Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Thursday dismissed national security agency officials who he said had neglected their duty to defend the northern city of Kunduz, which Taleban militants briefly captured in September.
Enforcing accountability or blocking blame?
The Taleban's seizure of the city was a major setback for the government, and prompted Washington to prolong the 14-year-old US military engagement in Afghanistan.
Government forces wrested back control of the city after days of fighting in which a US air strike destroyed a hospital run by the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) aid group, killing 30 people.
"There was a lack of unified command, and even though there were many Afghan troops in Kunduz, we failed," Ghani said in a speech in Kunduz, an important trade gateway to Central Asia.
Ghani said the National Directorate of Security (NDS), the intelligence agency, had not been successful. The agency's provincial chief was among those dismissed, Ghani's office said.
"I have issued an order to dismiss all NDS personnel who neglected their duties," he said to cheers from the crowd. He did not specify how many officials would be removed, but said some would be prosecuted under the military code and some dismissed.
But it'll be someone, yewbetcha...
Afghan investigators, led by a former NDS chief, had earlier blamed leadership failings for the Taleban's capture of Kunduz. The investigative team did not single out military or government officials for blame, but proposed reforming the National Security Council, a body headed by the president that oversees national security.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/27/2015 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Taliban
Sheikh Sadik Ghariani has accused the members of the Rada (“deterrence”) forces who yesterday morning arrested the head of the religious endowments ministry’s Tripoli office, Mohamed Atkitek, of being bandits and criminals.
In his Al-Tanasah TV station, Ghariani, still viewed by the authorities in Tripoli as Libya’s grand mufti, demanded Rada’s leaders release him, describing those who arrested him as “working against God’s wishes”.
While praising Rada operations against drug dealers, Ghariani said that the organisation, led by Abdul Raouf Kara, had to rid itself of those of its members who were criminals.
For its part Rada yesterday claimed that Atkitek was not arrested, that he was “invited” in for questioning, that he came and then left.
However, it appears he is still being held and, according to source, faces changes of conspiring to send young people to fight with IS the Islamic State (IS) organisation in Sirte.
Rada has also now published two videos suggesting the Tripoli Awkaf office is, at best, being mismanaged and, at worst, actively colluding with IS.
The first shows the confession an Egyptian allegedly arrested at Mitiga airport coming back from Ghana. The 48-year-old man, who is said to work at a factory in Sorman, says he was sent to Ghana by Atkitek’s deputy on a paid two-week mission to the west African country to try and convert people to Islam. However, he also admits that he has had no training as an Islamic scholar and had not studied the Sharia.
In the second video, a youth who said he was 14 years old but born in 2002, (which would make him 13 at most) claimed that a preacher at a mosque in Tripoli’s Omar Mukhtar street had been giving classes about jihad and the need to go to Sirte and join IS, claiming that all governments were kufar (infidels).
According to the youth, those attending were aged 18 to 23.
In early June, when IS was still in control of Derna, Ghariani famously insisted that they were not extremists and were popular with locals – a claim that was equally famously disproved less than a week later when IS was expelled from the town by the local mujahideen.
#1
In early June, when IS was still in control of Derna, Ghariani famously insisted that they were not extremists and were popular with locals – a claim that was equally famously disproved less than a week later when IS was expelled from the town by the local mujahideen.
I don't know if this is meaningful or merely posturing.
[AlAhram] 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... imposed sanctions on at least 12 senior Hezbollah figures accused of responsibility for carrying out operations for the group, which it had designated a terrorist organization in March of last year, state media reported on Thursday.
"These names were designated today and sanctions imposed on them under the terrorism crimes and financing regime," the Interior Ministry said in a statement carried by state news agency SPA.
The statement said the Interior Ministry had also imposed sanctioned on entities that were "investment arms" for what it described as Hezbollah's sinister activities outside its Leb homeland.
The statement said the sanctions were based on a royal decree which targeted snuffies and those who helped them, and which included the freezing of assets of any of the designated names and banned Saudi citizens from carrying out any transactions with them.
The statement listed at least 12 people, some with aliases, including one identified as Mustafa Badreddine. A man by the same name has been accused by a U.N. tribunal in the 2005 killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri and is being tried in absentia. It was not immediately clear however, if the Saudi designation referred to the same Badreddine.
In May, Saudi Arabia designated two bigwigs of the Lebanese Hezbollah group as terrorists, accusing them of involvement in spreading "chaos and instability".
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... members and companies included in the statement are Ali Moussa Daqdouq al-Moussawi, Mohammed Kawtharani, Mohammed Youssef Mansour, Adham Tabaja and his company and tourism establishment and its affiliates, Qassem Hojeij, Hussein Ali Faour and his car maintenance center, Mustafa Badreddine, Ibrahim Aqil, Fouad Shukr, Abdul Nour Shaalan, Mohammed Najib Karim, and Mohammed Salman Fawwaz.
UN aid chief Stephen O'Brien accused Houthi rebels of blocking and diverting humanitarian aid deliveries to Taiz where some 200,000 people are living under siege.
"Houthis are blocking supply routes and continue to obstruct the delivery of urgently needed humanitarian aid and supplies into Taiz city," said O'Brien, the under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs.
Trucks carrying aid are blocked at checkpoints and "only very limited assistance has been allowed in," he added in a statement.
O'Brien said it was 'unacceptable' that some of the aid destined for the city's needy was being diverted away from those people.
Some 200,000 people are in need of drinking water, food, medical treatment and other life-saving assistance in Taiz, a 'deeply concerned' O'Brien said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/27/2015 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Houthis
Khalid Bahah, Vice-President and Prime Minister of Yemen, has said his government was ready for a peace negotiations provided Houthi rebels and ousted former president Ali Abdullah Saleh are serious and sincere about implementing the UN Security Council resolutions, especially the resolution No 2216.
Bahah made these remarks while holding talks with US ambassador to Yemen, Matthew H.Tueller, at a meeting in Riyadh. According to the Yemeni official news agency SABA, Bahah underscored the keenness of the government to stop the war. The meeting also discussed the status of the current operations to recapture the city of Taiz.
SABA quoted the US ambassador as saying that his country was committed to supporting the legitimate Yemeni government.
Yemeni president's advisor Yaseen Makawi met the US ambassador and discussed with him the bilateral relations and latest developments in the light of the victories achieved by the national armed forces and the popular resistance against Houthi rebels. Makway underlined the importance of the role of the US in making UN resolutions binding on Houthi and Saleh militias.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/27/2015 00:00 ||
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[Daily Caller] Officials in the Swiss county of Ticino voted Monday to make the Muslim burqa illegal in public spaces, with fines of up to $9,800 for violations.
The local government wanted the law to also include other forms of headwear that cover the face, including masks worn by demonstrators and soccer hooligans, but the parliament voted to only ban the burqas and niqabs (face veil). This means covering your face in public is legal, as long as you don't do it with a burqa or niqab.
Giorgio Ghiringhelli, who drew up the proposal, said the result will send a message to "Islamist fundamentalists" in the country.
Vive la France also for upholding their secular law - no burqas in the public service or hijabs either. Secular government means if you work for the government you will not be advertising your religion
[AnNahar] The Great Mosque of Brussels was evacuated and 11 people decontaminated Thursday after the discovery of a suspicious package containing white powder as the EU capital remained on highest possible terror alert.
"A parcel was found at the entrance to the mosque and found to contain white powder. We are taking all preventative measures in case it is anthrax but it is a precautionary measure," said fire services spokeswomen Anne Wibin, who was at the scene.
The mosque, the city's biggest, is located just a few blocks from the major EU institutions and many embassies and was cordoned off by police and firemen, some of them in white hazard materials suits.
The alert came with Brussels on maximum security levels in the wake of the Gay Paree attacks on November 13, with two Belgium-linked suspects still on the run.
Wibin said eleven people, including two police offers, were decontaminated as a precautionary measure.
"A package was found with several envelopes one of which contained a powder, evidently suspect in the circumstances," she said.
"The powder has been partially tested and it has been found to be not radioactive," she said, adding that no possibility was being ruled out. "People in direct contact were isolated and decontaminated and also those who were in indirect contact."
"There is absolutely no danger to anyone," she added.
Earlier this week several mosques in the Molenbeek neighborhood, seen as a hotbed of jihadist activity inspired by IS, received threatening letters from a group calling itself "Christian state".
The Great Mosque, given as gift to 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... by Belgium, sits on a corner of Cinquantenaire Park where many of the thousands of EU staff take a lunchtime break and families bring their children to play. It is no more than 200 meters (yards) from the top EU institutions -- the European Council and the European Commission -- plus other offices and many embassies.
Troops and armed police have been out in force in Brussels since Saturday, with the authorities due to review the top level four security alert on Monday.
Firecrews and decontamination teams attended a major mosque in Brussels close to the European Union headquarters on Thursday to investigate a suspect powder that police later said turned out to be flour.
Reuters journalists saw about a dozen emergency vehicles, including police, outside the Islamic and Cultural Centre of Belgium, a large Saudi-established institution including a mosque situated 200 metres (yards) from the European Commission. A spokeswoman for the fire service said it had taken a call from the mosque from a person saying they believed that they had found anthrax powder, prompting the deployment of specialist crews. A police spokesman later said the substance was flour.
#3
One autumn in musulmane Brussels,
Mohammed was flexing his muscles,
But Mannekin Pee
Pissed upon him par ris
As police pups pounced upon his apostles.
Good that the French spirit is not dead, as has been claimed. Train all who can handle it, to have an unorganized militia known and available during future excitements.
[AnNahar] La Belle France's emergency services and military have seen a surge of interest from young people keen to join up after watching the Gay Paree attacks unfold on television.
"During the attacks I saw all these emergency workers helping people voluntarily. I just felt powerless sitting in front of the TV and I said to myself that I wanted to help people as well," music student Simon Chaudemanche told AFP.
The police, fire brigade and armed forces have all reported a jump in young people asking about careers -- or like Chaudemanche, wanting to volunteer for a few months.
Continued on Page 49
[AnNahar] Norway has begun publishing adverts in Afghanistan's newspapers to dissuade Afghans from seeking asylum in the Scandinavian country, the Norwegian government said on Thursday.
"The goal is to persuade people to not sell all their belongings and put their lives in the hands of human traffickers, because they risk being sent back to the country from which they came," Joran Kallmyr, a state secretary at the justice ministry, told AFP.
The adverts, entitled "Stricter asylum regulations in Norway" and published in English and the Afghan Dari language on the front page of two Afghan newspapers, explained that people coming from areas of Afghanistan designated as safe or who hold a residency permit in another country will be expelled, by force if necessary.
Norway has recently seen a rise in the number of asylum requests from Afghans, even outnumbering those from Syrians in the past three weeks, with 2,212 applications from Afghans and 2,138 from Syrians.
Some of the Afghans arriving in Norway have previously stayed legally in Russia, and Oslo has decided to send those people back to Russia, or, if that isn't possible, to 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.... Fearing a reputation as an open country, Norway launched a Facebook campaign in early November informing potential asylum seekers about how difficult it is to get residency in the Scandinavian country.
The adverts published since Monday in the Afghan press come on the heels of a Danish government initiative earlier this year, which bought ad space in Lebanese newspapers aimed at dissuading Syrian refugees from coming.
Norwegian authorities on Thursday also temporarily beefed up random border controls and introduced systematic identity checks on ferries arriving from Germany, Denmark and Sweden.
After neighboring Sweden on Tuesday announced a drastic tightening of its previously very generous asylum regulations, Oslo now fears that many migrants will head to Norway instead.
Since the beginning of 2015, some 30,000 asylum seekers have arrived in Norway, a country of 5.2 million people which is a member of the border-free Schengen zone but not the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... .
The Belgian authorities have reduced the threat level in Brussels from its highest level of four to three.
The city was locked down for nearly a week, with schools, universities, and the metro system closed and soldiers deployed on the streets.
The escalation to level four came after suspects in the Islamic State attacks in Paris were linked to the city. At least one suspected Paris gunman - Salah Abdeslam - remains at large. He lived in Brussels for several years. His brother Brahim, who died detonating a suicide vest in Paris, was also a city resident.
"We can confirm that the Threat Analysis Coordination Agency re-evaluated the threat level from four to level three," a spokesman for the crisis centre said.
The reduction to level three lowers the perceived threat from "serious and imminent" to "possible and likely", bringing Brussels in line with the rest of the country. The lowering of the threat level came as a surprise, since the government had said that it would probably keep the highest threat level in the capital through the weekend.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/27/2015 00:00 ||
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[Hurriyet] A senior member of The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... 's Justice and Development Party (AKP) has underlined the government's determination to supply "meaningful and qualitative" support to the Turkmens in Syria that will ensure their "material and moral security."
"Everybody should know that Turkey's support for the Turkmens is meaningful and qualitative," Ömer Celik, a spokesperson for the AKP, told news hounds late on Nov. 25.
Continued on Page 49
[The Weekly Std] Barack Obama says he wants the truth. On November 21, the New York Times reported allegations that military intelligence officials provided the president with skewed assessments that minimized the threat from ISIS and overstated the success of U.S. efforts against the group. The Times story was an update of reporting from the Daily Beast earlier this fall.
"More than 50 intelligence analysts working out of the U.S. military's Central Command have formally complained that their reports on ISIS and al Qaeda's branch in Syria were being inappropriately altered by senior officials," the Beast reported in September.
These analysts say their superiors regularly massaged pessimistic assessments to make them more upbeat before sending them up the chain of command. The analysts registered their grievances with the inspector general at the Pentagon, who is investigating their claims.
#4
Intel assessments are read by more people than the President. They get supplied to Congress, planning and operational DOD units, etc.
I suspect the intel massaging is due to the same reasoning as controlling the bin Ladin documents - it's likely a combination of post-911 inter-IC turf wars and, more important, that the release of intel would be severely damaging - both domestic and internationally - were it to see the light of day.
The cynically interesting part is that it's taken toward the near-end of Mr. Obama's regime for the press to start 'noticing' something is wrong.
#5
Daily Intel assessments provided the Prez at his morning briefing are also read at DofState. If the DofDefense assessments were dumbed down it is likely that State knew it and was partner to it.
#6
If the DofDefense assessments were dumbed down it is likely that State knew it and was partner to it.
It is more likely that any dumbing down was done by the National Security Council staff. Susan Rice has been in charge there since June, 2013; and Obama made Chuck Hagel (DOD) subordinate to her. All DOD reports to the President probably went through her before reaching Obama.
Al
Posted by: frozen al ||
11/27/2015 11:19 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Look for the ValJar connection mentoring Rice. More interesting is the UBL raid docs and what may be in them about AQ and Iran support. If you want a nuke deal that benefits Iran and creates them as the regional hegemon you cannot let those docs out. Since ValJar is Iran's creature they have been suppressed against all common sense for the value they contain.
#8
If the DofDefense assessments were dumbed down it is likely that State knew it and was partner to it.
Possible, but not probable.
More probable would be "57 flavors" of intel assessments; one for 'public' consumption and one or more versions for various advisory bodies/NSC/inner circle.
#9
One thing I don't understand. If ValJar/Baraq are all in for Iran, why are they so deadly serious about ousting Assad?
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
11/27/2015 13:48 Comments ||
Top||
#10
If ValJar/Baraq are all in for Iran, why are they so deadly serious about ousting Assad?
you mean "Red Line" and sh*t? That "deadly serious"? How many strikes directly on Assad have we taken?
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/27/2015 13:55 Comments ||
Top||
#11
Frhozenat: The morning briefing book cannot be changed in the White House. It is delivered by the various agencies early in the AM. If Obama doesn't want to read it, which seems to be the case, then of course intel can be massaged by people like VJ.
#12
One thing I don't understand. If ValJar/Baraq are all in for Iran, why are they so deadly serious about ousting Assad?
Balancing act. The Iranians (who the Obama regime wants to normalize relations with) are backing Assad, are also supporting Ergodan and the Muslim Brotherhood AKP.
The Sunni Arabs, who want Assad gone and aren't too keen on the White House playing footsie with the Iranians, need to be placated lest they go over to the Russians.
The Russians, who are backing Assad, also have the Euros (who also want Assad gone) worked up over Ukraine and general muscle-flexing, while working a diplomatic charm offensive of sorts on particular European countries.
The Obama regime, for its part, wants to disengage from the Middle East (hence trying to set up both the Muslim Brotherhood and the Iranians as political counterweights to the Sauds and other Arabs) and from Europe in order to pivot to Asia. However it cannot easily do so, due to domestic political considerations that might seriously impinge on its post-presidential political plans.
#13
Pappy you are wrong. The daily briefing offers the Prez the best assessment possible of current events. It provides bulletized info, and some in-depth though truncated analysis. It has been vetted by the various agents and is supposed to be the best analysis possible at the moment. If the White House wants to use or reject analysis, it will. If there are disputes between principals , that is why the NSC -- under the leadership of someone honest with real foreign policy credentials, and not someone like VJ -- was created.
#14
The daily briefing offers the Prez the best assessment possible of current events. It provides bulletized info, and some in-depth though truncated analysis. It has been vetted by the various agents and is supposed to be the best analysis possible at the moment.
If the reports are correct, he's not reading the daily briefing. The best report in the world isn't any good if it doesn't get read. But I'll bet you knew that.
If the White House wants to use or reject analysis, it will. If there are disputes between principals , that is why the NSC -- under the leadership of someone honest with real foreign policy credentials, and not someone like VJ -- was created.
The word I'm getting is that the NSC a) hasn't met all that much formally, with most of it being confined to an inner circle and b) what NSC members that are working, are overstretched. I'd be happy to be wrong, but I don't think I am in this case.
I have a Theorem: For any two parties A and B, who at war in Syria, there is a third party C, whom A and B are united against in another context or theater.
#18
The most likely + most dangerous potential for a US-involved major mil conflict lies ala CHINA in EAST ASIA-PACIFIC [WestPac], espec in support or defense of US Regional Allies, IMO not or notsomuch agz Russia + Putin.
As per #2, again whatever the Bammer as a dedicated, covert, Anti-US US OWG Globalist POTUS does NOT achieve by Jan 2017, any follow-on similar Anti-US US OWG Globalist POTUS Successor(s) will do.
THE BAMMER'S ANTI-US GLOBALIST SUCCESSOR(S) ADMINS MAY PROVE DE FACTO WORSE THAN HIS OWN, GIVEN THE HISTORICAL PENCHANT FOR AGENDAS OR CONSPIRACIES TO BE ACCOMPISHED IN PHASES, I.E. OVER SEVERAL OR MANY POTUS ADMINS.
IT IS DESIGNED OR INTENTIONED THAT WAY.
As a "Safe", now "Unitarian" US Politician, the Bammer may had put the US on the path of UNILATERAL OR STRATEGIC [Self] GEOPOL OR MILPOL RETREAT AS A SUPERPOWER - IT IS THE BAMMER'S GLOBALIST SUCCESSOR(S) THAT WILL FINISH WHAT WAS STARTED.
ORDINARY OR MAINSTREAM AMERIKA IS UNLIKELY TO BE TOLD, NOR TO COMPREHEND OR REALIZE, WHAT WAS DONE UNTIL MANY YEARS OR DECADES AFTER IT IS SO.
IOW, Mainstream America = Amerika is NOT going to know vee the Globies andor "Safe Politics" just "how much" or "how far", ...@etc. the US as a "Weak//Declining" Sole-Superpower-soon-to-Be-Just-One-of-Many-OWG-Co-Superpowers will be giving up in the name of US-LED/CREATED ANTI-US OWG-NWO + GLOBALISM.
#19
FYI tensions between CHINA + US Ally JAPAN are escalating.
While China continues its reclamation activities un-abated in the SCS, even as POTUS Obama sends USN Warships on patrol in same, China is now upping the ante + becom active in the East China Sea + ala Taiwan.
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > JAPAN NAVY COMING TO SPRATLYS ALONG WID US.
RELATED TOPIX, WORLD NEWS > JAPAN READY TO PATROL IN SOUTH CHINA SEA: OFFICIALS [Japan DM].
* LUCIANNE > JAPAN DEPLOYING TROOPS TO EAST CHINA SEA [Ishigaki] AS CHINA TENSIONS ESCALATE.
* SAME > CHINA ON "HIGH ALERT" FOR JAPAN INTERVENTION IN SOUTH CHINA SEA | THE DIPLOMAT.
-------------
As for the Bammer + ISIS ...
* LUCIANNE > [Telegraph.UK] BARACK OBAMA'S PLAN TO DEFEAT THE ISIL DENOUNCED BY US INTELLIGENCE EXPERTS.
The Syrian refugees are belabeled by the Bammer Admin as the "New Pilgrims/Americans", after all, as per FREEREPUBLIC???
KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Farooq Sattar claimed that MQM is a victim of state terrorism for the past two years, adding that the party cannot continue its political activities if law enforcement agencies continue to raid its offices in Karachi.
Sattar was speaking to party workers and supporters during a protest rally, which turned into a sit-in at Numaish Chowrangi after police barred the protesters from moving towards the Red Zone.
The MQM lawmaker announced that he along with other MQM leaders and party workers will voluntarily present themselves before security agencies for arrest but after local body polls — which are scheduled for December 5.
"4,000 MQM workers were arrested while 5,000 raids were conducted on our offices," claimed Farooq Sattar.
The senior MQM leader claimed that some forces are trying to portray that MQM follows the politics of violence and crime, adding that “MQM is a political party and will talk about politics wherever and whenever it gets a chance.
"Today, you witnessed a million march, on December 5 (election day) there will be a billion march," said Sattar.
Later the sit-in ended after MQM leader Amir Khan ordered the party supporters and workers to disperse peacefully.
Earlier in the day, police stopped the MQM rally at Numaish Chowrangi, barring it from entering the Red Zone. The MQM had taken out the rally to protest against alleged illegal arrest of its workers.
The protest rally started from Liaquatabad and was scheduled to culminate at the Rangers Headquarters located near Sindh Assembly, but police stopped the participants ─ led by MQM's senior leadership ─ near Numaish Chowrangi.
The police forces deployed were under orders to stop the rally at Quaid-i-Azam's mausoleum. MQM leaders also stopped the party workers and supporters from moving forward, DawnNews reported.
Security forces had earlier sealed the sensitive area around the Rangers Headquarters, which is in close proximity to the Governor House, CM House and other important state buildings.
The police stated that it will not allow the rally to enter the Red Zone in Karachi's Saddar area.
High-ranking police officials, including DIG-South and Sindh IG Ghulam Haider Jamali told media personnel that they will not allow protesters to enter the sensitive area and would employ water canons to disperse the crowd if need be, DawnNews reported.
Authorities had also placed barriers along the routes leading to the Red Zone, in order to stop the rally from proceeding. Roads around the area witnessed heavy traffic congestion due to the blockades.
MQM's leadership, on the other hand, said it will end the protest rally where stopped and will respect the law.
The party claims 22 of its workers were busy with the election campaign for the upcoming LG polls when they were arrested by the law enforcement agencies. The party alleged it was an attempt to curtail the activities of the most favoured contender in Karachi days before polling day.
A top Pakistan People's Party leader and a close aide of former president Asif Ali Zardari has been charged with terror financing and corruption, officials said. Asim Hussain, a former minister and the Chairman of the provincial Higher Education Commission, was arrested on August 26 from his office by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and paramilitary rangers in several cases of corruption and terror financing.
NAB officials said on Wednesday confirmed that the Joint Investigation Team had finally filed a FIR against Hussain in which he is charged with terror financing and supporting terrorists and target killers. It comes just a day before the end of a 90-day physical remand of Hussain in Rangers custody on charges of terror financing.
The interior ministry has also put his name on the Exit Control List (ECL) on the request of NAB, which is part of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) formed to investigate Hussain's alleged corruption and his role in terror financing.
NAB is currently investigating three corruption cases against Hussain, who is said to be a close confidante of Zardari, the co-chairperson of the PPP.
Soon after Hussain's arrest, Zardari and other top PPP leaders from Sindh flew to Dubai and have remained there since.
They're acting just like Perv did, and for similar reasons...
Another official said the name of former Sindh information minister Sharjeel Memon, who is also in Dubai, had also been put on the ECL.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/27/2015 00:00 ||
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(IraqiNews.com) Erbil – British Prime Minister David Cameron announced on Thursday, that the ISIS has become a threat to the world, stressing that the Peshmerga is his ground forces in Iraq.
Cameron said in a speech before the British Parliament, followed up by Iraqinews.com, “The Peshmerga are our ground forces in Iraq,” stressing “the need to support the Kurdish forces in the war against ISIS”.
Cameron added, “ISIS become a threat to the entire world, and all of us should face it,” pointing out to “the need to dry ISIS financial resources.”
So their boots on the ground are worn on someone else's feet? Golly. Still, providing the Kurds with money, training, and materiel has proven very cost-effective thus far.
[Rudaw] The corpse count from the Shingal Massacre, in which 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.... slaughtered thousands of Yezidis, continues to rise as more mass graves are found around the ravaged city.
Why we want to keep the war over there, example #568,990,371.
[Rudaw] Duhok's Directorate of Roads and Traffic Services have begun rebuilding roads and bridges in Shingal destroyed during 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.... 's year-and-a-half reign of terror there.
Video of bridge construction at the link.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
11/27/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
A C-Span viaduck if I am not mistaken. Perhaps there is expertise in the house.
One of those 10% efforts that gives 90% results. Read on, dear Reader.
[IsraelTimes] Army says vehicles were being used to transfer demonstrators to festivities with troops at West Bank checkpoints
Israeli forces confiscated eight Paleostinian public transportation buses early Thursday morning in the West Bank city of Nablus, Israel Radio reported.
The army reportedly told Paleostinians the buses were taken because they were being used to transport demonstrators to festivities at checkpoints with Israeli troops.
The buses, reported to belong to the Al-Tamimi company, were mainly used on the Nablus-Ramallah route as well as for routes within Nablus, the Paleostinian news agency Ma'an reported.
Ma'an said that the buses had been taken to an IDF base south of Nablus, where they would be held "until further notice."
Also Thursday, a Paleostinian man was killed by IDF fire during festivities with Israeli troops near the West Bank village of Qatana, north of Jerusalem, Paleostinian officials said. Paleostinians say Yahya Yasri Taha was the hundredth Paleostinian killed by Israel in the recent escalation of violence, which began at the beginning of October.
That figure includes Paleostinian gunnies shot by Israeli security forces as they carried out or tried to carry out attacks. More than 20 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed by Paleostinian assailants since October 1.
#1
"In Nablus, they've messed up our busing
To hobble our rush to the fussing,
So now, to the squabbles
We're pounding the cobbles
And gobbling, "No fair repercussing!"
[AlAhram] US soldiers are in Kobane, the town in northern Syria nearly destroyed in fierce fighting with 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.... (ISIS) group, to train Kurdish forces to battle the jihadists, Kurdish sources said Thursday.
Mustapha Abdi, an activist in the town on the Turkish border, told AFP the American instructors had arrived "in recent hours" in what is the first official deployment of US ground troops in Syria.
A source with the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) said the Americans would help plan offensives against two Syrian cities held by ISIS -- Jarablus and the jihadists' Syrian "capital", Raqa.
At the same time, they would have a role in coordinating with the Kurds and their Arab and Syriac Christian allies on the ground air strikes on ISIS by the US-led coalition, the YPG source said.
Abdi said that the troops who had arrived were a "first group of instructors" who would train the Kurds.
There was no immediate information on how many of them had arrived or to what branch, or branches, of the military they belong.
The news comes after Brett McGurk, President Barack Obama We're gonna punish our enemies and we're gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us... 's special envoy to the coalition, said Sunday that US forces would be arriving on the ground "very soon".
At the end of October, Obama authorised the deployment of 50 special operations troops to Syria, and McGurk said their job would be to "organise" local forces.
A key objective will be to "isolate" Raqa, he said.
The alliance of local fighters has already retaken more than 1,000 square kilometres (386 square miles) from ISIS and killed around 300 ISIS fighters, McGurk said.
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11/27/2015 00:00 ||
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[Ynet] Fourteen air forces operate in the congested airspace above Syria, a factor which has given rise to regional challenges, and may possibly lead to more festivities and border violations.
Lots of videos at the link.
The downing of a Russian Su-24 fighter bomber by Turkish Air Force F-16's adjacent to the Turkish Syrian border on Tuesday provided yet another example of the increasing complexity which has emerged as a result of the sheer number of combat aircraft operating above the failing state.
The growing presence of foreign combat aircraft in Syrian airspace has created serious complications for regional air forces, which previously only had to contend with a bruised but not beaten Syrian Air Force.
[AnNahar] Germany plans to send Tornado reconnaissance jets to support the fight 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 in Syria, the defense front man of Chancellor Angela Merkel ...current chancellor of Germany. She was educated in East Germany when is was still run by commies, but in 1989 got involved with the growing democracy movement when the Berlin Wall fell. Merkel is sometimes referred to by Germans as Mom... 's conservatives said Thursday.
A day after Merkel pledged in Gay Paree to "soon" decide how to help battle the IS group in Syria, she met cabinet ministers in charge of security ahead of afternoon meetings of the major parties' parliamentary groups.
"Germany will play a more active role than before," said the defense policy front man of her conservative CDU/CSU parliamentary group, Henning Otte, in a statement.
While the government had not yet issued a statement, Otte said Germany would go beyond its current arms supplies and training to Iraqi Kurdish forces combating the IS.
"We are not only strengthening the training mission in northern Iraq, but will step up our commitment in the fight against IS terror, among other things with RECCE reconnaissance Tornados," he said.
The parliamentary groups of Merkel's conservatives as well as of her coalition partners, the center-left Social Democrats, were to meet from 1600 GMT to discuss how to support La Belle France in the battle against IS.
Post-war Germany has been traditionally reluctant to send troops abroad, although it has joined U.N.-mandated missions in the Balkans and elsewhere, and the NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... coalition in Afghanistan.
Germany has not taken part in air strikes against the IS in Syria and Iraq flown by U.S. and French aircraft.
Otte said that "the IS can only be defeated militarily, therefore no idea must be ruled out as we engage in the fight against Islamist terrorism".
"Islamist terrorism is a threat to Germany and to world peace. Together with La Belle France and all other countries that oppose Islamist terror, we will provide everything necessary to the battle."
He added that all requests by the alliance against IS and by La Belle France "must be examined with an open mind".
Germany sent fighter aircraft for reconnaissance missions in Afghanistan between 2007 and 2010.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
11/27/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
The UK is repor giving full military support to NATO ally Turkey in the aftermath of the Russian jet shootdown.
[Ynet] Russia's state-owned RIA Novosti news agency is reporting that Russia has already deployed long-range air defense missiles at its base in Syria.
Moscow announced the move on Wednesday, saying the missiles would help destroy any target that may threaten its warplanes there following the downing of a Russian military jet by The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... RIA Novosti on Thursday quoted its own news hound on the ground saying as S-400 missiles have been delivered.
The S-400s are based in Syria's coastal province of Latakia, just 50 kilometers (30 miles) away from the border with Turkey and are capable of striking targets within a 400-kilometer (250-mile) range with deadly precision.
#1
Besides the MOSKVA battlecruiser, 150,000 Russian Soldats, circa 12 new SU-24, -30 Escort + Strike-Fighters, 25 Strategic or Heavy Bombers to allegedly be permanently based in Syria, + ADMIRAL GORSHKOV in the Caspian Sea.
[Ynet] Iran is reducing its nuclear activities under a deal with six world powers, but ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano told the IAEA's 35-nation board on Thursday he cannot guarantee that everything it is doing is peaceful.
Amano said he is "not in a position to provide credible assurance about the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran," and thus cannot conclude that "all nuclear material in Iran is in peaceful activities."
His comments reflect IAEA constraints on monitoring Iran. But Amano said Tehran will soon enact an agreement giving his agency greater inspection powers.
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11/27/2015 00:00 ||
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Saudi foreign minister Adel Al Jubeir said on Thursday that a military option in Syria was still viable and support for the opposition fighting to oust President Bashar Al Assad would continue. Speaking at a news conference with visiting Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, Jubeir also said Riyadh was in contact with various Syrian opposition groups about a potential meeting in the kingdom to unify their position ahead of upcoming peace talks in Vienna. Jubeir did not give a date for any meeting.
"The military option is still viable and the support to the Syrian opposition is still continuing," Jubeir told the news conference.
"If it (the conference) happens, its aim will be to unify the Syrian opposition and help them to come out with one vision so that it can play an active role in the talks to reach a peaceful solution that leads to the removal of Bashar Al Assad," he added.
International talks were held in Vienna earlier this month in which Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China - laid out a plan including formal talks between the government and opposition by January 1.
Division in Syrian opposition ranks is often cited as one of many obstacles facing diplomatic efforts to end the conflict. Jubeir said it would not deal with any groups designated on any terrorism lists.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/27/2015 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.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Thursday dismissed national security agency officials who he said had neglected their duty to defend the northern city of Kunduz, which Taleban militants briefly captured in September.
[The Weekly Std] Barack Obama says he wants the truth. On November 21, the New York Times reported allegations that military intelligence officials provided the president with skewed assessments that minimized the threat from ISIS and overstated the success of U.S. efforts against the group. The Times story was an update of reporting from the Daily Beast earlier this fall. 
[AnNahar] Germany plans to send Tornado reconnaissance jets to support the fight against the 
[Ynet] Iran is reducing its nuclear activities under a deal with six world powers, but 
