[IsraelTimes] Unilever, the parent company of Ben & Jerry’s, says it resolved a lawsuit with the ice cream maker over its attempt to boycott Israeli settlements last year.
"Unilever is pleased to announce that the litigation with Ben & Jerry’s Independent Board has been resolved," the UK-based conglomerate says in a terse statement, without providing further detail.
The announcement appears to finally put an end to a legal battle that has dragged on for over a year. Ben & Jerry’s sued Unilever’s main US branch, Conopco, earlier this year as part of its boycott attempt, which it first announced in July 2021.
Avi Zinger, the head of Ben & Jerry’s Israel branch and a key player in fighting against the boycott, says he is "pleased" that the litigation has been resolved.
There were no details available about the settlement, but Zinger says there was no change to an agreement he inked with Unilever earlier this year.
[NorwegianRefugeeCouncil] The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) calls on the Taliban authorities to halt further evictions of internally displaced people (IDPs) from settlements across Afghanistan, until they have found sustainable alternatives.
"In the midst of another harsh Afghan winter approximately twenty thousand displaced people have been evicted from their homes in Badghis province by Taliban ...mindless ferocity in a turban... authorities. Many now have no food to feed their children and no way of keeping warm as temperatures drop below zero," said Neil Turner, NRC's country director in Afghanistan.
"The Badghis authorities must recognize that they have responsibilities towards the population. It is essential that authorities ensure families have shelter and are able to support themselves before undertaking any further evictions; and should also assist those already evicted."
Previous decades of fighting, and more recently drought, have forced thousands of families to flee their homes in the rural areas of Badghis and seek out safety and humanitarian support in the capital, Qala-e-Naw. They have eked out an existence on the city's outskirts, relying on haphazard combinations of humanitarian assistance and manual labour.
The authorities in Badghis have insisted these families return to their original homes and that the settlements are dismantled. However, Caliphornia hasn't yet slid into the ocean, no matter how hard it's tried... many have no homes in their villages of origin and in the current economic situation it will be difficult for them to find work and survive there. NRC’s Camp Management team in Afghanistan has confirmed that just under 20,000 people have been evicted in the past weeks.
"We put all our belongings on two donkeys and walked all the way here. We arrived almost at midnight the day we were evicted. It was very cold that day. We spent five to six years in that settlement and now we have come here, and we don’t have anywhere to live. Almost all of my six kids have become sick. We have nothing to eat and there is no one to support us. The local people here already have their own financial issues," said a widow who was evicted from her home in Qala-e-Naw to her village of origin in Badghis province.
Months of negotiations with the humanitarian community and small-scale pilot returns processes have failed to convince the authorities to follow a slower and more sustainable returns process. Instead, the displaced families have been forced to leave. NRC has launched an emergency response to provide humanitarian support in the form of cash grants and essential items to families on the move in Badghis province.
"All further evictions must be halted until the Taliban authorities, with the support of the international and humanitarian communities, have found long-term solutions for highly vulnerable displaced communities," said Turner.
FACTS AND FIGURES:
NRC’s camp management teams estimate that some 2 million internally displaced people live in over 1,000 large sprawling slum-like informal settlements across almost 30 provinces in Afghanistan, usually in appalling conditions and often highly dependent on humanitarian aid to supplement meagre earnings. In Qala-e-Naw, Badghis Province, Afghanistan, there were 8 informal settlements, home to approximately 2,800 families (just under 20,000 individuals). All of these settlements have now been demolished.
Last week, the Taliban authorities conducted a survey of the settlements to register all families, but reportedly did not register female headed households (187 households in total), raising concerns that they will be left off the list for future support in their areas of origin.
A small-scale pilot returns process was initiated in Badgis in June this year for 260 families and was supported by the humanitarian community. However,
Caliphornia hasn't yet slid into the ocean, no matter how hard it's tried...
serious concerns have been raised over the sustainability and modality of these returns given the poor level of basic infrastructure and ongoing drought in rural areas, as well as the use of cash incentives.
The Taliban authorities are bound by obligations under international law including against forced evictions. In this regard, for an eviction to meet international standards and not become a forced eviction, authorities must comply with several principles, including obligations after an eviction has occurred. Namely that people must not be left homeless or living in inadequate housing after an eviction.
The latest humanitarian response plan (HRP) highlights that Afghanistan remains one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Two-thirds of Afghanistan’s population will be in need of humanitarian assistance in 2023 as the country enters its third consecutive year of drought-like conditions and the second year of crippling economic decline, all the while still reeling from the after-effects of decades of conflict and recurrent natural disasters.
The HRP estimated that a record 28.3 million people will need humanitarian and protection assistance in 2023 in Afghanistan, up from 24.4 million in 2022 and 18.4 million in 2021.
A recent report by UNDP indicates that the formal economy in Afghanistan lost US$5 billion after August 2021 and is on a declining trajectory. Afghanistan lost in 12 months what had taken 10 years to accumulate.
[8amMedia] Around 300 Taliban ...mindless ferocity in a turban... fighters have left the 215 Maiwand Corps in Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... province.
On Thursday (December 15th), local sources confirmed to Hasht-e Subh that the Taliban commanders in Helmand treated the Kandahari Taliban in a humiliating manner, which caused them to desert military service and leave the 215 Maiwand Corps’ base.
Video footage, which was made available to Hasht-e Subh, also shows Taliban fighters leaving the Taliban camp in Helmand collectively in a convoy of military vehicles.
In the video, a Taliban fighter says that it was Zarqawi who kept the Mujahideen happy and satisfied. Apparently, Zarqawi is the name of one of the disgruntled Taliban commanders in their military camp in Helmand.
Taliban officials have not commented on this matter as of yet.
Differences and infighting between the Taliban are not unprecedented. Before this, a number of Taliban commanders in different parts of Afghanistan have deserted serving in the ranks of the Taliban
[ToloNews] A famous member of the Islamic Emirate, Mutasim Agha Jan, who was working as finance minister during the first rule of the Islamic Emirate, has returned to Afghanistan.
Agha Jan returned with acting Minister of Defense Mawlawi Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid, who was on an official visit to the UAE.
During the former government, Mutasim Afgha Jan was considered the head of the political committee of the Islamic Emirate. Agha Jan was also engaged in talks between the Islamic Emirate and the former republican government.
"I was a Taliban ...mindless ferocity in a turban... , I am a Taliban and I will be a Taliban," he said.
Agha Jan worked as finance minister in the first round of the Islamic Emirate’s rule and was one of the senior members of the Quetta Shura ...Taliban's command center, located in Quetta, that the Pak govt hasn't been able to find since its establishment in November, 2001. Honest... of the Taliban’s leadership until 2010.
Agha Jan has been living in the UAE.
Aha Jan is from Kandahar province and was one of the close figures to the founder of the Islamic Emirate, Mullah Mohammad Omar Mujahid.
"May Allah give us brotherhood and intimacy to give our hands to each other and be supportive of each other instead of being enemies," Agha Jan said.
"His return will strengthen unity among the Taliban. If he is provided with a professional mission or post, he has good capability and ability," said Asif Nang, a political analyst.
"He (Agha Jan) has faced disputes and was forced to leave the front. He is still now an influential figure and the Taliban leaders respect him. I believe his return will benefit the Afghans, the Islamic Emirate and the country," said Hassan Haqyar, a political analyst.
[KhaamaPress] 20 people were publicly flogged on Wednesday in the southern Afghan province of Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... for alleged theft, adultery, and other offenses, local authorities said.
The lashings allegedly took place at the sports stadium in Lashkar Gah, the picturesque provincial capital of southern Helmand on Wednesday, December 14, according to Mohammad Qasim Riyaz, a spokesperson for the governor’s office.
According to Riyaz, each man received between 35 and 39 lashings, and the penalties were administered in front of locals, elders, and government officials in the province. He further said that several of the convicts also received prison sentences.
Since assuming control of the country in August 2021, Afghanistan’s new rulers have implemented strict laws that adhere to their version of Sharia, or Islamic law.
This comes after the first public execution in Afghanistan for retribution, which sparked outrage and the request for an immediate halt from countries and international organizations, including the United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... According to Zabihullah Mujahid, the top government front man, the victim’s father carried out the execution in front of a large crowd of onlookers in western Farah province while using an assault weapon.
[KhaamaPress] The Ministry of Finance (MoF) said the country witnessed increase in exports and imports of Afghan products through air corridors more recently.
This came a time the current leadership since the takeover last August continue to explore ways on how to stabilize and improve the economy in the Afghanistan.
Ahmad Wali Haqmal, a front man for the MoF, said that Afghanistan imported commodities worth 7.8 billion Afs over the past 15 months, as TOLOnews reported.
Main export partners are Pakistan (48 percent of total exports), India (19 percent) and Russia (9 percent). Others include: Iran, Iraq and Turkey.
According to Haqmal, more than 4.3 billion Afghani worth of commodities has been imported into Afghanistan in over a year, making around 950 million Afghanis in revenue.
"Within the past 15 months, commodities worth 7.8 billion Afs have been imported to Afghanistan via air corridor," he said, as local media quoted. "The Finance Ministry made 950 million in revenue from it."
Highlighting on the types of goods exported via the air corridors, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MoIC) said that the commodities included carpets, pine nuts, and handmade crafts — products Afghanistan is known for.
A front man for the MoIC, Ahundzada Abdul Salam Jawad, said the exports have been made to China and India.
"Over the past eight months, our exports have been to China and India via air corridor," he said, as local media quoted.
"We have had around 600 tons of exports via air corridor to China. We had around 200 tons of exports to India via a private airline company and also to other countries via Dubai, UAE," he elaborated.
Meanwhile, ...back at the bunker, his Excellency called the chief of staff and complained that the artillery was keeping him awake... Afghan traders expressed hope for the future of Afghan products in the international markets, saying exporting local product to Asian and European countries will help grow Afghanistan economy.
"The air corridor is one of the main parts of business. More exports via air corridor to India, China and the Gulf countries, as well as the EU and US, will benefit us," said Zalmai Azimi, a trader.
Based on the statistics of the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, more than 5,000 tons of pine nuts have been exported via air corridor in the year 1400.
In Afghanistan, exports account for around 20 percent of GDP. Afghanistan main exports are carpets and rugs (45 percent of total exports); dried fruits (31 percent) and medicinal plants (12 percent).
Main export partners are Pakistain (48 percent of total exports), India (19 percent) and Russia (9 percent). Others include: Iran, Iraq and The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor... .
[Garowe] For the last four months, Somalia has heightened the fight against al-Shabaab ...... the personification of Somali state failure... with the national army getting support from the US Africa Command, 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... Transition Mission in Somalia [ATMIS], and a group of clan militia particularly Macawisley in central and southern regions.
Continued on Page 49
The Somali National Army has for the first time displayed a recovered al-Shabaab ...... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord... Villa in the newly liberated Adan Yabal town which compromises a courtroom, taxation center, and other offices that the Lions of Islam have been using since 2016 when they seized the town.
The report says a bomb-making manual was found on the premises during the search which was conducted by the military in the company of the town's new mayor Mohamud Sheikh Hassan. The government is striving to install civilian leadership in all liberated towns within the country.
[KhaamaPress] British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced on Tuesday that UK’s new legislation, which will be introduced early next year, will revoke the right of anyone who enter the country illegally to remain in the UK.
Rishi Sunak has pledged to enact new legislation to combat illegal immigration, declaring that anyone entering the UK illegally will not be permitted to remain.
Sunak stated in the House of Commons on Tuesday, December 13, that the recently announced policies will "deliver on our promise to tackle illegal immigration."
Sunak’s announcement follows weeks of criticism vis- à-vis the rise in small boats entering English coastlines from La Belle France through the English Channel.
According to Sunak, anyone who is expelled because they enter the UK "illegally" will no longer be eligible to apply for asylum in the UK from abroad.
He also announced a new agreement with Albania to hasten the return of Albanian asylum seekers, who account for a third of those coming to the UK in small boats.
The contentious UK plan for Rwanda, which has drawn sharp criticism from human rights ...which often include carefully measured allowances of freedom at the convenience of the state... organizations, was also underlined.
Sunak also revealed the establishment of the "dedicated and unified" Small Boats Command Center, which is said to combine UK military and civilian resources for a coordinated response to information gathering, processing, and enforcement.
[Rudaw] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire... will not seek US approval and will act independently if Washington continues supporting Kurdish forces in northern Syria, President His Enormity, Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than there are in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really most important... said Sunday amid threats to escalate Ankara’s fresh campaign in the region to a ground operation.
Turkey launched Operation Claw-Sword targeting positions of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northern Syria on November 20. The aerial campaign, conducted as a prelude to a looming ground operation, has been strongly opposed by the US as it maintains a military presence in the region and is a key ally of the Kurdish forces.
As Ankara’s pressure campaign on Washington to greenlight its planned invasion of Syria intensifies, Erdogan said that Turkey will take matters into its own hands if the US continues providing "thousands of truck-loads" of military assistance and equipment to the Kurdish force, state-owned Anadolu Agency reported.
"Currently, we want to take a step with Syria and Russia, as a trio. For this, first, our intelligence organizations should come together, then our defense ministers and, then our foreign ministers should meet," Erdogan added, expressing interest in conducting joint operations with the two countries against the SDF.
The Syrian government and its main backer, Russia, have both called for restraint and urged Turkey for de-escalation. However, death is not the end. There remains the litigation over the estate... Moscow has been distracted by its war in Ukraine, which has also provided Erdogan with the opportunity to emerge as a key global political actor with Russia increasingly reliant on Turkey as a window to the western world which it has largely been isolated by. This may guarantee Erdogan limited opposition from Russia with regard to its operation in Syria.
Kurds in Syria have been Washington’s main allies on the ground in the fight against the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really 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 western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS) since the terror group seized swathes of land in Syria and Iraq in 2014. The US has provided ammunition, training, and military support to the SDF since then.
Hundreds of US troops remain in Syria and lead the global coalition against ISIS, frequently conducting joint patrols with the SDF as part of a joint effort to rout ISIS remnants in the region.
Turkey’s ongoing rocket and drone attacks in northern Syria pose a danger to US personnel stationed on the ground.
In late November, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said that a deadly Ottoman Turkishdronezap against a joint Kurdish-American base that killed 2 SDF fighters put American forces in northern Syria in danger.
Turkey considers the People’s Protection Units (YPG) — the backbone of the SDF — as a front for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Syria. The PKK is a Kurdish gang fighting for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey and is outlawed as a terrorist organization by Ankara, as well as the US and EU.
The Kurdish forces and Washington have repeatedly threatened that a Ottoman Turkish ground offensive in the area would jeopardize hard-earned gains made in the years-long fight against ISIS.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/16/2022 01:47 ||
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[FOX] This is a story about an Afghan soldier and a tragically broken U.S. immigration and asylum system.
Abdul Wasi Safi was trained by the U.S. military to be an elite special forces commando in Afghanistan. When Kabul fell, Wasi was still fighting the Taliban in the north. On Aug. 30, 2021, when the last U.S. plane left Kabul, Wasi went into hiding, moving from safe house to safe house arranged by U.S. veterans who helped him get to Pakistan. He hoped to receive a special immigrant visa and to legally move to the U.S.
The Taliban had his biometric data, left behind by the U.S. government, and they were hunting him. Now, Wasi sits in a Texas prison facing deportation to Kabul and certain death, a poster child for America's broken asylum system.
"I was in a special force commando unit with the U.S. military," Wasi told Fox News in a phone interview from Eden Detention Center in Texas. "I wanted to come to the United States. I don't select another country to help me because I was with them. But I come here, and they put me in jail."
#2
This young man apparently subscribes to duty, honor, and courage, so it's clear that Washington has nothing to offer him. He should do himself a favor by identifying as transgender.
Posted by: Matt ||
12/16/2022 15:14 Comments ||
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[Rudaw] A Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, woman pleaded guilty on Thursday in connection with her unwitting role in a foiled plot to kidnap a prominent Iranian opposition activist muppet living in New York City and take her back to Tehran.
U.S. prosecutors have not accused Niloufar Bahadorifar of participating in the plot to abduct Masih Alinejad, a journalist and vocal critic of the Iranian government for its treatment of women and other issues.
But authorities said four Iranians who plotted to kidnap the activist muppet paid an American private investigator to watch her used Bahadorifar as a go-between.
Bahadorifar pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to violate U.S. economic sanctions on Iran ...Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979... by helping channel money to the investigator.
Her lawyer, Jeffrey Lichtman, told The New York Times
... which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... that Bahadorifar was herself a victim of a "cancerous" Iranian regime.
"When Iran’s terrorist leaders aren’t slaughtering their own people," he said, "they’re traveling the globe trying to kill their critics, including the despicable manipulation of Ms. Bahadorifar by an old family friend."
Bahadorifar said in court she was unaware the money was used to pay the investigator to conduct surveillance. She told the judge she had sent the funds to the investigator via PayPal on behalf of a government official in Iran who was a longtime family friend.
An Iranian intelligence officer and others were charged in New York last year with attempting to kidnap Alinejad and take her back to Iran. The Officials in Iran have denied the charge.
The private investigator, who also was unaware his employers were actually Iranian agents, later cooperated with the FBI ...Formerly one of the world's premier criminal investigation organizations, something for a nation to be proud of. Now it's a political arm of the Deep State oligarchy that is willing to trump up charges, suppress evidence, or take out insurance policies come election time... and has not been charged.
Alinejad became a U.S. citizen in 2019 after working for years as a journalist in Iran. She fled the country after its disputed 2009 presidential election and has become a prominent figure on Farsi-language satellite channels abroad that criticize Iran.
U.S. authorities are investigating whether Alinejad was the target of a second plot after the first one was disrupted.
Last summer, police arrested a man near her Brooklyn home with a loaded assault rifle and dozens of rounds of ammunition. Alinejad said a home security video had recorded the man outside her front door.
[KhaamaPress] The Interior Ministry of Pakistain has set a deadline for Afghans without legal documentation to leave the country be the end of this year, otherwise, they will be fined or imprisoned.
Afghan refugees in Pakistain have received warnings from the government of Pakistain that if they stay in the country beyond the specified period with no legal residence permit either from the host country or the United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), they will face serious consequences.
Over the past months, this is the second time the government of Pakistain is warning foreign nationals, Afghan immigrants colonists, in particular, to extend their stay visas and other legal documents, or else they will have to pay fines to leave the country.
Meanwhile, ...back at the shootout, Butch started the buffalo stampeding...... extending a stay visa has become extremely difficult for Afghan nationals within Pakistain. The online processing time is overwhelmingly time-consuming with no transparency in the process. "It takes months to get a visa extended, and without paying commission, we never get our visa issued," an Afghan migrant in Islamabad said.
Furthermore, UNHCR Pakistain has stopped issuing ’Asylum Seeker Certificates’ and ’Refugee Cards’ to those Afghan refugees already registered with this organization since the Taliban ...mindless ferocity in a turban... ’s return to power, and the refugee influx to Pakistain, due to some unknown reasons. This puts massive pressure on Afghan migrants colonists living in the country with no legal status.
Those Afghans with SIV, P1, P2, or other personal sponsorship cases, currently rising in Pakistain, are also faced with the same perplexity, not knowing how much longer the processing time of their cases would be, and what penalties they will have to pay to the government of Pakistain by the beginning of 2023.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/16/2022 00:00 ||
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[IsraelTimes] Backing for two-state solution falls to just 32%, with 69% no longer believing it’s possible due to settlement expansion; majority says next Israeli government will annex West Bank
[BenarNews] Change may be coming to slow-moving and thus far fruitless peace talks in Thailand’s Deep South, observers say, as Malaysia’s new prime minister is keenly interested in the conflict and no friend of the current controller, who once punched him in the eye.
Talks between negotiators representing Thailand’s government and forces of Evil in the mostly Moslem southern border region were informally on hold while Malaysia — which for years has brokered the talks — held an election in November. The two sides last conferred in August.
Malaysia’s new leader, Anwar Ibrahim, has already met with Thai Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan. But the two governments have kept mum about the future direction of the peace talks, saying only that they are discussing matters, including whether peace broker Abdul Rahim Noor, a former national police chief, would be replaced.
The date of the next round of talks hasn’t yet been confirmed, although the Malaysian controller told BenarNews last week that it would take place in January. BenarNews tried to get information from Thai officials, but calls to the head and secretary of the Thai peace panel were not picked up.
Meanwhile, ...back at the buffalo wallow, Yellow Wolf clutched at his chest and fell from his horse... a senior member of Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) — the largest and most powerful bad boy group in the Thai Deep South — said recently that it would be open to autonomy instead of independence, if that is what people in the region want.
The BRN man gave a rare, on-camera interview to BenarNews in August on condition that his identity be concealed and his voice altered.
"The ultimate goal is independence. .... To achieve the goal, the Patani people’s support is a key factor," said the bad boy, who asked to be identified as "Mustakim."
"However, facts are stubborn; statistics are more pliable... if the people see during the struggle that there are better options than independence, such as what occurred in Aceh or Mindanao, [then] that could be their consensus."
Rebel groups in Aceh, Indonesia, and Mindanao, in the southern Philippines, originally sought independence but settled for autonomy in return for peace.
"[T]he peace talk process does not live up to ideal standards, when compared to successful processes such as in other ASEAN countries like Indonesia’s Aceh [region]," he said.
"They had a detailed and tangible process leading to a peace agreement in a short time, not 10 or 20 years."
BRN has been fighting to establish an independent state for Malay Moslems who form the majority of the population in Thailand’s southern border region. It was not clear if "Mustakim" was stating an official view or his own opinion, and whether BRN had authorized him to speak to news hounds.
ANWAR ’CAN PLAY A SIGNIFICANT ROLE’ Meanwhile, ...back at the buffalo wallow, Yellow Wolf clutched at his chest and fell from his horse... observers of regional conflict also noted the slow progress of the peace talks.
The Thai government and BRN representatives began Malaysia-brokered peace negotiations in early 2020, soon before the outbreak of the coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague) ...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men... pandemic in the neighboring countries. These talks followed years of negotiations between the government and MARA Patani, an umbrella group that brought together Deep South bad boy groups, including BRN.
Mohd. Mizan Mohammad Aslam of the National Defense University of Malaysia said peace talks had not changed anything on the ground because, in his view, the conflict actually escalated after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Malaysia needs to revamp the whole negotiation process to reach a workable solution, and that includes getting someone new to replace the controller Abdul Rahim Noor, he said.
"The [Malaysian] government has two choices: whether you want someone energetic, relatively young, and who has a will to finish the task or the job, or do you want someone who is very experienced with wisdom to tackle the issue?" he told BenarNews.
Mohd Mizan believes Anwar can play a prominent role.
"He is one of the very respected figures in Thailand. I know during his tenure as deputy prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim helped a lot of Moslems, especially madrassas in southern Thailand. So with that, I believe he can play a significant role," he said.
Another analyst, Altaf Deviyati, co-founder and director of IMAN Research, a Kuala Lumpur think-tank, said Malaysia had not been proactive in these past few years on the Deep South issue.
"Malaysia is [currently] functioning literally like a secretariat office. ... [But] Anwar Ibrahim has shown over the years his interest in the situation in the Deep South and security in ASEAN in general," she told BenarNews.
"I would think he will take a personal interest in the progress of the dialogue. ...I would assume that the controller may [also] be replaced."
Last week, Malaysian Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the possibility of replacing Rahim Noor was among things discussed during a meeting with Thai Deputy Prime Minister Prawit.
"When the time comes we will announce [any change] ... I can say that the matter was also touched on during the meeting," he told news hounds in Putrajaya.
"[I]t was too specific and detailed with several mutual commitments that need to be discussed, but it is still too early for me to divulge the details on the matter for the moment."
Rahim Noor was appointed controller for the southern Thai peace talks in September 2018 by then-Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.
Anwar’s People’s Justice Party, which was part of Mahathir’s coalition government, strongly objected to the appointment. Party members had not forgotten that Rahim Noor, as the police inspector-general, punched Anwar in prison in 1998 after Mahathir had sacked Anwar as deputy prime minister, in a notorious case dubbed as the "black eye incident."
Two years later, Rahim Noor was sentenced to two months in prison for the assault. In 2005, the former police chief publicly apologized to Anwar in court.
BenarNews contacted Rahim Noor last week to seek comment but he declined to answer. Officials at Malaysia’s Ministry of Home Affairs as well as the PM’s Office did not respond to BenarNews questions about whether the controller would be replaced.
Don Pathan, a Thailand-based security analyst, declined to comment on the Anwar-Rahim Noor relationship, but said a new controller in the talks may move things along.
"About Rahim Noor, perhaps it’s time for him to step aside. He was Dr. Mahathir’s choice," Pathan told BenarNews.
"PM Anwar is in charge now, and he appeared to be more hands-on, making a quick trip to Bangkok just days before the General Election to meet Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwan," Pathan said, referring to Anwar’s visit to the Thai capital on Sept. 22.
The armed separatist movement in the Deep South region against Buddhist-majority Thailand began in the 1960s.
The Deep South encompasses Pattani, Narathiwat, Yala provinces and four districts of Songkhla province. Since the insurgency reignited in January 2004, more than 7,344 people have been killed and 13,641 others injured in violence, according to Deep South Watch, a local think-tank.
[NPASyria] Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder announced on Tuesday joint operations with Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to pursue Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really 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 western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... Organization (ISIS) in northeast Syria have fully resumed.
Ryder made his words in a press briefing in which he stressed the resumption of the joint operations between the SDF and the US-led Global Coalition to secure the absolute defeat of ISIS.
On Nov. 23, the SDF announced suspending its mission against the ISIS due to the latest Ottoman Turkish escalation in the SDF-held areas that started on Nov. 20.
Ferhad Shami, head of the SDF Media Center, quoted the forces’ Commander in Chief Mazloum Abdi as saying, "Due to our forces’ preoccupation with addressing the Ottoman Turkish occupation, they cannot continue their mission of pursuing ISIS cells. Currently, we’re forced to be preoccupied with confronting Ottoman Turkish aggression."
Ryder noted, "The partner operations with the Syrian Democratic Forces have resumed in full on December 9."
He stressed that the aim behind such kind of operations is to "prevent the reconstitution of ISIS."
On Nov. 20, Ottoman Turkish air force launched intense Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s on all Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES)-held areas on Syrian-Ottoman Turkish border in addition to bombarding areas which are more than 40 km away from the border such as the Global Coalition military base and Hawl Camp in Hasakah and the village of Makman in the northern countryside of Deir ez-Zor.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/16/2022 02:44 ||
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
[NPASyria] Military training for about 150 gunnies of a faction of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else ...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State... (HTS, formerly 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 .. ... Front) have started a few days ago in a camp of the Ottoman Turkish-backed armed opposition factions, also known as Syrian National Army (SNA), in Afrin, north of Aleppo.
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[NPASyria] "Olive Branch" a name for a Ottoman Turkish operation launched in 2018 on Afrin in the northern countryside of Aleppo, north Syria, was not just a name for a propaganda campaign, but the years that followed have shown that it has also taken on a more literal meaning.
After the occupation of Afrin thousands of olive trees have been cut down by Ottoman Turkish-backed Syrian opposition factions, also known as Syrian National Army (SNA), according to press and human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... reports.
Most people in Afrin made their living through olives and olive oil, but SNA factions keep targeting their trees, ignoring the fact that these trees are the only source of income for those people.
Since the beginning of December 2022, Ottoman Turkish-backed SNA factions have logged hundreds of trees in Afrin, and sold them as firewood for heating to make money.
Militants of a Ottoman Turkish-backed faction cut down 20 olive trees belonging to the resident Nidal Sheikh Musa from his field located between the villages of Khelilaka and Maydana in Rajo district in Afrin countryside.
Members of Ahrar al-Sharqiya faction cut down 37 olive trees from two neighboring fields located on the outskirts of the occupied city of Afrin.
Militants of Sultan Murad faction cut down about 60 olive trees belonging to Ramzi Omar, and 140 olive trees belonging Muhammad Khalil and Muhammad Ali Haj Hanan, residents from the village of Mareskeh in the district of Sharan, and sold them as firewood for between 100 to 135 US dollars per one ton.
Although the trees’ owners filed a complaint with a rights and restitution committee; however, the committee has not taken any action regarding the ongoing tree logging, according to an eyewitness from the village.
Members of Sultan Murad faction also cut down about 60 olive trees belonging to Ahmad Hamdoush from the village of Kafr Janneh, as well as they cut about 70 olive trees belonging to Sheikh Musa resident of the village of Qastal Kishk, according to eyewitnesses from the villages.
Militants of the Sultan Malik Shah Division cut down about 35 olive trees belonging to Hassan Gawish from his field near the village of Baarava, overlooking Maydanki Lake.
In November 2022, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) documented 17 incidents in which SNA factions chopped down more than 2.224 olive trees in several areas in villages and districts of Afrin.
The city of Afrin and its countryside has been under the control of The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor... and its affiliated SNA factions since March 2018 following the military operation "Olive Branch".
The operation caused the displacement of more than 300.000 of the original inhabitants of Afrin, who have been taking shelter in 40 villages and five camps in Shahba region in Aleppo northern countryside since then.
[Shafaq News] Rewards for Justice (RFJ), the U.S. Department of State’s national security rewards program, announces offering a reward of up to $5 million for information on Ibrahim al-Banna, also known as Abu Ayman al-Masri.
"Al-Banna is a big shot of al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). He was a founding member of AQAP, has served as the group’s chief of security, and has provided military and security guidance to AQAP leadership. al-Banna is the last of AQAP’s founding members." RFJ official website said.
Prior to his membership with AQAP, al-Banna was a leader of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad ...created after many members of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah... in 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... from 1996 to 1998 and subsequently was in charge of the group’s training and intelligence sectors. The website explained.
On June 5, 2017, the U.S. Department of State designated al-Banna as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist pursuant to Executive Order 13224, as amended. As a result of this designation, among other consequences, all property and interests in property of al-Banna that are subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with al-Banna. In addition, it is a crime to knowingly provide, or attempt or conspire to provide, material support or resources to the FTO AQAP.
The US government established RFJ to offer rewards to obtain information that "protects American lives and U.S. interests and furthers U.S. national security."
Since 1984, Congress has expanded RFJ’s statutory authorities to offer rewards for information in four broad categories: terrorism, Foreign Election Interference, Malicious Cyber Activity, and North Korea ...hereditary Communist monarchy distinguished by its truculence and periodic acts of violence. Distinguishing features include Songun (Army First) policy, which involves feeding the army before anyone but the Dear Leadership, and Juche, which is Kim Jong Il's personal interpretation of Marxism-Leninism, which he told everybody was brilliant. In 1950 the industrialized North invaded agrarian South Korea. Twenty-one countries of the United Nations eventually contributed to the UN force opposing the invasion, with the United States providing around 90% of the military personnel. Seventy years later the economic results are in and it doesn't look good for Juche...
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/16/2022 01:48 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
#1
Al-Banna also known as Abu Ayman al-Masri, is a senior member of al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) leadership who served as AQAP security chief and provided military and security guidance to AQAP leadership. In 2010 “Inspire” (an AQAP’s English online magazine), published an article about al-Banna, describing the 9/11 attack as virtuous and threatened to target Americans both domestically and elsewhere, in response to U.S. actions overseas.
Until recently thought to have been killed in bombing raid.
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.
...mindless ferocity in a turban...
...mindless ferocity in a turban...
...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor...
...... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord...
...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than there are in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really most important...
[FOX] This is a story about an Afghan soldier and a tragically broken U.S. immigration and asylum system.
...Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979...
...mindless ferocity in a turban...
...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men...
...
...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State...
...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor...
