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Hadi Refuses to receive Former Yemen President
Today's Headlines
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Afghanistan
Karzai challenges Taleban ‘brothers’ over attacks
KABUL: President Hamid Karzai called the Taleban "brothers" on Tuesday and reached out to them to do more for the good of the country after the insurgents carried out multiple attacks in Kabul and elsewhere at the weekend.

The deadly strikes on parliament, Kabul's diplomatic quarter and three provinces, had only prolonged the foreign presence in Afghanistan reviled by the Taleban, and hurt economic and security confidence, Karzai said.

"You did nothing for Islam, you did not work for Afghanistan's independence and you did not work for its people, freedom and development," he said in a speech commemorating almost 150 years since the birth of an Afghan reformer, but aimed squarely at the insurgency.

"You worked to prolong a foreign presence, you gave foreigners an excuse to stay," Karzai said.

But in an effort to keep alive reconciliation with the Taleban and hopes of a peace deal before most foreign combat troops leave the country in 2014, Karzai said he would not stop calling the Taleban "brothers.” "Some criticize me in the Afghan government and media for saying the Taleban are brothers, but I won't give up," he said to loud applause from officials and university students.

Karzai has laid most of the blame for the Taleban assault on NATO and his government's Western backers for the failure of intelligence agents to prevent it.
As opposed to the hard boyz who attacked...
"Washington is calm and quiet and their people are safe. London is the same ... But Afghans were panicking and suffered religiously and economically," he said in veiled criticism of the West, whose continued presence many Afghans now blame for the country's ongoing troubles.
Posted by: Steve White || 04/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336066 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It's time for him to decide what he wants, to live with our friendship or die a horrible death with his brothers.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 04/18/2012 12:12 Comments || Top||

#2  ..or opting for a three star restaurant in Rio?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 04/18/2012 13:01 Comments || Top||


Jizya: Karzai wants 'at least $2 billion' a year from US
Afghanistan's Caped President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai
... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use...
on Tuesday said he wanted "at least $2 billion" a year from the United States after it withdraws its troops in 2014.

Karzai said the US should specify in a partnership agreement to be signed between his country and the US how much money it will give to Afghanistan after they leave.

"They (US) say we will give you money, but will not specify the amount. We say give us less, but write it down," Karzai told a group of university professors and students in Kabul.

"We want them to write down that America will give for Afghanistan's security $2 billion a year -- or at least two billion a year", he said. "If they want to give us more, they are welcome."

Karzai's comments came a day after he laid most of the blame for an 18-hour assault by squads of Taliban bully boyz in Kabul Sunday on intelligence failures by NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A single organization with differing goals, equipment, language, doctrine, and organization....
forces.

Kabul has already achieved two preconditions for signing the treaty -- full control over the US-run Bagram prison and controversial special forces night raids against Taliban krazed killers.

Officials on both sides have expressed hope that a strategic partnership agreement governing post-2014 ties could be signed ahead of a NATO summit in Chicago in May.

"We don't want them to spend a lot of money here, we would like to help them save their money, but give some to us too," Karzai said.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336069 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "We want them to write down that America will give for Afghanistan's security $2 billion a year -- or at least two billion a year", he said. "If they want to give us more, they are welcome."

How about the last thing we do when we leave there is shoot this Afghani pimp in the head.
Posted by: tu3031 || 04/18/2012 0:08 Comments || Top||

#2  ...I'm sure other will do it for free, as a departing salute.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 04/18/2012 7:50 Comments || Top||

#3  We need to make sure that the first Americans to leave are Karzai's security detail, even if they aren't active duty troops.

See how he feels about that.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 04/18/2012 7:53 Comments || Top||

#4  Karzai is a swindling Taliban to the core. I wouldn't give him the sweat from my codpiece. Out of there, quickly without doubt or discussion.
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/18/2012 8:22 Comments || Top||

#5  Should have dusted off the pre-communist constitution and forced the old king in as a puppet with the Northern Alliance behind him. Instead we sort of turned our back on the Northern alliance for this joker?
Posted by: rjschwarz || 04/18/2012 10:29 Comments || Top||

#6  I believe "Fuck You Assholes" is the correct response.
Posted by: DarthVader || 04/18/2012 12:24 Comments || Top||

#7  How about a bullet instead?
Posted by: mojo || 04/18/2012 13:10 Comments || Top||

#8  The $100b a year we're spending in Afghanistan is way bigger than $2b. My guess is that he's expecting a few hundred mil and figured he'd get the ball rolling with a $2b proposal. I think we should provide at least the amount we handed to the mujahideen to bleed the Soviets, conditional upon a non-Pashtun assuming the reins of power. We can fund it with the zeroing out of the aid budget for Pakistan when we withdraw from Afghanistan. Think of it as an economical way to bleed the Pakis. We also need to turn a blind eye as Afghanistan's non-Pashtuns help to resettle the Pashtuns in a country where they belong - Pakistan.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 04/18/2012 17:52 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
TFG denies that it hires Al shabab defectors in the security operations
[Shabelle] The security agency of Somalia government has Tuesday strongly denied
No, no! Certainly not!
that it takes into service Al shabab defectors for its security crackdown inMogadishu.

While speaking to Shabelle Media, Ahmed Mo'allin Fiqi, the director of the national security agency flashed out reports tell that his agency employs without doubt and checking the faceless myrmidons defected from Al shabab who are accused of carrying out the attacks inMogadishu.

"It is baseless and false report that the security agency of TFG is involved the insecurity of the capital after employing Al shabab agents. We are committed and honest for our work to defend and secure the country. The call on MPs to refrain spreading such accusations," said Fiqi.

This comments followed after Salad Ali Jelle, a Somali MP accused the country's national agency took into the security services more than 120 Al shabab elements.
Posted by: Fred || 04/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336066 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


US officials scrambling to confirm reports of American terror leader's death inSomalia
[Shabelle] U.S.intelligence officials are scrambling to confirm reports that Omar Hammami, the American-born leader of an Al Qaeda-aligned terror group inSomalia, has been executed.

Unconfirmed reports surfaced in Somali media claiming the al-Shabaab
... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...
jihadist was hunted down and beheaded on orders from a rival leader in the network.

A U.S. intelligence official told Fox News that, if true, Hammami's death could be a turning point in the recruitment of Americans and western Europeans by al-Shabaab -- as Hammami was thought to play a prominent role in that western outreach.

"Our folks have been looking for anything on this," the intelligence official told Fox News, adding: "We have not been able to confirm this report."

Significantly, web postings on jihadist forums have surfaced that speak of the American's death.

Somali media reports claim Shabaab leader Ahmed Abdi Godane is accused of ordering the execution. Hammami reportedly said last month in a statement that other Shabaab leaders had him fearing for his life.

Hammami, born in 1984, grew up outsideMobile,Ala., in the city ofDaphne.

But the American has been in war-tornSomaliafor several years. In that time, he has emerged as one of the most recognizable and outspoken voices of terrorist propaganda. He was going by the name of Abu Mansour al-Amriki, or "The American."

Al-Amriki first surfaced in the terror group in October 2007, when Al-Jazeera TV aired a report about the "common goal" of Al Qaeda and hard-line faceless myrmidons inSomalia. The report described al-Amriki as "a fighter" and "military instructor," but he concealed his face with a cloth wrap throughout the report.

In April, he showed his face for the first time, during a highly-polished, 30-minute recruitment video posted online. It featured anti-American hip-hop music and sporadic images of the late Osama bin Laden
... who used to be but now ain't...
Hammani's death could be a blow to the Al Qaeda affiliate, at least for its western recruiting efforts.

Al-Shabaab was responsible for the recruitment of some two dozen young men of Somali descent from theMinneapolisarea.
Posted by: Fred || 04/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336071 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


Africa North
Religion of Peace Shows Gratitude to Brits in Libya
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 04/18/2012 11:12 || Comments || Link || [336085 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Goons can't even use simple tools and technology to do a simple job? Oh, that's what rifle butts are for!
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 04/18/2012 12:15 Comments || Top||

#2  There's an American military cemetery in Tunisia. Maybe we should dig the guys up and bring them Home.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey || 04/18/2012 13:33 Comments || Top||

#3  Reminds me of a bit in the book Band of Brothers where it talked about the opinions of the soldiers about the various groups they came across. Arabs and French were listed below the Germans.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 04/18/2012 14:49 Comments || Top||

#4  They've been learning from The Zero?
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 04/18/2012 19:54 Comments || Top||


Arabia
GCC call to Iran: Leave UAE islands
Keep calling boys, but the line is busy...
Doha: GCC foreign ministers held an extraordinary meeting here yesterday and condemned as "provocative" a visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the UAE island of Abu Mousa, which is occupied by Tehran.

The members of the Gulf Cooperation Council "strongly condemn the Iranian president's visit to Abu Musa, which is a provocative act and a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the United Arab Emirates over its three islands," they said in a joint statement.

"Any aggression on the sovereignty or interference in the internal affairs of a member country would be considered as an attack on all member countries and interference in their affairs," the statement said, adding that Ahmadinejad's Abu Musa visit contradicted good neighborly policies.

The GCC asked Iran "end its occupation of the three UAE islands — Abu Mousa and Greater and Lesser Tunbs — and respond to calls by the UAE to find a peaceful and just solution through negotiations or by resorting to the International Court of Justice."
The ICJ being almost as effective as the International Criminal Court...
The GCC ministers pledged their "full support to the UAE in all actions it takes to regain its rights and sovereignty over the three islands." Ahmadinejad's visit to Abu Mousa would not change historical and legal facts that affirm the UAE's sovereignty over them, they added.

The UAE has summoned Iran's ambassador to Abu Dhabi to denounce Ahmadinejad's visit to Abu Musa. UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahayan warned on Monday that if left unresolved, the issue "could jeopardize international security and peace."
You and what company of Marines? Wait, let me rephrase that...
This was followed by a warning from Ahmadinejad who said Tuesday that Iran will respond with force to any threats to its territorial integrity.

"The armed forces and the army will inflict heavy regret and shame in case of any aggression against Iranian lands and interests," Ahmadinejad said, adding that Iran "is ready to protect its existence and sovereignty."
Posted by: Steve White || 04/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336073 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Moud is warning them back.

OWG SHIA-LED CALIPHATE, "NEO-PERSIANISM", + KEEPING/ISOLATING THE USN'S NIMITZ-CLASS + GATOR NAVY TO THE SEA OF OMAN = "SHAPING THE BATTLEFIELD".

Iran is counting on the major Muslim nations of the ME, includ Turkey + Afghanistan, to NOT allow their territories to be used by the US-Allies to launch anti-NucProg air strikes and espec any full-scale ground invasion of Iran.
INVERSELY, IRAN IS COUNTING ON SAME TO ALLOW THEIR TERRITORIES TO BE USED IN WAGING REGIONAL OR TRANS-REGIONAL, "DEFENSIVE", [Nuclear = Nukes-WMDS?]"GUERILLA/PEOPLE'S WAR" AFTER A "ZIONIST-CRUSADER-INFIDEL-IMPERIALIST" LED GROUND INVASION DOES OCCUR.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 04/18/2012 2:13 Comments || Top||

#2  DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > US SIDES WID UAE ON ISLAND ISSUE | AFP:US SYMPATHIZES WID UAE ON IRAN ISLAND RIFT.

ARTIC > ABU MUSA Island(s) = controls the access/entrance to the Oil-Rich Persian Gulf, IRAN NOW DE FACTO CONTROLS ABU MUSA DESPITE HISTORICAL SET-UP OF IRAN-UAE JOINT ADMNISTRATION.

Exclusive of the on-going Saudi-Iranian rivalry for Regional, Islamic, + Caliphate domination, SHI IRANIAN CONTROL OF THE INNER PERSIAN GULF + SYRIA-LEBANON CORRIDOR TO THE MEDITERR, WHERE IRAN HOPES TO ESTABLISH A PERMANENT AIR-SEA MIL PRESENCE, GIVES SHIA IRAN THE GEOSTRATEGIC EDGE OER SUNNI SAUDIS.

As Defenders-Protectors of the Islamic/Muslim Holy Places, the Sunni Saudis will be all but forced to engage in a Conventional + Nuclear Arms Race vee aggressive Shia Iran.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 04/18/2012 23:35 Comments || Top||


Yemen Considers International Sanctions Against Army Commanders
[Yemen Post] Yemen is considering all options including the use of force and notifying the UN Security Council to take necessary measures as army chiefs are still refusing to leave posts and hand over to their successors appointed by President Hadi, Akhbar al-Youm newspaper reported on Tuesday, quoting a military source.

"The Military Committee, formed under a power transfer deal signed after turmoil in 2011, is considering all options to make army chiefs respect the decrees issued by Hadi, in a move which comes after a 48-hour deadline for them expired," the source said, according to the paper.

"The Committee can speak to the ten countries sponsoring the power transfer deal and the Security Council to punish these commanders and to impose sanctions on others who were behind their rebellion including figures in the General People's Congress Party," the source continued.

Half-brother of ex-president, Muhammad Saleh, ex-commander of the Air Force and nephew of ex-president, Tariq Saleh, ex-commander of the armored brigade 3rd, are refusing to leave their posts.

Earlier, Hadi warned to strip them of their ranks and refer them to a military court, but the commanders turned a deaf ear to the warning and are now continuing their rebellion.

Ignoring the presidential decrees, which come within the restructuring of the armed forces, was described as a crime, with the Committee saying Hadi is the president and can make suitable decisions over the issue.

When some commanders started to resist their firing, some of the countries sponsoring the power transfer deal, threatened to sanction those trying to hinder the implementation of the deal and the UN resolution 2014.

The deal and the resolution were formulated last year to help Yemen overcome its crisis and encourage political reconciliation amid the Arab Spring shaking the region.

Posted by: Fred || 04/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336082 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Abducted Swiss Facing Deteriorating Health
[Yemen Post] A tribal elder revealed that the health condition of the Swiss teacher, who was kidnapped in western Yemen in mid-March, has tanked.

"She has started to suffer from mental problems due to the continuous abduction and the slowness of Yemeni and Swiss authorities in getting her freed," the elder said, according to sources.

The source quoted Ali Abdula Salam, known as Mulla Zabara, as saying al-Qaeda forces of Evil were behind the abductions of the Swiss woman and the Saudi consul. The consul was kidnapped while leaving his house in Aden on March 28.

"I have offered to give them my car and more than 200 livestock to free the Swiss woman but the abductors refused," he was quoted as saying.

Last month, the abductors demanded to release relatives held by the authorities in return for the release of the Swiss.

The elder also revealed the Saudi consul, al-Khalidi, who was kidnapped at his house in the al-Masnoura district, Aden, on March 28, is being held by al-Qaeda forces of Evil in Shabwa.

"But I don't have an idea about the demands of the abductors of the consul to release him," he said, according to the source.

The elder said al-Qaeda forces of Evil have controlled all towns in Shabwa except the capital Ataq and that the forces of Evil who were maimed in raging battles with the forces and popular fighters in Abyan recently are receiving health care in the Azzan area.

In mid-2011, al-Qaeda seized two towns in Abyan province including the capital Zinjibar. The forces of Evil have been fighting the forces since then and recently they have planned to expand their presence through attempts to occupy other towns in Abyan and nearby provinces.

With direct support from the US, the Yemeni forces are fighting the forces of Evil and more recently hundreds of forces of Evil were killed and injured in the Lawder city, Abyan.

Posted by: Fred || 04/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336069 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia


Yemen: Official Warns of Assassinations in months to Come
[Yemen Post] A senior Defense Ministry official told Yemen Post that the worst is still ahead of Yemen and political liquidations, random attacks, roadblocks, and looting, are still expected to take place later in the year. He said that the more former President-for-Life Saleh
... exemplifying the Arab's propensity to combine brutality with incompetence...
feels weakened the more the time of random attacks and liquidations will near.

"Saleh will not let go of power easily. Though President Hadi is attempting to cut off the wings of Saleh aides, a time will come when Saleh will attempt to bring down the building of change and hope in Yemen," the official told Yemen Post.
Posted by: Fred || 04/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336069 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Saba calls off Hadi's congratulation to Al-Assad
[Yemen Post] The Yemeni News Agency(Saba) has cancelled on Tuesday a news story about a congratulation cable of President Abdu Rabo Mansour Hadi to the Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Leveler of Latakia...
on the 66th anniversary of Syria's Independent Day.

The news story that angered many Yemeni people, in particular those protesters who took to streets against the regime of 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...
was called off two hours after it was published.

Yemen analysts said that the news story aimed to affect Yemeni relationships with the neighboring Gulf States and the United States and the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
s States that seek to oust Al-Assad regime.

Meanwhile,
...back at the pie fight, Bella opened her mouth at precisely the wrong moment...
a source of the Presidency Office denied that Hadi sent a congratulation cable to Al-Assad, pointing out that Secretary-General of the Presidency Office Abdul-Hadi Al-Hamdani who is close to Saleh was behind the news story.

A source of Saba told Aden Online that the agency received the news story from Hadi's media secretary, Yahya Al-Arasi, pointing out that the agency publishes any news sent from Hadi's office without any amendments.

The source said Al-Arasi belongs to the Alawite Sect in Yemen and he sympathizes with Al-Aassad regime, pointing out that his tends could affect on Hadi'ss regional and international reputation.

"While Yemeni protesters, politicians and activists demand to expel the Syrian Ambassador from Yemen, Hadi's assistant has strong relations with Alawite groups" he added.

According to the source, Al-Arasi had invited journalists to attend a seminar titled (the Esmaili Sect as a model to equal citizenship) and that the seminar was postponed to unknown reasons, pointing out that he also has kinship relationship with the Houthi
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates....
family in Saada.

Posted by: Fred || 04/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336074 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Britain
Britain's Lord Nazir denies bounty offer for Obama capture
[Dawn] A British politician on Tuesday denied offering a 10 million pound reward for the capture of US President Barack Obama,
I don't sit around just talking to experts because this is a college seminar, we talk to these folks because they potentially have the best answers, so I know whose ass to kick...
an allegation reported then later retracted by Pakistain's Express Tribune newspaper.

Nazir Ahmed, a member of parliament's upper chamber and a long-time member of Britannia's opposition Labour party, said he was deliberately misquoted during a recent speech in an effort by political enemies in Pakistain to discredit him.

"I never mentioned Obama and I never mentioned a bounty. I do not support terrorism and would never urge anybody to attack someone or capture someone," Ahmed, who was suspended by the Labour party pending an investigation, told Rooters.

The newspaper on Tuesday said Ahmed did not say the word "bounty" or Obama's name and that its earlier story was incorrect.

Ahmed told Rooters last week that he would be ready to help raise money for the prosecution of former US President George Bush and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair for what he considered war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan.

His comments were in response to a US $10 million reward announced earlier this month for help in the arrest of Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, who is suspected of criminal masterminding attacks in India.
Posted by: Fred || 04/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336071 views] Top|| File under: Global Jihad

#1  Nazir Ahmed: No, the bounty was on Bush. Bush, not Obama.

Labor Party: Oh, that's okay then. Carry on.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 04/18/2012 10:29 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Possible Russian Responses to an Attack on Iran
Posted by: Chique Unock2033 || 04/18/2012 12:25 || Comments || Link || [336080 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Persian mil histoire' says "spillover" is all but absolutely guaranteed - in the post-Cold War, post-modern era, the Mad Mullahs are counting on it.

They've been saying it since the POTUS Clinton/Billary era - NOT JUST "VIETNAM" REDUX, BUT A "NUCLEAR" "VIETNAM".
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 04/18/2012 20:13 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
Pudgy 'Keen on Economic Reform'
Hints are emerging from the black box that is the North Korean regime that leader Suet Face Kim Jong-un aims for some economic liberalization, the Mainichi Shimbun reported Tuesday.
Spending a billion dollars you don't have on a missile that doesn't work will make you do things you ordinarily wouldn't do...
Everyone knows economic liberalization means the peasants magically produce more without being given more food or raw materials. Who would be against such a thing?
"Economic liberalization" starts at the top, Fatso. Don't let the door hit you on the way out!
According to a record of Kim's statements dated Jan. 28 and obtained by the Japanese daily from a North Korean Workers Party official, Kim said, "When it comes to the economy, officials and economists are reluctant to voice their opinions because they are often met with bias and criticism that they are trying to introduce capitalist methods when they suggest some economic measures."

The paper said the statement suggests he is aware that experts are afraid to speak out and is willing to permit more discussion of economic reforms. The party official quoted Kim as calling the introduction of "excellent" measures that can be adopted, "whether they are from China, Russia or Japan."

Kim added, "Factories and companies are not operating sufficiently, and this leads to shortage of necessities for the people, causing inconveniences for them in daily life." By guaranteeing better material supplies and a cultural life, Kim said the state would enable people to extol the Workers Party honestly.

The daily speculated that Kim is anxious about the country's economic crisis and therefore likely to carry out radical economic reform in the near future. Kim went to school abroad and is keen on international standards, it added. When he visited a military base recently, Kim ordered a basketball backboard, which was painted black, to be repainted in white, which is the usual color everywhere else.
Which proves he's interested in economic reform?
Reading the sheep's innards said the same thing...
Posted by: Steve White || 04/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336100 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Put another way, JONG-UN = DPRK/NORTH KOREA only has 11-14% of its export trade wid nations other than China, depending on whose Klakulator one follows. AGAIN, THE NEW SINO-DPRK FTAS IS ONLY GOING TO REDUCE FURTHER THE DPRK'S PERCENTAGE IN CHINA'S FAVOR.

Besides any new domestic "econ liberalization", he also needs to find ways to bring in more FDI to counter China.

Pudgy's + the DPRK's dilemma may be symbolized in ...

* WORLD NEWS > SOUTH KOREA: KOREAN RELIGIONS: NUCLEAR POWER WILL DESTROY US.

IMO the SOKORS sympathize + duly recognize the EVER-GROWING CHINESE THREAT TO NORTH KOREA, even iff SoKor Politicos are too PCorrect + Diplo-saavy to admit it.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 04/18/2012 1:59 Comments || Top||

#2  Kim ordered a basketball backboard, which was painted black, to be repainted in white

Naw, he's just a Rolling Stones fan. But being North Korean, he couldn't get that quite right either.
Posted by: Gabby Cussworth || 04/18/2012 18:13 Comments || Top||

#3  Kim ordered a basketball backboard, which was painted black, to be repainted in white

Black being hard to see during midnight basketball...
Posted by: Pappy || 04/18/2012 18:17 Comments || Top||

#4  The SINS of the Fathers.... Now, if serious, you see what it feels like to want to help a people with a solid political class that may be against you. Maybe this is a step up. Brand new Leader and maybe he wants to alleviate problems.

I would give him his power play, if he liberalized a tad. Who knows, maybe he is listening.
Even that idiot marx knew he needed an economic engine, Keynes too. The ones who did not were your Grandpoo, Mao, and Obama.
Posted by: newc || 04/18/2012 22:36 Comments || Top||


N.Korea Scraps Deal with U.S.
Darn, and it was going so well...
North Korea said Tuesday it is no longer bound by a Feb. 29 agreement with the U.S. pledging to halt missile and nuclear arms development in exchange for food aid.

"Since the U.S. violated the Feb. 29 agreement with its undisguised hostile acts, we will no longer be bound to it," North Korea's Foreign Ministry said. "The U.S. will be held wholly accountable for all the ensuing consequences," it added.

A government source here said the comments hint at an imminent nuclear test by the North. Pyongyang agreed on Feb. 29 to halt uranium enrichment and allow IAEA inspectors to return.

The North issued the statement a day after the UN Security Council "strongly condemned" the North for launching what it claims was a space rocket on Friday and tightened sanctions. Pyongyang accused the U.S. of abusing its position as the chair of the UNSC to deny Pyongyang's right to develop its defense and civilian space programs.

"We have therefore become able to take the necessary retaliatory measures free from the agreement," the statement said. "We resolutely and totally reject the unreasonable behavior of the UN Security Council to violate [North Korea's] legitimate right to launch satellites. We will expand and strengthen space development institutions and continue launching a variety of working satellites needed for the economic development of the country."

Meanwhile, U.S. Pacific Commander Adm. Samuel Locklear told South Korean reporters on Tuesday that Seoul and Washington are looking at "all options" to prevent further provocations from North Korea. Asked about the possibility of a "surgical strike" against North Korean nuclear facilities, Locklear said, "I can tell you that with the alliance we are potentially looking at all options."

Regarding what looked like a long-range missile unveiled during North Korea's military parade over the weekend, Locklear said he was not sure whether it was a functional missile or just a mock up.
Posted by: Steve White || 04/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336086 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Read, THE NOKORS WANT MORE FOOD ETC.

At last check, CHINA doesn't want to give them any more food aid than at present, + also doesn't want to care for any NoKor Refugees that come over the border. SEEMINGLY BY DEFAULT, JONG-UN, LIKE LATE BIG DADDY JONG-IL BEFORE HIM, IS LEFT WID THE US-ALLIES + UNO TO FEED THE MASSES WHILE CHINA STEADILY INCREASES ITS INFLUENCE + CONTROL VEE THE SINO-DPRK FTAS.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 04/18/2012 0:48 Comments || Top||

#2  WORLD NEWS > NORTH KOREA TO PUSH FOR NEW ROCKET LAUNCH.

PLUs the Nuke Test.

You knew they would.

* SAME > EXPERTS SAY CHINA IGNORED UN SANCTIONS AND GAVE NORTH KOREA ROCKET LAUNCHER.

Read, TAIWAN + "FIRST ISLAND CHAIN".

E.g. MARIANAS VARIETY > repors that the Family of dead Chinese Fisherman is demanding that the PALAU/BELAU GOVT. compensate them for the death due to use of "excessive force". PALAU'S PRESIDENT HAD REPOR CLAIMED THAT THE DETAINED CHINESE FISHERMEN [22 ea.] MAY HAD DESTROYED ANY HARD OR REAL EVIDENCE OF THEIR ILLEGAL SPYING OR FISHING IN PALAU'S WATERS???

* INDIAN DEFENCE FORUM > US TOUGHENS NORTH KOREA SANCTIONS AFTER ROCKET LAUNCH. Warns more Sanctions to be forthcoming iff the DPRK proceeds wid alleged third nuclear test.

* SAME > CHINA [+ other World Powers] READY FOR "MORE CONSEQUENCES"[new provocations?] FOR NORTH KOREA: CLINTON. SecState Hillary.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 04/18/2012 1:46 Comments || Top||

#3  "Since the U.S. violated the Feb. 29 agreement with its undisguised hostile acts, we will no longer be bound to it," North Korea's Foreign Ministry said.

IOW: We're going to continue to do what we were already doing, and would have continued to do all along, just without all the smoke, mirrors, and pesky formalities. And bonus food aid.
Posted by: gorb || 04/18/2012 3:19 Comments || Top||

#4  Nicely engineered to make it America to blame for forthcoming nuclear tests; could nork experience a national wide test malfunction?
Posted by: Bill Schwarzeneggar1358 || 04/18/2012 5:17 Comments || Top||

#5  This isn't "nicely engineered" at all. This is nothing more than typical dictator, progressive bull$hit. Anything can be spun to put the blame on the US or West no matter what we do.

The only response is to grow a pair and say "OK, no soup for you" and then cut off any contacts. Don't try and teach a pig to dance.......
Posted by: AlanC || 04/18/2012 8:50 Comments || Top||

#6  for 70 years this one trick pony has been using the same "sea of fire" and "running dog Imperialist lackey" rhetoric to cajole things from the west, all the while running a gulag state that is akin to the Nazi's. Counterfiting, drug running, technology theft, kidnapping, and arms sales to Iran have kept the Kim's in luxury and fed their army, while millions have starved. The average NORK kid is 3-4 inches shorter that his cousin in the south, and often literally stupid as a result of malnutrition. And over and over, the US and its allies keep hoping that this time there will be cheese at the end of the same old tunnel. Stop talking to them, and every time one of their crappy freighters heads out of port, somehow it needs to sink. They will get the message. If they can't feed the army, poof, bye bye, and the two-fer would be if it forces the ChiCOMS to feed them.
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 04/18/2012 12:52 Comments || Top||

#7  UNEXPECTEDLY!
Posted by: mojo || 04/18/2012 13:09 Comments || Top||

#8  More this Guam AM ...

* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > CHINA ENDORSES STRONG UN STATEMENT AGZ NORTH KOREA.

* SAME > US CONSIDERS SURGICAL STRIKES AGZ NORTH KOREAN NUCLEAR SITES | "ALL OPTIONS" OPEN AGZ NORTH KOREA, SAYS US MILITARY.

Airsrikes, etc. won't occur unless Beijing + Russia give their consent, andor CHINA is in charge of the AirOps = UN Coalition, NOT THE US???

versus

* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > TOKYO: JAPAN WILL BUY DISPUTED ISLANDS [Japan Senkakus = Chinese Daoyus/Daoyutai], GOVERNOR SAYS.

But-t-t, Tokyo wants to buy it from its private JAPANESE OWNERS, NOT FROM CHINA.

* TOPIX > NODA: NATIONALIZATION OF SENKAKUS IS AN OPTION.

* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS> CHINA DECRIES TOKYO-HATCHED PLAN TO BUY DISPUTED ISLANDS.

* SAME > DAOYUTAI'S OWNERS: CHINA BID/OFFERED US$430.0MILYUHN [Yen$35.0Bilyuhn] FOR DAOYUTAIS.

* CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > TAIWAN TELLS TOKYO MAYOR: DAOYUTAI [Japan = Senkakus] BELONGS TO CHINA.

* SAME > CHINESE SHIP, PLANE BREAK [Scarborough/
CHIN Huangyan = PHIL Panatag]SHOAL STALEMATE | CHINESE WARSHIP RETURNS TO DISPUTED SHOAL.

* TOPIX > CHINA ASKS PHILIPPINES TO WITHDRAW SHIP [any + all PHIL Vessels] FROM SHOAL. Beijing = China is all but ignoring Manila's pro-Diplomacy diatribe or offers to compromise.

* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > PHILIPPINES CHALLENGES CHINA TO GO TO UN COURT TO END SPRATLYS DISPUTE |
.... .... TO JOIN [UN]SEA TRIBUNAL TO END SEA SPAT.

See below.

* TOPIX > CHINA REJECTS PHILIPPINE [UN]MEDIATION OFFER; + CHINA AGAIN REJECTS PHILIPPINES CLAIMS OF SOVEREIGNTY ON DISPUTED SHOAL, + Spratlys etc. in general.

VARIOUS BLOGGERS = see the latest outcome of the Huangyan/Panatag dispute as a VICTORY FOR CHINA.

China will continue putting its foot down vee the SCS unless it starts seeing the love from the US + Taiwan ala FORMAL PRC-TAIWAN REUNIFICATION.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 04/18/2012 23:19 Comments || Top||

#9  More this Guam AM ...

* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > CHINA ENDORSES STRONG UN STATEMENT AGZ NORTH KOREA.

* SAME > US CONSIDERS SURGICAL STRIKES AGZ NORTH KOREAN NUCLEAR SITES | "ALL OPTIONS" OPEN AGZ NORTH KOREA, SAYS US MILITARY.

Airsrikes, etc. won't occur unless Beijing + Russia give their consent, andor CHINA is in charge of the AirOps = UN Coalition, NOT THE US???

versus

* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > TOKYO: JAPAN WILL BUY DISPUTED ISLANDS [Japan Senkakus = Chinese Daoyus/Daoyutai], GOVERNOR SAYS.

But-t-t, Tokyo wants to buy it from its private JAPANESE OWNERS, NOT FROM CHINA.

* TOPIX > NODA: NATIONALIZATION OF SENKAKUS IS AN OPTION.

* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS> CHINA DECRIES TOKYO-HATCHED PLAN TO BUY DISPUTED ISLANDS.

* SAME > DAOYUTAI'S OWNERS: CHINA BID/OFFERED US$430.0MILYUHN [Yen$35.0Bilyuhn] FOR DAOYUTAIS.

* CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > TAIWAN TELLS TOKYO MAYOR: DAOYUTAI [Japan = Senkakus] BELONGS TO CHINA.

* SAME > CHINESE SHIP, PLANE BREAK [Scarborough/
CHIN Huangyan = PHIL Panatag]SHOAL STALEMATE | CHINESE WARSHIP RETURNS TO DISPUTED SHOAL.

* TOPIX > CHINA ASKS PHILIPPINES TO WITHDRAW SHIP [any + all PHIL Vessels] FROM SHOAL. Beijing = China is all but ignoring Manila's pro-Diplomacy diatribe or offers to compromise.

* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > PHILIPPINES CHALLENGES CHINA TO GO TO UN COURT TO END SPRATLYS DISPUTE |
.... .... TO JOIN [UN]SEA TRIBUNAL TO END SEA SPAT.

See below.

* TOPIX > CHINA REJECTS PHILIPPINE [UN]MEDIATION OFFER; + CHINA AGAIN REJECTS PHILIPPINES CLAIMS OF SOVEREIGNTY ON DISPUTED SHOAL, + Spratlys etc. in general.

VARIOUS BLOGGERS = see the latest outcome of the Huangyan/Panatag dispute as a VICTORY FOR CHINA.

China will continue putting its foot down vee the SCS unless it starts seeing the love from the US + Taiwan ala FORMAL PRC-TAIWAN REUNIFICATION.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 04/18/2012 23:20 Comments || Top||


Europe
US Muslim: I was tortured at FBI's behest in UAE
A Muslim American seeking asylum in Sweden claimed Wednesday he was detained at the U.S. government's request while in the United Arab Emirates last summer, tortured in custody and interrogated about the activities of a Portland, Oregon, mosque.

Yonas Fikre told a news conference Wednesday that he was held for 106 days and was beaten, threatened with death and kept in solitary confinement in a frigid cell.

The 33-year-old, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Eritrea, says he had attended the same mosque in Portland as a man who has been charged in a plot to detonate a bomb in the northwestern U.S. city. He moved to Sudan in 2009 and later to the United Arab Emirates. He went to Sweden, where he has relatives, after being released from detention on Sept. 15.

Fikre, who converted to Islam in 2003, is the third Muslim man from Portland to publicly say he was detained while traveling abroad and questioned about Portland's Masjid-as-Sabr mosque. Mohamed Osman Mohamud, a Somali American who is awaiting trial on a charge of plotting to set off a bomb in downtown Portland in November 2010, occasionally worshipped there.
Back when he was 19, the FBI helped him get the supplies he needed to make a bomb to blow up the Christmas tree lighting. They arrested him moments after his cell phone failed to set the thing off.
A decade ago, seven Muslims with ties to the mosque were arrested following a failed effort to enter Afghanistan and fight U.S. forces.
This article starring:
Masjid-as-Sabr mosque
Mohamed Osman Mohamud
Posted by: tipper || 04/18/2012 13:47 || Comments || Link || [336069 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "They turned me into a newt!"
Posted by: SteveS || 04/18/2012 14:18 Comments || Top||

#2  lol SteveS! - that's the first thing that came to my mind as well :-)
Posted by: Frank G || 04/18/2012 14:22 Comments || Top||

#3  Nah, the first thing that came to mind was "But I got better."
Posted by: AlanC || 04/18/2012 14:33 Comments || Top||

#4  Since it was in the al queda playbook to claim abuse and torture...

If I were Sweden I'd hand him over to the US for a full investigation.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 04/18/2012 14:41 Comments || Top||

#5  I prefer the Swedes keep him...
Posted by: Steve White || 04/18/2012 15:06 Comments || Top||

#6  Heh. Great minds, and all that, Frank.

Hey, what's that Arabic word that means "lying like a rug whenever infidels are involved"?
Posted by: SteveS || 04/18/2012 15:12 Comments || Top||

#7  Hey, what's that Arabic word that means "lying like a rug whenever infidels are involved"?

See here. There's taqqiyah, which is saying that which is untrue, and kitman, which is lying by omitting the critical part of the truth. Does anyne remember the other kind of permitted lying? Something like tarawi or tawari...
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/18/2012 16:07 Comments || Top||

#8  You had finished your "interview" with the FBI. Then Brenda Lee Johnson said she had no further questions for you.

But your communique with the "peaceful" islamists was impressive. 2LT down.

You should have pleded in the US in that matter. Puss
Posted by: newc || 04/18/2012 21:56 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Gen. Mike Flynn nominated to head up "Silver Bullet" (DIA)
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/18/2012 13:45 || Comments || Link || [336093 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So what's the dope on this guy? Pardon my paranoia, but the fact that he was appointed by B-HO makes me...suspicious.
Posted by: SteveS || 04/18/2012 14:20 Comments || Top||

#2  Well, let's go there. This is Defense Intelligence. At around 8 min in this video, he states vision.

Rocky Shoals outlines what we know. It does not outline cigar chomping anything or backroom billiards. But it is
- I just don't know. And the others say little too.

Whatever it means in my eyes is I do not trust the head of this fish. It does not mean this could not be a good appointment. Looks Technically endowed. But I don't know shit.

Ferris? Anyone?
Posted by: newc || 04/18/2012 22:04 Comments || Top||


Trial looms for Somali accused of being land-based negotiator in US
[Shabelle] The trial of a Somali man U.S. authorities consider the highest-ranking pirate they have ever captured will begin this week in Virginia under a cloud of uncertainty about what the definition of piracy is.
Probably the same people who are still unsure about defining terrorism...
Mohammad Saaili Shibin is charged with piracy and a host of other charges for his role in the 2011 hijacking of an American yacht off the coast ofAfricain which all four passengers on board were shot and killed.

The owners of the Quest, Jean and Scott Adam of Marina del Rey,Calif., along with friends Bob Riggle and Phyllis Macay ofSeattle, were the firstU.S.citizens killed in pirate attacks that have plagued the Gulf of Aden andIndian Oceandespite regular international patrols by warships.

Negotiations with the U.S. Navy were under way when shots were fired aboard the yacht. The Navy had agreed to let the pirates take the yacht in exchange for the hostages, but court documents say the men didn't think they would get the amount of money they had sought from the exchange. Hostages are typically ransomed for millions of dollars.

Shibin's case is unique from the 14 others who were charged in the case because he had never set foot onboard the sailboat, calling into question whether he can be considered a pirate, according to his attorney.

At issue is whether piracy is legally defined as committing robbery at sea or whether it entails a broader definition that can entail simply attacking a ship or facilitating that attack.U.S.law says piracy is defined by 'the law of nations' and what that definition is, as well as who defines it, is at the heart of the dispute.

Prosecutors acknowledge Shibin didn't board the Quest, but they say he acted as a land-based hostage negotiator who researched the victims using online search engines to determine what ransom to seek. He was incarcerated insideSomaliaby the FBI after being turned over by Somali troops.

Of the 14 others, who were all captured at sea by theU.S.military, 11 have been sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to piracy. Three others await trial on murder and other death-penalty eligible charges.

Jury selection in Shibin's case is scheduled to open Tuesday morning and opening arguments could be heard later that day. But it's unclear whether a jury will ever get to decide whether Shibin is guilty of piracy.

That's because U.S. District Judge Robert Doumar has been seeking guidance from a federal appeals court on what the legal definition of piracy is in another case before deciding whether the piracy charges against Shibin should be dismissed. He also wrote Monday that he wanted to hear the facts of the case during trial before making his decision.

At issue is whether piracy is defined solely as robbery at sea or whether a broader definition applies. Federal judges inNorfolkhave issued two different rulings in two separate cases involving attacks on U.S. Navy ships.

The 4th U.S. District Court of Appeals heard verbal arguments on the definition of piracy in September, but has not indicated when it might rule. The ruling, or lack thereof, will likely have a significant affect on Doumar's decision on whether to dismiss the piracy charges as well as what his instructions to the jury will be if charges are not dismissed. Regardless, Shibin still faces weapons, hostage-taking and kidnapping charges, among others.

Shibin is also charged with piracy in the 2010 hijacking of a German merchant vessel. Prosecutors say Shibin earned between $30,000 and $50,000 for his role in securing an estimated multimillion-dollar ransom for the ship's release.

If convicted of piracy in either hijacking he faces a mandatory life sentence. Shibin attorney James Broccoletti contends that because Shibin didn't board and rob the ships that he can't be convicted of piracy. Without a ruling from the appeals court, Broccoletti said he would continue to pursue that line of defense.

"Everyone anticipated that the court would have ruled by now, so we're still in a holding pattern. We still have another two weeks to go before the jury gets the case. I'm going to try the case based on the instructions I've submitted," he said.

In prosecutors' proposed jury instructions, they contend that inciting or intentionally facilitating an act of violence against another ship at sea is enough to result in a guilty plea.

Through a front man, U.S. Attorney Neil MacBride declined to comment Monday.
Posted by: Fred || 04/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336067 views] Top|| File under: Pirates


India-Pakistan
Tried to prevent Mumbai attacks, but US authorities didn't bother: David Headley's ex-wife
The estranged wife of admitted Pakistani American terrorist David Coleman Headley claims she tried to prevent the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack by going to US authorities abroad, but they did not bother.

"So I went to them and I then started saying all sorts of crazy stuff, I said he's going to bomb everything, he's a criminal. They didn't bother," Faiza Outalha was quoted as saying by Chicago's WLS-TV/DT.

Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative Headley, who has confessed to his role in scouting targets for the Mumbai in a plea deal with the US government was an avowed terrorist when he married Outalha, according to the television station that tracked her to Morocco.

"I'm covering my face right now, yes, because I'm afraid that people really could look at, see my face and pursue me or come and try to harm me," she was quoted as saying.

"It was love at first sight, you know, and we just married and, you know, it was so quick," Outalha said. "He betrayed me in every way, many lies, he's been lying to me, I mean the marriage, he fooled me to this marriage."

Headley, alias Daood Gilani, claims he worked with officials from Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) agency to survey attack sites in India, even while on a Mumbai honeymoon with his new wife.

Indian authorities have sent a formal request to Morocco to hand over Outalha in the continuing investigation of the Mumbai attacks. If she cooperates, they hope that Outalha will offer information about the LeT founder and leader Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, for whose successful prosecution US announced a $10 million bounty two weeks ago, WLS-TV said.
This article starring:
Daood Gilani
David Coleman Headley
Faiza Outalha
Hafiz Mohammad Saeed
Posted by: tipper || 04/18/2012 04:09 || Comments || Link || [336085 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Typical Muzlim, her only concern is for her own skin even though this is her pigshit husband.
Posted by: Bill Schwarzeneggar1358 || 04/18/2012 4:46 Comments || Top||

#2  Not surprising. State Department employees at embassies abroad are openly contemptuous of everyone but their counterparts at foreign governments.
Posted by: gromky || 04/18/2012 5:52 Comments || Top||

#3  Where is Retief when we need him.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 04/18/2012 6:07 Comments || Top||

#4  How's she concerned for her own skin? The article is all about her concern for the victims of the Mumbai attacks.
Posted by: gromky || 04/18/2012 6:16 Comments || Top||

#5  NOW she's concerned.

She wasn't so concerned back then. You know, before the kabooms.
Posted by: Steve White || 04/18/2012 10:46 Comments || Top||

#6  She was concerned enough to go to the Americans to tell them about it. So was the Pantibomber's father. Neither was able to communicate the urgency to the State Department people they spoke with
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/18/2012 11:50 Comments || Top||

#7  I stand corrected. Question is then what she knew and why they dismissed her.
Posted by: Steve White || 04/18/2012 13:24 Comments || Top||

#8  tried to prevent the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack by going to US authorities abroad

Sounds like the tried to do the right thing to me. Why not save the vitriol for, you know, the guys who did the killing, instead of the woman who tried to stop them?
Posted by: Secret Master || 04/18/2012 15:41 Comments || Top||

#9  Not able to communicate the urgency? Bah! More like she wasn't even allowed to see a U.S. citizen and had to tell her tale to a local employee. Have any of you ever *actually been* to an American consulate abroad? They have separate entrances for supplicants and Bwanahs. If you're a local and not even a U.S. citizen, forget it. The State Department's job - as they view it - is government-to-government relations. Fuck anyone else.
Posted by: gromky || 04/18/2012 16:02 Comments || Top||

#10  *** cough *** cough **** cough **** ....

D *** NGED AM CHOCOLATE COCONUT DONUT BAR.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 04/18/2012 20:15 Comments || Top||


Intelligence agencies say they warned of Bannu jail attack
[Dawn] Pakistain's intelligence services warned the government three months ago about a possible attack on a prison in the restive northwest that was raided at the weekend, officials said Tuesday.

On Sunday nearly 400 prisoners, including jihad boys, beat feet from a jail outside the town of Bannu after an attack by cut-throats armed with guns, grenades and rockets.

The intelligence information was conveyed to the government through a letter dated January 5, 2012, a copy of which was seen by AFP.

The letter identified Bannu jail as a target, along with the Pakistain Air Force base in the northwestern garrison town of Kohat, the Kohat cantonment and a cop shoppe.

"The intelligence information about the possible attacks was shared with the government in January 2012," a senior intelligence official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

More than 150 heavily-armed faceless myrmidons stormed the prison where Taliban and al Qaeda linked faceless myrmidons have carved out their stronghold.

Ehsanullah Ehsan, front man for the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) jihad boy group grabbed credit for the attack, which he said was launched to free some of their top members.

A former member of the air force sentenced to death for an attempt to assassinate former president Pervez Perv Musharraf
... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ...
was among the beat feet jihad boys, he said.

Adnan Rasheed was convicted after a bomb planted under a bridge in Rawalpindi near Islamabad in December 2003 went kaboom! moments after Musharraf's motorcade passed. His appeal is pending before the Supreme Court.

The intelligence official said Rasheed was the only high-profile jihad boy in the jail and the attackers were heard shouting his name after breaking in.

He said the government had also been warned of future attacks which would not be confined to the troubled northwest Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central...
province.

Another intelligence official said: "Intelligence agencies had intercepted that an attack on Bannu jail to free inmates was being planned. But the date and time of the attack was not known."

He also said Kohat air base, cantonment and Bannu jail had been identified as targets and that law enforcement agencies had been informed.
Posted by: Fred || 04/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336080 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  The warning gave them time to move more prisoners in so they could be sprung.
Posted by: Glenmore || 04/18/2012 6:10 Comments || Top||


Fazl, Shahbaz push for prioritisation of Kashmir cause
Jamaat-e-Ulema-Islam (JUI-F) Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman
Deobandi holy man, known as Mullah Diesel during the war against the Soviets, his sympathies for the Taliban have never been tempered by honesty ...
on Tuesday said that due to Pakistain's decade long history of making poor policies, our security forces have been stuck on the country's western borders, DawnNews reported.

Fazlur Rehman, along with the Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif, attended the meeting of the Kashmire committee in Lahore.

Fazl said only stable and strong Pakistain can solve the Kashmire issue

"Kashmire was once an essential part of the country's foreign policy but now it is being neglected," the JUI-F chief said.

He said that his party wants the resolution of the issue through dialogue with the acknowledgment that both parties are equal.

India is building dams on the rivers which is hampering Pakistain's water-supply, Fazl added.

Moreover, he thanked Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif for hosting the meeting of the committee.

Sharif, while addressing the meeting, said that thousands of lives have been sacrificed for the Kashmire cause but now the issue has been put on the back-burner.

Despite the United Nation's resolutions, Kashmiris have been kept deprived of their right to self-determination, Sharif added.

"Pakistain would never withdraw its right on Kashmire," he added.
That was remarkably almost coherent.
Posted by: Fred || 04/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336067 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Jordanian parliament moves to ban Muslim Brotherhood party
In a Lower House session, Jordanian politicians voted to add an item to the country's draft political parties law forbidding the establishment of any political party on a 'religious basis.'

Jordan's parliament took legal measures on Monday to disqualify the Moslem Brüderbund's political party, the country's largest opposition movement.

In a Lower House session, 46 out of 83 Jordanian politicians voted to add an item in the country's draft political parties law forbidding the establishment of any political party on a "religious basis."

The measure would disqualify the Islamic Action Front
...Jordan's branch of the Moslem Brüderbund...
- the political branch of the Moslem Brüderbund and the country's largest political party - from taking part in upcoming parliamentary elections.

Islamists claim the amendment comes as "retaliation" for the Moslem Brüderbund's opposition to a proposed elections law observers say ensures the continued dominance of tribal regime loyalists over the legislative chamber.

"This is only the latest in a series of measures by deputies to limit the influence of political parties and any dissenting views in parliament and political life in general," Zaki Bani Rsheid, head of the IAF's politibureau, told DPA.

"We believe all Jordanian citizens - not only Islamists - should have the right to form a political party without conditions," he added.

Bani Rsheid vowed that Islamists would fight the legislation, which politicians are expected to approve on Tuesday, "with all legal and political means available."

The country's political parties law, which along with the elections law has been highlighted by Jordan's King Abdullah II as key to the country's reform process, also bans the establishment of parties on an "ethnic or sectarian basis."
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336072 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Gulf fund's problems highlight Syria aid challenge
Two weeks after their bold promise, Saudi Arabia and other wealthy Arab Gulf states have yet to start distributing money from a multimillion-dollar fund designed to prop up Syria's rebels and entice defections from President Bashar Assad's army, Syrian opposition members and international officials say.

The cash program was outlined this month at a conference in Istanbul, where representatives of the United States and more than 60 other nations met to strengthen Syria's opposition and increase pressure on the Assad regime. Hoping to crack Assad's support, Washington and its Arab partners seized on the plan as a path forward even as they disagreed on the idea of giving weapons to badly outgunned Syrian rebels.

But the fund's implementation is already beset by problem -- basically, how to get the money there and how to make sure it gets to the right people. There's no way to monitor where the money goes as the country veers toward civil war. Because the rebels hold no territory and struggle even to maintain communications among inside and outside Syria, there is no clear way to deliver the money.

The problems underscore the larger problem to providing aid of any kind to the Syrian rebellion. The Obama administration recently signed off on $12 million in enhanced communications, medical and other "nonlethal" assistance to the opposition, but it is unclear what goods are making their way into Syria and by what means.

Even the recipients are largely unknown, with American officials themselves saying they are still trying to get to know Syria's armed and political opposition better.
Posted by: tipper || 04/18/2012 03:33 || Comments || Link || [336076 views] Top|| File under:



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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

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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...



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