[Al Jazeera] Omar al-Bashir, Sudan's president, has transferred up to $9bn out of the African nation, with much of it sent to banks in the United Kingdom, according to leaked US diplomatic cables reported in the Guardian newspaper.
A US diplomatic cable released by the WikiLeaks whistleblowing website on Saturday details a conversation between Alejandro D. Wolff, the former US ambassador to the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society, and Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the chief prosecutor to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
During a meeting in March 2009, Moreno-Ocampo is quoted as saying that the disclosure of the alleged "illegal accounts" could help garner support for al-Bashir's arrest.
"Ocampo suggested if Bashir's stash of money were disclosed [he put the figure at $9bn], it would change Sudanese public opinion from him being a 'crusader' to that of a thief," the cable says.
"Ocampo suggested exposing Bashir had illegal accounts would be enough to turn the Sudanese against him."
Sudan is one of the poorest countries in the world with an estimated 40 per cent of the population living below the poverty line, despite being a sizable exporter of oil.
War crimes charges
The meeting between Wolff and Moreno-Ocampo was held shortly after the ICC ordered the arrest of the Sudanese president on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the country's western Darfur region. A further three counts of genocide were added to the charges in July.
Khartoum has repeatedly dismissed the arrest warrant as "a political decision" and African nations have refused to comply by detaining al-Bashir during overseas visits.
Rabie Abdul Atti, a senior member of the governing National Congress Party (NCP), described the allegations as lies.
"These allegations by Ocampo are proving that he is a big liar internationally and I don't think that the Sudanese people will look at them seriously," he told Al Jizz.
"These are political allegations [intended to] to press the Sudanese government to comply with the agenda of Europeans and the United States of America."
Earlier, Dr Khalid al-Mubarak, a front man at the Sudanese embassy in London, called the allegations a "laughable claim".
"To claim that the president can control the treasury and take money to put into his own accounts is ludicrous," he told The Guardian newspaper.
The leaked cable also hints at efforts to bring major world powers on board over the arrest warrant.
"Ocampo suggested it would be beneficial to reassure China that its access to oil would not be jeopardised," the cable says.
"If China believed Bashir was becoming a destabilising influence, Ocampo said China might be more open to his removal as long as his replacement would guarantee support for China's economic interests."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/19/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
RBS or the various London banks should be very good at losing that 9BN in fees and mistakes....
Posted by: Water Modem ||
12/19/2010 1:09 Comments ||
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#2
"To claim that the president can control the treasury and take money to put into his own accounts is ludicrous"
[Iran Press TV] A political analyst has said that a coup could happen in Soddy Arabia, with the health issues of the elderly monarch providing an opportunity for the plotters.
"It is possible that a coup could happen, and I see nothing to prevent that from happening," Dr. Kamal Helbawy of the Center for the Study of Terrorism said in an interview with Press TV aired on Saturday.
"Both in Qatar and Oman in the past, the sons of the kings stole the leadership from their fathers, and I think there is a rift in the house of Saud," he added.
Soddy Arabia's King Abdullah was hospitalized in the United States on November 22 for a debilitating herniated disc, complicated by a hematoma that put pressure on his spine.
Saudi Health Minister Abdullah al-Rabeeah said the state of the monarch's health was "very reassuring" following the first operation on his disc.
Earlier in the month, US surgeons performed another operation on the monarch's back, which was reported to have gone smoothly.
"With his old age and sickness, there is suspicion about succession. There has been tension in the family for several decades. I believe there is a political and religious crisis," Helbawy said.
King Abdullah has left his half-brother, Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz, who is thought to be suffering from cancer, at the helm.
The prolonged convalescence of the Saudi ruler has raised doubts about King Abdullah's succession.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/19/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
The Saudi reply to this could be hilarious.
"Yes, the Iranians could attempt to overthrow our government, with the probable outcome being the decapitation of however many Iranians attempted to do this. Perhaps they should be more concerned with clinging to tyrannical power in Iran, despite the opposition of the vast majority of their own people."
#2
Iran only needs to look at what happened to Iraq when they invaded Kuwait. Now if every Filipino in Soddy revolted, the coup would work...
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
12/19/2010 9:58 Comments ||
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#3
World Health Organization : To : Saudi Arabia : HQ : Rihyad : Promise More : Care : Free Trade Zone : No Duty Imports : Taxes : Applied : End To Sales : Taxes : Luxury Goods : Buying Spree : By All : Saudi Arabia : Nomore National Debts : All : Solvent : Richer : Saudi Arania : For : ALL ! ALLAH O AKBAR !!!
The first batch of US embassy cables related to Bangladesh released on WikiLeaks reveals the role of Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) in an effort to absorb the banned beturbanned goon outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI) Founded in 1984 by Fazlur Rehman Khalil and Qari Saifullah Aktar. The Bangla branch was established in 1992 with assistance from Osama bin Laden. Recruits come mostly from Deobandi madrassahs. HuJI and Fazlur Rehman Khalil are signators of bin Laden's declaration of war on the west. into mainstream politics through forming the Islamic Democratic Party (IDP), just before the 2008 general elections.
The cable originating from the US mission in New Delhi on April 27, 2007, describes the thoughts of the US, the UK and India in the aftermath of the '1/11' political changeover in 2007.
It was four days after the arrest warrant issued against Sheikh Hasina was suspended, and two days after the ban on her re-entering the country was lifted.
The subject of the cable is given as "Indian official sees Bangladesh at crossroads, Sri Lanka deteriorating, Burma becoming one-dimensional."
Its content describes a meeting between a joint secretary at the Indian ministry of external affairs, Mohan Kumar, the political counsellor at the US embassy in Delhi, Ted Osius and the British High Commission's political counsellor in Delhi, Alex Hall.
In the meeting, Kumar is said to have told Osius that "the caretaker government in Bangladesh has reached a crossroads by allowing Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia Three-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ... to return," stating such a move weakens the government.
The cable goes on to assert the role that can be played by the US, the UK and India in cajoling the caretaker government into holding "credible" elections, while insisting that the army "needs to remain out of politics."
Kumar also briefed the US diplomat on chief adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed, lending credence to the view that he was not in control of the government, but rather an "executor" for the military.
The Indian bureaucrat is also said to have asked for US help in getting Bangladesh to open its economy.
All three men agreed that the decision by the caretaker government to allow Hasina and Khaleda back to politics had put Bangladesh "on the crossroads." They noted that the government had "gone back on its decision to remove the two women from the political scene."
They foresaw three possible alternative scenarios, including an "unlikely" military coup. They also asserted that their respective countries should agree on "a core message" to take to the Fakhruddin government, pressing for elections and voter list reforms, while again making clear the military needs to stay out of politics.
The cable also notes matter-of-factly that any move to enter the mainstream politics by the HuJI, through the formation of IDP, would probably not meet with much success, as the people would reject them.
According to the cable Kumar also said Indian conglomerate TATA had complained to him about the caretaker government "impeding its entry" into Bangladesh.
The rest of the cable contains some Indian frustrations over the volume of trade between the two countries and also discusses Burma and Sri Lanka.
None of the cables released so far originate from the US embassy in Dhaka. Data compiled on the total cache of cables by The Guardian and Der Spiegel indicates as many as 1984 cables, sent from Dhaka to Washington, are among the total of 251,287.
As of Saturday evening in Bangladesh, only 1618 of these cables have been released, which is less than one percent of the total number of cables obtained by WikiLeaks.
Apart from the two mentioned above, the others refer to Bangladesh more generally within a group of nations, for example one that reveals the French government was planning to DNA-test visa applicants from Bangladesh and eight other countries.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/19/2010 00:00 ||
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Google Translate
A total of 151 inmates escaped en masse from a Tamaulipas state prison Thursday evening, say Mexican new accounts. Did the 'escape' feature Chuck Connors and a helicopter landing in the yard of the prison? Only if the helo had a minigun mounted...
The escape from the Nuevo Laredo Centro de Ejecuciones y Sanciones (CEDES) took place at about 1900 hrs Thursday evening.
A upwardly revised count of escapees was released Friday night adding ten more escapees to the count.
The Tamaulipas Seguridad Publica del Gobierno del Estado Antonio Garza Garza said in a statement that more than 1700 inmates were at the prison many of whom were tied to the drug cartels and organized crime by the national government, and that Tamaulipas governor Eugenio Hernandez Flores has previously requested federal government support for the prison.
The escape is the latest of three in the calender year.
Google Translate Here is the last story in Rantburg concerning the murder of Mario Gonzalez.
by Chris Covert
Patricia Gonzalez, Chihuahua state attorney general under the previous administration of Governor Jose Reyes Baeza, is under investigation by the Mexican national attorney general for her role in the murder of her brother Mario Gonzalez, say Mexican news accounts.
In a press conference and statement released to the press Thursday evening Arturo Chavez Chavez said evidence sufficient to warrant looking into Gonzalez's activities as attorney general existed and that as part of the investigation into her brother's murder would include the former attorney general.
Mario Gonzalez, who was an attorney in private practice, was abducted October 21st from his office in Chihuahua city by an armed group sympathetic to the Sinaloa drug cartel and in a publicly released Youtube video forced at gunpoint to say Patricia Gonzalez was on the payroll of the Juarez drug cartel, Sinaloa's main rival in Chihuahua state. Subsequent information leaked by the criminal gang said that Gonzalez ordered several high profile murders during her term in office, which ended October 3rd.
Mario was found murdered only a week after the videos were released, shot to death in a remote area near Chihuahua city.
Patricia Gonzalez has since been called to Mexico City to talk to the Procuradora General de la Republica (PGR) about the public charges, and statements released by the PGR at the time said Gonzalez was under investigation.
The latest statement by the PGR is the first in which Mexico City will look into specific charges.
High level Mexican officials are typically placed under preventative detention pending investigation especially if the charges being investigated warrant such a measure and it appears charges will be made.
Preventative detention which calls for detention without charge for up to 40 days, requires a judge's approval, and may be renewed if necessary. The process is colloquially known as "rooting".
No such move has apparently been contemplated by the PGR inasmuch as the charges are occasionally repeated by Chihuahua state press from time to time.
Mario's kidnapping was part of a larger campaign in Patricia's term as attorney general between the Sinaloa cartel and the Juarez cartel, which included kidnapping, murders and "narcografitti" emblazoned on walls and blankets hung in public places. The charges made in these messages usually included charges by one cartel about corrupt officials on the payroll of the other.
The spokesman for the PGR was careful to note the investigation into Mario's murder must include Patricia and that no specific evidence existed tying to to her brother's murder, other than information developed from a previous investigation.
The situation regarding Patricia Gonzalez's term as attorney general is tense as a woman was killed last Thursday night in front of government office in Chihuahua city, whose daughter was also murdered. Updated to correct the name of the murdered activist and her murdered daughter...
Marisela Escobedo was an activist with a justice group called Causa en Comun (Common Cause) because her daughter, Rubi Marisol, was murdered by drug gangs, the shooter of which was ordered released because Patricia Gonzalez's court arguments had several omissions which forced the release.
The three judges who presided over that trial were removed from office last Friday by current Chihuahua governor Cesar Duarte.
Al-Abdaly's case slipped under the radar of British and Swedish authorities, just as the British government missed signs of radicalization by Abdulmutallab or terrorist ideologue Anwar al-Awlaki. Al-Abdaly was not on a list of 200 radicals being monitored by Sweden's national security service, Säpo. "He was completely unknown to the security service and there was nothing on him from earlier," said Tomas Lindstrand, a prosecutor speaking for the Swedish government. In the wake of the attack, British Prime Minister Cameron acknowledged "We have not done enough to deal with the promotion of extremist Islamism in our own country."
[Dawn] About 150 people have been protesting outside the site of a conference in Gay Paree against the "Islamization" of Europe.
Protesters are waving banners reading "United Against Islamophobia" and "Fascists get out of our neighborhoods."
Socialist Gay Paree Mayor Bertrand Delanoe had asked police to ban the conference, but police allowed it to go forward under surveillance.
Saturday's conference of about 300 participants included speakers from beyond La Belle France. It was organized by several French groups that frequently complain about Islam's growing influence over traditional French values. La Belle France has Western Europe's largest Mohammedan population.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/19/2010 00:00 ||
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The head of Manning's legal defense fund says that despite WikiLeaks' promise to help fund his defense, they have not forwarded any funds.
Awwwwwwwwww.
As of last week, Manning's defense fund had raised $95,000 from 1,350 people Paterson said it is difficult to tell if any of those donations come from active members of the U.S. military.
#1
If he's only annoyed, they need to ramp up the annoyances - keep him in solitary 24/7, rather than letting him out 1 hour/day. Turn the temperature down a few tens of degrees. Keep the lights on bright all time.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
12/19/2010 0:40 Comments ||
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#2
Now that Captain Beefheart is dead... it should be okay to use his works for annoyance ops...
Posted by: Water Modem ||
12/19/2010 1:10 Comments ||
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#3
"annoyed"? I'd have a whole lotta worse in mind for this traitorous POS. His Atty too
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/19/2010 1:14 Comments ||
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#4
Somebody has to defend this PoS Frank. I'd be more interested in who the hell is donating to the defense fund.
Posted by: Charles ||
12/19/2010 4:29 Comments ||
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#5
Manning is probably upset because he was looking forward to a lot of brutal prison rape.
The Republican who will head the House committee that oversees domestic security is planning to open a Congressional inquiry into what he calls the radicalization of the Muslim community when his party takes over the House next year.
Representative Peter T. King of New York, who will become the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said he was responding to what he has described as frequent concerns raised by law enforcement officials that Muslim leaders have been uncooperative in terror investigations.
#1
That d!ckweed Fareed Zakaria or whatever over at CNN was taunting Glenn Beck for claiming that muslim support for terrorism was on the order of 10%! Fareed said it was less than 1%.
If the imams are arm-in-arm about this, then Beck's gotta be closer to the truth.
Any time some radical pops up his head here it seems that not a single muslim anywhere knew anything about it.
"I was shocked! He was such a quiet, unassuming kid! I had no idea! I talked to everyone else and they all will assure you that they had no idea, either!"
#2
Trying to calculate the radicalism of Muslims in the US isn't easy. Some of the variables:
1) Most Imams are Pakistan-Wahabbi trained, so are far more radical than the rank and file. However, a more moderate mosque has no choice: radical clergy or no clergy. It deeply annoys them when their Imam tries to turn their children into violent radicals.
2) Muslims can be rated for radicalism based on their country of origin and sect. Importantly, these different groups tend to have lots of infighting with each other, and have very different rituals and dress so won't even use the same mosque. The downside to this is that there is no published ratings of radicalism by these criteria, which would be very useful.
3) A large and growing number of Muslims in the US are effectively refugees driven out of their home country by radical Muslims, and Muslims who would persecute and kill them for any number of reasons. They are half scared to death that Sharia law will be imposed over them, and want nothing to do with it. Yet they are still stuck in the Muslim culture, mostly due to family.
4) The most dangerous Muslims in the US are American educated converts. They are very radical, very violent, and downright crazy. Fortunately, the FBI, et al. is more than aware of this fact. Thankfully they are few.
#3
How do they operate? To they preach love and peace to everyone but a select few, or do they preach radicalization and all their followers just forget to report them or at least leave the flock?
#4
That can get complicated. In past there have been Imams directly trying to covert Muslims to radicalism, like the one in Texas who got Hasan, the Ft. Hood shooter.
There have also been floaters who travel from mosque to mosque to recruit others--who are careful to have moved on by the time anything happens.
There are lots and lots of "Islamic charities", some of which are legit, but other both act as pipelines of recruits and money. There are training camps in the US where young men go to learn the background of terrorism.
Add to them "social organizations", "Islamic based businesses" (like the bakery in Oakland), madrassas, and foreign funded activities basically operated through foreign embassies and organizations like CAIR and its ilk.
Finally there are wealthy and sometimes legitimate and sometimes organized crime Muslims, both here and abroad, that conduct their own initiatives (like the Ground Zero Mosque as well as cigarette smuggling rings), and you have one hell of a puzzle to be sorted through.
The mosque attended by accused Baltimore bomb plotter Antonio Martinez is part of a network of mosques run by the radical group Jama'at al-Muslimeen that questions the existence of the Holocaust, supports the release of convicted terrorists and wants the United States to stop "interfering" in Muslim countries, Maryland corporate records show.
Martinez, who was arrested Dec. 8 and charged with plotting to blow up an Army recruiting center in Catonsville, Md., attended the Al-Madina mosque in Baltimore, friends and associates told The Baltimore Sun.
#5
GULF NEWS > MUSLIMS PONDER ACCEPTING US VALUES.
Inter-Muslim Confab being held in DA ARNUUULD'S State of California, on the question of iff Conservative andor Ultra-Conservative, Mainstream Islam compatible + tolerating of US-style liberatrianism + pluralism???
ARTIC = Apparently, at the beginning of the Conference, NONE OF THE INVITED NOTED OR HIGH-PROFILE MUSLIM SPEAKERS WANTED TO BE THE FIRST ONE TO SPEAK AT THE PODIUM.
HMMMM, HMMMMM, reminds me of one of my HS Teachers > "D *** NG IT, HOW LONG DID THE 30/100-YEAR WAR LAST - TAKE YOUR TIME, MEN = CLASS, I KNOW ITS A TOUGHIE QUESTION"!
[JIM "WAS IT OVER WHEN THE GERMANS BOMBED PEARL HARBOR" BELUSHI here].
[Pak Daily Times] Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman Known as Mullah Diesel during the war against the Soviets, his sympathies for the Taliban have never been tempered by honesty ... set two conditions for his party's return to the coalition government in a meeting with President Asif Ali President Ten Percent Zardari ... husband of the late Benazir Bhutto, who showed remarkably little curiosity about who actually done her in ... who stopped him at the Presidency right after the dinner hosted in honour of the Chinese prime minister, a private TV channel reported on Saturday.
The JUI-F demanded apology from the PPP-led government over dismissing Azam Swati besides two more ministries in the Centre.
Neatly cutting off their access to the swag they were entitled to by their excessive holiness or something.
The two-hour long meeting was the outcome of positive dialogue between Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik earlier in the day.
The purpose of the meeting was to clarify misunderstandings which emerged after the dismissal of the two ministers, Azam Swati and Hamid Saeed Kazmi. Rehman Malik also offered to give Science and Technology Ministry back to him and also asked him to rejoin the coalition, the channel said. Fazl said he would discuss his offer during his party's meeting on December 22. He said he was still waiting for the decision of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the Pakistain Mohammedan League-Quaid (PML-Q).
Posted by: Fred ||
12/19/2010 00:00 ||
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[Pak Daily Times] Mehsud tribes' elders on Saturday protested against the government for, what they said, not providing facilities promised by the political administration to the returning internally displaced persons of South Wazoo.
Hundreds of Mehsud elders held a jirga in Political Compound Tank, South Wazoo. Malik Rapa Khan Mehsud, Malik Boghi Shah, Maulana Asamuddin and others addressed the jirga and claimed that the political administration did not fulfill its promises made with the returning IDP families.
"We are compelled to protest against the government. Returning IDPs are facing difficulties in their destroyed houses in severe cold," the elders said adding that there were no electricity, water and other facilities for the returning IDPs in the agency.
The government had promised to give Rs 100,000 to each returning family at Kor area. About 300 families have returned to the agency, but the government failed to pay the amount even to a single family, they said.
They further said that the political administration had promised to start development schemes in Mehsud tribes' areas, but no development work was started yet in their areas. Despite assurance to the tribes' elders, the government failed to restart Mehsud tribes' privileges.
Furthermore, they said, the political administration shifted Cadet College from Shakai area to Wana, which was also against the promise of political administration.
The jirga called a grand jirga of Mehsud tribes on December 20 in the Political Compound and would carry out a protest rally from there against the government.
Assistant Political Officer Hameedullah, when contacted by Daily Times, said that the administration has started efforts to resolve the problems being faced by the returning IDPs of the agency. He said that the administration had given Rs 25,000 each to 60 families and would soon provide food ration for six months.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/19/2010 00:00 ||
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[Al Jazeera] Iraq's parliament has lifted a ban on three Sunni Mohammedan politicians who had been kept from running in national elections because of accusations they had ties to Saddam Hussein's ousted government.
Parliament voted 109-61 on Saturday to allow Saleh al-Mutlaq, a former legislator of the cross-sectarian Iraqiya coalition, and two others to return to political jobs.
Haidar al-Mullah, an Iraqiya front man, said the decision marked a major step toward assuring Sunnis that they will not be sidelined in the new Shia-dominated government which Nouri al-Maliki plans to announce on Monday.
"What has happened today is the starting point for more national reconciliation," al-Mullah said.
Al Jizz's Rawya Rageh, reporting from Storied Baghdad, described the move as an "appeasement" to Sunni politicians and said it should enable al-Maliki to speed up the process of forming the government.
"We understand that his [al-Maliki's] longstanding rival, the former prime minister Iyad Allawi, had said on Friday he's agreed to be part of the government, on condition that actually they become real partners," she said.
"It seems that all the main hurdles for now have been overcome but you never know, in Iraqi politics everything can change in the 11th hour."
Al-Mutlaq, who is a vocal al-Maliki critic, was expected to take up a post in the new government.
Al-Mutlaq was the most prominent of hundreds of candidates who were barred from the elections after a Shia-led panel said they had been members of Saddam's outlawed Baath Party.
The ban was seen by critics as a Shia attempt to monopolise Iraq's government.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/19/2010 00:00 ||
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Insurgents are being forced to use more peaceful means of waging their campaign in the deep South as the government strips them of their ability to launch attacks, according to Fourth Army chief Udomchai Thammasarorat.
"Some insurgents will eventually get bored and find other ways to fight," Lt Gen Udomchai said. "Next year, separatist groups may turn to pushing their demands through local elections," he forecast.
Maybe they'll run on the Paper Crane party ticket.
[Dawn] Iran has formally requested Pakistain to assist the country in investigating the terrorist attack in the Iranian city of Chahbahar.
Iran's Ambassador to Pakistain Mashallah Shakeri met with Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Saturday and requested for Pakistain's assistance in the probe.
Shakeri also handed over a letter to Malik from the Iranian government.
During the meeting, Malik said Pakistain would not allow its soil to be used for terrorism.
Malik further said that Pakistain was ready to send a team of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to Iran.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/19/2010 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] U.N. chief the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon expressed concern over the political rhetoric and statements criticizing the Special Tribunal for Leb and urged the world to respect the court's integrity.
"I have made my position loud and clear, that this is an international independent judicial system. Nobody can interfere and nobody can prejudge the outcome of judiciary proceedings," Ban told a presser in New York on Friday.
"The international community must respect the integrity" of the tribunal, he said.
About the rhetoric over the tribunal, Ban said: "It is not desirable, and I have been discussing this matter with many leaders, not only in the region, but other key leaders, including Quartet members."
"They are all supporting the work of the Special Tribunal on Leb," Ban told news hounds, adding that the entire world should back it, so that the judges and the prosecutor could carry out their responsibilities as mandated by the Security Council resolutions.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/19/2010 00:00 ||
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Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Sultanov has reportedly warned Hizbullah during his visit to Beirut not to hinder the operations of the Special Tribunal for Leb.
High-ranking officials told An Nahar daily in remarks published Saturday that Sultanov reiterated the Russian stance to head of the Loyalty to the Resistance That'd be the Hezbullies, natch... bloc MP Mohammed Raad during his stay in Beirut last week.
Russia, which at first opposed the establishment of the tribunal, is now recognizing the court as part of international legitimacy, meaning it is no longer allowed to attack the court, An Nahar said.
The international community will not be lax with any attempt to target the tribunal which is now a legal and legitimate institution established to achieve justice in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's liquidation case, the Russian official told Hizbullah, according to An Nahar's sources.
Sultanov has delivered the same message to the Syrian leadership, the officials said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/19/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Russia's hand in Lebanon, Syria and Iran is both dirty and destructive.
[Iran Press TV] Hezbullies says a potential indictment against the group by the US-backed tribunal on the former Lebanese premier's murder has already lost its intended effect.
"Suppose the indictment is issued tomorrow, it will not change anything...," said the Lebanese resistance movement's Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem ... Grand Vizier of the Hezbullies... on Friday, Lebanese website Naharnet reported. "...it is already dead," he noted.
The former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri was assassinated in 2005 during a massive car booming in the capital, Beirut, which also killed more than 20 others.
The Special Tribunal for Leb (STL), which was established around two years later, reportedly plans to implicate some Hezbullies members in the foul play.
"The indictment is dead. It has become colorless, tasteless and useless," Qassem said. "So the indictment to us, as Hezbullies, has no more value."
Leading Lebanese daily As-Safir wrote last month about "intensive" pressure that the United States has been applying under the slogan "no discussions before an indictment is issued."
Hezbullies Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah has rejected the allegations of the movement's involvement, saying that the plot was part of "a dangerous project that is targeting the resistance."
Political analysts have also warned that the STL indictments are meant to sow discord in Leb.
Nasrallah has, meanwhile, delivered informative speeches pointing to Tel Aviv's role in the disaster.
In an August speech, he presented evidence proving that Israel had criminal masterminded the liquidation. The televised address featured video materials, captured by Israeli unmanned aerial vehicles, and recorded confessions by Israeli fifth columnists, substantiating that Tel Aviv had been behind the killing.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/19/2010 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.
A political analyst has said that a coup could happen in 
Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl chief 
Insurgents are being forced to use more peaceful means of waging their campaign in the deep South as the government strips them of their ability to launch attacks, according to Fourth Army chief Udomchai Thammasarorat.
