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Today: 72 articles and 196 comments as of 1:13.
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Libya Interim Head's Car Comes under Fire
Today's Headlines
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Page 6: Politix
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Afghanistan
Karzai calls on Afghan troops to clean up own act
[Dawn] The Afghan president on Wednesday called on his security forces to end incidents of torture and abuse of the Afghan people, a shift from past speeches that have solely blamed Nato troops for the violations in the country.

In an address to parliament, Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai
... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use...
said Afghan forces are also violating their own people's rights, making it harder for him to raise the issue when abuses are carried out by foreigners.

"It's not forgivable ... Our Afghan people are not safe in their houses," because of Afghan troops' treatment, he said. "Why should I blame foreigners?"

The Afghan leader said he did not initially want to believe reports that his own security forces had tortured prisoners, for instance, but that now he was calling on Afghan forces to respect human rights
One man's rights are another man's existential threat.

An Afghan government investigation last month found widespread cases of abuse at government-run prisons, backing up the results of a UN investigation that Karzai had initially repudiated.

Karzai's speech is likely to be welcomed by diplomats who have called on him to acknowledge his own troops' responsibility for incidents of abuse.

But with the remarks, the Afghan leader also made a veiled reference to his recent calls for the withdrawal of US special operations forces from Wardak province, neighboring Kabul, because of alleged incidents of abuse by US and Afghan forces there.

US officials have said they are investigating the allegations.

Karzai also called on the Afghan Taliban to acknowledge his offer to open negotiations with them through an official Taliban office, which is due to open in Qatar. The senior Taliban leadership has not responded to the offer.

And in a possibly troubling statement for the international community, Karzai criticised the cost of the last presidential elections, saying that paying for international advisers and enablers drove up the price of each vote to between $30 and $40.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336076 views] Top|| File under:


International meddling led to terrorism in Afghanistan, says Foreign Secretary
[Dawn] Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani on Wednesday said the role of international forces in Afghanistan had led to terrorism in the war-torn country, DawnNews reported.

Speaking at a conference on Afghanistan in Islamabad, the foreign secretary said terrorism would continue to affect the country even after the withdrawal of NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis....
forces.

The US plans to end its combat operations in Afghanistan by the end of 2014 and is encouraging the Afghan government to engage the Talibs for a peaceful end to the conflict. The Taliban, however, appear reluctant to work with Kabul.

Jilani added that Pakistain's army and intelligence agencies were in close contact with their Afghan counterparts over cooperation on security-related issues.

The foreign secretary said Pakistain had allocated funds for development projects in Afghanistan, adding that 20 million dollars were for assisting the Afghan National Army (ANA).
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336130 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda

#1  What a bunch of silly crap.

Has every one gone mad over there?

Is being Muslem a euphorism for being stupid? Illogical? Psychotic?
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 03/07/2013 10:32 Comments || Top||

#2  The Taliban, however, appear reluctant to work with Kabul....

...but quite eager to kill them all, which is also a solution.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/07/2013 10:41 Comments || Top||

#3  The Pak army will try to get the Taliban back in power asap.

The countries who support the Taliban Pre 911 still support the Taliban 2013.

Pakistan,UAE and Saudi fund the Muslim WOT against the West.

Iran have joined the above in the fight for Global Islam.

Hope we support the countries on the frontline vs Global Islam ie Israel and India.

Posted by: Photh Platypus2300 || 03/07/2013 15:50 Comments || Top||

#4  Hope we support the countries on the frontline vs Global Islam ie Israel and India.

Yes. Hopefully without too much overt undermining by the current resident of the White House. It would be lovely if Britain could quickly get its financial house in order so it could resupply its armed forces as well... This ought not be carried by the U.S. alone.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/07/2013 17:32 Comments || Top||

#5  "Is being Muslem a euphorism for being stupid? Illogical? Psychotic?"

That was a rhetorical question, right, Bill?
Posted by: Barbara || 03/07/2013 18:12 Comments || Top||

#6  Well Barbara I guess that is a big obvious isn't it?

Yep. Do the math, the CDC once said at any given time 2% of the US population is dangerously psychotic. So if there are 1.4 BILLION Moslems, times 2% that is 28 million complete wacked nutso crazy keeping heads in the refrigerator dangerously insane people out there jabbering about Jihad....I wonder if you have to flunk the MMPI to be a iman?
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 03/07/2013 23:09 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
ICC Sets Date for Trial of Darfur Rebels over Peacekeeper Deaths
[An Nahar] Two Darfur rebel leaders are to go on trial in May next year for the 2007 killings of 12 African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
peacekeepers in the war-torn western region of Sudan, the International Criminal Court
... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ...
said on Wednesday.

Abdallah Banda and Saleh Jerbo face three war crimes charges for leading an attack in northern Darfur in September 2007, when a force armed with rocket launchers and anti-aircraft guns opened fire on the AU's military base at Haskanita.

"Today, the trial chamber set the date for the commencement of trial for May 5, 2014," the Hague-based ICC said in a statement, setting the stage for the first trial for crimes committed in the Darfur region.

About 1,000 assailants took part in the massive attack targeting peacekeepers from the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS), during which the base was also looted.

Banda, around 50, and Jerbo, around 39, who are not in jug, appeared voluntarily before the court in June 2010 and urged other war crimes suspects to surrender to justice.

The court's judges confirmed in March 2010 there was enough evidence to put them on trial for "violence to life, intentionally directing attacks against peacekeepers and pillaging," but did not set a trial date.

The judges "considered that the trial cannot start before necessary measures are put in place to ensure that... any risks of interruptions to the trial proceedings are minimized," the ICC said.

This included witness protection and training interpreters to speak Zaghawa in order to allow the suspects "to follow proceedings in a language they can understand."

The ICC declined to comment on the two suspects' current whereabouts.

Four others are wanted for war crimes in Darfur: Sudanese Defense Minister Abdelrahim Mohamed Hussein, former Sudanese government minister Ahmad Harun, pro-government Janjaweed militia leader Ali Kushayb, and Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir
Head of the National Congress Party. He came to power in 1989 when he, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and eventually appointed himself president-for-life. He has fallen out with his Islamic mentor, Hasan al-Turabi, tried to impose shariah on the Christian and animist south, resulting in its secessesion, and attempted to Arabize Darfur by unleashing the barbaric Janjaweed on it. Sudan's potential prosperity has been pissed away in warfare that has left as many as 400,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced. Omar has been indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court but nothing is expected to come of it.
, whom prosecutors accuse of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur.

Bashir continues to defy an ICC arrest warrant as he travels around the continent, including making a visit to Chad in February for a regional summit.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336113 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan

#1  The Darfur Rebels?

When in hell are they going to take Bashir, that murderous bastard, and try him? Or is his Muslemness too much for the ICC, try a few Christians instead?
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 03/07/2013 10:31 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Libya condemns Benghazi church attack
[MAGHAREBIA] The Libyan foreign ministry on Sunday (March 3rd) condemned an attack on a Coptic church in Benghazi, just days after 50 Christians were incarcerated
... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not...
and accused of proselytising.

The foreign ministry said it "strongly condemned Thursday's attack on the Egyptian church... and the aggression towards Father Paula Isaac and his deputy by the irresponsible gunnies", AFP reported.

It expressed its deep sorrow and concern for what happened, and noted that the attack was a violation of the teachings of Islam, international human rights
One man's rights are another man's existential threat.
treaties, basic rights and respect of divine religions.
What lovely pieties.
The foreign ministry said that the government formed a committee from the interior ministry, chief of staffs' office, and intelligence agency headed by Justice Minister Dr. Salah al-Marghani to investigate the attack.

The Libyan authorities intend to deal with this incident very seriously and professionally, especially as the government has taken the necessary measures to secure the church.

It called on Libyans to help activate and create the culture of respecting expatriates who come from friendly and brotherly countries.

Libyan authorities also urged citizens to respect the beliefs of foreign workers in line with the necessary requirements to build a state of law and institutions and in implementation of Libya's obligations under international and regional human rights and basic freedoms treaties.

Also on Sunday, 23 Egyptians Christians accused of proselytising were released pending deportation. The Coptic Church in Benghazi intervened to assist them.

Meanwhile,
...back at the Hubba Hubba Club, Nunzio wondered: Where the hell was Chumbaloni? And where was his $600?...
25 others remain in detention and are under investigation. The priest and his assistants were released after their heads were shaved.
What an odd thing to do. In post-War France they shaved the heads of local women who went out with Nazi soldiers -- is it something like that?
A security source in Benghazi said that seven or eight of them rented shops at al-Jareed popular market at the heart of Benghazi. They were arrested and their houses searched, where bibles and religious books were allegedly found.

The source noted that investigations revealed that a number of them were without visas, others were without work permits, and three had hepatitis C. He said that this was a violation of Libyan law, and that they violated the immigration and labour laws.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336090 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Libya warns warring tribes
[MAGHAREBIA] Libyan authorities told rival Mizdah tribes to either cease hostilities or risk military intervention, PANA reported on Tuesday (March 5th). Army front man Col. Ali Al-Sheikh said that the country's air force had been given orders to conduct strikes against any gang operating in the region.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336083 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring

#1  Libya IS warring tribes.
Posted by: Spusoling Ulaimble8374 || 03/07/2013 12:50 Comments || Top||


Rebels holding UN team investigated for past executions
[Al Ahram] Human Rights Watch
... dedicated to bitching about human rights violations around the world...
said it was investigating the same rebel brigade that seized 20 United Nations
...Parkinson's Law on an international scale...
peacekeepers on Wednesday for executing captured Syrian soldiers earlier this week.

Peter Bouckaert of the human rights
...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions...
monitoring group told Rooters it was investigating the involvement of the "Martyrs of Yarmouk" brigade in a videotaped execution of nabbed
Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try!
Syrian soldiers posted on the Internet on Tuesday.

The UN says about 20 peacekeepers in the force charged with monitoring the cease-fire between Israel and Syrian troops on the Golan Heights have been detained by approximately 30 armed fighters.

UN deputy front man Eduardo del Buey says the UN observers were on a regular supply mission Wednesday when they were stopped near an observation post which sustained damage and was evacuated last weekend following heavy combat.

He said the UN peacekeeping mission has dispatched a team to assess the situation and attempt a resolution.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336080 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra

#1  Syria rebels want troop pullback before they free U.N. men
Rebels holding 21 U.N. peacekeepers near the Golan Heights in southern Syria say government forces must leave the area before they free their "guests", an activist in touch with the fighters said on Thursday.

Rami Abdelrahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights quoted a spokesman for the "Martyrs of Yarmouk" rebel brigade as saying the peacekeepers were being held as "guests" in the village of Jamla, about a mile from a ceasefire line with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

"He said they will not be harmed. But the rebels want the Syrian army and tanks to pull back from the area," Abdelrahman said after speaking to the rebel spokesman on Thursday morning.
Posted by: tipper || 03/07/2013 6:56 Comments || Top||

#2  Welcome to the Martyrs of Yarmouk brigade. I, Fazil Musaka am your unit sponsor. If you have further questions, please contact the Brigade Sergeant Major. I, Fazil Musaka have already been martyred.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/07/2013 8:16 Comments || Top||

#3  Israel Concerned UN will Leave Golan After Abductions
Israel on Thursday expressed concern that the UN peacekeeping force in the Golan Heights could pull out altogether after Syrian rebels snatched 21 of their troops in the ceasefire zone bordering Israel. The soldiers, Filipino members of the UNDOF peacekeeping force, were taken hostage on Wednesday by gunmen who said they would be held until troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad pulled back from Jamla village in the southern province of Daraa.

“This kidnapping is likely to convince countries who participate in this force to bring their troops home, which would undoubtedly create a dangerous vacuum in no man's land on the Golan,” an Israeli official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Since its creation, this force has fulfilled its mission, which was to keep the peace," he said.
Posted by: tipper || 03/07/2013 10:32 Comments || Top||


Egypt cancels April 22 legislative vote
Bet you didn't see that coming...
Egypt’s administrative court on Wednesday ordered the cancellation of controversial parliamentary elections scheduled for April 22, throwing the country deeper into political crisis.

Judge Abdel Meguid al-Moqanen said Islamist President Mohamed Morsi had ratified a new electoral law for the country last month without sending it to the Supreme Constitutional Court for its approval, as required by the constitution. Consequently, the administrative court referred the law to the constitutional court and cancelled Mursi’s decree calling for elections.

The law was issued by the Senate, which has been acting as a legislative body since a previous court ruling abolished the lower house of parliament in June over constitutional issues. The Senate sent it to the constitutional court, which returned it after rejecting several articles. The Senate then amended the law, but never sent it back for final approval.

This puts Morsi, who ratified the law despite that fact, in an uncomfortable position. He has repeatedly insisted that elections would usher in stability,
...defined as tightening his grip on power...
dismissing criticism that the timing of the polls was wrong with the country gripped by unrest and division.

The election had been scheduled to take place in four stages over two months.

Egypt’s main opposition bloc, the National Salvation Front, had already announced it would boycott the vote — expressing doubts over its transparency — and demanded a new electoral law.

The gulf between the ruling Islamists and the opposition has been growing wider since November, when Mursi issued a decree expanding his powers. The decree was repealed after intense street pressure, but only after a controversial Islamist-drafted constitution was rushed through.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336091 views] Top|| File under:


Africa Subsaharan
CAN blasts Sultan over Boko Haram amnesty call
[VANGUARDNGR] Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, yesterday, dismissed the call by the Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, NSCIA, Alhaji Muhammad Sa'ad Abubakar III, calling on the Federal Government to grant "total amnesty" to members of Boko Haram
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
sect for the sake of peace.

CAN in a statement by its General Secretary, Dr. Musa Asake, said it categorically rejected any offer of amnesty for members of Boko Haram sect.

The statement said: "Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, is surprised and puzzled by the statement credited to the Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, NSCIA, Alhaji Muham-mad Sa'ad Abubakar III, that the Islamist myrmidon group, Boko Haram, should be granted "total amnesty" for the sake of peace in Nigeria and that "the bottom line of the problem facing us has been injustice meted out to people who are not supposed to.

"We wonder what the Sultan meant by injustice in relation to the activities of Boko Haram sect when members of the group are a bunch of fundamentalists who have killed, maimed, deformed Christians and made orphans and widows of otherwise peaceful and lovely families.

"They have also displaced people, destroyed businesses and livelihoods in their thousands. Would the Sultan sincerely attribute the perpetration of the injustice to Christians?

"If it is injustice, is it not government that should be held accountable? Why would the sect not hold their representatives at the various tiers of government responsible?"

"The Sultan should be told that we have since found out that the attacks are primarily targeted at Christians and their Churches. Who then is suffering injustice? Who needs justice? Christians or those killing and bombing Churches?

"The injustice to Christians killed, maimed and rendered helpless by the sect is underscored by the payment of the sum of N100 million to the late sect leader's family by the Borno State government without any assistance to any of the Christian victims of Boko Haram."
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336107 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram


Arabia
Arab League gives go ahead to arm Syria rebels
rab media outlets are playing up the Arab League’s official green light to member countries to supply weapons and other tactical support to the Free Syria Army, as it bids to oust the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

“Arab League allows those who wish to arm the Free Syrian Army” reads the leading headline today in the Saudi-owned daily A-Sharq Al-Awsat. Saudi Arabia has been funding the Syrian rebels for many months now. The announcement, which comes after a meeting of foreign ministers of Arab League countries held in Cairo, also calls for a member of the Syrian opposition to officially take over the Syrian seat at the Arab League summit held in Doha later this month.

The Arab League statement stresses that “the opposition coalition is the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people. . . and the importance of continuing efforts to reach a political solution to the crisis. Emphasis is placed on the right of each state, according to its own willingness, to provide all means of defense, including military, to support the steadfastness of the Syrian people and the Free Syria Army.”

As expected, the Syrian government unequivocally rejected the Arab League’s move.

According to the London-based pan-Arab newspaper Al-Hayat, “the Syrian Arab Republic emphasizes its firm rejection of the Arab League’s policies or other international efforts in seeking a peaceful solution to the crisis in Syria… The Arab League has chosen to be biased in favor of Arab parties that support foreign military intervention. This hinders any solution based on national dialogue and encourages the opposition and terrorist groups to continue fueling the crisis.”

Two of Syria’s neighboring countries, Iraq and Lebanon, have issued statements that lend support to the official Syrian position. Both countries are facing political crises of their own at home and are concerned about the Syrian civil war spilling over into their territory.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has stated publicly his fears that sectarian bloodshed in Syria would lead to a major Al-Qaeda presence there and inspire a similar catastrophe in Iraq.

The Qatar-based media channel Al-Jazeera notes that Lebanon’s government officially distanced itself from Syria’s chaos yesterday. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati emphasized his country’s neutrality on the issue of the Syria.

Mikati has also urged the Lebanese people to refrain from taking sides or doing anything “that might endanger the security of their country or put its stability at risk.”

Adding more fuel to the fire against the Syrian government, former Assad insider Firas Tlass, a childhood friend of the president, military chief, prominent business tycoon and the son of a former Syrian defense minister who has since defected to the rebels, spills details of what he claims are Assad’s secret ties with Israel to Dubai-based media channel Al-Arabiya.
Posted by: tipper || 03/07/2013 07:36 || Comments || Link || [336081 views] Top|| File under:


Bangladesh
BNP, allies go for oust-govt movement
[Bangla Daily Star] The BNP-led 18-party opposition alliance last night decided to go for "one-point movement" to overthrow the government, sources said.

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 maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. 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...
, a key component in the alliance, however, would carry on its ongoing movement demanding release of its top leaders facing war crimes charges.

The decision was made at an hour-long meeting of the alliance with BNP chief Khaleda Zia
Three-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ...
in the chair at her Gulshan office last night.

Meeting sources told The Daily Star that it was the BNP chief who actually proposed waging a one-point movement under the banner of 18-party alliance to topple the government, a top leader of a component of the alliance said.

"Leaders of the 18-party alliance welcomed the BNP chief's proposal saying that the alliance should have gone for such movement a long time ago," the leader told The Daily Star requesting anonymity.

"In reply, she [Khaleda Zia] said, 'let's forget the past and work for the future'," the leader said.

The meeting also decided to take up tougher programmes in the coming days.

Emerging from yesterday's meeting, National Democratic Party chief Shawkat Hossain Nilu told The Daily Star that today's countrywide daylong hartal
... a peculiarly Bangla combination of a general strike and a riot, used by both major political groups in lieu of actual governance ...
would be enforced by the 18-party alliance, instead of just the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami.

The BNP had called the hartal after its rally in front of its Naya Paltan head office was foiled yesterday afternoon. Jamaat called for the hartal today minutes later.

The last meeting of the opposition alliance was held on January 28.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336091 views] Top|| File under:


Unite to resist Jamaat terror
[Bangla Daily Star] Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
...Bangla dynastic politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Bangla Awami League since 1981. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She has once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide...
has urged people to set up committees all over the country to resist the ongoing rampage by Jamaat-Shibir activists.

"Form terrorism prevention committees everywhere -- in districts, upazilas, union parishads and wards -- to prevent them from doing any harm to people or public property," the prime minister said in parliament yesterday.

Hasina, also the leader of the House, said politicians, political activists, Islamic scholars and all pro-liberation forces have to unite to resist the ongoing violence.

Taking part in the thanksgiving motion on the president's address, she said people must raise their voice if they want to take the country forward and see the continuation of economic development.

Hasina's remarks came just two days after BNP on Monday announced setting up "committees for public safety across the country to counter the ruling Awami League's threat to resist the opposition's movement."

Referring to 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 maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. 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...
's showing in the 2008 parliamentary polls, Hasina said it got less than one percent of the total votes. It means at least 95 percent people, except Jamaat and the BNP chief, want trial of war criminals.

"It is unacceptable that a few people will hold the majority hostage."

On the recent vandalism and attacks by Jamaat-Shibir men which left more than 60 people dead, she said they continue to indulge in violent activities like bombing, killing and looting.

In her 46-minute speech, Hasina, chief of Awami League, strongly criticised her archrival Khaleda Zia
Three-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ...
and her party BNP for "their role in protecting war criminals."

"The opposition leader [Khaleda Zia] will have to take responsibilities for the deaths of general people and coppers [in recent violence]."

"She will not be able to protect war criminals. Trial of war criminals must be done."

In a statement in parliament on Tuesday, Home Minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir announced that the government decided to take action against central and local leaders of Jamaat and BNP under the anti-terrorism act-2009, holding them responsible for the recent deaths and violence.

Winding up the 16th parliament session that was prorogued last night, Speaker Abdul Hamid said the politicians should make people aware about any smear campaigns and help them resist the troublemakers.

Meanwhile,
...back at the bunker, his Excellency called the chief of staff and complained that the artillery was keeping him awake...
the House passed a resolution giving thanks to President Zillur Rahman for his address to parliament.

The House held discussions for a total of 46 hours on the thanksgiving motion with the participation of 191 politicians.

The BNP-led opposition politicians refrained from joining the session that began on January 27.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336089 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami


Caribbean-Latin America
Tamaulipas closes prison in Miguel Aleman

For a map, click here. For a map of Tamaulipas state, click here

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

A prison in Miguel Aleman municipality in Tamaulipas state has been closed, according to an official government announcement.

In an announcement posted on the government website of Tamaulipas, the Secretaria de Seguridad Publica del Estado (SSPE) said that the Centro de Ejecucion de Sanciones (CEDES) prison in Miguel Aleman has been closed and its remaining 152 inmates transferred.

Only nine days ago a total of 12 inmates were released from the prison during an assault by 15 armed suspects. The suspects had entered the prison during the early morning hours of February 26th, held prison officials and guards at gunpoint, and released the 12 inmates. No shots were fired and no one was reported hurt in the incident.
You can read about the February 26th prison break in Miguel Aleman by clicking here.
Wednesday's announcement said that 148 inmates serving time for state charges were moved from the CEDES to another state prison in Reynosa. Four federal prisoners were moved to another federal facility in Matamoros, also in Tamaulipas state.

Mexican Army and Policia Federal (PF) troops provided security for the transfer.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
Posted by: badanov || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336089 views] Top|| File under:


China-Japan-Koreas
Furious Over Sanctions, NKorea Vows To Nuke US
North Korea is vowing a pre-emptive nuclear strike against the United States. The harsh rhetoric Thursday comes hours ahead of a vote by U.N. diplomats on whether to level new sanctions against Pyongyang for its recent nuclear test.

An unidentified spokesman for Pyongyang's Foreign Ministry said the North will exercise its right for "pre-emptive nuclear strikes on the headquarters of the aggressors" because Washington is pushing to start a nuclear war against the North.

Such inflammatory rhetoric is common from North Korea. But it has been coming regularly in recent days. North Korea is angry over the possible sanctions and over upcoming U.S.-South Korean military drills.
Posted by: tipper || 03/07/2013 04:33 || Comments || Link || [336112 views] Top|| File under:

#1  North Korea vows nuclear attack on US, as UN prepares to vote on sanctions
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 03/07/2013 6:36 Comments || Top||

#2  Dear North Korea,
Please could you remind us which is your 193rd largest city so we know where to send our demands for your unconditional surrender in 20 minutes time.
Love,
Just one Ohio class submarine.
Posted by: Lionel Panda6719 || 03/07/2013 7:34 Comments || Top||

#3 
Redacted. Don't do that. Don't go there.

AoS.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 03/07/2013 8:51 Comments || Top||

#4  As if anyone needed another reason to leave California.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/07/2013 9:23 Comments || Top||

#5  ..yeah, sort of fitting that the lucrative targets are large 'blue' concentrations on the Left coast. Who needs a missile defense system when you can spend money on power social justice. I say its time to call their bluff.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/07/2013 9:32 Comments || Top||

#6  so where did I put my SPF 1000 sunblock? i know it's somewhere here in my house in California ... just buried under the Hollywood gossip magazines :-)
Posted by: Raider || 03/07/2013 9:35 Comments || Top||

#7  ..I thought it was recalled by the FDA for excessively high lead content?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/07/2013 9:39 Comments || Top||

#8  IIRC, the one thing that will trigger a nuclear response from the US is a nuclear attack on us or certain allies. (Israel not included, of course.)

As Lone Panda said, a single Ohio class boomer could turn much of North Korea into radioactive grit in a few minutes. We have 18 of them.

Of course, this assumes that O would issue the order instead of going to Pyongyang and begging their forgiveness.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 03/07/2013 9:57 Comments || Top||

#9  A strategic time now that Panetta is gone. Is this a test for Hagel?
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/07/2013 10:03 Comments || Top||

#10  Almost sounds like "suicide by police."
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 03/07/2013 10:20 Comments || Top||

#11  Sounds like it, doesn't it Almost?

Either that or they ain't very bright.
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/07/2013 11:10 Comments || Top||

#12  Hey - not all of us here in the Peoples Republic of Washington State are blue. In fact I think if they take out Seattle - Washington will instantly become Red.

Rambler - Third option - Obama Surrenders.

This is what happens when we elect a limp-dickwrist to the white house. Pugsley woudn't have the guts to make a threat like that for Bush.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 03/07/2013 12:03 Comments || Top||

#13  CF, you may have just removed Seattle from the target list.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 03/07/2013 12:19 Comments || Top||

#14  Nuke the little bastard. He's gone too far. Let his Chinese puppet masters know there is a line and this time they've crossed it. It's no good hoping for peace when clearly they do not intend to stop unless we make them stop.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 03/07/2013 12:32 Comments || Top||

#15  Japanese are getting a little worried.

N. Korea shows some signs of preparing for war
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 03/07/2013 13:06 Comments || Top||

#16  They need to destroy their country to save it.
Posted by: Perfesser || 03/07/2013 13:39 Comments || Top||

#17  Executive order recinding the assassination ban combined with a bounty on Dear Leader's head might make him think twice about these occasional wild threats.

Combine that with an end to all discussions with China until China deals with their little monster.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 03/07/2013 14:46 Comments || Top||

#18  I'd also remind China that (a) nuclear blasts in North Korea would probably create a mess for the whole region (b) if Korea eventually unites they will be nuclear armed.

Perhaps it is time for China to show they are a great power and throttle the little leader and work to get the Koreas united in a way China can somewhat control.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 03/07/2013 14:48 Comments || Top||

#19  Perhaps it is time for China to show they are a great power and throttle the little leader and work to get the Koreas united in a way China can somewhat control.

That's like asking a dog handler to throttle his Doberman.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 03/07/2013 18:07 Comments || Top||

#20  Why don't they nuke China? It's closer...
Posted by: tu3031 || 03/07/2013 22:04 Comments || Top||

#21  USS GEORGE WASHINGTON [ + BatGru] I'm a'lookin at you.

On a separate note, a fellow restaurant patron claims he was told by his third-party friend from Chuuk [Truk] state that Chuuk + other Member-States of the FSM are ready to stop or end their Compact Agrement wid the USA + vote to become a CHINESE TERRITORY.

Iff true, it reminds me of the 1930's when Guam was surrounded by Japanese bases throughout Micronesia, save now in the 21st Century the bases may be CHINESE.

Besides avoiding a Limited or Full-scale Conventional-Nuclear Conflict wid China oer the Diaoyus/Senkakus [SSSHHHHH ... CCCCCC, read
"TAIWAN" in China-speak], IMO the only other way by which the Bammer can avoid a mil conflict agz China is to expand US borrowing from China in order to service or resolve the US Debt as per "Sequester/Sequestration", WHERE CHINA IS STILL LIKELY TO DEMAND CERTAIN CONDITIONS BE MET BY THE BAMMER ADMIN = USA E.G. THE UNILATERAL REDUCTION, CLOSURE, OR PULLOUT OF USDOD ASSETS FROM SELECT EAST ASIA + PACIFIC OCEAN AREAS.

Lest we fergit, Perts are saying that at current rates the Bammer Admin = USA is likely to achieve a excessive level of debt by EOY 2016 which was not anticipated to be achieved by the USA until year 2020-2022 or 2025. SUCH A CRUSHING LEVEL OF NATIONAL DEBT HAS TO BE PAID OFF SOMEHOW, + RIGHT NOW THAT MEANS BORROWING FROM CHINA.

The US "pivot" to Asia may turn out to be a debt-focused, geopol "bow" to the Chinese Emperor = now Beijing + CPC???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/07/2013 22:35 Comments || Top||

#22  North Korea says it ends peace pacts with South
North Korea says it is scrapping all non-aggression pacts with South Korea, closing its hotline with Seoul and shutting their shared border point.

The announcement follows a fresh round of UN sanctions punishing Pyongyang for its nuclear test last month.

Earlier, Pyongyang said it reserved the right to a pre-emptive nuclear strike against its "aggressors".

The US said it took the threats seriously, but that "extreme rhetoric" was not unusual for Pyongyang.
Posted by: tipper || 03/07/2013 23:24 Comments || Top||

#23  See also STARS-N-STRIPES, WORLD NEWS > NORTH KOREA: KOREAN WAR BACK ON, iff US-ROK proceed wid scheduled MilEx come March 11th.

* RELATED WORLD NEWS > NORTH KOREA CANCELS HOTLINE, NON-AGGRESSION PACT WID SOUTH.

* RELATED SAME > NORTH KOREA CANCELS ALL PEACE PACTS WID SOUTH.

versus

* PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > USAF CHIEF SAYS 70% OF A-L-L US COMBAT AIRCRAFT [to be]"NON-COMBAT CAPABLE BY JULY" [2013], as due mainly to SEQUESTER/SEQUESTRATION cutbacks.

* WORLD NEWS > [Zee News] US GENERALS CONCERNED ON GROWING CHINESE PRESENCE IN PACIFIC.

versus

* IIRC STARS-N-STRIPES > [GOP-controlled] US HOUSE PASSES SPENDING BILL TO PREVENT MARCH MELTDOWN, come March 27th.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/08/2013 0:01 Comments || Top||


Europe
EU not ready for sanctions against Hezbollah: EU's Barroso
The European Union will consider imposing sanctions on the Lebanese Islamist group Hezbollah but does not yet have sufficient evidence of its activities in Europe to make a decision, the European Commission said on Thursday.

Bulgaria in February implicated Hezbollah in a bombing in the Black Sea resort of Burgas last year that killed five Israelis, putting pressure on the EU to sanction the group.

Israel also has stepped up lobbying in Brussels and Paris, calling on European governments to follow the United States in listing the Shi'ite Muslim group as a "terrorist organization" and impose financial sanctions on it.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, speaking at a news conference with Israeli President Shimon Peres in Brussels, said Bulgaria was still finalizing its investigation into the attack and had asked the Lebanese government for help.

"The judicial process will show whether we should take political decisions. We cannot decide this in advance," Barroso said. "Once the perpetrators are known, their inclusion in the list ... may be considered."

Many European governments are cautious, arguing that imposing sanctions on Hezbollah could destabilize the government in Beirut and contribute to tensions in the Middle East. Hezbollah is a dominant force in Lebanese politics, with Prime Minister Najib Mikati relying on the group for support.
Posted by: tipper || 03/07/2013 14:54 || Comments || Link || [336083 views] Top|| File under:


2 arrested in French anti-terrorism probe
French officials say two men suspected of plotting terror attacks have been detained.

Officials at the Interior Ministry and the Paris prosecutor's office say intelligence and police officers detained them Thursday in a house in Marignane near the southern city of Marseille. The men are 18 and 20.

The Interior Ministry official says the two were suspected of preparing explosives, and had been under surveillance since November. He says they had been identified as a threat based on their online activity, and that authorities moved in because they believed the two were ready to carry out "terrorist acts." The target and location of the potential attacks are unclear.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to publicly discuss terrorism investigations.
Posted by: tipper || 03/07/2013 11:29 || Comments || Link || [336102 views] Top|| File under:


The Grand Turk
CIA seizes Osama bin Laden's son-in-law after Turkey deportation: Report
Ulululululu *breath* ulululululululu!
Osama bin Laden's son-in-law Sulaiman Abu Ghaith was seized by CIA agents and taken to the United States after Turkey deported him to Jordan this month, a Turkish newspaper reported on Thursday.

Abu Ghaith, the former spokesman of the al-Qaida network, was seized last month at a luxury hotel in Ankara after a tip-off from CIA and was held there by the police despite a US request for his extradition.

Turkish authorities deported Abu Ghaith to Jordan on March 1 to be sent back to Kuwait but he was seized by CIA agents in Jordan and taken to the United States, the Hurriyet newspaper said.

His deportation coincided with a visit by US Secretary of State John Kerry to Ankara as part of a regional tour, it added.

The Turkish foreign ministry declined to comment on the report while the US embassy in Ankara told AFP: "We're aware of the reports."

Ankara considers Abu Ghaith a "stateless" person as he was stripped of his Kuwaiti nationality after appearing in videos defending the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States and threatening further violence.

The United States wanted him extradited over his alleged connection to the attacks.
This article starring:
Sulaiman Abu Ghaith
Posted by: tipper || 03/07/2013 09:53 || Comments || Link || [336108 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Streaming video, books, movies, Abu Ghaith media interviews from the Broadmoor ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/07/2013 10:43 Comments || Top||

#2  HI JUNIOR!!!
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/07/2013 11:22 Comments || Top||

#3  On an unmarked plane to a secret prison?
Posted by: swksvolFF || 03/07/2013 12:22 Comments || Top||

#4  On an unmarked plane

Or possibly on the honoourable Jawn's official plane -- the timing is right.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/07/2013 14:25 Comments || Top||

#5  update
Sulaiman Abu Ghaith to appear in court Friday
Osama bin Laden's son-in-law, who has served as al-Qaida spokesman, was captured and has been brought to the United States, two administration officials and a federal law enforcement official said Thursday.

Sulaiman Abu Ghaith is being held in New York, and will appear in court Friday to face federal charges, the law enforcement official said.

A sealed indictment lays out charges against him, the administration officials said.

Abu Ghaith was captured within the past week in Jordan, according to a spokesman for U.S. Rep. Peter King of New York.

Congress was notified when Ghaith was taken into U.S. custody, the administration officials said.

The U.S. Treasury Department has described Abu Ghaith as "the official spokesman of al-Qaida since his appointment to that position after the attacks of September 11, 2001."

He appeared in videos as "the mouthpiece of bin Laden," the department said.
Posted by: tipper || 03/07/2013 14:36 Comments || Top||

#6  Thanks tipper. For a second there I wasn't sure which was worse: a non-story about super scary secret CIA prisons or Abu the Mouth and Jawn chatting it up on a long flight.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 03/07/2013 14:53 Comments || Top||

#7  His deportation coincided with a visit by US Secretary of State John Kerry to Ankara to deposit the check.
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/07/2013 22:27 Comments || Top||


Turkey to send PKK militants to northern Iraq
Turkey is preparing to send more than 2,000 militants of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) to northern Iraq, Haber7 newspaper reported today. The agreement has been reached within the negotiations between Ankara and the PKK.

According to the newspaper, the PKK and Turkey will reach a full agreement on laying down the weapons on March 21. After reaching the final agreement, PKK militants will leave Turkey and move to northern Iraq.
Is Iraq ok with this?
Posted by: Steve White || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336089 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Pak militant leader says India to be major terror target
A top Pakistani militant commander linked to al-Qaeda has praised terrorists behind attacks in India and said the country will become a major target of terrorist assaults once the US withdraws from Afghanistan.

Asmatullah Muawiya, a former Jaish-e-Mohammed leader who serves as one of al-Qaeda's 'company' commanders, released a statement praising Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist involved in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, and Afzal Guru, who was convicted of involvement in the attack on the Indian Parliament in 2001.

He threatened that attacks in India will increase as jihadi groups would shift their focus from Afghanistan to Kashmir once the US withdraws its forces from the region.

Muawiya's remarks hinted at the Inter-Services Intelligence agency's ties to jihadist groups, The Long War Journal reported.

He claimed the ISI would not be able to control the groups it has supported and directed in the past.

Muawiya's statement was published on the jihadist Jamia Hafsa Urdu Forum on February 24 and was obtained and translated by the privately-run SITE Intelligence Group.
Posted by: tipper || 03/07/2013 12:31 || Comments || Link || [336122 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Post Afghanistan pullout the jihadis and their state sponsors Saudi,UAE,Iran and Pakistan will feel invincible hence targeting India and Isteal more.

Lets hope we support India more going forward as they have to live with this jihadi bullshit for years just like Israel has.

Obama needs to realise who is the US true allies are Islamists like Muslim Brotherhood & Co or multifaith secular nations ala Israel and India.
Posted by: Photh Platypus2300 || 03/07/2013 15:56 Comments || Top||

#2  Obama needs to realise who is the US true allies are Islamists like Muslim Brotherhood & Co or multifaith secular nations ala Israel and India.

Mr. Platypus you fail to realize that the true allies of the US are NOT and never will be Obama's true allies. He shows nothing but disdain and dislike of the US and our real allies. He favors the Islamists. They are HIS true sould mates.
Posted by: Alanc || 03/07/2013 19:07 Comments || Top||

#3  The hell he says.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/07/2013 22:13 Comments || Top||


Army chief in Karachi, briefed over security situation
[Dawn] Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani
... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI...
visited the Corps Headquarters in Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
on Wednesday where he was briefed about the security situation in the city, the Army's public relations wing said in a statement.

"During his visit COAS was briefed about the security situation in Karachi," said the statement by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

The army chief's visit comes as the Supreme Court is hearing a case on the unrest in Pakistain's largest city and commercial capital.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336096 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Sindh govt axes police chief
[Dawn] The provincial government of Sindh axed the Inspector General of police on Wednesday over a kaboom that killed 50 people in a Shia Moslem areneighbourhood of Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
, following stinging criticism by the country's Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry resumed the hearing over Abbas Town tragedy at the Supreme Court's Karachi registry.

During the hearing, Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry remarked that the Rangers had completely failed at establishing law and order in the city, and that the government did not appear serious over the issue.

He further said that incidents of terrorism continued in the city despite the presence of 11,000 Rangers personnel who enjoyed special policing powers.

The court ordered the Rangers' chief to use his 11,000 troops to safeguard the city's entry points and not allow "a single bullet to enter".

Rangers' Director General Rizwan Akhtar said his troops conducted overnight operations and jugged
Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw!
59 suspects in the blast.

The court ordered the country's three main intelligence agencies, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) , Military Intelligence (MI) and the Intelligence Bureau (IB), to submit reports on Friday on the blast.

The court also issued notices to officials of the federal government and intelligence agencies summoning them to appear in court on Mar 8.

The court also instructed for the suspension of Malir Police chief SP Rao Anwar.

The Chief Justice had taken suo motu
...a legal term, from the Latin. Roughly translated it means I saw what you did, you bastard...
notice on an office note sent by the SC Registrar based on clippings of different newspapers over a deadly bombing last week in Karachi's Abbas Town in which around 50 people reportedly bit the dust and almost 200 others were maimed.

The note said the incident enraged the members of a particular community that erupted into the streets demanding immediate arrest of the killers and the situation in many areas remained tense.

Anwer Mansoor Khan, lawyer for Sindh provincial government, told a Supreme Court hearing in Karachi on Wednesday that police chief Fayyaz Leghari was being removed from his post, along with one of his deputies.

Leghari was also removed from his post in June 2011, but was later reinstated, after security forces rubbed out an unarmed man in a public park.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336090 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Opponents of girls' right to education violate Islam, ambassador tells United Nations
[Dawn] "Those who deny women and girls their right to education, violate Islam," Pakistain's UN Ambassador Masood Khan told an audience at the world body on Monday. He said the religion was for all men and women without discrimination.

He observed that the terrorist attack on Malala Yousufzai showed that "the forces of darkness" were afraid of the education that gave courage to girls to stand up for their rights.

"Those who do so (deny girls' education) violently, violate the right to life and the right to education," he said while addressing a Unesco-sponsored discussion on the "Importance of education and sports in preventing gender-based violence" held at the UN Headquarters on the sidelines of the current session of the Commission on the Status of Women.

The Director-General of Unesco, Irina Bokova, presided. Emphasising that education is enlightenment, emancipation, empowerment and development, Mr Khan said Pakistain had always given priority to education for girls and boys, for men and women.

"In education lies the redemption of a nation and the entire international community. The attack against Malala was as evil as it was showed that the forces of darkness are afraid of the education that gives courage to girls as young as Malala to stand for their rights against all odds," the Pak envoy added. He said Pak women parliamentarians, with the support of all political parties, were creating new legislative and administrative space for women's education.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336090 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  Nice words, but what are you actually doing about it? Besides the lovely words and determined resolutions, I mean?
Posted by: SteveS || 03/07/2013 1:24 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syria Says It Discovered Israeli Spying Equipment
[Times of Israel] Syrian officials claimed to have captured Israeli espionage equipment deep inside the country Wednesday.

Authorities near the country's coast were said to have found Israeli devices capable of wiretapping, photographing, recording and broadcasting data, according to a brief report in the regime-run Syrian Arab News Agency.

The report added that the devices were found after "monitoring and investigations."

Israel had no immediate response.

Israel has been accused in the past of planting listening devices in Leb.

Also on Wednesday, Five Lebanese nationals were charged with collaborating with Israel, Lebanese media reported. The five are living in Paleostinian territories and two of them have obtained Israeli citizenship, according to the report.
Ynet adds the devices were found on a beach.
Perhaps it all just washed ashore...
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/07/2013 02:07 || Comments || Link || [336094 views] Top|| File under:

#1  To paraphrase John Wayne -

"If you discovered it, it wasn't Israeli."
Posted by: GORT || 03/07/2013 11:22 Comments || Top||

#2  An aquatic squirrel.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 03/07/2013 16:03 Comments || Top||


I support Al-Nusra Front against the Syrian regime, Wally sez says
[Al Ahram] Lebanon's Druze leader Walid Jumblatt has sided with the rebel Al-Nusra Front, a jihadist group which Washington lists as a "terrorist organisation', in the Syrian conflict.

"I support Al-Nusra Front against the Syrian regime," Jumblatt said in an interview with Al-Akhbar newspaper published on Wednesday.

"The Syrian people has the right to side with the devil -- except with Israel -- against the regime," said Jumblatt, a fierce foe of President Bashar al-Assad although he was once an ally of his late predecessor and father, Hafez al-Assad.

"I am acting to protect the (Syrian) Druze. The Alawites (Assad's community) will go back to their mountain, but the Druze live in a sea of Sunnis," said Jumblatt.

While most anti-Assad rebels -- like the majority of Syria's population -- are Sunni, the country's minorities have mostly stayed on the sidelines of the two-year-old conflict in Lebanon's neighbour.

Among them are Syria's Druze, many of who live in the south, next to the majority Sunni area of Hauran.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336090 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  "this week"
Posted by: Frank G || 03/07/2013 10:41 Comments || Top||

#2  And it seems to me
You live your life
Like a candle in the wind...
Posted by: Dopey Sinatra9196 || 03/07/2013 19:41 Comments || Top||


Iran arrests 2 journalists, bans reform papers
[Al Ahram] Iranian authorities have incarcerated
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
two journalists and banned three reformist publications, part of a crackdown on news media.

The latest moves are seen in the context of rivalries among political factions ahead of June's presidential election.

A report by semi-official ISNA news agency Wednesday says agents from Tehran prosecutor's office jugged
Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try!
managing editor Mohammad Mahdi Emami Nasseri and political editor Ali Reza Aghaeirad of the reformist Maghreb daily over an article that criticized President Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad last month.

ISNA also quoted politician Ali Motahari as saying that prosecutor's office has banned three reformist periodicals -- Mehrnameh and Tajrobeh monthlies and the weekly Asseman. He gave no further details.

In recent months Iran has escalated its press crackdown, arresting dozens of journalists for alleged cooperation with foreign-based Persian-language media organizations.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336094 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Arab League says members free to offer Syria rebels arms
[Al Ahram] Arab states are free to offer military support to rebels fighting the forces of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Leveler of Latakia...
if they wish, a final statement of 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...
ministers said on Wednesday.

Previously the League had stressed that the Syrian opposition and rebels should be supported by humanitarian and diplomatic means.

However,
man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them...
a final statement issued at the end of a meeting of the ministers in Cairo said they had "stressed the right of each state according to its wishes to offer all types of self defence, including military, to support the resilience of the Syrian people and the Free (Syrian) Army."

Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby told a news conference that the ministers had invited the opposition Syrian National Coalition - an umbrella body for anti-Assad political and rebel groups - to occupy the seat of Syria at the League.

This was held by Damascus
...The place where Pencilneck hangs his brass hat...
until it was suspended from the organization in 2011.

The statement called on the coalition to choose a representative to attend a League meeting to be held in Doha on 26 to 27 March.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336085 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Britain to give Syria rebels body armour, vehicles
[Al Ahram] British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Wednesday that non-lethal military aid, worth $20 million (15.4 million euros), was a "necessary, proportionate and lawful response" to a situation of "extreme" humanitarian suffering in Syria.

"The fact remains that diplomacy is taking far too long and the prospect of an immediate breakthrough is slim," he told parliament.

The announcement comes after the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
authorised on Thursday last week the supply of non-lethal military equipment and training to the Syrian opposition.

Britannia has already provided them with equipment such as power generators and communications devices worth £9.4 million ($14.2 million, 10.9 euros).

But Hague said his government was being forced to move towards "more active efforts" in a bid to end the violence.

"We will also now provide new types of non-lethal equipment for the protection of civilians, going beyond what we have given before," he said.

"It will certainly include, for instance, armoured four-wheel drive vehicles to help opposition figures move around more freely, as well as personal protection equipment including body armour."

Britannia will also give the rebels equipment to test for the possible use of chemical weapons by the regime, he added.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336078 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Syrian rebel army chief sees victory 'in month' if West ships arms
[Al Ahram] The chief of staff of Syria's rebel army issued a strong call for arms and ammunition from Western nations Wednesday, saying that if helped, the Islamic fascisti could topple Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad's
Lord of the Baath...
regime "within a month".

"What we have now is little, very very little," Brigadier General Selim Idriss said in Brussels, where he spoke on the invitation of a group of centrist political parties in the European Parliament.

The lack of weaponry and munitions was hampering the progress of the Free Syrian Army and inflicting more suffering on the civilian population, he added, urging European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
nations to lift an arms embargo.

"This embargo is really regrettable", he said, saying the EU ban on supplying lethal weaponry "affects only the victims" though "the regime receives Russian and Iranian arms".

The West condemns Assad but refuses to help, he added. "There is very little support from the Western countries," he added.

The EU last week authorised the supply of non-lethal equipment as well as training for the Syrian opposition, and Britannia on Wednesday announced it would provide body armour and armoured vehicles to the rebels.

Regime forces were using heavy artillery and SCUD missiles against civilians and the rebels needed anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles, he said.

"If we have the weapons we need we can bring down the regime in a month," he told politicians from the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.

Idriss said his army of more than 100,000 armed and as many unarmed Islamic fascisti controlled most of the north and might be able to claim the liberation of the east of Syria "in a few days".

He said major cities such as Aleppo and the capital Damascus
...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world...
remained under regime control because Islamic fascisti had tried to avoid festivities in city centres "to avoid bombing and destruction". Assad forces had fired 10 SCUDs into Aleppo last week, he said.

He brushed off any hope of a political solution, saying "you cannot reform a dictatorship" but said a military outcome would be long unless the West "brings pressure on Russia to stop providing aid to the regime".
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336083 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


US operating five submarines in Persian Gulf
The number of US submarines deployed to the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman has reached five with the dispatch of the USS Springfield (SSN-761) to the region, Press TV reported.
And they would know this ... how?
The USS Columbia (SSN-771) is operating west of the Strait of Hormuz, which is a key oil transit route. The US has also stationed eight minesweeping ships in international waters of the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman.

The United Kingdom has also deployed HMS Trenchant, a Trafalgar-class nuclear-powered submarine, to the Sea of Oman.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336130 views] Top|| File under:

#1  OTOH BIGNEWSNETWORK > TOP US COMMANDER WARNS IRAN AGZ TESTING ITS RESOLVE IN GULF.

Methinks the good ADM. should be talking squarely to CHINA oer in NE Asia, but because China is Nuke-armed decides to defer to Iran instead???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/07/2013 0:54 Comments || Top||

#2  It's that sixth one with the Star of David logo that could prove problematic.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 03/07/2013 8:12 Comments || Top||

#3  As per VARIOUS, the USN Base at bahrain will be affected by the sequestration cuts - the Subs are a good thing as the USDOD has said the Japan-based USS GEORGE WASHINGTON [+ CVBG] are likely to be the ONE-N-ONLY US NUCLEAR CARRIER + BG the US may deply in any overseas or international crisis = crises, espec the longer the mandated sequester cuts go on.

As things stand at present, the USDOD will prefer the "GEORGE" stay near the China-Japan crisis in NE Asia.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/07/2013 22:12 Comments || Top||


Lebanon urges Arab League to reinstate Syria
The lapdog barks...
CAIRO - Lebanese Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour called on Wednesday for Syria’s suspension from the Arab League to be lifted in order to help find a political solution to the conflict in the country.

Damascus was suspended from membership of the Cairo-based League in November 2011, eight months into what began as a peaceful popular uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.

“I call for Syria’s membership of the Arab League to be unblocked,” Mansour told a League ministerial meeting. “Communication with Syria ... is essential for a political solution.”

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s government is dominated by a coalition including the militant group Hezbollah and its mainly Shia and Christian allies who support Assad.

Mikati, who has sought to follow a policy of “dissociation” from the conflict in Lebanon’s dominant neighbour, has said his country would respect any decisions taken by the League over Syria. However, Mansour has been critical of the Cairo-based organisation’s steps against Damascus.

“We have held meetings over two years and taken decision after decision thinking that with them we will be providing Syria with security and stability by removing the regime and replacing it with another - while Syria sank into blood and destruction,” said Mansour.

One million refugees have fled Syria, piling pressure on its neighbours, including Lebanon, which are struggling to support them, the United Nations refugee agency said on Wednesday.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336083 views] Top|| File under:


Government
The Pentagon's Metals Gap
Posted by: BrerRabbit || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336113 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Who needs metals when you can print the $ to buy 'em....? /sarc
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 03/07/2013 8:31 Comments || Top||

#2  This "single-point of failure" in Pentagon parlance is beyond the purview of the newly-released report, but it is no less a clear and present danger.

This should be no challenge for an administration that embraces and rewards multiple points of failure.

Posted by: Besoeker || 03/07/2013 8:36 Comments || Top||

#3  In a previous life, many of our DOD contracts had exclusions of sources, making the materials cost even higher, and we had to have material certs showing origin and and all processing steps.
Posted by: USN,ret || 03/07/2013 9:05 Comments || Top||

#4  Disarmament-by-deindustrialization.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 03/07/2013 21:56 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Thu 2013-03-07
  Libya Interim Head's Car Comes under Fire
Wed 2013-03-06
  Syria rebels detain UN Golan observers
Tue 2013-03-05
  Chavez Dead
Mon 2013-03-04
  Twenty Islamists Killed in Northeast Nigeria
Sun 2013-03-03
  Jamaat, Shibir stay violent; toll rises to 47
Sat 2013-03-02
  Chad says soldiers in Mali kill al Qaeda's Belmokhtar
Fri 2013-03-01
  Al-Qaeda commander Abu Zeid killed in Mali
Thu 2013-02-28
  Syrian Rebels Say They Killed Hezbollah Deputy Chief
Wed 2013-02-27
  Syria Rebels Push into Police Academy as Jets Strike
Tue 2013-02-26
  Over 50 killed in battle for Syria police academy
Mon 2013-02-25
  Taliban suicide bombers hit Afghan cities, Kabul attack foiled
Sun 2013-02-24
  Karzai orders US special forces out of Afghan province
Sat 2013-02-23
  Syrian Rebels Claim To Seize Nuclear Facility
Fri 2013-02-22
  Boko Haram Denies Ceasefire, Pastes Threat Posters In Borno
Thu 2013-02-21
  Bombing in Indian Hyderabad, at least 11 killed

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