A sixth man has been remanded in custody in connection with the Birmingham kidnap plot. According to the BBC Basiru Gassama,29,has been "charged with withholding information about a potential act of terrorism."
I can find no reaction, as yet, to this possible example of a police state from the fairly well known uncivil rights campaigner, Abu Bakr.
The British soldier killed in Iraq on Friday has been named as Private Luke Daniel Simpson of 1st Battalion, the Yorkshire Regiment. From the MoD:
Private Luke Simpson, known as 'Boob' to his friends, was born on 22 January 1986. He lived in Howden, near York, and joined the Army at the age of 16. He had two sisters and Pte Simpson's father served with the Battalion as a Sergeant Major.More tributes on the MoD link. The BBC also has a report.On 3 September 2002, Private Luke Simpson enlisted into the Army, beginning his career at the Infantry Training Centre in Catterick the following January. On completion of his Combat Infantryman's Course he joined 1st Battalion The Prince of Wales' Own Regiment of Yorkshire in July 2003 and served in both Northern Ireland and Bosnia.
Having passed a challenging selection cadre, he spent a considerable amount of time in the Reconnaissance Platoon, where he was very highly regarded. On 6 June 2006, The Prince of Wales's Own became 1st Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment and, following a period of training, the unit deployed to Iraq on 5 November 2006.
Pte Simpson was identified as a rising star early in his career by his commanders and colleagues. He was an extremely professional soldier with superb standards who loved the Army as much as he loved life. His enthusiasm was infectious too. He could always be relied upon to lift the morale in his platoon during difficult times and such was his popularity that he had an ability to be cheeky to his superiors without getting into trouble.
Pte Luke Simpson was a Star Wars fanatic and a committed rock music enthusiast. He also loved most TV comedies and watched them whenever he had a spare moment. This fuelled his well developed sense of humour. Private Cameron Pierre, 1 Platoon, A Company, said of him:
"He was always sticking up two fingers behind the boss's back and waving them around wildly. The boss would catch him now and again but Boob could get away with that. The boss loved him."
One British soldier has died and three others are injured, one critically, after a roadside bomb attack on a routine patrol in Basra, Iraq. The MoD will name the soldier tomorrow. Details are sparse, but, according to the Guardian,
The dead soldier was travelling in a lightly-armoured "snatch" Land Rover about three miles south-east of Basra when the device exploded.Yet another fatality from a lightly armed Land Rover can come as no surprise to many, especially those who have read European Referendum's very detailed analyses of the problem from last year. Yet, still the government is willing to send troops into danger without adequate protection.
Jameah Islameah the Islamic public school (in the UK that means, a private school) formerly raided by anti-terrorist officers has been shut down after it failed to meet the standards of educational provision required by the Education Act,2002. Reports from the Times and the BBC.
From its website, Jameah Islameah appears to have been a training college for imams, that is, a madrassah.
Pakistan now says that it will defer to European Union "sensibilities" and not mine the border with Afghanistan "for the time being", reports Reuters,India. What does that mean? For starters, the Daily Times indicates, there is a cost. Khurshid Kasuri, Pakistani foreign minister,
...mentioned Pakistan could use help in building the fence or in aerial monitoring of the border, but gave no other specifics. “We are looking for all sorts of help,” he said, adding that he had also asked for assistance in the repatriation of refugees in order to help shrink the border camps “in which all sorts of people find easy refuge”.Sounds to me like Pakistan saying, if you want a fence instead of mines, you can build it, pay for it and monitor its operation; and while you are at it, you can clear the terrorists out of the camps. Given that both the local Pashtun population and the Taliban are likely to take exception to a border fence, any construction gangs might find life insurance hard to get and any monitoring teams might well be on something of a suicide mission.
The Guardian has an early report that one man has been charged over the Birmingham kidnap lot, and four more have been named. Parviz Khan...
is accused of is accused of engaging in conduct "to give effect to his intention to kidnap and kill a member of the British armed forces" between November 1 last year and the time of his arrest last week...The Daily Telegraph is also quick off the mark.
...Mr Khan is also charged with attempting to supply equipment for use in terrorism acts and making available funds or property which could be used for terrorism acts.
He was charged last night with Mohammed Irfan, 30, Zahoor Iqbal, 29, Hamid Elasmar, 43, and Amjad Mahmood, 31.
Preparation of terrorist acts
(1) A person commits an offence if, with the intention of-
(a) committing acts of terrorism, or
(b) assisting another to commit such acts,
he engages in any conduct in preparation for giving effect to his intention.
(2) It is irrelevant for the purposes of subsection (1) whether the intention and preparations relate to one or more particular acts of terrorism, acts of terrorism of a particular description or acts of terrorism generally.
(3) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable, on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for life.
In a nutshell, it’s a bunch of fanatics who have screwed things up for the rest. The rest of the Muslims were seen to be not doing enough to denounce atrocities seemingly carried out in the name of Islam even though people like the Met Police Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur called for an independent judicial inquiry into radicalisation of young Muslims after the 7 July bombs. This in turn has led to a quarter of the world’s humans beings being victimized. Non Muslims should also be ashamed for their slumber regarding the policies and acts being implemented and carried out in their names.No, it is the failure by the Muslim community to denounce terrorist atrocities which is the problem here, not any type of victimisation or discrimination. Moreover, the Muslim community is being targeted by the security services because it is the source of a dangerous, and very real, threat to UK citizens of all religions and none, Muslims included.
Kimberly Harte and Samuel Duncan, the sadistic child torturers have been sentenced. The BBC reports that Harte got 11 and a half years and Duncan 10 and a half years.
By my inexpert reckoning, based on eligibility for parole after about a third of the sentence, if they say the right things to their social workers they may well be out within four years or so. The psychiatrists and social workers will no doubt argue that Harte and Duncan are not evil but the victim of their own circumstances and, as such, require only behavioural adjustment before they can be safely returned to society. Just one more example of why so much evil abounds in our society.
The Sun also has a report.
Update 1: the Willsden and Brent Times (local press) focuses on the judge's remarks.
Update 2: 9/2/07.
The Independent examines the serious failures of social services to protect the child, despite some 20 visits to the family. I doubt Westminster Council's "serious case review" will ever see the light of public scrutiny, unless it is leaked.
Update 3: 9/2/07 @ 16:00
To my surprise, Westminster Council has released statements by Ron Lock , who conducted the independent case review and by the Westminster Local Safeguarding Children Board. An executive summary of the Lock review is also available for download as a Word/Open Office file. In summary, all concerned got it badly wrong in thinking Duncan was safe with children because he had completed a behavioural modification course called the Domestic Violence Intervention Programme. Unbelievable.
Update 4: 10/2/07
Looking at the BBC's artist's drawing of Harte and Duncan, it occurs to me that nobody seems have asked one particular question: was the social workers' decisions, to return the child to the parents and to leave her there, in any way influenced by multicultural considerations? Maybe not, but the question needs to asked and answered.
Abu Izzadeen is a Muslim extremist with a homicidal tendency towards those who insult the prophet. Last September, he gained some notoriety by barracking the Home secretary, John Reid. Now Izzadeen's reuptation has no doubt been enhanced by his arrest on terror charges. According to the Times:
It is understood that the arrest is connected to a speech he gave in the West Midlands area - thought to be Birmingham - last year and not to the barracking of John Reid.The BBC adds that Izzadeen "is being held at a central London police station under Section 1 of the" Terrorism Act 2006, which deals with Encouragement Of Terrorism. So far, the authorities are not saying anything officially.
Afghanistan and Pakistan are continuing their exchange of diplomatic un-niceties. The latest Afghan salvo was delivered by Said T. Jawad, their ambassador to the United States. The Wall Street Journal is subscription only, but the Daily Times reports that in an article in the Journal, Jawad warmed up by writing that National Intelligence Director John Negroponte had told the Senate Intelligence Committee that Pakistan is: “a major source of Islamic extremism” and "that Al Qaeda leaders enjoy a “secure hideout” in Pakistan, while rebuilding their terrorist network and pursuing WMD." Jawad went on to aver that "terrorist sanctuaries in Pakistan are the real threat to regional stability and global security. Such sanctuaries are breeding grounds for extremism and violence”; however, Pakistan's proposal to mine the border is not the answer because it will kill innocent civilians whilst doing nothing to stop the terrorists.
Associated Press of Pakistan reports that Pakistan is going ahead with the plan to mine the border and quotes a letter from the Pakistani Ambassador to the the UN which lays the blame for the Taliban problem with Afghanistan. Moreover:
Ambassador Akram said that security in Afghanistan is threatened by multiple threats from warlords, criminals, the drug mafia, inter-tribal rivalries as well as the resurgence of the Taliban.By now, this is familiar stuff, from both sides.
He said that along the 22 frequented border routes where Pakistan maintains border posts, over 40,000 persons and 14,000 vehicles cross the border every day in both directions. Pakistan, he said, is planning to gradually regulate movement across the international border while respecting the 'easement' rights traditionally enjoyed by the tribal population on the two sides. He expressed the hope that the Afghan government will extend cooperation to ensure better regulation.
Last September, Brigadier Butler, the British task force commander in Afghanistan agreed a truce, brokered by village elders, with the Taliban at Musa Qala in Helmand province, the scene of some of the fiercest fighting in Afghanistan.
Earlier this week, the Taliban retook Musa Qala, a move which Afgha.com interpreted as possibly heralding "the start of an offensive by the Taliban in order to preempt NATO reinforcements that are arriving in southern portions of the country."
The ISAF responded with an air strike in which the Taliban commander in Musa Qala, Mullah Abdul Ghafoor, was killed. The ISAF say the operation was a precision strike intended to remove Ghafoor.
People's Daily Online quotes an ISAF spokesman as saying that the ISAF will assist government forces to retake the town. For the moment, however, the Taliban remain in control. According to the Pakistani Daily Times, the Afghan government is attempting to negotiate a peaceful withdrawal.
The Institute for War and Peace has eye-witness accounts of the take-over and reports that the remaining inhabitants are bracing themselves for an expected NATO assault. So far, the Daily Times says, the IASF has only dropped leaflets warning the Taliban to leave the area.
We wait to see what the ISAF's next move is. It will be US General General Dan McNeill's first major test since taking rotating command of ISAF forces. General McNeill is expected to take a hard line with the terrorists.
Over at the The Fourth Rail, Bill Roggio has more.
The Evening Standard reports that Lord Goldsmith, Attorney General, the government's top legal official, has been pressured into agreeing to make public any advice he receives over cash for honours charges against individuals. Before getting tousled by MPs on Tuesday, he had refused to publish anything. Goldsmith also agreed
to demands by the Tories that he let opposition politicians help to chose an independent lawyer to advise him in the event that the Crown Prosecution wants to bring charges against Downing Street aides.Such a major retreat, by the lawyer given his job and his peerage by the Prime Minister, looks like a prime example of a rat scurrying over the side of HMS Blair. The BBC has more, including a brewing row with deputy leader candidate, Harriet Harman, which may well rumble on for a few days.
Abu Bakr, one of the Muslims arrested in the Birmingham terrorist kidnapping plot has been freed and has been complaining to the BBC that the UK is a "police state for Muslims":
It's not a police state for everybody else because these terror laws are designed specifically for Muslims and that's quite an open fact," he added.Bakr is studying for a PhD in something called Political Islam. If he went back to Pakistan he could research a real police state. For the meantime, leaving aside the fact that Islamic terrorism is the major problem rather than terrorism from everybody else, he might care to consider that a judge ordered his release.
"So we're the ones who are being locked up, detained and then told to go back to our lives."
Ruth Kelly, communities secretary is going on the offensive. Here is the press release "detailing" her proposals, which amount to throwing at least £5 million at Muslim groups, to facilitate a load of typically vague initiatives:
* Programmes to work with those who maybe excluded from colleges, schools and mosques and may be vulnerable to extremist messages - giving them the knowledge and confidence to turn their back on extremism.I have no idea what they mean in practice and neither, probably, do ministers.
* New local forums that can take on perverted extremist ideology with strong local leaders and role models promoting shared values, such as the rejection of violence, understanding and belonging.
* Leadership projects with increased training to develop the capacity of key opinion formers in facing down extremist messages.
* Increased training and information for local institutions, such as mosques and madrassahs, on warning signs, extremist tactics and effective responses.
* Programmes to promote greater understanding between faiths such as school twinning programmes and to improve civic and volunteering opportunities for young Muslims to develop a greater sense of shared belonging.
Long term readers of this blog may remember the case of the Brazilian Slapper, Roselane Driza, and the immigration judges that gave so much entertainment back in the autumn. Here is a brief recap:
The Old Bailey case of the Brazilian slapper accused of blackmailing a cocaine snorting, tax fiddling immigration judge has ended with a guilty verdict, of sorts. The samba merchant was found guilty of stealing the judge's [ Judge Khan] home video of himself having sex with another judge [identified only as judge J] but not guilty of blackmail.Now, she's back for a sequel. The aforementioned slapper (and illegal immigrant) has won her appeal against the conviction and has been released on bail from the 33 month sentence, pending a retrial.
Germany is sending six reconnaissance jets to Afghanistan to undertake some Taliban hunting, reports Spiegel Online. It is a welcome start in providing the forces NATO needs but it is not clear if the aircraft will be allowed to fly any combat missions.
Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung said the Tornados would offer added protection for the ISAF troops and Afghan population. "Reconnaissance isn't combat," he told a news conference after the cabinet meeting on Wednesday.According to Deutsche Welle the German government has not ruled out the possibility of the planes being used to provide combat support for ground forces. However, neither have they ruled the possibility in.
The Ministry of Defence has announced the death of Second Lieutenant Jonathan Carlos Bracho-Cooke in Iraq. Lt Bracho-Cooke was the 100th British fatality of the campaign.
Second Lieutenant Jonathan Bracho-Cooke, 24, of 2nd Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment died as a result of injuries sustained by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attack against his patrol in the As Sarraji District of Basra City.More from the BBC and his local paper, the Brighton Argus:
Second Lieutenant Jonathan Bracho-Cooke was serving with Chindit Company, based at the Old State Building in the centre of the city. He was commanding a patrol of Warrior Armoured Fighting Vehicles, which were travelling to Basra Palace, the Headquarters of the Basra City South Battle Group, when the incident happened...
...Second Lieutenant Jonathan Bracho-Cooke was born on 13 June 1982. He lived in Hove and joined the army at the age of 22. Engaged to Laura he was due to get married in August this year.
On 8 May 2005, Second Lieutenant Jonathan Bracho-Cooke began his army career at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. On completion of his officer training and Infantry Platoon Commander's Battle Courses he reported for duty with 2nd Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, serving on operations in Basra City, southern Iraq.
Second Lieutenant Bracho-Cooke had been in Iraq since the New Year and was always asking questions, trying to improve how he did business and seeking the best solutions to problems. Diligent and eager to learn, he was a very promising young officer who had a bright career ahead. He was excited about being in Iraq and proud to be leading his Kingsmen, the soldiers serving under his command. ["Kingsman" is the regimental term for a private, derived from their origins as the Kings Own Regiment. HB]
He demanded nothing but the very best from and for his Kingsmen. They in return respected him and were extremely fond of him. They saw him as a caring and compassionate leader who despite having only been in command for a relatively short time had made a huge impression on them. To a man they feel privileged and honoured to have had him as their Platoon Commander.
Known as 'BC' to his friends, Second Lieutenant Bracho-Cooke's brother officers will remember him as a cheerful and friendly person who always had time for those who needed it. They particularly liked his ‘off the wall' sense of humour which manifested itself in various ways, either by keeping them up late with his antics or by waking them up with the offer of a jaffa cake.
He was devoted to his fiancée Laura and whilst others discussed buying new cars and going on holidays on their return to the UK, he would talk passionately about wedding plans and spending quality time with her. Hugely talented and extremely popular he will be remembered as a loving fiancé, talented officer, comrade and friend.
Second Lieutenant Chris Ibbotson, who went through training and joined the Regiment with Second Lieutenant Jonathan Bracho-Cooke, said:
"He was faultless; the nicest guy you could hope to meet. His sense of humour was key to who he was. He was fit too and a better runner than most, no matter how many cigarettes he smoked."
His Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Simon Hutchinson MBE (CO 2nd Battalion, The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment), said:
"Jonathan Bracho-Cooke was a fine young platoon commander who had quickly established himself under very difficult conditions. He really stood out as a bright, enthusiastic and charismatic officer. We are very proud that he chose to be one of us, and are desperately sad to have lost him."
Despite having dyslexia, being slightly small in stature and not having a university degree, he beat stiff competition to be accepted for officer training at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst.That level of determination and achievement gives a measure of the qualities which have been lost by his family, friends and comrades.
Des Smith, the braggart who began the cash for honours scandal by being indiscreet with Sunday Times journalists, is not be charged, the Crown Prosecution Service has decided. What a surprise!
I think we can also confidently predict that Lord Levy will not be charged either, or anybody else for that matter. Never mind that, as the BBC points out, Smith was concerned with only one aspect of the police investigation and there remains plenty of other matters which may yet result in charges, especially the cover up within Downing Street. Indeed,according to the Times, Jonathan Powell, Tony Blair's Downing Street press wallah, is still in Scotland Yard's sights
As I wrote some months ago, given the lack of an independent legal system in the UK, it was never to be expected that charges would be brought. The importance of the case has been the electoral damage to the government from the illumination of its crooked practices and of the sanctimonious hypocrisy of Blair's claims to moral superiority.
Other, early, reports from the Daily Telegraph and the Guardian.
Minor edits: 6/02/07.
From the Guardian, a cautionary tale of what can happen when individuals are appointed to high pressure positions to fill quotas, rather than for their abilities.
More from the BBC.
Update: 13/11/07
The Sunday Times recently had an account of Fiona Jones' decline from Chris Jones, her husband. His criticisms of the police over the election overspending will not wash. It is the agent's responsibility to ensure spending is kept within limits and Des Whicher, her agent, seems not to have have been very good maths,hence the court case.
The Newark Advertiser, Jones' local paper, has a detailed archive of events.
Andrew Walker, the Oxford coroner has been conducting an inquest into the death of Corporal Matty Hull, who was killed in Iraq by fire from a US aircraft. Walker is demanding he be allowed to show a cockpit video of the incident but the MoD says he cannot because the owners of the tape, the US Department of Defense is refusing permission.
Classified or not, the Sun claims to have to have got hold of the tape. I cannot get it to play in Firefox but it is ok in IE. The Sun also has a transcript.
You are never to young to start hating the Great Satan. The Daily Mail has the story of how a London school, the King Fahad (or Fahd) Academy in Acton is being accused of encouraging terrorists supporters as young as 5. Moreover,
Its sister school of the same name in Bonn has been singled out by the German intelligence services as a meeting place for activists linked to terrorism.Obviously a job for the brave and fearless leaflet police.
Mark Steyn puts the scientific evidence for climate change in perspective. As ever he gets to heart of the problem.
You could take every dime spent by every government and NGO and eco-group to investigate "climate change" and spend it on Internet porn instead, and it wouldn't make the slightest difference to what the climate will be in 2050.Indeed, the climate change hysteria is being fuelled by dishonest scientists and others wanting to get their snouts into a multinational taxpayers' trough.
However, it would make a dramatic difference to the lifestyle of the "climate change" jet set.
Loyalty amongst thieves is not what it was. Lord Cashpoint (aka Lord Levy) is threatening to sing, says the Mail on Sunday.
He is said to be prepared to "do whatever it takes" to defend his own reputation.The Sunday Times says DAC Yates and his Scotland Yard team have evidence of a meeting last summer when Downing Street officials plotted their cover up. Of course they met and plotted; these people have nothing else to do all day. However, providing they were at last half competent in covering their tracks, proving a criminal conspiracy is another matter. Nonetheless,
"He said he is not going to swing for the Prime Minister. He is not prepared to take the rap for what has happened," said a former Cabinet Minister who has discussed the matter candidly with Levy.
According to a senior Whitehall source, police believe they now have evidence to recommend charges in the investigation. “They (the police) believe there was a conspiracy to cover up evidence over a period of weeks,” said the source yesterday.Meanwhile the Independent discerns panic in Downing Street and paranoia at Scotland Yard; and the Sunday Telegraph puns away with Nightmare on Downing Street.
The Observer has the horrific story of how Westminster social workers ignored the danger signs of a genuine case of child abuse and returned a young child to her parents, Kimberley Harte and Samuel Duncan. Harte and Duncan then spent seven weeks torturing the child by pouring boiling liquid over her hands, ripping out her hair, kicking her repeatedly in the groin and locking her in the toilet. The pair have been found guilty and will be sentenced later this week.
Meanwhile, it is unlikely that the the guilty social workers will be sacked. Rather they will be left free to continue their incompetent work. Already the notoriously corrupt social services establishment is closing ranks. According to the independent review of the case,
...what happened could not be attributed to 'professional errors' or 'poor practice'.Really? Which rather begs the question of what does constitute a professional error or poor practice. Well may the Observer draw a parallel with the Climbie scandal.
