(CBS/AP) One year ago, the Arab Spring arrived in Egypt. In just 18 days, protesters forced out the president of 30 years, Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011...
The military now rules Egypt, but promises a transition to civilian rule. Religious and secular groups are now vying for power.
On the revolution's anniversary, they were back on the streets of Cairo for the biggest rally since the uprising. CBS News correspondent Clarissa Ward reports they streamed into Tahrir Square by the tens of thousands, with an endless sea of Egyptian flags.
Supporters of the Moslem Brüderbund dominated the square. Banned under Mubarak, the Islamist party won a majority in recent parliamentary elections. Still intoxicated by the hard-won freedom to speak their minds, many held banners ridiculing the former president.
But not everyone in Cairo was celebrating. In one of the many marches out protesting Wednesday, you could hear the people chanting over and over, "Down with the military regime," as they marched to Tahrir Square.
Activists claim that nearly 100 protestors have been killed by security forces since the military took power when Mubarak's regime fell.
While the military says it will step down after presidential elections in June, many here, including activist Khaled Mansour, are not so sure.
While Egyptians may be better off now than they were with Mubarak, Mansour said that's not the point.
"This is a revolution," Mansour said. "We don't want to compromise. We have demands and we have and we dream of a big, a free country, a democratic country."
Wait until your country runs out of bread...
Posted by: Fred ||
01/26/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
Instead of crops and water. Think using that stuff behind the dam might be a good idea? Also, stocking up on food and guns for when it hits the fan?
Posted by: Water Modem ||
01/26/2012 1:20 Comments ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] President Zillur Rahman has thanked the army for foiling the recent plot by some serving and retired army officials to topple the government.
"I extend my sincere thanks to our patriotic army for this action. At the same time, I urge all to remain vigilant and alert against any such heinous attempt," he said in the 12th parliament session yesterday.
"Full-fledged democracy has been established in the country after many sacrifices. Any evil attempt to hinder that democratic process cannot be desirable for any of us." said the president.
Zillur also called upon opposition politicians, who were absent in the House yesterday, to place all their proposals, recommendations and complaints in the Jatiya Sangsad.
"Democracy will be enriched in that way."
He said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had repeatedly urged the opposition politicians to discharge their responsibilities as people's representatives by joining the Jatiya Sangsad.
"Opinion of the opposition was sought in all instances, including the amendment to the constitution, both inside and outside the House," he said.
"But it is very frustrating that the opposition is not showing a positive attitude about taking part in parliamentary deliberations. Democracy is a dynamic process. And the discharge of responsibilities reposed by the people is more important than an indulgence in political conflicts."
The president strongly criticised the rule of the BNP-Jamaat alliance and the last caretaker government.
He said the present government had to face many problems after it came to power against the backdrop of disorder in socio-economic and political life.
The misrule and corruption of the post-2001 governments pushed the economy to the verge of collapse, and had shaken democratic institutions and governance. Transparency and accountability in government activities were absent, and the country's politics was in chaos, said Zillur.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/26/2012 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] The father of Ishraq Ahmed, an alleged key planner of the recent foiled attempt to topple the government, learnt of the involvement of his son in the conspiracy days before the army disclosed the plot.
MA Rakib still does not believe, though, that Ishraq was in any way involved in the plot.
"Although I do not use Internet, I came to know from my relatives and acquaintances before it was made public [through an army presser] that my son was involved in the coup," Rakib told The Daily Star in Naogaon on Monday.
"I didn't believe it. It's merely propaganda," Rakib said about his reaction after hearing about his son's involvement in the plot.
Even though Rakib did not pay any heed to the information he had from relatives, he stopped keeping contact with his son.
"I know that he is fine," said Rakib, a presidium member of the National Awami Party (Nap-Mozaffar).
Asked whether he had tried to stop Ishraq after learning of the facts, Rakib avoided a direct answer. "Every individual is governed by his or her own conscience. Ishraq is now 60. He is doing what he thinks to be good," he observed.
Ishraq took up a rifle in hand during the Liberation War in 1971 and he never retreated from his belief his -- power comes from the barrel of a gun, said the father.
Shahriar Kabir, executive president of Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee, said Ishraq was undoubtedly a freedom fighter. "But it's no big deal for a freedom fighter turning into a criminal. All killers of the Father of the Nation were freedom fighters," he pointed out.
Contacted over phone, Kabir, also a journalist and writer, said he knew Ishraq well. "He used to visit the Weekly Bichitra office in Dhaka. I always avoided him as his movements were suspicious."
Rakib said Ishraq was termed beyadob (impudent) in Jahanara Imam's Ekattorer Dinguli for his frequent smoking habit in front of her.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/26/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
D *** NG IT, PAKISTAN + BANGLA SHOULD HEAD ON OER TO PAPUA NEW GUINEA IFF THEY WANNA LEARN HOW TO DO A COUP RIGHT!
[Bangla Daily Star] Former secretary of industries ministry Shoeb Ahmed yesterday said that Motiur Rahman Nizami ...During the liberation war of 1971, Nizami formed the Al-Badr Force and acted as its supreme commander. The Al-Badr militia took active part in rape, extortion, looting and killing of Bangladeshis who supported the liberation, including a pre-planned massacre on December 14, 1971, when the Al-Badr militia along with Pakistan Army rounded up hundreds of doctors, professors, writers, and other Bengali intellectuals, and executed them... knew about the arms haul incident before he passed on the information to Nizami.
Shoeb said this to a Chittagong court while giving his deposition in connection with the 10-truck arms haul cases.
In reply to a question of defence lawyer Mohsin Uddin Talukder, Shoeb said that he talked to the then industries minister Nizami on April 4, 2004, after being informed of the incident by the chairman of Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) on April 2.
Nizami also talked to the highest authority of the government about the arms haul, he said.
"What do you think haven't I [Nizami] informed the prime minister and home minister about the matter?" Shoeb said quoting Nizami.
The former industries secretary also said that when he informed Nizami about newspaper reports involving the ministry of industries with the arms haul incident, and requested him to conduct an investigation, Nizami replied that law enforcement agencies are probing the matter.
The industries ministry need not launch an investigation separately, Nizami added.
When the defence lawyer asked Shoeb whether the minister gave any written instructions on the matter, he replied if the minister concerned says that he conveyed the information to the prime minister what else a secretary can do.
Earlier, the defence lawyer cross-examined Shoeb.
During the cross-examination, Shoeb told the court that he directed the then BCIC chairman to give a detailed report on the whole incident immediately on April 2.
The BCIC chairman could not submit the report on April 2 and April 3 as those were Friday and Saturday--the government holidays.
The BCIC chairman told him that he would inform him about the whole matter on Sunday, Shoeb said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/26/2012 00:00 ||
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U.S. President Barack Obama surprised some observers by making no mention of North Korea in his State of the Union address on Tuesday. The Stalinist state has featured in one way or another in these addresses since Bill Clinton mentioned the North in January 1995 after Washington and Pyongyang signed the Geneva accords.
Doesn't baffle us. Bambi has no beef with Pudgy, he doesn't care about the South Koreans and the Japanese, and he's too weak to challenge the Chinese.
"To stop and roll back North Korea's potentially deadly nuclear program, we'll continue to implement the agreement we have reached with that nation. It's smart. It's tough. It's a deal based on continuing inspection with safeguards for our allies and ourselves," Clinton said.
Obama too mentioned the North in the last two years. In 2011 he said, "We... insist that North Korea keeps its commitment to abandon nuclear weapons." And a year earlier, he said, "Now, these diplomatic efforts have also strengthened our hand in dealing with those nations that insist on violating international agreements in pursuit of nuclear weapons. That's why North Korea now faces increased isolation, and stronger sanctions -- sanctions that are being vigorously enforced."
But this year he focused mainly on economic issues ahead of the presidential election in November. He did, however, talk tough about Iran. "Let there be no doubt: America is determined to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, and I will take no options off the table to achieve that goal."
No one, however, believes him...
Pundits speculate that the U.S. is trying to get North Korea back to the negotiating table following the death of leader Kim Jong-il using a flaccid softly-softly approach.
George W. Bush had the strongest words for Pyongyang in his State of the Union addresses. In 2002, Bush defined the North as part of an "axis of evil." In 2003, he called it an "oppressive regime" as well as an "outlaw regime." In 2004, he called it "the world's most dangerous regime." Only in his last address in 2008 did Bush not mention the North because an agreement reached in the six-party nuclear disarmament talks appeared to be making some progress.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/26/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
Where oh where to begin ...
To wit,
* TOPIX > NORTH KOREA: KIM JONG-UN RESPONSIBLE FOR PAST NUCLEAR TESTING, as under late Big Daddy Kim Jong-Il.
Perhaps its just me, but I'm interpreting this life description of KJU by the DPRK as SSSSSHHHHHHH ... CCCCCCC agz China - among other, IIUC the DPRK is trying hard not to say it will directly or indirectly continue wid dev of its Nucprogs, ala IRAN???
* SAME > A "KOREAN SPRING"?
* SAME > POINT OF NO RETURN, for US-Allies [ + also Russia + China] as per Nuclearizing + increasingly MilPol-assertive North Korea + Iran.
Wehell ya know, it is "2012" after all.
* FREEREPUBLIC > [Asahi News] CHINESE TROOPS CAN REACH PYEONGYANG IN TWO HOURS.
I'm a'guessin these are exclusive of the 10-20,000 Chinese Security troops already repor there protecting the Kim family + Regime, espec from their fellow North Koreans.
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > NORTH KOREA SEEKS REVISION OF 1961 DEFENSE TREATY WID CHINA.
The NOKORS wanna change or revise a treaty-specified security clause mandating "automatic" PLA mil intervention in case of threat, to one where PLA mil intervention would first have to be formally "requested" by Pyongyang.
DE-LINKAGE.
versus
* ION CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > CHINA WILL EXPAND AIR SURVEILLANCE IN SEAS DISPUTED WID JAPAN | JAPAN'S AIRSPACE GETS MORE ATTENTION FROM CHINA.
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > CHINESE HELICOPTER CARRIER COMING SOON. The US has its "Gator Navy", so now cometh in time the mighty Chinese "Tiger/Panda Corps" Amphibs???
* SAME > INDIA CAN BUILD NUCLEAR-POWERED AIRCRAFT CARRIERS [ + other Nuke-powered Warships]. Indian Atomic Energy Commission Chair ANIL KAKADODHAR.
* SAME > SOUTH KOREAN STUDENTS [Middle, High School] RANK THEIR NATION'S GREATEST ENEMIES - JAPAN, NORTH KOREA, AMERICA [in that order], followed by China, then Russia.
* WORLD MIL FORUM > JAPAN WORRIED THAT SOUTH KOREA MAY BE ASSIMILATED INTO CHINA AFTER 20 YEARS, CHINESE LANGUAGE HAS REPLACED JAPANESE AS SOUTH KOREA'S "SECOND LANGUAGE".
* SAME > HERITAGE FOUNDATION STUDY: CHINA'S GROWING SPACE PROGRAM CAN BE HINDERED BY CONTINUING US AIR, NAVAL DOMINANCE IN ASIA-PACIFIC, DENIAL BY US OF STRATEGIC ISLANDS FOR CHINA'S SPACE VENTURES.
[HUGO "THE US HAS LAND-DESTROYING EARTHQUAKE BOMBS/WEAPONS" CHAVEZ; WWIII: DESTRUCTION OF THE BATTLESHIP "OKLAHOMA": CELINE DION'S THEME FROM "TITANIC" here].
#4
Baffles? He doesn't want to upset the "New" Regime. (Needs a sactuary)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/26/2012 14:09 Comments ||
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#5
No one has instructed him as to what to say. Yet.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
01/26/2012 14:36 Comments ||
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#6
Actually, ignoring NK as much as possible is the best policy. As Joe points out (and to mix metaphors), China keeps playing playing chess with an incomplete deck. China's most powerful piece (the Crazed Bishop Kim Et Al) has become tiresome albiet tragically amusing (soon to be NK's offical motto --- tata?)(that, or e pluribus sputum, I forget).
Anyway, Bammer's policy of benign neglect (and carrying a big stick in the dead of night) has come to amuse one (nod to Sheldon) over the years.
Posted by: Gabby Cussworth, Man of a Thousand Nyms ||
01/26/2012 15:00 Comments ||
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#7
Except the stick Bumbles is carrying is more like a wet noodle...
#10
Let me tell ya, the Pakistanis are so impressed by Seal Team 6 they killed roughly 30 of them in the following months, in targeted payback for the raid.
#11
Anyway, my point was that I am amused at myself by being pleased with Bammer's occasional stopped-clock-style successes in foreign affairs, so to speak. To call him (and, by extension, the military) 100% wrong in every instance seems intellectually dishonest and ill-serves the nation and those who fight and die for it.
I did just make a New Year's resolution though: since I am a California Republican and my vote doesn't amount to Jack in the general election, I resolve to vote for Bammer in November, just to piss off the perpetually agrieved in Comments.
Posted by: Gabby Cussworth, Man of a Thousand Nyms ||
01/26/2012 17:15 Comments ||
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#12
But this year he focused mainly on economic issues ahead of the presidential election in November. He did, however, talk tough about Iran.
That because they polled well. North Korea isn't an election issue.
#13
Iran could attempt to shut the Straits of Hormuz which would be significant to America. NK will most likely conduct some equally numbskull operation that will require Americans to read about it in the paper. Fox News will go to DEFCON One for 48 hours. It may prick the American conscience depending on what Gingrich and Romney are saying about each other and whether the incursion occurs during Super Bowl coverage, March Madness or American Idol. Most likely NK will be treated like the really disgusting dog terd in our neighbor's yard - as an item of curiousity only if it is abnormally large or of abnormal color.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/26/2012 17:41 Comments ||
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#14
And remind people about how they talked their way out of war after the DD was sunk and village bombed? Trying to make President Action Star here.
Pudgy is distributing free food in an attempt placate an increasingly angry population. Pudgy is even tapping the military food reserves. Meanwhile, back at the ranch
As more North Korea refugees show up south of the DMZ, southerners find their history being reinterpreted. The northerners see leftist South Koreans, who supported the establishment of a communist government in South Korea, as traitors to democracy. Guess you gotta hit rock-bottom before you see the truth.
Even the elites are suffering as things spiral down the toilet. For example, apartment buildings put up in the last decade in the capital suffered from cheap materials, sloppy work and poor quality control. Now the heating and sanitation systems are failing, making the apartments uninhabitable in the cold weather. There is no money or material available for repairs. What do you do when you run out of duct tape?
Posted by: Mike Ramsey ||
01/26/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
He hasn't learned the dictator's paradox, that their only tool is deprivation and brutality, not generosity and kindness. The latter are seen as weakness.
#4
Someday the North will cave in with a giant noise and the smell of bark and grass fed flatus ... and every jounalist in the world will be able to say that they predicted it. (Except the ones in North Korea of course.)
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/26/2012 17:59 Comments ||
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A man already convicted of taking part in a terror plot to attack the U.S. Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia has now been accused of plotting the beheading of key witnesses against him and his coconspirators. I'm guessing he's not feeling very repentant yet.
According to a criminal complaint unsealed this week, Hysen Sherifi tried to arrange for the witnesses to be murdered for $5,000 apiece by a hitman named "Treetop," but the go-betweens in the murder-for-hire scheme were actually federal informants. Did I mention that he wanted pictures of their beheaded corpses and severed heads with the faces showing so he could make sure he got what he paid for?
Hysen Sherifi was convicted of providing material support to terrorists, conspiracy to murder U.S. military personnel and firearms charges in October 11 for his role in the foiled Quantico plot. Three other men in his North Carolina-based terror cell pled guilty to terrorism charges in 2011, and three more defendants were found guilty at trial. Another defendant still awaits trial, while an eighth suspect remains at large.
Sherifi, 27, was sentenced to 45 years in federal prison on January 13. In an FBI affidavit unsealed this week, however, authorities claim that prior to Sherifi's sentencing he tried to take out a murder contract on key witnesses against him.
According to the affidavit, Sherifi confided in an informant that he wanted to kill three witnesses who testified against him and a prisoner he believed had stolen from him. Man, that's just crazy.
"[The Informant] contacted the FBI to advise that Hysen Sherifi had confided in him and requested his/her assistance for the purpose of hiring someone to kill several individuals. Three of the intended victims are witnesses who testified against him at his federal trial." Not to be too cynical, but what did the informant receive in return for his information?
The affidavit alleges that Sherifi showed his brother's girlfriend, Nevine Aly Elshiekh, notes that he wanted passed on to another individual who was also an informant in the case.
Elshiekh allegedly passed the information on to the second informant, who claimed to be in contact with a hitman known only as "Treetop." During a January 2, 2012 meeting the second informant allegedly showed Elshiekh a picture of one of the targets and the two discussed a $5,000 payment for the killings. "I got the picture from Treetop," the informant allegedly told Elshiekh, "and Treetop wants to make sure it's the right person to be killed."
On Jan. 8, 2012, Sherifi's brother Shkumbin Sherifi visited his brother at the New Hanover County jail. Two hours later, Shkumbin allegedly arranged a call with the second informant to meet him and get money to him. The court papers note that Shkumbin Sherifi allegedly brought the informant $4,250.
During the meeting the informant allegedly asked Shkumbin Sherifi, "You need to ask [Hysen] Sherifi which one he want [sic] killed. The black guy or Arab."
Shkumbin allegedly told the informant 'Okay, um does he, um, are you guys in touch?"
The court documents note that Shkumbin "claimed not to know what was going on but promised to speak with his brother and get a response."
Shkumbin Sherifi and Elshiekh are charged in the alleged murder-for-hire plot and are scheduled to have a detention hearing in Wilmington, N.C., on Friday. Hysen Sherifi has not yet been charged. The brothers are natives of Kosovo and emigrated with their family to the U.S. in the 1990s.
#1
Three witnesses so that is three counts under the federal murder-for-hire law, so tack on 10 years a piece. 45 + 10 + 10 + 10 = 75 years.
Another Darwin award winner.
Posted by: Mike Ramsey ||
01/26/2012 10:40 Comments ||
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#2
That may also be enough aggravating circumstances so that they get a one-way ticket to a federal max, though I doubt if he is top tier enough to make it to ADX Florence.
Woody Harrelson's dad made it there only after he killed a federal judge *and* tried to escape from another federal max in Georgia. You have to have a serious resume to get there.
#8
I was in a news shop at the KC airport last summer and noticed an orange tee-shirt that was embossed with the logo "Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary: A Gated Community." My 16 year old son was mad that I didn't bring it home for him.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/26/2012 22:15 Comments ||
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[Dawn] Prime Minister Yousuf raza Gilani on Wednesday appeared to back down from a confrontation with the military, moving away from remarks made earlier that it had acted unconstitutionally in supporting a court investigation of a controversial memo.
"I want to dispel the impression that the military leadership acted unconstitutionally or violated rules," said Gilani, according to state television. ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
His comments appeared to be a bid to defuse tensions between the country's civilian leaders and the powerful military and came a day after a high-level meeting with the military to discuss a possible trilateral summit on the future of Afghanistan.
"The current situation cannot afford conflict among the institutions," he added.
Gilani left here today for Davos to attend the annual summit of the World Economic Forum.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/26/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
"I want to dispel the impression that the military leadership acted unconstitutionally or violated rules," said Gilani, according to state television.
[Dawn] The United States Agency for International Development will continue its support for economic and social development of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... and Federally Administered Tribal Areas.
This assurance was given by Andrew Sisson, the USAid's mission director in Pakistain, while speaking at a ceremony at Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) here on Tuesday. He said that the agency had spent $500 million on development and economic growth in the KP and Fata during the past few years.
"We are making a major investment in the KP and Fata," said Mr Sisson, adding that his organization in collaboration with the government, Fata authorities and business community was making efforts to achieve development of the two areas.
Earlier, Senior Minister Bashir Bilour emphasised the need for the US to do more for the economic development of KP.
Bilour, the USAid official, and minister for industries Ahmed Hussain Shah, in their speeches at the ceremony, attached significance to achieving economic growth by promoting industrial and tourism sectors.
"Poverty is the cause of terrorism and not the religious extremism," said Bilour while pressing for sustained industrial growth and tourism development to drive the engine of economic growth in the province.
The USAid-funded 'Vision Document for Tourism Sector of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa' and 'Vision Document for Industries and Manufacturing Sector of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa' were officially unveiled at the chamber.
Bilour said that tourism required the most attention as the province had a large number of serene and attractive places with a vast potential to draw foreign and domestic tourists.
He said that the southern districts of the province had huge reserves of natural gas that could not attract much foreign investment because of the bad security situation. He said that the government was trying to improve the security situation and make the province attractive for foreign investors.
The provincial industries minister talked about his department's under-execution schemes seeking industrial growth in the province. He said that his department would benefit from the SCCI's vision document for the preparation of industrial policy of the province.
In his presentation on the industrial vision document, Nauman Wazir, a local industrialist, said that it was aimed at achieving a double digit industrial growth in the province in next three years with the constant support of the government.
Mohammad Ali, general manager Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Tourism Corporation, unveiling the tourism sector's vision document 2025, said that the provincial government had already started implementing a tourism promotion strategy. He, however, asked for a continued technical and financial support from the USAid to fully implement the vision document.
In his remarks, the SCCI president Afan Aziz urged the provincial ministers present on the occasion to help the chamber in implementation of the framework for the industrial growth. He asked for the continuation of expertise by the USAid, adding "we need doable and identifiable projects."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/26/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
Great! Install a few million more wireless cameras feeding the drone links...
Posted by: Water Modem ||
01/26/2012 1:21 Comments ||
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The United States has arrested and charged an Iranian semiconductor scientist with violating U.S. export laws by buying high-tech U.S. lab equipment, a development likely to further worsen Iranian-U.S. tensions.
Prison records show the U.S. is holding Seyed Mojtaba Atarodi, 54, a microchip expert and assistant professor at Tehran's prestigious Sharif University of Technology, in a federal facility in Dublin, Calif., outside San Francisco. The Iranian interest section in the Pakistani embassy in Washington said it was aware of the arrest.
Atarodi arrived at a bond hearing in federal district court in San Francisco Thursday wearing a green jump suit and bowed to his attorney. Before the hearing began, the judge closed the courtroom except to attorneys and members of the family. According to friends, Atarodi was detained Dec. 7 after stepping off a plane in Los Angeles.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/26/2012 16:00 ||
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#1
"... , a development likely to further worsen Iranian-U.S. tensions."
Drop in the ocean.
Posted by: Mike Ramsey ||
01/26/2012 17:12 Comments ||
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[An Nahar] U.S. President Barack Obama This is a teachable moment... said Tuesday that a peaceful resolution was still possible in the international showdown with Iran over its nuclear ambitions.
But Obama vowed in his annual State of the Union speech that he would "take no options off the table," including the military option, in preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
The world community has overcome its divisions and was now united on how to check Iran's nuclear ambitions, Obama told politicians from both chambers of the U.S. Congress, in remarks prepared for delivery.
"The regime is more isolated than ever before; its leaders are faced with crippling sanctions, and as long as they shirk their responsibilities, this pressure will not relent," Obama said.
"Let there be no doubt: America is determined to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, and I will take no options off the table to achieve that goal," the president declared.
"But a peaceful resolution of this issue is still possible," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/26/2012 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
OTOH DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > CLOSURE OF PAK SUPPLY ROUTES COSTS US SIX TIMES MORE [for alternate = Northern route].
Costs the Fed up to US$104.0Milyuhn per month, up from the previous US$87.0Milyuhn before the closure.
and
* TOPIX, LUCIANNE > STRAIT OF HORMUZ [closure] IS NOT THE ONLY WAY IRAN CAN HARASS THE WEST.
Oil Price manipulations; + Regional, International Shia mass protests, MilTerr Proxies from the ME to Central Asia.
#2
TOPIX > IRAN WON'T BUILD A NUCLEAR WEAPON IN 2012, SAYS DRAFT ISIS REPORT. Think-tank.
Due to ...
> on-going international sanctions.
> lack of enough weapons-grade nucmats.
> fear of possible Israeli [US?] attack.
Given various MSM-Net Artics claiming that Iran already has enough nucmats for several Nukes, I'M INTERPRETING THIS ARTIC TO MEAN IRAN WON'T ADMIT OR DECLARE IT HAS NUCWEAPS IN 2012, NOT THAT IT DOESN'T OR CAN'T???
[An Nahar] Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Wally Jumblat ... Druze politician, head of the Progressive Socialist Party, who's been on every side in Leb at least four times. He'll sell you his friends for a dollar, but family comes higher because of shipping and handling... on Wednesday left for the Russian capital Moscow aboard a private plane, state-run National News Agency reported.
The agency did not elaborate any further.
But MTV reported later on Wednesday that the Druze leader had been invited to Moscow by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov for talks on "the Syrian crisis."
Jumblat has called on Syria's key ally Russia to "launch a political initiative together with the countries concerned in order to pull Syria out of its crisis."
In his weekly column in his party's al-Anbaa newspaper published Tuesday, Jumblat also urged Iran to "launch some kind of initiative towards the Syrian people who stood by the Iranian revolution against the Shah regime and in the face of the Saddamist attack in the eighties."
"There's no doubt that Syria may descend into a devastative civil war if the bloodshed continues," Jumblat warned.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/26/2012 00:00 ||
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[Magharebia] When Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri ... Supremo, formerly second in command of al-Qaeda, occasionally described as the real brains of the outfit. Formerly the Mister Big of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Bumped off Abdullah Azzam with a car boom in the course of one of their little disputes. Is thought to have composed bin Laden's fatwa entitled World Islamic Front Against Jews and Crusaders. Currently residing in the North Wazoo area. That is not a horn growing from the middle of his forehead, but a prayer bump, attesting to how devout he is... succeeded slain al-Qaeda leader the late Osama bin Laden ... who walked in the Valley of the Shadow of Death and didn't make it out... in June 2011, it was clear that he faced a daunting task in rebuilding an organization suffering from a severe depletion of its ranks as a result of the blows it received, particularly in the Afghanistan-Pakistain border areas.
It was also clear that al-Zawahiri needed to find a solution to the challenge posed by the Arab Spring revolutions. The strength of the demonstrations illustrated that the majority in the Arab street did not support al-Qaeda's policy of advocating change through violence, nor were they convinced of its justifications for attacking the West, as the West stood by the Arab peoples in their quest for greater political freedom.
And now it appears that al-Zawahiri needs to find a solution to another problem, one that most likely started years ago but has been exacerbated by the killing of Bin Laden in Abbottabad ... A pleasant city located only 30 convenient miles from Islamabad. The city is noted for its nice weather and good schools. It is the site of Pakistain's military academy, which was within comfortable walking distance of the residence of the late Osama bin Laden.... , Pakistain in May 2011; specifically, a shortfall in donor funds.
Nine months after Bin Laden's death, not one retaliatory attack has been carried out, which may be a result of the organization's inability to conduct operations or its unpreparedness to do so at this time. Another reason may be that the myriad of security services in Western and Arab countries are on high alert to prevent possible attacks from occurring.
Another factor delaying or hindering the conduct of attacks could be a shortfall in donor funds to al-Qaeda. This lack of funds may be affecting its ability to make the necessary preparations for large operations that require substantial financing, in addition to the cost of recruiting and training operatives.
Shortfall in donor funds not new
The shortfall in donor funding for al-Qaeda in Wazoo is, in fact, not new. Frequent reports of funding shortfalls have been circulating for years. Al-Zawahiri highlighted the issue explicitly in a June 2005 letter to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the former leader of al-Qaeda's branch in Iraq.
Al-Zawahiri requested that al-Zarqawi transfer a large sum of money ($100,000) to the leadership of the organization. In his letter, al-Zawahri refers to an interruption in al-Qaeda's funding following the arrest of Abu Faraj al-Libi, a leader in the organization, even though al-Zawahiri described the organization's financial status as "good" in general, which means that some funds were still reaching al-Qaeda in Waziristan at the time.
It is not clear if donations to al-Qaeda, which come mostly from supporters in Gulf countries, declined further or increased in the years after this letter was written, but new information from Waziristan does not indicate that the organization is in a better position militarily or financially.
An Afghani operative who fought alongside al-Qaeda said the organization's presence in Waziristan has contracted significantly, their ranks thinning to no more than a few dozen individuals. The young Afghan, named Hafez Hanif, told Newsweek in an interview published January 2nd that he sought information about a group of al-Qaeda gunnies that he had not heard from since the killing of Bin Laden and found out they were living in dire conditions with their ranks greatly depleted.
While Hanif said "money is a more significant problem [for al-Qaeda] than the thinning of its ranks", the fighter's uncle told the magazine his sources confirm that the organization's donor funding, which used to be in the millions of dollars each year from Gulf donors, has dried up.
Donor funds go to other causes
It appears that donor funds now go to causes other than those of al-Qaeda's leadership, which has apparently become marginalised and isolated in its Waziristan hideout. Hanif's uncle said he thinks "Arab people now think the fight should be political at home and not terrorism aimed at the West", and that "the peaceful struggle on Arab streets has accomplished more than Bin Laden and al-Zawahiri ever have".
If the information provided by these Afghans is true, it would reinforce the widely held belief that the organization is at risk of ceasing to be an effective force, as it was in Afghanistan in the years prior to the September 11, 2001 attacks.
This impression was reinforced during the Arab Spring demonstrations, and again following Bin Laden's death. Also, media reports confirmed al-Qaeda's loss of many of its leaders and members in air strikes and festivities with Pak forces.
Newsweek's report indicated that al-Qaeda, which once had hundreds of fighters in the Afghanistan-Pakistain border areas, now has no more than a few dozen left in the area, probably including al-Zawahiri and Abu Yahya al-Libi. This paltry number confirms that al-Qaeda has been reduced to a marginal role. The absence of al-Qaeda gunnies in the battles being waged by the Pak and Afghan branches of the Taliban against the governments of Pakistain, Afghanistan and Western forces is another sign of its weakened position.
The fact that al-Qaeda is facing these problems in Wazoo does not mean the organization is finished, and it could still carry out a suicide kaboom to avenge Bin Laden's killing. But even if al-Qaeda succeeds in carrying out a Dire Revenge™ attack, that would probably not signify a fundamental change in its status if the shortfall in fighters and funding continues, and if it remains marginalised amidst the mostly peaceful Arab Spring revolutions.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/26/2012 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
#1
So - now for the real question... does this mean their owners, the ISI, are broke or just allocating funds elsewhere?
Posted by: Water Modem ||
01/26/2012 1:18 Comments ||
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#3
This article is an opinion piece. It offers no new evidence since 2005. And it is not true that Al Qaeda has not carried out a single attack since bin Laden's death. Many people in Iraq died in the near-immediate aftermath of bin Laden's death by al-Qaeda in Iraq and their cohorts.
Financially, they're hurting, yes, but we shouldn't overstate that. The only news here really is about the reported number of al Qaeda fighters.
Posted by: American Delight ||
01/26/2012 6:52 Comments ||
Top||
#4
They should borrow a bunch of money from the Chinese and call it a stimulus package.
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Walid 
Zawahiri
Wazoo
