan 18

Posted by A. Peasant in Corruption & Crime, Philippines, Southeast Asia, Terrorism | No Comments

1. recent problems with terrorism in Malaysia: church attacks (danger to Christians), terrorist threats in tourist areas (danger to foreigners)…some stories here.

What is the message being conveyed? terrorist lurk in these beautiful muslim countries. muslim terrorists have it in for christians. foreigners are not safe in muslim countries, no matter how lovely the beaches and scuba diving. this is the narrative.

rum bottle thrown at Malaysian mosque amid tension

Vandals threw a rum bottle at a mosque in the first attack on a Muslim house of worship after almost a dozen similar assaults on churches in Malaysia the past week, police said Saturday. Police have dismissed the attacks as vandalism, but they have caused disquiet in multiracial Malaysia and raised fears of more widespread religious tensions….The government has condemned the attacks and assured Christians, who make up some 9 percent of Malaysia’s population, they are safe. But the attacks aren’t abating. The office of lawyers representing the Herald in their legal fight was also ransacked earlier this week.

source: taiwan news

2. Malaysian authorities dismiss warnings in tourist areas, extensive coverage with armed men presumably highly visible to tourists in Sabah

KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIAN authorities have full control over security in the Borneo island state of Sabah, a government official was quoted on Saturday as saying after the United States embassy warned of attacks against foreigners. ‘Since the last travel warning was issued in the area, security and intelligence there had been tightened tremendously and there had been no reported attempts or acts of terror, including against foreigners,’ National Security Council secretary Mohamed Tajudeen Abdul Wahab was quoted as saying by New Straits Times. The National Security Council is an agency within the Prime Minister’s Department. In a ‘warden notice’ posted on its website, dated on Friday, the US embassy said resorts located in isolated areas of eastern Sabah, a state bordering the southern Philippines, were of’present concern’. It identified areas such as Semporna and the islands of Mabul and Sipadan, as well as travel to and from the area. Mr Tajudeen said military and police intelligence had not shown imminent attacks against any part of the country. — REUTERS

source: straits times

3. Malaysia summons US envoy over the warning

KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIA has summoned a US diplomat over a travel advisory that warned of terrorist attacks targeting Borneo tourist destinations, a senior official said on Monday. The US embassy in Kuala Lumpur said on Friday there were indications that criminal and terrorist groups are planning strikes in isolated areas of eastern Sabah state on Borneo island, including the diving resort of Sipadan. Malaysian authorities have played down the warning, saying that security measures and intelligence-gathering in the area have been dramatically increased since foreign hostages were snatched in 2000.

Tan Tai Heng, head of the foreign ministry’s information department, said a US embassy official was expected to arrive at the ministry later Monday for discussions over the issue. ‘It could be (the US ambassador) or a representative of the US embassy,’ he told AFP. The US mission was not immediately able to comment. Tens of thousands of Westerners visit the state of Sabah annually, attracted by its scenery and world-class diving, especially in the waters off Sipadan, which lies close to the troubled southern Philippines. Other foreign countries have warned their citizens of the threat of attacks in Sabah - which lies in Malaysia’s half of Borneo which is split with Indonesia - but the US advisory was more specific on the areas targeted. It identified the destinations of Semporna, Mabul and Sipadan and called on citizens to ‘please avoid or use extreme caution in connection with any travel in these areas or locations.’ — AFP

source: straits times

The advisory noted that al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf militants based in the southern Philippines _ a short boat ride from Sabah _ have kidnapped foreigners from Sabah’s secluded resort areas in the past.

4. oh by the way, 39,000 Indian tourists “missing” in Malaysia after their visas expire. loopholes? we have loopholes.

PUTRAJAYA - SOME 39,000 Indian nationals had ‘gone missing’ in Malaysia after their tourist visas expired. Prime Minister Najib Razak said on Tuesday they had gone missing from the Immigration Department’s records, according to an estimate drawn up in June. That was why the department was not keen on visa-on-arrival for Indians as the facility had been abused, especially by those from Chennai, he said.

‘Those who came to Malaysia through the visa-on-arrival (VOI) facility could be back in India or among the people here, (maybe) working in Indian restaurants. ‘We don’t know where these people are. They’re probably still in Malaysia for economic reasons,’ he said in an interview with visiting Indian journalists at his office here. Mr Najib said he might take up the issue during his three-day official visit to India beginning on Tuesday. Between September 2006 and September 2008, 75,645 of the 248,939 foreigners who were issued VOA misused their visas. They were from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Nepal, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Hong Kong and Taiwan. — BERNAMA

source: straits times

5. meanwhile: Philippine police wound, arrest US murder suspect Jason Ivler

An American man wanted in the Philippines for allegedly killing a government official’s son in a road-rage shooting was critically wounded Monday when he opened fire at police officers trying to arrest him, officials said. Two police agents also were wounded when authorities swooped down on Jason Ivler’s parents’ house in a Manila suburb, triggering a shootout with the suspect, who was hiding in the basement, said National Bureau of Investigation spokesman Ricardo Diaz. Ivler was arrested and taken to a hospital in critical condition, police said. He was undergoing surgery.Ivler, 28, from Hawaii, is accused of fatally shooting the son of an official working in President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s office following an argument during a traffic altercation Nov. 18 in Manila. Even before that, police were looking for Ivler on a separate homicide charge in connection with a 2004 car crash that killed a senior official in the president’s office. Following the November incident, authorities offered a reward for Ivler’s capture and began a manhunt, even as his mother claimed he had fled to Hawaii. The mother, Marlene Aguillar, sister of popular Filipino singer Freddy Aguilar, was taken into custody Monday for obstruction of justice, police said.

source: taiwan news

6. flashback: various items in the news re: Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand — Maguindanao massacre — see cached page here

At the time, Ivler was driving a car with diplomatic plates owned by his stepfather, Stephen Pollard, an executive at the Asian Development Bank, San Diego said.

Pollard’s diplomatic immunity did not extend to his son, said national police chief Jesus Verzosa, adding Ivler’s photograph and details were distributed to all ports and airports to prevent him from escaping. He was described as “armed and dangerous.”

Even before the latest incident, police were looking for Ivler on a separate charge of “reckless imprudence resulting in homicide” in connection with a 2004 car crash that killed a senior official in the president’s office, Verzosa said.

Ivler was arrested in 2004 while trying to flee to Malaysia but later jumped bail, Verzosa said.

7. many more details: Jason Ivler, a thug runs out of luck in Manila

After a gunfight in the exclusive Blue Ridge area of Manila, the Philippines National Bureau of Investigation arrested Jason Aguilar-Ivler, a fugitive Filipino-American and nephew of Filipino pop star Freddie Aguilar. Ivler is accused of killing the son of a high-level government official last November in a road rage incident. Ivler apparently was critically wounded in the gunfight, as were two NBI agents.

Ivler has been in hiding since November after he allegedly gunned down Renato Victor Ebarle Jr, the son of Undersecretary Renato Ebarle Sr., who works in the Office of the Presidential Chief of Staff. According to witnesses, the younger Ebarle was chased down and shot after an argument because his car was in Ivler’s way.

using drugs and planes, al qaeda will show up wherever needed. you watch.

Jan 15

Posted by A. Peasant in Afghanistan, Canada, Corruption & Crime, Drug Trafficking, Lebanon, Southeast Asia, Terrorism, UK | No Comments

1. terror warning on Borneo, Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR - THE United States embassy in Malaysia issued a warning on Friday that criminal and terrorist groups are planning attacks against foreigners in Sabah state on Borneo island. The embassy said there was ‘present concern’ over resorts in isolated areas in eastern Sabah including the diving island of Sipadan where foreign hostages were snatched in 2000. ‘There are indications that both criminal and terrorist groups are planning or intend acts of violence against foreigners in eastern Sabah,’ the embassy said in a warden notice posted on its website. ‘The Abu Sayyaf group, based in the southern Philippines, has kidnapped foreigners in eastern Sabah in the past,’ it said. The advisory identified the destinations of Semporna, Mabul and Sipadan and called on citizens to ‘please avoid or use extreme caution in connection with any travel in these areas or locations.’ The US travel advisory on Malaysia already warns of the threat of criminal and terrorist attacks in Sabah but the information in Friday’s statement was more specific on the areas being targeted. — AFP

source: straits times

2. lawyer’s office in Malaysia ‘Allah’ case ransacked

Burglars ransacked the offices of lawyers representing Christians fighting for the right to use the word “Allah” to refer to God in this Muslim-majority country, officials said Thursday. Lawyer S. Selvarajah said that staff arrived at work in the morning to find several locks and steel grill doors to enter the 2nd and 3rd floor offices cut, drawers ransacked and papers strewn on the floor. He said his partner’s laptop was missing. A mobile phone service provider’s shop and tuition center on the first floor were not broken into, he said. “Only our office has been targeted,” he said. “It looks like it is an intimidation tactic … We anticipated something will happen. We are definitely upset about this,” he told The Associated Press. The incident adds to the tension building up since attacks since Friday night on nine churches, one of which was partially gutted….Petaling Jaya police chief Arjunaidi Mohamed confirmed the break-in, saying police were investigating. He said it should not immediately be linked to recent church attacks. “It has nothing to do with the churches,” he said.

more @ taiwan news

3. $500 tip leads police to $66 million in fake bills

Malaysian police have arrested a Lebanese man allegedly carrying fake currency with a face value of $66 million after he tipped a hotel staff with a $500 note, news reports said Friday. The largest U.S. note currently in circulation is a $100 bill. But police found bundles of $1 million, $100,000 and $500 notes in the man’s hotel room in Kuala Lumpur, the New Straits Times and The Star newspapers reported….This is not the first time the man has been in trouble with the law in Malaysia, the reports said. A Malaysian court charged him last week with cheating over the sale of office supplies in 2005 in a separate case. Cheating, or fraud, carries a maximum penalty of five years.

more @ taiwan news

4. the drug link to al qaeda — planes, West Africa, South America, Europe….. Lebanon?? SE Asia??

TIMBUKTU (MALI) - A FLEET of rogue jet aircraft has been regularly criss-crossing the Atlantic Ocean between cocaine producing areas in the Andes and some of West Africa’s most unstable countries, according to a report submitted by a US Homeland Security official. But that 2008 report, a copy of which was recently obtained by Reuters, was ignored, [INCOMPETENCE MEME] and the problem has since escalated into what security officials in several countries describe as a global security threat. [NATURALLY] The clandestine fleet, which has since grown, is believed to be flying cocaine and possibly weapons to an area in Africa where factions of Al-Qaeda are allegedly facilitating European drug smuggling. [AND FROM EUROPE TO WHERE???]

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has been held responsible for car and suicide bombings in Algeria and Mauritania. Gunmen and bandits with links to AQIM have also stepped up kidnappings of Europeans, who are then passed on to AQIM factions seeking ransom payments. The aircraft hopscotch across South American countries, picking up tonnes of cocaine and jet fuel, officials say. They then soar across the Atlantic to West Africa and the Sahel, where the drugs are funnelled across the Sahara Desert and into Europe. Officials in the United States and three West African nations say that at least 10 aircraft have been discovered using this air route since 2006, though they say the real number could be considerably higher.

source: straits times

5. Jordan jails Lebanese man for cocaine smuggling — linking South America and Lebanon now with drugs. this stuff happened last year, and these things happen all the time — small time stuff — and these stories help shape the narrative when discussed at the appropriate time.

A Jordanian military tribunal on Wednesday sentenced three people, including a 42-year-old Lebanese, to 15 years’ hard labor for smuggling 11 kilos of cocaine into the country. “Two men, a Jordanian, 25, and a 42-year-old Lebanese, as well as a Brazilian woman, 27, brought 11 kilos of cocaine from Brazil to Jordan in order to take it to Lebanon,” a court official told AFP. “They were arrested at Amman’s international airport in January last year.” The state security court acquitted another 25-year-old Brazilian woman because of lack of evidence, the official said. He gave no further details, but estimated the value of the drugs at around 11 million dinars (15.5 million dollars). The verdict can be appealed within 30 days. Last year, the same court jailed two Peruvian women for smuggling hundreds of cocaine capsules into Jordan in their stomachs.(Naharnet-AFP)

source: naharnet

6. because they distract from stuff like this: Oh OOPSIE! who is that helping to traffic drugs? GASP: the US, UK and Canada! but since an Iranian says so, this can be safely ignored by The West, even though the UN praises Iran’s work fighting drug trafficking

A senior Iranian anti-drug official has accused the US, Britain and Canada of playing a major role in Afghanistan’s lucrative drug trade. On the sidelines of an anti-drug conference in Tehran, deputy head of Iran’s Drug Control Headquarters Taha Taheri said that Western powers are aiding the drug trade in Afghanistan. “According to our indisputable information, the presence of the United States, Britain and Canada has not reduced the dug trade and the three countries have had major roles in the distribution of drugs,” IRIB quoted Taheri as saying on Thursday. Iranian officials have always criticized Western countries over their policies towards Afghanistan, where poppy cultivation has drastically increased since the US-led military occupation of the country in 2001. Taheri added that drug catalysts are being smuggled into Afghanistan through borders that are controlled by US, British and Canadian troops. Some 13,000 tones of drug catalysts are brought into Afghanistan every year as the war-torn country is the producer of 90 percent of the world’s opium. The UN office on drugs and crime said last month that the 2009 potential gross export value of opium from Afghanistan stood at $2.8 billion. Iranian police officials maintain that drug production in Afghanistan has had a 40-fold increase since the US-led invasion of the country in 2001. “More than 340 tones of drugs have been seized all over Iran in the past nine months,” IRNA quoted the commander of the drug squad, General Hamid Reza Hossein-Abadi, as saying earlier this month. The UN has praised Tehran for its commitment to the fight against drug trafficking.

source: press tv

7. NATO forces discover weapons caches in South Afghanistan and drugs in Kandahar

KABUL, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) — The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) discovered six weapons caches in an operation in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand province, an ISAF press release said Friday. The weapons caches, discovered on Thursday, contained a large amount of weapons and IED making materials, including 340 pounds of home-made explosives, 17 hand grenades, an RPG launcher, and numerous small arms and ammunition, the press release added. Most of the materials were destroyed on site, it further said.

In another operation in of southern Kandahar province, Afghan National Police and ISAF forces seized 1,000 pounds of hashishm when searching a building in the province’s Arghandab district, ISAF press release said. The drugs were destroyed on site. The southern Helmand and Kandahar provinces, the stronghold of Taliban militants, have been the scene of skirmishes and Taliban-led insurgency over the past several years.

source: chinaview

many people throwing their weight around

Jan 12

Posted by A. Peasant in Africa, Australia, Austria, China, Ethiopia, India, Japan, Kazakhstan, Military, Morocco, NATO, Saudi Arabia, Southeast Asia, Taiwan | No Comments

1. India, Bangladesh sign 5 pacts

NEW DELHI - LEADERS of India and Bangladesh met in New Delhi on Monday with talks focused on strengthening the previously difficult ties between the two south Asian neighbours, an Indian official said. Cross-border relations have improved in recent years and Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s delegation signed five cooperation agreements with India in areas ranging from cultural exchanges, security, preventing crime and power supply.

more @ straits times

2. India confers Indira Ghandi Peace Prize to Bangladeshi PM

NEW DELHI, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) — India Tuesday conferred Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina with the prestigious Indira Gandhi Peace Prize in recognition of her contribution to peace and democracy, reported the Indo-Asian News Service. Indian President Pratibha Patil conferred the award at a function in the Rashtrapati Bhavan presidential palace and praised Hasina for “shaping her country’s onward path of progress and development”, said the report.

more @ chinaview

3. Malaysian PM to visit Saudi Arabia

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) — Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak will be making an official visit to Saudi Arabia on Jan. 13-16 to deepen bilateral ties, the Malaysian Foreign Ministry said here on Tuesday. Najib will later attend the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Jan. 18. Malaysia will be working towards enhancing trade and investment relations with the two countries.

source: chinaview

4. Clinton to visit Japan, Pacific region

Since coming to power last year, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) has pushed to see negotiations restart on the SOFA agreement, creating tension between the two countries. Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has pledged to decide by May how to proceed on the base issue. Apart from talks with Okada, Clinton will deliver a policy speech focused on Asia-Pacific multilateral engagement in Hawaii, and will be consulting with the Pacific Command. She will be traveling to Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and Australia from Jan. 14 to Jan. 19, her first visit to the region since becoming the secretary of state. In Canberra, Clinton, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and their Australian counterparts Stephen Smith and John Falkner will participate in the 25th Australia-U.S. Ministerial Consultations to discuss key global and regional security challenges.

source: chinaview

5. ASEAN prepares own “Marshall Plan’

MANILA, Philippines—Asean is preparing its own Marshall Plan, the United States program in post World War II to rebuild and create an economically stronger Western Europe to repel the threat of internal communism, the Asean Secretariat said Tuesday….In a working lunch in Jakarta Monday, Asean Secretary General Dr. Surin Pitsuwan described the plan to Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry Masayuki Naoshima. He urged the Japanese official and his delegation to look at the plan and the roles of Asean and Eria as a package….Surin, who coined the “Marshall Plan for Asia” tag for the plan, said his office was collaborating with Eria and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in the development of the plan. The plan aims “to contribute to coordinating, expediting, upgrading, and expanding sub-regional initiatives and promoting private sector participation.”

more @ inquirer

6. incoming EU trade chief sees WTO deal by 2011

BRUSSELS—Would-be new European trade chief Karel De Gucht expressed confidence on Tuesday that a deal to free up international commerce is attainable by next year.… The Doha round began in 2001, with a focus on dismantling obstacles to trade for poor nations by striking an accord that will cut agriculture subsidies and tariffs on industrial goods. Deadlines to conclude the talks have been repeatedly missed. Discussions have been dogged by disagreements on issues including how much the US and the EU should reduce aid to their farmers and the extent to which developing countries such as India, China and South Africa should cut tariffs. “We have to do that deal,” De Gucht added, refusing to concede that the terms of the talks had to change to take account of the aftermath of the global economic crisis.

more @ inquirer

7. China views Ethiopia as major economic trading partner

ADDIS ABABA, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) — China views Ethiopia as its major economic and trading partner in Africa, says Minister of Commerce Chen Deming on Monday….Chen put forward a four-point proposal on further development of bilateral trade and economic cooperation: First, further expanding its imports from Ethiopia through the use of tariff-free policies; Second, strengthening cooperation in investment and engineering contracts and continuing to encourage strong Chinese firms to invest in Ethiopia; Third, fully implementing the eight new measures to enhance cooperation with Africa; Fourth, further promoting cooperation in official development assistance to support Ethiopia’s infrastructure, and projects aimed to improve people’s well-being.

more @ chinaview

8. China, Morocco hold talks on enhancing bilateral ties

RABAT, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) — Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, who is on a five-nation African tour, held talks Monday with his Moroccan counterpart Taieb Fassi Fihri on ways to upgrade relations between the two countries….Yang is on his first official foreign visit of the year that includes five African nations, namely Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Algeria and Morocco, as well as Saudi Arabia. It has been China’s tradition for 20 years that its foreign minister visits Africa in the beginning of the year.

more @ chinaview

9. China VP meets Pakistan’s opposition party chief

BEIJING, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) — Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping met Tuesday in Beijing with Nawaz Sharif, chief of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), saying party exchanges would help facilitate bilateral relations….Highlighting the friendship between China and Pakistan, Xi said China had treated bilateral ties from a long-term and strategic perspective and would make efforts with Pakistan to lift pragmatic cooperation. Sharif expressed his admiration for the achievements China had made, saying the political parties in Pakistan shared the view of improving friendly cooperation with China.

more @ chinaview

10. experts discuss NATO’s future at Prague meeting

An international conference has opened in Prague, aiming to help redefine NATO’s mission for the 21st century. The international panel is led by former U.S. State Secretary Madeleine Albright. About hundred other experts are also participating. The group is working to update the alliance’s mission statement, which was written in 1999. Albright is present at Tuesday’s gathering. The draft will be submitted for consideration to the leaders of NATO’s member nations at their spring summit in Lisbon, Portugal. NATO started the process to update its outdated mission statement last year to focus on handling new challenges such as piracy, terrorism and cyber attacks as well a resurgent Russia.

source: taiwan news

11. new EU foreign chief criticized for lack of specifics

Under its previous holder Javier Solana, the post of top EU diplomat focused on smoothing relations and boosting Europe’s influence in such places as the Middle East, Iran, and the Balkans. But the job has greater powers under the new Lisbon Treaty of reforms, even though the EU’s 27 nations remain well in charge over foreign and defense policy, with Ashton set to be their mouthpiece. Despite the pressure, Ashton appeared relaxed throughout, confidently responding to questions mainly focused on institutional concerns and how the former EU trade commissioner saw the future of EU foreign policy. She gave answers that demonstrated an understanding of the issues, but would not be drawn into diplomatic minefields like her stance on sanctions against Iran and was cautious on Middle East policy. More broadly she urged Europe to play a greater role on the world stage. “I am convinced there is a clear call, inside the EU and around the world, for greater European engagement—to promote peace, protect the vulnerable, fight poverty ,and address the many problems of our time,” she said. “We have to answer this call.”

more @ inquirer

12. Kazakh minister visits Vienna, Austria

Secretary of State - Minister for Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, Kanat Saudabayev began his official visit to Vienna yesterday… According to the press release, the visit on part of OSCE Chairman Saudabayev, to Austria will take place on January 12 - 15. Saudabayev will meet with President of Austria, Heinz Fischer, and the Federal Minister for European and International Affairs of Austria, Michael Spindelegger, to discuss the further development of Kazakhstan-Austrian cooperation as part of international organizations. … According to the press release, Astana considers Vienna a key political and economic partner in the EU, and is interested in developing bilateral dialogue in all areas and levels. During the visit, the Minister of Foreign Affairs will hold meetings with UN structures administration based in Vienna – including the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and Universal Prohibition of Nuclear Tests to discuss cooperation with these organizations, according to Kazakhstan Today.

source

13. Austrian president to visit China next week

BEIJING, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) — Austrian President Heinz Fischer will pay a state visit to China from next Tuesday to Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry announced Tuesday. Fischer will make the visit as guest of Chinese President Hu Jintao, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu told a regular briefing. This will be Fischer’s first China trip since he took office in 2004.

source: chinaview

14. China very very very unhappy with US weapons sales to Taiwan — in diplomatic language this is a full-blown fit

BEIJING, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) — The U.S. Defense Department announced on January 6 the approval of a plan of Lockheed Martin Corp. to sell Patriot III missiles to Taiwan. Although it was a step to implement the huge-scale arms sales package announced by the George W. Bush administration in October 2008, such a move only about one month after U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to China tarnished the China-U.S. ties….the U.S. arms sales to Taiwan fully justified any suspicion about the United States’ sincerity to take concrete actions to “respect each other’s core interests.”

…Undoubtedly, the U.S. arms sales to Taiwan seriously violated the principles established in the three Sino-U.S. joint communiques and the spirit of the Sino-U.S. Joint Statement, breached the U.S. promise to respect the core interests of China and disobeyed the mainstream wish shared by the people across the Straits. This move clearly showed the dual character of the United States in dealing with the major issues related to China’s core interests, especially at the moment that the cross-Straits relations have embarked on a path of peaceful development.

Profound lessons should be drawn from history. All previous U.S. arms sales to Taiwan have caused great damage to the Sino-U.S. relations and blocked their stable and smooth development. This time is no exception, since the arms sales to Taiwan are rootless and absolutely harmful, whether from the perspectives of legal, moral and justice principles, or from the perspectives of joint interests of the two countries and the long-term development of their relations.

more @ chinaview

the real crotch bomb is pedophilia

Jan 7

Posted by A. Peasant in CIA, Children, Corruption & Crime, Diplomats, Human Trafficking, Israel, Mossad, Obama/Biden, Pakistan, Southeast Asia, Turkey | No Comments

Wayne Madsen reports that US embassy personnel and military people are involved in pedophilia in Southeast Asia.

From Hans Vogel in Pravda (opinion):

If there actually has been an attempt to blow up an airplane and the would-be “crotch bomber” was escorted by another person, the logical thing to do would be to check out security at Amsterdam airport. Not to increase security measures for all passengers….I believe the Detroit charade was part of a concerted scheme to increase passenger “security” which I suspect has very little to do with any genuine concern for the passengers. It certainly seems part of a grand design to make airline travel unattractive and to get the public used to police state controls.

…In its sinister efforts, the US government is supported by the governments of its vassal states. This time, a major role was assigned to the Dutch government. The first Dutch actor to make a public statement was the Minister of Justice, Ernst Hirsch Ballin. It is a mystery how this man ever made it back to a cabinet position, after being forced to resign in 1994 as justice minister for his involvement in a billion dollar drug trafficking operation. The man is also suspected of paedophilia. Moreover, the highest ranking public servant in the justice ministry is a notorious paedophile. Hirsch Ballin called for the immediate introduction of full body scanners at Dutch airports. A few days later, Dutch interior minister, Mrs. Guusje ter Horst was cued to chip in. This woman, an alcoholic who is routinely let off the hook by the police whenever she is caught driving while drunk, actually had the nerve to say that the world had escaped disaster when the “crotch bomber” plan was foiled.

…After the Dutch cabinet ministers had played their bit parts, the leaders of other European vassal states came on stage. One after the other, Germans, Italians and Englishmen gave their performance, with the main stream media predictably spreading the message without any accompanying critical editorial commentary. Thus within two weeks, the European public has ostensibly been won over to support the introduction of security measures that will make air travel an even more miserable experience, and that will certainly not improve security.

However, the fact that the Obama regime now has to rely on vassal state officials with demonstrable criminal records an assorted deviant behavior, is another indication that the US empire is in a deep crisis. Nor does the support from the vassal states come spontaneously. For instance, the chief explanation for the obsequiousness of the Dutch seems to be blackmail. That is right, blackmail. Mr. Joris Demmink, the justice ministry’s director general, is being blackmailed by the Turkish intelligence service at least since 2002. The blackmail concerns Mr. Demmink’s orgies with under age boys in Turkish seaside resorts. Given the close ties the Turkish intelligence services have with their US counterparts, it can be easily understood the US is blackmailing the Dutch as well. In other words, what we are witnessing are scenes from a Hollywood mafia movie, only this time its title reads “international diplomacy, US style.”

The US government does not seem to realize that its hold on the vassal states is becoming a tenuous one, since the popular acceptance of their puppets and stooges is dwindling at an ever faster rate.

Meanwhile, in Turkey, a judge’s order to seize COSMIC documents sends Turkey’s “deep state” into crisis:

Turkey’s “Deep State” of military, intelligence, and law enforcement officers, linked to the CIA and Israel’s Mossad through the Ergenekon network of spies and “false flag” operatives, has been shaken over the decision of Ankara Judge Kadir Kayan to order NATO COSMIC Top Secret rooms at the Turkish Special Forces Command’s Tactical Mobilization Group in Ankara to be searched by civilian prosecutors and police.

“COSMIC” is a NATO classification and the investigation of the shadowy Ergenekon network has turned up evidence that COSMIC documents may contain proof that Turkey’s Special Operations forces were planning to assassinate top Turkish political leaders, including Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc. There are also reports that the Turkish military, with the support of the United States and Israel, was planning a military coup against President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an. The Turkish leaders have been highly critical of Israel’s bloody invasion of Gaza, code named “Cast Lead,” and Washington’s call for increased sanctions on Iran.

The documents seized by prosecutors and police may also show that the CIA’s “Gladio” networks, so-called “stay behind networks” established in NATO and neutral countries during the Cold War to coordinate sabotage in the event of a Soviet invasion and occupation, may have continued in Turkey and serves as the core component of Ergenekon. A similar network exists in Lebanon and was the core of the infamous White House Murder Inc. which carried out all the assassinations in Lebanon over the last decade, starting with the assassination of Mr. Elie HOBEIKA, January 24th 2002 in Hazmieh, Lebanon, home to the SCS and more…

Some of the seized NATO COSMIC Top Secret documents involve the operations of Gendarmarie Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism Organization (JITEM), which was composed of Turkish special operations forces and police who carried out assassinations of academics, Kurdish politicians, and even fellow military personnel in terrorist attacks that were blamed on the Kurdish Worker’s Party (PKK), deemed a “terrorist” organization by Turkey and the United States.

The documents may also reveal the involvement of the CIA, as well as top Turkish military and MIT intelligence personnel in the 1978 assassination of Turkish prosecutor Dogan Oz. Oz was the first prosecutor to investigate the CIA’s Gladio operations in Turkey. Since the investigation of the NATO COSMIC Top Secret documents began, prosecutor Mustafa Bilgili and Judge Kayan have received death threats.

We have also learned that some of the COSMIC Top Secret documents seized in Turkey point to an American “Deep State” Pentagon counterpart to the Turkish Ergenekon network. Former FBI Turkish translator Sibel Edmonds spoke of this network being uncovered by wiretaps of U.S. political leaders and Turkish lobbyists in the United States.

Some things which may possibly be related:

The story on the two female Mossad agents in the psychiatric ward, which possibly links back to Sibel Edmunds testimony:

Edmonds’ allegations under oath that “the Turkish Lobby in the United States was under the direction of the Turkish Government and engaged in operations including bribery, espionage and blackmail with certain members of the US House of Representatives to further its objectives in the United States including one of which is the denial of the Armenian Genocide.”

Then, of course, you have to view things like this with a skeptical eye:

ISLAMABAD, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) — The United States is concerned about the continued “provocative actions” and false allegations against U.S. personnel working to implement the new partnership between the leaders of Pakistan and the United States, the U.S embassy said here on Thursday. Pakistani authorities recently briefly detained U.S. personnel and their vehicles in different parts of the country for what they say using fake number flats for their diplomatic cars.…He said that the staff was preparing for the upcoming visit of U.S. development assistance staff to one of Pakistan’s most impoverished regions….The spokesman said that the U.S. Mission renews its call on Pakistan officials to implement immediately the mutually agreed upon procedures for the issuance of license plates to U.S. Mission vehicles and to cease these contrived incidents involving U.S. Mission vehicles and personnel.

And the Romanian envoy to be investigated…a cover-up in the works? Investigating a hit-and-run accident seems to pose quite a problem:

ROMANIA’S Foreign Ministry has asked its government Prosecutor’s Office to investigate the Bukit Panjang hit-and-run accident on Dec 15 which has been linked to the charge d’affaires of its embassy in Singapore.

The move came after it carried out an internal investigation, ‘which led to the conclusion that from the point of view of legal procedures and international regulations, the MFA has neither the competences nor the means to identify the author, the cause and the circumstances of the accident, all such aspects pertaining to penal procedure,’ said a press statement issued by the ministry on Tuesday.

…As part of the probe, it has also recalled Mr Silviu Ionescu, its charge d’affaires, from his Singapore post. The diplomat returned to Romania several days after the Dec 15 accident, which left two men injured and another dead. …’Romania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs deeply regrets the occurrence of this accident, irrespective of its still unclarified circumstances, especially as it ended with casualties and a loss of a human life. The MFA conveys its condolences to the family of the young man who died in the accident,’ said the statement.

And from the sidebar:

NO IMMUNITY FROM STATE JURISDICTION

Article 31, first paragraph, from the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations (18 April 1961) stipulates that ‘A diplomatic agent shall enjoy immunity from the criminal jurisdiction of the receiving State’.

But paragraph 4 of the article in the Convention states: ‘The immunity of a diplomatic agent from the jurisdiction of the receiving State does not exempt him from the jurisdiction of the sending State’. As a consequence, the penal investigation in a case in which a diplomat is involved in the receiving state takes place in the state whose citizen he/she is.’

Both Romania and Republic of Singapore are parties to the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations.

So in other words, these diplomats can get away with bloody murder or whatever else, and they only need to worry about being prosecuted back home. If the home country decides they just can’t find the evidence, or whatever ($$$$$), nothing happens.

Diplomatic immunity. That’s some good shit, huh?

fantasy island

Dec 23

Posted by A. Peasant in CIA, Iran, Israel, Kazakhstan, Media, Mind-fucking, North Korea, Nuclear Weapons, Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka, Thailand | No Comments

Boss…the plane, the plane…

Wayne Madsen reports that it was a CIA sting operation to embarrass North Korea. Maybe.

WMR’s Asian intelligence sources strongly suspect that an Ilyushin-76 cargo plane seized in Bangkok on December 12 transporting 40 tons of North Korean weapons was a CIA sting operation designed to obtain, using a “front” airline and regular arms smuggling route, the latest North Korean weaponry available for purchase on the black market.

Salient points:

1. The plane was registered in Georgia, close ally of the US and Israel.
2. Before that the plane was registered to two separate Kazakhstan private airlines, where it had allegedly been involved in arms smuggling to places like Eritrea, Somalia, India and possibly Hanoi.
3. A New Zealand company which also does business in Ukraine chartered the flight.
4. The New Zealand company’s parent company is registered in Vanuatu.
5. The owner of these businesses is a Mr. Geoffrey Taylor, of New Zealand, who has brokered Azerbaijani oil sales.
6. The four men on board carried Kazakhstan passports and the pilot carried a Belarus passport.

When Thai authorities seized the weapons, reportedly after a “tip” from U.S intelligence sources, the plane was discovered to have a false cargo declaration stating the plane was carrying oil drilling equipment, a rather strange export from North Korea, a non-oil producing or exploration nation. Instead, the plane was found to be transporting rocket-propelled grenades and launchers, missile tubes, surface-to-air missile launchers, military spare parts and other weapons. Thai authorities stated that the U.S. intelligence sources that tipped them off stated that the final destination for the cargo was “sensitive information.” Thai authorities claimed the military cargo would be “destroyed” but the crates and boxes were trucked to a secure warehouse at a Thai air force base in Nakhon Sawan province outside of Bangkok.

The IL-76 landed at Hostomel Airport, near Kiev on October 13, reportedly without any cargo, and flew to Baku, Azerbaijan on December, 8 and onward to the United Arab Emirates (reportedly Sharjah), landing in Bangkok on the morning of December 12 for refueling.

The plane took off for Pyongyang and after picking up the weapons landed back in on Mueang, Bangkok at 4 pm on December 12.

The plane’s onward destinations from Bangkok were reportedly Colombo, Sri Lanka and Ukraine.

WMR’s Asian intelligence sources believe that the CIA knew the plane was planning to pick up weapons in North Korea and may have even chartered the aircraft and arranged a deal to purchase the North Korean weapons through shadowy front companies to both embarrass the North Koreans and discover what was being sold on the global weapons black market.

So how do they know the plane was empty when it refueled in Bangkok on the morning of the 12th? It had already made two stops. It sounds like they know a lot more about this flight than they let on, considering that the cargo destination is “sensitive information.” Could the weapons have been loaded in Azerbaijan or the UAE?

Was it heading to Sri Lanka, as reported here?

A plane heading from North Korea to Sri Lanka with weapons onboard was detained together with its crew in Thailand today, the Thai media reported. The Thai authorities found massive numbers of the shoulder-launched missile weapon including rocket-propelled grenades (RPG), anti-aircraft SAM (surface to air missiles) and ammunition.

…More than 100 Thai security personnel searched a Russian-built IL-76 military air transport bearing the designation AWG 732 when aircraft, which flew from North Korea asked permission to land at Bangkok`s domestic Don Mueang airport to refill fuel.

…The Thai authorities said the airplane was believed to be carrying the weapons to Sri Lanka, where a long civil war recently ended.

According to the authorities, the plane earlier arrived at Don Mueang airport once in the morning for refueling before departing for North Korea after it had loaded with the heavy weaponry and asked to refuel again at the airport at 4pm.

If true, why would that be “sensitive information?”

Well, there are reasons.

Compare the international outcry over the Gaza massacre to the relative silence toward Sri Lanka’s war against the Tamil people in 2008 and 2009. Conservative estimates place the death roll at over 20,000 people, perhaps as high as 50,000. The Colombo regime dismissed all attempts to cease its military operations, negotiate with the Tamil Tigers or allow the transfer of hundreds of thousands of civilians to safety. Today, close to 300,000 Tamils are trapped in government-imposed camps, surrounded by barbed wire and unable to leave.

…Sri Lanka was fighting its own war on terror? with the Israeli playbook. Ban all independent media from the war zone, demonize human rights groups as sympathetic to terrorists, dismiss all questioning of tactics as giving in to terrorism and support the doctrine of overwhelming fire-power. Like Israel, Sri Lanka won the battle, but will inevitably lose the war.

…Sri Lanka doesn’t enjoy favored nation status like Israel but it should face a thorough examination of its conduct during the war. Many states, such as Israel and China, have no desire to discover the truth behind the conflict because they provided arms to the Sri Lankan government. Israel is reportedly protecting Sri Lanka from any American pressure against its actions. But obstacles to international justice should not preclude their commencement. Crimes in Congo, Sierra Leone, Cambodia and the former Yugoslavia were thoroughly investigated by legal bodies, even if the final outcomes were not perfect.

So now the weapons, wherever they came from and wouldn’t we like to know, are in Thailand. At first, on the 15th, Thailand was definitely going to destroy the weapons, they just needed some money from the UN to help with that not sure how much.

Now the story is they have to investigate some more, and then they will decide whether to destroy the weapons or keep them for the Thai military. Finders keepers.

And according to the New York Times (hahaha), you can read an entirely different story! The destination and buyer remain mysteries, but the weapons appeared to be destined for Iran according to a Belgium research organization. Meh, there’s so much smoke and mirrors who can say for sure, but yeah it looks like Iran.

A research organization based in Belgium that specializes in the analysis of arms trafficking posted documents this week on its Web site that appear to show Iran as the drop-off point.

…The report by the International Peace Information Service, the Belgian organization, said the flight plan of the Ilyushin-76 is consistent with the range and cruise speed of the aircraft. A copy of the documents are posted on their Web site. The report also includes copies of what the authors say are the aircraft’s charter agreement, the air waybill and the aircraft’s certificate of registration.

The report was written in collaboration with TransArms, a U.S.-based group based that researches arms shipments.

The documents appear to show that the flight was chartered early this month by Union Top Management Ltd., a company registered in Hong Kong that was set up in November.

The document is signed by Dario Cabreros, who is described as the company’s representative.

Somsak Saithong, the lawyer for the crew, said he had seen the documents but that his copy of the flight plan shows that the cargo was bound for Ukraine. “I can certify that Iran was not the final destination,” Mr. Somsak said in an interview.

The crew members are being held at a detention center here while the police conduct their investigation. They said in an interview last week that they had traveled the world on similar missions and that they rarely asked about the nature of the cargo they were carrying.

The Thai authorities have not offered more detail on the exact nature of the weapons seized and say they will destroy the arms after they take an inventory and report it to the United Nations Security Council.

But the Thai government also appears wary to investigate too deeply into to the arms shipment.

The deputy prime minister, Suthep Thaugsuban, said last week that the inquiry would not focus on where the weapons were headed. “Thai authorities will not pinpoint where the weapons were destined for delivery in order not to displease a certain country,” he was quoted as saying in the Thai media. He did not elaborate.

Interesting.

And now Bloomberg with the “paper trail” dragging Hong Kong and Spain into the loop, making the whole thing completely confusing. Notice that nobody questions that the weapons are from North Korea, but has that actually been proven anywhere? I missed that part. It *appears* to be assumed as fact in every source.

Dario Cabreros Garmendia, the director of Union Top whose signature is on the charter agreement, owns 99.99 percent of the company’s shares and is based in Barcelona, according to Hong Kong registry records. The Hong Kong company’s link to the North Korean weapons was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

…“If you wanted to make a clandestine flight from Pyongyang to Tehran you would go over Chinese and Mongolian airspace and then drop down through the Stans,” he said, referring to countries in central Asia. “To fly it through Bangkok, which is so well known for drugs smuggling, seems so damn stupid. For some reason Union Top Management insisted the flight had to go where it went.”

Another mystery man, like David Headley, coming and going like the wind.

Among difficulties facing investigators is a fly-by-night infrastructure seemingly rigged up for the flight, including a Hong Kong-based company reportedly involved which was only incorporated Nov. 2 and whose director could not be traced there or at his address in Spain….But according to a flight plan seen by arms trafficking researchers, the aircraft was chartered by Hong Kong-based Union Top Management Ltd. to fly oil industry spare parts from Pyongyang to Tehran, Iran, with several other stops, including Bangkok, Colombo in Sri Lanka, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.Union Top was set up by a company called R & G Management Consultancy, according to a woman who answered the door at Union Top’s registered office. She said she didn’t know a man called Dario Cabreros Garmendia _ who signed Union Top’s incorporation in Hong Kong on Nov. 2 _ and did not know how to reach anyone at the company….Garmendia listed Barcelona, Spain, as his address on another document related to the set up of the company. But AP reporters asked four people living next to the location and none had heard of him or the company.

Obviously some of the information circulating in the NYT, Bloomberg, and the AP contradicts the Wayne Madsen report, up top, which concludes like this:

After the plane was seized in Bangkok, dubious sources reported that the plane was en route to Pakistan, Afghanistan, or an unnamed “Middle Eastern” country, such as Iran, to deliver its weapons.

The IL-76’s most recent owner, Air West Georgia, has close links with the same ownership, to Sun Air, a privately-owned airline headquartered in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, which runs service to Nyala, the largest city in war-torn Darfur.

The “arms-napping” operation against North Korea came just days after the US Special Envoy to North Korea, Stephen Bosworth, announced, after a three-day trip to Pyongyang, an agreement to restart six-party talks with North Korea. The covert operation to seize the North Korean weapons put the planned talks at risk.

And if you’re still with me, back to the AP article which is surprisingly good, in that it points out a few things that MAKE NO SENSE.

Kim Tae-woon, a security expert at the Korea Institute of Defense Analyses, said the weapons known to be aboard the plane _ rocket-propeled grenades, explosives and components for surface-to-air missiles _ were those used by insurgents, not regular armies.

[SUCH AS:] “There are no insurgents in Iran, and in that sense, Iran may not be the destination,” Kim said.

[SUCH AS:] Another puzzle is why the aircraft chose to risk landing in relatively well-policed Bangkok rather than taking a “safer” route. Given the aircraft’s maximum range of more than 4,000 miles (6,440 kilometers), it had a number of landing options.

The complex web of companies set up to facilitate shipments adds further stumbling blocks for investigators. Brian Johnson-Thomas of IPIS said that “this is normal it tends to be a pattern. It is normal (for traffickers) to put in as much obfuscation as possible so that they can’t be traced backward.”

[SUCH AS:] But he said that it was “somewhat strange” that the company contracted for only just one flight rather than a series of flights after going through all the trouble.

And the AP story also introduces other people who reportedly owned and chartered the plane, not Geoffrey Taylor, and questions the stop in Sharjah.

The report says the plane was registered to Air West, a cargo transport company in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. Asked to comment on whether the plane was bound for Tehran, company owner Levan Kakabadze told AP he was unaware of the plane’s final destination.

…The plane, according to the researchers, was owned by Overseas Cargo FZE, based in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates where the plane also made a landing. Officials at the company did not respond to repeated requests for comment and the extent of its physical operations in Sharjah was also unclear.

In recent years, Sharjah’s international airport has become a hub of many small charter and cargo carriers serving Asia, Africa and the former Soviet republics.

Lastly, a few more holes in the story:

Somsak said the five men complained that they had been forced by police investigators into signing documents written in Thai. They asked to be provided with a translator.

The report on the flight plan from the nonprofit groups TransArms in the United States and IPIS of Belgium was funded by the Belgian government and Amnesty International. It could not be independently verified.

…Speaking by telephone from Batumi, Georgia, Kakabadze said he leased the plane to the SP Trading company and could bear no responsibility for what happened next.

Researchers say the plane’s previous registration documents link it to Air Cess and Centrafrican Airlines, which are allegedly connected to Bout, who has been in prison in Thailand since he was arrested March 6.

Pretty confusing. I think that must be on purpose.

So, shorter is:

NORTH KOREA Weapons Thailand Georgia Ukraine Kazakhstan US Israel Belgium Sri Lanka Azerbaijan Belarus Eritrea Somalia India Vanuatu Hanoi Hong Kong Spain New Zealand Sharjah UAE Russia RPG CIA SAM IL AWG GT SP IPIS FZE Bout IRAN.

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