[REUTERS] Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi threatened on Sunday to take unspecified steps to "protect this nation" after violent demonstrations against his Moslem Brüderbund, using vague but severe language that the opposition said heralded a crackdown.
In remarks following festivities outside the Brotherhood's Cairo headquarters on Friday, Mursi warned that "necessary measures" would be taken against any politicians shown to be involved in what he described as violence and rioting.
"If I am forced to do what is required to protect this nation, then I will do it. And I fear that I might be on the verge of doing it," Mursi said in a statement. He did not elaborate.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Go for it, Big Guy.
We won't talk about arming people until the fighting actually gets going good. But where there is a market there is a profit.
And the nice thing is they will be killing EACH OTHER.
[An Nahar] The Egyptian state prosecutor decided on Sunday to extradite to Libya two former regime officials wanted on charges of corruption, a judicial source told Agence La Belle France Presse.
Former Libyan ambassador Ali Maria and and Mohammed Ibrahim, the brother of senior Qadaffy-era official Ahmed Ibrahim, were incarcerated Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! in Cairo on March 19 along with Muammar Qadaffy's ...who single-handedly turned a moderately prosperous kingdom into a dictator's fantasyland and was then murdered by his indignant subjects 42 years later... cousin Ahmed Qaddaf al-Dam.
The prosecutor general had ordered Qaddaf al-Dam enjugged Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! for 30 days pending investigations into "several charges."
The Libyan prosecutor's front man, Taha Baara, told AFP at the time that Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... had issued an international arrest warrant for Qaddaf al-Dam for "forging documents" while the other two were wanted for "financial crimes."
Egyptian prosecutor Talaat Abdallah decided to hand Maria and Ibrahim to the Egyptian branch of Interpol who would then extradite them to Libya, the judicial source said.
Abdullah took the decision after wrapping up the legal procedure for their extradition, the source added.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2013 00:00 ||
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[Egypt Independent] President Mohamed Morsy threatened Sunday that "whoever sticks his finger inside Egypt, I will cut it off."
"I can see a couple of fingers getting inside by nobodies who have no value in this world, thinking that money can make them men," Morsy went on in a remark that could have sexual connotations in Egyptian dialect, something that has raised criticism and led to a wave of jokes on social networking websites.
The remark came as part of the speech given by Morsy before the conference of the Initiative to Support Women's Rights and Freedoms Sunday. The speech addressed the aftermath of the Moqattam festivities between pro- and anti-Morsy protesters Friday, in which 200 people were maimed.
"For six months, they have wanted to scare people, and threaten them with bankruptcy and starvation, and nothing has happened. Egypt has not and will not go bankrupt or fall," he added.
He threatened, "The life of some is worth nothing compared to the interests of Egyptians, and I will take extraordinary measures if they do not beware."
"Events of violence and riot are foreign to us, and we denounce them, whatever their origin is," he added. "The attempts to strangle the country are a failure. I will not allow anyone to break the law, whether they are supporters or opponents."
Morsy addressed the attendants of the conference: "You'd be angry at me if I punished the media personalities who describe the opponents in the street, who practice violence, as revolutionaries and politicians. I've been patient so far."
The president described the attempts to show the state as weak of "failure." He stressed that "the state agencies are recovering and could deter any violator by law."
He warned that he would "take legal action against those involved in acts of violence, whether politicians or the media."
"Those who don't want to pay taxes incite a presenter to insult me and criticize me," Morsy said. "I do not have any objection to criticizing me, but when criticism affects our country, I will not forgive it."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
So now they're into sexualized amputation mythology, are they?
[Al Ahram] Salafist front charges Constitution Party founder Mohamed ElBaradei, Egyptian Popular Current founder Hamdeen Sabbahi of inciting violence against Muslim Brotherhood
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
a more credible complaint would be to accuse El Baradei of incitement to boredom
Posted by: lord garth ||
03/25/2013 5:28 Comments ||
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#2
I dunno. Potatohead was pretty chummy with Iran after his 'atomic hall monitor' stint.
[Al Ahram] Egypt's opposition umbrella group condemns Friday's violence at the Muslim Brotherhood's headquarters but maintains that it was the latter that initiated the country's cycle of violence
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[Bangla Daily Star] Opposition leader Khaleda Zia Three-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ... yesterday said the army would not play the role of "a silent spectator while people are getting killed" and that it would "play its role in due time".
She said members of the armed forces would not be picked for peacekeeping missions if there was unrest in Bangladesh. "But if there was no peace in Bangladesh, foreigners would then say that the army is not capable of maintaining peace in other countries."
Speaking at a rally at Matidahali intersection in Bogra on her way to Joypurhat, she said, "The army is a part of our country and therefore it has responsibilities towards it."
Citing police firing during the violence between February 28 and March 3, which left 18 people dead in Bogra and Joypurhat, the BNP chairperson said, "I thank the army personnel as they went out on the roads [of Bogra] on that day [March 3] but did not open fire on people like the police had done."
Khaleda said if necessary, the country would be crippled in order to oust the Sheikh Hasina ...Bangla dynastic politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Bangla Awami League since 1981. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She has once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide... -led "most autocratic, bloodthirsty, killer and most corrupt government".
She said her party would declare fresh agitation programmes today to oust the government as well as to "save the people of the country". The fresh agitation would start after March 26, she added.
She urged all to ensure success of the programmes through spontaneous participation.
The BNP chief said, "The prime minister must be brought to book and she [Hasina] must be made accountable for the killing of people and for the BDR carnage.
"She [Sheikh Hasina] thinks she will cling to power at any cost or flee. We are hearing many things ... we have all the documents related to your [Hasina] widespread corruption and killings ... where will you go? You will be tracked down in any corner of the globe and you will be put in the dock."
On Saturday afternoon, Khaleda left Dhaka on a two-day visit to Bogra and Joypurhat. She plans to visit the bereaved family members of people who died during the violence.
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03/25/2013 00:00 ||
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A T-shirt worn by a 3-year-old boy named Jihad has led to an unusual criminal trial in France that tests the limits of free speech and common sense in a nation increasingly uneasy with its growing Muslim population. On the front, the T-shirt said, I am a bomb. The back of it said, Jihad born Sept. 11.
The prosecution and the defense have both said the outcome is likely to set a legal precedent.
The case in Sorgues, a small town just north of Avignon, began Sept. 25 at an unlikely place: the Ramieres de Sorgues municipal nursery. While dressing the children after a lunch break, a teacher became alarmed about the T-shirt worn by Jihad.
Although Jihad was, in fact, born on Sept. 11, the teacher saw an outrageous reference to Islamic war and the Sept. 11 attacks. Concerned, she spoke with the principal, who also became upset and called in Jihads Moroccan-born mother, Bouchra Bagour.
Told of the indignation produced by her sons T-shirt, the single mother apologized for the trouble and said she had no intention of conveying a political message via her toddler. She said the shirt would be put away for good.
But the issue did not stop there. The principal wrote a report to school district authorities. A copy of the report landed on the desk of Sorgues Mayor Thierry Lagneau.
The mayor said in an interview that he regarded the T-shirt as a provocation, and immediately took action. Lagneau wrote a letter to the regions chief prosecutor asking for an investigation for possible criminal prosecution and a thorough probe by child welfare authorities to determine whether Bagour was a fit mother.
Before long, Bagour and her brother, Zeyad Bagour, were called in separately by national police and asked about their religious and political leanings.
The mother was interrogated for about an hour and released. Her brother, who had bought the shirt in Avignon and given it to Jihad, said he was kept in custody for four hours, including more than two hours in a holding cell. The brother's lawyer, Soliman Makouh, said, The questions were scandalous."
After the police investigation, no terror-related charges were brought. But the prosecutor did decide to charge Bagour and her brother with apology for crime, which under a 1981 French law carries a penalty of up to five years in prison and a $58,000 fine.
Zeyad Bagour said he didn't understand what all the fuss was about. He bought the T-shirt without thinking of any political message, he claimed.
The front already had the words I am a bomb printed on it, but he had understood that as an expression meaning I am a real looker.
As for the back, he said, he just wanted to put down his nephews name and date of birth. He recalled, I did it on a lark. It wasnt even meant as a joke.
For Lagneau, however, the T-shirt was more than a joke, it was a deliberate call to Islamic jihad. He hired a lawyer and joined the criminal prosecution, making the city what in French law is known as a civil party, claiming to have suffered from an alleged crime.
The mayor said, They knew very well what they were doing. There is no ambiguity possible.
At a four-hour trial on March 6, Deputy Prosecutor Olivier Couvignou also portrayed the shirt as a deliberate political message. He asked the judges to impose a fine of $4,000 on the brother and $1,300 on the mother.
Claude Avril, Lagneaus lawyer, asked for around the same amount but has since dropped the request to a symbolic 1, according to the mayor.
In the event of a conviction, the main punishment would be a criminal record that would make employment and probably put both Bouchra and Zeyad Bagour on watch lists in airports around the world.
Soliman and Bouchras lawyer argued that neither defendant was a militant and neither had intended to make a political message. They argued that the T-shirt was a private affair, and that it did not correspond to the legal definition of apology for crime.
After hearing the arguments, the court took the case under advisement and promised to hand down its verdict April 10.
Makouh accused the mayor of acting out of political interest, to win anti-immigrant voters in municipal elections scheduled next year. He said, This area is like Mississippi in the United States during the civil rights struggle."
#1
a teacher became alarmed about the T-shirt worn by Jihad.
That says it all, A TEACHER.
NO name, NO sex, NO religion, NOTHING.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/25/2013 10:06 Comments ||
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#2
This area is like Mississippi in the United States during the civil rights struggle."
No Makouh, that area is like any blue school where a 5 yr. old makes a picture of a gun.
I'm very rarely in agreement with the Muzzies in the EU and their drive to take over BUT the woman apologized and said never again to the shirt. It should have stopped there.
She was guilty of nothing more than air headedness in poor taste. This is typical of Eduliberal idiocy and lack of anything resembling adult common sense.
#7
When you call your child "Jihad" where car are being burnt or vandalized for not having a coran on the dash...well, you can cry me a river, bitch! Hopefully, they will relocate the child to more fit parents!
[Dawn] Pakistain's former military ruler Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... returned home on Sunday after more than four years in exile, defying a Taliban death threat and vowing to "save" the country at the risk of his life.
"I have come back home today. Where are those who used to say I would never come back?" the former dictator, who plans to stand in a historic May 11 general election, told members of his political party at Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... airport.
Hundreds of supporters had gathered at the airport, beating drums, dancing, waving green flags with pictures of Musharraf and Pakistain's founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah, and scattering rose petals.
"I don't get scared by anyone except Allah the Almighty... I have come back by putting my life in danger," Musharraf, who also faces a series of legal cases, told a gathering of his All Pakistain Mohammedan League.
"I have been ordered by my people to come back and save our Pakistain, even at the risk of my life. I want to tell all those who are making such threats that I have been blessed by Allah the Almighty."
Musharraf was forced to scrap plans to hold a public rally at Jinnah's mausoleum in Karachi after the Taliban threatened to send a squad of jacket wallahs to assassinate him.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2013 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... amir Syed Munawar Hassan ... The funny-looking Amir of the Pak Jamaat-e-Islami. He joined the National Students Federation (NSF), a lefty student body, and was elected its President in 1959. He came into contact with the Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba (IJT) Pakistan and studied the writings of Mawlana Syed Abul Ala Maududi, The Great Apostasizer. As a result, he joined IJT in 1960 and soon he was elected as President of its University of Karachi Unit and member of the Central Executive Council. He was Assistant Secretary General of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistain in 1992-93, and became Secretary General in 1993. After years of holding Qazi's camel he was named Amir when the old man stepped down in 2009... has said that failure of the two major parties to reach a consensus on caretaker prime minister shows the incompetence of their leadership. He asked people to reject 'US agents' in coming election.
Mr Hassan was speaking at the two-day congregation of Jamaat Ishaat Touheed wa Sunnah (JITS) at Panjpir here on Saturday. Besides, Maulana Tayab Panjpeeri, chief of the JITS, the gathering was attended by its followers from all parts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... , tribal belt and Punjab.
Earlier, the chiefs of the two religious parties held a meeting at Panjpir madrassa and discussed issues of mutual interests. The JITS has not participated in general election in past, but its leaders enjoys significant political and religious standing among masses.
Speaking at the congregation, the two leaders declared that they had been striving for the establishment of true Islamic system in the country. They said that other systems had failed in Pakistain and there was no need of more practices.
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03/25/2013 00:00 ||
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LAHORE - As Pakistan looks ahead to a national election later this spring, the biggest wildcard is shaping up to be cricket legend Imran Khan, who rallied at least 150,000 flag-waving supporters in the eastern city of Lahore on Saturday.
After years of trying to gain a foothold in Pakistani politics, the shaggy-haired, ruggedly good-looking 60-year-old has finally elbowed his way into the big league. Casting himself as a populist anti-corruption crusader, he is seen as a threat to the two parties that have long dominated elections.
Imran has almost mythical status in cricket-crazy Pakistan. He was the captain of the national team that won the 1992 World Cup the only time the country has claimed the sports highest prize and polls show hes the nations most popular politician by a wide margin.
But its uncertain how effective he will be in converting his personal appeal into votes for his party when Pakistan holds parliamentary elections on May 11 the first transition between democratically elected governments in a country that has experienced three military coups.
Much of Imrans support has come from young, middle-class Pakistanis in the countrys major cities, a potentially influential group. Almost half of Pakistans more than 80 million registered voters are under the age of 35, but the key question is whether Imran can get his young supporters to show up at the polling booth.
This is going to swing the election, Imran told in an interview before the rally. The youth is standing with us and change.
Where's the army standing?
Imran, one of the few Pakistani politicians with a squeaky-clean image, broke into the political mainstream in the past 18 months with a message that capitalises on widespread discontent with the countrys traditional politicians. Some are seen as being more interested in lining their pockets than dealing with pressing problems facing Pakistan, such as stuttering economic growth, pervasive energy shortages and deadly attacks by militants.
On foreign policy, he has struck a chord by criticising Pakistans unpopular alliance with the United States and controversial American drone attacks targeting Al Qaeda and Taleban militants in the countrys northwest tribal region. He also believes the Pakistani army should pull out of the tribal region, where it is fighting a domestic Taleban insurgency, and resolve the conflict through negotiations.
Imrans message has helped him rally huge crowds in Pakistans major cities.
Some people estimated that up to 200,000 people packed into the park in downtown Lahore on Saturday, despite periods of lighting and driving rain. Many of the people at the rally were middle-class youths like Wasim who danced to music blaring over loudspeakers and waved the red, white and green flag of Imrans party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or the Movement for Justice. But plenty of older Pakistanis, some of whom had switched from other parties out of frustration, also turned up.
Imran hopes the momentum from the rally will push forward what he calls his political tsunami and help his party win a majority of the 272 National Assembly seats that are up for election. That would allow Imran to form the next government and position him to become prime minister.
He is up against the two groups that have dominated the countrys politics for decades, the Pakistan Peoples Party, which led the most recent government, and the main opposition party, the Pakistan Muslim League-N. Both have broad alliances with local leaders who use political corruption patronage, such as government jobs and contracts, to shore up support.
The reason why we are in politics is to break the stranglehold of these two parties who have plundered this country, Khan told.
Many analysts are less bullish and believe Khans party will win 20-40 seats. They predict the PML-N, which is led by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, will lead the polls and Khans party will come in third behind the recently ruling Peoples Party. The conventional wisdom is that no party will win a majority of the seats, and Sharifs PML-N will end up having to put together a weak coalition government.
I think third place is the safest bet for Khans party, but if he could gain second, which is not impossible, it would be a big political revolution for the country, said Rasul Baksh Rais, a political science professor at Lahore University of Management Sciences.
A breakout performance by Khans party could spell trouble for the PML-N because both parties appeal to urban, middle-class voters in Punjab. Some analysts predict that if Khans candidates can steal away enough votes from Sharifs party, they could swing the balance in favor of the Peoples Party and allow it to once again form the next government. The Peoples Partys largest area of support is outside Punjab, in southern Sindh province, where Khan has less backing.
Senator Tariq Azim Khan, who runs the PML-Ns media operations, acknowledged Khans potential role as a spoiler, but claimed his partys lead is so great after five years of misrule by the Peoples Party that its unbeatable. He also painted Khan as someone who doesnt have the experience to handle the countrys problems.
He might have good intentions, but winning a cricket World Cup does not make you a good prime minister, said the senator.
Whereas deal making and paying off local pols does...
The former cricketer was known in his youth as a womanizing playboy who spent time hobnobbing with socialites in London and partying in the citys nightclubs, but later turned to religion and politics. He built a successful cancer hospital that treats patients for free.
There's a nice patronage boost...
Khan founded his political party over 15 years ago but struggled to make inroads until October 2011, when he held a rally in Lahore with more than 100,000 people that proved he was a real political force.
He risked losing support during the past year when he was criticized for opening his party up to traditional politicians who could deliver votes but clashed with promises to change Pakistans corrupt political system. He said he addressed that criticism by holding the first intra-party elections in the countrys history, so members can recommend who runs on the partys ticket.
One of the main reasons for the weekend rally in Lahore was to take an oath from the 80,000 newly elected party workers.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/25/2013 00:00 ||
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Security forces whisked away former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf after he landed in the southern port city of Karachi, ending more than four years in self-exile.
The security forces took Musharraf away Sunday in a convoy of about a dozen vehicles and did not allow him to greet hundreds of supporters waiting for him at the airport. It's unclear if the security forces had detained the former president or were acting out of concerns for his safety.
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[AAWSAT.NET] From late 2012 onwards, the predominantly Sunni Anbar province has been the scene of heated demonstrations and unrest, with daily protests against Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki's Shi'ite-dominated government. Despite repeated violent festivities with security forces over the past three months, recently there has been a shift in the demonstrators' political discourse, stressing the need for peaceful forms of protest. Moreover, although those leading the demonstrations have often called for Prime Minister Maliki to step down, there is now a clear willingness among the Anbar opposition to negotiate directly with the Iraqi government.
Sheikh Hamid Al-Shuka, head of the Anbar tribal council, has revealed that "we have agreed to form an opinion body from among those protesting in Ramadi (the capital of Anbar province). This body will administer all affairs relating to the demonstrations, and make observations regarding all issues concerning Anbar province until the protests come to an end." Shuka, in exclusive statements to Asharq Al-Awsat, said that "the first task of the opinion body will be to negotiate with the government on the protestors' demands." He added, "A delegation will be headed by Ahmed Al-Saadi, son of the prominent Sunni holy man Sheikh Abdul Malek Al-Saadi, and its membership will comprise of a number of jurists and specialists, whether in Ramadi or Storied Baghdad." ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate...
Asked whether the delegation will include some well-known figures from among the protestors, whether members of parliament, politicians, or prominent speakers such as Ahmed Abu Risha, Ali Hatem Suleiman, and Said Lafi, Shuka said: "None of these brothers are members of the delegation. The opinion body agreed that the delegation would include no politicians." Shuka explained, "The delegation will commence negotiations with the three executive authorities: the government, the judiciary, and the parliament. Its first task is to conduct negotiations with the government within the framework of the demands that have already been raised, as per the agreement of everyone demonstrating in the western provinces." When questioned on the exact identity of the opinion body, Shuka revealed, "It consists of 26 individuals including eight tribal elders, six religious leaders, six intellectuals, and six of the youth demonstrators."
For his part, Sheikh Ghassan Ithawi, a member of the popular coordination committee for the demonstrations in Anbar province, told Asharq Al-Awsat that "the demonstrators and their representatives, whether tribal elders or religious leaders, and in coordination with the Sunni position, have agreed to begin negotiations with the government directly, and not through third parties, in order to discuss their demands." Ithawi added, "The principle of negotiation is well known in politics and while we are negotiating for our legitimate demands, we are not seeking to offer concessions. Rather, we want to know the truth about what the government is doing, and what it claims to have implemented. This is what has prompted us to begin direct negotiations, so that we know exactly what has been achieved, what has not been achieved, and the reasons why."
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03/25/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] U.S. Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... made a surprise trip to Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... on Sunday to push Iraq for more help over the conflict in Syria amid claims of waning American clout barely a year after US troops left.
The visit, his first to Iraq since taking office, will also focus on concerns in Washington that months of protests in the country's Sunni-majority provinces will give myrmidon groups including al-Qaeda room to maneuver.
It comes just days after the 10th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq that ousted Saddam Hussein and sought to establish a stable democratic ally in the heart of the Middle East, but has instead left a country still grappling with deadly violence and endless political disputes.
Kerry will meet Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ... Prime Minister of Iraq and the secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party.... and parliament speaker Osama al-Nujaifi and press Iraqi officials for greater cooperation on isolating the regime of embattled Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Terror of Aleppo ... .
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
JFK is the horse's head to be left bloody in someone's bed by the horse's ass in DC.
RAMALLAH, West Bank - A senior Palestinian official on Sunday rejected the idea of a partial Israeli settlement freeze as a way of restarting peace talks, a sign of tough times ahead for the Obama administrations new attempt to bring the sides together.
US Secretary of State John Kerry met separately late Saturday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to talk about ending a deadlock of more than four years over settlements.
Abbas says he wont return to negotiations without an Israeli construction freeze, arguing that Israels building on war-won land pre-empts the outcome of talks on a border between Israel and a future state of Palestine. Abbas last held talks with Netanyahus predecessor in late 2008.
Netanyahu has refused to halt construction and instead calls for an immediate return to negotiations. President Barack Obama sided with Israels position during a visit to the region last week, saying the Palestinians should return to talks to sort out the settlement issue.
The U.S. has not spoken publicly about possible compromises in recent days, though there has been some speculation it would propose a partial construction stop in the West Bank heartland, east of Israels separation barrier.
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Sunday that the Palestinians do not seek a confrontation with the Obama administration, but appeared to suggest that nothing short of a full freeze will bring them back to negotiations.
Well then don't talk. Watch as the Israelis go full speed ahead in their construction plans. And when the West Bank is cut in half you'll have a lot less leverage than you have today. Your call Saeb...
Much of the construction takes place in so-called settlement blocs close to Israel and in east Jerusalem. Israels separation barrier cuts off east Jerusalem and some of the settlement blocs from the rest of the West Bank.
Asked if Abbas would accept a partial freeze, east of the barrier, Erekat told Voice of Palestine radio: Absolutely not. It is rejected.
First of all, 90 percent of the building in settlements is going on in the blocs, he said. If we accepted that, we would be committing two crimes. The first is legalizing what is illegal, which is settlement construction, and the second is accepting the Israeli policy (of) dictation.
Israel won the wars, all four of them, and beat you down in the two intifadas. Even under the most pernicious interpretation of 'international law' they're entitled to do what they want with the land. Just wait until they go full Roman...
Israel agreed to a 10-month slowdown in settlement construction early in Obamas first term, allowing talks to resume briefly in 2010. The talks fizzled out after Netanyahu refused to extend the slowdown, which halted new housing starts but allowed previously started construction to continue.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/25/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] A rumor about the death of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad The Scourge of Hama... was massively shared on social media websites on Sunday, the French weekly magazine Le Point reported.
"News about Assad being rubbed out by his Iranian bodyguard have not been confirmed yet," the magazine said, revealing that the opposition's Free Syrian Army has denied such reports.
Noting that "tweets and Facebook comments helped in largely and rapidly disseminating the rumor", Le Point remarked: "Social media websites were the primary source of this rumor."
The reported news shared that Assad was shot on Saturday and was transferred to a Damascus ...The capital of Iran's Syrian satrapy... hospital, as roads were blocked and buildings surrounding the location were firmly seized by the Syrian army.
Meanwhile, ...back at the palazzo, Count Guido stepped from behind the suit of armor, rapier in hand. Ciccolini snarled and reached for his own weapon... other websites said: "Israeli and Lebanese sources have confirmed the death of Syria's president."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Wehell, methinks I'll post it anyway ...
* FREEREPUBLIC > [Russia Today] > ASSAD DEATH REPORT A "RIDICULOUS" RUMOR.
VERSUS
* SAME > [Israel News Agency] ASSAD CONFIRMED DEAD [Russian source no less], IRAN ATTEMPTS TO CONTROL SYRIAN ARMY(?).
[EDITION.CNN] Syrian opposition leader Moaz al-Khatib resigned Sunday and accused world powers of using the Syrian crisis to advance their own interests.
"I promised the Syrian people and God to resign if matters reach some red lines," he said in a statement announcing his resignation as head of the Syrian National Coalition.
He stepped down, he said, "so I could work with more freedom unavailable to me within the official position of the organization."
Last week, a Syrian opposition alliance elected Ghassan Hitto -- who had studied and lived in the United States -- to lead the opposition's interim government.
Hitto went to Syria on Sunday, according to a Facebook post from the Syrian National Coalition, crossing the border with Turkey and meeting with rebel leaders in Aleppo.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he liked al-Khatib personally and was sad to see him go, but it wasn't unexpected. Change within the opposition leadership is inevitable, and the United States "views this as a continuum," he said.
"Everything that has happened to the Syrian people -- including the destruction of their infrastructure, arrest of tens of thousands of its sons, and the forced displacement of hundreds of thousands, and other tragedies -- have not been enough to cause an international decision to be taken to allow the people to defend themselves," the statement said.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he liked al-Khatib personally and was sad to see him go, but it wasn't unexpected.
"The notion he might resign has been expressed on many an occasion and is not a surprise," Kerry said.
Change within the opposition leadership is inevitable, and the United States "views this as a continuum," he said.
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03/25/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Iran has denied any link to a spy cell dismantled in Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in their national face... , after Riyadh said an Iranian is among 18 suspects enjugged Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! on charges of espionage for a foreign country, media reported on Sunday.
"This is without any foundation. It is a scenario that is being repeated... for domestic consumption," foreign ministry front man Ramin Mehmanparast was quoted as saying.
On Tuesday, the interior ministry in Riyadh said authorities had arrested 16 Saudis, an Iranian and a Lebanese in four regions of the country, including the Eastern Province where the Sunni-ruled kingdom's Shiite minority is concentrated.
The suspects "gathered information on vital installations which they provided to the country" they had been working for, it added.
Although the Saudis did not name the country the suspects were allegedly working for, the announcement that an Iranian is implicated could point to Iran.
Saudi Arabia and its partners in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council have strained ties with Iran which they suspect of supporting Shiite opposition protests in GCC member Bahrain, which like its partners is Sunni-ruled.
News of the arrests came as rights activists on Tuesday reported that Saudi security forces had arrested several Shiites across the kingdom, including two holy mans, for unspecified reasons.
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03/25/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Israel's new Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon on Sunday vowed an "immediate" answer to all Syrian gunfire onto the Israeli occupied Golan Heights, saying the Damascus ...Home to a staggering array of terrorist organizations... regime was responsible.
"Every violation of Israeli illusory sovereignty and shooting from the Syrian side will immediately be answered by silencing the source of fire," he said in a statement.
His remarks were made shortly after Israeli troops on the strategic plateau shot at a Syrian army post after coming under fire for the second time in 12 hours, the army said.
"We view with great seriousness the shooting last night and this morning from Syria at an IDF force on territory of the State of Israel," Yaalon said.
"We see the Syrian regime as responsible for every breach of illusory sovereignty. We shall not allow the Syrian army or any other body to violate Israeli illusory sovereignty firing into our territory."
Earlier, a military front man said shots had been fired at troops in the southern Golan Heights.
"The soldiers responded with accurate fire toward the Syrian post from which they were fired upon," he said. No one was hurt on the Israeli side.
It was not immediately clear whether the shooting was from the Syrian army or from rebel forces in the area.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] The opposition Syrian National Coalition has been invited to the Arab summit this week, bringing the rebels closer to filling Syria's seat in the Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... , the group's Qatar envoy said Sunday.
The invitation was revealed as differences over the participation of the opponents of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad The Scourge of Hama... in the summit emerged during a ministerial preparatory meeting on Sunday.
"The coalition has received an official invitation to attend the Arab summit," said Nizar al-Haraki, who is the group's envoy in Qatar.
He said the coalition chief, Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib, and the newly elected rebel interim premier Ghassan Hitto are expected to arrive soon in Doha. Khatib was to later decide on who fills in Syria's seat.
Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani told fellow ministers that he "looked forward" to the participation of Khatib and Hitto in the summit as per an Arab League announcement earlier this month.
The league on March 6 called on the coalition "to form an executive body to take up Syria's seat" and attend the summit which opens on Tuesday.
The opposition alliance has begun steps to form an executive body to administer rebel-held territory inside Syria, electing Hitto at a meeting in Turkey earlier this week.
But Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari reiterated Storied Baghdad's ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... reservations over recognizing the opposition as representatives of the Syrian people in the league.
"We have expressed reservations... for legal reasons," he said at the ministerial meeting.
In addition to Iraq, Algeria too has expressed reservations, while Leb distanced itself from measures against neighboring Syria.
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03/25/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Members of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Scourge of Qusayr... 's own Alawite sect gathered in Cairo on Sunday to announce their support for his overthrow in an unprecedented gathering.
The Alawites, joined by other minority representatives, said they wanted to disassociate their sect from Assad's brutal crackdown on the rebellion in which an estimated 70,000 people have been killed.
"As we slide towards a sectarian conflict, we must all raise our voices," said one of the organizers, Ali Daioub.
The rebellion has taken on an increasingly sectarian tone, pitting a Sunni Mohammedan-led rebellion against Assad, who comes from the minority Alawite sect.
"This revolution is for all Syrians," said Bassem al-Yusef, another organizer of the conference held in a Cairo hotel.
"Our goal must be to dismantle the entire regime," he told the gathering.
"I think most Alawites hate the Assad family. But the Alawites have a fear, planted by the Assads, of what comes next," Yusef told Agence La Belle France Presse.
Participants who spoke to AFP said they hoped Syrian opposition leaders would recognize Alawites as potential comrades rather than die-hard Assad loyalists.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2013 00:00 ||
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[CHRON] Syria's opposition plunged into disarray Sunday as its president quit and its military chief refused to recognize the newly elected prime minister of an interim government for rebel-held areas.
The moves reflected deep splits in the body the U.S. and its allies hope will emerge as the united face of the opposition and advance the fight to topple Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Leveler of Latakia... 's regime.
The missteps of the opposition's mostly exile politicianship drew little notice inside Syria, where rebel fighters dismissed it as ineffective and pushed ahead with their offensive to gain ground near the country's southern border with Jordan. Nearby, the Israeli military in the Golan Heights responded to fire by shooting back at targets inside Syria.
The first blow to the opposition Syrian National Coalition was the surprise resignation of its president, who said he was quitting in frustration over what he called lack of international support and constraints imposed by the body itself.
Mouaz al-Khatib, who rose to prominence as a preacher in Damascus ...The City of Jasmin is the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti... ' most famous mosque, said in a statement posted on his Facebook page that he was making good on an earlier vow to quit if undefined "red lines" were crossed.
"I am keeping my promise today and announcing my resignation from the National Coalition so that I can work with freedom that is not available inside the official institutions," he said.
He also blamed world powers for not offering Syria's rebels the support they demand and complained that "international and regional parties" tried to push the Coalition toward negotiations with the Assad regime -- something most members refuse.
"All that has happened to the Syrian people -- from destruction of infrastructure, to the arrest of tens of thousands, to the displacement of hundreds of thousands, to other tragedies -- is not enough for an international decision to allow the Syrian people to defend themselves," the statement said.
Despite electing a new, U.S.-educated prime minister last week to head a planned interim government, the Coalition has failed to make much of a mark inside Syria, where hundreds of independent rebel brigades are fighting a civil war against Assad's forces.
Reflecting the growing dissension over that move, the head of the Coalition's military branch, Gen. Salim Idris, said his group refused to recognize the new prime minister, a little-known IT professional from Texas, because he lacked broad support among the opposition.
"For the purpose of giving power to a prime minister to unite the revolutionary forces and lead the Syrian revolution toward certain victory, we unequivocally declare that the Free Syrian Army ... conditions its support and cooperation on the achievement of a political agreement on the name of a prime minister," Idris said in an online video.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2013 00:00 ||
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[GUARDIAN.CO.UK] US secretary of state asks for Iraq to ground planes for inspection to ensure they are carrying humanitarian supplies
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton secured a pledge from Iraq to inspect the flights last year,
How is that "pledge and promise" thing coming along now? Yet another Hildebeast road tour cock-up and failure you say? Not good, not good at all for a 2016 presidential candidate, steeped in foreign policy expertise and success stories. Like Benghazi, lots of unfinished business lying about, in need of cleaning up.
BEIRUT - The head of the Syrian opposition coalitions military branch has refused to recognize the bodys new prime minister, saying he was not properly elected.
And he wasn't from around there...
Louay Almokdad, aide to Gen. Salim Idris, [said] Sunday that the rebel Free Syrian Army would not recognize the U.S.-educated IT expert chosen last week to head a rebel interim government.
Almokdad said Ghassan Hitto was elected without the support of prominent Syrian opposition figures and that a recognized prime minister must have broad support.
Hitto received 35 out of 48 votes cast by the 63 active members of the opposition Syrian National Coalition last week.
Many prominent opposition figures boycotted the vote, saying Hitto was unknown and backed by outside powers like Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/25/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Many prominent opposition figures boycotted the vote, saying Hitto was unknown and backed by outside powers like Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood
That's essentially true (not to mention Hitto's having been a CAIR official). Funny how the US wasn't mentioned as one of the "outside powers". The adminstration has either been very good at hiding its influence, or its influence has been discounted.
It also sounds like the hard-core Islamists and the Syrian secularists have found something in common...
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.
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.
[Egypt Independent] President Mohamed Morsy threatened Sunday that "whoever sticks his finger inside Egypt, I will cut it off." 
[Al Ahram] Egypt's opposition umbrella group condemns Friday's violence at the Muslim Brotherhood's headquarters but maintains that it was the latter that initiated the country's cycle of violence
Khaleda Zia
...Bangla dynastic politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Bangla Awami League since 1981. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She has once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide...
A T-shirt worn by a 3-year-old boy named Jihad has led to an unusual criminal trial in France that tests the limits of free speech and common sense in a nation increasingly uneasy with its growing Muslim population. On the front, the T-shirt said, I am a bomb. The back of it said, Jihad born Sept. 11.
Pervez 
Syed Munawar Hassan
LAHORE - As Pakistan looks ahead to a national election later this spring, the biggest wildcard is shaping up to be cricket legend Imran Khan, who rallied at least 150,000 flag-waving supporters in the eastern city of Lahore on Saturday.
Security forces whisked away former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf after he landed in the southern port city of Karachi, ending more than four years in self-exile.
[AAWSAT.NET] From late 2012 onwards, the predominantly Sunni Anbar province has been the scene of heated demonstrations and unrest, with daily protests against Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki's Shi'ite-dominated government. Despite repeated violent 
[An Nahar] U.S. Secretary of State 
The visit, his first to Iraq since taking office, will also focus on concerns in Washington that months of protests in the country's Sunni-majority provinces will give
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
"I promised the Syrian people and God to resign if matters reach some red lines," he said in a statement announcing his resignation as head of the Syrian National Coalition.
[An Nahar] Israel's new Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon on Sunday vowed an "immediate" answer to all Syrian gunfire onto the Israeli occupied Golan Heights, saying the 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[GUARDIAN.CO.UK] US secretary of state asks for Iraq to ground planes for inspection to ensure they are carrying humanitarian supplies
