[An Nahar] The head of the political arm of Egypt's Moslem Brüderbund on Wednesday hailed U.S.-Egyptian ties during talks with the U.S. State Department's number two, but also said they must be "balanced."
The meeting with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns at the Cairo headquarters of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) came as marathon elections that propelled Islamists to Egypt's center stage wrapped up.
Washington has reached out to the Brotherhood in a nod to the country's new political reality, with Islamists poised to dominate the first parliament since a popular uprising ousted veteran president Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... in February.
FJP head Mohammed Mursi said his party "believes in the importance of U.S.-Egyptian relations," but stressed that ties between the two nations "must be balanced," a statement issued after the talks said.
Mursi "welcomed" Burns's visit and "asked that the United States review its policies ... in line with the (aspirations) of the Arab Spring" uprisings that brought down autocratic regimes in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia.
He also called on Washington to adopt a "positive position concerning Arab and Mohammedan causes," saying its policies in the past were "biased and not in its interest."
According to the FJP statement Burns "congratulated the party on the results it achieved" in the parliamentary election, and said Washington was "ready to help the Egyptian economy to overcome the current crisis."
The United States "respects the choice of the Egyptian people," it quoted Burns as saying.
Burns said his visit was aimed at learning the party's views on different issues, particularly the economy and politics in Egypt and the region, the statement said.
The U.S. official also noted that President Barack Obama B.O.... is keen on backing an economic program to boost investments in Egypt, it added.
FJP front man Ahmed Sobea had told Agence La Belle France Presse that the talks would be "the highest-level meeting with any official from the United States."
Burns arrived also met Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) which took power when Mubarak was ousted.
He is also expected to meet other officials, political and business leaders as well as activists.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as the Smartest Woman in the World and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Edward Everett ... said before the polls that the United States had pursued "limited contacts" with the Brotherhood as Washington was "re-engaging in" a six-year-old policy in light of Egypt's political changes.
FJP deputy head Essam al-Erian met Jeffrey Feltman, U.S. assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, during a recent visit to Cairo, Sobea said.
Wednesday's meeting comes as Egyptians voted in the final phase of staggered elections to elect a lower house of parliament. Polls closed at 1700 GMT.
Egypt's two main Islamist parties have scored a crushing victory in the seats declared so far, reflecting a regional trend since Arab Spring uprisings overthrew authoritarian secular regimes.
The FJP has claimed the lead -- securing more than 35 percent of votes for party lists -- closely followed by al-Nour party, which represents the ultra conservative brand of Salafi Islam.
Burns was not expected to meet al-Nour representatives, a party front man told AFP.
The Brotherhood, Egypt's best organized political movement, was widely expected to triumph in the polls through the FJP.
But the surge by al-Nour and the high visibility of Salafi movements have raised fears among increasingly marginalized liberals about civil liberties and religious freedom.
The SCAF has repeatedly pointed to the elections as proof of its intention to hand the reins to a civilian government.
But the vote has exposed a deepening rift among Egyptians. Some see them as the first step to democratic rule, while others say the new parliament -- whose function remains unclear -- leaves control in the hands of the military.
The SCAF has faced growing outrage over the actions of the security forces against demonstrators calling for an immediate transition to civilian rule, which have resulted in dozens of deaths.
Burns was also expected to discuss a major U.S. dispute with Egypt over Cairo's crackdown last month on 17 offices of local and international rights organizations, including U.S. election monitoring groups.
The most populous Arab country, Egypt has been the linchpin of U.S. policy in the Middle East since 1979 when it became the first Arab state to sign a peace treaty with Israel. Egypt receives $1.5 billion in annual U.S. military aid.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/12/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
"Just kill all the Juice and institute Sharia, and we can be the best of friends."
The High Court has ruled that Justice Secretary Ken Clarke was wrong to stop the BBC filming a terrorist suspect held for seven years without trial. The court said there was public interest in interviewing Babar Ahmad, due to the exceptional nature of the case.
The Justice Secretary had contended an interview was not necessary to inform the public about Ahmad. The British Muslim denies the charges and is fighting extradition to the US.
After the ruling, the justice secretary said he would not appeal the verdict and would begin negotiations with the BBC about how and when the interview would take place.
The 38-year-old has been in prison pending extradition since 2004, believed to be a record for an unconvicted British citizen. He awaits a final decision on his case by the European Court of Human Rights.
Ahmad is accused of raising money for terrorists extremists and other offenses, all of which are thought to have been committed in the UK. He has not been charged or faced trial in this country and denies any wrongdoing.
Last year, over 140,000 people signed an official government e-petition calling for him to be tried in the UK, causing MPs to include his case in two Parliamentary debates.
After the ruling, the Ministry of Justice issued a statement saying the length of time taken in the Ahmad extradition case was "unacceptable", and blamed a backlog of 150,000 cases at the European Court of Human Rights for the delay. It added that the judge had upheld the Prison Service's general policy on refusing media interview requests with prisons unless there were "exceptional circumstances".
North Korea has reportedly asked the U.S. to expand the scale of potential food aid. Sources said Pyongyang late last month asked Washington to increase promised food aid from 24,000 tons to 30,000.
No.
The reclusive state also asked for more than nutritional assistance, adding grain to the aid list, sources added. The U.S refuses to provide grain because it fears that would be diverted to the military.
Perhaps I'm being hasty. Throw off your communist rulers, shoot Pudgy and commit to an open society, and we'll talk.
During talks in New York before North Korean leader Kim Jong-il died, Pyongyang had tentatively agreed to take steps toward denuclearization in return for food aid.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/12/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
No, Hell no, no way in hell no, get the picture?
Y'all set the trap, now die from it, Chabge tour Government, then Beg.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/12/2012 0:52 Comments ||
Top||
#2
the whole country is being held hostage as human shields.
#3
Perhaps I'm being hasty. Throw off your communist rulers, shoot Pudgy and commit to an open society, and we'll talk.
Amen. I would go to 24.5k tons if they would just stop being such ..., rhymes with "Ricks".
Posted by: Mike Ramsey ||
01/12/2012 13:16 Comments ||
Top||
#4
The reclusive state also asked for more than nutritional assistance, adding grain to the aid list, sources added.
In other words they want rice to distribute to regime supporters and guard dogs. Nutritional biscuits and vitamin supplements are for proles. Every biscuit should be prominently stamped "USA".
Posted by: Barbara ||
01/12/2012 19:44 Comments ||
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#7
The regime will use this to add to the gift of food they give to their citizens later each year out of the goodness of their leaders' communist hearts. They will have the folks in the gulags erase any trace of Made in (Wherever) erased from it, then they will kill them. They have different levels of gulags depending on the particular blend of classifications of work secrecy, work necessity, citizen "criminality"/expendability, work due dates, risk of leaks, etc.. All very understandable, really. And anyone who feeds or votes this system into existence needs to burn in help for a long time to make up for all the misery they perpetuate.
President Asif Ali Zardari left for Dubai on a scheduled one-day trip on Thursday, local television stations reported, amid growing tension over a memo seeking US help in preventing a coup by the military.
The president's trip comes during the worst tensions between Pakistan's civilian government and the military since a coup in 1999.
Gulf-based Pakistani sources said Zardari would make the trip for a medical check-up. "This trip will be for a follow-up medical check-up and then he'll be returning right away," an associate of Zardari said.
Does he have a re-entry stamp on his visa?
However, a senior member of the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP) said Zardari had left Pakistan to attend a wedding in Dubai. No official confirmation of either story was available immediately.
"Dang, Achmed, the plane is handling like a pig. I thought we'd never get off the ground!"
"Wonder what the Boss brought in his luggage. All those bags and they all sure looked heavy."
Zardari went to Dubai for medical treatment last month, triggering speculation that a military take-over in the nuclear-armed South Asian nation was imminent. He returned home a couple of weeks later.
[Fox News] The U.S. Defense Department has neither sought nor received assurances that the Mighty Pak Army will not stage a coup even though there is near-open conflict between the civilian and military leadership, a Pentagon front man said Wednesday.
"This is a matter for Pak officials -- their government leaders, military and civilian -- to work out," the front man, Navy Capt. John Kirby, told news hounds.
It also is a matter of grave concern in light of Pakistain's status as a nuclear power and the risk that its arsenal -- said to be well protected now -- could fall into the wrong hands in the event of civil conflict.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/12/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
That sound youse is hearing are the Blue Birds of US, Pak Govt. assurances that Pakistan's nuclear arsenal was secure flapping their wings + getting ready to fly the coop.
D *** NG IT - FLY, ROBIN, FLY, UP UP TO THE SKY ... [thud]???
[Dawn] Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani ... Pakistain's erstwhile current prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics can be awe-inspiring ... on Wednesday sacked Secretary Defence Khalid Naeem Lodhi, DawnNews reported. In a related development, the army chief summoned an emergency meeting of the corps commanders.
The prime minister revoked Lodhi's contract and handed over the additional charge of secretary defence to Nargis Sethi. Furthermore, DawnNews quoted sources as saying that the military high command had appointed Brigadier Sarfaraz Ali commander of the 111 brigade.
Prime Minister Gilani's office said in a statement that Lodhi was fired for "gross misconduct and illegal action which created misunderstanding" between state institutions.
The army earlier said the defence ministry had failed to process its submissions made to a Supreme Court inquiry into a controversial unsigned memo that sought US help in curbing the power of the military.
That failure triggered a row between the country's military and civilian leadership, with the prime minister earlier in the week telling Chinese media the army top brass had acted unlawfully in failing to consult it.
Moreover, Lodhi was regarded as having more power than the defence minister because of his direct ties to the army high command.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/12/2012 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani ... Pakistain's erstwhile current prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics can be awe-inspiring ... on Wednesday said that the Army Chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani ... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI... informed him about the ISPR statement in advance, DawnNews reported.
Speaking to media representatives at the inauguration of PTV's sports channel, Gilani said that he dismissed the defence secretary for disciplinary reasons.
Gilani said there was no danger to the government. "We are standing with the armed forces," he added.
The prime minister said interview with the Chinese news agency was scheduled before the visit of army chief to China.
He said that the rules of business were violated when army chief and DG ISI filed replies to the Supreme Court directly bypassing defence and law ministries.
Gilani said that he has not been elected to the parliament for the first time and that his family has been into the politics since the Mughal emperors' era.
The prime minister also said that he was surprised that the apex court declared him a dishonest man without even consulting him for justification.
The prime minister reiterated that the Senate elections will be held on time.
Gilani said that the government will certainly reply Supreme Court on the six options they have put forward in NRO review case. However he added that all state institutions should operate within their boundaries.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/12/2012 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] The US gave money to a Pak Mohammedan group that organised anti-Taliban rallies, but which later demonstrated in support of an turban who killed a leading liberal politician, the US Embassy in Pakistain said Wednesday.
US government website Usaspending.gov shows that the group, the Sunni Ittehad Council, received $36,607 from Washington in 2009.
A US diplomat said that the embassy had given money to the group to organise the rallies, but that it had since changed direction and leadership. He said it was a one-off grant, and wouldn't be repeated. He didn't give his name because he wasn't authorised to speak about the issue on the record.
The grant was first reported by the Council of Foreign Relations on its website.
The Ittehad council was formed in 2009 to counter extremism. It groups politicians and holy mans from Pakistain's traditionalist Barelvi Mohammedan movement, often referred to as theological moderates in the Pak context.
The American money was used to organise nationwide rallies against snuffies and suicide kabooms, the embassy official said. The demonstrations received widespread media coverage, and were some of the first against extremism in the country.
The rhetoric at the rallies was mostly focused on opposing bad turban attacks on shrines, which Barelvis frequent but are opposed by Deobandi Mohammedans, Pakistain's other main Mohammedan sect.
In 2011 and also this month, however, the council led demonstrations in support of the killer of Salman Taseer, a governor who was killed a year ago for his criticism of anti-blasphemy laws. The displays have appalled Pak liberals and stoked international fears that the country is buckling under the weight of extremism.
Taseer's assassin, Mumtaz Qadri, is a Barelvi. He claimed he acted to defend the honour of Prophet Mohammed.
At its rallies, the group maintains its criticism of the Taliban even as it supports Qadri -- a seemingly contradictory stance that suggests its leaders may be more interested in harnessing the political support and street power of Barelvis than in genuinely countering militancy.
Two leading members of the council who have been with the group from the beginning of its existence denied receiving any American funds. The apparent discrepancy could be explained by lack of transparency within the organization. However, if you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning... given the current anti-American climate, owning up to receiving funds from the United States would invite criticism.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/12/2012 00:00 ||
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Terrorist violence in Indian Kashmir reached record lows in 2011. This is part of a trend that has been going on for most of the last decade.
A major factor in reducing the violence is blocking the movement of Islamic terrorists from Pakistan. Part of this is getting Pakistan to shut down the terrorist camps on their side of the border.
In Kashmir itself, the Islamic terrorists have worn out their welcome with the Moslem majority by killing too many local Moslems and by crushing the the once booming local economy.
The Indian border troops now have heat sensors, unattended sensors and better training to operate in the upland forests and hills of the high mountain passes. There are also more troops watching the infiltration routes. The Islamic radicals have not been able to counter these Indian moves. Another side benefit of doing business with Israel.
Posted by: Mike Ramsey ||
01/12/2012 00:00 ||
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The High Court of Justice on Wednesday rejected petitions against an amendment to the citizenship law, preventing the unification of Palestinians with their spouses in Israel.
A majority of six justices versus five, ruled that "the right to a family life does not necessarily have to be realized within the borders of Israel." You see, courts don't actually have to assist the enemy.
The Mossad has managed to infiltrate the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq in order to spy on Iran's nuclear program, French daily Le Figaro reported Tuesday.
According to an unnamed security source in Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... , Israel has hired Iranian Kurdish refugees in the autonomous region to gather information about Iran's nuclear program, and to target nuclear experts in the Islamic Theocratic Republic.
[VOA News] Qatar's prime minister said Wednesday that the Syrian government appears unwilling to change course and is continuing to attack its own people as the Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... considers the effectiveness of its observer mission there. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as The Woman to Call at 3 a.m. and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Henry Clay ... cautions that the monitoring mission can not continue indefinitely.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor Al Thani said Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Sonny, disguised as Fredo, trying to be Mike... appears unwilling to cooperate with Arab League efforts to resolve the political crisis.
Mr. bin Jassim said President Assad dismisses the vaporous Arab League as a group that has had nothing but six decades of failure. He says there are those who would judge four decades of rule in Syria in much the same way, but that is for the Syrian people to decide.
As government attacks continue, Mr. bin Jassim - who also is Qatar's foreign minister - says the most important thing now is for the killing to stop, for the Syrian military to withdraw from the streets, and for the government to release political prisoners.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/12/2012 00:00 ||
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A senior Israeli official on Wednesday gave a cryptic reaction to a car boom which killed an Iranian nuclear scientist, saying he was unaware who did it but calling it an act of "Dire Revenge™."
"I don't know who took Dire Revenge™ on the Iranian scientist, but I am definitely not shedding a tear," Israeli military front man Brigadier General Yoav Mordechai wrote on his official Facebook page.
Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, 32, was killed along with his driver/bodyguard in a Tehran car booming earlier on Wednesday, in a blast the Islamic republic immediately blamed on Israel and the United States.
He was the fourth Iranian scientist to be killed in an kaboom in the past two years, with the finger repeatedly pointed at Israel.
Israeli officials rarely respond to such accusations and for the most part, do not comment on events in Iran, but the story made the headlines on the websites of the country's main newspapers, as well as on its radio and television stations.
The blast came a day after Israel's chief of staff said 2012 would be a "critical" year for Iran.
"2012 is expected to be a critical year in terms of the link between the continuation of the nuclearisation (process), the internal changes within the Iranian leadership, the growing pressure from the international community and things which happen to them in an unnatural way," Lieutenant General Benny Gantz told MPs in remarks communicated by a front man.
His comments were interpreted in the press as referring to a series of mysterious attacks targeting Iran's nuclear programme and officials involved in various aspects of it.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/12/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
Oy! Seems Babalon could use a little bit of luck...Oh Well, here's a little tune for you effin satanists...
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.
Hillary Clinton
North Korea has reportedly asked the U.S. to expand the scale of potential food aid. Sources said Pyongyang late last month asked Washington to increase promised food aid from 24,000 tons to 30,000.
President Asif Ali Zardari left for Dubai on a scheduled one-day trip on Thursday, local television stations reported, amid growing tension over a memo seeking US help in preventing a coup by the military. 
The U.S. Defense Department has neither sought nor received assurances that the 
[Dawn] Prime Minister 
Terrorist violence in Indian Kashmir reached record lows in 2011. This is part of a trend that has been going on for most of the last decade. 
considers the effectiveness of its observer mission there. Secretary of State 
