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Summary of DEBKAfile Exclusives in Week Ending Jan. 15, 2009
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| Hamas leadership locked in fierce controversy DEBKAfile Special Analysis 9 Jan.: Thursday, Hamas leaders and commanders emerged from their underground hideouts for their first look at the devastation wrought in 13 days of Israeli aerial bombardment, taking advantage of the pause Israel declared in its military operations for supplies to reach the Gaza population. IDF commanders hoped their lust for battle would be cooled by the sight of Gaza in ruins enough to give up and stop fighting. Hamas leaders are locked in a fierce controversy in both Damascus and Gaza over Egypt’s ceasefire proposals. Politburo chief Khaled Meshaal flatly rejects them; Mussa Abu Marzouk would accept them, backed by Gaza prime minister Ismail Haniyeh, who maintains that Egypt is Hamas’ only remaining lifeline which it dare not jeopardize. However, the military arm in Gaza and its heads, Khalil al Haya, Said Sayam and Muhammad Jabry, are strongly in favor of severing ties with Egypt and fighting on. Our sources disclose that the Hamas extremists are finding time for the brutal persecution of their rivals, the Palestinian Fatah. Under cover of the general mayhem, Hamas gangs are kidnapping Fatah operatives and executing them. Their bodies are tossed onto the mountains of uncollected garbage and their kinsmen informed where to find them. Hamas leaders are convinced their rivals are plotting to exploit the fighting to overthrow their regime.
Al Qaeda’s operations chief in Pakistan and top aide said killed by US Predator in Waziristan10 Jan.: Al-Qaeda’s operations chief in Pakistan Usama al-Kini and his lieutenant, Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan were recently killed by a missile fired by a US drone near the Afghan border. Kini was believed to be behind last year’s deadly attack on the Marriott hotel in Islamabad, in which 55 Both al-Qaeda suspects died in South Waziristan, on Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan.
First signs of Hamas cracking, Israel allows Gaza delegation through to Cairo DEBKAfile’s military sources identify them as: Jemal Abu Hashem, who rarely appears on public, Salah Bardaweel, leader of Hamas parliament faction, and Heiman Ta’a, member of the military wing’s command. In overnight fighting Friday, five Israel soldiers were injured and 15 Hamas operatives killed. Forty Israeli operations destroyed five tunnels, 14 missile stores and production sites. Israel held its fire for three hours Saturday for fresh aid supplies to reach the Gaza population.
US consigns 3,000 tonnes of US “ammunition” to Israel10 Jan.: The US Navy’s Military Sealift Command is hiring a merchant ship to carry the arms on two separate journeys from the Greek port of Astakos to Israel in mid-to-late January. A ‘hazardous material” designation on the manifest mentions explosive substances and detonators, but no other details. One broker said that the size of a shipment of this kind has not been seen for years. DEBKAfile’s military sources note that the Israel’s air, ground, tank and sea offensive against Hamas in Gaza entered its 15th day Saturday, Jan. 10.
US Congress’ overwhelming support for Israel 10 Jan.: The US Senate on Thursday backed Israel’s battle against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip and the House of Representatives followed on Friday in landslide votes. The House passed a resolution “recognizing Israel’s right to defend itself against attacks from Gaza” by 390-5. The measure noted that the humanitarian situation in Gaza “is becoming more acute” but did not rebuke Israel. The Senate measure offered “unwavering commitment” to Israel. It recognized “its right to act in self-defense to protect its citizens against acts of terrorism” and urged a ceasefire that would keep Hamas from firing rockets at Israel.
First pro-Israeli demos in London, Frankfurt, Marseille, Lyon 11 Jan.: 40,000 Jews and Christians rallied in support of Israel against Hamas terror in London’s Trafalgar Sq. Monday. Sunday night, pro-Hamas protesters clashed with London police outside the Israel embassy. No new decisions by the Israeli cabinet11 Jan.: IDF Military Intelligence Head Maj.-Gen. Amos Yadlin on Sunday briefed cabinet ministers on the Gaza operation, stressing the cracks in Hamas resilience, its disconnected leadership in Syria, and its waning public support following the extensive Israeli attacks on the organization. But he predicted that Hamas was still capable of striking Israel. He pointed out that Hamas fighters were evading encounters with Israeli forces, hiding in built-up urban areas and hoping to gain the advantage by “remote control” tactics. In his view, Hamas is scared of more fighting and looking for an honorable escape that offers an end to the hostilities without requiring its forces to show a white flag. Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) head Yuval Diskin noted that alongside the anger over Israeli bombardments, Gazans were angry at Hamas for bringing down such devastation on the Strip. He also noted that Hamas was using the ongoing clashes in the Strip as an excuse to execute Fatah supporters. Hamas fired rockets during one of Israel’s daily three-hour military pauses for the ingress of essential supplies to the Palestinian population. They hit Sderot, Kiryat Malachi, Eshkol, and an Ashkelon school and kindergarten. Since Dec. 27, Hamas missiles have demolished 900 buildings in Israel, hundreds of vehicles, damaged many farms.
Two Israeli-Arab lists barred from February poll – for “supporting the enemy”12 Jan.: Israel’s Central Elections Committee voted Monday, Jan. 12, to exclude the United Arab List and Balad from participating in the Feb. 10 general election. The High Court must rule on their appeal by Friday, the final date for registering Knesset lists. The last party to be banned in Israel was Rabbi Meir Cahane’s Kach in the 1980s for advocating the transfer of Arab citizens out of the country.
Hamas-Gaza bows to Damascus leaders’ veto against Egyptian ceasefire terms 12 Jan.: The Gaza Hamas faction failed to persuade its Damascus leaders to accept the Egyptian ceasefire terms and was ordered to carry on fighting in the Gaza Strip. This setback followed 48 hours of optimism in Jerusalem and Cairo where it had been hoped that with their backs to the wall, the Palestinian extremists would submit to the tough Egyptian-Israeli ultimatum. It is now up to the Israeli defense cabinet to decide whether Israeli forces stand still on their present battle lines or go forward to the crunch, which means entering Gaza City proper and capturing the Philadelphi smuggling corridor.
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UK intel chief reports links uncovered between Mumbai terrorists and UK nationals
13 Jan.: Britain’s intelligence service MI5 chief says his agency has uncovered links between the Mumbai attackers and UK nationals. “We have looked at individuals’ communications, where they have been and so on and found they have got connections with most countries including the UK,” said MI5 Director General Jonathan Evans. A Russian naval task force led by aircraft carrier docks in Syrian port 13 Jan.: The Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier, the Admiral Levchenko destroyer and the Nikolay Chiker salvage tug, called in at the Syrian port of Tartus Monday, Jan. 12 after joint exercises with the Turkish navy. DEBKAfile’s military sources report that the arrival of the Russian flotilla in wartime is unusual and especially significant given Syria’s role as one of the staunchest backers of Hamas which is fighting Israel further down the coast in Gaza. Our sources believe Moscow may be signaling its disapproval of Israel’s military operation in the Gaza Strip.
Iran recruits Somali pirates to replenish Hamas ordnance stocks 13 Jan.: DEBKAfile’s military sources reveal a secret war waged by the US, Israel and Egypt to shut down Iran’s serpentine maritime routes through the Red Sea and Suez for refilling Hamas’ depleted arsenal by sea. After Hamas lost an estimated 60 percent of its weapons stocks in Israeli bombardments, Iran enlisted Somali pirates to help bring smuggled hardware to Gaza to stiffen the Palestinian Islamists’ resistance to Egypt’s ceasefire terms. Iranian aid ship turned back in two attempts to break Gaza blockade 14 Jan.: An Iranian “Shahed” was turned back by an Israel Navy Saar 4.5 ship Tuesday, Jan 13, and again Wednesday, attempting to breach the 40-km blockade Israel imposed on Gaza on Dec. 27. After the first try, the boat tried to unload its cargo of food, medicines and clothing at Port Said and was prevented by the Egyptian authorities. After being intercepted by the Israeli Navy again Wednesday, the Iranian vessel turned south to the Sinai port of El Arish. Two Egyptian boats prevented it docking. Mubarak sends son-and-heir Gemal to assess Philadelphi situation Our military sources explain the lack of progress in the Egyptian-Hamas ceasefire talks in the last 48 hours by the easing of military pressure on Hamas. Israeli forces have confined operations to aerial bombardment and the occasional exchange of fire on the ground. They are essentially holding back and waiting for cabinet orders to go for the decisive push into the densely-populated areas of Gaza City and the Philadelphi Corridor.
Israel intelligence: Hizballah is synchronizing rocket offensive with Hamas 15 Jan.: After the northern Israeli city of Kiryat Shemona sustained a rocket salvo Wednesday, Jan. 14, the Israeli Air Force stepped up its reconnaissance flights over South Lebanon in search of rocket launchers. Like the Palestinian Hamas, Lebanese Hizballah chiefs appear to believe that Israel’s policy-makers will refrain from a resounding military assault to smash Hamas’ military strength in Gaza. Therefore, Hamas is believed by Israel’s Northern Command to be preparing more rocket attacks in sync with its terrorist allies in Gaza. And indeed, the Kiryat Shemona attack turned out to be the overture for a long-range missile-rocket cascade from Gaza against a wide range of Israeli population centers. Both believe a two-front rocket offensive will enhance Hamas’ bargaining position in the ceasefire negotiations. Emerging Gaza ceasefire allows Hamas to restock rockets and fire them The understandings Egypt is fashioning will tie Israel’s military hands and let Hamas claim it is ahead after Israel refrained from either toppling its Gaza government or extinguishing its missile capabilities. Though vanquished on the battlefield, the Hamas terrorists are winning the diplomatic war. Thursday, Jan. 15, two Israeli envoys headed out – the foreign ministry’s director general Aharon Ambramovich to Washington and the defense ministry’s political adviser Amos Gilead to Cairo – to hear about the proposed American and Egyptian ceasefire mechanisms for controlling weapons smuggling through Sinai and the Philadelphi Corridor. DEBKAfile’s military sources note that even if the two mechanisms are agreed, they will take a year or more to put in place, during which time Hamas will be free to restock its arsenals and resume firing rockets.
Israel air strike kills top Hamas leader, interior minister Siad Sayam 15 Jan.: Hamas interior minister Siad Sayam died in an Israeli aerial bombardment over Gaza, Thursday, January 15, as the third week of Israel’s offensive ended. Killed with him were his brother, Salah Abu Sarah, head of the organization’s security service and Mahmoud Watfa, commander of Hamas military wing. In Damascus, Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal declared there would be no concessions for a ceasefire. The Shin Bet security service discovered the top Hamas leaders’ whereabouts in Gaza with exceptional speed two weeks after Sayam’s brother rented the hideout when the war was already underway. Its precise targeting indicates Israeli intelligence has penetrated the top Hamas echelon. Thursday, Beersheba came under heavy rocket attack, which injured six people, as Hamas stepped up its attacks. Israeli artillery struck UNWRA’s Gaza City HQ, starting a fire. Israel forces continued to chew aroujnd the edges of Gaza City – purging the already occupied outskirts of Shatti, Zeitun, Tofah, Tel El Hawa and Saltin without pushing into the densely-packed town alleys.
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Tag: Al-Qaeda
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Exclusives in Week
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A BOMB TARGETED A TURKMEN JUDGE IN IRAQ
An explosive device that was placed inside the house of Judge Abdul-Mahdi Najar who lives in Tuz Khormatu went off about three o’clock this afternoon on the 2nd of January 2009.
The blast occurred in the Aksu neighbourhood in Tuz Khormatu district which is one of the Turkmeneli districts; it is located on the highway between Baghdad and the strategic oil city of Kirkuk.
The blast has caused minor damage to the house inhabited by the Turkmen judge who works at Tuz Khormatu court it also caused damaged to the car that was parked in front of the house belonging to one of the guests.
The Turkmen Judge also was targeted on 9th of September 2008 by a suicide car bomb which resulted in the death of ten Turkmen people.
The Türkmen judge has complained to the police authorities, which refuses to allocate security guards for his protection from the police.
Mofak Salman
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Suicide bomb kills 25 Turkmens in Qaragoli tribal leaders meeting in Iraq
On the 1st January 2009, 25 people were killed in a suicide bombing in the town of Yusufiya south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, reported Turkmeneli TV.
About 67 Turkmen Qaragol tribes were also injured in the attack at a gathering of Turkmen Qaragol tribal leaders in Yusufiya, 20km (12 miles) from Baghdad. The Qaragoli tribes are Türkmen tribes that are settled in the region of Baghdad and the province of Alwaset.
The suicide bomber had entered the home of a Sheikh as a council meeting was being held by the Turkmen Qaragol Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah Salih to discuss the election ahead of the provincial polls scheduled for later this month.
A number of tribal elders and leaders on the board of support and Sheikhs from Turkmen Qaragol are reported to be among the casualties. The injured from the blast have been transferred to the Alyermuk Hospital in Baghdad and to the General Hospital of Almahmudiya for treatment.
Mofak Salman
Ireland
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Dealing with Pakistan After Mumbai
Dealing with Pakistan
After Mumbai
Dec 4th 2008
From The Economist print editionEven though the terrorists probably came from Pakistan, India should continue to keep its cool
APPEOPLE in India are describing last week’s terrorist attack on Mumbai as India’s September 11th. In many ways, the comparison is apt. Although the death toll, at about 190, is a fraction of the number killed in America, this brutal attack on a business capital has traumatised an entire country.
But if the attack on Mumbai is like September 11th, India needs to learn from America’s mistakes. The 19 al-Qaeda hijackers changed history seven years ago. Had they not felled the twin towers, America would not have invaded Afghanistan or Iraq. The easiest way for India to play into the hands of those who sent the ten terrorists to Mumbai would be for India to consider a military response against Pakistan.
It is probable that the terrorists did embark from Pakistan. The testimony of the surviving attacker, the fact that the band arrived by sea, and American intelligence all point that way (see article). A prime suspect is Lashkar-e-Taiba, one of several groups based in Pakistan that are officially banned but suspected of receiving quiet encouragement from parts of the Pakistani state to wage jihad in the disputed territory of Kashmir and, increasingly, in Afghanistan as well.
When terrorists attacked the seat of India’s Parliament in December 2001, the two countries mobilised their armies and came close to war. This time India has shown admirable forbearance. There has been remonstrance but no sabre-rattling.
But forbearance alone cannot be a long-term answer to the problem of Pakistan. The Mumbai plot is only the latest indication that this huge, nuclear-armed country is not under the full control of its newly elected government. When President Asif Ali Zardari said after the carnage in Mumbai that he would take the strictest action against any guilty individual or group “in my part of the country”, it was perhaps a slip of the tongue. But the implication is true: large tracts of Pakistan, notably the tribal areas abutting Afghanistan, are under the control of local tribesmen, the Taliban, al-Qaeda or a mixture of all three.
The fighting in the tribal areas and the killing last year of Benazir Bhutto misleads outsiders into calling Pakistan a failed state. If that were truly so, America’s policy of bombing al-Qaeda targets inside Pakistan might make some sense—as might Indian military intervention in Pakistan. But it is not that simple. Most of Pakistan is quite firmly under the state’s control. However, just as the state does not control all the country, nor does Mr Zardari control all the state. The ultimate arbiters of foreign and security policy in Pakistan have long been the army and intelligence services.
The army’s top brass seem in tune with their president in seeing Islamist terrorists as the most dangerous enemy facing Pakistan. But for some soldiers and spooks, the manipulation of the jihadists on Pakistan’s soil remains a rational instrument of foreign policy. Although it is America’s ally, Pakistan maintains links with the predominantly ethnic-Pushtun Taliban in Afghanistan, as a hedge against the day America leaves and a way to thwart a perceived Indian plan of strategic encirclement. The insurgency in Kashmir, likewise, is seen as a means of bogging down the old enemy, India. For those in Pakistan who think this way, the warming of relations between America and India—especially the rewriting of global proliferation rules to forgive India for building a bomb—looks like a menacing change that needs to be countered.
The vengeance trap
To understand these motives is not to condone them. India has every right to demand that Pakistan stops letting its territory be used as a terrorist haven and to track down those responsible. But these demands have to be accompanied by a balanced strategy that bolsters Mr Zardari and weakens the argument of his generals, not (as in the case of those American bombing raids) the other way round. It should include inducements, such as Indian flexibility over Kashmir, as well as pressure. Pakistan’s army would presumably like nothing better than an excuse to give up its demoralising battle against fellow Muslims in the tribal areas and redeploy against the traditional Hindu enemy in the east. India must not fall into that trap.
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UK Kurds fight separate battles
By Samanthi Dissanayake
BBC NewsWhile Gurdal Yuce was growing up in a Kurdish pocket of Haringey, north London, his two older brothers were fighting for a Kurdish homeland in south-eastern Turkey.
They spent their formative years in Britain, but in the early 1990s they opted for a militant’s life in the inhospitable mountain hideouts of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) – a cause they died for.
Gurdal Yuce grew up in the shadow of the Kurdish Community CentreThe PKK has since been banned in Britain, but in this community his brothers are regarded as martyrs.
“The majority here are sympathisers with the cause. They have family affected, who might even be members,” Mr Yuce says.
Aged 26 he is now the oldest member of a youthful and proactive management committee at the Kurdish Community Centre in Haringey, which helps many Turkish Kurds negotiate life in Britain.
Still fighting
As a people divided by the borders between Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey, the Kurds have never quite spoken with one voice.
EXILED IN THE UKThey might live in Britain, but the hearts and minds of many refugees remain in the homelands they fled. What influence do they have back home and what does it mean for their lives in this country?Exiles wielding power from the UKRefugees fund Somalia’s futureTiger terror ban splits UK TamilsKurds fight separate battlesExile youth lead ‘double lives’Heyam Aqil, 25, says: “The Kurds – we cannot work as one community. We are all looking towards Greater Kurdistan, but in different ways.”
Ms Aqil recalls the beating she received protesting for Kurdish rights while at university in Damascus. She knows from personal experience about the divisions that exist between the different Kurdish communities.
“I’m a Kurd from Syria. My partner is a Kurd from Iraq. There are things I consider normal, which are taboo in his culture. We have a different dialect so we communicate in English,” she says.
In the UK, it has been the Turkish Kurds who have channelled their anger into armed struggle. Gurdal Yuce’s brothers were not alone in leaving Britain to fight for the PKK. Others around London bear battle scars.
And there are reports that small numbers of young British Kurds, particularly women, are still making the journey out to the mountainous Turkish border to seek battle. Many more travel from Germany, experts say.
Heyam Aqil says the Kurds cannot work as one communityThe anger and bitterness that compelled their families to leave Turkey now drives them back again. They set off with hardened resolve knowing they may never return.
“They will be camping, moving all the time, walking miles upon miles in cheap tennis shoes, no luxury, no sex, just cigarettes, tea, and getting killed a lot,” says Quil Lawrence, author of Invisible Nation: How the Kurds’ Quest for Statehood is Shaping Iraq and the Middle East.
Although it has now given up the call for an independent homeland, the PKK still fights for greater autonomy. The Turkish embassy says the PKK is involved in frequent attacks on Turkish civilian and military targets and argues that most Kurds in Turkey do not support it.
Diplomatic offensive
Jawad Mella was first arrested when he was 17 years old and went on to join the peshmerga militia fighting in what is now Iraqi Kurdistan.
When he came to Britain in 1984, his fight became strictly diplomatic. He founded the Western Kurdistan Association and opened a Kurdish museum, crowded with instruments, costumes and artefacts celebrating Kurdish culture.
Jawad Mella (centre) fought with peshmerga forces in the 1980s“Maybe politicians here can believe a nation with such a rich culture, language, history should be free,” he says.
Turkish Kurds also pursue the diplomatic offensive. Akif Wan of the Kurdish National Congress, which lobbies politicians, says: “We motivate relatives to go back and lobby in south-eastern Turkey, even during elections. People take the week off and… talk to their relatives.”
Kurdish groups now make more effort to work together politically. This was not possible 10 to 15 years ago because of intense political rivalries. However, campaigners talk about a “certain tiredness” in the community, perhaps because of the PKK’s proscription, perhaps because no one group is strong enough to prosecute its cause alone.
For Iraqi Kurds, the experience of life in exile has lessons for government back home. It is not about lobbying the British system, but using it as a model for the government in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Shorsh Haji says: “Coming to this country, you see how different life back home could be. So many things are brilliant. A British person does not see it.”
Mr Haji is now an engineer in London but was once a peshmerga fighter for the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
He recalls life in snow-bound villages where shells laced with deadly chemicals fell on to his roof during Saddam Hussein’s al-Anfal campaign.
During his time in the mountains he drew up a detailed census of every town, village and hamlet in Iraqi Kurdistan, logging hospitals, schools, the civil structure of his society as Saddam Hussein’s regime was intent on destroying it.
“They made people feel cheap. This is why we need proper government – to reverse what Saddam did to society.
“We want more open financial systems back home, to stop corruption everywhere in society,” he says.
With other Iraqi Kurds, Mr Haji recently launched the Movement for Democratic Change, challenging the PUK leadership – they have now been expelled from the party.
‘Second-class citizens’
Many feel that Kurds still linger at the margins of British society.
“They live in north London, but not in London per se. They think they are looked down on as second-class citizens. They only do catering and cleaning jobs, expected to work in kebab shops or off-licences,” says Taylan Sahbaz, of the Day-Mer community centre.
He points to the significant educational under-achievement of Kurdish youths at school. The Day-Mer centre has set up supplementary schools and various schemes to tackle this issue.
The first generation of Turkish Kurds, community workers say, remain locked between their Kurdish corner of London and their villages back at home.
“Most Turkish Kurds only knew about the 7 July bombings [in London] from Turkish television,” says Bektas Yavuz, co-ordinator of the long-established Halkevi centre.
“If people die here, they have their funerals in the village of their birth.”
What is now uniting the community is an increasing feeling that a key priority has to be those Kurds who live here and not just those back home.
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The Kurdish Parties Harbouring PKK Terrorist Organisations
By Mofak Salman
The PKK terrorist group, which has Marxist-Leninist roots, was formed in the late 1970s and launched an armed struggle against the Turkish government in 1984, calling for an independent Kurdish state within Turkey. Since then, more than 37,000 people have died. During the conflict, which reached a peak in the mid-1990s, hundreds of villages were attacked and destroyed by the PKK terrorist organisation in the largely Kurdish south-east and east of Turkey, and hundreds of thousands of innocent people fled to cities in other parts of the country.
After the fall of the Ba’ath regime in 2003, with the help of the KDP and PUK, the PKK terrorist organisation utilised northern of Iraq as a safe haven area and it was here that they built their training camps, hospital, and party offices.
The Kurdish militias that are led by both Barzani and Talabani supported the PKK terrorist organisation with arms, logistical support, and transportation. The injured PKK terrorists who fought the Turkish army were transported and treated in Erbil hospitals, which were under control the KDP militia. They were provided with passports, identity cards and given the right to vote during the Iraqi election, and have since opened several party offices in Kirkuk, Erbil and Duhok.
Instead of the PKK terrorist members being arrested by the US forces in conjunction with Kurdish police in north of Iraq but unfortunately they were provided with radio station by the Kurdish parties in North of Iraq.
Although the PKK have been recognised as a terrorist organisation by the European, USA and other countries. They have been armed and supported by the both Kurdish parties in north of Iraq and the PKK terrorist members have been allowed to base in the Candil mountains of northern Iraq; and the Iraqi Kurdish parties have been unwilling, to take action against PKK terrorist bases in north of Iraqi and both Kurdish parties and Us forces have been allowing the PKK terrorist members to carry out attack on Turkey territory