The fugitive Taliban leader Mulla Muhammad Omar has urged his followers to step up suicide attacks on foreign and Afghan troops and remain united, a Taliban commander said.
Taliban commander Mulla Hayatullah Khan told Reuters late on Friday by satellite phone from Quetta an undisclosed location that Omar had contacted senior and regional commanders and congratulated them for carrying out successful attacks in recent weeks. He would not give details as to how and when Mulla Omar contacted the commanders. Taliban mujahideen, through unity in their ranks, should continue and increase their guerrilla and suicide attacks on occupation forces and the infidels will soon run away, Khan quoted Omar as saying. Mulla Omar has ordered us to liberate our country, (and) we should step up attacks on occupation forces and their puppet Afghans, he said.
The Taliban refer to Western-backed President Hamid Karzai and his associates as puppets. Mulla Omar, who has a $10 million US government bounty on his head, told his fighters to try not to harm innocent civilians during their offensives, Khan said.
Separately on Saturday, small blasts occurred in two cities of northern Afghanistan, witnesses said. The explosions, one outside a government building and one outside a shop, caused slight damage but no injuries. In Kabul, a passer-by sustained minor wounds in an apparently random rocket attack near a ministry on the city outskirts.
Taliban insurgents Saturday grimaced fearsomly and vowed a new round of attacks against Afghan and foreign troops in the war-torn country, promising to focus more attention on the relatively-peaceful north. Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi said the operation would target the countrys northern and southern parts.
This article starring:
MULLA HAIATULLAH KHAN
Taliban
YUSUF AHMEDI
Taliban
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2007 00:00 ||
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Blinky Harry Reid urges more kabooms
There fixed that for you.
The Talibunny is using a Sat phone? LOL! I can guarantee a whole room load of NSA folks are trying to crawl up this Moon Goddess's line. Only a matter of time Blinky and the 72 raisins will be YOURS.
A United Nations report released on Friday pressed for world support for African peacekeepers in Somalia but warned that pursuing military solutions in Mogadishu was likely to be "counter-productive". "The international community should urgently support the African Union with all means at its disposal," the report by UN chief Ban Ki-moon said.
It stressed the need to provide "sufficient financial and logistical resources" to the AU stabilisation force to enable it to complete its deployment and facilitate the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops. But the report also warned that pursuing "military solutions to stabilise Mogadishu is likely to be counter-productive, creating long-term resentment among certain clans and communities and damaging prospects for the reconciliation process."
It underscored the need to "dissuade some regional actors from contributing to instability and the proliferation of arms in Somalia, while encouraging positive contribution from others".
The report was released as at least 113 civilians were killed and 229 wounded in three days of fighting between Ethiopian forces and Islamist insurgents in the Somali capital, according to a local human rights group.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
So delete certain clans. What's the problem with that?
#3
The Useless Ninnies never believe a military solution is possible. Of course, they only want to jaw-jaw, because that's all they know. That and wastingspending other people's money playing at finding a solution. The "disUnited Fatcats of Peace need to find the same solution the German High Command found following World War II. The entire world would be a better place afterwards.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/22/2007 16:50 Comments ||
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#4
No, they don't want ANY successes except those that they personally stuck their finger in and twisted to make it look like their doing.
Compounded by the sheer fact that there AREN'T any for them to crow about, so just screw up anybody else's possible triumph, and look slightly better.
Just attention whores. Ignore.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/22/2007 18:16 Comments ||
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Public opinion and security milieus circulate information on intensive work, in-depth inquiries undertaken by security services in Morocco on kamikaze attacks targeting the economic capital of the country. El Khabar moved to Casablanca and stayed in Rabat, the political capital, before to move to Essaïdia in Oujda only tens of metres off Algeria. We took off Houari Boumediene international airport in Algeria towards Casablanca airport in Morocco, just after 24 hours of the second kamikaze attacks shaking Morocco economic capital.
We arrived to the Moroccan territories within 1h and 50mn, no exceptional security measures were apparent at the entry to international lines passengers reception room at the aftermath of the attacks. After checking our passports, and some questions on our job as journalists, we took the train to Rabat, more precisely in Akdal city, one of the most luxurious cities in the town, with a strong European concentration impenetrable for public protest, thus, not concerned with security measures undertaken at the aftermath of the kamikaze attacks.
We noted the same situation in the old city at Bab El Ahed market overwhelmed by people. The day after, we had an appointment with a Moroccan friend working in an insurance company. We thought that anxiety still prevailed over Casablanca where explosions took place, precisely near the US consulate headquarters, but no exceptional security measure has been undertaken.
As of Casablanca kamikaze bombers Mohamed and Omar Maha, primary investigations unveiled that they are originated from the poor city of Sultan Zenka Beni Mekid, the evidence reveals that a network undertakes the training of new kamikaze on explosion techniques, a fact very well known by Algeria authorities, as they outmanoeuvred a Moroccan terrorist group plans which intended to supply the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, GSPC, and bridge Bouarfa in Morocco and Béchar in Algeria.
Then we moved to border areas in a way leading from Oujda to Essaïdia region 10 metres off Algerian territories, where an Algerian border post underway of construction appears at sight from the Moroccan territories. Weve been told that almost no one bothers about borders logic, we tried to know if it serves and encourages arms smuggling but it proved that the most prosperous smuggling was fuel one.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2007 00:00 ||
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Saudi Arabia, one of the worlds most conservative societies, has seen an increase in attacks by members of the public against its religious police, a newspaper reported on Saturday. Al-Watan daily recorded 21 violent incidents during 2006 where Saudis had physically attacked some of the 5,000 members of the police officially known as the Organisation for the Promotion of Morals and Prevention of Vice. It did not give a figure for previous years.
The attacks included shootings and stabbings, added the paper, known for its editorial opposition to the body charged with upholding a tight code of public morality. The newspaper suggested the attacks reflected general disaffection with the special police force, whose members have wide powers to patrol the streets and shopping malls and question individuals. They drive around in distinctive black sports utility vehicles.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2007 00:00 ||
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In fact, attacks against religious police is one of the most frequently occurring and under-reported hate crimes. Religious police have to live with the "double stigma" of the assault itself and, perhaps worse yet, live in shame and silence suffering untold psychological damage as a result.
#6
Remember, ship: "conservative" = "bad." Remember at the tail end of the Soviet Union, those who wanted to move to a freer society were the "left," while those who supported Communism were the "right."
#7
#3: In fact, attacks against religious police is one of the most frequently occurring and under-reported hate crimes. Religious police have to live with the "double stigma" of the assault itself and, perhaps worse yet, live in shame and silence suffering untold psychological damage as a result.
Good, in fact excellent.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/22/2007 12:26 Comments ||
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#8
"The attacks included shootings and stabbings"
Works for me.
"In fact, attacks against religious police is one of the most frequently occurring and under-reported hate crimes acts of revolution."
There - fixed.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/22/2007 14:45 Comments ||
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#9
They drive around in distinctive black sports utility vehicles.
Disable the air conditioning and glue the windows shut.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
04/22/2007 17:57 Comments ||
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#10
one shot to the radiator will disable both the AC, and shortly thereafter the engine will boil to an expensive halt.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/22/2007 18:19 Comments ||
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To Britain only? Immigration may be threatening Britain's status as a country, it has been claimed.
A pamphlet by social policy think-tank Civitas said the UK may already have reached a "tipping point" where it can no longer be regarded as a single nation. David Conway, the author, said that if Britain has become a "nation of immigrants" it could lead to political disintegration. The 100-page booklet said: "Those for whom this country has been a model of tolerance and freedom cannot but have cause for deep concern about the seemingly reckless pace and scale on which immigration has recently been allowed to proceed.
"As a result of it, the country may possibly have reached a tipping point beyond which it can no longer be said to contain a single nation. Should that point have been reached, then, ironically in the course of Britain having become a nation of immigrants, it would have ceased to be a nation.
"Once such a point is reached, political disintegration may be predicted to be not long in following."
Mr Conway, a senior research fellow at Civitas, disputed a claim made by the Commission for Racial Equality in 1996 that "everyone who lives in Britain today is either an immigrant to the descendant of an immigrant". The author said: "The view that Britain is a nation of immigrants suggests Britain has always experienced immigration on its present-day scale, which is not the case."
David Davis, the shadow home secretary, said: "This report suggests that the Government's inability to get a grip on immigration or put a limit on numbers entering the UK is destabilising British society. We know that unchecked immigration is putting pressure on housing and local services. Now this report shows that its effects are potentially even more serious."
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - South Korea agreed Sunday to send 400,000 tons of rice to impoverished North Korea despite the communist government's failure to meet a deadline to shut down its nuclear reactor. The agreement was reached early Sunday after five days of economic aid talks in the North Korean capital. It was seen as a setback in South Korea's attempt to use food aid as leverage to pressure the North to honor its pledge to shut down the reactor under the Feb. 13 nuclear disarmament deal with the U.S. and its regional partners.
The first batch of rice will be sent in late May, the agreement said. The South will ship 350,000 tons, and the remaining 50,000 tons be driven over land, across the world's most heavily fortified border. There were no conditions attached to the aid delivery, according to the agreement.
I'm really beginning to think the SKors can defend themselves and that we have no business having any substantial military presence there.
The Koreas also agreed Sunday to test a railway service to run on rebuilt rail tracks across their shared border. The North promised its military would guarantee the safety of travelers during the rail tests on May 17. Last year, the North unilaterally called off a similar planned test run, citing objections from its military.
The two sides also agreed that South Korea would send raw materials for making clothes, shoes and soap to the North. In exchange, the South would have the right to develop mineral resources in the North.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/22/2007 00:00 ||
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SKorea Agrees to Send Food Aid to NKorea L'il Kimmie and his army
There - fixed.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/22/2007 0:11 Comments ||
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Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi visited Saudi Arabia on Saturday for talks with the Saudi king and other officials on the troubled Middle East.
Center-left Premier Prodi was first received in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, by three princes, including Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz, the official Saudi Press Agency reported. The Italian premier is expected to discuss bilateral relations and international issues with King Abdullah, as well as issues such as the war in Iraq, the crisis in Lebanon, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Iranian nuclear standoff.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2007 00:00 ||
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Conservative national security officials are wondering what is going wrong inside the Bush White House. The choice of a retired Marine Corps general known for his liberal political views as a candidate for a "czar" over the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has many scratching their heads and wondering whether the president is aligning his administration with the defeatists now opposing the war.
The retired Marine in question is Gen. Jack Sheehan, who was asked to be the new coordinator, despite a reputation as a liberal military officer, something uncharacteristic of most Marines. He turned it down, not only in private, but then with an added slap at the president in an opinion article this week in The Washington Post.
Officials pointed out one of Gen. Sheehan's shortcomings during his active-duty career: a past association with Defense Intelligence Agency analyst Ana Belen Montes, who in 2002 was convicted as one of the most notorious U.S. traitors and a damaging spy for the communist regime in Cuba.
Officials said Gen. Sheehan shared some of Montes' liberal views both when he was director of operations, or J-3, on the Joint Staff and as U.S. Atlantic Command leader. Gen. Sheehan invited Montes to sit in on many top-secret military meetings, including those involving U.S. war plans against Cuba, the officials said.
Montes not only stole some of the most sensitive U.S. intelligence secrets during her 16-year spying spree, but also acted as an influence agent who had significant sway over U.S. policies.
Another incident that raised questions about Gen. Sheehan's consideration for war czar took place several years ago, when he angrily walked out of a Defense Policy Board meeting because of a talk by former CIA Director R. James Woolsey on Wahabbist terrorism, angrily noting that he didn't want to listen to such waste.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino declined to say who was behind the consideration of Gen. Sheehan but stated in an e-mail that there is "no list" of candidates and "no one has been offered this job."
Gen. Sheehan, in an e-mail, dismissed both claims about his candidacy for the czar post and past ties to Montes as "incorrect."
Before being asked by the White House, "I am sure they checked my credentials and the record indicated I was an American who had served both Republicans and Democrats," Gen. Sheehan said. "Deal with the issue at hand on an objective basis, not character defamation."
On the idea of a czar, one official said: "We don't need a czar. The president already has such a coordinator. He's called the national security adviser" a dig at current National Security Adviser Stephen J. Hadley, whom officials described as "still deputy" to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, his predecessor at the White House post.
#2
The last real 'War Czar' we had was George C. Marshall.. You don't need any new fancy title or office created with more bureaucracy. You just have to find someone you can trust and put them in charge by making it clear that everyone - State, CIA, DoD, etc works for him and cut the turf crap and fix on victory or get a new job. However, that requires will. Something sadly lacking in anyone but the guys on the ground.
#3
WTF? Retired is the best place for this man. His obvious flaws in character and judgement should've disqualified him for anything to do with National Security
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/22/2007 10:47 Comments ||
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#4
There should bee a general or two that fit the bill, look a little bit harder.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/22/2007 11:40 Comments ||
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#5
Look at the bright side: He turned it down! You can bet that there are more than one Donk silently crying in their beer over that turn of events (aka no ally inside the WH).
#8
I've also wondered why there is a need for a war czar. Whoever is the war czaar needs to be careful he/she doesn't end up being a scapegoat. As "doc" said Patton is not available. Chesty Puller isn't either.
Vermont state senators voted to call for the impeachment of President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, saying their actions in Iraq and the US "raise serious questions of constitutionality." The non-binding resolution in this northeastern state was approved 16-9 Friday without debate - all six Republicans in the chamber at the time and three Democrats voted against it.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2007 00:00 ||
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Vermont can leave the union if it doesn't like the current rules of the game.
#3
Sorry all. I live in Vermont. There are two populations here. One is very liberal, largely carpetbagger types, who have a strong sense of self-entitlement and self-importance. Democrats all. The other population is 'native', conservative, and hard working, not prone to empty gestures and onanism. The first group has its base of power in Brattleboro, Burlington, Rutland, and maybe Montpelier; the second is spread out over the rest of the state. Bad things like this happen because of the small population. The level of revulsion between the two groups is very high, and growing. Civil discourse is at ebb.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
04/22/2007 8:54 Comments ||
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The first group has its base of power in Brattleboro, Burlington, Rutland, and maybe Montpelier
Someone get on the line to Victor Davis Hanson: We need a battle-plan!
#8
Just another reinforcement to the concept that 'liberals' are far too often adults who've failed to grow up.
And fail to realise this is a "FACT" not an opinion.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/22/2007 11:01 Comments ||
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Question for WM: How many Republicans are there in the Senate: The article says:"...all six Republicans in the chamber at the time..." was this the total or was the vote scheduled ( or maybe a quickly inserted action) to take advantage of missing Trunks?
The Uzbek militants chased out of South Waziristan operated torture cells and repressed the local population, according to residents of the former Uzbek strongholds of Wana, Sheen Warsak and Azam Warsak. By name, they were Muslims. But by deeds they were beast, says Mohammad Qasim, 40, a resident of Landi Dhok village and former neighbour of Uzbek militants.
A tribal army led by Mullah Nazir and including Ahmedzai Wazirs is still combing the area to find any Uzbeks left behind. Most of them fled after three weeks of fighting between the tribal army and militants of the Uzbekistan Islamic Movement led by Tahir Yuldeshev left some 200 Uzbeks dead.
During a trip to Wana, Sheen Warsak and Azam Warsak on the invitation of pro-Taliban commander Mullah Nazir - Wazir tribesmen told journalists of the atrocities committed by the guests on their hosts. The journalists were taken to a mud-house in Landi Dhok village. In this torture cell, the Uzbeks used to put administration officials, pro-government elders or those they deemed dangerous for their survival, local resident Hazrat Hussain said.
The Uzbeks used the house built over around 10 marlas as a detention centre for several years. It was rare that a prisoner came out of the torture centre alive, said one resident of the village. Prisoners were kept in 6x3 feet cells or in one of 11 bottle-shaped wells fifteen feet deep with no ventilation. They did not need to physically torture you as prisoners could easily die of either suffocation or mental stress, said Hussain: Since the centre was closely guarded by the Uzbeks and no local resident was allowed to go inside it was difficult to say the Uzbeks gave food or water to the prisoners. The Americans may not have treated Muslims so inhumanely at Guantanamo Bay as the Uzbeks did Wazir tribal people who welcomed them on religious grounds after the Taliban government was ousted, Hussain said.
All over the area, young and old armed Wazir volunteers roamed around in pick-up trucks looking for Uzbeks. We are tracking down any Uzbeks who may still be hiding here or there, said 75-year-old Azal Mir sitting in the front seat of a pick-up driving the volunteers towards Sheen Warsak. Gula Din, 14, who expressed joy at the eviction of the Uzbeks because he could now watch TV, which the foreign militants had banned in the area. The Uzbeks did not allow us to watch TV, he said. A senior teacher at Shaheen Middle Public School said first welcoming and then evicting the Uzbeks speaks of the dynamics of tribal society, which itself is a science but difficult to understand.
This article starring:
Azal Mir
Gula Din
Hazrat Hussain
Mohammad Qasim
MULLAH NAZIR
Wazir Taliban
TAHIR YULDESHEV
Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2007 00:00 ||
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By name, they were Muslims. But by deeds they were beast
That one is too obvious to merit comment. I notice this journalist spoon-fed a Guantanamo comment to Mr. Hussain too. Can't let that one off the back-burner or some folk might start to think there were good guys and bad guys in this thing.
Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Pakistan Muslim League president, told a meeting chaired by President Gen Pervez Musharraf on Saturday that negotiations with the Lal Masjid administration have been successful, and the matter would be settled peacefully, Daily Times has learnt. Our talks have been successful and only one issue remains to be resolved, Shujaat told the meeting, referring to the occupation of a childrens library by students of the Jamia Hafsa madrassa. The vacation of the childrens library is linked with the reconstruction of the demolished mosques and this issue will also be resolved, he added. Shujaat said the Lal Masjid administration had agreed that no one except students would be allowed to stay inside the Jamia Hafsa and Jamia Fareedia madrassas.
The pickets established by the madrassa students have been removed and no unlicensed weapon will be allowed inside the madrassa, he said, adding that the Lal Masjid administration had also agreed to remove all banners and stop making provocative speeches on loudspeakers. Shujaat said the Lal Masjid administration had also agreed that the madrassa students would not raid music and video shops. No one will now threaten music and video shop owners, he said, adding that the Lal Masjid administration agreed that if anyone ransacked private property or attacked any shop, he or she would be punished under the law.
The meeting was also attended by Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, PML Secretary General Mushahid Hussain and top aides of the president.
Online adds: Gen Musharraf directed Shujaat to continue the dialogue process so the issue is resolved peacefully. We dont want to use force as girl students are also studying there, he said.
Sources said that the activities of the suspended chief justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, also came under discussion, and the government decided to adopt a new strategy in this regard. They did not elaborate. The meeting decided that the reference against the CJP would not be withdrawn, as it was based on genuine complaints and met legal and constitutional requirements. The overall political situation was also discussed. Gen Musharraf stressed that no deal had been done or would be with the Pakistan Peoples Party.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2007 00:00 ||
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Abdul Rashid Ghazi, the administrator of Lal Masjid Islamabad is in the belly of the beast. The antics of his students from the two seminaries, Jamia Hafsa and Freedia, have put him in the spotlight the world over. He has even ignored the denunciation of some MMA leaders and said that the Lal Masjid will stick to its stand on the enforcement of sharia and the demand that the government reconstruct the mosques it has demolished. An articulate and soft-spoken gentleman, Ghazi monitors the media very closely. The Friday Times spoke with him on the phone to ascertain his view on the ongoing crisis in Islamabad. Excerpts:
The Friday Times: You are demanding the reconstruction of demolished mosques even though they were constructed illegally and on state land. Why?
Abdul Rashid Ghazi: Lets put this in a perspective. A mosque cannot be built on land belonging to an individual unless he was to voluntarily donate it for that purpose. But that is not the case with any other land, whether you call it state land or something else. If there is a locality, which requires a mosque, and people of that locality decide after joint consultations among themselves that a mosque needs to be built, then they can do it on land that does not belong to anyone. Constructing a mosque in such a place, where one is needed, is basically the job of the government. But if a government doesnt do it and the people require mosques, they can build them according to the procedure that I have mentioned.
Once a mosque is built and people begin to pray therein, that place remains a mosque until the end of this world. That place cannot be razed to the ground and it cannot be turned into something else. In case of some natural calamity, if a mosque is destroyed or becomes dysfunctional, people can put markers there and whenever they can make it functional again, can and should, do so. That piece of land remains a mosque forever.
This was as far as sharia is concerned. Now lets look at the issue from the bylaws of CDA [Capital Development Authority]. The bylaws are very clear on the status of the mosques and ziarats [tombs]. Mosques cannot be demolished. The mosques that have been demolished were qadeemi [old] mosques. When the capital was being constructed, CDA began buying land from people and also encroached upon land that housed mosques. Later, some of that land was reclaimed. So what we are demanding is commensurate both with sharia as well as CDA bylaws. I must, however, clarify that tombs do not enjoy the status of the mosques.
So you are prepared to rebel and use force if the government does not reconstruct the mosques?
I dont know what you mean by rebellion. If demanding that the government act according to the sharia and its own laws is rebellion then you can perhaps use that term. But I wont use it for what we are doing. In fact, if there is any rebellion, it is from the governments side, which has disregarded religious as well as its own laws and rebelled against the sharia.
But you do believe in the use of force, including if necessary kidnapping people and putting the fear of God in them?
I am happy you have referred to an event about which there has been much disinformation. The woman, who was kidnapped, as you put it, was known to indulge in immoral practices. This fact was known to the police also but it failed to act against her. The police told me that every time they tried to proceed against the woman, no one from the locality would agree to become a witness. Upon this I called in the people and asked them why they refused to provide witnesses to the police. They ultimately agreed to become collective witnesses and I called the SHO and told him that he could now proceed against the woman. He began hemming and hawing. When I asked him why he was reluctant to act now that he also had witnesses, he said that his hands were tied because of orders from above.
So, I said okay and called the SP. I told him what the SHO had said and he admitted that such was the case. I asked him if he had any doubt about the womans activities and he said no. He agreed with me that the woman did run a brothel but said that he couldnt do anything against her. It was at that stage that we decided to act in collaboration with the people of the locality.
So, you agree that if the government doesnt act, a pious Muslim can take the responsibility of amr and nahi in his own hands?
Look, it depends on how one views it. The government is supposed to do certain things, perform some functions. If it doesnt do them, the vacuum will be filled. If no one picks up the garbage from in front of my house even after I have repeatedly requested the concerned department to do so, what will I do I will have to clean up myself. After that if the department comes to me and says that what I did was against the law, I can only shrug.
Even Imam Al Ghazali said that after a state is established, amr and nahi devolve on the state. How can you begin to do these things?
I agree with you. We shouldnt have to do any of this. Its the governments job. But need I tell you the lack of governance and disregard of laws in this country BY the government. Al Ghazali was presupposing that there would be a state. But what happens when there is none; how should one react to that? Forget the issue of mosques and sharia and the rest please tell me how the government departments act in other areas of governance. We want this system changed. This system only works to the advantage of the elite; it has nothing for the common man. What we are doing, or hope to do, is simply to raise our voice against this system and the injustices it perpetrates and perpetuates. These are demands; nothing more.
Your boys and girls are going around threatening women drivers and forcing shops to close down. Is this your idea of raising a voice against injustices or bringing good governance?
(Sighs). I dont know how and what to feel about these allegations. All I can say is that not one of our girl-students has done any of these things. This is the job of agencies or some gangs that want to give us a bad name. I can concretely tell you about the issue of women drivers. My wife drives. How can I, or anyone on my watch, can go out and stop women from driving? This is sheer disinformation.
The religion minister Ijaz-ul Haq saved you from the terrorism charge and you apologised to the government and agreed never to indulge in anti-state activities again. But now you have created another crisis.
I am happy you have asked this question immediately after I spoke about disinformation and dissembling. On that TV programme, the minister and I were together, though we were differently located. After the TV anchor had asked this question, I got disconnected, though it wasnt deliberate. The minister showed a paper to the anchor in which I had supposedly apologised. Later, I told the anchor that he should have realised that the piece of paper was a letter we had written to wifaq-ul madaris and had nothing to do with any alleged apology I had made to the government or any agreement. I also said that the minister should say it on oath that he was speaking the truth.
The fact of the matter is that even back in 2004 and in the presence of several religious scholars, the minister had admitted that the entire case, which had involved me in some ridiculous plan to bomb five government installations, was a misunderstanding. I didnt accept his version but was asked by other ulema to give the government a face-saver. Also, the other boys who had been captured were tried in an anti-terrorist court, which acquitted them after seven or eight months. The government never went into appeal against that decision. If they were indeed terrorists or planning a terror attack, why did the government let the case quietly drop after the judgement of the ATC?
You want the sharia enforced; what would that do to the non-Muslims in this country? How would we react if India were to say that it would legislate on the basis of Hindu law?
I thought this country was created as a homeland for Muslims. I dont know if you believe that?
Thats more complex than how you put it; you might also want to read Jinnahs speech to the Constituent Assembly.
We are only acting according to the Constitution and that document says this country will have Islamic laws.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Once a mosque is built and people begin to pray therein, that place remains a mosque until the end of this world.
If ending their world is what it takes, then so be it. People who refuse to take "no" for an answer and have a bare handful of nuclear weapons between them just aren't cut out for long term survival.
#6
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness" - The Declaration of Independence
I believe the phrase "that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" is irreconcilable with the Islamic concept of submission as was the concept that a free democratic society was irreconcilable with the institution of slavery. One or the other can not stand.
#7
Right back at ya, Zenster. I saw the tag-line and thought the balloon might finally have gone up. Not that I would condone such a thing, but I expect a morning when people wake up, grab a pack of matches and can of anything flammable from the garage and head for the local "holy site".
Muhammad Ayub, the sitting Nazim of the PU-chapter of Islami Jamiat Talaba, the student wing of the Jamaat-e Islami, says the IJT would never use force except in extreme cases. Last week, IJT activists beat up a boy and a girl of the English Department in public view. Ayub says this was because they were kissing in public, and because the IJT got phone calls from several students asking it to intervene and put an end to such un-Islamic acts.
Besides beating up students for what the IJT says is immoral behaviour, last week, activists of the student body also disrupted a concert organised by the Pharmacy Department. On this also, Ayub claims the IJT was called in to take action:
There is no precedent of arranging musical concert on campus. This was the first time that some Pharmacy College teachers decided to arrange this concert. There was obviously a public reaction. Even parents called us and asked us to come and end this nonsense. We are not a parallel administration; when the university administration itself violates university rules, then people come to us for help and we act in accordance with their wishes.
Ayub claims that instead of preaching Islam and giving quality education, the university is trying to promote vulgarity. For this we also hold President Musharraf and Punjab governor Lt Gen (r) Khalid Maqbool responsible. They are spoiling the environment of the university in the name of enlightened moderation, says Ayub. The IJT would never have to intervene or called in to use force if the administration followed the rules and the Islamic mode of administration.
Accompanied by the IJT Central Information Secretary Hammidur Rehman, Ayub reiterated that nothing against Islam and the university calendar would be allowed on campus. According to the university calendar, nothing un-Islamic is allowed on campus. We are not imposing our own view but simply urging the administration to go by the book. There are immoral and un-Islamic activities that cannot be permitted on campus, says Ayub. We organise a Seerutal Nabi Conference on campus in the holy month of Rabiul Awal and the administration is going around arranging concerts! No one wants these un-Islamic activities on campus.
Interestingly, the drink Ayub offered this correspondent at the interview was that of a multinational brand name, which have been completely banned by IJT on PU campus. The IJT only allows local brands to be sold on campus and have boycotted all multinational brand names after the US attack on Afghanistan in 2001. I am forced to offer you this [multinational brand] drink because no local brand was available in this area. Our local brands are rejected in the market, Ayub told TFT.
Ayub is a student of MPhil Pharmacy and lives in the Punjab University hostels. He has become the nazim of the IJT after being a member and sympathiser of the student group for six years. Up until the time he took his matriculation exams, Ayub had not yet been introduced to the IJT. He became a sympathiser and member when he joined Gordon College, Rawalpindi. In 1999, he joined PU for a bachelors degree in pharmacy and has since then been an active member of the IJT.
It was the admissions stall, the reception and later the Dars-e Quran at Gordon College, Rawalpindi that brought Ayub to the IJT. But at PU the IJT work is much more intense compared to Gordon College. Plus I received a congratulatory card from IJT after getting admission in the [Punjab] university. Ill never forget that, the nazim recalled.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2007 00:00 ||
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Last week, IJT activists beat up a boy and a girl of the English Department in public view. Ayub says this was because they were kissing in public, and because the IJT got phone calls from several students asking it to intervene and put an end to such un-Islamic acts.
Boy howdy, just wait until these idjits discover what the back seat of a car is for. Then they'll be sorry!
BAGHDAD - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki on Saturday told visiting Australian Defence Minister Brendan Nelson that the Baghdad security plan was going in the right direction despite challenges. The security plan currently in action is going in the right direction despite the challenges, Maliki told Nelson, who was making a surprise visit to Baghdad.
A statement from Malikis office said the prime minister also stressed during the meeting that Iraqis were keen in accelerating the handover of their countrys affairs and to rely on themselves. Maliki further urged increased cooperation with Australia in areas of trade and economy.
Nelson pledged Australias full support for the Iraqi government, particularly in developing the countrys dilapidated infrastructure. Our country is intent to play a bigger role in the reconstruction drive that is currently on in Iraq, the statement quoted Nelson as saying.
Australia has around 1,400 troops in Iraq, of which 550 are combat troops and largely deployed in the relatively calm south of the country alongside British forces.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/22/2007 00:00 ||
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For the second time this week, a demonstration was held in southern Iraq on Saturday underlying the fierce rivalry between two Shi'ite groups vying for influence as Britain prepares to reduce its forces in the region.
Hundreds of supporters of the Shi'ite Fadhila party gathered in the southern city of Nasiriyah to protest a demonstration that 3,000 Iraqis believed to be followers of radical Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr had held earlier this week in Basra to demand the resignation of its provincial governor because of poor city services and alleged corruption in that southern city, Iraq's second largest. Fighters allied with al-Sadr's Mahdi Army and the Fadhila party often clash with one another in mostly Shi'ite southern Iraq, and last month a dozen people were wounded in such fighting.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2007 00:00 ||
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Isn't it grand they can both march and demonstrate? Ain't democracy wonderful?
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/22/2007 17:17 Comments ||
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Jordanian royal court has denied as "utterly baseless" remarks attributed on Friday to King Abdullah II by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. "What some Israeli newspapers quoted the king to have said during his meeting on Thursday with the Speaker of the Israeli Knesset, Dalia Itzik, is completely baseless," said Amjad Adayleh, the head of the Media Department at the royal court on Saturday. "The quotations carried by Haaretz represented a clear offence to Jordan and its leadership as well as a distortion of the sincere efforts the Kingdom has been leading in defense of the Palestinian people's rights," the spokesman said.
Haaretz, quoting Israeli lawmakers, said King Abdullah had assured Itzik that the solution provided for in the Arab peace plan for the Palestinian refugee problem could take the form of paying only "compensations" to the Palestinians who "deserted their homes when Israel was founded in 1948." The compensations could be paid by rich Arab countries; the Israeli paper further claimed the monarch as saying.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2007 00:00 ||
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Palestinian security forces have been seeking emotional counseling, following "internal infighting in Gaza". Dr. Riad al-Aqra, the director for the Gaza hospital for mental health, said that "although the occupation is a major cause for emotional depression for Gaza residents Palestinian infighting plays a striking role in the increase of shock, tension and depression, present in previously unseen amounts."
Dr. al-Aqra cited the Palestinian website Dunia al-Waran, stating that these phenomena were seen primarily among wives and mothers of Palestinian security force members, but also among the troops themselves. "One member of the Hamas security force came to me suffering from high tension, which was causing physical problems. He said he felt fear from the fact that he would burn in hell forever if he fired even one bullet at someone," the doctor said.
He told of another case, in which a member of the security forces arrived with similar symptoms. "He said he couldn't fire at another Muslim, and that he felt pain and bitterness," al-Aqra said. "These are the feelings on both sides of the infighting, and emphasize that everyone, deep inside, rejects the civil war in his soul, rejects that which is unnatural," he explained.
Hamas members were troubled by an additional issue this week: an altercation with the Egyptian branch of the hitherto supportive Muslim Brotherhood. The rift occurred after a senior leader in the organization, Abd al-Munam Abu al-Fatouh, announced that the Brotherhood supports the creation of a secular Palestinian state and a bi-national presence in Palestinian, as a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Hamas members were so incensed by al-Fatouh's announcement that the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Muhammad Mahdi Akef, had to release a special statement refuting it. Akef said, in his statement, that the Muslim Brotherhood believes that "Palestine is Islamic and therefore, holy to Muslims and, thus, belongs only to Palestinians."
"No Palestinian has the right to refute this The Zionists have no choice but to live under the rule of a Palestinian nation in which they will be free to worship their God and enjoy full rights of citizenship," Akef added. "If the Zionists do not agree, our Palestinian brothers will have no choice but to resist and undertake all actions that are consistent with holy principles that were given to the Palestinians and that are in accordance with their national interests," he said.
Nonetheless, a source from the Muslim Brotherhood told the London-Based a-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper that Akef's statement was made primarily to reduce tension between the two groups.
Palestinian Hamas demanded Saturday that Jordan clarify an Israeli daily's report which said the Jordanian king allegedly spoke in favor of paying compensations to Palestinian refugees instead of ensuring their right of return.
The report Friday in Haaretz claimed King Abdullah II had told a visiting Israeli Knesset delegation this week that he favored the payments over the right of return. The report cited unidentified members of the Israeli lawmakers' delegation. A member of the Israeli delegation, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AP on Saturday that the Jordanian monarch's comments were accurately reported by the paper. He gave no further details.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2007 00:00 ||
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Gee, guys, I guess he didn't appreciate your little assassination plot, or you smuggling weapons into Gaza through Jordan...
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh strongly condemned Saturday's IDF operations in Gaza and Jenin in which six Palestinians were killed. "These crimes are an additional proof of the cruelty of Israel and its attempt to break the will of the Palestinians and to push us to surrender," said Haniyeh is a statement he released on Saturday night.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2007 00:00 ||
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"These crimes are an additional proof of the cruelty of Israel and its attempt to break the will of the Palestinians and to push us to surrender....
#2
Guess what, Haniyeh, Israel is a lot less likely to surrender than the Palestinians are to kill all of each other. Hamas bears a central responsibility for this and you are the chief instigator. Blaming others only works with people even stupider than yourself. Not exactly the sort of audience that's going to be kicking down countless millions in aid anytime soon.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is also responsible for the results of the war in Lebanon, said Prime Minster Ehud Olmert in an interview set to be broadcast on Sunday morning. "Livni participated in all the discussions and also voted in favor of going to war," Olmert told Army Radio. The prime minister added that the war created a possibility of political processes with nations with whom Israel has no diplomatic ties.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2007 00:00 ||
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I thought Olmert had at least a cartilage in his back, but this proves there is nothing there, whatsoever.
If hundreds of terrorists are released in exchange for abducted IDF Cpl. Gilad Schalit they will pose an immediate threat to Israeli cities and settlements, a high-ranking defense official told The Jerusalem Post.
Some 1,400 Palestinian security prisoners are on the list of those whose release is demanded by the captors of Schalit, who has been held in the Gaza Strip since June 25. Should the government accede to the demand, the official said, the IDF would need to modify the way it operates in the West Bank, where the changes would mostly be felt in the Central Command.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has expressed "disappointment and reservations" over the list of prisoners, which is said to include as many as 450 murderers. A team made up of representatives from the Shin Bet, the Prime Minister's Office and the Justice Ministry is reviewing the criteria for releasing security prisoners in any potential exchange for Schalit. Issues being considered include the terrorist act committed and the amount of time the prisoner has served in jail. "The Palestinians in prison have the terror know-how and the influence over the terror groups," the defense official said. "If they are released they will be taking those qualities with them and we will need to be prepared."
According to the official, the IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) would need to closely follow the Palestinians once they are released from prison. While it would be a government-level decision to release the prisoners, he said, the defense establishment would not hesitate to arrest any of the released prisoners if they resumed their terror activity. "If they are suddenly good people then we will leave them alone," the official said. "But if they return to dealing in terrorism then we will arrest them."
The remarks came a day after the Post reported that Hamas had recently begun trying to establish a military force in the West Bank similar to the 10,000-strong army it has set up in the Gaza Strip.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2007 00:00 ||
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If hundreds of terrorists are released in exchange for abducted IDF Cpl. Gilad Schalit they will pose an immediate threat to Israeli cities and settlements
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2007 8:41 Comments ||
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#4
Y'all believe in Sharia "Law" cut off their right hands at the wrist.
This provides positive identification, makes handling firearms difficult, and renders the person "Unclean".
Bet thre'd be damn few repeat offenders.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/22/2007 11:14 Comments ||
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#5
If that seems to cruel, Tattoo "Murderer" across their foreheads in huge letters, in bright red.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/22/2007 11:17 Comments ||
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These prisoner exchanges (OK, ransom for imprisoned IDZ) are the one thing I think Israel has consistently done wrong for years. Odd, as they understand the need for harshness and conditioning of their enemy, in general.
#8
Instead of exchanging prisoners, how about exchanging napalm? What? The paleostains don't have any aircraft? Too bad, so sad. Drop the first load in Ramallah.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/22/2007 17:26 Comments ||
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#9
I sympathize with their desire to have their hostage soldier returned, but for a state to release terrorists as a negotiating tactic is ultimately suicidal. It would be better to discover the location where he is being held and to then attempt a rescue, however risky.
Thailand resumed service on a key rail link in southern Thailand Sunday a week after it was shut down following an attack on a train by suspected Muslim insurgents that wounded two people.
The national railway union asked the state railroad to reopen the line after "authorities promised to beef up security for passengers and railway workers," said union chief Suphichet Suwanchatree. State railway records for the southern region show that since March 2004, insurgents have attacked trains and other railway property and personnel 42 times, causing 24 deaths and 30 injuries, Suphichet said.
The train service running between Yala province and the town of Sungai Kolok, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) to the southeast on the border with Malaysia, was suspended April 14 when gunmen shot at a train wounding a railway employee and a passenger.
"Security officials will be keeping watch on where each train is and whether there are suspicious incidents in the area," said army spokesman Col. Akara Thiprot. "We want to make sure that the trains will not be traveling alone." The military would also work to improve communications between security officials and railway officials, Akara said.
#1
Put a flatcar on the tail end of the train, set a tank and crew on the flatcar, if attacked stop the train, dismount only if needed, mow down the attackers who are now near the tank.
One such "incident" should stop train attacks.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/22/2007 19:27 Comments ||
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#2
Every conversation here last week seemed to revolve around the imposition of petrol rationing on May 21. Subsidised petrol will rise from 800 riyals (about 4p) to 1,000 riyals (5p) per litre. Far worse in this sprawling traffic-choked city, only three litres a day will be available at that price. Ration cards will be issued and any purchase over the limit will be at a nonsubsidised rate that has yet to be decided.
Cool. Being a Rantburg reader, I'm not surprised, either.
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/22/2007 7:29 Comments ||
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#4
Rationing hasn't resulted in regime changes in Cuba or N.Korea. As long as they have enough thugs and have no qualms about using them, they don't have a real problem, just one wished for by the outside. Wishing is not a strategy.
A former FBI agent who disappeared in Iran last month is being held by Revolutionary Guards in a safe house in Tajrish, northern Tehran, according to a source within the guard, writes Uzi Mahnaimi.
They want to swap Robert Levinson, 59, a private investigator from Florida, for Ali Reza Asgari, an Iranian general who vanished in mysterious circumstances in Turkey in February.
Levinson, who is said to be unwell, has apparently been interrogated by guards who intend to broadcast his testimony on television once Tehran acknowledges that it is holding him.
He disappeared on March 11 while on the island of Kish, an Iranian free trade zone where a visa is not required.
sorry, Bob. Ain't gonna happen
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/22/2007 10:52 Comments ||
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#6
Cracks show under Irans strongman
Thought the story was going to be about his vagina.
#9
To foreign diplomats, however, it is another sign that Ahmadinejad - who once claimed to have been surrounded by an aura while speaking to the UN and who has called for Israel to be wiped off the map - is becoming, in the words of one western official, increasingly divorced from reality.
We need to finalize that "divorce".
There will be dissatisfaction, unrest and more inflation. At worst, there will be an explosion in the social structure.
Here's hoping.
a country that earns £100m a day from oil revenues.
While
a teacher is paid about £30 a week.
Where does all the money go? These stupid shits are so hell bent on military supremacy that they can't even build more gasoline refineries. Even when gas shortages threat Iran's very stability. We must crush Iran's military, if only to denude the mullahs of so much ill-invested oil wealth.
#11
Pappy, the distinction you make between ideological and military goals is valid. As I've learned more and more about Koranic doctrine, I no longer differentiate between them. Islam sure as hell doesn't. Iran probably has one of the largest proxy military forces in the world. Sooner or later, the global community needs to lay the atrocities of these proxies at Iran's feet. The mullahs have much to answer for.
EU foreign ministers will be meeting in Luxemburg on Monday so as to prepare the ground for resumption of nuclear negotiations with Iran. European diplomats have confirmed the date set for the talks between Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana - April 25. The diplomats however say no decision has yet been made on the location of the meeting. The talks are part of EU's efforts for finding a diplomatic solution to the nuclear standoff between Iran and the West.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2007 00:00 ||
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Lebanon's democratic government apparently cannot convene a promised tribunal to deal with the assassination of a leading politician, and the United States may ask the United Nations Security Council to step in, US officials said Friday.
The State Department's top Middle East diplomat suggested that the US-backed government in Beirut is partly to blame for a political impasse over the international tribunal. "It appears that because of interference from the outside, indecision inside and opposition inside, that Lebanon's normal constitutional processes cannot address this matter," Assistant Secretary of State David Welch said.
The panel to prosecute suspects in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was meant to clear the air in Lebanon's fractured and suspicious political culture. Instead, it has become a defining symbol for the country's difficulties.
Prime Minister Fuad Saniora's weak government has demanded the tribunal be created, but the opposition parliament speaker, Nabih Berri, has not convened the legislature to approve the court. The deadlock threatens Saniora's government. Although Saniora is admired for standing up to pro-Syrian forces and the political and militia group Hizbullah, Western diplomats have expressed disappointment that he has not resolved the crisis.
The United States and other members of the UN Security Council would prefer that Lebanon run the tribunal under its own laws, but several diplomats have said the council could establish its own independent panel if necessary. "If it's not possible to do this through Lebanon's normal constitutional processes, then the United States and others will find another way to do it," Welch told reporters at a State Department briefing.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2007 00:00 ||
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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.
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.
The fugitive Taliban leader Mulla Muhammad Omar has urged his followers to step up suicide attacks on foreign and Afghan troops and remain united, a Taliban commander said.
A United Nations report released on Friday pressed for world support for African peacekeepers in Somalia but warned that pursuing military solutions in Mogadishu was likely to be "counter-productive". "The international community should urgently support the African Union with all means at its disposal," the report by UN chief Ban Ki-moon said.
Immigration may be threatening Britain's status as a country, it has been claimed.
Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi visited Saudi Arabia on Saturday for talks with the Saudi king and other officials on the troubled Middle East. 
The Uzbek militants chased out of South Waziristan operated torture cells and repressed the local population, according to residents of the former Uzbek strongholds of Wana, Sheen Warsak and Azam Warsak. By name, they were Muslims. But by deeds they were beast, says 
Abdul Rashid Ghazi, the administrator of Lal Masjid Islamabad is in the belly of the beast. The antics of his students from the two seminaries, Jamia Hafsa and Freedia, have put him in the spotlight the world over. He has even ignored the denunciation of some MMA leaders and said that the Lal Masjid will stick to its stand on the enforcement of sharia and the demand that the government reconstruct the mosques it has demolished. An articulate and soft-spoken gentleman, Ghazi monitors the media very closely. The Friday Times spoke with him on the phone to ascertain his view on the ongoing crisis in Islamabad. Excerpts:
Muhammad Ayub, the sitting Nazim of the PU-chapter of Islami Jamiat Talaba, the student wing of the Jamaat-e Islami, says the IJT would never use force except in extreme cases. Last week, IJT activists beat up a boy and a girl of the English Department in public view. Ayub says this was because they were kissing in public, and because the IJT got phone calls from several students asking it to intervene and put an end to such un-Islamic acts. 
Palestinian security forces have been seeking emotional counseling, following "internal infighting in Gaza". Dr. Riad al-Aqra, the director for the Gaza hospital for mental health, said that "although the occupation is a major cause for emotional depression for Gaza residents
Palestinian infighting plays a striking role in the increase of shock, tension and depression, present in previously unseen amounts."
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh strongly condemned Saturday's IDF operations in Gaza and Jenin in which six Palestinians were killed. "These crimes are an additional proof of the cruelty of Israel and its attempt to break the will of the Palestinians and to push us to surrender," said Haniyeh is a statement he released on Saturday night.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is also responsible for the results of the war in Lebanon, said Prime Minster Ehud Olmert in an interview set to be broadcast on Sunday morning. "Livni participated in all the discussions and also voted in favor of going to war," Olmert told Army Radio. The prime minister added that the war created a possibility of political processes with nations with whom Israel has no diplomatic ties.
If hundreds of terrorists are released in exchange for abducted IDF Cpl. Gilad Schalit they will pose an immediate threat to Israeli cities and settlements, a high-ranking defense official told The Jerusalem Post. 
EU foreign ministers will be meeting in Luxemburg on Monday so as to prepare the ground for resumption of nuclear negotiations with Iran. European diplomats have confirmed the date set for the talks between Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana - April 25. The diplomats however say no decision has yet been made on the location of the meeting. The talks are part of EU's efforts for finding a diplomatic solution to the nuclear standoff between Iran and the West.
Lebanon's democratic government apparently cannot convene a promised tribunal to deal with the assassination of a leading politician, and the United States may ask the United Nations Security Council to step in, US officials said Friday. 
