MOGADISHU -- Three African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) peacekeepers were confirmed dead after their armored vehicle fell off Shabelle river bridge in Lower Shabelle region town of Janale on Friday afternoon, Garowe Online reports.
Janale Mayor, Mohamed Idiris Abdi has on Saturday told the media that the vehicle carrying AMISOM soldiers plunged into Shabelle river, killing three soldiers and wounding four others.
"The speedy AMISOM Toyota Land Cruiser vehicle veered-off the bridge road and plunged into [Shabelle river]. Only four soldiers were found alive while three others died in the accident," said Abdi, adding that the casualty figures were flown to Mogadishu by Helicopter.
Next time don't be so speedy...
Janale residents tell that a crane has yet to arrive in the town to remove the wreckage from the water.
Somali government troops aided by Ugandan forces liberated Janale town which lies 90 km from Mogadishu from Al Qaeda linked Al Shabaab fighters in Septemper 2013.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/23/2014 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Egypt's deposed president Mohammed Morsi ...the former president of Egypt. A proponent of the One Man, One Vote, One Time principle, Morsi won election after the deposal of Hosni Mubarak and jumped to the conclusion it was his turn to be dictator... on Saturday urged supporters from a courtroom dock to continue their "revolution", as a protest movement demanding his reinstatement shrinks before a fierce police crackdown.
The defiant call came during Morsi's trial on charges related to jailbreaks and attacks on police, as a separate court acquitted six coppers of killing protesters during the 2011 uprising against his predecessor Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... .
Morsi's Moslem Brüderbund still stages diminishing weekly protests despite a crackdown that has killed more than 1,400 people since the military overthrew him in July, after just one year in office.
"The revolution of the people won't stop -- continue your peaceful revolution," said Morsi during the second hearing of the trial, one of three under way for the deposed leader.
Speaking from inside a glass cage, Morsi also insisted that he remains the "president" of Egypt.
"I am present here by force," he said.
He also blamed Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the army chief who led his overthrow and who is expected to stand in and win presidential elections this spring, for the bloodshed across Egypt.
"The head of the coup, the defense minister, has killed more than 3,000 people in the streets. He is the one who killed them and it was not investigated, but he will be held accountable," said Morsi.
Defence lawyer Kamal Mandour demanded that Sisi be investigated for "toppling the regime" of Morsi and for detaining him.
Another defense lawyer, Mohammed Abu Leila, asked the panel of judges to withdraw from the trial.
Morsi and 130 other defendants including Paleostinian and Lebanese faceless myrmidons are charged with organizing jailbreaks and attacking cop shoppes during the 2011 revolt against Mubarak.
The defendants chanted "Down with the military" and flashed the four-finger salute associated with a pro-Morsi protest camp in which hundreds were killed in a police operation last August.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/23/2014 00:00 ||
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[Intelcenter] In 2013, al-Qaeda Arabian Peninsula's (AQAP) al-Malahim dramatically increased its production of English-language video material with a 12x increase over 2012 and 2011 releases. Al-Malahim appears set to do it again in 2014 with two English releases so far as of 22 Feb. 2014.
AQAP's English release volume now surpasses that of even core al-Qaeda's as-Sahab, which had been the dominate producer of English-language video material over any other jihadi group, not counting support groups. Al-Malahim's 2013 volume surpassed the annual rates for as-Sahab in 2010, 2012 and 2013. In 2013, as-Sahab only produced five to al-Malahim's 12.
Al-Malahim is now the dominate producer of English-language video releases over all other jihadi groups, not counting support groups. During 2011 to 23 Feb. 2014, there were a total of 16 English releases. One hundred percent of the releases contained English subtitles. None of the releases were in spoken English.
The effort AQAP is expending on English releases builds on the group's efforts with its English-language Inspire magazine and also fits into the group's increased operational role with multiple attempts to attack the US outside of its traditional area of operation, Yemen.
All indications are that AQAP will not only remain on this course but continue to expand its efforts in messaging, operations and other areas to reach beyond Yemen.
Methodology Note:
Only releases directly produced by AQAP's al-Malahim were counted. English-language releases by support groups were not counted. All videos counted here are available in the ICD Video Component.
The IntelCenter Database (ICD) allows charts tracking the use of languages, volume of releases and many other metrics related to terrorist and rebel audio/video releases. As of 22 Feb. 2014, the ICD has more than 3,300 releases equaling more than 1,020 hours of footage. IntelCenter also provides analytical support services on terrorist and rebel messaging efforts.
Reporting and original source materials are contained in the IntelCenter Database (ICD). For additional details click here. IntelCenter has available similar analysis for other groups and subjects. For more information, to schedule an online WebEx demo or to discuss how IntelCenter can assist with your needs, email info@intelcenter.com or call 800-719-8750. Link to the 10th issue of AQAP Inspire Magazine.
[ArsTechnica] NMCI, now being phased out, is the world's biggest intranet, and its biggest target.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
02/23/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
Ah, NMCI...
Since Hewlett-Packard owned all of the data about the networks operation, simply shifting to a self-run network wasnt going to happen by waving a magic wand, and the planning process had been hampered by a lack of informationinformation the Navy had to buy from HP. So the Navy pulled together a sole-source contract for HP to continue to support NMCI past 2010 while it figured out what to do next. Now, four years later, the Navy is finally in the middle of the first phase of getting off NMCI and moving to NGEN. The winner of that contract, which could end up totaling over $3.4 billion dollars, was HP.
I may complain about the NMED network, but at least it works and NMED owns it.
[DAWN] The measures taken by law enforcement agencies, especially ban on cycle of violence riding, for the protection of vaccinators in parts of the picturesque provincial capital on Saturday inconvenienced road users.
Among the worst victims were students and employees of private and public organizations as police didn't allow them to travel across checkpoints on cycle of violence.
Police detained dozens of motorcyclists in different parts of the city over violation of ban on cycle of violence riding and most of them were youths.
The people said they didn't know that the government had banned the use of cycle of violences as such ban was usually announced for every Sunday as part of security plan for the Sehat Ka Insaf vaccination campaign.
The district administration had announced closure of primary schools for the day but even then, many private schools were found to be open.
The people said vaccination was a long campaign and it was the duty of the government to make all related activities, including security measures, public for the information of the people. Some schoolteachers complained that police stopped them at the checkpoint near Gulberg on their way to Faqirabad due to ban on cycle of violence riding.
Meanwhile, ...back at the bunker, his Excellency called the chief of staff and complained that the artillery was keeping him awake... police remained alert at key places and entry and exit points in the city and checked computerised national identity cards of pedestrians and motorcyclists. However, you can observe a lot just by watching... they were lenient with motorists.
When asked about ban on cycle of violence riding, the coppers said they did not want to trouble the people but had to comply with the orders of bosses. They said their bosses were on patrol to monitor them and that a warning of strict action had already been issued to them over negligence.
MOTORIST SPREADS PANIC: A motorist triggered panic at a checkpoint in Hayatabad on Saturday after he tried in vain to flee.
An official said police signaled a motorist to stop the car for checking at the checkpost but he didn't comply and tried to escape.
However, you can observe a lot just by watching... police managed to stop it before arresting the motorist, Sagheer of Khan Banda Achini area in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. .
The official said instead of taking the risk of checking the car, police called in the bomb disposal unit, which found 247kg hashish and 11kg opium hidden in the secret cavities.
He said the registration number plate was found to be fake. The official said police had started the paperwork but haven't done much else against the nabbed Please don't kill me! man and began investigation.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/23/2014 00:00 ||
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Yes, well, which country sponsors more terror groups, hmmm? Consequences, my dears, can be dreadfully unpleasant.
[DAWN] Pakistain is the country most affected by terrorism in the world after Iraq, but if the severity of the incidents is considered, it even surpasses the Middle Eastern nation, according to a policy document on internal national security.
The draft of National Internal Security Policy (NISP) 2013-2018, currently being fine-tuned by Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan before presentation to the cabinet, describes the scenario as dangerous, posing an existential threat to the integrity and illusory sovereignty of the state.
"From 2001 to 2013, there were 13,721 incidents in Pakistain which is marginally less than Iraq. From 2001 to 2005, there were 523 terrorist incidents in Pakistain but from 2007 to November 2013, the total number of incidents has risen to 13,198."
Similarly, the number of suicide kabooms between 2001 and 2007 stood at 15 only, but from 2007 to November last year, suicide kabooms jumped to 358 -- the highest anywhere in the world.
According to data released by the US National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses for Terrorism (Start), Pakistain led the chart with 1,404 terrorist attacks in 2012, surpassing Iraq (1,271). Even Afghanistan was behind Pakistain at number three with 1,023 incidents.
More than one-third (33 per cent) of those attacks occurred in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... , followed by Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... (23pc), Fata (19.6pc) and Sindh (18pc), Start noted.
Ironically however, authoritative sources have revealed to Dawn that while KP has been the hardest hit, the interior ministry never asked it to join formal consultation while formulating the national internal security policy. "We were asked to give our input, but were never invited to formal discussions," an official said.
The national internal security policy document says from 2001 to November 2013, 48,994 people were killed in the country including 5,272 personnel of the law-enforcement agencies, a large number of them -- 17,642 -- having been killed in just three years from 2011 to 2013 including 2,114 personnel of the law-enforcement agencies.
So far the interior minister has offered only snippets of the 86-page document which largely remains shrouded in secrecy. So much so that according to sources privy to deliberations on what is being billed as the country's first internal security policy, all those in attendance were asked to return its copy within 24 hours of receiving it.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/23/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
Tonight on Islamic Animal Planet, "When Pets Go Feral."
[DAWN] The Pak Taliban told the government there was no chance of peace in the country unless Pakistain changed its political and legal system and officially embraced Islamic law.
The government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... wants to find a negotiated settlement to years of fighting with the snuffies but talks broke down this month after a string of attacks.
In a rare face-to-face meeting with journalists on Friday in some holy man's guesthouse an undisclosed location in Wazoo, a lawless region on the Afghan border, main Taliban front man Shahidullah Shahid said there was still hope negotiations might resume.
"Despite recent bombings in North Waziristan and killing of our 74 men by the security forces during the peace talks, we are still serious about the talks," he said, wearing an AK-47 bandolier across his chest.
"If talks are to be held it would be only under Sharia (Islamic law). We have made this clear to the government committee. We are fighting for the enforcement of Sharia and we are holding talks for the same purpose."
Pakistain is a conservative Moslem country and although its Constitution is rooted in Islamic traditions, the legal system is based on English common law and the people are guaranteed their fundamental freedoms of speech and religion.
Sharif came to power last year on promises to persuade the Taliban to stop fighting, effectively proposing to legalise the banned group as a political entity. He previously tried to introduce Sharia in the late 1990s just before he was toppled in a military coup.
GRIPPED BY FEAR
This year started with a surge of violence in Pakistain, with Taliban bully boyz staging almost daily attacks and the army responding with force in the volatile tribal areas on the Afghan border where most snuffies are based.
On Saturday, nine snuffies were killed in helicopter gunship attacks targeting bad boy hideouts in the Hangu region, local military official said.
The Taliban organisers asked news hounds not to identify the location of the meeting. The area appeared tense and gripped by fear, with many shops and houses damaged by recent Arclight airstrikes.
People at a local open air bazaar appeared too frightened to speak frankly to visiting journalists.
Many in Pakistain are weary of holding peace talks with a group which has killed more than 40,000 people since the start of its campaign against the Islamabad government in 2007.
With violence surging, many are puzzled by the continued insistence by both sides that peace can still be negotiated.
Pakistain's military, a powerful institution which has ruled the country for half of its entire history since 1947, publicly supports talks but in private senior officers express frustration, raising speculation that the armed forces are girding for tough action.
The last major military operation was in 2007 when the army flushed out Taliban bully boyz from the deeply conservative valley of Swat, establishing a strong presence on the ground.
The Pak Taliban operate separately from Afghan bully boyz but are similar in tactics and ideology.
The Taliban have a set of austere religious beliefs seen as mediaeval by liberal Paks, including a ban on women education and vaccinations against polio ...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set... .
Health workers are attacked regularly because the Taliban see vaccines as a Western plot to sterilise Moslems.
"Polio drops are not a vaccine against the disease," AzamTariq, another Taliban official, told news hounds alongside Shahid as he clutched prayer beads in his hands.
"It is a campaign to damage Islam," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/23/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
Sounds like a variation on the old "Give us everything we want and then we'll negotiate" opening.
Muslims don't kill Muslims. It's written somewhere holy. Of course Muslims must kill false Muslims and apostates and those who're doing it wrong, and, and...
[DAWN] Chief of Taliban negotiation committee Maulana Samiul Haq ...the Godfather of the Taliban, leader of his own faction of the JUI. Known as Mullah Sandwich for his habit of having two young boys at a time... has appealed to both the government and Taliban to announce ceasefire immediately.
"It is the duty of the government not to allow bombardment on innocent citizens, as this would further deteriorate the situation," Maulana Sami said while addressing a prize distribution ceremony at Darul Uloom Haqqania here on Friday.
He said that announcing ceasefire and holding to it was the duty of both the parties. He called upon the Learned Elders of Islam to present a proper agenda in front of the nation for liberation of the country from foreign clutches. The gathering was also addressed by Maulana Dr Sher Ali Shah and Maulana Anwarul Haq.
Maulana Sami said that the basic cause of tussle between the Taliban and government was the support of Pakistain to foreign powers. He said that some foreign powers and liberal elements and politicians of Pakistain were showing their anti-Islam feelings, which he termed a "fashion of the day".
He said that anti-Islam forces were targeting the religious institutions and their curriculums. He said that the religious institutions were preaching Islam and had no link with terrorism.
He said that terrorist activities in the country could be effectively ended if the government reviewed its foreign policy and announced termination of its alliance with foreign powers.
He said that if the government could not talk with the US on the basis of equality the latter would be encouraged to target any part of the country.
In Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. , member of Taliban negotiation committee Prof Mohammad Ibrahim condemned the gunship helicopters' shelling in Hangu district ... Hangu is famous for its greenery, hills, beauty and water. Most of the people of this area are Bangash & Orakzai Pashtuns. Part of the Bangash are Shia. The Orakzai and the Sunni Bangash are determined to kill them... .
In a statement issued on Saturday, he said that there were reports about the killing of women and kiddies in the shelling. He said that US warplanes had bombed Salala checkpost in Mohmand Agency ... 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 Karachi, Lahore, and Quetta. In Afghanistan they are mainly found in Nangarhar and Kunar... for two hours, but the Pakistain Army did not take action at that time.
He said that his party, Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... , strongly condemned the shelling in Hangu. He claimed that the government and army had decided in principle to launch operation in tribal area. Prof Ibrahim said that if the army started operation, thousands of families would be rendered homeless and there would be surge in terrorism across the country.
He said that interlocutors were making efforts to bring the two sides to the negotiation table, but the government was not interested in talks. He castigated statement by the federal interior minister in which he said that army had been authorised to take action. "The army does not need the government's permission to start operation," he said.
Prof Ibrahim said that the government and its negotiation committee were powerless to meet with Taliban committee. He said that he had contacted Taliban leader Azam Tariq who offered that the TTP was ready for talks with the government in the light of Koran and Sunnah.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/23/2014 00:00 ||
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Yes, but who will bell that particular sharp-clawed cat?
[Voice of the Copts] Iran's President, Hassan Rouhani, on Wednesday said that Jerusalem should "be liberated from the yoke of Israel."
The comments were made during a meeting in Tehran between Rouhani and the Speaker or the Palestinian Authority (PA) parliament, Salim Zanoun, and were reported by the semi-official Fars news agency.
During the meeting, according to Fars, Rouhani expressed the support of the Iranian government and nation "for the oppressed people of Palestine", and called for the "liberation of the Holy Quds (Jerusalem) from the yoke of Israel."
"One of the wishes of the Iranian nation is liberation of the Holy Quds," the Iranian President was quoted as having said, adding that he hoped "the Palestinian nation and the entire Muslim world will find a serious solution to this occupation through unity and integrity".
Zanoun, for his part, praised the Iranian nation as a great nation, and said, according to Fars, "I hope that during your presidency you will see a great development in the Muslim world, especially with regard to Palestine."
Wednesday's meeting marks the second time in recent weeks that Iranian officials have met PA officials. In January, Jibril Rajoub, a senior member of the Fatah movement, visited Tehran.
Rajoub vowed during the visit that Fatah "will not stop the resistance until the establishment of an independent Palestinian government" in eastern Jerusalem.
Rouhani, who has tried to woo the world with "an attack of smiles" and by claiming he is moderate, has made anti-Israel statements just like his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Last week, Rouhani warned that Iran would issue a harsh response against any attackers, including Israel.
The Iranian government also released a statement in which it called "to remove the cancerous tumor - Israel."
Shortly after being elected last summer, Rouhani called Israel an "old wound" that "should be removed."
Iranian media later claimed that Rouhani's remarks were distorted.
Posted by: Besoeker ||
02/23/2014 04:34 ||
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#1
Molon labe.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
02/23/2014 18:50 Comments ||
Top||
[An Nahar] Several local leaders and politicians on Saturday were quick to condemn the latest kaboom in the Bekaa town of Hermel, soon after a suicide kaboom claimed the life of several troops and civilians at an army checkpoint in al-Assi bridge area in the village.
Prime Minister Tammam Salam deplored the "terrorist" attacks, considering that targeting the military institution is an act against a cornerstone in the country.
"We call on Lebanese to unite against terrorism in all its forms and to block the road in front of plans that aim at harming Leb, its institutions and its people," Salam said in a released statement.
"The army and the security forces were and will always be the protectors of the country."
He offered his condolences to the military institution and to Army chief Gen. Jean Qahwaji, adding that Saturday's "deaders are a symbol of Leb's pride, prestige and illusory sovereignty."
Former PM Saad Hariri Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's assassination. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too. also contacted Qahwaji to offer his condolences over the death of several troops in the blast.
"We announce our full solidarity with the military institution and security forces in their mission to preserve stability and security in the country," Hariri said in a released statement.
Ex-premier Najib Miqati "strongly deplored" the attack, lamenting that the army always "pays the price in Leb."
Meanwhile, ...back at the cheese factory, there was only one thought in the mouse's mind: I can do this! I can do this! Then the trap sprung... Industry Minister Hussein al-Hajj Hassan considered that despite the prevailing consensual atmosphere and the agreement reached on facing terrorism following the cabinet's formation, several "justifications were made following the Bir Hassan kabooms (in southern Beirut) for political reasons and gains."
"If there is in fact an agreement on fighting terrorism, terrorists' acts should not be justified," he stated.
The Hizbullah ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... minister said there are "political, geographical and ideological spheres that embrace terrorism."
"Terrorists should know that they have no place among us," he said, calling for fighting all forms of terrorism.
AMAL Movement stated that Saturday's blast comes as the army has exposed terrorist and criminal schemes targeting different regions in the country.
"The terrorist war has become exposed and uncovered in Leb," a statement released by the party said.
It added: "National duty calls on everyone, especially the cabinet, to stand beside the military institution and support it with all means because it is the shield protecting Leb from ongoing terrorist plans."
Labor Minister Sejaan Qazzi condemned "the Takfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who most be killed... terrorism that is killing innocents and inciting sedition in the country."
He also noted that the ministerial committee tasked with drafting the new cabinet's policy statement agreed on giving "an utmost attention to combating terrorism."
Meanwhile, ...back at the barn, Bossy's udder had begun to ache... Minister of Culture Roni Araiji expressed that "an attack against the military institution is an attack on Leb and an attempt to harm the country and its civilized character."
"The army was and will always be the shield against terrorism and terrorists," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/23/2014 00:00 ||
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Turkey has become a principal financial hub for terrorists under the leadership of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose government has helped Iran skirt sanctions, supported jihadi groups in Syria, and provided financial backing to Hamas, according to a new report by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). The report comes just a day after 84 U.S. lawmakers and former government officials urged President Barack Obama to confront Erdogan over his harsh repression of political opponents.
Where is Turkey getting the money for this? I thought they were heeding for a credit crunch, having spent on consumption rather than investing in production or something.
As Turkey's support for terrorism expands, the Obama administration has remained silent out of fear of offending Erdogan, whom the White House considers a strategic asset, according to the report authored by FDD's Jonathan Schanzer, a former terrorism finance analyst at the U.S. Treasury Department.
The report catalogues in detail Turkey's cozy relationship with jihadi groups, terrorist operatives, and the Iranian regime.
Last year, "Turkey was involved in a massive sanctions-busting scheme with Tehran," according to the report. "Now known as 'gas-for-gold,' the scheme helped the Iranian regime gain some $13 billion" despite international sanctions meant to stop such deals. Additionally, over 2,000 Iranian companies are reportedly registered in Turkey, where pro-Erdogan political elites have been accused of facilitating large cash transfers with Tehran.
But how could sanction busting be that profitable, when Iran also is struggling economically?
Turkey's top intelligence agency is also believed to be working with Iran in a bid to "scuttle intelligence operations" aimed at stopping Iran's nuke program.
Erdogan has also gone to great lengths to bolster extremist rebel groups in Syria, according to the report, which cites "mounting evidence suggests that Turkey has been directly or indirectly arming, training, and even financing Sunni jihadi groups" in the country.
Turkey reportedly sent 47 tons of weapons to Syrian rebels during a six-month period in 2013. Israeli military officials have additionally claimed that "Syrian al Qaeda groups were training in three separate bases in the Turkish provinces."
Erdogan has also been exposed for having a close friendship with Yasin al-Qadi, a Saudi Arabian businessman who has faced sanctions for his financial ties to al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, and other terrorist fronts.
Hamas has become another ally of the Erdogan government, which has held meetings with the terror group's senior leadership and allows one of its key operative to work in Turkey. Senior Hamas leader Saleh al-Aruri has been living in Turkey. This coincides with "broader Turkish support" for Hamas, including political cover and financial backing.
Turkey has even inked a $4 billion deal with a Chinese missile firm that has been sanctioned "multiple times by the U.S. for selling prohibited missile technology to Iran," according to the report. Turkey's deal with the controversial China Precision Machinery Import and Export Corp appears "to be a direct attempt to undermine the U.S.-led sanctions against Iran."
The Turkish government's growing ties to terror have come amid a corruption scandal that has rocked Erdogan's AKP political party, which has "purged the investigators, prosecutors, and journalists involved" in exposing the corruption.
#1
Where is Turkey getting the money for this? I thought they were heeding for a credit crunch, having spent on consumption rather than investing in production or something.
Turkey isn't providing the funds, merely the locale. No doubt the Turks, or at least some of them, are getting a percentage of whatever funds pass through Turkey.
As far as the Chinese deal, Erdogan's government likely funding it the same way the USG funds theirs.
But how could sanction busting be that profitable, when Iran also is struggling economically?
Because the money isn't going into the Iranian. civilian economy.
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.
Nawaz Sharif
Mohmand Agency
Najib Miqati
Turkey has become a principal financial hub for terrorists under the leadership of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose government has helped Iran skirt sanctions, supported jihadi groups in Syria, and provided financial backing to Hamas, according to a new report by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). The report comes just a day after 84 U.S. lawmakers and former government officials urged President Barack Obama to confront Erdogan over his harsh repression of political opponents.
