The guy's always concerned. He always looks concerned
The United States is concerned about what it says are "continuing" human rights abuses by Nigerian security forces in their fight against Islamic militants. It is part of the agenda of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at the African Union summit in Ethiopia.
Did Jahwn ever express any concern over the human rights abuses of the Islamic militants? You know, blowing up churches and stuff?
This is right out of the socialist playbook -- it's always the government that is wrong when it tries to protect people from 'militants', and never the fault of the murderers and boomers.
When Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan announced a state of emergency against Boko Haram militants earlier this month, U.S. officials expressed concern about a "heavy-handed" response by some security forces in northern communities.
Briefing reporters ahead of Kerry's talks here at the African Union summit, a senior State Department official said Washington has monitored the conduct of Nigerian forces during this state of emergency and concludes that human rights abuses are continuing.
[GUARDIAN.CO.UK] A fresh drive to prevent radicalisation of impressionable students on campus is being launched in which universities will be asked to draw up guidelines on how to handle preachers who have a track record of inciting hatred, at the end of a dramatic week that saw a soldier murdered in Woolwich in the first terror-related incident on mainland Britannia since the 7 July 2005 bombings.
Universities UK, which represents higher education institutions, launched a new campaign in an attempt to show students, unions and academics what they can do to constrain controversial preachers.
Ministers are reluctant to reach for a barrage of new legislation in the wake of the terrorist murder of a soldier outside Woolwich barracks, but recognise they need to do more to revive Labour's stalled Prevent strategy, which was introduced by the previous government in an attempt to forestall young people becoming involved with myrmidon groups.
One of the suspects in Wednesday's murder of Lee Rigby, Michael Adebolajo, converted to Islam in 2003 and attended events of the now banned al-Muhajiroun group. But it is not clear that there was any university link.
The limited government response emerged on the day that the family of murdered soldier Lee Rigby fought back tears at an emotionally charged presser describing their shock that a soldier who had served in Afghanistan was killed in broad daylight on the streets of London.
Rigby's wife, Rebecca, and stepfather, Ian Rigby, spoke on behalf of the family at the regimental HQ of his unit, the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, at Bury in Greater Manchester.
"I love Lee and always will," said Mrs Rigby. "I am proud to be his wife and he was due to come up this weekend so we could continue our future together as a family ... You don't expect it to happen when he's in the UK. You think they're safe."
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05/25/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
UK Police have repor arrested two Twitterheads for their post-Woolwich, alleged inflammatory comments on same.
[GUARDIAN.CO.UK] Two days after Lee Rigby's horrific killing, the scene was set for a small but significant piece of community rebuilding: a delegation from the Moslem Council of Britannia was to add its own tribute to the mass of flowers at the scene of his death. Then, at brisk walk in the pouring rain, arrived the last person some might wish to see at such a time: Nick Griffin. It's the usual excuse-making, blame-shifting, and blank looks. "What? Gruesome murders have something to do with Islam? Couldn't be. Couldn't be. Islam's a religion of peace!"
The BNP leader, flanked by a burly aide and an even burlier bodyguard, insisted he was there purely as a politician -- Rigby's family comes from his north-west England European Parliament constituency -- and to "pay my personal respects". But no sooner were the cameras rolling than Griffin launched into his well-worn patter about Britannia's supposedly radicalised Moslem population and how its was ignored by "the liberal elite, politicians and mass media".
Fortunately, the MCB were delayed, the group's deputy general secretary, Shuja Shafi, laying his own flowers after Griffin had gone. Shafi was at pains to say, he was there purely to mourn "the loss of a bright young man, a father, a husband and a brother".
It was a message reflected in other flowers left at the busy junction by Zahida Ahmad, a Moslem who has lived in Woolwich for 45 years. "Lee Rigby, we are deeply saddened by this tragic loss of an innocent life," read her card. "Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family."
If there is a wider message from the reaction in south-east London and more widely around Britannia since Rigby's death it is that Moslem groups are doing all they can to counter the divisive ...politicians call things divisive when when the other side sez something they don't like. Their own statements are never divisive, they're principled... intent of the killers.
Perhaps the biggest single expression of solidarity came at the East London mosque, in Tower Hamlets, as leaders of the Christian, Jewish and Buddhist faiths joined around 6,000 Moslems for Friday prayers.
The group included the Bishop of Stepney, Adrian Newman, and Leon Silver from the East London central synagogue. Speaking before prayers started they said they had come to condemn the Woolwich attacks and show that the various faith communities were standing shoulder to shoulder with their Moslem neighbours.
"Here in Tower Hamlets we do support each other in our different faiths," said Rev Alan Green, chair of the Tower Hamlets interfaith forum. "If there are attempts to demonise parts of our community -- particularly the Moslem community -- we will stand together. We will not leave our Moslem brothers and sisters to attempt to defend themselves."
Nonetheless, as well as sadness over the events in Woolwich there was fear among Moslem worshippers over what it may mean for them. "My sisters, my daughter -- even my wife are now scared to go out because they fear what people may do after this," said Mizan Abdulrof. "Everyone is shocked and distraught about the horrendous act that was carried out. These idiots, these poor idiots, who carried out this barbaric act did so for their own self for nothing else ... they have nothing whatever to do with Islam. Our hearts go out to that man and his poor family."
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05/25/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Woolwich attack: Suspect victim of vicious knife attack aged 16 One of the men arrested on suspicion of hacking to death soldier Lee Rigby in Woolwich was himself stabbed in a frenzied knife attack in a south London crack den five years ago, it emerged today.
#2
Woolwich attack: Michael Adebowale's mother 'tried to prevent radicalisation' Michael Adebowale, the 22-year-old son of a Christian probation officer and a member of staff at the Nigerian High Commission, was filmed holding a bloodied cleaver in his hand after Drummer Lee Rigby was butchered in a London street.
Friends said he had been a lovely boy but became involved in some serious trouble as a teenager and then turned to Islam. He started mixing with some bad people and became increasingly extreme in his views.
His mother Juliet Obasuyi, a 43-year-old probation officer, went to her friend and neighbour, a 62-year-old security officer, for help about nine months ago after her son dropped out of university.
She told him: Michael is not listening any more. His older sister is a good Christian with a degree but Michael is rebelling as he has no father figure, dropping out of university and handing out leaflets in Woolwich town centre.
#3
Woolwich attack suspects' former university played host to extremists The Islamic Society at Greenwich University, where both the Woolwich suspects are thought to have studied, has hosted a series of radical Muslim speakers and distributed extremist literature, The Telegraph can disclose.
The groups possible role in radicalising Michael Adebolajo, 28, and Michael Adebowale, 22, is coming under close scrutiny after it emerged that the society had promoted extremist views for years.
Efforts to put a stop to campus extremism, led by the Government and the umbrella group Universities UK, appear to have had little effect on activities at the south-east London former polytechnic.
Adebolajo is believed to have studied at Greenwich from September 2003 after completing A-levels at Havering Sixth Form College.
Adebowale is thought to have studied business and may have completed a specialist course unit in organisational behaviour and human resources management.
The Telegraph has learnt that a pamphlet written by a preacher who was banned from entering Britain by the Home Secretary in 2010 was distributed during a freshers fair at Greenwich University in 2011. Dr Zakir Naik, the author, said in the booklet: Every Muslim should be a terrorist.
[NEWS.YAHOO] A Syrian-born Islamist holy man who taught one of the men accused of hacking to death an off-duty British soldier on a London street praised the attack for its "courage" and said Mohammedans would see it as a strike on a military target.
In an interview in Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... , northern Leb, where he has lived since being banished from Britannia in 2005, Omar Bakri, founder of banned British Islamist group Al Muhajiroun, said he knew suspect Michael Adebolajo from his lectures a decade ago.
"When I saw the footage I recognized the face immediately," Bakri told Rooters. "I used to know him. A quiet man, very shy, asking lots of questions about Islam."
"What surprised me (is) the quiet man, the man who is very shy, decided to carry out an attack against a British soldier in the middle of the day in the middle of a street in the UK. In east London. It's incredible.
"When I saw that, honestly I was very surprised - standing firm, courageous, brave. Not running away. Rather, he said why he carried (it out) and he wanted the whole world to hear it."
The attack has been vociferously condemned by Mohammedan organizations across Britannia.
Adebolajo, 28, a British-born convert from a Christian Nigerian immigrant family, went by the nickname Mujahid - warrior - after taking up Islam as a teenager in a suburb on the northeast outskirts of London.
He was filmed with his hands still covered with the blood of Afghan war veteran Lee Rigby, 25, after the attack. Clutching a butcher's knife and meat cleaver, he said the killing was Dire Revenge for British participation in wars in foreign countries.
He and a second knife-wielding attacker, Nigerian-born naturalized British citizen Michael Adebowale, 22, are in hospital after being shot by police during their arrest. They have yet to be charged. Police have also jugged Into the paddy wagon wit' yez! another man and a woman under suspicion of conspiracy to murder.
"WE DON'T SLEEP ON OUR GRIEVANCES"
The interview with Bakri in his flat in the Abu Samra district of Tripoli was twice interrupted by his infant son Osama, who broke into the room playing with a plastic toy. The boy was named after slain al Qaeda leader the late Osama bin Laden ... who is now sometimes referred to as Mister Bones... "He is supposed to go fight (U.S. President Barack) Obama in the future, and maybe to deal with the Obama of his times. We called him after... Sheikh Osama," Bakri said, smiling often as he spoke but lacing light-hearted comments with hints of menace.
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05/25/2013 00:00 ||
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A 22-year-old man has been charged on suspicion of making malicious comments on Facebook following the murder of British soldier Lee Rigby.
Benjamin Flatters, from Lincoln, was arrested last night after complaints were made to Lincolnshire Police about comments made on Facebook, which were violations of Sharia
allegedly of a racist or anti-religious nature.
He was charged with an offence of malicious communications this afternoon in relation to the comments, a Lincolnshire Police spokesman said.
A second man was visited by officers and warned about his activity on social media, the spokesman added. I think in US legal parlance this would be called a 'chilling effect.'
It comes after 25-year-old Drummer Rigby was brutally murdered on a street in Woolwich, south east London, on Wednesday.
Flatters has been remanded in police custody and will appear before magistrates in Lincoln tomorrow.
The charge comes after two men were earlier released on bail following their arrest for making alleged offensive comments on Twitter about the murder.
Complaints were made to Avon and Somerset Police about remarks that appeared on the social networking website, which were allegedly of a racist or anti-religious nature. Why would anti-religious comments be a concern for the cops in a free and open society?
A 23-year-old and a 22-year-old, both from Bristol, were held under the Public Order Act on suspicion of inciting racial or religious hatred.
Detective Inspector Ed Yaxley, of Avon and Somerset Police, said: 'On Wednesday evening, we were contacted by people concerned about comments made on social media accounts.
'We began inquiries into the comments and at around 3.20am two men, aged 23 and 22, were detained at two addresses in Bristol.
'The men were arrested under the Public Order Act on suspicion of inciting racial or religious hatred. Our inquiries into these comments continue.
'These comments were directed against islamofascists in our community
a section of our community. Comments such as these are completely unacceptable and only cause more harm to our community in Bristol. Because islamofascists react violently if they're criticized.
'People should stop and think about Room 101
what they say on social media before making statements as the consequences could be serious.'
Sorry we (The Daily Mail)
are unable to accept comments for legal reasons. "If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter."
What really happened is he completed the missus' shopping list And a long one it was...
An envoy from North Korea concluded his visit to Beijing Friday after a series of meetings hailed by Chinese media as a step forward in talks between the two countries.
Choe Ryong Hae, a top officer in North Korea's military and a confidante of leader Kim Jong Un, met with Chinese officials this week, including Liu Yunshan, the Chinese Communist Party's fifth-ranked leader. Chinese state media are reporting that North Korea is willing to accept China's proposal to open up dialogue.
#1
OTOH see also FREEREPUBLIC > OBAMA'S SILENCE ON TAIWAN MASKS ITS SIGNIFICANCE IN ASIA.
US East Asian allies going "HHHHHMMMMMM", + feeling not-a-good-way twitchy???
* SAME, TOPIX > PANIC IN PHILIPPINES OVER TAIWAN DIPLOMATIC CRISIS.
Filipinos begin to realize that two ex-US HAMILTON-class hand-me-downs taint gonna cut agz either Taiwan nor espec China + PLA.
* RELATED DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > [The Rappler] LAST RECOURSE FOR PHILIPPINES-VS-CHINA [mainland] MARITIME CLAIMS.
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > [The Diplomat]DELETERIOUS NEGLECT - WILL THE US SURRENDER MARITIME ASIA? US [slowly but surely] LOSING ITS ABILITY TO CONFRONT CHINA IN ITS OWN NEAR-SEAS.
Right now the PLAN are in WESTPAC off Guam-CNMI, soon enuff to be in EASTPAC off Hawaii + West US Coast???
* SAME > BEIJING SHOULD BACK OKINAWA INDEPENDENCE, SAYS GLOBAL TIMES.
* SAME BLOGGER = opined that iff China offers its support to anti-Japan Okinawan independence or autonomy, then it should also offer its support to other similar Japan-based indigenous movements, e.g. INDIGENOUS AINU, AS PER SEPARATIST OR AUTONOMOUS AINU REPUBLIC OF HOKKAIDO.
* CHINESE MILITRAY FORUM > CHINESE PEOPLE OWE OKINAWANS A COUNTRY AFTER 134 YEARS, i.e. takeover by Japan after 1879 Treaty of Shimonseki.
* WORLD MILITARY FORUM > JAPAN SHOULD PROPOSE TO RUSSIA TO CREATE JOINT/SHARED "COASTAL REPUBLICS" CREATED FROM MONGOLIA + RUSSIA'S MANCHURIA TERRITORIES, i.e. anti-China "security zones" by + for Russian security in the Far East.
* SAME > VOICE OF RUSSIA: JAPAN IS INTENSIFYING [Sino-US] COMPETITION FOR MYANMAR. CHINESE MARITIME, NAVAL UTILITY OF STRAIT OF MALACCAS TO EVENTUALLY BECOME OBSOLETE DUE TO DIRECT MYANMAR ACCESS INTO NORTH INDIAN OCEAN.
* SAME > US TO BETRAY PHILIPPINES IN SOUTH CHINA SEA?
Next item up in the human rights agenda: You didn't call or send flowers!
Violent conduct within the Turkish military was long considered a taboo subject. But the military leadership is now facing serious accusations. More than 900 Turkish soldiers have committed suicide over the past 10 years, and a growing number of families of suicide victims are taking the issue to court.
Last March, a group of families protested outside parliament over army bullying. Many attending were parents whose sons committed suicide or died at the hands of their fellow soldiers.
[Ynet] Turkey is constructing 2.5-km-long (1.5 mile) twin walls at a border crossing with Syria to increase security at the frontier following three deadly bombings this year.
The concrete walls will be built on either side of the road leading from the Turkish side of the crossing at Cilvegozu to the Syrian border gate and will be topped with barbed wire, the Turkish Customs Ministry said in a statement.
It's the latest thing, y'all. Except that when America and Israel do it, when it's a mark of the evil stained deep in their souls.
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05/25/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
They should be blasting holes in the berm, not hiding. Prats and trash always have been.
A MAN accused of being the financial brains behind convicted international arms dealer Viktor Bout has been extradited from Australia to the US.
Syrian-born Richard Chichakli, 53, had been living in Melbourne under an alias and working as a cleaner for almost three years before authorities arrested him in January.
Chichakli's cover was blown after he attempted to apply for a job as a Victorian Protective Services Officer and a fingerprint check connected him to an Interpol red alert.
"As alleged, Richard Chichakli and Viktor Bout had common cause - the purchase of aircraft in violation of international sanctions against them for their involvement in facilitating arms delivery to some of the world's most lethal combat zones,'' Preet Bharara, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said this morning AEST.
"With his extradition today to face charges for his flagrant violation of international sanctions and other crimes, he will now face the same American justice Viktor Bout did.''
Bout, nicknamed The Merchant of Death, is serving a 25-year prison term after his November 2011 conviction in New York for conspiring to sell millions of dollars of weapons to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a US designated foreign terrorist organisation based in Colombia.
[Jpost] A judge denied bail on Friday to a Massachusetts teenager who was locked away Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! on terrorism charges after posting lyrics on his Facebook page suggesting he could do worse than the Boston Marathon bombers.
Cameron D'Ambrosio, an 18-year-old aspiring rapper from Methuen, about 30 miles (50 km) north of Boston, was arrested on May 1 after he posted a note on his Facebook page that included the words "a boston bombinb wait till u see the s*** I do."
D'Ambrosio was charged with "communicating terrorist threats" and faces as many as 20 years in prison if he is convicted.
The State Department's decade-long effort to find a new home for a controversial Iranian opposition group has ground to a near halt only days after the announcement that the exiles had begun moving from Iraq to permanent homes in Europe.
Fourteen members of the Mujahedeen Khalq militant group, or MEK, were flown from the outskirts of Baghdad to Albania on May 15, in what was expected to be the first step in the departure of 3,100 members of the group that has long opposed the government of clerics in Tehran and is also at odds with the government of Iraq.
But a State Department official told Congress on Wednesday that the group's leadership was not cooperating in the departures, despite the risks to the members' lives in Iraq.
Beth Jones, acting assistant secretary of State for Near East Affairs, told a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee Wednesday that although U.S. officials have worked hard to persuade the group's leadership to cooperate in the departures, "very few have been allowed to move." She appealed for cooperation.
Better yet, don't appeal for cooperation. Let the Iraqi government do as they wish to a few of the leaders. The rest will be packing their bags for Mauritania within the day...
The Marxist-Islamist group, described by some critics as a cult, moved from Iran to Iraq in the early 1980s, and fought with Saddam Hussein against Iran's Islamist government during the Iran-Iraq war. The current Iraqi government views the group with suspicion, and U.S. and United Nations officials have been trying to resettle them abroad since 2003.
But though the group's leadership signed an agreement with the U.N. and Iraq last year to abandon their longtime base, Camp Ashraf, in Diyali province, the leadership seems reluctant to move the group's members from Iraq. They apparently prefer that the members remain and continue their effort to overthrow the Iranian government, diplomats say.
Prolly accidentally called. Was calling for Pizza Hut takeout
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden telephoned Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Friday to express concern over the recent rise in violence, including bombings.
Recent rise compared to when we were there helping the Iraqis keep the peace, but Joe prol'y didn't mention that -- or know it...
The White House says Biden pledged continued U.S. support for Iraq in its fight against terrorism. A statement says Biden and Maliki agreed on the importance of reaching out to all political leaders in Iraq and the need for a negotiated end to Syria's civil war.
On Thursday, Biden spoke to Iraqi Kurdistan President Masud Barzani and the Speaker of the Iraqi Council of Representatives, Osama Nujayfi, about Iraq's security situation.
#1
Not hearing much from Plugs of late. The distraction of yet another useful idiot is obviously not required. In scandalous times such as these clear headed thinkers and gift story weavers are required.
[IsraelTimes] After April's largely unsuccessful campaign by Anonymous and Arab hackers, #OpIsrael, to "remove Israel from the Internet," a second round of hack attacks against Israeli sites, "OpIsrael Reloaded," is planned for Saturday. The followup campaign seeks to demonstrate that Israel did indeed sustain a great deal of damage and economic loss during the first effort.
The campaign has picked up some steam on hacker networks, but is unlikely to be as large as #OpIsrael. There were dozens of YouTube videos "advertising" that campaign with hundreds of thousands of views, while #OpIsraelReloaded showed up just a few times on the site, with only a few thousand views recorded, as of Thursday evening. Nevertheless, system administrators in government and enterprise are redoubling their network defenses to ensure that they weather the coming storm.
This time, however, the identities of the Anonymous hackers planning the attack are a little less, well, Anonymous. Born on the eve of the original #OpIsrael in April, a pro-Israel hacker team called the Israel Elite Force (IEF) has been responding in kind, defacing sites in Arab countries and publishing what it claims are names and passwords for credit card, Facebook, bank and email accounts, and other information that is supposed to be secure.
The IEF's latest gambit seeks to "rip the mask off the hackers attacking Israel," the group says in a video. A message on a hacker site and in the IEF's Twitter feed refers web surfers to a web page listing personal details of individuals the group says are key figures in the #OpIsrael hacking operations. The information was gathered, the group said, by hackers in its own organization, and with the help of a joint team of American and Israeli hackers.
"We know who you are," the group says on its page. "You can not hide! You can not escape!" Following the introduction, the page posts several full-color photos, names, locations, and IP addresses of administrators and hackers who, it says, are actively involved in attempting to hack Israeli sites, and who hail from India, Pakistain, Leb, Jordan, and Malaysia, among other places.
In a message on a hacker site, the IEF writers tell their readers that they "want us to meet someone," and go on to provide extensive details -- including details of his education (M.Sc. in economics), location, computer hosting service, and a photo -- of one of the hackers. "This is only one person.. and i got OVER 9000!," writes the Israeli hacker behind the revelation, adding, for good measure "Don't try me, Don't make me mad."
If the information is really correct, said Tal Pavel of the security group Middle Eastern Net and a lecturer at Netanya Academic College, "it would be a heretofore unprecedented development in the Middle East hacking arena. One of the most important resources hackers use, and need, is their anonymity, and losing that -- with the screen between the cyber and physical world removed -- could have a major impact on the nature of the hacking conflict between Israel and its cyber-enemies."
The only way to confirm the information about the hackers' identities would be to do an extensive vetting process, said Pavel. "If the information is accurate it shows that they did very good research." Such unmasking of cyber-identities is by no means unprecedented; Anonymous itself, Pavel said, has on several occasions "outed" pedophiles, discovering their real names and locations, and giving the data to police for further action. "So it's quite possible that the information on the hackers is correct," he added.
If it is, the revelations could open a new, and more serious, front in the ongoing cyberwar. "If Israeli hackers are revealing the names and phone numbers of Arab and Pak hackers, they might in turn target security personnel and publish details of top IDF generals, coppers, or even Mossad or Shabak [Shin Bet security agency] agents online." Israel is known to have extensive networks of informers in the West Bank, for example; and if hackers specifically target the databases where that information is stored and release it, Israel's intelligence operations could be severely hampered -- not to mention the lives that would be lost, as the PA leadership executes the "collaborators" the hackers help uncover. "There's no question that a border has been crossed," said Pavel. "We will now have to see where that brings us."
#1
w/r the last paragraph. Keep in mind that the "anti" Israel hackers have been trying to access those databases for years and they won't quit if the Israelis pull back and try to "be nice".
#2
Once they discover the identity of the Jihadi cyber warrior "hactivist", how hard would it be to send in hit squads? whats the difference between that and drones? Sure there might be some collateral damage, but that's the nature of war.
Their choice.
#5
they might in turn target security personnel and publish details of top IDF generals, coppers, or even Mossad or Shabak [Shin Bet security agency] agents online.
As if they were really holding themselves back from doing so. They would splash it over every terrorist article, website, and magazine as soon as they could.
[Jpost] Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh ...became Prime Minister after the legislative elections of 2006 which Hamas won. President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed Haniyeh from office on 14 June 2007 at the height of the Fatah-Hamas festivities, but Haniyeh did not acknowledge the decree and continues as the PM of Gazoo while Abbas maintains a separate PM in the West Bank... on Friday called on the Egyptian government to reconsider or cancel the Camp David peace accords with Israel, Paleostinian news agency Ma'an reported.
During noon prayers, the Hamas prime minister also urged Egypt to reopen the Rafah crossing. The Egyptian government closed the crossing following the kidnapping of seven Egyptian soldiers in Sinai in the hopes it pressures the Hamas government to help bring the release of the soldiers.
We help anyone willing to provide resistance against Israel, and we have the power to deal with any folly by the Zionist regime, Hezbollahs deputy secretary general said on Saturday, according to semi-official Iranian news site Mehr..
In an interview with Al-Mayadeen, Sheikh Naim Qassim, said: Our position on Syria is based on righteous demand, and anyone who is with resistance movement we'll be supporter of him as well.
According to Mehr, Qassim commented on recent efforts of European countries to include Hezbollah on the list of terrorist groups, saying that "the defeated and frustrated [West] has described Hezbollah as the Party of Satan.
Syrian opposition talks aimed at presenting a coherent front at an international peace conference to end the civil war faced the prospect of collapse after President Bashar al-Assad's foes failed to cut an internal deal, opposition sources said on Friday.
The failure of the Syrian National Coalition to alter its Islamist-dominated membership as demanded by its international backers and replace a leadership undermined by power struggles is playing into the hands of Assad, whose forces are attacking a key town as his ally Russia said he would send representatives to the conference, coalition insiders said.
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05/25/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Translation: If the Clones of Mo can't be in charge, nobody's in charge.
Syria's fighting has uprooted more than half of the country's 530,000 Palestinians descendants of refugees from a Mideast conflict half a century ago and their situation is becoming increasingly desperate, the head of a U.N. aid agency said Thursday.
The Palestinians in Syria are particularly vulnerable because of their refugee status, Filippo Grandi, head of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, told The Associated Press in an interview.
He said most of the 12 Palestinian camps have been affected by the fighting.
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What do Syria say?
Syrian President Bashar Assad's government has agreed "in principle" to participate in a U.S.- and Russian-sponsored peace conference aimed at ending the violence in Syria, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Friday.
Moscow learned of the decision to take part during a recent visit by Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faysal Mekdad, ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich told reporters in the Russian capital. There was no immediate confirmation from Damascus.
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[Ynet] Sheikh Naim Qassem ... the Grand Vizier of the Hezbullies... addresses possibility that Syrian conflict will develop into fighting in Golan Heights, says 'if needed we are willing to help.' As for Israeli response, 'we have the power to deal with any foolish act on Israel's part,' he clarifies.
After the stray bullets from Syria turned into intentional fire, and while Israel is increasing its alert level, Hezbollah's deputy leader appears to be fanning the flames.
"Opening the Golan front is a serious matter on the part of the Syrian president, and what is left is the performance on the practical level," Hezbollah Deputy Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem said Friday in an interview to Lebanese channel al-Mayadeen, which is affiliated with the Shiite group.
"Syria has its own abilities, but if needed we are willing to help," he clarified.
"Syria is the one which must open the Golan front," Qassem added. "It does not need us in the picture because it has its own abilities," he said, but clarified that his organization was willing to help Damascus if asked.
"And it is none of our business whether (Hezbollah's help) will serve as a provocation against Israel or not. If Israel is convinced that it needs a war and achievement, it will make that decision. We have the power to deal with any foolish act on Israel's part."
Earlier Friday, the United States expressed "deep concern" about the situation in Leb, warning that Hezbollah leaders' decision to escalate the group's role in the fighting in Syria "violates and undermines Leb's dissociation policy and risks dragging Leb into a foreign conflict."
US President Barack Obama I mean, I do think at a certain point you've made enough money... harshly criticized Hezbollah's activity in a speech he delivered Thursday about his government's policy on the war on global terror.
Several days ago, Obama spoke to his Lebanese counterpart Michel Suleiman ...before assuming office as President, he held the position of commander of the Leb Armed Forces. That was after the previous commander, the loathesome Emile Lahoud, took office as president in November of 1998. Likely the next president of Leb will be whoever's commander of the armed forces, too... and encouraged him to maintain Leb's independent, promising American aid to fulfill that independence.
On Friday, Suleiman called on Hezbollah to be cautious in its massive involvement in the fighting alongside Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor. If he'd stuck with it he'd have had a good practice by now... 's forces in Damascus, saying the powerful Shiite group might get bogged down in the Syrian conflict.
"Resistance is important," Suleiman said, referring to Hezbollah's struggle against Israel, "but Hezbollah must not get bogged down in Syria."
[Ynet] Former scientist tells Al-Jazeera ... an Arab news network headquartered in Qatar, notorious for carrying al-Qaeda press releases. The name means the Peninsula, as in the Arabian Peninsula. In recent years it has settled in to become slightly less biased than MSNBC, in about the same category as BBC or CBS... 'we were never were we told that the weapons could be used inside Syria'
A former scientist for the Syrian chemical weapons program said Bashir al-Assad's regime has enough of the nerve agent sarin to "eradicate the whole of Damascus, Homs, Hama, and Aleppo," Al-Jazeera reported Friday.
The chemist added that the regime is not likely to unleash its chemical stockpiles unless it "no longer cares about the world knowing".
He further added, "If the regime is to fire a Scud-B with a chemical warhead filled with sarin, the missile would create a chemical cloud in the atmosphere that is 3km long and 500m wide, which could be fatal to all people under it."
He claims that the regime has only used sarin gas in small quantities to halt rebel advances in four towns in the suburbs of Damascus, in Aleppo's Sheikh Maksoud district, in Idlib's Saraqeb town and in Homs' al-Khalidiyeh district.
"The intention was to incapacitate rebels and force them out of strategic areas, while keeping the deaths among their ranks limited," the chemist said, who added that he was speaking out "to dispel the myths on chemical weapons in Syria".
According to the report, the chemist fled Syria before December 23, 2012, when the first claims emerged about the regime's use of chemical weapons in the neighborhood of Khaldiyeh, in the city of Homs.
Al-Jazeera said that he was employed at the Center for Scientific Studies and Research (CSSR), Syria's main agency for the development and enhancement of weaponry in Jamraya which Damascus claims has been bombed twice by Israel. The chemist estimates some 9,000 people work at the center, with up to 6,000 working in rocket development and around 300 in chemical weapon development.
"Syrian researchers who work with chemical weapons are not known to people at the street level, nor to the ministries, nor to the general army," he said. He noted that he did not see evidence of cooperation from Iran or North Korea, remarking that "the project was developed with national hands."
He claimed that regime had convinced him that the weapons he was working on were for self-defense against Israel. "It was our dogma that we were creating the equivalent of Israel's nuclear weapons," the chemist said. "Never were we told that the weapons could be used inside the country."
The chemist told Al-Jazeera that Syria's stockpile comprises 700 tones of sarin agent, at least 3,000 aerial bombs that could be filled with chemical agents and more than 100 chemical warheads for Scud missiles.
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The depth of profundity and insight simply overwhelm us lesser intellects. Sit in awe, O Reader, of what you see here purveyed by the smartest men and women in the room.
#1
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Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
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North Korea
