[Straits Times] AN INDONESIAN court on Wednesday sentenced a US retiree to five months in jail for blasphemy for pulling the plug on a mosque's loudspeaker during a prayer reading.
The August 22 incident during the Mohammedan holy month of Ramadan resulted in retired Caliphornian engineer Gregory Luke, 64, needing a police escort from his home on Lombok island as a mob tore it to pieces around him.
'He was found guilty of committing blasphemy, carrying out an act of violence and hampering people in Kute village from doing their religious activities,' chief judge Suhartoyo told a court in Praya, Lombok.
Luke had previously denied pulling the plug, but in a brief comment on Wednesday said he was 'satisfied' with the judges' ruling.
The verdict was two months lighter than the jail term sought by prosecutors a day earlier. The Indonesian criminal code stipulates that an act of blasphemy carries a maximum five-year jail term.
Setting out mitigating circumstances, the judge said: 'The defendant has never committed a crime before, acted politely during the trial and expressed regret for his act. He also participated in promoting tourism here.'
Luke, who runs a guesthouse for tourists on the islands, will get his freedom back in mid-February 2011.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/16/2010 00:00 ||
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Retiring to any place where you're assaulted by loudspeakers five times a day, every day of the week, seems like a rather poor choice...
#5
In a sane world, the State Department would mention this incident every time an Indonesian official criticised presumed US policy towards Muslims (or supposed American attitudes towards same).
*plays Imagine on an accordion with tear rolling down cheek*
[Tolo News] Dr Abdullah Abdullah ... the former foreign minister of the Northern Alliance government, advisor to Masood, and candidate for president against Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai. Dr. Abdullah was born in Kabul and is half Tadjik and half Pashtun... Wednesday said Attorney General receives orders from the government to act against electoral commissions
Abdullah, leader of Change and Hope Coalition, criticised the Attorney General's Office for its silence towards widespread fraud committed during Afghan presidential elections. He said the silent stance of Attorney General's Office then was controversial.
But the Attorney General's Office denied having been under any kind of pressure from government.
Interference of Attorney General's Office is against law and it will have unpleasant consequences for the system in the country, Abdullah said.
The Attorney General's Office is being used as a tool by others, he said.
While declining to give a specific name, he said everyone knows the person who the Attorney General's Office obeys.
"It appears that they are being instructed from the top. If it's not so, then why the organisation didn't say a word during the fraudulent Presidential elections, while the whole world and Afghan people knew what was really going on. We even didn't hear a word," Abdullah said.
"Regretfully, while we expect the organisations to operate within the framework of law and to ensure people of law enforcement, they act as if they are being used as tools by others," he further said.
Deputy Attorney General denied being under any sort of pressure. He said extensive electoral irregularities and complaints by candidates made the organisation to consider a need to investigate about the vote counting process.
"Attorney General's Office is under no pressure from any source and we run the process as a legal obligation. There were frauds committed during presidential elections too, but based on the law the elections went for a second round," said Rahmatullah Nazari, Deputy Attorney General.
Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... former Afghan MPs will continue their work in the House of Representatives for a second time, until a solution is found to put an end to the electoral disputes.
Some former Afghan MPs at a gathering on Wednesday said they will resume their work based on the law, until the Afghanistan's Caped President and the Supreme Court come up with a decision.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/16/2010 00:00 ||
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Can we threaten karzai or have we lost our balls?
[Tolo News] At a presser on Wednesday, President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai said until Afghans do not fully control Afghanistan, graft will not be eradicated
Despite continuous efforts as part of the fight against corruption, corruption is still rampant in the country, President Karzai said while addressing news hounds.
While acknowledging foreign contracts as a serious concern, President Karzai said Afghan government has no authority or power to take action about the contracts.
Head of the High Office of Oversight and Anti-Corruption, Mohammad Yasin Osmani, said: "with the efforts we have made in the fight against corruption, hundreds of coppers have been jugged in corruption related cases."
President Karzai said: "corruption exists in Afghanistan. Corruption mainly exists in the deals between governmental institutions and those who refer to the government. There is also corruption in the foreign aid to Afghanistan and in the way foreign aid is used.
President Karzai says spending methods of foreign funding in Afghanistan, presence of private security firms and foreign contracts are the main factors behind the Afghan graft.
"Foreign contracts have been a big issue to us and we are very worried about it. We are not fully aware of the contracts and whom they are given to," he said.
It is hard to fight against corruption committers, if any action is taken against them, they will seek refuge in other countries, he said.
President Karzai urged more efforts against graft and highlighted some more reforms in Afghan institutions. He said appointments should be merit-based from now on.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/16/2010 00:00 ||
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President KArzai's relatives have certainly done well for themselves since he took office, but I don't recall reading anything that indicated he, personally, has profitted in any way, Jeremiah Flainter9609. The fact that he hasn't walked out on a job where he puts up with near-daily insults from the Americans who asked him to take on the job, the foreigners who are keeping him in power -- not that he really has any power beyond his secretary and his driver -- and the locals who expect him to deliver the impossible... in a country where the capitol has never had power far beyond the boundaries or the city itself. The rest of the country has always been ruled by tribal warlords.
As for the president's statement in the article above, while I agree that graft will not end so long as foreigners pour money into Afghanistan, the nature of the society is so corrupt that graft is highly unlikely to end afterward, either.
[Bangla Daily Star] Leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami, the party that was against the liberation of Bangladesh and collaborated with the occupation Mighty Pak Army in 1971, are now claiming themselves "freedom fighters".
ATM Azharul Islam, the party's acting secretary general, yesterday said he and his party leaders should also be called freedom fighters.
"We fought in the same sector that Kabir Chowdhury was in," he said, adding, "If he is not called a razakar after serving as a government employee during the war, why should we be called razakar although we speak for the people?"
The Jamaat secretary general was addressing a discussion marking the Victory Day. The Dhaka city unit of the party organised the discussion at the Jatiya Press Club.
"If Kabir Chowdhury is now called a freedom fighter then we also deserve to be called the same," the Jamaat leader said.
Earlier on Tuesday, Azharul Islam alleged that National Professor Kabir Chowdhury had links with the then Pakistain government in 1971.
He also claimed that the government has started trials of war criminals to hide their failure, divide the country and facilitate India in many ways.
"We also demand the trials of war criminals but don't get the wrong impression. We demand trials of the 195 identified Mighty Pak Army personnel who killed three million people in the war," said the Jamaat leader.
The top brass of Jamaat-e-Islami, including its chief Motiur Rahman Nizami, are now being tried for crimes against humanity in 1971.
Terming the trial an ill motive to divide the country, Azhar yesterday said it would lead to a conflict and anarchy in the country.
On the Jamaat leader's remarks, Prof Kabir Chowdhury told The Daily Star, "It [Azhar's claim] is totally false. I worked for the liberation of Bangladesh even though I was a government employee then and such examples are not scarce in the history."
"The Mighty Pak Army wanted me to sign a statement that said the situation of the then East Pakistain was calm and no genocide took place here. But, only Sufia Kamal and I kept from signing the statement although our lives were on the line. They [Pak occupation army] then printed a statement putting our names on it but there were no signature of us two," said Prof Kabir Chowdhury.
On the audacious comments by the same Jamaat leader on one of the sector commanders, Maj Gen (retd) KM Shafiullah, commander of S Force, yesterday told The Daily Star that the Jamaat leaders always try to confuse the people of the country, including the freedom fighters, with such comments.
"They can claim themselves freedom fighters if they want to. But they were the fighters on the Pak side and we accept that. That is why, I am for putting them behind bars," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/16/2010 00:00 ||
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Google Translate
A total of 410,442 Mexican repatriated from the United States was down 23.9 percent from the same period in 2009. say Mexican news accounts.
Statistics were released in a newsletter by the Mexican Instituto Nacional de Migracion (INM).
Women represent 34 percent of the deportees 67,045 in 2009 to 44,456 in 2010.
A total of 23,359 Mexicans were voluntarily sent back to Mexico city by air from the United States in the third quarter of 2010 under the Programa de Repatriacion Voluntaria al Interior.
The total of Mexicans deported from the US under the age of 18 was down 23 percent as well: 23,466 in 2009 to 18,154 in 2010.
Data for migrant workers in Mexico, a program that permits farm workers into Mexico for up to five years remained unchanged in 2010 from 2009.
Immigration data is typically collected from Mexican immigration services and offices throughout the country.
[Arab News] Thousands of riot police deployed around central Moscow Wednesday to prevent possible ethnic festivities after the weekend rioting by racist hooligans fueled rumors that minorities could try to retaliate.
Scuffles erupted outside Kievsky train station, which is popular with traders from the Caucasus, as hundreds of baton-wielding riot police in dark helmets rounded up some young men and teenagers shouting racist slogans. Police also nabbed dozens of potential troublemakers from the Caucasus and confiscated knives and other weapons from them, officials said.
Resentment has been rising among Slavic Russians over the growing presence in Moscow and elsewhere of people from the southern region of Caucasus, the home of numerous ethnic groups, most of them Mohammedan. People from other parts of the former Soviet Union, including Central Asia and Azerbaijan, also face ethnic discrimination and are frequent victims of hate crimes.
The area around Kievsky station is feared to be a target of those who rioted outside the Kremlin, mainly soccer fans, who chanted "Russia for Russians!" during Saturday festivities that left dozens injured. Many soccer fans are linked with neo-Nazis and other radical krazed killer groups.
Russian media have been abuzz with rumors that some people from the Caucasus could try to take Dire Revenge™ for Saturday's riots, even as community leaders described the allegations as a provocation and called for calm.
Small scuffles erupted just outside the station, but police intervened quickly to stop them. AP news hounds could see police rounding some men from the Caucasus and others who looked like soccer fans near the Kievsky station, checking their IDs and looking for weapons. Some were let go after a quick check.
Police nabbed more than 150 suspected troublemakers and confiscated knives and non-lethal guns outside the station, front man Viktor Biryukov said.
A huge shopping mall just outside the station shut down hours ahead of schedule, and most stands at a nearby flower market, operated mostly by people from the Caucasus, were shut. Authorities towed cars early in the morning in anticipation of possible festivities.
Police also rounded up dozens in St. Petersburg where radical groups also planned a gathering on Wednesday.
The weekend's violence raised fresh doubts about the government's ability to control the rising tide of xenophobia, which threatens Russia's integrity as a multiethnic state.
President Dmitry Medvedev urged police Monday not to hesitate to use force to put down riots, saying that leaving hate crimes unpunished would jeopardize stability.
The weekend rally began as a protest against the killing of a member of the Spartak Moscow team's fan club, who was shot with rubber bullets in a fight with Caucasus natives at a bus stop earlier this month.
Spartak fans were further incensed with how Yegor Sviridov's killing was handled by police. They claimed that while police jugged one suspect following the fight, they released others because they had powerful backers in the Caucasus.
Moscow police chief Vladimir Kolokoltsev acknowledged Monday that Sherlocks had made a mistake and said three more suspects have now been jugged.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/16/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
ION PAKISTANI DEENCE FORUM > [Russian Experts] RUSSIA CANNOT WIN A POSSIBLE [major]WAR AGZ EITHER NATO OR CHINA, widout using Nuclear Weapons in Unilateral or Preemptive Strike.
RUSSIA'S ARMED FORCES = at present is good for SMALL-SCALE, ONE-HUNDRED-THOUSAND-MEN-OR-LESS LIMITED MIL CONFLICTS [UN "Police Actions"].
Neener neener.
The South Korean joint chiefs said the drills will be carried out in the presence of officials from the Military Armistice Committee and representatives from U.N. party members to ensure that the exercise is lawful and follows rules of the armistice.
North Korea Thursday accused the South's new defense minister, Kim Kwan-jin, of "going reckless like a puppy knowing no fear of a tiger," state-run KCNA reported. One problem the Norks face is that they have been so shrill in their threats that they have nowhere left to go but to reword past threats. And do nothing.
The problem is, they've done plenty of things that they didn't threaten to do, and South Korea hasn't responded seriously.
Rooters:
South Korea's foreign ministry said it was closely monitoring the site and said there was no concrete evidence to show the North Koreans were preparing for a third nuclear test. Boom!
#2
Could Be Kim Jong Il's subterranean mausoleum complex. Maybe he'll be buried with lots of soldiers and "servants"...and food offerings. Lots of food offerings.
#3
In Qingdao, China, a North Korean restaurant was forced to close for months because its staff absconded. Last week, the manager the Okryugwan in Nepal apparently fled to India with a stash of dollars that were supposed to be sent to the North.
I'm sure managing the local McDonalds is no picnic, but unlike the guys at Kimmie's Big Boy, at least "defection" isn't among the HR issues listed in the company handbook.
North Korea's uranium enrichment program "appears to be much more advanced and efficient than the Iranian program, which is running into problems," according to the White House coordinator for weapons of mass destruction Gary Samore. He was quoted as making the comment by the New York Times on Tuesday.
Wonder if there's a way for the Zionists to get the Stuxnet virus into Nork-land ...
Iran has been "experimenting with advanced centrifuges," but has failed to "install them on an industrial scale, despite years of efforts," due to international sanctions. The North, however, has dodged economic sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council and the U.S., the daily reported.
"The new North Korean centrifuges could be attractive to other nations," it added, and quoted Samore as saying U.S. strategy should "ensure that the North Koreans don't sell to the Middle East."
"According to secret State Department cables made public, the United States believes that North Korea successfully shipped 19 advanced missiles to Iran five years ago," it said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/16/2010 00:00 ||
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OTOH WORLD NEWS > [Forbes.com = Jeffrey Carr]WAS IT ACTUALLY CHINA, NOT ISRAEL, THAT ATTACKED IRAN WID THE STUXNET VIRUS?
ARTIC > BEIJING = CHINA does NOT want Iran to have NucWeaps, + much of Iran's Nucprogs, e.g. CENTRIFUGE PROCESSES + CONTROLS, are a mirror copy of China's [in turn are copied from RUSSIA]???
* PEOPLES DAILY FORUM > CHINA VICE-PRESIDENT XI WANTS JAPAN TO COOPERATE AS PARTNER, NOT RIVAL TO CHINA.
#2
Doc, since Iran and NK are supposedly quite friendly in things nuclear, I'd say there's a good chance they may have already exchanged Stuxnet with each other. Recent rumors are it originated in China - not impossible that Iran caught it from NK where the Chinese planted it.
Thought for sure he'd be found hanging from a bridge with bricks in his pockets ...
South Korean intelligence officials breathed a sigh of relief on Sunday. They had finally located Jon Il-chun, the head of a special department in North Korea's Workers Party that manages Kim Jong-il's slush fund. Jon, who had eluded intelligence officials for the past six months, was finally spotted on a North Korean TV broadcast featuring one of leader Kim Jong-il's so-called on-the-spot guidance tours in Pyongyang.
The 69-year-old Jon went to high school with Kim (68) and was appointed head of the department, known as Room 39, early this year. It manages 17 overseas branch offices and around 100 trading companies and even owns a gold mine and a bank. The US$200-300 million those companies make each year is funneled into Kim's secret bank accounts around the world.
Room 39 is targeted each time the U.S. and other foreign governments apply financial sanctions against North Korea. Kim replaced its head early this year because the former director, Kim Tong-un, was put on an EU list of sanctioned individuals late last year, making it impossible for him to manage the leader's secret overseas bank accounts.
Due to the importance of the department and the clandestine nature of its business, the director of Room 39 rarely appears in public, but he sometimes accompanies Kim Jong-il on guidance tours when they involve organizations linked to Kim's slush funds, an intelligence official said.
In the TV clip on Sunday, Jon is seen with Kim on an tour to Hyangmanlu, a popular restaurant, and Sonhung food manufacturing plant. A North Korean defector who used to live in Pyongyang, said the restaurant was built in the 1990s by a wealthy ethnic Korean from Japan and is located in a busy part of Pyongyang. "It was always packed with wealthy party officials," the defector said, adding the party manages the restaurant so the entire proceeds probably go into Kim Jong-il's coffers. He added there is a strong possibility that the food factory also belongs to the party.
The last time Jon appeared on North Korean TV was on June 20, at the opening of a mine in Yanggang Province. A North Korean source said the Huchang Mine is a famous copper mine that had been closed for some time but must have reopened. "Judging by the fact that Jon took part in the opening ceremony, it appears to be one of many mines run by Room 39."
Jon was also spotted at Kim's inspections of two fisheries companies last year and one this year. A Unification Ministry official said, "North Korean exports of fisheries products are handled by the party or the military and they're sources of revenue for Kim Jong-il's slush fund." Fisheries products accounted for the second largest North Korea's W1.64 trillion exports to South Korea last year, amounting to W173 billion or 16.3 percent. Textiles totaled W477 billion or 44.8 percent.
"This is one of the reasons why we blocked imports of North Korean fisheries products" following the North's sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan, the official said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/16/2010 00:00 ||
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Be nice if CIA stole or block accounts of kimmy.
#2
If we had a CIA worth anything at all they would have stolen all of Kimmie's money already, set up evidence to blame the Iranians for the theft, and used the money to provide food and radios to the suffering people of North Korea.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/16/2010 9:07 Comments ||
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#3
If we had a CIA worth anything at all they would have
I'm pretty sure not even James Bond could have accomplished all that in one go, Dr. Steve.
A Milan Appeal Court on Wednesday increased prison sentences for 23 CIA agents found guilty of abducting a Muslim cleric from Milan in 2003.
In the closely watched trial, the world's first judicial examination of the controversial United States practice of extraordinary rendition, the agents' terms were lengthened from 5-8 years to 7-9 years.
Former CIA Milan station chief Robert Seldon Lady was among those who received nine years.
The prosecution had sought convictions ranging from eight to 12 years for the 23.
But the CIA's former Italy chief, Jeff Castelli, was excluded from the proceedings at the last minute on a technicality along with two other operatives, Betnie Medero and Ralph Russomando.
For the three, acquitted at the first trial in November 2009 on the grounds of diplomatic immunity, the appeals process will now have to start all over again.
The prosecutor in the trial had requested a 12-year sentence for Castelli and eight years for the other two.
The court also ordered the 23 CIA officers to pay one million euros in damages to the former Milan imam, Hassan Mustafa Omar Nasr, and 500,000 euros to his wife. Italy's top two former military intelligence officers, former SISMI (now AISE) chief Nicolo' Pollari and his ex-No.2 Marco Mancini, were again acquitted on appeal because of a state-secrecy injunction.
The prosecutor had sought 12 years for Pollari and 10 for Mancini.
Three other ex-SISMI officers who benefited from state-secrecy norms also again benefitted, while the only two former SISMI officers convicted a year ago, lower-ranking officers Pio Pompa and Luciano Seno, saw their sentences cut from three years to two years and eight months.
None of the CIA operatives have ever appeared in court here.
Nasr, an Islamist wanted in Italy on suspicion of recruiting jihadi fighters, disappeared from a Milan street on February 17, 2003 and emerged from an Egyptian prison four years later claiming he had been tortured.
The cleric, who is also known as Abu Omar, did not attend the trial.
Prosecutors said he was snatched by a team of CIA operatives with SISMI's help and taken to a NATO base in Ramstein, Germany, en route to Cairo.
US-ITALIAN FRICTION.
The case had caused friction between Italy and the United States, which voiced its "disappointment" with last year's verdict.
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said he sympathised with US concerns, noting that the judiciary in Italy was independent but despite this, the Italian government had obtained the secrecy injunction.
Some of the agents had said they were worried they would become international fugitives but Frattini said: "I don't think those US operatives will go to jail".
Extraordinary rendition was first authorised by Bill Clinton in the 1990s and stepped up when George W. Bush declared war on terror after the September 11, 2001 attacks by Al-Qaeda.
Successive Italian governments denied all knowledge of the case and consistently ruled out the possibility of extradition.
During the trial the CIA refused to comment and its officers were silent until Lady, the ex-Milan chief, told an Italian daily in August 2009 that he was only following orders.
Lady, who has now retired, said from an undisclosed location that he was ''a soldier...in a war against terrorism''.
The trial of Nasr claimed headlines worldwide and stoked discussion of rendition, which was extended by President Barack Obama in 2008 under the proviso that detainees' rights should be respected.
The Council of Europe, a 47-nation human rights body, called Nasr's case a "perfect example of rendition".
#1
Don't we have extradition treaties with Italy? Will we be obligated to send our agents there to be jailed? (It's not like they did something trivial like drugging and raping a minor.)
#2
As a rule of thumb, to do the Italians back one in the eye for this, the CIA should issue any agents being posted in Italy false identification, except for administrators kept outside of the operational loop.
Then the CIA should begin a program of credibility erosion of those Italians who brought about this nonsense in the first place. A few critical ones should get the opportunity to experience prison themselves.
#3
Can't be all that hard to gin up a sex scandal on an Italian politician ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/16/2010 10:45 Comments ||
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#4
We should just send over a few mobsters we have locked up (Gambino's and Gatti's) and just tell the Italians that these are the guys they are looking for. The mobsters would never say a word since they would be out in 7-9.
[Geo News] JUI-F chief Fazl ur Rehman today met separately with Jamat-e-Islami's Qazi Hussain Ahmed and PML-Q's leader Chaudhry Shujaat, Geo News reported Wednesday.
Meetings held on the sidelines of Tahafuz-e-Namoos-e-Risalat conference. We have closed our doors for the government, Chaudhry Shujaat quoted Fazl ur Rehman as saying.
The JUI-F chief also met with JI ex-leader Qazi Hussain Ahmed and discussed the reactivation of the Muttahida Majli-e-Amal.
JUI-F on Tuesday announced that his party was parting ways with the PPP-led coalition government at the Centre following the sacking of Minister for Science and Technology Azam Khan Swati.
While talking to newsmen after the party meeting, Fazl ur Rehman said, "Our decision to quit the government as its coalition partner is final and now we have nothing to do with the federal government."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/16/2010 00:00 ||
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[Pak Daily Times] Former president Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... has warned that the army may have to intervene again in Pakistain politics if the country continues on a downward pattern, a private TV channel reported on Wednesday. Tanned, rested, and ready...
Speaking to a private TV channel from his new residence in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Musharraf said that Pakistain might be forced to take matters into its own hands -- which could include working with the Taliban -- if it continues to feel alienated by the rest of the world.
"There is no bar against me going back to Pakistain but the conditions have to be right," he said. "What should Pakistain do? What should ISI do? What does the army chief do? They'll make a strategy of protecting themselves," he said.
To a question, whether it would mean working with the Taliban, the former president answered, "No comment, no comment. We must know that the protection of Pakistain is everything to us. If someone is disturbing this, I will go to any extent to protect my country, because that's what I'm meant for. So you can see the answer yourself," the channel quoted him as saying.
Issuing warning to the West, he said, "Pakistain has to be protected. If you don't help, if no one helps, or instead is helping the other side, the side which is trying to disturb and destabilise us, well, then Pakistain has to take its own measures." He said that Pakistain was in a terrible state -- with its economy in crisis, high unemployment, mass discontent -- and having hard boyz on its soil.
Musharraf said that his return and his attempt to become an elected politician would this time give him the legitimacy which, according to him, he did not get the last time. "I was a dictator at that time in the eyes of the world." He further said that the army might still have to play a role in determining the future leadership. "You have to remember, in Pakistain the armed forces play a very huge and vital role," he said, adding, "I am of the opinion that the army should have a role in the constitution, so that it can voice its opinion and influence what happens in the country."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/16/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Pakistan does not helps itself with its jihadi policy so the West Should/must support India who are decent hardworking people!
Posted by: Paul ||
12/16/2010 8:45 Comments ||
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More than two decades after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday lifted a raft of sanctions designed to contain Iraq and prevent it from developing weapons of mass destruction.
The 15-nation council voted to end restrictions on Iraqi's rights to develop a civilian nuclear program, agreed to restore Iraqi control of its oil revenue within six months I missed this somewhere -- didn't know UN still had control of their oil
and brought an end to the vestiges of the controversial $64 billion oil-for-food program, which allowed Hussein's government to export billions of dollars worth of oil to purchase goods.
Vice President Biden presided over the session, which provided the Obama administration with an opportunity to highlight progress in the long, hard political transition in Iraq.
The explosion heard in Lebanon late Wednesday was an Israel Air Force operation aimed at destroying an espionage device it had installed off the coast of the city of Sidon, the Voice of Lebanon radio station reported on Thursday.
The report comes a day after the Lebanese Army said it had uncovered two Israeli spy installations in mountainous areas near Beirut and the Bekaa Valley, The installations included photographic equipment as well as laser and broadcast equipment. And Lebanon had no way of getting a fix on that broadcast equipment. And Israel had no way of blowing it up remotely.
This is the third time within a year that Israeli intelligence gathering installations have reportedly been discovered on Lebanese territory. On the two other occasions, the Lebanese found equipment designed to tap into Hezbollah's independent communications network.
In each case, the Lebanese Army acted on intelligence information provided by Hezbollah itself. If the latest reports from Lebanon are accurate, the discovery would constitute a severe blow to Israel's intelligence-gathering technology in Lebanon. The reported loss to Israel of these intelligence sources follows a wave of arrests more than a year and a half ago of individuals who Lebanon has claimed were agents working on behalf of Israel. In the course of those arrests, nearly 100 Lebanese and Palestinians were detained, including senior Lebanese Army officers.
The Lebanese Army said Wednesday the two surveillance installations had been dismantled. One of the installations included cameras and broadcast and reception equipment through which images were reportedly transferred to Israel. The Lebanese Army said the second facility was more sophisticated.
On December 3, Hezbollah activists found Israeli wiretapping equipment near the southern Lebanese town of Tyre. After it was discovered, the equipment was destroyed by remote control in a blast that injured two Lebanese civilians.
Lebanon filed a protest with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon alleging that Israel was responsible for installing the equipment and then blowing it up.
Hezbollah said the installations were used to tap into the independent fiber-optic communications network that the Islamic organization set up throughout Lebanon in 2008.
In October of last year, Hezbollah operatives uncovered another wiretapping installation near the southern Lebanese village of Houlah. According to Lebanese security officials, the facility had tapped into Hezbollah's independent landline telephone system. Lebanese media at the time, quoting Lebanese security sources as well as sources from Hezbollah and U.N. forces in southern Lebanon, said the equipment consisted of underground Israeli wiretapping installations that Israel blew up by remote control out of concern that they were about to be discovered.
Israel has neither confirmed nor denied that the equipment served as a surveillance installation but did tell the United Nation that in light of the threat posed by Hezbollah, intelligence operations in southern Lebanon would continue as long as the government in Beirut did not have full control of Lebanese territory.
#1
ION CHINEE MILITARY FORUM > ISRAEL CAN NO LONGER DEFEAT HEZBOLLAH: ISRAELI EXPERT [former Israeli IDF Gemeral + NatSec Advisor] | ISRAEL CAN SAVE ITSELF ONLY WID 2ND-ARTILLERY-STYLE [LRBM = ICBM Missle] DETERRENCE.
ARTIC > Pert argues that ISRAEL = IDF can longer absolutely defeat the Hezzies, etal. in open or direct engagement, while Hezbollah has the mil capability to inflict massive damage to Israeli Civilians, Urban Areas on the home front.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/16/2010 10:11 ||
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#1
We are sorry that due to the IDF's over-cautious behavior, only nine terrorists were killed in self-defense by our soldiers after they were brutally attacked. Had our government and army known from the outset that this boat had violent terrorists aboard, our soldiers would have received orders to act with a much larger show of force then was deployed in the end, possibly even orders to simply destroy the boat completely without risking lives by attempting a boarding.
Now that is how to apologize! Where is Rantburg's "like" button!?!?
#2
And I'll bet that since folks have had enough time to read more reports and think about it a bit instead of just overreacting, there will not be any sort of outcry about this.
#3
Since Turkey was so kind to send stuff to the Gazans, then Israel should return the favor by sending a ship to Turkey, full of bacon for Turkey's Christians, and maps of "Greater Kurdistan", including Iraqi, Syrian, Iranian and Turkish Kurdistan.
#4
Don't forget to stock that ship wit all the murderers, killers and thugs in reach, and tel them all you'll grant them freedom if they kill those godless Turks.
(In other words return the favor, exactly as the turks sent you. BE SURE THE PRESS IS WATCHING yOUR CONTROLLED PRESS OF COURSE)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/16/2010 12:19 Comments ||
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#5
Don't forget to stock that ship wit all the murderers, killers and thugs in reach
Israel apparently has their own Russian Mafiya that's to die for -- would that do, Redneck Jim?
[Al Jazeera] Tens of thousands of Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, supporters have filled the streets of Gazoo City in a mass rally to boost support for the Paleostinian resistance group on its 23rd anniversary.
Cars and buildings were adorned in Hamas's trademark green colours and flag-waving supporters clogged the streets to reach the rally on Tuesday, where Hamas leaders lauded the group's history of fighting Israel.
The large crowd cheered Hamas's pledge never to recognise Israel, as sonic booms blasted from Israeli jets overhead.
"Hamas has not failed, Hamas has not collapsed," Ismail Haniyeh, the group's leader in Gazoo, told the crowd. "Hamas did not fail to bring together government and resistance."
Hamas has often been torn between its roots as a military group and a local government responsible for providing services to 1.5 million citizens.
While sticking to its hard-line rhetoric, Hamas has largely observed an informal truce since a bruising Israeli invasion two years ago, forgoing attacks that could spur Israel to strike back or tighten its blockade.
Any Israeli response could make life harder for Gazooks, some 30 per cent of whom lack jobs. Many more rely on food aid.
Charm offensive
In the weeks leading up to Tuesday's rally, Hamas reached out to every Gazoo family, aiming to prove that power has not made the former grassroots movement indifferent to ordinary people.
Hamas officials distributed chocolate boxes with holiday cards signed "from Hamas with love". Hamas politicians helped clean Gazoo's streets, and security forces gave talks at schools.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/16/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
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#1
Attention CIA, NSA TARGET OPPORTUNITY HERE.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/16/2010 12:04 Comments ||
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#2
"From Hamas with Love" would make a great name for a James Bond movie . . . or maybe a Harlequin Romance novel. :-S
Iran has cut the annual budget it provides Hizbullah by over 40 percent, stirring an unprecedented crisis within the Lebanese Shiite guerrilla organization.
This comes, according to recent Israeli intelligence assessments, just weeks before a United Nations tribunal is expected to accuse Hizbullah of assassinating former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri in 2005.
#3
Hizbullah employees like to be paid. When their pay is cut, they get upset. This is where the Israeli intel comes in and provides funds that eventually produce agents.
That happened to Hamas and the PA and others.
Posted by: lord garth ||
12/16/2010 7:53 Comments ||
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#4
If we had a competent CIA those accounts would be drained, the Syrians would be blamed for it, and the Hezbie fighters would go hungry ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/16/2010 10:46 Comments ||
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[Asharq al-Aswat] Hezbullies yesterday appealed to "sisterly and friendly countries" to work to abolish the Special Tribunal for Leb. Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... the Future Movement that is led by Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced its commitment to the tribunal, saying that this was the only way to uncover those who had assassinated Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and others. The Future Movement called on Hezbullies to "stop threatening the Lebanese, who will not be easy prey to them."
Future Movement MP Khaled Daher confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that "the International Tribunal has become an unavoidable measure in order to uncover the truth about the liquidation of Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and the rest of the martyrs, and to punish the criminals and bring them to justice. It is not a tool for Dire Revenge™ or retaliation". Daher added that "Hezbullies agreed to the International Tribunal during national dialogue, as confirmed by the statements of the governments which participated in this dialogue. Today, Hezbullies seeks to intimidate the Lebanese, threaten their destiny and change the face of Leb, because the court has not been abolished. However, The infamous However... all of these threats are of no value, and this behavior will not help them. Hezbullies should realize that it's only option is to communicate with its partners within the homeland, and support the principle of punishing murderers".
Daher also said that "there is no quick solution except to arrange a meeting between Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Hezbullies Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, and for them to agree on two main points: Firstly, for the perpetrators of this liquidation to be identified via the International Tribunal, if the evidence it presents in its indictments proves to be conclusive. Secondly, if the indictments issued by the International Tribunal are not based on a firm foundation, then they should be rejected by both sides, under the auspices of the President of the Republic and all Lebanese leaders." Daher also told Asharq Al-Awsat that Hezbullies's "threats and warnings that the country will be destroyed, and accusing others of betrayal, will not achieve anything, because the tribunal was established by an international resolution and therefore cannot be abolished except by another international resolution".
Daher also stressed that "intimidation through force of arms will not change the equations, and will not lead to the results and scenarios desired by Hezbullies, this is because Leb has an army and security forces that will defend its people and institutions. Therefore, we are not easy prey for Hezbullies, and neither is the country."
Daher also asked "what moral or legal justification is there for threatening the families of victims?" He also told Asharq Al-Awsat that "Hezbullies is seriously wrong in making such threats, and must back down from this error. It must rule with its intellect, not through force of arms, which harms everybody. If Hezbullies believes that it is capable of controlling Leb then we say that this is impossible. Hezbullies should not move in this direction, as this will destroy Hezbullies, its arms, the legitimacy of its arms, and turn Hezbullies into the enemy of the Lebanese."
The head of Hezbullies's parliamentary bloc, MP Mohammed Raad said that he believes that the International Tribunal "is a new method, and a new tool, to wage war against the Resistance, That'd be the Hezbullies, natch... , because as long as the Resistance exists, no Americans or Israelis are able to rule Leb or any Arab and Islamic region."
Raad also said that Hezbullies Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah previously "presented evidence and information indicating that an Israeli was responsible for this crime, however the tribunal did not turn investigate this...because the US guidelines put in place when the tribunal was first formed told them: you can investigate whoever you want except the Israelis."
Raad also asked "who benefited from the liquidation of Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri: Syria, Leb or Israel? Who is the one who wants to incite strife in Leb and deepen the divide?"
For his part, another member of the Hezbullies political bloc, MP Nawaf al-Musawi, pointed out that "there are those who insist on using the International Tribunal as a political tool to impose control over Leb and eliminate the resistance". He added that "all attempts that sought to strike the resistance in a military fashion have failed, so today Israel and its allies the Americans have opted for a soft war. This is a media, political, and falsely judicial war, to undermine the independence of Leb. The so-called tribunal has practically placed Leb under US control during recent proceedings. Thus, anyone interested in Leb's independence must work to abolish the tribunal".
Al-Musawi appealed to "all sisterly and friendly countries to work to abolish the tribunal, because it will bring nothing to Leb except foreign control, aggression and instability, as it is based upon fraud and deception." He also said that "the other side that is committed to the corrupt and fraudulent international tribunal continue to follow its conspiracy against Leb and its illusory sovereignty. This conspiracy has been escalated, and they must expect us to defend our illusory sovereignty, therefore they are responsible for the stage that we are in."
For his part, Leb First bloc MP Mohammed Kabbara said that "Hezbullies is being loud and aggressive, threatening and menacing, under the guise of opposing the International Tribunal, portraying this issue as if it was defending the resistance." He added that "the truth of the matter is that their portrayed stance against the tribunal, in defense of the resistance, is only a curtain which Hezbullies hides behind."
Kabbara added that "Hezbullies is stealing the Lebanese state, harming the livelihood of its citizens, and raising unemployment...all under the slogan of defending the resistance. In the name of resistance, it runs a smuggling network across Lebanese land, sea, and air borders...transferring goods outside of official regulations." Kabbara concluded by saying that "enough is enough, how long will we turn a blind eye [to this]?"
Posted by: Fred ||
12/16/2010 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 Milan Appeal Court on Wednesday increased prison sentences for 23 CIA agents found guilty of abducting a Muslim cleric from Milan in 2003. 
