Category Archives: Terrorism

Russian troops storm school

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About an hour and a half ago from the look of it.

The assault did not appear to be planned, but rather began with scattered fire that quickly erupted to a crescendo, punctuated by more blasts. Dozens of hostages — many barely dressed, their faces strained with fear and exhaustion – survived the assault, but others emerged bloodied and in shock. The fate of the majority inside — now believed to be as many as 1,000 — was not immediately known.

NY Times

Update: What Interfax is reporting is not a pretty picture. Unplanned raid, over 200 wounded, surviving terrorists hiding out in an adjacent building.

Aznar admits he lied

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Remarkable.

The comments by Jose Maria Aznar broadcast on Friday indicated the government knew on the morning before March 14 elections police were starting to rule out the separatist group ETA, though that afternoon it said ETA was likely responsible.

I guess he figured the truth would come out anyway. I’m sure he would disapprove of my headline, but can’t see how else one could interpret his remarks. Or am I being shrill?

The news reports are unsatisfactory. It sounds as if he wasn’t very apologetic. How did he justify his behaviour?

I’m hoping Edward will give us a more informed take.

Busted Flat And Vitriolic In Luton

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Bernard sent me this link from the New York Times with the suggestion that it might be of interest to AFOE readers. I am dutifully complying by posting. Unfortunately I fear the situation described may come much more as news in the US than it does to those of us here in Europe.

Luton: “In this former industrial town north of London, a small group of young Britons whose parents emigrated from Pakistan after World War II have turned against their families’ new home. They say they would like to see Prime Minister Tony Blair dead or deposed and an Islamic flag hanging outside No. 10 Downing Street.

They swear allegiance to Osama bin Laden and his goal of toppling Western democracies to establish an Islamic superstate under Shariah law, like Afghanistan under the Taliban. They call the Sept. 11 hijackers the ‘Magnificent 19′ and regard the Madrid train bombings as a clever way to drive a wedge into Europe“.
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How Spain voted

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Both Chris Brooke and Matthew Turner have raised the suggestion that the Socialist victory in Spain may not have been caused by an actual swing in the electorate from the Popular Party (PP) to the Socialists (PSOE) after Thursday, but rather by the attacks in Madrid inspiring more people to go out and vote. With the majority of these new voters trending towards the left and the PSOE, the argument goes, this meant that they can attribute their victory to these new voters, rather than voters who switched from the PP to the PSOE.

Curious about whether or not this is true, I took a look at the actual election results and there is evidence there to support this view. However, any conclusions from this evidence are necessarily tentative and speculative, as the evidence could be interpreted many ways.
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Six Moroccans Identified in Madrid Bombing

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Well, little by little the details are getting clearer. According to the Spanish daily El Pais the police now know the identity of six Moroccans who are thought to have participated in Thursday’s bombing.

According to the newspaper one of those responsible is Jamal Zougan from Tangiers who has been identified from photographs by two passengers from one of the bombed trains. These passengers have also identified two more people who accompanied Zougan that day. These latter two are thought by police to have been combatants in Chechenia and Bosnia. Zougan also shared a flat at one time with Abdelaziz Benyaich who is under preventive detention in Spain for his presumed association with the bombing of a Spanish cultural centre in Casablanca last year.

Oh, what a tangled web they weave!
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Fair and Balanced?

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Two versions of the Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero story, Fox and Bloomberg, choose for yourselves.

BTW: anyone out there help me: what is the Blair/Labour Government official position right now on the UN and troop withdrawal? Just to put this in some sort of perspective.
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