[Al Arabiya] A moderate Islamist group that signed a power sharing deal with Somalia's government in March this year to help quell a raging insurgency has withdrawn from the administration, days after the prime minister quit.
Before joining the government, the Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca (ASWJ) militia group had pushed back al-Qaeda linked al-Shabab and Hizbul Islam rebels in central Somalia, and its entry into government was meant to help defeat the cut-thoats.
Sheikh Abdullahi Sheikh Abu Yusuf, the front man of ASWJ told Rooters on Saturday the group had left the government after its failure to meet certain agreements reached when they agreed a power-sharing deal.
Their exit is likely to further weaken President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed's push against the rebels, and herald more of the internal divisions that have beset the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and slowed government business to a crawl.
The group accused the administration of planning to abolish it and called for a reconciliation conference.
"From now on, we as Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca declare that the treaty we have signed with the government in Addis Ababa has ended," the front man Yusuf said.
"The government itself has caused that. We were not in Sharmarke's government or any other next government. We shall continue fighting against the al-Shabab and Hizbul Islam to keep our controlled areas peaceful."
Somalia's Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke resigned on Tuesday, paying the price for the government's failure to rein the rebels, who have killed thousands of civilians. The lack of progress is threatening to topple the administration.
ASWJ had no cabinet members in the government of the departed PM despite being promised five when they joined earlier this year. They have warned that Sharmarke's departure will only worsen Somalia's insecurity.
"We urge holding a reconciliation conference to bring Somalis together to get an effective authority that can rid the country of hard boyz and foreign fighters," Yusuf said.
ASWJ is made up of moderate Sufi Mohammedans, in a country with a rich Sufi tradition going back five centuries.
Two snuffy groups have been fighting the Horn of Africa nation's government since the start of 2007 and the Western-backed administration has been hemmed into a few blocks of the capital Mogadishu since a rebel offensive last May.
A- Qaeda-linked al-Shabab forces of Evil have stepped up their offensive to topple the government in the last six weeks. A boomer blew himself up outside the presidential palace compound on Monday night, wounding two peacekeepers.
The rebels have used boomers to devastating effect over the past two years, killing five government ministers and dozens of AU peacekeeping troops. A- Shabab was also behind attacks in Uganda in July that killed at least 79 people.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
How do they know when they're having a "crisis" over there?
[Al Arabiya] The United States said Friday it seeks to develop closer ties with Somalia's northern breakaway states as part of efforts to undercut Islamists threatening Somalia's fragile central government.
Johnnie Carson, the State Department's pointman for Africa, said the new policy aims to help the governments of Puntland and Somaliland improve services for their people, by having more U.S. diplomats and aid workers visit them.
U.S. personnel traveling from nearby Nairobi, Kenya would hold periodic meetings with officials in the breakaway regions and propose help in health, education, agriculture and water projects, he said.
"In the past we have not engaged these areas and political entities aggressively. We will now start to do so," he told news hounds on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York.
"We think both of these parts of Somalia have been zones of relative political and civil stability and we think they will in fact be a bulwark against extremism and radicalism that might emerge from the south," he said.
Al-Qaeda-inspired al-Shabab forces of Evil control most of Somalia and have been closing in on the Western-backed Transitional Federal Government's Mogadishu quarters.
He also said U.S. officials will "reach out" to clans and other groups in south central Somalia that are opposed to al-Shabab forces of Evil but that are not directly allied with the central government in Mogadishu.
"We will look for opportunities to work with these groups," said Carson, the assistant secretary of state for African affairs.
Despite the new U.S. approach, he said the United States will continue to recognize one Somali state, in line with both regional and international organizations, including the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society.
"We do not contemplate and we are not about to recognize either of these entities or areas as independent states," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Did the light bulb finally go on over somebody's head at the State Department?
"We do not contemplate and we are not about to recognize either of these entities or areas as independent states," he said.
#2
Actually, given Zero's track record, this is the first step in throwing the Transitional Government in Mogadishu under the bus. Besides which, Somaliland has been highly successful in both fighting terrorism and providing basic services to its population. We should have recognized them years ago, and with Zero's administration causing all of the buyer remorse in the US, we just might under the next administration.
[Al Arabiya] South Sudanese people will lose the right to be citizens in the north if their region votes for independence in a referendum, the information minister said, raising fears for southerners living in northern settlements.
Southerners are less than 100 days away from the scheduled start of a vote on whether to stay in Sudan or secede, a plebiscite promised in a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of civil war with the north.
People from the oil-producing region, embittered by the war and perceived exploitation by the north, are widely expected to choose independence in the referendum, due on Jan. 9, 2011.
Activists have said there are now growing fears about what an independence vote would mean for an estimated 1.5 million southerners living around Khartoum and other northern towns, many of them long-term residents of ramshackle refugee camps.
Information Minister Kamal Mohamed Obeid, from the north's dominant National Congress Party, stoked those concerns by telling state media that southerners would be counted as "citizens of another state" if the vote went for independence.
"If the result of the referendum was separation, then the southerners will not enjoy citizenship rights in the north as they would be considered citizens of another state", he was quoted as saying on the state Suna news agency late on Friday.
"They will not enjoy citizenship rights, jobs or benefits, they will not be allowed to buy or sell in Khartoum market and they will not treated in hospitals," Obeid further said in statements carried by public radio.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2010 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] An international lawyer says many now question the truth behind the 9/11 attacks, and that American citizens are demanding an international probe into the incident.
"Ahmadinejad is absolutely rational and correct on this, that the American people are now coming to the point of demanding an international inquiry (into the 9/11 attacks), " Franklin Lamb told Press TV.
The Beirut-based lawyer was referring to remarks by Iran's diminutive PresidentMahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad in his address to the 65th UN General Assembly that the 9/11 incident might have been the result of an inside job in the United States.
"This call [for an international investigation] didn't start in the Middle East. It stated more than a year ago in Canada, in Europe, in Latin America, and increasingly in America itself," he continued.
"There are just too many questions raised by architects, by pilots, by experts, by engineers, by [US Department of] Homeland Security employees and the FBI," the international lawyer reiterated.
"There is every reason to have an inquiry and the [US President Barack] B.O. regime should join this call, not oppose it," he underlined.
The lawyer added what President Ahmadinejad said was a 'logical proposal' and that "the president of Iran is now in synchronization with the majority of the American people."
This article starring:
Franklin Lamb
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Predicted outcome from any "international" investigation (probably run by the Islamic Conference):
1. The Jews did it.
2. Bush did it.
3. Bush and the Jews did it.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
09/26/2010 1:34 Comments ||
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#2
"This call [for an international investigation] didn't start in the Middle East. It stated more than a year ago in Canada, in Europe, in Latin America, and increasingly in America itself," he continued.
Actually it started before the sun went down on 9-11, in the fetid swamps of the conspiracy industry. The soul-dead vermin who inhabit that morass of lies saw dollar signs and opportunity in the smoke of the World Trade Center. Forget chemtrails, HAARP, and Bigfoot, they thought, we have hit the mother load. Troofers are scum.
#3
One of my fantasies is that we could have a one-of-a-kind "Troofer-conspiraloon Day." For 24 hours, the authorities and anti-conspiracy citizens would be allowed to behave exactly as if all the slanderous terror-excusing conspiracy claims were true.
The conspiraliars' dark fantasies would be projected back onto them in spades. Is 24 hours enough time to convert them to atmospheric CO2 and chemical residue? With enough preparation, it would be.
The White House on Saturday invoked the state secrets privilege to toss a lawsuit brought by civil liberties groups against an assassination plan against terrorists that would also target a U.S. citizen.
I hate it when they force me to agree with Obama ...
Credit where due, my dear. Always give credit where due.
Anwar al-Awlaki, an alleged al-Qaeda regional commander born in New Mexico and reportedly hiding in Yemen, has been linked to the Fort Hood shootings and the attempt by a Nigerian man to blow up an airliner over Detroit on Christmas Day. The cleric, author of "44 Ways to Support Jihad," also reportedly inspired the Times Square car bombing attempt in May, and placed a fatwa on Seattle Weekly cartoonist Molly Norris for suggesting a controversial "Everybody Draw Muhammad Day".
All of which makes him a legitimate target, doesn't it ...
He's said to be on a U.S. list that approves death or capture of key terrorist suspects. The 39-year-old's placement on the list in April made him the first U.S. citizen to land on the CIA targeted kill list.
Al-Awlaki's father enlisted the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights to challenge the program in court and declare the targeted killings unconstitutional. The lawsuit also aimed to block the assassination green light against al-Awlaki, and compel the U.S. government to disclose the guidelines for putting a U.S. citizen on such a list.
One criterion: you step out onto a battlefield. That's all it takes.
According to the Associated Press, the administration invoked the rule that asserts court proceedings and evidence revealed in such would endanger national security. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, in the declaration filed in federal court, said he was invoking the military and state secrets privilege because of information that could be disclosed on possible military operations in Yemen.
"I am invoking the privilege over any information, if it exists, that would tend to confirm or deny any allegations in the complaint pertaining to the CIA," CIA Director Leon Panetta's court statement said.
"The idea that courts should have no role whatsoever in determining the criteria by which the executive branch can kill its own citizens is unacceptable in a democracy," the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights said in a statement, according to AP. "In matters of life and death, no executive should have a blank check."
They don't. Bambi has to disclose all operations of the CIA to the Congress, which funds CIA and sets the rules. There are frequent intel briefings. The congressional leaders have the ability to stop operations if they wish. That's the check and balance right there.
No court in the U.S. has jurisdiction over military and intel matters. Those were expressly left to the Congress and the President in the Constitution.
Nasser al-Awlaki previously told the Times of London that U.S. authorities should pursue charges against his son in court if they thought him to to be guilty of a crime.
He's not 'guilty' of a 'crime'. He's a terrorist. Different rules, different outcomes.
"What the U.S. government is doing is against the American constitution," he said from Yemen. "If Anwar has done anything wrong he should be prosecuted, not targeted by a drone."
In a January interview with CNN, the senior al-Awlaki said his son was not a member of al-Qaeda and not hiding out with the terror group in Yemen.
"What do you expect my son to do? There are missiles raining down on the village," he said. "He has to hide. But he is not hiding with al-Qaeda; our tribe is protecting him right now. My son is (a) wanted man, he's cornered, that's the problem I am facing."
The father added, "He's not Osama bin Laden."
Don't worry, we'll take a shot at him too.
The White House maintains that al-Awlaki is a direct and serious threat to national security. In July, the Treasury Department froze his assets.
In April, Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) introduced a resolution urging that al-Awlaki be stripped of his citizenship. It has 17 co-sponors and remains in a House subcommittee.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/26/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
from a wiki site,
"Section 349 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1481), as amended, states that U.S. citizens are subject to loss of citizenship if they perform certain specified acts voluntarily and with the intention to relinquish U.S. citizenship. Briefly stated, these acts include:
1. obtaining naturalization in a foreign state (Sec. 349 (a) (1) INA);
2. taking an oath, affirmation or other formal declaration to a foreign state or its political subdivisions (Sec. 349 (a) (2) INA);
3. entering or serving in the armed forces of a foreign state engaged in hostilities against the U.S. or serving as a commissioned or non-commissioned officer in the armed forces of a foreign state (Sec. 349 (a) (3) INA); "
now you could argue that 2 and 3 have been done but no court has found that to be the case of al awlaki.
To me, this is why we need a Illegal combat courts and a new section of the USCode.
Posted by: lord garth ||
09/26/2010 9:27 Comments ||
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#4
So just why are the women's rights groups, burka supporters, the apologists, The UN human rights commission, ACLU, Obama, Holder, Code Pink, Mikey Moore and Hollywood not screaming for action??? Makes me question their real agenda's. And where are the Muzzies in America and France and England on this???
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
09/26/2010 13:23 Comments ||
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#5
Islam always brings about a barbaric, savage theocracy.
#7
CF - you just don't understand do you? See, when these guys stone a woman to death it is just the quaint local custom of noble indigenous people. When we say "that is the kind of sh*t that needs to be stopped no matter what hellhole it happens in" well, that is simply bigoted, racist, cultural imperialism.
#8
Thanks, Scooter - you said exactly what I was thinking, but much better than I could.
The Western groups ("feminist," "human rights," etc., etc., ad nauseum) aren't about actually changing the evil done to others, they're all about their perception of how wonderful they are to "file a protest."
Pfui on the lot of them. >:-(
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/26/2010 18:50 Comments ||
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#9
Actually, there is one small group of westerners that is providing effective help to the women of Afghanistan, here. But they're the real professionals.
Posted by: Matt ||
09/26/2010 18:59 Comments ||
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#10
Barb - you hit the nail right on the head. They like the way that 'protesting' makes them feel. As long as it doesn't inconvenience them too much...
Scooter - Then I guess I'm bigoted, racist, and imperialistic :).
#11
"Then I guess I'm bigoted, racist, and imperialistic"
Take a number and get in line (behind me), CF.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/26/2010 21:06 Comments ||
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#12
Sometime in the year before 9/11 there was an email going around trying to collect signatures for a petition to the Taliban to treat the women of Afghanistan better. They didn't pay any attention, oddly enough, so perhaps the types that get upset about such things gave up the the idea of fussing so very pointlessly, when it's easier to get made at Israel for starving overweight Gazans.
#13
The Western groups ("feminist," "human rights," etc., etc., ad nauseum) aren't about actually changing the evil done to others
Well, no. Because helping Afghanistani (or African or Indonesian, etc) women does nothing to assist Western groups in gaining power and influence where it counts - in the West.
[Pak Daily Times] Had the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) been in power, it would have severed all ties with the US and its allies over the inhuman sentence of the daughter of the nation Dr Aafia Siddiqui by the US court, MQM chief Altaf Hussain said on Saturday.
We, in turn, would have stopped all aid and assistance to a Pakistain run by the MQM ...
He was addressing a condolence session in the memory of MQM convenor Dr Imran Farooq at MQM headquarters Nine Zero. "The enemies snatched away our beloved, unwavering, determined, devoted, firm and great leader by ruthlessly murdering him," he said. May Almighty Allah acknowledge and accept his sacrifices, struggles, devotion, commitment and martyrdom, and grant him the highest esteem and solace to his lover companions, family and MQM supporters, he added.
"If the MQM had been in power, then it would have immediately severed ties with the US and its allies even at the cost of the IMF loan because some countries do not compromise their integrity and national dignity, and they prefer starvation to rid their country from slavery," he said.
He demanded the US administration to immediately free Siddiqui.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
In about a month somebody will fart near a Koran or do another Mo cartoon and nobody will remember her name...
[Pak Daily Times] An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Saturday after recording the arguments of defence and prosecution reserved the judgment of the suicide kaboom case on Allama Hasan Turabi until September 30.
ATC No III judge Anand Ram Hotwani proceeded the case inside the Central Prison, Karachi in the presence the alleged accused Sultan Mahmood alias Saifullah, Mohammad Amin alias Khalid Shaheen, Mohammad Akbar, Mohammad Rehman, Ashfaq Qureshi and Raheemullah alias Ali Hasan.
Abdul Waheed Katper, defence counsel of the three accused Muhammad Amin, Sultan Mahmood and Muhammad Rehman, stated that the suspects' confessions have not been recorded on oath and should be excluded. The prosecution also tried to prove that the suspects were muscle of banned religious outfit Harkatul Mujahideen which was not true, he added. He pleaded that the court should release the suspects under the benefit of doubt.
Counsel of another accused Raheemullah, Advocate Nasir Mughal stated that the prosecution could not prove the offence.
Defence counsel of suspect Ashfaq Qureshi and Akbar Khan, Maqbool-ur-Rahman during the last hearing, said that the prosecution had examined more than 30 witnesses but none of them had deposed against his clients. He alleged that the motorcycle used in the crime was not the one recovered from the accused since it had a different registration number.
Special public prosecutor Naimat Ali Randhawa withheld the pleas of the defence counsels and stated that the suspects had voluntarily recorded their confessional statements in which they disclosed the roles of co-accused Akbar, Ashfiq and Raheemullah before the court of a judicial magistrate. Pleading for award of capital punishment to the accused, he said that the prosecution witnesses had implicated them and the prosecution had successfully proven the case.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2010 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya] The alliance which won most votes in Iraq's March election said on Friday it would not join any government headed by incumbent Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a step that could further complicate forming a government.
Iraqiya, a cross-sectarian alliance led by former prime minister Iyad Allawi, was the bloc that won the most seats in the 325-seat parliament, heavily backed by minority Sunnis.
Iraqiya, a broadly secular coalition which drew most of its support from Sunni areas, won 91 seats out of the 325-member parliament in the March 7 polls, two more than Maliki's State of Law Alliance, a Shiite grouping.
"Iraqiya believes the current type of government headed by Maliki cannot be repeated, so Iraqiya will not take part in any government headed by him," the bloc said in a statement released late on Friday.
On Tuesday, the Shiite-led National Alliance, a merger of Maliki's coalition and the Iranian-backed Iraqi National Alliance (INA), gave itself five days to pick a nominee for prime minister in a move to end a six-month impasse since the vote.
Osama al-Nujaifi, a senior member of Iraqiya, said his bloc would not recognize the National Alliance or any decisions it makes, but would be willing to start negotiations to form a national coalition government, particularly with the INA.
"Iraqiya will not take part in any government headed by Maliki, this is definite," he told Rooters. "Iraqiya is ready to open a serious dialogue with the winning blocs and especially the Iraqi National Alliance, according to the earned election and constitutional rights.".
Iraqiya also said on Saturday it regarded the newly formed National Alliance as "a desperate attempt to strengthen political sectarianism".
But Maliki's partners refused to support his bid for a new term and nominated outgoing vice president Adel Abdul-Mahdi as a rival candidate.
Some Iraqi politicians said Maliki was in a favourable position to win the National Alliance nomination, despite doubts that he could persuade others outside the alliance to work with him.
"There have been some suggestions before that Maliki would form the government. Now, many political parties reject Maliki," said Mohammed Allawi, a senior member of Iraqiya. "I think it is very difficult for Maliki to become a prime minister again. You can't form a government without Iraqiya."
The deadlock has coincided with Washington's declaration that combat operations in Iraq have officially ended, and fed fears the political vacuum could offer an opening to bully boyz to further destabilize the country.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said during talks in New York on Thursday with her Iraqi counterpart Hoshyar Zebari that Iraq needed to form a government and avoid creating a security vacuum.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2010 00:00 ||
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Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is under no obligation to honor any of the commitments that former prime minister Ehud Olmert made to the Palestinians, Netanyahus associates said on Saturday night, reiterating statements Netanyahu made throughout his campaign for the premiership a year and a half ago.
Palestinian "President" Abbas rejected Olmert's offer, so negotiations go back to the beginning. That's how it works when parties negotiate in good faith, anyway. I believe the legal term is ab initio.
Olmert wrote an opinion piece for Fridays Jerusalem Post in which he called on Netanyahu to offer the Palestinians what he did, which he first revealed to the public in a June 2009 interview with Newsweeks Kevin Peraino.
Olmert told me he met with Palestinian [Authority] President Mahmoud Abbas in September 2008 and unfurled a map of Israel and the Palestinian territories, Peraino wrote. He says he offered Abbas 93.5 to 93.7 percent of the Palestinian territories, along with a land swap of 5.8% and a safe-passage corridor from Gaza to the West Bank that he says would make up the rest.
Splitting Israeli into two parts, but never mind that.
The Holy Basin of Jerusalem would be under no sovereignty at all and administered by a consortium of Saudis, Jordanians, Israelis, Palestinians and Americans.
What on earth gave him the idea that the Knesset and the Israeli voters would agree to that?!?
Regarding refugees, Olmert says he rejected the right of return and instead offered, as a humanitarian gesture, a small number of returnees, although smaller than the Palestinians wanted a very, very limited number.
In a Tel Aviv speech sponsored by the Geneva Initiative last Sunday, Olmert revealed that the very, very limited number of refugees Israel was willing to accept was 20,000. He also claimed that the United States had offered to accept 100,000.
Olmert said all along that the terms of his negotiations were that there would be no deal on anything until there was a deal on everything, so not only would Netanyahu not have to accept anything Olmert offered, but even Olmert wouldnt, a Netanyahu associate said.
What Olmert told the Post has no impact on us.
MKs close to Netanyahu went further and specifically ruled out Netanyahu accepting a single Palestinian refugee or giving the Palestinians or any foreign entity control over Jerusalems Holy Basin, singling out the Temple Mount and Western Wall.
Too right.
When asked whether they thought they could make peace without paying the price that Olmert was willing to pay, Netanyahus confidants would only say that this was what the current negotiations were intended to determine.
What Olmert was willing to pay -- what a revealing phrase.
There is no situation in which Netanyahu or any Likud leader could offer the Palestinians what Olmert offered, especially regarding Jerusalem, said Likud faction chairman Zeev Elkin, who is close to Netanyahu. I dont think any Likud MK would vote for it, and the public would be overwhelmingly against it as well.
Likud hawk MK Danny Danon said the problem was not with Netanyahu but with the president of the United States, Barack Obama.I dont believe Netanyahu would have considered Olmerts conditions but there is no doubt that Obama sees them as obligatory, Danon said. They dont understand that we had an election that changed the reality in Israel.
The Palestinians had been counting on President Obama to force Israel to surrender. It appears President Obama agrees with the Palestinian view.
#1
the Israelis were lucky to get rid of Omelet before he could do permanent damage. I only hope we do the same with Teh Zero
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/26/2010 14:26 Comments ||
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#2
FTA: I dont believe Netanyahu would have considered Olmerts conditions but there is no doubt that Obama sees them as obligatory, Danon said. They dont understand that we had an election that changed the reality in Israel.
Notice they don't think Obama is prone to recognizing election results that do not advance his agenda.
A BOAT carrying Jewish activists from Israel, Europe and the US set sail from Cyprus bound for Gaza in a bid to break Israel's blockade of the Palestinian territory.
The boat, named Irene, left the port of Famagusta in the Turkish-held north of the divided eastern Mediterranean island carrying eight activists, including three crew, and two journalists.
So really, six European Jews out of a continent-wide population of 1.5 million? They must be rattling around that boat like dried peas in a pod.
Holocaust survivor Reuven Moshkovitz, 82, said she felt duty-bound to attempt the voyage, which is expected to take around 36 hours.
"It is a holy duty for a survivor like me to protect against the persecuting and closing and oppressing of so many people, including 800,000 children in Gaza," she said. Perhaps you could keep them out of the clutches of Hamas. Oh, that's not what you mean ...
Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak previously warned that Israel would intercept any ship nearing Gaza, which is run by the Islamist movement Hamas.
Israel should take the six on a guided tour of Gaza once they've settled into their hotels near the port. With cameras running to catch their expressions as they see the overfull markets, the new shopping mall, and the fat and energetic children. Quite unlike their own childhoods under the Nazis, I should think.
Israel came under international censure after its May 31 seizure of a six-ship aid fleet bound for the Palestinian territory caused Israeli commandos to shoot dead nine Turkish activists in a clash on the lead boat.
#2
In this case, the Israeli navy should carefully calculate how a slow, but unrepairable leak, would overcome its pumps, and require the rescue of all aboard, as the ship sunk in international waters.
As well as arranging for a neutral ship to take the crew and passengers to a neutral port.
[Al Arabiya] The United States launched a frantic bid Saturday to avert the collapse of Middle East talks, but Paleostinian leader Mahmud Abbas said Israel had to choose between settlements and peace.
Abbas, who has threatened to quit U.S.-organized negotiations unless Israel extends a moratorium on housing for settlers in the occupied territories, condemned "the mentality of expansion and domination" that he said controls Israel's policies.
The Paleostinian leader met U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell at a New York hotel before talks with other Arab leaders, a Paleostinian source said.
The U.S. administration also remained in touch with Israeli leaders, according to State Department front man P.J. Crowley.
"We are doing everything we can to keep the parties in direct talks," Crowley said in a Twitter message.
Abbas met U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday night and in Washington, U.S. President Barack B.O. Obama kept his schedule largely free so he could take calls, officials said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
U.S. President Barack Obama kept his schedule largely free so he could take calls, officials said.
[Iran Press TV] A senior Israeli commander has threatened that the military would not hesitate to use any of its means of engagement in the next war against the Gazoo Strip.
"We have less performance constraints there than in other areas, and we will not hesitate to use the many tools in our possession," the commander of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Gazoo Division, Brigadier General Eyal Eisenberg, said about possible Israeli offensives on the coastal sliver.
The next war would be a "more painful, complex, and powerful round," he was quoted as saying by Israeli website Ynetnews on Friday.
Eisenberg was among the top military brass to command the Operation Cast Lead, the codename for Israeli army's onslaught on Gazoo at the turn of 2009. According to the Paleostinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), the Israeli act of aggression killed more than 1,400 Paleostinians, including 313 children and 116 women.
The United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society fact finding mission on the Gazoo conflict has found Tel Aviv guilty of committing war crimes and possible crimes against humanity during the deadly operation.
The report by the UN mission blamed Israel for deliberate targeting of civilians and "systematically reckless" way of using white phosphorus in residential areas, notably on the UN Relief and Works Agency compound in the Gazoo City as well as two Gazoo-based hospitals.
Eisenberg's division has recurrently attacked Gazoo since 2005, when the Israeli military made a self-proclaimed withdrawal from the Paleostinian territory.
Tel Aviv says the war on Gazoo and its regular forays were responses to alleged rocket attacks by the Paleostinian resistance movement of Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,.
Eisenberg went further to say that "we have the capability to deal a serious blow to Hamas. We have many tools, and they are all legitimate, even targeting bigshots. And we should not hesitate to use these tools."
Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... Hamas Interior Ministry front man Ihab al-Ghussein said on Thursday that the movement had discovered an Israeli-commissioned network of spies and collaborators in the strip which had "a clear role during the last Israeli war on Gazoo."
"Some of the elements "were behind the assassination of leaders of the resistance," he noted.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
"Coastal sliver" That's apt. Slivers can be very painful until removed.
I must apologize. Every time I see that I think slower than light, which has nothing to do with Lebanon.
[An Nahar] Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc MP Samir al-Jisr voiced his concern over the tensions in Leb ahead of the announcement of the indictment in the investigation in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
He told the daily Asharq al-Awsat Saturday in response to Marada movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh's recent statements: "There are those who are warning of a war in Leb if an indictment is issued and if the tribunal continued its work."
"Against who are they threatening a war? Should the Lebanese comply with their will or else be faced with war? We reject this reasoning because no one in Leb or abroad has power over the STL or can change its course," he noted.
The MP added: "No one can demand the tribunal to alter its convictions ... this in itself is politicization of the court and its functioning. The tribunal is a legal institution and not a political forum."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2010 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Saturday traveled to the Saudi city of Jeddah on a private visit.
On the other hand, sources close to the premier denied that he was scheduled to visit the Syrian capital Damascus on Tuesday, the Central News Agency reported.
"PM Hariri's meetings agenda doesn't mention a visit to the Syrian capital this week," the sources stressed.
Recent reports have suggested that Hariri may be heading to Syria on Tuesday given his recent phone call with Syrian President Bashar "Pencilneck" al-Assad.
Kuwait News Agency quoted a source close to Hariri as saying that the prime minister's visit could last a day "where he will hold talks with a number of high-ranking Syrian officials, including President Assad, on developing bilateral ties."
The source added that the visit will also be an opportunity to address the current tensions in Leb over the Special Tribunal for Leb.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2010 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Hizbullah's official in southern Leb Sheikh Nabil Qaouq stressed on Saturday that no indictment, international accusation, or international resolutions would affect the party's determination in its resistance.
He said: "The camp of the July 2006 war has now become that of the indictment, which is being used against Hizbullah."
"If they think that the indictment will bind Hizbullah, then the results will backfire against them," he noted.
"We are keen to protect Leb from this strife and we will not allow the aims of the July war to be passed through the international tribunal, which Israel is banking on to compensate for its 2006 defeat," Qaouq stated.
"The international tribunal and internal divisions will not distract us from confronting the Israeli enemy," he stressed.
"The best response to international pressure and resolutions against us is through bolstering the Resistance's strategy, which is the shortest way to rescue Jerusalem and the whole of Paleostine," he said.
"We will not rely on the international community or international resolutions, but on the Resistance strategy that has proven its effectivity in 2000 and 2006," he stressed.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
ION NOT-2006, ISRAEL MIL FORUM > US THINK-TANK [WINEP = Washington Institute for NE Policy] PREDICTS WIDER LEBANON WAR [Battleground in new Lebanon War deemed likely to be spread oer much of LEBANON + ISRAEL proper + also SYRIA; IRAN + HEZBOLLAH likely to be drawn in, PALEOS?]???
[Al Arabiya] Russia remains opposed to any unilateral sanctions against Iran despite banning the delivery of S-300 air defence missile systems to Tehran earlier this week, Foreign Ministry Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday.
"They [unilateral sanctions] are a violation, even without mentioning the legal aspect of the issue," Interfax news agency quoted Lavrov as saying in an interview with the state-run Rossiya 1 television to be aired later on Saturday.
Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev issued a decree on Sept. 22 prohibiting the delivery of the S-300 systems and other weapons to Iran, a move criticised by Tehran.
Lavrov said Russia decided to ban the delivery to fulfil the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society Security Council's resolution.
"We simply documented in the presidential decree what is required from Russia and all of the other states in relation to Iran after the adoption of this new resolution," Lavrov said.
The S-300 is a mobile, long-range air defence system that can detect, track and destroy ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and low-flying aircraft.
Iran announced a deal to acquire S-300s from Russia in 2007, and Russia has used it as a lever in diplomacy with Tehran and the West.
Russian officials had promised not to deliver the S-300's after supporting the U.N. Security Council's fourth round of sanctions against Iran in June for refusing to suspend its uranium enrichment program, which Western powers and other countries suspect is aimed at developing atomic weapons.
Lavrov said Russia and China brought up the issue of Iran at this week's ministerial meeting of the U.N. Security Council five permanent members and Germany in New York.
"If we work jointly, and if our Western partners are saying all the time that it is necessary to maintain a consolidated position on Iran, we need to decide whether we will have a consolidated position on all issues... but if something cannot be achieved, individual states will do it beyond agreements reached with the Security Council," Interfax cites Lavrov as saying.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > [Iranian Lawmaker Alaeddin Borajerdi]IRAN TO SUE RUSSIA FOR NOT DELIVERING S-300 MISSLE SYSTEMS
* Also, WAFF > PHOTOS SHOW S-300 MISSLES UNGUARDED AT RUSSIAN BASES. Photos mayhow older S-300SP variants, Russia denies any lapse in security???
[An Nahar] Let no one be mistaken, the Lebanese people that rose up on March 14, 2005, yearning for a new dawn, is ready today for "fourteen March 14's" to prevent the downfall of the republic once again, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said Saturday.
Speaking at the annual rally held to commemorate "the Martyrs of the Lebanese Forces" at Jounieh's municipal stadium, Geagea said: "Some of them are raising the false witnesses issue and describing it as they see fit, issuing their warnings to the republic: you either execute our verdicts against false witnesses, or you are a stupid, collaborator republic, against which only destruction is useful."
"We've been trying hard to tell them that no one can label a false witness as so other than the relevant judicial authorities, and that it's practically impossible to carry on with the false witnesses case before the issuance of an indictment" by the Special Tribunal for Leb, Geagea added.
"It's enough to observe the identity of the major forces behind all of what's happening, so that we become totally confident that if the other camp succeeded in its coup, Leb and the republic wouldn't exist anymore, we'd rather turn into merely a district," Geagea warned.
He noted that "the gates this time are not wide open in the presence of a government whose core and head are sovereign, in addition to the state institutions -- the Judiciary, the army and the Internal Security Forces."
Geagea accused the Hizbullah-led political camp of fabricating the so-called false witnesses who testified before the international investigation commission probing the murder of ex-premier Rafik Hariri, adding that this camp also "marketed them in the media to the furthest extent."
"We'll be the first to demand that false witnesses be tried when they become identified after the end of investigations. Furthermore, we believe that Abu Adas is the lead character in the false witnesses play, and that there's one director, despite the presence of many actors," the LF leader added.
"They're asking us to choose between the tribunal and civil peace, but our answer is the tribunal and civil peace together, because there can't be real, profound civil peace without accountability and without putting an end to crime and criminals."
Geagea slammed those "who are claiming to lead a revolution against corruption," noting that "they have to be the holders of a long history in integrity, transparency and ethics, and these all are totally absent from the behavior of those behind this claim."
In remarks obviously related to the campaign led by Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hizbullah regarding the legitimacy of the police Intelligence Bureau, Geagea said: "As to revolution against some institutions and their bylaws, it's not meant as a revolution to replace outdated laws and systems with more contemporary ones, but rather to change the rules of the current game, as it didn't enable those behind such calls to achieve their personal aims."
"Whatever happens, that won't lead to anything more than a regime change, but the republic shall remain," Geagea vowed.
On a separate note, Geagea called on FPM supporters to "take a bold decision by returning to the founding principles of the FPM and holding onto them, which would make us instantly come together and start a new day without sensitivities or the remnants of the past."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2010 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] Iran's president describes as 'naive' the US government's response to his earlier comments about the 9/11 attacks, calling for a special tribunal to investigate the incident.
"If certain individuals are responsible for the September 11 incident, a fair and independent tribunal must probe the matter," IRIB News quoted President Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad as speaking to news hounds upon his arrival in Tehran from week-long visit to New York on Saturday.
"Even these people should be allowed to appear in court and employ a lawyer. If they are found guilty, they should be punished. If they are not available for [prosecution], their names must be announced to regional nations," he added.
He said few people, who deem themselves as the ruler of the world, make remarks on behalf of all nations and interfere in their affairs and added that the era of bullying has passed.
Ahmadinejad said he had sent a letter to the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society secretary general, calling for the formation of a truth-finding committee last year and added, "of course I knew if he is not under pressure from world public opinion, he will not have the ability to take action."
He noted the US government made "one-sided claims" about the 9/11 attacks, saying it assumed the position of plaintiff and judge while demands others to accept whatever it says.
On Friday, US President Barack B.O. Obama denounced as hateful and inexcusable remarks by his Iranian counterpart that the US government may have been behind 9/11.
"It was offensive. It was hateful," Obama said in interview excerpts released by the White House.
"And particularly for him to make the statement here in Manhattan, just a little north of Ground Zero, where families lost their loved ones," he said. "For him to make a statement like that was inexcusable."
The Iranian president had questioned the official account of the September 11 attacks on US soil, suggesting that US officials were involved in the matter.
"It is necessary to re-listen to the black box of [the plane used in] September 11 attacks," Ahmadinejad said.
"If Americans have strong evidence proving the September 11 attacks have been carried out by terrorists, they should present them [to the tribunal]," he said.
"This is our legal right to ask for a truth-finding committee to investigate the incident," Ahmadinejad said.
"September 11 became a pretext for pressuring Middle Eastern nations and for violating their rights."
"You (American officials) caused the September 11 event and now you are accusing every nation that stands against you and seeks to maintain its independence of cooperating with terrorism," he said.
"There is no logic and justification to use the presence of few Islamic snuffies as a pretext to send troops to Afghanistan, occupy Iraq and today bombard the Pak people," he explained.
Ahmadinejad said the Iranian nation is a victim of terrorism and added, "Iranians will not permit Islamic snuffies to put Mohammedans and the entire Middle East under pressure through an event with ambiguous facts."
The Iranian president arrived in New York on September 18 to attend the 65th United Nations General Assembly.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2010 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya] Iran rejects U.S. President Barack B.O. Obama's invitation to resolve differences because he is an "international villain," parliament speaker Ali Larijani said Saturday.
"How dare Obama announce that he wants to help the Iranian nation. He should know that he is an international villain," Larijani was quoted by ISNA news agency as saying during a visit to the southern city of Shiraz.
" Mr Obama should know that we do not need his message, what we need is to be able to trust the words he utters"
Parliament speaker Ali Larijani
"The Americans are displaying an act that deserves an international evilness medal... Mr Obama should know that we do not need his message, what we need is to be able to trust the words he utters," he said.
Larijani's remarks came a day after the American leader told the BBC's Persian service that the door for diplomacy with Tehran was still open over its longstanding nuclear dispute with the international community.
"Our strong preference is to resolve these issues diplomatically. I think that's in Iran's interest. I think that is in the interest of the international community," Obama said.
"I think it remains possible, but it is going to require a change in mindset inside the Iranian government," he said.
Relations between Tehran and Washington have become increasingly fraught since the presidency of Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad in 2005, and his defiant pursuit of Iran's controversial nuclear programme.
Ahmadinejad, while attending the UN General Assembly session in New York this week, said Tehran was open to new nuclear talks, provided the U.S. and the western powers were respectful to the Islamic republic.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
ION TOPIX > IRAN UNDER CYBERATTACK?
and
PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > IRAN DENIES [Busheshr]NUCLEAR PLANT COMPUTERS AMONG 30,000 HIT BY WORM[StuxNet].
[Iran Press TV] Despite post-9/11anti-Islam sentiments in the US, figures show thousands of Americans convert to Islam each year.
About 20,000 Americans convert to Islam annually, a Press TV correspondent in Washington said.
"It was learning about God and our creator that really inspired me, from Malcolm X and from what I read about Islam, to come back to our natural state of believing," a recent convert to Islam, Umar Abdul Wahab, told the correspondent.
Wahab who was formerly a Christian, now attends Dar Al Hijrah Islamic Centre in Falls Church, Virginia.
"To me Islam is total submission to our creator, total submission to what he wants us to do, [and] following the way of Prophet Mohammed," Wahab added.
Wahab says he converted to Islam after realizing he was meant to follow a different course. Letting go of old conventions in pursuit of an individual path, however, was not an easy task.
"My parents [eventually] saw that Islam made me a better person than I was previously and they came to respect that... they really admire me for standing up for my beliefs," he added.
However, The infamous However... anger spurred by anti-Islamic hysteria has been sweeping through America in recent weeks, as shown by a Florida pastor who had called for holding a "Burn a Qur'an Day" on the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
But the ability to exercise religion freely has always been a part of the American dream that every one is entitled to, says Imam Johari Abdul-Malik, director of outreach at the Dar Al Hijrah Islamic Center.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
But Africans are converting to Christianity from Islam at a greater rate. Some 6 million per year.
#6
20,000 a year? Wow. That's like half a full house for a night game at Fenway. Which goes to show that every population has a certain tiny percentage of mental defectives....
#8
"Mental disorders are common in the United States and internationally. An estimated 26.2 percent of Americans ages 18 and older about one in four adults suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year." -- National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
#9
Parbellum:
You obliviously don't have friends in the department of corrections. Criminals in the big house love Islam since it allows them to justify crimes against an infidel nation. Noxious combination: crime and religion.
#4
anti-Islamic hysteria has been sweeping through America. Really? I've noticed no such thing.
#10
An interesting article on the subject here from Pajamas Media here, written a few years ago. The concern for Islam apparently ought to be the millions converting out, rather than the thousands converting in.
#11
TW,
Thanks for linking to that interesting article.
First some perspective: 20,000 converts in a 300 millon + population of the United States = .007%conversions per year. Even within the prison population we are probably talking 1% per year.
Some interesting parts of TW's article:
"In every hour, 667 Muslims [in Africa] convert to Christianity. Everyday, 16,000 Muslims convert to Christianity. Every year, 6 million Muslims convert to Christianity. These numbers are very large indeed."
"In Iran as many as 1 million people have surreptitiously converted to Evangelical Christianity in the last five years."
"In southern Russia the same pattern is emerging. [...] Repulsed by bloody terrorist attacks, those living in areas such as Beslan have converted to Christianity in the greatest numbers of all. As many as 100,000 have converted to Christianity"
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
09/26/2010 13:55 Comments ||
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#12
The population of America is increasing so saying more Americans are blah-blah is a pretty safe bet for any given blah-blah. Now if the rate is increasing, that's a different story. Notice that data is missing from the article.
20,000 people sounds like a lot if they are all standing in your living room, but 0.007 percent of Americans does not sound like such a big deal. I also suspect most of that is prison conversions. And what's not to like? You get to hate Whitey AND the Juice.
#13
Given the increase in Autism and Alzheimers...is it any surprise there's been an increase in Islamic conversions? perhaps it's something in the water
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/26/2010 18:49 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.
The White House on Saturday invoked the state secrets privilege to toss a lawsuit brought by civil liberties groups against an assassination plan against terrorists that would also target a U.S. citizen.
[Al Arabiya] The United States launched a frantic bid Saturday to avert the collapse of Middle East talks, but 
[Iran Press TV] Iran's president describes as 'naive' the US government's response to his earlier comments about the 9/11 attacks, calling for a special tribunal to investigate the incident.
[Al Arabiya] Iran rejects U.S. President 
