For centuries, Somalis used poetry and songs to pass protest messages to powerful rulers they were too afraid to confront directly. Now, some young Somalis are using rap to speak out against Islamists who they say are using religion to wage war in their country.
The 11-member Waayaha Cusub band, currently in exile in neighbouring Kenya, wants its rap lyrics to encourage fellow Somalis to stand up to Islamist rebels known as al Shabaab. They have handed out at least 7,000 free copies of their newly-released album titled "No To Al Shabaab" to residents in Nairobi's Eastleigh neighbourhood, home to many Somali migrants. "We will wipe out the fear of our people that no one can speak out against al Shabaab. We will show our people that we can challenge them," said Shine Abdullahi, the group's founder.
The new album attracted more than 100,000 viewers onto the group's website, www.waayahacusub.com, in the first three weeks. Abdullahi says it has since been corrupted, possibly by al Shabaab. The link didn't work for me.
"They are unkind, teach terrorism, and worthless lessons, they blindfold, and cause pain, inject drugs, that lead to actions, force them to kill their fathers and relatives," one of the group's raps goes.
The group's only female member, Falis Abdi Mohamud, is a rebel in her own right. In one video, the 23-year-old is not covering her head as most Somali women do, and is wearing tight jeans. "They criticise me and say 'she is not Muslim because of wearing a trouser'. I am Muslim," she said. "I want to reach my people. I will not stop my mission because of fear or other people's desires. History will tell who is right and wrong." Mohamud was born in the southern town of Kismayu that is now an al Shabaab stronghold. The insurgents have banned music in areas that they control and allow only Arabic Koranic chanting.
Waayaha Cusub toured the semi-autonomous northern region of Puntland in July but Mohamud hopes to perform in her hometown one day. "The trip to Somalia was great. That is when I realised people like our music, and it really gave us confidence not to stop our campaign because a few people who dislike us."
The group's youngest member is 15-year-old Suleqa Mohamed, who is a student at an Eastleigh school. Most of them want to return to Somalia and live off their music when peace returns but currently survive on sponsorships by businessmen and Somalis in the diaspora.
Their songs have angered some people. Even in the relative stability and security of Kenya they have been attacked. Gunmen shot and wounded Abdullahi in 2007. He believes the attack was because the group released a series of songs criticising Ethiopia's incursion into Somalia and suicide bombings by the insurgents.
Even mobile phone text message threats from al Shabaab sympathisers in Kenya and Somalia have failed to intimidate Abdullahi. He says he will never be cowered by what he calls "religious warlords" who present an awful image of Islam to the world.
"The attack was aimed at silencing the group, but that did not work," he said, showing scars on his stomach from a bullet and the surgery that followed. "We will not allow anyone to silence us. They misread our religion and kill people. They are cursed," he said.
[Al Arabiya Latest] A Jordanian friend of a Saudi cleric said late on Wednesday the religious leader has bowed to pressure from the kingdom and canceled his announced visit to Occupied Jerusalem.
Saudi Sheik Mohammed al-Areefi surprised everyone when he told viewers Sunday on his Iqra television show that he would visit Jerusalem this week and film an episode of the show there to support Muslim claims to the city. Such a visit would be unprecedented for a Saudi cleric since the kingdom, like most Muslim countries, observes a strict boycott of Israel.
The announcement set off a controversy in the kingdom, with Saudi state-owned Al-Watan newspaper on Wednesday quoting passport authorities spokesman Lt. Col. Badr Malik as saying visiting Israel is prohibited and any violator is punishable under Saudi law.
In Jordan, a close friend of the cleric said al-Areefi "revoked his plans under pressure."
The friend is a renowned Islamist who was part of a group that hosted al-Areefi during a lecture trip to Jordan last week. He spoke on condition of anonymity because al-Areefi has not made a public statement on the scrapped travel plan. He did not elaborate on how he knew al-Areefi changed his mind and whether the cleric had personally told him about it.
The cleric did not answer repeated calls to his cell phone by The Associated Press.
Also in the Jordanian capital, Israeli Embassy spokeswoman Merav Horsandi said there has been "no visa application submitted by the sheik to the consulate in Jordan."
Amman and Cairo are the only two Mideast capitals where Saudis could apply for visas to Israel.
This article starring:
Saudi Sheik Mohammed al-Areefi
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2010 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] The High Court yesterday in a ruling said none can force women, working at public and private educational institutions, to wear veils or cover their heads against their wills. It is their personal choice if they wear scarves or cover their heads, the court said.
The court directed the education ministry to ensure the execution of its order. The HC asked the education secretary to make sure that women are not harassed by their superiors at educational institutions.
The verdict came after a writ petition was filed seeking HC directive following a newspaper report that an upazila education officer of Kurigram insulted a female teacher by making a disgraceful remark in June last year.
The HC bench of Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain and Justice Syeda Afsar Jahan also asked the education secretary to carry out the directives given by this court in May last year on sexual harassment of women at the institutions.
The court on May 14 last year directed the authorities concerned to form a five-member harassment complaint committee headed by a woman at every workplace and institution to investigate allegations of harassment of women.
Majority of the committee members must be women, it ruled.
The bench yesterday asked the secretary to transfer upazila education officer Arif Ahmed who made the offensive remark on Sultana Arjuman Huq, headmistress of Atmaram Bishweshwar Government Primary School.
Earlier in January this year Arif apologised to Arjuman before the HC and the court acquitted him of the charge, as Anjuman pardoned him.
The daily Shamokal on June 26 last year reported that Upazila Education Officer of Kurigram Arif Ahmed had called Sultana Arjuman Huq 'Beshya' (prostitute) at an open meeting in the upazila auditorium on June 25.
Anjuman felt insulted and became sick after the incident, the report said.
Following the report, Salahuddin Dolon, a Supreme Court lawyer, filed a writ petition seeking HC directive upon the government to take action against the accused and to prevent harassment of women working at educational institutions.
Bangladesh Legal Aid and Service Trust later became a party to the petition.
Barrister Sara Hossain appeared for the petitioner.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2010 00:00 ||
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"The daily Shamokal on June 26 last year reported that Upazila Education Officer of Kurigram Arif Ahmed had called Sultana Arjuman Huq 'Beshya' (prostitute) at an open meeting in the upazila auditorium on June 25.
Anjuman felt insulted and became sick after the incident, the report said.
Following the report, Salahuddin Dolon, a Supreme Court lawyer, filed a writ petition seeking HC directive upon the government to take action against the accused and to prevent harassment of women working at educational institutions.
Bangladesh Legal Aid and Service Trust later became a party to the petition."
Good grief - they've become just like us.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/09/2010 0:08 Comments ||
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#2
But do they have to buy health care insurance? What's next for us the burka and the veil?
#3
The small village of Herouxville got
harassed to no end by the leftard
media for posting a placard stating
simply that they did not lapidate women there...
Bradford Council for Mosques said the features on Bellerby firing range at Catterick Garrison in North Yorkshire should be taken down immediately.
The Army has apologised but said it was vital soldiers trained in an environment which replicated where they were deployed.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence said the structures were ''generic Eastern buildings'' and were not used as target practice.
Mohammed Saleem Khan, chief executive of the Bradford Council for Mosques, said the shape and colour of the structures - a green dome - symbolised an Islamic place of worship.
''It is so obvious. Even a non-Muslim recognised the significance. The first person who raised the issue with us was a non-Muslim,'' he said. ''We are trying to achieve unity and cohesion and encourage British Muslims to participate in the Army and we accommodate visits from the Army.
''It is clearly very offensive. We feel there should be an apology and they should be removed straight away. If it was a mistake it should be removed straight away.''
The MoD spokesman said: "We apologise for any offence that we may have caused. It was never our intention for these generic structures to look like or replicate mosques, only to provide a setting similar to operational environments in which our personnel could train.
"We are seeking a meeting with representatives from the Muslim community to hear their concerns in order to discuss the way forward."
#2
Labour are always bowing and apologising to a community who have made no effort to integrate or offer anything positive to the host nation like taxes!
Time magazine
Members of the besieged government of Kyrgyzstan suspect that Moscow precipitated the violent upheaval that has swept the former Soviet republic in Central Asia. Already scores of people have been killed and hundreds more wounded after troops opened fire on protesters, who in turn overpowered the police, stormed and looted government buildings and forced President Kurmanbek Bakiev to flee the country. On Wednesday, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin denied any involvement by his country in the turmoil after his Kyrgyz counterpart said that Putin gave the go-ahead to the revolt. But whether or not the Kremlin urged the Kyrgyz opposition to call its supporters into the streets, Moscow has a lot to gain and Washington a lot to lose from the bloody upheaval that has ensued.
For several years, Kyrgyzstan has been stuck in a tug-of-war between the two Cold War enemies, frequently making the landlocked state the center of geopolitical strategizing. The Americans have been pushing to maintain their cherished military base in the north of Kyrgyzstan, without which U.S. supply lines to the nearby war in Afghanistan would be significantly hampered. Russia, meanwhile, has lobbied to kick the American military out of what it still sees as its sphere of influence in the territories of the former Soviet Union.
Posted by: ed ||
04/09/2010 08:30 ||
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#1
Putin has made no bones about wanting all the -istans back in the Russian sphere. He worked very hard, covertly, for the pro-Russia candidate in Ukraine, and was very bitter about Georgia telling Russia to go get knotted, and being ethnically different enough from Russians to do so. So Putin also had no problem sending in tanks to steal away the heavily ethnic Russian parts of Georgia.
#2
Very true Moose, and it will be interesting to see if the Kyrgyz have any staying power or revert to client status. Russia cleary spent far more than we do, directly, so naturally feel entitled to call the shots.
I wonder, though, whether the Chinese share those thoughts, and if we could take advantage of Chinese views on the matter. That, of course, would require diplomacy, so who knows?
#3
Not that Kyrgyzstan was a US 'ally' as most of us would use the word. They rented space at a base to us but that's it.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/09/2010 10:33 Comments ||
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#4
Capturing Spain does not mean controlling Gibralter (just watched Malta Story, thanks btw for the suggestion). In a way, IMHO, not having an official government to negotiate with could mean status quo without payments. Look for a quick movement within the UN for official acceptence of new government for real worry - the quick closure of the base would work into a strategy of cutting off coalition forces in central asia with little supply/redeployment options. In my little opinion that would call for an Anabasis through Pak/Iran into friendly India/Iraq; and I'd deserve to be smacked around for such a statement by the heavy lifters but I don't need to get the Risk Board out either.
For some reason I can picture Putin looking at us quizzically and asking, "What's the big deal? We used to do that all the time."
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
04/09/2010 19:51 Comments ||
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#7
ION WAFF > NUCLEAR IRAN MAY PUT TURKEY IN A PREDICAMENT [Redux of TURKISH INFLUENCE merely by Iran possessing NucWeaps, NOT by Iran using same in a war].
Also on WAFF > THE RACE TO DEFINE THE LAST BORDER OF CANADA {UNO, Russo-Canuck 2013 boogaloo oer UNDERWATER "CONTINENTAL SHELF" EXTENS OF SOVEREIGNTY IN ARCTIC].
and
SAME > GLOBAL REARCH.CA [old] > THE US WAS BEHIND THE RWANDAN GENOCIDE: INSTALLING A US PROTECTORATE IN CENTRAL AFRICA.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Kyrgyzstan's opposition said on Thursday it has taken over the government of the impoverished Central Asian state after at least 65 people were killed in violent protests that forced the president to flee the capital.
Opposition leader Roza Otunbayeva demanded the resignation of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, whom she helped bring to power five years ago, and told Reuters she would run an interim government for six months.
"We have a caretaker government now in place, and I am the head of it," Otunbayeva said. "It will remain in place for half a year, during which we will draft the constitution and create conditions for free and fair (presidential) elections."
"Hard changes are upon us, authority has passed into the people's hands, and in some places it was done by force," Otunbayeva said in a radio broadcast.
"We ask you not to give in to provocations, or to destroy and loot the property of ordinary citizens. Some of us were killed and wounded, and we must do everything in our power to help them," Otunbayeva added.
A health ministry official told AFP Thursday that a total of 65 people had been killed in the riots. Opposition leader Omurbek Tekebayev put the death toll at more than 100.
Opposition protesters seized the presidential administration Wednesday night and announced on state radio that they had formed a provisional government with Otunbayeva at its head.
Bakiyev left Bishkek, where demonstrators torched the prosecutor-general's office and tried to smash trucks into government buildings, and flew to the southern city of Osh, his traditional power base in a nation split by clan rivalries.
Security has been tightened in and around Osh ahead of a rally planned for later this morning. It was unclear whether the rally was being organized by supporters or opponents of Bakiyev.
Many cars and shops were ablaze in central Bishkek and about 1,000 people remained outside the government building whose seventh, so-called presidential, floor was blackened by fire.
Looting could be seen everywhere, with people running in the streets carrying computers and office equipment.
The violent unrest, which spread to Bishkek on Wednesday a day after protests in a provincial town, was sparked by growing discontent over corruption and rising prices in a nation where a third of the 5.3 million population live below the poverty line.
The United States has a military air base supporting troops in Afghanistan in the Kyrgyz city of Manas and is a major donor to Kyrgyzstan, along with China and Russia, which also has military base in the former Soviet state.
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said operations at the Manas base -- visited by U.S. Central Command chief General David Petraeus last month -- appeared unaffected.
"It's an important facility connected to our Afghan operations and it's functioning normally," he said.
Bakiyev came to power in the 2005 "Tulip Revolution" protests, led jointly by Otunbayeva, which ousted Kyrgyzstan's first post-Soviet president, Askar Akayev. She briefly served as acting foreign minister before falling out with Bakiyev.
Spokesmen for the president were not available for comment.
A senior U.S. State Department official said Bakiyev's fate was unclear. Asked whether the president was still in power, the official said on condition of anonymity: "The situation is unclear. We are in touch with both government officials and the opposition encouraging resolution according to the rule of law."
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04/09/2010 00:00 ||
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Russia has sent some 150 paratroopers to its Kant airbase in Kyrgyzstan, Russia's General Staff chief Nikolay Makarov said. Makarov noted that the move was made to ensure the safety of families of Russian military staff in Kyrgyzstan.
"The president has decided to send two companies of paratroopers there and some 150 people have arrived in Kant," RIA Novosti quoted Makarov as saying.
Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev's government was ousted on Wednesday following a revolt that killed 74 people and injured over 500. An interim government headed by the former foreign minister Roza Otunbayeva has been formed in the country.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Thursday spoke on the phone with Otunbayeva, who asked Moscow for economic assistance. Putin said Russia was ready to offer humanitarian aid.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2010 00:00 ||
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WMF > US LOSING GROUND IN CENTRAL ASIA" KYRGYZTSAN RIOTS SHOW THE EAST WINDS OF REVOLUTION IS PREVAILING OVER OVER THE WEST WINDS.
* SAME > RUSSIA HAPPY: DEFEAT OF KYRGYZSTAN GOVT. OBSTRUCTS US LOGISTICS FLOWS INTO AFGHANISTAN AND PAKISTAN. US PREVENTED FROM ESTABLISHING MIL BASES IN OUTER MONGOLIA.
The ousted Kyrgyz president says he is still in the country and refuses to resign despite the opposition claim of forming an interim government.
The opposition has already taken over the government of the impoverished Central Asian state and dissolved the parliament after the 60-year-old Bakiyev fled deadly clashes in capital Bishkek, which has claimed the lives of at least 75 people, with over 1,000 injured.
President Kurmanbek Bakiyev said he had been ousted in "a state coup attempt" with outside help. He added that it is "virtually impossible to conduct such a coordinated operation" without outside forces, he told Russia's Echo of Moscow radio on Thursday.
He declined to name any country which has helped the opposition in the coup attempt.
"I am in the south of Kyrgyzstan and have no plans to leave at the moment," he told the radio in an interview.
On Thursday, residents in the country's capital woke up to find most of their shops shattered and empty after a night of looting. Streets were filled with broken glass from shop windows.
Protesters also demolished and burned the house of the toppled president.
The new interim leader Roza Otunbayeva demanded the resignation of President Bakiyev, whom she said helped bring to power five years ago. She has promised a new constitution and a presidential election within the next six months.
Otunbayeva said that a care-taker government will serve as both presidency and parliament for the present. She claimed that they are in full control of the capital, the armed forces and the media.
The opposition has also said it wants the US base, Manas, removed from its soil for security reasons.
Meanwhile, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has expressed surprise at the bloody riots in Kyrgyzstan on Wednesday. Putin talking to Otunbayeva over the phone on Thursday offered humanitarian aid to the nation, AFP reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2010 00:00 ||
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Defense Minister Kim Tae-young on Thursday again declined to rule out that North Korea had a hand in the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan on March 26. "North Korea has 70 submarines. We can detect most of them by constantly tracking their whereabouts, but it's impossible to detect all of their movements in all weathers," Kim told lawmakers in the National Assembly.
Asked by Grand National Party lawmaker Kim Choong-whan whether it was accurate to say that the South Korean military can track North Korean subs only about 70 percent of the time, the minister answered, "It's not completely wrong."
Kim said the military "did not completely" succeed in establishing the movements of a Shark-class North Korean submarine which disappeared from view around the day the Cheonan sank. He blamed the bad weather for this failure but added the link between the missing sub and the shipwreck seems "weak."
Asked how likely it is for a 325-ton Shark-class sub to move around freely in the West Sea's shallow depth, he said. "It's possible for these subs to get around widely if they are operated recklessly."
Commenting on the mistaken shooting of shells at a flock of birds right after the Cheonan sank, Kim said, "President Lee Myung-bak expressed concerns about it, wondering if it was an excessive act. According to the field rules of engagement, the commander of the Second Navy Fleet Command has the authority to order firing from warships. Such a firing is reported to the president after each engagement."
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/09/2010 00:00 ||
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Just in case anyone, anywhere thought the Norks might be trustworthy ...
North Korea has frozen the property owned by the South Korean government and the Korea Tourism Organization in the Mt. Kumgang resort area as part of a campaign to pressure the South into resuming lucrative package tours to the resort. It also scrapped the contract with tour operator Hyundai Asan and warned it will "reconsider" the joint Kaesong Industrial Complex.
In a statement on Thursday, the North's Guidance Bureau for Comprehensive Development of Scenic Spots, which is in charge of the tourism, said it is seizing a meeting hall for separated families built by the South Korean government, and a cultural hall, a hot spring spa, and a duty-free shop owned by the Korea Tourism Organization, as well as deporting their management staff, according to the official [North] Korean Central News Agency.
"In circumstances where there is no way to revive the Mt. Kumgang tours, we now declare that we are taking the steps following a survey of assets owned by South Korea in the Mt. Kumgang tourist area." South Korean officials duly followed a summons to present themselves for the "survey" last month, where the increasingly cash-strapped North warned them of "extraordinary steps" unless the tours resume by April 1.
The statement said Pyongyang will "completely reconsider the Kaesong Industrial Complex project if the South Korean conservative clique ridicules and insults our sincere efforts and continues to tread a path of confrontation that runs counter to the spirit of joint statements and national aspirations."
"Package tours to Mt. Kumgang by Koreans and foreigners will begin again soon with a new business partner since our agreement and contract with Hyundai over tourism are no longer effective due to the South Korean authorities," the statement said. It also formally stripped South Korean companies that did not respond to the summons of their business licenses and banned their staff from the Mt. Kumgang area.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/09/2010 00:00 ||
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"Guidance Bureau for Comprehensive Development of Scenic Spots"
Wonder if the current regime in Washington has that pencilled in on any flow charts? Could it be in the health care bill somewhere? Inquiring minds want to know!
The Army psychiatrist charged in the deadly shooting spree at Fort Hood will be kept isolated from all other inmates at the jail where he was transferred early Friday, the local sheriff said.
Maj. Nidal Hasan was airlifted from a San Antonio military hospital to the Bell County Jail in Belton at about 4 a.m. Friday. He had been at the military hospital since shortly after the Nov. 5 shooting spree that left him paralyzed.
Hasan is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder.
Bell County Sheriff Dan Smith said Hasan will be kept in a 12-by-15-foot cell in the jail infirmary and be under 24-hour watch. Smith did not say whether Hasan was under guard because of fears for his safety or others.
"I'm just not going to leave anything to chance," the sheriff said.
Hasan will not have contact with other inmates, even when he is accompanied by a jailer to the outdoor recreation area, Smith said.
His cell has a bed, toilet, television and phone that makes collect calls, Smith said. Although Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio barred Hasan from speaking in Arabic to any visitors or reading the Quran, those restrictions will not be in place at the Bell County Jail, Smith said.
Fort Hood authorities not Bell County deputies will take Hasan to the nearby Army post for hearings and other matters, he said.
Hasan faces an Article 32 hearing, similar to a grand jury proceeding, as early as July 1. After that, a military judge will determine whether there is enough evidence to go to trial. Prosecutors have not said whether they would seek the death penalty.
Bell County commissioners signed a contract with the military last month to house Hasan. Although the jail usually houses military defendants from nearby Fort Hood, which does not have holding facilities, a special agreement was required for Hasan because "unusual and extraordinary security measures" were necessary, the sheriff has said.
#1
They got the arrow to Mecca spray painted on the floor? Does the guard have to go in there and tip the chair over five times a day so the prick can pray?
#2
Life in a south. cemtral Texas jail can only be described as "fundamental"; the air is not usually "air conditioned" as you may know it. The air is simply "conditioned". Hassan is in for a long hot summer.
Zardari, Nawaz American agents
Great leader Imran Khan was reported by daily Waqt as saying that both Zardari and Nawaz Sharif were 'pakka' American agents. He said when he became prime minister he would bring a case at the UN against India's grabbing of Pakistan's waters.
Sheikh Rashid, apologise for Lal Masjid!
Columnist Tayyaba Zia Cheema wrote in Nawa-e-Waqt that Sheikh Rashid was nearly killed in Rawalpindi by terrorists because he had supported Musharraf's operation against Lal Masjid in 2007. She asked him to apologise sincerely for doing so. It was wrong to accuse PML-N because the attempt on his life was androoni sazish (internal plot).
Aafiya lied in court
Writing in Jang, Nazir Naji stated that Pakistan that was aroused about the trial of Aafiya Siddiqi was not in favour of speaking out for a girl in Lower Dir who was lashed in public by the Taliban. He stated that Aafiya had lied to the New York court when she said that she did not know how to fire a gun. The prosecutors brought proof that she had gone to a shooting club in the US and hired a gun and bought bullets and practised with an automatic weapon in the club range.
India and America did it!
Top columnist Haroon Rashid wrote in Jang that Sheikh Rashid was wrong in accusing the PML-N for trying to target-kill him in the run-up to the by-elections in Rawalpindi. It was quite clear that either India or the US had tried to kill him. He said it could be one of the terrorist groups too angry with him.
Army chief invites editor!
Chief editor Khushnood Ali Khan of Jinnah met army chief General Kayani at a dinner in honour of Palestinian leader Mehmud Abbas in Islamabad and was warmly greeted. The chief said to chief editor, 'I read your writings, but why don't you call on me?' The chief editor also wrote that Shehbaz Sharif's second meeting with the army chief was 'zabardast'.
Taliban will be no more!
Writing in Jang Haroon Rashid stated that once sitting next to Imran Khan in 1999 he heard a grand old man who had 8,000 pages of Ghazwa-e-Hind (Prophet's war on India) in his trunk say that the soon martial law would be imposed and that the Taliban would be no more. He said Hazrat Umar had taken the flag of Islam from their hands.
Joe Biden to Ch Pervaiz Elahi
Writing in Jang, Nazir Naji wrote that when Joe Biden was still chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee he visited Pakistan and asked Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi about the projected results of the 2008 elections. Ch Sahib said that that his party would win, on which Mr Biden shot back, 'In that case America will not accept the results of the elections'. Ch Sahib narrated the incident to the columnist.
Aslam Beg and PPP
Columnist Nazir Naji wrote in Jang that army chief General Aslam Beg had foretold the result of the elections in 1988 by saying that he did not want the PPP to come to power, so they put together what was called the IJI with all the parties opposed to it in order to prevent it from gaining majority votes.
With India, only jihad!
Jamaatud Dawa periodical Jarrar quoted Hafiz Said as saying that with India only jihad will work and there was a national consensus on jihad. Addressing a gathering of hundreds of thousands in Karachi, he said America was breaking up. He said Indian minister Chidambaram should talk to Jamaatud Dawa and not to Pakistan government.
Send the mullahs to America!
Columnist Nazir Naji wrote in Jang that the JUI clerics had collectively asked the government to send delegations (wufud) to the US asking Washington to let Dr Aafiya Siddiqi return to Pakistan without being punished for terrorism. Naji thought this was a signal that the clerics should be sent to America on government funds. Hafiz Husain Ahmad of JUI has been to America many times but no one knows where he goes and what he does.
Na'at and Punjab Assembly
Reported in Jinnah Punjab Assembly agreed to do away with the committee formed earlier to decide whether or not the content sung in a naat (praise of the Prophet PBUH) sung in addition to tilawat (recitation of the Quran) was proper. An MPA threatened to resign if naat was discontinued. The speaker decided to disband the committee.
Nawaz hunting pheasant?
Reported in daily Islam, Nawaz Sharif was invited by the Mahr clan of Sindh to come and hunt pheasant on their land at Khangarh along with a prince of the UAE. When asked if this was true, the PML-N sources explained that he had gone to Khangarh not to kill birds but to examine the canal irrigation system there.
Prophet PBUH and victory against India
Famous columnist Haroon Rashid wrote in Jang that once someone came to him thrice in the night and disclosed to him a dream in which the Prophet (PBUH) appeared next to Kahuta Laboratory where the largest number of Pakistani scientists lived. The dream was also that when the dreamer ran after the American gora men to catch them with stolen uranium he saw the Prophet (PBUH) standing near a stream together with Hazrat Ali and Hazrat Umar, his companions. The Prophet (PBUH) said that he would himself supervise the war against India in which the Muslims would be led by Khalid bin Walid.
Irfan Siddiqi on Justice Chaudhry
Famous columnist Irfan Siddiqi wrote in Jang Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was qaziul qazzaat of Pakistan with unlimited (bekraan) popular affection and unlimited confidence of the people at his back. He is the only judge in human history who has been survived the assaults of a savage despot (saffaak amir) three times. The robe of justice of Justice Chaudhry is crimson with the blood of martyrs for his cause and the biggest treasure for him to defend is the confidence (etemaad) of the common man in his leadership.
Pak girl students seduced by India
Periodical Jarrar of Jamaatud Dawa reported that an NGO pretending to take Pakistani students to India on study tours was actually taking Pakistani girls to India making them stay with Hindu families who arranged to rape them and thus make them vulnerable to blackmail. Among the girl students were girls from the best known private university of Lahore (name omitted by TFT). The paper said that ISI had arrested the NGO director who was actually working for RAW.
Which general will become chief?
Writing in Jang, Nusrat Mirza observed that army chief General Kayani was retiring in November 2010 but the government was desirous of giving an extension to General Mustafa Khan who is to retire in October 2010. The government wants to extend the service of General Kayani by two years parallel to the extension of service given to General Petraeus by the US. But General Mustafa Khan is junior way down from General Kayani by ten candidates. But if he retires in October he can't even become Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. What is the government up to?
Posted by: john frum ||
04/09/2010 12:34 ||
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Meanwhile, across the border in India, an Urdu speaking man is performing pre-flight checks on a LOX/LH2 rocket engine
Mohammed Muslim, Project Director, Cryogenic Upper Stage Project (CUSP), said the cryogenic technology was the most complex one to be developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It has taken us 15 years to achieve this. It is normal time for any country and we are the sixth country to acquire this technology [after the U.S., Russia, Europe, Japan and China]. This is a highly guarded technology. The ISRO had not taken chances with this mission and the vehicle has been reviewed and checked point by point any number of times, he said.
GSLV-D3 which will lift off on April 15 is seen on the launch pad at Sriharikota on Friday
Posted by: john frum ||
04/09/2010 17:22 Comments ||
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Israeli officials said Benjamin Netanyahu decided to send a minister in his place after reports that Muslim nations in the Middle East would single out Israel's undeclared nuclear programme for criticism.
The White House tried to downplay the cancellation, but will be privately furious at a very public snub by Mr Netanyahu, who may have been looking for such an opportunity after a recent tete-a-tete with Mr Obama behind closed doors in Washington.
Mr Netanyahu returned home from those talks to a tide of derision in the Israeli press, with a showdown over Jewish settlement construction in East Jerusalem unresolved and relations between the two allies descending into open hostility.
Mike Hammer, the White House National Security Council spokesman, simply said the Israeli government "has informed us" of the decision to send Dan Meridor, a deputy prime minister and the intelligence and atomic energy minister, to the nuclear security summit of 47 nations convened by Mr Obama.
"We welcome Deputy Prime Minister Meridor's participation in the conference.
Israel is a close ally and we look forward to continuing to work closely on issues related to nuclear security," he said.
Egypt and Turkey were believed to be the states contemplating an attempt to shame Israel, though the chances of them doing so as guests of Mr Obama were remote.
Muslim nations including Egypt, which has a peace treaty with Israel have often complained about Israel's nuclear programme. The Jewish state has not admitted to possessing nuclear weapons, preferring a policy it calls "ambiguity." International experts have estimated that Israel has dozens, possibly hundreds, of nuclear bombs.
Ahead of the conference, the White House announced a major shift in US nuclear policy to focus on the threat of nuclear weapons in the hands of terrorists and rogue regimes rather than on the long-running arms race with Russia.
The summit will not focus on individual nations, but the nuclear programmes of Iran and North Korea, as well as possible new UN sanctions against Tehran, are expected to come up.
Both countries are excluded from the meeting, where Mr Obama hopes to reach a draft agreement on how to make the world's fissile materials safe within four years.
#2
Egypt and Turkey were believed to be the states contemplating an attempt to shame Israel, though the chances of them doing so as guests of Mr Obama were remote.
NO VACANCY in the "shaming" tent. Barry and the MSM have it fully booked.
#3
There was also a report that the Obama administration is now denying U.S. visas to Israeli scientists who work at that nations Dimona nuclear reactor. Israel and Netanyahu are being backed into a corner.
#4
It's not likely anything good was going to come out of this summit for Israel anyway so why should Netanyahu waste his time? He's got better things to do like planning to nuke Iran.
#6
Drudge has this picture online this morning of Netanyahu and Obama. Look at that overbearing, alpha-dog, hyper-aggressive posture that Obama exhibits. I'm surprised it didn't result in a fist fight. This is the way my president treats our allies? I apologize to the people of Israel.
#9
It's a slim hope on the mooselims part, but they're hoping Barry Hussein will pressure Israel into giving up their nukes, since they know that Barry will NEVER support Israel if they attack.
Course there's as much chance of that happening as Barry admitting he's not a US Citizen.
#14
So, what are the rules when one Head of State kills another Head of State? I mean everyone there has Diplomatic Immunity...right?
Netanyahu could have just ruptured his diaphragm or something and done the world a favor. On a side note, I cannot wait to read some of the "Tell All's" by members of Obama's SS detail. I bet it makes for some mighty interesting stories.
Posted by: Secret Asian Man ||
04/09/2010 16:48 Comments ||
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#15
Between a former Sayeret officer and Mr Arugula?
Some serious pay-per-view action there. I'd pay to see it. Coming next week, the big Netanyahu vs Almondinejihad bout!
And yes, that is an embarrassing pic. But very Chicago.
[Ma'an] The de facto government in Gaza must take measures to protect civilians from projectile fire in the Strip, the Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights said in relation to the injury of civilians from projectile fire from Gaza factions on Wednesday. Not Hated Zionist civilians, of course. They don't exist. They're strictly talking about Paleostinian civilians.
The Gaza governmetn "is legally obliged to provide protection to civilians and civilian objects under the international humanitarian law...and law enforcement persons [must therefore] take necessary procedures to protect civilians and their properties," Al-Mezan concluded after investigations into the incident.
According to the report, four, and not five civilians were injured on Wednesday when a misfired projectile hit Beit Hanoun homes in the Gaza Strip.
A father and two children, were among the injured, the document said, when at approximately 8:10pm a home-made projectile fell on the Ghassan Kanafani Development Institution in the Al Amal neighborhood, northeast of Beit Hanoun.
The organization identified the injured as:
Mohammed Monzir Al-Amawi,16, shrapnel in the legs and left hand
Emad Mohammed Sabir Abu Oda,38, shrapnel in the thigh and the groin
Mahmoud Hussein Nasir,57, shrapnel in the left hand
Nasim Mahmoud Nasir,27, shrapnel in the abdomen Can't be right. No one was injured in the feet.
Further, the report said, two homes were partially damaged in the incident. One of the houses is home to 56 civilians, and belongs to Mahmoud Hussein Nasir. The second building is home to 20 civilians, and belongs to Izzat Abdel Karem Ekhtawat, the Al-Mezan report said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2010 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[3 views]
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#1
"One of the houses is home to 56 civilians"
Words fail....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/09/2010 0:14 Comments ||
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#2
Not Hated Zionist civilians, of course. They don't exist.
Well, Fred, their Western friends might reasonably point out that they are a Center for Human Rights .
#4
Don't pay attention to these guys, boyz. They're Kumbaya human rights people. What do they know about rocketing Zionists? Keep shooting the "projectiles" straight up. They go farther. Trust me, it's in the Kopran...
Iran's president has unveiled new "third-generation" centrifuges that its nuclear chief says can enrich uranium much faster than current technology.
The centrifuges would have separation power "six times that of the first generation", Ali Akbar Salehi said in a speech marking National Nuclear Day.
Uranium enrichment is the central concern of Western nations negotiating with Iran over its nuclear programme.
The technology can be used to make fuel for power plants and nuclear weapons.
The new centrifuges would be more advanced than the P1 model - reportedly acquired on the black market in the 1980s and prone to breakdowns - in use at the Natanz enrichment facility.
In October, Mr Salehi announced that a second generation of centrifuges, developed by Iranian scientists and most of whose components were made domestically, would be installed at Iran's previously secret facility near Qom.
BBC Tehran correspondent Jon Leyne, who is in London, says nuclear experts point out that the key question is how many of the third-generation centrifuges Iran can produce.
There have already been many problems with the existing model, so whether Iran can quickly put the new one into mass production and operation remains to be seen, our correspondent says.
#3
Iran's president has unveiled new "third-generation" centrifuges that its nuclear chief says can enrich uranium much faster than current technology.
"Thrill as they reach speeds of three!!!!"
/too obscure?
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
04/09/2010 19:46 Comments ||
Top||
#4
NEWS KERALA > IRAN WILL TAKE MILITARY ACTION IN ITS OWN SELF-DEFENCE | IRAN TO CONSIDER "ALL MILITARY OPTIONS" [agz US-ISRAEL] IFF ATTACKED.
The US is doing it agz Iran, so why not Iran agz US tit-for-tat.
ARTIC > IOW, COME YEAR 2012 AND BEYOND [Pan-Islamist, Iran Nuclearization], ALL TERROR WILL NOW BE NUKULAAR = NBC-CBRNE "WEAPON-IZED".
SUB-IOW, 2012 AND BEYOND > ANY NEW 9-11's OR WORSE TERROR AGZ CONUS WILL BE NUKULAAR, OR IN ALTERN HAVE A HIGH CHANCE/DEGREE OF BEING NUKULAAR.
Kindler, Gentler, MOTHERLY OWG NBC-CBRNE CLOUD OER US CITIES.
#5
Lest we fergit, NET > VARIOUS > US ADMIRAL: CHINA'S MILITARY BUILDUP AIMS AT [dev, projecting] [Mil= Milpol-Geopol] POWER PAST ASIA.
"CREEPING/GRADUAL ISLAMISM" IN THE PACIFIC > Here on GUAM, CONTRACTORS are already LEGALLY = LEGITIMATLEY importing MUSLIM WORKERS from SOUTH/SE ASIA FOR THE ANTICIPATED MARINE BUILDUP FROM OKINAWA. Undoubtedly, as per History, MILTERRS will try to covertly sneak in amongst the majority legit workers + SET UP FOR FUTURE RADICALIST ACTIVITIES INCLUD BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANTI-DMEOCRATIC/PLURALIST "SHARIA LAW" + POTENS VIOL TERROPS ON GUAM-WESTPAC, AGZ US BASES + ALL NON-MUSLIMS INCLUD LOCALS, OTHER FOREIGN GROUPS ON FUTURE GUAM.
#6
Here on GUAM, CONTRACTORS are already LEGALLY = LEGITIMATLEY importing MUSLIM WORKERS from SOUTH/SE ASIA FOR THE ANTICIPATED MARINE BUILDUP FROM OKINAWA.
Take care and hopefully you won't "tipover and capsize", Joe
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said the United States is doomed to crumple as it is mired in a swamp in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"The US is so bogged down in a quagmire in Iraq and Afghanistan that it is doomed to be defeated whether it stays or escapes," Ahmadinejad said Wednesday night.
"Who thought the US was beatable? Over thirty years ago, everyone said the US army was invincible," he went on to say.
The Iranian chief executive further reiterated that nobody thought that Israel would be conquerable.
"But, the equations have changed these days. The Zionist regime of Israel was defeated by a small group in south Lebanon and Gaza," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2010 00:00 ||
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[7 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#5
"Who thought the US was beatable? Over thirty years ago, everyone said the US army was invincible," he went on to say.
Huh? 2010-30=1980. Just after the Vietnam experience? When Carter and the Donks answer was to starve the military of funding? When drug abuse and high incidents of AWOL and Article 15s plagued the military? Don't even recall Desert One? The lies one tells to oneself.
Six major powers opened talks here Thursday to discuss imposing new UN sanctions on Iran, as China's envoy to the United Nations said it was an "important negotiation."
"It's a very important negotiation," Chinese ambassador Li Baodong told reporters as he went into the talks.
The talks bring together the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, plus Germany, who have been negotiating with Iran for months.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner had said in Paris on Wednesday that China had agreed to join the so-called P5+1 talks in New York, home to the UN headquarters, but admitted he was unsure if sanctions would be on the table.
"What will this discussion be like? Will we be able to talk about a text, of content? Will we be going through the motions? I don't know," Kouchner said.
"China will participate in the relevant discussions," foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu confirmed to reporters.
"China still believes dialogue and consultation are the best way to solve the nuclear issue."
China has until now refused to back Western calls for new sanctions against Tehran, and last week played host to the Islamic republic's chief nuclear negotiator.
Beijing has a close diplomatic and trade relationship with Iran, dominated by its imports of Iranian energy resources.
Last week, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice said China was ready for "serious negotiations" on Iran, a move hailed by the White House as an "important step," but Beijing has so far not signaled any policy shift.
The United States and its allies suspect Iran is secretly trying to develop the atomic bomb, but Tehran says its nuclear drive is purely for civilian energy purposes, and that it has the right to nuclear technology.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2010 00:00 ||
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[4 views]
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#1
I am sure that Iran is quaking in its boots as we speak.
Posted by: Kelly ||
04/09/2010 12:10 Comments ||
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Iran's Armed Forces Chief of Staff Major General Hassan Firouzabadi has warned the US against making any military moves on the Islamic Republic.
Firouzabadi said that if the United States attacks Iran, none of the American troops in the region will go back home alive.
"If the US seriously threatens Iran and takes an action against Iran, none of the US soldiers in the region will return to America alive," Fars news agency quoted him as saying on Thursday.
Firouzabadi made the remarks in reaction to US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who said on Tuesday that Washington was keeping "all options" on the table for dealing with Iran and North Korea.
"If there is a message for Iran and North Korea here, it is that if you're going to play by the rules, if you're going to join the international community, then we will undertake certain obligations to you," AFP quoted Gates as saying.
Firouzabadi also said if the US takes action against Iran, the threats it would face increase exponentially and its economic problems skyrocket.
"If the US seriously threatens Iran and takes an action against Iran, the threats against it will become a thousand times more, its economic problems will increase and it will lose more markets," he said.
Firouzabadi's speech comes a day after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad condemned Washington's latest nuclear policy.
The policy authorizes the use of nuclear arms against nations which violate the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and Obama's mention of Iran is despite the fact that there is no credible evidence indicating Iran is violating the NPT.
In response to the new nuclear strategy, Ahmadinejad lambasted the plan and advised his US counterpart not to repeat the "past mistakes" of the previous US governments.
"I advise Mr Obama to be careful. If he tries to follow in the footsteps of Mr [George W.] Bush, the response of the [Iranian] nation will be the same crushing response they gave to Bush," President Ahmadinejad said in a speech in the northwestern city of Orumiyeh.
The 50-page "Nuclear Posture Review" (NPR) issued by the US administration was released on Tuesday. It purportedly restricts the use of US nuclear arms against some non-nuclear countries.
The new NPR by the Obama Administration restricts the use of US nuclear arms against some non-nuclear countries. Countries that "from the US perspective" do not comply with the NPT will be at risk of a possible nuclear attack.
The US has repeatedly accused Iran of failing to meet its obligations defined in the NPT -- an allegation categorically denied by Tehran.
Iran was among the original countries that signed the NPT, a global pact aimed at curbing the spread of nuclear weapons across the globe.
Tehran says its nuclear work is monitored by the UN nuclear watchdog and is conducted in accordance with the NPT.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Versus
NEWS KERALA > NEW US BALLISTIC MISSLE WITH CONVENTIONAL WARHEAD CAN STRIKE ANYWHERE IN THE WOLRD IN LESS THAN ONE HOUR.
and
WMF > US MISSLE BARRAGE AGZ CHINA? OBAMA'S NUCLEAR PLAN DOES NOT LIMIT MASSIVE US MISSLE SRIKES WITH CONVENTIONAL WARHEADS.
Which is prolly why RUSSIA is repor again harschly criticizing US GMD-TMD as dterimentally effecting the new US-RUSS START Agreement signed just today???
#2
A few quotes from Bahgdad Bob are in order just to put mideast threats into perspective. Replace Iraq with Iran and Bahgdad with Tehran where appropriate:
"There are no American infidels in Baghdad. Never!"
"My feelings - as usual - we will slaughter them all"
"Our initial assessment is that they will all die"
"God will roast their stomachs in hell at the hands of Iraqis."
'We have destroyed 2 tanks, fighter planes, 2 helicopters and their shovels - We have driven them back."
"Surrender or be burned in their tanks."
"No I am not scared and neither should you be!"
"We have them surrounded in their tanks"
Britain "is not worth an old shoe."
Of U.S. troops: "They are most welcome. We will butcher them."
"We will welcome them with bullets and shoes."
"Washington has thrown their soldiers on the fire"
"These cowards have no morals. They have no shame about lying"
"They're not even [within] 100 miles [of Baghdad]. They are not in any place. They hold no place in Iraq. This is an illusion ... they are trying to sell to the others an illusion."
A leading Muslim scholar, in the United States for the first time in six years after the Obama administration lifted a travel ban on him, says he will not shy away from criticizing the president whose policies finally allowed him to visit. "I think that people who were expecting him to change everything so quickly were just dreamers," Tariq Ramadan told Reuters in an interview Thursday.
Ramadan, a Swiss citizen of Egyptian origin who was born in Switzerland, has written extensively on Western Muslims and on Islam. He is president of the thinktank European Muslim Network in Brussels and teaches at Britain's Oxford University.
"I think the vision is there. The words are there," he said of President Barack Obama, whom he faulted for not delivering more quickly on his pledge to shut the Guantanamo Bay prison for suspected militants and failing to make progress in the Middle East peace process. "It's when he is reelected that he can be more effective."
In 2004, the United States revoked Ramadan's visa. When he applied for a new visa, the application was denied on grounds he had made donations to the Association de Secours Palestinien, or ASP, from 1998 to 2002. The Bush administration listed ASP as a banned group in 2003, saying it supported terrorism and contributed funds to the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, an organization the United States said had ties to terrorism. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lifted the ban on Ramadan in January.
"I have been in a peaceful mind for the last six years because I knew my record was clear," Ramadan said. "Now this story is over. The Bush administration is over, so is my case."
Ramadan, who said he visited the United States 13 times between 2001 and when his visa was revoked in 2004, will make his first U.S. public appearance since his ban was lifted at the Cooper Union school in New York as part of a literature festival. "In the United States of America, I'm an academic. I shouldn't have to say who I am going to speak to and what I am going to speak about," he said.
The American Civil Liberties Union championed Ramadan's case as part of a pattern of scholars being excluded due to unwarranted or unspecified U.S. national security grounds.
Ramadan said the U.S. policy toward him was contradictory. Just months before being denied a visa on national security grounds, he had been invited to Washington by the State Department to give a lecture on Islam. "I was introduced as someone who is controversial, who is from the Muslim world," he said. "So they knew exactly who I was."
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.
