[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Chief Executive of Jamiat-e-Isalami Ata Mohammad Noor has vowed to defy the recent decision by President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani and continue working as the provincial governor of the northern Balkh province.
Speaking during a gathering in northern Balkh province, Noor said none one can dismiss him as the governor of Balkh province by issuing a decree, insisting that the political party he is representing is one of the main sides which played a key role in the formation of the government of national unity.
He said the presidential elections in 2014 was one of the worst elections the country and was marred massively by fraud by it was the Jamiat-e-Islami which gave a legitimacy to the process.
According to Noor, he entered into negotiations with the government representing the strong stance of the Jamiat-e-Islami and not as an ordinary governor representing the Balkh province.
He said the Jamiat party is the main piller of the unity government and no one can sideline him as an ordinary government employee, emphasizing that he will continue to his work as the governor of the Balkh province in a bid to prevent the spread of the Taliban and ISIS in Balkh
In other parts of his speech, Noor harshly cricized the Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah and called him a ‘snake up in own sleeve’ and accused him of conspiring against the party which helped him reach to power.
This comes as the Office of the President announced Monday that President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani has approved the resignation of Balkh governor Ata Mohammad Noor.
The Office of the President in a statement said Mr. Noor had resigned from his position as the governor of Balkh province a while ago.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2017 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
[RADIOSHABELLE] Six Somali nationals who were transferred to Seychelles after being caught attacking a container ship and a fishing vessel last month could face 30 years imprisonment if convicted.
That statement was made Thursday by David Esparon, the principal state counsel, in the Attorney General’s Office.
Esparon told SNA that the suspects will now face prosecution before the court after being charged with ’committing an act of piracy’ and ’attempting an act of piracy’ in the Indian Ocean.
The six Somali nationals were brought before Seychelles’ Supreme Court on December 11.
The Attorney General’s Office "has sufficient evidence to make up a strong case, but as the incident happened at sea it has some difficulties," added Esparon.
The six suspects from Somalia were apprehended by an Italian navy frigate, ITS Virginio Fasan, after they attacked a Seychelles-flagged 52,000-tonne container ship and a fishing vessel last week, the authorities said. The incident took place over a 24-hour period in November from Friday 18 to Saturday 19 in the Southern Somali Basin.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2017 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Pirates
[AnNahar] President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Niger late Friday for a morale-boosting visit to La Belle France's Barkhane anti-jihadist force and told troops the fight against Death Eaters in the region would continue in 2018.
Former colonial power La Belle France has been leading regional counterterrorism efforts in West Africa's Sahel region ... North Africa's answer to the Pak tribal areas... , but is keen to spread the burden as its military is engaged on various fronts.
Macron was welcomed by his Niger counterpart Mahamadou Issoufou.
The French leader then had a "Christmas dinner" with some members of the 4,000-strong Barkhane force. The meal was prepared by a chef from the Elysee.
"I am proud of you, La Belle France is proud of you ... La Belle France mourns its dead, takes care of its injured (and) is proud of its children who are fighting to protect it," he said.
With 500 men, Mirage 2000 fighter jets and drones, the French base in the Niger capital Niamey is the air hub for the Barkhane force.
Macron said the Barkhane mission would continue in 2018 with the "aim of winning clear and important victories against the enemy".
"I trust you," to carry out the mission in the Sahel, which "is a priority" because "this is where our security, the future of part of the African continent is played out," he said.
"We must not leave the Sahel to terrorist organizations ... (we must not) give up the slightest bit of territory to them," said Macron, who was accompanied by Defence Minister Florence Parly.
The Barkhane mission had stopped jihadist groups in various areas and they were "no longer capable of undermining a state", he said.
The mission would however continue against scattered groups of jihadists, the president added.
Marcon was due to discuss the issue Saturday with President Issoufou.
He would also announce "concrete" development projects, especially for educating girls, according to the presidential palace.
"The root of the problem is not terrorism, it's underdevelopment, trafficking and the impact of population growth -- that's what we need to solve," said Colonel Regis Colcombel, deputy commander of Barkhane.
[IsraelTimes] An Afghan refugee accused of plowing his car into pedestrians in Melbourne was charged with 18 counts of attempted murder Saturday, as police vowed a boosted presence over the Christmas period.
Saeed Noori, who has a history of drug abuse and mental problems, allegedly drove his car through a busy downtown intersection on Thursday, careering into tourists and shoppers.
His motive is not clear, although police allege he made "utterances" to them about voices, dreams and the "poor treatment of Moslems" after his arrest.
No link to any terrorist group has been found.
"A 32-year-old man has been charged with 18 counts of attempted murder and one count of conduct endangering life," Victoria state police said in a statement, citing Thursday’s attack.
Broadcaster ABC said Noori did not apply for bail when he appeared in court on Saturday, putting his head in his hands and becoming emotional when he saw his mother weeping during the short hearing.
The magistrate ordered a psychiatric assessment and he is due to appear in court again on Wednesday, the broadcaster reported.
Of 19 people taken to hospital after the incident, 12 remain, with three in a critical condition.
[IsraelTimes] The glaring absence of hate crime charges riles a community who fear a power grab from far-right anti-Islamist parties capitalizing on the weak response
Two weeks ago, a 29-year-old man waving a Paleostinian flag smashed the windows of a kosher restaurant with a wooden club, stealing an Israeli flag there. Police locked away Please don't kill me! the suspect on the spot.
Continued on Page 49
[Ynet] Danish Foreign Ministry decides to stop funding for 14 Paleostinian organizations in the wake of an internal investigation that found these groups used the money to promote terrorism and the boycott against Israel.
Denmark's Foreign Ministry announced on Friday that it was halting financial aid to several Paleostinian NGOs over ties with terror groups.
In addition, Copenhagen set stricter conditions for Paleostinian NGOs' eligibility for aid in the future to ensure the money is used for the right purposes, rather than go to terror groups or the BDS Movement.
The decision was made in the wake of an internal investigation in the Danish Foreign Ministry ordered by Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen at the urging of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan.
Starting 2018, aid will be provided to only 10 Paleostinian NGOs instead of 24.
The Danish Foreign Ministry said it will "continue to support civil society organizations focusing on the human rights ...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions... situation in Paleostine, which is a priority under the Danish foreign policy," but starting next year, "the funds will be transferred under new and stricter conditions. Donor cooperation will end at the end of the year, and the remaining Danish funds from 2017 will be used for expenses related to the administrative completion of the program."
The Danish investigation into the matter was launched after the Paleostinian Women's Affairs Technical Committee (WATC), which enjoyed Danish aid money, opened a center for women last June named after the terrorist Dalal Mughrabi, who murdered dozens of Israelis in the 1978 Coastal Road massacre.
WATC received half a million dollars through the Ramallah-based Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Secretariat, a donor program sponsored by Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland ...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell... According to Israel's Strategic Affairs Ministry, the Secretariat funds many Paleostinian organizations that promote the de-legitimization of Israel as well as boycotts against it. Some of these NGOs, such as al-Haq and Addameer, also have ties to the terror organization Popular Front for the Liberation of Paleostine (PFLP).
Minister Erdan praised the Danish Foreign Ministry's decision, calling it "a significant achievement for Israel in its resolute struggle against the boycott organizations, which suffered a severe blow today."
"It cannot be that European countries continue funding Paleostinian organizations working to promote boycott and present a distorted image of Israel, and more gravely - having ties with terror elements," he said.
"I'm glad Denmark has realized the Danish tax payer does not wish to fund - directly or indirectly - Paleostinian organizations with ties to terrorism. I call on other nations on the European continent to take the same measure of moral responsibility and take similar steps," Erdan added.
Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen said that, following an investigation, most of the earmarked funds will be returned to Danish government coffers.
[Ynet] HONOLULU -- A federal appeals court panel has ruled that US 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... once again exceeded the scope of his authority with his latest travel ban, but the judges on the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals put their decision on hold pending review by the US Supreme Court, meaning the ban involving six majority Moslem countries will remain in effect.
Some learning has occurred, however incomplete.
The 77-page ruling released late Friday says Trump's proclamation makes no finding whatsoever that simply being from one of the countries cited in the ban makes someone a security risk.
Hawaii, which is suing to stop the ban, has argued that it will be harmful because families will be separated and university recruitment will be hampered.
#3
whatsoever that simply being from one of the countries cited in the ban makes someone a security risk
My reading of the law indicates this quibble has nothing whatsoever to do with the authority given to POTUS to ban certain nationalities from visiting or immigrating to this country. He has the legal right to do that, regardless of his state or unstated rationale or what he happened to say before the election. Not that this matters to a black robed dictator.
#4
7-2 overturn by the Supremes on their last decision on this granting an injunction - because of the high probability that the US Government would prevail.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] An Israeli court ordered the release from custody Saturday of three Ottoman Turkish tourists a day after they were tossed in the clink Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! over a confrontation with police at a Jerusalem holy site.
Police said the three were detained on Friday for being "involved in an incident in Jerusalem’s Old City after Friday prayers on the Temple Mount", the Jewish term for the al-Aqsa mosque compound.
They were arrested for attacking a police officer and resisting arrest.
But Jerusalem magistrates’ court ordered their release in a hearing late Saturday, denying a police request to extend their detention by four days, AFP news hounds said.
"The court rejected the police’s argument which is basically that they were liable to interfere with the police investigation, and also that they pose a threat to the general community," their lawyer Nick Kaufman told AFP after the hearing.
"It was obvious that this case was a politically charged case, and the judge released them."
A video circulating on social media shows a number of men wearing red shirts with the Ottoman Turkish flag scuffling with police in the Old City.
The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... ’s state-run news agency ...and if you can't believe the state-run news agency who can you believe?... Anadolu said two of the three hold dual Ottoman Turkish and Belgian citizenship.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2017 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Sublime Porte
#3
"Of Turkish I've less than a smatterin' --
Mark "shapely sultana," eh, Maturin? --
But, loading the smashers
With fat English rashers,
By God, we shall give 'em a batterin'!"
[ALMASDARNEWS] Russia hopes for joint work with the U/S/ in fighting Jabhat al-Nusra ...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli al-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 .. ... in Syria, head of the Russian delegation to the talks on Syria in Astana, the Russian president’s envoy on the Syrian settlement Alexander Lavrentyev told TASS on Saturday.
"We have a positive experience in joint work fighting the IS (terrorist organization outlawed in Russia)," the diplomat said.
"I hope for similar work in fighting other terrorist organizations, including Jabhat al-Nusra (outlawed in Russia)".
At the same time, he continued, certain actions of the U.S. Administration depend and related to the situation in that country.
"We want to see our American counterparts in a boat together with us, so that we would sail in a correct direction," he said. "It is a different thing that the current situation may be not that favorable. This comes from various inner problems in the U.S."
"We support contacts, we are working with the U.S. counterparts, and we hope common sense will prevail and we shall be moving together," the diplomat said. "When together, we can achieve much more".
Alexander Lavrentyev told, that Russian military observers may return to the Idlib de-escalation zone in Syria, if the situation develops favorably.
"It is a complicated issue for now, it is being considered," he said. "In case of respective conditions, our observers may return."
"I cannot say anything about the time, everything depends on the situation," he added.
On September 20, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported a platoon of 29 military police was blocked and for a few hours was fighting the Jabhat al-Nusra (terrorist organization, outlawed in Russia) snuffies in Idlib. Command of the Russian grouping in Syria formed up a group to unblock the police.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2017 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: al-Nusra
Special rights for a special class ‐ that’s sharia. It will be interesting to see what Elmo does with his sword and his Quran.
Here’s the money quote, "To some degree, the program has been developed as a way to fight terrorist actors such as the Islamic State (ISIS) by educating children."
#3
Sesame Street is a major corporation in and of itself (and gets a free ride on taxpayer funded PBS). It needs no 'grant' if it deems it's a market worth pursuing.
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.
...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell...
