The militant Iraqi Muslim group Ansar al-Islam, whose main base was destroyed by American and Kurdish forces before the Iraq war began, has become the principal "terrorist adversary" of US forces in the country, the Pentagon said on Thursday.
Air Force Lieutenant General Norton Schwartz told reporters there was no proof that guerrillas from the Muslim group, suspected of having ties to fugitive Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda guerrilla network, had taken part in major suicide bombings in Baghdad. But he reiterated statements by other US officials that Ansar al-Islam had now established itself in Baghdad and said the group had become a primary target of US forces.
"I think that AI ... is our principal organized terrorist adversary in Iraq right now and we are concentrating our resources on that," Schwartz, director for operations on the US military's Joint Staff at the Pentagon, told reporters.
In a memo to senior defense officials, released by the Pentagon this week, Defense Secretary Do-nald Rumsfeld said "we are just getting started" in the fight against Ansar al-Islam.
Schwartz was asked whether Ansar al-Islam was operating independently or whether it was coordinating with loyalists of former president Saddam Hussein, accused by Washington of launching repeated attacks on US troops.
"There are ... some indications that there are linkages between the former regime loyalists and some of the AI seniors. But generally speaking, they are independent actors," he said.
Ansar al-Islam's main base in northern Iraq near the Iranian border was destroyed by US and Kurdish forces in March and most of its leaders were believed to have fled.
But US Army General John Abizaid, commander of American forces in Iraq, said at the Pentagon that elements of Ansar al-Islam had moved into the Baghdad area and were increasing the sophistication of terror attacks there.
Hungarian authorities temporarily detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying tens of millions of euros in cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said on Friday. The Ukrainians were released on Friday, following their detention on Thursday, but Hungarian officials held onto the cash, prompting Ukraine to accuse Hungary’s Russia-friendly government of illegally seizing the money. “We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said. The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and
Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani on Friday after dissolving the Kosovar parliament said a snap election should be held as soon as possible to avoid another prolonged political crisis in the Balkan country at a time of global turmoil. Osmani said it is important for Kosovo to wrap up the upcoming election process and form functional institutions for political stability as the war rages in the Middle East. “Precisely because the geopolitical situation is that complex, it is important to finish this electoral process which is coming up,” she said. “It is very hard now to imagine what will happen next.” Kosovo, which declared
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Counting was under way in Nepal yesterday, after a high-stakes parliamentary election to reshape the country’s leadership following protests last year that toppled the government. Key figures vying for power include former Nepalese prime minister K. P. Sharma Oli, rapper-turned-mayor Balendra Shah, who is bidding for the youth vote, and newly elected Nepali Congress party leader Gagan Thapa. In Kathmandu’s tea shops and city squares, people were glued to their phones, checking results as early trends flashed up — suggesting Shah’s centrist Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) was ahead. Nepalese Election Commission spokesman Prakash Nyupane said the counting was ongoing “in a peaceful manner”
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