The task team assigned to probe the fall of Dahna-e-Ghori district of Baghlan, last week, said on Tuesday that preliminary findings show the Taliban reportedly infiltrated the area without facing retaliation from security forces.
The task team said that it will refer its findings to the president in a few days – once their investigations into the fall of the district have been finalized.
"There was sufficient forces deployed in the district and no fighting was reported (or reports received) to say that they (Taliban) seized control of the district after heavy attacks. The president ordered the issue to be investigated, so we are trying to get to the bottom of the matter," said Dawoud Gulzar, a presidential advisor for tribal affairs.
"The question is whether you are trying to tackle the issue of Dahna-e-Ghori from an ethnic perspective or a military standpoint; if you deal with it from a military viewpoint, then it was necessary that it should have been dealt with from a military profile by the probe team, but not by a presidential advisor for tribal affairs," said Sher Mohammad Jahesh, a civil society activist.
Last year, a similar delegation under the chairmanship of the minister of borders and tribal affairs, Gulab Mangal, was assigned to investigate the fall of Dand-e-Ghori district to the Taliban. This came after a controversial deal was made with the Taliban and local government officials that no attacks from either side would be allowed. Mangal had been involved in the deal at the time - a deal that sparked strong reactions in the country.
[ALMASDARNEWS] The World Food Program (WFP) have released a report claiming that it needs $52 million between now and the end of the year to be able to support over 700,000 people continue affected by 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... ’s insurgency in Nigeria’s north east.
The odds of that need being filled approaches zero, sadly.
According to the WFP, the food situation is in the ’emergency phase.’
"The news comes as in the past days alone, tens of people have been killed or injured in Nigeria and in neighbouring Chad, Cameroon ...a long, narrow country that fills the space between Nigeria and Chad on the northeast, CAR to the southeast. Prior to incursions by Boko Haram nothing ever happened there... and Niger ‐ an indication that Boko Haram violence is set to keep pushing more people into hunger and suffering," said Abdou Dieng, WFP’s Regional Director for West Africa.
’’Much of it, as well as medicines, vaccines and medical equipment, is being delivered through the WFP-managed United Nations ...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense... Humanitarian Air Service, frequently used by the wider humanitarian community,’’ the WFP blurb stated.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/24/2016 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Boko Haram
#1
Seems more cost effective to take the $52 million and hire a Private Military Contractor to hunt down the Bozos like rats at the dump. It's their presence that is the root of the problem.
Law enforcement has recently uncovered that newly activated terror groups are recruiting scores of women, especially university students, to expand their reach.
These radicalised women pose a new kind of threat that security experts say Bangladeshi law enforcement are not prepared to handle.
In his confessional statement, Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) chief Shaykh Abdur Rahman said they had some 50-60 female bandidosforces of Evil who were mostly wives of male members of the group.
Their duties were to continue Dawati (indoctrination) activities and inspire family members to be ready for jihad, he had said.
However, those who apply themselves too closely to little things often become incapable of great things... law enforcers have been able to arrest very few female bad boys. In all its operations against JMB, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has tossed in the slammer Into the paddy wagon wit' yez! 45 women members and 634 men of the group. Police could not provide any information on its arrests.
On May 8, Bogra police arrested Masuma Akter, wife of JMB’s Chittagong wing commander Raisul Islam Khan alias Fardeen, who was killed earlier while making bombs. Two other women were also caught with her.
On July 24, Detective Branch of Sirajganj police arrested four female JMB members, one of whom was found to be the relative of JMB leader Tarikul Islam Jewel, who was killed alongside Fardeen.
But law enforcement’s attention has only recently been drawn to the risks these female bandidosforces of Evil pose. The arrest of several female bad boys, specially the one in Dhaka by RAB on August 16 brought this issue into focus.
Tangail’s Kalihati police on July 6 arrested three female JMB members, aged between 19 to 30, who were later claimed they were members of a suicide squad. They were living with their husbands and children. Their husbands expeditiously departed at a goodly pace and one was later killed in an encounter.
RAB arrested four suspected members of JMB female wing from different areas of Dhaka. These four are highly educated and from wealthy backgrounds, similar to some of the Lions of Islam involved in the Gulshan and Sholakia attacks. One of them is an internee from Dhaka Medical College and other three are graduate pharmacy students of Manarat University.
From them, RAB learned that at least 20 more women were involved in the group, though only 10 names could be extracted. RAB 4 senior ASP Shamsul Haq yesterday said the names were code names and RAB was still trying to identify them.
One RAB official said the documents they found from the four women indicate that they were formerly members of Islami Chhatri Sangstha, the female students wing 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... . But they had become further radicalised, said the source.
RAB sources said they had received information that the terrorist group was using girls and women to carry small arms.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/24/2016 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh
[Dhaka Tribune] The identities of the five holy warriors involved in the deadly terror attack on Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan, Dhaka have been confirmed through DNA tests
Deputy Commissioner Masudur Rahman of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) made the announcement yesterday afternoon.
"The five attackers were identified previously, but their identities have been confirmed after matching their DNA with their family members," he told news hounds at his office.
DMP’s Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crimes (CTTC) unit received the results of the DNA tests on Monday, according to which the DNA of each murderous Moslem matched with the sample provided by their family members, the deputy commissioner said.
The identity of Holey Artisan Bakery’s pizza chef Saiful Chowkidar was also confirmed after the testing, he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/24/2016 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
[Foreign Desk News] Europeans in a number of countries are seeking to arm themselves with guns and self-defense devices in growing numbers following a series of attacks by gunnies and the mentally ill.
Some weapons sellers also link their increased business to the arrival of huge numbers of migrants colonists in Europe, although a German police report stated that the vast majority do not commit crimes of any kind in the country.
The picture is patchy, with no up-to-date data available at a European level, leaving national and regional authorities to release statistics that are far from comprehensive and not always comparable. Reasons also vary for civilians to own guns legally, including hunting and sport as well as self-protection.
Nevertheless, applications for gun permits are climbing in Switzerland ...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell... , Austria and the Czech Republic. Their larger neighbor Germany has not followed the trend in lethal firearms, but permits for carrying devices designed to scare off assailants, such as blank guns and those that fire pepper spray, have risen almost 50 percent.
Little research into the reasons for the recent apparent trend has yet been published, but the assumption is that attacks in the past year including in Gay Paree, Brussels, Nice and Munich have stirred fear among some citizens.
"There's no official explanation for the rise, but in general we see a connection to Europe's terrorist attacks," said Hanspeter Kruesi, a police front man in the Swiss canton of St. Gallen.
Kruesi advised against buying weapons, saying they did little to improve citizens' security while presenting problems over safe storage and raising legal questions over their proper use in a conflict. "People could actually make themselves criminally liable," he said.
After he spoke to Rooters, the canton was the scene of an attack aboard a train this month. The suspect and a woman victim died later, although police said his motive was unclear.
One Swiss resident who has just bought his first ever weapons - a pistol and a pump-action shotgun - pinned his decision on a feeling of insecurity created by the attacks combined with criminality that he blamed on north Africans, as well as concern over recent break-ins in his neighborhood.
"Buying weapons for self-defense won't protect you from terrorist attacks," said the 55-year-old who lives in a town near the capital, Bern.
"Nevertheless these attacks are contributing to a subjective sense of threat, as is the rising pressure from migration and the high crime rate among migrants colonists from the Maghreb," he said, requesting anonymity due to concerns about his safety.
Figures are hard to come by on whether the rate of crime, serious or petty, is higher among migrants colonists than the general population in Europe.
The report from the BKA federal police in Germany - where more than a million people fleeing violence and poverty arrived last year - said migrants colonists committed or tried to commit about 69,000 crimes in the first quarter of 2016. However, if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well... it did not say how this compared with the overall number of crimes.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/24/2016 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Good choice Swiss person. Just the sound of the sawyer being cocked will run off most perps.
#4
The EU leaders have to hitting themselves for getting their populace to arm themselves, in any numbers, because of their policies. The serfs aren't supposed to be motivated with weapons.
Posted by: Charles ||
08/24/2016 17:17 Comments ||
Top||
#5
"Buying weapons for self-defense won't protect you from terrorist attacks,"
No, but it will give you something to do while you are standing around waiting for your turn to be shot.
[SAToday] Czechs do not want a larger Muslim presence in the country, according to Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka.
“We have no strong Muslim community here, and to be honest, we do not
want a strong Muslim community to become established here,” he said
in an interview with the Pravo newspaper on Tuesday.
The Czech Republic shared Germany’s desire to stem the tide of
refugees from the Middle East, he said, “but we have different views
on how to achieve this.”
The comments by Sobotka, who heads a three-party governing coalition,
came two days before a visit to Prague by German Chancellor Angela
Merkel.
The Czech Republic, along with fellow Visegrad states Poland, Hungary
and Slovakia, is against a permanent refugee quota system for European
countries as advocated by Merkel. They believe it should be up to
national governments to decide how many refugees to take in.
“The bottom line is that it is national governments which must guarantee the safety of their citizens,” he said.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The US State Department said on Friday that The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... has formally requested the extradition of US-based Turkish holy manFethullah Gulen ... a Turkish preacher living in Pennsylvania whom the current govt of Turkey considers responsible for all the ills afflicting Turkey and possibly the entire world... but not on issues related to the recent coup attempt, which Turkish leaders have accused him of inspiring.
"We can confirm now that Turkey has requested the extradition of Gulen," State Department front man Mark Toner told a briefing. US officials earlier said they were reviewing documents submitted by Turkey but were not able to say they constituted an extradition request.
Toner told news hounds the formal extradition request from Turkey was not related to the attempted coup earlier this year but was for other issues for which Gulen was being sought by authorities in Ankara.
[Hurriyet] A total of 586 colonels have been retired from the army according to decisions taken at a meeting of Turkey’s Supreme Military Council (YAŞ) on Aug. 23, which convened for the second time in less than a month after the failed coup attempt of July 15.
This downsize and reorganization of the military is separate from the purge of thousands of accused Gulenist officers. More details at the link.
Meanwhile, the total projected term in service of officers was decreased to 28 years from 31 years, in a move to reduce the high-ranking officer buildup gradually.
The YAŞ also witnessed a new composition, with Turkey’s defense, foreign, interior, justice and deputy prime ministers participating in the meeting for the first time under the leadership of Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım, according to a decree law to increase the civilian authority to avoid future coup attempts.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/24/2016 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Sublime Porte
#1
"NO"
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/24/2016 20:05 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Gulen is a Klingon [regime change] 'lady in waiting.' I predict a tragic motoring accident, or galloping and untreatable Stage-4 cancer.
If Congress had any balls whatsoever they could force him to comply using the power of the purse.
The Obama administration is withholding from Congress details about how $1.3 billion in U.S. taxpayer funds was delivered to Iran, according to conversations with lawmakers, who told the Washington Free Beacon that the administration is now stonewalling an official inquiry into the matter.
The Departments of State, Treasury, and Justice have all rebuffed a congressional probe into the circumstances surrounding the $1.3 billion payment to Iran, which is part of an additional $400 million cash payout that occurred just prior to the release of several U.S. hostages and led to accusations that the administration had paid Iran a ransom.
The Obama administration has admitted in recent days that the $400 million cash delivery to Iran was part of an effort to secure the release of these American hostages, raising further questions on Capitol Hill about White House efforts to suppress these details from the public.
The $400 million was part of a $1.7 billion legal settlement reached with Iran earlier this year. Congressional inquiries into how this money reached Iran are failing to get answers.
The State and Treasury Departments declined on Tuesday to answer a series of questions from the Free Beacon about the method in which U.S. taxpayer funds were paid to Iran.
The administration is also withholding key details about the payment from leading members of Congress, including Sens. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) and Mike Lee (R., Utah), who launched an inquiry into the matter earlier this month.
The Departments of State, Treasury, and Justice all failed to respond to the inquiry by Monday's deadline, according to congressional sources tracking the matter.
"The already bizarre circumstances surrounding the $1.7 billion payment to the Islamic Republic have only gotten stranger in the weeks since we learned of the $400 million in cash that was sent to the Iranian regime last January 16th," Cruz said to the Free Beacon. "If this payment was, as the Obama administration insists, a straightforward settlement of an old debt that it would have cost America more to contest, why all the secrecy?"
The State Department said it does not know how the remaining $1.3 billion was transferred or to whom it was transferred. Cruz described this disclosure as "confounding."
"It is even more confounding that the State Department spokesman claimed Monday not to know how or to whom the residual $1.3 billion was transferred, although he does know the transaction happened," Cruz said. "That kind of money doesn't just transfer itself to a rogue regime still under heavy U.S. sanctions for its sponsorship of terrorism. Someone in our government must have the answers the American people deserve."
Cruz and Lee are seeking to determine if these payments violated U.S. law. They also requested information about the U.S. officials who negotiated and carried out the payments.
"While we are deeply concerned about the national security implications of the administration's cash-for-hostages scheme, especially in light of reports that Iran has already arrested additional Americans, the purpose of this letter is to inquire about the legality of the payment," the senators wrote in an Aug. 12 letter.
"It is imperative that the administration provide a full accounting of its conduct with respect to the $400 million cash payment to Iran," they wrote. "If the administration violated the law, then Congress and the American people should be made aware of it so that they can hold the appropriate officials accountable and take whatever steps necessary to strengthen the law and prevent any reoccurrence."
While the administration has remained silent about the circumstances surrounding the payment, investigative reporter Claudia Rosett recently disclosed that the Treasury Department transferred just under $1.3 billion to the State Department in 13 "large identical sums."
The funds, allocated for "foreign claims," could shine a light on how the administration moved taxpayer funds into the State Department's purview in order to provide the additional payment to Iran.
In 13 individual payments of $99,999,999.99, the Treasury Department moved a total of 1,299,999,999.87, which roughly amounts to the remaining money owed to Iran.
#1
Imperial power has been defined for the Presidency. Executive orders circumvent the need for statutory authority and executive privilege and. classification power trump oversight. The court has become a place of partisans disconnected from the integrity needed to actually follow the intent of the Constitution, and Congress has devolved into self preservation and cowardly timidity. The nation is divided into red states and blue states, urban masses and middle class, and the treasury is empty, and the dole in some form goes to well over a third of the citizens. The parallel to Rome is uncanny.
#7
I am pretty sure that O&Co has all the dirt on Boehner and Ryan to make them dance to his tune. They just ask, "How high, Massa?"
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/24/2016 16:32 Comments ||
Top||
#8
I am pretty sure that O&Co has all the dirt on Boehner and Ryan to make them dance to his tune. They just ask, "How high, Massa?"
Posted by: Alaska Paul
Yes, and if nothing else, Trump has been instrumental in flushing the worthless bastids out and belaying any remaining attogram of doubt we might have had previously.
[IsraelTimes] A Paleostinian not seen publicly since his capture by the CIA in 2002 has appeared at a US government hearing called to determine whether he should remain in detention at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Abu Zubaydah, who sat expressionless during the brief hearing, was the first high-profile al-Qaeda terror suspect captured after the attacks of September 11, 2001, and the first to vanish into the CIA’s secret "black site" prison network.
The review panel issued no immediate ruling on his status. He has been held at Guantanamo Bay since September 2006.
The US believed that Zubaydah, 45, was one of the most senior figures in al-Qaeda when he was captured in Pakistain. It has since dropped that claim. Zubaydah’s lawyers deny he was a member of al-Qaeda.
Zubaydah was born in 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... to a Paleostinian father but does not have Saudi citizenship.
Of course. Not being a member of the tribes, he could never be more than a resident alien hireling.
A statement read at Tuesday’s hearing by a U.S. military officer acting as Zubaydah’s personal representative said he wants to reunite with his family and "begin the process of recovering from injuries he sustained during his capture."
Only Christ-like bleeding stigmata would still be unhealed after fourteen years...and this gentleman isn't likely to be granted that particular miracle.
In a statement prepared for the review and provided to The News Agency that Dare Not be Named on Tuesday, a lawyer for Zubaydah asserts that he poses no danger to the US.
"Abu Zubaydah is not now and never has been an enemy of the United States and has been involved in no terroristic acts," the lawyer, Mark P. Denbeaux, says in the statement.
Oh? To whom was he an enemy, pray tell? Al Qaeda had big plans in his day.
At the hearing, the government stated that he played a "key role in al-Qaeda’s communications with supporters and operatives abroad" and that he was "generally aware" of the 9/11 attacks before they happened. It does not say he was an al-Qaeda member.
The government statement said he "probably retains an myrmidon mindset," adding that he has shown "a high level of cooperation with the staff at Guantanamo Bay." It said he has condemned 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 for its "atrocities and the killing of innocent people."
[HINDUSTANTIMES] US security assistance for Pakistain, which has been declining for years as a reflection of the deteriorating ties between the two erstwhile allies, has plummeted by more than 75% since 2011.
From $1.2 billion in 2011, it is now $316 million, as requested by the US administration for 2015, according to a report of the Congressional Research Service (CRS).
Relations between the two countries hit a new low in 2011 after US Navy SEALs found and killed al Qaeda chief the late Osama bin Laden ... who used to be alive but now he's not... in the Pak military town of Abbottabad ... A pleasant city located only 30 convenient miles from Islamabad. The city is noted for its nice weather and good schools. It is the site of Pakistain's military academy, which was within comfortable walking distance of the residence of the late Osama bin Laden.... .
Over the same period, total US assistance, including economic aid and compensation for helping coalition military forces, is down from $3.5 billion to $814 million (as requisitioned), the report released earlier this month said.
"Ties never really not recovered since 2011, if you look at statements from congressional leaders combined with their refusal to clear the F-16 deal and the introduction of the non-waivable exemption clause," " a congressional aide said.
"You can make a persuasive argument that the link between declining security assistance and deteriorating ties is causal and not mere coincidence," the aide added.
"Duplicitous" is a word frequently used by politicians from both sides and even in the media for Pakistain, a non-NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... ally, specially on account of its patchy counter-terrorism efforts.
The US has been pushing Pakistain to act against holy warriors operating from its soil, such as the Haqqani Network that attacks foreign forces in Afghanistan, and the Lashkar-e-Taiba ...the Army of the Pure, an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI... , which targets India.
Islamabad, however, has been found to be focused more on holy warriors that target Pakistain, the "bad" terrorists, and not the "good" holy warriors that serve its strategic goals.
Frustrated by Pakistain’s continued ambivalence, US senators came together earlier this year to block a US proposal to sell to Pakistain eight new F-16 jets at subsidised costs.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/24/2016 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[Iraq Sun] As 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 loses ground in Iraq, the bandidosbandidos turbans are showing strains in their rule over areas they still control, growing more brutal, killing deserters and relying on younger and younger recruits, the News Agency that Dare Not be Named said citing residents who fled battleground territories.
The accounts point to the difficulties the hard boy group faces as Iraqi forces, backed by the United States, prepare for an assault on djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... , the largest city still in the hard boys' hands. For months, Iraqi troops, militias and Kurdish fighters have been clawing back territory town by town, making their way toward the northern city.
In Qayara, which is the main town in the area and remains in IS hands, beheadings and extrajudicial killings that previously were occasional became commonplace in a hunt for spies and deserters, said Jarjis Muhammad Hajaj, who was among thousands of residents who fled fighting in the area and now live in the Dibaga Camp for displaced people in Kurdish-run territory.
"They started making raids on houses, arresting people and beheading them," he said.
Hajaj said the group's fighters appeared increasingly nervous as they watched news of IS loses elsewhere.
The reliance on younger fighters in smaller communities could be a sign of overstretched manpower as the group's more veteran bandidosbandidos turbans redeploy to Mosul or to neighboring Syria. Other factors could also be in play, like difficulties in finding new recruits and the effect of desertions, which Kurdish officials have said are on the rise.
Fighters as young as 13 or 14 were patrolling in the village of Awsaja on the other side of the river, said one resident, who asked to be identified by his nickname Abu Saleh for fear of reprisals against his family in areas still under IS rule. He said the bandidosbandidos turbans killed seven people for trying to flee the village, displaying their bodies on a bridge as an example to others.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/24/2016 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
[Iraq Sun] The United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, has expressed deep dismay at the execution of 36 people in Iraq in relation to a 2014 massacre during which hundreds of military cadets were killed.
"[The High Commissioner] urged the authorities to ensure that any trials conducted in connection with the massacre respected due process and international fair trial rather than be fuelled by vengeance," C"cile Pouilly, a spokesperson for OHCHR, told the press today at a regular briefing in Geneva.
"Unfortunately, this was not the case," she added.
In June 2014, some 1,700 cadets at the Camp Speicher military base were killed in an attack by 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, Da'esh) fighters.
In the aftermath of the killings, the UN human rights When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much... chief had expressed that the "magnitude and brutality of the Camp Speicher massacre was exceptional" and that it was important to respond to the plight of the survivors and families of the victims.
At the briefing today, the OHCHR spokesperson said that the executions, carried out on Sunday, were particularly worrying given serious due process concerns and fair trial shortcomings.
"The individuals who have been executed were convicted only on the basis of information provided by secret informants or by confessions allegedly extracted under duress," she noted, adding that the claims of 19 defendants that they were tortured to induce confessions were never investigated.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/24/2016 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
The Taliban have been doing this systematically since 2014, Boko Harem and ISIS since 2015. Its relatively easy for an Iman or even a well briefed trainer to brainwash twelve to fourteen year olds and kids are good at getting through checkpoint and climbing through small holes in fences.
Posted by: lord garth ||
08/24/2016 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
[AFP] The Philippine government said it hoped to reach a peace deal with Maoist militants within a year, as the two sides began talks in Oslo aimed at ending one of Asia's longest insurgencies. Philippine chief of negotiations Silvestre Bello said, "On the part of the [government] panel, we have imposed a timeline of nine to 12 months."
The two sides hope to renew the peace process by discussing simultaneously issues of social and economic reform, political and constitutional change, and an end to hostilities. Previous peace negotiations have addressed one issue at a time.
President Duterte has made the resumption of talks with the communist rebels one of his top priorities. He has even floated the possibility of forming a coalition government with them.
The head of the rebel delegation, Luis Jalandoni was more cautious in his optimism about reaching a political settlement after 30 years of failed talks. He said, "I think we will try to do it in one year but it might take a little more time because the negotiations on social and economic reforms could take more time. It's more complicated than some may think."
The Communist Party of the Philippines launched a rebellion in 1969 that has so far claimed the lives of 30,000 people. Its armed faction, the New People's Army, is now thought to have fewer than 4,000 gunmen, down from a peak of 26,000 in the 1980s.
The communists said their own ceasefire would only last until August 27, but a rebel statement said they were willing to discuss a longer truce. However, this would only be possible after the government freed all 550 guerrillas now detained.
[THEINTERCEPT] ON AUGUST 8, a coalition of rebel groups announced that they had successfully broken the long-standing Syrian government siege of rebel-controlled east Aleppo. Among the groups taking part in the offensive was Jabhat Fath al-Sham, formerly Jabhat al-Nusra ...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli sh-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ... , al Qaeda’s local affiliate in the country. Video footage released by the group showed its contributions in key battles against regime positions around the city.
Days before the offensive to break the siege began, Jabhat al-Nusra leader Abu Muhammad al-Jolani appeared in an unprecedented video message announcing that his group had cut formal ties with al Qaeda and would henceforth operate under the name Jabhat Fath al-Sham. Jolani said members would "strive toward unity with all groups, in order to unify the ranks of the mujahideen and liberate the land of [Syria] from the rule of [Bashir al-Assad] and his allies."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
08/24/2016 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: al-Nusra
[Iraq Sun] UN Security Council (UNSC) has adoptedresolution No.1540 on the prevention of delivering nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons (WMD) to terrorists.
Al-Jaafari added at a UN Security Council session on resolution No.1540 that the council didn't move in spite of the facts that unveiled the terrorists' attempts to transport Sarin gas from The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... into Syria.
"The dangerous violations of resolution 1540 are clear as a reality where Syria witnesses the using of chemical weapons by terrorist organizations many times against civilians and army personnel through a support by regional and Arab states," al-Jaafari said.
He added that terrorist groups in Housh al-Fara, threw a bomb, on June 13th, 2016, that contains chemical materials on a number of the Syrian army soldiers, and other Death Eaters targeted al-Awameed region in old Aleppo with shells containing poisonous materials that killed 6 civilians on August 2nd.
Al-Jaafari said that the terrorist groups have supplied 450 artillery shells, equipped with mustard gas, and sent them to djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria.
He added that Syria affirms its commitment to the international resolutions and conventions on cooperation and exchange of data, adding that Syria calls on UNSC to assume its duties and guarantee that Death Eaters don't possess WMD.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/24/2016 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
[ALMASDARNEWS] The flights of Russian warplanes from the Iranian airbase in Hamedan have not been suspended, Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said on Tuesday.
"The flights haven’t been suspended. Iran and Russia are allies in the fight against terrorism," Larijani said. He added that Iran’s Shahid Nojeh air base in Hamedan is only "used for refueling," not for permanent deployment.
The speaker responded to last week’s statement of MP Mahmud Sadeghi that 20 politicians had sent a letter to the parliament’s presidium demanding explanations about the use of the airbase. "The request will be certainly considered," Larijani said.
Last week for the first time ever, Russia’s military used an airfield in Iran to attack turbans in Syria. Long-range bombers, namely Tupolev-22M3 and Sukhoi-34 front-line bombers participated in the raid. Earlier, these aircraft flew sorties from airdromes in Russia and front-line bombers, from the Hmeymim base in Syria.
On Monday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry official front man Bahram Ghasemi told news hounds in Tehran that Russia stopped using the base in Iran.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/24/2016 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
[ALMASDARNEWS] On Monday, August 22nd, the United States government -- which demands the overthrow of the internationally-recognized-as-legal government of Syria -- officially announced that America’s military forces in Syria will continue to occupy Syrian land, no matter what the Syrian government says, and will shoot down any Syrian planes that fly over U.S. forces there and that attack them.
As reported on Monday by Al-Masdar News:
The Pentagon has announced that the USA is ready to down Syrian and Russian planes that they claim threaten American advisers who by international law are illegally operating in northern Syria.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
08/24/2016 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
[ALMASDARNEWS] During a Monday UN Security Council meeting over the Syrian conflict, Damascus’s envoy to the United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... Bashar al-Jaafari accused French intelligence agencies of committing the chemical weapons attack in Ghouta back in 2013.
He continued by claiming it was committed to divert the attention of UN weapon inspectors from another case of chemical weapons committed by terrorist groups in Aleppo.
"The use of chemical weapons in the Damascus area was meant to prevent Dr. Åke Sellström [the head of the weapons inspectors] from going to Aleppo because [La Belle France] knew who had used chemical weapons in Aleppo," Jaafari claimed.
The August 2023 attack killed hundreds of people. UN inspectors described the attack as "the most significant confirmed use of chemical weapons against civilians since Saddam Hussein used them" in Halabja in 1988.
Damascus has consistently denied it committed the attack despite constant allegations from Syrian terrorist groups and their western allies.
"They wanted to prevent Dr. Sellström from reaching Aleppo by any means and therefore they used chemical weapons in Damascus with the involvement of French intelligence," he added.
French representative to the council, Francois Delattre, said that allegations were "absurd."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/24/2016 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
[ARA News] AMUDE – The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Tuesday reported that Abdulsettar Al-Cadiri, commander of the newly established Jarabulus military council, was assassinated by unknown attackers. Syrian Kurds accused the Turkish intelligence service of carrying out the attack. Turkey has so far not responded to the allegations.
Turkey for over a year has said that Jarabulus is a red line, and the Kurds are not allowed to take the town of Jarabulus–which has been under the control of the Islamic State (ISIS) for over two years. However, since crossing Tisreen dam and taking Manbij city from ISIS two weeks ago, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have got closer to the town of Jarabulus on the Syrian-Turkish border.
The SDF-backed Jarabulus Military Council was announced in a statement on Monday. After three hours, al-Cadiri was killed by sniper fire in the town of Sheykler.
The Kurds say two agents of the Turkish intelligence were captured by the Jarabulus Military Council and are being interrogated.
“We in the military council of Jarabulus warn the Turkish government for its aggressive actions. We stress we will not stand idle towards such hostile acts,” the council previously said about Turkish plans to back Syrian rebels to take over Jarabulus.
The assassination will most likely result in more tensions and violence between the SDF forces and Turkey.
On Monday, Turkish artillery also hit an SDF position in northern Manbij.
The SDF leadership said in a statement that they fully backed the newly established council in Jarabulus.
“We support the statement released by Jarabulus military council against Turkish attempts to use military groups in order to spread its influence on the region,” the SDF said.
The western-backed SDF stressed that the opposition rebel groups that are supported by Turkey are no different from ISIS and will destabilize the region.
“We [SDF] confirm our readiness to defend the country against any schemes which consider direct or indirect occupation,” it said.
The SDF also called on the US-led coalition to support the SDF forces in its fight against terrorism.
“As a result of the serious challenges and plots by regional powers against the will of the people, and obstacles put for the local [federal] project [in northern Syria] by pushing out terrorist groups, we call on the coalition to abide by its pledges in securing an international protection for our country,” the SDF said.
The Pentagon said that coalition partners –such as Turkey– should fight ISIS, and not the SDF forces.
“Our concern and focus remains ISIL [ISIS] and doing everything we can to target ISIL and to keep the focus on ISIL, including making sure that the efforts of forces on the ground stay laser-focused on ISIL itself,” Pentagon spokesperson Peter Cook said on Monday.
Posted by: badanov ||
08/24/2016 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Sublime Porte
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Retired General Mohammad Ali Falaki, who is currently one of the Iranian forces leaders in Syria, has recently revealed that Iran has formed a "Shiite Liberation Army" led by Quds Force commander, General Qassem Soleimani.
The Quds Force also known as Pasdaran in Persian is a special forces unit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and is responsible for the Islamic Theocratic Republic’s extraterritorial operation.
"The Shiite Liberation Army is currently fighting on three fronts - Iraq, Syria and Yemen," he told Mashregh news agency, which is close to the IRGC, in an interview published on Thursday.
The retired general said "This army is not only composed of Iranians but it recruits locally from the regions witnessing fighting."
Falaki, who is leading part of the IRGC fight in Syria to give support to Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad The Scourge of Hama... ’s regime, advised that it was "not wise to directly involve Iranian forces into the Syrian conflict."
"The role of our personnel should be limited to training, preparing and equipping the Syrians to fight in their areas, " he added.
Eradicating Israel
Falaki said that the main objective behind the formation of the first nucleus of the ’Shiite Liberation Army’ is to "eradicate Israel after 23 years, especially that these battalions are now on Israeli borders."
The general, who is also an Iranian-Iraqi war veteran, also criticized Tehran for its failure to recruit Afghans and not creating a strong group with a tough leader for them on the lines of the Lebanese Hezbollah movement or militia group and its head Hassan Nasrallah.
"We’ve been considering Afghan refugees as dangerous offenders and mercenaries for the past 30 years," he said. "We did not work on having Afghan groups and leaders like we did with the Shiites of Leb, Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... and Bahrain."
The UN says there are about 950,000 registered Afghan citizens living in Iran but Tehran puts the total number at around 3 million.
However, facts are stubborn; statistics are more pliable... Falaki praised sacrifices by the ’Fatemiyon’ Afghan militias in Syria. He said that they only receive $100 for volunteering to fight there, dismissing reports that they expected to receive large sums of money.
He said the Afghan militias in Syria are "sacrificing their lives for nothing" especially that their government in Kabul ...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either.... has decided to arrest those who fought in Syria, with up to 18 years of jail sentence.
IRGC is still having "trouble when dealing with the Afghans in a friendly and brotherly way, because through Iranian eyes they are seen as inferior."
He said Paks have their ’Zeynabioun’ militia group, Iraqis have their ’Heydarioun’ while the Lebanese have Hezbollah.
Falaki also said there is another division for the Hezbollah, grouping both Iraqi and Syrian militias.
All of these militia groups are fighting under IRGC’s command, all wearing the "same uniform" under the same flag.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/24/2016 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
[Hot Air] It has been a tough month for spokespeople at the State Department. During the daily press briefing today State Department spokesman Mark Toner was unable to answer basic questions about the timing or details of a $1.3 billion payment to Iran despite the fact that the payment appears to be listed on a government website available to the public.
The settlement the U.S. agreed to pay Iran (over an old arms deal) was broken into two parts, a $400 million principal payment and $1.3 billion in interest. The delivery of the $400 million principal repayment was made in foreign cash on January 17 of this year. We’ve since learned that payment was made contingent on the release of U.S. prisoners in Iran. President Obama said it was necessary to make the payment in cash because the U.S. did not have a banking relationship with Iran that would allow us to wire the money directly.
Monday the Weekly Standard highlighted a significant development in the story at the New York Sun. The Sun’s Claudia Rosett found the remaining $1.3 billion in interest was apparently paid from something called the Judgment Fund in a series of 13 identical payments:
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.
[AFP] The Philippine government said it hoped to reach a peace deal with Maoist militants within a year, as the two sides began talks in Oslo aimed at ending one of Asia's longest insurgencies. Philippine chief of negotiations Silvestre Bello said, "On the part of the [government] panel, we have imposed a timeline of nine to 12 months."
[ALMASDARNEWS] During a Monday UN Security Council meeting over the Syrian conflict, Damascus’s envoy to the 
[ARA News] AMUDE – The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Tuesday reported that Abdulsettar Al-Cadiri, commander of the newly established Jarabulus military council, was assassinated by unknown attackers. Syrian Kurds accused the Turkish intelligence service of carrying out the attack. Turkey has so far not responded to the allegations. 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
