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Cornered Militant Likely Not Zawahiri, May be Uzbek or Chechen

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Zynx Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-20-04 07:52 AM
Original message
Cornered Militant Likely Not Zawahiri, May be Uzbek or Chechen
WANA, Pakistan (Reuters) - A suspected senior al Qaeda member whom the Pakistani army thought it had surrounded in a remote area on the Afghan border is probably a Chechen or Uzbek militant leader, a Pakistani commander said on Saturday.

Thousands of Pakistani troops have been locked in battle with al Qaeda fighters and their tribal allies in Pakistan's wild South Warizistan tribal area since Tuesday.

Dozens of fighters have been killed and about 100 suspected militants, many of them foreigners, captured, the army said. Commanders said the fierce defense the rebels mounted suggested they were trying to protect a "high-value target," who officials said was possibly Osama bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri.

But intercepted rebel radio communications suggested the mystery militant leader was an Uzbek or a Chechen. Zawahri is Egyptian.

"He is most probably a Chechen or Uzbek because all the intercepts we have been receiving have been in the Chechen or Uzbek language," Lieutenant-General Safder Hussain told reporters visiting the western town of Wana, near the fighting.

Hussain said speculation Zawahri had been with the militants was "conjecture." Zawahri, a doctor, is regarded as the brains of al Qaeda. He is thought to be one of the key figures behind the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

The capture of one of the world's most wanted men would be a major coup for the United States, under fire over its rationale for the war in Iraq. Saturday is the first anniversary of the start of that conflict.

(More)


http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=4611333§ion=news
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chelsea0011 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-20-04 07:59 AM
Response to Original message
1. Chechen????#@#$
Powell visits Musharaaf and the next day Pakistan has got "someone of interest cornered"? Next week he will be identified as Steve. "Steve the Terrorist"
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displacedtexan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-20-04 08:01 AM
Response to Reply #1
2. Thanks! 'Steve the Terrorist!'
I needed that laugh!

Off to protest now!
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Zynx Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-20-04 08:05 AM
Response to Reply #1
4. So much for all that media hype.
Some brand-X Chechen rather than the most dangerous terrorist out there? Give me a break.
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0007 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-20-04 08:05 AM
Response to Original message
3. ....another bull shit story -
These mindless terrorist only know one language, 'eh?...Car 54 where are you? "I'm listening to a Uzbek and a Chechen talk. Zawahri isn't in that cave, cuz he's Egyptian.
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Zynx Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-20-04 08:06 AM
Response to Reply #3
5. They never had any proof that Zawahiri was in there in the first place.
That's the point here. They admit as much.
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0007 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-21-04 06:58 AM
Response to Reply #5
21. ...thanx for the "B ball" updates
Edited on Sun Mar-21-04 06:59 AM by 0007
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ClintonTyree Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-20-04 08:26 AM
Response to Original message
6. All media hype........
all the time. Let's find a story to latch onto and play it to death, even if it's not true. Will the freakin' media EVER learn to not sensationalize stories until FACTS (remember them, media moguls?) are known? I doubt it, the quality of journalism and reporting in the last decade has slipped to a low that it will never be able to scrape and claw it's way out of.
There are no more Woodwards and Bernstein's out there, just scared little corporate employees trying hard NOT to lose their jobs by not creating any waves. The era of investigative journalism (mainstream anyway) is dead.
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still_one Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-20-04 08:30 AM
Response to Reply #6
7. Here is what DEBKA reported 48 hours ago
DEBKAfile Reports Exclusively: Pakistan red-faced on discovering “high value” terrorist target its troops surrounded in Waziristan was not bin Laden’s No. 2 Zuwahiri but chief of Pushtun Ahmadi tribal federation. DEBKA sources estimate that any harm to Pushtun chief would spark wholesale tribal war offensive against Pakistan


We will see who is right...
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librechik Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-20-04 09:16 AM
Response to Original message
8. let the embarrassing backpedalling begin!
it was pathetic watching the cable news shows pre-empt all their regular programming to wait for the big capture shot. But it worked ok in the end, since we had 24 hr Iraq anniversary whoring the next day. Propogandists fantasy! The GOP kidnapped our tvs!
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lanlady Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-20-04 09:31 AM
Response to Original message
9. geez, that Laci Peterson story--
--must not be getting the ratings. Guess the media had to try something else.
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Zynx Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-20-04 09:47 AM
Response to Reply #9
10. I bet it will take them a while to wind this one down.
They got so into it, they can't just say "Whoops".
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Warren Stuart Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-20-04 10:10 AM
Response to Original message
11. Hide the Pea, Day 920
What's up with that Petersen case?

Sharks biting yet?

Who else has got St. Joes's going all the way?
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varun Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-20-04 10:18 AM
Response to Original message
12. Freepers were having cyber-orgasms..
...dreaming about Pakistanis giving them the head of Ayman Al-Zawahiri on a platter. Threads on this topic went beyond the 3000+ mark:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1100504/posts?q=1&&page=3364#3364

Looks like its dawning upon them that they have been taken for a ride

:evilgrin:
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JanMichael Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-20-04 10:49 AM
Response to Original message
13. Perhaps the most ass backwards reasoning of the week.
"The capture of one of the world's most wanted men would be a major coup for the United States, under fire over its rationale for the war in Iraq."

Um, the Military Dictatorship of Pakistan captures a person entirely unrelated to Iraq and it's a fucking "major coup" for the US?:wtf:
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Media_Lies_Daily Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-20-04 10:55 AM
Response to Original message
14. Gee...what a surprise.
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pinniped Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-20-04 03:23 PM
Response to Original message
15. I bet it was the missing space alien from Roswell...
I don't think all aliens were accounted for back in 1947.
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PurityOfEssence Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-20-04 03:26 PM
Response to Original message
16. Once again: the prerequisite for preemption is correctness
These guys can't get anything right.
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w4rma Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-20-04 04:51 PM
Response to Original message
17. None of whom are in Bush's "Most Wanted" deck of cards. (n/t)
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Moderator DU Moderator Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-20-04 08:15 PM
Response to Original message
18. Zynx
Per DU copyright rules
please post only four
paragraphs from the
news source.

Thank you.

DU Moderator
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Aidoneus Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-21-04 06:25 AM
Response to Original message
19. On the 'Chechen trace' in Northern Pakistan
'Chechen trace' in Northern Pakistan

Chief of External Subcommittee of the Informational Council of State Defense Council 'Majlis al-Shura' of Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (CRI), Movladi Udugov, called the FoxNews report about Chechen units fighting in the battles in Northern Pakistan absolutely false and not reflecting the reality.

«Western and Pakistani mass media have one weakness. As soon as the US troops, or the Pakistanis, or the British encounter serious resistance in Iraq or Afghanistan, they come up with nothing better than blaming all of their troubles on the alleged Chechen factor. Like, «Chechens are the ones fighting against us, so what do you want? That’s a serious adversary, even Russians suffer defeats when fighting against them». Sure, such an evaluation of capabilities of Chechen soldiers is flattering to our self-esteem, but in this particular case, just like in all previous cases, all of these statements are absolutely false. There are no Chechen units in Pakistan or Afghanistan. Chechens have their own section of the frontline, right where the live force is needed, -- in Chechnya. There are less than a million of us. But there are over 200 millions of Arabs and Afghans combined. I don’t think they will ever be lacking in combat-efficient soldiers».

«As far as the claims by FoxNews go, I basically have no doubts that this report about Chechens is an invention by the reporter of that TV channel, which is known worldwide for its Chechenophobic and anti-Islamic position. But even if the Pakistani Commander came up with such an absurd story, and the reporter is not lying, then it only confirms our previously made remark: then the Pakistani Army must be having serious problems in these battles and the Command is already looking for excuses for its possible failures, - like there is nothing wrong in losing battles to Chechens», Movladi Udugov stated.

--snip--

http://www.kavkazcenter.com/eng/article.php?id=2541

---------------------

Chechenization of the world

--snip--

There are also some interesting reports of how the Pakistani generals determined the ethnic background of the 'top militant'. According to the Echo of Moscow (Ekho Moskvy), which refers to the Pakistani Command, the negotiations were in Chechen and Uzbek languages at the same time.

No wonder that a Chechen can be multilingual and speak several languages fluently. There are lots of gifted people out there. But it's a pretty interesting fact that there were people in the Pakistani military who could speak Chechen and use it during the negotiations.

Most likely, the Chechen language is becoming the language of international communications, along with English. All opposing sides are supposed to be learning Chechen in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan from now on.

In Europe every other refugee from CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States, former Soviet Union) claims to be a Chechen. In order to determine whether it is true, the local authorities offer him/her to speak Chechen to them. Sure, in order for the Europeans to understand whether the applicant for asylum is telling the truth, they have to learn Chechen words. Refugees also learn the Chechen language in order not to flunk the interview. Sometimes it even goes as far as black people from Zambia claim to be Chechens, who know a whole bunch of Chechen words by heart and say them to prove their Chechen ethnic background.

All in all, a pretty interesting situation is arising. While Putin and Blair are scaring the nations with the 'Chechen threat', and while the US troops are trying to impose their way of life and scaring the countries and the continents with aircraft carriers and satellite weapons, a quiet Chechenization is going on in the world. So, you never know how all this fuss is going to end, which the Kremlin's keeper of Chechen outhouses started.

--snip--

http://www.kavkazcenter.com/eng/article.php?id=2553
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tabasco Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-21-04 06:50 AM
Response to Original message
20. CNN reporting now it might just be a "local criminal"
All the media whores have exposed themselves as tools of the military-industrial powers. Champing at he bit to report a triumph for Bush in the War on Terra. If only they reported the bad news with such fervor.
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spinbaby Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-21-04 07:29 AM
Response to Reply #20
22. Figures
As I recall, the only reason they thought they had someone big was that the people in the fort were fighting back really hard.
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