[An Nahar] South Sudan's sacked vice president Riek Machar said Tuesday he was ready for peace talks with his estranged mentor President Salva Kiir to bring an end to deadly festivities across the country.
"Yes we are ready for talks. I have formed my delegation," he told Radio La Belle France Internationale (RFI), adding that the negotiations would likely be held in Æthiopia.
"I also spoke this morning to (U.S.) Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... and I spoke to the foreign minister of the Federal Republic of Æthiopia, explained to him my readiness for talks," Machar said.
He said he would not take part in the talks but had formed a "very high-level delegation... with powers to reach agreement."
"We want a democratic nation. We want democratic free and fair elections. We want Salva Kiir to call it a day," he said.
Machar said the talks should be held on "neutral ground". Asked specifically if he was considering Æthiopia, he said: "That's the idea. Æthiopia, yes."
Later on Tuesday, the United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... said around 75 bodies had been discovered in a mass grave in rebel-held Bentiu, the capital of South Sudan's oil-rich Unity State, following a surge of violence in the world's youngest nation.
"We have discovered a mass grave in Bentiu, in Unity State, and there are reportedly at least two other mass graves in Juba," U.N. rights chief Navi Pillay said in a statement.
Pillay's spokeswoman told AFP the mass grave in Bentiu contained around 75 bodies.
Pillay expressed "grave concern" over the ethnically-tinged killings that have raged across South Sudan for more than a week as troops loyal to Kiir battle those backing his rival Machar.
The official toll has stood at 500 dead for days, although numbers are feared to be far higher, aid workers say. Witnesses that AFP has spoken to recount a wave of atrocities, including an orchestrated campaign of mass killings and rape.
The unrest has also taken on an ethnic dimension, pitting Kiir's Dinka tribe against the Nuer tribe, to which Machar belongs.
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12/25/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] U.S. Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... on Tuesday urged sacked South Sudan vice president turned rebel leader Riek Machar to declare a ceasefire and talk to President Salva Kiir, a U.S. official told Agence La Belle France Presse.
"He urged him to implement a ceasefire and begin mediated political talks," the official said, after Machar told French radio he was ready to begin talks on halting his country's mounting conflict.
Machar, whose forces have clashed several times in recent days with Kiir's troops, told Radio La Belle France Internationale: "Yes we are ready for talks. I have formed my delegation."
He confirmed he had spoken to Kerry and to Æthiopian foreign minister Tedros Adhanom and had agreed to send envoys to talks on "neutral ground," probably in Æthiopia.
"We want a democratic nation. We want democratic free and fair elections. We want Salva Kiir to call it a day," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
All I can think of is Corben Dallas saying "Anyone else want to negotiate?"
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[An Nahar] South Sudan's army stormed the rebel-held town of Bor Tuesday, sending hard boyz fleeing nearly a week after they captured the state capital of Jonglei, Information Minister Michael Makwei told Agence La Belle France Presse.
"The army captured Bor around sunset and the rebel forces are now on the run... We are back in control," Makwei said.
"This is the gift of the government of South Sudan to the people."
However, a hangover is the wrath of grapes... while claiming the army was now back in full control, the Makwei also said that "shooting continued", without giving further details.
Bor's capture, apparently without major resistance by the rebels, lifts nearly a week-long siege of the town, where some 17,000 civilians fled into the overstretched United Nations ...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly... peacekeeping compound for protection, severely stretching limited food and supplies.
U.N. peacekeepers had spent days bolstering fortifications ahead of the army assault.
Fighting has gripped South Sudan for more than a week, after President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar, who was fired from the government in July, of attempting a coup.
Machar denied the claim and accused Kiir of carrying out a vicious purge of his rivals.
Vowing to oust Kiir, his forces seized the town of Bor, located just 200 kilometers (125 miles) north of Juba, late on Wednesday.
While its recapture is a significant victory for the government, rebel forces still control vast swathes of Jonglei state, and still hold the town of Bentiu, capital of crucial oil-producing Unity state.
Rebels were also reportedly beaten back from the town of Malakal, capital of the oil-rich Upper Nile state.
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12/25/2013 00:00 ||
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[BBC.CO.UK] Thousands of people must have been killed in the past week of violence in South Sudan, the top UN humanitarian co-ordinator there has told the BBC. Toby Lanzer, who is in Bentiu in northern Unity state, said it had been "a devastating week for South Sudan".
Earlier President Salva Kiir said his forces had recaptured the key town of Bor days after it was seized by rebels.
The rebels are led by Riek Machar, of the ethnic Nuer, who has been battling President Kiir, of the Dinka.
The UN earlier said that it had reports of at least three mass graves. One was in Bentiu in the north, and two in the capital, Juba.
'Palpable fear'
Mr Lanzer told the BBC's Newshour programme: "I think it's undeniable at this stage that there must have been thousands of people who have bit the dust.
"When I've looked at the hospitals in key towns and I've looked at the hospitals in the capital itself, the range of injuries, this is no longer a situation where we can merely say it's hundreds of people who've bit the dust."
Mr Lanzer also said that the number of people seeking shelter from the fighting was "tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands".
He said that the tensions between different communities in South Sudan was even evident within a UN base he had just visited where some 7,500 people are seeking protection.
"There have been some - to put it diplomatically - very lively discussions and there has been a little tension at times," he said.
"We are managing the situation and I have just had a discussion with the community leaders inside our base where I said to them, for the benefit of all the women and kiddies, and you who are here, we are counting on you to keep it as calm as possible."
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, said: "There is a palpable fear among civilians of both Dinka and Nuer backgrounds that they will be killed on the basis of their ethnicity."
The UN says at least 80,000 people have been displaced by the South Sudan crisis - about half of them seeking shelter at a number of UN bases.
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[An Nahar] Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, rattled by a huge corruption scandal implicating some of his closest allies, is preparing a cabinet reshuffle, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said Tuesday.
Gul said the premier, who is on an official visit to Pakistain, is expected to announce the reshuffle after he returns late Tuesday.
"We have held long talks with the prime minister on ministers... He is making preparations and evaluations. We will meet when he is back and you will get an answer following this meeting," Gul told news hounds in Ankara.
Erdogan, who was already expected to change up his cabinet ahead of local elections on March 30, is expected to replace 10 ministers -- almost half the cabinet, according to media reports.
Several newspapers have reported that ministers caught up in a high-level bribery and corruption probe are set to be replaced.
Twenty-four people including the sons of Interior Minister Muammer Guler and Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan, as well as the chief executive of state-owned Halkbank, have so far been charged as part of three separate investigations into the bribery allegations.
Erdogan, who has led Turkey since 2002 as the head of a conservative Islamic-leaning government, has described the probe as "a smear campaign" to undermine Turkey's ambitions to become a major political and economic power.
The premier has responded to the probe by sacking dozens of police chiefs.
The interior and economy ministers have denied the bribery accusations, with Guler branding the probe on Tuesday as "political plotting".
In his first direct response to the graft controversy, Gul said allegations of bribery can not be covered up.
"The judiciary is independent. If there is corruption, it can't be concealed. Everyone should be respectful of the judicial process. The judiciary will reach the right conclusion," he said.
Observers say the wide-ranging investigation has exposed a rift between Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) government and Fethullah Gulen, a hugely influential Musselmenholy man who lives in the United States.
The Gulen movement wields considerable influence in Turkey's police and in the judiciary.
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[HINDUSTANTIMES] After it formally downgraded the immunity enjoyed by US consular staff on Tuesday, the next issue India may raise with the United States in its ongoing spat over nabbed Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! diplomat Devyani Khobragade revolves around the "evacuation" of the family of nanny Sangeeta Richard.
Senior external affairs ministry officials called in US deputy chief of mission Michael Pelletier to explain formally the downgrading of the immunity and other privileges enjoyed by US consular officials, who had until this point been treated like diplomats. Among other measures, immunity of the family members of consular staff has been withdrawn. Consular staff will also no longer be exempt from facing charges of serious crimes.
Continued on Page 49
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[Ynet] Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Brigadier-General Eitan Dangot approved more than 21,000 Christmas entry permits into Israel for West Bank Christians, as well as 500 permits for Gazoo Strip Christians.
Brigadier-General Dangot promised church leaders that border crossings and checkpoints will have a more lenient policy for the duration of the holiday.
[BREITBART] Starting at 3:30pm Christmas Day, A&E will broadcast a super marathon of 25 "Duck Dynasty" episodes. The marathon will run until 4am. This will be the second "Duck Dynasty" marathon the network has broadcast after indefinitely suspending Phil Robertson, the series' star, for the crime of discussing Biblical sin, including homosexuality, with GQ Magazine.
The anti-Christian A&E apparently wants to have it both ways. If it brings in viewers, the network has no problem broadcasting marathons filled with Phil Robertson. At the same time, though, the network is punishing this very same star whose "offending" persona is all over its network in the direct wake of a phony controversy.
With this marathon, A&E is also broadcasting how important the "Duck Dynasty" franchise is to them. The Robertson clan not only stars in the network's number-one show, they star in the network's only signature hit.
A&E is in a pickle for two reasons: A&E needs "Duck Dynasty" a lot more than "Duck Dynasty" needs them. Secondly, A&E is the only who did anything wrong, and did so by caving to America's politically correct fascists like GLAAD.
The Robertson family has already made clear they will not honor the suspension.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2013 00:00 ||
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#2
A&E don't need no stinking (faux) principle to stand between it and 12 pieces of silver money right A&E? Wonder how much of the year end Executive Bonuses at A&E are covered by the fungibility of 'profits' accumulated from the commercial charges for Duck Dynasty?
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.
[An Nahar] South Sudan's sacked vice president Riek Machar said Tuesday he was ready for peace talks with his estranged mentor President Salva Kiir to bring an end to deadly 
[HINDUSTANTIMES] After it formally downgraded the immunity enjoyed by US consular staff on Tuesday, the next issue India may raise with the United States in its ongoing spat over 
