[Maghrebia] Seven Algerians will soon be released from Guantanamo, El Khabar reported on Thursday (October 1st). The prisoners were reportedly acquitted of charges of belonging to al-Qaeda.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/03/2009 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] Despite hints in the charge sheet that administration under the BNP-Jamaat alliance might have aided and abetted the August 21 grenade blasts, no investigation has been done along that line.
The 41-page charge sheet submitted 15 months back suggests that Abdus Salam Pintu, a former BNP deputy minister, had assured Huji leaders of administrative help in carrying out the attack to kill Sheikh Hasina.
He gave the assurance at a meeting at his residence three days before the blasts that left 23 people killed and over 300 injured at an Awami League rally on Bangabandhu Avenue in 2004.
The charge sheet however does not elaborate on the finding which crime experts say surely warrants further probe.
Investigation from this angle, the experts believe, might help unmask the masterminds behind the August 21 carnage.
Ending a long drama over enquiry into the attack, Criminal Investigation Department pressed charges against 21 leaders and activists of banned militant outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami and Salam Pintu on June 9 last year.
After AL-led grand alliance came to power in January, the prosecution prayed for further investigation to unearth the sources and supplier of the grenades used in the attack.
The court granted permission for more probe, and CID's Abdul Kahar Akand has been assigned to do the job.
ASM Shahjahan, former caretaker government adviser who also served as inspector general of police, told The Daily Star, "If the investigation officer thinks the point [mentioned in the charge sheet] should be probed, he can do it by informing the court or taking permission from it."
He can seek to find out what the charge sheet means by "administrative support" and if anyone did lend administrative support to the attackers, Shahjahan added.
According to the charge sheet, Moulana Abu Taher, president of Dhaka city Huji, took fellow Huji leaders Mufti Abdul Hannan and Ahsan Ullah Kajal to the then deputy minister Pintu's Dhanmondi house to discuss the plot.
Pintu's brother Moulana Tajuddin, an absconding accused in August 21 case, was also present at the meeting where Pintu said Hasina has to be killed.
Pledging funds and manpower, he said "prosashonik sohaiota" (administrative support) too would be given to pull off the plot.
Anisul Huq, an expert on criminal laws, told The Daily Star, the extent of the then government's involvement in the ghastly attack may be known if the investigators could make out the ex-deputy minister's expression "proshashonik shohaiota".
The expression suggests the administration had either sought to make the attack successful or shield the masterminds and perpetrators from investigation.
The dubious role of police and intelligence personnel at Bangabandhu Avenue on August 21 supports that kind of thinking.
Citing Hasina's statement to the investigation officer, the charge sheet said members of the Special Branch fired a few rounds to counter the attack, but the DMP team assigned to ensure her security did nothing.
The police men on duty were rather hampering her retreat from the scene. They were firing tear gas shells and bullets as her SUV was heading towards Zero Point through the road on west side of the Outer Stadium.
Some experts and analysts say the words "administrative help" can be interpreted in many ways.
It is significant when a minister speaks of providing administrative help.
It adds weight to AL's allegations that some influential people in the then government had a hand in the blasts.
Besides the controversial role of the law enforcers during and before the attack, there is the issue of attempts to prevent a fair investigation in the August 21 blasts case.
Three CID officials including two former IOs face criminal charges for misleading the probe.
Experts say the investigators should see if the bid to divert the course of investigation was part of the administrative help Pintu had pledged to the Huji top brass.
Following a probe under supervision of Lutfozzaman Babar, state minister for home at that time, police arrested 20 people including Shaibal Saha Partha, a student, and AL leader Mokhlesur Rahman for suspected links to the bloodbath.
However, none of them who had to endure harassment and torture was found guilty in the latest investigation.
The farce over August 21 probe culminated in the BNP-Jamaat-led government claiming that a criminal gang had staged the attack.
The basis of their claim was so-called confession of Joj Miah, Abul Hashem alias Rana and Shafiqul Islam.
Fakhruddin Ahmed-led caretaker administration later found those confessional statements to have been obtained under duress.
Moreover, the CID investigators and supervising officer concerned were found to have paid Joj Miah's family for the statement.
The one-member judicial probe committee of Justice Joynul Abedin went as far as to see a "foreign enemy country's involvement" in the incident.
The charge sheet however has nothing to bear out his claim.
Speaking about the charge sheet at a press briefing in June last year, the then CID Chief Additional Inspector General Jabed Patwari said Huji carried out the attack to kill Hasina as it believed she would harm Islam if alive and in power.
Except Salam Pintu, all accused are Huji leaders and activists.
Pintu has been included as an accused in the charge sheet as he met the attackers twice at his residence to discuss the blasts plan.
Contacted, the third IO of the case who pressed the charges declined to talk about the matter.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/03/2009 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] A case has been filed against 10 suspected collaborators of Pakistani occupation forces on charge of killing three persons, arson and looting in Gobindaganj upazila of Gaibandha during the country's Liberation War.
Mohiruddin, son of late Ziauddin Mondol of Katabari village in the upazila, filed the case on Thursday with additional chief judicial magistrate court for killing his father and two brothers.
The accused persons are commander Mofazzal, Abdul Karim Khan, Shamim Khan, Majid Khan, Shafuddin Khan, Shamsul Islam Khan, Sekendar Ali, Abdur Rashid, Shaheed Ali, and Ismail Hossain. All of them were active members of Razakar groups according to the case.
The case story is that a group of collaborators led by Mofazzal attacked the house of Mohiruddin on May 10, 1971. The group tied up his father Ziauddin Mondol and two younger brothers Umesh Mondol and Mona Mia, took them to nearby Helalipara village and killed them.
The group in collaboration with occupation forces also tortured innocent villagers, looted houses and carried out arson attacks.
The additional chief judicial magistrate sent the case to Gobindaganj police station for submission of investigation report.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/03/2009 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Militant commanders from the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, have vowed to avenge the death of their leader Baitullah Mehsud by carrying out large scale suicide attacks throughout the country.
The decision to avenge the death of Baitullah Mehsud was taken during a meeting between the militant commanders held at Mir Ali, intelligence sources told Online.
The militants' are distributed and frustrated after the release of a video showing the dead body of their supreme commander Baitullah Mehsud, sources added.
Intelligence agencies in their report to the interior ministry have warned officials that terrorist activities around the country are on the increase.
The interior ministry has directed the home ministries of Punjab, NWFP, Balochistan and Sindh to augment security around the country, sources said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/03/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Taliban commanders vow to carryout out suicide attacks
Please do. There will be live-bomb practice tomorrow at 07:00 sharp.
#2
Militant commanders from the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, have vowed to avenge the death of their leader Baitullah Mehsud by carrying out large scale suicide attacks throughout the country...with their cannon fodder.
They however are too importantbusyawaiting their next bank transfer occupied at the moment to do it themselves. Now if they real did believe in the reward of paradise, they'd be walking around outside with large markers for the infidel Predators to deliver a Hellfire candygram instead of sending some wretched sheep to do the dirty work.
[Dawn] Video apparently showing Pakistani soldiers beating men detained in anti-militant operations has surfaced on the Internet, a clip that will likely draw criticism from rights groups and could undercut support for the army's fight against al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
The 10-minute video shows an army officer casually questioning four men in a building. The officer then steps aside and soldiers move in, punching, kicking and whipping the suspects, who scream in pain and writhe on the ground.
The video has been posted on the Facebook and YouTube sites.
Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said the army was investigating the alleged abuse, but declined further comment Friday.
Pakistan's poorly trained and underfunded security forces have long been accused of human rights abuses.
The independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said in an August report it had received 'credible reports of numerous extrajudicial killings and reprisals carried out by security forces' in the Swat Valley since the area was retaken from Taliban control in July.
It was not clear where or when the video was shot, and its authenticity was impossible to verify. It was first posted on Facebook last month.
It shows the officer quizzing one man over whether his brother-in-law is a militant. The man says he does not know. The officer then signals for his deputies to begin attacking the suspect. He is punched, lashed with a leather rope and kicked repeatedly while on the ground.
He screams 'Have mercy on me, oh God' in Pashto, the language of the northwestern tribal areas close to the Afghan border where the Pakistan army is engaged in anti-militant offensives. Two of the men who were beaten appeared to be in their 50s.
New York-based Human Rights Watch said while it was impossible to confirm the authenticity of the video, such abuses are widespread.
'I most certainly do not think this is an isolated incident,'' the group's South Asia researcher, Ali Dayan Hasan, told The Associated Press. 'There is nothing in the video that the Pakistani military hasn't perpetrated widely before on civilians or those who cross it.'
He said the military must track down those involved and bring them to trial.
Under US pressure, the army is fighting militants in several areas of the northwest, where al-Qaeda and Taliban are strong.
Many Pakistanis practice a conservative form of Islam, and opinion polls have shown a deep distrust of the United States. Some are uncomfortable with military action against Muslim extremists and would prefer the government broker deals with them.
But recent polls have suggested a turnaround in public opinion, with strong support for the military offensive in Swat and an increasingly negative view of the Taliban.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/03/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
New York-based Human Rights Watch said while it was impossible to confirm the authenticity of the video, such abuses are widespread....
and suggested Israel was at fault
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/03/2009 7:29 Comments ||
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[Geo News] Governor NWFP Awais Ahmed Ghani Friday said the basic reason for instability in the region is the unrest in Afghanistan, and that weapons from Afghanistan are arming the militants in Pakistan.
Addressing a seminar organized by Employers Federation of Pakistan at Governor House Peshawar, Awais Ghani said successes are being achieved against militants in the province and in a year's time a visible change will dawn in NWFP but a total normalcy will be restored to the province in three years' time.
He said assistance from the Federation is being availed for the revival of industries and reconstruction in the province.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/03/2009 00:00 ||
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BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: Iranian Majlis (Parliament) Speaker Ali Larijani will visit Iraq late next month at the invitation of his Iraqi counterpart Iyad al-Samarraie to discuss ways to expand parliamentary ties and sign an agreement, Irans ambassador in Baghdad said.
The agreement yet to be signed was prepared in Tehran during Iraqi Parliament Speaker Samarraies visit to Iran, where the two sides concurred that the deal would be signed in the Iraqi capital, Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) quoted Hassan Kazemi Qomi as saying on Friday.
Samarraie had paid an official two-day visit to Tehran on Monday (Sept. 28) at the head of a delegation to discuss pending issues between the two countries and means to develop bilateral relations.
Qomi said that expanding parliamentary relations between the two countries could have a negative effect as to correct laws of cooperation between them. The ties binding the two sides peoples are strong and accordance between the two neighboring nations would help enact new legislations regarding consular affairs, he added.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/03/2009 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] The United Nations put off taking action on Friday on a U.N. report that accuses both Israel and by Palestinian militants of war crimes in Gaza, after U.S. pressure aimed at getting the peace process back on track.
The move is an early concrete result of the Obama administration's engagement in the Human Rights Council, which Washington joined in June.
The Council had been due to vote on Friday on a resolution that would have condemned Israel's failure to cooperate with a U.N. war crimes investigation led by Richard Goldstone, and forwarded his report to the Security Council.
But Pakistan, speaking for Arab, Islamic, and African sponsors of a resolution, formally asked the forum to defer action on their text until the next regular session in March.
This would "give more time for a broad-based and comprehensive consideration" of the report, Pakistan's envoy Zamir Akram told the 47-member-state forum.
A diplomatic source said the move had followed intense lobbying by the United States, which is seeking to restart peace negotiations in the Middle East. "There is agreement to defer given immense pressure from the United States," he told Reuters.
Earlier, Palestinian ambassador Ibrahim Khraishi said his delegation would not give up what he called the "legal track", and planned to pursue the issue at the rights council in March.
"It will be deferred for the coming session, giving more time to all the parties, Israelis and Palestinians, to discuss a very important and historic report," Khraishi told Reuters.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/03/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
People get nervous when the check hasn't cleared. They become even more nervous when the check hasn't even been printed yet.
#2
The problem with NGOs (and UN bureaucracy is the biggest NGO of them all) is what they've abrogated to themselves authority without accepting any accountability. IMO introducing them to some form of accountability is long overdue.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal hails the release of 19 Palestinian detainees, describing the prisoner swap as a prelude to liberation of all Palestinians in Israeli prisons.
In a televised speech late on Friday in Damascus, Hamas' political leader called the release of the Palestinian women held by Israel a 'bright spot' in the history of the Palestinian resistance against the Israeli occupation.
He congratulated the Palestinian nation on the freedom of 19 detainees in return for a one-minute video of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit who was captured by the Ezzedeen al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, in June 2006.
Addressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders, Mashaal said resistance fighters were able to capture more Israeli soldiers to exchange for more Palestinian prisoners.
The Palestinian leader said the Israeli occupation was "destined to end" and the Zionists would have to leave.
Mashaal called for a united front of the Arab nations and the Muslim community to confront 'the Zionist scheme and the greed of foreign powers'.
He strongly rejected divisions within the Islamic Ummah as against Islamic teachings and said that all Muslims from North Africa through the Middle East to Malaysia must unite into a single bloc.
The senior Hamas official condemned Israeli efforts to give al-Quds a Jewish identity and smother its Palestinian and Islamic sanctities through establishment of numerous synagogues in the area and closing the al-Aqsa mosque on Palestinian worshippers.
The liberation of al-Quds, which Tel Aviv tries to hold back from any negotiations, will not be achieved by holding talks with Israel, but will be accomplished through sustained resistance, he said.
Mashaal further vowed that his movement would not compromise on the Palestinian territory and continue its struggle for the return of all Palestinian refugees and prisoners to their homes, stressing that Hamas reserved the right to resistance.
The Palestinian leader urged reconciliation between all Palestinian factions and called on rival Fatah leaders to voice their support for the Palestinian cause.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/03/2009 00:00 ||
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#3
I dunno, Mashaal. My money is on the Juice getting totally fed up once and for all and going medieval on your murderous Paleo asses. Can you say automated counter-battery fire?
Most Americans say they are worried about Iran developing a nuclear weapons program, and think President Obama should be tougher on the rogue nation. In addition, a clear majority supports the use of force to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
They're all racists, of course ...
According to a new FOX News poll released Thursday, a sizable 69 percent majority of Americans thinks President Obama has not been tough enough on Iran. That includes over half of Democrats (55 percent), two-thirds of independents (67 percent) and almost all Republicans (88 percent). Some 16 percent of Americans think the president's actions have been "about right" and hardly any -- 6 percent -- say he has been "too tough" on Iran.
By a two-to-one margin the public thinks the U.S. will eventually need to use military force to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons -- 59 percent think so, while 29 percent think Iran can be stopped without the use of force.
Furthermore, 61 percent of Americans support the U.S. taking military action to stop Iran, including majorities of Democrats (53 percent), Republicans (73 percent) and independents (55 percent). Some 28 percent of Americans oppose military action against Iran.
Opinion Dynamics Corp. conducted the national telephone poll of 900 registered voters for FOX News from September 29 to September 30. The poll has a 3-point error margin.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/03/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Obama's probably thinking "Ahh, but they didn't say when they wanted to use it!"
#3
Nice to know I'm not the only one. People should know that Iran will strike back and that there will be danger for our military and for all of Iran's neighbors. Israelis should know that Hezbollah and Hamas would rain missiles on Israel. Persian Gulf oil traffic would almost certainly be curtailed for an unpredictable amount of time. Nobody wants that. Then there are the Russians and the Chinese to consider. Most likely there are other considerations of which I am not aware. But I still think the overriding consideration is the danger of nukes in the hands of Mad Mullahs.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
10/03/2009 12:57 Comments ||
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#4
President Obama will pay no attention to this except for token gestures to appease the sentiment. After all, similar percentages were for invading Afghanistan and Iraq at the beginning, and look what the Progressives and their media have managed to do with that sentiment.
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.
