(SomaliNet) In an unusual move, the transitional federal government took away 40 religious scholars overnight from a mosque in Huriwa neighborhood, north of the Somalia capital immediately after Isha prayers while the Sheiks were supplicating. The rounded up scholars were frog marched to a nearby technical vehicles, handcuffed and blindfolded and taken to unknown location.
Did the perp walk with them, did they?
I saw the government soldiers handcuffing and blindfolding the religious scholars and every one in the mosque took a cover to save his life, said Mohamud Jimale, one of the faithful adding that I really dont known why the Sheiks were targeted,
Other than them being murderous bastards and members of the Islamic Courts, you mean.
This is not the first time the government forces raid mosques in the capital ostensibly to smoke out the remnants of the insurgents.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/17/2007 00:00 ||
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Islamic Scholars - oxymoron alert
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/17/2007 8:19 Comments ||
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40 sheiks = lots of bait for some fine shark fishin'.
Posted by: ed ||
06/17/2007 9:16 Comments ||
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#3
Be afraid if they send a message to Bangladesh: "We'd like to interlibrary loan the shutter gun."
Posted by: Gary and the Samoyeds ||
06/17/2007 10:25 Comments ||
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#4
The rounded up scholars were frog marched to a nearby technical vehicles, handcuffed and blindfolded and taken to unknown location.
Goodness! I didn't even have the chili. Perhaps my cockles are self-warming this time.
#5
I'm constantly amazed at how smaller nations manage to develop these trail blazing anti-terrorism strategies so far in advance of our own highly sophisticated agencies.
THE British arms firm BAE Systems secretly paid nearly £250,000 for a honeymoon for the daughter of Prince Bandar, the Saudi Arabian prince at the centre of bribery allegations. A senior BAE executive authorised the payments, allowing Bandars daughter to enjoy a six-week honeymoon in luxury resorts in Singapore, Malaysia, Bali, Australia and Hawaii. The couple stayed in five-star hotels costing up to £4,000 a night and had a private jet trip to the Great Barrier Reef.
Peter Gardiner, managing director of the travel agency that organised the honeymoon, said: BAE instructed me to give Bandar's daughter and her husband the honeymoon of a lifetime at BAEs expense. Who says that big business doesnt have a heart?
The disclosure is the first evidence that Bandar and his family may have benefited from secret payments made by BAE. The company and Bandar, who was Saudi Arabias ambassador to Washington at the time, have denied any impropriety. Last week Bandar insisted that claims by BBCs Panorama that he had benefited from payments of more than £1 billion allegedly given to him by BAE were grotesque in their absurdity. The cash was reportedly used to buy an Airbus 340 jet and refurbish his official residence in Saudi Arabia. He insists that they were approved by the Saudi defence ministry and were given to him in his capacity as a government minister.
However, the honeymoon for Bandars daughter, Princess Reema, was paid for through a £60m slush fund which the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) believes was set up by BAE to encourage Saudi royals to continue with a £43 billion arms contract to supply Hawk and Tornado jets.
The latest twist in the BAE affair has been disclosed by Gardiner, who said he has made a detailed statement to the SFO. He described how his company, Travellers World, was used by BAE to make payments to Saudi royals when they were holidaying around the world. His company would arrange and pay for hotels, airline tickets, apartments, boat and jet charters, as well as hiring limousines and bodyguards.
Gardiner had agreed to testify as the chief prosecution witness in an expected trial of BAE executives over the deal. The prosecution was halted last December after the Saudis threatened to suspend diplomatic and intelligence ties. Tony Blair has said he takes full responsibility for the decision, which has led to worldwide criticism.
Last week Gardiner said Tony Winship, a senior BAE marketing executive responsible for overseeing the slush fund, approved the costs of the six-week trip for Princess Reema bint Bandar and Prince Faisal bin Turki, the son of Prince Turki bin Nasser, another Saudi royal implicated in the SFOs bribery inquiry.
They were a young, attractive couple in love and on a dream honeymoon. They knew nothing about BAE paying and must have believed it was their parents paying. I was instructed by BAE not to discuss payments with them or with anyone. I was told by BAE to give them the very best, Gardiner said.
The couple selected the itinerary. I chose and arranged the hotels, transportation, diplomatic arrivals. They never took advantage and any personal expenditure such as shopping they paid for themselves.
The couple were married in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, in December 1996. They flew on Turkis private Boeing 707, staffed by an English captain and crew, to Singapore. There they stayed for a week at Raffles, the countrys most exclusive hotel where suites cost from £500 to £2,800 a night.
They then travelled for a weeks stay to the Pangkor Laut resort on a privately owned island off Malaysia. It is often described as the best resort in the world. The honeymoon suite was a two-bedroom, overwater bungalow with a partial glass floor so that guests could see the sea below them, said Gardiner, who accompanied the royal couple during the early part of their stay. They very much liked the suite.
After a week in Malaysia, Bandars daughter and her groom flew by private jet to Bali where they stayed at the five-star Four Seasons Jimbaran Bay resort. They arrived in Australia and spent Christmas at the Regent hotel in Sydney. During that visit the prince who, like his father-in-law Bandar, is a fan of the Dallas Cowboys football team, was keen to watch a critical game. Gardiner says he found a private club in a town 60 miles away which could show the game live on cable TV. The entire club was hired in the middle of the night so that Bandars daughter and her husband could watch the match live. The three-hour stay cost £6,000. BAE again footed the bill.
The couple then flew to the Gold Coast where they stayed at the five-star Sheraton Mirage and Spa. On a day trip they hired a Gulfstream jet to fly to the Great Barrier Reef. The bill, paid by Travellers World and reimbursed by BAE, was £15,000.
Documents in the possession of the SFO show that Travellers World invoiced BAE £45,490 for the couples stay in Australia. The item is billed as HM.Aus, which Gardiner said was shorthand for Honeymoon, Australia. The couple moved on to Hawaii where they spent a few days at the Halekulani on Waikiki beach. From there they flew to the Grand Wailea, on the Hawaiian island of Maui, where their penthouse suite on a private floor cost about £4,000.
The files show one part of the bill for Hawaii was £101,412. The payments, again paid by BAE, appear as HM. Haw. and HM Haw.Xtra. For the month of January alone the cost was £190,486. According to Gardiner, this did not include the first leg of the honeymoon which began in mid-December the previous year. The total cost was nearly £250,000, he said.
A spokesman said Bandar was unavailable for comment. BAE denied any wrongdoing, adding that it does not and will not pay bribes or offer improper inducements.
North Korea sent a letter to the United Nations nuclear watchdog Saturday, inviting inspectors to the isolated country to discuss shutting down its main nuclear reactor, state media reported. The letter to the International Atomic Energy Agency said "a working-level delegation of the IAEA has been invited to visit (North Korea) as it is confirmed that the process of de-freezing the funds of (North Korea) at Banco Delta Asia in Macau has reached its final phase," the North's Korean Central News Agency reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/17/2007 00:00 ||
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Inviting to "Discuss" is code for "Stall Stall STALL, then stall some more, don't go, talking has proved worthless.
Ship the reactor's critical parts to the UN, then "Ask"
I still say send Kimmie his 25 Mil in NORK counterfeit "Superbills", he wouldn't dare complain.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/17/2007 18:36 Comments ||
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An 11th-hour rift has developed between Australia's navy and Defense Department over plans to build Aegis-equipped, anti-missile destroyers.
The Royal Australian Navy wants ships based on the design of the 8,700-ton U.S. Arleigh-Burke class destroyer, but defense officials are recommending ships based on Spain's lighter and cheaper F100 frigate by Navantia.
With just a week remaining before Prime Minister John Howard makes his choice, Navy Vice Adm. Russ Shalders has gone directly to senior government ministers and advisers to make his case, The Australian reported Friday.
"If the government endorses the rumored Navantia choice, it will be opting for the ... lower project risk profile that comes with an established design," said Australian Strategic Policy Institute expert Andrew Davies. "The tradeoff will be a capability that is lower now and that, perhaps more importantly, has less growth room in the future."
Australia's defense modernization plans calls for new destroyers equipped with anti-ballistic missile capabilities. That means ships equipped with the U.S. Aegis multi-capability missile tracking, guidance and interception system, and the use of the advanced Standard Missile.
Deployment of ships using the system is important for Australia, given the potential missile threat posed by North Korea and Australia's increased cooperation with Japan and the United States in developing an Asia-Pacific anti-ballistic missile network.
Navantia and the U.S. ship designer Gibbs and Cox are both vying for the contract worth more than $6 billion. The ships would be constructed by the Australian government-owned ASC company in Adelaide.
A Defense Department evaluation chose the Navantia design because four of those vessels are already in service with the Spanish Navy, and the cost of building would be less than that of the U.S. design.
But Adm. Shalders argues the smaller Navantia ships would inhibit future component adaptability.
#1
Well, I guess it depends if you want it to work or not. If you want it to sit there and stink, it'll be cheap. If you want it to work, it'll be expensive.
Posted by: Mark E. ||
06/17/2007 21:42 Comments ||
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I love how this was obviously not written by him, but by a fervent believer Red Cross staffer. I especially like how "he" hammers home the same phrases again and again. The part at the end where "he" blames the U.S. government for the crisis in Sudan is just icing on the cake.
My name is Daniel Mabut Garang. I am Sudanese by nationality, Dinka by tribe. I was born 19 years ago in a town called Bor. I am the first born of my father and mother. My father was a farmer and also owned a store. Like many people in the Dinka tribe, when I was younger we depended on dairy cattle for our living. We Dinkas also cultivated crops. I lived a happy life in the countryside with my father, mother, grandfather and uncles. But when war broke out, our lives changed completely.
My Life in the Countryside
In the early 1980s, the Arabs began bombing our countryside from their planes and killing people. They attacked us all the time. They also raided our cattle and burnt down our store when we ran away for safety. Life became very difficult for us.
When I was 6 years old, they attacked us badly. They killed my father, mother and two uncles. After this happened, I fled to the forest, where I joined other children. I didn't know which direction to take or where to go. I lived in hunger and thirst and ate only wild berries. Wild animals from the forest fed on us children of Sudan. But God kept some of us.
My Life in Refugee Camps
After one month in the forest I reached a place called Panyidu on the Ethiopia border. In Panyidu, UNHCR (the UN High Commissioner for Refugees) came to help us children of Sudan. They provided us with food, shelter, medical treatment and schooling. If they hadn't helped us, we would have died of hunger.
We stayed in Ethiopia for four years, until war broke out there too, and we had to flee again. Before we reached the Sudanese border, gunmen reached us children of Sudan at the river Gilo. They fired on us with their guns and tanks. Then we children of Sudan ran into the river and most of us children died in the river. Some ran along the river into the forest, where many still live.
Some of us crossed the river by holding a long rope that we tied from tree to tree. As we crossed, we tried hard to kick the water so that we could get to the other side. Those of us children who died that time are too many to be counted. For days, we walked, eating grass like animals, back to Sudan.
Then we reached a town called Pochalla where we children lived in hunger, drinking only water until the Red Cross and UNICEF came and helped us with food and many other things we needed .
I stayed in Pochalla for 6 months. Then in 1992, Ethiopian gunmen forced us to flee again. We walked for months before reaching Kenya. During our journey to Kenya, the Red Cross dropped food and water into the forest. Without this help, we all would have died of hunger. I want to thank the Red Cross and everyone all over the world who thought of my great suffering and helped us. I thank everybody who contributed to help Sudanese children during this disaster.
When we reached Kakuma, Kenya, UNHCR took care of us children of Sudan in the camp, providing us with shelters, food, clothes and education. I lived there for eight years under the care of UNHCR.
My Life in the United States
Then finally, America heard about us Sudanese children. They brought me here to the United States, and now I am living in Houston, Texas. I don't know what kind of help the United States can give to me to make up for the hard life I experienced since I was 6 years old. I know the most important thing is for me to get an education.
I hope the United States government can bring peace in Sudan. Coming to America will not ease all my burdens. Only peace in Sudan can do that for me and all Sudanese children.
#1
I don't know what kind of help the United States can give to me to make up for the hard life I experienced since I was 6 years old.
None. It's not our job to make up for what criminals on the other side of the planet did. All we're supposed to do is help keep you safe (it's primarily your responsibility) and give you access to an education (taking advantage of that access is, again, your responsibility).
And, yeah, gotta love the bureaucrat that demands we do something to fix the Sudan, but would be screaming bloody imperialist murder if we did.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
06/17/2007 17:32 Comments ||
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Several human rights groups on Friday raised concern over the US governments intent to repatriate a Guantanamo prisoner to Libya, despite his fear that he will be tortured. The US is ignoring Abdul Rauf al-Qassims credible fear of torture by relying on a promise of no torture from Libya, a country with a documented record of torture, said Jennifer Daskal, senior counterterrorism counsel for Human Rights Watch.
Qassim, 40, was arrested in late 2001 in Pakistan on US suspicion he trained at a terrorist camp in Afghanistan, said HRW and the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), which coordinates legal defence for prisoners held at the US Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. When Qassim challenged his detention in federal court in 2005, the US government announced he would be sent back home to Libya, and repeated attempts to have the decision legally revoked have failed. The US Supreme Court last month refused to take up Qassims case.
The fact of Abdul Raufs detention at Guantanamo - and the US governments false and unsubstantiated allegations that he was associated with a group hostile to (Libyas Moamer) Kadhafi regime - put him at grave risk of indefinite detention, torture and death if forcibly returned to Libya, CCR said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/17/2007 00:00 ||
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If he won't go back, execute him now and be done with it.
#4
But, but, but, the libs and NGO's are saying that all the residents of Gitmo are already being horribly tortured. Would the treatment in Libya include horrors like "bad newspapers" and "underinflated soccer balls"?
#5
The US is ignoring Abdul Rauf al-Qassims credible fear of torture by relying on a promise of no torture from Libya, a country with a documented record of torture, said Jennifer Daskal, senior counterterrorism counsel for Human Rights Watch.
Have these morons even considered that maybe Abdul needs to be tortured?
Lal Masjid mullah Maulana Abdul Aziz has issued a death fatwa against staff at a magazine for publishing a fashion-shoot advertisement entitled Adam and Eve. The fatwa has been issued against the chief editor, publisher and other staffers of an English language magazine called Octane. In the magazines June edition blasphemy was committed against Hazrat (Prophet) Adam and Eve... Those responsible for the magazine are liable to death, Aziz said in a statement.
The offending photographs were titled Adam and Eve Apple the Bone of Contention, and showed two models in designer-wear holding an apple. Octanes editor, Zubair Kasuri, said it was just a commercial advertisement and contained nothing blasphemous, and had been published before by other magazines. But even then if it creates any misunderstanding or conveys any wrong perception, we are ready to apologise.
The Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration, meanwhile, has confiscated the controversial edition of the magazine and all shopkeepers have been prohibited from selling it. The pictures are likely to disseminate obscenity in society, said a press note on Saturday. The ICT administration is also urging the Punjab government to ban the issuance and publication of the magazine and cancel its declaration, the release added. A clear message was conveyed to the publishers to refrain from indulging in any activity hurting the sentiments of any segment of society, it said. The ICT administration has registered an FIR on the publication of obscene material.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/17/2007 00:00 ||
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These folks take themselves way too seriously. I hope to be a mouse in the corner when they stand before God and get the a$$-reaming they truly deserve.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
06/17/2007 19:55 Comments ||
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The proposed construction of a US helipad in Afghanistans Kunar province near Pakistans border is creating tension in Bajaur Agency as the Taliban have vowed to block the construction, tribal sources told Daily Times on Saturday.
The sources said that Taliban militants and tribesmen viewed the helipads construction as a threat to Pakistan, particularly Bajaur Agency. The Taliban are spreading the word that they will resist the construction of the helipad. They are urging the local tribes to resist the US designs, the sources said asking not to be named.
Sources in Afghanistan said the coalition forces were constructing the helipad in Tarkhey Obey in Maroz tehsil of Kunar province to improve supply lines since the area was a frequent scene of Taliban attacks. They added that the helipad would serve as the coalition forces forward base. Residents of Khar, regional headquarters of Bajaur Agency, told Daily Times over the phone that the situation is quite tense and the Taliban were asking tribal elders to urge the Pakistani government to stop the helipads construction. As far as we know, the political administration has alerted the security forces to keep the situation under control, the tribal sources said. Thousands of volunteers crossed the Pak-Afghan border from Bajaur to join the Taliban against the US-backed Northern Alliance in 2001 after Washington decided to attack Afghanistan in revenge for the 9/11 terrorist attacks. We will not stay unmoved if the US comes closer to our areas, the tribal sources quoted some Taliban leaders as reacting to the helipads construction. After Afghanistan and Iraq, the US is now eyeing Pakistan to capture it.
The sources said that the Taliban battled the coalition forces last week inside Kunar province and suffered a few casualties, including the son of local Taliban leader Dr Ismail.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/17/2007 00:00 ||
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sounds like someone's scared
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/17/2007 8:28 Comments ||
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Beware the black copters o' doom.
Posted by: ed ||
06/17/2007 9:17 Comments ||
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CAMP PENDLETON ---- The officer in charge of a military hearing expressed serious doubts Friday about the government's prosecution of Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt, one of three Marines charged in the November 2005 shooting deaths of Iraqi civilians in the city of Haditha. I don't have all the details, but the accusations were sourced from an anti-American, Iraqi doctor. Self-interested hearsay is not strong evidence. I smell State Department pressure for a show trial to showcase US impartiality, in law. That ain't impartial.
Lt. Col. Paul Ware, who will recommend whether to send Sharratt to trial, challenged the prosecution, saying the government's theory of the case does not warrant the three counts of unpremeditated murder filed against Sharratt in December. "The account you want me to believe does not support unpremeditated murder," Ware told the lead prosecutor, Maj. Daren Erickson. "Your theories don't match the reason you say we should go to trial." The prosecutor interned at Dewey, Cheatem and Howe.
Ware's comments came as the government and defense presented him with summations of the case on the fifth and final day of a hearing that will determine if the 22-year-old rifleman from Camp Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment will be ordered to stand trial. Sharratt is accused of the civilian equivalent of second-degree murder for shooting three Iraqi brothers inside a home. A fourth man was shot by Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, who also faces murder charges.
Ware also suggested he is inclined to believe Sharratt, who maintains the first two men he shot were pointing AK-47 rifles at him, and that the killings were carried out in self-defense.
#1
the forensic evidence doesn't match the accusations. Lt. Nifong prosecuting?
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/17/2007 8:40 Comments ||
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Paging Congressman Murtha, please pick up the white courtesy phone you backstabbing putz.
Posted by: Jonathan ||
06/17/2007 9:44 Comments ||
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Ware also suggested he is inclined to believe Sharratt, who maintains the first two men he shot were pointing AK-47 rifles at him, and that the killings were carried out in self-defense
Self defense?
Try a combat operation in which an armed and hostile enemy chose the time and place of battle. You direct force, fire or maneuver at our men, they will return fire and they will clear the area of any more hostiles.
It sucks to be the four Iraqis who died, but it is rather incumbent on our very enemy to address these issues; not the Marine Corp JAG office.
Has JAG even tried to find the bastards who killed the Marine in the bomb attack that initiated this gun fight to begin with?
According to senior Israeli military sources, Israels new defence minister Ehud Barak is planning an attack on Gaza within weeks to crush the Hamas militants who have seized power there. The plan calls for 20,000 troops to destroy much of Hamass military capability in days. The raid would be triggered by Hamas rocket attacks against Israel or a resumption of suicide bombings.
Barak, who is expected to become defence minister tomorrow, has already demanded detailed plans to deploy two armoured divisions and an infantry division, accompanied by assault drones and F-16 jets, against Hamas. The Israeli forces would expect to be confronted by about 12,000 Hamas fighters with arms confiscated from the Fatah faction that they defeated in last weeks three-day civil war in Gaza.
Israeli officials believe their forces would face even tougher resistance in Gaza than they encountered during last summers war against Hezbollah in south Lebanon. A source close to Barak said that Israel could not tolerate an aggressive Hamastan on its border and an attack seemed unavoidable. The question is not if but how and when, he said.
#1
I hope Barak will give time to average Gaza Paleo to steam under Hamas pressure cooker. As long as it does not threaten Israel's security directly. But yes, once there is a substantial Hamas offensive against Israel, just carpet-bomb any suspected Hamas facilities and positions.
#2
Barak, who is expected to become defence minister tomorrow, has already demanded detailed plans to deploy two armoured divisions and an infantry division, accompanied by assault drones and F-16 jets, against Hamas.
My kinda guy!
The Israeli forces would expect to be confronted by about 12,000 Hamas fighters with arms confiscated from the Fatah faction that they defeated in last weeks three-day civil war in Gaza.
Which beggars the question of why Fatah was ever sent any Western weapons to begin with but I remain confident that Israel has an adequate response.
#3
Israel: take no prisoners. If they're Hamas, kill them quickly.
Posted by: Mac ||
06/17/2007 3:14 Comments ||
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Fatah was given guns and ammo by the US and Israel for the same reason as the Allies joined with Stalin against Hitler : take out the most aggressive psycho first. Sometimes that works out well and sometimes it doesn't; this time, it seems to be a bad deal but it could actually work out in our favor.
#5
A dangerous amount of arms have fallen into the hands of Hamas. The IDF should have our support.
As for operations, the IDF will hold strategic positions while starving out Hamas. Wholesale building to building fighting wouldn't be necessary, or desirable.
#6
Got to start limiting water and power to Gaza. Soften up Hamas fighters. Let em get their water from Egypt.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/17/2007 14:37 Comments ||
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Yeah, AP, could you send them some tips on having water systems fail from poor maintenance? Pumps fail, valves stick, flocculators ... well... I'm not even an amateur...
Maybre Fatah would blow up the water plant for Dire Revenge™. The Joos must have soe explosives they've confiscated with Fatah "fingerprints".
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/17/2007 16:29 Comments ||
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that is soooooo stupid............Now the hamas=muslim brotherhood is in charge they should let Egypt take care of Gaza............and do a " a la hamma=hafez al assad"
Enraged Fatah leaders on Saturday accused Hamas militiamen of looting the home of former Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat in Gaza City. "They stole almost everything inside the house, including Arafat's Nobel Peace Prize medal," said Ramallah-based Fatah spokesman Ahmed Abdel Rahman.
They can have it. What's it worth, anyway?
"Hamas militiamen and gangsters blew up the main entrance to the house before storming it. They stole many of Arafat's documents and files, gifts he had received from world leaders and even his military outfits."
"Hokay people, lissen up, who's a size 38 short?"
Abdel Rahman said the attackers also raided the second floor of the house and stole the personal belongings of his widow, Suha, and daughter, Zahwa. "They stole all the widow's clothes and shoes," he added. "They also took Arafat's pictures with his daughter."
Did they get Suha's kruggerrands?
Eyewitnesses told The Jerusalem Post that dozens of Palestinians participated in the raid, which took place late Friday. "Most of the looters were just ordinary citizens," they said. "They stole almost everything, including furniture, tiles, water pipes, closets and beds."
According to the Fatah spokesman, the raid on Arafat's house, which has been empty since 2001, occurred despite promises from Syria-based Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal to prevent such an attack. "The Palestinian people will never forgive the Hamas gangs for looting the home of the Palestinian people's great leader, Yasser Arafat," Abdel Rahman said. "This crime will remain a stain of disgrace on the forehead of Hamas and its despicable gangs."
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/17/2007 00:00 ||
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I found myself wondering...what will happen to the kefiyyeh as a status symbol, now that Fatah has been vanquished so thoroughly?
Will all the cool kids still want to be seen in Arafat black-and-white?
According to this, post-1980 Nobel Prize medals weigh about 175 grams and consist of 18 karat (75%) gold plated with 23 karat gold. So, roughly, about 131 grams = 4.2 troy ounces of gold = ~$2750 at today's prices. Nice little score for one of the looters. Except he's still in Gaza, and, hopefully, will have to trade it for a crust of moldy bread soon.
#5
"They stole almost everything inside the house, including Arafat's Nobel Peace Prize medal,"
Looters desecrating the defile of our world's most reviled terrorist asshole. Go figure. Somewhere, the fates are giggling through their after-dinner Martinis.
The United Nations yesterday urged Israel to reopen crossings into Gaza to avoid a humanitarian crisis in the impoverished territory sealed off from the world after the takeover by Hamas. The borders need to be open, we cannot collectively punish 1.5 million people in the Gaza Strip. They are already living in miserable conditions, John Ging, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), told AFP. Israel closed all of its border crossing points with Gaza after the Hamas routed Palestinian Authority security services in the impoverished territory. The sealed crossings include the Rafah terminal on the border with Egypt Gazas only window to the outside world that bypasses Israel.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/17/2007 00:00 ||
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"we cannot collectively punish 1.5 million people in the Gaza Strip.
Wrong f**kface. We can. They so richly deserve it. We need to asskick simpletons like you around the equator a couple of times until you can reorder your prioritites.
#3
Wrong, Ging. You and Ban need to be talking to their muzzie brothas to get help for the Paleos. Let's see what Egypt has to say about helping them first. Then try Saudi and the Gulf boyos. Then Morocco. Maybe by the time you get real answers the problem will have solved itself.
Posted by: Mac ||
06/17/2007 3:17 Comments ||
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#6
Wonder what the UN would say if Israel declared Gaza independent and cut off all contact with it, including electricity and water; closed and walled off all entrances and announced that anyone trying to cross into Israel would be shot; and set up counterbattery radar and said that any missile launch site would be flattened by counterbattery fire? Wonder what our State Department would say?
#7
I say broadcast that in three days the Rafah Border crossing will be open for a limited time. Then when the day comes open it up and let us see what Egypt does. I have a feeling they'll be attempting to build a brick wall in those three days.
Posted by: Charles ||
06/17/2007 8:21 Comments ||
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#8
Move the UN to Gaza. Those idiots were made for each other.
Posted by: ed ||
06/17/2007 9:09 Comments ||
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#10
The borders need to be open, we cannot collectively punish 1.5 million people in the Gaza Strip.
Sure we can.
They are already living in miserable conditions, John Ging, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), told AFP.
So? And?
Posted by: Natural Law ||
06/17/2007 10:05 Comments ||
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#11
They are already living in miserable self-imposed conditions
There, fixed that.
I'm with Darth on this one. Move the UN to Gaza or someplace widely regarded as a "punishment posting".
we cannot collectively punish 1.5 million people in the Gaza Strip
Wrongo, Ging old buddy. Islam is all about collective punishment and the sooner we begin making Muslims understand the huge error of their ways the better. It becomes increasingly clear that turning the entire MME (Muslim Middle East) into one huge Gaza may prove the best thing to do.
Imagine having every one of these Islamic cretins tearing at each others' throats 24/7/365. All we'd need to do is bomb out the occasional nuclear R&D startup and shoot anyone who strays outside of the MME borders. So many of Islam's woes are self-inflicted. Absolutely nobody kills Muslims better than their fellow Muslims. We need to leverage that tragic hilarious tendency into a real work-around.
"Are you clowns in-phreakin'-sane? (Sorry - rhetorical question.)"
"You want them open? You come here and open them - from the Gaza side."
"FOAD. Next?"
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA"
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/17/2007 12:35 Comments ||
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#14
Correction, moron. 1.5 million Gazans are punishing themselves.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
06/17/2007 19:05 Comments ||
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#15
The borders need to be open, we cannot collectively punish 1.5 million people in the Gaza Strip.
Why, pray tell, not? They voted in Ham-Ass. Its called 'Democracy' - you get to vote in whoever you like and you also get to benefit (or not) from that vote. Its called Justice. They are already living in miserable conditions,
Which are self imposed. How many agreements have the Paleos broken? John Ging, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), told AFP.
From a safe place of course.
Deposed PA Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas on Saturday appointed a new security command, replacing commanders loyal to moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a spokesman said. However, the spokesman, Khaled Abu Hilal, said none of the lower-ranking officer would be dismissed. The announcement was made on the Hamas-linked TV station, Al Aqsa.
The new security chief will be Maj. Gen. Said Fanouna, said Abu Hilal. The officer has been asked to reorganize the National Security forces, the spokesman said. Earlier, the chief commander of the Palestinian police in the West Bank and Gaza, Kamal Sheikh, had announced that he would not work with Hamas, and called on his officers and soldiers not to obey Haniyeh's orders. In response, Haniyeh appointed a new security chief.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/17/2007 00:00 ||
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Germany's foreign minister spoke with newly appointed Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Saturday and assured him of the EU's support, an official said. PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas dismantled a unity coalition between Hamas and his Fatah movement after Hamas took control of Gaza by force earlier this week. He fired the Hamas prime minister and replaced him with Fayyad, previously the finance minister.
In a telephone conversation Saturday with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Fayyad "underlined that the emergency government would do everything to achieve quickly a calming of the situation," Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Jaeger said in a statement. Steinmeier "assured Fayyad of the EU's support" and suggested a meeting "as soon as conditions allow," Jaeger added.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/17/2007 00:00 ||
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#2
Gr0mgoru, just for the sake of accuracy, it was "Sieg" (pron. "zeeg"). "Zig" would be pronounced "tzig" and would mean a short for Zigeuner => gypsy.
A Hamas spokesman urged escaping Gaza residents to return to their homes on Saturday evening. Hundreds of Gazans were trying to enter Israel from the Erez Crossing after Hamas took over the Strip.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/17/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
A Hamas Escape Prevention Security urged escaping Gaza residents to return to their homes on Saturday evening
"It is in your best interest to be killed in your homes", added the spokesman, "after all, why you'd have to run unless you're Fatah Zionist spies?"
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert wasted no time in replacing Defense Minister Amir Peretz with new Labor chairman Ehud Barak, passing Barak's appointment in a telephone vote of Labor ministers on Friday afternoon. Barak's appointment as defense minister and deputy prime minister will take effect on Monday after it passes, as expected, in the Knesset and Peretz's resignation letter takes effect. Because Olmert left for Washington on Saturday night, Barak could already be acting prime minister on Monday evening if Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni goes to Brussels for a meeting of foreign ministers.
Peretz was outraged that Olmert and Barak were so quick to replace him. He told Olmert in a conversation on Friday that the telephone vote took him by surprise and that Barak violated a promise to him that the handover in the Defense Ministry would be coordinated in a respectful manner by the two of them. "Why is Barak burning to join the government while the prime minister is away?" Peretz told Olmert, according to a source close to him. "It's not as if Barak is Rambo coming to save us. So why is [his appointment] being handled so hastily and disrespectfully?"
Barak told Peretz when they met on Thursday that he wanted to return to the Defense Ministry as soon as possible. They decided that the timetable for the handover of power and which cabinet post Peretz would be given instead would be decided in a later meeting of their representatives.
Peretz's associates accused Barak and Olmert of conspiring against Peretz. They warned that "the old, conniving Barak was back" and that Barak had started off his term as Labor chairman on the wrong foot.
Sources close to Olmert denied charges that he "couldn't wait to get rid of Peretz." They said Peretz had no right to complain about Barak's haste because he forced Labor ministers to resign from the government immediately upon his election as Labor leader in November 2005. "If we didn't appoint Barak immediately, we would have had to wait another 10 days until the Knesset convened after Olmert's return," an Olmert associate said. "With everything that's happening in Gaza, the thousands of Palestinians who want to flood into Israel and the prime minister leaving today, the need for a defense minister was clear."
Posted by: Fred ||
06/17/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Amir, better Ehud (may god enlighten him as for his past transgressions and errors in judgement) than a pussilaneous incompetent schmuck like you.
#6
"Peretz was outraged that Olmert and Barak were so quick to replace him."
so what putz? You resigned (quit/ran away) and there was a replacement waiting. Didja think that somebody was gonna come crawling to ya and beg for you to return??
now be a nice little has-been and STFU. And when you are done doing that, FOAD.
"Gaza is...under Hamas' responsibility, and it has to provide for it. It has all legal, moral and political responsibility for what could happen in Gaza," The PA security adviser said. Dahlan defiantly taunted Hamas from under his bed at his Ramallah refuge. "Let Hamas provide solutions and declare a historic empire, and call it what it wishes. It has to pay the political price."
Does that mean Israel is no longer the 'occupier'?
Posted by: Fred ||
06/17/2007 00:00 ||
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This is correct. All supply of food, water, and shit redistribution is now the bailiwick of the brilliant leadership of Hamass whenever they emerge from their bunkers.
#2
and oil - Israel has cut off oil shipments to Gaza (via Captain Ed)
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/17/2007 12:59 Comments ||
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All supply of food, water, and shit redistribution is now the bailiwick of the brilliant leadership of Hamass whenever they emerge from their bunkers 7th century barbarism.
My hope is that this is part of a fiendish, diabolical plan to drive the Paleos to rock bottom.
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) - Mahmoud Abbas got a major boost in his increasingly bellicose showdown with Hamas on Saturday, with a U.S. diplomat saying he expects a crippling embargo to be lifted once the Palestinian president appoints a government without the Islamic militants.
But the money is unlikely to reach Gaza, now controlled by Hamas and cut off from the world.
Nor would we want it to.
The new Cabinet is to be sworn in Sunday in the West Bank, where Fatah forces stormed government offices on Saturday, just three days after Hamas seized control of Gaza and Abbas dismantled the Hamas-Fatah coalition government in response.
Abbas issued a decree just after midnight Sunday annulling a law requiring the new government to be approved by parliament, which is dominated by Hamas. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said the decree was illegal. ``This escalates the crisis, and the president bears the responsibility for all the consequences of these developments,'' he said.
You guys have just been pouring gasoline on the fire, that's all.
In another boost for Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the new Palestinian government would create a ``new opportunity'' for the peace process. Olmert has long welcomed Abbas as a negotiating partner, but said Abbas' alliance with Hamas made peacemaking virtually impossible. ``We have a new opportunity ... that we haven't had in a long time,'' Olmert told reporters on board his plane shortly before taking off for a meeting at the White House. ``The situation has changed, which enables diplomatic progress ... We intend to act to take advantage of this situation,'' he said. ``A government that is not Hamas is a partner.''
That should sucker the Paleos for a while.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/17/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
A government that is not Hamas is a partner
Just because Israel is a small country, doesn't mean that our leaders can't be contenders in the "World's dumbest politico"!
#2
Think if it as the equivalent of the cops taking a gangster, publicly wining and dining him, and dropping him off at his house with a new suit, a roll of money, a hearty handshake and a pat on the back from the chief of police.
#3
If the Israelis are smart they'd flush this Olmert down the toilet right quick, because it's about to hit the fan, and he's shown he's not up to it.
Posted by: regular joe ||
06/17/2007 12:41 Comments ||
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Israel will not stand idly by and allow Fatah to slaughter Hamas members in the West Bank like Hamas did to Fatah last week in the Gaza Strip, a high-ranking defense official said Saturday. According to the official, Fatah was in the process of taking over Hamas installations and buildings throughout the West Bank in retaliation to Hamas's violent takeover last week of the Gaza Strip. In the meantime, the IDF said that the situation in the West Bank was relatively calm.
In Ramallah, hundreds of Fatah gunmen took over the Palestinian parliament and other Hamas-controlled government offices, telling staffers that those with ties to Hamas would not be allowed to return. At the parliament, several hundred Fatah supporters chanted, "Hamas Out," while gunmen climbed on the roof of the building and fired in the air. They planted Fatah and Palestinian flags on the building.
They also whisked Hassan Kreisheh, the deputy speaker, a Hamas ally, out of the building, but were prevented from pushing him into a car. The gunmen planted Fatah flags and Palestinian banners on the buildings they had taken over.
Many government employees tied to Hamas had not shown up for work on Saturday, the start of the work week in the West Bank, apparently fearing reprisals. Other Fatah activists took over the Education Ministry and the Prime Minister's Office.
"We will not let the situation get out of control in the West Bank like it did in Gaza," an IDF officer in the Central Command said. Hamas, the IDF officer said, was not the dominant party in the West Bank like it was in Gaza. Instead, Fatah was stronger militarily in cities like Ramallah, Nablus and Jenin. "Hamas is not as powerful in the West Bank as it is in Gaza," the IDF officer said, adding that the IDF's presence and freedom of operations throughout the territory added to the terror group's difficulty in building up a strong military force.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/17/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Millions of dollars in US weaponry went to Fatah terrorists so that they could contain Hamas terrorists. President Bush should issue standing orders on the destruction of known stockpiles. Why fight Taleban-al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, while allowing a clone to develop in the Middle East? Gaza shouldn't be allowed to be developed into a Hamas aircraft carrier.
#2
Why would Israel intervene on behalf of Hamas? Let them all kill each other, and the sooner the better. The more they off each other, the fewer Israel has to expel into Jordan or Egypt, which is what it's going to come to anyway eventually.
Posted by: Mac ||
06/17/2007 3:26 Comments ||
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Not idly. Observe with utmost attention. Consume popcorn in a very workmanlike fashion. Maybe make videos for commercial distribution?
#4
Israel will not stand idly by and allow Fatah to slaughter Hamas members in the West Bank like Hamas did to Fatah last week in the Gaza Strip, a high-ranking defense official said Saturday.
No, no. Of course not. Work vigorously with the UN Security Council to issue a stern warning with a cease and desist order. I'm sure that can be resolved in the next week or two. Right after lunch. At a good five star restaurant. Of course it may be delayed by the Arab countries which don't recognize your existence. Hard to get their attention in that case. Better make that a month, or two, or three.
A group plotting to overthrow the communist government of Laos had a detailed 90-day plan to oust and possibly assassinate top leaders, according to a new court document.
The 18-page document titled, "Operation Popcorn: A Comprehensive Plan of Action," outlines a $28 million budget to pay local mercenaries to carry out the plot, then shut down all access into or out of the country. It said martial law would be established in the capital before Laos was transitioned to democracy.
The document, obtained Saturday by The Associated Press, was filed this week after the arrest of an 11th suspect in the case, 48-year-old Dang Vang, who is listed as the author of the plan.
It offers the first detailed look at the plan to overthrow the government of the Southeast Asian nation.
Prosecutors say Dang Vang and nine other members of California's Hmong community, along with a former California National Guard official, wanted to bomb government buildings and shoot down military aircraft in an effort to topple the country's communist regime, which has persecuted U.S.-sympathizing Hmong since the end of the Vietnam War.
At the heart of the alleged plot is Vang Pao, a 77-year-old former general in the Royal Army of Laos who led CIA-backed counterinsurgents during the Vietnam War, and retired California National Guard Lt. Col. Harrison Jack.
Prosecutors say the leaders planned to purchase nearly $10 million in weapons, including AK-47 rifles and Stinger missiles.
The Popcorn - Political Opposition Party's Coup Operation to Rescue the Nation - plan details the cost to acquire dozens of sophisticated weapons, as well as payments for security forces, coup leaders, political and military consultants, and even mundane things such as office supplies and printing.
It details a three-part plan to take over the communist regime through a network of underground sympathizers who would "neutralize trusted government leaders." Those who could not be neutralized would face "in-house arrests or assassination."
It estimates about 1,000 security forces would be needed to establish martial law and patrol the capital city, Vientian.
Next, the group would take over all government buildings and communication systems, transportation and media. Airports and bus stations would be closed, and access to all major routes, including the Mekong River, would be closed.
Operation Popcorn calls for a transitional government to be set up within 60 days, consisting of exiled Lao leaders, members of the Laotian opposition party and cooperative government officials. That government would serve for two years before it would be replaced in a free election to be monitored by the international community.
Although many in the jungle nation lack even basic services, the America-hatched plan includes one decidedly modern necessity for a successful coup: a press liaison to communicate their message through broadcast and print media and invite the international community to support the movement.
Operation Popcorn identifies possible operatives from within the country, including disgruntled former military officers as well as more than 1,284 combat-ready troops and 10,000 unarmed opposition party members who are "ready to fight to overthrow the Lao PDR government."
Vang estimates that three-quarters of party members are "ready to rise up against the government and demand change or to overthrow the government. They are waiting for supports from the exiled Lao leaders and the international community."
The original complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Sacramento said the group planned to ship weapons on June 12 and June 19 to a remote staging area along the Thailand-Laos border. However, the arms broker who was to help deliver the weapons was really an undercover agent with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The 11 men indicted are charged with conspiracy to violate the Neutrality Act, which bars Americans from taking military action against nations with which the United States is at peace. They were also accused of conspiracy to kill, kidnap and maim. All face life in prison if convicted.
The Philippines chief negotiator with Muslim separatists has resigned, sources in the government and rebel peace panels said on Saturday, raising doubts about the resumption of talks in Malaysia next month. Silvestre Afables resignation came at a time when the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) were close to restarting talks on a proposed ancestral homeland for 3 million Muslims in the south of the country. This is a setback, Mohaqher Iqbal, the rebels chief peace negotiator, told Reuters in a telephone interview. This is not a very good indication. This could affect the entire peace process. At a personal level, we could be starting all over again.
The government of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has not officially announced Afables decision to quit the peace panel, where he has served since the two sides agreed to return to negotiations after hostilities erupted in February 2003. A member of the government peace panel told Reuters he got a mobile phone text message from Afable late on Friday saying he had decided to quit. Afable gave no reason and it was not known what triggered his decision. Calls to his telephone were not answered. He was getting frustrated because he was not getting enough support from the president and from her security officials, said another member of the peace panel, who declined to be named. He felt there were some people in the Cabinet who were not serious in finding a lasting solution to the Muslim rebellion in the south. The government has been talking with Muslim rebels to end nearly 40 years of conflict that has killed more than 120,000 people and displaced 2 million in the south of the mainly Roman Catholic country.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/17/2007 00:00 ||
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Iran accused Britain on Sunday of insulting Islam by awarding a knighthood to Salman Rushdie, whose novel "The Satanic Verses" prompted the late Iranian Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to issue a fatwa death warrant for him. The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said Rushdie, awarded for services to literature in Queen Elizabeth's birthday honors list published on Saturday, was "one of the most hated figures" in the Islamic world.
Spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini portrayed the decision as an act directed against Islam by Britain, which is among world powers involved in an escalating standoff with Iran over Tehran's disputed nuclear ambitions. "Honoring and commending an apostate and hated figure will definitely put the British officials (in a position) of confrontation with Islamic societies," Hosseini said. "This act shows that insulting Islamic sacred (values) is not accidental. It is planned, organized, guided and supported by some Western countries," he told a regular briefing.
The Islamic Republic's government formally distanced itself in 1998 from the original fatwa against Rushdie, issued in 1989 by Khomeini who said the book committed blasphemy against Islam. Rushdie lived in hiding for nine years. But shortly after it disavowed the death edict under a deal with Britain, Iranian media said three Iranian clerics called on followers to kill Rushdie, saying the fatwa was irrevocable and that it was the duty of Muslims to carry it out.
#1
Tough noogies Iran. This is the closest a sword will ever get to his neck.
Posted by: ed ||
06/17/2007 9:22 Comments ||
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"This act shows that insulting Islamic sacred (values) is not accidental. It is planned, organized, guided and supported by some Western countries," he told a regular briefing.
I thought that only happened here at Rantburg.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
06/17/2007 17:33 Comments ||
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Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) top commanders close to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are warning him over information leaking from the regimes Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) under its current secretary, Brig. General Ali Larijani who is also the top mullahs negotiator with the West over the nuclear dispute.
The IRGC commanders have put forth as proof of such leakage the following facts:
Prior to Arbils arrests of five top IRGC commanders by the U.S. forces, the so-called Iranian consulate in the Kurdish city was brought up in a close meeting of the SNSC in great details to find ways for increasing its activities. Subsequent to the discussions, Brig. Mohammad Sahraroodi, a top negotiator in Sharm-el-Sheikh Conference and a deputy to Ali Larijani on security Affairs, traveled to Arbil. A short time later the U.S. forces seized the facility and arrested five Quds force commanders in northern Iraq.
Brig. Gen. Ali-Reza Asgari defected to the West with a huge amount of cash and gold bars which he collected over the years as the commander of logistics at the IRGC. His arrest was planed in the SNSC shortly before his disappearance, but he was able to escape just in time. This event upset Larijani personally since he presided over the session of SNSC when Asgaris intention to defecting was discussed.
It is widely believed that some of the most secret discussions such as nuclear issues in the SNSC are leaked to circles which have caused great concern, especially in Ali Khamenei office.
To eliminate the problem, Larijani has appointed one of the most brutal IRGC and Quds force commanders, Brig. Gen. Ali Fazli to investigate the matter and directly report to him. Fazli is currently a deputy to Brig. Gen. Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr, the former deputy chief of IRGC and current deputy Interior Minister. The way Larijani is handling the problem demonstrates the degree of its seriousness for the mullahs in Tehran.
#1
Who saez the CIA only leaks to the New York Times?
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/17/2007 8:18 Comments ||
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#2
We could play this well....leaked cell messages from Wash DC to hardliners, purges and suspicions...heh
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/17/2007 8:54 Comments ||
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#3
Its all the nano-tech smart dust spread all over the SNSC by Asgari just before he defected. By now the idiots have spread it via clothing and shoes to all secret bases and their homes. This makes all plans available to the Great Satan.
#4
They will need to burn all their homes, cars, buildings, bases and clothes to make sure they are rid of the dreaded SMART DUST!
Wikipedia on Smart Dust
The devices, or motes, are intended to be the size of a grain of sand, or even a dust particle.
When clustered together, they would automatically create highly flexible, low-power networks with applications ranging from climate control systems to entertainment devices that interact with information appliances.
The smartdust concept was introduced by Kristofer Pister (University of California) in 2001 [1], though similar ideas existed in science fiction before then. A recent review [2] discusses various techniques to take smartdust in sensor networks beyond millimeter dimensions to the micrometre level.
A typical application scenario is scattering a hundred of these sensors around a building or around a hospital to monitor temperature or humidity, track patient movements, or inform of disasters, such as earthquakes. In the military, they can perform as a remote sensor chip to track enemy movements, detect poisonous gas or radioactivity. The ease and low cost of such applications have raised privacy concerns, primarily in science fiction stories, such as Prey by Michael Crichton.
Consider also that Smart Dust was derived from an earlier concept called Smart Matter, that was conceived at the Palo Alto Research Center.
#5
Hopefully they will soon institute a Sippenhaft (blood guilt) law, and start executing not only those they believe might be spies and conspirators, but also their families.
Tehran, Iran, Jun. 16 A senior Iranian ayatollah died on Saturday, state media reported. Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Fazel Movahedi-Lankarani died earlier today at the age of 76.
As a Grand Ayatollah, Fazel Lankarani was one of the highest ranking clerics in the country. Lankarani was based in the holy city of Qom.
Over the past 28 years since the Islamic Revolution, he became a powerful figure in the clerical establishment and was appointed to the Assembly of Experts, an 86-member exclusively clerical body entrusted with the task of selecting the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution.
Critics charge that he was one of many senior ayatollahs to personally take part in the execution of political opponents of the regime. Lankarani had issued numerous fatwas, or religious edicts, urging the Islamic faithful to kill those who spoke out against the concept of velayat-e faqih, or rule of the religious jurisprudent. In 1998, several senior ayatollahs including Lankarani issued a fatwa reiterating that it was the duty of all Muslims to kill British author Salman Rushdie for writing the book The Satanic Verses.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/17/2007 00:00 ||
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#2
Lankarani had issued numerous fatwas, or religious edicts, urging the Islamic faithful to kill those who spoke out against the concept of velayat-e faqih, or rule of the religious jurisprudent.
Imagine an ayatollah doing that. Whatever could have inspired such a notion? Talk about a self-fulfilling prophecy self-serving fatwa.
The NBN television broadcaster who made the unthinkable comments was identified as Sawsan Safa Darwish (pictured right), was sued as was the TV station. Sports and Youth Minister Ahmed Fatfat filed a lawsuit against Darwish and all others involved in "stirring sectarian hatred and interfering in crime."
In the incriminating video, Darwish implied that Fatfat would be assassinated next, and that 4-5 of the March 14 parliamentary majority also needed to be killed. She then said "they're driving us crazy," apparently referring to other anti-Syrian politicians. "Ahmed Fatfat is left. I'm counting them," she added.
NBN TV later said it "regretted the unintentional mistake" which it said did not reflect the station's policies or moral and professional standards. In an attempt to cover up the incident, Qassem Soueid, the director of NBN's news department, said Darwish and the sound engineer who put Darwish on air were fired. The move by NBN wreaks of a coverup, and a poor attempt to wash its hands clean.
Firing Darwish does not solve the systemic problem. Listen closely to the video, and it is clear that Darwish's sick perspective was not an isolated incident. Other voices in the room clearly condoned her barrage of insults on the dead. NBN should be held responsible as an employer that fosters such complete disregard for ethics. Provocations like those instigated by Darwish could very easily push Lebanon into a civil war unless they are nipped in the bud and made an example of.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/17/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Good-looking anchor babe. She won't have a problem finding alternative employment, probably of a type involving red lightbulbs.
Posted by: Mac ||
06/17/2007 3:24 Comments ||
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Acting Minister of Foreign affairs Tarek Mitri , has reported that Belgian Prosecutor Serge Brammertz has resigned from his post at the International Criminal Court to focus on the UN investigation of the murder of Lebanon's former Prime Minster Rafik Hariri . Brammertz, inspected on Friday the crime scene where MP Walid Eido was killed. Brammertz's visit to the site was "a preliminary measure before taking future steps," a security report said on Friday.
Brammertz, along with a number of investigators and experts, was accompanied by Military Prosecutor Jean Fahd and Military Investigative Magistrate Rashid Mezher. Brammertz also inspected the damage to nearby buildings and vehicles, the report said. The initiative of the Belgian prosecutor came in response to prime Minister Fouad Siniora's appeal to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to add Eido's murder to the UN investigation. Ban then asked Brammertz to offer the Lebanese authorities the necessary assistance, a security source said "Brammertz and State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza are expected to announce soon the steps to be taken by the Lebanese judiciary and the international probe," said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Brammertz called for "keeping a close watch" over the crime scene in Manara area until his team ended its inspection, the source added. Another security source said a Dutch team of explosives experts is expected to arrive in Beirut "soon" to inspect the crime scene. "The team already visited Lebanon following Hariri's assassination," said the source, also speaking on condition of anonymity.
Mezher continued to interrogate witnesses Friday, but no one has been arrested yet in connection with the explosion, judicial reports said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/17/2007 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.
(SomaliNet) In an unusual move, the transitional federal government took away 40 religious scholars overnight from a mosque in Huriwa neighborhood, north of the Somalia capital immediately after Isha prayers while the Sheiks were supplicating. The rounded up scholars were frog marched to a nearby technical vehicles, handcuffed and blindfolded and taken to unknown location. 
THE British arms firm BAE Systems secretly paid nearly £250,000 for a honeymoon for the daughter of Prince Bandar, the Saudi Arabian prince at the centre of bribery allegations. A senior BAE executive authorised the payments, allowing Bandars daughter to enjoy a six-week honeymoon in luxury resorts in Singapore, Malaysia, Bali, Australia and Hawaii. The couple stayed in five-star hotels costing up to £4,000 a night and had a private jet trip to the Great Barrier Reef. 
Several human rights groups on Friday raised concern over the US governments intent to repatriate a Guantanamo prisoner to Libya, despite his fear that he will be tortured. The US is ignoring Abdul Rauf al-Qassims credible fear of torture by relying on a promise of no torture from Libya, a country with a documented record of torture, said Jennifer Daskal, senior counterterrorism counsel for Human Rights Watch.
Lal Masjid mullah Maulana Abdul Aziz has issued a death fatwa against staff at a magazine for publishing a fashion-shoot advertisement entitled Adam and Eve. The fatwa has been issued against the chief editor, publisher and other staffers of an English language magazine called Octane. In the magazines June edition blasphemy was committed against Hazrat (Prophet) Adam and Eve... Those responsible for the magazine are liable to death, Aziz said in a statement.
The proposed construction of a US helipad in Afghanistans Kunar province near Pakistans border is creating tension in Bajaur Agency as the Taliban have vowed to block the construction, tribal sources told Daily Times on Saturday. 
CAMP PENDLETON ---- The officer in charge of a military hearing expressed serious doubts Friday about the government's prosecution of Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt, one of three Marines charged in the November 2005 shooting deaths of Iraqi civilians in the city of Haditha.
Enraged Fatah leaders on Saturday accused Hamas militiamen of looting the home of former Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat in Gaza City. "They stole almost everything inside the house, including Arafat's Nobel Peace Prize medal," said Ramallah-based Fatah spokesman Ahmed Abdel Rahman. 
Deposed PA Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas on Saturday appointed a new security command, replacing commanders loyal to moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a spokesman said. However, the spokesman, Khaled Abu Hilal, said none of the lower-ranking officer would be dismissed. The announcement was made on the Hamas-linked TV station, Al Aqsa. 
A Hamas spokesman urged escaping Gaza residents to return to their homes on Saturday evening. Hundreds of Gazans were trying to enter Israel from the Erez Crossing after Hamas took over the Strip.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert wasted no time in replacing Defense Minister Amir Peretz with new Labor chairman Ehud Barak, passing Barak's appointment in a telephone vote of Labor ministers on Friday afternoon. Barak's appointment as defense minister and deputy prime minister will take effect on Monday after it passes, as expected, in the Knesset and Peretz's resignation letter takes effect. Because Olmert left for Washington on Saturday night, Barak could already be acting prime minister on Monday evening if Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni goes to Brussels for a meeting of foreign ministers. 
Israel will not stand idly by and allow Fatah to slaughter Hamas members in the West Bank like Hamas did to Fatah last week in the Gaza Strip, a high-ranking defense official said Saturday. According to the official, Fatah was in the process of taking over Hamas installations and buildings throughout the West Bank in retaliation to Hamas's violent takeover last week of the Gaza Strip. In the meantime, the IDF said that the situation in the West Bank was relatively calm. 
Tehran, Iran, Jun. 16 A senior Iranian ayatollah died on Saturday, state media reported. Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Fazel Movahedi-Lankarani died earlier today at the age of 76.
Acting Minister of Foreign affairs Tarek Mitri , has reported that Belgian Prosecutor Serge Brammertz has resigned from his post at the International Criminal Court to focus on the UN investigation of the murder of Lebanon's former Prime Minster Rafik Hariri . Brammertz, inspected on Friday the crime scene where MP Walid Eido was killed. Brammertz's visit to the site was "a preliminary measure before taking future steps," a security report said on Friday.
