[Al Ahram] Afghanistan on Wednesday cancelled a planned army visit to Pakistain to protest against alleged cross border shelling, the latest sign of deteriorating relations between the troubled neighbours.
The Mighty Pak Army invited 11 Afghan officers to take part in a military exercise and drill in the southwestern city of Quetta, the Afghan foreign ministry said.
"This visit will no longer take place due to the resumption of unacceptable Pak artillery shelling against different parts of Kunar province ... which is right down the road from Chitral. Kunar is Haqqani country..... ," it said.
Kunar provincial governor Fazlulah Wahidi told AFP that up to 50 rockets, fired from the Pak side of the border, landed in two districts on Monday and Tuesday, damaging property.
A Pak military official told AFP it had "no details" of the cancellation and declined to give any other immediate response.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/28/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Sudan's opposition on Wednesday rejected a call by the country's most powerful vice president for them to join the government in making a new constitution.
The invitation by Vice President Ali Osman Taha, who also reached out to rebels in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, came as tension eases with neighboring South Sudan.
Taha suggested that as relations with the South improve there is a less restrictive political atmosphere within Sudan, where opposition figures have been nabbed
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
03/28/2013 00:00 ||
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[Al Jazeera] Somalia's state security forces and gangs have raped and beaten people who sought shelter and safety in emergency camps, Human Rights Watch ... dedicated to bitching about human rights violations around the world... (HRW) has said.
The New York-based rights group said the victims were people arriving in the capital, Mogadishu, after fleeing famine and armed conflict since 2011.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
03/28/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
What is the matter here? Is the UN supposed to have a monopoly?
Posted by: abu do you love ||
03/28/2013 6:11 Comments ||
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[An Nahar] Tunisia announced on Wednesday it was setting up crisis cells to combat "terrorist activity," after the United States warned that al-Qaeda was seeking to establish a base in the country.
"We have launched the creation of crisis cells to monitor terrorist activities on the border (with Libya and Algeria) and in the interior, faced with the rise of the radical Salafist movement and the existence of recruitment networks," Interior Minister Lotfi Ben Jeddou told parliament.
He said those cells would be under the control of Tunisia's Supreme Security Council and would also gather information on networks enrolling young Tunisians to fight in Syria.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
03/28/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] EU military instructors will start training their first battalion of Malian soldiers next week, in a bid to get the army ready to defend the crisis-torn country once French troops withdraw, the head of the mission said Wednesday. And who knows more about battling beturbanned gangsters in the burning sands than the EU?
The European Union Training Mission (EUTM) for Mali is tasked with helping the ill-trained army, just as French-led forces work to secure the north of the country from al-Qaida-linked rebels.
"The first soldiers will be welcomed on Tuesday, April 2," General Francois Lecointre told reporters in Brussels.
This first battalion will count 670 soldiers, out of more than 2,500 that are due to be trained up.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/28/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Which means they'll defect at the first opportunity, but they'll take cultural sensitivity and environmental awareness with them.
[MAGHAREBIA] The appointment of Yahia Abou El Hammam as al-Qaeda newest field commander is stirring discussion in Mauritania.
"He was appointed as AQIM's new leader for the area extending from Ghardaia in central southern Algeria to the region of Azawad in northern Mali, but he has yet to be confirmed in post at a meeting of the AQIM leadership," Mohamed Mokeddem, the head of Algeria's Ennahar TV, said when breaking the news on Sunday (March 25th)
His predecessor Abou Zeid (Mohamed Ghadir), the Tariq ibn Ziyad brigade chief, was killed late last month in Mali's Ifoghhas mountains, French officials confirmed Saturday.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
03/28/2013 00:00 ||
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An Egyptian court on Wednesday overturned a decision by President Mohamed Mursi to sack prosecutor general Abdel Meguid Mahmoud and ordered his reinstatement, state media reported. The ruling by the appeals court will once again put the presidency on a collision course with the judiciary, while any enforcement of its terms remains trapped in a legal labyrinth.
Mursi sacked Mahmud in November, in a decree that granted the president sweeping powers and placed his decisions beyond judicial review. Mahmud was replaced by current prosecutor general, Talaat Abdallah.
The decree was eventually repealed under immense street pressure, but the decisions stemming from it were protected by the constitution that was passed in December.
Wednesdays ruling comes because the court believes that Mursi acted outside his executive jurisdiction in sacking Mahmud, but it faces big obstacles, said Khaled Abubakr, a prominent lawyer.
There is a court decision that needs to be applied, but at the same time there is a decree that is protected by the constitution, he told AFP.
The decision will intensify long-running tensions between the presidency and the judiciary which accuses Mursi of interfering in its independence.
The solution is for a higher court, like the Supreme Constitutional Court, to rule on the crisis, Abubakr said. Legally, we now have two prosecutor generals."
Mahmud himself, in a statement, said he had not yet decided on what action to take but was happy with the ruling, which stresses the independence of the judiciary.
Mursi appointed current prosecutor Abdallah in December in one of a number of decisions that sidelined judges, sparking a judicial strike and mass rallies by the Islamist presidents opponents.
His actions triggered a nationwide outcry, with opposition forces calling it a coup and the judges saying it was a direct attack on the independence of the judiciary.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/28/2013 00:00 ||
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Deputy Prime Minister Hussain al-Shahristani told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named on Tuesday that 4 million barrels will be shipped to Egypt per month.
Al-Shahristani declined to state whether Iraq will sell its crude at preferential prices, as it does with neighboring Jordan.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
03/28/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Enemy Action.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/28/2013 10:20 Comments ||
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[Yemen Post] Iran United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee denied in an officials letter all allegations accusing Tehran of supplying military equipment to Yemen.
On January 28th 2013, the Yemeni authorities confirmed in an official statement it seized an illegal shipment of weapons which it said bore links to Iran. Hidden in the cargo hull was found, surface to air missiles, C4 military-grade explosives, 122-millimeter shells, rocket-propelled grenades and bomb-making equipment, including electronic circuits, remote triggers and other hand-held explosives. Yemen soon established the surface-to-air missiles were Iranian-made Misagh-2, as most of the other weapons found on board of the ship.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
03/28/2013 00:00 ||
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While the European Union drags its feet on the issue, the Bahraini parliament voted Tuesday to label the Lebanon-based Hizbullah group a terrorist organization.
Hizbullah was accused by Bahrain of seeking to overthrow its government in 2011. In a report submitted to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the ruling Khalifa family maintained Hizbullah trained special agents in both Lebanon and Iran to topple its regime, according to a report published this week in Ya Libnan.
Last November, the official Bahrain News Agency quoted the countrys Information Minister, Samira Ibrahim bin Rajab, as saying a bombing that killed two people in the country bore the hallmarks of Hizbullah. Rajab added that 19 pro-Iran satellite media channels were also inciting their supporters in Bahrain to subvert the government.
Earlier this month, Arab interior ministers gathered for a security meeting in Riyadh accused Iran of supplying "logistic help to terrorist operations" in Bahrain and Yemen, AFP reported. In a statement, the ministers "strongly denounced logistic aid supplied by Iran to terrorist operations in Bahrain and Yemen," and congratulated security services in both countries for "dismantling cells and uncovering dangerous terror plots."
In February, Sunni-ruled Bahrain, whose population is nevertheless comprised of a Shi'ite majority, accused the Islamic Republic across the Gulf of training, arming and financing a "terrorist cell" which the authorities had arrested, an accusation Tehran denied.
Iran has rejected allegations that a ship seized in Yemen belongs to the Islamic Republic, Mehr news agency reported. Iran's U.N. Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee wrote a letter, accoridng to which, all allegations against Iran being involved in the case, are baseless.
"Lies! All lies!"
"There is no evidence that can prove any of this. The seized ship does not belong to Iran, it was registered in a European country, and was sailing under Panama flag," Khazaee said in his letter, adding that there were also no Iranians on board of the ship.
"Nope. Not one of ours. Have you tried the Zionists?"
Iran has previously also denied its involvement in supplying Somalia with weapons, describing the charges as "absurd fabrications," according to a letter obtained by Reuters in February.
"No, no, certainly not!"
"Iran has never sent any weapons to Somalia, all of this is baseless allegations. Unfortunately, these charges towards Iran were expressed by a group related to the UN, without Iran's opinion, and it was later released by some media outlets," Khazaee wrote in the letter.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/28/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Whether or not, It's OURS now.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/28/2013 15:29 Comments ||
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#2
since nobody knows whose it is, you don't mind if we give the "humanitarian aid" cargo to the MEK, right?
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/28/2013 20:17 Comments ||
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[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... yesterday accused the leader of the opposition of instigating the army to take over power unconstitutionally, sensing her defeat in the next election.
"Begum Zia could understand it very well that people of the country would not give vote to a corrupt party like BNP, and for her movement to protect the war criminals," she said.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
03/28/2013 00:00 ||
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BILLIONS of pounds have been spent on the aftermath of terrorism, according to a report from the Peace Centre highlighting the price of extremism.
But bosses from the Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace said running the charity's programes, which supports victims and carries out prevention work, only costs £400,000 a year.
The U.S. military runs terrorist prevention programs too, though its programs are a bit more pricey...
Relatives of victims involved in the London 7/7 bombings, victims' commissioner Baroness Helen Newlove and supporters of the foundation gathered at the charity's headquarters in Great Sankey last Wednesday to mark the 20th anniversary of the Warrington bombing.
The charity was set up by Colin and Wendy Parry in memory of 12-year-old Tim Parry and three-year-old Johnathan Ball who died in the IRA blast. Since then staff have worked tirelessly to promote peace and have relied on funding and the generosity of people in Warrington to keep going having never received Government, EU or private sector funding.
The centre will lose funding from the National Lottery this year and many speakers called on more support from the government.
Why? If it's doing good work have it work private sources. Ask Mr. Buffett and Mr. Gates. Ask the Tides Foundation. Ask Mr. Soros.
Chief executive Nick Taylor said: "The remarkable outcomes we achieve are done so at a very modest cost.
"We cannot afford political violence, in human terms or in terms of our economic wellbeing.
"What we can afford is to fund appropriate and effective preventative, responsive and resolution services -- the type of services embodied in the foundation's programmes.
"Investment in the long-term will see a significant return.
"Nobody is born a terrorist and if we are clever we can take them off that trajectory."
Speakers including human rights lawyer Jason McCue also paid tribute to the work of the centre. He said: "We must be proactive to terrorism rather than reactive.
"The government must recognise the society's debt (to the peace centre) and do more to support them."
While Baroness Newlove said she will be looking to work closely with the foundation over the next three years and will 'make sure Westminster opens it doors to Warrington.'
The cost of terrorism figures: The 1996 Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) attack on Manchester City Centre caused damage to 1,200 buildings over an area of 1.2 million m2. Key streets were closed for up to 18 months.
The 7/7 London bomb attacks in 2005 led to £2 billion being taken from the UK economy as a result of the impact on transport, high street spending and extra security costs.
If all 700 people injured in the London bombing visited A&E, the costs would be around £75,600 but further treatment costs are unknown.
A survivor of extremist violence on maximum disability allowance with a family member acting as carer will receive £9,877.40 per annum. During 2011/12, 17 people received prison sentences under terrorism legislation at a cost of approx £2.2m over the next five years.
#1
"Nobody is born a terrorist and if we are clever we can take them off that trajectory."
An even more "clever" approach would be to discontinue border and demographic manipulations. A tad bit late for that venue however, as far as Albion is concerned.
#2
...and if we are clever we can take them off that trajectory."
In four thousand years of human history we haven't been clever enough to take people off trajectories...other than the Roman solution to their Carthaginian problem.
#3
there is a way to take junior jihadis off their trajectory but it would involve large scale use of nuclear weapons, the international abolition of a religion and the permanent encarceration of thousands of semi illiterate "imams"
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
03/28/2013 10:23 Comments ||
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A controversial Muslim cleric will not face action despite telling his followers to claim benefits and saying David Cameron should be killed.
Telling fellow fanatics to claim 'jihad seeker's allowance', Anjem Choudary, who in the past has planned to disrupt the minute's silence on Remembrance Sunday, also openly mocked hard-working Britons, calling them 'slaves'.
The Sun newspaper secretly filmed him saying Islam will overrun Europe, David Cameron and Barack Obama should be killed, and called the Queen 'ugly'.
The newspaper gave its evidence to the authorities, but Thames Valley Police today said: 'The material fell below an evidential threshold to pursue a criminal case against him.'
After the incident, Choudary said he had been 'joking' and his words had been misconstrued. He also maintained that Osama Bin Laden was his 'hero'.
The father-of-four takes home more than £25,000 a year in benefits and lives in a £320,000 house in Leytonstone, East London.
He told a crowd of around 30 fanatics: 'People will say, "Ah, but you are not working". But the normal situation is for you to take money from the kuffar (non-Muslim).
'So we take jihad seeker's allowance. You need to get support.'
In another video a grinning Choudary is recorded telling his disciples that it is justifiable to take money from non-believers.
He said: 'The normal situation is to take money from the kuffar. You work, give us the money, Allahu Akhbar (God is great). Hopefully there's no one from the DSS listening to this.'
[An Nahar] The British government on Wednesday vowed not to give up its fight to deport radical holy man Abu Qatada to Jordan after losing its latest court challenge to have him expelled.
Lawyers for Home Secretary Theresa May had appealed a decision by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) in November allowing the Jordanian to stay in Britannia, but this was dismissed.
In a ruling posted online on Wednesday, three Court of Appeal judges acknowledged that the government believed Abu Qatada to be an "exceptionally high risk terrorist".
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
03/28/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
That Picture, looks like he's got an upset tummy.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/28/2013 18:32 Comments ||
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The U.S. embassy in Seoul, South Korea, sent a not-so-subtle message Thursday to the rogue regime in the North: This stealth bomber is right across the border.
"Two B-2 bombers flew over South Korea today, demonstrating the US's ability to conduct precision strikes at will," the embassy tweeted in Korean and English.
The vaunted B-2 is designed to penetrate deep into enemy territory without detection and can carry conventional and nuclear air-to-surface weapons.
Revelations of two B-2 stealth bomber missions over South Korea were revealed as Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel vowed an "unwavering commitment" to protect America's ally in the South following escalating threats from the North on the Divided peninsula.
Mr. Hagel spoke with his South Korean counterpart Kim Kwan Jin early Thursday Seoul time, to assure him of "the steadfast U.S. commitment to the defense of South Korea," Bloomberg News reported, citing a statement from the Pentagon.
#1
I've never been very knowledgeable about airplanes but I've admired the B-2 since it was first unveiled. IIRC, back in those days there was some controversy about whether we needed such an expensive weapon. But I always wanted it to be built if not for its capabilities as a weapon but for the design and the technology. Forget what it can do to people on the ground. It is a work of art and a technological marvel.
One thing I never understood about Bill Clinton sending cruise missiles into bin Laden's Afghan compound is why he didn't send B-2s instead. Then there would have been no need to alert the Paks who then alerted bin Laden. If you have a stealth weapon of such amazing potency, why would you not use it in a situation like that?
#3
The problem with Hagel's statements is that the 9/11 war has given the West's and America's enemies reason to believe that the US' commitment to the defense of the US itself is actually wavering and anything but steadfast.
(And we were wavering during the 2nd Bush administration...)
As for the B-2 - I think we if we demostrate their abilities by sinking the U.S.S. Pueblo some dark night might send a message - it is still technically US Territory right? Might be a bit risky..
#5
B-2's over the east China Sea, while the USS Frank Cable is down PHIL ways in the SOuth China Sea.
And where there is a USN Sub Tender, there is or will be USN Subs. Incidentally, "Sub-vs-Sub" is one of the likely USDOD war scenarios for the SCS - back in the Cold War it was agz the Soviets, now agz the PLAN? wid post-Cold War/USSR Russia watching the situation in the Sea of Okhost/Kamachatka + potens back again in Cam Ranh Bay.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
03/28/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Yuuuupp - dats why the Sino-Japanese sovereignty dispute over the Diaoyus/Senkakus is what it is. Ditto as per China-vs-ASEAN in the South China Sea, + India + Island Nations in the IOR.
CHINA = aka RISING CHINA aka "MAHANIST" CHINA.
China is debt-ridden America's banker, + has a whole lotta excess domestic Young Males wid no Babes to marry.
E.g. DEFENCE FORUM INDIA > CHINA ABORTED 336.0MILYUHN KIDS.
Gee, I wonder what Gender-Sex the majority were???
AT least China's number is lower than INDIA'S, whom repor aborted 462.0Milyuhn kids since 1971, + killed 840,000 woemn due to various defective abortion-related procedures + after-effects.
* RELATED SAME > GROWING DISPARITY [gap] IN SEX RATIOS IS TURNING INDIAN MEN GAY.
Indian Hindu Males = ME Muslim/Islamic Males - they be marrying + cheating on their Cows = Farm Animals???
Plus engage in Pedophilia, Bestiality, ... @etc.
CHINESE???
Iff the above is not a National or National Security issue for the CPC + PLA, CMC what is???
#2
It's a crash program, driven by a combination of rising nationalism and the government's effort to keep the semi-capitalist-goose laying its golden eggs. There are going to be problems. The questions are whether the Chinese can deal with them, and what options they will exercise if they cannot.
German authorities investigating alleged plans by Islamists to assassinate a far-right leader appear to have made a serious mistake. After overlooking explosives in their initial search of a suspect's apartment, they then detonated the material without first taking samples for analysis.
Police in Bonn have destroyed evidence found in an Islamist's apartment that could have linked the suspect to an attempted bombing at the city's central train station, in what appears to be a major misstep in their investigation.
On March 13, authorities raided the Bonn apartment of Marco G., 25, on suspicion of planning to assassinate the leader of the anti-Islam right-wing extremist group Pro-NRW. On the same day, police also arrested three other suspects in the case identified as Tayfun S., 23; Enea B., 43; and Koray D, 24. All four are adherents to Salafism, an ultra-conservative branch of Islam.
The raid of G.'s apartment uncovered a Ceska pistol and 616 grams of ammonium nitrate. However, police managed to overlook something.
While in custody, Marco G. asked a social worker to tell his wife not to go near the fridge because there was risk of an explosion. Police returned to the apartment two days later with a bomb disposal unit and discovered more explosive material in the fridge.
The police promptly took the explosives to a nearby open space, placed it in a hole in the ground and conducted a controlled explosion -- without first taking samples of the material for testing. A team of specialists and bomb analysts are now trying to determine the chemical make-up of the material with the ashes left over from the explosion.
#1
They were there to dispose of explosive materials, and they did so quite efficiently. Had they been there to discover the explosive and connect it to other crimes they would have done that efficiently instead. Still, the Germans have very good chemists; whatever can be discovered by scientists at this juncture will be, I am sure.
Amnesty International criticised Wednesday European Union hopeful Turkeys dismal record on freedom of expression and called for legislative reforms to bring abuses to an end.
Freedom of expression is under attack in Turkey, the London-based group said.
Hundreds of abusive criminal prosecutions are brought every year against political activists, human rights defenders, journalists, lawyers and others, it added. These prosecutions represent one of the most deeply entrenched human rights problems in Turkey today.
Turkey is under fire from rights groups for its escalating crackdown especially on the media, with critics saying its draconian laws are putting a record number of journalists behind bars.
The country is the leading jailer of journalists worldwide, imprisoning even more than China or Iran, according to an October report by the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists.
The committee identified 76 journalists imprisoned in Turkey as of August 1, including 61 who were put behind bars purely because of their journalism.
But the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan vehemently denies the charges, insisting no one has been jailed because of their profession but rather because of links with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
Sounds mighty convenient, though...
Amnesty said despite progress in Turkey in discussing taboo subjects more freely such as the criticism of the once-powerful army, problems still remain in expressing dissenting opinions on controversial issues, most notably the Kurdish problem.
Erdogan this month criticised editors of the liberal Milliyet newspaper which published the details of a meeting between jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan and pro-Kurdish lawmakers in his island prison cell as part of a new peace push to end the three decades of hostilities.
If this is journalism, then let it be damned, Erdogan said.
Funny how the NYT never publishes leaks from the Ankara government. I guess they figure Milliyet can handle it...
Critics accuse Erdogans government of using courts to silence dissenting voices, saying the large number of court cases have resulted in weak news coverage of the trials.
Amnesty said in order to prevent these abuses from continuing, Turkey must overhaul its laws to improve freedom of expression.
On Monday, Human Rights Watch also called for a legal reform which it said would help bolster the peace process between Turkey and the PKK, which is branded a terrorist organisation by Ankara and much of the international community.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/28/2013 00:00 ||
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The woman agent who ran a secret CIA operation to waterboard al-Qaeda operatives in Thailand has been selected as the first female to run the spy agency's clandestine operations division.
US media reports from Washington said the woman was appointed earlier this month. It was yet another sign the Obama administration has adopted virtually all the anti-terrorist policies of the administration of ex-president George W Bush.
The identity of the first woman ever to lead a major CIA division is secret, in keeping with the spy agency's policies. The US National Clandestine Service arm of the CIA runs covert operations abroad for the agency.
But she helped to set up the "black house" in Thailand where agents conducted so-called "enhanced interrogation" of twosenior al-Qaeda operatives - USS Cole bomber Abd al-Nashiri and top terrorist planner Abu Zubaydah.
Zubaydah earlier this week filed a lawsuit against Poland at the European Court of Human Rights, alleging he was also held at a black site in Poland.
But Thailand, so far, has not been mentioned in any legal proceedings from the post-9/11 actions against al-Qaeda terrorists. The existence of a CIA-run black house in Thailand has been frequently reported in the media, but all Thai governments have denied knowledge of any such operation.
The new CIA director of clandestine operations was under investigation briefly because, in 2005, she authorised and took part in the destruction of more than 90 videotapes of interrogations at the Thailand black site.
Her boss at the time, Jose Rodriguez, claimed in a book written after his retirement that he was trying to protect the identities of CIA interrogators. But the CIA officially reprimanded him for the action, effectively ending his career.
Members of the US Democratic Party on the senate intelligence committee wrote a report, still classified, that said top CIA officers, presumably including the new clandestine services director, misled supervisors and members of the US Congress about the programme's value.
They charged it was "managed incompetently by senior officials who did not pay attention to details". The CIA may respond by next week.
#2
To be fair, those are traditional skills at the CIA...
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/28/2013 9:13 Comments ||
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#3
Whahahaha, yes Doctor. One of the key indicators of an organization or element out of control is when that organization views everyone as a potential enemy.
#4
Come on B, the CIA worked for the Donks during Bushie's administration. Obviously, they don't consider them the enemy. Just like DHS today. And hello to the DHS agent/program reading this now :)
#6
A beautiful example of how the CIA works with the FBI...not. Just sweep things under the carpet. In his book, The One Percent Doctrine, Ron Suskind contends that Khan was planning to visit the United States in February 2003. 32 Khan had done so three times since 2001. The CIA contacted the FBI to ask for a coordinated effort to track Khans movements and contacts. An NSA surveillance program recorded Khans communication with other Islamic extremists in the United States, with clear indications of an interest in mounting attacks in the U.S. Yet, according to Ron Suskind, the FBI and the CIA were unable to work out their differences over which agency would accept responsibility for Khans activities if he initiated an attack while in the country. In other words, neither agency wanted the responsibility of managing a Secondary Mode risk. As a result, the FBI placed Khan on a no-fly list the night before he was supposed to catch a flight to the United States. U.S. authorities reportedly told British officials of Khans plans and the decision to place him on a no-fly list and forwarded a detailed file. 33
[Dawn] The Ministry of Interior has warned of a massive terrorist threat in the coming elections.
A presentation made during a meeting between officials of the ministry and Election Commission of Pakistain (ECP) to discuss security issues revealed that the banned Jandullah organization, in coordination with Lashkar-e-Jhangvi ... a 'more violent' offshoot of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain. LeJ's purpose in life is to murder anyone who's not of utmost religious purity, starting with Shiites but including Brelvis, Ahmadis, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Rosicrucians, and just about anyone else you can think of. They are currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of al-Qaeda ... (LJ) and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP), was planning to carry out large-scale terrorist attacks in Balochistan Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
03/28/2013 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] All political and religious parties in Lower Dir agreed on Tuesday to back women's participation in voting and follow the election code of conduct during the upcoming general election.
In this regard, an all parties' meeting was held at Timergara Rest House, which was attended by contesting candidates and local heads of different political and religious parties, sources privy to the meeting told Dawn.
JI district chief Maulana Asadullah and its candidate for NA-34 Yaqub Khan, JUI-F district amir Qazi Fazlullah, ANP district general secretary and candidate for PK-94 Mohammad Ayub, PTI district president Fakhruz Zaman, PPP district president Khurshid Ali and general secretary Khadimul Islam, PML-N's Samiullah Khatir and QWP district president Mohammad Umar attended the meeting.
The sources said that issues discussed on the occasion included Election Commission of Pakistain's code of conduct for political parties, law and order situation, hate speeches, women's participation and election campaign.
The parties agreed to strictly follow the ECP code of conduct and avoid hate speeches against each other.
The issue of women's participation was discussed in detail and it was announced that no political or religious party would bar women from voting. However, Switzerland makes more than cheese... the parties expressed concern ...meaning the brow was mildly wrinkled, the eyebrows drawn slightly together, and a thoughtful expression assumed, not that anything was actually done or indeed that any thought was actually expended... over the establishment of only six separate polling stations for women in the district. They urged the commission to increase the number of polling stations for women in the district and set up at least one such polling station in each union council. They said that both men and women of the district would not like to cast vote in the same polling station.
When contacted, Mr Asadullah confirmed that these issues were discussed and said that after their meeting the politicians also met deputy commissioner Zubair Khan, Dir Scouts commandant Col Kamran Aslam and district election officer at their offices. He said that they assured the authorities of their full cooperation to ensure peaceful elections.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/28/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
They said that both men and women of the district would not like to cast vote in the same polling station.
Not a problem in urban America. You can vote anywhere, and as often as you like.
Interesting case, Giving aid to Syrian rebels, bad. Giving aid and training to Syrian rebels as a government, good,
A former U.S. soldier has been arrested and charged with illegally using a weapon on behalf of an al Qaeda-affiliated group in Syria.
Eric Harroun, 30, of Phoenix was arrested Tuesday night by the FBI at a hotel near Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia. A Justice Department official tells CNN that FBI agents questioned Harroun at the hotel, then took him into custody.
Harroun appeared Thursday in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, and was charged in connection with his alleged use of a rocket-propelled grenade in Syria.
The law used to charge him states, "Any national of the United States who, without lawful authority, uses or threatens, attempts, or conspires to use a weapon of mass destruction outside of the U.S. shall be imprisoned for any term of years or for life, or if death results, may be punished by death."
Harroun served with the U.S. Army from 2000 to 2003. He is not charged with targeting U.S. troops in Iraq.
The organization he allegedly fought with, al-Nusra Front, is one of several aliases used by the al Qaeda in Iraq terrorist organization. The organization claims responsibility for nearly 600 terrorist attacks in Syria, the Justice Department said.
An FBI affidavit says Harroun crossed into Syria in January 2013 and fought against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces. He posted photos and videos of himself on the Internet handling RPGs and other weapons, it said.
Saudi heavy weapons supply to Syrian rebels breaks up Arab summit in uproar
Syrian rebels fighting for control of the Syriaâs biggest town, Aleppo, have obtained their first heavy weapons â 220-mm MLRS rocket launchers â through a large-scale supply operation run by Saudi intelligence chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan, according to debkafileâs exclusive intelligence sources.
His agents scoured the Balkans nations of Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo and for large wads of cash snapped up Russian-made MLRS (Smerch) and Hurricane 9K57 launchers capable of firing scores of 220-mm rockets to a distance of 70 kilometers.
The Saudis hope to expedite the rebel capture of the big Syrian Nairab air base attached to Aleppoâs international air port. The Saudi prince has personally taken the Nairab battle under his wing, convinced that it is the key to the conquest of Aleppo,
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03/28/2013 17:01 ||
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[An Nahar] Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Leveler of Latakia... has appealed to the leaders of a five-nation economic forum to intervene to stop the violence in Syria and encourage dialogue in his country's two-year conflict.
Assad said Syria is being subjected to "acts of terrorism backed by Arab, regional and Western nations" -- a reference to the Western-backed opposition fighting his regime.
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03/28/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Meanwhile, over in Malaysia, the Sultanate of Sulu would like OIC + UNO, other International assistance + intervention to help resolve the Sabah Crisis.
[An Nahar] Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Supressor of the Damascenes... 's regime lashed out against the Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... on Wednesday for giving the opposition Syria's seat, and said the group could no longer play a role in solving the crisis.
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Posted by: Fred ||
03/28/2013 00:00 ||
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[Al Jizz] Syrian refugees threw rocks at Turkish military police who fired teargas and water cannon, the latest unrest in camps struggling to cope with a flood of people fleeing a civil war.
Rooters TV filmed the scenes at the Suleiman Shah refugee camp on Wednesday, near the Turkish town of Akcakale on the Syrian border, as dozens of protesters threw stones and smashed the windows of a fire truck.
Camp residents said young men started the protest after faulty electrics set a tent on fire which injured three brothers aged seven, 18 and 19.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
03/28/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Iran's foreign ministry has strongly protested against a Saudi accusation that it was directly linked to an alleged spy cell busted last week in the kingdom, Iranian media reported on Wednesday.
Saudi Arabia's interior ministry said on Tuesday that the cell it dismantled last week had "direct links" to Iran's intelligence services.
The Saudi charge d'affaires was summoned after "the publication of the baseless claim by Saudi Arabia," the Mehr news agency reported, citing a foreign ministry statement.
In the meeting with the unnamed Saudi diplomat, the Iranian authorities "completely rejected the accusations" and also expressed "their strong protest," it added. "We reject your accusations! We curse your mustache!"
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03/28/2013 00:00 ||
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Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has called on the BRICS group of emerging powers to help "stop the violence" in the Arab country, Press TV reports.
"I call on the BRICS leaders to work together to immediately stop the violence in Syria in order to guarantee the success of a political solution," Assad said in a message sent to the group which held the second day of its fifth summit in the South African city of Durban on Wednesday.
Said in a message. Didn't appear on closed-circuit TV. Wonder if he's alive? And if so does he have a sucking chest wound?
The Syrian president added that ending nearly two years of deadly unrest in Syria requires a "clear international will to dry up the sources of terrorism and stop funding and arming" foreign-backed militants fighting against Damascus.
President Assad said his country is subjected to "acts of terrorism backed by Arab, regional and Western nation," urging the BRICS leaders to "work for an immediate cessation of violence."
Few people know acts of terrorism better than Pencilneck. Well, okay, Putin. And sure, the Mad Mullahs. Yeah, yeah, Hezbollah. But still...
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/28/2013 00:00 ||
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GENEVA Former UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan to Syria says it is too late for military intervention there and that arming President Bashar Al Assads foes will not end the two-year-old crisis.
Annan, who resigned in August blaming finger-pointing at the United Nations Security Council for the impasse in his mediation, called for a political solution based on an agreement reached by world powers in Geneva in June. I dont see a military intervention in Syria. We left it too late. Im not sure it would not do more harm, he told the Graduate Institute in Geneva on Tuesday night.
Further militarisation of the conflict, Im not sure that is the way to help the Syrian people. They are waiting for the killing to stop. You find some people far away from Syria are the ones very keen for putting in weapons. My own view is that as late as it is we have to find a way of pouring water on the fire rather than the other way around.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/28/2013 00:00 ||
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#4
My own view is that as late as it is we have to find a way of pouring water on the fire rather than the other way around
Rather than pouring fire on water? Even the original doesn't make sense; if you have an out of control fire, one does not daintly stand above the flames and pour water as, to use the UN parlance, one pours champaign into a flute.
#5
"Dear lords of the burning sands, masters of the ways of the camel, most immaculate collectors of women and eunichs, followers of the great crayon (may it not melt), jihadis sirs and grande sirs: coming from a most equal and appreciative culture of our own, though we claim no superiority or even parallel to yours, oh smart turbins of holy glory and sacred ostrich feathers, we would like to humbly bring to your attention the potential effects of what are appropriately deemed 'technicals' onto the environment. In crontradiction of UN guidelines and think tanks the burning of non-ethenol gasoline in combustion engines not properly callibrated for global warming desert conditions is creating bad bad amount of carbon. Secondly, RPGs as they are affectionately named, may your favorite diety guide them towards their target lo even may it be us, have been determined after many studies to be potentially harmful or even fatal, even if used properly. This is also a violation against UN guidelines for safe work environments. Please cease these activities or we will be forced, forced I repeat, forced, to pen a second letter of disapproval."
signed,
UN Underdirector of Directing Director Groups of Directors
NEW YORK -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has named Swedish scientist Ake Sellstrom to head a UN investigation into allegations that chemical weapons were used in Syria, Ban's spokesman said on Tuesday.
"He is an accomplished scientist with a solid background in disarmament and international security," UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said.
A Swede with a background in disarmament. Yah sure I can believe that...
The United Nations said last week it would investigate Syrian allegations that rebels used chemical arms in an attack near the northern city of Aleppo, but Western countries sought a probe of all claims about the use of such arms, including rebel charges that government forces used them.
If an investigation adds credibility to the rebels' claims that the government has used chemical weapons, it would represent another blow to Bashar Al Assad's efforts to retain power. If it turned out the rebels have used them, it could make countries even more reluctant to support the opposition.
It was not immediately clear who else would be on Sellstrom's team. Russia said on Monday that Russian and Chinese experts should be part of the investigation, but Moscow's UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said on Tuesday that Russia would "most likely not" be represented.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/28/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Sellstrom has an extensive background, credentials and community contacts, having worked the Iraq and Saddam problem set in years past. Probably a very good pick actually.
#3
Actually g(r)om, the Swedes, Finns, Dutch and German microbiologists and researchers can bring a healthy level of bias free, intellectual rigor to these efforts. Exploitive politics and intelligence collection tend to skew legitimate, scientific research. I give you Saddam's alleged chem/bio weaponized trailers as an example.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[An Nahar] Sudan's opposition on Wednesday rejected a call by the country's most powerful vice president for them to join the government in making a new constitution.
...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...
[An Nahar] The British government on Wednesday vowed not to give up its fight to deport radical 
Amnesty International criticised Wednesday European Union hopeful Turkeys dismal record on freedom of expression and called for legislative reforms to bring abuses to an end.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[An Nahar] 
NEW YORK -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has named Swedish scientist Ake Sellstrom to head a UN investigation into allegations that chemical weapons were used in Syria, Ban's spokesman said on Tuesday.
