Hi there, !
Today Sat 04/21/2012 Fri 04/20/2012 Thu 04/19/2012 Wed 04/18/2012 Tue 04/17/2012 Mon 04/16/2012 Sun 04/15/2012 Archives
Rantburg
531183 articles and 1854386 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 55 articles and 110 comments as of 23:14.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Hadi Refuses to receive Former Yemen President
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
0 [336070] 
0 [336080] 
0 [336086] 
0 [336094] 
0 [336066] 
6 15:02 Besoeker [336081] 
0 [336067] 
0 [336067] 
0 [336067] 
0 [336071] 
0 [336069] 
0 [336067] 
0 [336071] 
0 [336069] 
0 [336107] 
0 [336071] 
0 [336069] 
1 11:38 Ebbang Uluque6305 [336079] 
Page 2: WoT Background
8 21:56 newc [336069]
2 22:04 newc [336093]
1 20:13 JosephMendiola [336079]
4 19:54 Bright Pebbles [336085]
10 20:15 JosephMendiola [336084]
0 [336076]
4 22:36 newc [336099]
9 23:20 JosephMendiola [336083]
2 13:01 Procopius2k [336065]
2 23:35 JosephMendiola [336072]
0 [336081]
0 [336069]
0 [336066]
0 [336066]
1 06:10 Glenmore [336080]
0 [336065]
1 10:29 rjschwarz [336070]
0 [336070]
0 [336068]
0 [336074]
8 17:52 Zhang Fei [336069]
0 [336072]
Page 3: Non-WoT
0 [336081]
7 21:45 Silentbrick - Halliburton Lost Drill Bit Division [336073]
0 [336079]
0 [336067]
0 [336067]
0 [336064]
Page 4: Opinion
1 17:49 Gruth McGurque5303 [336066]
6 20:40 JosephMendiola [336072]
2 12:59 Procopius2k [336077]
0 [336065]
0 [336071]
Page 6: Politix
4 20:25 JosephMendiola [336073]
1 15:32 Besoeker [336065]
17 22:14 newc [336102]
13 22:04 USN, Ret. [336091]
Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 04/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336081 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot

Jane Leeves (English) aka Alberta Leonard in "Miracle on 34th Street" aka Daphne Moon in "Frasier (TV 1993–2004)" aka Joy Scroggs in "Hot in Cleveland (TV 2010 - 2012)" aka Mona in "The Event (2003)" aka Wylie in "Mr. Write (1994)" (age 51)



Women Who Prepare to Bathe
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 04/18/2012 3:26 Comments || Top||

#2  Slight correction on Ms Parson's instrument.

That would be a mando-cello, not a mandolin.
Posted by: no mo uro || 04/18/2012 6:03 Comments || Top||

#3  Mandowhatever. You gotta look past that.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 04/18/2012 11:33 Comments || Top||

#4  Ms Parsons looks to enjoy a good plucking.
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 04/18/2012 12:10 Comments || Top||

#5  She may just be stringing you along, AA.
Posted by: SteveS || 04/18/2012 14:24 Comments || Top||

#6  Obviously awaiting the arrival of her Secret Servant.
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/18/2012 15:02 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Taquanda Shanti shoots Quantavius "Antnie" in possible hold up
No, not Walawi. This took place in Tampa, Florida.
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/18/2012 14:52 || Comments || Link || [336070 views] Top|| File under:


Afghanistan
Wanted Talib turns self in for own reward
Mohammad Ashan was wanted for organising attacks on Afghan troops and so police were bemused when he voluntarily approached the checkpoint.
They arrested him immediately but called for American backup to check they had the right man.
“We asked him, ‘Is this you?’ Mohammad Ashan answered with an incredible amount of enthusiasm, ‘Yes, yes, that’s me! Can I get my award now?’” one US soldier told the Washington Post.
"Clearly, the man is an imbecile," a US official added.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 04/18/2012 02:07 || Comments || Link || [336080 views] Top|| File under:


Africa Horn
South Sudan defiant after week of fighting with Sudan
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] South Sudan's army vowed Tuesday to hold their positions in a contested oil field seized from Khartoum's army, one week after the outbreak of bitter fighting that has raised fears of a wider war.

Despite air strikes and a reported counter-attack by Khartoum's Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) to retake the disputed Heglig oil field, the South's Sudan Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA) said it would not withdraw from the battle zone.

"If they advance, definitely SPLA is ready to fight back and repulse them... the SPLA is ready for them outside Heglig," Southern army front man Philip Aguer told news hounds.

The hostilities are the worst since South Sudan's independence from Sudan in July, and world powers have condemned the fighting, as fears grow festivities could spread beyond the current border conflict.

Fighting broke out last month between Khartoum and Juba in the Heglig oil field -- key to Sudan's already struggling economy, as it supplied around half of its oil production -- before an escalation of violence last Tuesday.

The South has reportedly placed tanks and artillery around oil infrastructure in Heglig, but as Sudan does not allow journalists to report independently in South Kordofan state to which Heglig belongs, it is difficult to verify the military situation.

Aguer said Khartoum had damaged wells as they sought to dislodge Southern troops by aerial bombardment.

"The border is still fragile, tension is still very high," Aguer added. "The SAF continue to bomb indiscriminately... On Tuesday they bombed one of the oil wells outside Heglig, it is still burning."
Posted by: Fred || 04/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336067 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan


Suicide bomber kills 5 in Baidoa
[Shabelle] A jacket wallah killed 5 people, mostly Ethiopians in the southern Somali town ofBaidoaon Tuesday, when he detonated an explosive vest as he tried to enter a government security building, officials said.

Reports said the bomber detonated his explosives in front of UN headquarters in the town, killing 5, three of them were confirmed to be Ethiopian spy while the two others were TFG troops officials.

Baidoa, located 250 kilometres (155 miles) northwest ofMogadishu, was the seat ofSomalia's transitional parliament until the hardline Shebab captured it three years ago.

Ethiopian soldiers fighting alongside Somali government forces took control of Baidoa in February.

African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
troops deployed in the town earlier this month, the first time the force has dispatched troops outside the capitalMogadishusince the 10,000-strong force was set up five years ago.

Al-Qaeda allied Shebab Orcs and similar vermin who launched a series of guerrilla attacks and vowed to topple the Western-backed government have immediately grabbed credit for Tuesday's bombing.

Earlier this month a kaboom in Baidoa's market killed at least 11 people and maimed several, an attack claimed by the Shebab.
Posted by: Fred || 04/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336069 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


Africa North
AQIM leader named Timbuktu governor
[Magharebia] Al-Qaeda and Islamists are working together to implement their own plan for the future of Timbuktu. Malians will have a new governor for the region, without ever casting a vote.

Ansar al-Din (Supporters of the Faith) reportedly plans to install Algerian national and al-Qaeda emir Yahya Abou Al-Hammam (real name Jemal Oukacha) as the local governor. Al-Hammam has lived in the region for several years, local sources said.

The governor appointment is part of the Islamists' partnership with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

Upon the fall of the northern Malian city to Islamists and al-Qaeds fighters, Iyad Ag Ghaly, the Touareg founder of Ansar al-Din, called on those living in Timbuktu to help him institute sharia law.

"The Mujahideen and Ansar Al-Din have committed themselves to introducing Sharia law. One of our main ways of imposing the religion is to fight all those who reject Sharia law." He is getting help with his sharia strategy from some of the top AQIM figures.

On April 3rd, AQIM leaders Mokhtar Belmokhtar (aka "Laaouar"), Abou Zeid, and Yahya Abou Al-Hammam joined Ag Ghaly for "a meeting with the city's imams", said Cheikh El Bakaye, a family member of one of the holy mans involved in the talks.

"Yes, all three of them are there. Abou Zeid has said he is happy to be on Mali's Moslem soil," El Bakaye said.

They have turned the former Malian army camp at Timbuktu into their "base", according to a Malian army officer. The majority of the thirteen western hostages being held in the Sahel, six of whom are French, were kidnapped by these three men.
Posted by: Fred || 04/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336079 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa

#1  Sounds like The Ham is a carpetbagger.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 04/18/2012 11:38 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Saudi says its Diplomat held by al-Qaeda in Yemen
[Yemen Post] Soddy Arabian Interior Ministry said on Tuesday that its high-ranking kidnapped diplomat, Abdullah Al-Kaladi, who was kidnapped late March in the southern port city of Aden, is being held by Yemen-based al-Qaeda branch, calling on the terror network to immediately release him.
You Saudis think you're special, but to them you're just foreigners to be kidnapped. Do try to enjoy the adventure.
The kingdom's Interior Ministry front man Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki said that their embassy in Sana'a has received a phone call from a Saudi citizen who is on the top of the ministry's wanted list since 2009, Mashal Mohammed Rashid al-Shadhoi.However,
we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by...
the Yemeni government refuses to confirm that al-Qaeda as a network is behind the kidnapping.

The runaway informed the embassy that al-Kaladi is being held by al-Qaeda and relayed the terror network's demands, and conditions for releasing him.The conditions included that all jugged members of al-Qaeda in the kingdom's jails, including ladies, be released and a ransom payment be paid, according to Turki.He mentioned six imprisoned ladies by name, including the women known as al-Qaeda lady, said Turik.For his part, Shiek Ali Abdu-Salam, a tribal dignitary in the south of the country, known as Zabara, confirmed that the kidnapped Saudi deputy consul is being held by al-Qaeda gunnies in the southern province of Shabwa, declining to reveal any further details other than saying that the whole Shabwa is under the gunnies group's control except for Ataq, the placid provincial capital.Turki warned of the great danger of terrorism in Yemen, saying today they kidnapped a diplomat, tomorrow they will explode an embassy and later they might kill a prince.

Posted by: Fred || 04/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336067 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia


Hadi Refuses to receive Former Yemen President
[Yemen Post] President Abdu Rabo Mansour Hadi has refused to receive the former president 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 Emirati Al-Ithad Newspaper quoted sources close to Saleh.

Al-Ithad said that Saleh has dispatched a high-ranking delegation that included Abdul-Karim Al-Iryani, Yahya Al-Raee, Ahmed Bin Daghar and Yahya Al-Shoabi to negotiate with Hadi.

According to the sources, the delegation asked Hadi to arrange an appointment of a meeting with Saleh to discuss the decrees held by Haid early of April and how to reconstruct the GPC, pointing out that Hadi refused that.

Office of Saleh had described last week the latest decrees of Hadi that dismissed some relatives of Saleh as "hasty and unfair".

The sources said Saleh met on Monday some youths of the GPC who visited him to his residency and that he affirmed that nobody can dissolve his party .

Meanwhile,
...back at the precinct house, Sergeant Maloney wasn't buying it. It was just too pat. It smelled phony...
a front man of the Air Forces officers who have been protesting against their boss, Saleh's half-brother, Mohammad Saleh Al-Ahmar, said that Al-Ahmar prevented the Military Committee formed under the GCC-mediated power transfer deal of entering the Air Forces Command.

He revealed that the committee headed on Tuesday morning to the Air Forces command with the aim of handing over the Air Forces to the newly-appointed commander Rashid Al-Janad, affirming that Al-Ahmar did not allow the committee to enter.

He said that the Defense Ministry agreed with Al-Ahmar on Monday to hand over the command to Al-Janad, but he changed his mind after a meeting with Saleh on Monday.

President Abdu Rabo Mansour Hadi gave Al-Ahmar on Sunday an ultimatum of 48 hours to hand over the command of Air Forces to the newly-appointed commander Rashid Al-Janad.

The sources said Hadi threatened Al-Ahmar on Sunday with stripping him from military rank and bring him to a military court in case he continued his rebellion against his decree.

Posted by: Fred || 04/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336107 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Republican Guard forces storm Tariq air base in Taiz
[Yemen Post] Republican Guard troops stormed forcibly on Tuesday Tariq Air Force base in the southern province of Taiz, some 260 kilometers south the Yemeni capital of Sana'a, security officials told Yemen Post. The elite republican guard forces stormed the base after they intensely shelled the areas around the military airport, and set up new checkpoints and military posts in the area, the security official said on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the press. The leadership of the elite republican guards wants to keep the dismissed chief in his position, completely ignoring President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi's orders, added the official. The elite Republican Guard, the best equipped and trained military troops in the country, is commanded by former President 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...
's eldest son, Ahmed, who is allegedly trying to ensure that his uncle, Mohammed Saleh al-Ahmar, who was dismissed by a presidential decree early in April, keep his post as the chief of the Air Force. This escalation comes a day after al-Dailami air force base in Sana'a witnessed rising tensions due to the sacked commander refusal to listen to the President decrees whereby he was fired. For the first time since the protests against him erupted early this year, al-Ahmar who is also the half brother of Saleh left al-Dailami air base in order to meet with his brother. He was reported to have been rebuked by Saleh for leaving the base and told to return quickly, local media outlets reported. After two weeks of his dismissal, al-Ahmar is still defiant to Hadi and refused to hand over the command of the vital military institution, making Hadi orders he be put before a marshal court. But that is a very unlikely prospect given that most of the military is still run by Saleh's relatives and loyalists.

Posted by: Fred || 04/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336071 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Pro Saleh Gunmen Close Down Sana'a Airport
[Yemen Post] A security official in Sana'a International Airport told Yemen Post that gunnies loyal to Mohammed Saleh, ousted commander of the air force, forced themselves inside the airport and closed it down.

The official said the gunnies were numbered in the dozens and said they were loyal to Saleh.

A security official expected the gunnies to evacuate the airport within hours saying they wanted to send a message and not occupy the airport.

President Hadi issued a decree earlier this month releasing Saleh from his post, but he rejected the decree and insists in staying in power.

It is worth mentioning that Mohammed Saleh is the brother of ousted Yemen president 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...
, who left power in a international backed power transfer deal granting him complete immunity.
Posted by: Fred || 04/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336069 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Caribbean-Latin America
15 dead found in southern Tamaulipas

For a map, click here. For a map of Tamaulipas state, click here.

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

A total of 15 dead were found in two southern Tamaulipas cities Thursday and Friday, according to Mexican news accounts.

To date, no information has been released by authorities, since the government of Tamaulipas state is observing restrictions to news releases under Article 41 of the Mexican Constitution which forbids government propaganda during federal elections.

Ten unidentified dead, nine men and one woman, were found Friday aboard an abandoned soft drink truck in Ciudad Mante. Ciudad Mante is about 25 kilometers along Mexico Federal Highway 85, south of Ciudad Victoria, the capital of Tamaulipas.

Meanwhile in Ciudad Victoria, five unidentified dead were found in Colinas del Valle colony of the city. The count was four young men and one woman.

Recent news reports in Milenio news daily said that two new Mexican Army bases, for units of the Mexican 106th Infantry Regiment were recently completed, one in San Fernando municipality and one in Ciudad Mante. Mexican army bases typically house roughly a rifle company compliment, or between 100 and 150 personnel.

Tamaulipas of one of the most heavily fortified states in Mexico, with 8,000 Mexican Army troops at last count since last January.

San Fernando was the location a year ago where 193 dead were found in the aftermath of a murder spree by a Los Zetas group operating in the area. The find was the second biggest mass grave in modern Mexican history eclipsed only by the 331 dead found over last year in Durango state, 301 of those in Durango city alone.

San Fernando is located approximately between Ciudad Victoria and the northern border with the United State, about 120 kilometers northeast of Ciudad Victoria.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
Posted by: badanov || 04/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336086 views] Top|| File under:


Mexican security forces bag 5 bad guys in Zacatecas

For a map, click here. For a map of Zacatecas state, click here

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

A total of five unidentified individuals were shot to death in a firefight with Mexican security forces in Zacatecas state Monday evening, according to Mexican news accounts.

The engagement took place in Jimenez del Teul municipality as a joint patrol of Mexican 53rd Infantry Battalion and Zacatecas Policía Estatal Preventiva (PEP) agents were conducting search and patrol operations for five individuals kidnapped ten days before in the same municipality.

Armed suspects travelling board a Lincoln Navigator SUV fired on the patrol, and elements of the patrol returned fire, killing all on board.

The three men and two women killed were in their 20s. Security forces also seized two AK-47 rifles, a handgun and a quantity of powder cocaine.

The kidnapping took place April 4th, when an armed group entered two homes in Jimenez del Teul municipality, taking a total of four unidentified individuals. An attempt to thwart the kidnapping ended when the armed group kidnapped an unidentified Policia Preventiva agent. At the time of the abduction it was reported a total of ten individuals had been taken. It has also been reported the kidnapping victims may have been taken to Durango state, but none of the victims have been found so far.

Four police officers with the municipality failed to appear for work, citing threats from armed groups in the area. Shortly afterwards federal security forces intensified their presence. Jimenez del Teul municipality has a total of seven police officers.

Jimenez del Teul is a remote mountain community in far western Zacatacas bordering with Durango state about 20 kilometers to the west and Fresnillo city, about 40 kilometers to the west.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
Posted by: badanov || 04/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336094 views] Top|| File under:


Mexican authorities find 14 dead in Nuevo Laredo

For a map, click here. For a map of Tamaulipas state, click here

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

A total of 14 unidentified individuals were found dead, stuffed into a minivan in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas Tuesday morning, according to Mexican news accounts.

The find was made around 0730 when officials were given information about three dead bodies left inside a Chrysler Voyager minivan near the intersection of Calle Maclovio Herrera and Avenida Guerrero. When police arrived it was realized 14 dead were inside the vehicle.

The dead were all male in their 30s, ten of them stuffed inside black plastic bags.

The drug gang affiliation of the dead was not disclosed, although Nuevo Laredo is considered to be Los Zetas territory,

The latest information on Nuevo Laredo is that operatives associated with the Sinaloa and Gulf cartels are attempting to move into Nuevo Laredo in a bid to oust Los Zetas from their main river crossing into the US.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
Posted by: badanov || 04/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336066 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Student killed in Peshawar grenade attack
A student was killed and another received critical injuries when suspected gunnies hurled a hand grenade at a private school in Chargano Kallay on the outskirts of provincial metropolis on Monday morning.

Riaz Khan, the principal of Iqra Model School Charsadda Road, told local police that he was sitting in his office when he heard a huge blast. "I saw two students lying in a pool of blood when I rushed out of the office," he added.

The injured students were shifted to Lady Reading Hospital but one of them identified as Ali Ijaz could not survive while Waqarullah was admitted to the hospital at death's door.

The principal said that he had neither enmity nor anyone ever sent any kind of threat to the school. "A hand grenade was hurled at the school at 11:15am but it could not be ascertained if the assailants were on foot or riding a cycle of violence," police said.

An official of Bomb Disposal Unit also confirmed that it was a hand grenade attack. It seemed that attackers wanted to create panic among the students and people of the area, he added.

A terrorism case against unidentified persons was registered at Khazana cop shoppe.

The official said that the area was close to Mohamed Agency and most of the gunnies had shifted to settled areas owing to military operations in tribal belt.

Meanwhile,
...back at the fist fight, Jake ducked another roundhouse, then parried with his left, then with his right, finally with his chin...
the law enforcers here on Monday defused a powerful bomb planted in agricultural fields at Mera Balarzai village.

The SHO of Badhber cop shoppe told Dawn that a family of Afridi tribe, having old enmity, informed police about the presence of a suspicious thing near its residence.

He said that personnel of Bomb Disposal Unit defused the bomb, which was packed in a canister. The bomb, he said, weighed about four kilograms.

"We suspect that the bomb was planted by the complainant himself to get a terrorism case registered against his rivals," the SHO said.
Posted by: Fred || 04/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336069 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Another prisoner on the run arrested
[Dawn] KARAK: Another prisoner, who beat feet from Bannu jail, was locked away by police here on Monday when he was trying to leave the district.

Police also claimed to have locked away 10 proclaimed offenders during a search operation in different areas of the district.

Police said that Gul Afzal, a resident of Mashokhel area of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar, who was serving life term in Bannu jail, was locked away by Khuram police after he beat feet from the jail on Sunday morning.

"He was got off from a vehicle on suspicion and during interrogations he confessed that he had beat feet from the jail," police officials said. Mr Gul was sentenced to life imprisoned in a drug smuggling case.

He told police that he had been locked away in 2006 at Peshawar airport when he was trying to smuggle a huge quantity of drugs abroad.

It is pertinent to mention here that seven beat feet prisoners were locked away in the district on Sunday.

Meanwhile,
...back at the pound, Zebulon finally found just the friend he'd been looking for...
police locked away 10 proclaimed offenders in different parts of the district. Officials said that Aamir Mohammad, a resident of Malakand presently living at Scheme Chowk in Peshawar, was locked away in Terri. He was also wanted by Punjab police.

They said that Mohammad Sharif, Ayub, Mardan alias Ramzan, Nazir Gul, Waseem Sajjad, Muzafar Gul, Umer Nawaz, Kaleemullah, Nazran and Payao Rehman were locked away by personnel of Karak cop shoppe.
Posted by: Fred || 04/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336071 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran Holds 15 from Israel-linked 'Assassination' Group
[An Nahar] Iran's intelligence ministry says it is holding more than 15 Iranian and foreign suspects belonging to an Israeli-linked "liquidation" network, according to media reports on Tuesday.

It also said it had uncovered a spy base run by Israel's Mossad in an unspecified neighboring country.

"So far 15 people, holding Iranian birth certificates and foreigners, have been incarcerated," official outlets quoted the ministry saying in a statement which added details to the arrests already announced earlier this month.

The statement said the group's mission "was to identify and assassinate one of our nation's experts and to bomb some of the nation's installations using professionally made technical tools."

It did not identify the alleged targets.

Iran -- which from time to time announces the arrest of suspected spies working for Israel or the United States without presenting much evidence -- has lost several of its nuclear scientists to liquidations widely blamed on the Jewish state.

The statement added that the intelligence that uncovered the alleged Israeli-linked group led to "reliable information which showed the Zionist regime illegally used diplomatic missions in some Western countries" to support the group's missions. It did not identify the countries.
Posted by: Fred || 04/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336067 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


UN observers see 'difficult' job as Syria toll mounts
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] UN observers acknowledged on Tuesday that they face a "difficult" job firming up a shaky ceasefire in Syria as five non-combatants were killed in fresh violence as the truce entered its sixth day.

Colonel Ahmed Himmiche, a Moroccan who heads a six-strong advance team preparing for the deployment of a 30-person mission, said the observers would move forward one step at a time.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
... sometimes described as The Woman to Call at 3 a.m. and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Walter Q. Gresham ...
said the United States was still "hoping for the best" but was discussing with other powers what to do in the event the peace plan collapses.

Her Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, pointed the finger at the opposition -- 11 of 35 people killed in violence on Monday were soldiers -- and called on its foreign supporters to press the rebels to honour the hard-won truce.

UN chief Ban Ki-Moon called on regime forces to exercise "maximum restraint" and the opposition to "fully cooperate."

Three of the five dead on Tuesday were killed in regime shelling of Idlib, a northwestern province close to the Turkish border, where there is a strong presence of rebel fighters, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Two more were killed and dozens maimed in a bombardment of the Basr al-Harir district of Daraa province, south of Damascus
...Capital of the last remaining Baathist regime in the world...
and cradle of the 13-month-old uprising against Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs...
's regime, the Britannia-based watchdog said.

The rebel Khaldiyeh and Bayada districts of the flashpoint central city of Homs also came under renewed shelling, it added.

The opposition Syrian National Council accused the regime of "flagrant violations of the ceasefire" and called on the UN observers to "travel to Idlib and Homs immediately to see first-hand the massacres which the regime is carrying out and has not stopped carrying out."

UN and 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...
envoy Kofi Annan
...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo...
, who brokered the six-point peace plan, was to travel to Qatar for a ministerial meeting of the vaporous Arab League on the crisis later on Tuesday, his front man said.

Colonel Himmiche said "it's a difficult mission that needs coordination and planning."

"No ceasefire, not even the beginnings of a political process -- this mission will be one of the toughest ever undertaken by the United Nations
...a formerly good idea gone bad...
," he added.

Clinton called on Damascus to honour Annan's plan in full, not just the promised ceasefire.

"What the Assad regime needs to do is to make clear that they're going to silence their guns, withdraw their troops and work toward fulfilling the six-point plan," she said.

Complying with the Annan plan also means allowing peaceful demonstrations, releasing political prisoners and allowing a peaceful political transition to begin, Clinton added.

"We want to see a political process begin, but if violence is renewed, the regime reverts to shelling its own people and causing a great deal of death and injury, then we're going to have to get back to planning what our next steps (are)."

State Department front man Mark Toner also pressed Syrian authorities to comply with the other points, including releasing prisoners.

"There's no movement on any of the other five points and it appears that the fragile ceasefire is eroding as well," Toner told news hounds.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said "stronger sanctions" against Damascus must be adopted to "pressure the Syrian regime" and erode its resources.

Damascus ally Moscow took aim, without naming them, at supporters of the rebels, such as Qatar and Soddy Arabia, for what it acknowledged was a "fragile" truce.

"There are countries -- there are outside forces - that are not interested in the success of current UN Security Council efforts," Lavrov said.

The advance team of military observers arrived in Damascus late on Sunday.

The delegation is setting up a headquarters and preparing routines to verify the ceasefire, a front man said.

Russia, which voted in favour of the text after vetoing two previous draft resolutions, will be "substantially" represented in the mission, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said.

"The specifics of our participation in the observers mission are being worked on right now," Interfax quoted Ryabkov as saying.

A spike in deadly violence forced the Arab League to end its own Syrian monitoring mission in late January, barely a month after sending observers.

The UN chief voiced concern late Monday.

"I am very much concerned about what has happened since yesterday and today," Ban said.

"It is important, absolutely important, that the Syrian government should take all the measures to keep this cessation of violence," he said, adding that Damascus must "guarantee" free access countrywide to the military observers.

Meanwhile,
...back at the chili cook-off, Chuck and Manuel's rivalry was entering a new and more dangerous phase...
Syria's Foreign Minister Walid Muallem will visit China on Wednesday, Beijing announced, to showcase efforts taken by Damascus to execute the UN ceasefire.

Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 04/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336071 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Diplomats Accuse Syria of Holding Up Truce Monitors Accord
[An Nahar] Syria is holding up an accord with an advance party of U.N. ceasefire monitors which threatens approval for the full mission, diplomats said Tuesday.

Negotiations have become deadlocked on a memorandum of understanding which would allow the eight U.N. monitors currently in Syria to operate across the country, diplomats said.

U.N. Secretary General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan...
urged Syria to give the unarmed military observers free access across the country where the U.N. says well over 9,000 people have been killed in the past 13 months of conflict.

"It is the Syrian government's responsibility to guarantee freedom of access and freedom of movement within the country of these observers," the U.N. leader said during a visit to Luxembourg.

One senior U.N. diplomat said that if Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
The Scourge of Hama...
's government does not make an accord by the end of the week then the Security Council could not allow the full mission of 200-250 observers.

Following recommendations from U.N.-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...
envoy Kofi Annan
...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo...
, the U.N. Security Council resolution which sent the advance party said there had to be "full, unimpeded, and immediate freedom of movement and access" for monitors.

"I think there is a risk that the Syrians will not agree to all of that and we will have to decide what to do," said the diplomat.

"I think we will be in a reasonable position to judge by the end of this week whether the Syrians are prepared to stick to the obligations they are now under as a result of the resolution and facilitate the operation of the advanced mission or not," the envoy added.

"There is a holdup and it looks like the Syrians are doing it deliberately," a second diplomat told Agence La Belle France Presse.

Both spoke on condition of anonymity because of the confidentiality of Security Council negotiations on Syria.

The Security Council resolution passed on Saturday, the first monitors arrived on Sunday and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon must produce a report by Wednesday on their work.

Annan is to brief the council before the end of the week, diplomats said.
Posted by: Fred || 04/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336067 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria



Who's in the News
32[untagged]
6Arab Spring
3al-Shabaab
3Govt of Pakistan
2Govt of Syria
2al-Qaeda in Arabia
1Pirates
1TTP
1al-Qaeda in North Africa
1al-Qaeda in Pakistan
1Global Jihad
1Govt of Iran
1Govt of Sudan

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio

Merry-Go-Blog











On Sale now!


A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has dominated Mexico for six years.
Click here for more information

Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Wed 2012-04-18
  Hadi Refuses to receive Former Yemen President
Tue 2012-04-17
  UN Camp in South Sudan Targeted by Sudanese Warplanes
Mon 2012-04-16
  US drone strike kills senior al-Qaeda Militant in Yemen
Sun 2012-04-15
  Afghan capital hit by blasts, gun attack
Sat 2012-04-14
  U.S. drone strike kills 7 al-Qaeda members in Yemen
Fri 2012-04-13
  23 Reportedly Dead as Syria Regime, Opposition Trade Charges of Breaking Ceasefire
Thu 2012-04-12
  Nork rocket launched, then 'breaks up'
Wed 2012-04-11
  Syria denounced for not adhereing to agreed peace plan
Tue 2012-04-10
  Syrian Rebel Army Ready to Respect Truce
Mon 2012-04-09
  84 Dead, 200 Arrested as Violence Rages across Syria
Sun 2012-04-08
  Hugo off to Brazil for Emergent Care
Sat 2012-04-07
  Azerbaijani intel service jugs 17 hard boys
Fri 2012-04-06
  Mali rebels declare cease-fire after seizing north
Thu 2012-04-05
  Pakistan rejects US bounty on Hafiz Saeed
Wed 2012-04-04
  Yemeni airstrikes kill 43 al-Qaida militants

Better than the average link...



Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
52.205.218.160
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Background (22)    Non-WoT (6)    Opinion (5)    (0)    Politix (4)