Sudanese police fired teargas and used batons on Saturday to break up a demonstration of opposition party members over the detention of several activists and politicians, witnesses said. About 40 members of the African countrys main opposition parties had gathered in front of the house of Sudans first post-independence president in the Omdurman area of Khartoum, giving speeches and chanting.
The people want to overthrow the regime, they chanted, and, Freedom, freedom.
Police fired teargas at the protesters and used batons to disperse them, the witnesses said. There was no immediate comment from the police.
Small protests have broken out in Sudan over rising food prices and cuts to government fuel subsidies over the last two years, but the country has avoided the sort of mass unrest that unseated rulers in neighbouring Egypt and Libya.
The protesters, who included members of the Umma, Popular Congress and Communist parties, were protesting against the detention of activists and politicians who had attended a meeting with armed rebel groups in Uganda early this year.
The secession of oil-producing South Sudan in July 2011 stoked high inflation after a loss of foreign currency led to a depreciation in the Sudanese pound and made it more expensive to import food and fuel.
Apparently more traditional revenue generators like agriculture, light industry and slaving can't pay the bills...
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/24/2013 00:00 ||
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CAIRO - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi threatened on Sunday to take unspecified steps to "protect this nation" after violent demonstrations against his Muslim Brotherhood, using vague but severe language that the opposition said heralded a crackdown.
The revolution is over, comrades, and I won...
In remarks following clashes outside the Brotherhood's Cairo headquarters on Friday, Mursi warned that "necessary measures" would be taken against any politicians shown to be involved in what he described as violence and rioting.
"If I am forced to do what is required to protect this nation, then I will do it. And I fear that I might be on the verge of doing it," Mursi said in a statement. He did not elaborate.
"But when I do it I'll enjoy it a lot," he added softly.
Mursi has faced increasing anger since the Brotherhood propelled him to power in a June election, and several spates of protest have turned into violent riots.
"They are very scary comments," said Khaled Dawoud, a spokesman for the National Salvation Front (NSF), an alliance of non-Islamist parties formed late last year to oppose Mursi.
"I can see language that is heading towards taking some suppressive measures," he added.
Dozens of people were hurt on Friday when several thousand supporters and opponents of the Brotherhood fought near the Islamist group's headquarters.
Dawoud said the NSF was not behind those protests, but added that some of its members may have decided to take part.
Mursi said everyone had the right to peaceful protest,
...well not really, but he has to say that for now...
but "what is happening now has nothing to do with the revolution".
"I urge all political forces not to provide any political cover for acts of violence and rioting. I will not be happy if investigations prove the guilt of some politicians," he said in the remarks, which were published on his Twitter account.
"Some are using the media to incite violence and those whose involvement is proven will not escape punishment," he added. "Anyone who takes part in incitement is a partner in the crime."
He also spoke of attempts to portray the state as weak but said these had failed: "The apparatus of the state are recovering and can deter any law breaker," he added.
Exactly what new steps Mursi is considering became the subject of speculation.
In late January, he declared a state of emergency rule in three cities near the Suez Canal to combat a wave of violence there. A declaration of a state of emergency elsewhere is unlikely, said Yasser El-Shimy, Egypt analyst for the International Crisis Group, adding arrests were more probable.
No reason he can't do both, and indeed the former makes the latter easier to do...
"My impression is that Mursi and the Brotherhood in general have had it with the violence that is taking place and they are running out of patience," he said.
What they're most unhappy about isn't the violence but the opposition to their rule.
"This is definitely the strictest he has spoken regarding the rioting," he added. "Now Mursi feels there is enough public opinion on his side to justify taking stricter measures."
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/24/2013 15:31 ||
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[LATIMES] The death of a top Al Qaeda-linked warlord in combat with French-led troops represents a victory in the battle against jihadists who had a stranglehold on northern Mali. But it is far from the defining blow against a wily enemy that can go underground and regroup to renew itself. Even the fearsome Abou Zeid is replaceable. AQIM has already admitted he's titzup.
A top commander of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Abou Zeid had been in the crosshairs of the French military and their African partners since they moved in to Mali on Jan. 11 to rout cut-throats seen as a threat to northwest Africa and to Europe. An announcement Saturday by the French president's office that Abou Zeid's death in late February has been "definitively confirmed" ends weeks of speculation about his fate.
Abdelhamid Abou Zeid, an Algerian thought to be 47, was a pillar of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb's southern realm, responsible for the death of at least two European hostages and a leader of the thug takeover of northern Mali, which followed a coup d'etat a year ago. He joined a succession of radical insurgency movements in Algeria starting in the early 1990s and became known for his brutality and involvement in high-profile hostage-taking.
President Francois Hollande ...the Socialist president of La Belle France, and a fine job he's doing of it... 's office said the death of Abou Zeid "marks an important step in the fight against terrorism in the Sahel," the borderlands where the Sahara meets the sub-Saharan jungle, encompassing several nations where cut-throats are on the rise.
French officials have maintained for weeks that the Abou Zeid was "probably" dead but waited to conduct DNA tests to verify.
The death of a top Al Qaeda-linked warlord in combat with French-led troops represents a victory in the battle against jihadists who had a stranglehold on northern Mali. But it is far from the defining blow against a wily enemy that can go underground and regroup to renew itself. Even the fearsome Abou Zeid is replaceable.
A top commander of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Abou Zeid had been in the crosshairs of the French military and their African partners since they moved in to Mali on Jan. 11 to rout cut-throats seen as a threat to northwest Africa and to Europe. An announcement Saturday by the French president's office that Abou Zeid's death in late February has been "definitively confirmed" ends weeks of speculation about his fate.
Abdelhamid Abou Zeid, an Algerian thought to be 47, was a pillar of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb's southern realm, responsible for the death of at least two European hostages and a leader of the thug takeover of northern Mali, which followed a coup d'etat a year ago. He joined a succession of radical insurgency movements in Algeria starting in the early 1990s and became known for his brutality and involvement in high-profile hostage-taking.
President Francois Hollande's office said the death of Abou Zeid "marks an important step in the fight against terrorism in the Sahel," the borderlands where the Sahara meets the sub-Saharan jungle, encompassing several nations where cut-throats are on the rise.
French officials have maintained for weeks that the Abou Zeid was "probably" dead but waited to conduct DNA tests to verify.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2013 00:00 ||
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[PREMIUMTIMESNG] Residents of Ganye in Adamawa State say the Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... hard boyz warned residents before Friday's attack on the prison in the town.
Several prisoners were reportedly freed on Friday evening when gunnies, believed to be members of the sect, attacked Ganye Prison.
Prison and police officials are yet to give official figures of the escaped prisoners and inmates although some residents of the area say the prison had about 170 inmates.
The gunnies also attacked a cop shoppe and a branch of First Bank in the town.
A resident said the Boko Haram had earlier warned residents to steer clear of the area.
"There were rumours earlier on Friday that Boko Haram sent message that they will raid the prison and free their members who are in captivity there," the source said.
He added that no one took the matter seriously until around 4 p.m. when "we started hearing sporadic gunshots in town," he said.
The resident who did not want his name mentioned for security reasons also said there were rumours being circulated among residents via cell phones that a prominent politician based in the town may have been hit during the attack
"This remains a rumour until tomorrow because as I speak with you now, everyone is inside their houses, so no one can tell you for sure what the reality of the situation," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Gunmen in Yemen on Saturday killed three guards of a leader of the Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is "God is Great, Death to America", Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews" ... Iranian catspaws who escaped the liquidation bid in Sanaa where he is taking part in a national dialogue, witnesses said.
The gunniesshot up the vehicle of Abdulwahid Abu Ras, the rebel chief in the northern province of al-Jawf, in Nasr Street in the capital shortly after the morning session of the talks, witnesses said.
Three guards were killed and two were maimed, they said.
Saba state news agency cited the head of the national dialogue, Abdulwahab al-Ansi, as condemning the attack on Abu Ras during the afternoon session of talks.
"Those behind the attack want us to withdraw from this conference, but we will stay," said Houthi MP Abdulkarim al-Jadban, addressing participants in the talks.
Yemeni factions began last week a national dialogue aimed at drafting a new constitution and an electoral law for the 2014 general election and presidential polls.
The dialogue, scheduled to run for six months, brings together 565 representatives of the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country's various political groups -- from secessionists in the south to Zaidi Iranian catspaws in the north, in addition to civil society representatives.
The negotiations are being held under the U.N.-brokered deal that eased former strongman President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... out of office in February 2012 following an 11-month uprising against his 33-year rule.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2013 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] Six have been tossed in the clink Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! for administering "Touba" (oath of penance) to 16 grassroots Awami League men on March 4 at Bharajut village under Panchbibi upazila of Joypurhat.
The arrestees -- Abdul Khaleque, 43, Abdur Rahim, 52, Ashraf Ali, 42, Abdul Maleque Master, 35, Moiz Uddin, 28, and Intaz Ali, 45, -- are identified accused in the case filed two days after the incident.
"We've become non-Mohammedan by supporting the Awami League. We're now promising to be with Jamaat to become Mohammedan again. Those who support the Awami League are Jews and if we breach this oath, we will become non-Mohammedan again. Ameen," the 16 AL men were made to say this at Bharahuta Jame Mosque before some 300 villagers.
Moiz Uddin, a holy man of another mosque of the area, administered this rare oath while others oversaw it.
The case was filed against 15 people, including seven identified BNP and Jamaat men. One of the seven, local Jamaat leader Zafir Uddin, went into hiding while the remaining six were arrested on Thursday.
The High Court on March 7 issued a suo moto rule, asking the district superintendent of police (SP) to arrest the people who had been behind the incident.
Talking to The Daily Star, Joypurhat SP Hamidul Alam confirmed the arrests of the six, and said police would arrest Zafir soon.
Inspector Nur Hossain, investigation officer of the case, said the arrests had been made during raids in Khetlal upazila of Joypurhat.
Police had also arrested another five on suspicion of their involvement.
During the countrywide hartal ... a peculiarly Bangla combination of a general strike and a riot, used by both major political groups in lieu of actual governance ... s enforced by the Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... on March 3 and 4, Jamaat men carried out attacks on the Hindus and Awami League men and set fire to at least 50 houses in Panchbibi upazila of Joypurhat. The victims are still hiding in fear of further attacks.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2013 00:00 ||
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The Delhi police on Saturday night found eight bags containing bomb-making material outside Delhi Secretariat.
The bags reportedly were full of iron pellets. A patrolling team found the bag last night.
The security has already been tightened in Delhi in the wake of the recovery of an AK-56 assault rifle, three hand grenades, two magazines each carrying 30 rounds (cartridges), 220 gm explosives, a map of Delhi, dry fruits and a memory card during a raid from a guest house in Jama Masjid area in Old Delhi.
The national capital is under the terror threat despite the arrest of a suspected Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist, who was to carry out a suicide attack, since his two associates are still here and yet to be traced, top police sources said.
The information was revealed after Delhi Police questioned Sayyed Liyaqat Shah, 47, who was arrested from Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh on March 20.
Shah was brought to Delhi on Thursday and presented before a city court, which remanded him in 15 days' police custody.
Police sources said it was during his questioning that they found out that two of his associates were still in the city, ready to strike commercial hubs. Lets hope they don't water board them when they catch them. That would be against their "ooman rites" or something.
Now, police said, they have spread their net to hunt for the two militants.
[Dawn] Ten people, two children among them, were killed and 37 others injured on Friday when a bomb planted on a cycle of violence-rickshaw went off at a crowded bazaar in Dera Allahyar town in the Jaffarabad district.
"Three men and two children were killed on the spot and five others succumbed to injuries in hospital," police said.
Official sources said the cycle of violence-rickshaw rigged with the time device was parked on the Quetta-Jacobabad highway near a bus terminal when it went kaboom!.
The bodies and the injured were taken to the Dera Allahyar district hospital. "Five bodies and 42 injured were brought to hospital," said Dr Saleem at the district hospital, adding two people with multiple wounds died during treatment.
Three others who were critically injured also died later, he said.
At least 10 people were shifted to Jacobabad and Larkana hospitals because of their precarious condition.
"Some unidentified people parked the cycle of violence-rickshaw along the road and around 45 minutes after that it went kaboom!, rocking the entire Dera Allahyar town," police said, quoting eyewitnesses.
"The Bomb disposal squad (BDS) after examining the scene of the kaboom has told us that a time device was planted in the rickshaw," District Police Officer Zulfiqar Ali said.
Over a dozen shops and buildings were destroyed by the impact of the blast. Several cycle of violences and vehicles parked nearby or passing through the area at the time of the blast were damaged.
Quoting a BDS report, police said the bomb used in the blast weighed about 30kg.
A senior police officer said investigation had been launched into the incident.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2013 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] An armed clash left a krazed killer killed and a security man injured in Bara on Friday.
Officials said that security forces clashed with a group of beturbanned goons when the latter attacked a security checkpost in Dro Adda area of Akkakhel in Bara.
In the firing exchange, a krazed killer was killed and a soldier received injuries. An army vehicle was also damaged in the clash while the forces were able to repulse the attack.
Later in the evening beturbanned goons blew up a government school in Meeri Khel area of Akkakhel.
Official sources said that beturbanned goons blew up the girls school in Misri chowk by planting a huge quantity of explosives inside the building.
Meanwhile, ...back at the mall, Clarissa suddenly spied Mr. Bartlett at the checkout counter. He was buying Grecian Formula!... unidentified gunnies opened fire on a NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... container at Wazir Dhand locality of Jamrud tehsil on Friday.
Local officials said that a cleaner of the vehicle received minor injuries in the attack.
In Landi Kotal, gunnies wearing masks opened fire on an empty election camp in Shiekhwal area late on Friday.
No one was hurt as the staff had already left the place. The local khasadar ...a rural policeman in Pakistain or India... force has started the paperwork but haven't done much else.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2013 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Seven people, including a woman, were killed in different incidents of violence in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... , DawnNews reported on Saturday.
Three people were killed when unknown gunnies fired upon a sweets shop in Usmanabad in Karachi's Lyari ...one of the eighteen constituent towns of the city of Karachi. It is the smallest town by area in the city but also the most densely populated. Lyari has few schools, substandard hospitals, a poor water system, limited infrastructure, and broken roads. It is a stronghold of ruling Pakistan Peoples Party. Ubiquitous gang activity and a thriving narcotics industry make Lyari one of the most disturbed places in Karachi, which is really saying a lot.... area. The area became tense after the incident.
Separately, bodies of a man and a woman were found near Liaquatabad's Ilyas Goth area in the city. The dear departed were rubbed out and could not yet be identified. Police said the dear departed may have been killed in an honour-related incident.
In another incident, one person was bumped off in the Zaman Town area of Karachi's Korangi.
Separately, one person was killed in Liaquatabad's Rizvia Society.
In Karachi's Nazimabad No 2 area, a body bearing torture marks was found in a gunny bag.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2013 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] At least six security officials were killed and 18 others injured Saturday in a suicide kaboom on a check post near Miranshah ... headquarters of al-Qaeda in Pakistain and likely location of Ayman al-Zawahiri. The Haqqani network has established a ministate in centered on the town with courts, tax offices and lots of madrassas... , the agency headquarters of North Wazoo Agency, official sources said.
The officials said the suspected jacket wallah, driving a car, hit the Esha check post, damaging it completely.
The suicide boom-mobileing resulted in the death of at least six soldiers while 18 others have been injured but the number of casualties may be high as the officials are saying that the situation is being assessed.
The security forces have cordoned off the area soon after the attack and launched a search operation. The locals say the kaboom was followed by indiscriminate firing. However, facts are stubborn; statistics are more pliable... it was not possible to ascertain who was behind firing the shots, they added.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Gunfire from Syria hit Israeli army vehicles traveling in the southern Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Saturday, causing some damage but no casualties, the Israeli army said.
"A short while ago, military vehicles traveling in the Golan Heights were lightly damaged by bullets fired from Syria," an Israeli spokeswoman told Agence La Belle France Presse. "No one was injured, and the incident is currently being reviewed."
She could not say whether the shots were aimed at the Israeli army or stray bullets from fighting in Syria between rebels and army troops.
Three weeks ago a mortar shell from Syria hit the Golan Height after nearly three months of no spillover from the fighting in Syria. In November, Israeli troops responded with artillery in the first such instance of Israeli fire at the Syrian military since the 1973 war.
Israel is closely monitoring its border with Syria and fears that jihadist elements from among the rebels fighting the regime of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Despoiler of Deraa... might attempt to attack the Jewish state.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Israel said it fired into Syria on Sunday and destroyed a machinegun position in the Golan Heights from where shots had been fired at Israeli soldiers in a further spillover of the Syrian civil war along a tense front.
lesson learned?
It was not immediately clear whether Israel held Syrian troops or rebels responsible for what a spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said had been a deliberate attack on Israeli patrols in the occupied territory.
Israeli forces "destroyed a Syrian machine gun nest that fired twice in the last 24 hours on Israeli patrols operating to safeguard the border," the spokesman, Ofir Gendelman, said on his Twitter page.
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/24/2013 10:21 Comments ||
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[An Nahar] Three people were killed and four others were maimed on Saturday as sniper activity and festivities renewed between the rival neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen in the northern city of Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
"The army is readying to enter Jabal Mohsen and declare that the neighborhood is under its authority ahead of the withdrawal of all fighters from the streets," state-run National News Agency reported.
It said the army was expected to enter the district at any time between 9:00 p.m. and 12:00 a.m.
"Today's corpse count from the Tripoli sniper activity has risen to three after two people were killed in al-Dabbagha," Radio Voice of Leb (100.5) reported earlier on Saturday.
"Three people were maimed in fresh Tripoli festivities -- Ghaith Hashem al-Dabbagh and Abdul Rahman al-Nahhas in Bab al-Tabbaneh, and Fatima Hussein Mustafa in al-Baqqar," NNA reported in the evening.
Al-Mayadeen television said several people were maimed in Bab al-Tabbaneh, one critically.
"The Tripoli areas of al-Riva, al-Baqqar and Jabal Mohsen are witnessing fierce festivities, in which RPGs are being used heavily, and the army is firing back at the sources of gunfire," NNA reported.
It later said sniper activity intensified on all frontiers between Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen, with bullets reaching al-Zahriyeh district, which is outside the area of festivities.
The kaboom of a rocket-propelled grenade was heard in the vicinity of Abu Ali Roundabout, NNA said.
In the afternoon, a large number of army commandos entered with their vehicles Syria Street, which separates the rival districts, in a bid to pacify the situations, the National News Agency said.
But a few hours later, NNA said "festivities with light- and medium-caliber weapons erupted on all frontiers in Tripoli, particularly al-Shaarani, Hariri Project, al-Barraniyeh, Bab al-Tabbaneh's Syria Street, al-Mallouleh, al-Mankoubin and Jabal Mohsen."
It added that army troops were continuing to fire back at the sources of gunfire.
Earlier, an unidentified assailant hurled two hand grenades on the Bab al-Tabbaneh area of Baal al-Darawish.
Arab Democratic Party media officer Abdul Latif Saleh had announced that Fouad Chahine was killed by a sniper shot in Bab al-Tabbaneh.
Voice of Leb radio (93.3) identified the victim as Jamal Chahine.
The National News Agency meanwhile reported that Hanan Maarouf was maimed in the renewal of the violence.
LBCI television had stated earlier that three people were maimed in the unrest on Saturday.
The sniper shots also targeted the international highway that links Tripoli to Akkar at the Nahr Abou Ali and Mallouleh roundabout.
Security forces have since cordoned off the area for the people's safety.
Later, NNA said two hand grenades were hurled on Syria Street, causing no casualties.
Calm had engulfed the city on Saturday morning after overnight festivities between Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen that followed the resignation of Prime Minister Najib Miqati.
NNA said that private and public schools were closed in the neighborhoods that witnessed unrest.
Six people, including a soldier, were killed in the Tripoli festivities that broke out on Wednesday.
The shootout erupted when a soldier was maimed along with his brother after gunnies entered the state hospital in the area of al-Qobbeh and shot up him.
Tripoli has been witnessing deadly festivities between supporters and opponents of the Damascus ...Capital of the last remaining Baathist regime in the world... regime for several years now.
The majority of Bab al-Tabbaneh residents are Sunni and back the revolution against Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Supressor of the Damascenes... , while Jabal Mohsen's residents are mainly Alawites from Assad's sect.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Rebels fighting the regime of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Terror of Aleppo ... on Saturday seized a key air base in the southern Syrian province of Daraa after two weeks of fierce battles with loyalist troops, a watchdog said.
"Opposition fighters loyal to al-Nusra Front, al-Yarmouk Brigade and other rebel groups seized air defense Base 38 near the town of Saida, on the road linking Damascus ...Home to a staggering array of terrorist organizations... to Amman, in the province of Daraa," said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The seizure came "after 16 days of fighting," said the Britannia-based group.
At least seven rebels were killed in their final assault on the base, said the Observatory, which also documented the deaths of at least eight regime troops including an officer.
"Dozens of prisoners were freed from the base's headquarters," it said.
Amateur video filmed by rebels and distributed by the Observatory showed the bloodied, mutilated corpse of a man identified as Mahmoud Darwish, an officer.
Activists also distributed footage showing a group of men, most of them bearded, being set free.
The Syrian Revolution General Commission, a network of activists on the ground, said the rebels also captured a checkpoint in the Daraa town of Sahem al-Golan.
Amateur video showed rebels seizing at least two regime tanks and several military vehicles after they captured the checkpoint.
"I swear to God, we are coming for you, O Bashar," a rebel said in a video distributed by anti-regime activists.
The capture came days after rebels seized a border crossing on the frontier with Jordan, said the Observatory.
A security source in Damascus told Agence La Belle France Presse this week Jordan was allowing jihadist fighters and arms bought by Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in their national face... from Croatia to be smuggled into Syria.
In Quneitra, meanwhile, at least 35 rebels were killed on Wednesday and Thursday fighting troops loyal to Assad, said the Observatory.
Some 20 other fighters were also believed dead after battles in majority Druze villages in Quneitra province, which lays on the sensitive ceasefire line with Israel.
In the central city of Homs, troops pressed a relentless campaign against rebel enclaves after more than nine months of a suffocating siege by the army and security forces.
At Bouti's funeral in Damascus, Syria's top Sunni authority Mufti Ahmad Badreddine Hassoun called on "the Islamic and Arab world to save Syria, which is facing a global war.
"If Syria falls today you will be next," he said before thousands of mourners.
The ceremony was led by Toufiq Bouti, the dead sheikh's son, and representatives of key Damascus allies Iran and Hizbullah also attended.
The United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... estimates that violence across Syria has killed at least 70,000 people since the conflict erupted in March 2011.
On Saturday alone, at least 63 people were killed in violence across Syria, according to the Observatory, which added that at least 23 of them were civilians.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2013 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
CAIRO - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi threatened on Sunday to take unspecified steps to "protect this nation" after violent demonstrations against his Muslim Brotherhood, using vague but severe language that the opposition said heralded a crackdown.
[LATIMES] The death of a top Al Qaeda-linked warlord in combat with French-led troops represents a victory in the battle against jihadists who had a stranglehold on northern Mali. But it is far from the defining blow against a wily enemy that can go underground and regroup to renew itself. Even the fearsome 
[Dawn] An armed clash left a
[Dawn] Seven people, including a woman, were killed in different incidents of violence in 
Wazoo
[An Nahar] Three people were killed and four others were 
Najib Miqati
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[An Nahar] Rebels fighting the regime of 
