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Former CIA official lifts lid on secret anti-terror operations
The US authorised its special forces to carry out more than a dozen raids in countries in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, four years ago as part of a stepped-up hunt for al-Qaida, according to a former senior CIA officer. Highly publicised attacks by American forces across the border from Iraq into Syria last month, and from Afghanistan into Pakistan's tribal areas in September, are just the tip of an iceberg of special military operations.
The practice of dispatching units to chase down targets in other countries, and the authorisation that underpins it, is a delicate inheritance for president-elect Barack Obama as he prepares for the White House. Former intelligence officials said it was unlikely that Obama, who since last Thursday has been receiving detailed daily intelligence briefings, would reverse the order. On the campaign trail, Obama promised to aggressively pursue Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida if elected.
The freedom of special forces to go into other countries at short notice was approved in a 2004 classified executive order - Al-Qaida Network Exord - by the Bush administration's then defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld.
The order came after a series of botched missions, in particular in east Africa, in which there had been a failure to inform in advance the US ambassador to Kenya. As a result, Rumsfeld effectively ceded control of such operations to the CIA.
The former CIA officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: "There was a constant struggle between defence and the CIA and it was resolved in favour of the CIA. Operations are done by the CIA with special forces in support. The special forces come under civilian control."
The New York Times yesterday disclosed several previously unknown operations, including a 2006 navy Seal raid on a suspected militant compound in Pakistan's Bajaur region. The CIA watched the entire operation live in Virginia through a camera mounted on a Predator drone.
The unmanned Predators have become an increasingly popular tool of the CIA and US military forces. More and more Predators are being switched from Iraq to the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, partly to step up the hunt for Bin Laden in the last days of the Bush administration and partly because of the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan.
Asked about the disclosure that more raids took place than were previously reported, the White House press secretary, Dana Perino, would neither confirm nor deny it yesterday. "I cannot comment on our methods of going after al-Qaida terrorists. What I can tell you is that we're committed to doing so and bringing them to justice one way or the other," she said.
The 2004 order gives the military authority to strike at al-Qaida anywhere in the world, and identified countries where the terrorist group is suspected of being based, including Syria, Pakistan, Yemen and Saudi Arabia.
It came after a year of wrangling between Rumsfeld and the CIA, which wanted to ensure that there was an element of civilian control, and that ambassadors were told in advance of the operations. At the time, the Bush administration was facing an incipient insurgency in Iraq, and the geographical fragmentation of al-Qaida following the invasion of Afghanistan.
The New York Times report, based on interviews with officials, said the debate also included whether there should be raids into Iran. In the end, there had been no raids into Iran, though there were reconnaissance missions.
As well as the dozen or so missions carried out, about a dozen or more were scrapped after being regarded as too dangerous, or diplomatically problematic, or lacking sufficient intelligence.
Despite the wide-ranging nature of the 2004 order, missions in sensitive countries such as Syria and Pakistan still require presidential approval. Raids in Somalia need approval by the defence secretary.
A US task force, based in Ethiopia, made repeated trips over the border into Somalia in 2006, as part of the hunt for those responsible for the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
The raid by helicopter-borne special forces into Syria last month was highly visible, but apparently there have been others that neither Washington nor the Syrian government has admitted to. The US has repeatedly said that Syria is the main staging posts for jihadists from elsewhere in the Middle East before they move into Iraq. The Syrian government, in its defence, has pointed to the difficulty of manning its long border with Iraq.
Afghan Says Airstrike Killed Dozens
Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Wednesday called on President-elect Barack Obama to end U.S. airstrikes that risk civilian casualties after coalition forces allegedly killed dozens of people at a wedding party in southern Afghanistan this week.
Karzai said that about 40 civilians were killed and 28 wounded Monday after coalition forces in Kandahar province bombarded the village of Shah Wali Kot during a clash with Taliban fighters in the region. Few details about the airstrike were available Wednesday, but Karzai said coalition troops called in the attack on a wedding party in the village as it traveled through the heart of Taliban territory.
Maj. John Redfield, a spokesman for the U.S. military, said U.S. and Afghan officials are investigating the claim. "We're aware of the claims of civilian casualties. In this case, it is uncertain from the facts what exactly happened," Redfield said. "If innocent people were killed in this operation, we apologize and express our condolences to the families and the people of Afghanistan."
Karzai has repeatedly called on NATO and U.S. forces this year to reduce their reliance on airstrikes after several high-profile bombings that resulted in scores of casualties, including a strike in August that U.N. and Afghan officials said killed at least 90 civilians. Under pressure to soothe the public, Karzai has in recent months publicly excoriated Western military forces for their reliance on airstrikes to counter the fierce insurgency that has taken root across the country.
"Our main difficulty is with civilian casualties. We should try to end civilian casualties," Karzai said.
With less than a year before Afghanistan holds presidential elections, Karzai has traveled at least a dozen times this year to villages bombarded by Western forces to offer condolences to survivors.
Two months ago, U.S. Gen. David D. McKiernan, the top NATO commander in Afghanistan, ordered Western commanders to decrease their reliance on airstrikes in battles with insurgents. The directive was issued after the controversial airstrike on Aug. 22 in the western province of Herat.
The bombing in the small village of Azizabad revealed sharp divisions between Karzai's government, NATO command and the U.N. mission in Afghanistan. The United Nations and the Afghan government reported relatively high death tolls from the strike, while the U.S. military said five civilians had been killed. A reinvestigation of the incident by a top general from the U.S. Central Command later concluded that at least 30 civilians had been killed.
The alleged bombing in Shah Wali Kot occurred amid continuing clashes between Western forces and Taliban insurgents in Kandahar. NATO forces have recently focused on targeting Taliban supply lines in the province to cut insurgent routes into Helmand province to the west. Air assaults in Kandahar have been relatively limited in recent weeks. But Afghan and NATO officials confirmed that several civilians were killed after coalition forces called in an air assault during a clash with Taliban forces in the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah in Helmand last month.
Candace RondeauxAfghan officials said casualties from the airstrike on Monday included women and children. The United States military command said it was conducting an urgent investigation with the Afghan Interior Ministry. Although the command’s statement made no mention of a missile strike or any death toll, it appeared to acknowledge the possibility that noncombatants had been killed.
“Though facts are unclear at this point, we take very seriously our responsibility to protect the people of Afghanistan and to avoid circumstances where noncombatant civilians are placed at risk,” the command said. “If innocent people were killed in this operation, we apologize and express our condolences to the families and people of Afghanistan.”
The episode in Kandahar followed others this year in which American airstrikes in some of the war’s most hotly contested battle zones killed civilians.
The report of the missile strike, in Shah Wali Kot, a rural district north of the city of Kandahar, prompted a renewed protest from the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, who referred to the episode at a news conference on Wednesday that was called to congratulate Senator Barack Obama on his election victory.
“The fight against terrorism cannot be won by bombardment of our villages,” Mr. Karzai said. “My first demand from the U.S. president, when he takes office, would be to end civilian casualties in Afghanistan and take the war to places where there are terrorist nests and training centers.”
In one of the worst cases of civilian deaths by an American strike this year, an attack aimed at a meeting of Taliban insurgent leaders on Aug. 22 killed at least 33 civilians, according to a Pentagon inquiry. Other investigators said the numbers were much higher. According to an Afghan parliamentary investigation, an airstrike in July in the eastern province of Nangarhar also struck a wedding, killing 47 civilians, including the bride.
An initial American military inquiry into the August attack, in the western province of Herat, said only five to seven civilians had died when an American AC-130 gunship attacked the nighttime Taliban meeting, contradicting Afghan and United Nations reports that said that as many as 90 civilians had died.
The ensuing furor among Afghans, including an angry protest by President Karzai, prompted the top American commander in the country, Gen. David D. McKiernan, to order a second investigation, which raised the civilian death toll to 33.
Gen. McKiernan also ordered a tightening of procedures for launching airstrikes and reporting promptly and accurately on civilian casualties. He has said that minimizing civilian casualties is crucial to turning the worsening tide of the war against the Taliban and Al Qaeda.
Zalmay Ayoby, a spokesman for the governor of Kandahar, said the strike on Monday took place when Taliban and American-led forces were engaged in a firefight near the village of Wegh Bakhtu. He said an airstrike was called in after the Taliban opened fire on a coalition unit, and that a missile struck a compound where a wedding party was being held.
“Unfortunately we should say that an airstrike on a wedding party had killed and injured a huge number of people in Shah Wali Kot,” he said.
Ahmed Wali Karzai, a brother of the Afghan president and leader of the provincial council in Kandahar, said that there were civilian casualties, but that it was unclear how many people had died. He said he had spoken with some people wounded in the attack who had been admitted to Kandahar’s main hospital. They told him that as many as 32 civilians had been admitted, including women and children from the wedding party, he said.
Dr. Qudratullah Hakimi, a doctor at the Mirwais Hospital in Kandahar, said by telephone that the hospital admitted 22 women and 6 children after the attack. The children’s ages were 1 to 11, he said. He said the bride from the wedding party had had an operation and was stable. He said his patients had reported that up to 90 people had been killed or wounded, and that some were buried under the rubble, although this could not be independently confirmed.
In Washington on Wednesday, the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict, an advocacy group, urged President-elect Obama to appoint a senior Pentagon official to oversee policies to help avoid civilian casualties.
Sarah Holewinski, the group’s executive director, said the official could “make sure proven techniques to avoid civilians are in place and constantly improved, maintain proper investigative and statistical data on civilian harm in combat zones, and ensure prompt compensation” to civilians unintentionally harmed by U.S. combat operations.
Ms. Holewinski said in a telephone interview that she has been discussing the idea with advisers to Mr. Obama over the past six months. “The issue is important enough to get right, lest we continue to lose public support in Afghanistan,” she said.
Five Palestinians have been killed in the first clash between Israeli troops and Hamas fighters since a truce was declared in June.
Three more people were injured in the incident late on Tuesday which involved a gun battle inside Gaza near the border, Palestinian rocket fire and an Israeli air strike.
Israeli troops and Hamas fighters fired at each other after the soldiers went about 300m inside Gaza, saying they had discovered "a tunnel aimed at abducting soldiers".
Spokesman for the Israeli army and Hamas confirmed the gun battle.
Dr Moaiya Hassanain, a Palestinian health ministry official, said one Palestinian - identified by residents of the area as a Hamas fighter - was killed and three were wounded, including a woman, in the fighting.
Shortly after, Hamas said it fired mortars at southern Israel and the army said it launched an air strike at the mortar launchers and hit them.
Hamas radio confirmed that four fighters were killed in the air strike.
Hamas vowed revenge, saying on its military wing's website that its "response will be harsh, and the enemy will pay a heavy price".
A senior Israeli military official speaking on condition of anonymity said the tunnel had been dug from inside a Gaza home, illustrating that Hamas was using civilians for cover.
Truce threatened
Both sides claimed they had not violated the Egyptian-mediated truce reached in June after months of indirect negotiations that halted a deadly cycle of Palestinian rocket attacks and Israeli bombardment.
The army said it was acting to remove an immediate threat to Israel while Hamas said it was trying to prevent an Israeli incursion.
Despite the truce, Israel has closed its crossings into the coastal strip of 1.4 million Palestinians and mostly kept the crippling siege it imposed on the area after Hamas forcibly took over the territory from Fatah forces loyal to Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, in June last year.
Sporadic rocket attacks on southern Israel from Gaza have also persisted in spite of the ceasefire.
Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier, was seized near the Gaza Strip by Palestinian fighters who tunnelled across the border in June 2006.
The fighters continue to demand the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in return for Shalit.
Syria has reportedly deployed more troops along its border with Lebanon, allegedly to "combat smuggling." Meanwhile a Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesman is denying reports that Syria has withdrawn troops from its border with Iraq in retaliation for a weekend raid on a Syrian border town which Damascus blames on the United States. Edward Yeranian reports for VOA from Cairo.
The Syrian Army has deployed more troops along Lebanon's northern border, according to Lebanese Army sources, amid claims that Damascus is redoubling efforts to "combat smuggling."
Reports that Damascus was beefing up its troop strength along the Lebanese border coincide with unconfirmed reports by the private Syrian Dunia satellite TV network that Syrian border patrol forces were being withdrawn from the notoriously porous border with Iraq. Dunia TV showed pictures of what it claimed were Syrian forces being withdrawn from the Iraqi border.
Dunia TV says that the move comes as a protest for the alleged U.S. raid on the Syrian border town of Sukkariya, over the weekend, which reportedly killed a top al Qaida operative. Washington has not confirmed the raid.
Despite the reports, al Jazeera TV says that Syrian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Boushara Kanafani is denying that Damascus has made any changes to its troop strength or redeployed along the Iraqi border.
Timor Goksel, the former spokesman for United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL), says that he doesn't think that there is any relation between Syrian troop movements along the Lebanese border and possible movements along the Syrian-Iraqi border.
"Absolutely not. Absolutely not. There's absolutely no connection with that. No, no. I doubt that very much. I mean…what happened along the Iraqi border is totally something else. I don't think there's any connection," he said. "This is Internal Lebanese-Syria….nothing to do with that."
Goksel adds that he thinks Syria is responding to long-term international pressure to keep better control of its border with Lebanon and that he doubts anyone inside Lebanon or from within the international community will protest the move:
"So, I think the timing is perfect. It is certainly not a threat of any kind to the Lebanese or anything like that," he said. "Nobody is going to complain, because everyone has been complaining that the eastern border has been unguarded…"
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebary also asserts, in a statement, that he's spoken with his Syrian counterpart Walid al Mouallem, and that "more security cooperation between the two countries is needed along their common border.
Deputy Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal al Miqdad indicated, this morning, that Syria has asked Iraq for "clarifications" over the recent raid inside Syrian territory. He says we are going to re-examine what's going on with Iraq in light of the official responses we're getting from the Iraqi side, following our requests to the United Nations for clarifications from Iraq.
Miqdad added that he thinks relations with Iraq were actually "better than the sometimes harsh rhetoric coming out of both sides might suggest."
Edward Yeranian
U.S. closes Damascus embassy
The United States closed its embassy in Damascus, Syria, amid rising tensions and an increased security risk, officials said Friday.
The move was the latest step in the fallout over a U.S. air attack in northern Syria last Sunday in which eight Syrians died. U.S. military officials said the fight took place as soldiers looked for smugglers of fighter planes into Iraq.
DEBKAfile reported that military sources said the Syrian government has warned that if there are more U.S. raids Syria will break off security cooperation not only with the United States but also with Iraq on their common border.
Reports say the situation is explosive enough to lead to a Syrian declaration of war if Iraqi forces hit terrorist bases on its soil.
A U.S. embassy spokesman said concern was high about the continued threat of "terrorist attacks, demonstrations and other violent actions against U.S. citizens." >>>>
United Nations forces have been involved in fierce battles against Tutsi rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
UN helicopter gunships attacked fighters loyal to a renegade Congolese warlord in an attempt to prevent the fall of Goma.
But Bertrand Bisimwa, a spokesman for fighters of General Nkunda's National Congress for the Defence of the People, told the Times that the rebels had encircled Goma. His claim could not be verified independently.
The UN mission in the country said that its peacekeepers strafed rebel Tutsi forces loyal to General Laurent Nkunda in the Kibumba area as they advanced along the main road towards the strategic town, which is the capital of North Kivu province.
Earlier, the insurgents had attacked Kibumba, home to thousands of displaced people. Many terrified refugees have fled along the road towards Goma.
General Nkunda's Tutsi forces have a reputation for rape, murder and looting, gained in the country's 1998-2003 civil war in which more than five million people were killed.
The head of the UN mission in Congo has said he desperately needs more troops.
Alan Doss said ideally a temporary troop increase through the UN is needed "tomorrow, but I don't think that's likely to happen" because an increase would require budget approval and pledges of additional soldiers.
That leaves the possibility of an outside force coming in to help for specific purposes for a limited period, he said.
Mr Doss said this has been done before not only in Congo but in Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone. He pointed to Operation Artemis, when a French-led European Union force helped stabilize security in Bunia, the capital of violence-wracked Ituri province in eastern Congo for three months in 2003, saying it was "one of the ideas that's surfaced."
According to a UN official, Congo's President Laurent Kabila held talks with Doss and other U.N. officials Tuesday and will be asking the international community for a temporary troop increase. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussion was private. >>>>
The U.S. Embassy would not comment on U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher's meeting with North West Frontier Province Chief Minister Amir Haider Khan Hoti, other than to say his trip had been planned for some time and that he was meeting a range of government officials.
Boucher's trip comes amid strains between Islamabad and Washington over suspected American missile attacks targeting militants inside Pakistan. Washington wants Islamabad to do more to root out the al-Qaida and Taliban fighters based inside Pakistan whom they blame for rising attacks on U.S. troops in Afghanistan and other targets.
In a statement, Hoti said he told Boucher during the meeting in Peshawar that he wanted to "to resolve all political problems through peaceful dialogue, but there wouldn't be any compromise on maintaining the writ of the government."
40 militants said killed in Pakistan as US diplomat visits
Pakistani forces killed about 40 Taliban militants on Sunday, security officials said, as the top US diplomat for South Asia visited the volatile country for talks.
US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher met Pakistani officials after a series of US missile strikes into Pakistan's tribal regions that have strained bilateral relations.
Ties between the "war on terror" allies have also been tested by US special forces in Afghanistan launching a raid into Pakistan last month that killed several Pakistanis.
Boucher's visit was for "routine talks planned in advance," the US embassy said without giving further details.
He met interior ministry chief Rehman Malik on Saturday for "cordial and friendly" discussions, according to Pakistani officials, and was scheduled to hold talks with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Monday.
It was unclear whether he would meet with President Asif Ali Zardari.
Pakistan is facing major economic problems as well as rising attacks by Al-Qaeda-linked Taliban militants, and has been seeking support from allies to stabilise the country.
The US says insurgents striking international troops in Afghanistan are based in Pakistan's border tribal belt, and has stepped up its missile attacks since a new civilian government came to power in Islamabad in March.
Zardari has vowed zero tolerance against violations of his country's sovereignty amid the attacks, which have stoked anti-US sentiment in Pakistan.
In the latest clashes of Pakistan's own military operations against Islamic militants, jets bombed a hideout in the northwestern Swat valley, killing two rebel commanders and about 25 other men, officials said.
The two rebel leaders killed in the air strike were closely associated with pro-Taliban cleric Maulana Fazlullah, a security official said, adding an ammunition dump at the hideout had exploded.
The official said that intelligence had indicated a large militant gathering in the area, a stronghold of extremists loyal to Fazlullah, who has declared a jihad or holy war against the government.
Also in Swat on Sunday three militants and a soldier were killed in a Taliban attack on a security forces convoy, a separate security official said.
The mountainous Swat valley was until last year a popular tourist destination where many Pakistani city dwellers went for their annual holidays.
In the tribal district of Bajaur, which borders Afghanistan, a combined land and air assault killed at least 10 Al-Qaeda linked Taliban militants.
The casualties occurred in fighting which began late Saturday after militants fired at troop positions, a security official told AFP.
The United Nations refugee agency recently said almost 190,000 people had been displaced from the Bajaur region in recent fighting.
Pakistan's military said in late September that the fighting had killed at least 1,000 militants since early August.>>>>
Pakistani jets destroy rebel den, kill 27: military
Pakistani fighter jets bombed a militant hideout in the restive northwestern Swat valley on Sunday, killing two rebel commanders and 25 other men, officials said.
The two rebel leaders killed in the air strike in Matta district were closely associated with pro-Taliban cleric Maulana Fazlullah, a security official said.
"According to reports received by us, two commanders were killed in the air strike and 25 other men died. An ammunition dump at their hideout exploded," the official told AFP.
The official said that intelligence reports had indicated a large militant gathering in the area, a stronghold of extremists loyal to Fazlullah, who has declared a jihad or holy war against the government in Islamabad.
Also in Swat on Sunday, three militants and a soldier were killed in an attack staged by the Taliban on a security forces convoy, a separate security official said.
"A soldier was martyred and three militants were killed after a convoy was ambushed," he said.
Residents said that a total of four civilians were killed in the ambush and the air strikes, but the military did not confirm any civilian deaths.
The mountainous Swat valley was until last year a popular tourist destination where many Pakistani city dwellers went for their annual holidays and it featured Pakistan's only ski resort.
But the region has been turned into a battleground since Fazlullah launched a violent campaign to enforce Islamic Sharia law.
Security officials said that air strikes on Friday killed 60 pro-Taliban fighters and destroyed a training camp in the Swat valley. >>>>
Wednesday's weapon clash with Thailand at the border area has come to its end and will not escalate into more serious military confrontation, said Prime Minister Hun Sen here on Friday after concluding a regular cabinet meeting.
"Large-scale war won't take place and people living at the border needn't worry," he told reporters.
They don't have to stockpile food and other living materials, he said, adding that "the tension has been eased now at the border area."
Meanwhile, he turned down the idea that other countries or international institutions mediate between Cambodia and Thailand to help resolve their border dispute.
"It isn't time yet," he said.
Both foreign ministers had talked on phone and decided to accomplish the job by ourselves with the existing mechanism, he said.
The premier dismissed the necessity to raise the issue in the international community, too.
After the armed conflict on Wednesday killed two and wounded another two Cambodian soldiers, Malaysia has offered to be mediator for the two sides and Indonesia proposed to put the issue on the agenda of the upcoming ASEM Summit in Beijing.
In addition at the cabinet meeting, Hun Sen submitted to increase the government's military budget by large margin and discuss draft law to list national defense as priority consideration, according to official source.
"We must consider to raise our military spending," he told the cabinet.
Prior to the meeting, all members observed minutes of silence to commemorate the victims of the battle, where only light weapons were used.
Wednesday's battle lasted for about two hours at the border near the 900-year-old Preah Vihear Temple and caused casualties on both troops. Each side later alleged passive fight-back for itself.
On Thursday, both military commanders agreed at a meeting held in Thailand to cease fire and conduct joint patrol at the border area.
Meanwhile, current troops and artillery will remain there, but can't move or redeploy unilaterally.
In July, tensions ran high after the ancient Preah Vihear Temple was awarded world heritage status by UNESCO, angering nationalists in Thailand who still claim ownership of the site.
The tension later turned into a military stalemate, in which up to 1,000 Cambodian and Thai troops faced off for six weeks.
Bilateral talks to discuss withdrawing troops from around the temple were postponed late August amid political turmoil in Thailand.
In early October, at least one Cambodian soldier and two Thai troops were wounded during sporadic exchange of gunfire and two other Thai soldiers were seriously injured after stepping on a landmine at the border area. >>>>
Thai, Cambodian armies keep guns drawn
Thai and Cambodian army commanders ended five hours of talks on Thursday with no agreement to withdraw their forces after heavy fighting near a disputed 900-year-old temple killed two Cambodian soldiers.
"We did not make much progress. Troops on both sides will stay where they are," Thai General Wiboonsak Neeparn told reporters after returning to the Thai side of the border.
He said they had agreed on joint border patrols to ease tensions after Wednesday's 40-minute gun and rocket battle, the worst clash in years between the fractious Southeast Asian neighbors.
His Cambodian counterpart, General Srey Doek, denied any deal over the site, where soldiers backed by armor and artillery faced off in an area controlled a decade ago by remnants of the Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot's guerrilla army.
Life had returned to normal at one small pagoda near the center of the fighting, 600 km (350 miles) east of Bangkok, with children running around in the dirt while their parents cooked and cleaned, said a Reuters photographer at the scene.
Ten Thai soldiers, whom Phnom Penh said had been captured, wandered freely in their midst and denied they had ever been taken prisoner.
"We drank coffee and watched the TV news together last night," one of them, Apichart Pupuak, told a Reuters reporter in Thailand via mobile phone.
PASSION
The hilltop Preah Vihear temple has stirred nationalist passions in both countries for generations, but officials on both sides have toned down their rhetoric since the fighting.
"Our policy to resolve this conflict is through negotiations," Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat said.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has kept silent, but his foreign minister urged negotiations, saying the incident was between soldiers and "not an invasion by Thailand."
But people on the streets of Phnom Penh were angry.
"We need to defend our land. We must not lose to the Thais," said security guard Bun Roeun, 36, flicking through newspaper reports of the clashes. "If the Thais continue their attempt to cross our border, I am ready to join the army to fight back."
The confrontation comes amid great political instability and an economic slowdown in Thailand, as protesters in a long-running Bangkok street campaign urge the army to launch a coup against the elected government.
"It's hard to see how Cambodia gains from starting a war with Thailand at this point," said Tony Kevin, a former Australian ambassador to Phnom Penh.
"But if you look at the very tense and riven state of Thai politics, it's easy to see how a Cambodian war could be of interest as a distraction," he said.
China and the United States expressed concern over the violence and urged both sides to use restraint.
DECADES-OLD DISPUTE
Preah Vihear, or Khao Phra Viharn, as the Thais call it, sits on a jungle-clad escarpment overlooking northern Cambodia but has been accessible mainly only from Thailand.
The International Court of Justice awarded it to Cambodia in 1962, a ruling that has rankled with Thais ever since.
The court failed to determine the ownership of 1.8 square miles (4.6 sq km) of scrub next to the stunning but remote Hindu ruins, which have been off-limits to tourists for months.
The small parcel of land became highly politicized in July when protesters trying to overthrow the Thai government adopted it as a cause, accusing Bangkok of selling off Thai soil.
Bangkok has urged its citizens to leave Cambodia, mindful of the 2003 torching of its embassy and Thai businesses in Phnom Penh by a nationalist mob incensed by a row over Angkor Wat, another ancient temple.
Security was beefed up outside the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh, but there were no crowds outside and it was operating as normal, a Thai official told Reuters.
Several big Thai companies have operations in Cambodia and some have pulled out Thai nationals, but they said operations were normal.
Turkey's military launched airstrikes Monday on Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq, according to the PKK, or Kurdistan Workers' Party.
There were no casualties, the PKK said. It is the latest round of violence between the two sides. The Turkish military bombed Kurdish rebel targets on Saturday in northern Iraq in response to clashes that left at least 15 Turkish troops dead in the Turkey-Iraq border region, the PKK and the military said Sunday.
The PKK said its rebel forces sustained no casualties in the military bombings Saturday, either.
The Turkish military said Saturday's air operation targeted the PKK's "hiding positions" in the Avasin-Basyan area of northern Iraq near the border with Turkey. Care was taken to avoid civilian casualties, the Turkish military said.
At least 15 Turkish soldiers were killed and 20 wounded in clashes in the southeastern Turkish town of in Semdinli that began Friday and ended Saturday. The PKK put the figure much higher, saying 60 Turkish troops were killed.
PKK said nine of its forces were killed in the fighting, but Turkey's military said 23 PKK members died in the clashes.
Two Turkish troops are still missing after the weekend fighting, and the Turkish military said Sunday they were feared dead.
Speaking to CNN on Monday, the PKK military wing's media office said it does not have the bodies of the two missing Turkish soldiers.
On Tuesday, the Turkish government is scheduled to vote on whether to extend the authority of the Turkish military to launch attacks on PKK positions in northern Iraq.
The U.S. military is "monitoring" the situation, but has no plans to get involved, the commander of U.S. forces in northern Iraq Maj. Gen. Mark Hertling said Monday.
"This is an opportunity for the government of Iraq and the government of Turkey to discuss these things; I know the Kurdish Regional Government is also involved," Hertling told reporters at the Pentagon via a teleconference from outside Tikrit, Iraq.
"We are monitoring these actions as Turkey attempts to attack areas which they believe are enclaves for this terrorist group."
Iraq's government condemned the weekend attacks as a "terrorist act" that "creates a serious threat to the security of the border areas and the joint security of Iraq and Turkey," spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh on Saturday.
He called on the Turkish government to deal with this "criminal act wisely and with self restraint."
Saturday night, Iraq's Presidency Council, comprised of President Jalal Talabani -- himself a Kurd -- and his two vice-presidents, condemned what it called "a vicious attack against Turkish troops."
But the Turkish government told CNN in response that it does not negotiate with "terrorists."
In February, Turkish military ground forces launched a weeklong offensive against the rebels in northern Iraq. >>>>
Taliban leaders are holding Saudi-brokered talks with the Afghan government to end the country's bloody conflict -- and are severing their ties with al Qaeda, sources close to the historic discussions have told CNN.
The militia, which has been intensifying its attacks on the U.S.-led coalition that toppled it from power in 2001 for harboring Osama bin Laden's terrorist network, has been involved in four days of talks hosted by Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, says the source.
The talks -- the first of their kind aimed at resolving the lengthy conflict in Afghanistan -- mark a significant move by the Saudi leadership to take a direct role in Afghanistan, hosting delegates who have until recently been their enemies.
They also mark a sidestepping of key "war on terror" ally Pakistan, frequently accused of not doing enough to tackle militants sheltering on its territory, which has previously been a conduit for talks between the Saudis and Afghanistan.
According to the source, fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar -- high on the U.S. military's most-wanted list -- was not present, but his representatives were keen to stress the reclusive cleric is no longer allied to al Qaeda.
Details of the Taliban leader's split with al Qaeda have never been made public before, but the new claims confirm what another source with an intimate knowledge of the militia and Mullah Omar has told CNN in the past.
The current round of talks, said to have been taken two years of intense behind-the-scenes negotiations to come to fruition, is anticipated to be the first step in a long process to secure a negotiated end to the conflict.
But U.S.- and Europe-friendly Saudi Arabia's involvement has been propelled by a mounting death toll among coalition troops amid a worsening violence that has also claimed many civilian casualties.
A Saudi source familiar with the talks confirmed that they happened and said the Saudis take seriously their role in facilitating discussions between parties to the conflict.
A second round of talks is scheduled to take place in two months, the Saudi source said.
The Afghan government believes the Taliban cannot be defeated militarily, and the Taliban believe that they can't win a war against the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan, the Saudi source said.
The involvement of the Saudis is also seen as an expression of fear that Iran could take advantage of U.S. failings in Afghanistan, as it is seen to be doing in Iraq.
Several Afghan sources familiar with Iranian activities in Afghanistan have said Iranian officials and diplomats who are investing in business and building education facilities are lobbying politicians in Kabul.
The Afghan sources wish to remain anonymous due to their political roles.
Coalition commanders regularly accuse Iran of arming the Taliban, and Western diplomats privately suggest that Iran is working against U.S. interests in Afghanistan, making it harder to bring peace.
Saudi sources say perceived Iranian expansionism is one of Saudi Arabia's biggest concerns.
The talks in Mecca took place between September 24 and 27 and involved 11 Taliban delegates, two Afghan government officials, a representative of former mujahadeen commander and U.S. foe Gulbadin Hekmatyar, and three others.
King Abdullah broke fast during the Eid al-Fitr holiday with the 17-member Afghan delegation -- an act intended to show his commitment to ending the conflict. Eid al-Fitr marks the end of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting.
Saudi Arabia was one of only three countries that recognized the Taliban leadership during its rule over Afghanistan in the 1990s, but that relationship was severed over Mullah Omar's refusal to hand over bin Laden.
During the talks, described as an ice breaker, all parties agreed that the only solution to Afghanistan's conflict is through dialogue, not fighting.
Further talks are expected in Saudi Arabia involving this core group and others.
The women line the mountainside, locked hand in hand in their green battle fatigues, and begin dancing. It's a victory dance, they say, that is routine after raids across the border on Turkish troops.
"We want a natural life, a society that revolves around women -- one where women and men are equal, a society without pressure, without inequality, where all differences between people are eliminated," says Rengin, the head of a female battalion of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.
Most of these fighters go by a single name.
Rengin joined the PKK in this mountain enclave in 1990, when she was just 14, after she says Turkish forces killed her father. She says she wanted to fight for Kurdish rights and women's rights.
"Women grow up enslaved by society. The minute you are born as a girl, society inhibits you," she says. "We've gone to war with that. If I am a woman, I need to be known by the strength of my womanhood, to get respect. Those are my rights. And it was hard for the men to accept this."
Much of the outside world views the PKK with suspicion. It's been labeled a terrorist organization by the United States, Iraq, Turkey and NATO. The PKK has fought Turkey for decades to establish a Kurdish state. Tens of thousands have been killed in the conflict.
The most recent spate of fighting broke out over the weekend. The Turkish military bombed PKK positions on Saturday in response to clashes on Friday that killed at least 15 Turkish troops and 23 PKK fighters, according to the Turkish military. The PKK gives a different assessment: It says more than 60 Turkish troops were killed, and that it lost nine fighters.
Facing mounting pressure and wanting to distance itself from the PKK, the Kurdish Regional Government in northern Iraq has made it increasingly difficult for outsiders to reach the Qandil Mountains where the guerrilla group is based. Checkpoints have been set up along all routes leading to and from the mountains, intended to stop people as well as any aid and supplies from reaching the fighting force.
CNN has gotten rare access, and are taken deep into the PKK hideout. Three fighters escort us on a five-and-a-half-hour hike through rugged terrain. They move naturally through the jagged, rocky region, effortlessly climbing and descending steep trails even at night.
"We have built-in night vision," one fighter jokingly whispers.
The mountainside camps, made of makeshift tents that are easily dismantled, blend into the landscape. The fighters change locations every few days to avoid detection. As dawn breaks, a group of fighters huddles around an old radio that brings in news of the outside world. Small fires burn in front of the tents, heating water in blackened kettles for tea.
The PKK has an idealistic philosophy, one that combines Kurdish nationalism with certain communist goals, such as equality and communal ownership of property. The fighters here say that their cause has evolved beyond a desire for a Kurdish state -- that they are now fighting to generate dramatic social change.
Today, the PKK's ideology revolves around a belief that global crises and injustice are a result of millennia of male-dominated rule. Here, the women run their own assaults and have their own command structure. All tasks are shared, both on and off the battlefield. Discipline is paramount to survival, they say, and weapons are always clean and never out of reach.
Back in 1998, the fighters say, their now-jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan declared the group "a women's party." It was initially difficult to accept, says Karim, a 42-year-old male member of the PKK.
"There was an intense discussion about the role of women," says Karim.
"We didn't want to accept it at first. Women by nature are physically weaker, and in war that hits you like a boomerang. You need to watch the way you fight, the way you move. So we were against this. We didn't want the women with us because it makes combat tougher on us. But Ocalan said in his book, if we are really trying to create a new society, we have to develop women. If women are enslaved, then so are men."
Turkey accuses Iraq's Kurds of aiding the PKK, whose stronghold is located in Iraq's Kurdish northern region, an autonomous area run by the Kurdistan Regional Government.
Turkish Gen. Hasan Igsiz was quoted in the leading Turkish daily newspaper, Huriyet, as saying, "We have no support at all from the northern Iraqi administration [against the separatists]. Let aside any support, they are providing [the separatists with] infrastructural capabilities such as hospitals and roads."
Bahoz Erdal, the military leader of PKK, told CNN, "We are ready for a political solution."
"We do not expect to find a final solution immediately, but we want to take the first steps towards that solution," he said. "And that first step could be Turkey changing its attitude towards our jailed leader, stopping military sweeps and attacks against our forces, and ending its policy of oppression."
He said these can be initial steps to a solution that gives Kurds equal rights with Turkish citizens within Turkey, not a separate Kurdish state.
For its part, Turkey has said that it will not negotiate with terrorists.
At the camp, Yildiz, a round-faced 20-year-old, says: "We don't have a goal of fighting."
She says she joined the PKK when she was 17 because she felt society was suffocating her, as a woman and as a Kurd.
"Our struggle is about many things: Changing people, returning to core values, getting rid of society's ingrained enslavement. When I came here, I realized the social injustices so much more. How could we have lived like this for so long? How could we have accepted this for so long?"
Leaning forward, she pulls her vest around the two grenades that each fighter carries. "I felt different from the first moment that I got here," she says. "In the city, the atmosphere is crowded, full of people and cars. Here, there is that silence and beauty of nature. It's so different."
The fighters may seem cut off from the outside world, but they have a regular supply of arms and food brought in on mule convoys. They say they stay well funded by Kurdish expatriates all over the world.
Western defense analysts estimate their numbers based in Iraq's mountains are in the few thousands. The PKK won't tell us how large their fighting force is. But they say that it was because they are driven by passion that they have survived this long.
Rengin says on her second night in the mountains, when she was 14 years old, her unit came under attack. Her battalion commander was shot in the head. "Her head was on my knee," says Rengin, now 32. "As she was dying, she said to me: 'Our people are going to get what is rightfully theirs. I am proud to have died for this. Tell everyone we will succeed."
The armed struggle has brought few results. The PKK says it wants to shift to dialogue, but after renewed fighting, there seems to be little hope of that.
The Turkish military bombed PKK rebel targets Saturday in northern Iraq in response to clashes that left at least 15 Turkish troops dead, the PKK and the military said Sunday.
The PKK, or Kurdistan Workers' Party, said it sustained no casualties in the operation.
The Turkish military said the air operation was conducted on the PKK's "hiding positions" in the Avasin-Basyan area of northern Iraq near the border with Turkey.
During the operation, steps were taken to avoid civilian casualties, the Turkish military said.
The military said the operation was carried out Saturday. The PKK's military wing said the military operation began after Friday's clash and lasted for two days.
At least 15 Turkish soldiers were killed and 20 wounded in the clashes, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said Saturday. Two others were missing, and the Turkish military said Sunday they were feared dead. The military said 23 PKK members were also killed in the attacks, launched from northern Iraq.
In its statement on Sunday, however, the PKK said more than 60 Turkish troops were killed and at least 30 injured. Nine PKK members were killed, the organization said.
Turkey's state-run Anatolia news agency said the clashes occurred in Semdinli, a town in Turkey's southeastern province of Hakkari.
On Tuesday, the Turkish government is scheduled to vote on whether to extend the authority of the Turkish military to launch attacks on PKK positions in northern Iraq.
Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh on Saturday condemned the clashes, calling them a "terrorist act" that "creates a serious threat to the security of the border areas and the joint security of Iraq and Turkey."
He called on the Turkish government to deal with this "criminal act wisely and with self restraint."
"The Iraqi government expresses its support for the measures the Turkish government will take within Turkish territory to guarantee its [Turkey's] security and stability," he said.
Saturday night, Iraq's Presidency Council, made up of President Jalal Talabani -- himself a Kurd -- and his two vice-presidents, condemned what it called "a vicious attack against Turkish troops."
"What makes the attack more horrific is the fact that it happened during the days of the Eid al-Fitr holiday, where Muslims should be celebrating, rejoicing and befriending each other ... instead of fighting and bloodshed," the council said. It pledged to "continue its joint efforts with the Turkish side to prevent the recurrence of such attacks and to put an end to the illegal presence of all foreign militants in Iraq."
The central Iraqi government has labeled the PKK a terrorist organization, banning its activities and shutting its offices in the country two years ago.
But the PKK continues to operate in the Qandil Mountains in northern Iraq bordering Turkey and Iran. The separatist faction has been fighting for self-rule in southeastern Turkey.
In an interview held last month in the group's mountain hideout, the PKK's military commander, Bahoz Erdal, told CNN's Arwa Damon and Yousif Bassil that the PKK is defending Kurdish rights and attacks only military targets.
"We are ready for a political solution," Erdal said, adding that the PKK would lay down its arms if Kurds were guaranteed equal rights within Turkey.
But the Turkish government told CNN in response that it does not negotiate with "terrorists."
In February, Turkish military ground forces launched a weeklong offensive against the rebels in northern Iraq. >>>>
Fifteen Turkish soldiers were killed in an overnight clash with Kurdish rebels in southeastern Turkey along the country's border with Iraq, President Abdullah Gul said.
Two others were missing and 20 were wounded, two of them seriously, the Turkish military said.
"The terror group wants to show that it is still alive," Gul told reporters. "That's the reason for this attack."
Gul was referring to the Kurdish Workers Party, or PKK, the leading Kurdish rebel group in the region.
The Associated Press reported at least 23 rebels were killed when Turkish troops later returned fire.
Most of the casualties in the attack, which was launched from northern Iraq, were caused by heavy arms fire, the military said.
The attack comes prior to Tuesday's scheduled vote by the Turkish government that would extend the authority of the Turkish military to launch attacks on PKK positions in northern Iraq.
The attack, which began Friday and ended Saturday, occurred in Semdinli, a town in the southeastern province of Hakkari, said the state-run Anatolia news agency.
Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh condemned the "terrorist act," saying it "creates a serious threat to the security of the border areas and the joint security of Iraq and Turkey."
He called on the Turkish government to deal with this "criminal act wisely and with self-restraint."
"The Iraqi government expresses its support for the measures the Turkish government will take within Turkish territory to guarantee its [Turkey's] security and stability," he said.
The central Iraqi government has labeled the PKK a terrorist organization, banning its activities and shutting its offices in the country two years ago.
But the PKK continues to operate in the Qandil Mountains in northern Iraq bordering Turkey and Iran.
A PKK spokesman acknowledged the attack on a Turkish military post, but called the casualty figure given by the Turkish authorities "an exaggeration."
Afterward, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan canceled a planned visit to Mongolia.
The PKK has been a separatist faction fighting for self-rule in southeastern Turkey.
But the group's leader recently said he would settle for less than a Kurdish state.
In an interview held in the group's Qandil Mountain hideout, the PKK's military commander, Bahoz Erdal, told CNN that the PKK was defending Kurdish rights and attacked only military targets.
"We are ready for a political solution," Erdal said.
He said they would lay down their arms if Kurds were guaranteed equal rights within Turkey.
The Turkish government, in response to CNN's query, said last week that it did not negotiate with "terrorists."
In February, Turkish military ground forces launched a week-long offensive against the rebels in northern Iraq.
The Iraqi government opposes the PKK presence, but views Turkish military incursions as a violation of its sovereignty.
The United States labels the PKK a terrorist organization. >>>>
The last czar and his family were victims of political repression,
Nicholas II, his wife and five children were shot to death by a Bolshevik firing squad in 1918, a year after the revolution that led to the creation of the
For years, their descendants have sought rehabilitation in the courts claiming the executions were political repression. The argument was repeatedly denied until Wednesday when the country's highest court issued the final word, siding with the family.
According to critics, earlier rulings reflected Vladimir Putin's reluctance to condemn the Soviet government's crimes, in part to justify his own retreat from democracy.
But in recent years, Putin and his successor as president, Dmitry Medvedev, have evoked the majesty of the czarist era in Kremlin ceremonies. And they have given a place of prominence to the Russian Orthodox Church, which has canonized Nicholas II and his family.
At the same time, Putin, now prime minister, and Medvedev also have continued to glorify the
Oleg Orlov, a member of the human rights group Memorial, said the aim was to give Russians pride in their country by emphasizing the positive aspects of their history while glossing over the bad.
"In
"The authorities are always right," he said. "What they're telling people now is 'we have a great history and therefore we have a great country.'"
Wednesday's decision to "rehabilitate" the slain Romanovs won't change the minds of many Russians today. While Russian Orthodox believers share the church's veneration of the family as saints, die-hard communists see them as criminals and millions of other Russians place them somewhere in between.
But it is a step in the direction of condemnation of the Bolsheviks who killed the family and, by extension, of the entire Soviet era. And it is likely to put the Romanov family in a more positive light for coming generations of Russians.
Nikolai Romanov, a distant relative of the last czar, said the whole rehabilitation process was ridiculous.
"It's as if you suddenly thought that it was necessary to rehabilitate St. Peter or St. Paul because the Romans had judged them and sentenced them to death," he said on NTV television.
The ruling is also unlikely to have major legal ramifications, at least in the short to medium term, because there is no significant move to restore
There has been no material compensation for others who have been formally rehabilitated, most of them victims of Stalin-era repressionist.
Some historians had speculated that the Russian government was reluctant to reclassify the czar's killing out of fear that descendants would claim state property, such as the State Hermitage Museum, as compensation. The museum is housed in what used to be the Winter Palace.
Prosecutors, lower courts and even the Supreme Court had rejected all appeals to rehabilitate the family. In its ruling in November, the Supreme Court said they were not eligible for rehabilitation because their execution had been a crime. In reversing that decision Wednesday, the Supreme Court's presidium recognized their "unfounded repression."
German Lukyanov, a lawyer for the Romanov family, said the decision was based on law and said no politics were involved.
"In the end this will help the country, this will help Russia understand its history, help the world to see that Russia observed its own laws, help Russia in its development to become a civilized country," he said.
Orlov agreed that it was "a proper legal decision," but said the real decision was made at the political level. "In the Kremlin? I don't know," he said.
The czar abdicated in 1917 as revolutionary fervor swept Russia. Nicholas II, his wife, Alexandra, and their son and four daughters were shot on July 17, 1918, in a basement room of a merchant's house where they were held in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg.
The remains of Nicholas II and Alexandra and three of their daughters were unearthed in 1991 and reburied in the imperial resting place in St. Petersburg.
Nicholas' heir, Alexei, and the other daughter, Grand Duchess Maria, remained missing for decades until bone shards were unearthed in 2007 in a forest outside Yekaterinburg, not far from the place where the rest of the family's mutilated remains had been scattered.
Officials said earlier this year that DNA testing had confirmed the shards belonged to Alexei and Maria.
The Russian Orthodox Church made all seven of them saints in 2000.
Two top al-Qaida operatives were among four foreign militants killed in a suspected
The officials said one was in charge of the terror network's activities in
The suspected missile strike occurred Monday in
Three Pakistani intelligence officials identified four foreign militants killed in the strike as Abu Qasim, Abu Musa, Abu Hamza and Abu Haris. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of their jobs.
Abu Haris led al-Qaida efforts in the tribal areas, while Abu Hamza led activities in
Abu Haris' nationality had yet to be confirmed, but Abu Hamza was from
An army spokesman, Maj. Murad Khan, said Wednesday the military had no information about the identity or nationality of the men killed in what he called "explosions" in
"We don't know who died in the explosions there," he said.
Two of the intelligence officials said Tuesday that the overall death toll from the strike rose to 20 after residents and militants pulled more bodies from the rubble.
The targets were associated with Jalaluddin Haqqani, a veteran of the fight against Soviet troops in
Haqqani and his son, Siraj, have been linked to attacks this year including an attempt to kill Afghan President Hamid Karzai and a suicide attack on a hotel in
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