[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Chief Executive of the Government of National Unity of Afghanistan Abdullah Abdullah ... the former foreign minister of the Northern Alliance government, advisor to Masood, and candidate for president against Karzai. Dr. Abdullah was born in Kabul and is half Tadjik and half Pashtun... blames Pakistain’s two-faced game helped in return of the Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... insurgency.
Speaking during the Halifax International Security Forum in Canada, Abdullah said the Taliban group returned and resumed its insurgency in Afghanistan due to the two-faced games of the neighboring Pakistain.
Abdullah further added that the decision to withdraw forces from Afghanistan in 2014 also had a negative impact on security of Afghanistan.
In the meantime, Abdullah said the Afghan government is optimistic regarding the strategy of Washington about South Asia.
According to Abdullah, the new strategy announced by President Trump will hopefully increase pressures on Taliban and its supporters to opt for the reconciliation process.
The Afghan and US officials have long been insisting that the leadership councils of the Taliban and the notorious Haqqani terrorist network are based in the key cities of Pakistain where from they plan and coordinate attacks in Afghanistan.
The United States has also increased pressures on Islamabad to take immediate steps in dismantling the safe havens and sanctuaries of the Taliban and Haqqani network in its soil and in its latest move restricted the future military aid to Pakistain to certification of the country’s steps against the two groups.
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11/21/2017 00:00 ||
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[ARABNEWS] Afghanistan’s government said on Monday that it has ordered its border forces to respond to the wave of shelling on its eastern areas by Pakistain, which Kabul says has displaced over 300 families since last week.
Afghanistan Defense Ministry front man Gen. Dawlat Waziri said Kabul was also pushing through diplomatic channels, including the UN and the US-led coalition force in Afghanistan, to halt the shelling.
"People’s houses have been destroyed, their livestock killed, and over 300 families have been displaced since Pakistain resumed the shelling, this shameless act, last week. Some people have been hurt and the shelling continues. We have instructed the frontier force to fire on any target that (fires) shells," Waziri told Arab News.
Pakistain has been repeatedly accused by locals and government officials of firing rockets at targets in Afghanistan over the past several years. This latest wave of attacks has taken place in several districts situated on the disputed border area of the Durand Line in eastern Kunar province ... which is right down the road from Chitral. Kunar is Haqqani country..... "People face a lot of difficulties in the extreme winter weather conditions, and the central government has not taken any action so far," Saleh Mohammed Saleh, an MP from Kunar, told Arab News.
He said the government is consumed by its internal divisions, adding that the focus of President Ashraf Ghani ...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. .. ’s administration is on the parliamentary elections slated for next year and the 2019 presidential poll when he is expected to run for office again.
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11/21/2017 00:00 ||
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[ARABNEWS] UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Monday he was horrified by video footage showing migrants colonists sold as slaves in Libya and that these auctions should be investigated as possible crimes against humanity.
US television network CNN aired the footage last week of an apparent live auction in Libya where black men were presented to North African buyers as potential farmhands and sold off for as little as $400.
"Slavery has no place in our world and these actions are among the most egregious abuses of human rights When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much... and may amount to crimes against humanity," Guterres told news hounds.
"I am horrified at news reports and video footage showing African migrants colonists in Libya reportedly being sold as slaves," he said, adding: "I abhor these appalling acts."
Guterres called on "all competent authorities" to investigate the slave auctions without delay, adding he had asked the "relevant United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... actors to actively pursue this matter."
Libyan Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed Metig said his UN-backed Government of National Accord would investigate the allegations, in a statement posted Sunday on the Facebook page of the GNA’s press office.
The images have fired up the rubes from African leaders and calls for an inquiry.
Guinean President Alpha Conde, who is also chairman of the African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... , on Friday called for an inquiry and prosecutions relating to what he termed a "despicable trade... from another era."
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11/21/2017 00:00 ||
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The Yemeni Vice President General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar has reaffirmed that the "Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... party represents Iran’s claws in Yemen, the Arabian Peninsula and the region."
Ahmar also said that Yemenis cannot target Mekkah or Riyadh "the nation’s cradle."
The general made this statement during his visit with the Saudi-led Arab coalition in Ma’rib the Nahem front east of Sanaa.
Also during his visit, Ahmar expressed his congratulations on the Yemeni army’s victories, backed by the coalition’s efforts.
Referring to the victories, Ahmar said that they are "in order to complete the liberation of and to restore the capital Sanaa, and to save it from Houthi militia corruption."
Meanwhile, ...back at the cheese factory, there was only one thought in the mouse's mind: I can do this! I can do this! Then the trap sprung... the vice president noted that all areas bordering Sanaa were not a platform for the Houthis and will never be. At this point Ahmar called on the tribe members of these areas to actively participate in the "liberation battle."
Also, Ahmar directed a message to the children of Sanaa, the free members of the armed forces, the General People’s Congress (headed by ousted Yemeni President former President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... ) and all political and social elements.
In his message, Ahmar demanded these sides to "be warned and remain alert from the Houthi’s backstabbing" whom he said, "does not exclude any one and targets houses, camps, schools and places of worship."
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir has said that Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates... ’s crisis is small matter and there are more important matters to attend to.
Some of the threats that Jubeir mentioned include the Iranian threat to Arab national security, the fights against terrorism, the Syrian crisis, Libya, Yemen’s stability, internal development, implementing Vision 2030 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... and reform.
Jubeir stressed that "we need not to concern ourselves with the Qatari subject."
Speaking to editors of Egyptian newspapers on Sunday on the sidelines of the Arab foreign ministers meeting at the Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... in Cairo, Jubeir said that the boycotting countries have sent a message to Qatar demanding that it commits to not supporting or funding terrorism.
Jubeir said that the Arab quartet’s demands were in six principles, however Qataris chose to deny the existence of any problem among them, we ask them to leave the denial stage behind and begin the stage of reconsideration and problem solving.
The foreign minister also said: "We only want the best for them, they must not interfere in the internal of countries or find platforms for people who justify suicide kabooms. [They must not] host individuals involved in financing forces of Evil ‐ and they continue to collect money and send it forces of Evil and [there shouldn’t be] terrorist elements operating in Qatar, including the Moslem Brüderbund."
Jubeir also pointed out that Qataris refer to the boycotting countries’ actions as a "siege" however, he says that a blockade means there are warplanes over Qatari airspace and warships.
He continued saying that they [the boycotting countries] refer to the current state as a "boycott."
He noted that it has been previously said that if Qatar continues on its current path, they will not be dealing with them.
Now, Qatar is doing everything except recognizing the problem, said Jubeir. Recognizing the problem is not wrong, it is positive because it is the first step towards a solution, he added.
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11/21/2017 00:00 ||
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash has said that Iran and its proxy group Hezbollah are the main perpetrators of undermining the region’s stability.
"Iran’s proxy, Hezbollah, playing an outsize role in undermining regional stability. Hezbollah actions & rhetoric a major source of instability in the Arab world," Gargash tweeted on Monday.
His comments come a day after the Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... held an extraordinary summit where most of the 22 member states condemned Iran’s Lebanese ally, Hezbollah, as a "terrorist organization."
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11/21/2017 00:00 ||
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[ARABNEWS] Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... ’s economic reform plans are paying off, with an 80 percent hike in the country’s non-oil revenues in the third quarter of 2017, figures published Sunday show.
The Kingdom, hit hard by the crash in energy prices from mid-2014, last year unveiled the ambitious Vision 2030 plan, which aims to wean the economy off its "addiction" to oil.
That plan appears to be working, with non-oil revenues hitting SR47.8 billion ($12.7 billion) in the third quarter, and total revenues up 11 percent to SR142.1 billion.
The former statistic highlights "the feasibility of the economic reforms" underway, the Ministry of Finance said in its budget performance update.
The figures also show increased efficiency in public spending and a further reduction of the deficit.
"The government continued to prioritize expenditure that directly benefits its citizens, with education being the single largest sector spend in the first nine months of 2017," the ministry said.
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11/21/2017 00:00 ||
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[Newsweek] On November 10, Muslims laid their prayer mats on a road in the northern Parisian suburb of Clichy-la-Garenne. They were met with a banner held aloft by local politicians, led by right-wing Mayor Remi Muzeau, which read: "Stop illegal prayers in the streets."
For eight months, hundreds of Muslims have gathered in front of the town hall every Friday to worship. Now, French lawmakers have pledged to put an end to the public worship sessions, not only in the suburb, but elsewhere in the country.
"They will not have prayers on the street, we will prevent street praying," Interior Minister Gerard Collomb told Questions Politics on Sunday.
#6
Flamethrowers would be my choice. Nothing says disapproval like spraying someone with flame, then watching them rush about til they fall over as a charcoal briquette.
As Mohammed goes a la francaise,
Marianne meets a man in a fez
And invites him to dine. "Fine!
I'll bring some nice whine."
His muezzins wheezed "La Marseillaise."
C'est la vie. C'est la guerre. C'est l'islame,
So, "Adieu, jambon-beurre! Bonjour, bombes!"
Encore viande a les Halles...
Bonnes croissants dans l'Etoile...
Mais les femmes show no ham to les hommes.
[Reuters] Residents on the Greek island of Lesbos went on strike on Monday to protest against European policies they say have turned it into a "prison" for migrants and refugees.
Islanders shut businesses, shops, municipal offices, nurseries and pharmacies and dozens rallied on a central square, calling on the government to transfer asylum-seekers to the mainland.
"Lesbos is not a place of exile," a banner read.
Just a few miles from Turkey’s coast, Lesbos has borne the brunt of Europe’s migrant crisis. In 2015, nearly a million people - most fleeing Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan - landed on its shores before heading north, mainly to Germany.
It is now hosting some 8,500 asylum-seekers in facilities designed to hold fewer than 3,000.
"Lesbos is not an open prison, nor will we allow anyone to view it as such," Mayor Spyros Galinos was quoted as saying by the Athens News Agency.
Thousands of asylum-seekers have become stranded on Lesbos and four other islands close to Turkey since the EU agreed a deal with Ankara in March 2016 to shut down the route through Greece.
[THECONSERVATIVETREEHOUSE] Interesting juxtaposition when you contrast the ’impossible mandate’ election results in Germany, against the ’incredible mandate’ election results in Japan for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. It’s as if there’s something, well, almost divinely nationalist guiding it.
Things are challenging for Angela Merkel ...current chancellor of Germany and the impetus behind Germany's remarkably ill-starred immigration program. Merkel used to be referred to by Germans as Mom. Now they make faces at her for inundating the country with Moslems .. in Germany, and amid the reality we see just how entrenched the globalists are in their ideological demands for ’open borders’.
The issue of unfettered immigration has collapsed any hope for German Chancellor Angela Merkel to be able to form a government. Merkel’s Christian Democrat Union (CDU) party had hoped to form a coalition with the center-left Social Democrat (SPD) party and the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) party. However, a person who gets all wrapped up in himself makes a mighty small package... the primary issues surrounding immigration, spending and climate change are so deeply divided no coalition is possible.
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11/21/2017 00:00 ||
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#1
So, she is one step below the Congressional GOPe.
[Ynet] Ottoman Turkish authorities on Monday issued arrest warrants for 107 teachers for suspected ties to the US-based holy man Ankara blames for orchestrating last year's coup, the Dogan news agency said.
Fifty-one of the teachers were detained in Ankara after the local prosecutor issued the warrants, Dogan said, adding that operations continued to round-up the remaining teachers.
The teachers were previously suspended from their jobs as part of the ongoing crackdown that followed the attempted coup in July 2016, it said.
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11/21/2017 06:04 ||
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[Reuters] The White House asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to allow President Donald Trump’s latest travel ban to take full effect after an appeals court in California ruled last week that only parts of it could be enacted.
A three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Nov. 13 partially granted a Trump administration request to block at least temporarily a judge’s ruling that had put the new ban on hold. It ruled the government could bar entry of people from six Muslim-majority countries with no connections to the United States.
Trump’s ban was announced on Sept. 24 and replaced two previous versions that had been impeded by federal courts.
The administration’s appeal to the top U.S. court argued that the latest travel ban differed from the previous orders "both in process and in substance" and that the differences showed it "is based on national-security and foreign-affairs objectives, not religious animus."
It also argued that even if the 9th Circuit ruled to uphold the partial ban, the Supreme Court was likely to overturn that decision as it had "the last time courts barred the President from enforcing entry restrictions on certain foreign nationals in the interest of national security."
Last week’s appeals court ruling meant the ban would only apply to people from Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia and Chad who did not have connections to the United States.
[DAWN] Police have moved 134 people, tossed in the calaboose Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! during sporadic festivities between law enforcement agencies and sit-in protesters, to Adiala jail.
According to sources, none of the suspects taken to Adiala jail are prominent religious leaders. Out of all the cases registered with the police against the protesters, three have been registered on charges that include section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act.
The protest is being led by the Tehrik Labaik Ya Rasool Allah and Sunni Tehrik ...formed in Karachi in 1992 under by Muhammad Saleem Qadri. It quickly fell to trading fisticuffs and assassinations with the MQM and the Sipah-e-Sahaba, with at least a half dozen of its major leaders rubbed out. Sunni Tehreek arose to become the primary opposition to the Deobandi Binori Mosque, headed by Nizamuddin Shamzai, who was eventually bumped off by person or persons unknown. ST's current leadership has heavily criticized the Deobandi Jihadi leaders, accusing them of being sponsored by Indian Intelligence agencies as well as involvement in terrorist activities... parties, and has continued for 12 days.
A senior Rawalpindi police official said the police have already been placed on alert in the city, as personnel have been deployed at Faizabad, Koral and on I.J. Principal Road to prevent the protesters from entering the city.
"We are taking all possible measures to maintain peace in [Rawalpindi]," a senior police official said, adding that additional police personnel have been deployed around the residence of former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan ...Currently the Interior Minister of Pakistain. He is the senior leader of the Pak Moslem League (N) and a close aide to Nawaz Uncle Fester Sharif. He is noted for his vocal anti-American railing in the National Assembly. However (comma) Khan told the U.S. ambassador that he was in fact pro-American but he and the PML-N would have to be critical of US actions in order to remain publicly credible. Khan cited his wife and children's US citizenship as proof, which means he's lying to one side or the other and probably both. He wears a wig, but you probably guessed that. since hair doesn't grow naturally in that shape or texture... in Faizabad, which is a few hundred metres from the site of the sit-in.
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11/21/2017 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] The Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... (PTI) and the Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam ...the political wing of the Pak Taliban... -Sami (JUI-S) have agreed to formulate a "joint strategy" for the next general elections.
The decision was made by the leaderships of the two parties at a meeting also attended by JUI-S chief Maulana Samiul Haq ...the Godfather of the Taliban, leader of his own faction of the JUI. Known as Mullah Sandwich for his habit of having two young boys at a time... and PTI chairman Imran Khan... aka Taliban Khan, who who convinced himself that playing cricket qualified him to lead a nuclear-armed nation with severe personality problems... , said a handout issued by the PTI’s media department here on Sunday.
The leaders of the two parties agreed to continue consultations and contacts with each other so that they could come closer before the next elections.
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11/21/2017 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal on Monday announced an extension granted by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in the deadline for religious parties to end their sit-in at Islamabad's Faizabad Interchange.
Daily life in the capital has been disrupted for nearly two weeks by protesters belonging to religious parties ‐ including the Tehrik-e-Khatm-e-Nabuwwat, Tehrik-e-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah (TLY) and the Sunni Tehrik ...formed in Karachi in 1992 under by Muhammad Saleem Qadri. It quickly fell to trading fisticuffs and assassinations with the MQM and the Sipah-e-Sahaba, with at least a half dozen of its major leaders rubbed out. Sunni Tehreek arose to become the primary opposition to the Deobandi Binori Mosque, headed by Nizamuddin Shamzai, who was eventually bumped off by person or persons unknown. ST's current leadership has heavily criticized the Deobandi Jihadi leaders, accusing them of being sponsored by Indian Intelligence agencies as well as involvement in terrorist activities... Pakistain (ST) ‐ who are calling for the sacking of Law Minister Zahid Hamid and strict action against those behind the amendment to the Khatm-e-Nabuwwat oath in the Elections Act 2017. The amendment had earlier been deemed a 'holy manal error' and has already been rectified.
The protesters had occupied the Faizabad Bridge which connects Rawalpindi and Islamabad through the Islamabad Expressway and Murree Road, both of which are the busiest roads in the twin cities.
The deadline for ending the sit-in is now Nov 23, Iqbal said, addressing a presser after a court hearing on the matter today.
"We will implement the court's order," Iqbal asserted, referring to an earlier order issued by the IHC to the capital administration on Friday to evict the protesters by Saturday using "any means necessary" and with the help of the Frontier Constabulary and Rangers, if needed.
"The Islamabad administration did not conduct an operation against the protesters on my orders, because I do not wish for any unrest. I asked for an extension in the deadline so that we can find a solution," he added.
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11/21/2017 00:00 ||
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#1
The tank transporters are slower than expected?
[AnNahar] About 300 wives and children of foreign jihadists captured in djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... have been transferred from northern Iraq to Baghdad "for expulsion to their home countries," an official told AFP Monday.
"This is the second wave of expulsions, and two or three more will follow," said Nureddin Qablan, deputy head of the Nineveh provincial council.
Iraq's second city, Mosul was recaptured in July after being taken in a lightning summer 2014 offensive by the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group.
"A total of more than 1,200 members of jihadists' families will be transferred" from Tel Keif detention centre north of Mosul to a similar facility in the capital, Qablan said.
In mid-September, a security bigshot said when the families arrived in Tel Keif that they comprised 509 women and 813 children from 13 different countries in Europe, Asia and America.
An Iraqi government source has told AFP that about 300 of the women were Ottoman Turkish.
According to the Norwegian Refugee Council NGO, which is seeking access to the detainees for humanitarian purposes, they are mainly from The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... , Azerbaijan, Russia and Tajikistan.
What to do with captured jihadists and their families has been an issue of great concern in their home states.
For example, French jihadist prisoners will be tried in Iraq, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has said, adding that children would be treated "on a case by case basis".
In neighbouring Syria this month, Russian officials took charge of 13 women and 29 children from Chechnya who had been found in the city of Raqa, which was recaptured from IS in October.
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11/21/2017 06:04 ||
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[DAWN] Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said on Monday he was prepared to pull his forces from Iraq, after the krazed killerIslamic 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 lost control over its last urban stronghold in the country.
In a televised address on Monday evening, Nasrallah said the Lebanese movement had deployed "large numbers of our commanders and cadres" to Iraq to fight IS.
"We consider that the mission has been accomplished, but we are waiting for the final, Iraqi announcement of victory," he said.
Once that official declaration came, Hezbollah would reassess its presence in Iraq and may pull its members out.
"If we find that it's over, that there is no need for the presence of these brothers, they will return to be deployed in any other arena that needs them," Nasrallah said.
Hezbollah mostly deployed experienced commanders as advisers and trainers to work alongside the Hashed al-Shaabi, a paramilitary umbrella dominated by local Shiite militia groups also loyal to Tehran.
Iraqi forces on November 17 announced they had retaken Rawa, the last town to have been held by the Islamic State group in Iraq, capping three years of anti-jihadist military operations.
The latest efforts against IS have been spearheaded by Iraqi special forces and other regular troops but the Hashed, which counts tens of thousands of fighters, has been a key component of the bruising campaign.
While IS no longer controls any urban hub in Iraq, its surviving fighters have regrouped in remote desert areas along the border with Syria and mopping up operations remain to be completed.
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11/21/2017 00:00 ||
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[NRTTV] Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani said a decision by the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court to cancel the results of the Kurdistan independence referendum was "unilateral".
KRG Premier said during a presser on Monday (November 20) that the federal supreme court reached verdict without attendance of representatives from the Kurdistan Region.
A statement by Iraqi federal court said on Monday the court "rendered a decision declaring unconstitutional the referendum held on September 25, 2017 in Iraqi Kurdistan... and cancelling all the consequences and results that resulted".
Regarding talks with Baghdad, KRG premier said the KRG continues efforts to launch dialogue with the government of Iraq to resolve the issues on the basis of Iraqi constitution.
"We are committed to the Constitution ... all the articles of the Iraqi Constitution must be implemented, not one article is implemented and another is ignored," Barzani added.
Barzani further said a third party should be present during talks between the KRG and Iraqi government to ensure the Iraqi constitution is implemented.
The feud between Erbil and Baghdad stems from Baghdad’s economic and military measures in retaliation for the Kurdistan referendum on Sept. 25, which saw 92.7 percent of the population vote in favor of independence.
KRG continuously expresses readiness to hold talks with Baghdad to resolve the issues between both sides according to the Iraqi Constitution. However, the hip bone's connected to the leg bone... the Iraqi government appears reluctant to participate in large-scale formal discussions.
Last month, the U.N. Security Council urged the Iraqi government and regional leaders in the Kurdistan Region to set a timetable for talks to end the crisis.
The world body's appeal came after Baghdad dismissed an offer from the region’s leaders to freeze the outcome of the referendum and hold talks.
Rejecting the freeze offer, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi instead demanded the annulment of the independence vote.
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Jordan has signed an agreement with a leading American company and a number of international firms to construct a logistics airport and a major logistics center in the province of Mafraq to be a springboard for reconstruction work for Syria and Iraq.
Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply Ya’rub al-Qudah, said that the government has reached a deal to establish an airport for logistics services in Mafraq, 60 kilometers northeast of the capital Amman, close to the Jordanian-Syrian borders and on the international road connecting Jordan with Iraq.
"The government has developed a plan of action with the World Bank to make Jordan a major platform in partnership with the countries of the region towards reconstruction projects," al-Qudah said.
The minister had previously announced that Jordan would take part in the reconstruction process of Syria once the country regains stability as a result of the recommendations of the 2016 London Conference of engaging Jordan in the process of rebuilding Syria.
Al Qudah has already called on the Jordanian private sector to be ready for the reconstruction process of Syria.
"The Jordanian private sector has to intensify their efforts and to work in a strategic manner in preparation of future opportunities due to the expected opening of the Syrian borders once war is over," he said.
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Syrian opposition leader Riyad Hijab has said he is stepping down as the General Coordinator of the High Negotiations Committee ahead of a much-anticipated conference of the anti-Assad camp on Nov. 22.
Hijab tweeted his full official resignation letter stating the end of his duties since he began to lead the HNC in 2015.
The opposition leader said that since the beginning he has supported the cause of seeking a unified Syria that has no place for Assad and his regime.
He added that there were many challenges that faced the revolution prolonging Assad’s command and exposing Syria and Syrians to external forces that sought to divide it.
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[ARABNEWS] The US Treasury Department on Monday sanctioned a network of individuals and companies it said counterfeited Yemeni bank notes potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars for Iran Revolutionary Guard’s Qods Force.
The network circumvented European export restrictions in order to provide the counterfeiting supplies and equipment, according to a Treasury statement.
President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... last month declared Iran’s Revolutionary Guard a supporter of terrorism and authorized Treasury to impose tough sanctions limiting its access to goods and funding.
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11/21/2017 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
[ARABNEWS] Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's assassination. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too. , who resigned on Nov. 4, will land in Cairo on Tuesday to meet the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi "to complement his international and Arab tours," Hariri’s media office announced.
Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit arrived in Beirut on Monday ‐ the day after his urgent meeting in the Egyptian capital with Arab foreign ministers, at which he condemned "the firing of an Iranian-made ballistic missile from Yemeni territories to Riyadh" and considered it "blatant aggression against 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... and a threat to Arab national security."
The statement released after the meeting held "the terrorist organization, Hezbollah, a major player in the Lebanese government, responsible for supporting terrorism and terrorist groups in Arab countries through providing them with advanced arms and ballistic missiles."
Aboul Gheit heard Lebanese President Michel Aoun ...president of Leb, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hizbullah... say: "Leb is not responsible for Arab or regional conflicts and had never attacked any country. Therefore, it must not pay the price for these conflicts."
Aoun stressed that "Leb faced Israeli aggression and managed to free its lands, but Israel continues to target Leb, which gives Lebanese people every right to resist and thwart Israel’s plans in every possible way."
He also refused to "suggest that the Lebanese government plays a role in terrorist acts," pointing out that "the stance of the permanent representative of Leb to the vaporous Arab League during the foreign ministers’ meeting reflects a strong national determination."
Leb objected to "the describing of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, as well as referring to it as being part of the government."
In a statement released by the presidential palace after Aboul Gheit’s meeting with Aoun, Aboul Gheit said: "Arab states are keen on ensuring Leb’s illusory sovereignty, independence and role as well as protecting its unique political structure and refusing to allow any harm to get to it."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/21/2017 00:00 ||
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] While the 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.... dossier continues to shed even more light on al-Qaeda as an organization, the late Osama bin Laden ... who used to be alive but now he's not... as its leader, the documents prove more evidence of Iran’s close hand in with the bad boy group that committed countless of atrocities across the world.
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Posted by: Fred ||
11/21/2017 00:00 ||
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#1
Since the Russian Dossier thing, I can't read the word dossier without expecting to read a story about someone (in Bin Laden's case, a female goat) peeing on a mattress...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
11/21/2017 22:38 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
... the former foreign minister of the Northern Alliance government, advisor to Masood, and candidate for president against Karzai. Dr. Abdullah was born in Kabul and is half Tadjik and half Pashtun...
...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. ..
...current chancellor of Germany and the impetus behind Germany's remarkably ill-starred immigration program. Merkel used to be referred to by Germans as 
Currently the Interior Minister of Pakistain. He is the senior leader of the Pak Moslem League (N) and a close aide to Nawaz 
the 
Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's assassination. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too.
Michel Aoun
