The United National Office on Drugs and Crime said on Friday that revenue from opium production in Afghanistan rose 133 per cent in 2011.
The total revenue retrieved last year from opium production was about $1.4 billion which is one tenth of the total Gross Domestic Product of the country, UN said.
Prices jumped dramatically because of the plant disease that wiped out much of the opium crop in 2010. Although yields returned to normal levels in 2011, prices remained high.
Afghanistan supplies 90 per cent of the world's opium despite the efforts of the government and its international allies to curb production.
The money earned from opium is reportedly used to provide weapons for krazed killers.
[An Nahar] Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki will pardon more than 1,000 prisoners on Saturday's anniversary of the fall of the regime of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the justice ministry said.
Priority will be given to aged people and adolescents, it said Friday, adding that some other detainees will benefit from conditional release and reduced sentences.
On Saturday, Tunisians mark the culmination of their revolution, which began in December 2010 and led to the flight of Ben Ali to Soddy Arabia after 23 years of hardline rule.
Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika ... 10th president of Algeria. He was elected in 1999 and is currently on his third term, which is probably why Algerians are ready to dump him... , the emir of Qatar, Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, and the head of Libya's National Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, will take part in the events marking the revolution that began the "Arab Spring", leading to the end of dictatorial regimes in Egypt and Libya.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2012 00:00 ||
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CAIRO (Ma'an) -- The Egyptian Ministry of Interior has granted citizenship to 651 children with non-Egyptian fathers, local media reported.
Minister of Interior Muhammad Ibrahim said the decision would affect 603 children with Paleostinian fathers and Egyptian mothers, Al-Ahram newspaper reported.
Prior to 2004, the children of Egyptian women married to foreigners were denied Egyptian citizenship.
Paleostinians in Egypt were left out of amendments to the law amid claims that granting them citizenship would contradict 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... 's position to protect the Paleostinian right of return.
Two years later, the vaporous Arab League said there was no connection between the right of return and the right to Egyptian citizenship.
CAIRO: Former US President Jimmy Carter said on Thursday, after meeting Egypt's military rulers and political parties, the army was unlikely to surrender all of its powers by mid-2012, highlighting the potential for further power struggles.
Nothing gets past Jimmuah...
The gentleman has a very special talent for seeing the obvious and getting it all wrong.
"I think to have an abrupt change in the totality of the military authority at the end of June or this year is more than we can expect," Carter told Reuters in an interview.
"A clear message has to go out that in the future for Egypt, whenever that time comes, there will be complete civilian control over all aspects of the government affairs and the military will play its role under the direction of an elected president and an elected parliament."
Sure, that happens all the time in the Arab world...
Carter, 87, is in Cairo with a group from his human rights organization, the Carter Center, to help monitor the end of the final round of Egypt's first parliamentary elections since Mubarak was ousted.
"My guess is that the military would like to retain as much control as possible for as long as possible, still accepting the results of the revolution and the election," he said.
I guessed that from Chicago...
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate said he met with Egyptian political parties, including the Muslim Brotherhood, leading in the parliamentary vote, who also foresaw the military rulers holding on to power beyond the scheduled June date.
"When I talked with the Muslim Brotherhood and others, they contemplate a period extended beyond the end of June where the military might have some special privileges," he said. "But they should be terminated at the end of a certain period, and the permanent limits on the military should be clearly expressed in a constitution to be written in the next two or three months."
The new parliament's first job will be appointing a 100-strong assembly to write a new constitution which will be violated when convenient define the president's powers and parliament's clout in the new Egypt.
They've done that a few times already. The King had a constitution. Nasser had one, as did Sadat and Mubarak. Never seemed to impede anything they wanted to do. It was like the 'prime directive' on Star Trek; you only heard about it when it was being violated in one way or another.
All Egypt's rulers have come from the army since a 1952 coup against the monarchy. The military keeps its internal budget and business interests from civilian oversight.
Perfectly 'constitutional', too...
Carter said he expected Egypt's new government to focus more than the previous leadership on Palestinian rights as highlighted under the accord.
"This new government will probably be much more concerned about the rights of the Palestinians than have the previous rulers or leaders in Egypt, but in my opinion that will be conducive to a better prospect of peace between Israel and its neighbors," he said.
Carter added that any external military intervention in Syria, engulfed for ten months in a political upheaval that has killed thousands, would be a "tragic mistake."
"I think the Arab League, obviously, is not a strong organization, it doesn't have the major staff that it requires, but here [on Syria] the Arab League might encourage that sort of discussion to accommodate the interests of both parties and to do it peacefully," Carter said.
Because the Arab League is weak, it can 'encourage discussion'. No wonder Jimmuah was a miserable failure as president.
"But to try to resolve it by military means, as has been the case in the past, or by the intrusion of military forces from the outside, I think would be a tragic mistake."
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/14/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
I'm picking Jimmuh in the Dead Pool this year. Because I want it to be so
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/14/2012 10:12 Comments ||
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[An Nahar] Human Rights Watch ... dedicated to bitching about human rights violations around the world... on Friday strongly criticized a decision by the Gulf state of Kuwait to bar stateless people from protesting, saying the order denies them their rights and should be revoked.
Kuwait's interior ministry has issued three statements this week warning stateless people, locally known as illegal residents or bidoons, not to demonstrate or they will be punished.
"This is a shameful effort to curb the rights to peaceful expression and assembly of Kuwait's bidoons," Sarah Leah Whitson, Human Rights Watch's Middle East director, said in a statement.
"These universal rights belong to everyone, regardless of whether they are considered citizens or are fighting to gain citizenship," she said.
In one of the statements issued on Thursday, the Kuwaiti interior ministry warned bidoons, some of whom plan to demonstrate later on Friday, that "they will only have themselves to blame" if they gather again.
The authorities claim that Kuwaiti law allows only citizens of the oil-rich emirate to demonstrate.
Thousands of bidoons have been demonstrating for the past several weeks to press for citizenship and other basic rights they claim they have been deprived of.
Kuwait has long alleged that bidoons, and in some cases their ancestors, destroyed their original passports to claim the right to Kuwaiti citizenship in order to gain access to the services and generous benefits provided to citizens by the state.
In a bid to force the bidoons to produce their original nationality papers, Kuwait has refused to issue essential documents to most of them, including birth, marriage and death certificates, according to a June report by the New York-based rights group.
Fifty-two bidoons are on trial for protesting while 32 others are under investigation.
More than 105,000 stateless people have been living in Kuwait for decades but were denied citizenship. The government says only 34,000 of them qualify for citizenship.
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01/14/2012 00:00 ||
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BERLIN: Germanys foreign minister says the West must avoid the mistake of assuming that Islamic-oriented parties arent compatible with freedom and modernization as it encourages democracy in the Arab world.
Germanys Guido Westerwelle wrote in an article in the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Friday that political Islam is not the same as radical Islamism and we must learn to look carefully and differentiate.
Westerwelle argues for dialogue on the relationship between the state and society, politics and religion with moderate forces such as the winners in Tunisia and Morocco. He writes: I am convinced that the combination of Islamic orientation and democratic attitude, of Islam and democracy, is possible.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/14/2012 00:00 ||
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#2
He must think the "Islamic-oriented parties" will make the trains run on time....
I'd suggest Herr Westerwelle take his family and go live under "political Islam" for a while, then let us know how free, modern, and encouraging of democracy it is if he's still alive.
Until then, shut your ignorant Strudel-hole.
Posted by: Barbara ||
01/14/2012 9:33 Comments ||
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#3
Nobody has been taking him seriously for quite a while (read: since he took office)
Posted by: European Conservative ||
01/14/2012 15:13 Comments ||
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#4
Oh and he can't take his family there. He's openly gay which means that those "moderate parties" would hang him if he weren't a foreign minister.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
01/14/2012 15:16 Comments ||
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#5
He could take his flavor-of-the-month boyfriend, EC.
After all, according to him, they're "compatible with freedom and modernization." What could go wrong?
Posted by: Barbara ||
01/14/2012 18:31 Comments ||
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CAMP PENDLETON, California: A squad mate of a United States Marine accused of killing unarmed Iraqi civilians testified that if he had to do it again, he would call in an air strike to destroy a home from where the group gunned down six people.
Former Sgt. Hector Salinas testimony came Thursday at Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterichs court-martial, one of the biggest criminal cases against US troops to emerge from the Iraq War.
Salinas said that he believed small arms fire had come from the direction of the home shortly after a roadside bomb hit a convoy, killing a Marine. But he conceded that he did not know at the time that there were women and children in the dwelling.
Wuterich, the squad leader, faces nine counts of manslaughter and other charges stemming from Marine actions that day that killed 24 Iraqis in the town of Haditha in 2005. The Marines stormed two homes for 45 minutes, killing unarmed men, women and children. They found no weapons or insurgents, squad members testified.
Salinas testified that he was the first Marine to enter the house after the roadside bomb exploded. He said he shot a figure he saw near the stairs and later learned he had killed an elderly woman.
He said he saw a man in a wheelchair after he went back to the home later. Four other unarmed civilians were killed there.
Wuterichs attorneys have said Wuterich believed insurgents were inside after the explosion.
Asked by a defense attorney if he would have done anything differently that day, Salinas said, I would have just utilized my air to just level the house.
Military prosecutors have implicated Wuterich in 19 of the 24 Iraqi deaths. The Camp Pendleton Marine from Meriden, Connecticut, is the last defendant in one of the biggest criminal cases against US troops from the war. One squad member was acquitted. Six others had their cases dropped. Salinas was never formally charged.
Salinas was one of two squad members who testified Thursday. Both raised questions about testimony given Wednesday by another fellow Marine who said Wuterich had called for bloodshed of Iraqis if his squad ever was hit by a roadside bomb.
Salinas said he did not recall such a statement, and former Lance Cpl. Trent Graviss said he never heard it.
The issue at the court martial is whether Wuterich reacted appropriately as a Marine squad leader in protecting his troops in the midst of a chaotic war or went on a vengeful rampage, disregarding combat rules and leading his men to shoot and blast indiscriminately at Iraqi civilians.
Wuterich has said he regretted the loss of civilian lives but believed he was operating within military combat rules.
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01/14/2012 00:00 ||
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PAKISTAN'S Prime Minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani, has appealed for support from parliament against political threats, asking legislators to choose between ''democracy and dictatorship'' in a vote of confidence due tomorrow.
Support? From the Pakistaini parliament? What can they do?
A resolution prepared by the government pledges ''full confidence and trust'' in the political leadership and, pointedly, asks ''all institutions to act within constitutional limits''.
Pakistan's government is locked in a fierce stand-off with the country's two other powerful institutions of state: the ever-influential military, with whom its relationship has collapsed, and an activist Supreme Court apparently determined to have the government removed.
The government, with a comfortable majority in parliament, will likely have its resolution passed but will take little comfort from it.
There's a reason for that...
Rumours of a military coup have swept Pakistan in recent days, fanned partly by President Asif Ali Zardari's sudden, although brief, departure from the country. The speculation has since cooled, with army sources saying soldiers will stay in barracks.
[Dawn] Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani ... Pakistain's erstwhile current prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics can be awe-inspiring ... on Friday said that he did not need to take a vote of confidence, DawnNews reported.
Whoever wants to initiate a no-confidence motion in the parliament, they are free to do so, he said.
Addressing a session of the National Assembly, Gilani said everyone should respect the constitution and those who want to cut short the terms of the prime minister and the president should propose amendments to the constitution.
"Now we have to decide whether we should have democracy or dictatorship in this country. If we have committed any mistakes, it does not mean that democracy or parliament should be punished," Gilani told parliamentarians.
He further said that the government was not against any state institution.
"We have not come here to seek martyrdom, nor are we seeking support on the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO)," the premier said.
"The opposition should tell us if the NRO was made by our government," the prime minister questioned.
He further said that "if a new stage is set up, it would neither welcome the current government, nor the existing opposition".
Regarding the judiciary, he said: "We went to prisons for the judges...faced treason cases for standing up for Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
Somehow im not convinced of his bravado and I don't think he will last long as PM.
[Dawn] Pakistain Mohammedan League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... on Friday said that the government should hold general elections as early as possible in order to avoid 'mishap' in the country, DawnNews reported.
Sharif said that coalition partners of the Pakistain Peoples Party (PPP) government were equally responsible for the crisis in the country.
"Wisdom demands that the PPP seek a fresh mandate because it is the only way to wriggle out from the morass they find themselves in," the former prime minister said.
"Government is sinking.....partners will not be able to save themselves as well...," said the PML-N chief.
Sharif said that PML-Q chief Shujaat Hussain should talk clearly about holding the elections earlier than scheduled rather than using a vague language about it.
The party chief advised government not to choose the path of collision and comply with apex court's verdicts.
The PML-N chief said that his party does not support martial laws. "It would be sensible that it (coup) not be given a chance," he added.
He warned the government that if it tried to complete its tenure ignoring ground realities and refusing to bring good governance, the economic and political situation would deteriorate further.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2012 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... (JI) on Friday staged a sit-in outside the Police Headquarters in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... against the growing incidents of illegal detentions and kidnapping of citizens by police and other law enforcing agencies.
The protest led by JI Secretary General the thuggish Liquat Baloch after the Friday prayer was attended by a large number of citizens, political workers and family members of the missing persons.
After offering the Friday prayer at New Memon Masjid on M A Jinnah Road the protestors marched towards the police head office chanting slogans against the police and LEAs.
Families including children, wives, and mothers of the missing persons holding placards and banners participated in the protest.
Baloch and Mohammad Hussain Mehnati met with the Inspector General Police Sindh Syed Mushtaq Shah and Additional IG Bloody Karachi Akhtar Hussain Gorchani and presented them their demands.
After successful dialogue with the police Baloch informed that the police maintained that they had no knowledge about the whereabouts of the missing persons. However, today is that tomorrow you were thinking about yesterday... IGP Sindh established a committee comprising Additional IG Crime Branch and Additional IG Bloody Karachi to probe into the matter and search the missing persons.
Liaqat Baloch said it is violation of all civility and democratic norms to whisk away citizens without any court warrant. He said if anyone is wanted to police in any case, he or she should be presented before the court of law.
He demanded of the Government, Judiciary and Army to recover the missing persons at the earliest. He warned that if these innocent persons were not recovered his party's next sit-in would be outside Sindh Chief Minister House.
He said a sit-in could also be staged in Islamabad if protests in Bloody Karachi failed to yield positive results. He alleged the present rulers were slaves of what he called their foreign bosses.
Some family members of the missing persons Ajmal Waheed, Osama Waheed, Maaz Farooqui, Muhammad Ayaz, Muhammad Aamir Sahreef and Rizwan Tayab also spoke and hoped that this sit-in would prove the start of a revolution against injustices in the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2012 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Former Defence Secretary Lt. General Khalid Naeem Lodhi on Friday said that he was sacked for not signing a government's affidavit in memogate case, DawnNews reported.
"How could I sign a statement which was not mine" said Lodhi.
He said that he has decided to move court over his unjust removal.
The former secretary said that Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani ... Pakistain's erstwhile current prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics can be awe-inspiring ... did not give any reason for his dismissal and there was no show-cause notice issued nor was there any inquiry.
Lodhi said he was sacked because he did not sign the government's affidavit in the memogate case.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement: "General Lodhi was dismissed for gross misconduct and illegal action ... and for creating misunderstanding between institutions."
The government gave additional charge of the defence ministry to Cabinet Secretary Nargis Sethi.
Mr Gilani further explained: "Under the rules of business, the defence secretary did not get the summary in writing or sought confirmation from the minister and bypassed the Ministry of Law and Justice and sent a copy of replies to the attorney general and also sent the reply directly to the Supreme Court registrar." He said Gen Lodhi had been removed after "thoroughly investigating the matter", adding that the former defence secretary had himself conceded that he did not get the replies approved by the defence minister or the attorney general.
"And he has written himself that neither the minister nor the attorney general was available. We have nothing against anybody."
Gen Lodhi, who took over as the defence secretary on November 28 last year, was considered to be a close confidant of Gen Kayani ... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI...
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
Damned if you do, and damned if you don't.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/14/2012 5:25 Comments ||
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[Dawn] The establishment division of the government on Friday said that the Prime Minister Gilani sacked Khalid Naeem Lodhi from the post of defence secretary with the recommendation of Law and Defence Ministries, DawnNews reported.
The establishment division, after the reported reaction of former defence secretary in media earlier today, has issued a statement which explains that according to article 99 of the constitution Lodhi should have taken an approval of the law minister before submitting the statements of army chief and DG ISI in the apex court.
Lodhi said he was new to the post when defence minister asked him to justify himself for not following the right legal procedure.
The law ministry, when asked for its opinion by defence minister, declared that the law has been broken by then defence secretary.
Mr Lodhi's step has created misunderstanding between state's institutions, the law ministry added.
Prime Minster Yousuf Raza Gilani ... Pakistain's erstwhile current prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics can be awe-inspiring ... then sacked Mr Lodhi on recommendation of defence minister and with help of law ministry's opinion, the statement said.
The statement further said that legal procedure was followed in removing the former defence secretary.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2012 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Built at a cost of Rs6 billion, the Kohat Friendship Tunnel has virtually been turned into a black hole due to non-repair of lights and the exhaust system, which were damaged by turbans, causing nuisance to passengers.
Sources said that the National Highway Authority failed to renovate the tunnel connecting Beautiful Downtown Peshawar with the southern districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... for the last few years though its had been generating road tax worth millions every month since its opening in 2003.
Wishing anonymity, officials privy to the issue told this correspondent by phone from Islamabad that the contractor company closed the tunnel for repair in its first phase for 10 days in April last year.
They said that without carrying out any repair work the company was claiming Rs7.5 million, which turned into a dispute between the NHA and the company.
The sources said that the exhaust fans, imported by the Japanese construction company, were sold in scarp, but new ones had not been installed.
The NHA had decided in 2009 to float tenders to install new lights and exhaust system with a cost of Rs400 million after it was damaged by Death Eaters in 2008.
The sources said that some of the exhaust fans and lights were in working condition, but due to negligence in annual repairs they developed irreparable faults. The price of one exhaust fan was Rs10 million whereas the lights had to be imported from Italia, they added.
They claimed that the decision to award the tender to Siemens company had been made, but the start of repair work was taking too long.
At the time of the tunnel`s construction it was proposed that with the increase of rush, a second tunnel would be built by the NHA, which had got the training from the Japanese company. At that time the NHA had said that the second tunnel would be constructed in2011, but the number of vehicles using the tunnel passed the limit within three years of its opening.
The 1.89-km tunnel has cut the travel time between Kohat and Peshawar by 20 minutes and unlike Kotal Pass it allows longer goods vehicle to pass through it.
Now the railways department is considering constructing a new tunnel and starting a train service between the southern region and Peshawar.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
Inshallah,(Maintenance)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/14/2012 5:21 Comments ||
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[An Nahar] Thai authorities said Friday they had jugged a Lebanese man with suspected links to Hizbullah, after the United States warned of a terrorist threat against tourists in the kingdom.
Hizbullah politburo member Ghaleb Abu Zainab denied the arrest.
"Didn't happen. Wudn't us. Figment of your imagination. Pish and tosh, sirrah!" (The gentleman is clearly multilingual.)
"Foreign hard boyz may be currently looking to conduct attacks against tourist areas in Bangkok in the near future," the U.S. embassy in Bangkok said in an emergency message posted on its website.
"U.S. citizens are urged to exercise caution when visiting public areas where large groups of Western tourists gather in Bangkok."
A Thai senior intelligence officer said that the kingdom had been informed before the New Year by Israel of a possible threat.
They believe Israel rather than Hizb'allah? How odd.
The suspect was jugged Thursday while another man had already decamped the country, he said.
Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung told Agence La Belle France Presse by telephone that the jugged suspect was being questioned by the Thai authorities.
And his cell phone -- those are always fun to explore. Be sure to double check it against the phone lists Israel has in file...
"We already have one suspect in jug for interrogation at a government building in Bangkok. He is a Hizbullah from Leb," he said.
"I want to assure people that there is nothing to worry about. The police will take care of the situation and everything will be under control."
"Israel was suspicious that these two men might be terrorists, so they gave information, including their names, to our police before the New Year," the senior intelligence officer said.
The suspect has denied involvement in any terrorist activities, he added.
"These two men entered Thailand a while ago but did not conduct any terrorist activity. I wonder why Israel was suspicious about them."
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra also told news hounds that authorities in the kingdom had the current situation under control.
"I would like to tell our people and tourists that there is nothing to worry about," she said.
"These two men entered Thailand a while ago but did not conduct any terrorist activity. I wonder why Israel was suspicious about them."
Israel would not confirm or deny a role in the arrest.
"Israel does not comment on security issues," foreign ministry front man Yigal Palmor said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2012 00:00 ||
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IRAN is looking at "punishing" those behind the assassination of one of its nuclear scientists, a senior military official said, pointing the finger at the United States, Israel and Britain.
The Mad Mullahs do seem to be taking this a tad hard...
"We consider committing a terrorist act of killing a scientist to be a threat to the nation... We are looking at punishing those who were behind the scenes of the martyrdom (assassination) of Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan," the deputy chief of Iran's joint armed forces, Masoud Jazayeri, was quoted as saying by several media.
He then made faces and rolled his eyes...
Iran's response will be "tormenting" for those responsible, he said, adding: "The enemies of the Iranian nation, such as the United States, Britain and the Zionist regime, should be made accountable for their actions."
Now pound your tiny fists on the podium in rage...
Ahmadi Roshan, a 32-year-old deputy director of Iran's main uranium enrichment plant, was killed along with his driver on Wednesday when assassins on a motorbike fixed a magnetic bomb to his car. He was the third nuclear scientist to have been murdered in similar circumstances in Tehran over the past two years.
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Thursday that the "abominable" killing was committed "with the planning or support of the intelligence services of the CIA and Mossad" of the United States and Israel.
This Foreign Policy report is from Mark Perry, former co-Director of the Washington, D.C., London, and Beirut-based Conflicts Forum, which specializes in engaging with Islamist movements in the Levant in dialogue with the West. Perry served as co-Director for over five years.
Perry served as an unofficial adviser to PLO Chairman and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat from 1989 to 2004.
He is a frequent guest commentator and expert on Al-Jazeera television, has appeared regularly on CNNâs The International Hour and on Special Assignment.
#6
Thank you, Willy. That's useful to judge the gentleman's effusions. It sounds like he he is trying to sell Iran's propaganda to an audience that ought to know better but probably doesn't, given the decision by the FP editors that this would be of interest to their readers.
From what you posted about him, Willy, I don't believe anything the guy says.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/14/2012 10:30 Comments ||
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#8
Actually, I think that if MOSSAD isn't doing this, then they should. The Russians spent a lot of the Cold War fabricating an undeserved reputation for the CIA, that they were omniscient and omnipresent, and everyone should fear them, which actually saved the CIA a lot of work.
A LOT of Iranians are sick of their government, but were MOSSAD to approach them directly they would refuse, because of the stigma. But the same Iranians would be thrilled to work with the CIA.
Truthfully, those most upset by this would not be the CIA, who like soldiers are rarely resentful at others putting their own rear ends on the line for a common goal, but instead people like the State Department and other REMFs, who get huffy on behalf of other people.
[ABC News] Thousands of mourners chanted "Death to Israel" and "Death to America" on Friday during the funeral of a slain nuclear expert whom Iranian officials accuse the two nations of killing in a kaboom this week as part of a secret operation to stop Iran's nuclear program.
The liquidation of Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan has raised calls in Iran for retaliation against the U.S. and Israel, and an independent news website Friday said Iran is preparing a covert counteroffensive against the West.
Roshan, a chemistry expert and a director of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility in central Iran, was killed in a brazen daylight liquidation when two assailants on a cycle of violence attached a magnetic bomb to his car Wednesday in Tehran. The killing bore a strong resemblance to earlier killings of scientists working on the Iranian nuclear program.
State TV showed thousands of people carrying Roshan's coffin through central Tehran before it was taken to a north cemetery for burial. As it marched, the crowd chanted "death to terrorists."
Loud chanting provides healthy exercise to the heart and lungs, though sadly not the brain.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
Considering working conditions in 3rd world shitholes.. and that the product is radioactive... the quick death might have been less painful then the slow cancerous death. Hell the US and USSR even had trouble safely making the stuff.
Posted by: Water Modem ||
01/14/2012 8:57 Comments ||
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#2
Muslims grasp the idea that funeral-protests are the very best time to attack their enemies with bombs. When will westerners figure this out? Much violence could be avoided in the future if someone would learn to take advantage of such situations.
As a domestic example, imagine if a truck bomb went off at a major Mafia funeral? It could wipe out dozens of top gangsters.
#3
To paraphrase Sharon, "Iranians kill Iranians, and Americans are blamed." If this is internal resistance rather than factional fighting, the opposition is proving to be pretty resourceful, both in terms of equipment and intel.
[An Nahar] U.N. Secretary General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... on Friday said he was "deeply concerned" about the military prowess of Hizbullah and noted that the frequent Israeli violations of Leb's territory and airspace continue to undermine UNIFIL's credibility and Leb's illusory sovereignty.
"I am deeply concerned about the military capacity of Hizbullah and also concerned about the lack of progress in disarmament," the U.N. chief told a news conference after holding talks with Lebanese leaders.
"All arms outside state authority are not acceptable," he added.
Ban arrived in Beirut on Friday for talks with Lebanese leaders on the controversial U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Leb, the bloodshed in Syria and Hizbullah's arms.
During his three-day visit, Ban is also expected to address the recent attacks against UNIFIL peacekeepers in southern Leb.
Several dozen people gathered in downtown Beirut on his arrival to denounce the visit and express their support for Hizbullah.
Ban is accompanied on his trip by Special Envoy for the implementation of Security Council resolution 1559 Terje Roed-Larsen and U.N. Interim Force in Leb commander Major General Alberto Asarta.
At the presser, Ban said he had urged President Michel Suleiman ...before assuming office as President, he held the position of commander of the Leb Armed Forces. That was after the previous commander, the loathesome Emile Lahoud, took office as president in November of 1998. Likely the next president of Leb will be whoever's commander of the armed forces, too... to relaunch a national dialogue started in 2006 on defining a defense strategy for the country.
Hizbullah's arsenal has been at the center of the dialogue, stalled since 2010 because of bickering between rival parties.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
he was "deeply concerned" about the military prowess of Hizbullah and noted that the frequent Israeli violations of Leb's territory and airspace continue to undermine UNIFIL's credibility and Leb's illusory sovereignty.
[An Nahar] Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, a member of AMAL, a not very subtle Hizbullah sock puppet... on Friday stressed to visiting U.N. chief the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... the need that the United Nations ...where theory meets practice and practice loses... demarcate Leb's maritime borders and demanded compensations for the oil spill caused by Israel's bombardment of storage tanks at the thermal power station in Jiyeh during the July 2006 war.
"To date, Israel has not accepted to turn the post-July war cessation of hostilities into a permanent ceasefire in order to justify its incessant overflights in Lebanese airspace and its naval and territorial violations," Berri added during talks in Ain al-Tineh with the U.N. chief.
What has Lebanon done to earn such magnanimity? Rein in Hizb'allah, and there'll be reason to discuss the matter.
"The spirit of (U.N. Security Council) Resolution 1701 requires the U.N. to demarcate Leb's maritime borders, in the vein of its demarcation of the land borders, given that it is an international peacekeeping force," Berri said, demanding "compensations for the oil spill off Jiyeh's coast caused by the 2006 Israeli aggression."
During the one-hour meeting, the speaker also highlighted "the very solid relation between the Lebanese people in the South and UNIFIL peacekeepers."
He asked for "serious support from the United Nations after the conference held by Leb on the disposal of the cluster bombs left over from the Israeli aggression."
Addressing the Syrian crisis, Berri noted that "what's happening in Syria is different than the so-called Arab Spring."
And as he stressed his "support for the Arab initiative on Syria," he voiced his regret that "the initiative still lacks a political aspect and efforts by 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... to launch dialogue between the regime and the opposition."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2012 00:00 ||
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Why and how did Ban become such an idiot?
Posted by: Water Modem ||
01/14/2012 8:59 Comments ||
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I suspect he was born that way, WM. Isn't idiocy a requirement of his post?
Posted by: Barbara ||
01/14/2012 9:26 Comments ||
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[An Nahar] The United States said Friday it has raised concerns with Russia and Cyprus over a Russian ship suspected of carrying munitions to Syria.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said "we have raised our concerns about this, both with Russia and with Cyprus, which was the last port of call for the ship."
Nuland added: "We are continuing to seek clarification as to what went down here."
She recalled that U.S. government officials have long "called for all countries that continue to trade and supply weapons with Syria to stop."
For nearly a year Syria has been in the grips of an uprising against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, with Western leaders calling for the embattled strongman to step down as the death toll has risen into the thousands. But Moscow has steadfastly stuck by its ally Damascus.
The Cypriot foreign ministry said Wednesday the Saint Vincent-flagged cargo ship was allowed to refuel and set sail from the port of Limassol after its Russian owners agreed to change the destination from Syria.
On Friday the vessel's Saint Petersburg-based operator Westberg Ltd said the Chariot decided to keep to its original schedule after leaving the Cyprus port.
"It was classified as a dangerous cargo, but that could really mean anything. We are not responsible for knowing what was inside the crates," a source at the shipping company told Agence France Presse.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2012 00:00 ||
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Be just TOOO Bad, if the ship had an "Accident" at sea, and just didn't get there.
(OOOPS)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/14/2012 5:29 Comments ||
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Unfortunately those accidents at sea aren't as common as one would expect or hope for.
[An Nahar] Russia's departing ambassador to NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... warned the West on Friday against any foreign intervention in Syria, saying that the Arab Spring was already bringing Islamic fundamentalists to power.
"I believe that any foreign influence, pressure on a country such as Syria will inevitably lead to a catastrophe," Dmitry Rogozin, who was named vice prime minister in charge of the defense industry last month, told news hounds.
"You shouldn't interfere in Syrian affairs. This is very dangerous," said Rogozin.
Rogozin, a frequent critic of NATO's air war in Libya, said "Islamic fundamentalists" had won elections in Egypt and Tunisia this year following the popular ouster of veteran autocrats.
"If you believe that you want to have neighbors in the south where Sharia law is enforced, it will not be the best result for Europe," the 48-year-old diplomat said.
"The West is faced with a dilemma: What is preferable? A tyrant that you dealt with before, that you sold arms to, made different deals with during different campaigns? Or is it al-Qaeda that is preferable?"
He added: "That is why I believed and I still believe that the Arab Spring will end with a hot Arabic summer -- and you will not like it."
Russia, along with China, vetoed a European resolution against Syria in October but proposed its own resolution last month condemning violence by both the government and opposition.
Rogozin also weighed in on the heightened tensions between the United States and Iran, calling for calm amid saber-rattling over Iranian threats to close the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil shipping lane.
"Iran is our neighbor ... If Iran is involved in any military action, it's a direct threat to our security," he said. "Once again, you need to have some cold mineral water and calm down."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2012 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] The United States has used a secret channel to warn Iran's leaders against closing the strategic Strait of Hormuz, saying that doing so would provoke a U.S. response, the New York Times ...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... reported.
Iran has threatened to close the narrow and strategic waterway -- a chokepoint for one fifth of the world's traded oil -- in the event of a military strike or the severe tightening of international sanctions.
The New York Times, citing unnamed U.S. officials, said late Thursday that the White House has communicated to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that closing the strait would be a "red line" and provoke a response.
The officials did not provide further details about the covert communication channel, except to say that it was separate from the Swiss government, through which the United States occasionally relays messages to Iran's leaders.
The United States and its allies have stepped up increasingly harsh sanctions on Iran over its nuclear enrichment program, which they have charged is part of a secret drive to develop nuclear weapons.
Iran has insisted its nuclear program is entirely peaceful and vowed to retaliate against any strike on its facilities.
Tensions have flared in recent days following the killing of an Iranian nuclear scientist in a bombing Tehran has blamed on U.S. and Israeli intelligence services. U.S. officials have denied any involvement in the attack.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards have announced new naval maneuvers in the Strait of Hormuz within the next few weeks, underlining Tehran's threat to close the narrow channel between the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea.
Washington has meanwhile sent a second aircraft carrier to waters just outside the Gulf, and a third is on its way.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
At least the Brits were publicly overt about their warning to use military force to keep the Strait open.
versus
* TOPIX > ANY CONFLICT ON IRAN IS A DIRECT THREAT TO RUSSIA'S SECURITY - ROGOZIN.
* SAME > [Russia Today = US Analysts] US TO OCCUPY PERSIAN GULF? IRAN IS NOT A SITTING DUCK.
ARTIC > EX-USAF COLONEL KAREN KWIAKOWSKI = US well-knows that Iran is much stronger country than Iraq or Afghanistan.
* SAME > [Russia today] US STATIONS 150,000 TROOPS IN KUWAIT.
VIENNA: Iran will need to show genuine readiness to address mounting suspicions about its nuclear program at rare talks with senior UN officials this month to convince a skeptical West that it is not just playing for time.
With Iran facing intensifying sanctions pressure, a high-level team from the UN atomic watchdog is expected to visit this month, seeking explanations on long-standing concerns that Iran may be seeking to develop nuclear arms capability.
Iran's envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said the Islamic Republic is ready to answer the agency's questions in order to remove "any ambiguities" about its nuclear work and clear up the issue once and for all.
But Iranian officials have used such language before, and diplomats say this will not be enough to satisfy the IAEA.
"I would tend to be rather pessimistic," one Western envoy said. "This road is paved with danger and past experience cannot render anyone optimistic."
Another diplomat added: "I doubt very seriously that (the high-level UN nuclear mission) will lead to anything."
While UN inspectors regularly monitor Iran's declared nuclear sites, their movements are otherwise restricted, and the IAEA has complained for years of a lack of access to sites, equipment, documents and people relevant to its probe.
"They (the Iranians) should understand that they don't get rid of these questions by not addressing them. This is something the IAEA will definitely tell them," a Western official said.
Daryl Kimball, of the US-based Arms Control Association, said it was critical to secure "more intrusive access by the IAEA to all of Iran's nuclear-related activities" and convince it to finally address questions about weapons-related work.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/14/2012 00:00 ||
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BEIRUT: Arab League head Nabil Elaraby said Friday he feared a possible civil war in Syria that could have consequences for neighboring countries, as the credibility of the League's monitoring mission was hit by members starting to walk out.
An Algerian former monitor said several monitors had left Syria or might do so soon because the mission had failed to halt President Bashar Assad's violent crackdown on a popular revolt against his rule.
"Yes I fear a civil war and the events that we see and hear about now could lead to a civil war," said Elaraby, whose body deployed the monitors on Dec. 26 to check whether Syria was respecting an Arab peace plan.
"Any problems in Syria will have consequences for the neighboring states," he said in an interview with the Egyptian Al-Hayat television channel.
He described reports from the mission head as "worrying", but said there was "no doubt that the pace of killing has fallen with the presence of the observers."
Syrian opposition groups say the monitors, due to present their findings to the Arab League's foreign ministers on Jan. 19-20, have only bought Assad more time to crush protests that erupted in March, inspired by Arab uprisings elsewhere.
"(The ministers) will decide whether there is any benefit in continuing or not," said Elaraby.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/14/2012 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.
The United National Office on Drugs and Crime said on Friday that revenue from opium production in Afghanistan rose 133 per cent in 2011. 
Bouteflika
[Dawn] Prime Minister 
Nawaz Sharif
[Dawn] 
[Dawn] Built at a cost of Rs6 billion, the Kohat Friendship Tunnel has virtually been turned into a black hole due to non-repair of lights and the exhaust system, which were damaged by
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
The United States has used a secret channel to warn Iran's leaders against closing the strategic Strait of Hormuz, saying that doing so would provoke a U.S. response, the 
VIENNA: Iran will need to show genuine readiness to address mounting suspicions about its nuclear program at rare talks with senior UN officials this month to convince a skeptical West that it is not just playing for time.
