[Ennahar] Recently reported by witnesses in the north-western Mali and in an area near the country of Mauritania, Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) seems rooted in the Sahara, even though some predict its weakening after the death of the late Osama bin Laden ... who was potted in Pakistain...
These days, men posing as members of AQIM have landed on a market day at Tichist, which is located 100 km north of Timbuktu (northern Mali), witnesses said to an AFP journalist.
Arrived in a dozen vehicles, they made purchases, distributed veils, clothes and food, asking people to pray for bin Laden, leader of Al Qaeda killed in early May by the U.S. elite soldiers in Pakistain.
"They told us that Bin Laden is now in paradise," they would avenge his death," said one such witness, a shopkeeper. They then left as they came.
Same scene on May 17 in the market of Zouera, another desert town of Timbuktu region, where they came in some twenty vehicles containing heavy weapons.
"It's the return of the Islamists in the Sahara," while they had shown low profile since a few months following the intervention in July 2010, of the Mauritanian army in the area, says a regional elected on condition of anonymity. "Since the end of Mauritanian patrols, they come back, probably with ulterior motives," he added.
AQIM, which has its roots in Algeria, has several bases in Mali where it operates in several Sahelian countries (Mauritania and Niger in particular), committing bombings, kidnappings and various illegal trades.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
No surprise but possibly overlooked in the WoT--AQ Khan and ISI emissaries traveled to Timbuktu and Niger in the quest for uranium. African links to Pakistan and AQ as well as the drug pipeline should be looked at a little more closely, IMO.
[Bangla Daily Star] Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami ... a Pakistani catspaw remaining active in Bangla politix, loosely affiliated with the Pak religious party of the same name and closely affiliated with most of the terror organizations in Bangla. A member of the BNP's four party governing coalition.... is following the strategy of not involving itself in anti-government movement right now to avoid further arrest of its leaders and disaster in the party.
Instead, it is encouraging other Islamist parties, including Fazlul Haq Amini-led Islami Oikya Jote ... a political party in Bangladesh. In the 2001 elections the party won 2 out of 300 elected members in an alliance with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. It has a focus on building an islamic state, and has used the madrassas to gain support... (IOJ), and like-minded Islamic leaders to launch an anti-government movement.
Jamaat leaders especially those who are not well known and holding no posts in the party's top or mid-level are involved in waging anti-government movement under the banner of different Islamic and olama-mashaek organisations.
Talking to The Daily Star, a top IOJ leader admitted that several Jamaat leaders are giving them full support for the movement, especially on the women development policy issue. He, however, declined to elaborate further in this regard. "I will say no more!"
Since its inception in 1979, Jamaat-e-Islami has never undergone such a disaster as it happened after the arrests of its top leaders, including the party's Ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami and Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, on charge of crime against humanity, said party leaders.
A number of Jamaat leaders said they would follow the go-slow policy for one or two more years before waging any movement against the government. Thereby admitting that they aren't very strong right now...
"We will toughen our movement by the last or second-last years of the government's tenure as this is the trend of our country's politics," said ATM Azharul Islam, acting secretary general of Jamaat, adding, "We are not sitting idle as we are observing programmes to press home the demand for releasing our placed in durance vile leaders.
A number of Jamaat leaders echoed Azharul saying that fearing another blow from the government and considering the party's organising strength they are likely to wait another year or two before going tough on the government. Meanwhile, ...back at the the conspirators' cleverly concealed hideout the long-awaited message arrived. They quickly got to work with their decoder rings... they would focus on reviving the party's image. Such as it is...
Jamaat's recent anti-government activities are evolving around issuing of statements, discussions and small scale rallies, most of which are organised in front of the its party office and auditorium. The better to run like rats when the RAB shows up...
The party's top and mid-level leaders were not seen active in the streets during the last three hartal ... a peculiarly Bangla combination of a general strike and a riot, used by both major political groups in lieu of actual governance ... s on June 27 and November 30 in 2010 and April 4 this year called by its alliance partners BNP and IOJ.
Instead, they issued releases supporting the hartals and criticised the government for "evicting" Khaleda Zia Three-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ... from cantonment house, its failure in controlling price hike of essentials and formulating "anti-Islam" women development policy.
Meanwhile, ...back at the pie fight, Bella opened her mouth at precisely the wrong moment... BNP is avoiding its ally Jamaat and following go-alone policy in waging anti-government movement due to the debacle in the Islamist party and arrest of its top leaders.
This article starring:
Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed
Fazlul Haq Amini
Motiur Rahman Nizam
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2011 00:00 ||
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The information is contained in computer files seized by US special forces and is some of the first top-secret intelligence to have been passed back from the bin Laden operation, according to senior Government sources.
The Manchester terrorist cell suspected of plotting to blow up landmarks in the city during the Easter holiday was arrested in 2009.
But the police were unable to press charges because of a lack of evidence and their treatment at the time became a cause célèbre for MPs, lawyers and human rights groups.
An attempt last year to deport the alleged ringleader of the plot then failed on human rights grounds because he claimed he would be tortured if he was returned to Pakistan. Most of the alleged cell members have now left Britain.
The disclosure of the links to bin Laden is likely to lead to renewed concern over the British operation to apprehend the men and the evidence which can be used in terrorist prosecutions in this country.
Dogs are great. I liked what the CMC said about dogs.
A good dog in a war zone is a great commodity. I really liked the equipment our canine warriors are wearing now.
Of course, I really wonder about HALO jumping mutts. I went to the HALO school and it just scared the living crap out of me, jumping in the middle of the night....brrrrr
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
05/21/2011 13:45 Comments ||
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#3
Let's not forget our brave feline troops, the Cats Of War.
#4
Damn it SM, I was thinking Tiger. Or at least a Lion. but it's just a wimpy small cat.
Posted by: Charles ||
05/21/2011 15:56 Comments ||
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#5
Hold on Charles SM has something here. Cats last nine times longer than I think they said soldiers. They must have said dogs. More agile and stealth like.
Hooah / Meowah.
A year-long investigation by the Fox News' specials unit has uncovered new and overwhelming evidence that the American cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki, the first U.S. citizen on the CIA's kill or capture list, was an overlooked key player in the 9/11 plot.
In a new hour-long special, "Fox News Reporting: Secrets of 9/11," which debuts May 20 at 10 p.m. EDT, federal investigators go on the record for the first time about their painstaking work to investigate how Awlaki may have facilitated the hijackers in California and Virginia and possibly knew the details of the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil.
"It was my feeling that they had to have a network," Criminal PENTTBOM (FBI's codename for the 9/11 case) investigator Jimmy Bush told Fox News in his first television interview. "There was a mosque and the imam of that mosque was Anwar al-Awlaki, which raised my suspicions."
Former FBI Agent Bob Bukowski said the evidence strongly suggested Awlaki and his mosques on the East and West coasts were at the center of a network of helpers that enabled the hijackers to find apartments and obtain fake ids. "The investigation at the time obviously was very suspicious," Bukowski said. "Knowing and proving are always two different things."
Fox News was told by multiple sources with first-hand knowledge of the 9/11 case -- including the former head of the joint congressional inquiry Sen. Bob Graham -- that the contact between Awlaki and hijackers Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdar and Hani Hanjour, three of the five hijackers who flew into the Pentagon, was not casual or coincidental but rather evidence of a purposeful relationship.
...
For the first time, Fox News reveals how those in the alleged 9/11 support network are still living in the U.S. Asked if he believes the network of helpers is still here, Graham told Fox News that the network was never disrupted -- so there is every reason to believe it remains in place. "I have no reason to believe it's not."
According to Fox, the Defense Department lawyer who vetted al-Awlaki wrote that she 'had the privilege of hearing one of Mr. Awlaki's presentations in November and was impressed by both the extent of his knowledge and by how he communicated that information and handled a hostile element in the audience'.
The department was said to be interested in booking a 'moderate Muslim' to speak to the defense community in the aftermath of September 11.
However, it seems that the Department of Defense was unaware that Al-Awlaki had been interviewed at least four times by the FBI a few days after September 11, because of alleged ties to the hijackers Nawaf al-Hazmi, Khalid al-Mihdhar and Hani Hanjour. Those men are accused of being among the five hijackers of American Airlines Flight 77, which was flown into the Pentagon.
It is believed he may have been aware of the terrorist plot before September 11, 2001. According to Fox, the Pentagon also seemed unaware of al-Awlaki's alleged soliciting of prostitutes.
A former high-ranking FBI agent told Fox News that there was tremendous 'arrogance' about the vetting process at the Pentagon. 'They vetted people politically and showed indifference toward security and intelligence advice of others', the former agent said.
#2
According to Fox, the Defense Department lawyer who vetted al-Awlaki wrote that she 'had the privilege of hearing one of Mr. Awlaki's presentations in November and was impressed by both the extent of his knowledge and by how he communicated that information and handled a hostile element in the audience'.
This unnamed DOD Lawyer has a name? Perhaps she needs a vetting with a microscope?
Posted by: Frank G on the road ||
05/21/2011 12:21 Comments ||
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#3
Saw the special--something they didn't mention was Adnan Al-Shukrijumah's father had also wporked at the Saudi consulate in Guyana before moving to Florida, so he was fluent in Arabic, Spanish, and English, besides the cultural knowledge of growing up in the US. So when I saw the headline (AP), I thought it wouldn't be a stretch to add the Chicago black Muslims to the list with advance knowledge/connection of 9-11:
GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) Akbar Muhammad, a U.S. Muslim cleric visiting this South American country, was detained Thursday on suspicion of ties to drugs and terrorism, Guyana police said.
Local media identified the man as Akbar Muhammad, who is a longtime top aide to Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
Guyana is also a middleman for the drug, diamond, and illegal gold mining between So. America(Venezuela) and Africa.
#4
I thought it odd that, in response to a story about the Guyana arrest posted here the other day, a Nation of Islam supporter posted two comments about what a good man Mr. Muhammed is. We'd never had an NOI poster here before.
#5
It's been known for a long time that he was the spiritual advisor of two of the 9/11 hijackers. Just check out his Wikipedia page. Now, (wonder of wonders) that role is expanding.
Iran knew about 9/11 before it happened and helped train hijackers, court papers say. For brevity's sake, name the Muslim entities who didn't know beforehand about the 9/11 atrocity.
Lawyers representing September 11th victims' families claim new evidence shows Iranian officials assisted in training hijackers and had advanced word of the attacks.
There is 'clear and convincing' evidence for damages and a federal judge should find Iran culpable in the terror attacks, according to papers filed in Manhattan, New York.
Three defectors from Iran's intelligence service testified they worked in positions giving them access to sensitive information about Iran's state sponsorship of terrorism, the lawyers said.
The testimony supports a claim that Iranian officials had advanced word of the attacks and that Iran helped train those who carried it out, they allege.
Iran has not responded to the lawsuit - first filed in Washington D.C. and transferred to New York.
The Shiite regime in Iran and Sunni group Al Qaeda are natural enemies, though they have had a relationship of convenience based on their shared hatred of the U.S.
The lawyers said Iran and 'its proxy terrorist organization', the Lebanese group Hezbollah, entered into a terrorist alliance with Al Qaeda in the early 1990s.
This continued throughout the preparations for the 2001 attacks, they allege.
They said Iran and Hezbollah gave material support to Al Qaeda after the attacks by helping some of the terrorist group's leaders and their families escape from the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan.
The lawyers are filing videotaped testimony under seal which show three defectors from Iran's intelligence service 'circumstantially and directly' implicate Iran and Hezbollah in 9/11.
Iran and Hezbollah had 'foreknowledge of, and complicity in, the overall design of, and preparations for, the 9/11 attacks, involving, but not limited to, facilitation of the hijackers' international travel, training and through Iran provision of safe haven for Al Qaeda after the attacks,' the lawyers wrote.
They said the unidentified witnesses also provided testimony revealing that then-senior Hezbollah operative Imad Mughniyah had an integral role in the Iran-Hezbollah-Al Qaeda terror alliance.
One of the witnesses testified that Iran anticipated a retaliatory strike against Iran if its role in the 9/11 attacks was discovered. Mughniyah died in a car bombing in 2008.
The lawyers said it was necessary to file the testimony under seal because the witnesses have reason to fear for the safety of themselves and their families if the testimony became public.
News of the lawsuit comes almost three weeks after Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden was killed by U.S. special forces at his compound in Pakistan.
Posted by: Paul D ||
05/21/2011 12:41 Comments ||
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#2
I'm sure the data being gone through from Osama Bin Ladin's house will provide more information about more guilty parties than anything we've seen so far. I just wonder if the current administration will actually ACT on that information. Somehow, I doubt it.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/21/2011 21:44 Comments ||
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#3
no, the current admin won't act!
Posted by: chris ||
05/21/2011 22:52 Comments ||
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[Dawn] A front man of ISPR on Friday rejected a report published on 20 May 2011 captioned "Army Chief wanted more drone support in year 2008," DawnNews reported.
The front man said that in the past, there has only been sharing of technical intelligence in some areas. No armed drone attack support has ever been asked for operations which have been conducted using own resources, he stated.
He further clarified that during the Swat-Malakand Operation Rah-e-Rast in 2008-09, and South Wazoo Agency operation Rah-e-Nijat in 2009-10, outside technical support was not even asked for. These operations were jointly conducted by Pakistain Army and Pakistain Air Force, the front man concluded.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2011 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Pak opposition leader and former cricketer Imran Khan ... who isn't your heaviest-duty thinker, maybe not even among the top five... said Friday his party workers would block the port in Bloody Karachi to protest against US drone strikes in the country's tribal badlands.
Bloody Karachi is Pakistain's economic hub, home to its stock exchange and a lifeline for a depressed economy wilting under inflation and stagnating foreign investment.
The southern port city is important to logistical support for the NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the style of the American pants... forces fighting against Talibs in Afghanistan.
"We'll sit outside the port's gate from Saturday afternoon to Sunday evening continuously to block the trucks carrying NATO supplies," said cricket-hero-turned politician Khan, who leads Tehreek-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice).
"It will be our symbolic protest against the US atrocities towards our innocent citizens."
He had equally harsh words for President Asif Zardari's government and the main opposition leader Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Müslim League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... but refrained from passing similar comments about army chief Ashfaq Kayani ... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI... .
Khan's party staged a two-day sit-in outside the northwestern city of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar last month, which was called to urge the US to end a covert missile campaign against faceless myrmidons in Pakistain's tribal belt.
Khan said the government had given full liberty to its "American masters to kill Paks at will."
"We'll be protesting against the drone strikes till our people are truly liberated from the clutches of monsters," he said.
NATO supply trucks and oil tankers are the targets of frequent attacks blamed on bully boyz attempting to disrupt supplies for the more than 130,000 international troops fighting in Afghanistan.
Most supplies and equipment required by coalition troops in Afghanistan are shipped through Pakistain, although US troops increasingly use alternative routes through central Asia.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2011 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Pakistain's most populous province has cancelled six aid agreements with the United States in protest over the US raid that killed the late Osama bin Laden, ... who can now be reached at RFD Boneyard... its law minister said on Friday. I guess we'll just have to get by without any aid from Punjab... Oh... Wait.
Pakistain hailed bin Laden's death as a big step against militancy but was incensed by the raid in a garrison town not far from the capital, saying it was a violation of illusory sovereignty.
The operation severely strained already uneasy ties between the United States and Pakistain, whose cooperation is needed to stabilise Afghanistan.
"We have cancelled six MOUs (memorandums of understanding) with the United States in the fields of health, education and solid waste management," said Rana Sanaullah, Law Minister of Punjab, the country's political nerve centre.
"We have told their concerned departments about our decision. This is our protest against the Abbottabad incident."
The Pakistain Mohammedan League (PML-N) opposition party, which rules Punjab, has called for a review of the country's ties with Washington, urging the central government to reduce reliance on foreign aid.
A PML-N front man said Punjab had been expected to get 20 billion rupees ($232.55 million) for welfare projects in the next three years from the United States.
"This will not have much effect as the amount is quite small and it (the decision) has not been taken by the federal government but instead the provincial government," said Asif Qureshi, analyst at Invisor Securities, a brokerage firm based in Bloody Karachi.
Bin Laden's presence in Pakistain has led to calls by some US congressmen to cut aid to the country.
Pakistain is struggling to revive its economy, which depends heavily on an $11 billion International Monetary fund loan to stay afloat.
To get the remaining tranches of the loan, which was secured in 2008, Pakistain must implement politically unpopular reforms such as broadening its tax base and reforming the energy sector.
One of the lowest tax-to-GDP ratio in the world of around 10 per cent has increased Pakistain's reliance on foreign funds and loans, even for development projects.
Pakistain received $20 billion in US military and economic aid in the past 20 years.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Are they more gutted that we violated their sovereignty or we killed their hero/cash cow?
Posted by: Paul D ||
05/21/2011 6:45 Comments ||
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#2
I think it's delightful that Punjab is prepared to go it alone on health, solid waste management (two closely related subjects), and education. They have, after all, been doing so well in these areas thus far.
#3
Lets see... "We have cancelled six MOUs (memorandums of understanding) with the United States in the fields of health, education and solid waste management
Ok Fine by me. Let disease run amok, stay stupid and live in shit piled up to your neck.
[Dawn] India's defense minister says Pakistain must take strong action against terrorist outfits operating from its soil to improve ties between the two countries which have fought three wars since 1947.
Defense Minister A.K. Antony says there are elements in Pakistain's "structures" that are supporting terrorists.
Antony told news hounds Friday: Pakistain must "destroy all terrorist outfits on its soil" if it wants to sincerely improve relations with India. He was speaking after addressing a meeting of Indian army commanders.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2011 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
NEWS KERALA > [US SecState Hillary] CLINTON CONFIRMS US WILL REPEAT UNILATERAL ATTACK IN PAKISTAN IFF IT DOESN'T ACT ON TERROR. US will do the same to any other sovereign Country where Al-Qaeda leadership, etal. is found.
and
* SAME > LeT, TTP [+ Haqqani Network, etc. milterrs] MAY TRIGGER INDO-PAK WAR REQUIRING US INTERVENTION, FEAR EXPERTS.
IMO ditto also mil intervention by Pak "Big Brother" + BFF CHINA, + also RUSSIA.
ARTIC > PAK ISI stopped = cancled LeT-ordered, David Headley-led TerrOp agz India].
* SAME > PAK ARMY LEADERS "FEARING SEETHING ANGER [troops, units] IN BARRACKS ACROSS COUNTRY" POST-BIN LADEN RAID.
[Dawn] Corps Commander Lt-Gen Asif Yaseen Malik has hinted at launching a military operation to clear the restive Kurram tribal region of Islamic fascistiand make Thall-Parachinar Road safer for travelling.
Addressing a jirga of tribal elders in this administrative headquarters of the region on Thursday, the officer said a strategy was being chalked out to empty the area of trouble-makers.
"Result-oriented action will be taken very soon," he told the jirga which was also attended by Inspector General of Frontier Corps Maj-Gen Nadir Zeb, Additional Chief Secretary Fazal Karim Khattak and other bigwigs. Gen Malik urged the tribal elders and people to fulfil their responsibilities and pinpoint criminals and anti-state elements.On the occasion, tribal elders called for immediate and safe recovery of kidnapped persons and security to passengers on the Thall-Parachinar Road.
They assured the military officials of full support for restoration of peace in the area.
The elders said that government should replace paramilitary forces with the army in the area. "The government should deploy regular army on the main road," they added. They alleged that Frontier Corps had lost the confidence of people as the force failed to provide security to local population.
Local people have stopped travelling on the main road after an attack on passengers in March last. About 13 passengers were killed and more than 30 kidnapped by the attackers.
Sources said that military operation in the area was on the card. "Perhaps the operation will be launched after the release of 31 persons, who were kidnapped when Islamic fascistiattacked on the passenger coaches in Beggan town on March 26," sources said.
Meanwhile, ...back at the laboratory the fumes had dispersed, to reveal an ominous sight... negotiators were busy in talks with the kidnappers to finalise a deal for the release of the hostages, according to well-placed sources.
They said that negotiations were being held at a secret location. Kidnappers, they said, had demanded huge ransom for the release of kidnapped passengers.
"We are expecting good news. The captors can free hostages anytime," said a source. He said that two separate turban groups were involved in attack on vehicles and kidnapping of passengers.
The Thall-Parachinar Road, the only artery linking Kurram with other parts of the country, remained closed to normal traffic since November 2007 when festivities broke out in the area. It was reopened to traffic in February after a peace deal was signed between the Sunni and Shia sects, living in the tribal region.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2011 00:00 ||
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A law published in the official Palestinian Authority Registry last month grants all Palestinians and Israeli Arabs imprisoned in Israel for terror crimes a monthly salary from the PA. The Arabic word the PA uses for this payment is "ratib," meaning "salary." Palestinian Media Watch has reported numerous times on Palestinian Authority glorification of terrorists serving time in Israeli prisons. Following the signing of this new law, the PA is now paying a salary to these prisoners.
The PA has defined by law which Palestinians would be considered "prisoners."
"Anyone imprisoned in the occupation's [Israel's] prisons as a result of his participation in the struggle against the occupation."
[Ch. 1 of Law of Prisoners, 2004/19,
passed and published by the PA Chairman and Government, December 2004.
The Prisoners' Centre for Studies,www.alasra.ps Accessed May 9, 2011]
In other words, all Palestinians in Israeli prisons for terror crimes officially join the PA payroll. According to the definition in the PA law, Palestinian car thieves in Israeli prisons will not receive a salary, but Hamas and Fatah terrorist murderers will.
The PA also gives a salary to Israeli Arabs convicted of terror crimes against Israel - the country of which they are citizens. PA benefits to Israeli Arab terrorists, in fact, are greater than the ones extended to Palestinian terrorists.
Those serving more than 20-year sentences will receive a greater PA salary than prisoners serving shorter sentences, the new PA law establishes. Salaries are to be paid from the day of arrest until release.
#3
Sounds like time for the Israelis to have a lethal, food-borne epidemic in one of their prisons. Give them a big meal laced with cholera, then have a security lock down for 48 hours, with all guards manning the walls and looking outward, against a possible "terrorist assault".
Blame can be laid on a new prisoner just returned from a place with an outbreak.
[Al Jazeera] Israel is prepared to make "generous" concessions for peace in the Middle East, but cannot go back to the country's "indefensible" 1967 borders, Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu said following White House talks with Barack B.O. Obama.
Netanyahu's comments came after Obama, the US president, had said the 1967 borders, with mutually agreed land swaps, should form the basis for a peace deal between Israel and the Paleostinians, in a major speech on the Middle East on Thursday.
"A peace based on illusions will crash upon the rocks of Middle Eastern reality. I think for peace the Paleostinians will have to accept some basic realities," Netanyahu said.
He said that a return to those borders was impossible because the region had seen "demographic changes".
"While Israel is prepared to make generous compromises for peace, it cannot go back to 1967 borders because these borders are indefensible."
In both their statements, the leaders refused to accept Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, at the negotiating table, following the recent Paleostinian unity deal involving the group and Paleostinian Authority president the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... ' Fatah faction.
Netanyahu said that Abbas would have to chose between "peace with Israel and his pact with Hamas".
He also called Hamas the "Paleostinian version of Al Qaeda".
Obama said, "It is very difficult for Israel to negotiate in a serious way with a party that refuses to acknowledge its right to exist... [Hamas] is not a partner for a significant, realistic grinding of the peace processor."
But Ghazi Hamad, a Hamas spokesperson responded, saying, "Hamas is not a terrorist organization."
"We've spent 20 years in negotiations. It is enough. It is enough for the Paleostinians... Hamas is fighting for our people, for our homeland, for our liberation, for our dignity, for our independence."
He also said that while we wait for a successful grinding of the peace processor, "We cannot give Israel the carte blanche that they have to enjoy the occupation... and to say we have to stop the resistance against the occupation."
Right of return
Both Obama and Netanyahu spoke about refugees from the region, with Obama calling for a right of return for Paleostinians, and Netanyahu largely focusing on other countries in the region refusing support of Paleostinians and saying, "Paleostinian refugees cannot come to Israel... It's not going to happen".
Reporting from Shatti Beach refugee camp in Gazoo, Al Jizz's Nicole Johnson said, "The statement is not surprising or unexpected for Gazooks... A lot of people here have lost hope of returning to what is now Israel, returning to their homes."
She added, "People are very frustrated by the situation, but they're also concerned with their more immediate needs", citing unemployment and difficulty of access of resources.
The speeches at the White House came hours later than expected, possibly due to sharp disagreements between the two.
On Thursday, Obama laid down his clearest markers yet on compromises Israel should make toward peace in his speech on the 'Arab spring'.
Among his statements were support of a two-state solution, that Paleostinian territories should be demilitarised and that borders should be re-drawn as they were before Israel captured the West Bank and other Paleostinian land in 1967.
That position was seen as a message that Obama expected Israel to eventually make concessions which they have resisted to date.
But before flying to the US for the talks on Friday, Netanyahu told news hounds, "The viability of a Paleostinian state cannot come at the expense of Israel's existence."
He also expressed that the U.S. government did not understand the problems Israel faced.
Quartet supports 1967 borders ... The Quartet are the UN (xylophone), the United States (alto), the European Union (soprano), and Russia (shortstop). The group was established in Madrid in 2002 by former Spanish Prime Minister Aznar, as a result of the escalating conflict in the Middle East. Tony Blair is the Quartet's current Special Envoy.... Before Obama and Netanyahu made statements, the Quartet of Middle East negotiators - the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations ...Parkinson's Law on an international scale... voiced strong support for Obama's vision from his speech on Thursday.
"The Quartet agrees that moving forward on the basis of territory and security provides a foundation for Israelis and Paleostinians to reach a final resolution of the conflict through serious and substantive negotiations and mutual agreement on all core issues," the group said in a statement.
"The Quartet reiterates its strong appeal to the parties to overcome the current obstacles and resume direct bilateral negotiations without delay or preconditions," the Quartet said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2011 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: PLO
#1
for what its worth, Reuters based similar article produced enormous amount of antisemitic response at their website. Not surprised but still horrified.
[Al Jazeera] US president Barack B.O. Obama's endorsement of a longstanding Paleostinian demand for a future state based on 1967 borders sets the stage for a potentially tense meeting with Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, on Friday.
Netanyahu, who has had strained relations with Obama, headed for Washington saying the president's vision of a Paleostinian state on the borders of 1967 - as part of his vision for an elusive US-brokered peace deal - could leave Israel "indefensible".
The White House talks had never been expected to yield any significant progress to revive long-stalled peace talks, but now that prospect seems even less likely.
Strained relations
Obama, in a policy speech on Thursday on the "Arab spring" uprisings across the Middle East, laid down his clearest markers yet on the compromises Israel and the Paleostinians must make for resolving their decades-old conflict.
"The viability of a Paleostinian state cannot come at the expense of Israel's existence"
His position essentially embraces the Paleostinian view that the state they seek in the West Bank and Gazoo should largely be drawn along the lines that existed before the 1967 war in which Israel captured those territories and East Jerusalem.
On the eve of Netanyahu's visit, it was seen as a message that Obama expects Israel to eventually make big concessions.
"The viability of a Paleostinian state cannot come at the expense of Israel's existence," Netanyahu said in a statement before flying to the United States for his talks with Obama.
Obama's first outright declaration of his stance on the contested issue of borders could help ease doubts in the Arab world about his commitment to acting as an even-handed broker.
However, The ever-popular However... the Democrat president quickly came under fire from Republican critics, who accused him of betraying Israel, the closest US ally in the region.
Pushing Netanyahu risks alienating Israel's base of support among the US public and in Congress as Obama seeks re-election in 2012.
"This approach undermines our special relationship with Israel and weakens our ally's ability to defend itself," Eric Cantor, the Republican majority leader in the US House of Representatives, said.
Israelis taken aback
While Obama also had tough words for the Paleostinians, Israeli officials were especially taken aback by his blunt language, including criticism of "settlement activity" and its continued occupation of Arab lands.
There was no word on whether Netanyahu, who heads a right-leaning, pro-settler coalition, had been forewarned.
the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... , the Paleostinian president, welcomed Obama's efforts to renew the talks that collapsed last year.
Obama has little to show for his peace efforts since taking office. His last bid collapsed when he backed down from confronting Israel over settlement building in the West Bank.
Despite the tensions, Obama has carved out three hours for Netanyahu on Friday, including a working lunch. However, The ever-popular However... visits have not always gone smoothly.
In March of last year, Netanyahu was left waiting while Obama went to the White House residence for dinner with his family, widely seen in Israel as a snub.
In Thursday's speech, Obama said: "We believe the borders of Israel and Paleostine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps" of land.
While this has long been the private view in Washington, Obama went further than US officials have gone in the recent past, when they described such a solution as a Paleostinian aspiration but did not embrace it as their own.
Obama also delivered messages that will be hard for the Paleostinians to swallow, suggesting their effort to win UN membership for a Paleostinian state is doomed and that they have a lot of explaining to do about a reconciliation deal with Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,, which the United States regards as a "terrorist group".
To reassure Israelis, Obama committed to Israel's security and said any future Paleostinian state must be "non-militarised", something Netanyahu has demanded.
But he warned Israel: "The dream of a Jewish and democratic state cannot be fulfilled with permanent occupation."
In a pointed reply, Netanyahu said he expected "to hear a reaffirmation from president Obama of US commitments made to Israel in 2004" - an allusion to a letter by then-president George Bush suggesting Israel may keep big settlement blocs as part of any peace pact.
Speaking to Al Jizz, Robert Fisk, an author and Middle East correspondent for the UK's Independent newspaper, said Netanyahu "will win" because "it is about political power and the use of political power".
"I think we might see a repeat of the capitulation over settlements, maybe without the bribe of $163 a second, which it was the last time I calculated," Fisk said.
Paleostinians say settlement expansion is aimed at denying them a viable state, and successive US administrations have shielded Israel from UN Security Council resolutions condemning such activity.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2011 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Top Republican contenders for the White House in 2012 accused President Barack B.O. Obama on Thursday of betraying staunch U.S. ally Israel in his new long-shot push for Middle East peace.
"President B.O. has thrown Israel under the bus," thundered former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, generally viewed as the frontrunner in the race for the party's presidential nomination.
"He has disrespected Israel and undermined its ability to negotiate peace. He has also violated a first principle of American foreign policy, which is to stand firm by our friends," Romney said in a statement.
Obama declared earlier in a sweeping speech on the Middle East that the borders of Israel and a future Paleostinian state must be based on 1967 lines, igniting an immediate clash with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu has vigorously opposed a formula that would see Israel withdraw to the geographical lines in place before the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, and immediately rejected Obama's formula.
The Israeli premier was to get a high-profile chance to offer his rebuttal when he addresses a rare joint session of the U.S. Congress on Tuesday at Republican House Speaker John It is not pronounced 'Boner!' Boehner ... the occasionally weepy leader of House Republicans... 's invitation.
Former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty, another likely 2012 contender, said in a statement that Obama's proposal was "a mistaken and very dangerous demand."
At this time of upheaval in the Middle East, it's never been more important for America to stand strong for Israel and for a united Jerusalem."
Pawlenty, like many other Republicans, fretted about a reconciliation agreement between Paleostinian president the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... 's Fatah faction and the Islamist movement Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,, branded by Washington a terrorist group.
"To send a signal to the Paleostinians that America will increase its demands on our ally Israel, on the heels of the Paleostinian Authority's agreement with the Hamas terrorist organization, is a disaster waiting to happen," said Pawlenty.
Some other potential candidates, including former Utah governor Jon Huntsman -- fresh off two years serving as Obama's ambassador to China -- had no immediate reaction.
But former U.S. House speaker Newt Gingrich blasted what he called the "most dangerous speech given by an American president in terms of Israel's survival."
And Republican Representative Michele Bachmann, who is close to the archconservative "Tea Party" movement and has been mentioned as a possible 2012 candidate, charged that Obama "has betrayed our friend and ally Israel."
"President B.O.: No friend of Israel and no friend of Middle East peace," she said on her Facebook page.
"I believe Obama's call for 1967 borders will cause chaos, division, and greater aggression in the Middle East and put Israel at further risk," she said.
Support for Israel runs strong in the U.S. public, notably among Christian conservatives who tend to back Republicans but also among Jewish voters who tend to back Democrats.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
thundered former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, generally viewed as the frontrunner in the race for the party's presidential nomination
WHO SAYS, he's the frontrunner? All in favor, signify by saying 'aye'.
Opposed, same sign.
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/21/2011 21:53 Comments ||
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Iran's constitutional watchdog has deemed illegal Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad's decision to take over the role of oil minister, after Iran's president removed the previous minister along with two others earlier in the week.
Iran's president was said to have assumed the role earlier this week as part of a government shakeup that reduced the number of ministries from 21 to 17.
The move put him in direct control of the government unit responsible for the extraction and export of the world's fifth largest oil and gas reserves.
It also meant Ahmadinejad would represent Iran at the next OPEC meeting, set for June 8 in Vienna.
According to Iranian law, a president has three months after removing a minister to introduce a new candidate to parliament.
During that period he can act as caretaker of the ministry or appoint someone else to do so.
But Iran's Guardian Council, which supervises legislation and can block laws it deems unconstitutional or not Islamic, found Ahmadinejad's move illegal, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.
Fars did not give details as to why the council came to that conclusion, or what effect it could actually have.
A dispute over the government changes has grown in the past weeks, with members of the conservative ruling elite clashing with Ahmadinejad.
Iranian media has reported that Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei, the country's supreme leader, resolved a growing dispute between Ahmadinejad and parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani, an outspoken critic of the president's economic policies.
Last month, Khamenei overturned Ahmadinejad's decision to sack his intelligence minister, Heydar Moslehi.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2011 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.
Khaleda Zia
A photo essay on military dogs, which my retired LTC friend says is the best he's seen.
A 
Nawaz Sharif
Punjab
Quartet supports 1967 borders
Mahmoud 
