BBC NEWS | Middle East | Iraq allies hail Zarqawi killing

Posted on June 8th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: International Terrorism.

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Iraq allies hail Zarqawi killing
Iraq allies hail Zarqawi killing

The US and UK have hailed news that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, has died in a US air strike.Zarqawi died when US planes dropped two 500lb (230kg) bombs on a site near the city of Baquba. He was identified by fingerprints, tattoos and scars.

ZARQAWI KILLED


The US struck after receiving specific tip-offs from within Zarqawi’s organisation, officials said.

US President George W Bush described the news as a severe blow to al-Qaeda and “justice” for Zarqawi.

British PM Tony Blair described it as “very good news”, but both leaders said Zarqawi’s death would not end violence.

How Zarqawi was found

The news came shortly before the Iraqi parliament approved the key posts of defence and interior ministers.

The two crucial roles had remained unfilled despite the formation of a coalition government last month.

Zarqawi’s death was an opportunity for the new government to “turn the tide”, President Bush said.

“The ideology of terror has lost one of its most visible and aggressive leaders,” he added.

Correspondents say it remains to be seen if one man’s death will bring a breakthrough in Iraq.

Applause

Zarqawi “safe house” about 8km (five miles) north of Baquba was struck at 1815 (1415 GMT) on Wednesday, officials said.

Strike site
This is a message to those who choose the path of violence to change their direction before it is too late
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki announced the news on Thursday, telling a news conference in Baghdad: “We have eliminated Zarqawi.”The news sparked sustained applause.

The strike was the “painstaking, deliberate result” of intelligence over “many weeks”, US military spokesman Major General William Caldwell said.

He showed a picture of the militant leader’s body and a videotape of the attack, in which he said American F-16 fighter jets dropped the two 500lb bombs on the site.

The body was moved to a secure site where Zarqawi’s identity was confirmed, the official said.

A Jordanian government spokesman said Jordanian agents had contributed to the operation against Zarqawi.

ZARQAWI-CLAIMED ATTACKS
19 Aug 2003: Bombing of UN office in Baghdad, 23 dead
29 Aug 2003: Bombing of Najaf shrine killing Shia cleric Muhammad Baqr Hakim, 85 dead
2 March 2004: Co-ordinated attack on Shia mosques during Ashoura ceremony, 181 dead
11 May 2004: Nick Berg beheaded, first of at least nine foreign hostages killed in 2004
14 Sept 2004: Car bomb targeting police recruits in Baghdad, 47 dead
19 Dec 2004: Car bombs in Najaf and Karbala, 60 dead
9 Nov 2005: Triple attack on hotels in Amman, 60 dead

Mr Maliki said intelligence from Iraqi people had also helped to track down Zarqawi, who had a $25m (£13m) price on his head – the same bounty as that offered by the US for Osama Bin Laden.

A statement on the internet attributed to an umbrella group for jihadi organisations including al-Qaeda in Iraq has confirmed Zarqawi’s death, reports say.

Jordanian-born Zarqawi was said to have been in a meeting with associates at the time. Five other people were killed in the raid, including spiritual adviser Sheikh Abd-al-Rahman and an unidentified woman and child.

Within hours of the killings, troops launched 17 simultaneous raids around Baghdad, which yielded a “treasure trove” of intelligence, according to the US official.

‘Violent thug’

Zarqawi was not a global mastermind like al-Qaeda leader Bin Laden, says the BBC’s security correspondent, Frank Gardner.

Zarqawi’s hometown, Zarqa, reacts to his killing.

Instead he was a bloodthirsty and violent thug, our correspondent says – who made enemies and several mistakes that might have contributed to his downfall.

These included ordering a triple suicide bombing against hotels in Amman, Jordan, last November, that killed 60 people, our correspondent says.

Zarqawi was accused of leading the rash of kidnappings and beheadings of foreign workers.

It has been suggested that he appeared personally on one video posted on the internet, cutting off the head of an American hostage.

A video released in April showed Zarqawi shooting an automatic rifle and berating the US for its “arrogance”. The video provided the most up-to-date picture of the fugitive.

Violence continued on Thursday as 13 people were killed and 28 injured in a bomb at a Baghdad market, while an evening car bombing killed five and injured at least 13, police said.

1 comment.

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Iraq allies hail Zarqawi killing

Posted on June 8th, 2006 by .
Categories: International Terrorism.

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Iraq allies hail Zarqawi killing
Iraq allies hail Zarqawi killing

The US and UK have hailed news that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, has died in a US air strike.Zarqawi died when US planes dropped two 500lb (230kg) bombs on a site near the city of Baquba. He was identified by fingerprints, tattoos and scars.

ZARQAWI KILLED


The US struck after receiving specific tip-offs from within Zarqawi’s organisation, officials said.

US President George W Bush described the news as a severe blow to al-Qaeda and “justice” for Zarqawi.

British PM Tony Blair described it as “very good news”, but both leaders said Zarqawi’s death would not end violence.

How Zarqawi was found

The news came shortly before the Iraqi parliament approved the key posts of defence and interior ministers.

The two crucial roles had remained unfilled despite the formation of a coalition government last month.

Zarqawi’s death was an opportunity for the new government to “turn the tide”, President Bush said.

“The ideology of terror has lost one of its most visible and aggressive leaders,” he added.

Correspondents say it remains to be seen if one man’s death will bring a breakthrough in Iraq.

Applause

Zarqawi “safe house” about 8km (five miles) north of Baquba was struck at 1815 (1415 GMT) on Wednesday, officials said.

Strike site
This is a message to those who choose the path of violence to change their direction before it is too late
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki announced the news on Thursday, telling a news conference in Baghdad: “We have eliminated Zarqawi.”The news sparked sustained applause.

The strike was the “painstaking, deliberate result” of intelligence over “many weeks”, US military spokesman Major General William Caldwell said.

He showed a picture of the militant leader’s body and a videotape of the attack, in which he said American F-16 fighter jets dropped the two 500lb bombs on the site.

The body was moved to a secure site where Zarqawi’s identity was confirmed, the official said.

A Jordanian government spokesman said Jordanian agents had contributed to the operation against Zarqawi.

ZARQAWI-CLAIMED ATTACKS
19 Aug 2003: Bombing of UN office in Baghdad, 23 dead
29 Aug 2003: Bombing of Najaf shrine killing Shia cleric Muhammad Baqr Hakim, 85 dead
2 March 2004: Co-ordinated attack on Shia mosques during Ashoura ceremony, 181 dead
11 May 2004: Nick Berg beheaded, first of at least nine foreign hostages killed in 2004
14 Sept 2004: Car bomb targeting police recruits in Baghdad, 47 dead
19 Dec 2004: Car bombs in Najaf and Karbala, 60 dead
9 Nov 2005: Triple attack on hotels in Amman, 60 dead

Mr Maliki said intelligence from Iraqi people had also helped to track down Zarqawi, who had a $25m (£13m) price on his head – the same bounty as that offered by the US for Osama Bin Laden.

A statement on the internet attributed to an umbrella group for jihadi organisations including al-Qaeda in Iraq has confirmed Zarqawi’s death, reports say.

Jordanian-born Zarqawi was said to have been in a meeting with associates at the time. Five other people were killed in the raid, including spiritual adviser Sheikh Abd-al-Rahman and an unidentified woman and child.

Within hours of the killings, troops launched 17 simultaneous raids around Baghdad, which yielded a “treasure trove” of intelligence, according to the US official.

‘Violent thug’

Zarqawi was not a global mastermind like al-Qaeda leader Bin Laden, says the BBC’s security correspondent, Frank Gardner.

Zarqawi’s hometown, Zarqa, reacts to his killing.

Instead he was a bloodthirsty and violent thug, our correspondent says – who made enemies and several mistakes that might have contributed to his downfall.

These included ordering a triple suicide bombing against hotels in Amman, Jordan, last November, that killed 60 people, our correspondent says.

Zarqawi was accused of leading the rash of kidnappings and beheadings of foreign workers.

It has been suggested that he appeared personally on one video posted on the internet, cutting off the head of an American hostage.

A video released in April showed Zarqawi shooting an automatic rifle and berating the US for its “arrogance”. The video provided the most up-to-date picture of the fugitive.

Violence continued on Thursday as 13 people were killed and 28 injured in a bomb at a Baghdad market, while an evening car bombing killed five and injured at least 13, police said.

1 comment.

NRC – J.L. Heldring: Zelfs als je niet gelooft…

Posted on June 8th, 2006 by .
Categories: Religion Other.

C L O S E R

Interessante en zeer lezenswaardige column van J.L. Heldring in NRC:  Zelfs als je niet gelooft…

Dezer dagen

„Zelfs als je niet gelooft, kun je nog erkennen dat het geloof een belangrijke maatschappelijke functie heeft”, zegt de Britse historicus Michael Burleigh in zijn gesprek met Bas Heijne, waarvan deze verslag doet in het juninummer van M, het maandblad van deze krant. Zelf is Burleigh gelovig katholiek, maar dat doet niets af aan de juistheid van zijn observatie.

Zij lijkt zelfs na 11 september 2001 juister dan voorzien. Bas Heijne merkt althans op dat sinds die datum religie weer een rol speelt in ieder debat. Daarom vermoedelijk is hij met Burleigh gaan praten.

Die is immers bezig een geschiedenis van Europa aan het schrijven „die (zoals hij zegt) zuiver over immateriële zaken handelt, over ideeën en idealen en religieuze overtuigingen”.

Het moet een soort contraboek worden van de boeken die de marxist Eric Hobsbawm over de negentiende en twintigste eeuw heeft geschreven, waarin deze (aldus Burleigh) al die immateriële zaken „achteloos als niet langer ter zake doende terzijde schuift”. Volgens Burleigh hebben die zaken „de afgelopen twee eeuwen wel degelijk een bepalende rol gespeeld”.

Burleigh, die bekendheid heeft gekregen door zijn boeken over het Derde Rijk, ziet geen tegenstelling met het thema dat hem nu bezighoudt. Immers, de ideologieën van de negentiende en de twintigste eeuw zijn een soort „vervangende godsdiensten” geweest (de Nederlandse zendingsman Hendrik Kraemer noemde ze in zijn The Christian Message in a non-christian World (1932) pseudo -absolutes).

Het verschil is alleen dat die „v e r va n – gende godsdiensten” het heil hier op aarde beloven, terwijl de echte godsdiensten dit in het hiernamaals voorzeggen. Dat is waarschijnlijk de reden waarom zij een taaier leven hebben dan de eerste, die op hun succes of falen – meestal falen – afgerekend kunnen worden.

De Amerikaanse antropoloog Clifford Geertz, auteur o.a. van The religion of Java (1960), blijkt het in zoverre met Burleigh eens te zijn dat de gedachte dat de godsdienst een verdwijnende kracht in de geschiedenis is, steeds meer betwist wordt.

Hij dateert het begin van dit besef een halve eeuw eerder dan Bas Heijne doet, namelijk omstreeks 1950, toen bleek dat de golf van antikoloniale emancipatie in de ‘Derde Wereld’ allerminst gepaard ging met meer secularisatie. Integendeel eerd er.

Dat deed bij Geertz, die zijn gedachte ontvouwde in een referaat dat hij begin mei in Parijs hield (Le Monde van 4 mei gaf er een uittreksel van), de vraag rijzen hoe godsdiensten ontstaan. Hij brengt in dit verband de beroemde these die Max Weber in 1905 lanceerde in zijn Die protestantische Ethik und der Geist des Kapitalismus, ter sprake.

Deze these wordt, volgens Geertz, algemeen zo geïnterpreteerd dat Weber het protestantisme, en vooral het calvinisme, ziet als een oorzaak van het moderne kapitalisme.

Met die interpretatie wordt Weber, nog altijd volgens Geertz, onrecht gedaan: Weber zag veeleer in het calvinisme een poging zin te geven aan een materieel verschijnsel dat zich, geheel autonoom, aan het manifesteren was en de traditionele samenleving in West-Europa bedreigde. (more…)

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globeandmail.com : Dutch Integration Minister Rita Verdonk – Going Dutch on immigration

Posted on June 8th, 2006 by .
Categories: Misc. News.

Dutch integration Minister Rita Verdonk has written an article in the Canadian Globe and mail.com Immigration – Going Dutch on immigration. You can also read the comments on the article by visitors of the website, of one of the columnists and a letter to the editors responding to that columnist.
RITA VERDONK

Special to Globe and Mail Update

The Dutch position on immigration, Islam and relations between the native population and immigrants is often misunderstood. The general picture in the foreign press is that the Netherlands once was the living embodiment of tolerance and multiculturalism, but after the murders of Pim Fortuyn (a Dutch politician) and Theo van Gogh (a filmmaker and writer) it changed into a country governed by polarization, xenophobia and assimilation. This picture does not reflect reality, but it is true that our views on immigration and integration have changed. In short, we have become more realistic.
(more…)

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