[Tolo News] A Dutch aid worker who was kidnapped by unknown gunnies in June in Afghanistan has been sprung after being held for 81 days, the Dutch foreign ministry said late Thursday.
Anja de Beer was recovering in the Dutch embassy in Kabul ...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either.... and was "doing pretty well considering the circumstances," the ministry said in a statement.
An experienced aid worker who spent more than 15 years working for UN agencies, de Beer had been posted in Kabul for several years and was working for the Swiss non-governmental organization Helvetas when she was snatched on the streets in broad daylight.
The Dutch foreign ministry said she had managed to speak with her family already as well as with Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders who said he was "relieved" to hear about her release.
"I'm happy that 81 days of uncertainty have come to an end," he said in the ministry's statement.
De Beer herself told Dutch public broadcaster NOS late Thursday that she had been "treated well" by her abductors. "They gave me food and drink and I was not mistreated," she said in a brief phone call with the channel.
She added that she had been kept in isolation by her captors and was only given a few hours' notice of her impending release.
De Beer was kidnapped at gunpoint by four gunnies on June 22 outside her office in the Afghan capital's Taimani area, where other aid workers and journalists live and work.
She had previously worked with the Red Thingy from 2000 to 2001 on projects to help widows and orphans in Afghanistan, the Dutch press agency ANP said.
Aid workers in Afghanistan have increasingly been casualties of a surge in holy warrior violence in recent years.
In April the bullet-riddled bodies of five Afghan workers for Save the Children were found after they were kidnapped by gunnies in the strife-torn southern province of Uruzgan.
And last month a female German aid worker was also captured in broad daylight in Kabul, highlighting the growing risk to humanitarian officials in the war-torn country.
De Beer said she intended to return to the Netherlands now that her ordeal was over.
Her family has asked the media to allow her to recover in peace.
So far no one has claimed to be behind the kidnapping.
"We still don't know who kidnapped her and why," a front man for Helvetas told the Dutch centre-left daily De Volkskrant.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/12/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
"She added that she had been kept in isolation by her captors and was only given a few hours' notice of her impending release" The kidnapers evidently now accept PayPal and ApplePay.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
09/12/2015 11:34 Comments ||
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[Tolo News] Afghanistan is still suffering war and bloodshed after 14 years when the United States and its coalition launched "war on terrorism" in Afghanistan to destroy al-Qaeda bases, which the U.S. said was behind the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.
The U.S.-led global coalition invaded Afghanistan and so the Taliban regime was ousted only months after the al-Qaeda gunnies hijacked four passenger aircrafts, crashing two of them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City and another one into the Pentagon building in northern Virginia. The fourth plane which was steered towards Washington crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
However the Afghans continue to pay for 9/11 attacks which the Americans mark every year to remember about 3,000 American civilians that bit the dust.
The 14 years of U.S. struggle, many believe, not only failed to bring security to Afghanistan but new holy warrior groups emerged in the landlocked country, such as Daesh that have killed about 600 civilians during the past four months in eastern Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. province. Had the United States used nuclear weapons on every major city and town in Afghanistan in September or October 2001, the vast majority of the American people would have supported it. We'd no doubt have felt real sorry for the innocent victims by 2015, but we wouldn't have felt like the actions were unjustified. Al-Qaeda had staged a major attack on our country and our people, not even using military weapons, but civil airliners. The ultimatum had been presented to the Taliban government to give up the perpetrators and it had been refused. We were soft-hearted, and we even tried to drop groceries to the Afghan population. If Kabul, Kandahar, Nangarhar, and Herat were sheets of glass today we'd be living in a much different world. I don't know if it would be better or worse, but it sure wouldn't be the same.
According to the critics, the al-Qaeda and other Lion of Islam groups' bases still exist across Afghanistan's borders.
"When the Taliban were ousted and the West came to Afghanistan, the people of Afghanistan expected big economic projects but later it looked like a transit journey of West," said Aman Zeyayi, a University professor.
Although, Afghanistan recorded significant achievements over the past decade, the gains are deemed to be fragile.
"From security point of view, Afghanistan's problems have not been resolved so far and the reason comes both from inside and outside Afghanistan," political commentator Mohammad Natiqi said.
Meanwhile, ...back at the shouting match, Bart was wondering if fisticuffs would be appropriate at this point... a number of political analysts blame the Afghan government for parts of the international community's failure in bringing peace to the country.
"Weakness within the Afghan government have been one of the reasons that international community's presence could not bring peace to Afghanistan," political analyst Amanuddin Rostaqi said.
Also, the former president Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use... recently told TOLOnews' Black and White show that Washington failed in the Afghan mission. He accused the United States of not being honest about Afghanistan's peace and security.
But the achievements that Afghanistan made since the fall of the Taliban regime are not ever forgettable.
Afghanistan got a Constitution, Parliament, democratic government, uniformed Army and Police and also witnessed three presidential and two parliamentary elections over the past 14 years.
Women's rights and freedom of expression are considered the important and major gains of Afghanistan.
"Freedom to women, to speech and to the media were in fact unique as compared to a black period of Taliban," female politician Fawzia Kofi said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/12/2015 00:00 ||
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After these events the post 9/11 pecking order was firmly established, with the Islamic world on top and the US & West at the bottom.
Any subsequent military action was only legitimate to the extent that it served the interest of the Muslim populace.
I.e. it amounted to the delivery of Danegeld and direct service by the western armed forces, acting in the name of not so friendly 'allied' Muslim governments.
The political leadership had decided that 'winning the war' was an undesirable outcome.
[Dhaka Tribune] The BNP is now in a coffin and the last nail on the coffin will be put when the loathesome Khaleda Zia Three-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ... is sent to prison, Jatiya Party ...aka Jatiya Front; a political party established by Bangladictator Lieutenant General Hussain Muhammad Ershad in 1986 to lend a veneer of respectability to his rule. Since nobody was amused he was forced to resign by popular demand in 1990. The party remains in existence with about a dozen seats in Bangla's parliament... Chairman HM Ershad has said.
"Before 1/11, Khaleda Zia told a rally in Mymensingh that jail would be Ershad's destination and Ershad will have to come out of jail dead. Khaleda thought she could come to power again. But I am alive. I am waiting eagerly to see who comes out dead," he told the biennial council of JaPa's Chittagong city chapter.
"We have seen the true nature of parliamentary democracy. We are the real opposition party which has established parliamentary democracy by criticising the government," said Ershad, also the special envoy to the premier.
Speaking as the chief guest in the programme at the port city's GEC Convention Centre yesterday, he said: "The people of the country are not at peace. They cannot speak; they have become deaf and dumb. Democracy has been buried 100 feet below the earth. People do not have the right to speak or write; their voices have been gagged."
Ershad also blamed ruling party men of grabbing lands of the minority people who voted the government to power.
"The Hindu people are leaving the country. In the past, the country's population consisted of 10% Hindus but now the figure has come down to a meagre 6%," he said.
Urging the Hindus not to leave the country, the former president said: "The day is not far-off when Jatiya Party will assume power again. Please wait for that day to come."
Ershad also criticised the government's decision to impose 7.5% VAT on private university tuition fees.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/12/2015 00:00 ||
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[EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] Crude oil prices fell on Friday as a stronger dollar, Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... 's dismissal of a producer summit and a lower price forecast by Goldman Sachs weighed, with prices headed for a weekly loss despite rallying in the previous session.
October Brent, the global oil benchmark, decreased 51 cents to $48.38 a barrel as of 0659 GMT after it settled up $1.31, or 2.8 percent, at $48.89 on Thursday.
October U.S. crude futures lost 65 cents to $45.27 a barrel after it settled up $1.77, or 4 percent, at $45.92 a barrel.
Saudi Arabia believes a summit of heads of states of oil producing countries would fail to produce concrete action toward defending oil prices, sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
The comments followed a meeting of Gulf Arab oil ministers with Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates... 's emir in Doha, at which a Venezuelan proposal for an OPEC and non-OPEC summit was discussed.
The U.S. dollar edged higher in Asian trading on increased chances of more easing in Japan. A firmer U.S. dollar makes oil more expensive for holders of others currencies.
Goldman Sachs forecast on Friday 2015 WTI prices at $48.10 per barrel from an earlier estimate of $52 per barrel. It also lowered the 2016 WTI price forecast to $45 per barrel from $57 per barrel earlier.
Goldman also predicted 2015 Brent prices at $53.70 per barrel from $58.20 per barrel earlier, while it saw 2016 Brent prices at $49.50 per barrel from $62 per barrel earlier.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/12/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
But somehow they supposedly have the money to offer to build 500 mosques in Germany. Funny how that works.
[AnNahar] Moslemholy warriors in Germany are trying to recruit some of the growing numbers of asylum seekers reaching the country, according to intelligence services quoted by the German news agency DPA.
The Islamic bandidosforces of Evil "are trying to approach the young unaccompanied refugees, who arrive in our country without their families and are particularly looking for contacts and support," a front man for the intelligence service in the southern state of Bavaria told DPA.
He said many of the youths are approached around reception centres but also at Munich railway station where many of the asylum seekers have arrived from Hungary and Austria in recent days.
The Islamic bandidosforces of Evil "want to take advantage of the insecurity and distress of the refugees," he said.
On Tuesday, the intelligence services in North Rhine-Westphalia reported similar contacts in their region, noting that Islamic holy warriors were approaching asylum seekers through fake charities.
"We are going to inform the employees of the reception centres and make them aware of this situation and the methods used for these attempts to approach" the young refugees, said a front man in the state, also quoted by DPA.
Under the quota system in Germany, North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria are the two regions that receive the most asylum seekers, with 21 percent and 15 percent respectively.
Germany expects to receive 800,000 asylum seekers this year, four times more than last year. Syrians, who are fleeing their war-torn country, form the largest group.
The Saudis offered to build 200 mosques in Germany to "accommodate" the refugees. The Pope should offer to build 200 churches for the same reason...
#4
..on the other hand, its a lot easier to kill those in your midst than traveling a thousand miles or more to get your hands on them. Germans have some experience with that. If they go Goth again, all bets are off.
[AnNahar] Eastern European countries rejected migrant quotas on Friday, exposing a deep rift on the continent over how to respond to the crisis as new footage raised further questions about Hungary's treatment of floods of refugees.
Pressing his Czech, Hungarian, Polish and Slovakian counterparts in Prague, Germany's foreign minister warned that the influx of hundreds of thousands of migrants could be "the biggest challenge for the EU in its history."
Then perhaps the "EU" doesn't deserve to survive...
"If we are united in describing the situation as such, we should be united that such a challenge is not manageable for a single country," Frank-Walter Steinmeier said, calling for "European solidarity."
Continued on Page 49
A right-wing French politician caused a stir on Friday after he was quoted as saying that Germany "took our Jews and gave us Arabs."
According to a report which appeared on the AFP wire service, the comment was made by Patrick Devedjian, a former minister who served under French presidents Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy. That, of course, doesn't mean that he actually likes Jews.
[Hurriyet Daily News] The country's top holy man took the initiative to deliver Friday's sermon on Sept. 11, in a bid to urge the people of The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... not to be trapped by ethic divides amid rising conflict between security forces and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
"Due to crimes that murder gangs commit which do not recognize any humanitarian and moral values, we should not attempt to incriminate our innocent siblings with whom we turn to the same qibla, with whom we are ummah of the same prophet and with whom we have shared our joy, grief, presence and absence," Mehmet Görmez, the president of the Directorate General of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), said in a sermon he delivered at Kocatepe Mosque in the capital Ankara.
Görmez's sermon was read out across the entire country.
"We should not forget that we would only be serving the treacherous goals of murder gangs when we fall out with each other on the streets by being taken with provocations," Görmez said, urging people to listen to their common sense instead of their feelings of anger in these kinds of situations.
Turkey has seen spiraling violence since July, with hundreds reported killed in the renewed conflict between Turkish security forces and the PKK, including more than a hundred soldiers and coppers. The renewed fighting shattered a grinding of the peace processor that was launched in 2012.
"The grievances that we have been suffering should not lead to bigger grievances. We should not delight our enemies," Görmez said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/12/2015 00:00 ||
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[Hurriyet Daily News] A man has been sentenced to electronically-monitored home arrest for allegedly defaming President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... following a prosecutor's objection to his release after he was detained over the same charge.
The man, identified as Erhan K., was sentenced to home arrest with electronic handcuffs on Sept. 10 after the prosecutor's office objected to the Edirne Criminal Court of Peace's ruling, which had released him on probation. He were tossed into the calaboose in northwestern Edirne's Ipsala district for allegedly insulting Erdogan in a Facebook post.
Erhan K. said he was not allowed to leave his home, not even to get to work so he could make his living.
"I was surprised by this decision. I can't even do my job, so I can't earn money because I'm not allowed to leave home," he said.
Erhan K. was previously detained by Ipsala Police Department officers for purportedly defaming Erdogan, but he was released on probation after he appeared in court.
The man was then sentenced to home arrest with no freedom of movement while being monitored electronically after the prosecutor's office ordered an indeterminate home arrest for him.
"The court issued a ruling that sentenced me to home arrest in the same case it previously released me on probation," Erhan K. said.
Erhan K. made a new post on Facebook after he removed the former one which led to his detention, saying, "Here I come, friends. I was detained over a Facebook post of mine. I spent a night under detention, but the court released me. People from all across The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... showed support for me during the time of my detainment. May God be with all of them."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/12/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Is it difficult to wipe one's backside whilst wearing electronic handcuffs? I gots to know!
[Hurriyet Daily News] This photo was shot in front of the Hurriyet building on Tuesday evening [Sept. 8].
It was the evening that Hurriyet was attacked for a second time with clubs and stones.
As you can understand from his jacket and his weapon, the person whose face is blurred is a policeman.
He was there to protect the building, whose windows were already smashed into pieces, and the employees inside from a ferocious crowd that had "convened to turn Hurriyet into Madimak" two days ago. (Madimak was the name of the hotel in the eastern province of Sivas that a mob torched in 1993, leading to the death of 35 dissidents inside.)
I don't know the person who took a photo with the policeman, but he was one of the protesters who was present in front of the Hurriyet building that evening.
The activist and the policeman, who was there to provide security, took a photo together. Apparently, the policeman had forgotten why he was there.
If he had not only forgotten it, then he could be thinking that his presence was meant to be merely a decoration.
Because a deputy of the ruling party had said the previous day that we "should get used" to such attacks.
Apparently, the police also thought that they should not stop the activists because we need to get used to them.
Are there any officials in Istanbul who would remind the policeman his duty?
After attacks on daily Hurriyet, several businessmen and politicians shared their messages of support with me and our friends. Ministers and Justice and Development Party (AKP) politicians were among them.
However, those who apply themselves too closely to little things often become incapable of great things... you could not learn the name of any of them. Because they wanted to remain anonymous. It is clear why they did it. Because they are afraid. And the identity of the person whom they are afraid of is not a secret.
That person managed to create such a fear in businessmen and politicians of The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... that they are afraid of publicly voicing support for daily Hurriyet over these attacks.
Only artists did not fear to be named among those who supported Hurriyet after the attack. You read their messages with their names and photos in Hurriyet's Kelebek (Butterfly) suppplement yesterday.
So we have seen the artists' stance and we thank them all.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/12/2015 00:00 ||
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The fix is in - if you're a Kurd, Erdogan has tacitly declared you to be an enemy of his state, and therefore fair game. The police presence afterward is window dressing for the captive local press and gullible foreign press.
[Hurriyet Daily News] Culture and Tourism Minister Yalcin Topcu has said he wished for the Hagia Sophia museum in Istanbul to be reopened to prayers for Moslems.
"Opening the Hagia Sophia to prayers [for Moslems] is my personal dream, my goal, my ambition. Although there are several debates over its judicial status, the issue is more of a political debate," said Topcu, who was nominated as culture and tourism minister in the interim government by Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu ahead of the snap polls scheduled for Nov. 1.
Topcu, the former chair of the Islamist-nationalist Great Union Party (BBP), was a surprising name in the new cabinet.
"There is an international dimension too, because the symbolic meaning of the Hagia Sophia is great. The final decision will be given by this nation rather than the world. A referendum might be the most serious solution," he said.
He also said demands for the museum to become a mosque again have been reflected as a "radical demand" by the media.
"The number of people who were politically lynched over their demands for the Hagia Sophia should not be underestimated. Some media organs reflect this demand as 'a radical demand.' For instance, these media organs praise the opening of the Akdamar Church to religious ceremonies in line with the freedom of religion, but they change their stance when the issue is about the Hagia Sophia," he said.
The Akdamar (Akhtamar) Church in the southeastern city of Van was reopened to occasional prayers in 2010 after a hiatus of nearly 100 years. Turkish authorities restored the church on Lake Van between 2005 and 2007 before opening it as a museum. The Divine Liturgy was celebrated there for the first time in 95 years in 2010.
"There are conflicting stances on this issue. Our ministry does not have the authority to give the decision to reopen the Hagia Sophia [as a mosque]. Its legal dimension is wide. I don't find it right to turn this issue into a polemic and abused. As a Moslem Turkish person, if I had to express what is in my heart, it would make me very pleased to reopen such a meaningful place to prayers," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/12/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
What about opening it to its original form - a Christian cathedral.
#4
Anyone got the placement as to # most holy site in Eastern Orthodox Christianity? BTW, if we want to play 'historic claims', the Russians have a chit on protecting EOC sites and rights in the ME.
[Hurriyet Daily News] A high school student has been sentenced to 11 months in prison for allegedly insulting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... in the Central Anatolian province of Konya.
The 17-year-old student, identified only by the initials M.E.A., was sentenced to 11 months and 20 days in prison on allegations that he insulted Erdogan in a speech delivered on Dec. 23, 2014 during a local commemoration ceremony for Mustafa Fehmi Kubilay, a soldier killed 84 years ago in the Aegean province of Izmir.
Following the investigation launched into his speech, M.E.A. was detained at his school in Konya on Dec. 24, 2014 and then formally tossed in the slammer Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! after appearing at court.
Another court later objected to his arrest after 100 attorneys, including M.E.A.'s lawyer Baris Ispir, filed a petition. He was released pending trial on Dec. 26, 2014, after spending only two nights in detention.
M.E.A. has been tried without arrest since, with the Justice Ministry granting permission for him to be tried in a juvenile court.
His case was heard in the Konya 3rd Juvenile Court on Sept. 11, with the court sentencing him to 11 months and 20 days in prison on charges of "insulting the Turkish president."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/12/2015 00:00 ||
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#3
Turks are very thin-skinned about real and perceived insults towards their politicians.
Say something negative loudly and negatively on an Istanbul corner about M.K. Ataturk and see how fast you are requesting assistance from the U.S. Consulate!
[AnNahar] President Barack Obama I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody... has ordered his team to admit at least 10,000 Syrian refugees next year, the White House said Thursday, amid criticism that the United States has not done enough.
Spokesman Josh Earnest said Obama had asked staff to "scale up" the number of refugee admissions from around 1,500 in this fiscal year, to 10,000 in the next, beginning October 1.
"He has informed his team that he would like them to accept at least 10,000 refugees in the next fiscal year," said Earnest.
With global public opinion shocked by images of drowning refugees, the United States is under political pressure to act quickly.
The United States currently accepts around 70,000 refugees from conflicts and persecution each year, but has been slow to accept Syrians.
Refugees from Syria and its region must undergo strict security checks to weed out bully boys, even after being registered by the United Nations ...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense....
[IsraelTimes] Process of running security checks, medical tests and eligibility as refugees usually take up to two years until they reach US soil
US President Barack Obama If you have a small business, you didn't build that... has promised that the United States will admit 10,000 Syrian refugees for resettlement over the next 12 months, after criticism that America is not doing enough.
But this would represent a huge increase in the number of families arriving on US soil. In the more that four years since fighting erupted barely 1,800 Syrians have been welcomed here.
Meanwhile, ...back at the saloon, Butch got the bill for the damage caused by the fist fight, the mirror broken in the shootout, and drinks for everyone...... obstacles have stretched the approval process for those already registered and vetted by the UN's refugee agency to almost two years per case.
So how will Obama's promise be delivered and what hurdles are keeping the refugees from arriving sooner?
More than four million people have fled the fighting in Syria since 2011 and most are living in camps in Jordan, The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... , Leb, Egypt and Iraq, where the UN High Commissioner for Refugees registers them.
Some 18,000 of these people -- chosen because they are the most vulnerable whether through family circumstances, injury or disability -- have been referred to the United States for resettlement.
Once the US State Department receives their case files it employs NGO contractors to pre-screen them for eligibility for refugee status, then they are subjected to health and security checks.
Officers from the Department of Homeland Security fly from Washington to the camps and conduct interviews with candidates, seeking to weed out what a US official called "liars, criminals and terrorists."
Each case file is reviewed by the National Counterterrorism Center, the FBI's terrorist screening center, the DHS, the Department of Defense and "other agencies" -- US intelligence.
"Refugees are subject to the highest level of security checks of any category of traveler to the United States," another State Department official told news hounds.
Meanwhile they receive medical tests and those with communicable diseases, most commonly tuberculosis, are given treatment before they can travel to the United States, often delaying the process.
Currently the procedure takes between 18 and 24 months from the time UNHCR recommends a refugee for resettlement and that person's flight to America.
It is not clear how much the screening process for Syrians costs, but the US government spent $1.1 billion last year resettling 70,000 people from around the world, or almost $16,000 per head.
Critics note that if the United States takes two years to screen each of the 10,000 refugees Obama has promised to welcome none will have arrived before he leaves office.
But, according to a US official, thousands of cases are already in the pipeline and will hopefully now be processed faster.
"We have been resettling Syrian refugees in small numbers since 2011 and it was only in June of 2014 that UNHCR started submitting large numbers of referrals, between 500 and 1,000 per month," she said.
“Those referrals have come pretty steadily since last June to the point where we now have a critical mass. We at the State Department have already prepared the cases for more than 10,000 people."
Once refugees are approved, the State Department pays the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to fly them to the United States.
Refugees sign a promissory note to repay their airfare once they are established, and they are met at the airport by members of one of nine non-government resettlement agencies contracted by the State Department.
There are around 180 resettlement centers dispersed across the United States, where NGO workers help the new arrivals settle in and find work and accommodation in their first 30 to 90 days.
Those who have relatives in the United States will sometimes be assigned to live near them, and most go to cities like Atlanta, San Diego or Dallas where rents are more affordable than in New York or the Socialist paradise of San Francisco ...where God struck dead Anton LaVey, home of the Sydney Ducks, ruled by Vigilance Committee from 1859 through 1867, reliably and volubly Democrat since 1964... Others end up in smaller cities like Boise, Idaho or Erie, Pennsylvania, but regardless of where they are taken they are free to move once they find their footing.
After 90 days new arrivals are no longer eligible for the State Department-funded support through the resettlement agencies, but some join support programs run by the Department of Health and Human Services.
[DAWN] Pak and Indian border security forces agreed on Friday to maintain restraint on their disputed Kashmire frontier, as they sought to defuse tensions that have been heightened in recent months by bully boy attacks that each side blames the other for.
The heads of India's Border Security Force and the Pak Rangers met in New Delhi to find ways to de-escalate tensions along the border as part of a series of measures agreed by the leaders of the two countries in July.
The border chiefs agreed to hold back cross-border firing and not to retaliate immediately to violations of a 15-year ceasefire, an Indian interior ministry official said.
"Both have decided not to immediately retaliate against firing from either side and to contact the other side to know the cause of firing," the official said, reading from a draft text the two governments agreed.
Tens of thousands of soldiers are massed on either side of Kashmire, one of the world's most militarised regions, and in recent months they have stepped up cross-border firing.
Last month, nine people were killed by the firings on the day the nuclear-armed neighbours marked the 50th anniversary of a war between them.
India says Pak soldiers provide cover firing to help snuffies cross over and carry out attacks in its part of Kashmire.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/12/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
"O Hindoo, do you sense a danger?"
"Estrangement? I quite agree, Ranger!"
"Bam bam!" "Yes, who is it?"
"Just us, for a visit!"
"Come back soon, and don't be a stranger!"
[DAWN] The military leadership asked the federal and provincial governments on Thursday to share their burden under the ongoing National Action Plan (NAP) by activating special courts set up under the Protection of Pakistain Act (PPA), 2014, and putting in place measures necessary to stop money falling into the hands of terrorists.
Held at the Prime Minister's Office, the five-hour, two-session apex committee huddle saw the military side pushing the chief ministers of the four provinces and Gilgit-Baltistan and the prime minister of AJK to take a hard line on errant madressahs, those guilty of hate speech and religious scholars known for fanning sectarianism, sources privy to the meeting told Dawn.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[DAWN] The banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) has hurled life threats at Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... 's six big shots after making two attempts on the life of party MPA Mian Aslam Iqbal.
The timing of the attacks and the threat is crucial as the PTI has launched by-election campaign in NA-122 and PP-147.
Claiming responsibility for the attacks, a TTP spokesperson through an email on Sept 7 threatened fatal attacks on PTI national organiser Shah Mehmood Wormtongue Qureshi, Punjab 1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots.... organiser Chaudhry Sarwar, NA-122 candidate Abdul Aleem Khan, opposition leader in Punjab Assembly Mian Mahmoodur Rasheed, MPAs Mian Aslam Iqbal and Malik Taimoor.
The Punjab government has directed the PTI leaders to restrict their movement for a few days, till the government hunts down perpetrators of the attack on Aslam Iqbal's residence and trace origin of the email.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/12/2015 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] An unknown murderous Moslem group has claimed the kidnapping of 18 Turkish workers in Iraq and issued a list of demands it said Ankara must fulfill for them to be released.
Gunmen seized 18 employees of major Turkish construction firm Nurol Insaat on September 2 in the Sadr City area of northern Baghdad, where they were working on a football stadium project.
In a video posted online, turbans armed with submachine guns and wearing black uniforms, sunglasses and balaclavas stood behind men said to be the kidnapped Turks.
The men, who were dressed in gray and blue T-shirts, did not appear to have been harmed.
The turbans identified themselves as "Furaq al-Mawt," or "Death Squads," in text appearing behind them alongside the words "We are at your service, O Hussein."
One of their demands was that The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... order rebel forces to stop besieging four Shiite villages in northern Syria.
This all indicates the turbans are Shiite, but could also potentially be an attempt to mislead, and the group's make-up and provenance were not immediately clear.
The demands, addressed to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... , included Ankara stopping "the flow of turbans from Turkey to Iraq," and "the passage of stolen oil from Kurdistan through Turkish territory."
Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region is independently exporting oil via Turkey in a move the federal government considers illegal -- a point of contention between Baghdad and Ankara.
"If Erdogan and his party do not respond, we will crush Turkish interests and their agents in Iraq by the most violent means," the group said.
The 18 Turks were working on the 30,000-seat Sadr City Stadium project, which also includes practice fields and a hotel.
Turkey's foreign ministry said they were separated from the other workers and singled out for abduction.
- Clashes during search -
Dozens of Turks have been kidnapped but later released in Iraq in the past 18 months by the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... jihadist group, which overran large parts of the country last year.
But Sadr City is a stronghold of Shiite paramilitary forces opposed to the jihadists.
A soldier was killed last week when security forces clashed with the Shiite Ketaeb Hezbollah militia while searching for a person allegedly involved in the kidnappings.
The security command responsible for the capital said there had been intelligence that "one of the members of the gang that carried out the kidnapping" was on Baghdad's Paleostine Street.
It did not identify the gunnies, but al-Etejah television, which is affiliated with Ketaeb Hezbollah, said one of the group's facilities had been attacked by the Baghdad Operations Command on that street.
Baghdad turned to mostly Shiite volunteer forces for support as IS advanced towards the capital in June 2014. Those groups have played a key role in halting and then reversing the jihadists' gains.
In doing so, the government empowered Shiite militias, some with checkered human rights ...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless... records, and spurred the creation of new ones, allowing them to act with near-impunity despite the fact they officially fall under government command.
Some people linked to the militias stand accused of criminal activities, including kidnapping, property seizures and murder.
Kidnappings for ransom are a persistent problem in Baghdad, although political motives can also come into play.
Ankara has been accused of complacency towards IS and complicity in assisting the group, which also holds substantial territory in common neighbor Syria.
It backs the mostly Sunni rebel forces battling to overthrow Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs... , while Iraqi Shiites have fought alongside his troops.
[ALMANAR.LB] Iraq's Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani on Friday urged the government to speed up the pace of change.
"We hope that the reform measures will be carried out at a faster pace," Sistani said in a sermon at weekly prayers in Karbala, south of Baghdad, read out by his representative Abdul Mahdi al-Karbalai.
Sistani, who is revered by millions, has since last month stepped up calls for reform that have helped spur a wide-ranging anti-corruption drive by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and provided him with key political cover.
His eminence previously told AFP that: "Today, if true reform is not realized by fighting corruption without mercy and realizing social justice on different levels, it is expected that circumstances will become worse than before."
Iraq could be "dragged to... partition and the like, God forbid", Sistani said.
Amid a major heatwave that has seen temperatures top 50 degrees Celsius (120 Fahrenheit), protesters have railed against corruption and the poor quality of services, especially power outages that leave just a few hours of government-supplied electricity per day.
Their demands were given a boost when Sistani called on August 7 for Abadi to take "drastic measures" against corruption, saying the "minor steps" he had previously announced fell short.
Abadi rolled out a reform program two days later, which parliament approved along with additional measures.
The premier has begun issuing orders for changes, including cutting 11 cabinet posts and slashing the huge number of guards for officials.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/12/2015 00:00 ||
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[ABS-CBN] The chairman of the Islamic Command Council of the Moro National Liberation Front has appealed to the Philippine president to grant MNLF founder Nur Misuari amnesty for his involvement in the 2013 Zamboanga siege.
Islamic Command Council chairman Habib Hudjahab Hashim said there were precedents in granting amnesty to a person accused of rebellion. According to Hashim, Misuari was simply fighting for his political ideology, and to implement the 1996 peace agreement between the MNLF and the Philippine government, which he believed was abrogated when the government signed a peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
Hashim added that an amnesty is also needed in order for Misuari to be able to attend the ongoing tripartite meeting with the Organization of Islamic Conference and Government Peace Panel, which has been discussing three contentious issues of the accord. He said these issues will be further discussed in the dialogue which will be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in November.
Misuari has been facing rebellion charges and a violation of international humanitarian law after hundreds of his armed followers attacked villages in Zamboanga City, displacing thousands of families. Since then, Misuari has been reportedly hiding in the MNLF camps in Sulu province.
Hashim said two years after the Zamboanga siege, Misuari has no plans to surrender. Neither are there feelers to negotiate for his surrender. He said Misuari remains firm in his position for declaring independence, and claiming the majority of Mindanao as part of their territory.
Hashim said they are also pushing for the creation of another autonomous government intended solely for MNLF, citing the 1976 Tripoli Agreement as the basis.
Posted by: ryuge ||
09/12/2015 00:00 ||
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[ARA] Amid continuous investigations on chemical attacks by the murderous Moslem group of Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS), a United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... official announced that the group has evidently manufactured and used chemical agents at least four times during attacks on Kurdish forces in Syria and Iraq.
Several reports by Kurdish forces fighting ISIS indicated the group's use of chemical weapons over the last few months, sparking an investigation by the U.S. and the U.N.
A U.N. official told the BBC that at least four ISIS-led attacks using powdered mustard agents have been documented on both sides of the Syria-Iraq border.
"We assess that they have an active chemical weapons little research cell that they're working on to try and get better at it," he said.
Activists reported that the radical group is most likely using stockpiles found in Syria and Iraq, after taking over large territories in both countries and establishing its alleged Caliphate.
In June, ISIS turbans have reportedly used chemical weapons during attacks on headquarters of the Kurdish forces of the People's Protection Units (YPG) in the northeastern Syrian province of Hasakah.
The YPG leadership said in a statement that ISIS holy warriors used chemical weapons against positions of the Kurdish units south of Tel Brak (45 km eastern Hasakah) end of June, as well as against civilians in Salihiya neighborhood in Hasakah city.
The statement added that the Kurdish fighters were able to document the gas attacks through video tapes and testimonies of people that have been injured during the attacks.
"On June 28, a number of shells, which emitted yellow gas with a strongly rotten odor, dropped on Salihiya district in the city of Hasakah by the terrorist group. The toxic bombs turned into yellow color after exposure to sun, while liquid oily green spots were seen on ground," according to the YPG General Command. "A number of our fighters were also exposed to sever burns and suffocation."
In July, Kurdish forces of the YPG revealed they captured dozens of anti-gas masks from ISIS holy warriors, which confirms they have been equipped for chemical warfare along battle's front lines.
Local sources from Salihiya and al-Mufti districts in Hasakah told ARA News that more than 20 mortar shells hit their areas, causing suffocation among dozens of civilians.
A doctor from a field hospital in Hasakah told ARA News that the shells most likely contained mustard agents.
"Our hospital received many cases of suffocation," the source said.
Describing an attack in August, a statement by the Peshmerga General Command in northern Iraq said: "Terrorists of Daesh (ISIS) launched 45 120mm-mortar shells tipped with chemical heads on Peshmerga positions, which led to the injury of a number of Peshmerga forces with burns on different parts of their bodies."
Germany's Defence Ministry, which had been training the Kurds near the sight of the attack in Makhmour, said at the time that fighters also suffered breathing difficulties and that officials had "indications that there was an attack with chemical weapons".
The descriptions fit with the effects of mustard agents, which were initially used in chemical warfare during the First World War, and were deployed prolifically by Saddam Hussein's regime in the Iran-Iraq war.
The U.S. National Security Council said last month that Washington was taking allegations of ISIS using chemical weapons very seriously and seeking more information.
"We continue to monitor these reports closely, and would further stress that any use of chemicals or biological material as a weapon is completely inconsistent with international standards and norms regarding such capabilities," a spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/12/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
"The U.S. National Security Council said last month that Washington was taking allegations of ISIS using chemical weapons very seriously and seeking more information."
Study to be completed in late January 2017.
[Al Ahram] Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday called on world powers to help arm the Syrian army, describing it as the most efficient force against the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group.
The US and NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... have raised concerns over Russia's military buildup in Syria since they see Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad The Scourge of Hama... as the cause of the Syrian crisis, which has claimed more than 250,000 lives over four years. Moscow, meanwhile, has sought to cast arms supplies to Assad's government as part of international efforts to combat Islamic State Lion of Islams.
The increased Russian activity in Syria reflects Moscow's deep concerns that its longtime ally is on the brink of collapse, as well as hopes by President Vladimir Putin ...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead... that a common battle against Islamic State Lions of Islam can improve Russia's ties with the West, which strained over Ukraine.
Lavrov said in Moscow on Friday that Russia would continue to supply Assad with weapons and called on other countries to help the Syrian government and its ground troops.
"You cannot defeat Islamic State with air strikes only," Lavrov said. "It's necessary to cooperate with ground troops and the Syrian army is the most efficient and powerful ground force to fight the IS."
Lavrov insisted that by sending weapons to Syria, Russia is not propping up Assad but is contributing to defeating Islamic State fighters.
"I can only say once again that our servicemen and military experts are there to service Russian military hardware, to assist the Syrian army in using this hardware," he said at a news conference in Moscow. "And we will continue to supply it to the Syrian government in order to ensure its proper combat readiness in its fight against terrorism."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/12/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Like that is going to happen. I mean, Putin has so much emotional bank that the rest of the world is to going to say, "I owe you".~
[FOXNEWS] As the Pentagon warily eyes a Russian military build-up in Syria, Western intelligence sources tell Fox News that the escalated Russian presence began just days after a secret Moscow meeting in late July between Iran's Quds Force commander -- their chief exporter of terror -- and Russian President Vladimir Putin ...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead... .
Fox News has learned Quds head Qassem Soleimani and Putin discussed such a joint military plan for Syria at that meeting, an encounter first reported by Fox News in early August.
"The Russians are no longer advising, but co-leading the war in Syria," one intelligence official said.
The Quds Force is the international arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, involved in exporting terrorism to Iran's proxies throughout the Middle East including Leb, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
Intelligence sources told Fox News that -- in addition to the previously reported arrival of nearly 50 Russian marines, 100 housing units and armored vehicles delivered by a stream of massive Antonov-124 Condor military transport aircraft and two Russian landing ships in Syria -- the Russians have delivered aviation, intelligence and communications facilities to deploy a powerful offensive force.
Officials who have monitored the build-up say they've seen more than 1,000 Russian combatants -- some of them from the same plainclothes Special Forces units who were sent to Crimea and Ukraine. Some of these Russian troops are logistical specialists and needed for security at the expanding Russian bases.
"Imagine how the Americans came to Iraq and Afghanistan. It's the same kind of build-up. They bring everything, they build everything they need," the intelligence official said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/12/2015 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Tolo News] A Dutch aid worker who was 
[Tolo News] Afghanistan is still suffering war and bloodshed after 14 years when the United States and its coalition launched "war on terrorism" in Afghanistan to destroy al-Qaeda bases, which the U.S. said was behind the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.
[EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] Crude oil prices fell on Friday as a stronger dollar, 
[Hurriyet Daily News] The country's top 
[Hurriyet Daily News] A man has been sentenced to electronically-monitored home arrest for allegedly defaming President 
[Hurriyet Daily News] This photo was shot in front of the Hurriyet building on Tuesday evening [Sept. 8].
[Hurriyet Daily News] Culture and Tourism Minister Yalcin Topcu has said he wished for the Hagia Sophia museum in Istanbul to be reopened to prayers for 
[Hurriyet Daily News] A high school student has been sentenced to 11 months in prison for allegedly insulting Turkish President 
[DAWN] Pak and Indian border security forces agreed on Friday to maintain restraint on their disputed 
[DAWN] The military leadership asked the federal and provincial governments on Thursday to share their burden under the ongoing National Action Plan (NAP) by activating special courts set up under the Protection of Pakistain Act (PPA), 2014, and putting in place measures necessary to stop money falling into the hands of terrorists.
[DAWN] The banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) has hurled life threats at Pakistain 
Mehmood 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[ALMANAR.LB] Iraq's Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani on Friday urged the government to speed up the pace of change.
[ARA] Amid continuous investigations on chemical attacks by the
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...
