January 11, 2006

Knife Attack at Moscow Synagogue, American Injured

Various Russian news agencies report that a lone knifeman entered a central Moscow synagogue and began randomly stabbing congregants. At least eight people were stabbed, four of them are in critical condition. Three of the victims were foreigners, including an American, and Israeli, and a Tajik. The name of the American victim is not known at this time.

Rabbi Yitzhak Kogan reports that the assailant said, "I've come here to kill." The assailant, 20 year old Alexander Koptsev, was apprehended by the Rabbi and his son. No known ties exist between Koptsev and antisemitic nationalist groups.

When I lived in Russia, ten years ago, antisemitism was rampant. I guess things haven't changed all that much.

UPDATE: Looks like he was a skinhead, or 'gooligan' as they say in Russia.

News Search: Moscow Synagogue

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January 04, 2006

Cocktails in Space

The Russians want to make liquor available to the crew of the International Space Station.

"They fly in orbit for half a year and perform a heavy workload, especially during exhausting space walks when they shed several kilos in weight over a few hours," said a source in the Russian medical support teams for the manned space program. "Many people think a small ration of alcohol would help restore their strength."
Why not? It always helps me. In fact, I remember one time years ago that I had my strength restored to the point where I was strong enough to lift a car. Boy, it's a good thing someone stopped me because I might have accidently dropped it.

Companion post at Interested-Participant.

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December 17, 2005

Russian Security Report Death of Al Qaeda Leader

(Moscow) Russia's Federal Security Service, FSB, announced Friday that Sheikh Abu Omar Al Seyf, the top al Qaeda leader in the North Caucasus, was killed in the Russian Republic of Dagestan last month.

From Mosnews.com:

"Under the cover of the international non-governmental organization Al Haramein Islamic Foundation, he organized a terrorist cell in Dagestan, Chechnya and Ingushetia," the FSB reported. During the last few years Al Seyf was a chairman of the so-called shariah courts committee of the self-proclaimed Chechen republic of Ichkeria. He was reportedly informed of all the appointments made within the armed groups. He received and distributed all the money for terrorist activity inside Russia, the FSB report said.

The security officials claim Al Seyf took part in the planning and preparing of terrorist attacks, and extremist religious and political propaganda.

Notice that Al Seyf started his cell network under the auspices of an NGO, the Al Haramein Islamic Foundation. By extension, it's probably reasonable to assume that NGOs are also being used as al Qaeda fronts elsewhere, say, in the U.S.

Details of Al Seyf's death were not reported. However, since he was simply a thug terrorist who measured success in the number of murdered civilians, I hope his death was slow and excruciatingly painful.

Companion post at Interested-Participant.

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November 01, 2005

Russian Prez Putin Won't Run for Third Term

(Moscow) I guess it's time to try and figure out which ex-communist will be allowed to take President Putin's place.

From The Moscow Times:

President Vladimir Putin said Monday that he would not seek a third term in 2008, but vowed not to allow "destabilization" in Russia following the vote, leaving the door open for drastic action in the event of a crisis.

In an interview with Dutch media on the eve of a visit to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, Putin reiterated that he opposed changing the Constitution to prolong his time in power -- a possibility that has been widely discussed because of his popularity and control of the parliament.

But Putin said that the 2008 presidential election would be a "serious, difficult test for Russia" and stressed that full power and responsibility for the fate of the country would remain in his hands until the new president has been sworn in.

It seems to me that he is keeping a trump card. If Putin doesn't like the way Russia is being run, he takes "drastic action" to straighten things out. This is probably because of the fact that Russia has little experience with the peaceful transfer of power. Historically, someone customarily had to die or have been murdered.

Companion at Interested-Participant.

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October 13, 2005

There Is Such A Thing As A Good Terrorist

One of the the things that I've always admired about Rusty and his blog is his willingness to post images that the MSM never would.

The images tend to be graphic, and viewing them causes righteous anger, and more than a little heartache.

Thankfully, however, I've managed to find an image that should cause great joy among the Jawa faithful.

Because the only good terrorist is...

(WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES BELOW) more...

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Chechen Gunmen Attack in North Caucasus

Simultaneous attacks on government installations in the Russian city of Nalchik have resulted in at least 60 deaths with scores wounded. Chechen rebels have claimed responsibility for the attacks. Nalchik, capital of Kabardino-Balkaria province, is about 50 miles northwest of Beslan where Chechen gunmen killed hundreds last year, half of them schoolchildren.

From the BBC:

Kabardino-Balkaria, a Muslim region, lies close to war-ravaged Chechnya.

A regional leader told Itar-Tass news agency that a third of the 150 rebels that took part in attacks had been killed.

President Arsen Kanokov also said 12 civilians had been killed, although this figure has not been confirmed.

A source at Nalchik's Republican Hospital told Ekho Moskvy radio that the dead who had been brought in were "all people in uniform".

At least 40 injured people had been taken to the hospital, with more arriving all the time, the source added.

One unidentified security official has told Russian news agency RIA that the reason for the attack was the arrest on Wednesday of at least one radical extremist.

Local sources stated the attacks were "carefully planned" and targeted police stations, the Russian FSB security agency, military and drug-control offices, and the airport. Children were seen fleeing a school building in a scene reminiscent of last year's Beslan massacre.

From ABC News Online:

One girl who ran out of the school said armed men were firing inside the building but security officials later made clear that armed police had entered the school to ensure its emergency evacuation due to its close proximity to the site of one of the buildings under attack.

Russian media said gun battles occurred at a number of locations in Nalchik and the city centre was saturated with security forces, while gunfire could be heard nearby.

A local journalist quoted by RIA-Novosti news agency said the gunmen were dressed in civilian clothing and took advantage of panic to blend in with the local population, hiding weapons under their clothes as they changed locations, before opening fire again on security forces.

President Vladimir Putin has sent his special envoy for the North Caucasus, Dmitry Kozak, to Nalchik to assess the situation. According to Arsen Kanokov, the President of the Kabardino-Balkaria province, the twelve local civilians who have died so far may have been local law enforcers or innocent bystanders.


[Update 0750 EDT, 10/13/05]

According to a senior Russian official, President Putin has ordered the city of Nalchik sealed and has given shoot-to-kill instructions for any person who puts up armed resistance.

[Update 1050 EDT, 10/13/05] by Rusty Shackleford:

This will not end well. Gateway Pundit also following crisis.

Companion post at Interested-Participant.

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September 01, 2005

Beslan Massacre one year later

While we are all wrapped up in our own problems right now let’s also take a few minutes to remember the children of Beslan. Gateway pundit has a post reminding us all of how much the terrorists love kids.

Watching the young girls being brought into another room. Forced to clean up the blood off the floors. Drinking urine to stay alive. Dragging your younger brother through the halls. Pulling his limp body through a broken window.

Freedom Fighters Right? More like war criminals.

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August 31, 2005

Freed Victims of Bush's Gulag Arrested in Russia for Terrorism

I wonder how the five released Gitmo prisoners will find conditions in a real Russian gulag? Do you think their will be a massive outcry from the Left and the European elite?

Via ITB this from Mosnews:

Two former Guantanamo prisoners, extradited to Russia in 2002, have been detained in Moscow on suspicion of preparing a series of terrorist attacks, the Vremya Novostei newspaper reported Tuesday.

The two Russian citizens, Airat Vakhitov and Rustam Akhmyarov, who were seized in a counter-terrorist operation in Afghanistan and kept at the Guantanamo base in Cuba with other Taliban and terrorist suspects, and then extradited home to Russia, have been detained and are now being held in a Russian detention centre.

They are charged with preparing and carrying out a series of terrorist acts in the Central Russian Povolzhye region.

Three other former Guantanamo prisoners have been detained in Russia’s Tatarstan Republic on the same charges, the paper adds.

All in all, of the seven Russian Guantanamo prisoners extradited from Cuba in 2004, only two are not in custody.

Five of Seven? If anything, it looks like the Bush policy of releasing prisoners is a failed one. More Gitmos please!

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August 25, 2005

Roadside Bomb Hits Russian Governor's Motorcade

Inguishitia_car.jpg

Ingushetia neighbors Chechnya and is racked by the same ROP inspired violence. Xinhua:

Two powerful explosions rocked a southern Russian republic Thursday afternoon, injuring the prime minister of the republic and killing one of his guards.

Ibragim Malsagov, the prime minister of Russia's North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia, was wounded in the leg in an assassination attempt in Nazran, the main city of the republic, at 2:25 p.m. Moscow time (1025 GMT), a regional interior ministry official was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.

Malsagov was rushed to hospital and doctors confirmed that his life was not in danger.

However, one of his guards was killed and at least two others were injured in the blasts.

Officials said attackers detonated two bombs as Malsagov's motorcade passed through central Nazran, with the first blast meant to divert attention.

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May 10, 2005

Who was worse, Stalin or Hitler? Six of One, Half Dozen of Another

The difference between Stalin and Hitler? Hitler lost. WaTimes:

Amid all the chitchat, commentary and controversy over this week's celebrations marking the end of World War II, there is a question that has never been far from the surface, though it has rarely broken through: Which was really worse -- communism or Nazism?

One answer, a sensible one at that, is that both systems were so degraded, disgusting and unpalatable that it is impossible to establish a hierarchy of value in which one could possibly stand higher, or lower, than the other. When you've reached the deepest pit in Hell there's nowhere lower to go.

Unfortunately, though, that conclusion is often lost in a quagmire of ignorance and historical distortion. Not because anyone this side of decency really doubts the horrors of Nazism. But, sadly, because there are still large numbers of people (and judge for yourself which side of decency they stand) who still refuse to face up to the horrors of communism.

Take veteran Guardian columnist Jonathan Steele, writing in that paper just last week. In an irony that would certainly escape him, he makes it clear that one purpose of his polemic is to combat the "denial" in the West about the role of the Soviet Union in defeating Hitler. In attempting to foreclose on the argument that "Nazism and communism were somehow two sides of the same evil coin" he reaches a crescendo with the following, extraordinary statement: "Mass terror and purges," he says, "were not intrinsic to Soviet rule, as was clear after Stalin's death."

True, but if you are to use this comparison then one would need to call 'Nazism' a particular manifestation of fascism. Hitler is to fascism what Stalin is to communism.

Yet, no one says, "Hey, those fascists weren't really all that bad. It was Hitler that perverted fascism." See how this works? As if any paper would stand up and call Mussolini a reformer, Franco an anti-Hitlerite, or Juan Peron an idealist.

Soviet mass terror, by contrast, was a feature of the regime right from the beginning. Lenin's core principle of Red Terror was applied in the slaughter of up to half a million class enemies in the very first years of Soviet rule. And that is before we add in the millions of victims of a civil war which was the direct result of communist despotism.

In Lenin's own words, the new Soviet system was "a special system of organized violence against a certain class." The use of terror against class and ideological enemies was thus a central, defining part of the communist system.

Lenin's Commissar for Justice Issac Steinberg well remembers in his memoirs a telling conversation with Lenin in which he (bravely) expressed reservations about the scale of that terror. "Then why do we bother with a commissariat of Justice?" he asked Lenin. "Let's call it frankly the commissariat for Social Extermination and be done with it!" Lenin jumped at the idea. "Well put," he said. "That's exactly what it should be...but we can't say that."

The full death toll, most of it accumulated in peace time, at the hands of Lenin and his political and ideological successor, Stalin, is estimated by the best authorities at somewhere between 25 million and 30 million people. Not bad in a system for which mass terror and purges were not "intrinsic" parts. In what passes for Steele's argument, he suggests the scaling down of the terror after Stalin's death is evidence the system was not inherently terroristic. Does it not occur to him that there was no one left to kill?

And why do people still engage in this debate?
But by far the most significant category is made up by people who have a deep ideological need to save the reputation of the one by showing up its "better" qualities in comparison with the other. Neo-Nazis have thus long sought to stress the crimes of Stalin while diminishing or denying entirely the crimes of Hitler. It serves their perverted aims to do so. The old, Western Left has participated in exactly the same kind of enterprise in reverse. The difference is, of course, that they continue to get away with it, avoiding the contempt that both groups, not just one, so richly deserve.
Parenthetically I was at a May Day rally in Moscow once. The crowd was maybe 100,000 strong. There were pictures of Stalin everywhere.

One of the main speakers was an American from the CPUSA. Had he been 5 feet closer I would have punched that SOB right in the mouth. The utter drivel coming out of his mouth about how Russians were so much better off under the Soviet Union and how they enjoyed such a higher standard of living than Americans.

Being a Leftist is a lot like being a member of a cult. But at least in a cult they need to make you eat low-protein gruel to lower your resistance to suggestion. Leftist seem willing and able to buy into the ideological nonsense of their own free will.

Hmmm, I take that back. Maybe kashi (mush) and shi (cabbage soup) were Communist inventions to get the masses on board with the Fearless Leader's glorious seven year plan?

Hat tip: Kevin Aylward

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May 05, 2005

Putin=ASSHOLE

Ok, you know our position here at The Jawa, too many right-wingers are overly critical of Vladimir Putin. But this? These comments are beyond the pale. It's not so much that he's wrong about the immorality of the Dresden bombings as he's got a hell of a lot of nerve being critical of the Western Allies and saying the Soviets were, you know, just nice guys.

The last two night The History Channel has been running episodes on the final days of the Eastern front. The Soviets were every bit as bad as the Nazis in the way they handled the war. Millions of German POWs were starved to death or outright murdered by the Soviets. Hat tip Bill Dauterieve.

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April 07, 2005

Terrorists Plan May 9th Attack in Russia

Chad has the report. Let me just remind our readers that my position on Russia is clear. Despite the fact that Russia has endlessly meddled in the affairs of its proximate neighbors, they are our natural ally in the GWOT in the region.

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March 29, 2005

Russians Hate Jews (But not nearly as much as Muslims hate Jews & Christians)

Interesting findings of a Pew poll as published by the Union of Councils for Jews in the Soviet Union. Second place goes to the Germans and the French *shock*:

A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press on global attitudes towards Muslims, Jews, and Christians found that among predominantly Christian countries, Russia is the most antisemitic, according to a March 18, 2005 report by the Regnum news agency.

Twenty-five percent of respondents to the Pew survey in Russia expressed hostility towards Jews, compared to 20% in Germany, 11% in France, 9% in the UK, and 8% in the US. Hostility towards Muslims was expressed by 46% of respondents in Germany, 38% in Russia, 32% in the US, 29% in France, and 18% in the UK.

Attitudes towards Jews and Christians in selected predominantly Muslim countries were generally more hostile, with a whopping 92% of respondents in Morocco expressing hostility towards Jews and 72% expressing hostility towards Christians.

Hat tip: Zorkmidden of Discarded Lies

Parenthetically I have seen hostility towards Muslims in both the U.S. and Russia. A survey cannot capture how this hostility is translated on the ground.

In Moscow, for instance, Tartars or people who appeared to be from the Caucuses are routinely sidelined by the police for questioning. And by routine I mean every time I went to a Metro stop the police were checking the I.D. on a darker skinned guy.

The summary of findings for the report also shows that 57% of the French think that the U.S. is overreacting to terrorism.

Other tidbits? 2% of Pakistanis have an unfavorable view of Muslims. Interestingly enough, Pakistan's Christian population is estimated at between 1.5-3%. Why would Christians in Pakistan have an unfavorable view of Muslims? Answer.

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March 25, 2005

Akayev Denies Resignation, Russia Supports Kyrgyzstan's New Government

Russia announced today it's support of Kyrgyzstan's new government. Meanwhile, the ousted President of the Central Asian republic denies reports that he has resigned calling his ouster a 'coup' and saying he will return to Kyrgistan.

Some may take the Russian endorsement as a bad sign. The new orthodoxy of many on the right is a suspicion that Russia is fast becoming an autocratic state with interests at odds with the U.S.

My view is that the Russian situation is far more complex, especially when it comes to the former Soviet states of Central Asia. Many of these states have become bastions of radical Islamists. In this regard, Russia's interests in the region mesh nicely with our own.

Willism has the background on Kyrgyztan here and why it matters to the U.S.

Parenthetically the Bishkek Cafe, just off of Moscow's Pushkin sqare, has some pretty decent grub. You'll have to dodge the hookers that hang out in front of the bus stop at night, but it's worth it for the money. The food that is, not the hookers. Pervs. more...

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March 17, 2005

Former Russian PM Escapes Assassination Attempt (UPDATED)

Let me disagree with the Reliapundit on this one, although he's right to think the former top KGB man is a suspect. But Putin is only one suspect in this case, and it is doubtful that he was behind this.

I spent a year studying in Moscow and, trust me on this one, Anatoly Chubais has plenty of enemies. Chubais was the Prime Minister of Russia, closely allied to Boris Yeltsin, who oversaw the privatization of state owned industry. As a result, a few oligarchs grew wealthy while millions lost everything. Enemies a plenty.

Chubais is now head of a state run energy company and thus in close contact with many criminal elements. This is not beyond the mafia's doing. The mafia walked into a hotel run by a friend of mine one day and unloaded several hundred rounds into his Russian business partner simply because the hotel refused to lease space for a disco. They were never caught.

As a member of government, he could also have been targetted by Chechen terrorists. Chubais was Prime Minister when Chechnya declared independence and Russia responded with a massive invasion. Whenever something that might be construed as terrorism happens in Russia, it's wise to keep the Chechen mujahadin as part of the usual suspects. UPDATE: Scroll past article for possible motives for Chechen rebels to assassinate Chubais.Reuters:

Anatoly Chubais, head of Russia's state power monopoly, has survived an assassination attempt by assailants who detonated a roadside bomb and sprayed his convoy with a hail of automatic gunfire.

The 49-year-old Chubais, one of Russia's best-known figures, came to prominence as the architect of post-Soviet economic reforms under which two dozen "oligarchs" acquired vast wealth while ordinary people suffered a huge slump in living standards.

He is now chief executive of Unified Energy System, and the prime mover behind reforms to introduce competition to the power sector of the world's largest country.

Chubais told a hastily arranged press briefing that he had been aware of a plan to kill him, but would not say who he suspected of carrying out the attack.

"I have an idea of who could have taken out a contract on me," a shaken but defiant Chubais said from the safety of UES headquarters in Moscow after the attempt. "We had reason to believe something like this might happen."

Chubais was travelling to work from his country home along a narrow stretch of the Minsk Highway at 9:30 a.m. (6.30 a.m. British time) when a roadside bomb rocked his two-car cortege and two attackers opened fire with automatic weapons.

Chubais said his armoured BMW had been able to flee the scene despite being hit in the windscreen, hood and front tyre.

Security guards for Chubais travelling in a Mitsubishi Lancer returned fire at the hitmen, who later escaped.

Police said the bomb blast had a force equivalent to at least 500 grams of TNT. Television footage from the scene showed a large crater at the side of a two-way highway through forest.

UPDATE: Why would Chechen terrorists target Chubais?

Remember that Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov was recently killed by Russian forces. Anotoly Chubais was one of the main proponents of military strikes against Chechnya. For instance, in 1999 when leading Grigory Yavlinsky called for a pause in the bombing of Chechnya, Chubais called this former ally of the democratic movement a 'traitor'.

And how was Chubai seen by the Chechen rebels? Their propaganda wing calls Chubai a 'fascist' and claim one of his goals (linking Chubai to Putin) is 'extermination of the Chechens'.

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March 08, 2005

Chechen Terrorist Leader Killed

Aslan Maskhadov, the leader of Chechnya's rebellion, has been killed by Russian forces.

Muskhadov had a $10 million dollar bounty on his head and was considered the most wanted man in Russia. Maskhadov had led the Chechen rebellion in the early 1990s until a cease-fire was negotiated with then President Boris Yeltsin.

Maskhadov was a bitter rival to the al Qaeda linked Shamil Basayev. Basayev has been linked to the Beslan massacres and has promised more Beslan like attacks in the future. Maskhadov ran against Basayev in 1997 for the Chechen Presidency and won.

Maskhadov was later driven out of office by the Russians when he declared Chechnya an independent state.

The press reports that Maskhadov was simply a leader of a nationalist movement in Chechnya are mistaken. Maskhadov is accused of planning the hostage crisis at the Nord-Ost theater in Moscow. 129 hostages later died, mostly as the result of a botched rescue operation.

Further, the MSM likes to portray Maskhadov as a moderate, contrasting him to the al Qaeda linked Basayev, but Maskhadov's nationalism was tied closely to his Muslim identity. His army is composed of jihadis drawn from around the world to repel the infidel invaders (Russia). Clearly, Maskhadov was a jihadi who saw his mission to end the 400 year old Russian control of Chechnya as a religious imperetive.

Images: (top) Reuters photo of the dead Maskhadov. (bottom) Maskhadov pauses to say prayers with his army of jihadis. (below) Russian television station NTV airs video of Maskhadov dead on the street.

more...

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February 21, 2005

Al Qaeda Linked Terrorists Killed in Russia

Despite the many differences we have with Russia over Iran, the fact remains that they are a key ally in the War on Terror. The reason Russia supports the Iranian nuclear program is it is because it is in their national interest to do so--they are the ones that sold Iran their reactors. The Russians might be induced to support our policy of Iranian containment if we were more vocal in our support of Russia's fight against the jihadis in Chechnya. Our criticism of the harsh tactics used by Russia in that fight is a major source of tensin between the two countries.

MosNews:

An al Qaeda member known as Abu Dzeit has been killed in the Russian internal republic of Ingushetia, Russian authorities said Monday.

“A joint operation with the Interior Ministry was conducted in a private house in a village in Ingushetia on February 16,” spokesman for the Federal Security Service Sergei Ignatchenko told reporters on Monday.

“The operation first resulted in the death of two of his accomplices. Abu Dzeit hid in a special bunker built under the house. When the entrance was discovered, he blew himself up,” Ignatchenko said.

He said investigators identified the body as Abu Dzeit’s.

A source in the FSB, Russia’s domestic security service, told RIA-Novosti that Abu Dzeit, eliminated in Ingushetia, was the leader of the so-called Ingush Jamaat and an emissary of the international terror network al Qaeda. He was also known as little Omar, and Abu Omar of Kuwait.

Abu Dzeit reported directly to Abu Havs, a purported coordinator of all terrorist activities on Russian territory, a source said. Abu Dzeit had received special training in al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan. Later he was appointed al Qaeda’s envoy to Ingushetia.

He was in charge of distributing cash funds provided by al Qaeda to radical Islamists in the Northern Caucasus.

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February 03, 2005

Chechen Terrorist Vows More School Massacres on Video

In a video interview, Shamil Basayev claims that the Beslan massacre was a mistake. No, not like you think. He was hoping his terrorist followers would be able to take two schools full of children hostage. Oh, and yes, he probably will be forced to massacre more school children in the future. But it's not his fault. It's the Russians fault.

Russia, for their part, has asked the British TV station Channel 4 to refrain from broadcasting the video.

In related news, rumors have begun circulating that Basayev is dead. No tears shed here if true. A web-site linked to the Chechen terrorists has also called for a cease-fire, bolstering claims of the terrorist chief's death.

And what does the MSM call the man?

Australia's ABC News calls the man a Chechen warlord. The Canadian Globe and Mail calls him a Chechen leader.

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Georgian PM Found Dead of Gas Poisoning

The reformist Prime Minister of Georgia, Zurab Zhvania, has been found dead. Media sources indicate that the 44 year old's death was likely due to a gas leak at a friend's home. Russia has denied any involvement in the Prime Minister's death. more...

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January 13, 2005

Georgian Breakaway Republic of Abkhazia Elects President

Like South Ossetia, Abkhazia wishes to leave Georgia and become part of the Russian Federation. The election changes none of this. While war between Russian and Georgia is not imminent, it still remains a real possibility. Xinhua:

Opposition leader Sergei Bagapsh won a landslide victory in Wednesday's presidential election in Georgia's breakaway republic of Abkhazia, the republic's Central Electoral Commission (CEC) announced Thursday.

CEC chief Batal Tabagua said Bagapsh won 91.1 percent of the vote, demolishing his only rival, the People's Party leader Yakub Lakoba, who took just 4.5 percent, the Itar-Tass news agency reported....

Abkhazia has enjoyed de facto independence from Georgia since fighting a separatist war in the early 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union. The region has been seeking to integrate with Russia against the wishes of Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili who has vowed to regain control over the republic and another rebel region, South Ossetia.

Bagapsh said Thursday that any future dialogue between Abkhaziaand Georgia must be held under the premise that both sides are equal and independent states.

He regarded with great optimism relations with Russia and advocated further integration with Moscow, stressing that Abkhaziawill have no future without financial and legal assistance from Russia.

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December 31, 2004

Beslan Donates To Tsunami Relief

The Courier-Mail reports that the North Ossetian town of Beslan in Russia, still mourning 344 murders - half of them children - by terrorists, has contributed $37,500 to the tsunami relief effort.

"Our council decided to transfer a million rubles to help those suffering from the disaster in Asia," said Maerbek Tuayev, who is in charge of municipal council efforts to raise funds for families of the victims of the September hostage taking.

"The residents of Beslan have not forgotten how the whole world mobilised for them. We will always mobilise for people suffering from disasters or terrorism around the world."

Memories of the massacre in Beslan are ugly. The residents' resilience and generosity warm the heart.

Companion post at Interested-Participant.

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December 13, 2004

Pro-American President Elected in Romania

Left out of all the articles on the winner of the Romanian Presidential election, Traian Basescu, is the fact that he is supportive of the US Iraq policy. Even more telling is that both of the candidates in the election support our efforts in Iraq. New Europe pulls through again! Telegraph:

The pro-western mayor of Bucharest caused a serious upset in the Romanian presidential election yesterday, defeating the country's former communist prime minister.

Known as "The European", reform-minded Traian Basescu surged past Adrian Nastase as the votes from Sunday's poll were counted.

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December 09, 2004

Ukrainian Crips Poison Blood

Yushenko was poisoned? A drive-by with a Kalish would be more OG.

bloods.gif

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November 30, 2004

I didn't even know Wierd Al was Ukranian...

....let alone Prime Minister.

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November 23, 2004

Terrorist Attack Averted in Russia

A large scale attack terrorist attack has been averted in the Russian province of Ingushetia. Ingushetia neighbors Chechnya and is largely Muslim. Just yesterday Russian forces arrested a top al-Qaeda linked terrorist. Russia is fast becoming one of our closest allies in the GWOT. Why? Because it is in their interest to do so. They stand at the front line between the West and Islamic civilization. Thanks to Jeff Quinton for e-mailing me this Russian Info article:

A large-scale terrorist attack was averted in Ingushetia, a republic neighboring Chechnya. The attack was ordered by Chechen separatist leaders Shamil Basayev and Aslan Maskhadov, spokesman for the North Caucasus antiterrorism headquarters Ilya Shabalkin said Tuesday.

"Operatives from the republic's FSB and Interior Ministry obtained information that terrorists under Maskhadov and Basayev's command were preparing a new large terrorist attack in Ingushetia," Mr. Shabalkin said.

He said that according to the plan, during a provocation, bandits wearing Russian solider uniforms would attack several public buildings and apartment houses with 120mm mortar and several large-caliber machine guns.

"The republic's law enforcement agencies conducted a series of search operations," he said, "and found a cache of weapons to be used in the terrorist attack in a forest in the Malgobek district."

A 120mm mortar, 74 120mm mortar shells, 35 antitank mines, four barrels for a 14.5mm machine gun modified for single round firing, and more than 8,000 14.5mm cartridges were removed from the cache.

An operations and investigation group is currently searching for the militants who were preparing the attack, he said.

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