by Natasha Tynes | Mar 21, 2005 | Political mayhem
Iraq has recalled its ambassador to Jordan in a tit-for-tat move following Jordan’s earlier decision to pull its envoy out of Baghdad. Jordan withdrew its charge d’affaires Damai Haddad saying that anti-Jordanian protests outside its Baghdad embassy had made it unsafe for him to remain.
Shia protesters say that Jordan had a role in a suicide bombing last month. Now Iraq has pulled its envoy out of Amman for consultations, saying relations were "in crisis mode".
Source [BBC]
I can’t believe how far this story has developed. Just a reminder: This major, national crisis began as the a result of one single, irresponsible and inflammatory report in a daily less than a year-old. Fascinating! There’s more here and here.
by Natasha Tynes | Mar 20, 2005 | Doha affairs, The Disturbing
This morning I took my camera and headed to the blast site. I saw the damaged theater, a large number of local police in addition to some crime scene investigators. The blast was extremely powerful, as evidenced by the damage to the adjacent buildings. My full updated report is here; the deceased has been confirmed as Briton Jonathan Adams.
Glass was all over the street across from the theater and some house windows were shattered. It was a nasty scene! A number of the neighborhood cars were also damaged. The residents I spoke with were still shaken by last night’s blast and couldn’t believe that this was happening in relatively quiet Doha. Officials are now indicating that the bomber was an Egyptian national named Omar Ahmed Abdullah (Click here for photo). The Egyptian embassy is investigating the claim.
Here are some pictures of the blast site and the damage it caused to adjacent buildings. All images enlarge on click.
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A BMW damaged by the blast and resultant shrapnel awaits a tow-away.
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A senior security official (in white) checks in on the continuing investigation.
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A crane is moved in to remove the larger debris, as the site is excavated.
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Damage to the front of a neighbor’s home where numerous windows were broken.
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Security and forensics officials continue to comb through the blast debris.
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A neighbor displays shrapnel found in the street after the blast.
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Update: Additional information on the blast, including claims of responsibility and details on the bomber and deceased have been determined. They are further expounded upon in a new post here.
by Natasha Tynes | Mar 20, 2005 | Doha affairs, The Disturbing
It is early here and I still can’t get my mind off last night’s bombing. What really blew my mind was the fact that I was just discussing the possibility of terrorist attacks in Doha the day before with my
friend Amal. She was telling me about the recent Qaeda statement warning of attacks in Doha and I just told her to brush it off. We’ve lived all of our life in the Middle East, I said … "We can’t live in fear all the time. Life has to go on." I was mistaken. Fear can actually reach you when you are so physically close to where an attack occurs.
I have to admit this has scared me. Life will not be the same here after what happened. We have to be vigilant all the time and will think twice before we leave the house. We were so excited about attending
next week’s Doha Cultural Festival — probably one of the most exciting things that happens here — but after what happened last night we decided not to go. A full theater could be a possible target. We
will pass.
To be frank, I was not surprised that this happened here. Terrorist attacks are happening in neighboring Saudi and Kuwait, why not here. In February of 2004, former Chechen president and rebel leader Salim Khan Yandarbiyev was blown up in Doha near a mosque by agents of the Russian government, says the Qatari prosecutor. Regardless of who, it made it clear, it could happen here.
The borders for GCC (Gulf Countries) members are open, any GCC resident can move freely. I hate to sound judgmental but the signs were here. Religious extremism is not a absent from Qatar. Only last week I was in a cab and the driver was listening to a speech encouraging people to go to Jihad across the globe. The preacher highlighted specific areas: Iraq, Palestine, Chechnya and Kashmir. The driver didn’t seem to be bothered by what he was hearing, he just sat quietly absorbing it all. The two of us listened to that speech in the cab from my house to work. It was still going when I got out.
The fact that an Egyptian national decided to blow himself up as a form of Jihad (since he’s killing mostly westerners) should not come as a surprise. Many here are likely being convinced by what extremists preach; brainwashing is possible, just sit in a cab all day listening to the sort of stuff I’m describing. I never felt this type of extremism in Jordan. People there are just more aware and
skeptical of whatever ideology comes their way. Things are, unfortunately, not the same here.
Stay tuned. An update is coming in the next few hours. I hope to have some pictures.
by Natasha Tynes | Mar 19, 2005 | Doha affairs, The Disturbing
We are fine and still in one piece so far. We were home when the blast occurred around 9:00pm. We heard it loud and clear! The apartment shook a bit as a result of the blast but we dismissed it, jokingly saying it must be al-Qaeda.
Apparently it was a real blast. Since the target at the outset appears to have been a British school, I’m going to go ahead and say it looks like it must have been a terrorist attack! I don’t think I ever heard a bomb blast before. That was a first.
Recently, an audiotape was circulated on an Islamic website from al-Qaeda’s branch in Saudi Arabia threatening that there would be a bomb blast in Doha, Bahrain, Oman and the UAE. This one appears to have occurred about 500-700 meters from the Qatar TV/Jazeera complex. The facility is referenced on maps as the Doha Players Theater. [Image above from Aljazera.net Arabic]
Great. Living here just keeps getting worse. In addition to all the things that we deal with on a regular basis, now we have to live in fear. That’s just great. Thus far, there’s no deaths being reported. I’ll post updates as things become more clear.
Here’s the geographic location of the blast, on Al Wabra St. in Doha (map is ‘zoomable‘) and the latest from Aljazeera:
Loud blast in Qatari capital of Doha
An explosion occurred in a theater near a British school in the Qatari capital Doha and some people were wounded, Al Jazeera television and witnesses said. The cause of the blast in the theater, known as the "Doha Player," was not immediately known.
Dozens of people, including foreigners, were watching a play being staged at the theater, the television said. It said a blaze broke out in the building and the blast set some cars in the area on fire. It showed footage of firefighters trying to put out flames and said ambulances took some wounded to hospital.
An AFP correspondent some 500 meters (yards) from the scene of the blast saw plumes of smoke rising from the site and a large number of ambulances.
Police have sealed off the Farek Kelab district, a residential area 5km north of the city center, where the theater is located, witnesses have said. A Shakespeare play was being performed at the theater when the explosion went off.
The British Embassy’s duty officer Bassam Tahtamouni has said that at present the Embassy has no further details as to what caused the explosion or whether the British school has been affected by the explosion.
US Embassy spokeswoman Patricia Kabra said the blast was "not that far away from the embassy … There is no information yet about the cause of the explosion," she said.
Qatari officials were not immediately available to comment. The explosion took place at about 9:15 pm local time (1815 GMT).
Update #1: Recent reports indicate that one person has been killed and as many as 50 taken to Hamad Hospital for treatment. No final assessment has been made, however. The blast apparently occurred inside a restaurant in the theater itself. The district is some distance from the US Consulate but a little over 1km from the British Embassy. Some reports have even suggested the cause to be a gas explosion in the kitchen. Here’s the latest from the AP and some recent images here, here, here and here.
Update #2: As the light of day illuminates the site of the attack, it has become clear that this was not a kitchen-related gas explosion. This was a suicide car bomb attack that has left two dead: one Briton and the bomber. Reports of the injured vary but AP is going with the official estimate of 16, earlier reports suggested 50 brought to the local Hamad Hospital. The AP story continues to be the most complete. I’ll put up a new post pulling together the latest details shortly.
by Natasha Tynes | Mar 19, 2005 | Books, La Revolutione, The Disturbing
Following the bomb that rocked the eastern part of Beirut today, I feel
compelled to share with you a picture featured in the gallery of a curious collection of books being sold in a Beirut bookshop while we were there last year.
If you look closely, you’ll notice there is one book with the
eerie title: "How to build a nuclear bomb," sitting next to titles someone felt were relevant.
What happened this morning is very sad, as it might trigger a further escalation in violence in this beautiful country with beautiful people. Here is the Lebanese blogger Raja’s take on this morning’s blast.
We are fine and still in one piece so far. We were home when the blast occurred around 9:00pm. We heard it loud and clear! The apartment shook a bit as a result of the blast but we dismissed it, jokingly saying it must be al-Qaeda.
