Scuba jihad?

Bingo | June 28, 2007 7:55 AM

Flipper Akbar!

BurkasforHitlery | June 28, 2007 7:57 AM

Exploring intake valves at Indian Point anyone?

Borg | June 28, 2007 8:14 AM

OT

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070627/ap_on_re_eu/russia_guantanamo_3

Russia: Ex-Guantanamo detainee killed By JIM HEINTZ, Associated Press Writer
Wed Jun 27, 3:06 PM ET

MOSCOW - A man formerly held in the U.S. facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was killed Wednesday in a shootout with security agents in a restive North Caucasus republic, Russia's top security agency said.

Ruslan Odizhev was killed amid gunfire that erupted when agents tried to arrest him and another man in Kabardino-Balkariya, a region near Chechnya that is plagued by violence linked both to crime and to religious tensions, the Federal Security Service said in a statement.

The service, known by its Russian acronym FSB, said Odizhev had been held at Guantanamo Bay and was believed to have been a supporter of the Taliban. Odizhev was one of seven Russians released from the detention facility in 2004; his whereabouts recently had been unknown.

The FSB did not specify why agents were trying to detain him, but said he was a suspect in the 1999 bombings of apartment buildings in Moscow and Volgodonsk and that he took part in a 2005 insurgent attack on police and government facilities in Nalchik, the capital of Kabardino-Balkariya.

That attack left 139 people dead, including 94 militants. Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev, who was killed in 2006, claimed credit for planning the attack.

The FSB said Odizhev was the "spiritual leader" of Yarmuk, an Islamic extremist organization connected to an array of violence in the region.

The office of the republic's top prosecutor, Oleg Zharikov, said Odizhev was killed in Nalchik and that three homemade explosive devices were found on his body. It said he and a rebel named Anzor Tengizov were cornered by agents in the courtyard of an apartment building across the street from a mosque in the city.

Odizhev and six other Russians who had been detained in Afghanistan were released from Guantanamo in 2004 after investigators said they found no evidence of their involvement with the Taliban. Several, including Odizhev, were briefly jailed after returning to Russia.

It was not clear why the men were released then, especially if Odizhev had been considered a suspect in the 1999 bombings.

U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said in a statement that Odizhev's mother had said her son had been kidnapped and tortured by security agents in 2000 in connection with the bombings. He fled the country thereafter, she said, according to the statement.

The bombings were blamed by Russian authorities on Chechen separatists and cited as justification for resuming the fight against insurgents in Chechnya

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Borg | June 28, 2007 8:21 AM

OT posted also at LGF

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Attorney for imams removed from plane loses bid to limit access
By Amy Forliti, Associated Press

Last update: June 27, 2007 – 4:14 PM

A federal judge overseeing a lawsuit filed by six Muslim men who were removed from a US Airways flight last fall has declined to limit public access to the case.

Omar T. Mohammedi, a New York attorney for the six Muslim scholars, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he sought limited media access because he felt some of the coverage of the case has been biased against his clients.

“When you think of the media, and the way they have been portraying this case, it has not been very helpful. It has been biased,” Mohammedi said. “That has caused a lot of stress, a lot of stress on our clients, as well as made it difficult for us to handle this case ... in a manner that it should be handled.”

Mohammedi’s clients are six imams — Islamic religious leaders — who were removed from a US Airways flight in Minneapolis last fall after passengers reported what they thought was suspicious behavior. The imams, who were handcuffed and questioned, claim the airline discriminated against them and violated their civil rights.

The complaint seeks an undisclosed amount of money for punitive and compensatory damages. Besides US Airways, the lawsuit names other defendants including the Minnesota Metropolitan Airports Commission, which owns the airport, and John Does, who could later be identified as passengers.

In a letter dated Tuesday and addressed to Mohammedi, U.S. District Judge Ann Montgomery noted that Mohammedi had requested that the court remove members of the media from an electronic distribution list, bar members of the media from attending hearings, and hold proceedings in closed session.

“The Court declines to treat this case in the extraordinary manner that you request,” the judge wrote. She added that the public and press have an interest in full access to judicial proceedings under the First Amendment. “You have provided no legal authority supporting your request to limit public access to this case,” Montgomery wrote. “While it is regrettable that anonymous individuals have threatened violence, the Court Security Officers will insure that the United States Courthouse here in Minneapolis is secure.”

The judge’s letter was entered in the case file, and it noted that further communications on the matter should also be filed through the court’s electronic database. The letters previously submitted on the issue were filed off the record and were not made public. Judge Montgomery said through a law clerk that she would have no comment beyond her letter.

Mohammedi said he and his clients have received death threats, partly because of biased coverage by most media outlets. He cited a March 30 AP story and headline that he claimed did not accurately reflect his conversation with a reporter.

The AP story in question explored whether the lawsuit would discourage future airline travelers from speaking up when they see something unusual. The story included information from Mohammedi, as well as different points of view from security officials and from an attorney who offered to represent passengers who might be named as defendants in the lawsuit.

“We are just asking the media to be balanced and reflect what was said ... and to let justice take its course,” Mohammedi said Wednesday. “I’m asking the media to be a little bit more responsible in reporting the facts of the case. That actually would prevent a lot of issues.”