[NEWS24.NG] The Senator representing Taraba Central, Abubakar Yusuf, has denied reports of an influx of suspected members of Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... terror group in the state.
The denial follows initial reports by fellow Emmanuel Bwacha suggesting the suspected members of the murderous group had been transported from the Sambisa forest in Borno State to wreck havoc in Taraba.
Yusuf said he called the Director of State Security Service (SSS) and Police Commissioner in the state, who informed him such reports were not true.
"The reports of an influx of suspected Boko Haram members being transported to Taraba State are not true," Yusuf said on Thursday through point of order at the floor of the Senate.
He spoke during plenary.
He raised concern the statement credited to Bwacha had created fear in the minds of the people in the state.
Yusf thus urged Bwacha to always investigate such reports before raising them in the floor of the Senate.
The Boko Haram sect is a source of fear in Nigeria and neighbouring countries where it has killed some 20 000 people and displaced more than 2 million.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2016 00:00 ||
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[NEWS24.NG] A member of the Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... Islamist group has accused the Federal Government of delaying his efforts to appeal his 2013 terrorism conviction and sentence, Punch reports.
Kabiru Umar, also known as Kabiru Sokoto, was convicted and sentence in December of 2013 following his role in the 2011 Christmas Day blast in Madalla that saw 44 people killed and 75 injured.
Sokoto, who is currently serving a life sentence at the Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison in Lagos, has alleged that the Comptroller of Prisons has made it impossible for him to have contact with his lawyer, Sheriff Okoh.
Sokoto has also revealed that he is seeking a declaration stating that the actions of the Comptroller of Prisons are a violation to his right to fair hearing, right to counsel and access to justice.
Justice Ademola, who handed sown Sokoto's sentence to him, disclosed that the convict had admitted to having prior knowledge of the attack on two separate occasions.
Ademola also noted that the Boko Haram member showed no remorse during his trial, labeling him as a "pathological liar with no regards for the truth".
Sokoto's case of appeal has been postponed to February 4 for hearing of motion.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2016 00:00 ||
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[IBTIMES.CO.UK] As the deadly insurgency carried out by terror group Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... continues to wreak havoc in north-eastern Nigeria and neighbouring countries, IBTimes UK speaks with a Nigerian barrister and philantropist, who is calling on governments to expand deradicalisation and reintegration programs to effectively tackle terrorism.
Lawyer Zannah Bukar Mustapha is based in Maiduguri, capital of the restive Borno state, Boko Haram's birthplace. The terror group has killed thousands of people since 2009 and has become famous worldwide for its widespread practice of kidnapping civilians who are then trained to become fighters, forced to become sex slaves, or used in suicide kaboom missions.
Due to deteriorating security conditions, hundreds of thousands of children have dropped out of school in north-eastern Nigeria, where several educational buildings have closed down following terror attacks targeting public places.
Children who are out of school often happen to be their family's breadwinners as their parents have been killed by the insurgency. This -- coupled with lack of jobs and infrastructure -- enhances the possibility of children being recruited by Boko Haram, who promises money in exchange for work, creating a cycle difficult to break.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2016 00:00 ||
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SANAA: The Daesh affiliate in Yemen has claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing on Thursday that killed seven people and targeted the presidential palace in Aden, where the internationally recognized president and his Cabinet are based.
In an online statement posted on Twitter by the group’s supporters, Daesh identified the attacker as Abu Hanifa Al-Hollandi, an Arabic nom de guerre that suggests he was Dutch. His real name was not immediately known.
It was not possible to verify the claim. The group posted pictures that appeared to show the car bomb speeding toward cement barricades manned by presidential guards.
The bombing took place around one kilometer away from his palace, which is heavily guarded by Emirati and Saudi special forces, officials said.
They said that both President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi and Prime Minister Khaled Bahah were inside the palace at the time of the explosion. Witnesses said that the bombing was heard across the city and demolished several nearby houses.
The attack came days after top government officials held a meeting to discuss badly needed security measures in Aden, officials said, adding that the new security plan involved the deployment of heavy weaponry to the city. They said a first dispatch that included dozens of armored vehicles and rockets had already arrived, and that units of newly trained civilians had joined the pro-government army in Aden.
Meanwhile, Al Jazeera confirmed that its reporter Hamdi Al-Bakari and crew members Abdulaziz Al-Sabri and Moneer Al-Sabai had been freed in the western city of Taiz.
Al-Bakari wrote on his Facebook page that he was abducted by Houthis and that they were subjected to “terrible mental torture.”
For months, residents and aid groups say the Houthis have been indiscriminately shelling Taiz and blocking the delivery of humanitarian aid there. Although Al-Bokhari blames Houthis for his kidnap, Taiz’s local militias include militants from Al-Qaeda’s offshoot in Yemen as well as hard-liners whom some activists blamed for the abduction in recent days.
[Dhaka Tribune] District-based Islamic scholars and holy mans have so far identified some 103 mosque committees across the country having leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... and other radical groups as members instigating krazed killer activities.
Most of these mosques are located in the northern part of the country. The scholars are now gathering more information about the suspected krazed killer sympathisers and the activities of the mosque committees.
They would inform the law enforcement agencies about the committees and the persons after the 1,00,000 signature campaign against militancy ends. The fatwa involving 11 questions explains the relevant verses of the Qur'an and the Hadiths to discourage extremism and krazed killer activities in the country. The campaign began on January 2.
"We will be able to publish the fatwa after taking signatures of 1,00,000 scholars and holy mans within February," Sholakia Mosque Imam Maulana Md Fariduddin Masud told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
Farid, also the chairman of Jamaat-e-Ulema, said that after they identify all the suspicious mosque committees, the law enforcers would take necessary action to stop false explanation of Islam.
The 103 mosques were identified in Rajshahi, Chittagong, Chandpur, Rangpur, Bogra, Gaibandha, Satkhira, Sylhet, Gazipur and Dinajpur districts.
According to sources, at least 30 mosques in Rajshahi area are dominated by the Jamaat men. These mosques are located in Mohisalbari, Shalbagan, Bohorompur, Boothpara and Meherchondi areas.
An elderly scholar from Dinajpur told the Dhaka Tribune that they were confirmed about 17 mosques in the district where the mosque committee leaders instigate ordinary Muslims in the name of discussions almost every week.
A well-know scholar of Satkhira said that many mosque committees in the area were dominated by the Jamaat men, but they had got information on 13 mosques. "We are on alert to stop the spread of any kind of false explanation of Islam. Such practice should be stopped," he added.
The law enforcers too are contacting with the scholars and conducting their own investigation.
"We are getting response from the scholars, and our officials are verifying the information. It may need more time to take legal action," Md Moniruzzaman, assistant inspector general (confidential) of the Police Headquarters, told the Dhaka Tribune.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2016 00:00 ||
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North Korea's claim that it detonated a hydrogen bomb during an apparent nuclear-weapons test on January 6 were widely dismissed by experts and the US government as well. But it turns out that Pyongyang might have tested components from a hydrogen bomb after all.
According to CNN, inconclusive sampling of air near the test site by US spy aircraft, along with the unusual depth at which the test is believed to have occurred, have led some US officials to suspect that North Korea actually did test elements of a hydrogen device.
"The test was conducted more than two times deeper underground than originally assessed -- at a depth consistent with what might be needed for a hydrogen bomb," CNN reports, while cautioning that "the size of the seismic event and other intelligence indicates it was not likely a fully functioning device."
Seismic information indicates that North Korea tested a weapon with a comparable explosive yield to the nuclear device the country detonated during its last previous test in 2013 -- a 10-kiloton bomb that created a fireball one-fifth of a mile wide. After the January 6 test, numerous arms-control experts said it was highly unlikely that North Korea had tested a hydrogen bomb, though possible it had tested a more typical fission-based atomic weapon "boosted" with hydrogen isotopes for increased yield.
Even a failed test of hydrogen-bomb components could signal an alarming shift in North Korea's weapons capabilities.
A hydrogen bomb, aka a thermonuclear weapon, uses a plutonium- or uranium-based reaction to heat hydrogen isotopes, creating a kind of nuclear-feedback loop with the potential to dramatically boost the amount of energy that reaction ends up releasing. A thermonuclear weapon is more complicated and destructive than a typical atomic bomb.
As Alex Wellerstein, a nuclear historian at the Steven Institute of Technology and creator of Nuke Map, told Business Insider on January 6, a country that's mastered thermonuclear-weapons design suddenly has a number of possible options open to it.
For instance, a country with a thermonuclear capability could build "a very thin-cased bomb of low yield [in this case 1 to 10 kilotons, or 1,000 to 10,000 tons of TNT] that would emit a lot of radiation relative to its blast power."
The so-called neutron bomb, or "enhanced radiation," weapon isn't all that hard to develop once a country has mastered more basic hydrogen-bomb technology.
North Korea would still face the technical hurdle of miniaturizing a hydrogen device for delivery by ballistic missile. The US wasn't able to construct a functioning neutron bomb of any size or weight without extensive testing, and North Korea may not have the testing data or carried out the trial-and-error process needed to actually build a functioning hydrogen device.
But if North Korea really did test hydrogen-bomb components, it could signal an interest in eventually developing far more destructive weaponry -- bombs of horrifically high yield whose development might not remain outside Pyongyang's technological grasp for long.
The CNN report provides some of the most direct evidence that the January 6 test might have been carried out with this goal in mind.
#2
I am reminded of the early 1950's "bomber gap" estimate creep. the Klingons are letting their worst case estimates leak out in order to cover their asses.
I suspect the truthful answer is "We have no effing clue" as to what the Norks are up to, have, or do not have.
Penetrating outside information into North Korea questioning the legitimacy of leader Kim Jong-un should be considered as a key means to retaliate against and curb the communist nation's cyber attacks, a U.S. think tank said.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) made the suggestion in a report on policy suggestions on how to counter the North's cyber operations, saying reponding to cyber attacks with cyber attacks won't be effective because the North isn't as dependent on networks as South Korea and the U.S. are.
"Therefore, responses should be tailored to leverage North Korea's specific weaknesses and sensitivities," said the report released this week. "North Korea has unique asymmetric vulnerabilities as well, especially to outside information that attacks the legitimacy of the regime."
North Korea maintains a tight lid on outside information in an attempt to keep its hunger-stricken 24 million people in the dark about how terrible conditions they are in and how bad their leaders are. The regime tolerates no criticism of its leader.
"The DPRK government is known to oppose the consumption of South Korean and foreign media such as news, dramas, music and the like. Additionally North Korea has publicly expressed sensitivity to criticism and perceived defamation regarding the character of its leadership and the Kim family in particular," the report said.
"The deliberate introduction of additional media and information into North Korea's networks and population may serve as a potent means of responding to cyber attacks without resorting to use of force, armed attacks or countermeasures," it said.
It also recommended that the U.S. and South Korea should develop contingency plans for a range of scenarios involving North Korean cyber attacks, and those scenarios should not be limited only to cyber operations because cyber attacks can be conducted alongside conventional operations.
"The United States and ROK should be prepared to react to mixed provocations that will not and should not elicit responses purely in cyber space," it said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/30/2016 00:00 ||
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I read somewhere that in all of Pudgy's realm there are only 600 odd internet connections. Maybe dropping double bubble gum with comics....
Posted by: Sven the pelter ||
01/30/2016 1:53 Comments ||
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Every once in a while HuffPo hits on something. Here's a wily priest helping people in North Korea by using a network to smuggle in vegetable seeds. North Korean farmers, now allowed to use tiny plots to grow a little food, can use the seed to make it happen. It is the difference between survival and starvation for some. Very, very clever, and a way to help bring down the awful Kim mysdynasty. Hat tip to Josh Stanton at One Free Korea.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/30/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
Good story.
Thanks for the lead.
I was afraid this would be about cucumbers.
China urged South Korea Friday to rethink the sensitive issue of bringing in an advanced U.S. missile defense system.
"The Chinese government hopes the related nation (South Korea) will handle the matter prudently," Hua Chunying, spokeswoman for the Chinese foreign ministry, told Yonhap News Agency.
She stressed that Beijing's position is firm that all countries should consider the national interests of other nations in taking their own security into account.
China's message came in response to reports that South Korea is moving to allow American forces to deploy the THAAD system on the peninsula in order to strengthen the shield against North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/30/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
China + CPC/CCP is likely not a happy camper at this point in time, at due to seeing both recovery + reunification wid Taiwan, + getting the US out of East Asia + 1/2 of the Pacific/WESTPAC seemingly increasingly stalled or becom problematic.
#2
The US should expect China to behave increasingly assertive + belligerent, as China begins to recognize that military conflict = MilPol "aggressionism" agz US-Allies may be the only way to achieve its agenda in the near-term instead of Year 2050 or beyond.
In the strict technical sense of not actually having assembled warheads ready to put on/in delivery vehicles, yes the Nips have no nukes.
OTOH, I strongly suspect there are some interesting "spare parts" on a shelf in a (very secure!) warehouse somewhere. Made with all the care and precision that Japan can bring to bear.
#8
"...OTOH, I strongly suspect there are some interesting "spare parts" on a shelf in a (very secure!) warehouse somewhere. Made with all the care and precision that Japan can bring to bear."
...Tom Clancy, of all people, laid out a thoroughly compelling and believable scenario on how the Japanese could do this in Debt of Honor. You gotta believe the Chinese believe that scenario to be completely plausible...especially as the Taiwanese have the same abilities.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/30/2016 11:12 Comments ||
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#9
Mike -- so do the SKor. China, not providing firmer control of NKor, may have nuclearized the entire area around it. I expect Japan to do some serious renegotiating of its constitution in the near future, since what they have was forced upon them by McNamara.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/30/2016 17:07 Comments ||
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#10
Wouldn't it be funny if they all got Chinese designs via AQ Khan and the Paks?
Deployment of the United States' advanced missile defense system, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, in South Korea will be helpful in defending the country from North Korean threats, but the country has no plans to announce any decision on the matter in the near future, a defense official said Friday.
"Our government will consider every measure to prepare against North Korea's missile threats," the Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said.
"If U.S. Forces Korea deploys THAAD, it will help our national security and defense," Kim said.
The official government stance signals the U.S. move to deploy the THAAD system inside the USFK is gaining momentum in South Korea. It also marks a step forward from the country's more cautious stance in the past that South Korea will weigh the THAAD issue in accordance with national security interests.
Earlier in the day, the U.S.-based Wall Street Journal reported the U.S. could announce next week or so that the two countries are in negotiations over the THAAD system. Behind the scenes, the THAAD is close to a done deal, the report said, quoting an unidentified former U.S. official.
"The South Korean government has not been offered negotiations by the U.S. government," as internal discussion is now under way within the U.S. government over the issue, Kim said.
On the South Korean side, it is reviewing at a working level how effective the deployment could be from a military perspective, Kim added.
The latest comments by the defense official mark one of the burgeoning signs that South Korea is warming up to the idea of the deployment of the THAAD system, a source of intense protest from China which comes within the range of the THAAD if it is brought here.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/30/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
THAAD is an area defense (the AD) at the end. What do they mean by China coming within range? Is China afraid that THAAD will take out missiles in the boost phase heading say to Europe or the USA?
I say tough nuggies. Stop enabling the norks to build nuclear weapons. Choices have consequences.
Posted by: Sven the pelter ||
01/30/2016 12:11 Comments ||
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North Korea is preparing to launch a long-range ballistic missile, possibly within a week, the Japanese government believes.
Kyodo News on Thursday quoted a Japanese government source as saying that analysis of recent satellite images shows movement of vehicles and people near the North's missile launch pad at Tongchang-ri, North Pyongan Province.
The U.S. confirmed that preparations are taking place. "The indications are that they are preparing for some kind of launch," a US official said according to AFP. He added people on the ground seem to be readying for "a regular space launch."
But the official added it is unclear whether the launch will go ahead. "Could be for a satellite or a space vehicle -- there are a lot of guesses. North Korea does this periodically, they move things back and forth. There’s nothing to indicate it’s ballistic missile related," he said.
U.S. Defense Department spokesman Bill Urban urged the North to immediately stop actions and rhetoric that disturb peace and security in the region, but concentrate on taking solid measures to fulfill its international obligations.
Japan's National Security Council chaired by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met to discuss a response.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying also urged the North not to take any rash action and to avoid a vicious cycle of tensions.
The North began modernizing the Tongchang-ri launch site after it launched a space rocket with an estimated range of 10,000 km there in December 2012. It reportedly finished building a new mobile prefabricated structure late last year. This will allow it to assemble a missile on site out of the view of spy satellites.
But the South Korean military said it has detected no signs that indicate an imminent launch of a long-range missile. But it believes that this is likely in the near future because the North may want to put pressure on the U.S. and seek internal unity ahead of the Workers Party congress in May.
"It's true that there is a possibility of a surprise launch, but there're no sign that indicates an imminent launch." a Defense Ministry official said.
Intelligence authorities believe that the North would first have to transport a three-stage rocket from a missile plant near Pyongyang to Tongchang-ri, and none have been spotted.
The height of a tower at the launch pad at Tongchang-ri has been increased from 50 m to 66 m, allowing for a longer, more powerful rocket to be launched.
But the North has not yet declared a no-fly zone in the area.
Some pundits believe North Korea could feel emboldened by China's inaction after its latest nuclear test. "China's lukewarm response has paved the way for it to launch another missile," said Choi Kang of the Asan Institute for Policy Studies.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/30/2016 00:00 ||
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...If only we had the stones to blow it out of the sky and then warn them that the next one would not only be shot down, but the launchpad whacked...
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/30/2016 11:14 Comments ||
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#2
That would be war.
Please recall that the Norks have thousands of ancient artillery tubes in the hills on their side of the border, and that Seoul is in range. Even with the bestest counter-battery artillery, aircraft, etc., by the time we stopped them, many, many people in Seoul would be dead.
That's not a price the ROK wants to pay just to take out a Nork missile.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/30/2016 12:30 Comments ||
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#3
B-2 + small diameter bombs pretargetted to hit the cave mouths and air vents of said artillery. Same problem that Ludendorff faced; for that strategy to work you have to strike first. If I was pudgy, I would tone it down a notch.
Posted by: Sven the pelter ||
01/30/2016 12:41 Comments ||
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[DAWN] The 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.... government on Friday banned preaching activities on university campuses.
From now own, no Tableeghi Jamaat will be allowed to preach and stay in campus hostels, reports Dunya News. Similarly, there will also be a complete ban on outsiders stay in hostels.
This is probably the first time that any restriction has been placed on Tableeghi Jamaat.
According to an official notification, sermons in mosques around campuses will also be regulated. It says mosques in and surrounding university campuses will be bound to get the content of sermons approved before delivering them.
The university administration will be bound to alert security institutions about the faculty members sympathetic towards terror outfits.
The Punjab Information Technology Board and the Home Department will take action with the help of the administration against those who spread sectarian hatred on social media.
The administrations have been told to form their own intelligence system. Every educational institution will rectify defects (in its security system) pointed out by security institutions within 15 days.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2016 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... chief Senator Sirajul Haq ...current head of the Pak Jamaat-e-Islami. Siraj was born in 1962 and entered politics shortly after that... exhorted on Friday the elements carrying out armed struggles to get power to adopt the democratic path for the purpose.
Talking to news hounds here at Markaz Tableegh-e-Islam, he asked the government to come forward to accept the success or shortcomings of the National Action Plan, adding that army was just an state institution, which was not answerable to people.
He said a review of the progress on the 20-point NAP in the Senate revealed that the government's performance was poor as neither reforms in tribal areas had been introduced nor had reconciliation been achieved in Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... .
He claimed that poverty and ignorance had increased and criminal justice system had not been reformed, but police had been massively used to intimidate Learned Elders of Islam.
In reply to a question, Senator Haq said, "Islamic movements and Learned Elders of Islam are unanimous that gangs which want power for achievement of their goals should adopt the path of democracy and preaching Islam".
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2016 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Deposed Lal Masjid ...literally the Red Mosque, located in Islamabad and frequented by all sorts of high govt officials. The proprietors, Ghazi Abdul Rasheed and Maulana Abdul Aziz Ghazi, unleashed their Islamic storm troopers on the city, shutting down whorehouses and beating people up who weren't devout enough. The Musharraf govt put an end to the nonsense by besieging the place. Abdul Aziz Ghazi was nabbed while he was trying to escape dressed up like a girl. BBC reported that the corpse count at 173, but other claims, usually hysterical, say there were up to 1000 titzup. Among their number was Abdul Rashid Ghazi. Everyone then said tut-tut and what a nice guy he had been... holy manMaulana Abdul Aziz ...nutball holy man who runs the Lal Masjid in the heart of Pakistain's capital. After instigating a rebellion against the state in 2007, he was caught trying to sneak away dressed in a burka. He rejects democracy as un-Islamic, which it probably is... has alleged that an officer from the country's premiere intelligence agency "was conspiring against him", while other officials were in contact with him in an effort to sort out the differences between the two sides.
In a written statement and a video message, released via the official Facebook page of Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa ... the Islamic nunnery maintained by Lal Masjid.... , Maulana Aziz claimed he was in negotiations with an officer of the Inter-Services Intelligence ...the Pak military intelligence agency that controls the military -- heads of ISI typically get promoted into the Chief of Army Staff position. It serves as a general command center for favored turban groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, tries to influence the politix of neighboring countries, and carries out a (usually) low-level war against India in Kashmir... (ISI).
However, a woman is only as old as she admits... he claimed that while the negotiations were moving in the right direction, another senior ISI officer was acting as a 'spoiler'.
"I have been told by one of my followers that a brigadier in ISI, who belongs to the 'other sect' is conspiring against me," he said, adding, "I know they are making false videos about me [accusing me of] taking extortion money..."
He also claimed that the intelligence authorities were promoting extremism in the country with their attitude.
"A major recently called and I invited him for a meeting so that we can understand each other," Maulana Aziz said in the video.
But an ISI spokesperson Dawn spoke to rejected the holy man's claims of meeting a major belonging to the agency, terming it "propaganda".
"Maulana Abdul Aziz has a track record of fabricating stories and there has been no contact between him and any agency personnel," the spokesperson said.
But ICT officials, on condition of anonymity, said that Islamabad police personnel and members of the civic administration had visited the holy man and tried to persuade him to obtain pre-arrest bail from the courts.
"This is strange; we have seen him visiting various parts of the city, buying fruit from street vendors on the sidewalk near the vacant plot that used to be the Children's Library," an ICT official said.
In the video, Maulana Aziz also made sectarian remarks, claiming that people with names such as 'Shah', 'Haideri' and 'Shaheedi' were involved in the killings of holy men from the Ahle Sunnat school of thought, including his own father.
"First a false case was registered against me and now they want me to obtain bail," the holy man said, adding, "since the istakhara (divine guidance) is unfavourable, I am reluctant to post bail now."
The issue of posting bail arose after PPP Senator Farhatullah Babar sought to move a privilege motion against the interior minister, who had earlier claimed in the Senate that there were no cases against Maulana Abdul Aziz. But Senator Babar showed documents that included an Islamabad High Court arrest warrant, issued around 11 months ago.
Talking to Dawn, he took the government to task over the release of the holy man's latest video. "This is a clearly a violation of multiple laws and the question is where is the National Action Plan."
"The violations are related to hate speech, fanning militancy, instigating sectarianism, inciting terrorism and challenging the state again," he said, adding that either the government, including the interior minister, were complicit, or they were afraid of one man.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2016 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] One of the terror convicts whose appeals were turned down by the Lahore High Court's Rawalpindi bench on Thursday was first thought to be a 'missing person', was subsequently found and seems to have gone missing once again.
The man in question, Mohammad Ghauri, was accused of criminal masterminding the Dec 2009 attack on a Friday prayer congregation at the Parade Lane Mosque in Rawalpindi, which claimed at least 37 lives. Parade Lane, a housing colony in the garrison city, is home to many senior serving and retired military officers. His death sentence was confirmed on Jan 1, 2016, by the army chief.
According to the petition, the convict was a student of the Islamic International University Islamabad (IIUI), and went missing from Sector F-10 in Islamabad on Jan 7, 2010.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2016 00:00 ||
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[UN.ORG] Two senior United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... officials today disclosed the names of some of the countries whose troops are accused of sexually exploiting and abusing minors in the Central African Republic (CAR), including both non-UN and UN forces tasked with maintaining peace and security in the conflict-torn nation.
"I think it's hard to imagine the outrage that the people working for the United Nations and for the causes of peace and security feel when these kinds of allegations come to light. Particularly involving minors, it's so hard to understand" said Anthony Banbury, the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Field Support, in an emotional address to news hounds in New York.
Fighting back tears, Mr. Banbury said the UN is doing everything it possibly can to assist victims, to bring accountability and justice for them, and to prevent these cases from recurring.It is also clear that all foreign military forces, whether UN or non-UN, must employ much stronger and more effective actions to prevent further abuse and exploitation -- and not just in CAR.
He announced that a new website will soon feature a report by UN Secretary-General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon on special measures to combat sexual exploitation and abuse, expected to be released next month. For the first time, it will identify the countries involved in the cases and provide granular information about individual allegations, the status of investigations, as well as on any disciplinary action taken.
Highlighting that transparency is an important part to combatting this "incredibly difficult scourge," the UN peacekeeping official today named some of the countries involved--all of which are UN-forces: Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and who knows what else, not to be confused with the Brazzaville Congo aka Republic of Congo, which is much smaller and much more (for Africa) stable. DRC gave the world Patrice Lumumba and Joseph Mobutu, followed by years of tedious civil war. Its principle industry seems to be the production of corpses. With a population of about 74 million it has lots of raw material... (DRC), Morocco, Niger, and Senegal ... a nation of about 14 million on the west coast of Africa bordering Mauretania to the north, Mali to the east, and a pair of Guineas to the south, one of them Bissau. It is 90 percent Mohammedan and has more than 80 political parties. Its primary purpose seems to be absorbing refugees... .
He noted that all victims in these cases were minors at the time of the alleged abuses, perpetrated by a total of 10 people from these 5 countries. He also indicated that the UN has launched its own investigation in the cases involving the DRC and Niger, as the countries did not respond to the UN's request to take the lead on the matter.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2016 00:00 ||
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#3
Yes, g(r)omgoru, it was indeed the creature pretending he is not Hemingway. The style is unmistakable: smarmy, with heavy lashings of heavy-breathing perversity, pretending to personal experience of the subject in question.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] Thousands of Afghan refugees have been recruited by Iran's Revolutionary Guards to fight alongside forces loyal to Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad The Scourge of Hama... in Syria, it has been reported.
According to reports, some of the refugees have been deployed to Syria after they were recruited through coercion.
Peter Bouckaert, emergencies director at the New York-based Human Rights Watch ... During the fiscal year ended June 30, 2011, HRW received a pledge from the Foundation to Promote Open Society, of which George Soros is Chairman, for general support totaling $100,000,000. The grant is being paid in installments of $10,000,000 over ten years.Through June 30, 2013, HRW had received $30,000,000 towards the fulfillment of the pledge.... (HRW), said "Iran has not just offered Afghan refugees and migrants incentives to fight in Syria, but several said they were threatened with deportation back to Afghanistan unless they did."
He said some of the Afghan migrants were forced to flee Iran for Europe after facing the bleak choice from the Iranian authorities.
The relatives of a number of the Afghan migrants deployed to fight in Syria have been interviewed with six of the twelve respondents saying Iranian forces had trained them or their relatives in military camps near Tehran and Shiraz in 2015.
Two of the six had joined voluntarily, while the other four said they or their relatives had been coerced or forced to fight.
This comes as earlier estimates revealed at least 3,500 Afghan migrants are fighting in Syria to support the forces loyal to Bashir al-Assad.
Relatives of a number of those killed while fighting for the Syrian regime have said the Afghan nationals are also lured by the month salary of $700 and Iranian residency permit.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2016 00:00 ||
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#2
Competing with the Saudis for Yemen hires? This could drive prices up. How about opening offices in Munich, Berlin and Bonn. I hear they have a lot of appropriate aged males killing time rousting the local frauleins.
[Free Beacon] President Obama's nominee to head U.S. Central Command recently penned a memo to Defense Secretary Ash Carter demanding that the Pentagon stop discussing the operations of elite American troops.
Foreign Policy, which obtained an excerpt of the memo, reported that Gen. Joseph Votel, currently the chief of U.S. Special Operations Command, wrote the December 8 memo to express concern about the Obama administration's exposure of special operations forces' activities.
"I am concerned with increased public exposure of SOF activities and operations, and I assess that it is time to get our forces back into the shadows," Votel wrote to Carter.
While it remains unclear to what public comments Votel was referring, the memo was sent just days after the White House revealed that it was sending approximately 200 special operations forces to Iraq to combat ISIS.
According to the defense official who provided the excerpt of the memo, Votel further wrote that publicizing the operations makes it more difficult for U.S. forces to conduct them. He also "requested the department support him with an approach to avoid public discussion of SOF activities," the defense official said.
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.
[NEWS24.NG] A member of the 
North Korea's claim that it detonated a hydrogen bomb during an apparent nuclear-weapons test on January 6 were widely dismissed by experts and the US government as well. But it turns out that Pyongyang might have tested components from a hydrogen bomb after all. 
Penetrating outside information into North Korea questioning the legitimacy of leader Kim Jong-un should be considered as a key means to retaliate against and curb the communist nation's cyber attacks, a U.S. think tank said.
North Korea is preparing to launch a long-range ballistic missile, possibly within a week, the Japanese government believes. 
[DAWN] Deposed 
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
