Monday Winds of War: May 16/05

Welcome! Our goal at Winds of Change.NET is to give you one power-packed briefing of insights, news and trends from the global War on Terror that leaves you stimulated, informed, and occasionally amused every Monday & Thursday. In addition, we also have our in-depth Iraq Report today.

Today's Winds of War briefing is brought to you by Bill Roggio of the fourth rail and evariste of Discarded Lies.

Top Topics

• Nathan Hamm has kindly assembled a briefing on the situation in Uzbekistan: Early Friday morning, gunmen stormed Andijon’s prison freeing 2,000 prisoners, including 23 men charged with belonging to a banned Islamic group who were at the center of protests that began May 10. During the day on May 13, about 10,000 people gathered in Andijon’s central square where troops opened fire on the crowd killing more than 200 people. First-hand reports describe a city under siege. The city is calm now, though unrest continues in two towns on the border with Kyrgyzstan. Though it is still unclear whether or not those who seized government buildings were protesters or militants taking advantage of the situation, the primary concerns of those who were protesting throughout the week are economic.

• Blogosphere counter-terror expert Dan Darling offers further analysis re: what's going on in Uzbekistan.

• The Qu'ran abuse story reported by Newsweek has been retracted. This false story has cost over 16 lives and sparked numerous riots in the Muslim world. No one will riot when copies of Newsweek are flushed this week.

• Haitham al-Yemeni, the reported successor to captured al Qaeda commander Abu Farraj al-Libbi, has been reported to have been killed in a strike by a US Predator in Pakistan. The Pakistani government denies this, however. Musharraf is claiming al Qaeda in Pakistan has been broken by al-Libbi's capture. Right…

Other Topics Today Include: Enriching Iran; US interferes in Iran; Is/Hezb deathmatch; Saudi democracy in action; Yemeni cell jugged; Egypt just says no to the Muslim Brotherhood; Airplane!; Fake badges and visas; Flight turned away; Somolia still a mess; UN causes rape, pilliage, plunder in Darfur; LPG tanker recovered; The Rising Sun?; US interferes in Myanmar; Kashmiri presents; Bomb Thailand; Nork's Nukes; Ocalan's unfair trial; US interferes in former Soviet republics; Basque bombs; The perils of al Qaeda middle managers; Osama bracketed; another Zarqawi aide detained, and much much more...

IRAN REPORTS

• The Iranian Parliament approved a resumption of the uranium enrichment program. Kofi Annan scolds the United States for threatening to go to the Security Council. Is Kojo consulting in Iran?

• Iran accuses its "enemies" of getting involved in their internal affairs (this is a recurring theme in today's report).

• Don't miss Regime Change Iran's weekly report for the full roundup of news from Iran.

THE MIDDLE EAST

• Joe has the roundup for Operation Matador.

• Hezbollah and Israel duke it out on the Lebanese border.

• The Egyptian prime minister claims 70 terrorists have been handed over to his country, but none were tortured.

• Saudi Arabia is sending democracy reformers to jail.

• Lebanon will hold elections on time.

• According to a Yemeni prosecutor, a Yemeni al Qaeda cell was planning to attack US assets in the Gulf region.

• Saudi Arabia detains another "militant" after a shootout.

• The Egyptian Prime Minsiter states his country is moving towards democracy but the Muslim Brotherhood "will never be a political party".

AMERICAN DOMESTIC SECURITY

• The pilot who allowed his plane to stray into restricted airspace over Washington, DC will not go to jail but may lose his license.

• We don't need no stinkin' badges! Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested a man after discovering over 1,000 forged law enforcement badges.

• More fakeness: Almost 200 fake immigration visa cases were rejected last month.

• Two members of an Islamic charity are arrested for various charges of impeding a federal investigation.

• Michael Doran, Assistant Professor of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton, may be joining the National Security Council.

• An Air France flight was diverted after French authorities allowed a passenger to board who was on the no-fly list.

AFRICA

• Ethiopia claims al Qaeda is still very active in lawless Somalia.

• The United Nations believes the Security Council resolutions against Sudan have stoked violence in the region. Those with reasonable mental faculties place the blame on the situation in Darfur on the Janjaweed militias and the Sudanese government.

• Somali warlords begin withdrawing their militias from Mogadishu but establish base camps outside the city.

• Arrests are made in Nigeria after fighting between Shias and Sunnis.

• Government and rebel forces reached an agreement on ending the fighting in the Ivory Coast.

• A UN peacekeeping force in the Congo was ambushed, leaving one dead and seven wounded.

• The vessel and crew of a Panamanian-flagged Liquefied Petroleum Gas tanker pirated off the Somali coast has been freed.

ASIA & AUSTRALIA

• Is Japan on the road to superpower status?

• Tajikistan imprisons seven members of Hizb-e-Tahrir.

• Myanmar accuses the CIA of training terrorists responsible for attacks in the country.

• A bomb disguised as a present has killed three in Kashmir.

• More bombs are detonated in Thailand's Muslim south.
  http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/05/12/thailand.bombs.reut/index.html

• Three leaders of Jemaah Islamiyah have been designated as terrorists by the US Department of the Treasury.

• The United States warns North Korea not to conduct nuclear weapons tests, or action will be taken.

EUROPE

• The trial of Kurdish PKK terrorist leader Abdullah Ocalan is ruled "unfair" by the European Court of Human Rights.

• A friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin is accusing western NGOs as acting as a cover to stir up unrest in former Soviet satellite states.

• Basque terrorist detonate four bombs, injuring three.

• The US will not declassify documents to assist a German court in convicting Mounir al-Motassadeq, a 9-11 conspirator.

THE GLOBAL WAR

• Over two thirds of al Qaeda in Iraq's middle management has been killed or captured.

• The Israeli Defense Force's chief of General Staff claims Osama bin Laden's location is known, its just a matter of reaching him. Sure.

• Zarqawi financier and aide Abu Fateh has been detained.

We try to close on a lighter note if possible.

• The ultimate humiliation: an Italian man has been forced to pay damages to his wife as he "failed to fulfill his conjugal duty and deprived his wife of the chance to be a mother". Perhaps he should get an internet connection so he can get spammed by Viagra ads.

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