Posted by: Fred ||
04/25/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot
Emily Bergl aka Rachel Lang in "The Rage: Carrie 2" aka Sadie in "Chasing Sleep" aka Talia in "Happy Campers" aka Annie O'Donnell in "Men in Trees (TV)" aka Beth Young in "Desperate Housewives" (age 36)
More than 470 inmates at an Afghan jail have escaped through a tunnel hundreds of metres long. Officials at the jail in Kandahar city said the tunnel had been dug from the outside and many of those who escaped were Taliban insurgents. The Kandahar provincial governor's office said some escapees had since been recaptured but gave no details. A spokesman for the Taliban said it had dug the 320m (1,050ft) tunnel and that it had taken five months to construct. Zabiullah Mujahid said about 100 of those who escaped were Taliban commanders, and most of the others were fighters with the insurgency.
"A tunnel hundreds of metres long was dug from the south of the prison into the prison and 476 political prisoners escaped last night," said prison director General Ghulam Dastageer Mayar.
The jailbreak is the second major escape from the prison in three years. In June 2008, a suicide bomber blew open the Kandahar prison gates and destroyed a nearby checkpoint, freeing about 900 prisoners, many of them suspected insurgents.
#1
ISAF was reported to have learned about the event via a Taliban new release. How thoughtful of the host nation to keep us informed on events taking place in "The Good War."
#3
Headcount come up a bit short last evening at the DFAC General Ghulam Dastageer Mayar? Please be sure to inventory the pick and shovel locker. Those damn tools are expensive, even though they are made in China. Nicely done you murdering bastids.
Posted by: Water Modem ||
04/25/2011 10:53 Comments ||
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#7
the tunnel had been dug from the outside
Tunneled in, not tunneled out. But somehow those on the inside had gotten copies to all the keys to their comrades' cells in the meantime. Electronic tags, fingerprints, DNA on file -- possible if it's a DoD prison, but the Afghans are still working at the kind of basic level that allows for tunnelling up through the floor. I can't imagine that a modern American prison would be so poorly constructed, even in a far-off land.
[Tolo News] Unidentified gunnies have killed former district chief of Marja in southern Helmand province on Saturday night, local officials said on Sunday.
Haji Zahir Arian, former district chief of Marja and deputy of provincial peace council in Helmand province was killed by some gunnies, Daud Ahmadi, a front man for governor of Helmand told TOLOnews.
Mr Arian was invited for dinner by the head of Helmand's provincial peace council, Najib Popal, when the gunnies broke into Popal's house and shot Arian dead. Mr Popal was not hurt in the incident.
Almost as if that was part of the plan...
The attack happened at 08:00 pm last night in the capital Lashkargah, he added.
Haji Zahir had worked as the chief of Marja district for six months and he was recently appointed as the deputy of provincial peace council in Helmand.
Police officials said they have started investigation about the attack.
No group including the Taliban has grabbed credit for the liquidation.
Insurgents have increased their activities in most villages of Helmand province. Lashkargah is one the seven areas whose security responsibility would be handed over to Afghan forces in July this year.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/25/2011 00:00 ||
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[The Nation (Nairobi)] Three suspected cut-throats tossed in the clink in the border town of Liboi have been handed over to the anti-terrorism police unit in Nairobi.
Police in North Eastern Province tossed in the clink the trio, a Sudanese national and two Kenyans, with bomb-making materials, including powder, matches and assorted wires, along the Kenya-Somali border.
Provincial police boss Leo Nyongesa said the three had been flown to Nairobi for further interrogation.
Officers are trying to establish whether the suspects are linked to the Somali-based Al-Shabaab militia.
Check their cell phones and laptops. No doubt the FBI would be happy to lend a hand. They've developed a certain amount of expertise over the last decade...
Police believe the recovered items were ingredients for the making of a bomb, which could be used in terror attacks in Kenya.
Al-Shabaab, which has been fighting for control of the lawless neighbouring country with the internationally-backed Transitional Federal Government forces, had threatened to strike targets in Kenya during Easter.
Following these threats, Kenyan security forces have been on high alert and have asked wananchi to be vigilant and report any suspicious characters during the Easter festivities.
Police commissioner Mathew Iteere particularly advised Kenyans to be on the lookout in crowded places including shopping malls, entertainment spots and other areas where people are likely to converge as they enjoy the holiday.
In Nairobi, coppers have been guarding public places and travellers are being screened more thoroughly before boarding buses to various destinations.
Mr Nyongesa said a contingent of officers from all security forces in the country had been deployed to the mostly non-existent border to ensure Al-Shabaab gun-hung tough guys did not enter Kenya.
"We are carrying out a joint operation of all security forces, including the military, to ensure Kenya is free from terrorists."
The arrest of the trio was an important development in containing the al Shabaab threat, with the militia reportedly unhappy with Kenya's training of Somali police on its territory and attacks on the militia along the border with Kenya.
Al-Shabaab has visited terror in the East African region in the past, including a blast that killed 70 soccer fans in Kampala as they watched the World Cup finals and another that claimed two lives at the Kampala Coach terminus in Nairobi.
Although the police have disputed reports of Kenyan youths being recruited into the terror group, should detectives link the two Kenyans to the militia, it would present evidence of Kenyans being involved in the radical Islamist group.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/25/2011 00:00 ||
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[Chosun Ilbo] A Korean container ship beat feet hijacking by Somalian pirates in waters 740 km off Somalia on Thursday. The pirates attacked the 75,000-ton Hanjin Tianjin at 5 a.m. but all 20 crew, including 14 Koreans, locked themselves in a special room known as a "citadel" that had been newly built to protect them in just such a situation.
A Foreign Ministry official said around 7:30 p.m., about 14 hours after the pirates attacked the Hanjin Tianjin which was heading for Singapore, commandoes of the Cheonghae Unit's destroyer Choi Young boarded the container ship and found all crew hiding safely in the citadel.
A search of all 72 compartments of the 304 m by 40 m ship produced three AK rifle bullets that presumably belonged to the pirates. Commandoes also discovered pirates' footprints on the bridge of the ship. One of the bullets was found in front of the door to the citadel.
The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs received a distress signal from the ship at 5:15 a.m. and at 7 a.m. ordered the Choi Young, which was about 540 km away, to head for the Hanjin Tianjin.
At 8 a.m., the ministry confirmed from a Turkish warship in nearby waters that no pirate ship was to be seen near the Hanjin Tianjin. But it sent a Lynx helicopter to the area first to see if pirates were hiding aboard the freighter.
The attempted hijacking comes three months after the Korean freighter Samho Jewelry was hijacked by a group of Somali pirates in January. The government on Thursday debated launching a military rescue operation just like the operation that rescued the Samho Jewelry crew.
The Hanjin Tianjin was escorted by the Choi Young to safe waters and is now heading to its original destination.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/25/2011 00:00 ||
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[Pak Daily Times] Somali pirates have freed a Greek-owned, Cyprus-flagged ship they seized in January after receiving a ransom payment, pirates and a piracy monitoring group said.
The pirates said they had released MV Eagle, a 52,163 deadweight tonne merchant vessel and its crew of 24 Filipinos seized in January, about 500 miles south west of Oman, while it was en route to India from Jordan. Pirates said they received a $6 million ransom for the ship's release. "We have received our $6 million. The ship has just started to sail away from our zone with a warship," a pirate who only gave his as Kalif, told Rooters on Saturday by phone from the coastal town of El-Dhanane.
The amount could not be verified, but Ecoterra, an advocacy group monitoring piracy in the Indian Ocean, confirmed a ransom was paid. "After having received a hefty ransom for the old bulk carrier, Somali buccaneers released the Greek owned and Cypriot-flagged MV Eagle. Vessel and crew made their way to safe waters," it said in a statement. Two decades of conflict in Somalia have allowed piracy to flourish off the lawless nation's shores.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/25/2011 00:00 ||
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[Al Jazeera] At least 55 fighters were killed when south Sudan's army clashed with a rebel group in Jonglei State, a state minister said on Sunday, the latest in a wave of violence across the territory ahead of its independence in July.
Scores of troops and civilians were maimed in the festivities on Saturday, Peter Lam Both, Upper Nile State information minister, said.
The southern army (SPLA) clashed with forces loyal to renegade army commander Gabriel Tang during what was meant to be the reintegration of his forces into south Sudan's army, Both said.
"We understand that on the side of [Tang's forces] 55 were killed including five of his generals," Both told Rooters, adding his information had come from the south Sudan army.
"We don't have reports of those killed from the SPLA and civilian sides but the [overall] corpse count must be much higher," he said.
The minister said Malakal, the state capital, had received 34 maimed SPLA soldiers and 43 civilian injuries.
The festivities happened south of Malakal, just across the border in Jonglei State, Both said.
Historic poll
The oil-producing south voted to separate from the north in a January referendum which had been promised in a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of civil war in Sudan.
Since the historic poll, the region has been beset by violence and insecurity.
The SPLA is at war with at least seven gangs, and traditional tribal festivities have intensified with the onset of the rainy season, according to the UN, which says more than 800 people have been killed this year.
Analysts warn the south risks becoming a failed state and destabilising the region if it cannot control the crisis, with tens of thousands displaced by the various conflicts affecting nine of its ten states, according to UN figures.
In a separate incident in Jonglei, a Sudanese employee of the UN World Food Programme (WFP) was killed on Friday in an ambush by unknown assailants, the WFP said in a statement on Sunday.
In neighbouring Unity State, Peter Gadet, a renegade SPLA officer, this week began a sustained assault against the SPLA, with at least 45 people killed so far, officials said.
A front man for Gadet says the offensive will continue "until victory".
Oil production in the state was disrupted by the violence, according to state officials, who said they first expelled then re-admitted northern Sudanese workers to oil areas, underscoring the threat insecurity poses to the economy. Gideon Gatpan Thoar, Unity State information minister, could not confirm on Sunday whether the workers had yet returned.
About 98 per cent of the south's budget comes from oil revenue, and how it shares its oil with the north after independence remains unresolved. It is currently spilt roughly 50-50 and the only pipelines to export the oil run through the north.
The petroleum ministry could not say how much of the around 500,000 barrels per day of production was affected by the violence.
The southern government accuses the north of sponsoring the gangs fighting the SPLA, an allegation Khartoum denies.
The fighters accuse the government of plotting to stay in power indefinitely, not fairly representing and supporting all tribal groups while neglecting development in rural areas.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/25/2011 00:00 ||
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[Ennahar] Terrorist organizations affiliated to Al Qaeda advise Libyan gun-hung tough guys Libyan to stockpile weapons in preparation for the post-Qadaffy phase, saying the war in Libya is expected to continue even after the fall of the current regime
Six terrorist groups affiliated to Al Qaeda called on gun-hung tough guys who want to create an Islamic emirate in Libya to take steps and be ready for after Qadaffy, adding that the next enemy will be the pro-Western Libyan opposition.
The terrorist organizations warn against the policy of Westerners who are beginning to prepare for the post-Qadhafi. For this, the gun-hung tough guys also have to prepare now for another war by storing the weapons which they should not give back after the fall of the regime of Qadaffy.
These six terrorist organizations invite the gun-hung tough guys to search Libyan people with knowledge and skills in the military, recruit and protect them for the coming phase.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/25/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
"After Qaddafy ... the next enemy will be the pro-Wesetrn Libyan opposition" > Well, can't damn Al-Qaeda for its honesty.
* MEMRI.ORG > SHARIAH4AMERICA.COM: ADVOCATING AN AMERICAN ISLAMIC STATE + SHARIA LAW IN THE US.
ARTIC = denotes that Website calls on US MUSLIMS TO PRIORITIZE SHARIA + LAWS OF ALLAH, + NOT OBEY THE US CONSTITUTION = THE "LAW OF THE LAND" [+ Other].
[Ennahar] The son of Libyan leader Muammar Qadaffy ... a proud Arab institution for 42 years ... , Hannibal, planned to blow up the Geneva airport and major infrastructures in Switzerland by using an Algerian bartender working in recreation centres for high Personality in Tripoli, to carry the mission. The attacks were then to be attributed to the Al Qaeda organization.
The security services have jugged an Algerian who decamped to Algeria, after providing important information to the Consulate of La Belle France in Annaba.
The indictment of Algiers court transferred the one of the most serious cases related to espionage, to the criminal court. This will probably be scheduled towards the end of the current criminal session.
The principal defendant in this case, the so-called "Iskander" reportedly said that the son of Libyan leader Qadaffy, Hannibal, had charged him of a secret mission in Switzerland, England and La Belle France, which consists of committing attacks in Geneva International Airport and in major economic infrastructure that would subsequently be awarded to the organization of Al Qaeda, this would have led him, according to his saying, to flee to Algeria March 7, 2010 through Debdab where he informed the Algerian authorities of all he had experienced in Libya for fear of being accused of spying.
In Annaba, he headed towards the consulate of La Belle France where he asked for the number of the Swiss Embassy to inform them of what had happened to the so-called "Kamel Mortada." He was then held inside the embassy for 20 days and questioned about Hannibal Qadaffy.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/25/2011 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] Thousands of people have taken to the streets across Morocco to call for political reform and demand the King give up some of his powers.
The protests took place in the capital, Rabat, and several other cities including Casablanca on Sunday.
Protesters say that the ruling monarchy must make changes to the way it is running the country.
The protesters want an end to corruption, prison tortures, and unemployment.
Massive rallies have been held since protests began back on February 20.
The king has already announced many reforms in an effort to silence protesters.
The Monarchy is desperate to avoid an Egyptian- or Tunisian-style revolution.
The developments come as popular revolutions continue to sweep US-backed autocratic regimes across the Middle East and North Africa.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/25/2011 00:00 ||
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#3
Morocco is one of the most PROGRESSIVE .... UH, PRO-WESTERN mUSLIM COUNTRIES. wiNE IS SERVED IN RESTARAUNTS, i CAN Y
Morocco was one of the most progressive, pro-western countries in the Muslim world. I could drink wine in restaraunts, buy hard liquor (in one supermarket in the capital, Rabat), lots of Europeans go to the beaches in Agadir, and the only place I ever saw a woman remove her bikini top to adjust it was at the Hilton in Rabat.
Half the women in the capital wore traditional garb; most of the younger generation wore jeans.
In 1975.
I, for one, would hate to see it turned upside down.
Posted by: Bobby on the Road ||
04/25/2011 21:08 Comments ||
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#4
Sorry, having some troubles with Mrs. Bobby's laptop.
Posted by: Bobby on the Road ||
04/25/2011 21:12 Comments ||
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#5
oh sure, blame the Sainted Mrs. Bobby,
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/25/2011 22:24 Comments ||
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[Iran Press TV] Thousands of Tunisians have held demonstrations in the capital Tunis, calling for the ouster of the country's interim government.
Protesters erupted into the streets on Sunday and demanded the resignation of interim Prime Minister Beji Caid Essebsi, reiterating that the new governing team should be completely swept from the old guard.
Tunisian Court of Appeal on Friday approved the verdict of an initial court regarding the dissolution of the Constitutional Democratic Rally Party (RCD), which was established by former President of Tunisia Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 1988.
The court has also barred all members of the party from running in the country's upcoming election that chooses a national assembly tasked with rewriting the constitution.
Protests against Essebsi were sparked after he said the exclusion of Ben Ali's supporters from July 24 poll could trigger instability in the country. RCD claims to have the support of nearly two million people out of the country's population of 10 million.
Protesters also called for the prosecution of Ben Ali who decamped to Soddy Arabia shortly after his ouster.
According to the justice ministry, prosecutors in Tunisia want to sue the ousted president on 18 charges, including murder and drug-trafficking. The move also includes legal cases against his family and some of his cronies.
The ministry of justice has also said that Interpol has been asked to freeze the assets of Ben Ali and his family.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/25/2011 00:00 ||
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At least 36 people have been killed over the past 24 hours in Misratah after forces loyal to embattled ruler Muammar Qadaffy heavily bombarded the western Libyan city.
Explosions and gunfire were heard on Sunday in the city center and three residential areas, revolutionary forces say.
NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the style of the American pants... planes have also been seen flying over the coastal city but there has been no sign of Arclight airstrikes.
This comes after Libya's revolutionary forces said they had gained the upper hand in Misratah after Qadaffy forces retreated.
However, The wishy-washy However... Libya's deputy foreign minister said government troops had not withdrawn from the city, and instead that they had only halted their operations to let local tribes negotiate with revolutionary forces.
Meanwhile, ...back at the fist fight, Jake ducked another roundhouse, then parried with his left, then with his right, finally with his chin... The Libyan National Transition Council says Qadaffy is playing "dirty games" and trying to divide tribes in the besieged troubled region.
"It is a trick, they didn't go," the council's military front man, Colonel Omar Bani, said in Benghazi -- the opposition stronghold.
"They have stayed a bit out of Tripoli Street but they are preparing themselves to attack again."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/25/2011 00:00 ||
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[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Libyan rebels accused Muammar Qadaffy of playing dirty games in Misrata where salvos of Grad rockets went kaboom! today in apparent contradiction of his regime's vow to halt fire in the western city.
In a Misrata hospital, meanwhile, two captured pro-Qadaffy soldiers told AFP that loyalist forces were losing their grip in the battle for the western port, and that their morale was sinking.
"Many soldiers want to surrender but they are afraid of being executed by the rebels," said Lili Mohammed, a Mauritanian mercenary hired by the Qadaffy regime to fight snuffies in the country's third city.
"Qadaffy forces are losing" in Misrata, said Misbah Mansuri, 25, another maimed loyalist fighter who said he was forcibly enlisted 45 days ago.
Both Mohammed and Mansuri spoke to AFP separately from their hospital rooms in the presence of a doctor, saying officers had abandoned the troops and their supply lines were cut.
Peaceful solution
Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim said early on Sunday the army had suspended operations against rebels in Misrata, but not left the city, to enable local tribes to find a peaceful solution.
"The armed forces have not withdrawn from Misrata. They have simply suspended their operations," he told a news conference in Tripoli.
"The tribes are determined to solve the problem within 48 hours... We believe that this battle will be settled peacefully and not militarily."
But Colonel Omar Bani, the military front man of the rebels' Transitional National Council, said Qadaffy was "playing a really dirty game" aimed at dividing his opponents.
"It is a trick, they didn't go," Bani said in the eastern rebel stronghold of Benghazi. "They have stayed a bit out of Tripoli Street but they are preparing themselves to attack again."
Kaim had previously announced the army would withdraw from Misrata and leave local tribes to resolve the conflict there, either by talks or through force.
But later on Sunday bursts of automatic weapons fire could be heard and Grad rockets went kaboom! in the city, the scene of deadly urban guerrilla fighting for weeks between rebels and Qadaffy loyalists.
Six people were killed and 34 maimed in Sunday's fighting, said Doctor Khalid Abu Falra at Misrata's main private clinic.
Misrata suffered its heaviest toll in 65 days of fighting on Saturday, with 28 dead and 100 maimed compared with a daily average of 11 killed, according to Falra.
NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the style of the American pants... warplanes staged raids on civil and military sites in Tripoli and other cities, JANA news agency said, without giving casualty numbers. Earlier raids by the alliance struck near a compound in the capital where Qadaffy resides.
Three kabooms rocked Tripoli late Saturday as NATO warplanes overflew the capital, AFP journalists said, after several earlier blasts in the city centre and outlying districts.
On Sunday, US Senator John Maverick McCain ... the Senator-for-Life from Arizona, former presidential candidate and even more former foot soldier in the Reagan Revolution... , who visited the rebel stronghold of Benghazi last week, urged Washington to increase its air strikes on Libya, warning a prolonged stalemate would likely draw al-Qaeda into the conflict.
"The longer we delay, the more likely it is there is a stalemate. And if you're worried about al-Qaeda entering into this fight, nothing would bring al-Qaeda in more rapidly and more dangerously than a stalemate," McCain told NBC's "Meet the Press."
Qadaffy's regime accused the United States, which has launched its first Predator drone strike on a rocket launcher targeting Misrata, of "new crimes against humanity" for deploying the low-flying, unmanned aircraft.
In his traditional Easter message on Sunday, Pope Benedict XVI called for "diplomacy and dialogue" in Libya.
"In the current conflict in Libya, may diplomacy and dialogue take the place of arms and may those who suffer as a result of the conflict be given access to humanitarian aid," the pope said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/25/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
So NATO is going to bomb the sh*t out of civilians in Tripoli in order to make Qadaffy to stop shelling civilians in Misrata. But does he care?
#2
Excuse me... but... I was under the impression that all dictators have a membership in the "Dirty Tricks Club"... along with a lot of smelly elected leaders.
Posted by: Water Modem ||
04/25/2011 10:59 Comments ||
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[Ennahar] NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the style of the American pants... conducted Friday night raids on the region of Zentena, south-west of Tripoli, where festivities are increasing with the rebels who hold several localities in the region, according to Libyan Jana news Agency which reported two dead and three maimed.
"The civilian sites in the region of Zentena were targets of raids tonight by colonialist aggressor (NATO) which resulted in the deaths of two people," Jana reported, citing also three maimed.
The agency which quoted a military source did not specify the nature of the targets in this area about 150 km southwest of Tripoli.
For several days, residents reported an upsurge in fighting with forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Qadaffy ... a proud Arab institution for 42 years ... , stationed in the plain, cutting communications between the towns of this mountainous area that has risen at the beginning of the movement protest against the regime.
The area stretches over 150 km to Yefren east and Nalout west, near the Tunisian border where the Libyan rebels took Thursday morning a leading Libyan border between Libya and Tunisia.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/25/2011 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] Latest reports indicate that Libyan revolutionary fighters have gained victory over regime forces in the besieged western city of Misratah.
The fighters said on Sunday that troops loyal to Libyan ruler Muammar Qadaffy have either been killed or decamped the city.
Reports say the central parts of Misratah are now in the hands of revolutionaries but fighting is still ongoing in southern areas.
Earlier, Libyan Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim said regime forces have halted operations in Misratah to give local tribes an opportunity to negotiate with the revolutionaries.
He said Qadaffy forces have not withdrawn from the city. The revolutionaries dismissed his remarks.
Meanwhile, ...back at the Esquimeau village our hero was receiving a quick lesson in aeronautics:... fresh blasts have rocked the Libyan capital, Tripoli, and its outskirts.
State media reported that NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the style of the American pants... forces hit several sites in the city center and outlying quarters.
Heavy anti-aircraft and automatic arms fire have been heard in Tripoli.
State media earlier reported that NATO Arclight airstrikes killed or maimed several people in the capital.
Separately, the cities of Khums, Gharyan and Sirt have also been targeted by foreign forces. Saturday marked the first time that the Pentagon used Predator drones in Libya.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/25/2011 00:00 ||
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[Emirates 24/7] Fresh festivities erupted between armed rustics and Republican Guard forces in Yemen's southern province of Lahij on Sunday, killing five people, four of them soldiers, police said.
The renewed fighting erupted in the same area where eight people, six rustics and two soldiers, were killed three days ago, police said.
"Four soldiers and a primitive were killed in new fighting today," a police official said. Tribesmen in the mountain village of Labus regard the presence of troops in the area as a provocation.
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04/25/2011 00:00 ||
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[Emirates 24/7] Yemeni rustics have kidnapped a Saudi diplomat in the capital Sanaa in an apparent bid to settle a trade dispute involving a Saudi businessman, a tribal source said on Sunday.
Saeed al-Maliki, a Second Secretary at the Saudi embassy, was kidnapped on Saturday by a member of the Beni Dhabian tribe which took him to a mountain area 80 kilometres (50 miles) southeast of Sanaa, the source said.
In exchange for the diplomat's release, his captor has demanded five million Saudi riyals ($1.3 million) said to be owed to him by an unidentified Saudi businessman, the source added.
Foreigners have frequently been kidnapped in Yemen by tribes who use the tactic to pressure authorities into making concessions.
More than 200 foreigners have been kidnapped over the past 15 years, and most have later been freed unharmed.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/25/2011 00:00 ||
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[Yemen Post] Taiz Governor Hamoud Khalid Al-Soufi has resigned in protest against invading Taiz University and arresting its president by the elite republican guards.
Informed sources told the News Yemen website that Al-Soufi also requested to fire commander of the elite republican guards in Taiz and referring the officers who stormed the university campus to justice.
On Saturday, commander of the elite republican guards Murad Al-Awbali broke into the office of President of Taiz University and placed in durance vile him along with some professors.
They were released later, and informed sources said the arrests occurred after the governor ordered to suspend teaching amid the escalating protests calling for the ouster of the regime.
On the other hand, the White House welcomed the acceptance of the GCC proposal for power transfer by the Yemeni government and opposition.
Spokesman for the House said in a statement that his country hailed taking the GCC proposal to end the Yemen crisis and for an orderly and peaceful transition of power.
" The U.S. supports a peaceful power transfer in Yemen and urges the political parties to accelerate implementing the proposal terms to meet the aspirations of the Yemeni people," said Jay Carney.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/25/2011 00:00 ||
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[Pak Daily Times] Yemen's protest movement on Sunday insisted on the quick exit of President President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, after serving as a lieutenant colonel in the army. He had been part of the conspiracy that bumped off his predecessor, Ibrahim al-Hamdi, in the usual tiresome military coup, and he has maintained power by keeping Yemen's many tribes fighting with each other, rather than uniting to string him up. ... after his ruling party accepted a Gulf plan for him to quit in 30 days in a move hailed by Washington.
The United States had urged a peaceful transition after Saleh's General People's Congress (GPC) party said late Saturday it accepted a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) plan under which he would quit following months of protests.
However, The emphatic However... Saleh himself said any change of regime can only be through "ballot boxes and referendums," and said he could not give into a 'coup'.
"You call on me from the US and Europe to hand over power," Saleh told BBC in an interview. "Who shall I hand it over to. Those who are trying to make a coup? No. We will do it through ballot boxes and referendums."
The opposition Peaceful Change Revolution issued a statement reiterating its rejection of the Gulf plan and demanded that Saleh be prosecuted, contrary to the GCC proposal which calls for immunity.
"The committee... utterly rejects any initiative that would not stipulate the departure of Saleh and his family (from power) and putting him and his staff on trial," it said.
The Gulf plan would see Saleh submit his resignation to parliament 30 days after tasking the opposition with forming a "national accord government" shared equally between the GPC and the opposition.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/25/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
See also IRNA/TOPIX > BAHRAINI SHIA CLERIC: WEST INTENDS TO TURN BAHRAIN INTO "ANOTHER PALESTINE", i.e. PA + Gaza-West Bank where local Bahrainis are factionalized + oppressed.
For a map, click here. For a map of Tamaulipas click here. For a map of Nuevo Leon, click here
Units of the Mexican Army fought gun battles with armed suspects in Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon starting last Thursday, killing six armed suspects, while losing one soldier, according to Mexican news reports.
Armed suspects in Miguel Aleman, Tamaulipas Thursday attacked several businesses in the area using small arms and probably 40mm grenades. Damage was limited to a Ford and Nissan dealerships, a gas station and an exotic dancers club. No was reported hurt in the incident.
The unit came under small arms fire from armed suspects travelling aboard four pickup trucks. Responding to army counterfire, the suspect group split in two with one element exiting towards Ciudad Mier.
A total of 11 suspects were detained by the army including one wounded man and a female. A number of munitions were seized as well.
Seized were 20 rifles, two handguns, four 40mm grenades, 307 weapons magazines, 7.693 rounds of ammunition, tactical equipment, communication equipment and four vehicles.
Tamaulipas government officials have been using social internet media such as Twitter and Facebook to update citizens on events in their area. Officials in Reynosa and Matamoros have made especially effective use of social media to ward citizens away from areas known to be fire zones.
That's actually quite clever. I'd wondered why more civilians weren't being caught in the crossfire.
It is unclear by Mexican press accounts whether the Secretaria de Defensa Nacional (SEDENA) actually monitored social media and then dispatched forces to the area, or if they were alerted by a third party.
Military monitoring of domestic websites, specifically forbidden by Mexican law, is an issue said to be under consideration in upcoming changes to Mexican national security policy.
A Mexican Army unit rescued two unidentified individuals and seized a number of munitions Friday near General Bravo, Nuevo Leon. The two people rescued had been in captivity since April 9th when they were travelling to Mexico City from Matamoros, Tamaulipas.
One armed suspect was wounded in the rescue.
The encounter took place a ranch near General Bravo which is astride the Monterrey, Nuevo Leon-Reynosa, Tamaulipas highway at about Kilomter 119.
Seized were five rifles, 109 weapons magazines, 3,050 rounds of ammunition, two vehicles and four cell phones.
Six armed suspects were killed and a number of munitions were seized in a firefight between the suspects and a detachment of the Mexican Army Friday in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas.
Reports say the unit was on patrol on Bulevar Canseco in the Reservas Territorial colony when they were fired on by armed suspects, who were travelling through the area aboard five vehicles.
Six suspects died when soldiers returned fire.
Seized in the aftermath were four rifles, 92 magazines, 2,500 rounds of ammunition and a stolen vehicle.
For a map, click here. For a map of Tamaulipas, click here. Adding news about attacks on businesses in Tampico in southern Tamaulipas early Sunday morning.
Three public buses came under small arms fire in three separate incidents in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas Saturday, according to Mexican news reports.
Three people, two women and a man were wounded in the gunfire. None of the attacks took place on the road that runs through San Fernando, the site of the worst mass murder in modern Mexican history, but all had a starting terminus in Ciudad Victora, Tamaulipas.
Two of the buses were fired on around 0500 hrs in the Hidalgo municipality which is directly adjacent to the border. Both buses were bound for Monterrey, Nuevo Leon.
The third bus was attacked in Linares, Nuevo Leon, about 40 kilometers north of Hidalgo municipality, the location of the other two attacks.
In other news, the Mexican daily Milenio reported that a number of businesses in the southern Tamaulipas port of Tampico were hit with gunfire, and at least one was torched early Sunday morning.
The first of the attacks began at 0345 hrs. when armed suspects fired their weapons into a Soriana department store on Avenida Monterrey, and set it afire.
Four unidentified individuals were wounded in a small arms attack early Sunday morning on Avenida Monterrey.
A convenience store and at least two auto dealerships were damaged from gunfire centered around Avenida Miguel Hidalgo.
Despite the visible presence of Mexican Army units and other security forces following Sunday morning's attacks, about 430,000 people gathered on the beaches for Easter Sunday.
For a map, click here For a map of Durango, click here
Four men were found shot to death in a remote community in far western Durango, say Mexican news accounts.
A total of 225 spent cartridge casings were also found at the scene.
San Dimas was the area where three weeks ago several homes in another village was torched and an individual was shot to death by presumed elements of organized crime. To read Rantburg's report on the last attack in San Dimas municipality in western Durango, click here.
Western Durango is a known drug growing area. It was also recently reported in Mexican press that the leader of the Sinaloa drug cartel, Joachin Loera Guzman alias El Chapo, maintains a residence in the sierras of western Durango.
A total of 25 individuals were murdered in drug and gang related violence in northern Mexico including four Torreon, Coahuila police officers kidnapped then executed. For a map, click here.
Five unidentified men were shot to death in Chihuahua, Chihuahua Friday afternoon. Reports say armed suspects travelling aboard two SUVs fired on the victims, hunting them down one by one. Victims were found near the corner of calles Rio Colorado and Rio Rhin, on Calle Rio Rhin and on Calle Rio Danubio.
A man and his mother was shot death in Juarez Friday night. Manuel Gonzalez and his mother Jovita Mendoza were attacked by armed suspects at their residence near the intersection of calles Valle de Santiago and Valle del Sol in the San Lorenzo colony. Reports say Manuel was not the target of the murder, but his unidentified brothers were.
An unidentified woman was found shot to death in Chihuahua, Chihuahua late Friday night. The victim was inside a residence near the intersection of calles Columbia and Mirador in the Residencial Campestre II colony.
An unidentified man was shot to death in Juarez Saturday. The victim, who was a street vendor, was shot by a lone armed suspect near the corner of calles Matilde Romero and Esperanza Diaz in the Independencia II colony.
A man was shot to death in Imuris, Sonora Saturday. Jesus Ricardo Martinez Beltran, 47, was found at El Calin tire shop near the intersection of calles Hector Lizärraga and VÃa Flek in the Pueblo Nuevo colony with a single gunshot wound to the head.
A man was shot and wounded in Mexicali, Baja California Friday night. Rodolfo Arballo Sauceda, 32, was shot in the groin on Calle Guanajuato Revolution in the Revolucion colony.
Two men and a woman were shot to death in Torreon, Coahuila Friday aftenoon. Raul Bravo Alvarado, 39 , was walking along Bulevar Independencia with his unidentified companions when armed suspects travelling aboard a multi vehicle convoy shot them. Two AK-47 and 16 AR-15 sent shell casings were found at the scene.
A Durango state police agent and his brother were shot to death in Durnago, Durango Saturday. Edgar Osmani Ramos Campos and his brother, Jesus Luna Melendez were stopped at a convenience store in the Villas del Guadiana III colony when armed suspects travelling aboard a three vehicle convoy shot and killed them. Reports say Luna Melendez attempted to return fire but his pistol jammed.
Four Torreon, Coahuila police officers were kidnapped and murdered Friday, Guadalupe Pizaña Cardiel, 25, Luis Esquivel Limones, 19, Cristian Jonathan Gallegos Hernandez, 22 and Carlos Benjamin Morales Reyes, 23, were abducted as they were leaving work Friday evening. The four were found a short time later, and at different times between the city limits of Torreon and the twin city of Gomez Palacio, Durango, hands bound and with a single gunshot wound to the head.
Two men were found dismembered in Durango, Durango last Tuesday. Fernando RodrÃguez RodrÃguez, 25 and Hugo Francisco Aguilar Salas, 23, were found at the intersection of bulevares Primo de Verdad and Durango. Reports say the two were drug dealers.
[Al Jazeera] A man who tried to hijack a Gay Paree-Rome flight and take it to Libya was overpowered by cabin crew during the flight and tossed in the clink when the plane arrived in the Italian capital, officials said.
Italian media sources said that the attempted hijacking on Sunday was carried out by Valeriy Tolmachev, a 48-year-old adviser to the Kazakh delegation at the Gay Paree-based UN cultural organisation, UNESCO.
A statement from Alitalia airlines said the suspect had assaulted a flight attendant "and asked that the plane be taken to Tripoli".
Other attendants on flight AZ329 then overpowered the suspect, who was "clearly agitated." A doctor on board the flight sedated Tolmachev, and the captain radioed police, who tossed in the clink him when the plane landed, the statement said.
Italian media reports quoting police sources said the suspect was armed with what appeared to be a small knife.
The flight attendant was taken to a first aid station at Rome airport for treatment of minor injuries. No other injuries were reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/25/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
What percentage of UNESCO and other UN workers are members in good standing of organizations on the US Terror Watch List?
Posted by: Water Modem ||
04/25/2011 11:01 Comments ||
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The main supply route for NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the style of the American pants... troops in Afghanistan was temporarily closed on Sunday after thousands of people blocked a key highway in Pakistain to protest against U.S. drone strikes, officials said.
The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Kabul, however, said the two-day blockade would have no impact on the alliance's operations in Afghanistan.
"Coordination with Pak government officials has been conducted and we understand the government will maintain security," an ISAF front man said. "There is no impact on ISAF sustainment."
The routes through Pakistain bring in 40 percent of supplies for NATO forces in Afghanistan, according to the United States Transportation Command. Of the remainder, 40 percent come through Afghanistan's neighbours in the north and 20 percent by air.
The call for blocking the supply line came from cricket-turn-politician Imran Khan ... who isn't your heaviest-duty thinker, maybe not even among the top five... after US officials rejected Pakistain's demand for sharp cuts in drone strikes in its tribal regions where al Qaeda and Talibs are based.
Activists from Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaaf (PTI), Khan's party, and some Islamist parties staged a sit-in on the highway leading to Afghanistan through the Pashtun tribal region of Khyber.
"It is meant to send a message outside that we oppose drone strikes. We will never accept them," Asad Qaiser, PTI president in the northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... province, said.
The supply to Afghanistan through Khyber region had been suspended since the protest started on Saturday, a senior provincial government official, Siraj Ahmed, said.
The Chaman border crossing in the southwest has remained open to traffic, another official said.
The attacks by US pilotless aircraft are a source of concern for the Pak government, which says civilian casualties stoke public anger and bolster support for the Islamist militancy.
But the protests have irked Pak truckers involved in the lucrative business of transporting supplies to the foreign troops in Afghanistan.
"They are politicians. They keep doing such dramas. But we cannot take risk so it is better to keep our trucks off the road for a few days," Mohammad Shakir Afridi, the president of Khyber Transport Association, said.
"We are fed up with this business," he added. "Every second day either trucks are attacked or the supply to Afghanistan is suspended. We say if you (the government) do not want it, cut it off permanently or provide us proper security."
He said his truckers had taken advanced payment for the shipments and if they don't go through, they would have to pay back that money.
"We have been trapped in a quagmire," Afridi said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/25/2011 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] A roadside kaboommaimed four people, including two coppers, near a small church in the Iraqi capital on Easter Sunday, medical and security officials said.
The bomb went off near the entrance of the Sacred Heart church, which is surrounded by concrete blast walls, near Tahriart Square in central Storied Baghdad. ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate...
Two passing civilians and two coppers were maimed, an interior ministry official and doctor at Ibn Nafis hospital said.
The church was empty at the time as Easter services were held earlier in the day, the building's security guards said.
Security officers at the site barred news hounds from entering the church, but confirmed the casualty toll.
A pick-up truck belonging to federal police and a civilian saloon car were badly damaged by the blast, an Agence La Belle France Presse news hound said.
Shards of glass were also scattered across the road in front of the church, which was briefly closed off as forensics teams analyzed the scene and the damaged vehicles were towed away.
The number of Iraqi Christians has dwindled from an estimated between 800,000 and 1.2 million prior to the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein to about 400,000 today.
Most of them live in Storied Baghdad, the area surrounding the northern city of djinn-infested Mosul and parts of the autonomous Kurdistan region in the north of Iraq.
In other violence in Iraq, army General Abdul Ghani Mohammed was maimed by a magnetic "sticky bomb" ????(magnetic car bomb?) Some variant of a limpet mine?
attached to a military vehicle in the al-Amriyah neighborhood in the west of the capital, the interior ministry official said.
A roadside kaboom also went kaboom! near the Iranian embassy in the center of the capital, but no casualties were reported.
And in the northern ethnically divided city of Kirkuk, ... a thick stew of Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds, and probably Antarcticans, all of them mutually hostile most of the time... an Iraqi army captain was killed by a "sticky bomb" early on Sunday morning, local police said.
The latest violence comes with just months to go before a year-end deadline for the fewer than 50,000 U.S. troops currently in the country to withdraw, under the terms of a bilateral security pact.
Violence has dropped off dramatically across Iraq since its peak in 2006 and 2007, when tens of thousands were killed in nationwide sectarian bloodshed. But attacks remain common, especially in the capital.
A total of 247 people were killed in violence in Iraq in March, according to official figures.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/25/2011 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] Security sources say a Untied States military base in eastern Iraq has come under a second rocket attack in less than a week.
Three Katyusha rockets hit the Echo Army base near the city of Diwaniyah late on Saturday, Fars News Agency reported on Sunday. The projectiles are reported to have been fired from the southern parts of the city.
American helicopters were dispatched on a search mission soon after the incident. No human or material losses have been reported so far.
Last Sunday, three rockets were similarly fired at the base. The incident was described as the third attack to take place over a week. Iran Press TV boilerplate spittle from this point on:
Militancy rages on in Iraq in the eighth year of the US-led military presence in the violence-wrecked country.
In August 2010 Washington's combat mandate expired but it left 50,000 troops in Iraq for what it called 'advising and training' purposes.
The US military released statements on separate dates earlier in the year, saying its soldiers had died during 'operations' across Iraq in contradiction to Washington's claims that it has wrapped up military action in the country.
The deaths took to 4,450 the number of the American forces killed since 2003, when the US led the invasion of the violence-wrecked country.
Over one million Iraqis have suffered violent deaths as a result of the occupation, according to a study conducted by the prestigious British polling group, Opinion Research Business.
The US is obligated to withdraw the forces by the end of the year in line with a bilateral accord.
US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has, however, pled for extension of the military presence.
The US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen also said recently that Washington would "keep some American troops in the country" at, what he called, Storied Baghdad's request. ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate...
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's office said on Saturday that the US military presence will not be extended.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/25/2011 00:00 ||
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#2
WORLD NEWS > INSURGENTS STEP UP ASSASSINATIONS IN IRAQ, + other impolite doings in order to damage the credibility of US,UK-trained Iraq security forces + ultimately the IGA.
Syria sharply escalated its already deadly campaign to crush a five-week uprising early Monday, sending troops backed by tanks, snipers and knife-wielding security forces into the southern city where the rebellion began. A witness said at least 11 people were killed and others were gravely wounded in the streets.
Dozens of protesters were arrested, witnesses and activists said.
Separately Monday, a White House spokesman said the U.S. is considering targeted sanctions against Syria in light of the violent crackdown.
#2
I'm pretty surprised at the relative moderation of the various Arab dictators. The Chinese government killed thousands in a matter of days. All of the Arab dictatorships added together have killed less people over three months than the Chinese government did at Tiananmen Square. I had thought we'd see reenactments of the crushing of the Hama rebellion pretty much at inception. It looks like the current crop of Arab dictators is nowhere near as ruthless as its forebears. This is why the odds are many of them will fall.
heh heh.... Remember Mahmoud, we released four .. no five .. different viruses into your systems...
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/25/2011 07:58 ||
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#1
These are Windows computers?
Posted by: john frum ||
04/25/2011 8:34 Comments ||
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#2
Mahmoud,
Those emails from Nigeria are all scams....
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
04/25/2011 10:06 Comments ||
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#3
John, I do not know this as fact in this case.
But the Siemens computers I am familiar with that are used for process control are very specialized, purpose oriented. They may have PC's as user interfaces, gateways, and higher tier integration, but the ones I have used for similar tasks are high order PLC's with truly excellent programming software. They are not what is usually thought of as PLC's, as they can function quite well in an ordered hierarchy. Given the time-frame of development of these plants, they are the likely controllers.
Examples might be S7-300 and S7-400 controllers, quite powerful and robust little beasts. There are industrial PC's also, but they are not as robust.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
04/25/2011 10:58 Comments ||
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#7
So is somebody committing sabotage from the inside?
Paranoia.
Or did their vendors sell them infected equipment?
In which case they were screwed from the git go. Imagine all that money and all those man hours wasted on a project that never, ever, had the slightest chance for success.
A Jordanian security official says Syria has sealed the border with Jordan and is preventing people from leaving the country.
The Jordanian border crossing lies close to the southern Syrian town of Daraa, where government forces were launching a sharp crackdown on protesters Monday. Some of the fiercest protests against the Syrian regime have taken place in Daraa. The border closure may aim to prevent Syrian demonstrators and activists from feeling to nearby Jordan.
#1
See also PEOPLE'S DAILY FORUM > SYRIA: ARAB VERSION OF "YUGOSLAVIA"?, where the USA doesn't end up smelling like a Rose = Hero no matter what it + NATO, EU + UNSC tried???
It was post-Soviet Russia + China back then under POTUS Billary, now its IRAN + SHIA-VS-SUNNI GEOPOL STRUGGLE in addition to already extant = pre-estalished REGIONAL MUSLIM ANTI-FOREIGNER SENSITIVITIES???
#2
Syria has too many Sunnis (who are a 75% majority). Jordan has too many Palestinians. If Assad can encourage 10m Sunnis to move to Jordan, thereby reducing their Syrian % to 50%, that would partially solve his demographic problem, while also helping to solve Jordan's problem of an excessive % of Palestinians.
[An Nahar] Army sappers defused at dawn Sunday explosives placed under the vehicle of a General Security Department inspector near the museum area in Beirut, the National News Agency reported.
NNA said that two hand grenades and a small gas canister with nails and stones inside were placed under the BMW of the inspector, who was only identified by his initials as R.M.
The vehicle was parked at Damascus ...The City of Jasmin is the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti... street near the headquarters of the General Security Department.
Police immediately threw a tight security dragnet around the area, NNA said, adding that members of the explosives bureau and army sappers defused the explosives and launched an investigation.
The street was reopened at 2:00 am.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/25/2011 00:00 ||
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[Emirates 24/7] Secret police raided homes near Damascus ...The City of Jasmin is the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti... overnight, rights campaigners said on Sunday, as popular opposition to authoritarian President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators. Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor... mounted following the bloodiest attacks on pro-democracy protesters.
Security forces and gunnies loyal to Assad killed at least 112 people in the last two days when they fired at protests demanding political freedoms and an end to corruption on Friday and on mass funerals for victims a day later.
The attacks were the bloodiest, and the demonstrations were the biggest, since protests erupted in the southern city of Deraa in the strategic Hauran plain near the border with Jordan over five weeks ago.
"Bashir al-Assad, you traitor! You coward. Take your soldiers to the Golan," protesters chanted on Saturday, chiding Assad for turning his forces on his own people instead of liberating the Golan Heights, where the frontier with Israel has been quiet since a 1974 ceasefire.
Security operatives in plain clothes wielding assault rifles broke into homes in the suburb of Harasta just after midnight on Sunday, arresting activists in the area, known as the Ghouta, or the old garden district of the capital.
Assad lifted an emergency law this week, in place since his Baath Party seized power 48 years ago, in a bid to appease protesters and ease international criticism of the use of deadly force against civilians.
Opponents say the crackdown on demonstrators and the arrests that followed show the move was hollow.
GRISLY VIDEO
Assad has ejected most foreign media from the country during his crackdown on protesters, so independent reports of the violence are difficult to verify.
Demonstrators have been using the Internet to get out pictures of the violence, many of which have been explicit.
One video posted on Internet site YouTube showed a crowd marching on Friday near Abbasside square in Damascus, purportedly on Friday, chanting "the people want the overthrow of the regime," before the sound of gunfire was heard.
Demonstrators raised their hands to show that they were unarmed. The fire intensified. One youth fell, with blood spurting from his head and back. His comrades lifted him but dropped his body when the sound of bullets resumed.
In Abada village, 10 kilometres from Damascus, rights campaigners said security forces were preventing people injured in Friday's protests from reaching hospital. A holy man in contact with the town of Nawa near Deraa said residents told him security forces had fired indiscriminately.
Aided by his family and a pervasive security apparatus, Assad, 45, has absolute power, having ignored demands to transform the anachronistic autocratic system he inherited when he succeeded his late father, president Hafez al-Assad, in 2000.
In a move unthinkable in Syria just five weeks ago, two politicians from Deraa in Syria's' rubberstamp parliament resigned on Saturday to protest against the killings of protesters.
The weekend protests stretched from the port city of Latakia to Homs, Hama, Damascus, its suburbs and southern towns. The corpse count rose to around 350, with scores of missing, since the demonstrations broke out on March 18, rights campaigners said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/25/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
His dadda knew that if you kill a few thousand people in one day, you end the rebellion. But if you kill a few dozen people per day for weeks, you just fan the flame of rebellion.
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.
A Korean container ship 
John 
[An Nahar] A 
