U.S. and NATO equipment will have a guaranteed route out of Afghanistan after an agreement with Central Asian countries allowing the alliance to completely cut out the shorter Pakistani access routes NATO has used for years.
In a Monday press conference in Brussels, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters that a deal had been struck between Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan to allow the alliance's equipment to be moved through their territories. A deal already set with Russia will allow the equipment to be moved directly though land into Europe, and to air bases to fly the U.S. equipment home.
Pentagon officials said talks with the Pakistanis on opening the ground routes through Pakistan to the southern port of Karachi are still ongoing, but have yet to produce an agreement to re-open the routes, known as Ground Lines of Communication or (GLOC).The NATO deal with the Central Asian countries seems to indicate a deal with Pakistan may not happen or will be indefinitely delayed. Talks between NATO and Pakistan have been ongoing for several weeks to reopen the lines closed since a November 2011, mistaken attack on Pakistani troops by NATO forces. The attack killed 24 Pakistani troops along the border with Afghanistan.
The NATO alliance in Afghanistan began using the northern distribution route almost immediately after Pakistan closed its borders to supplies coming in and equipment and material leaving Afghanistan.
The northern passageway costs considerably more, more than double what the United States and NATO had been paying Pakistan. Cock-a-boodle-doo!
Costs for the Pakistani route ranges somewhere around $250 per truck while trucks passing through the northern route can cost upwards of $1,200 per truck. During the negotiations with Pakistan, U.S. and NATO officials said that Pakistan wanted to raise its transit rates to as much as $5,000 per truck, something the United States said it would not pay.
"These agreements will give us a range of new options and the robust and flexible transport network we need," said Rasmussen as he announced the new transport deal and said the deal would make "the use of the Russian transit arrangements even more effective."
NATO plans to remove its final combat troops at the end of 2014 and hand over full security responsibility to Afghanistan then. Afghanistan is set to have around 350,000 of its own security forces in place at that point with a still-to-be-determined number of U.S. and international forces left behind to train the Afghan forces.
#1
Alternative,load a truck with a small bomb and Smallpox and pass through, if it's hijacked wait a few days and resume shipments, they'll all be dead.
Yes I'm tired of this shit.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/05/2012 9:02 Comments ||
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#2
A deal already set with Russia will allow the equipment to be moved directly though land into Europe, and to air bases to fly the U.S. equipment home.
Posted by: Water Modem ||
06/05/2012 22:55 Comments ||
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#6
DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > US APOLOGY NEEDED TO [Re-]OPEN NATO SUPPLY ROUTES OR CLOSE FOREVER: KHAR.
PAK FM Hina Rabbini Khar.
* SAME > PAKISTAN REPEATS DEMAND FOR SALALA APOLOGY FROM US TO REOPEN SUPPLY ROUTES.
* SAME > PAKISTAN AND US: ALLIES WIDOUT TRUST.
Best of so-called "Frenemies"???
* DAILY TIMES.PK > US APOLOGY A MUST FOR REOPENING SUPPLY LINES: FM.
Taken collectively, IMO the success or failure of these alternate routes thru these CAR States will depend on whether US-Iran major ground war can be perman avoided, as per Russia's threat to close down the NDN iff the US-Israel attack Iran.
As indic by ...
* TOPIX > [HuffPo] MJ ROSENBERG: OBAMA CAN WIN [Re-] ELECTION IFF ENDING TO IRAN WAR THREAT, vee mainstream US Voter = Political acceptance of the US allowing Iran limited uranium enrichment for purposes of civilian nuclear energy, + while also removing UN Sanctions on Iran. There will seemingly not only be peace between the US + Shia Iran [ + by extension wid US ally, Iran rival Sunni Saudi Arabia?], but the latter Shia Iran will also help significantly reduce high gas, fuel prices in CONUS ala the resumption of bilateral oil trade.
FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION REMAINS = CAN THE US-WEST TRUST THE POST-GWOT, POST-"ARAB/MUSLIM/ISLAMIC SPRING", MOSTLY PRO-ISLAMIST ARAB-MUSLIM WORLD TO UNILATERALLY KEEP DANGEROUS NUKE-WMDS MILTECHS OUT OF THE [asymmetric] HANDS OF PRO-ISLAMIST, PRO-VIOLENCE/JIHAD MILITANTS-TERRORISTS/NGOS + ALIGNED???
Iff the on-going failure of the Arab-Muslim World to set up desired, so-called OWG "Islamic/Muslim Union" or similar is any measure, UNFORTUNATELY THE ANSWER IS A RESOUNDING "NO".
At least for the current generations.
[KIDDIES OF THE APOCALYPSE, OWG, + CALIPHATE here].
[Tolo News] Serial killers, who assassinate political figures and high ranking government officials should be identified and punished, or the government will lose people's trust, a local official in northern Balkh province said.
Head of Balkh Provincial Council, Dr Afzal Hadid said that tracking down the serial killers is the job of the government, stressing that if it didn't taken action, people will lose trust in the government..
"Capturing and prosecution of serial killers is the job of the government, if no action is taken, I think people will lose their trust in the government," Mr Hadid told TOLOnews.
This comes as Balkh provincial governor, Atta Mohammad Noor also recently blamed the Afghan government for not prosecuting the killers.
Speaking at a remembrance on the occasion of the first death anniversary of General Daud Daud, 30th Pamir north zone chief, in Mazar-e-Sharif, Mr Noor said that certain figures within the government are trying to avoid the prosecution of such killers,
"How can such cases remain covert while the government has a police force and a strong intelligence," he said.
"There are certain figures within the government which are avoiding prosecution of such killers," Mr Noor added without elaborating further.
General Daud Daud was assassinated in a >kaboom in Takhar provincial headquarters last July where he had a meeting with local security officials.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/05/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
Yeah! Punishment for serial killers!
Good for you, chief!
[An Nahar] Sudan's state security agency on Monday blocked distribution of the country's largest-circulation newspaper, which has criticized talks between Sudan and South Sudan, the newspaper's boss said.
Al Intibaha, a hardline anti-South daily which supported South Sudan's separation last July, has been a regular critic of negotiations between the two countries.
Talks mediated by the African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... resumed in the Æthiopian capital Addis Ababa last week for the first time since fighting along the disputed border in April.
"After our newspaper was printed, a state security officer came and said we could not distribute it because of an article I wrote criticizing the political situation," chairman of the board Al Tayeb Mustafa told AFP.
Confiscating newspapers after printing is a common tactic used by Sudan's security service, journalists and press freedom activists say.
They say journalists have also been banned from writing and some newspapers have been ordered to suspend publication under a worsening government attack on critical voices over the past year, as tensions with South Sudan escalated.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/05/2012 00:00 ||
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(Sh.M.Network)-The chief of the TFG military court, General Hassan Mohamed Husein better known as (Mungaab), has warned Somali government troops of harming the people who live in Afgoye corridor.
While speaking news hounds on Sunday in Elasha-Biyaha area, on the outskirt ofMogadishuthe capital ofSomaliapacked with locally displaced people (IDPs), Mr Hussein, said any soldier seen committing robbery acts against civilians will be brought into justice.
Judge Hassan Mohamed Husein called on people to work with the security forces of Somali government to prevent insecurity acts in the newly liberated areas from Al shabab fighters which are located betweenMogadishuand Afgoye district, 30 Km north-west the capital.
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06/05/2012 00:00 ||
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[Daily Nation (Kenya)] In 2009, a group of men posing as businessmen hired a truck and snuffies and made their way to Afmadow, an Al-Shabaab ... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord... stronghold in Somalia, to buy contraband sugar and bullets. Their plan was to transport them across the border from the lawless nation to Kenya.
"We know that you will be troubled by Kenyan officials at the border," an Al-Shabaab commander told them as they packed their wares. "They will need a bribe to let the sugar in. Worry about the sugar, but leave the bullets problem to us."
Assured, the militias packed the thousands of illicit rounds of ammunition into the sugar sacks, then set off to look for pistols, which they acquired at Sh6,000 apiece.
At the Kenyan border area of Dobley, they bribed Administration Police officers with Sh3,000 for each truck that they let in, then headed for the Liboi Military Camp.
What happened to the cargo after that remains a mystery, but the Kenyan soldier who regaled this story to DN2 in Afmadow last week was almost 100 per cent sure that it ended up in criminal hands.
Brooding under the canopy of a scorching Somali sky, the soldier, who requested anonymity because he did not want to be quoted discussing sensitive security matters, looked into the horizon, heaved a sigh of relief and gave a faint smile.
It was a few hours after his battalion had roared into the Al-Shabaab stronghold of Afmadow, and in his mind he was sure that no other lorry-load of ammunition would take off for Kenya from this desolate address.
Nearby, a Z-9 helicopter gunship belonging to the KDF idled with stunning elegance, its rotar blades gleaming in the harsh sun.
It had hit terrorist targets with stunning accuracy while, about five kilometres away, our anonymous soldier and his peers prepared for the final march into town by raining mortar bombs into suspected Al-Shabaab positions.
"We cannot take chances," Warrant Officer II Salah Ibrahim, who was in charge of the mortar unit, said under the din of exploding munitions. "We have to announce our presence in style."
Thanks to three months of hard work by military intelligence officers, the KDF knew more about the town than Al-Shabaab expected.
The intelligence officers had entered the town disguised as smugglers to lay the groundwork for the operation, and by the time the forces moved in, they had a clear understanding of enemy positions and had been briefed on the political, economic and social climate of the town.
A few days before the fiery onslaught on Thursday last week, a team of KDF Special Forces and Rangers trained in the US and Britannia infiltrated the nearby Xayo town. From there, they neutralised -- or switched off, as they said -- communication infrastructure, ensuring that Al-Shabbab fighters remained in the dark about the impending assault.
But, despite all the reconnaissance and intelligence gathering, the rag-tag militia still had the nerve to prove its mettle.
Hours before the operation started, Kenyans drawn from the Nanyuki-based 'A Company' survived an ambush on the way from Tabda to Belles Qocani after triggering an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) along the road. Eight Al-Shabaab fighters were killed in the ensuing shootout, a source at the KDF said.
This latest triumph by Kenyan forces in Somalia could not have come at a better time. Before the start of the operation, their trail of victories had all but gone cold. At the sector headquarters in Dobley, Somalia, Brigadier Johnson Ondieki explained the uneasy lull since December, saying that it was necessary to take time before proceeding to liberate the town from the militia.
Their incursion started in October last year when, with the assistance of the Somali Transitional Government Forces (TFG), KDF established a defensive position at Tabda.
They then proceeded to liberate Busaar, Ras Kamboni, Elade, Fafadun, Busaar, Belesc Coqani, Hosingo, Kolbio, Badhadhe, Girma, Bulla Hache, Damasa, Catama, Badade and Burgabo towns from the Shabaab.
At the time they roared into Afmadow, they were controlling about 95,000 square kilometres of Somalia.
The capture of this strategic town, however, had taken too long, rekindling memories of the World War II blockbuster A Bridge Too Far to Cross. But there was a reason, a very good reason, for this delay.
Intelligence reports had convinced the men who called the shots on the Kenyan side, the KDF generals, that the right time for advancement was during unfavourable weather.
The logic was that Al-Shabaab transport units would be bogged down in mud, making it easy for KDF helicopters to identify them and swoop in for the kill.
Armed with this intelligence, military planners were convinced that the Al-Shabaab would fully prepare its best men ready for the Kenyans, and that the best way to wear down these bad boys was to keep them eagerly waiting for the Kenyan onslaught... for months.
Thus, as an intelligence brief argued, it was better to delay the capture of Afmadow "as long as it would take".
It was concluded that a delay approach might actually achieve something. The sector headquarters in Dobley started preparing the soldiers for an imminent war which it knew it would take months to launch.
Meanwhile, ...back at the precinct house, Sergeant Maloney wasn't buying it. It was just too pat. It smelled phony... numbers of Al-Shabaab fighters kept on moving away from Afmadow to other areas.
A group of journalists flown to Somalia at the beginning of this year was also deliberately made to believe that the battle for Afmadow was almost happening.
The information came in through a three-tier system. After the arrival of the Kenyan spies, informers were planted in the town, where they started running all kinds of businesses, ensuring a constant flow of human intelligence (referred to in military lingo as 'humid briefs').
Informers from the town relayed info to the Kenyan forces on every move the Al-Shabaab made.
This 'humid info' was then carefully cross-checked with still and recorded images from drones (unmanned aircraft) and clips of movements captured from a light aircraft for surveillance flying about six to seven kilometres above the ground. The drone observations started about two and a half years ago.
Military intelligence officers in Nairobi and Somalia analysed the data and estimated Afmadow's population with an aim of avoiding civilian deaths, or 'collateral damage'.
But, like in any war, there were mistakes along the way. An initial attack by the hapless Somali government army ended with their butchering. Al-Shabaab fighters tied their bodies to vehicles and dragged them along the streets of the town.
It has been said that only the dead see the end of a war, but Lieutenant Colonel Jeff Nyaga, a charismatic military tactician, had a different message for his fighters just before they crossed the rough terrain into Afmadow last week.
"Gentleman," he began, "this is war... and people die in war. But this one will be different." His combat team, which, he said, packed a "killer punch", listened pensively, seeming too eager to end the months-long wait.
Their convoy had all the hallmarks of a modern show of might, with over 100 vehicles stretching about a kilometre into the thickets that dot the forlorn terrain that is Afmadow suburbs.
The soldiers included assault troops, tank men, artillery units, infantry, engineers and a dozen other trades of war. Operation Free Afmadow had two stages: Capture Xayo town, located along the way, before proceeding to the much bigger Afmadow.
The attacking force was under three commanders: Lt Col Nyaga (the Commanding Officer (CO)), Brigadier General Ismail Sahardid of the Somali National Army (SNA) and Sheikh Ahmed Madobe, leader of Ras Kamboni Brigades (RKB), a warlord who has joined KDF in the war against Al-Shabaab.
Brig Gen Sahardid is a cool career soldier while Sheikh Madobe is a bully of sorts who punctuates every sentence with a sheepish smile. There was word that he eagerly expected the capture of Afmadow so that he could start taxing the people, and he seemed to confirm this in a later interview with DN2.
"Don't forget that I am also a professional fisherman," he said. "I can also make money from that."
At 8.30am on Wednesday last week, two days after a terror attack in Nairobi that killed one person and injured tens of others, Lt Col Nyaga delivered his last words to his troops, urging them to fight for liberation and national pride.
Then the first army chaplain to go to the war front, Major Father Makau, said a prayer before the mighty engines roared. "Green! Green! Green!" Lt Col Nyaga yelled at the top of his voice.
"Fire! Fire! Fire!" the troops roared back, signalling the start of war.
Platoon Commanders Lieutenant Ogeto and Lieutenant Ng'ang'a then hurried their men into the embarkation area. Others followed suit.
The plan was that 500 SNA and RKB fighters would lead the way with the Kenyans reinforcing them. At the embarkation area, SNA and RKB men stared at each other in surprise. They were not comrades; they were just going to the same war.
Along the way, the combination of bright eyes and the toothless smile of a lone SNA sniper, an aging man who has "picked" targets since the times he started the job in his youth in dictator Said Barre's military, was disturbing, but they soldiered on as six warplanes hovered above them.
The soldiers, walking, panting and wet to their waists, kept on running. At times they slowed us (the hangers on who had gate-crashed the party, and who sat comfortably in armoured personnel carriers) down. From these APCs we watched as the convoy, like a slow herd of cows, edged towards Afmadow.
By early afternoon, after about an hour of fighting and several stops along the way to either take a break, wait for intelligence reports, repair vehicles or push stalled trucks, the forces made their way into Xayo town.
About eight Al-Shabaab fighters were mowed down with deadly force as they tried to defend their positions. After capturing Xayo, Lt Col Nyaga ordered his men to prepare for a hasty defence some few kilometres after the town.
By the time, the team had located a camping site. Here, the forces took hurriedly prepared tea and biscuits for the night. Since all the men were donkey-tired, Lt Col Nyaga ordered the sentries to keep guard in turns.
No mistake would be tolerated here. Previously, in the Kenyan military camps in Somalia, the beautiful silence of the night had been disturbed by kamikaze Al-Shabaab attacks. None of that happened here on this cold Wednesday night.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/05/2012 00:00 ||
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(Sh. M. Network) --The Somali's semi-autonomous region of Puntland ...a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe in the Nugaal province. Its leaders declared the territory an autonomous state in 1998. Puntland and the equally autonomous Somaliland seem to have avoided the clan rivalries and warlordism that have typified the rest of Somalia, which puts both places high on the list for Islamic subversion... has on Sunday criticized, the self-directed Somaliland over attacking areas that controlled by Puntland.
Deputy security Minister of Puntand State of Somalia Abdi Jama'a Isman Mohamed, held a presser in Garowe town, the capital of Puntland state, said Somaliland Navy forces have attacked on ships near the coastal city of Lasqorey, a disputed town that straddles between both puntland and Somaliland
He said Somaliland troops continuous their aggressive attacks against the people of Puntland State of Somalia, who live in the disputed regions between the two states. And he added that such acts will not be tolerable.
"A day ago Somaliland forces attacked Laqorey city and forced many locals to flee their homes in fear of imminent assault between Puntland and Somaliland armed military," said Mohammed.
No comments from Somaliland about this accusation.
The provinceof Sanag is a one of the three disputed regions byPuntland Stateand the self-directed Somaliland regardless of the recently announced Khatumo State of Somalia.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/05/2012 00:00 ||
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[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Malawi President Joyce Banda has assured British Secretary of State for International Affairs Andrew Mitchell that the country will arrest Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir if the enters the country.
President Banda told Mr Mitchell during a closed door meeting in Blantyre that there was need to iron out issues surrounding Malawi's position on Bashir.
She is said to have told Mr Mitchell that she has made it clear to the AU that President Bashir will be arrested Drop the rosco and step away witcher hands up, Mister President! if he comes to Malawi for the 19th Summit of the African Union. ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... President Bashir is expected to be in Malawi in July, with other African Presidents, for the summit.
Initially, Malawi sought the help of the Africa Union to convince President Bashir not to come to the summit, however the AU Commission said it had no mandate to stop a president of a member country from attending a summit.
In October last year, President Bashir visited Malawi to attend a Comesa summit and the country attracted international condemnation for failing to arrest him.
He is wanted by International Criminal Court ... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ... (ICC) to answer cases of human rights One man's rights are another man's existential threat. abuses against his people.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/05/2012 00:00 ||
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[Yemen Post] Governor of Abyan ...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues... Jamal Al-Aqel has said that Ansar Alshari, an al-Qaeda-linked group, faces a very difficult situation, stressing that the Yemeni army makes remarkable progress against the hard boyz who are pursued in their hideouts, as the governor said.
In remarks to the military-run 26 September Newspaper, Al-Aqel highly appreciated tribal leaders and locals of Abyan, asserting that they strongly backed the army and that the battle in Abyan will be resolved soon.
He promised thousands of internally displaced persons to back to their villages and homes soon, stressing that Al-Qaeda hard boyz are defeated in several areas of Abyan.
Local sources said on Monday that the army prepares for raiding Emsara, a southern coastal town from al Qaeda-linked fighters.
Yemeni troops have advanced into the centre the southern town of Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan province, where they fought on Sunday. Local sources affirmed that hundreds of troops backed by tanks were closing in on the krazed killer-held town of Shaqra, some 50 km (30 miles) along the coast east of Zinjibar.
They further indicated that Yemeni warplanes continued strikes against al-Qaeda positions in Zinjibar and Jaar.
Meanwhile, ...back at the wine tasting, Vince was about to start tasting his third quart... a car boomwent kaboom!, killing four rustics and wounding another of what is called the Popular Resistance Committees formed of rustics to back the army, the Defense Ministry said.
Military sources said six jihadists died in festivities with troops, elsewhere in Abyan.
According to an AFP tally compiled from official statements, at least 397 people have been killed, , including 291 Al-Qaeda gunnies, 66 military personnel, 22 local Islamic fascistiand 18 civilians since the offensive began.
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06/05/2012 00:00 ||
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NEW YORK - A New York accountant accused by US authorities of helping al-Qaeda with computer systems pleaded guilty on Monday in federal court to terrorism-related charges.
Sabirhan Hasanoff, 36, a dual US and Australian citizen who owns a home in Brooklyn, New York, was placed in durance vile You have the right to remain silent... in April 2010 and charged with conspiracy to provide material support to al-Qaeda.
At a hearing in US District Court in Manhattan, Hasanoff told Judge Kimba Wood that between 2007 and 2010 he agreed to give support to the terrorist Islamist network. He faces up to 20 years in prison.
Before his arrest Hasanoff had been a group chief financial officer for a Dubai-based company for 3-1/2 years.
[Dawn] NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... has concluded agreements with Central Asian nations allowing it to evacuate vehicles and other military equipment from Afghanistan and completely bypass Pakistain, which once provided the main supply route for coalition forces.
Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Monday that Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan had agreed to allow the reverse transport of alliance equipment.
Since NATO already has an agreement with Russia, the deal will allow it to ship back to Europe tens of thousands of vehicles, containers and other items through the overland route when the evacuation picks up pace later this year.
Pakistain shut down the southern supply routes six months ago after US Arclight airstrikes killed 24 Pak soldiers at the Salala border post, forcing NATO to switch almost completely to the so-called Northern Distribution Network.
After months of stalemate, Pak leaders last month signaled that negotiations on the supply routes were progressing, just in time to secure an invitation to the weekend NATO summit in Chicago. But since then the two sides have made little progress in the talks, officials said.
The announcement on Monday appears to indicate that Washington and the allies are now preparing for the possibility that the supply link through Pakistain, said to be about six times cheaper than its northern alternative, may not be reopened at all. It is also likely to put pressure on Pakistain to ease its negotiating stance, which has been stuck in part on how much money the US and NATO should pay to transport the trucks through Pak territory.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/05/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
Cut all aid to Pakistan and let them suffer for their treachery.
Like the Iran Govt the Pakistan right is our main main enemy in the region.
[Dawn] Pakistain on Monday strongly condemned a jump in US drone strikes on its territory, using language that could increase tension between strategic allies already in dispute over military supply routes for NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... that Pakistain has closed.
Three drone strikes in as many days on suspected snuffies have killed 27 people, Pak intelligence officials say.
The foreign ministry called the attacks "illegal" and said they violated the South Asian country's illusory sovereignty.
Washington and Islamabad are deadlocked in negotiations over the re-opening of overland supply routes to NATO forces in Afghanistan.
Islamabad blocked the supply routes in November after 24 Pak soldiers were killed by cross-border "friendly fire" from NATO aircraft.
The supply lines are considered vital to the planned withdrawal of most foreign combat troops from Afghanistan before the end of 2014.
The Pakistain government says the CIA drone campaign fuels anti-American sentiment in the country, and is counterproductive because of the collateral damage -- civilian deaths -- it causes.
US officials say such strikes by the remotely piloted aircraft are a highly effective way of attackling snuffies and are an important weapon in the war against militancy.
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06/05/2012 00:00 ||
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President Obama extended a waiver for an additional six months that delays moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
Obama's waiver, issued June 1, follows in the footsteps of predecessors Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, who also extended the waiver every six months since a law was passed in 1995 mandating moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Presidents are permitted to delay the move on national security grounds.
Some Jewish groups have pushed for the United States to move the embassy as a way to bolster Israeli claims to the city. Those favoring the use of the waiver say that moving the embassy would anger the Arab world and put the United States in the position of taking sides on an issue that should be settled in peace talks.
Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential candidate, has privately told Jewish leaders he would not commit to moving the embassy as president.
According to legislation, State Department must now differentiate between Palestinian refugees and descendants of refugees; former Abbas advisor: It can have a very bad reaction on the ground.
Palestinian advocates are warning that a new US Senate amendment dictating a reporting requirement on the issue of Palestinian refugees could set back efforts to reach a peace deal.
The amendment to a bill, recently approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee, mandates that the secretary of state must report how many of the Palestinians serviced by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency fled or left homes in Israel during the War of Independence and how many are only their descendants.
"It's very dangerous. It can have a very bad reaction on the ground," talk about stating the bleeding obvious
said Ghaith Al- Omari, a former foreign policy advisor to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas now with the American Task Force on Palestine. "It will just make any US ability to push for a responsible solution suspect in the eyes of the Palestinians and refugees in particular."
Before committee passage, the amendment was weakened slightly from the original proposal by Republican Senator Mark Kirk of Illinois -- which would have also mandated a count of how many of each category of Palestinians lived in the West Bank and Gaza as well as were citizens of another country -- after objections from the Obama administration.
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- A young man and an elderly woman were killed on Friday night in separate clan clashes in the Gaza Strip, witnesses said. Gaza's version of Friday Night Lights...or Friday Night Lights Out.
A woman in her fifties died after being hit with a rock during a fight between members of an extended family in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza. "Don't worry, ma. They just got rocks."
"Ha, rocks! Get 'em, boys!"
WHACK
"Oooooowie! Rosebud...."
The victim was taken to Shifa hospital in the Gaza Strip, but died from her injuries. Three other people were wounded in the clash. "What happened, Mahmoud?"
"Jeez, doc. They only had rocks. But, man, could they throw them. How's ma?"
Meanwhile, an 18-year-old man was killed after being shot during a family clash in Khan Younis, south Gaza.Witnesses said the man was hit in the stomach after his father mistakenly fired at him. "Dad! How could yas! Rosebud..."
A militant group has claimed responsibility for the killing of 13 men whose bodies were found bound and shot in eastern Syria last month, killings condemned by United Nations monitors as "appalling and inexcusable".
Activists said at the time the dead men were army defectors killed by President Bashar Assad's forces, but the Al-Nusra Front, a militant group which has claimed several recent bombings, said the dead men were Syrian security officials.
The group said it had captured and interrogated a group of men in the eastern city of Deir al-Zor on May 29 and "justly" punished them with death, after they confessed to crimes.
"God enabled the lions of the east in Deir al-Zor ... to get the necks of a group of dogs from the security agencies and the thugs," read the statement posted on an Islamist web forum.
"Thirteen of those criminals were detained ... each of them faced his end in the worst killing and the very worst fate."
It was not possible to verify the claim from the group, which was unknown before it claimed responsibility for a series of bombings in Damascus and Aleppo, starting in December.
United Nations observers said last month 13 bodies had been discovered in Assukar, about 50 km (30 miles) east of Deir al-Zor. They had been tied up and executed.
A statement issued by the chief U.N. observer, Major-General Robert Mood, condemned the killings but did not accuse any side of perpetrating them.
Adviser to supreme leader says recognition of Iranian nuclear rights within NPT would lead to "favorable result" at talks.
An adviser to Iran's supreme leader has urged world powers to formally recognize its nuclear rights to bring about a "favorable result" at talks on its atomic program later this month, state media reported on Tuesday.
Despite Iranian pressure in talks last month, Western countries avoided any explicit recognition, saying Tehran had no automatic right to enrich uranium because of its previous violations of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Iran maintains that under its membership of the NPT, it can develop a full nuclear fuel cycle for peaceful purposes including the preparation and enrichment of uranium.
"I hope the P5+1 group recognizes Iran's inalienable nuclear right within the framework of the NPT and refrains from sitting on the sidelines," IRNA quoted Ali Akbar Velayati, an aide to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as saying.
"By accepting Iran's right to use peaceful nuclear energy, the forthcoming talks in Moscow should reach a favorable result."
Khamenei - who has total command over Iran's nuclear policy - has publicly forbidden the development of nuclear weapons.
But Western nations suspect that the Islamic Republic's higher-grade uranium enrichment is part of a clandestine program to develop the material and components needed for the capacity to produce nuclear arms.
[An Nahar] The opposition Syrian National Council will meet at the weekend to replace Burhan Ghalioun who resigned as leader of the bloc late last month, SNC officials said on Monday.
The meeting will take place Saturday and Sunday in Istanbul, where a vote might be waived since there is a "consensus" candidate, the sources said on condition of anonymity.
"So far the consensus candidate is Abdel Basset Sayda," a Kurd, and member of the SNC's executive office, one source said, while the other confirmed that Sayda could be appointed as the new SNC leader.
Sayda, who lives in exile in Sweden, joined the SNC as an "independent activist," according to his friend and fellow Kurdish myrmidon Massud Akko.
He is member of the SNC's executive bureau and heads the bloc's human rights ...which often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless... department.
He was born in 1956 in Amuda, a mostly Kurdish city in the northeastern Syrian province of Hassakeh.
"He is a honest, level-headed and cultured," Akko said.
Ghalioun tendered his resignation on May 17 to avert divisions within the opposition bloc, after activists on the ground accused him of monopolizing power. His resignation was accepted the following week.
He had led the SNC by consensus rather than by election from the bloc's formation in October last year and was elected chairman in a vote held in Rome on May 15.
His detractors also accused him of allowing the Moslem Brüderbund to play a leading role within the SNC.
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06/05/2012 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] Britannia is reportedly planning to set up refugee camps inside Syria under the pretext of saving civilian lives but in reality to help armed rebels fighting against the government.
According to a report published in Daily Star, British Special Forces would set up camps along Syria's borders with Jordan, Turkey and Leb and that Special Air Service (SAS) troops and MI6 agents will help the rebels if civil war breaks out in the country.
They also have hi-tech satellite computers and radios that can instantly send back photos and details of events unfolding in Syria.
''There are guys in the communications unit who are signalers that can go right up front and get involved in close-quarter fighting,'' Daily Star quoted a senior Whitehall source as saying.
The British troops would be part of an international force including French and Turkish soldiers and possibly Americans.
A senior Whitehall source said that London is preparing for the move with the full knowledge that setting up camps inside Syria would be an invasion of the country.
The camps are expected to be set up around areas that are easily accessible and even within walking distance of trouble spots. Among them is Krak des Chevaliers, a medieval castle about 25 miles west of Homs close to the Leb border, Al-Suwayda, near the border with Jordan and Jisr al-Shughour near the Turkish border.
The British claim that Syrian forces would not dare to come that close to the border.
Israeli intelligence news agency, Debkafile, had earlier reported that British troops are already in Syria leading gangs in the crisis-hit city of Homs and that the MI6 has established four centers of operation in the city.
Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March 2011 and many people, including hundreds of security forces, have been killed in the country over the past 15 months. While the West and the Syrian opposition say the government is responsible for the killings, Damascus ...The place where Pencilneck hangs his brass hat... blames "outlaws, saboteurs and armed terrorist groups" for the unrest, insisting that it is being orchestrated from abroad.
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[Al Ahram] Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... chief Nabil al-Arabi is to head to New York later this week for talks on Syria with UN chief the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... , a League official said on Monday.
"Arabi's four-day visit, starting on Thursday, will focus on the Syrian crisis and on efforts to convince the UN Security Council of the need for an urgent solution," the official added.
Arab ministers at a meeting on Saturday in Doha urged the United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... to refer joint envoy Kofi Annan ...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo... 's six-point peace plan for Syria to Chapter VII, without explicitly calling for military action.
Chapter VII outlines action the UN Security Council might take, including military force, in response to threats to international peace, breaches of the peace and acts of aggression.
The Council "must honour its responsibilities, in accordance with the UN Charter, and take the necessary measures to guarantee the full and immediate implementation of the Annan plan, in a limited time frame," the ministers said.
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06/05/2012 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
U.S. and NATO equipment will have a guaranteed route out of Afghanistan after an agreement with Central Asian countries allowing the alliance to completely cut out the shorter Pakistani access routes NATO has used for years.
International Criminal Court
Governor of 
Pakistain on Monday strongly condemned a jump in US drone strikes on its territory, using language that could increase tension between strategic allies already in dispute over military supply routes for 
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- A young man and an elderly woman were killed on Friday night in separate clan clashes in the Gaza Strip, witnesses said.
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo...
