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Today: 64 articles and 265 comments as of 19:32.
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Area: WoT Operations    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Terror attack in Munich
Today's Headlines
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Page 6: Politix
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Afghanistan
Defense minister visited Nangarhar to launch major anti-ISIS operation
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The minister of defense General Abdullah Habibi has visited 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 to discuss the launch of a major operation against the loyalists of 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....
of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group in this province.

The provincial government in a statement said Gen. Habibi met with the provincial officials to discuss the launch of the operation.

The statement further added Gen. Habibi also visited the 201st Silab Corps of the Afghan National Army and discussed the operation with the military officials in detail.

President Mohamad AShraf Ghani has given the task to 201st Silab Corps to eliminate the loyalists of the terror group rom Nangarhar, Kunar and Nuristan provinces.

Earlier President Ghani visited Nangarhar province to meet the provincial officials and assess the security situation of the province.

He ordered the 201st Silab Corps of the Afghan National Army to completely root out the hard boyz from Nangarhar.

President Ghani further added that the difficult days in the country have gone but he cautioned that the enemies of

Afghanistan are still plotting destructive activities.

He also visited the residents of Kot district and hailed for their resistance and fight against the loyalists of ISIS terrorist group.

This comes as ISIS loyalists have been attempting to expand foothold in the country, an attempt that has forced the Afghan and US forces to step up strikes against them.

The US forces are regularly conducting drone strikes against the loyalists of the terror group in the restive parts of Nangarhar besides the Afghan forces conduct air and ground raids.

Posted by: Fred || 07/22/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Africa Horn
Somali president meets with U.S. military officials
The president of the federal republic of Somalia Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has today met with top U.S. military experts at a secret base in Lower Shabelle region, reports said.

In the closed-door meeting, Somali president and U.S. military officials discussed on a range of issues related to the fight against Al Shabaab, and training Somali commandos units. Both sides have agreed to boost the war on Al Shabaab as Somalia is preparing to hold general elections later this year.

Unites States military is helping African Union mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and Somali federal government in the fight against Al Qaeda-linked Al Shabaab militants.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/22/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Caribbean-Latin America
Al Qaeda group calls for terror attacks on athletes at Olympics targeting US, UK and French teams
  • [Daily Mail, Where America Gets Its News] Jihadis urging their followers to carry out 'lone wolf' attacks at Olympics

  • Say they should target US, UK, French and Israeli athletes at the Games

  • Suggest using poison in their attacks or explosives attached to drones

  • Comes days after Brazilian group became first to pledge allegiance to ISIS
Posted by: Fred || 07/22/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda

#1  Just when Brazil = South America thought the Hard Boyz had ignored it ... ...

Time for the Southies, + by extension Spain + Portugal, to show their mettle.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/22/2016 21:48 Comments || Top||


Europe
Nice, FR truck attacker had accomplices, planned for months, prosecutor says
Duplicate of this. Snipped.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/22/2016 00:23 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  And voila! We have a new meme: the Lone Wolf with Accomplices. No, still nothing to do with Islam.
Posted by: SteveS || 07/22/2016 0:29 Comments || Top||

#2  This is a duplicate, please delete. My apologies.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/22/2016 0:55 Comments || Top||

#3  Europe is being devastated by lone wolf packs!!! So, dear - Justice for Palestine - Europeans, how does it feel?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 07/22/2016 3:58 Comments || Top||

#4  grom. To answer your question; What's Yurp for, "Look! A squirrel!"
Posted by: Richard Aubrey || 07/22/2016 7:34 Comments || Top||

#5  This is a duplicate, please delete.

I've had to snip or delete some of my own posts for the same reason, Besoeker. We each file differently, and sometimes don't notice the thing on on page 2. ;-)
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/22/2016 12:45 Comments || Top||

#6  tw

Terror attack in Munich, please check posting, thanks
Posted by: European Conservative || 07/22/2016 13:05 Comments || Top||

#7  Postings checked and stacked for efficiency of communication. Many thanks, European Conservative!
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/22/2016 14:09 Comments || Top||


French Truck Attack was 'Planned for Months', with 'Accomplices'
[AnNahar] French truck attacker Mohammed Lahouaiej Bouhlel had long plotted the carnage that killed 84 people, with the assistance of five suspects who are in jug, prosecutor Francois Molins said Thursday.

A week after Bouhlel rammed a truck into a crowd which had been enjoying a Bastille Day fireworks display, killing 84 people, Molins said photos on his phone showed he had likely already staked out the event in 2015.

It also emerged that one of the five suspects in jug, a Tunisian named Mohammed Oualid G., had filmed the scene of the crime the day after the carnage, as it crawled with paramedics and journalists.

The five suspects will be presented to anti-terrorism judges later Thursday and Molins said prosecutors had requested they be charged with conspiracy to commit terrorism, among other crimes. They are 22-year-old Franco-Tunisian Ramzi A., 37-year-old Tunisian Chokri C., 40-year-old Tunisian Mohammed Oualid G., 38-year-old Albanian Artan H., and his wife Enkeledja Z. who holds both French and Albanian nationality.

None of the suspects was known to intelligence services, and only Ramzi A., who was born in Nice, had a criminal record for robbery and drug offenses. This suspect led police to discover a Kalashnikov and a bag of ammunition on Thursday.

More than 400 Sherlocks have been poring over evidence since the grisly attack, the third in La Belle France in 18 months, and it was analyses of Bouhlel's telephone that led them to the five suspects.

While 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 claimed the attack, describing him as a "soldier", Sherlocks have not found direct proof of his allegiance to the jihadists.

Initial details of the investigation reveal his fascination with jihad has been around for a while. On May 26 last year, he took a photo of an article about the drug Captagon, an amphetamine used by jihadists in Syria. In July 2015 he took photos of the crowd at the Bastille Day fireworks display, as well as another crowd watching a concert on the Promenade Des Anglais three days later. On April 4 this year, Chokri C. sent Bouhlel a Facebook message reading: "Load the truck with 2,000 tonnes of iron... release the brakes my friend and I will watch."

Molins said the two Mohammeds contacted each other 1,278 times between July 2015 and July 2016.

- 'I am not Charlie' -
Investigators also found a text message in Bouhlel's phone from Mohammed Oualid on January 10 2015 -- roughly a year after attacks on the Charlie Hebdo
...A lefty French satirical magazine, home of what may well be the majority if the active testicles left in Europe...
weekly which spawned the hashtag "I am Charlie" in support of those killed.

The message read: "I am not Charlie ... I am happy they have brought soldiers of Allah to finish the job."

Analyses of his computer and cellphone showed a wide-range of images and internet searches showing a fascination with violence and jihadist movements such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.

- State of emergency extended -
On Thursday, parliament finalized adoption of a bill extending the emergency laws for a fourth time, after it was toughened up by the right-dominated Senate. The final version bans gatherings where sufficient security cannot be provided and makes it easier to shut places of worship where preachers incite hate or violence.

Since November the authorities have had emergency powers to carry out searches by day or night and place people under house arrest.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/22/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  2,000 tones, must be some Kenworth Fusion Kustom
Posted by: Shipman || 07/22/2016 7:04 Comments || Top||


The Grand Turk
100 jihadists entering Syria from Turkey each week: Report
[Hurriyet] French military intelligence estimates that about 100 foreigners continue to enter Syria from The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
each week to join 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....
of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), French daily Le Figaro reported on July 20.

"According to the Direction for Military Intelligence [DRM] in Gay Paree, each week, about 100 foreigners continue to cross Turkey into Syria to join Islamic State [ISIS]," Le Figaro reported, citing sources on July 20.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said on July 17 that questions needed to be asked on whether Turkey was a viable partner in the fight against ISIS in Syria and would raise the issue in a coalition meeting in Washington this week.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/22/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Home Front: Politix
Cops plead with mayor to remove Black Lives Matter banner from city hall
[Downtrend]
Posted by: Blossom Unains5562 || 07/22/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  White guilt is what I'm supposed to feel
Black lives matter, so goes the spiel
Funny that, never said otherwise
Never donned no bed sheets disguise
The time has come for da peeps to get real.
Posted by: JHH || 07/22/2016 13:28 Comments || Top||

#2  :)
Bring it ZF!
Posted by: Shipman || 07/22/2016 16:55 Comments || Top||

#3  Two words: Italian strike.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 07/22/2016 17:04 Comments || Top||

#4  :-) Limerick rhyme scheme, but JHH's very own syllable count.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/22/2016 21:03 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Somali Woman Arrested in USA for Funding Shaboobs
A woman accused of funneling money to the al-Qaeda-linked group al Shabaab willingly admitted that she is an ardent supporter of the Somalia-based terrorist organization on the first day of her trial.

Her defense attorney, Paula Deutsch, has acknowledged that her client supports the jihadist group, arguing that does not prove that she provided financial aid to the al Shabaab terrorists. All her client did was “talk” about supporting al Shabaab without taking action, argues her public defender.
All we'll "talk" about doing is jugging her for 30 years...
In July 2014, Hinda Osman Dhirane, 44 years old and a mother of six, was arrested at her home in Kent, Washington, “on charges of providing material support to al-Shabaab, a designated foreign terrorist organization that is conducting a violent insurgency campaign in Somalia,” reported the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

Her trial, which is taking place at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, began on July 11.

Court records show Dhirane funneled small amounts of money to the terrorist group to avoid detection — as low as $50 or $100 at a time, for a total of less than $5,000.
Good enough for me. Guilty!
During the trial, Dhirane’s attorney said her client’s support for al Shabaab stems from Somalia’s history of corrupt and, at times, nonexistent government. Somalis “saw al-Shabaab as the hope to establish peace and order and a Sharia system of law,” declared Deutsch.
So stay in Somalia and fight with the Shaboobs. The moment you step on American soil you do things our way, and we don't support terrorist organizations.
Deutsch, began her opening statement Monday reading parts of a poem Dhirane had written as an ode to al-Shabab fighters.
Deutsch knows that she has a stinker of a case...
“We make no bones about the fact she was a supporter of al-Shabaab,” an al-Qaida affiliate centered in Somalia that claimed responsibility for the 2013 attack on the Westgate Mall in Kenya that killed 67 people, among other attacks, Deutsch said. “But it’s talk. It doesn’t prove that she necessarily provided substantial assistance to al-Shabaab.”
$5,000 is substantial.
However, prosecutors accuse Dhirane and her co-defendant Muna Osman Jama, 34, of more than talking about supporting the terrorist organization. Jama was arrested on the same day as Dhirane, only she was at her home in Reston, VA.

Although they were only supplying the group with relatively small amounts of U.S. dollars, prosecutors reportedly say it was enough to “provide significant buying power in Somalia for weapons and the like,” notes AP.
The Widows Ammunition Fund thanked her...
According to court records, defendants Muna Osman Jama and Hinda Osman Dhirane were the leaders of an al-Shabaab fundraising conspiracy operating in the United States, Kenya, the Netherlands, Somalia and elsewhere. Jama and Dhirane allegedly directed a network composed primarily of women who provided monthly payments that were coordinated, facilitated and tracked by the defendants to their conduits in Kenya and Somalia…

The defendants would refer to the money they sent overseas as “living expenses,” and they repeatedly used code words such as “orphans” and “brothers in the mountains” to refer to al-Shabaab fighters, and “camels” to refer to trucks needed by al-Shabaab.

They hid the money in remittances that Somalis regularly send back to their native country, reportedly noted prosecutor Danya Atiyeh in her opening statement during the July 11 trial. Atiyeh explained that the remittances “make an ideal cover for disguising money. ”

She quoted Jama as saying in 2012: “If you work with the women and pretend that you are supporting your family, can the infidels and the animals who work with them find out what is in your heart?”

The DOJ did not reveal the women’s immigration status or whether they were born in the United States.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/22/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab

#1  Unlike the wives of Mateen and Tsarnaev, Hinda either backed non-approved regime moderates, or rebuffed recruitment efforts.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/22/2016 10:16 Comments || Top||

#2  Ship her ass back to Somalia, airdrop her
Posted by: Frank G || 07/22/2016 11:09 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
India asks Pak to vacate PoK
[Daily Excelsior] India today lashed out at Pakistain for "inciting and supporting" terrorism in Jammu and Kashmire and instead asked it to vacate its illegal occupation of Pakistain-occupied-Kashmire (PoK).

In a sharp reaction over anti-India rallies being held in Pakistain and other statements emanating from there over the situation in Kashmire, External Affairs Ministry said India strongly condemns encouragement and support to UN-designated bandidos forces of Evil and their activities from Pakistain.

Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup also said that in view of the threats of marches and protests at the High Commission of India in Islamabad, Pakistain should ensure full safety and security of Indian officials and their families there.

"We have seen reports about rallies, events and statements related to J&K in Pakistain and PoK over the last two days. We have also noted that the events were led by UN- designated terrorists, who had in the past protested the elimination of dreaded bandidos forces of Evil including the late Osama bin Laden
... who is no longer with us, and won't be again...
and Taliban leader Akhtar Mansour in Pakistain.

"India strongly condemns the encouragement and support which such bandidos forces of Evil and their activities receive from Pakistain’s State.

"We once again ask Pakistain to stop inciting and supporting violence and terrorism in any part of our country and refrain from its deplorable meddling in our internal affairs in any manner," the Spokesperson said.

Asserting that the observance of ’Kashmire’s Accession to Pakistain Day’ exposes Pakistain’s longing for the territory of J&K, Swarup said,"India demands that Pakistain must fulfil the obligation to vacate its illegal occupation of PoK."

India also asked Pakistain to stop "misleading the international community and Kashmiris through meaningless exercises such as the so-called elections today in PoK which Pakistain ironically calls ’Azad’ (free).
Posted by: Fred || 07/22/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Protests in held Kashmir led by UN-designated terrorists, alleges India
[DAWN] India on Thursday alleged that the protests in India-held Kashmire during observance of ’Kashmire’s Accession to Pakistain Day’ and ’Black Day’ were led by UN-designated terrorists.

In a statement issued by Indian Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi said: "We have seen reports about rallies, events and statements related to Jammu and Kashmire over the last two days. We have also noted that the events were led by UN-designated terrorists.

It went on to state that the groups which led the protests in India-held Kashmire were the same which had in the past "protested the elimination of dreaded turbans including the late Osama bin Laden
... who is no longer with us, and won't be again...
and Taliban leader Akhtar Mansour in Pakistain".

India strongly condemns the encouragement and support which such turbans and their activities receive from Pakistain, it read.

"We once again ask Pakistain to stop inciting and supporting violence and terrorism in any part of our country and refrain from its deplorable meddling in our internal affairs in any manner."

The India foreign ministry maintained that the observance of "Kashmire’s Accession to Pakistain Day" exposes Pakistain’s longing for the territory of Jammu and Kashmire.

New Delhi urged Islamabad to stop "misleading" the international community and Kashmiris through meaningless exercises.

"In view of the threats of marches and protests at the High Commission of India in Islamabad, we ask the Government of Pakistain to ensure full safety and security of the High Commission, all its officials and their families in Pakistain," the statement concluded.

Indian security forces on Wednesday had removed dozens of black and Pak flags in India-held Kashmire hoisted by residents observing "black day" on the call of Pakistain government to protest the killing of a top pro-independence hard boy leader.

Indian administration feared fresh trouble in the tense region after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
called for observing a "black day" to express solidarity with "Kashmiris facing atrocities at the hands of Indian forces".

In a statement, Nawaz had said, "India should realise that when people decide to do something, the weapons cannot stop their way."

Rubbishing Indian claim of Kashmire being its internal matter, Nawaz said: "Kashmire cannot be accepted as an internal matter of India as it has been declared a disputed territory by the United Nations
...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships...
."
Posted by: Fred || 07/22/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistain Proxies


Iraq
Taters brigaders are thirsty for American blood
Speaking only for myself, that's not the worst news I've ever heard. Contact me at grurkka@gmail for a time and an address, and plate carriers optional. BYOA
A? For American?
Ammo
(IraqiNews.com) BAGHDAD – Al-Salam Brigades, the revitalized form of Muqtada al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army, announced on Wednesday its insistence on targeting American troops that Washington plans to send to Iraq and said that its members ‘are thirsty for the blood of Americans’.

The spokesman for Salam Brigades, Alaa Abboud in a press statement, said, “The Iraqi army and Al-Hashed al-Shaabi forces are capable of freeing Mosul. The resistance factions have experience in urban warfare, while al-Hashed forces don’t have any experience on the ground. ”

Abboud added that, “Al- Salam Brigades are ready to cleanse ISIS from Mosul with the support of ten thousand fighters if US forces do not intervene, and if they do then we will target them. We are thirsty for Americans’ blood.”

US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter announced on July 11, 2016, that the US would send about 560 extra troops to Iraq for helping the Iraqi forces in their battle to liberate Mosul from the ISIS grip.
Posted by: badanov || 07/22/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  We'll see how long they last against the Chechens and Serbs.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 07/22/2016 8:01 Comments || Top||

#2  A shame that they both can't lose.
Posted by: Pappy || 07/22/2016 11:03 Comments || Top||

#3  Let's you and him them fight
Posted by: Frank G || 07/22/2016 11:17 Comments || Top||

#4  Bwah! Ha! Ha! Sadr's shit buddies..a million strong, were badly beaten by neckbeards monkeys of Daesh, all 800 of them...backed up by the Turks of Erdogan, of course...
Posted by: Hupeating Big Foot4099 || 07/22/2016 23:22 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Santoso slaying might spur MIT militants to join Abu Sayyaf
[Rappler] Following the death of Indonesia's most wanted terrorist, a expert on terrorism warned that members of his network may join the Abu Sayyaf. On Tuesday, Indonesian police said one of the two men they killed in a gunfight was Santoso, alias Abu Wardah, who has been called the "symbolic heart of the jihadi movement."

While the news was welcome, terrorism expert Al Chaidar warned this could mean Mujahidin Indonesia Timur (MIT or East Indonesia Mujahideen) militants may choose to go to the Philippines. He said they could opt to join the Abu Sayyaf now that Indonesian police are familiar with their whereabouts in the jungles of Poso.

He said, "Like the MIT, Abu Sayyaf is also based in one place. Both share the same nature. Thus the remaining MIT followers may go to Abu Sayyaf, if they manage to get out of Poso."

The MIT came to the attention of authorities when they killed two police officers in 2011. It engaged in more deadly attacks against security forces in the following years and, as Santoso's reputation grew among jihadis, militants flocked to the training camps.

MIT has pledged allegiance to Daesh, as has the Abu Sayyaf.
Posted by: ryuge || 07/22/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Abu Sayyaf

#1  I got thrown out of the on-campus pub at MIT.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 07/22/2016 9:18 Comments || Top||

#2  To your credit I suspect DB.
Posted by: Shipman || 07/22/2016 13:05 Comments || Top||


Suspected bomb courier found hanged in his cell
[Bangkok Post] A passenger van driver was found hanged in a police cell on Tuesday, three days after he was detained for "innocently" delivering a parcel bomb to a defense volunteer unit. Somjit Jara-ae had been held at an interrogation center in Yala since last Saturday night. He was found dead with a shower hose around his neck in a sitting position near the door of his cell late on Tuesday night, Dusadee Chusangkit, chief investigator for the Southern Border Provinces Police Operations Center , told a press briefing in Yala province.
Did he also tie his hands behind his back?
Somjit, from Songkhla province, was detained after the supervisor at the van terminal where he worked gave him a parcel to deliver to a local unit of defense volunteers on July 5. The package was addressed to the unit. Authorities later discovered it contained a bomb inside a metal box, and safely defused the explosive.

Somjit told interrogators he did not know what was inside the parcel, or who sent it. He just followed his supervisor's order to deliver it.

Dusadee said that Somjit committed suicide due to stress after his son visited him on Tuesday and they had an argument. The family did not dispute the cause of the death, and so no autopsy was performed, Dusadee said.

Yala police commander Itthiphol Achariyapradit said Somjit had provided useful information and more people would be investigated.
Posted by: ryuge || 07/22/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Thai Insurgency


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran apparently detains another American
SAN DIEGO -- The U.S. State Department said Thursday that it is looking into reports another American has been detained in Iran. State Department spokesman John Kirby would not comment further on the detention of Robin Shahini.
What have we learned in 37 years ?
The girlfriend of the San Diego man said Shahini's sister told her Iranian authorities took him into custody July 11 while he was visiting family in his native Iran
There it is. He's a dual citizen, and thought the American citizenship would protect him.
and he has not been heard from since. She said she worries Shahini was detained because of his online comments criticizing Iran's human rights record.
No doubt. Or they just wanted another American hostage, and he was convenient.
At a news conference Thursday, Secretary of State John Kerry declined to comment on the detention.

The Revolutionary Guard, a paramilitary force charged with protecting the Islamic Republic, increasingly has targeted those with Western ties since the nuclear deal in which Iran agreed to limit its uranium enrichment in exchange for the lifting of sanctions. Officials at the Interests Section of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Washington, D.C., could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Good thing we made that deal and lifted sanctions -- imagine the lack of good will we'd have otherwise...
A prisoner swap in January between Iran and the U.S. freed Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian and three other Iranian-Americans.

Shahini, 46, graduated in May from San Diego State University with a degree in International Security and Conflict Resolution. He had been accepted to SDSU's graduate program in Homeland Security, but he has not registered for classes yet, according to university officials.

His girlfriend said he left for Iran on May 25 to see his mother, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. The girlfriend said she communicated with Shahini on July 10 and was expecting to hear back the next day to help him get his paperwork to the university. She grew concerned after not hearing from him. She eventually reached his family, who told her Iranian intelligence officials came to their home in Gordon, Iran, and took him away. Authorities searched the home and took his personal belongings, she said. The family has not talked or seen him since. He had a plane ticket to return to San Diego on July 25 and had planned to start classes on Aug. 22, the girlfriend said.

"He's majoring in international security, so his passion involves peace and justice, human rights," the girlfriend said. "He's open about being a human rights advocate. But it's not only limited to Iran, he's also posted about other countries too."

She insisted to CBS San Diego affiliate KFMB-TV that Shahini hasn't done "anything wrong."

But terrorism expert Robert Baer, a former CIA case officer, told the station he's not surprised about the apparent detention.

"They don't need evidence to arrest American-Iranians," Baer said. "They simply suspect them of being American spies or dissidents. And if there's the slightest negative piece of information about them, they'll arrest them."

Baer said he doesn't expect U.S. officials to have much luck with Iranian authorities.

"They're a hard-headed bunch, Iranian intelligence, and vicious, to say the least. I don't have any hope that this is going to be settled anytime soon," he said.

Shahini left Iran in 1998 and has lived in San Diego for 16 years.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/22/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Shahini, 46, graduated in May from San Diego State University with a degree in International Security and Conflict Resolution.

Let's hope he got all A's in school.
Posted by: gorb || 07/22/2016 10:29 Comments || Top||

#2  bringing new-found experience to the program....in the uncertain future. Go Aztecs!
Posted by: Frank G || 07/22/2016 11:10 Comments || Top||

#3  Now-inmate Shahini should try to get comfortable. He's looking at 6-months of denial.

I'm generally troubled by "dual citizens." It implies to me that, if TSHTF, their fealty lies with those possessing the strongest hand of the moment.

Posted by: Blossom Unains5562 || 07/22/2016 22:20 Comments || Top||


US sanctions target Assad regime's arms, finance networks
[AlAhram] The US Treasury announced fresh sanctions Thursday targeting the arms and financial networks of the government of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs...
It added eight individuals and seven entities, some with links to Russia and China, to its sanctions blacklist, which aims to hamper their work by locking them out of the global financial system.

Those listed include Russia-based representatives of the Syrian firm Hesco Engineering and Construction, which the Treasury said operates energy production facilities in Syria.

The Treasury designated Yona Star International and T-Rubber for sanctions for their roles supplying the Syrian defense ministry, air force and other military bodies from their international offices. T-Rubber's China agents supplied aircraft tires to the air force, it said.

Several individuals and businesses involved in international money transfers were also cited for the blacklist.

The sanctions freeze any assets those listed might have in US jurisdictions, and ban US individuals and companies from doing business with them -- including non-American banks with a US presence, which includes most major banks around the world. That could make it harder for those blacklisted to make use of international financial networks.

"The Assad regime relentlessly engages in destabilizing behavior," said Adam Szubin, Treasury Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence in a statement.

"Treasury will continue to act against those responsible for fueling the Assad regime's repressive actions and dangerous weapons proliferation."
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/22/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Assad: Aleppo Battle Last Card Played by Turks, Qataris & Saudis
[ENGLISH.ALMANAR.LB] Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor. If he'd stuck with it he'd have had a good practice by now...
gave interview to Cuba’s official state news agency Prensa Latina in which he said the Turks, 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...
is and Saudis lost most of their cards on the battlefields in Syria and that Aleppo battle is their last card, affirming that there is strong harmony between Syria and Latin America, especially Cuba, on the political and historical levels and that hard work is needed in order to invigorate the different sectors of this relation, SANA reported.
Cuba is an awfully weak reed these days, but beggars can't be choosers.
Posted by: Fred || 07/22/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


‘Nour al-Din al-Zenki’ Monster to Slain Palestinian Child: We’re Worse than ISIL
[ENGLISH.ALMANAR.LB] "Nour al-Din al-Zenki" terrorist group announced in a statement that slaying the Paleostinian Child is accounted for an individual incident which defies the hierarchal orders, marking a major lie refuted by clear-cut evidence.

According to accurate repots, after the "Nour al-Din al-Zenki" commander's brother was killed, the murderer brought the Paleostinian child from one of the hospitals and slaughtered him for vengeance.

The group's commander in Aleppo Omar Salkho is the one who commander the slaughter according to the video posted by the "Nour al-Din al-Zenki" movement.

Salkho also commanded the group's Death Eaters to capture a "selfie" photo with the Paleostinian child who had suffered from Thalassemia.

Asked by Salkho about his last wish, Abdullah Issa, the 12-year-old child, murmured: "I wish to be rubbed out," pointing at his head as shown by the photo.

"You will not be rubbed out. We are worse than ISIS," Salkho answered Issa.

"Nour al-Din al-Zenki" movement had slaughtered in Handarat camp in Aleppo on Tuesday the Paleostinian child Abdullah Issa, who was also injured during the festivities in the same area.
Posted by: Fred || 07/22/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  "A small group of extremists trying to highjack a great religion."
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 07/22/2016 4:09 Comments || Top||

#2  The US has provided material support (I think weapons) to Nour al Din (light of the faith)
Posted by: lord garth || 07/22/2016 8:07 Comments || Top||

#3  Sounds like Nour al Din (light of the faith) is on the Shining Path.
Posted by: JHH || 07/22/2016 13:38 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
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