[Tolo News] The Attorney General Saturday set three electoral staff including an international elections observer on travel ban over charges of frauds and bribe in the elections
A top official at the Attorney General's Office said the spokesmen for electoral commissions have officially been summoned by the organisation.
But the Independent Election Commission denied receiving any official paper regarding the issue.
Deputy Attorney General said in case electoral commissions spokesmen reject show up for accountability in the Attorney General's Office; the organisation will act against them based on law.
"Today we sent the summon paper and they may have received it," said Deputy Attorney General, Rahmatullah Nazari.
Electoral commissions' spokespersons said they are ready for accountability if the Attorney General's Office provides evidence about the allegations.
"If they want to interrogate anyone, they can come to our address. It is clear. We haven't been summoned yet," said Noor Mohammad Noor, the Spokesman for IEC.
"We haven't received any letter from Attorney General's Office seeking information about crime related cases," said the front man to ECC, Ahmad Zia Rafat.
Some of 413 candidates that were introduced to Attorney General's Office on charges of frauds by Electoral Complaints Commission were declared winners in the final results which is quite controversial, Mr Nazari said.
"We have imposed a travel ban on three IEC employees including a foreigner who introduces himself as an international elections observer in the process of this year's elections," he said.
Mr Nazari said an IEC official has sought refuge to the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society' office, a claim that is dismissed by IEC.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2010 00:00 ||
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Somalia's parliament has approved the government appointed by Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, the country's new prime minister, after weeks of disputes, officials say.
Out of the 343 legislators who attended the parliament session on Saturday, 251 endorsed the new cabinet and 92 voted to reject it.
"The new government officially gets the approval of parliament and hence is operational," Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden, the speaker of the house, said after the vote.
Parliament endorsed the new prime minister on October 31, more than two weeks after his appointment. But the vote to endorse the 18-member cabinet Mohamed unveiled on November 12 has been delayed by disputes.
The new prime minister is a relative newcomer to Somalia's fractious political class.
His appointment by Sharif Ahmed, the country's president, led to a bitter dispute with the parliament speaker, revealing deep rifts within the transitional administration's key players.
Mohamed's new line-up of officials sees the entry of Ahlu Sunna wal Jamaa, a powerful Sufi organisation that took up arms two years ago to fight the al-Shabaab, the gang that has been fighting the transitional government for years and controls much of the country.
The Sufi group was given the interior and labour portfolios. Ahlu Sunna is seen as a key force if the transitional government is to crush gangs.
Only two members of the new cabinet held positions in the old line-up, which collapsed following a row between Sharif and Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke, the former prime minister.
Since its formation in Kenya in 2004, the transitional government has failed to assert its authority on much of Somalia with al-Shabaab controlling 80 per cent of the country - including most of south and central Somalia and a large swath of Mogadishu, the capital.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2010 00:00 ||
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The Foreign Minister of Yemen Abu Bakar Abdullah has said that the Yemeni Air Force itself is operating the American drones.
According to the media reports Foreign Minister of Yemen, admit while talking to media at countrys capital SANAA that the United States unmanned crafts had been used in Yemen while he makes clear that the drone crafts are undertaken by the Yemeni Air Force
He said that American troops were also participating in fight against terrorists, adding that Americans are only involved to exchange the intelligence reports about the hideouts and location of the terrorists.
On the other side, senior U.S. officials said that U.S. had sent the drones to Yemen; however, they are not allowed to operate and attack on the hideouts of the terrorists.
#3
or Djibouti. This is a nonsense claim to keep the rubes calm(er)- we wouldn't give the Yemenis operational control, I'm pretty damn sure
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/28/2010 13:11 Comments ||
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#4
This should get Pakistani heads spinning.
Because we don't give controllers to the Pakistani Air Force? But then the Pakistanis should recall that, however primitive, Yeminis are of the Arab Master Race, whereas Pakistanis are merely of the Master Religion, only of dilute Mongol (Moghul) blood, the rest of their heritage being no different than those despicable Hinjoo Untermenschen.
[Yemen Post] A source at the Houthi information bureau said the recently-appointed U.S. ambassador was involved in deadly suicide kabooms that targeted Houthi followers last week in Yemen.
Dhaif Allah Al-Shami said Gerald Michael Feierstein is implementing a U.S. plan similar to the one he carried out while he was in Pakistain.
Initial investigations found out those who committed the car boomings in Jawf and Saada last week had received funds for the two attacks from the envoy, he said.
"The perpetrators were sheikhs and tribal leaders Feierstein has recently met including those he met during his last visit to Amran province."
Al-Qaeda is a quixotic weapon and a cover to all plots in Yemen including recent car boomings, he made clear.
Furthermore, Al-Shami denied that the authorities participated in the investigations into the incidents, saying the security authorities are currently trying to defend themselves only.
Last week, the Houthi Group, with which the government reached a ceasefire early this year ending a six-year war in the far north, said the U.S. and Israeli intelligence services orchestrated the car boom blast that killed 24 and injured others of its followers.
The attack was carried out against a convoy carrying the victims to mark Day of Al-Ghadir, a Shia holy day, in Jawf in the Northeast.
The attack bore the hallmarks of the U.S. intelligence, it said, adding: "none can benefit from the operation but the U.S."
Also on Friday when a second car booming targeted its followers while attending a funeral in Saada, it directly accused the U.S. of being behind the operation. Two were killed and almost eight others were killed in Friday's attack.
Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... the government has not accused a specific group after the two blasts that came amid increasing attacks by Al-Qaeda throughout the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2010 00:00 ||
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Attorney General Mahbubey Alam; State Minister for Law, Qamrul Islam; the chief state counsel in Bangabandhu assassination case, Anisul Huq and two others received death threats on Sunday. The threats were recieved through a registered letter addressed to the president and general secretary of Dhaka Court Reporters' Association.
The two others who got the death threats were former District and Sessions Judge of Dhaka Kazi Golam Rasul and former special judge to the court AK Roy.
The threateners identified themselves as the members of al-Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Joyse Mohammad, Harkatul Jihad al Islami (Huji) and Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). In the letter, the members of these groups issued shoot-at-sight orders for the five individuals.
#2
The threateners identified themselves as the members of al-Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Joyse Mohammad, Harkatul Jihad al Islami (Huji) and Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).
In a normal country, that would be enough to get the various party headquarters raided and the leadership called in for serious discussions.
A highly decorated senior SAS commander, who masterminded a deadly campaign against the Taliban, has resigned from the Army amid claims that defence cuts are hitting morale. Senior officers have warned that many more high calibre officers are expected to resign in the coming months especially if the Continuity of Education Allowance which pays for a proportion of boarding school fees for service families is cut. An anonymous general officer said, "To focus solely on the cost of CEA is to miss the issue. The issue is how is to retain quality people despite the lack of stability in our lives."
The city of Gainesville, Florida, plans to send a bill estimated at more than $180,000 to Pastor Terry Jones for security costs surrounding his controversial threat to burn Qurans on the anniversary of the September, 11, 2001, attacks, a police spokeswoman said Friday.
Leicester is still showing more respect for free speech rights than Gainesville.
best thing is they are getting smart and they turned on the agent provocateurs who tried to start violence
this is dirty tricks of the sort that can be used very effectively to trash the organisation
the elites will be trying hard especially the left to paint them as violent racist thugs and neo-Nazis, fascist to the core.
It is SO important that these guys be moderate, family-friendly and stress they are not racist, they do not care what colour you are, but they are firmly and proudly against the introduction of Sharia Law in the UK on the basis that it undermines the important principles of the separation of Church (mosque) and state, freedom of speech and equality of all before the law.
They must also stress at all opportunities they are non-violent and use only the power of persuasion to campaign for legal protection from Sharia
then they will win. Just imagine 100,000 marching... then a million. excellent.
it is important they win not just for themselves but for those fleeing the persecution of Islamists overseas, including moderate muslims who want to live in a secular society where the edicts of holy men are not legally binding but are matters only for private, voluntary, observance - this would be another good point they can make to diffuse the inevitable allegations of racism
because their enemies - both Islamists and Lefty elites - will be doing their best to trash them, using all the dirty tricks to hand
including pretending to be supporters then smashing shop windows and starting fights
or falsely accusing organisers of misbehaviour/racism/violence/sexual misconduct
and if they succeed the movement will be marginalised and will push decision makers in the opposite direction.
#2
So IOW EDL didn't look like the jerks. Future rallys will hopefully include publicity t shirts with fun slogans like ....I survived the anti sharia party 2010.
Posted by: Fire and ice ||
11/28/2010 1:11 Comments ||
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#3
A good bet would be for them to have an internal plainclothes security force, trained to do several things.
First off, if there are counter protesters, everybody knows that these guys move to the front, because they know how to defend themselves, and won't let an agent provocateur create a "police riot" excuse.
Second, if they see anyone on their side committing crimes, to detain and hold them for police, after photographing them. And it would be positively grand if they could trick them into holding something, so the EDL would have their fingerprints on file along with their picture. (The police do this trick a lot.)
Third, they provide general counterintelligence at official meetings, small unofficial group meetings, and other places where agents, police, extremists, and kooks would try to insert themselves. They photograph the heck out of suspects, as well as audio record them and who they talk to. That is, they don't have to work alone, so this should be taken into account.
North Caucasus jihadis have proposed using either Arabic or a Turkic language as an official language for their affairs. The terrorists insurgents now communicate with each other largely in Russian, also the primary language of their web sites and video presentations.
Earlier this month, Doku Umarov suggested that a "state" language be formed for the so-called Caucasus Emirate. This proposal came from "the growing discussion among the mujahideen Muslims of the Caucasus Emirate in regard to its state institutions ... and other important aspects of state building," according to one website.
"It may be that this is part of someone's campaign to foster greater knowledge of Arabic among the Caucasus Emirate mujahideen," says terrorism expert Gordon Hahn said in a study to be released by the Monterey Institute for International Studies.
Last week a member of the Caucasus Emirate, Abu Zaid, posted a long harangue in favor of Arabic as the official language, calling it "the international language of jihad."
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/28/2010 13:09 Comments ||
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#3
These nitwits should be fed to Putins pet kitties.
Posted by: Fire and ice ||
11/28/2010 13:59 Comments ||
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#4
The tell-tale sign of clear-cut Russian victory in CAUCASIA oer the Hard/Burgua Boyz - THE MILTERRS GOING NUCLEAR + ESTBLISHING A FORMAL STATE = OFFICIAL LANGUAGE(S) INDEPENDENT OF MOSCOW.
#1
Now that China has a navy, these things will happen regularly. I should go and check out one of the military newspapers and see what their fevered imaginations are saying.
#3
The US ADMIRAL in charge of US NAVAL FORCES, KOREA is from Guam + the older brother [Annapolis Graduate] of my deceased good friend from high school.
On a Separate + Personal Note, CAN'T HELP BUT NOTICE THE IRONY(S) > 1960's-1970's GUAM TAOTAMONAS = KIMMIE-N-CHINA-VS-GUAM-ADMIRAL, ETAL.
#4
The US ADMIRAL in charge of US NAVAL FORCES, KOREA is from Guam + the older brother [Annapolis Graduate] of my deceased good friend from high school.
#1
Do you think this marks the beginning of China reigning in the Hermit Kingdom?
perhaps it was all getting a little too out-of-hand and they don't want war.
Bloomberg is reporting artillery fire was heard from over the NK border in YeongPyeong (sp?) causing villagers to flee for the bomb shelters while the US put on a strong naval display with the SKs
Hopefully. But along with the spanking I suspect there will be some education on how to get it right next time. And how they are going to make lemonade out of the lemons that have turned out to be the fruit of this latest misadventure.
Then it's "hands-off" time again, and hope for better fortune next time.
* ION PEOPLE'S DAILY FORUM > CHINA - THE BIGGEST VICTIM OF KOREAS" EXCHANGE GUNFIRE.
ARTIC = Directly or indirectly, CHINA = BEIJING may had suffered GREAT INTANGIBLE LOSSES as a consequence of North Korea's recent actions.
and
* SAME > [Wikileaks]LEAKED US DOCUMENTS: IRAN OBTAINED [Long-range] MISSLES FROM NORTH KOREA, as derived from Soviet BM-25/27 Series.
RELIABLE IRAN VARIANTS can threaten BERLIN + MOSCOW [+ large parts of Western China > Read, NUCLEAR UMBRELLA FOR UIGHUR MUSLIM SEPARATISTS].
Improved versions can oer time come to potentially threaten all of China???
* PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > HAS CHINA FINALLY CROSSED THE MULTIPLE-WARHEAD RUBICON |[Washington Times] FISHER: CHINA AND START. US PROJECTIONS OF CHINESE ICBM WARHEADS [GROWTH Charts].
ARTIC = CHINA + PLA SECOND ARTY may have 500-PLUS STRATEGIC ICBM WARHEADS BY 2020 TO INTIMIDATE OR THREATEN THE US.
IOW, CHINA = Besides the US + RUSSIA, faces NUCLEAR-WANNABES JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA, + PHILIPPINES? VIETNAM? in front; wid NUCLEAR IRAN + NUC MILTERRS, -STANS IN ITS REAR, + NUC-PROTECTED UIGHURS? WITHIN.
All dats missing is for Radical Islam to take over NUCLEAR PAKISTAN + INDJUH [India].
OH WAIT ....
To wit,
* DAILY TIMES.PK > [US-NATO] WEST'S WAR IN AFGHANISTAN IS FAILING, SAYS ICG [Internat Crisis Group think-tank].
ARTIC > US-NATO PLAN to formally end PAK Combat Mission in 2014 will likely induce COLLAPSE OF AFGHAN GOVT IN KABUL; PAKISTAN TO BECOME ASIA'S + WORLD'S MOST ENDANGERED = THREATENED COUNTRY, vee both Militants + Security-minded/fearing India, China???
IOW, YOU-KNOW-WHAT will hit the fan in the POST-US-NATO REGIONAL RUSH TO SAVE AFPAK FROM RADICAL ISLAM + EACH OTHER + FROM NUC MILTERR'ISM/
NUCLEAR-ISM.
DPRK MAY BE TOO ECON TROUBLED = STARVING, ETC. TO CARE ANYMORE IFF OVERLORD CHINA "SPANKS IT" OR NOT???
#1
So the GW is moving into the same waters where a NK sub torpedoed a SK signals ship? I read Moose's profile of the Captain. He's a pilot/OPs guy, didn't see that he's been deployed to a war zone.
A mass exodus of North Korean workers from the Far East of Russia is under way, according to reports coming out of the region. As the two Koreas edged towards the brink of war this week, it appears that the workers in Russia have been called back to aid potential military operations.
Vladnews agency, based in Vladivostok, reported that North Korean workers had left the town of Nakhodka en masse shortly after the escalation of tension on the Korean peninsula earlier this week. "Traders have left the kiosks and markets, workers have abandoned building sites, and North Korean secret service employees working in the region have joined them and left," the agency reported.
Russia's migration service said that there were over 20,000 North Koreans in Russia at the beginning of 2010, of which the vast majority worked in construction. The workers are usually chaperoned by agents from Kim Jong-il's security services and have little contact with the world around them. Defectors have suggested that the labourers work 13-hour days and that most of their pay is sent back to the government in Pyongyang. Hundreds of workers have fled the harsh conditions and live in hiding in Russia, constantly in fear of being deported back to North Korea.
"North Korea's government sends thousands of its citizens to Russia to earn money, most of which is funnelled through government accounts," says Simon Ostrovsky, a journalist who discovered secret North Korean logging camps in the northern Siberian taiga. "Workers are often sent to remote locations for years at a time to work long hours and get as little as three days off per year." Now it appears that some kind of centralised order has been given for the workers to return home.
Russia's Pacific port of Vladivostok is thousands of miles and seven time zones from Moscow, but only around 100 miles from the country's heavily controlled border with North Korea. In 1996, a diplomat from the South Korean consulate in the city was murdered with a poisoned pencil, in what was widely believed to be a hit carried out by the North's secret agents. There are even two North Korean restaurants in the city. It is not known how many of the workers in other Russian towns have been called back to their homeland this week, or whether the exodus is permanent or temporary.
#3
If true it's serious. That's foreign exchange lost.
Posted by: Goldies Every Damn Where ||
11/28/2010 8:20 Comments ||
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#4
I agree with concerns that the Norks may, at least in their minds, think that there is about to be another war. In addition, there may be some weird psychological factors involved.
Kim Jong-Il has always been belligerent, but never had a war of his own, and might want one as a send off. And at the same time, he might feel the need for his son to show that he is old enough to take his place, in the face of a dubious military command.
#5
If the North Koreans do start a war, they had better hope that the Chinese decided to send a couple of hundred thousand 'volunteers' down to secure Pyongyang. Because if the Chinese hesitate, the South Koreans will move up the border to include Pyongyang and a line across North Korea as the new international border. That would help remove the artillery threat to Seoul (which would have to be rebuilt after the North Korean attack), and create a 10 mile deep cordon sanitaire for the South Korean military to operate in.
SEOUL, Nov. 28 -- South Korea is considering partially lifting a ban on trips to an inter-Korean industrial complex in North Korea in an effort to help South Korean companies produce goods without a hitch, a government source said Sunday.
Seoul imposed the ban on trips to the industrial park in the North Korean border town of Kaesong due to safety concerns on Wednesday, a day after the North launched a deadly artillery attack on a South Korean island, killing four people.
"South Korean companies there are suffering difficulties shipping raw materials and finished goods due to the ban," the source said. "Given that, the government is considering allowing delivery vehicles and staff to travel to Kaesong."
As of Friday, about 550 South Koreans were staying at the industrial park that employs 44,000 North Korean workers, according to Seoul's Unification Ministry. The number is a drop of about 230 from Tuesday, when the communist state shelled Yeonpyeong Island near the tense inter-Korean maritime border.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/28/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Delivery vehicles and staff?
Sounds like a chance for preprovisioning fuel and FOs.
[Dawn] South Korea plans to sharply increase spending on defence next year, local media reported, as regional tensions mount following a North Korean artillery attack and differences between China and the United States.
The Korea Economic Daily said the government had proposed a 5.8 per cent increase in the 2011 defence budget to about $27 billion to buy more self-propelled artillery and fighter-bombers, far more than the 3.6 per cent rise this year.
It said parliament could approve an even higher amount, given this week's shelling by North Korean forces of a Southern island near the disputed maritime boundary.
Regional giant China, reclusive North Korea's only major ally, has said it is determined to prevent an escalation of the violence but warned against military acts near its coast as US and South Korean forces prepared for exercises in the Yellow Sea.
North Korea, stepping up its rhetoric, said the four-day naval drills starting on Sunday risked pushing the region towards war.
The US military said the exercises, planned long before Tuesday's attack, were designed to deter North Korea and were not aimed at China.
The United States is sending an aircraft carrier group led by the nuclear-powered USS George Washington for the manoeuvres with South Korea.
"We've routinely operated in waters off the Korean peninsula for years," said Captain Darryn James, a Pentagon front man. "These latest provocations have been by the North and they need to take ownership of those, not us."
Not A Guy We Can Trust
US Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said North Korea's nuclear ambitions and leader Kim Jong-il's unpredictability increased the threat of regional instability.
"It's hard to know why China doesn't push harder," Mullen, told CNN television's Fareed Zakaria GPS, in comments due to air on Sunday. "My sense is they try to control this guy. And I'm not sure he is controllable."
"He's not a guy we can trust," Mullen said. "That's why the leadership aspect of this from China is so important, because if any country has influence in Pyongyang, it's China," he said.
North Korea has entered an unpredictable period of leadership transition with the elevation of Kim Jong-il's youngest son, Kim Sonny Jong-un, in September to the rank of general -- in a clear sign he is the chosen successor.
Mullen has said he believes the artillery attack and the sinking in March of a South Korean warship, which the United States and South Korea blamed on the North, is likely linked to Kim Jong-il's "posturing" to allow the eventual succession.
Calling for calm after the attack, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi met North Korean ambassador Ji Jae Ryong in Beijing and talked by phone with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as the Smartest Woman in the World and at other times as Mrs. Bill... and South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan.
"The top priority now is to keep the situation under control and to ensure such events do nothappen again," the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
North Korean artillery shells rained down on the small South Korean island of Yeonpyeong on Tuesday, killing four people and destroying dozens of houses. South Korean troops fired back 13 minutes later, causing unknown damage.
"The situation on the Korean peninsula is inching closer to the brink of war due to the reckless plan of those trigger-happy elements to stage again war exercises targeted against (North Korea)," the North's KCNA news agency said.
The language was typical of North Korean state media but the increasing tension depressed South Korea's currency and its stock market, which both closed sharply lower on Friday.
"Investors are growing more jittery ahead of the joint military exercise," said Kim Hyoung-ryoul, a market analyst at NH Investment & Securities. "The key concern is whether North Korea will again take unforeseen, rash actions."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2010 00:00 ||
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[Daily Nation (Kenya)] The government of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has come under intense pressure from the opposition, newspapers and veterans groups to take a more forceful line against the regime of Kim Dear Leader Jong-Il ... hereditary dictator of North Korea. His definition of reunification isn't the same as the definition in Seoul... over Tuesday's shelling.
General Yoo Nak-Joon, the commander of South Korea's Marine Corps, grimly pledged to "repay North Korea a hundred- and thousand-fold" for the deaths of two marines, at their funeral ceremony televised nationwide.
"We'll engrave this outrage deep into our bones," he said.
Hundreds of mourners, including the prime minister, marines and weeping relatives paid their last respects to Sergeant Suh Jung-Woo, 22, and Private Moon Kwang-Wook, 20, who died Tuesday along with two civilians.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
I imagine some of Nork's mini subs and other such clandestine-ops resources being stealthily forced out to sea and disappearing without a trace.
#2
Nice idea gorb. There are many ways the south (and US) can hit them on the edges with little or no backlash. I think we could assist the local law enforcement agencies by exposing the NK embassies as the criminal enterprises that they are. Drugs, money laundering, weapons, and all sorts of illegal activity operate under diplomatic security. BTW this is where the leadership gets it's money and luxury items.
#3
FOX + CNN WEEKEND NEWS > Besides Civilians, even ROK = SOKOR SOLDIERS are holding ANGRY PUBLIC PROTESTS agz what they believe is a WEAK ROK GOVT RESPONSE to NOKOR'S ATTACK ON YEONPYEONG ISLAND.
In a highly unusual step reflecting the administration's grave concerns about the ramifications of the move, the State Department late Saturday released a letter from its top lawyer to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and his attorney telling them that publication of the documents would be illegal and demanding that they stop it.
It also said the U.S. government would not cooperate with WikiLeaks in trying to scrub the cables of information that might put sources and methods of intelligence gathering and diplomatic reporting at risk.
The State Department said Koh's message was a response to a letter received on Friday by the U.S. ambassador to Britain, Louis Susman, from Assange and his lawyer, Jennifer Robinson. The department said that letter asked for information "regarding individuals who may be 'at significant risk of harm' because of" the release of the documents. Wrong answer: Countless lives
Right answer: Julian Assange
#1
Wikileaks is redacting names and identifying details. US Government is very worried, has contacted allies including Australia.
Now Australia has censored Wikileaks in the past, documents they don't want us to see.
I have spent the last couple of hours checking out Wikileaks website which I never bothered to do before, shame on me.
I have discovered it is a treasure trove of information that I have never come across before.
eg: rampant corruption in the Turks and Caicos Islands (UK protectorate) that authorities tried to cover up - but the leaks resulted in the British Government chucking out the constitution and taking over the country
another eg is a subpoena on gmail to reveal the identity of journalists involved in the corruption-busting investigation of that incident. Gmail gave up their IP addresses and identities.
another good one, is a report ordered on toxic dumping along the Ivory Coast by a UK firm. Sadly when I click that link it says 'down for maintenance'... or because it was damaged.
I am getting more familiar with this Wikileaks site I intend to trawl it a bit more carefully as I think it has lots of gems in there
it's not all about destroying our troops and having our allies killed in their beds, you know.
they have other things too...
i am trying now to find the good stuff on my country, the information my government has hidden from me.
#2
i am curious as to what the US administration is afraid of in relation to it's allies...
what are they going to reveal?? it's the stuff that won't endanger lives that is of the most interest anyway, the geopolitical stuff. I bet there won't be nitty gritty things that endanger lives, and names and identifying features are likely to be redacted
especially after the stink last time.
but i am really curious
i have now found wikileaks on twitter and am looking at that
UK Government has issued a "D-notice" warning to all UK news editors, asking to be briefed on upcoming WikiLeaks stories.
For those that don't know, a D-notice is how the UK and Australian government gags newspapers. It stands for Defence-notice.
They issue it and legally you must do what it says.
for example: A D-notice was issued over the Nigel Brennan/Amanda Lindhout kidnapping case in Somalia to "protect" the pair.
But the only thing that got protected as time dragged on was the bungling of the bureaucratic agencies working on freeing them. Bungling that included spending more money than was paid for the ransom flying joint teams around southern africa, paying the wrong negotiator who ran off with the money and repeatedly offering a lowball figure that the kidnappers were never going to accept.
D-notices - always protecting someone, but usually not the people advertised.
#5
jeebus - you do like to hear yourself talk, dontcha?
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/28/2010 7:36 Comments ||
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#6
Wikileaks is redacting names and identifying details.
They said that last time, too ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/28/2010 10:20 Comments ||
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#7
@anon1
I actually understand where you're coming fróm. You see Wikileaks as a form of controlling governments.
Fair enough.
But anyone who works with classified info know why it's classified in the first place. It can save lives.
To blacken the name of an infoirmant is not good enough. A special info, a trivial context can expose a person. The slightest suspicion can kill.
Wikileaks editors are certainly no experts on the matter. Sooner or later they will kill someone.
And claim innocence.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
11/28/2010 11:57 Comments ||
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#8
Another theory about classified information is to camoflage the stuff that really deserves to be classified by producing tons of other documents that really don't need to be classified. That way a spy doesn't know if it's worth it to grab that file or not.
I don't mind releasing some of this stuff, but how do you recognize when it puts someone's life in danger? Sometimes you can tell the difference, but these hacks are releasing everything. And while we are calmly discussing it here, there may be folks out there who are getting disemboweled right now because of what this a$$ and his accomplices have done.
#9
Oh I will say it---shut it down Anon1. Your tawdry antics and indifference to suffering caused by your "man" Asssnge has garnered you enough attention- a test of a real man is whether he would do military service, not rat out those who do. Classified and secrecy was how we won WWII--the paradigm shift this traitor is attempting is depraved indifference. And your denial
of the harm being caused by this traitor brands you. Pretty much your are a criminal in my view.
Posted by: Fire and ice ||
11/28/2010 16:39 Comments ||
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#10
I wouldn't call anon1's fawning worship of Assange and Wikileaks criminal. Criminally stupid and naive as to consequences to real people and nations, yes. Morally retarded, certainly. An actual criminal, no.
Oh, and keyboard diarrhea, yes
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/28/2010 17:51 Comments ||
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#11
Assange is depraved and indifferent. Those who
turn a blind eye to it are no better, IMHO. Same as is I saw a man about to jump off a bridge and knowing he'd be killed I pushed him instead of dialing 911. Either you care about preventing loss of innocent life or you don't. Assange doesn't. Anon 1 doesn't. / rant off
Posted by: Fire and ice ||
11/28/2010 18:04 Comments ||
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#12
Hello European Conservative
Yes I agree with you. This is a problem.
It is true those people at Wikileaks are probably not experts in that field at all, and could cause great harm.
Gorb: yes I agree with you also. You don't know really, unless you carefully redact and they are advertising a massive dump of material, so you'd wonder how they got the time to trawl through it all and carefully redact all identifying details.
Fire and Ice, Frank G: if all you can do is attack the person and not make valid points, then that is pretty silly. Why not just shoot everyone who disagrees with you? Great attitude to freedom there...
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/28/2010 19:47 Comments ||
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#14
My pointing out Assange's depraved indiiference is a valid point. The law and legal definition is to constitute depraved indifference, the guilty's conduct is so deficient in moral concern, so lacking in regard for the life or lives of others and so blameworthy as to warrant criminal
liabilty.
Second, WWII was won against Germany through use of secrecy, and classified information, as well as getting access to the enemy's classified information.
Assange and yourself support and seek to recklessly and systematically reveal things with tconcious intent even though it will / may cause death.
You made your assertions, and they prove beyond a shadow of doubt that you support Assange with complete disregard of the attending deaths that result.
Posted by: Fire and ice ||
11/28/2010 19:49 Comments ||
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#15
Anon1, afraid you don't have the moral high ground vantage point from which to look down on others and request they don't attack you, especially since you support attacking our military with wanton lack of care.
Posted by: Fire and ice ||
11/28/2010 19:53 Comments ||
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#16
I can see the rationale for excusing what this guy does, but the bottom line is that he's our enemy, and he should be treated as such.
#17
anon1 -- and knowing info like the screw up of the British sailors, etc, etc, etc, all that stuff you are revealing --- helps my life, how?
We all know gov't is too much into our lives and they screw up. But releasing info that makes us look bad, or puts any of our folks in harms way does what to improve my safety from those who don't like us very much or betters my life?
Helps me how? Why do I have "a need to know?"
For me, I want all our folks to be able to do and to say what needs to be done and said.
#18
The only benefit to our side of these data dumps is that it supports what we who've actually been paying attention have been saying all along... finally shutting up those who said we were lying. Otherwise we've learnt absolutely nothing new, based on what I've read about the previous data dumps and the current one. DrudgeReport has links to the latest published articles. In other words, at a cost that has already started to be paid in blood (both our troops and native collaborators), refusal of future assistance both in the war zones and on political battlefields and, most importantly, enemy propaganda, we have gained absolutely nothing from Mr. Assange's efforts.
On the other hand, a large percentage of his best people have quit the enterprise because -- as they've stated to the media for attribution and publication -- they believe Mr. Assange is doing a very bad thing for very bad motives. Winston Churchill would have had him shot. But then, Mr. Churchill was quite happy to order his people to steal a dead body, plant fake documents on it detailing an entirely false plan for the invasion of Europe. Thus is revealed the superior moral standards of Mr. Assange vs. then-British Prime Minister Churchill.
#19
TSA just took down 70+ websites for violating copyright laws.
Copyright.
Priorities people.
These wikileaks sites should all be shut down using the Internet DNS protocol and router backbone. Further, each of the wikileaks people, every one of them from the bottle-washer to the rapist-in-chief, should all be sitting in small rooms in an unnamed Saudi detention area located in the Empty Quarter. Water will be delivered every Tuesday via Inshala air cargo.
To fail to do this or worse is to demonstrate that America is not a serious nation that respects its allies and its own laws.
#20
TW...agreed. The irony of this is: we (the US government) have put out what is essentially a "hit" on Anwar al-Awlaki (a US citizen) for what in is essence treason. As worthy as he is of a merciless, long, and painful death...it is a violation of the 6th Amendment.
Now we have a non-US citizen who is arguably guilty of revealing state secrets, endangering US citizens, etc. and so on ad finitum and is also worthy of a merciless, long, and painful death...and yet he walks free.
#21
What, if anything, is wikileaks trying to show specifically? Are there any specific charges or problems which they are pointing out?
Is there a specific smoking gun which they are pointing out? Which justifies putting real live people's lives and families at risk of torture and death? And I am talking about real-life torture not the hyped up waterboarding torture the media talks about
Or are they just releasing them to cause as much harm as possible?
Unless they actually show something serious - I would say the latter.
[Dawn] Shia Mohammedan militias in Pakistain's tribal regions are helping some of Natos fiercest enemies evade missile attacks from US drones to cross safely into Afghanistan, a tribal activist told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named.
Shias, who control a key piece of tribal real estate, cut a deal with the deadly Haqqani network to give gunnies a safe, alternative route to Afghanistan through Pakistain's Kurram tribal region, said Munir Bangash, who is familiar with the deal. A second primitive from Kurram confirmed the deal but spoke only on condition of anonymity fearing retribution from the Taliban and from fellow rustics.
The deal underlines the problems of shutting down the Haqqani network's access to its bases in Afghanistan from its refuges in Pakistain.
The Haqqani network is blamed for many of the deadliest attacks on US troops in Afghanistan. Washington has been pressing Pakistain to launch a military operation against the Haqqani network in North Wazoo but so far the military has held back, saying its 140,000 soldiers deployed across the tribal belt are already stretched too thin.
Analysts and Afghan government officials have accused Pakistain of protecting the Haqqani network as allies who could be of use after the Americans and their allies leave Afghanistan.
The deal in Kurram was brokered two months ago during the Mohammedan holy month of Ramadan. A delegation of Shia elders and Shia Orcs and similar vermin from Kurram met representatives of the Haqqani network and laid the groundwork for the deal, said Bangash, who is the chairman of the Community Rights Program, an independent organization trying to broker peace between Kurram's Shias and Sunnis while bringing development to their areas.
Under the agreement, the Shias gave the Haqqani network safe passage through Kurram from its Pakistain strongholds in neighboring North and South Wazoo across the border to its Afghan bases in Khost and Paktia provinces, Bangash said.
In return, the Haqqanis intervened with the Sunni Mohammedangunnies to get them to agree to a truce with the Shias in Kurram. The two sects have been engaged in brutal tit-for-tat killings, although most of the dead have been Shias Mohammedan. Rival Sunni Mohammedans have also blocked the only highway connecting Kurram to Pakistain's Khyber Pukhtunkhwa scenic provincial capital of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar.
Bangash said hundreds of Haqqani gunnies as well as Pak Taliban have taken refuge in Kurram to escape attacks by U.S. drones in North Wazoo as well as a Pakistain military offensive in South Wazoo and Orakzai Agency. ... crawling with holy men, home to Darra Adam Khel, the world's largest illegal arms bazaar...
Kurram's Shias had an intense interest in striking a deal for local reasons.
Kurram is divided between a northern half bordering Afghanistan controlled by Shias and a Sunni-dominated southern half, which includes the only road connection to Peshawar and the rest of Pakistain.
Hundreds have been killed in fighting between militias run by the each sect. Divisions between the communities worsened with the growing influence in the area of the Pak Taliban, allied with the Sunni radical group Lashkar-e-Janghvi, known for its attacks on Shias around Pakistain, said Bangash.
The bloodletting peaked in 2007 when Shias drove Sunnis out of Parachinar, the regional government headquarters. Sunni Mohammedans retaliated by denying Shia Mohammedans access to road. In some instances, Sunni gunnies have stopped buses on the road, taken out Shia passengers and executed them.
The Shia militias had to turn to the Haqqanis to strike a deal "because they are so strong. No one else is as strong," Bangash said.
Neither Bangash nor other Kurram rustics could say whether negotiations involved a member of the Haqqani family. Sirajuddin Haqqani, the network's operational head, was in Kurram in September, according to the Long War Journal, a US-based Web periodical which tracks bad turban activity.
While Kurram's Sunnis have come under Taliban sway, its Shias have come under the influence of two local militias called Hezbullies and the Mehdi militia -- unrelated to the jihad boy groups of the same name in Leb and Iraq, respectively -- Bangash said.
"The Shias are held hostage to the Hezbullies and Mehdi militias, like the Sunnis are held hostage to the Taliban," said Bangash.
The agreement brokered during Ramadan is an uneasy one, says Bangash. Relatives of Shias killed by their Sunni rivals oppose the dealmaking with the Haqqani network.
"About a week ago some of Haqqanis representatives came to Parachinar to talk to the elders to try to keep the deal in place," said Bangash.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2010 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] An Indian court ordered police on Saturday to investigate whether award-winning author Arundhati Roy could be tried for sedition over her comments about Kashmire.
In an appeal to a local court, Sushil Pandit, a private citizen, accused Roy of sedition for saying that Kashmire was not an integral part of India at a seminar in New Delhi last month.
"The court decided to instruct the police to register a proper (complaint), investigate the crime and report back by 6th of January," Pandit told news hounds.
Roy, a fierce critic of India's policy in Kashmire, will be investigated alongside hardline Kashmirei leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and five other people, according to the petitioner's lawyer and police.
"This is a ploy to distract attention from the real issue," Roy, winner of the 1997 Booker Prize for "The God of Small Things", told CNN-IBN television.
Police confirmed they had receiced a court order to investigate the case.
Speaking to Rooters in Kashmire's summer capital, Srinagar, Geelani said he was aware of the case.
"This is nothing new for me. There are already dozens of cases against me," he said.
The divided, mostly Mohammedan Himalayan region of Kashmire is at the heart of hostility between India and Pakistain and was the cause of two of their three wars.
Violent anti-government protests have swept Kashmire since June, killing more than 110 people.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2010 00:00 ||
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Pakistain on Saturday announced a reward of 10 million rupees (around 120,000 dollars) to anyone providing information about the Taliban.
"The government will make arrangements to settle the informers and their families anywhere in the country, even abroad, if they fear that Taliban might hurt them," interior minister Rehman Malik told news hounds.
Malik said that most Taliban belonged to the banned Sunni bad turban outfits of Laskhar-e-Jhangvi and Sipah-e-Sahaba.
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi ... a 'more violent' offshoot of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain. LeJ's purpose in life is to murder anyone who's not of utmost religious purity, starting with Shiites but including Brelvis, Ahmadis, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Rosicrucians, and just about anyone else you can think of. They are currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of al-Qaeda ... has been accused of killing hundreds of Shia Mohammedans after its emergence in the early 1990s. It was banned by then president Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... in 1999.
The group played a key role in the 2002 kidnapping and murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl from Bloody Karachi and in twin failed liquidation bids on key US ally Musharraf in December 2003.
Sipah-e-Sahaba is also a banned outfit behind attacks on Shias.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2010 00:00 ||
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#2
The Saudis begged the USA to attack Iran for it's nuclear reactor
Iran bought rockets from North Korea capable of hitting Western European capitals - and the US asked China to stop the shipment of the parts. Looks like the Chinese ignored the request because Iran's got them.
Pakistan had enriched uranium for a bomb at a "research" reactor that the US worked really hard to remove
lots of interesting info.
Looks like Wikileaks actually has vindicated the US not so much attacked them after all this time.
They look like a country that knows WTF is going on and is trying to act responsibly.
#3
if you'd been here for any length of time, and paid attention, NONE of those were a surprise
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/28/2010 20:20 Comments ||
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#4
lots of interesting info.
Thus far it's all in the Rantburg archives. I mean, really, "President-for-life Adixpemaretha G'p9aoiwtur is a stupid poo-poo head" is not exactly news. But revealing that the junior State Department trainee sent that information to the home office will cause all sorts of interesting diplomatic tempests, many of which are likely to crimp joint efforts in the War on Terror.
Which Mr. Assange has admitted is his purpose in revealing the documents.
#5
Turkey hardly comes away any less scathed in the cables. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the cables allege, governs with the help of a cabal of incompetent advisors. Ankara Embassy officials depict a country on a path to an Islamist future -- a future that likely won't include European Union membership.
Posted by: Water Modem ||
11/28/2010 21:40 Comments ||
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#6
One thing is certain: If Mr. Assange suffers an untimely death, we can all be certain not all governments saw it that way he did.
[Iran Press TV] Iraq's recently-reinstated prime minister has warned against any extension to the foreign presence on the strife-weary country's soil.
Nouri al-Maliki, who was mandated earlier in the month to remain premier for another four years, said on Saturday, "I do not feel the need for the presence of any other international forces to help Iraqis control the security situation," the News Agency that Dare Not be Named reported.
"The security agreement with what it included of dates and commitments will remain valid," he said.
The remarks were reportedly some of the harshest the Iraqi leader had ever addressed to Washington.
Under the arrangement, the almost 50,000 US soldiers deployed in Iraq, are expected to withdraw by the end of 2011.
The future Iraqi government, which Maliki has said would be appointed by mid-December, is expected to defuse the countrywide tension, resulted from the 2003-present US-led occupation.
Washington launched the invasion in 2003 under the pretext that Iraq was in possession of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). However, The infamous However... later it was revealed that not only former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was not in possession of WMDs but also that US and UK leaders knew about the non-existence of such weapons.
Over one million Iraqis have been killed during the same period, according to the Caliphornia-based investigative organization Project Censored.
Attracting notable criticism of the military involvement, the whistleblower website Wikileaks released a video, featuring a 2007 US helizap on the Iraqi capital, Storied Baghdad. The material showed trigger-happy troops killing 12 people, including two Rooters' employees, in a shooting spree.
The website has released around 400,000 documents on the occupation in a disclosure hailed by its founder Julian Assange as "the truth" behind the war.
US Vice President Joe Foreign Policy Whiz Kid Biden, however, said last Saturday that the American forces had to stay in Iraq beyond the deadline mentioned in the deal, claiming that the Iraqi security forces were not yet ready to fully operate on their own.
"That is why, even at this difficult economic time, we are asking Congress to fulfill our budget requests to support America's continued engagement...," he wrote in an article in The New York Times.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Saying you don't feel the need for extending the troop presence beyond the terms of the SOFA doesn't sound like the "harshest" remarks to me...
Posted by: American Delight ||
11/28/2010 0:33 Comments ||
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#2
Does that mean that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard cockroaches have to leave, also?
In a press statement to Al-Quds Al-Arabi on Friday, the deputy head of Hamas's political bureau, Mousa Abu Marzouk, said that Hamas has a real problem reconciling with Fatah because of its involvement in agreements with America and Israel.
He added that there is ongoing security coordination between Fatah and Israel and that more than 300 meetings have been held so far between the security forces of the two sides.
He claimed that Israel has threatened not to allow the rebuilding of Palestinian security forces or to allow any Hamas participation in them, and there were remarks made by Abbas and Fatah officials that there would be no security partnership with Hamas.
On the other hand, the Hamas official expected that the next reconciliation meeting between Hamas and Fatah could be before the end of this month in Damascus.
For his part, senior Islamic Jihad official Mohamed Al-Hindi said that the inter-Palestinian reconciliation would be closer when everyone agreed that the political negotiations with Israel had reached a deadlock.
In a press statement posted on a Turkish website, Hindi added that Israel has right-wing tendencies and all the wagers that were made on a political settlement with Israel went awry.
"We have to admit that the political settlement has reached an impasse, and this means that we should return to the building of the internal Palestinian home," the Islamic Jihad official bleated.
Communist guerrillas freed a kidnapped soldier Sunday because the man's poor health apparently slowed their movement as troops hunted them in the southern Philippines, the military said.
New People's Army militiamen turned over army Corporal Daem Hadjaie to local officials in Compostela Valley province after 12 days of captivity in the jungle.
A former Muslim jihadi who had been integrated into the army under a 1996 peace deal, Hadjaie was abducted by the commies on Nov. 16 in Moncayo while en route to a hospital seeking treatment for stomach problems.
"The rebels had to carry him sometimes because he was in pain," a spokesman said, adding the Maoist guerillas were pressured by the military.
Let's be thankful, it could have ended much worse.
[Iran Press TV] Syria has blamed the lack of peace in the Middle East on Israel's political behavior, pointing out the disadvantages posed by Tel Aviv's attitude.
"The absence of peace in our region due to Israel's policies... raises tensions and undermines economic development and prosperity," said Syrian President Bashar "Pencilneck" al-Assad ... hereditary dictator of Syria ... during a news conference with his visiting Indian counterpart Pratibha Patil in the capital, Damascus on Saturday.
Israel has retained a technical state of war with Syria and Leb by refusing to return the countries' territories it occupied in 1967.
Damascus has also blasted Tel Aviv for its recent passage of a bill that requires a referendum ahead of any Israeli withdrawal from the territories, which Tel Aviv has claimed its own through occupation.
Syria's Foreign Ministry has said that the law -- which affects Syria's Golan Heights alongside other occupied lands -- "is addressed to those who still have illusions concerning the current Israeli government and who believe that it seeks peace."
Assad also hoped that Damascus-New Delhi's ties would contribute to the international efforts that aim at helping to put "an end to the suffering of the Paleostinian people." An all-out Tel Aviv-imposed siege has prevented the access of 1.5 million Paleostinians in the Gazoo Strip to food, fuel and other necessities for more than three years now.
The Syrian leader further urged the freedom of the Middle East from weapons of mass destruction in an apparent reference to Israel, which is widely known to be the only owner of nuclear arms in the region.
Assad added that Iran and all other countries have a right to nuclear energy for peaceful means.
The comments came amid Tel Aviv's continued refusal to declare the nuclear arsenal and insistence on not joining the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to which Tehran is a signatory.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
The man has a point. If it were not for the mere existence of Israel whipsawing the Arabs into a blind murderous frenzy, they could get on with their traditional fighting and backstabbing amongst themselves.
#2
international efforts that aim at helping to put "an end to the suffering of the Paleostinian people." An all-out Tel Aviv-imposed siege has prevented the access of 1.5 million Paleostinians in the Gazoo Strip to food, fuel and other necessities
Failing to mention that Gaza has a border with Egypt as well.
The Syrian leader further urged the freedom of the Middle East from weapons of mass destruction
Which explains why he was doing all that nuclear research before Israel bombed the hell out of it...
[An Nahar] House Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri ... the Hizbullah sock puppet ... criticized on Friday Israeli President Shimon Peres's statements that his country had implemented U.N. Security Council resolution 1701, by asking: "For how long will the world overlook Israel's lies?"
Berri clarified: "Israel's withdrawal from the village of Ghajar is illusory as long as the Lebanese army or anything that represents the illusory sovereignty of the Lebanese state is not allowed to be deployed in Ghajar."
The U.N. Interim Force in Leb is charged with backing the Lebanese army and not taking its place, he said.
"This is stipulated in resolution 425 and repeated in resolution 1701 and therefore, Israel has never implemented resolution 1701," Berri stated.
"Why has the international community forgotten that the resolution also encompasses the Shabaa Farms and the Kfarshouba hills and attempted to demonstrate that withdrawing from Ghajar is all that's left from resolution 1701?" he asked.
"The Israeli flights over Leb are taking place on a daily basis, which only confirms that Israel has implemented the resolution and of course UNIFIL records the violations, as for the U.N., it is working according to the saying 'out of sight, out of mind'," the speaker said sarcastically.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
The Resolution demands
Full cessation of hostilities (OP1)
Israel to withdraw all of its forces from Lebanon in parallel with Lebanese and UNIFIL soldiers deploying throughout the South (OP2)
Hezbollah to be disarmed (OP3)
Full control of Lebanon by the government of Lebanon (OP3)
No paramilitary forces, including (and implying) Hezbollah, will be south of the Litani River (OP8).
The Resolution at the same time also emphasizes:
The need to address urgently the unconditional release of the abducted Israeli soldiers, that have given rise to the current crisis.
[An Nahar] Free Patriotic Movement Despite its name a Christian party allied with Hizbullah, neither free nor particularly patriotic... leader MP Michel Aoun ...a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hizbullah... stressed that Israel's infiltration of Leb's telecommunications sector is "very dangerous", urging the government to quickly take preventative measures that will help fortify the sector.
He told As Safir Saturday that "all options are open" now that Israel has infiltrated the telecommunications.
He called for launching a technical inquiry into the development, saying that priority should be given to protecting the network above all else.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2010 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Mustaqbal movement circles close to Prime Minister Saad Hariri stressed on Saturday the importance of the discovery of Israel's infiltration of Lebanon's telecommunications sector.
They said: "This matter should be immediately referred to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon."
They told As Safir Saturday that attention must be given to the details published in the media as they would only help in confusing and influencing the public, "which therefore entails handing the infiltration over to the STL."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2010 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Hizbullah MP Nawwar Saheli on Saturday slammed a Canadian media report that the Shiite group would be implicated in the murder of Leb's ex-premier Rafik Hariri, saying it aimed to fuel sectarian tensions.
"It is an American film whose purpose is to introduce religious strife to Leb," Saheli said in a statement distributed by Hizbullah.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) aired a documentary on Monday citing unidentified sources saying that U.N. Sherlocks had evidence that "points overwhelmingly" to the involvement of members of the gang.
The prosecutor of a U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Leb into the 2005 liquidation of Hariri, Daniel Bellemare, has criticized the CBC report and said it could endanger lives.
"The most serious impact of the CBC reports is that their broadcast may put people's lives in jeopardy," Bellemare said in a statement on Tuesday.
Hariri's son, Leb's current Prime Minister Saad Hariri, has also dismissed the CBC report.
Saheli said the tribunal based in The Hague is an "international farce directed by the Americans."
Hizbullah has said it would not accept the indictment of its members in connection with the liquidation and warned of repercussions, raising fears in Leb of sectarian conflict.
The group's leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was expected to speak on the subject on Sunday.
No date has been set for the international tribunal to issue any indictments but it is widely believed in Leb's political circles that the court will do so by the end of the year.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2010 00:00 ||
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[Al Jazeera] Saad al-Hariri has arrived in Tehran for a two-day visit - his first trip to the Islamic Theocratic Republic since becoming the Lebanese prime minister.
Hours before arriving in the Iranian capital, al-Hariri said Iran had a major role to play in his country, Iran's IRNA news agency reported.
"The Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran has a natural role in the region, especially in resolving crisis and strengthening stability in Leb,"he was quoted as saying.
The visit comes amid a tense political standoff between Hariri's pro-Western camp and the Shia Mohammedan movement Hezbullies, over a UN investigation into the 2005 liquidation of Rafiq al-Hariri, al-Hariri's father and former prime minister.
A Lebanese ministerial source told the AFP news agency that al-Hariri hoped Iran would help to reconcile the two rival groups.
"This visit is important because of its timing at the time when Leb is in crisis because of the expected indictment of the Special Tribunal for Leb," the source said.
Reconciliation
The tribunal is expected to implicate high-ranking Hezbullies officials in the murder, but the party has warned against that, prompting fears of sectarian unrest between al-Hariri's predominantly Sunni Mohammedan supporters and Hezbullies, which is backed by Iran and Syria.
"The Iranians will try to reconcile points of view between Hezbullies and Saad Hariri," the source said.
In return, al-Hariri would support Iran's "development of nuclear capabilities for civilian and peaceful purposes," the source said.
Lebanese officials hope a recent initiative by the leaders of Soddy Arabia and Syria, who back rival camps in Leb, will help prevent any escalation of violence.
Iran's endorsement of the Saudi-Syrian efforts is vital for their success.
"The framework of the Saudi-Syrian initiative is in place and its roadmap is there. Now the discussion is in its details," Okab Sakr, a parliamentarian close to al-Hariri, said.
Tribunal tensions
Al-Hariri's visit follows a trip to Leb last month by Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad, Iran's president, who stressed support for all Lebanese but also made a high profile tour of Hezbullies strongholds, highlighting the influence of Tehran's ally.
Tensions over the Rafiq al-Hariri investigation have already paralysed the unity government, which includes Hezbullies ministers.
Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbullies's leader, has urged all Lebanese to boycott the tribunal and vowed to block the arrest of any of his members.
He has also called on al-Hariri to repudiate the tribunal, which he described as an "Israeli project".
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2010 00:00 ||
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(Itar-Tass) -- The reactor at the Bushehr nuclear power plant has begun operating, Vice-President and head of Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation Ali Akbar Salehi told news hounds on Saturday.
The reactor was completely loaded with fuel, and a few days ago it was sealed up. The water in the reactor "heart" is being gradually warmed. Then, final tests will be conducted, he said.
Salehi expressed the hope power from the Bushehr plant would come into the country's energy system in one-two months. It will be a great holiday for the country, he noted. His words are cited by Iranian news agencies and television.
The construction of the first Iranian nuclear power plant in Bushehr was started by the German company Siemens's branch Kraftwerk Union. However, The infamous However... the work was halted, and the contract was abrogated after the Islamic revolution in Iran in February 1979 and the following beginning of the Iranian-Iraqi armed conflict.
A Russian-Iranian contract was signed on January 8, 1995 to complete the construction of the first power unit in Bushehr, and an addendum to the contract was signed in 1998 for the Russian party to complete the construction of the facilities to be ready to operate.
On December 16, 2007, the first batch of Russian nuclear fuel was delivered to the special storage depot in the power plant territory. The containers were sealed by inspectors of the ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency. The supply of 82 tonnes of 1.6-3.6-percent-enriched nuclear fuel was carried out in eight stages. The last batch was delivered on January 28, 2008.
Preparations for the physical start-up of the power plant began in August this year. The reactor is expected to begin operating at full capacity in the first half of next year.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
oh no. where was the precision israeli airstrike this time????
what does this mean for the world? we have korea on the brink, afpak a disaster draining us ditto iraq, china and russia threatening in the wings and now iran!!
The last decade began with 9/11
now i'm wondering what this decade is gonna begin with
#2
Usually January 1, unless we align the calendar to Martian Time as our overlords demand.
Posted by: Goldies Every Damn Where ||
11/28/2010 8:25 Comments ||
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#3
As expensive, delayed and problem-pron as the pre- power generation phase was (Iran has announced power generation was imminent about a dozen times over the past few years), the power generation phase may be equally awful for Iran. It is supposed to produce a net of about 900 MW. We'll see.
Posted by: lord garth ||
11/28/2010 17:11 Comments ||
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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.
North Caucasus jihadis have proposed using either Arabic or a Turkic language as an official language for their affairs. The 
In a highly unusual step reflecting the administration's grave concerns about the ramifications of the move, the State Department late Saturday released a letter from its top lawyer to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and his attorney telling them that publication of the documents would be illegal and demanding that they stop it.
In a press statement to Al-Quds Al-Arabi on Friday, the deputy head of Hamas's political bureau, Mousa Abu Marzouk, said that Hamas has a real problem reconciling with Fatah because of its involvement in agreements with America and Israel.
Communist guerrillas freed a kidnapped soldier Sunday because the man's poor health apparently slowed their movement as troops hunted them in the southern Philippines, the military said. 
