Excerpts: Egypt raids Sinai depots of arms bound for Gaza.Islamic State of
Iraq; Al-qaeda militants. Disaster continues in Pakistan 28 August 2010

+++SOURCE:Haaretz 28 Aug.'10"Egypt police seize missiles, ammunition bound
for
Gaza" Avi Issacharoff

SUBJECT:Egypt raids Sinai depots of arms bound for Gaza

FULL TEXT:Palestinian news agency Ma'an reports that Egypt police raided
several secret weapons depots in Sinai, discovered 190 fully assembled
anti-aircraft missiles.

Egyptian police on Saturda(28 Aug)y raided several arms depots in Sinai,
believed to hold weapons meant for smuggling into Gaza, the Palestinian news
agency Ma'an reported.

According to the report, the Egyptian police uncovered secret caches of
explosives in a desert in the center of the Sinai peninsula. The caches held
190 fully assembled anti-aircraft missiles and rockets in addition to
explosives and ammunition.

One cache containing 100 anti-aircraft missiles was uncovered in Al-Hasana,
and another, containing 90 of the missiles, was discovered in Ad-Daqqaq. A
third cache, holding 1,500 bullets of various sizes, was found in Nakhl,
Ma'an reported.
The news agency added that several additional secret depots were raided in
the city of Rafah, some 3 kilometers from the border with Gaza, where ten
anti-tank mines were seized.
Drugs were also seized in the raids. 50 kilograms of hashish were taken, and
several suspected drug dealers detained.

+++SOURCE: New York Times 28 Aug.'10:"Qaeda in Iraq Says It Was Behind
Latest
Attacks"
By ANTHONY SHADID

SUBJECT: Islamic State of Iraq: umbrella group for Al-Qaeda militants

QUOTE:" 'ability of terrorist acts to have animpact on the political life of
this country is still a significant risk' "

FULL TEXT:BAGHDAD - Insurgents affiliated with Al Qaeda in Iraq claimed
responsibility on Saturday(28 Aug) for a wave of car bombings, roadside
mines and hit-and-run attacks this week in at least 13 Iraqi cities and
towns, a deadly and relentless campaign whose breadth surprised American
military officials and dealt a blow to Iraq's fledgling security forces.
At least 56 people were killed in the attacks, in which insurgents deployed
more than a dozen car bombs. Two of the assaults wrecked police stations in
Baghdad and Kut, a city southeast of the capital, though American and Iraqi
officials said measures taken by the security forces had prevented the
attacks from inflicting an even higher toll.
The statement from the Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella group for the
Qaeda militants, was posted on one of its Web sites. It called the assaults
"the wings of victory sweeping again over a new day." It said it had
attacked "the headquarters, centers, and security barriers of the apostate
army and police."
For weeks, officials had warned that insurgents might try to escalate
attacks during the holy month of Ramadan, which began in August,
capitalizing on months of stalemate over forming a new government here.
Popular frustration has risen sharply this summer, as scorching temperatures
accentuate shortages of electricity and drinking water, whose shoddy
delivery remains one of Iraqis' long-standing grievances.
Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki ordered the security forces on high
alert Friday(27 Aug), saying that insurgents were planning more attacks
across the country "to kill more innocents and spread panic." He urged a
public that has yet to bestow much confidence in the security forces to
cooperate with them in an effort to stanch coming attacks.
"We call upon citizens to open their eyes, to observe the movements of those
terrorists, to abort their evil planning and inform on any suspect movements
as soon as possible," said the statement, which was broadcast Friday(27 Aug)
night on television.
On Wednesday(1 Sept), the United States will formally end what it describes
as combat operations in the country, assuming a training and advisory role
for the nearly 50,000 troops who will remain here through next summer. The
administration has described the date as a turning point in the war, though
it remains somewhat ceremonial. The levels the American military will
maintain still represent a formidable force here, and while most combat has
indeed ended, troops will still take part in what it calls
counterinsurgency.
American military officials have said the most formidable Sunni insurgents
may number just in the hundreds. While they said they knew that attacks like
Wednesday's (25 Aug)were still possible, they were nevertheless struck by
the breadth of the campaign, which hit towns and cities from southernmost
Basra to restive Mosul in the north.
"The potential for violence, what I would characterize now as primarily
terrorist acts here, is quite significant, and the ability of terrorist acts
to have an impact on the political life of this country is still a
significant risk," James F. Jeffrey, the new American ambassador to Iraq,
told reporters at the embassy this week.
But, he added, "This does not change our assessment that the security
situation, by every statistic that we have looked at, is far better than it
was a year or two ago."
At the scene of the worst bombing in Baghdad, where explosives piled in a
blue pickup toppled a police station and sheared the top floors off a block
of houses, residents on Saturday walked aimlessly through houses in which
they could no longer sleep. They were angry that no one from the government
had visited and that no one had offered help.
"Each day is worse than the day before, each year is worse than the year
before," said Sabah Abu Karrar, 45. He walked over bricks that were once his
wall, and he quoted a saying cited often in calamity. "There is no power or
strength except through God."

+++SOURCE: Saudi Gazette 28 Aug.'10'10:"1 m more displaced in Pakistan - UN"

SUBJECT: Disaster continues in Pakistan

QUOTE:"17.2 million people have been significantly affected by the floods"

EXCERPT:KARACHI - Hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis were fleeing a
southern district Friday(27 Aug) after the bloated Indus River crushed a
levee and flooded new areas, officials said. The UN said as many as 1
million people have been displaced in the south since midweek.
In the southern city of Thatta, around 175,000 people - around 70 percent of
the city's population - were believed to have packed up and left overnight .
. .UN spokesman Maurizio Giuliano said according to reports received by the
world body, around 1 million people were displaced in Thatta and
Qambar-Shadadkot districts since Wednesday(25 Aug).
. . ..
The floods began with the onset of the monsoon and have ravaged a massive
swath of Pakistan, from the mountainous north to its agricultural heartland.
Almost 17.2 million people have been significantly affected by the floods
and about 1.2 million homes have been destroyed or badly damaged, the UN has
said. - AP
============
Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA