NATO risks losing the war in Afghanistan because of a “tremendous deterioration” in the popularity of the government of US-backed President Hamid Karzai, former US ambassador to the United Nations Richard Holbrooke said on Saturday. “Afghanistan represents the ultimate test for NATO,” Holbrooke, who recently toured the war-torn country, told the Brussels Forum, an annual transatlantic security conference. Holbrooke said he was struck during his visit by how unpopular Karzai’s government had become because of corruption caused by the country’s burgeoning drug problem. “I have heard increasingly that the government has lost its momentum,” he said. “I can sense a tremendous deterioration in the standing of the government. Afghans are now universally talking about their disappointment with Karzai. Let’s be honest with ourselves ... the government must succeed or else the Taliban will gain from it.”
At a news conference later, Canadian Foreign Minister Peter Mackay said the fate of the allied operation in Afghanistan - in which 54 Canadian soldiers have died so far - hangs by a thread. “While I don’t want to sound alarmist, I think there is going to be a tipping point unless we are able to stabilise (southern Afghanistan, especially), unless we are able to get on with” building the economy, rule of law and government institutions.
He said Canada had been disappointed by a lack of solidarity within NATO to share the burden of the Afghan operation. He also called on Pakistan to do more to secure its border with Afghanistan saying there were as many as 4 million refugees “just inside the Pakistani border and they are a source for recruitment” for Taliban guerrillas.
NATO Secretary General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer added: “If we lose ... the consequences will be felt not only in Afghanistan but in all nations.” Holbrooke, who was instrumental in formulating US policy toward the United Nations, Africa, Asia and the Middle East, remains best-known for his role as the architect of the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement which ended the war in Bosnia. Some have mentioned him as the next US secretary of state if a Democratic candidate wins the next presidential election. “We don’t want to see the kind of political chaos (in Kabul) that in Baghdad is destroying the coalition effort,” he said.
This article starring:
Brussels Forum
Canadian Foreign Minister Peter Mackay
former US ambassador to the United Nations Richard Holbrooke
NATO Secretary General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
NATO is still around? The west is no longer capable of waging war.
#2
Holbrooke is Clinton's bitch. Seriously, “I have heard increasingly that the government has lost its momentum,” he said. “I can sense a tremendous deterioration in the standing of the government."? From whom did you hear this? What spider-sense set this off? A virtual sponge of info ensconsed comfortably in NY and his euro- apartment....
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/29/2007 6:51 Comments ||
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#3
Holbrooke wanted to be John Kerry's Secretary of State and was on his team. It should make anyone shudder to think of the utter chaos and genocide that would exist in such a circumstance. That is, utter dhimmitude and surrender.
#4
BS. Nato is the United States, period. Nothing gets done there unless we are doing the lifting. We do the plans, the strategy, the tactics, the equipment, the forces, et.al. Holbrooke is a weanie and always has been one. How could someone from the Clinton administration have any reference point to conflict, victory, etc.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
04/29/2007 12:30 Comments ||
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#5
seems like the the war has pretty much been won just wrapping things up now
(SomaliNet) Somalia’s interim prime minister Ali Mohamed Gedi has appointed Saturday former ruler of middle Shabelle region in central Somalia Mohamed Omar Habeb ‘Mohamed Dhere’ as the governor Banadir and mayor of Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.
Premier Gedi made the nomination in a decree issued last night and accepted by Somalia president Abdulahi Yusuf. The new governor is replacing Mohamud Hassan Ali ‘Adde Gabow’ who accepted the substitution. Mr. Adde Gabow said he will pass on the post tomorrow.
Mohamed DhereÂ’s nomination came as the capital has entered in transition period after the government rooted out the remnants of the ousted Islamists.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
At this rate, I have a damn good chance of becoming President of Somalia.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
04/29/2007 12:31 Comments ||
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Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi cautioned the West on Saturday over involvement in the standoff in Sudan's western Darfur region and restated his opposition to international peacekeepers. Gaddafi made the remarks as he welcomed international envoys to Libya for talks on Darfur, where four years of fighting between rebels, government forces and Arab Janjaweed militia have killed at least 200,000 people and displaced some 2.5 million, creating one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
"My advice to the world, after this conference and finding solutions to the issue, is to ignore the disputing parties if they don't respond to these solutions," Gaddafi told the envoys from the United Nations, African Union (AU), United States and a string of Western and African countries. "I call on (the world) not to finance them materially and to stop supporting them and not to send international forces," he said as he received the officials in his home town of Sirte.
After meeting Gaddafi in Sirte, about 500 km (310 miles) east of Tripoli, delegates returned to a hotel in the capital and began talks there late on Saturday chaired by Libya's Africa minister Ali Treiki. A Western diplomat said the talks would leave aside the divisive peacekeeping issue and focus on trying to bring together a welter of separate initiatives on Darfur in "a process vigorously led by the AU and the U.N".
"Mmmmm...pie. Can you pass me a slice of that pie? And the bowl of Amaretto whipped cream, thanks."
Political progress has been made much harder by the fact the Darfur rebels themselves are split. A peace deal in May last year was signed by only one of three rebel factions.
Built on the Paleo model. Someone's paying attention.
Treiki said a mechanism was needed to first bring together the neighbouring countries affected by the conflict -- Sudan, Libya, Chad and Eritrea -- and then the Sudanese factions which had not signed the peace deal.He said a meeting with the parties that had not signed should happen in the next three weeks, without specifying where.
"But I'm told the whirled peas reduction they serve there is divine. Would you be a dear and send down some of that tiramisu and a fresh fork? Thanks awfully!"
In his earlier comments, Gaddafi was critical of the rebels."I see that the rebel side in the region is the one which endeavours to implicate the world in this issue," he said. "It is not in the interest of the world to intervene in an issue in which one of the parties doesn't want a solution." Gaddafi styles himself as an African nationalist seeking African solutions to the continent's problems without relying on the West. His opposition to international peacekeepers is strongly at odds with the stance of the United States, which blames Sudan for what it says is genocide in Darfur.
#1
I had a hat like that once when I was learning to sail.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/29/2007 0:53 Comments ||
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#2
This is best left to ChiComs now. They've been paying this fool and others of his ilk to develop the oil fields there. And they've now been attacked and murdered. Let's all grab some hot buttered popcorn and await further developments.
#3
Now let me warn you. If Arabs do not stop but only aid this, maybe I Personally will take action, and that will not mean "peacekeepers". I will go for broke and I will show you why you should be afraid of power and stupid comments Brother.
#6
Speaking of which, where are the Village People, these days?
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
04/29/2007 12:32 Comments ||
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#7
I'd like to get him out in a thunderstorm. With that much metal, he's an anode waiting to be struck. Couldn't happen to a more deserving toad.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/29/2007 14:57 Comments ||
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#8
OP---ROFLMAO!!!! Anode, waiting to be struck. That's rich! So where did G'Daffy get this costume? I especially like the gold sprocket on the green sash. Looks cool.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/29/2007 15:53 Comments ||
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#9
That is not G'daffy. And I resent my photograph being used to belittle him. You will be hearing from my attorneys.
Posted by: Michael Jackson ||
04/29/2007 15:58 Comments ||
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#10
Gdaffy looks like an Arab Imus..that skin's too smooth...
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/29/2007 16:18 Comments ||
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#11
So where did G'Daffy get this costume?
Probably designed it himself, most tailors have much better sense than that.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/29/2007 17:36 Comments ||
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#12
#1 I had a hat like that once when I was learning to sail.
Posted by Steve White
You were once a Navy Ensign? Po Boy.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/29/2007 17:37 Comments ||
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#13
Are you guys sure that's not a picture of Michael Jackson?
Government authorities agreed to a three-day truce Saturday with Bedouins in the Sinai Peninsula to end recent clashes with security officials, police said. The announcement came a day after authorities mobilized hundreds of policemen in eastern Sinai when Bedouins trying to cross into Israel wounded an Egyptian security officer.
Capt. Mohammed Badr said that under the truce negotiated by local authorities, the Bedouins agreed to avoid the Israeli border for three days and return to their homes in central Sinai. In return, the Bedouins demanded the release of locals detained in the past several days and an investigation into the deaths of two Bedouins Wednesday in clashes with police. Badr said these demands would be taken into consideration. The Middle East News Agency reported the two Bedouins were killed when their car flipped over near a police checkpoint close to the Israeli border. Police said in the report that they exchanged fire with the two men after they failed to stop at the checkpoint.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2007 00:00 ||
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Alarmed to find that detainees are emerging from the Guantanamo Bay prison camp and other U.S. detention centers more devoted than ever to radical Islam, Saudi Arabia is offering counseling, financial aid and even matchmaking to pull young militants away from terrorism.
To keep the former detainees from deep-pocketed militant recruiters, Saudi officials have treated them to perks that have included new cars, resort stays, job placement and help in finding brides. They've also exposed them to moderate clerics and reminded them of Islam's restrictive rules for waging holy war, or jihad.
And then, everyone had a good laugh at the Americans' expense.
Saudi officials said the goal is to stop the proliferation of radical ideology that they said is bred in prisons and on the Internet. The ideology has flourished at Guantanamo and is evident among the returning Saudi detainees - even those who were moderates before they were imprisoned, Saudi officials said. "When you associate with those guys, you become one of them," said Mansour al Turki, the Saudi government's security spokesman.
#1
The U.S.-led war in Iraq is the biggest factor in radicalizing Saudi youths, according to a Saudi government report.
Of course, the kingdom's wide spread teaching of violent Wahabbism has absolutely nothing to do with "radicalizing Saudi youths". Perish the thought.
"In Saudi Arabia, al-Qaida has been destroyed as an organization,"
Even as your royals continue to fund it. What am I to believe?
"What is happening now is a battle, a war, of ideas."
Two lies and now, surprisingly, a fact. Oops, merely a misrepresentation couched in proper language. To paraphrase Albert Einstein: You cannot simultaneously fund and prevent terrorism. Saudi duplicity will one day find the royals charred in their beds.
... the rehabilitation program ... illustrates the conservative Saudi monarchy's confused policies - it turns a blind eye to the radical teachings of prominent clerics but prosecutes young Saudis who put those lessons into practice.
See the above paraphrase. Saudi Arabia is reaping the whirlwind that have worked so diligently to sow. We owe it to ourselves to ensure that the House of Saud is struck by a cyclone. While the unacceptable meddling and proxy wars of Iran's Islamic theocracy have more noticeable consequences, the global tentacles of Saudi terrorist funding and indoctrination pose a problem of far greater magnitude. One by one these treacherous regimes must be toppled and made to pay for their perfidy.
#4
...detainees are emerging from the Guantanamo Bay prison camp and other U.S. detention centers more devoted than ever to radical Islam, Saudi Arabia is offering counseling, financial aid and even matchmaking to pull young militants away from terrorism.
Al Qaeda-linked plotters hoped to reproduce the Sept 11, 2001 attacks by planning to dispatch suicide pilots to military bases and launching attacks on the oil refineries that drive the economy of Osama bin Laden's homeland, Saudi Arabian officials said Saturday. Revealing new details of the purported plot, a government spokesman said some of the 172 attackers trained as pilots in an unidentified 'troubled country' nearby, hoping to use the planes to carry out suicide attacks.
The spokesman, Maj Gen Mansour al-Turki, would not say where the training took place: "It could be Iraq, Somalia, Pakistan, there are so many troubled regions in the world. I can't specify." The militants allegedly wanted to use planes "like car bombs ... to use the aircraft as a tool to carry out suicide operations," al-Turki told The Associated Press by phone from this capital city.
Targets included Saudi military bases that militants had no other way of reaching but by blowing up an aircraft, he said. "The last group (we) rounded up are carriers of Al Qaeda ideology, working on achieving Al Qaeda goals, which is to take over the society," al-Turki said.
The monthslong roundup of alleged Islamic militants from seven terror cells was one of the biggest terror sweeps since Saudi leaders began an unrelenting offensive against extremists after militants attacked foreigners and others involved in the country's oil industry seeking to topple the monarchy for its alliance with the US.
But analysts say Al Qaeda followers are determined to stay active in Saudi Arabia. "This is the heart of Islam, the birthplace of Islam. Saudi Arabia has a huge psychological value for Al Qaeda. Despite the crackdown, Al Qaeda will keep trying to establish itself in Saudi Arabia," said Mustafa Alani, director of security and terrorism studies at the Dubai-based Gulf Research Center.
Along with the planned suicide attacks, authorities said the latest arrests also thwarted plots to mount air attacks on the kingdom's oil refineries, break militants out of prison and send suicide attackers to kill government officials. The Interior Ministry also said some targets were outside the country, which it did not identify.
Al-Turki did not elaborate or specifically say those detained were Al Qaeda members, but his comments marked a rare mention of the terror network by Saudi officials, who customarily refer to the organisation as a "deviant group."
Militants have attacked foreigners living in Saudi Arabia and the country's oil industry, which has more than 260 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, a quarter of the world's total. Bin Laden also has urged such attacks to hurt the flow of oil to the West.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
"It could be Iraq, Somalia, Pakistan, there are so many troubled regions in the world. I can't specify."
Is it co-incidence but most trouble spots are muslim!!!!!
Posted by: Paul ||
04/29/2007 10:31 Comments ||
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#2
This is a real riot coming from the Saudis, considering 15 of the 19 September 11th hijackers were Saudis.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
04/29/2007 11:03 Comments ||
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#3
"It could be Iraq, Somalia, Pakistan, there are so many troubled regions in the world.
I don't see aviation training taking place in Iraq or Somalia, but there are a few other places left out of the list. I'd add Syria, Iran, Egypt, Libya, Malaysia, Indonesia, Sudan, and Eritrea to the list of countries where islamists can get the necessary training, either with government support, or without it. While Malaysia isn't "troubled", it does have the infrastructure and personnel to provide flight training, and a growing insurgency on its northern border with Thailand. I would also look toward several Latin American countries, especially Paraguay, Bolivia, and Venezuela, for possible sources of training as well. If the Saudis would cut funding to some of the less-well-watched "charities" and radical Wahabbist clerics, the level of jihad would drop considerably.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/29/2007 15:06 Comments ||
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For as long as anyone can remember, the cracked asphalt soccer field in the Roquete Pinto slum was off-limits to children — "reserved" by gangs selling marijuana and cocaine. Then, a few months ago, a mysterious squad of beefy men with submachine guns started patrolling on foot, and the drug dealers disappeared.
A few days ago, while gunbattles were raging in two other Rio de Janeiro neighborhoods and bystanders were shielding their kids from the bullets, the barefoot teens of Roquete Pinto smiled and shouted as they kicked a ball around their freshly liberated field.
Startling transformations like Roquete Pinto's are increasingly visible across Rio, as for-profit "militias" made up of active and former police officers, private security guards, off-duty prison guards and firefighters evict drug gangs from slums where violence used to be out of control.
Although some worry about the implications of vigilante justice, the militias have powerful sympathizers, among them Mayor Cesar Maia, who calls them "self-defense groups" and says that compared with the drug gangs, the vigilantes are the lesser evil.
The surprise is that the gangs aren't fighting to hold their turf. In the few known cases where they did, militia gunfire turned them back.
Critics say the city risks going the way of Colombia, where violent paramilitary groups that sprang up to battle guerrillas came to hold more power than authorities in some areas.
"It's the state that establishes law and order, not the militia," said Sergio Cabral, governor of Rio de Janeiro state. "We won't accept this under any conditions."
But President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva hasn't spoken out against the militias, and it seems that law enforcement has fallen into a gray area in many Rio slums, and city authorities may be content to leave it at that as Brazil prepares to host Pope Benedict XVI next month and Rio stages the Pan American Games in July.
In this city of 6 million people, one of the world's most violent, "the police provide security for the rich" and "the militias are the security of the poor," said Marina Maggessi, a congresswoman and a former senior drug-control official. She has mixed feelings about the militias, saying they represent the "collapse of the state."
First gaining strength in 2003 as an alternative to ineffective, often corrupt police, the illegal security forces have mushroomed since late last year and now control about 90 of Rio's 600 "favelas," Maggessi said. Success in slums like Roquete Pinto, meanwhile, fuels their expansion into others.
"This place was dead," said Joao Batista dos Santos da Silva Jr., president of the Roquete Pinto residents' association. "It was war every day."
Like many slum community leaders, he refuses to acknowledge the existence of the militias, saying the cleanup is entirely the work of the police, even though there is no station in the slum, and not a single officer or patrol car was seen during two recent visits.
On the other hand, Roquete Pinto's new protectors were hard to miss: Seven big men in shorts and T-shirts, silently eating lunch in a pool hall, a submachine gun and automatic pistols on the table between their plates.
In another favela, Rio das Pedras, a woman selling shampoo on the street had no doubts. "There are no muggers and no drug sellers," said Margarida Rodrigues dos Santos, 57. "The militia won't let them in."
At Roquete Pinto's soccer field, the gangs "would come down here, shoot the place up and tell everyone to go home," said 19-year-old Rodrigo dos Santos.
Now the only reminders of the gangs are the bullet-pocked street lamps around the soccer field. Residents say robberies have become rare. Delivery trucks once barred from entering now drive through, and there's a new Internet cafe and a lively outdoor market.
There are no official estimates of how much money the militias make, but residents of one slum told the O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper that families pay $7-$14 per month. That adds up quickly in the steep hillsides where tens of thousands of families live.
Militia leaders did not respond to requests for interviews.
"They're very leery about reporters," said Jose Fontes, a member of a militia that took over the Kelson's slum last November. "The commander is in hiding and won't even answer his phone."
At least one high-ranking police officer has endorsed their work while acknowledging that they are illegal.
"The communities are now free from the traffickers," Col. Mario Sergio de Brito Duarte, who heads a special favela operations unit, said in an e-mail. "Children and teenagers living in these neighborhoods are no longer exposed to drug wholesaling."
Be careful out there, Joe! North Korea displayed a newly developed ballistic missile capable of reaching the US territory of Guam during a massive military parade this past week, a news report said Saturday. The parade in Pyongyang on Wednesday featured three new models, including the medium-range missile that can travel 2,500-4,000 kilometers, the Chosun Ilbo reported.
The report cited an unidentified South Korean government official familiar with an analysis of US satellite images. "All three (new) models are ground-to-ground missiles," the official was quoted as saying. "Of them, the medium-range ballistic missile is noteworthy as it ... has Guam in its range." The Pyongyang parade marked the 75th anniversary of the country's military, which dates back to Resistance™ movements against Japan's occupation.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Joe, you can fight 'em off with your "caps lock".
Posted by: Captain America ||
04/29/2007 0:17 Comments ||
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#2
I'd say don't sweat the small stuff yet Joe. It may have the range capability, but this is like hitting a single pebble on a three mile beach for these buffoons.
#4
Hmmm! Guam = Anderson AFB = PacAF = 13th AF = Buffer Bomb/Nav target practice = Norks deep fried. Yep, good idea Kimmie - send one down to Pacific flight range.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
04/29/2007 13:34 Comments ||
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#5
I'm sure there's a PAC-3 unit on Guam already, but as someone said, hitting the island may be difficult even without protection. So what if you have a missile with a 4000km range if the CEP at the end of the flight path is 25km? With the NORK's luck, they'd launch it at Guam and wipe out some village in mainland China...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/29/2007 15:10 Comments ||
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#6
I'd enjoy the repercussions from that :-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/29/2007 15:17 Comments ||
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#7
Hear, Hear, lapdogs that bite are usualy dumped outdors until they learn to behave.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/29/2007 17:28 Comments ||
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#8
Ruh-roh. We just shipped out 200 boxes of Girl Scout cookies to our niece at the Navy hospital on Guam. I hope the cookies get there before the missiles do.
Police say radical youth organization Blitz intended to use explosives in connection with the ongoing NATO meeting in Oslo. Part of the police seizure outside the Blitz house - rocks and low level explosives, firecrackers for ground level detonation. Operation leader Even Jørstad confirmed that police had moved in and raided the Blitz house in downtown Oslo in the first hour of Friday.
A police press release announced that they had carried out a search on the Blitz headquarters. "The background for the decision was that the police have reason to believe that there have been plans to use explosives in connection with the NATO meeting of Foreign Ministers in Oslo," the release said. "These explosives were produced and stored at the Blitz house. The raid and search was carried out to secure evidence," police said.
Police field operation leader Thor Langli told Aftenposten.no that they entered through the front door as the house was empty at the time. Langli said the decision was made after Blitz and police clashed in connection with a protest demonstration linked to the NATO meeting in Oslo Thursday and Friday. "We have found over 70 crates of firecrackers and projectiles in the house," Langli said. The projectiles were primarily stones and bricks.
Trying to read between the lines here, I don't think this protest or these arrests were strictly about Afghanistan, but more of a general Euro-anarcho type thingy.
Several hundred protestors broke through police barriers in downtown Oslo on Thursday evening to demonstrate against NATO's warfare in Afghanistan. 800 demonstrators moved towards Oslo's City Hall. Police field leader Thor Langli
Gotta love a police field leader named Thor.
said that 260 demonstrators were being held after these broke off from a legal demonstration and tried to breach the barriers. "They are young, but not so young that they cannot take responsibility for their actions," Langli said. Just before 8 p.m. on Thursday evening protestors tore down police barriers in Oslo's City Hall square and began throwing stones and eggs after police fired tear gas. A photographer for newspaper Dagbladet was mistakenly arrested during the uproar. "I was on the way out through the police opening when I was arrested. They twisted my arm and were unnecessarily heavy-handed," photographer Hans Vedlog told Aftenposten.no.
You can show the scars to your grandkiddies, Hans.
Vedlog said he was given no opportunity to show his press card and was bound and placed on the street alongside the protestors. He was released after some of his colleagues pointed out the mistake to police.
That's the violence inherent in the System, comrade.
A peaceful protest demonstration began on Thursday evening at 6:30 p.m., with about 800 people and several organizations taking part cooperatively. About 200 of these are believed to be from the radical youth organization Blitz.
And they arrested 260 people (plus one journo). Hmm.
After about 15 minutes the demonstrators began to march towards the City Hall, where a gala dinner in connection with the NATO meeting of foreign ministers was to be held later in the evening. The protestors carried banners with slogans like "Stop NATO", "Norwegian weapons kill children" and "Norway out of Afghanistan". More demonstrators joined the march as it approached City Hall, and then the trouble started. There had been warnings of illegal action on Thursday night and Oslo police were armed with machine guns and had formed a ring around City Hall. Police also boosted security around the US and Israeli embassies.
#2
I don't think so, the cops raided their clubhouse (nobody was there at the time) after the arrests and found a lot of boxes of "explosives" that were really more like "firecrackers" and rocks and bricks for throwing. IMO these were more likely the Indymedia "Black Bloc" types on their way to Speak Truth to Power etc. at the NATO meetings.
I would classify them more as fellow travelers of the Islamists, but if Brother Mahmoud showed up with a bag of cash and a brace of AKs slung over his shoulder, they might find some common ground...
oh please, oh please! Nothing could alienate middle-of-the-road voters than watching the Truthers, moonbats, and defeatocrats along with their MMS allies in full throat. Do it, Jack, Pussy
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/29/2007 18:59 ||
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It's all theater, Frank. Murtha knows there is no impeachable offense commited by the President and the President is not afraid of impeachment proceedings. The votes are not there. This is for Moonbat consumption only.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
04/29/2007 19:31 Comments ||
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#4
Bring it, asshole. Nothing would please me more.
I'll lay in extra popcorn.
Treasonous fools.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/29/2007 22:18 Comments ||
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#5
Ain't gonna happen. If they impeached and convicted Bush, Cheney would become President. If they also impeached and removed Cheney, Nancy Pelosi would become president. And there is no way in hell that Hillary would ever let another woman become the first woman president.
Gov. Rick Perry told a Pittsburgh newspaper that some border-crossers with al-Qaida ties have been apprehended. "The information that we have is that there have been individuals who have crossed, and some that have been apprehended, that have ties back to the al-Qaida network," Perry told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
Perry spokesman Ted Royer said Friday the comments were based on federal intelligence sources having "confirmed that al-Qaida and other terrorist networks view the Southern border as a prime point of entry," Royer said, with people from countries where al-Qaida has a known presence having been apprehended not just in Texas but all along the border.
Perry has pushed for more state resources for border security, saying Texas must make up for insufficient federal action.
#4
Perry has pushed for more state resources for border security
Isn't he the same guy who was cutting himself into the HP3 immunization bonanza? Why do I suspect this is more about getting his share of a Big Pot of Money(TM) than it is about improving our security?
#6
I like it. W is liberal on immigration because he knows with an open border he can sucker the AQ to "come on in", follow them, then when Rove says the time is now (somewhere in October of 08) have them all rounded up right after the evening news where Rudi is speculating on a new coming attack. Somthing like that.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
04/29/2007 13:39 Comments ||
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#7
The only part that bothers me is the "Rounding up"
I suggest a sniper rifle that fires low-velocity, radio transmitters, snipe away at the border, track by radio, then round up as described above.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/29/2007 17:45 Comments ||
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#8
Round em up by promising them 72 virgins. This works every time.
The opposition political parties on Saturday condemned the Charsadda suicide bombing and termed it a result of “ill-conceived policies” of the federal government. The parties expressed relief that Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao and his son had survived the attack and wished them an early recovery.
Pakistan PeopleÂ’s Party Information Secretary Sherry Rehman said that it was a very unfortunate incident that showed that the government had failed to maintain its writ. She said supporting fundamentalists would lead to more such attacks.
“We condemn this incident in the strongest possible terms. But unfortunately, it is the result of the government’s policies,” said Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Information Secretary Ahsan Iqbal.
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) leader Liaquat Baloch condemned the incident and said that it looked as though terrorism had gripped the entire NWFP province. “Our rulers have brought a battle being fought out of our country to our frontiers just to appease their foreign masters,” Baloch said.
Awami National Party chief Asfandyar Wali termed the incident alarming and urged all political forces to join hands to take the country out of the present predicament.
MMA President Qazi Hussain Ahmed said in Lahore, “Such acts prevent leaders from communicating with the people.”
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2007 00:00 ||
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Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Saturday the misconceptions about madrassas should be removed as they were playing a positive role in providing education to the poor.
“We are proud of our madrassas for providing free education to thousands of poor students. We should not be apologetic about them. Every country has these madrassas then why shouldn’t we.”
“We are proud of our madrassas for providing free education to thousands of poor students. We should not be apologetic about them. Every country has these madrassas then why shouldn’t we,” he said at an international conference titled Governing for MDGs: Focus on Incentives, Ownership and Incentives.
The National Reconstruction Bureau in collaboration with the World Bank organised the conference,
“Some seminaries might be carried away by religious sentiments. However, the government can deal with them.”
which was sponsored by Japan, the Canadian International Development Agency and the United Nations Development Fund. Aziz said the most madrassas were doing a good job but there were misconceptions in the world about them, which needed to be removed. “Some seminaries might be carried away by religious sentiments. However, the government can deal with them,” he said.
This article starring:
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
“We are proud of our madrassas for providing free education to thousands of poor students. We should not be apologetic about them. Every country has these madrassas then why shouldn’t we,”
This needs to change. Much as making sure the name "Mohammed" is as unpopular of a kid's name as "Adolph", we need to make sure that all countries with madrassas rue the day they ever allowed one to be built. Madrassas are essentially unlicensed day care centers where molestations and other perversions can go undetected. Worst of all is how all these young minds are perverted with Islam's jihadist filth.
One by one, each country's madrassas should be bombed into oblivion. Drop leaflets making it crystal clear that this was done because of the Islamic filth being spread by them. Then hope that the parents of all the children who perish get a clue about just how unwise it is to send their kids off to terrorist training camps. The entire Islamic indoctrination process needs to be razed to the very ground. Starting with assassinations of Islam's clerical elite and working down to dismantling all of their academic institutions.
I realize that many of the children sent to these terrorist training centers come from households that are too poor to afford any other sort of education. That in no way changes how the West is confronted with the need to incapacitate an entire generation of fighting age Muslim males. Waiting for them to gain the field wearing bomb vests or bearing weapons in hand is not an option. Either we begin to alter the demographics of those countries that provide so many of the terrorist recruits, or we simply glass them over. Suddenly my suggestion seems a lot more humane.
Islam continues to show no indication of reforming itself. Such a thing is impossible to impose externally, especially in light of taqiyya. Either it is voluntarily embraced or it is of no use at all. In light of this intransigence, Islam either will have to be selectively denuded of assets or exterminated entirely. Rather than see such genocide occur, I'd rather that a calculated program of stripping out vital resources is begun. Eradicating the madrassa system would be one way of accomplishing this.
PS: Yes, my sympathy meter is in the shop and the mechanic has informed me that replacement parts are no longer available.
President General Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz strongly condemned the bomb blast in Charsadda on Saturday. The two leaders expressed sympathies with family members of the victims of the incident and assured them that the government would make every effort to arrest the criminals involved. The president said such acts of terrorism would not weaken PakistanÂ’s resolve to fight terrorism.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2007 00:00 ||
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Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto on Sunday refused to divulge details about her plans to return from self-imposed exile, as she fears being arrested or assassinated. “I think I’m threatened because my politics disturb the military dictatorship in Pakistan and the Taliban and Qaeda,” she said in remarks quoted by the Times.
Bhutto said it was too early to start thinking about working alongside Musharraf because he believes that that he can rig the election so that there is no need to entertain the thought of a future parliament headed by the PPP. She, however, did not rule out becoming prime minister with Musharraf as president. “If the people vote for my party and parliament elects me as prime minister, it would be an honour for me to take up that role with Musharraf as president, so I think that a good working relationship between him and me would be a necessity for Pakistan,” she said.
Bhutto also confirmed that she had been involved in “back-channel” contacts with President Pervez Musharraf’s regime but denied any “understanding” between them about her future. Musharraf is negotiating to win Bhutto’s support, a minister and officials said earlier this month. Bhutto added, “I plan to return to Pakistan by the end of the year, whether Musharraf likes it or not.”
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Benazir girl... just make sure there are no crates of mangoes on your plane...
Posted by: John Frum ||
04/29/2007 7:12 Comments ||
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#2
She is clearly the best hope for her country ... unfortunately, that's not saying much.
Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan, former prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, has claimed here that the governments of India and Pakistan are considering granting “safe passage” to foreign militants active in Indian-held Kashmir. “The proposal has been discussed for sometime now and I hope an agreement comes through as soon as possible,” he said while delivering a lecture at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), a think-tank.
Earlier, speaking to the media, Khan appealed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to grant “general amnesty” to all militants and withdraw all cases against them. Khan said youths from several countries were lured by militant groups to join their ranks and were now holed up in Pakistan, AJK, or IHK. They want to return to their own countries, he said.
Defending Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Khan said it had no political motives. “They are generally misunderstood and have also stopped their activities in Pakistan,” he said, adding that their cadres on the Indian side of Kashmir should be given “safe passage” to return to their homes. He said, “President Pervez Musharraf has dismantled all camps in Pakistan as well as in AJK.” He offered to take a team of Indian intellectuals and journalists to AJK to see the situation there for themselves. Khan rejected the view that AJK lacked constitutional powers and was way behind IHK in terms of development and progress.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2007 00:00 ||
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youths from several countries were lured by militant groups to join their ranks and were now holed up in Pakistan, AJK, or IHK. They want to return to their own countries, he said.
But..but.. I thought they were "Indian Rebels"?
The reuters and associated press said so..
So they are really armed foreign civilians?
Meaning the Indians can kill them like agricultural pests?
Safe passage you say?
Posted by: John Frum ||
04/29/2007 6:07 Comments ||
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#2
Khan rejected the view that AJK lacked constitutional powers and was way behind IHK in terms of development and progress.
lets see.. in Indian Kashmir, they can elect their state government and elect representatives at the federal level. Several Kashmiris have been powerful Indian federal ministers. One has been a prime minister. In Pakistani Kashmir there has never been a proper election. Rulers are appointed by the Pak army from the Punjabi feudal elite.
There are medical and engineering schools in Indian Kashmir. This is not a big deal in India but visitors from Pak Kashmir are amazed to see such things..
Posted by: John Frum ||
04/29/2007 6:22 Comments ||
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The banned Al Rashid Welfare Trust is planning to continue its relief activities in the quake-hit areas under the cover of another charity organisation, Al Amin Welfare Trust, Daily Times learnt on Saturday.
The Sindh High Court (SHC) directed the government on Thursday to partially lift the ban on the trust to enable it to distribute perishable food items and life-saving drugs among needy people, especially in the quake-affected areas. Sources in the trust told Daily Times that they had started relief activities after the SHC orders and were now considering forming another charity organisation to continue their relief work to avoid a repetition of past events.
Earlier, the interior ministry had banned Al Rashid and Al Akhtar Welfare Trusts and frozen their bank accounts/assets on February 18. The Karachi-based head office of Al Rashid Trust and its 28 offices and sub-offices were also sealed.
This article starring:
Al Akhtar Welfare Trust
Al Amin Welfare Trust
Al Rashid Welfare Trust
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2007 00:00 ||
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Change the name, fool the bank regulators, then change it again, and again,keep it up until the feds have had enough and jail your slimy ass.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/29/2007 12:49 Comments ||
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Democratic presidential hopefuls flashing their anti-war credentials last night at a national debate by stating they would immediately withdraw from Iraq, encouraged Palestinian terrorist leaders here, who labeled the debate a victory for Iraqi insurgents and "resistance movements" throughout the world.
The debate was widely covered today by the Palestinian and pan-Arab media.
"We see Hillary (Clinton) and other candidates are competing on who will withdraw from Iraq and who is guilty of supporting the Iraqi invasion. This is a moment of glory for the revolutionary movements in the Arab world in general and for the Iraqi resistance movement specifically," said Abu Jihad, one of the overall leaders of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror organization.
Continued on Page 49
#1
Lets see.. what is that word I am thinking of?
Oh yeah.....
Treason
The DemocRATS know full well that their stance and statements will give aid and comfort to the enemy. They are deliberately giving aid and comfort to the enemy in time of war.
Queen Nancy goes and visits one of the lead terrorist supporting nations (Syria) to confer with out enemies on how to best 'best bush' -- no matter what the cost. Yet her ladyshit can't take the time to attend a briefing by the general in charge.
#2
Yay democrat. At least you will know they do not have to address subject matter as they have no need for the real world. Ya get to run all around this country with all of those millions of dollars and tell people how much better it will be when you are president. I AM almost tempted to let you take it just so I can smack your stupid asses down in ROYAL fashion. You want power more than anything, Why not?
Not a one of you are capable or able to run this country. More candidates please, and fire the press.
#3
"We see Hillary (Clinton) and other candidates are competing on who will withdraw from Iraq and who is guilty of supporting the Iraqi invasion. This is a moment of glory for the revolutionary movements in the Arab world in general and for the Iraqi resistance movement specifically," said Abu Jihad, one of the overall leaders of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror organization.
Rudy Giuliani should cite this quote the next time he is criticized for saying that the Democrats will retreat in the face of the global jihadist threat.
We'll take it, and I hope we gave the Iranians nothing in return.
British diplomats are checking secret reports that elements within Iran, normally hostile to the West, helped the American secret services to capture Abdul Hadi al-Iraqi, the Kurdish-born senior al-Qaeda militant who was revealed last week to have been arrested on the border between Iran and Iraq late last year. Abdul Hadi, 45, a former Iraqi army officer who speaks five languages and is a key link between the al-Qaeda leadership in western Pakistan and militants in Iraq, had 'met with al-Qaeda leaders in Iran' and had urged them to support efforts in Iraq and to cause 'problems within Iran', US military sources told The Observer.
Not that they needed much encouragement.
Elements within the complex matrix of interest groups that make up the Iranian regime, who have co-operated with Western intelligence services before when it has served their purposes, provided crucial elements of information, possibly through intermediaries, allowing Abdul Hadi to be captured. 'They may have felt he posed an equal threat to them,' said one Paris-based Middle Eastern diplomat yesterday. 'One of Tehran's biggest fears is of an alliance between Kurdish ethnic separatists in the northwest and al-Qaeda.'
Can't let their pets slip the leash ...
Any such help would have been highly secret, given the tense relations between the Iranian regime and Western nations which came to a head with last month's detention of British naval personnel, allegations that Tehran is supporting Shia militants in Iraq and fierce recriminations over Iran's continued pursuit of nuclear technology.
However, senior US intelligence officials told The Observer that the Iranian government has 'in some cases' been helpful in tracking and 'disabling' key militants crossing their national territory between Iraq and Afghanistan. The key Egyptian militant Saif al-Adel, once in charge of training al-Qaeda's new recruits, and one of Osama bin Laden's sons are both believed to be under some kind of detention in Iran. However, though such co-operation was relatively common in the years immediately following the 11 September attacks, the sources said, it had ceased more recently.
Continued on Page 49
This article starring:
Abdul Hadi al-Iraqi
Saif al-Adel
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/29/2007 00:00 ||
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Yeah, but didn't he move back and forth through their country for years, it seems awfully convenient for Iran to leak "we gave him up", to the Brit(who were just held hostage) press, after he's been caught.
#3
Can't remember off hand will try to look for. But I remember reading somewhere how al-Iraqi was a close cohort with Zarkawi in the past and was recently pushing that Al Queda should be attacking in Iran as well as Iraq Afghanistan.
Even so I doubt Iran would help in any meaninful way. More likely they would fade Al-Iraqi themselves.
#4
Abdul Hadi had been detained by the CIA nearly six months ago
Curiouser and curiouser. Didn't we let some high ranking Iranian caught in Iraq return home about six months ago? Anyone got an item that would make for a good quid pro quo half a year back?
Palestinian Finance Minister Salam Fayyad plans to start paying partial salaries to government workers at the start of each month, a step union leaders said on Saturday fell short of the unity government's promises. Government employees' union chief Bassam Zakarneh threatened a new round of work stoppages, starting with a one-day "warning" strike on Wednesday, to demand full wages and back pay.
The gunny job-seeking wannabees tend to fire warning "shots" from their RPG's. A warning "strike" is prolly preferable...
Hamas Islamists formed a unity government last month with President Mahmoud Abbas's secular Fatah faction in a bid to distract the Euro paymasters end internal fighting and ease a year-old economic embargo. But tensions between Hamas and Fatah remain high, particularly in the Gaza Strip, and a Western ban on direct aid to the Palestinian Authority remains in place. "We are going to perform half work if they are going to give us only part of our salaries," Zakarneh told Reuters. "If this government does not live up to its promises, we will consider entering an open-ended strike." The union's stance underscored the difficulties Fayyad and the unity government face meeting the expectations of Palestinians who have not received their full wages since Hamas Islamists came to power in March 2006. Fayyad is counting on receiving at least $55 million a month from Arab League members to cover about half of the Palestinian Authority's monthly payroll.
Bad news, Fayyad. The Paleos have been missing their dead Jooo quotas lately, Abu Amr al-Lewisi may have to dock your paychex. If he even bothers to take your calls, that is.
Fayyad's payments would be timed to coincide with "allowances" paid to workers through a European aid programme known as the Temporary International Mechanism. The European payments are expected to total up to $34 million a month.
That's the money paid to the Paleo government *ministers*, y'understand. Not the money paid to the Paleo *government*, y'see 'cos that would be bad.
Together, Fayyad and the Europeans could cover up to 75 percent of the Palestinian Authority's $115 million monthly wage and pension bill, Western diplomats said. The plan hinges in large part on the Bush administration giving a green light for Arab donors and banks to transfer funds to a Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) account under Fayyad's control.
Commentary on other blogs indicated that this Fayyad tool is a guy the US and other gov'ts have worked with in the past, a guy whose suits are nearly as well-tailored as Saeb Erekat's.
A centerpiece of the year-old economic embargo of the Hamas-led government has been a ban on bank transfers. Fayyad hopes to sidestep these restrictions by using the PLO account. U.S. officials said they were likely to approve Fayyad's request, but they denied that this constituted a change in U.S. policy.
"Certainly not! It's, um....different."
Palestinian officials and Western diplomats said Fayyad plans to make the partial salary payments in the first week of each month, a small step toward normalcy for Palestinian workers. Previous payments through Abbas's office were not made on a regular basis. Under Fayyad's plan, government workers would receive additional funds and back pay as more resources become available, Western diplomats said. Despite appeals from Fayyad and Abbas, the European Union's aid commissioner said this week that EU aid will bypass the Hamas-led government until it recognises Israel, renounces violence and abides by interim peace deals as demanded by the Quartet of Middle East mediators and Israel.
#2
The plan hinges in large part on the Bush administration giving a green light for Arab donors and banks to transfer funds to a Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) account under Fayyad's control.
Yer doomed.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/29/2007 17:52 Comments ||
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"We are going to perform half work if they are going to give us only part of our salaries," Zakarneh told Reuters. "
What? Are the suicide bombers going to don explosive belts and just stand in the pizza parlor?
Hamas on Saturday rejected any possibility of declaring a unilateral truce with Israel and promised to continue firing rockets. Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who held talks in Cairo with Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal over the weekend, failed to persuade him to declare a unilateral truce, PA officials in Ramallah said.
"Mashaal is trying to undermine the new government and the president. He wants many things in return for agreeing to a cease-fire."
Mashaal insisted during the talks that any cease-fire be mutual and include the West Bank, according to the officials. "Mashaal thinks that he's the leader of the Palestinians, and not President Abbas," said one official. "Mashaal is trying to undermine the new government and the president. He wants many things in return for agreeing to a cease-fire."
Also Saturday, the IDF shot and killed three Palestinians who were spotted planting an explosive device next to the Gaza Strip security fence near the Kissufim Crossing. Another Palestinian was seriously wounded; the four were identified as members of Hamas's military wing. Sources in the Southern Command said that the bomb was the 60th time Palestinians tried planting bombs along the fence since a cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinians went into effect in November.
At a security consultation last week, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert decided to allow the IDF to launch pinpoint strikes against Kassam rocket cells. Abbas, who met on Saturday with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, reiterated his call for a new cease-fire with Israel in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Chief PA negotiator Saeb Erekat said the Palestinians were in touch with the US and a number of European countries in a bid to reach a cease-fire with Israel. He said the Palestinians wanted a new cease-fire to be part of a wider deal that would see the lifting of financial sanctions and the removal of IDF checkpoints in the West Bank. Erekat also made it clear that a a new cease-fire should apply to the West Bank and not only to the Gaza Strip.
"Our people are entitled to respond to the daily atrocities perpetrated by Israel," he said. "Our people have the right to resist the occupation in the absence of a political horizon."
Speaking to reporters in Cairo after meeting with Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa, Mashaal described the rocket attacks on Israel as self-defense on the part of Hamas. "Our people are entitled to respond to the daily atrocities perpetrated by Israel," he said. "Our people have the right to resist the occupation in the absence of a political horizon."
Asked about kidnapped IDF Cpl. Gilad Shalit, Mashaal said the ball was in Israel's court. "[Prime Minister] Ehud Olmert is responsible for the delay in the prisoner exchange," he said, refusing to elaborate. Mashaal said his talks with Abbas dealt with Schalit, as well as the status of the PA unity government, growing anarchy in the Gaza Strip and ways of reconstructing the PLO to allow Hamas and other Palestinian groups to join the organization.
He warned of a "new explosion" in the Middle East unless the international community resumed financial aid to the Palestinians. He also lashed out at the Arab and Muslim countries for failing to make good on promises to provide funds.
Mashaal criticized the international community for failing to lift financial sanctions imposed on the Palestinians since Hamas took power in March 2006. He warned of a "new explosion" in the Middle East unless the international community resumed financial aid to the Palestinians. He also lashed out at the Arab and Muslim countries for failing to make good on promises to provide funds.
In Gaza City, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum also emphasized his movement's "right" to fire rockets at Israel. "The Israeli enemy does not recognize the period of security calm that has prevailed over the past year," he said in response to Saturday's killing of three Palestinians by the IDF near the Gaza Strip. "All the Palestinian groups have the right to respond to Israeli massacres against our people," he said. "Why does the international community expect us to sit and watch as Israel continues its aggression against us?"
This article starring:
Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak
FAWZI BARHUM
Hamas
Gilad Shalit
KHALED MASHAAL
Hamas
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
SAEB EREKAT
Palestinian Authority
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Be our guests wormbrains. Have you heard about the new toy we're supplying to IDF? Precision guided 155 shells. Accurate to within a few yards. I believe IDF is going to bring up a whole line of heavy artillery and start non-stop barrages very soon. Have you seen those really small toy planes over your heads ? Got your GPS locations and sent right back to those gunnies, doncha know ? Have fun.
#3
It was getting close to the time to retake Gaza and clean out the Iranian backed Hamas anyway.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
04/29/2007 11:05 Comments ||
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#4
I vote for thespianism. An odd choice for a gentleman of Mr. Meshaal's age and putative character, but I try not to be judgemental in these situations. ;-)
#5
Take one square kilometer for each rocket fired, and vow to NEVER "give it back". Once they start firing rockets from Egyptian and Jordanian territory, tell the Egyptians and Jordanians the deal applies to them, as well. Screw Hezbollah - just push north until you reach the Litani, and annex everything south of there. Warn Syria that any military action OF ANY KIND against Israel will result in the nuclear destruction of Damascus and Baalbek, and keep that promise. Flush ALL Arabs - Christian, muslim, druse, pagan, etc. - from reclaimed territory. Get rid of all Arab Israelis the same way. First, of course, is retire Olmert to an isolated weather station somewhere in the Negev, so he can't screw anything ELSE up.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/29/2007 15:54 Comments ||
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#6
I'd support your plan, Old Patriot.
Unfortunately the world we live in doesn't have the kind of balls in the leadership that that would require.
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.
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi cautioned the West on Saturday over involvement in the standoff in Sudan's western Darfur region and restated his opposition to international peacekeepers. Gaddafi made the remarks as he welcomed international envoys to Libya for talks on Darfur, where four years of fighting between rebels, government forces and Arab Janjaweed militia have killed at least 200,000 people and displaced some 2.5 million, creating one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
Al Qaeda-linked plotters hoped to reproduce the Sept 11, 2001 attacks by planning to dispatch suicide pilots to military bases and launching attacks on the oil refineries that drive the economy of Osama bin Laden's homeland, Saudi Arabian officials said Saturday. Revealing new details of the purported plot, a government spokesman said some of the 172 attackers trained as pilots in an unidentified 'troubled country' nearby, hoping to use the planes to carry out suicide attacks.
North Korea displayed a newly developed ballistic missile capable of reaching the US territory of Guam during a massive military parade this past week, a news report said Saturday. The parade in Pyongyang on Wednesday featured three new models, including the medium-range missile that can travel 2,500-4,000 kilometers, the Chosun Ilbo reported. 
Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto on Sunday refused to divulge details about her plans to return from self-imposed exile, as she fears being arrested or assassinated. “I think I’m threatened because my politics disturb the military dictatorship in Pakistan and the Taliban and Qaeda,” she said in remarks quoted by the Times. 
The banned 
Hamas on Saturday rejected any possibility of declaring a unilateral truce with Israel and promised to continue firing rockets. Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who held talks in Cairo with Hamas leader 
