[AlAhram] The judge in the retrial of the former president on charges of failing to protect demonstrators during the January 2011 revolution sends case to a different court
Judge Mostafa Hassan Abdullah of the Cairo Criminal Court overseeing Mubarak's murder retrial has recused himself on Saturday and referred the case to the Cairo Appeal Court.
"This is in line with the demands of the Lawyers' Union Lagna Horreyat (Freedom Council), who asked him [the judge] to recuse himself already," Ahmed El-Damaty, the deputy head of the lawyer's union told Ahram Online's Bel Trew outside of the courtroom.
Upon the judge's announcement, tensions escalated between the plaintiff's lawyers and relatives of the January 25 Revolution deaders and lawyers of the defendants.
Minor scuffles erupted between the two sides before security intervened.
The Cairo Appeal Court is expected to set a new date and judicial district for the retrial to resume.
Lawyers for plaintiffs relieved for now
"The decision today was 100 percent right. All Egyptians asked that the judge step down because that judge was involved in the infamous Battle of Camel case. All of these cases concern the January 25 Revolution - which means people have been closely following them, so the judge felt 'embarrassed.' This is what he said. So he decided to step down," El-Damaty told Ahram Online.
"It was not a surprise for us - this decision will satisfy most of the people, except for those siding with the former president. We hope that this trial will be part of the ongoing and real revolution, which will finally remove all the feloul [former regime remnants] from our lives and from Egypt," El-Damaty added.
Moslem Brüderbund lawyer Abdel-Moneim Abdel-Maqsoud described the decision as "positive," considering that Judge Hassan Abdullah had already ruled in a similar case in 2012 and the outcome in Mubarak's retrial today would not likely be very different.
"The court made its stand clear when it ruled in favour of those accused in the Battle of the Camel... it is a wise decision [to recuse himself]."
Eleven anti-Mubarak protesters were killed and over 600 injured on 2 February, 2011 in an attack by a mob of Mubarak supporters using camels and horses on Tahrir Square.
In October, 2012, Abdullah cleared 21 top Mubarak-era officials accused of criminal masterminding the attack on peaceful protesters of all wrongdoing.
"I'm one of the lawyers who filed for the judge to step down: he was the judge of the Battle of the Camel trial, which acquitted everyone involved. This worried us; we feared he would not be impartial and that his presence would affect the trial's fairness," Amer Ahmed Saad, civil rights lawyer, told Ahram Online.
"Ultimately, the judge stepped down because he felt 'embarrassed.' This is why he recused himself. I am satisfied with this. It is better for him to step down; it is the right thing for him to do," Saad added.
"Egypt's leader, Mohamed Morsi, forced lots of people to rethink the old regime" said Saad, regretting that the current state of affairs in Egypt has made some reminisce and wish for the old Mubarak days.
"However, nothing needs reforming like other people's bad habits... what we can say is that the one person who brought all of this corruption and madness that we are suffering from is Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... . We have to blame him first before we can fix the current regime.
"Mubarak is responsible for destroying our freedom and our constitution and faking the elections all time. The Brotherhood are just continuing his legacy. They are only interested in their own people. I fear that the Brotherhood regime will be worse than Mubarak's, but, ultimately, who is responsible for setting the precedent is Mubarak," he concludes.
Mubarak's hopes dashed for now
Earlier on Saturday morning, ousted President Mubarak and his sons Gamal and Alaa smiled as they waved to supporters from their cage inside the court room as they waited for judges to start proceedings in their retrial cases.
A medically equipped helicopter had carried ousted geriatric former President-for-Life Hosni Mubarak from Maadi Military Hospital to the Police Academy in North Cairo where he faces retrial for his role in killing protesters during the January 25 Revolution, Ahram Arabic news website reported.
Alaa and Gamal Mubarak arrived at the academy a few minutes after their father in armoured personal carriers guarded by police vans to face retrial in financial corruption convictions.
Attorney Essam Batawy, representing former interior minister Habib El-Adly, told Ahram Online he would have petitioned for El-Adly be released for time served, considering his client has spent two years in provisional detention.
The ministry of interior had intensified its security measures around the academy where the proceedings of his retrial were set to take place.
Tens of pro-Mubarak supporters carrying pictures of the former dictator rallied outside the academy and were hoping he would be released today.
Legal case continues
The former president will be retried before the Cairo Appeal Court for the charges on which he was convicted and sentenced to life in jail last June: turning a blind eye to the killing of more than 840 demonstrators during the 18 days of the uprising that toppled him.
Additionally, former interior minister Habib El-Adly and six of his top aides face retrial for their role in the murder of protesters during the uprising.
El-Adly, like Mubarak, was hit with a life sentence, however, his six aides were all acquitted.
In January, an appeal court ruled Mubarak and co-defendants had the right to appeal verdicts due to procedural irregularities in the initial trial.
One of the plaintiff's lawyers, Sayed Hamed, told Ahram Online from the courtroom that he had intended to demand that the court add several key figures in the Mubarak era to the list of defendants in the case. Those include the secretary general of the now dissolved National Democratic Party (NDP) Safwat El-Sherif; former NDP member and steel tycoon Ahmed Ezz; Mubarak's younger son, Gamal; former first lady Suzanne Mubarak and parliament speaker under Mubarak's rule Ahmed Fathi Sorour to the list of defendants in the case of killing demonstrators during the 18-day uprising.
According to Damaty, the Fact Finding Committee established by President Mohamed Morsi following his election last year has recently finished further investigations, which revealed that there are 10 more pieces of evidence against Mubarak in the trial that still need to be considered.
"This, I believe will change the new case... I think it will take a maximum of three months to find out who the new judge is who will take over" El-Damaty said.
Counter to general expectations before Saturday's court session, Mubarak will not be released anytime soon, according to Damaty.
"Mubarak is not only incarcerated Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! for 15 days on one corruption case, but rather there are two other cases extending his period of detention, hence he will stay in jail."
"We don't know if there will be other cases raised against him, which will further extend his current detention and if this will cover the time until his retrial. We'll know about the new judge in the next two to four months. At this point they will also announce the new schedule for the trial, however, none of us knows when the retrial will take place. It's up to the office of Special Prosecutor for the Protection of the Revolution [established by President Morsi after his inauguration] to decide how long the trial will take and can ask the judge to speed up the process."
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/13/2013 08:29 ||
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[AlAhram] Egyptian court announces retrial of ex-minister of petroleum Sameh Fahmy and business tycoon Hussein Salem in Egypt-Israel gas case
The Court of Cassation has ordered the retrial of former petroleum minister Sameh Fahmy and Mubarak-era business tycoon Hussein Salem in the Egypt-Israel gas case.
Hussein Salem and Sameh Fahmy were both sentenced to 15 years in jail in June 2012 for squandering public funds in a gas deal with Israel.
Salem and Fahmy submitted appeals against their original convictions and the court ordered the retrial.
Egypt agreed to provide Israel with natural gas in 2005 in a deal built on the landmark 1979 peace accords. The public prosecution claimed the agreement lost Egypt over $714 million.
Salem, a founding shareholder of East Mediterranean Gas Company (EMG) which supplied Israel with gas from June 2008, was accused of collaborating with EMG to profiteer from gas deals with Israel.
The business tycoon was described by ex-justice minister Abdel-Aziz El-Guindi as the man who holds "the keys to corruption in Egypt."
Egypt unilaterally terminated its natural gas export contract with Israel in April 2012.
Not that Israel cares -- they had one tight year until gas started flowing from their new wells in the Mediterranean a few weeks ago. And in the meantime, Egypt learnt what it's like to live without that lovely Israeli income, now lost forever.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/13/2013 08:29 ||
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Former president of Egypt Hosni Mubarak appeared in court to face his retrial over the killing of protesters in 2011, only to have the judge step down.
Wearing a white track suit, the 84-year-old former president was wheeled into court on a hospital gurney on Saturday to answer charges of complicity in the deaths of hundreds of demonstrators in 2011.
Judge Mustafa Hassan Abdullah, however, almost immediately withdrew from the trial, signaling an indefinite adjournment. The judge said that he felt "unease" in reviewing the case and referred it to the Cairo appeals court.
Saturday's proceedings were held at a police academy on the fringes of Cairo, where Mubarak had been flown to by helicopter.
[France24] Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi promoted military commanders on Thursday in a show of support for the army amid rumours of tensions between himself and the once ruling generals.
Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi promoted the heads of Egypt's air force, air defence forces and navy to the rank of Lieutenant-General on Thursday, amid recurrent media reports of strained relations between the Islamist president and the military.
The promotions came after the Egyptian press and British daily The Guardian reported that a fact-finding committee Morsi had appointed found evidence of military abuses during the 2011 revolt that ousted president Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... Morsi's front man said in statement that the promotions were made in a meeting with the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which was in charge after Mubarak's ouster and before Morsi's election last June.
Morsi had called for the meeting "in order to calm the situation and remove tensions affecting the military as a result of a defamation campaign and attacks by some politicians," the official MENA news agency reported.
Morsi took office with his powers circumscribed by the military -- then led by Mubarak's former defence minister, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi.
Loyalties in doubt
The Islamist president -- modern Egypt's first civilian leader -- sacked Tantawi after a jihad boy attack in August killed 16 soldiers at a border outpost, seizing on discontent within the military to purge commanders whose loyalties were in doubt, one of his aides said at the time.
Renewed tensions between Morsi and the military, now led by Colonel General Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, were reported in the Egyptian press after the military called for dialogue between Morsi and his opposition following mass protests in December.
The presidency had denied the reports.
The legislature also approved a revised version of the law organising the country's parliamentary elections on Thursday, after a court ruled an earlier version was invalid and delayed the vote.
The parliamentary elections had been scheduled to start this month, but the ruling said the law must be reviewed by the Supreme Constitutional Court before elections can be called.
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04/13/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Might want to give them a raise to boot, as long as the check from Qatar clears...
[NgGuardian] NORTHERN Islamic leaders under the umbrella of the Jama'atu Nasril Islam (JNI) have said that the rejection of the amnesty proposal by the Federal Government, by the leadership of 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... Militants is a setback in finding lasting solution to the insurgency in the North.
Besides, they also blamed some Christian leaders, particularly, the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, for their utterances and opposition to the amnesty proposal, saying that the position on the issue was capable of fuelling further crisis in Nigeria.
The Secretary General of the JNI, Sheikh Khalid Abubakar Aliyu, who spoke Friday in Kaduna said that "It is an unexpected happening that just came from the blue and took Mohammedans in particular and the whole country unawares."
"If man had pre-knowledge of what will happen, then it wouldn't have happened, the way accident is. If the person involved in an accident knew that it will happen, he would have taken precautionary measures not to allow that happen."
According to Aliyu: "There are many options left for the government. Even the amnesty itself must have preparatory steps before the amnesty is reached. First is finding them, second is to ask them to come out and then dialogue with them. I think that these are the most important ingredients that are supposed to come first. I think we are just putting the cart before the horse because the first thing is to look for them, then ask them to come out and if they do, create a conducive atmosphere for dialoguing with them before the amnesty which should the final stage".
The JNI Secretary General, while addressing journalist at a presser, said that the Islamic leaders have "noticed with dismay the manner and language of argument from some quarters in the country over the seeming controversy being generated by the federal government's proposal on amnesty for Boko Haram turbans," adding that "while such controversy is legitimate and contribution to it is a right of every Nigerian, we feel that at a precarious time like this, the basis of any contribution should be for the purpose of achieving peace and not to further aggravate the tension in the land."
Aliyu declared: "We are therefore perplexed that while the call to grant amnesty to Boko Haram by the Sultan of Sokoto and President-General, JNI, has received strong support of prominent Christians, such as Cardinal John Onaiyekan, Bishop Mathew Kukah, Pastor Paul Unongo, to mention but few, the President of CAN, Pastor Ayo Oritsejfor and his cohorts are busy confusing the country's leadership on the way out of the security challenges.
"Our concern is what is the motive behind the total rejection of amnesty by them? Do they benefit from the quagmire of the Boko Haram? When were they appointed special advisers to the President on the Perpetuation of Insecurity? However, ars longa, vita brevis... if leaders' utterances cannot ventilate the atmosphere for peace at a time when peace is most needed, what else will guarantee peace? The unfortunate menace of Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria is indeed an accident beyond religion which affects every Nigerian directly or indirectly and upon which no passing of buck can be logical."
He continued: "as a matter of fact, that menace affects more Mohammedans than non-Mohammedans as it becomes evident in the cases of some members of the JNI top hierarchy, such as the attack on the Shehu of Borno who is the Deputy President-General (JNI).
The Emir of Fika (Vice President-General, Yobe State), and the Emir of Kano, (Vice President-General, Kano State), were also attacked".
Besides, Aliyu explained further that "uncountable eminent Mohammedan scholars were brutally maimed or killed in cold blood, despite scholars efforts to curb the insurgency", adding that the likes of late Sheikh Ja'afar Mahmud Adam, Sheikh Isa Ali Pantami and many others had intellectual dialogue with the late Muhammad Yusuf who was said to be the founder of Boko Haram with a view to dissuading the group from resorting to violence.
"That is why the question on the hurried killing of Muhammad Yusuf sounded strange and illogical. The question should have been 'who killed him and why? By and large, this is an opportunity to remind those who care to know that Islam is a glass house from which no true Mohammedan should throw stones. We stand by the teachings of Islam which cautions against making provoking statements in times of anger because it only leads to regret."
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/13/2013 00:50 ||
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The Interior Ministry said thieves broke into a warehouse and stole a
huge amount of firearms and ammunition. The ministry said 20,000 U.S.-origin M-16 assault rifles and 15,000 rounds for 9mm pistols were stolen.
"There were no guards during the break-in," the ministry said on April 7.
No doubt it will be blamed on the Sequester.
The Syrian rebels say "thank you", and the CIA says "you're welcome"...
#4
Just at market value that's 20 millions dollars worth of merchandise. Probably cheaper for the cartels to run an operation like this than have straw buyers paying a thousand dollars or more in driblets north of the border since their ATF suppliers dried up.
#7
Can you imagine the logistics (people, equipment, time) to just move that much from the warehouse? And no one noticed? What other goodies are stored in unguarded warehouses in the middle East?
#8
Looks like Procopius2k and I are on the same page on several issues.
I don't think people quite understand the reach of the Mexican drug cartels. When you can crank out the BILLIONS of dollars they can crank out, working a deal with a local group of malcontents and bribing a couple of guards to take a long break is no big deal.
Feinstein needs to remember that the terrorists are getting their weaponry from sources beyond her reach, the international gun trade doesn't give a damn about a silly toothless rag of a treaty signed by an impotent bunch of diplomatic drones and poseurs at the UN.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
04/13/2013 13:42 Comments ||
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#9
Mil-to-Mil programs become cash cows for corrupt foreign military leaders, and the records are either lost, forged or ignored. The number of automatic assault weapons that come out of the back of the armories in Guatemala, Panama, Mexico and other Latin American states are a major source of the automatic weapons used by the cartels. DoD knows it, Justice knows it, DHS knows it and says nothing because we might embarrass a foreign leader whose corruption is less troubling than their worthless, apparent friendship.
Hefajat-e-Islam Bangladesh, a platform of Islamists, on Friday threatened to immobilise the country on May 5 if daily Amar Desh acting editor Mahmudur Rahman was not freed and the groups 13-point demand not accepted. It also gave the government until Sunday to release Mahamudur Rahman or face a tougher action programme.
A longer, bloodier hartal...
The Hefajat issued the threat while staging demonstrations across the country as part of its scheduled programme on the day.
The Islamist group has already announced it will besiege Dhaka city on May 5 to press for its demands, including enactment of a blasphemy law with a provision for maximum punishment for insulting Islam.
It also held a rally at Brahmanbaria on Friday as part of its announcement from the April 6 grand rally at Shapla Square in Dhaka, that it would hold nine rallies throughout the month of April at different places of the country to mobilise support for the May 5 Dhaka siege programme.
Dhaka city unit of Hefajat also organised a rally at Paltan in which its leaders alleged that Amar Desh acting editor Mahmudur Rahman had been arrested as he had sided with Islam and stood in opposition of the atheists.
They threatened to immobilise the whole country during its Dhaka siege on May 5 if Mahmudur was not released and Hefajats 13-point demand was not accepted.
They also alleged that certain quarters were trying to create misgivings about its 13-point demand.
In reference to statements of several ruling Awami League leaders, including its general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam, that the Hefajat had retreated to Chittagong, the Islamist leaders said the May 5 Dhaka siege would show who pulls back.
The government has gone mad after watching the peoples upsurge on April 6, said Hefajat joint secretary general Abdur Rab Yusufi. He vowed to free Mahmudur Rahman by breaking the jail locks.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/13/2013 00:00 ||
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CARACAS - The late Hugo Chavez's self-declared socialist revolution will be put to the test at a presidential election on Sunday that pits his chosen successor against a younger rival promising change in the nation he polarized.
Reuters would like to call this one for Nick the Mad already...
Most opinion polls give his protege, acting President Nicolas Maduro, a strong lead over opposition challenger Henrique Capriles thanks to Chavez's endorsement and the surge of grief and sympathy over his death from cancer last month.
The candidates closed out official campaigning on Thursday with dueling rallies, both drawing hundreds of thousands of boisterous supporters. Taking a page out of Chavez's playbook, a fiery Maduro marched through the streets of the capital draped in a Venezuelan flag and called on voters to follow "commander Chavez as the spiritual guide of the fatherland."
Capriles, an energetic 40-year-old state governor, wrapped up his second presidential campaign in seven months - he lost to an ailing Chavez last October - in the nearby city of Barquisimeto, pledging to end the divisive politics of the late president's 14-year rule and the rampant crime that is the top concern of Venezuelans.
"Those who govern today have never done anything for your security. Sunday we're going to choose between life and death," Capriles roared to the crowd. "If you want a future, you have to vote for change, for a different government."
At stake is control of the world's biggest crude oil reserves, economic aid to a host of left-leaning governments around Latin America, and the legacy of what Chavez liked to call "21st century socialism" - a mix of hard-left politics, heavy government spending on the poor, and growing state control over the economy.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/13/2013 00:00 ||
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There is serious shortage of emergency shelters near the inter-Korean border, especially in Incheon, Gyeonggi Province, and Gangwon Province.
Emergency management authorities on Tuesday said that the country needs a total of 380 shelters in the border regions, but by the end of last year only 62 had been completed. The government hastily built more shelters after the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island in 2010. At the time, the Ministry of Public Administration and Security spent W53 billion (US$1=W1,139) to build new shelters in the five islands in the West Sea off the North Korean coast.
The National Emergency Management Agency also conducted a study from April to August in 2011 to establish how many shelters are needed in the border regions and arrived at the figure of 380. It built 56 of them the same year but only another 17 in 2012. This year it plans to build another 20. At this rate it would take over a decade to build all 380.
The agency cites budget constraints for the slow progress. Each shelter costs W600 million, so all 380 would cost W170 billion. An NEMA official said this would be "unrealistic." "There could well be population and landscape changes in these areas that could alter demand in few year's time," the official added.
South Korea started building evacuation shelters in 1975, but the project was virtually suspended in the late 1990s since rapid urbanization and industrialization meant many buildings had their own underground facilities.
Instead, the government designated underground car parks, basements of apartment buildings and subway stations as evacuation points.
But critics say even purpose-built shelters cannot guarantee the people's safety since they cannot be perfectly sealed against chemical attacks and lack gas masks.
An NEMA official said, "The shelters we are building in the border areas are just for temporary evacuation from bombardment. They cannot protect people from chemical, biological, and nuclear attacks or accommodate them for longer periods."
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/13/2013 00:00 ||
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[Jpost] A Swedish mayor working to stop anti-Israel propaganda from being sold at a municipal cultural center was assaulted.
Mats Green, mayor of Jonkoping, was lightly maimed in an attack April 7 outside his home when two men struck him and kicked him, the news site nyheter24 reported.
Green, a politician from the center-right Moderate Party, said he could not identify his attackers. But local police suspect the background to the attack is Green's efforts to prevent the sale of T-shirts emblazoned with the slogan "Burn, Israel, burn" at the Socialist Book Cafe, a shop operating inside a city-owned cultural center. The shirts sell for about $40.
#1
They're charging forty bucks for a lousy t-shirt. They must be grossing 38.50 apiece. Even with Sweden's taxes, that's got to be sweet profit. I admire their capitalist audacity.
No wonder the mayor got attacked. He's cutting into a great business venture.
#6
Cradle to the grave...emphasis on the grave. Unfortunately, the sensible Swedes are severely outnumbered where almost everyone has a retard opinion and because it's an opinion, it's valid. Buncha fucking Nazis, I will be glad for them when the SHTF.
ISLAMABAD/LAHORE: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has ordered the Punjab government to withdraw additional security to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif and former Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif.
The ECP has directed the government to withdraw the additional security and submit a report about it. The government was asked to provide them security according to the law. The PPP has alleged that 761 officials are deputed on security duty of Sharif brothers and their family members, against official permission. The security officials include 317 from the Elite Force, 302 from police force, 108 from Punjab Constabulary and 34 officials of the district police.
The ECP has directed the Punjab caretaker government to withdraw the additional security and submit a report about it. When the Daily Times contacted the spokesperson of the CCPO office, he said that the city police has not reduced the security of Sharif brothers or their family members. He said that the city police had provided them security according to law as former prime minister of Pakistan and former Punjab chief minister. When asked about the actual number of security personnel deputed for their security, the official did not give a figure and reiterated that the security protocol has been provided to them according to law.
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04/13/2013 00:00 ||
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ISLAMABAD: Former president Pervez Musharraf acknowledged his government secretly signed off on US drone strikes, reports the CNN.
It is the first time a top past or present Pakistani official has admitted publicly to such a deal. Pakistani leaders long have openly challenged the drone programme and insisted they had no part in it. Musharrafs admission, though, suggests he and others did play some role, even if they didnt oversee the programme or approve every attack.
Ex-president insists govt signed off on strikes only on a few occasions when the target was absolutely isolated and no chance of collateral damage
In an interview this week in Islamabad, CNN said Musharraf insisted Pakistans government signed off on strikes only on a few occasions, when a target was absolutely isolated and no chance of collateral damage.
Still, his admission that Pakistani leaders agreed to even a limited number of strikes runs counter to their repeated denunciations of a programme they long claimed the United States was operating without their approval.
The drone strikes which the nonpartisan public policy group New American Foundation estimates have killed at least 1,990 people in Pakistan, including hundreds of civilians are unpopular in Pakistan.
Today, the world superpower is having its own way, without any consent from Pakistan, former interior minister Rehman Malik had said last month. Despite such pronouncements, theres been speculation that the story might have been different behind the scenes.
In a cable sent in August 2008 and later posted online by Wikileaks, then-US ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson mentioned a discussion about drones during a meeting that also involved Malik and then-prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani.
Malik suggested we hold off alleged Predator attacks until after the Bajaur operation, Patterson wrote. The PM brushed aside Rehmans remarks and said, I dont care if they do it as long as they get the right people. Well protest in the National Assembly and then ignore it.
Unmanned U.S. drones began launching attacks in Pakistan in 2004, by which time Musharraf had been president for five years after taking power in a bloodless coup. He said that Pakistani leaders would OK US drone strikes after discussions involving military and intelligence units and only if there was no time for our own ... military to act.
This happened only rarely, CNN quotes Musharraf as saying. But sometimes, he said, you couldnt delay action. These ups and downs kept going, he said. It was a very fluid situation, a vicious enemy, ... mountains, inaccessible areas.
Musharraf said that one of those killed by US drones was Nek Muhammed, a tribal leader accused of harbouring al Qaeda militants in Pakistans western border region. At the time, in June 2004, Pakistan intelligence sources said Muhammed died after Pakistani forces launched a missile at a house where he was staying.
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04/13/2013 00:00 ||
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[Naharnet] Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird met an Israeli minister in annexed Arab east Jerusalem this week, a front man said, breaking a widely observed diplomatic taboo.
Baird met Justice Minister Tzipi Livni at her office in east Jerusalem, Canadian foreign ministry front man Rick Roth said, in a move normally avoided by visiting diplomats over concerns it could be seen as legitimizing Israel's annexation of the city's eastern sector.
Israel captured east Jerusalem during the 1967 Six Day War and later annexed it in a move never recognized by the international community.
Roth told Agence La Belle France Presse Baird "wanted to get Livni's view on the Middle East grinding of the peace processor, given her new responsibilities and important role in the new cabinet".
Livni was appointed justice minister and lead peace negotiator in Israel's cabinet, which was sworn in last month.
"This doesn't change our longstanding position that all final status issues must be negotiated between the two parties. As guests, we were pleased to meet our hosts where it was most convenient for them," Roth added.
Israel considers all of Jerusalem its "eternal, indivisible" capital, but the Paleostinians want the eastern sector as capital of their future state.
"It is not common that foreign officials meet Israeli officials in east Jerusalem," said Israeli foreign ministry front man Yigal Palmor.
"The Canadians have been making a name for themselves by speaking out on the international scene in a way which is all too rare," Palmor told AFP, saying they were demonstrating an unusual "courage and moral stance".
"There should be nothing unusual about meeting Israel's justice minister in east Jerusalem (where the ministry is based). What is strange is that this is the exception," he said.
During his six-day tour of the region, Baird also visited troops in the Israeli-occupied sector of the Golan Heights, Syrian territory which Israel annexed in 1981 in another move never recognized by the international community.
A bigwig at the foreign ministry told Haaretz newspaper the Canadian embassy had advised Baird against both the east Jerusalem meeting and the Golan visit.
Canada is one of Israel's staunchest allies and was one of the few countries that opposed a successful Paleostinian bid for upgraded status at the United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... late last year.
Israel has told the European Union and UN it can deport a Palestinian prisoner on a life-endangering long-term hunger strike to one of their member states, an Israeli official told AFP on Friday.
But a lawyer for Samer Issawi, who has intermittently refused food for more than eight months,
What kind of hunger strike is that? I usually (but not always) refuse food between lunch and dinner...
said his client strongly rejected the Israeli initiative, and an EU spokesman said no official proposal had been received.
Issawi, 33, was first arrested in 2002 and sentenced to 26 years for military activities on behalf of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine. He was released by Israel under a prisoner swap deal in October 2011, but rearrested last July for violating the terms of the agreement by travelling to the West Bank from east Jerusalem.
The Israeli official said Issawi had gone to the West Bank to establish terror cells there. Israel has ordered that he serve the remainder of his original sentence.
Issawis health has deteriorated because of his prolonged fast, and he was being held in an Israeli hospital. The Israeli official said he could immediately be released to Gaza.
At which point he decided to eat...
In addition, over the last few weeks the prime ministers office was approached by senior EU and UN representatives, who expressed concern over his humanitarian condition, the official said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office said Israel was willing to deport Issawi to any EU member country, or any UN member country, said the official, noting that they had yet to receive an answer from either.
An EU spokesman told AFP that Israel has not formally approached the EU on this subject.
However, the Israeli official insisted the issue came up in official communications between officials on both sides.
Lawyer Jawad Boulos said that while Israel had tried to make him agree to being deported to any of a number of countries, including Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Finland and Switzerland, Issawi had strongly refused in principle to be deported to any state.
Issawi is the last of four Palestinian prisoners who were on extended hunger strikes in Israeli prisons, after two ended their fast in February and a third was exiled from the West Bank last month to the Gaza Strip for 10 years.
Israel isn't obligated to make him eat, it's only obligated to put food in front of him.
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04/13/2013 00:00 ||
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[Naharnet] Western nations have "hard evidence" that chemical weapons have been used at least once in the Syrian war but a U.N. investigation is now unlikely to get into the country, diplomats said Thursday.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Lord of the Baath... 's government asked the U.N. to investigate its claims against rebel forces. But it is now refusing to let international experts into the country because the U.N. wants to look into claims against Assad's forces.
"In one case we have hard evidence," a western diplomat told news hounds, commenting on the rival claims.
"There are several examples where we are quite sure that shells with chemicals have been used in a very sporadic way," added the diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity ... for fear of being murdered... and without giving details of the evidence.
A diplomat from a U.N. Security Council nation also said that "quite convincing" evidence had been sent to U.N. Secretary General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... to back accusations against Assad's forces.
Britannia and La Belle France have submitted information to the United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... about allegations that government forces used chemical arms in the city of Homs on December 23 and at Ataybah near Damascus ...Home to a staggering array of terrorist organizations... last month. Neither has disclosed details but the Homs case is said to be the most serious of the two.
The Syrian government called for a U.N. investigation after it said opposition rebels fired a chemical weapon shell into Khan al-Assal in Aleppo province on March 19.
Syrian government troops were among those killed or maimed in the attack, according to diplomats.
The U.N. has assembled a team of international experts, led by Ake Sellstrom of Sweden, in the region. But Syria's Foreign Minister Walid Muallem wrote to Ban this week saying his government could not accept an inquiry that went beyond the Aleppo incident.
"It is regrettable that the Syrian government has rejected my offer to engage in (an) investigation," Ban said Thursday after talks with US President Barack Obama My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world. I hope you'll join with me as we try to change it... in Washington.
Ban had demanded "unfettered access" to all of Syria before sending the team. "They are now ready. They can be deployed any time soon; so this is my urgent appeal," Ban told news hounds.
U.N. Security Council diplomats said communications between the Syrian government and the United Nations had been severely cut back. They added that the chemical weapons inquiry was now likely to fall victim to divisions on the 15-nation council.
Russia and China have blocked three council resolutions intended to increase pressure on Assad over the conflict, including by threatening sanctions.
But with the conflict worsening -- well over 70,000 people have now been killed -- the international showdown over the conflict has also deteriorated. Ban has blamed the divisions for the failure to make progress on a negotiated settlement to the war.
"It is obvious that the Security Council is going to go nowhere on Syria. It is totally blocked," said a senior council envoy.
US President Barack Obama authorized the release Thursday of up to $10 million in food and medicine for rebels in Syria, saying the war there had reached a critical point. Obama, who discussed the worsening humanitarian crisis with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in the White House Oval Office, said they would be working together to try to improve conditions in Syria and lay the foundations for a political transition.
Secretary-General Ban and I shared the view that we are at a critical juncture, that it is important for us to bring about an effective political transition that would respect the rights of all Syrians and that, in the interim, its important for us to try to eliminate some of the carnage that has been taking place directed at civilians and non-combatants, Obama said.
Ban said he had asked Obama to demonstrate and exercise his stronger leadership in working together with the key partners of the Security Council, where Western powers have been at loggerheads over Syria with Russia and China.
The aid, which will take the form of medical kits and military food rations, had been announced by Secretary of State John Kerry during a meeting of the Friends of Syria in Rome on February 28, but the amount and means of funding it had not been disclosed at the time.
National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said the funding was in addition to $117 million in non-lethal aid already being provided to the Syrian opposition to help it organize inside the country.
The United States is also providing $385 million in humanitarian aid for the estimated four million people displaced by the conflict inside Syria and the 1.2 million refugees who have fled the country.
But like other western countries, the United States has refused to supply the rebels with weapons, fearing they will fall into the hands of extremists.
In Congress, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Senator Robert Menendez added his voice to growing calls for military aid to the rebels fighting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
Shaddup and go back to your Dominican hooker, Bob...
I believe the time has come to consider providing in some form military aid to the opposition because unless we change the dynamic and put our finger on the scales to change the tipping point, Assad will continue to believe he can hold on to power, he said.
Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Elizabeth Jones responded that the administration is firm in its belief that a political solution would be the best way to avert further destruction in the country.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/13/2013 00:00 ||
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but the amount and means of funding it had not been disclosed at the time.
I'll tell you this much for sure - it didn't come out of Kerry's pockets (estimated net worth, excluding Nurse Fuzzy Wuzzy's stash, at approximately $180 million); he throws quarters around like they were manhole covers.
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.
Hefajat-e-Islam Bangladesh, a platform of Islamists, on Friday threatened to immobilise the country on May 5 if daily Amar Desh acting editor Mahmudur Rahman was not freed and the groups 13-point demand not accepted. It also gave the government until Sunday to release Mahamudur Rahman or face a tougher action programme. 
ISLAMABAD: Former president Pervez Musharraf acknowledged his government secretly signed off on US drone strikes, reports the CNN.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
