3 March 08

Israel has withdrawn its ground forces from Gaza, following an offensive in which over 100 Palestinians were killed. The raids were in reprisal for rocket attacks from the strip which killed at least one Israeli and injured others.

Israel says, however, this doesn't mean its offensive in over.

5 March 08

Oil prices have hit an all-time high after OPEC decided to leave output levels unchanged. Light sweet crude for April delivery rose more than $4 to $104.56.

Columbia has accused Ecuador of harbouring a "terrorist" who has pursued or acquired uranium for a dirty bomb. They accuse the Venezuelans, who side with Ecuador, of building up military forces against Columbia, including Russian-made aircraft etc.

This tail-end petro-imperialist CIA-inspired drivel ...

The UK government has back-pedalled on identity cards. They just want the all-seeing databasewhich is the real thing, not archaic cards. In the future, you might have (to have) a chip in your (forehead and/or right hand? No, ) phone. And be on the database to have a passport or driving licence.

9 March 08

UK Sunday rag News of the World says MI5 are secretly surveilling (well, they know now) an al-Qaeda cell in the London Metropolitan Police. Four "Asian" (i.e. ethnic Indian) officers are "passing on information". The Met has refused to comment.

Counter-revolutionaries everywhere, comrades.

And the originals are in on the act ...

China has "thwarted a plot by Islamic terrorists" to hijack an airliner in the country. It has also arrested a number of "such terrorists" in Sinkiang (the north-west Chinese region inhabited by people of Muslim descent).

10 March 08

In Iraq, five US soldiers killed on the street by a "suicide bomber". This follows a twin Baghdad bombing in which at least 50 Iraqis killed.

11 March 08

The Chief Constable of Greater Manchester, Michael Todd, is found dead in an apparent suicide.

A British Channel 4 News interview with Simon Mann, the "operational mastermind" of a would-be coup in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea in 2004. Mann is awaiting trial there. Margaret Thatcher's son Mark was implicated in the coup plot.

Mann claims South Africa and Spain were behind the plot. But it was in South Africa that Mark Thatcher was convicted of involvement. A "nod-and-a-wink" from Britain and/or the United States? "Absolutely not", says Mann.

They're giving him water and food in his "EG" jail, Mann says. Red herrings, perhaps.

'US MID-EAST COMMANDER QUITS

'The top US military commander for the Middle East has resigned amid a rift over American policy in Iran.

'US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said he had given Admiral William J Fallon permission to retire after claims he opposed president Bush's Iran policy.

'Mr Gates described as "ridiculous" any notion that Admiral Fallon's departure signals that the United States is planning to go to war with Iran.'

(ITV Teletext, 11 March 08, p.311 [taken at 9:30pm GMT])

'US MID-EAST COMMANDER STEPS DOWN

'The commander of US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, Admiral William Fallon, is to retire from his post early.

'He cited the "embarrassing situation and public perception of differences between my views and administration policy" as the reason for retiring.

'He was the subject of a recent article by Esquire magazine, which said he was opposed to the use of force against Iran over its nuclear programme.

'The 63-year-old admiral became head of the US Central Command a year ago.'

(BBC Ceefax, 11 March 08, p.123)

13 March 08

A first investigation has not revealed any obvious cause of Greater Manchester Chief Constable Michael Todd's death (see above, under 11 March 08.).

Meanwhile, the body of Neil Munro, a Dorset police inspector, has been discovered on a beach. Brittany Ferries confirmed he boarded one of their ferries yesterday.

14 March 08

The CIA has handed over a "Qaeda leader" to "the Pentagon". He had "helped Osama bin Laden escape from Tora Bora" in 2001. The CIA got him in summer 2007.

Yemeni describes CIA secret jails
BBC News online, 14 March 08

A Yemeni man has described being held for nearly three years in secret CIA prisons, or "black sites", around the world and accused the US of torture.

'Khaled al-Maqtari told Amnesty International he was held in isolation for more than 28 months without charge or access to legal representation.

'He said he first became a "ghost detainee" at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq [run by the US military] after being arrested there in 2004.

'The US has not acknowledged detaining Mr Maqtari.

'CIA spokesperson George Little told the BBC: "Apart from transfers to Guantanamo, the CIA does not, as a rule, comment publicly on allegations of who may — or may not — have been in its custody.

'"The agency has run its terrorist detention and interrogation programme in accord with US law." [No doubt, the law that gives the CIA carte blanche to break the law outside the US.] ...'

18 March 08

On the fifth anniversary of the Iraq invasion ...

'BIN LADEN ISSUES NEW MESSAGE

'Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has issued a new message attacking the European Union for publishing drawings insulting to the Prophet Mohammed.

'The message appeared on a militant website and showed [a picture of] the al-Qaeda chief brandishing an AK-47 gun.

'A voice believed to be bin Laden's said the cartoons took place as part of a "new crusade" against Islam ["involving Pope Benedict XVI" (BBC Ceefax)], and warned that a reaction would come.'

(ITV Teletext, p.305)

I can just imagine bin Laden rasping, in an Ulster accent, "Never!! Never!! NEVER!!"

20 March 08

"A new audio message purportedly from Osama bin Laden urged Muslims to join the insurgency in Iraq as the best way to support the Palestinians." The message was broadcast by Al-Jazeera. (BBC Ceefax)

Intelcenter seems to be au fait with its Wikipedia entry ...

24 March 08

In an accusation that merely confirms US black ops' culpability ...

Iran 'behind Green Zone attack'
BBC News online

'The most senior US general in Iraq has said he has evidence that Iran was behind [Easter] Sunday's [yesterday's] bombardment of Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone.

'Gen David Petraeus told the BBC he thought Tehran had trained, equipped and funded insurgents who fired the barrage of mortars and rockets.

'He said Iran was adding what he described as "lethal accelerants" to a very combustible mix.

'There has as yet been no response from Iran to the accusations. ...

'In an interview with BBC world affairs editor John Simpson, Gen Petraeus said violence in Iraq was being perpetuated by Iran's Quds Force, a branch of the Revolutionary Guards.

'"The rockets that were launched at the green Zone yesterday, for example ... were Iranian-provided, Iranian-made rockets," he said, adding that the groups that fired them were funded and trained by the Quds Force.

'"All of this is in complete violation of promises made by President Ahmadinejad and the other most senior Iranian leaders to their Iraqi counterparts."

'The barrage hit the Green Zone on Sunday morning. Some rockets missed their targets killing 15 Iraqi civilians. [And how many Americans were killed in this attack? None, apparently.] ...'

Meanwhile US Vice-President Dick Cheney, speaking in Israel at the end of a Middle-East tour, says that Hamas, along with Iran and Syria, are trying to torpedo the peace process.

26 March 08

'40 KILLED IN IRAQ FIGHTING

'Forty people have been killed and 200 wounded in two days of fighting between Shia militias and government forces in Basra, a military spokesman said.

'Followers of Shia cleric Muqtadr al-Sadr have been fighting US and Iraqi forces in Baghdad and other cities in reaction to a crackdown in Basra.

'Prime Minister Nouri [al-]Malaki has taken personal charge of the effort to rid the city of militias.'

(ITV Teletext, p.312)

29 March 08

US and British planes have bombed targets in Basra.