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Area: WoT Operations    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Abu Bakr Bashir gets 15 years
Today's Headlines
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Arabia
'[P]GCC serving West's interests'
The recent move by the [Persian] Gulf Cooperation Council
... the Medes and the Persians are very sensitive on the subject of the Persian Gulf, which the Arabs refer to as the Arabian Gulf...
([P]GCC) to accuse Iran of meddling in the internal affairs of the Arab states serves the West's interests, says an Iranian politician.

"The repeated claims by a number of tiny Persian Gulf littoral states are aimed at currying favor with their Western masters," IRNA quoted Mehdi Mehdizadeh, a member of National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Iranian Parliament (Majlis) as saying on Wednesday.

The [P]GCC's Tuesday statement comes against the backdrop of the recent revolutions and popular uprisings against the authoritarian regimes across the Arab world.

The [P]GCC is so reliant on the Western powers that they have not issued even one statement in support of the Paleostinian and Lebanese people and they are only concerned about Iran's affairs, Mehdizadeh argued.

Furthermore, the council has never condemned Israel over its proliferation of nuclear arms and sponsoring different forms of terrorism, the Iranian politician added.

Mehdizadeh insisted that the Medes and the Persians "will not take heed of such baseless accusations" and will continue on its "path to progress and independence."
Posted by: Fred || 06/17/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  The repeated claims by a number of tiny Persian Gulf littoral states are aimed at currying favor with their Western masters

Funny how they don't wanna swap their Western masters for Iranian masters.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 06/17/2011 12:25 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
Jamaat won't join today's dialogue with EC
[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....
has decided not to join dialogue with the Election Commission (EC) scheduled for Thursday afternoon.

"We will sit soon to decide whether to join the dialogue in future," Azharul Islam told The Daily Star.

Earlier, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) suggested the EC holding two more parliamentary elections under a non-partisan caretaker government to overcome the present political crisis.

An eight-member delegation led by the party Hasanul Haq Inu made the recommendation during the dialogue with the EC officials at the commission's secretariat at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar.

The party also proposed for raising the number of election commissioner from two to four during the two-hour dialogue that began at about 10:30am.

The EC on June 7 launched dialogues with the political parties for their opinion on some key issues like Representation of the People Order; laws on demarcation of constituencies and appointment of election commissioners; and use of electronic voting machine.

The EC has decided to hold dialogue with the 38 registered political parties.
Posted by: Fred || 06/17/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
The murder of Yuri Budanov
Posted by: ryuge || 06/17/2011 02:05 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:


China-Japan-Koreas
N. Korea tells S. Korea to hand over refugees
[Straits Times] NORTH Korea on Thursday demanded the return of nine apparent defectors who crossed into South Korean territorial waters in a rowing boat, Seoul officials said.

'North Korea's Red Thingy sent a message to the South Korean Red Thingy and demanded that the South return the nine people at an early date,' the unification ministry, which handles cross-border affairs, said in a statement.

The South says the nine are free to choose whether to stay or to return home.

The three men, two women and four children - family members of two brothers - rowed across the tense Yellow Sea border last Saturday.

Media reports say they expressed a desire to defect from their impoverished homeland, which is beset by persistent severe food shortages.

'What's most important is their own free will, whether they want to return home or stay here,' foreign ministry front man Cho Byung Jae said earlier Thursday.
Posted by: Fred || 06/17/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  "Let's face it, that starving concentration camp of slaves that you call a nation has a population that is 95% convinced that it wants to live anywhere else than under your murderous and incompetent control. So here's a bright idea: instead of buying weapons to threaten everyone else, why don't you just feed your own people for a change, or does that make too much sense even to the lizard portion of your brains?"
Posted by: Anonymoose || 06/17/2011 10:46 Comments || Top||

#2  Whatever Norka wants Norka gets. I see obama food aid in the near future.

Norkia: worlds largest importer of French Cognac. While the people make soup out of tree bark.
Posted by: Whock Darling of the Welsh2846 || 06/17/2011 18:18 Comments || Top||

#3  #1 it must be remembered that, in addition to preserving Kim family ruling power + Govt-State dominance of NOKOR Socialist movement, CHINA DID NOT WANT US-WESTERN STYLE GOVT. IN ITS NOKOR VASSAL STATE EVEN IT WAS A [Democratic]SOCIALIST GOVT.

Smacked of suppor the return of the
"white/foreign devils" = "Weak China" [19th Century Manchu/Qian China], + made it easier for Beijing + Cold War PLA to assume the functions, powers of ordinary NOKOR Governance in time of War [US-China = "Korean War II", China-vs-USSR-vs-US].

ION WAFF > NORTH KOREA TESTS "SUPER-EMP" NUKE, as per under the guise of its alleged recent dev of "miniature" Nuclear Warheads???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 06/17/2011 21:06 Comments || Top||


Europe
Libya: Italy to ask Nato to 'stop migrant boats'
Italy will ask NATO ships to stop boats carrying migrants from North Africa to Italy.

"I think you can intervene immediately by asking NATO vessels already along the Libyan coast to block goods from entering, to also be used to block people from leaving," Italian interior minister Roberto Maroni told reporters on Friday at a security conference in the northern Italian city of Varese.

"This can be done right away if NATO decides to agrees. It would be a solution to the problem.

Prime minister Silvio Berlusconi needs votes from Maroni's anti-immigrant Northern League party to keep his government from falling. The Northern League has threatened to end its governing alliance if Italy doesn't pull its support for bombing the North African country.

Unrest in many Arab countries this year has caused the main flow of illegal immigrants seeking to enter the European Union to switch from Greece to Italy's islands, the EU's border protection agency Frontex said Tuesday.

Most migrants arrive in Italy by landing on the small island of Lampedusa, which is closer to Tunisia than the Italian mainland. In excess of 41,000 migrants have reached Lampedusa this year.

Italy on Friday was due to sign an accord with Libyan rebel leaders aiming to keep migrant boats from leaving for Italy. An agreement to jointly patrol coastal waters with Libya was scrapped in March when Italy joined Nato in its mission to defend civilians against Muammar Gaddafi.
Posted by: tipper || 06/17/2011 10:23 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Catch-22, namely will ITALIA = econ-troubled NATO-EU accept econ-aiding $$$, other assistance from oil-rich Muslim Nations to care for the Migrants + allow them to stay instead of returning home, all the while knowing they may be allowing subversive, pro-violence Jihadi = MilTerr elements to take root LEGALLY? inside their country(s)???

* TOPIX > EASTERN EUROPE THE NEW FRONT FOR JIHAD?, as led by EU financial/banking crisis + "Jasmine" Muslim migrations.

I'd like to see the USDOD + NATO aim their GMD-TMD interceptor missles downward towards NATO-EU Cities, towns, + farms instead of upwards into the skies towards Mama Russia.

D *** NG IT, ITS ALWAYS THE LATERAL = HORIZONTAL ONES THAT GET YA!
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 06/17/2011 23:44 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Pakistan Army Chief Struggling to Survive
[Tolo News] Pakistain's 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...
, is fighting to survive in his post while facing pressure by his colleagues, a US official has said.

Kayani is fighting to survive and his corps commanders are very strongly anti-US right now, so he has to appease them, a US official has told Washington Post on condition of anonymity.

US and Pak officials believe the security relationship between the United States and Pakistain has reduced to its lowest level since the two countries agreed to

cooperate after 9/11, and this can endanger counterterrorism programmes that depend on the partnership, the Washington Post writes.

Further deterioration is likely as Pakistain's military leadership has come under pressure from within its ranks to reduce ties with the United States.

Pakistain's Army Chief has recently faced pressure by fellow officers who asked him to explain why Pakistain supports US policy.

Another US official has told the Post that outspokenness to top officers is virtually unheard of in the strict Pak military hierarchy, and open criticism of

Kayani is something no Pak military commander has ever had to face before.

The official has said the pressure that Kayani is under now should not be underestimated.

Five Paks who provided the CIA with information about the late Osama bin Laden's
... who went titzup one dark and stormy night...
compound in Abbottabad have recently been placed in long-term storage by Pakistain's government.

The arrests were seen as a clear eviden of disconnect between Pakistain and US priorities and growing tensions between the two countries.

The fate of the five Paks placed in long-term storage including a Pakistain Army major is not clear, but there were reports that CIA Director Leon Panneta has raised the issue during his recent visit to Islamabad.

US politicians on Wednesday expressed outrage on the arrests as Pakistain is under huge pressure to act honestly in the fight against terrorism.

As bad boy groups have stepped up attacks in Pakistain, the country has also been calling on the US to stop its covert drone attacks that has largely been criticised by Pak officials and people who have staged protests against US drone strikes.

Also the Deputy CIA director Michael J. Morell rated Pakistain's cooperation with the US on counterterrorism operations 3 on a scale of 1 to 10 at the Senate Intelligence Committee.

But American officials have cautioned that Mr Morell's comments about Pak support was a snapshot of the current relationship, and did not represent the administration's overall assessment, the Times further writes.
Posted by: Fred || 06/17/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [12 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  Killing of OBL has brought the Islamist to the surface!
Posted by: Paul || 06/17/2011 8:09 Comments || Top||

#2  A 3? I guess grade inflation is rife throughout the system.
Posted by: Perfesser || 06/17/2011 10:20 Comments || Top||

#3  just another "I'd love to be pro-America and whack them talibunnies, but if I did more, I might be replaced by someone who wouldn't whack the talibunnies, so you really need me, bad as I am" bullshit argument
Posted by: Frank G || 06/17/2011 10:53 Comments || Top||

#4  Pak army are Islamist/anti US shocka!

You would of never guessed by their courtship of an A-Z of jihadi groups!

Support India to defeat them again is the way forward!
Posted by: Paul D || 06/17/2011 14:45 Comments || Top||

#5  Dear Sir,

One mispelling, one missing dash, one grammatical error, either one fragmented sentence or an error of tense, and three absent-from-combat exclamation points.

Unfortunately, not one of your best days. It certainly does detract from your zealous commentary.

Your Ob'd Servant,

Snark
Posted by: Snark || 06/17/2011 15:45 Comments || Top||

#6  OTOH WAFF > A [Pak]BREACH WITH THE US MAY GO IN FAVOR OF AL-QAEDA'S PLAN TO INSPIRE A "NUCLEAR THEOCRACY" IN PAKISTAN.

ARTIC = PAK COAS KAYANI = labeled as the real, but unofficial/unwritten "CHIEF EXECUTIVE" OF PAKISTAN whom is facing serious anti-US internal mil pressures vee pro-Islamist "REVOLT OF THE COLONELS".

Although considered a patriot, Gen. Kayani fears US + Internat response iff the PAK Govt-Army prove unable or unwilling to rein in violent MilTerr Groups widn their country.

Lest we fergit, PAKISTAN ASPIRES TO BE A WORLD + ISLAMIC "GREAT POWER/STATE" IN IN ITS OWN RIGHT, PAR IFF NOT SUPERIOR TO ANY IN THE MUSLIM ANDOR ON-MUSLIM WORLD.

* Also from WAFF > [Pakistan = StrategyPage] AN ARMY [State] WID A NATION.

IOW, the PAK Civilian Govt. + Pak Peoples are "Camp Followers", non-Uniformed Employees? etc. to the Pak Army.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 06/17/2011 20:48 Comments || Top||

#7  Then again... he could just give the CIA those colleagues names and a DRONE ZAP could be arranged.

Problem solved.
Posted by: Water Modem || 06/17/2011 23:27 Comments || Top||


Informants' arrest: Cleansing process in progress, says ISPR

[Dawn] The Army on Wednesday confirmed media reports that it had made several detentions in connection with the US raid killing the late Osama bin Laden
... who has won the race to that place where we all eventually end up...
and other unspecified incidents under 'a purge', but denied holding any military officer.

"The arrests are part of ongoing cleansing process and are not related to any single incident," an ISPR front man said while commenting on a New York Times
...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize...
report that five persons, an Army major among them, had been incarcerated on suspicion that they had helped CIA in the hunt for Bin Laden.

The front man did not clarify what he meant by 'cleansing process' and whether it was about CIA's covert network in the country.

Furthermore, it appears from discussions with army officers that the number of those incarcerated could be more than five.

The issue was raised by CIA chief Leon Panetta
...current Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Panetta served as President Bill Clinton's White House Chief of Staff from 1994 to 1997 and was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1993....
when he met Army chief Gen Kayani
... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI...
and ISI head Gen Shuja Pasha over a dinner on Friday, where the three discussed CIA's footprint in the country and the fractured relationship between the two spy agencies.

Mr Panetta's visit started off with a media leak that he had landed in Islamabad armed with 'evidence' of alleged collusion between the country's security agencies and myrmidons. This was followed by a report that he had taken up the matter of incarcerated CIA informants with officials in Islamabad, demonstrating how troubled the relationship had become.

The ISPR said in another statement that "there is no army officer jugged" in connection with the Abbottabad incident.

A security source separately claimed that some of those who had been held for interrogation were released after questioning.

Most of the arrests were made over the past three to four weeks.

Western media, ignoring the denial about the major's custody, came up with 'details of the arrests'.

The ABC News and Guardian in their reports said the incarcerated major was a doctor with the army's medical corps.

Another person being held is thought to be the owner of the house that was used by CIA as a safe house to spy on the Osama compound.

According to BBC, one of those being interrogated was a milkman who served the Bin Laden family. Although no details about the identity of the other persons have come out in the media as yet, it is believed that they formed a part of the cell that tried to "establish pattern of life" inside the compound using hi-tech intelligence paraphernalia. Some of those who provided logistical support for the raid are also being interrogated, according to sources.

After the May 2 raid in Abbottabad, the CIA was asked to cut its presence in the country and many of the operatives have already left the country.

CRACKDOWN: Security agencies have reportedly launched a crackdown to unearth local agents of the American spy agency.

Although the Abbottabad raid could have precipitated the action against clandestine CIA network in the country, sources say the military leadership had been mulling over it since the killing of two youth in Lahore in January by Raymond Davis, the CIA operative who was released in March.

An army officer thought the leak about arrest of CIA moles was being done as a follow-up to Mr Panetta's failed mission to Islamabad when Gen Kayani and Gen Pasha turned down his request to allow CIA operations.

Pak authorities have put extra restrictions on visas for CIA agents and intelligence sharing remains on hold despite an agreement with the US for setting up a joint task force for coordination between the two intelligence agencies.
Posted by: Fred || 06/17/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Move against 'banned outfits' planned
[Dawn] The core committees of the ruling Pakistain People's Party (PPP) and its coalition partners -- the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the Awami National Party (ANP) -- on Wednesday condemned assassinations in the city and resolved to coordinate their efforts to weed out "Taliban/cut-throats and other banned
...the word banned seems to have a different meaning in Pakistain than it does in most other places. Or maybe it simply lacks any meaning at all...
organization
s and criminals".

The committees held a meeting at the Governor's House to discuss the assassinations that have claimed many lives over the past three days. None of the party leaders made any statement to the media after the meeting, which was a follow-up of Tuesday's talks between MQM and ANP delegations at the same venue.

The reference to Taliban and banned organisations in the joint statement issued late on Wednesday night was significant as it hinted that such elements might have some role in the ongoing wave of assassinations and the prevailing law and order situation in the city.

The allied parties resolved to establish peace at all costs and emphasised that extra efforts were needed to ensure a conducive political environment. They also assured the law-enforcement agencies of their cooperation in weeding out criminal elements.They declared that "these criminals enjoyed no political support and the LEAs should apprehend them without any discrimination".

Condemning the ongoing blood-letting, Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad and Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, who jointly chaired the meeting, directed the LEAs to arrest and bring the criminals to justice.

The core committees also stressed the need for removing wall-chalking and party flags from all government buildings in order to defuse tension bring the law and order under control.
Posted by: Fred || 06/17/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  Started in England with the banning of outfits for nurses.
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/17/2011 0:52 Comments || Top||


US wanted closer scrutiny of 'cash couriers' providing terror financing
[Dawn] US diplomatic cables obtained by Dawn through WikiLeaks reveal American concerns about funds for the Taliban flowing from the United Arab Emirates to Pakistain and Afghanistan through "cash couriers."

A cable dated September 3, 2009 from the US ambassador in Abu Dhabi states that "Taliban financing originates in and transits the UAE to Afghanistan and third countries. Cash couriers are believed to carry the majority of illicit funds to and from Afghanistan."

It adds that the UAE should "carry out randomised searches for excessive amounts of cash, with a particular focus on flights to South Asia."

American and Emirati officials also considered tightening the reporting requirement for cash transfers in an effort to cut off this flow.

A cable dated August 4, 2009 detailing a meeting between US Treasury Assistant Secretary David Cohen and Sultan bin Nasser al Suweidi, Governor of the Emirates' Central Bank, reports that the governor suggested "the possibility of lowering the threshold reporting requirement for cash movement to and from Pakistain."

He added, however, that "the government of Pakistain would likely object to Pak expatriates appearing to be singled out for extra scrutiny."

Other cables also reflect increasing American frustration with wealthy Gulf states as well as with Pakistain regarding monitoring of donors allegedly funnelling cash to bad turban groups in Pakistain and Afghanistan.

"While the Kingdom of Soddy Arabia takes seriously the threat of terrorism within Soddy Arabia," says a December 30, 2009 cable sent from Washington to US missions in various Gulf capitals as well as Islamabad, "it has been an ongoing challenge to persuade Saudi officials to treat terrorist financing emanating from Soddy Arabia as a strategic priority."

The document claims that "donors in Soddy Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide. . . . more needs to be done since ... Riyadh has taken only limited action to disrupt fundraising for the ... Taliban and LeT groups that are also aligned with Al Qaeda and focused on undermining stability in Afghanistan and Pakistain."

The criticism of Kuwait is similar. "While the [government of Kuwait] has demonstrated willingness to take action when attacks target Kuwait, it has been less inclined to take action against Kuwait-based financiers ... plotting attacks outside of Kuwait.

"Al Qaeda and other groups continue to explo
Posted by: Fred || 06/17/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  Does this include international bankers,...like DeepWell Fatgo money orders?
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/17/2011 0:12 Comments || Top||


Fears of over security in North Waziristan
[Dawn] The telephone in Ghaziullah Wali's small house in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar rings often as members of his extended family keep inquiring about reports of impending military operations in North Wazoo Tribal Agency.

"Some of my family members want to move away," he said. "A number have already done so over the years." The family has been driven into a panic by media reports of a possible military operation in the area. North Waziristan is seen as a center of militancy and there has been pressure from the USA -- Pakistain's main ally in the "war on terror" -- to stage an operation there, says a report by IRIN, the UN information unit.

Pakistain military front man Maj-Gen Athar Abbas,
... who is the very model of a modern major general...
however, said the armed forces were too stretched to go into North Waziristan for now. "We are engaged in many agencies at the moment," he said.

"There are stabilisation operations; there is a consolidation phase going on. There are active operations, like in Orakzai and Kurram and Mohmand
... Named for the Mohmand clan of the Sarban Pahstuns, a truculent, quarrelsome lot. In Pakistain, the Mohmands infest their eponymous Agency, metastasizing as far as the plains of Peshawar, Charsadda, and Mardan. Mohmands are also scattered throughout Pakistan in urban areas including Bloody Karachi, Lahore, and Quetta. In Afghanistan they are mainly found in Nangarhar and Kunar...
Agency." Despite the assurance, uncertainty persists among many of the 361,000 people in the agency. "We hear constantly that North Waziristan is going to be the next target of the security forces," said Saleem Wazir, 38. "The rumours of this happening are really rife at this point. The thought terrifies me. Where will we go? How will I move my father who is paralysed and my wife who is expecting our fifth child in a month?"

The possibility of military action has led some local humanitarian groups to consider how they would handle such an emergency. "When the operation against snuffies by the army began in Swat
...a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistain, located 99 mi from Islamabad. It is inhabited mostly by Pashto speakers. The place has gone steadily downhill since the days when Babe Ruth was the Sultan of Swat...
in February 2009, most aid agencies were taken by surprise when over 1.5 million people were rapidly displaced. Conditions in camps were appalling, especially in the initial weeks," said Asif Khan, a volunteer with the charitable Edhi Foundation who worked with internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Swat in camps in the Mardan and Swabi districts of Khyber Paktoonkhwa Province (KP) immediately after the displacement began.

"We should have earmarked places for camps, [and put] facilities in place for [pre-positioned] food ahead of any movement from another area, and we are thinking about how to plan for that," he told.

The UN at the time described the disaster as the "worst since Rwanda" and there are fears a similar crisis could reoccur. The lack of access for aid agencies to areas of fighting makes matters worse. "Lack of access to North Waziristan is a problem. We have not been told about any operation, but if an emergency situation arises we have contingency plans to deal with this," Michael O'Brien, front man for the International Committee of the Red Thingy, told. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said it was not aware of any planned military action in North Waziristan. Duniya Aslam Khan, a UNHCR associate public information officer, told: "UNHCR hasn't been formally contacted or requested to take any steps by authorities on the issue. However,
Denver is the capital of Colorado...
as a general principle, we have a contingency capability in place to respond to new displacement situations that may occur in the region and we are prepared if the situation arises. Camps can be set up if the need arises."

In areas of North Waziristan, where attacks by unmanned US drones have resulted in loss of life and given rise to anger among primitive, especially as the attacks have often killed civilians, disquiet remains. The death of 40 civilians in a strike in March led to rustics warning they would take Dire Revenge™. "Who knows what could happen here?" Jamal Sanullah Wazir told from Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan.

He said he had already asked relatives to look into the cost of rented housing in Peshawar or other areas, or the possibility of moving in with relatives. Uncertainty has deepened following Dire Revenge™ attacks in northern areas in the wake of the 2 May US raid in Abbottabad which killed al Qaeda leader the late Osama bin Laden
... who used to be but now ain't...
. Militants from neighbouring Afghanistan reportedly attacked security personnel in the Dir District of KP, resulting in 30 deaths and causing families to flee the area. Dir District, which borders on Swat District, was caught up in the 2009 conflict which displaced tens of thousands of people.

"People are human beings and have suffered a lot in the past [during] military operations here," Ihsan Dawar, president of the Tribal Union of Journalists in North Waziristan, told. "Media reports about the operation are creating a lot of panic and some people have already rented houses in Bannu [a neighbouring district in KP] and the areas outside the tribal belt in the event of any kind of emergency."
Posted by: Fred || 06/17/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [11 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  Saleem's wife is expecting her fifth child in a month, now that's what I call breeding.
Posted by: Rhodesiafever || 06/17/2011 3:33 Comments || Top||

#2  she's a gerbil
Posted by: Frank G || 06/17/2011 12:06 Comments || Top||

#3  I was thinking more like flies than fluffy bunny things. Besides, what number wife was she. If they stopped breeding the pain in the world would diminish on a logarithmic scale.
Posted by: Rhodesiafever || 06/17/2011 19:32 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Palestinians Want U.N. Recognition 'Even If Talks Start'
[An Nahar] The Paleostinians will seek U.N. recognition and membership regardless of whether there is a resumption of peace talks, negotiator Mohammed Shtayeh said on Thursday.

His comments were made as the international community pushes a raft of new peace initiatives in a bid to head off the Paleostinian push for U.N. membership.

But Shtayeh said the Paleostinians were determined to seek recognition and that talks could proceed alongside their bid.

"We are by all means going to the United Nations
...an idea whose time has gone...
, whether there are negotiations or no negotiations," he told news hounds in Ramallah, adding that he thought there was little chance talks would resume.

"We think that is not either/or -- we think that going to the United Nations and negotiations can go hand in hand and they are complementary to each other," Shtayeh said.

Negotiations have been on hold since late September 2010, when they ground to a halt after a partial freeze on Israeli settlement construction expired.

The Israelis refused to renew the freeze and the Paleostinians have said they will not talk while Israel builds on land they want for their future state.

As the talks remained stuck in a stalemate, the Paleostinians have sought international backing for a plan to seek recognition and membership at the United Nations during the General Assembly in September.

The United States and several European countries have stated their opposition to the plan, and are reportedly seeking a new peace initiative that could relaunch talks and convince the Paleostinians to abandon the U.N. push.

"We are ready to live with any proposal. But the problem is, we don't want anybody to believe that these sort of proposals are actually initiatives that are an alternative to us going to the United Nations," he said.

"We are going to the United Nations."

Shtayeh said the Paleostinians were actively seeking support, particularly in Europe, for bid to get U.N. recognition of a state on the lines that existed before the 1967 Six Day War.

"For us and the Israelis the battle is over Europe because the issue is not how many states, the issue is also quality states, with all respect to everybody," he said.

"So it is important for us that Europe recognizes Paleostine and I think that the Europeans obviously are trying to come up with initiatives so that they are not politically embarrassed in one way or another."
Posted by: Fred || 06/17/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority

#1  The Israelis truly need to offer an alternative, like kicking all the Palestinians out of Israel for good, the minute the UN decides to unilaterally declare them a nation.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 06/17/2011 10:49 Comments || Top||

#2  As usual, demanding all their concessions up front while giving none.

It doesn't mean they're "ready to negotiate". It means you haven't bombed them enough.
Posted by: mojo || 06/17/2011 13:06 Comments || Top||

#3  #1 it appears that Israel = Tel Aviv may yet do so ...

* PEOPLE'S DAILY FORUM >[Israel FM Avigdor Lieberman] PALIESTINIAN STATE DECLARATION MEANS AN END TO TALKS, i.e. Oslo Accords = Any Israel desire or need to negotiate anymore wid the Palestinians.

E.g. given ...

* WAFF > JIHADI MISSLE CRISIS, espec in Lebanon.

ARTIC = UNIFIL's 12,000-man peacekeeping force, + 15,000-man Lebanese Armed Forces have thus far NOT proven to be able to stop or deter Hezbollah, espec from covertly dispersing + hiding its massive Rocket, Missle, + CHEMWAR, BIOWAR stockpiles around Lebanon or along the Israeli border.

* TOPIX/WORLD NEWS [old = related] > ISRAEL: IRAN HELPED LIBYAN REBELS SELL THOUSANDS OF [captured]MUSTARD, NERVE GAS SHELLS TO HEZBOLLAH + HAMAS.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 06/17/2011 23:00 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
Hacktivist wars: LulzSec vs. th3j35t3r
Posted by: ryuge || 06/17/2011 01:39 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  First one to get a member to lose their virginity FTW!
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 06/17/2011 13:28 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Fri 2011-06-17
  Abu Bakr Bashir gets 15 years
Thu 2011-06-16
  Pakistan army denies major's arrest for CIA links
Wed 2011-06-15
  Pakistan Arrests C.I.A. Informants in Bin Laden Raid
Tue 2011-06-14
  Germany recognises rebels as representing Libya
Mon 2011-06-13
  Syrian Army Attacks Jisr al-Shughour
Sun 2011-06-12
  Helicopters open fire to disperse Syrian protesters
Sat 2011-06-11
  'East Africa embassy bomber Fazul Abdullah Mohammed killed'
Fri 2011-06-10
  Nigeria arrests 14 in Boko Haram attacks
Thu 2011-06-09
  Gaddafi vows to fight until death
Wed 2011-06-08
  US missiles kill twenty in Pakistan
Tue 2011-06-07
  Libya rebels take Yafran
Mon 2011-06-06
  Saleh undergoes surgery as Yemen rejoices
Sun 2011-06-05
  Colombian army kills FARC security chief
Sat 2011-06-04
  Reports: Ilyas Kashmiri killed by a drone in Pakistan
Fri 2011-06-03
  Yemen's Saleh hurt in palace attack: diplomat


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