Hi there, !
Today Wed 03/21/2012 Tue 03/20/2012 Mon 03/19/2012 Sun 03/18/2012 Sat 03/17/2012 Fri 03/16/2012 Thu 03/15/2012 Archives
Rantburg
532873 articles and 1859623 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 51 articles and 72 comments as of 15:21.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Operations    Non-WoT    Opinion           
Five Killed In Bali Terror Raids
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 2: WoT Background
2 22:44 JosephMendiola [] 
2 12:45 Boss Hupusorong4750 [] 
1 17:14 Gleath Slaviling4141 [] 
0 [1] 
4 17:10 Gleath Slaviling4141 [] 
1 22:55 JosephMendiola [7] 
0 [5] 
2 06:52 Shieldwolf [6] 
0 [6] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
1 12:53 Boss Hupusorong4750 [6] 
0 [] 
1 12:49 Boss Hupusorong4750 [] 
1 23:14 JosephMendiola [6] 
4 17:38 Thing From Snowy Mountain [1] 
0 [2] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
4 23:02 JosephMendiola [2]
4 16:08 g(r)omgoru [5]
1 13:38 Anguper Hupomosing9418 [2]
4 20:28 JohnQC []
0 [4]
5 11:48 Frozen Al [5]
0 []
0 []
0 []
0 []
4 18:54 Gabby Cussworth [2]
0 [2]
0 [2]
0 [1]
0 [4]
1 10:13 Kentucky Beef []
0 [1]
10 08:11 Skidmark [1]
Page 3: Non-WoT
1 22:42 JosephMendiola [1]
1 14:24 past master of the obvious [1]
1 09:13 Ptah []
0 []
3 12:48 Boss Hupusorong4750 []
1 19:15 Gabby Cussworth []
0 [1]
0 [1]
Page 4: Opinion
3 16:56 g(r)omgoru [1]
1 11:58 Matt []
0 [1]
0 []
2 19:03 Old Patriot []
12 17:02 Gleath Slaviling4141 [2]
0 [1]
4 19:09 SenatorMark4 [3]
Africa North
Libya to ask Mauritania to extradite Senussi
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Libya wants Mauritania to extradite Abdullah al-Senussi, the locked away spymaster of slain dictator Moamer Qadaffy who is wanted by the International Criminal Court
... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ...
, the government said on Saturday.

"Telephone calls are underway by Libyan authorities to request his extradition," front man Nasser al-Manaa told a news conference in Tripoli.
...a confusing city, one end of thich is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
He added that the prosecutor general had also sent an extradition request to the Mauritanian government through Interpol.

The government "is ready to receive Abdullah al-Senussi and to detain him in a Libyan prison and to give him a fair trial in Libya," Manaa said, adding that the spymaster was accompanied at the time of his arrest "by someone who is believed to be his son."

Senussi was locked away overnight at Nouakchott airport after arriving on a regular flight from Casablanca in Morocco carrying a fake Malian passport, a Mauritanian security official said.

He was taken to the national intelligence agency's office in Nouakchott but it was unclear what the Mauritanian government planned to do with him, said the official.

Meanwhile,
...back at the the conspirators' cleverly concealed hideout the long-awaited message arrived. They quickly got to work with their decoder rings...
French President Nicolas Sarkozy
...23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. Sarkozy is married to singer-songwriter Carla Bruni, who has a really nice birthday suit...
Saturday hailed the arrest and also called for Senussi's extradition to La Belle France, his office said.

National Transitional Council front man Mohammed al-Harizi acknowledged La Belle France's extradition request but insisted Senussi should be tried in Libya for the crimes he committed there.
Posted by: Fred || 03/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Arabia
Key army commander: Saleh is trying to spoil GCC-brokered accord
[Yemen Post] General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, the commander of the First Armored Division and the Northwestern military region, accused former President President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh
... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it...
of trying to thwart the GCC-brokered deal by demanding to adhere to previous agreement, according to a source close to Mohsen.

These comments came as a response for Saleh's demand that elements of the one-year political impasse quit their posts and leave Yemen based on a deal struck at Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi's, the current President, house last year.

"If he wants us to abide by previous agreements then fine we will, but the immunity granted by the GCC deal would be invalid and nullified," said the source who considered Saleh's return to Yemen and the political scene is a breach of the deal singed in the Saudi capital of Riyadh in November last year.In May 2011, Saleh, Sadeq al-Ahmar, Mohsen and other top opposition figures held talks in Hadi house with the aim of resolving the crisis and they agreed that ten influential opposition leaders as well as Saleh quit their posts of authority and leave Yemen.
However,
the difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits...
Saleh has changed his mind hours later and withdrew from the deal, saying it was serving his opponents and that he was holding incumbent position unlike his foes who can be relieved from their posts by a republican decree.

In a statement released on Thursday, the former ruling General People Congress Party, whose head and founder is Saleh, said previous deal should be committed to by all sides, arguing Saleh had quit his post then his opponents must follow suit.The statement demanded the resignation of Gen. Mohsen, Abdu-Majeed al-Zandani, Abdu-Wahab al-Anasi, Hameed al-Hmar, Sadeq al-Hmar, Hasham al-Hmar, Mathahj al-Hmar, Hussein al-Hmar, Mansour al-Hanq, and Mohammed Ali Mohsen al-Hmar.
Posted by: Fred || 03/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Bangladesh
BNP refutes ISI fund reports
[Bangla Daily Star] The BNP has never taken any funds from abroad to contest polls, the party's acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said yesterday.
"No, no! Certainly not!"
Rather, he alleged, it was the Awami League that won the 2008 general election by dint of "bags of cash" from India.
"It wuz them! They dunnit!"
His comments came three days after a former chief of Pakistain's Inter Services Intelligence told the Pakistain Supreme Court that the ISI had funded the Bangladesh Nationalist Party's campaign for the polls in 1991. Daily Mail Online reported the ex-ISI chief's court statement.
So far precisely no former chiefs of RAW have come forward to confess to funding the Awami League. Anywhere outside Bangladesh this would point the finger at BNP. Within Bangla the waters are sufficiently muddy to leave the next election, if any, in doubt.
Fakhrul was addressing a programme arranged in the capital by Jatiyatabadi Swechhasebak Dal
...the wardheelers' volunteer wing of the BNP...
on the first death anniversary of BNP leader Khandaker Delwar Hossain.

The acting secretary general said, "We want to state categorically that our party never takes anyone's money to contest elections. Rather, there are allegations that it's you [ruling Awami League] who take money and other favours from foreigners. You are alleged to have taken money from Pakistain in 1996 to help pro-Paks."
"But it's been hushed up. Nobody's heard about it but us..."
Fakhrul alleged that the government had been using Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the state-owned news agency, to spread propaganda. The BNP would soon make a formal protest against it.

Speaking at the programme, Opposition Chief Whip Zainul Abdin Farroque said, "If we join parliament, the ruling party has got to be cordial."

The BNP may discontinue attending the session if the treasury bench's behaviour towards the opposition spoils the environment of the House.

On March 3, the UAE-based daily Khaleej Times reported that Air Marshal Asghar Khan, former commander-in-chief of Pakistain Air Force and veteran politican, in a petition filed with the Pak apex court said the ISI had paid Rs 50 million to BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia
Three-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ...
ahead of the 1991 elections, which the party won.
Posted by: Fred || 03/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  ISI money is trickle-down US aid.
Posted by: Boss Hupusorong4750 || 03/18/2012 12:49 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
North Korea to invite observers to satellite launch
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] North Korea said Saturday it would invite foreign experts and journalists to observe a satellite launch which has sparked widespread condemnation and US threats that it could jeopardise food aid.

The Korean Committee for Space Technology "will invite experienced foreign experts on space science and technology and journalists" to observe the blast-off next month, the official news agency said.
Posted by: Fred || 03/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Need hostages?
Posted by: imoyaro || 03/18/2012 2:33 Comments || Top||

#2  Stand real close.
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/18/2012 7:55 Comments || Top||

#3  Bring your own food?
Posted by: Raj || 03/18/2012 9:32 Comments || Top||

#4  No "Tree Bark" snacks. We haven't acquired a taste for that. Maybe if BHO gets a 2nd term?
Posted by: Gleath Slaviling4141 || 03/18/2012 17:10 Comments || Top||


Down Under
Aussie attorney-general: No place for sharia law
Australian attorney general Nicola Roxon has declared there is no place for Islamic law to settle family issues. Muslim leaders have defended the use of sharia law in Australia, particularly in the execution of wills that favor sons over daughters, contending that Australian courts should respect the wishes of Islamic citizens.

Roxon said, "There is no place for sharia law in Australian society and the government strongly rejects any proposal for its introduction, including in relation to wills and succession. The Australian government is committed to protecting the right of all people to practise their religion without intimidation or harassment, but always within the framework of Australian law."

A bitter dispute between siblings came before a court in Canberra last week, when a daughter of a devout Muslim woman demanded she receive the same inheritance as her brothers. Fatma Omari argued that Australian law, rather than Islamic law, should apply to her mother's will, despite it outlining her mother's wishes to follow sharia by giving her three sons full shares and her daughters half-shares of her estate. The case was complicated by the mother's state of mind when the will was drafted, because she was suffering from dementia.
Posted by: || 03/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Not even in the center of one of your bigger deserts?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/18/2012 4:00 Comments || Top||

#2  Where the slaves of allah have the numbers, they move for shariah.

Of course, Roman Catholics don't get Canon Law in the muzlim tyrannies.
Posted by: Boss Hupusorong4750 || 03/18/2012 12:45 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Pasha's efforts in war againt terror praised
[Dawn] Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani
... Pakistain's erstwhile current prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics can be awe-inspiring ...
held a meeting with the out-going Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha on Saturday, DawnNews reported.

During the meeting, the prime minister praised Pasha's efforts in the war against terrorism.

The ISI chief told Gilani that his services will always be available for the country in future.

Gen Pasha will retire after heading the spy agency for over three years on March 18.

The government has appointed Lt Gen Zahir ul Islam as the next head of the agency.
Posted by: Fred || 03/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Bin Laden family members under judicial remand: lawyer
[Dawn] A Pak court Saturday remanded family members of the late Osama bin Laden
... he's rotten though not quite forgotten...
including his Yemeni wife in judicial custody for nine days, their lawyer said.

Bin Laden's youngest wife Amal Abdulfattah was with him in a compound 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....
when he was killed in a US forces operation last year.

"The judge sent Abdulfattah along with her five children to judicial remand until March 26 after a preliminary hearing," Muhammad Aamir, who is going to represent Abdulfattah in the case, told AFP.

He said Abdulfattah's brother, Zakarya Ahmad Abd Al-Fattah, had hired him to represent his sister and her children in the case.

"I will file a power of attorney on behalf of my client, Abd Al-Fattah in the court on Monday to represent Abdulfattah in the case," Aamir said.

He added that he will also seek access to Abdulfattah, who has been in Pak custody since May last year and to the copy of the First Investigation Report (FIR) filed against her.

"I will also pray to the judge to allow Abdulfattah's brother to see her before the next hearing on March 26".
Posted by: Fred || 03/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda


Region suffered a lot in war imposed by others: minister
[Dawn] Senior Minister Bashir Ahmed Bilour here on Friday claimed that terrorism in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central...
had declined by 40 per cent due to government efforts, but, he said, the situation was still precarious.

He added that the region had suffered a lot in the three decades of war imposed by others.

He was speaking at a function arranged by South Asian Free Media Association in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar Press Club on Friday in connection with launching of its report pertaining to different issues faced by journalists in the country.

Mr Bilour said that media had played a vital role for peace and elimination of terrorism.

He said that Death Eaters were using different tactics to target journalists and common people.

He reiterated that the government would continue fight against terrorism. "We have fought undeclared third world war in this region," he said. The minister said that common people, especially ANP activists, had paid sacrifices in fight against terrorism.

He said that the government had tried to resolve issues through dialogue, but the terrorists` intention wasn`t for bringing peace. He said that peaceful Afghanistan was vital to lasting calm in this region, particularly in the KP and Fata.

Other speakers at the function expressed grave concern over the insecurity of media persons in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Federally Administered Tribal Areas and urged the government and owners of media outlets to take appropriate measures for their protection.

Besides Mr Bilour, who was the chief guest on the occasion, Safma KP president Shamim Shahid, local press club president Saiful Islam Saifi, Khyber Union of Journalists president Arshad Aziz Malik, civil society member Idress Kamal and others also spoke on the occasion.

They said that journalists had been facing life threats while performing duties in the province and Fata. The participants acknowledged that journalists had rendered sacrifices for establishment of peace in the region and suggested that dialogue was the only solution to ending militancy and insurgency in this part of the region.

Mr Shahid said that over 17 journalists had fallen prey to terrorism throughout the world, of which 10 casualties were in this region. He said that the media persons were facing severe hardships while performing their duties.

Idrees Kamal said that people belonging to media groups and civil society in particular should support the government in the fight against militancy to restore peace in the country.

Mr Saifi urged the media people to remain careful concerning their professional assignments and routine duties, particularly in the field. Arshad Aziz said that journalists were in dire need of life and health insurance, and the media owners should take steps to protect their interests.
Posted by: Fred || 03/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Nuggets from the Urdu press
Imran Khan party is another King's Party
Reported in Nawa-e-Waqt former PMLQ leader Marvi Memon said that Imran Khan's
... aka Taliban Khan, who is the lightweight's lightweight...
Tehrik Insaf was nothing more than another PMLQ formed to serve its masters; only this time its leader was not Chaudhry Shujaat but Imran Khan. She said she was offered the post of Information secretary but she said no to it.
 
Balochistan trouble is of US making
Famous former army chief Aslam Beg told Nawa-e-Waqt that the current Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
trouble was started by America as its global fasad (anarchy) which targets Russia, China, Pakistain and Iran. He said allies of America were a part of this mischief.

Mansoor Ijaz fails to make his point
Daily Mashriq reported that Mansoor Ijaz had failed to make his point even after submitted an 83-page long deposition to the judicial Commission on Memogate. The records he gave simply showed friendly exchange between him and Haqqani but did not prove that Haqqani had framed the memo and then asked Ijaz to hand it over to the American army chief.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq
U.S. talking to Iraq about Iranian arms flights to Syria
The State Department on Friday said the U.S. and other countries are consulting with Iraq about Iranian flights of weapons to Syria after Iraq's prime minister denied a report in The Washington Times saying Baghdad is allowing such flights.
The best $1,000,000,000,000 of our money Iran ever spent.
Posted by: Shimble Guelph5793 || 03/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  No offense, but posters who said President Bush was creating a Teheran colony in Iraq, weren't treated too friendly on the Patriot blogs.
Posted by: Boss Hupusorong4750 || 03/18/2012 12:46 Comments || Top||

#2  No offense, but posters who said President Bush was creating a Teheran colony in Iraq, weren't treated too friendly on the Patriot blogs.

No offense taken, Boss Hupusorong4750. When it comes to prophesying, most of us are likely to be wrong, many for reasons unnoticed or misunderstood at the time. The question that has to be asked in retrospect is, was it better to do what we did and obtain this undesirable result, or do nothing and have more of the situation that then obtained? Also, was there the political capital to do the things necessary to have avoided the current situation?
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/18/2012 17:14 Comments || Top||

#3  do nothing and have more of the situation that then obtained? That may not be actual result of doing nothing. The other side has options other than "more of the same."
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 03/18/2012 17:29 Comments || Top||

#4  If the base situation is that sooner or later a Democrat President will give up any advances won on the battlefield by a previous American one, is there any point to fighting any wars at all, or any point to having an army, or anyone enlisting, or even the US going on as a unified country?
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 03/18/2012 17:38 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Fatah says Iran trying to block Palestinian unity
Following Hamas visits to Iran, Fatah says the Islamic Republic is paying Hamas leaders in Gaza to block reconciliation efforts.
Because of course Hamas and Fatah are completely incapable of screwing it up on their own.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Uh-Oh. "Trouble in Paradise", perhaps?
Posted by: Titus Bluetooth7929 || 03/18/2012 0:32 Comments || Top||

#2  See also TOPIX > IRAN LAUNCHES PROXY WAR ON ISRAEL WID HAMAS ROCKETS.

The Grads, Boss, the Grads.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/18/2012 22:44 Comments || Top||


IDF says Gaza's Islamic Jihad severely damaged
Summarizing the recent unpleasantness.
All schools in South set to reopen; IDF impressed by Islamic Jihad's ability to launch more than 300 rockets during five main days of hostility; Israel satisfied with Egypt's role in cease-fire.

Gazooks fired a few rockets at Israel on Friday, but none on Saturday as of press time. IDF sources said that Islamic Jihad
...created after many members of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the liquidation of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah...
was severely beaten in the recent round of violence and that it would need time to rebuild its capabilities.

The air force bombed more than 40 targets throughout the Gazoo Strip over the past week, including nearly 20 rocket squads, and several weapons storage centers and underground long-range rocket launchers.

On Friday, one of the Kassam rockets hit in the Eshkol regional. No one was maimed.

After a week when many schools in the South were closed, all classes were expected to return to normal on Sunday.

"Islamic Jihad was hit hard in the recent round of violence but the rocket fire continued since it needs to be able to have the last word," a senior IDF source said over the weekend.

On the other hand, the source said that the IDF was impressed by Islamic Jihad's ability to fire more than 300 rockets during the main five days of hostilities, even though a significant number hit in Gazoo
Something like a third did not hit Israel, though where they landed is not clear...
and close to 60 were intercepted by the Iron Dome counter-rocket defense system.

The IDF source said that by last Tuesday, Islamic Jihad was "begging" Egypt to convince Israel to accept a ceasefire.

The source also said that Israel was satisfied with Egypt's role in brokering the truce, an indication that Cairo still had influence in the Gazoo Strip.

The IDF believes that Islamic Jihad refrained from firing its long-range Iranian-supplied Fajr-5 artillery rockets that have the capability to hit Tel Aviv.

Meanwhile on Friday, IDF Spokesman Brig.-Gen. Yoav Mordechai accused Tehran of "pulling the strings" behind the rocket fire against Israel from the Gazoo Strip. As reported last week in The Jerusalem Post, IDF Military Intelligence said that Iran was actively encouraging Islamic Jihad to continue and even escalate its rocket attacks against Israel.

"The regime of ayatollahs in Iran continues to operate proxies in Leb and Gazoo and to support them with weapons and funds," Mordechai wrote on his Facebook wall. Next to the comment, Mordechai has posted a cartoon of Iran's diminutive President Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad holding puppets of Hezbullies leader Hassan Nasrallah and Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh
...became Prime Minister after the legislative elections of 2006 which Hamas won. President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed Haniyeh from office on 14 June 2007 at the height of the Fatah-Hamas festivities, but Haniyeh did not acknowledge the decree and continues as the PM of Gazoo while Abbas maintains a separate PM in the West Bank...
.
Posted by: || 03/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  My Israeli contacts say: "if either the Ashkelon facility or Tel Aviv takes a hit, Gaza gets glazed."

Don't forget that Israel's Gaza policy was made in Washington, not Jerusalem
Posted by: Gleath Slaviling4141 || 03/18/2012 17:14 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
U.N. Team to Leave for Syria Monday
[An Nahar] A U.N. team mandated by international envoy Kofi Annan
...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo...
will leave for Damascus
...Capital of the last remaining Baathist regime in the world...
on Monday, the former U.N. secretary general's front man said.

U.N.-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...
envoy Annan said Friday the team would discuss setting up an international monitoring mission for Syria.

"I hope they will have all the access that is necessary," he added at a presser in Geneva after a video briefing of the U.N. Security Council.

He told a closed meeting of the council that he was sending the team even though he has had a "disappointing response" so far to his proposals to Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Supressor of the Damascenes...

He said his "six-point proposals" to Assad remain on the table and that he had "no illusions" over the scale of his mission to try to end the year-old military assault on protest cities that the United Nations
...boodling on the grand scale...
says has left more than 8,000 dead.

Annan also said he feared that the fallout from the Syria crisis could affect the whole of the Middle East.

"The talking continues," he said in Geneva, urging caution because the whole region is concerned.
Posted by: Fred || 03/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  OTOH CHINA DAILY FORUM > {Wayne Madsen Report = WMR] GULF ARABS [Govts-States] OFFERED BRIBE [US$5.0Bilyuhn] TO RUSSIA FOR "YES" VOTE ON SYRIA, i.e. in support of UN Resolution calling for Baby Assad to step down from power.

* TOPIX > TURKISH OFFICIALS: NO [Turkish = unilateral?]INTERVENTION AS LONG AS RUSSIA + IRAN BACK SYRIA.

* SAME > SYRIA, CYPRUS, ARMENIA RELATIONS CRITICAL TESTS FOR TURKEY.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/18/2012 22:55 Comments || Top||


U.S. Says $5 Million of Hizbullah's Assets Frozen
[An Nahar] The Terrorist Assets Report referred by the Department of Treasury to the Congress found that around $5 million in Hizbullah assets were blocked in the United States.

A chart in the report said exactly $4,882,893 were blocked as of 2011.

The 20th annual report to the Congress found $21.1 million in assets blocked from "specially designated global terrorists, cut-throats threatening the Middle East grinding of the peace processor and foreign terrorist organizations."

It described Hizbullah as a "terrorist organization threatening to disrupt" the Mideast grinding of the peace processor.

The U.S. has identified Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria as state sponsors of terrorism. The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said it identified a total of $520.1 million in assets from the four countries, blocking $398.6 million of it.

OFAC is the lead office responsible for implementing sanctions with respect to assets of "international terrorist organizations and terrorism-supporting countries."
Posted by: Fred || 03/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah


Diplomat Says Saudi Sends Military Equipment to Syria Rebels
[An Nahar] Soddy Arabia is delivering military equipment to Syrian rebels in an effort to stop bloodshed by Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad's
Light of the Alawites...
regime, a top Arab diplomat said on Saturday.

"Saudi military equipment is on its way to Jordan to arm the Free Syrian Army," the diplomat told Agence La Belle France Presse on condition of anonymity.

"This is a Saudi initiative to stop the massacres in Syria," he added saying further "details will follow at a later time."

The announcement came two days after the kingdom said it had shut down its embassy in Syria and withdrawn its entire staff.

However,
women are made to be loved, not understood...
Jordan rejected the report.

"Jordan categorically denies the report," government front man and Information Minister Rakan Majali told AFP. "This is completely baseless."
Posted by: Fred || 03/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  Soddy Arabia is delivering military equipment to Syrian rebels in an effort to stop bloodshed

Somebody, sometime, will have to teach logic to Arabs.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/18/2012 3:57 Comments || Top||

#2  This has nothing to do with stopping bloodshed, and everything to do with Pencilneck rejecting the last Saudi offer to get him and his family out of Syria to some place safe with a couple of hundred million dollars in hand. Then, the correct Syrian generals were to stage a coup and create a "National Reconciliation Government" that would evict the Iranians and their terrorist proxies. But since Pencilneck is sticking with the Shi'ite Persians and their Arab rent-a-thugs, the Saudis are ratcheting up the pressure on the regime.
Posted by: Shieldwolf || 03/18/2012 6:52 Comments || Top||


Iran parliament speaker says Israel won't attack
[Dawn] Iran's parliament speaker on Saturday compared Israel to a barking dog that won't dare attack the Islamic republic over its controversial nuclear program.
They usually say something like that about a week before the bunker busters start busting...
"They make a lot of fuss about it but don't dare to attack Iran," Ali Larijani said of Israel. His comments were posted on the parliament's website. "They are like dogs that keep barking but are not for attacks."

"Israel won't make the mistake of attacking Iran because it's not prepared to play with its own destiny," said Larijani.

Larijani is Iran's former top nuclear negotiator and intensely loyal to the country's holy man-led regime. His barbed comments are sure to ratchet up tension over Iran's nuclear program.
Posted by: Fred || 03/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Well 'Bama won't allow it.
Posted by: Boss Hupusorong4750 || 03/18/2012 12:53 Comments || Top||


Iraq Backs Idea of Arab Peacekeepers
[An Nahar] Iraq's deputy foreign minister voiced support on Saturday for the idea of peacekeeping forces manned exclusively by 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...
troops but stopped short of backing a Qatari proposal to deploy one in Syria.

Labid Abbawi's remarks come ahead of an Arab summit due in Storied Baghdad
...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate...
on March 29, the first meeting of the 22-nation bloc in the Iraqi capital since the late dictator Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

"We do support the idea, but of course there are a lot of details which have to be discussed," Abbawi told Agence La Belle France Presse when asked if Iraq backed an Arab League peacekeeping force.

"But the idea is supported by us."

He said he was not sure if the idea would be agreed at the upcoming summit, but said it was "a time to look at it again".

Qatar has most forcefully advocated the idea of an Arab force, to be used particularly in Syria, and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani told Arab foreign ministers meeting in Cairo on Saturday it was time to send Arab and other foreign troops to Syria.

"The time has come to apply the proposal to send Arab and international troops to Syria," Sheikh Hamad said during a meeting of top diplomats that was to be joined by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov later on Saturday.
Posted by: Fred || 03/18/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  Ya know, many ME Govts-States = Arab League like the idea of a OWG "Islamic Union", + even OWG "Mediterranean Union", that doesn't have to rely on the US-NATO andor UNSC all the time to enforce Mandates = will of UNO + International Community, espec vee Muslim Countries, yet fail to do so because the Islamic tenet that no Muslim may fight or kill another Muslim.

SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE.

Lest we fergit, 9-11/GWOT + WAR FOR OWG-NWO = ANTI-STATUS QUO = OLD WAYS M-U-S-T CHANGE, NOT "SHOULD" OR "MIGHT" CHANGE.

No more wudda, cudda, shudda, mighta.

D *** NG IT, MUST, MUST - SPELLED M-U-S-S - MUST!
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/18/2012 23:14 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
24[untagged]
6Govt of Pakistan
4Govt of Syria
3Govt of Iran
2TTP
2al-Qaeda
2al-Qaeda in Arabia
2Arab Spring
1Commies
1Boko Haram
1al-Shabaab
1Hezbollah
1Hizb-ut-Tahrir
1al-Qaeda in Iraq

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio

Merry-Go-Blog











On Sale now!


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.
Click here for more information

Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Sun 2012-03-18
  Five Killed In Bali Terror Raids
Sat 2012-03-17
  Qaeda suspects kidnap Swiss woman: Yemeni officials
Fri 2012-03-16
  Philly man arrested on charges of supporting Uzbeki terrorists
Thu 2012-03-15
   Karzai orders NATO out of all Afghan villages
Wed 2012-03-14
  Leon Panetta unhurt after suspected attack
Tue 2012-03-13
  U.S. Drone Attack In Pakistan Reportedly Kills 15 Suspected Militants
Mon 2012-03-12
  Army airstrikes kill 20 al-Qaeda militants in south Yemen
Sun 2012-03-11
  Syrian Ground Forces Storm Rebel Stronghold of Idlib, 62 Killed in Violence
Sat 2012-03-10
  Air strikes in Yemen kill suspected al Qaeda militants
Fri 2012-03-09
  13 Dronezapped in South Wazoo
Thu 2012-03-08
  British and Italian hostages murdered by captors in special forces rescue bid in Nigeria
Wed 2012-03-07
  Suicide bomber kills four in southern Russia
Tue 2012-03-06
  Nigerian Army Says Killed 3 Islamists Trying to Burn School
Mon 2012-03-05
  Gunmen massacre 21 policemen in Iraq attacks
Sun 2012-03-04
  Sherpao escapes suicide attack in Charsadda
Sat 2012-03-03
  African Union troops say seize major al Shabaab base


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.
3.15.235.196
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Operations (18)    Non-WoT (8)    Opinion (8)    (0)    (0)