| See Part I here. Part 1 was all lyrical evaluation. Part II is key quotes from an impressive number of interviews, organized by subject -- feeling much like a Cliff Notes summary. Topic questions in bold, for easier reading. |
How does the 'fighting, talking, developing' strategy really play out?
Sir Simon Gass - NATO Ambassador to Kabul (Highest ranking foreign civilian in Afghanistan):
"If they keep fighting they will lose, that's a good reason to come to the negotiating table. In 2005 and '06, the big resurgence of the insurgency wasn't because they were under huge military pressure, rather because there wasn't enough pressure. So we have to keep on applying the pressure so they know they can't return." |
 ISI chief to go in March
Daily Nawa-e-Waqt reported that ISI chief General Pasha was expected to finish his second tenure in office on 18 March 2012 and will go home.
| Just like Cincinnatus and former president George Washington. Or perhaps more like dear Lt-General Hamid Gul. |
The nutty former head of Pakistain's ISI, now Godfather to Mullah Omar's Talibs and good buddy and consultant to al-Qaeda's high command...
Major general Naushad and corps commander Peshawar General Khalid Rabbani were being considered for the ISI top job.
| Does anyone know anything about these honourable gentlemen? |
Insaf will win 100 seats |
On Saturday, a senior Muslim leader in Canada ordered an end to honor killings and domestic abuse, saying the Koran does not endorse such violence. Imam Syed Soharwardy, founder of the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada, issued the fatwa following the convictions in Ontario, this week in the deaths of four Muslim women killed by relatives.
Soharwardy said, "Those who think honor killing is OK are dead wrong.| In contrast with their victims, who are just dead. |
There is no place for violence in Islam."
He added that "a very small minority" of Muslims adhere to the concept and "need to be corrected."
Soharwardy said he had been researching the issue for a while but it was the recent murder trial that led him to act. The imam said he and other scholars also want infidels non-Muslims to understand that mysogyny is not sanctioned by Islam.
Soharwardy noted while a fatwa is "not legally binding" it is "morally binding."
It is just the third fatwa Canadian organization has issued in the past decade. The most recent one was in January 2010 when the council said Muslims were not to commit acts of terrorism against Canada or the United States. |
 | ... through insufficient appeasement? |
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NINEWA / Aswat al-Iraq: Two youts juveniles were killed while planting a bomb in east of Mosul, security sources said here today.
The source told Aswat al-Iraq that the two youts gunmen, 13 and 15 years, were trying to plant the bomb when it exploded. No other details were given.
Mosul, center of Ninewa province, lies 405 km north of the capital, Baghdad. |
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| Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC|| 2012-02-05 00:24 ||Comments
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| Posted by: SteveS|| 2012-02-05 00:41 ||Comments
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[An Nahar] The government is trying to negotiate the withdrawal of al-Qaeda linked Death Eaters from Zinjibar, capital of Abyan province in southern Yemen, tribal and government officials said on Saturday.
The negotiations, taking place through tribal mediators, are "ongoing," a government official told Agence La Belle France Presse on condition of anonymity, without giving further details.
Last May, the Partisans of Sharia (Islamic law), linked to al-Qaeda, took control of Zinjibar, triggering nine months of deadly festivities between Death Eaters and government troops.
Hundreds of people have been killed in the fighting and more than 90,000 residents displaced.
Tribal mediator Tareq al-Fadhli said the government's negotiating team comprised six members of parliament headed by the influential tribal chief and politician Awad al-Wazir.
Al-Fadhli said he "passed on the demands of the Partisans of Sharia (to the politicians)" at a meeting on Saturday in the southern coastal town of Shaqra, 35 kilometers east of Zinjibar.
The Death Eaters are demanding assurances that "Sharia law be implemented" and government troops "retreat to their barracks," he said.
The Partisans of Sharia will withdraw from Zinjibar and police forces would be allowed back into town under the command of Abyan's current security chief once the conditions are met, he added.
Al-Fadhli said a "second phase" of negotiations would deal with the bad boys' pullback from other southern Yemeni towns once the withdrawal from Zinjibar is complete.
At least three tribal-mediated negotiation attempts to secure the Death Eaters withdrawal from Zinjibar have failed since the town fell.
On January 25, hundreds of al-Qaeda gunnies bowed to tribal pressures and withdrew from the town of Rada, 130 kilometers southeast of the capital Sanaa.
Rada was overrun on January 16, the latest in a series of towns and cities to fall as al-Qaeda takes advantage of a central government weakened by months of anti-regime protests.
Heavily armed tribes, which play a vital role in Yemeni politics and society, have been joining the army to battle Death Eaters linked to al-Qaeda who have taken over several regions across the country's south and east.
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[An Nahar] Russia and China's veto Saturday of a U.N. resolution on the bloodshed in Syria is a "shockingly callous betrayal" of the Syrian people, Amnesia Amnesty International said.
Moscow and Beijing have acted in a "completely irresponsible" way, the London-based human rights
...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty ...
group added.
Russia and China vetoed a United Nations
...Parkinson's Law on an international scale...
Security Council resolution condemning Syria for its lethal crackdown on protests, as activists said Syrian troops killed more than 230 people in shelling of the city of Homs.
"The decision by Russia and China... is a shockingly callous betrayal of the people of Syria," Amnesty said.
The group's secretary-general Salil Shetty added: "This is a completely irresponsible use of the veto.
"It is staggering that they have blocked the passage of what was already a very weak draft resolution.
"After a night in which the whole world watched the people of Homs suffering, the actions of these members are particularly shocking."
Thirteen countries voted for the resolution proposed by European and Arab nations to give strong backing to an Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
plan to end the clampdown.
Amnesty said it would continue to press Security Council members to refer the situation in Syria to the  International Criminal Court
... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ...
; impose a comprehensive arms embargo; and implement an assets freeze on Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Trampler of Homs...
and other top Syrian officials.
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| Posted by: Lord Garth|| 2012-02-05 05:50 ||Comments
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| Posted by: g(r)omgoru|| 2012-02-05 06:47 ||Comments
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President Barack Obama
The Cambridge police acted stupidly ...
on Saturday accused Syrian  Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators...
's government of murdering civilians in an "unspeakable assault" in the city of Homs, and demanded that Assad step down.
"Assad must halt his campaign of killing and crimes against his own people now. He must step aside and allow a democratic transition to proceed immediately," Obama said in a statement.
The U.S. president's blunt condemnation came amid reports that more than 200 non-combatants were killed by Syrian forces in a night of shelling of residential areas in the flashpoint city of Homs.
The U.N. Security Council was set to meet and discuss a draft resolution condemning the Assad regime and endorsing an Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
plan for a political transition, while Russia's foreign minister planned to meet the Syrian leader in Damascus
...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world...
next week.
"Yesterday the Syrian government murdered hundreds of Syrian citizens, including women and kiddies, in Homs through shelling and other indiscriminate violence, and Syrian forces continue to prevent hundreds of injured civilians from seeking medical help," Obama said.
"I strongly condemn the Syrian government's unspeakable assault against the people of Homs and I offer my deepest sympathy to those who have lost loved ones," he said.
Obama said the Security Council "now has an opportunity to stand against the Assad regime's relentless brutality and to demonstrate that it is a credible advocate for the universal rights that are written into the U.N. Charter."
He pledged to work with the Syrians "toward building a brighter future," for the country.
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[An Nahar] French President Nicolas Sarkozy
...23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. Sarkozy is married to singer-songwriter Carla Bruni, who has a really nice birthday suit...
Saturday condemned China and Russia's veto of a U.N. Security Council resolution on the Syria crisis, saying it encouraged the Syrian regime crackdown.
"The Syrian tragedy must stop," said Sarkozy in a statement issued through his office.
Sarkozy "strongly deplores the fact that because of the vote of two permanent members (of the U.N. Security Council) and despite the support of 13 other members, the Security Council was unable, for the second time," to express itself.
Since March 2011, "the Damascus
...Home to a staggering array of terrorist organizations...
regime has only responded to the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people for freedom and democracy with fierce repression and endless promises," the statement added.
Earlier, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe denounced China and Russia's veto, saying it "paralyzed" the international community.
"It is a heavy responsibility because of course that paralyses the international community," he told La Belle France 2 Television.
"I understand it even less given that we made great efforts to accept the amendments presented by Russia and by China," he added.
"There was no arms embargo, no sanctions, no call for Bashir al-Assad's departure in this resolution," he said, listing the concessions that Western powers had made in their bid to pass the resolution.
"We could not go further," he said.
Western nations were not prepared to put the Syrian regime, which Juppe said was guilty of crimes against humanity, on the same footing as the opposition forces fighting them, "often with their bare hands".
Thirteen countries voted for the resolution drafted by Arab and European nations which would have given strong backing to an Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
plan to end the crisis.
Russia and China made a repeat of their rare double veto carried out on October 5 on an earlier condemnation of Assad.
Russia's U.N. envoy Vitaly Churkin called the draft resolution "unbalanced."
China's official news agency quoted Li Baodong, Beijing's representative to the U.N., as saying more consultation had been needed.
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| Posted by: Ebbavique Hupump1545|| 2012-02-05 02:34 ||Comments
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[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Tens of thousands erupted into the streets of Moscow on Saturday for rival rallies arguing over the future of Russian leader Vladimir Putin
 ...Second President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Because of constitutionally mandated term limits he is the current Prime Minister of Russia. His sock puppet, Dmitry Medvedev, was installed in the 2008 presidential elections. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law. During his eight years in office Russia's economy bounced back from crisis, seeing GDP increase, poverty decrease and average monthly salaries increase. During his presidency Putin passed into law a series of fundamental reforms, including a flat income tax of 13%, a reduced profits tax, and new land and legal codes. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile...
, in a trial of political strength one month ahead of presidential polls.
While protesters from the anti-Putin movement massed for their third rally in less than two months urging the Russian strongman to quit, his supporters also filled a square in western Moscow to bursting point.
Police said 138,000 turned up for the pro-Putin rally in the west of the capital and put the number of protesters at the anti-Putin event at around 36,000. However opposition rally organisers insisted they mobilised over 120,000.
Bundled up in down jackets, fur coats and felt boots, the protesters defied freezing weather of around minus 17 degrees Celsius as Russia's political temperature heated up ahead of the March 4 elections.
The rally by the anti-Putin movement -- its third since disputed December 4 parliamentary polls -- was seen as a crucial test of whether activists can keep their momentum to pose a real challenge to the Russian strongman.
"We are not afraid of the frost. We are afraid of lies," said Mikhail Matrosov, a 51-year-old businessman who came to the rally with his friends. "We are for fair elections," he said.
The protesters marched onto Bolotnaya Square just on the other side of the Moscow river from the Kremlin and massed to hear speeches from activists and politicians calling on Putin to quit for the sake of the country.
"Putin wants to rule forever! One, two, three Putin leave!" cried opposition activist Ilya Yashin.
Leader of opposition Yabloko party, Grigory Yavlinsky, said: "We are different but we are all of the same colour, the colours of the Russian flag!"
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| [Yemen Post] Clashes between the Sunni tribal alliance and Shiite Houthi militias continued on Friday in northern Yemeni province of Hajjah as a tribal mediation committee failed to broker an agreement between the warring parties, leaving at least 14 killed of the two parties. |
 [Yemen Post] Fierce clashed flared up between the army troops and beturbanned goons suspected of ties with al-Qeada in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in the southern Yemeni province of Abyan.
The army used heavy artillery in its bombardment of al-Qaeda hideouts in the quiet provincial capital of Abyan, Zinjibur, local military sources told Yemen Post.
There is no accounts of causalities so far, but locals asserted that many have been killed and injured in the festivities.
Yemeni army managed to regain control of Zinjubar after al-Qaeda took over in May, however, it could not completely clear the elements out of the town.
Yemen-based al-Qaeda branch has strengthened its foothold in the southern provinces of the fragmented-state, apparently taking advantage of the distracted government.
Soddy Arabia and USA have repeatedly expressed their grave concerns over al-Qaeda taking advantage of the current unrest storming the country.
Yemen is a vital ally of the US on its war against terrorism, but cooperation on fighting al-Qaeda has been disrupted due to the recent events, leading US to step up its drone raids on al-Qaeda hideouts and convoys.
Last week, US drones killed at least 13 beturbanned goons of the terrorist group, including high-ranking figures.
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 [Yemen Post] Armed men belonging the Southern Movement intercepted on Friday a protest for the revolutionary youth in the southern port city of Aden, leaving many injured some of them at death's door.
Tens of thousands rallied on Friday through the streets of Aden to celebrate the first anniversary in of the Yemeni revolution that succeeded in bringing down the head of the regime, President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh
... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it...
.
The Southern Movement gunnies attacked the revolutionary rally with tear gas , stones, and live ammunition, leaving many protesters injured, among whom two at death's door.
Southern Movement, which calls for the separation of the south Yemen and make it an independent state, claims that the Yemeni revolution overshadowed their movement's chief demand.
According to the initial accounts the injuries are various as some were hit by live ammunition, others were suffering from suffocation.
Most Yemenis firmly stand for Yemen's unity and they dead against separation.
Massive popular protests calling for an end to the authoritarian role of President-for-Life Saleh
... exemplifying the Arab's propensity to combine brutality with incompetence...
combined by al-Qaeda insurgency in the south, Shiite rebellion in the far north and increasing calls for the separation of the south has shaken Yemen to the bone, leaving thousands killed, pushing the economy to the brink of collapse and triggering a catastrophic humanitarian disaster.
Saleh, who is in USA for medical treatment, has signed a deal under which he relinquished power to Vic President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi, the consensus candidate for the forthcoming presidential elections, in exchange for immunity from prosecution.
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 [Dawn] Two coppers were bumped off on Friday night in a targeted attack on their car in a locality, off Manghopir Road, where some men said to be associated with Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain had been locked away a few months ago on a lead given by one of the coppers, officials said.
Head Constable Nadeem Abbasi and Constable Mohammad Sajid were in a private car when they were targeted in Sultanabad within the remit of the Manghopir cop shoppe, said SSP (west) Asif Aijaz.
He added that the head constable, who resided in the same area, was posted at the Manghopir cop shoppe and the constable was posted at the Shershah cop shoppe.
Police Sherlocks said four to five shots were fired at each of the two coppers. One of them was struck down in his prime, while the other died at the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, the Sherlocks added.
Both the coppers were in civil dress and were travelling in a private car, said officials.
The Sherlocks said 9mm pistols were used in the attack though the number and identity of the attackers were not clear yet.
SSP (west) Asif Aijaz confirmed to Dawn that police acting on the information provided by the slain head constable had locked away some suspects belonging to the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban in Sultanabad a few months back.
Teenager rubbed out
A teenager was bumped off in a Gulshan-e-Iqbal locality near Samama Shopping Centre on Friday, police said. They said that Mohammad Irfan, 16, was standing near Samama Shopping Centre on main University Road when gunnies riding a cycle of violence fired at him. The victim sustained three bullet wounds and died before he could be moved to a hospital.
The body was later shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for medico-legal formalities.
The police said that the victim, a resident of Godhra Camp in New Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
, was a Class X student and was going to meet his friend in a nearby locality. He originally hailed from Larkana.
Till late in the night, no FIR regarding the murder was lodged with the Mobina Town cop shoppe.
Fishery worker killed
A young fishery worker was rubbed out in the Shershah area, police said. They added that Fareed Khan, 35, along with his cousin, Mohammad Saleem, was going home in Shershah in a taxi when the former was targeted on Pritum Das Road near Lyari Expressway.
Two gunnies riding a cycle of violence opened fire on the taxi, leaving Fareed dead, they added.
The body was shifted to the Civil Hospital Bloody Karachi for medico-legal formalities. The victim had sustained four bullet wounds.
Resident of Shershah, Urdu Bazaar, the victim originally hailed from the tribal areas, the police said, adding that a personal enmity might be a probable motive behind the incident.
A case (FIR 19/2012) was registered under Section 302 (premeditated murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistain Penal Code against faceless myrmidons on a complaint of Saleem at the Shershah cop shoppe.
In a similar incident, a worker at the fisheries was targeted on Mauripur Road a few days back. The victim hailed from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central....
Young man bumped off
A young man was rubbed out in front of his house within the remit of the Sohrab Goth cop shoppe on Friday, police said. The officials added that some gunnies knocked at the door of 30-year-old Ghulam Sakhi's house and asked for him. As soon as he stepped out, they fired at him and decamped.
However,
facts are stubborn; statistics are more pliable...
police also quoted some eyewitnesses as saying that the gunnies opened fire on the victim after having an altercation with him.
The victim was rushed to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
He's dead, Jim!
on arrival.
The police said that the victim ran a department store in the area and he also had very close links with some coppers.
The motive behind the murder could not be ascertained, the officials said.
An FIR was yet to be lodged at the Sohrab Goth cop shoppe. |
[Dawn] Bara tehsil and Tirah valley of Khyber Agency remained in the grip of violence, as one Frontier Constabulary soldier was killed and four others were maimed in a pre-dawn attack by bully boyz on Friday, while a girls' school was blown up in Dera Ismail Khan
... the Pearl of Pashtunistan ...
. Also, four suspected bully boyz were killed and three others maimed in different parts of the agency.
Officials in Bara said that activists of Lashkar-e-Islam bully boy group attacked a security checkpost in Malakdinkhel area, leaving one FC soldier dead and four others maimed. They said that two suspected bully boyz were killed during the security forces' operation in the area soon after the attack.
The injured soldiers were taken to a military hospital in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar.
Sources in Tirah valley said that an activist of a bully boy organization was killed and three others were maimed when volunteers of Lashkar-e-Islam and its rival group clashed in Akkakhel area.
The officials said that a bridge in Shalobar area was partially damaged when a time device planted to it went kaboom! on Friday morning. Forces have recently established a number of checkposts in Shalobar area of Bara after nearly 3,000 families vacated their houses and shifted to Jalozai camp in Nowshera.
Of late, the area has witnessed a surge in bully boy attacks on the security forces and is under curfew since November last year.
In Bazaar Zakhakhel area of Landi Kotal, an kaboom outside the house of a local elder killed his son and injured two of his other family members. No one has grabbed credit for the blast.
The Zakhakhel tribe revolted against Mangal Bagh
...a former bus driver, now head of the Deobandi bandido group Lashkar-e-Islam and the Terror of Khyber Agency...
-led Lashkar-e-Islam in April last year and after forcing the LI activists to leave their area, they now have found their own gang, Tawheedul Islam. In Dera Ismail Khan, unidentified hard boyz blew up a government girls' school in Kotla Saidan late on Friday night.
Quoting an FIR lodged on the complaint of school watchman Taqi Shah, police said that five gunnies entered the school, tied Mr Shah with ropes and blew up the building after planting explosives in the classrooms. The Dera Township cop shoppe registered the case and has started investigations. According to police, about 40kg of high kaboom was used in the attack.
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[Al Jazeera] Ethnic Tuareg rebels have launched a fierce offensive against Mali's security forces in a bid to seize the northern town of Kidal. The attack on Saturday is further evidence that Tuareg rebels have significantly increased their attacks against government control in Mali.
Kidal is the latest and most significant town targeted by the fighters, who have gained ground in other northern areas following weeks of festivities with government forces.
The Tuareg rebels have been bolstered by an influx of fighters from Libya who joined their movement after the late Libyan leader Muammar Qadaffy
...a reminder that a single man with an idea can change an entire nation, usually for the worse...
was toppled last year.
Hama Sidahmed, a Europe-based front man for the rebels, said their ambition was to take control over Kidal. "We will take the two military camps and occupy the town."
The sporadic firing of heavy weapons have been heard across the town as government forces fought to fend off the fighters, according the Rooters news agency.
In recent days, thousands of civilians reportedly decamped the town in anticipation of the fighting.
Some Tuareg leaders say many of their community have also decamped the southern city of Bamako, fearing reprisals after violent demonstrations this week. About 3,500 people had crossed west into Mauritania, said a Mauritanian official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
The International Committee for the Red Thingy (ICRC) said on Friday that nearly 10,000 people had decamped into Niger after fighting between the army and gangs in the area around the northeastern cities of Menaka and Anderamboucane.
The Tuareg rebels say they are fighting to secure the independence of Azawad, an area that takes in Mali's three northern regions, one of which is Kidal. The government accused the rebels of atrocities and collaborating with al-Qaeda, a charge rejected by the MNLA.
The ICRC said that some refugees were being looked after by local families while others had set up makeshift camps nearby. |
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| Posted by: Scooter McGruder|| 2012-02-05 00:45 ||Comments
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| Posted by: Shimble Guelph5793|| 2012-02-05 02:50 ||Comments
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[Dawn]  Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani
... Pakistain's erstwhile current prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics can be awe-inspiring ...
has said that there is no space for terrorism, militancy or extremism in Islam and those involved in such activities cannot even claim to be Moslems.
The prime minister, in his message on the occasion of Eid Milad-un- Nabi (PTUI!) being celebrated on Sunday, said: "Those, who spread disorder and chaos, cannot even claim to be Moslems as the scourges of terrorism and extremism are incompatible to the essence of Islamic teachings."
 Gilani said Islam, a universal religion, guides the humanity to the path of peace, security and welfare.
He said Islam does not allow anyone to spread violence and strife on the face of earth and forbids people to kill others.
The premier said since Islam preaches peace and love, therefore, those, who enter its fold, become the embodiment of the same.
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| Posted by: Lord Garth|| 2012-02-05 05:49 ||Comments
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[Dawn] An al-Qaeda-linked turban killed in  Kurram Agency
...home of an intricately interconnected web of poverty, ignorance, and religious fanaticism, where the laws of cause and effect are assumed to be suspended, conveniently located adjacent to Tora Bora...
earlier this week, has been identified as an Azerbaijani national, documents made available to DawnNews revealed on Saturday.
The turban, identified as Aslanov Zaur, was among the six foreign hard boyz who were killed during festivities with security forces in the Jogi area of Central Kurram Agency on February 1.
A passport, documents and photographs recovered by security forces revealed that Zaur was a key commander and played an instrumental role in attacks on Pak security forces in the tribal areas.
The passport (passport number 3503893), issued from the Azerbaijani capital Bakku in February 2009, shows Zaur belonged to the city of Sumaqyit, located at a distance of 31 kilometers from the capital and was born on September 25, 1981.
According to the document, he was issued an Iranian visa by the Iranian embassy in Bakku for three months from March 2, 2009 to May 31, 2009.
The travel documents also reveal that he had entered the city of Astar, the capital of Gilan province of Iran on March 26, 2009 (evident from the entry stamp), and since than had gone underground. He is suspected to have entered Afghanistan and then Pakistain through unfrequented routes.
Security forces also recovered USBs, card readers and other devices from the pockets of the turban, besides Sudanese currency, American dollars and Pak currency notes.
The turban's belongings also show a drafted document in Azeri language, signed by six people.
A registration certificate issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Azerbaijan is also among the documents recovered from the dear departed.
Scores of photographs have also been found from the USB and the card reader recovered from his pockets, which show him being photographed with other turbans.
A number of telephone numbers have also been recovered from his personal belongings.
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[Tripoli Post] Tripoli- The Syrian protestors tried to break into the Syrian embassy in Tripoli early morning on Saturday. They broke the windows and climbed to the roof and managed to change the old flag with the new Free Syrian flag. The security guards then intervened and the protestors drove away. The guards then hoisted the old flag back.
The interim government of Libya has already recognized the SNC, Syrian National Council as the legitimate representative of the Syrian People but the Pro-Assad embassy staff was still here. In the evening 10s of protestors gathered outside the Syrian embassy in Tripoli and began chanting the Anti-Assad slogans, they were accompanied by many Libyan nationals as well.
Some people then climbed over the walls, to the roof using ladders and changed the flag. The Libyan revolutionaries guarding the embassy didn't stop the angry protestors, which included women and kiddies.
The official of the SNC spoke to the Tripoli Post and said that "We will not leave until we take over the embassy, NTC has recognized us and it's our right to take our embassy back from Assad thugs". He also had an authorization letter from the SNC.
The protestors finally opened the door and everybody rushed inside the building. Many people were trying to secure the building and look for important documents that could help expose the Assad regime. |
[An Nahar] Information Minister Adnan Mahmoud on Saturday accused Syrian rebels of shelling the protest hub of Homs to swing a U.N. Security Council vote in their favor.
"The reports on some satellite channels that the Syrian army shelled neighborhoods in Homs are fabricated and unfounded," Mahmoud said in a statement to Agence La Belle France Presse.
He charged that "armed terrorist groups, incited by the Istanbul council (opposition Syrian National Council)" carried out the assault on Homs and other areas "to swing the vote" at the Security Council.
The Security Council met on Saturday to vote on a draft resolution condemning the Syrian government's deadly crackdown on protests, just hours after activists accused the regime of a "horrific massacre" in Homs.
Russia and China vetoed the resolution proposed by European and Arab nations, while 13 of the 15-member council voted in favor.
Activists say Syrian troops killed more than 230 people in shelling of the city of Homs overnight.
But the Syrian minister denied regular army troops had any hand in the bloodshed, and said bodies of victims broadcast on some news channels were "those of civilians kidnapped and killed by armed terrorist groups."
"The armed terrorist groups took pictures of the bodies and passed them off as victims of the alleged shelling in a bid to influence the positions of some countries during Security Council deliberations," Mahmoud said.
"What happened yesterday is that armed terrorist groups indiscriminately fired shells on streets and neighborhoods in Homs to kill civilians and terrorize others and then pin the blame on the Syrian army," he added.
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[An Nahar] Tunisia will expel the Syrian ambassador and stop recognizing the Damascus
...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world...
regime as government after a violent repression that killed over 200 people in the central city of Homs, the presidency said.
"Tunisia has begun formal procedures to expel the Syrian ambassador and to end all recognition of the regime in power in Syria," said the presidency in a statement.
The move came "following the bombardment that made more than 200 people deaders" and left hundreds maimed in Syria's protest hub of Homs.
The Tunisian presidency expressed its "deep concerns about the massacres perpetrated over more than nine months by the regime against its people."
"There is no solution for this tragedy other than the fall of Bashir al-Assad's regime and the opening of a road towards a democratic transition in Syria," added the statement.
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[An Nahar] The Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
's parliaments chief called on member states to expel pro-regime Syrian ambassadors, saying that  Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Despoiler of Deraa...
's government is continuing to kill Syrian protesters.
Ali Salem al-Diqbassi, the 88-member advisory body's speaker, said that Arab League countries should carry out a decision to cut diplomatic and economic ties with Syria as Assad faces down pro-democracy protests with violence.
The Syrian regime "continues to carry out the most extreme acts of killing and oppression," he said in a statement.
The 22-member league last week suspended an observer mission in Syria because of an upsurge in violence, which activists say has killed more than 6,000 since mid-March when an unprecedented revolt erupted against Assad's regime.
Arab ministers will meet on February 11 to review the suspended observer mission to Syria.
In November, the League slapped strong sanctions on Syria, the first time such severe measures had been taken against one of its own members, freezing commercial transactions with the government and its accounts in Arab states.
It also called on member states to withdraw their ambassadors from Syria, but left the decision to each state.
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 [Yemen Post] The Yemen-based Abaad Centre for Studies and Researches has cautioned that some factions seek to collapse Yemeni cities militarily under the pretext of Al-Qaeda as happened in Radda and Abyan provinces scenarios.
"This scenario may be carried out in Ibb, Dhala'a, Lahj, and, Hadhramout and other cities would be controlled under the pretext of fighting Al-Qaeda as it is expected to happen in Dhamar, Taiz, and Hodeidah.
In a periodic report, Abaad pointed out that Al-Qaeda has no systematic structure and its goals are foggy, affirming that it lacks strategic visions.
"Therefore, Al-Qaeda was penetrated by local and international bodies, and only those bodies take advantages of Al-Qaeda," added the centre. "Even some figures benefited from Al-Qaeda as that clearly appeared during its control and withdrawal of Al-Amria in Rada when Tariq Al-Dhahab could get his brother out of the custody."
"There are figures affiliated to Al-Qaeda, some were in Abyan and others who escaped jails, are currently existed in Sana'a, and some Al-Qaeda fugitives live with the displaced people inside schools in Aden."
The report ruled out that Al-Qaeda has the ability to take over any town, if it does not receive direct and indirect logistic support by some sides that are in connection to the power transfer process.
"Al-Dhahab withdrew from Radda after he failed to recruit enough numbers to completely control the city as well as he got his main demand, release of his bother" the report added.
The periodic report revealed that Al-Dhahab was not the real leader of Al-Qaeda in Radda.
It further cited that Al-Qaeda senior leaders, Nasser Al-Wohaish, the leader of Al-Qaeda, and Ebrahim Darwish, another Al-Qaeda leader were at Alzahir district of Baidha governorate when Radda was taken over.
"Decisions were taken by Al-Qaeda Shura council consisted of 20 persons who are selected of 60 persons, the real division of Al-Qaeda which is called " Almuhajreen" which includes a Saudi and Pakistani nationals. Their duties were not external protection. Some Bedouins, tribesmen and other escapees joined Al-Qaeda in its fighting with the aim of getting money and others were contained as a result of Al-Dhahab's charisma in the area.
"While the real leader was not known in Radda, there was a field leader who is called Abu Hamza and another high-ranking leader called "Abu Hamam" , and they were considered the main decion-makers in Radda"
Abaad said that assassination incidents against officers and soldiers of the Political Security and other security services were clear-cut indicators of Al-Qaeda expansion.
"Before Al-Qaeda control on Radda, three of the Political Security officials were killed in Baidah, capital of the governorate, and Al-Qaeda was behind their assassination," the report added "One of these officers, Ahmed Samba was kidnapped and executed by Al-Qaeda in Abyan,"
"Security services believe that Al-Qaeda was behind killing of approximately 70 security officers including 20 ones affiliated to the Political Security. Most of them were killed in the eastern and Southern governorates in the period from January 2011 to January 2012. This number is 25 percent of all those officers and soldiers killed since the eruption of anti-regime protests."
The report affirmed that Al-Qaeda used the Yemeni political gap and the power transfer process to strengthen its control, pointing out that Saleh's regime directly or indirectly contributed in Al-Qaeda control on Abyan and Radda.
"As Al-Qaeda took over Al-Qaeda in Zinjibar in April 2011 and seized control on the Central Security camp without fighting, it was supposed that Major General Adel Al-Masri, nephew of the Interior Ministry, be investigated.
"However, Al-Masri was appointed as a security director of Radda a day after the signature of the GCC-brokered power transfer deal," the report added.
"After Almasri became the first security official in Rada, Al-Qaeda could seized control Radda at the same way it took over Zinjibar,"
"As a result of Al-Qaeda operations, some regional and international powers would move to Yemen's territorial water, particularly the United states,"
"Its military move is motivated by presidential elections race, particularly after it achieved victories in Afghanistan and Yemen as well as the success of its covert operations which led to the killing of Bin Laden and Anwar Al-Awlaki,"
"Pentagon said it deployed a large floating base to serve as a "mother ship" for commando teams to the Middle East as tensions rise with Iran, Al Qaeda in Yemen and Somali pirates, but the main goal was the implementation of an agreement with Taliban for which the American forces would leave Afghanistan in return for allowing Al-Qaeda leaders would exit Afghanistan with guarantees of not endangering their lives,"
"Because Iran is interested in getting Americans and Al-Qaeda out Afghanistan, so it would facilitate the mission," added the report.
"As for the US-Iranian competition at Bab-el-Mandeb strait, particularly after Tehran threatened to close Hormuz strait, the report said that Americans seek to secure Bab-el-Mandeb, and then expand to the east Africa, but they know that Iran's existence in the African Horn would make them accept share as happened in Afghanistan and Iraq" the report concluded.
It expected that Washington would support Turkey's efforts to decrease the ceiling of Iran's demands which start with the United States' suspension of its support to the Iranian opposition and ends with turning blind eyes to Iran's repression against Sunnis in Balochistan , Ahwaz and Kurdistan.
It also cited that Washington and Tehran would reach an agreement that put an end to bargaining, pointing out that the Gulf Cooperation Council states would have their roles in the agreement as they are considered the closest partners to the United States.
"Yemen could be included in bargaining and Iran may abandon its influence in the African Horn, Yemen, Syria , Bahrain, particularly if it felt that it is fragile from inside and that its "Guardianship of the Jurist" system faces collapse in conjunction with parliamentary elections and Arab spring revolutions" it added.
The report concluded that bargaining reveals that Al-Qaeda organization is used as a justification for regional and international race to took over region's resources.
It ultimately called the Yemeni Consensus government to set an emergency plan to deal with Al-Qaeda which includes economic reforms, political openness, debates and dialogues with all Yemeni forces including Al-Qaeda and the Houthi group.
"The government must take into consideration the military and security action as the last solution," the report said.
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[Bangla Daily Star] Two retired army officials, placed in durance vile in connection with plotting to overthrow the government, told a Dhaka court how they had planned to have an army brigade surround Dhaka cantonment, Bangabhaban and the Gonobhaban, and force the president to dismiss the government and announce a new one.
Ishraq Ahmed, a Bangladeshi businessman who instigated the plot, was to be made the new ruler of the country, according to the plot, which had detailed a new state system and a blueprint on how that system would be implemented.
This was reported in the Bangla daily Prothom Alo Saturday. |
[Bangla Daily Star]  Awami League General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam yesterday said if any attack on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina or the party were planned, it would be devised in London, not in the country.
"Such a scheme would be hatched in London and executed in Bangladesh," he told a meeting of the Awami League Central Working Committee (ALCWC) with party chief Sheikh Hasina in the chair at the Gono Bhaban.
The minister, however, did not name anybody in this connection.
Referring to his January 14 talks with the UK's Secretary of State for International Development Andrew Mitchell in Dhaka, Ashraf said he had informed Mitchell about the matter during the meeting.
"If any such incident [attack] occurs in Bangladesh, it'll have an impact on the entire world, including the neighbouring countries. The international community is worried about it," he mentioned.
Ashraf called upon the people as well as his party men to remain alert about keeping the BNP out of power. "So you have to remain cautious about any probable attempt to turn the country into Khaleda Zia
Three-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ...
's Bangladesh. We don't want to be recognised as a corrupt nation in the world."
The AL spokesperson accused the BNP and its chairperson of doing everything possible to foil the ongoing trial of war criminals.
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 [Daily Nation (Kenya)] Police fired tear gas and birdshot at protesters on Saturday in a third day of deadly festivities in Cairo, as anger at Egypt's ruling military boiled over after 74 people died in football-related violence.
The police responded after dozens of protesters threw stones at officers guarding the interior ministry hundreds of metres from the capital's iconic Tahrir Square.
Some protesters later intervened and stood between their comrades and police, ending the violence.
In the canal city of Suez, two people died from birdshot wounds sustained in festivities overnight, medics said.
The health ministry said 12 people have been killed in Cairo and Suez since the violence erupted.
Five people were also hurt in overnight festivities outside police headquarters in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, state media reported.
Marchers had taken to the streets nationwide on Friday to demand that Egypt's ruling generals cede power immediately after a night of violence in several cities.
The official MENA news agency on Saturday cited the health ministry as saying 2,532 people have been injured.
A news hound for the state-owned Nile News television station was maimed in the eye by birdshot, the channel reported.
The interior ministry said 211 coppers were maimed, including a general who lost an eye, and 16 conscripts were maimed by birdshot.
Protesters, many of them organised supporters of Cairo's main football clubs known as the Ultras, held up a huge banner to the police that read: "Those who didn't deserve to die have died at the hands of those who don't deserve to live."
Many of the dead in Wednesday's football riot in the northern city of Port Said were thought to have been Al-Ahly supporters, set upon by partisans of the local Al-Masry side after the Cairo team lost 3-1.
The Ultras played a prominent role among anti-regime elements in the uprising that overthrew president Hosni Mubarak
...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011...
a year ago, and commentators and citizens have suggested pro-Mubarak forces were behind the massacre, or at least complicit.
In the ongoing aftermath, rocks and stones flew in all directions on Friday as police vans in Cairo repeatedly charged demonstrators.
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Syrian forces bombarded the protest city of Homs Saturday, killing more than 200 civilians in a "horrific massacre," activists said, as the army opened fire on funeral processions near Damascus
...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world...
, killing 12 people.
The Damascus government denied involvement in the pre-dawn assault, blaming groups trying to incite unrest ahead of a possible Security Council vote, as television images showed bodies and buildings destroyed in the city.
La Belle France, a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, condemned this "further step in savagery," calling it a "crime against humanity."
In an apparent allusion to Moscow, it said anyone hindering condemnation of the violence and steps toward a political solution would "bear a heavy responsibility in history."
Opposition groups again demanded the world act to end a campaign they say has killed at least 6,000 people since March, and angry protesters stormed Syrian embassies in Athens, Berlin, Cairo, Kuwait and London.
Opposition groups put the Homs corpse count at between 217 and at least 260. If confirmed, that would be the deadliest incident in the nearly 11-month uprising.
"Assad forces randomly bombed residential areas in Homs, including Khalidiyeh and Qusur, which resulted in at least 260 civilians killed and hundreds of maimed, including men, women, and children," said the Syrian National Council (SNC).
The "Assad regime committed one of the most horrific massacres since the beginning of the uprising in Syria," it said.
Assad's forces also "bombed" the northern town of Jisr al-Shughur near the Turkish border, and suburbs of Damascus, it said.
Al-Jazeera and al-Arabiya television showed dozens of bodies and scenes of chaos as tweets claiming to be from residents said Homs "is bleeding" under the bombardment.
"It's a real massacre," Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman told Agence La Belle France Presse, calling for "immediate intervention" by the Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
He said at least 237 were killed, including 99 women and kiddies, and several hundred maimed in Homs, a flashpoint of the Syrian uprising.
Al-Jazeera said witnesses spoke of nail bombs exploding and incessant shelling.
Resident Danny Abdul Ayem reported "non-stop bombardment... by tank shells and mortar bombs."
"The bombardment stopped this morning, and residents emerged to look for the dead and maimed in the debris," activist Hadi Abdullah told AFP by phone from Khalidiyeh, adding that "nearly 200 deaders" were prepared for burial.
A medical student told al-Jazeera the local hospital was struggling to cope.
"There is a lack of blood, a lack of oxygen... There is danger in the streets," he said. "We are overwhelmed. We have opened the mosque next door" to the maimed, he said.
AFP was not immediately able to verify the authenticity of videos or of opposition and resident accounts because of restrictions on reporting in Syria.
The government denied its army had shelled Homs and accused television stations of "inciting" violence, the official SANA news agency said.
"The civilians shown by satellite television stations are citizens who were kidnapped and killed by armed gunnies" it accused of "wanting to use that information to (pressure) the Security Council."
In separate violence, Abdel Rahman said security forces opened fire on funerals near Damascus, killing 12 people and wounding 30.
A diplomat at the United Nations
...the Oyster Bay money pit...
said the Security Council was expected to meet between 14:00 and 15:00 GMT and vote later on a resolution of condemnation.
But there were new objections from Russia, which opposes a resolution that can be used to justify foreign military intervention, call for Assad to quit or impose an arms embargo on Syria.
"The draft does not suit us at all and I hope that it is not put to a vote," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
U.S. Secretary of State  Hillary Clinton
... sometimes described as the Smartest Woman in the World and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another John Jay ...
and Lavrov will meet later Saturday, amid a renewed American push for passage of the resolution.
The SNC demanded Russia change its position and "clearly condemn the regime and hold it responsible for the massacres, to stop the killing in Syria."
Syrians must be allowed to "democratically elect a regime that ensures freedom and dignity for all Syrians," it said, urging people to take to the streets.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe condemned "in the strongest terms the new attack by the Syrian regime on the people of Homs.
"Far from halting their policy of repression, the Syrian authorities have taken a further step in savagery. The massacre of Homs is a crime against humanity, its perpetrators must answer for it," he said in a statement.
"This unbridled violence underlines the urgency for the United Nations Security Council to end its silence in order to condemn the authors of this crime and open the way to the implementation of the vaporous Arab League's political plan.
"The international community must recognize and support the right of the Syrian people to freedom, security and the choice of their political future.
"Those who would hinder the adoption of such a resolution would assume a heavy responsibility in history."
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[An Nahar] The Lebanese army deployed on Saturday in the northern village of Wadi Khaled after media outlets reported that members of the Free Syrian Army were present in the area.
"On Saturday morning the military carried out three airdrops in al-Rami village near Wadi Khaled and searched the area for hours," a military source told LBC.
The source noted that these measures were taken depending on the circumstances and "it could end on Saturday."
MP Moein al-Merehbi confirmed the incident, slamming the deployment of the army as "Syrian orders to President Michel Suleiman
...before assuming office as President, he held the position of commander of the Leb Armed Forces. That was after the previous commander, the loathesome Emile Lahoud, took office as president in November of 1998. Likely the next president of Leb will be whoever's commander of the armed forces, too...
, Prime Minister  Najib Miqati, and Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji."
"Media reports saying that there are gunnies infiltrating from Syria into Leb and vice-versa are bizarre and strange," he stated.
Al-Akhbar newspaper reported that Wadi Khaled is a military base for the Free Syrian Army.
According to the daily the Free Syrian Army officers and troops are moving liberally along the illegal border crossings, smuggling weapons and transporting injured soldiers.
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 [Dawn] Interior Minister Rehman Malik
Pak politician, current Interior Minister under the Gilani administration. Malik is a former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) intelligence officer who rose to head the FIA during Benazir Bhutto's second tenure. He later joined the Pak Peoples Party and was chief security officer to Bhutto. Malik was tossed from his FIA job in 1998 after documenting the breath-taking corruption of the Sharif family. By unhappy coincidence Nawaz Sharif became PM at just that moment and Malik moved to London one step ahead of the button men.
on Saturday asked Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan to withdraw the 'un-parliamentary remarks' that he had used against the Army and security agencies.
In a statement issued on Saturday, Malik said that Chaudhry Nisar should apologize to the country for "insulting the whole nation and the Army" by passing derogatory remarks.
The interior minister also said that he would take up the matter in the NA session on Monday requesting to expunge these remarks from proceeding of the house.
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[Dawn] LAST Wednesday, the federal government expressed a desire to take up the issue of the latest Difaa-e-Pakistain Council meeting with the  Punjab government. This was at best a political statement for the consumption of an assorted audience -- in the absence of an administrative arrangement that would oblige provinces to respond to the centre's queries in such matters. The issue was the participation of a leader of a 'banned' group in the DPC rally in Multan on Jan 29. Given that eyebrows have been raised about the recently founded DPC and its politics, the presence of Malik Ishaq, the leader of the 'banned' and very turban Lashkar-e-Jhangvi,
... a 'more violent' offshoot of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain. LeJ's purpose in life is to murder anyone who's not of utmost religious purity, starting with Shiites but including Brelvis, Ahmadis, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Rosicrucians, and just about anyone else you can think of. They are currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of al-Qaeda ...
could not go unnoticed by the PPP-led government. The latter took the opportunity to follow up on the N League-LJ thread that goes back to the League's public courting of prominent Lashkar members for votes in a by-election in Jhang some time ago. The highlighting of the link catered to all those who are upset with the mixing of national politics with various brands of jihadis. Equally or perhaps even more importantly, it was an opportunity for the PPP to try and hit at the PML-N's credibility with jihad-wary international players.
This is surely not a matter of principles, for principles are as routinely flouted in Pak politics as bans are violated and 'defunct tags' worn as medals of gallantry. Basically, it has to do with how political parties here -- those in power and their challengers -- go about identifying and pleasing their allies in a particular situation. The current PML-N government in Punjab has generally kept its distance from the PPP-led set-up in Islamabad. Punjab has been particularly keen to show off this gap over the centre's approach to the war against militancy. This gap will increase as the election comes closer and the manoeuvring for power intensifies.
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[Dawn] ODDLY, the two institutions that bang the accountability drum the loudest are the very ones that won't submit to oversight themselves.
The higher judiciary has used the threat of contempt of court laws to pre-empt any criticism. The security establishment relies on its muscle and its close connections with sections of the media to win immunity from public criticism.
Doubters only have to glance through the report produced by the commission set up to investigate Saleem Shahzad's murder. Even though the crime corresponded to the pattern of earlier allegedly officially inspired kidnappings and beatings suffered by journalists, the commission hardly noticed the parallel. The report effectively let our notorious intelligence agencies off the hook.
And when the defence establishment was clearly responsible for the entire the late Osama bin Laden
... who sleeps with the fishes...
fiasco last May, the media promptly zeroed in on the civilian government, even though it had nothing to do with the matter. Imran Khan
... aka Taliban Khan , who who convinced himself that playing cricket qualified him to lead a nuclear-armed nation with severe personality problems...
went so far as to demand  Asif Ali President Ten Percent Zardari's
... sticky-fingered husband of the late Benazir Bhutto ...
resignation.
Accountability is not just about corruption: those in positions of authority also need to accept responsibility -- and possible punishment -- for acts of omission and commission which have resulted in setbacks to the country. For example, every war with India was initiated -- and lost -- by our army. Which general has ever resigned or been punished for his incompetence?
It does not take a military historian to conclude that while our junior officers and jawans fought valiantly, they have invariably been let down by their high command. These same generals have been pampered more than any other officer corps, and yet have lost battle after battle with monotonous regularity. Needless to say, no uniformed head has ever rolled.
Or take our entire defence policy and posture: dictated entirely by the military establishment, it was never debated; and our occasional and powerless civilian leaders have hardly any input in it.
Nevertheless, we are forced to contribute to strategies that have dragged us ever deeper into insecurity rather than making us safer. Our Afghan and Kashmire policies are examples of repeated failure to evaluate threats intelligently. And yet we continue to plod along on the course chosen by GHQ, bleeding lives and treasure as a result. Who has even been questioned for these repeated failures?
The Supreme Court, for its part, has validated military coups time and again, thereby distorting the course of Pakistain's political development. Which judge has ever been pilloried for any of these self-serving judgments?
Now we have the 'memogate' scandal. For weeks, the country was gripped by a drama scripted by mysterious agencies, and propelled by the judiciary, the military and the media.
The civilian government was destabilised. One ambassador resigned, while the defence secretary was sacked.
But when the audience was getting impatient, and the curtain about to open, one of the two principal actors got cold feet and refused to emerge on the stage. The fact that somebody with the kind of shady reputation Mansoor Ijaz has acquired was allowed to shake the foundations of the state, thanks to the patronage and support he is perceived to have received
from the establishment, shows what a banana republic we really are.
Here's a character who has consistently lambasted the military and the ISI in the foreign media. That he is apparently being used as a pawn against an elected government is an indication of the immaturity and cynicism of those involved in this entire murky episode. But who actually used who is something we will probably never learn.
Meanwhile,
...back at the chili cook-off, Chuck and Manuel's rivalry was entering a new and more dangerous phase...
spare a thought for the commission set up by the Supreme Court to look into 'memogate'. The American businessman, having had his moment in the limelight, no longer has the time to come to Pakistain. Presumably, the honourable members of the commission can now return to their main job of dispensing justice to a hard-pressed people. Maybe they will even find the time to clean up the mess in the lower courts under them.
But who has claimed the credit for causing this needless furore in the first place? Who among the media, the judiciary or the military has raised his hand to say he was wrong? On the contrary, the farce grinds on, long after the bored audience has left.
Nobody has ever accused the security establishment of being over-endowed in terms of IQ. But surely even our generals must realise that a country destabilised by their shenanigans is bound to suffer in a variety of ways. At the end of the day, a sound economy is essential to support our bloated armed forces. A government that is under constant threat of being toppled unconstitutionally simply cannot provide good governance, even if it had the political will and the competence to do so.
Now that the prime minister has been summoned to face contempt of court proceedings, lesser mortals are well advised to keep their opinions about our higher judiciary to themselves. Leaving the court premises after a recent hearing, the PM's lawyer, Aitzaz Ahsan, asked rhetorically: "Why are only civilian prime ministers always being cited for contempt of court? Why not army generals?"
Foreigners are amazed at the endless stresses and strains our bewigged and uniformed chieftains put the system through. In the US, the UK and in Sri Lanka, I was constantly asked to explain why Pakistain is in such a constant state of turmoil.
I cannot repeat my response to these well-meaning friends here for fear that it might fall under the purview of our wide-ranging and freely interpreted contempt of court laws.
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[Al Jazeera]  Greece has only one day left to clinch a eurozone bailout and a bond swap with creditors to manage its crushing debt repayments, its finance minister has said, warning that talks were "on a knife edge".
"The moment is very critical," Evangelos Venizelos told news hounds on Saturday after a telephone conference with fellow eurozone finance ministers, which he described as "very difficult".
"Everything must be concluded by tomorrow (Sunday) night... so that we can be within the timetable given the bond maturities in March," the minister said.
Athens has been negotiating with the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank on further action needed to unlock a new rescue deal worth 130bn euros ($171bn).
Pressure is also mounting for a deal with private lenders to wipe out part of the 350bn euro ($460bn) Greek debt, with Athens facing loan repayments of 14.4bn euros ($19bn) on March 20.
Venizelos said two major points of contention with the EU and IMF remained open - controversial labour cost cuts, and new fiscal measures to address slippage to deficit targets owing to a greater than forecast recession. He said the time had come for the coalition of socialist, conservative and far-right parties backing the Greek interim government to make "a decision and a commitment" to pave the way for agreement.
Prime Minister Lucas Papademos is expected to summon the coalition party leaders to a meeting on Sunday. But the outcome is unclear, as all three parties have expressed misgivings about the additional fiscal reforms demanded by Greece's creditors.
Papademos has reportedly threatened to resign if his coalition backers reject the demanded austerity measures, though government front man Pantelis Kapsis refused to confirm this.
The coalition leaders are strongly opposed to demands for further civil service cuts, now reportedly affecting teachers and military staff, and for a reduction in the minimum monthly wage which now stands at 750 euros ($986).
Defence Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos warned on Saturday that "social tolerance has reached its limit" in Greece after two years of austerity.
"I fear society will not be able to respond to the asphyxiating terms being imposed," Avramopoulos told financial daily Imerisia. |
 A college student claims he was injured when a fraternity member in a "drunken stupor" decided "that it would be a good idea to shoot bottle rockets out of his anus," and did so, "but instead of launching, the bottle rocket blew up in the defendant's rectum, and this startled the plaintiff and caused him to jump back," and fall off the fraternity's deck.
Louis Helmburg III sued The Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity Inc., of Huntington, West Virginia, and Travis Hughes, a fraternity member, in Cabell County Court.
Helmburg claims - in a statement it would be difficult to deny - that "firing bottle rockets out of one's own anus constitutes an 'ultra-hazardous' activity," which exposes both defendants to strict liability.
Helmburg says he suffered pain and medical expenses, and lost playing time on the Marshall University baseball team. He claims the Alpha Tau deck from which he fell lacked a railing, which violated Huntington building codes.
In addition to the full story at the link, the complaint in .pdf is here |
For a map, click here For a map of Chihuahua state, click here.
By Chris Covert
A total of nine individuals were shot to death and seven others were wounded in a shooting early Saturday morning in Chihuahua, Chihuahua, according to Mexican news accounts.
The shooting took place at the Far West bar near the intersection of calles Leandro Valle and Teófilo Borunda Norte in Santo Niņo colony. At least 20 shooters burst into the bar at around 0130 hrs.
Two of the victims were women, one of which was a municipal police agent. El Diario de Juarez news daily identified the victims as Julio Alberto Barraza Flores, Marco Antonio Murga Rojas, Cesar Reyes Ocaņa, Jorge Luis Rivera Mendoza, Rocio Zuņiga Sanchez, Fernando Rivera Castaņeda, Elizabeth Zafiro Quintana, Jorge Luis Mendoza Rivera and Vicente Romero Cruz.
According to La Polaka news daily, the dead police agent was identified as Elizabeth Zafiro of Grupo Beta
Five of the dead were identified as the norteno music group La 5th Banda. News reports characterized the number of spent rifle shell casings as in the hundreds.
The massacre is the worst single incident of violence in Chihuahua state against civilians in a year. Last summer, Chihuahua state and Mexican federal government officials made much of the fact that intergang and drug violence was on the decline, so much so a Policia Federal unit left Juarez, as well as one Mexican Army unit.
With this shooting and a number of others in recent weeks, it appears drug and gang related violence may well be on the upswing. |
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| Posted by: gromky|| 2012-02-05 01:52 ||Comments
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| Posted by: Shimble Guelph5793|| 2012-02-05 02:52 ||Comments
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