Video at link
Afghan President Hamid Karzai said in a wide-ranging interview with Al Jazeera that he wants to reintegrate the Taliban into society, not eliminate the group.
The Taliban was deposed as Afghanistan's rulers following the U.S.-led October 2001 invasion to destroy al Qaeda training camps following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Since then, the Taliban seems determined to regain control, or at the very least, make a more secular, democratic government difficult to sustain.
In spite of years of violent attacks against his forces and the coalition, Karzai insists he wants to include the Taliban in the process to end the long war in a peaceful fashion, especially with the U.S. and its allies preparing to withdraw their armies next year.
Karzai refers to the Taliban as "brothers."
Given they're all Pashtuns, they're certainly close cousins, at least.
"I'm still trying to have them be part of the country again and participate in the Afghan life, as we all do...," he said.
"Mahmudullah hasn't been home for months. Aunt Ayisha is sharing her unhappiness..."
Despite earlier objections, Karzai, whose volatility has frustrated Washington since he rose to power in 2005, said he welcomes the Taliban opening an office in Doha, Qatar, as a way to spur negotiations to a peaceful settlement.
Karzai also touched on his future plans in the interview and said he will not try to subvert the Afghanistan constitution and run for president in 2014 since only two terms are permitted. Karzai said he would serve his country as an ex-leader.
[Al Ahram] Extra security forces were deployed Thursday at Tunis airport after radical Islamist websites called for a big turnout to welcome a Salafist sheikh evicted from Egypt for falsifying travel papers for jihadists.
Police manned checkpoints around the airport to keep Salafists ...Salafists are ostentatiously devout Moslems who figure the ostentation of their piety gives them the right to tell others how to do it and to kill those who don't listen to them... away from the building, an AFP photographer reported, while armed police with dogs patrolled the arrivals hall.
No incidents were reported by late morning, except the arrest of a bearded man.
Imed ben Salah, also known as Abou Abdallah Ettounsi, was locked away Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! on March 21 and ordered out of Egypt, according to local press reports, for organising the falsification of documents to help jihadists travel to combat zones.
His flight to Tunis was due to arrive early on Thursday afternoon.
Since its January 2011 revolution, Tunisia has witnessed a proliferation of jihadist groups, which have been blamed for a wave of deadly attacks, notably on the US embassy in Tunis last September that left four of the assailants dead.
Tunisia's government has warned of jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda's north African franchise infiltrating the country's borders and trafficking weapons, notably to northern Mali.
The judiciary opened an investigation in mid-March into a network recruiting and sending Tunisians to fight Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Light of the Alawites... 's forces alongside Islamist Death Eaters.
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04/05/2013 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] Egypt's Grand Mufti Shawky Ibrahim Abdel-Karim Allam said on Thursday any attack on the Al-Azhar Institution or its head, Grand Imam Sheikh Ahmed El-Tayeb, "undermines Egypt's security."
Allam, who serves as the first elected Grand Mufti since early March, warned in a Thursday statement that any attempt to pull Al-Azhar into a "political game" would come to no avail. He asserted, that Al-Azhar "will always remain an institution dedicated to the nation at whole," in addition to standing "at equal footing from all political factions."
He further called on all complaints against Al-Azhar to be addressed with legitimate and peaceful means and to maintain the principles of Al-Azhar, as the leading Sunni Islamic institution in the world, upholds.
"We call on all Egyptians to refrain from dragging Al-Azhar into political matters and grievances because this is the only way in which the moderate version of Islam and our institution's independence will persist," Allam asserted.
Allam's statements come amidst increasing calls by many of Al-Azhar University students and other commentators, demanding for the stepping down of El-Tayeb, following a massive food poisoning scandal on Monday.
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04/05/2013 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] The Salafist Call and its political arm, the Nour Party, will hold a conference on Friday in an attempt to condemn what they claim is the 'spread of the Shiite tide in Egypt.'
The conference will take place in the Amr Ibn Al-Ass Mosque in the historic Fustat Cairo and is an attempt to show the differences between Shiite and Sunni branches of Islam, "that originates in the doctrine itself," Sheikh Sherif El-Hawary, leading member of the Salafist Call, said in a blurb.
"Egypt is a real catch because the Shiites see it as the main base for Sunni Islam, which they want to overtake. They believe their Mahdi [twelfth Imam] will only appear once Egypt is in their reach, but God willing, this will not take root", asserted El-Hawary.
"We truly believe that the Shiites will fail in spreading their influence just as they did when they initiated the Al-Azhar Institution and ruled for 260 years to take over Sunni Islam," he added.
Referring to the economic situation of the country, El-Hawary stated that this period is most significant, turbulent and threatening, which the Shiites are attempting to take advantage of.
The main objection against the Shiite sect is that they have attempted to change the word of God and the Holy Koran, in addition to their rejection of all of the Prophet's companions except a few, which is a clear violation of Islam," He further claimed.
The conference will be an attempt to reveal the 'truth' behind the Shiite sect and present the 'dangers' of its attempts at influencing Egyptian society by shedding light on a number of its betrayals throughout history, including what El-Hawary states is their 'alliances' with the US in aiding their 'invasion' of Afghanistan and Iraq.
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04/05/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
That'll put a damper on the tourists-from-Iran trade.
#2
It seems to me the Islamists (AP is loathe to use the term) are more interested in killing each other these days than killing Infidels.
Whew, that is reassuring, I am headed to Libya as soon as my passport comes back from the embassy in Washington. As long as they are preoccupied with this "who is the most Islamically pure" and "who is going to succeed Mohammed" stuff I think I am fairly safe. My employers say Tripoli is safe but Bengazi is a mess and the transitional government doesn't quite know what to do with all of the nutjobs congregating there or why they are congregating there..
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
04/05/2013 12:34 Comments ||
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#3
Bengazi is a mess and the transitional government doesn't quite know what to do with all of the nutjobs congregating there or why they are congregating there.
Benghazi has had Islamist influences, even when Khadaffi was in power. There is a significant Egyptian immigrant population, and the city has cultural and economic ties to Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood also sent support to the Libyan rebels at the start of the 2011 uprising.
Benghazi is also a seaport, meaning it's a good place to ship large amounts of captured Libyan weapons to Syria (via Turkey.)
Immediate past governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu has made further clarifications on his assertion of a linkage between security agencies and the spate of bombings in the country.
In a statement he made before a group of London based Nigerian businessmen and politicians at the Legal Institute, London, Kalu said he was concerned that his assertion about the complicity of security agencies in the spate of bombings that have particularly targeted Igbo people in the Northern part of Nigeria has been misinterpreted and taken entirely out of context.
A statement by his assistant, Mr. Oyekunle Oyewumi clarifying Kalus position, said that it was illogical to believe that the Boko Haram operatives given their degree of illetracy could have the intellectual fibre to plan such sophisticated attacks as have been launched against Ndigbo.
He said: For the avoidance of doubt, Governor Kalus position is that the security agencies should take a hard look at themselves and their modus operandi.
They should be vigilant in order to ensure that the purported bad eggs that have infiltrated the ranks of various branches of national security agencies are not the ones responsible for the unending atrocities.
It is quite right that the searchlight must be beamed in every single direction, including the security outfit, without fear or favour, as we grapple with the nightmare of terrorism and bloody carnage in this country.
The sophistication that has characterised the planning, execution and the general top class logistical operations of the terrorists have left many questioning whether some rag-tag illiterate and untrained religious fundamentalists are truly capable of, and singularly responsible for, all the slaughter and destruction that has been associated with Boko Haram. In a democracy, it is not only permissible for citizens to question everything; it is our civic duty to do so.
[AAWSAT.NET] Asharq Al-Awsat has obtained new information about the Iranian espionage cell tossed in the clink ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... while operating clandestinely on Saudi soil. The Saudi Interior Ministry initially announced that eighteen men--one Iranian national, one Lebanese national, and sixteen Saudi nationals--had been tossed in the clink Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! while working for a "foreign" intelligence agency, before subsequently pointing the finger at Tehran.
Asharq Al-Awsat has obtained information revealing that the Iranian national is in his late thirties and is a PhD student at the Current Affairs department of the Islamic University of Medina. He is a media figure, known for his religious seminars on an as yet unnamed private satellite channel.
As for the Lebanese detainee, Asharq Al-Awsat learnt that he is a businessman who also holds a European passport. He is considered to be the central, and most dangerous, player within this spy network.
According to the information, the Iranian detainee obtained both a Bachelor's and Master's degree from the Islamic University, indicating that he spent a significant amount of time in the Kingdom prior to his arrest. This detainee, originally from the Shi'ite dominated Iran, was also revealed to be a Sunni.
Investigations are on-going into this individual's background and it is not yet certain whether he was directly and consciously involved with the espionage cell, or whether this is part of an Iranian attempt to falsely implicate him.
Asharq Al-Awsat previously revealed that another one of the eighteen detainees worked in the main branch of a high-profile Riyadh bank and has over 35 years banking experience. In addition to this, another member of the cell was revealed to be a Riyadh university professor who had previously obtained a master's degree and doctorate in the US in the field of education.
A third member of the cell was a physician, working in one of the major hospitals in the Saudi capital as a renal consultant in the children's ward. He was allegedly able to take advantage of his position to provide information about important Saudi figures undergoing treatment in the same hospital.
On March 26 the Saudi Ministry of the Interior announced that the detainees had direct connections with Iran, in the first official accusation of Tehran's involvement.
A report by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) quoted Saudi Interior Ministry front man General Mansour Al-Turki as saying, "The preliminary investigations, the physical evidence that has been collected, and the statements made by the defendants in this case reveal direct links between the cell and the Iranian intelligence service."
"These elements received financial sums, at regular intervals, in exchange for information and documents about important sites, as part of an espionage operation for the Iranian intelligence apparatus," he added.
He had previously stressed that the eighteen men had been apprehended in the process of actively gathering information about vital national infrastructure which they were then sending to a foreign intelligence agency.
Iran has officially denied any involvement with this espionage cell.
These developments are part of a series of escalating Iranian espionage activities throughout the Gulf States. Last week in Bahrain, an appeals court upheld a ten-year prison sentence given to a man accused of spying for Iran. He was originally convicted in 2011 "of spying for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard from 2002 until April 2010 with the aim of damaging Bahrain's national interests," according to Bahraini media.
The UAE has likewise convicted one of its citizens on the grounds of spying for Iran. The individual pleaded guilty to the charges of providing a foreign state with secret military intelligence via a foreign consulate, and was sentenced to 7 years imprisonment.
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04/05/2013 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] The government would be held responsible for anarchy, if created, centring on the Hefajat-e Islam's long march towards Dhaka tomorrow, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia Three-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ... said yesterday.
She said Hefajat had every right to organise programmes demanding punishment to those "who had made derogatory remarks about Islam and Prophet Hazrat Muhammad [PTUI!] and hurt our religious sentiments". But, Khaleda claimed, a hartal ... a peculiarly Bangla combination of a general strike and a riot, used by both major political groups in lieu of actual governance ... was called and various other measures were taken by the government and its supporters to foil the long march.
The leader of the 18-party opposition made the remarks at a condolence rally at Satkhira Govt Boys' High School playground.
Since February 5, youths under the banner of Bloggers and Online Activists Network have been calling for death penalty for all war criminals and a ban on Jamaat-Shibir. However, ars longa, vita brevis... a smear campaign was launched following the murder of a blogger on February 15 to label the young protesters as atheists.
Against this backdrop, Hefajat announced the long march programme, demanding that the government punish those who insult Islam and its prophet.
To the frustration of many who are with the movement against war criminals, the government on April 2 and 3 tossed in the calaboose ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... four bloggers, accusing them of hurting religious sentiments.
Khaleda, however, said the government had treated the four as son-in-laws instead of punishing them, which was protested by the "religious Mohammedans and Alem-Ulama".
"It is a great sin to speak ill of our beloved Prophet," she noted.
Meanwhile, ...back at the cheese factory, there was only one thought in the mouse's mind: I can do this! I can do this! Then the trap sprung... Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee and another 23 pro-liberation organization have called a 24-hour hartal to be enforced from 6:00pm today to resist Hefajat-e Islam.
Two "pro-government" Islamic organizations had been allowed to hold rallies in the capital, Khaleda said, adding likewise the government should not bar Hefajat from holding its programme peacefully.
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04/05/2013 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] More than ten blogs blacked out their sites yesterday in protest at the recent arrests of bloggers over allegations of defaming Islam.
The blogs now show screens with texts decrying the government crackdown on the blogging community.
"Muzzle Me Not," stated www.nagorikblog.com, adding, "Resist and protest government's appeasement of fundamentalists -- arrest and torture of bloggers -- harassment of blog platforms."
Other blogs, including Shachalayatan, Amarblog, Amar Bondhu, Muktangong, Mukto-mona, Choturmatrik and Unmochon, echoed the same.
"We have closed our sites in protest at the arrest and harassment of bloggers and closing of blogs as part of a hateful political ploy," said Abu Mustafiz, one of the founder members and moderator of Unmochon blog.
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04/05/2013 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] Claiming that Hefajat-e Islam has announced the Dhaka long march programme at the instigation of Jamaat-Shibir, 23 pro-liberation organizations yesterday urged people to form "militancy and communalism resistance committee" at union, upazila and district levels to resist Jamaat-Shibir and armed cut-thoats.
They called a countrywide 24-hour hartal ... a peculiarly Bangla combination of a general strike and a riot, used by both major political groups in lieu of actual governance ... from 6:00pm today protesting tomorrow's long march. Leaders of the organizations feared that the long march might incite atrocities and destroy the democratic process in the country.
"Though we don't believe in the culture of hartal, we have called the shutdown protesting the long march of Hefajat-e-Islam, which got involved in the conspiracy of Jamaat-Shibir," said Sammilito Sangskritik Jote president Nasiruddin Yusuf Bachchu.
On behalf of the 23 organizations, he read out a written statement at a presser at the Teachers-Students Centre (TSC) of Dhaka University.
In Chittagong, hartal will be enforced from 3:00pm as declared by the local unit of Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee yesterday, citing the same reasons.
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04/05/2013 00:00 ||
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SEOUL -- North Korea has loaded two intermediate-range missiles onto mobile launchers and hidden them in an unidentified facility near the east coast, Seoul military sources said Friday, triggering speculation that the North is ready for an abrupt missile launch.
Earlier this week, the communist state had moved the "Musudan" medium-range missiles to its east coast, prompting the United States to send its advanced missile defense system to its base on the Pacific Ocean island of Guam.
South Korean and U.S. intelligence officials have been closely monitoring the North Korean facility believed to contain the Musudan missiles on the TELs (transporter-erector-launcher). The missile can fly 3,000-4,000 kilometers and is capable of hitting the U.S. base in Guam in the Pacific Ocean.
The North's concealing the missiles atop the mobile launcher platform is seen as an attempt to launch missiles in a surprise move, the official said, noting it was not clear whether the move is for a test firing or military drills.
The isolated communist nation has not yet conducted a test firing of the Musudan missile, which was first revealed to the international community in October 2010 during a military parade in Pyongyang.
Outside observers see a high chance that Pyongyang may launch the missile in mid-April to celebrate the April 15 birthday of Kim Il-sung, the communist nation's late founder and the young leader Kim Jong-un's grandfather, in a move to bolster the regime's grip on power.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/05/2013 13:41 ||
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#2
That should be stated as "allegedly" capable of hitting Guam, as many Perts on the MSM-Net say the"Musudan" + follow-on was never properly tested - IFF TRUE, THE DPRK WILL BE LUCKY IFF IT DOESN'T BLOW UP BY ITSELF ON THE LAUNCH PAD OR THAT IT LANDS SOMEWHERE IN WESTPAC BETWEEN GUAM + THE PHILIPPINES. A direct hit at this distance by any untested LR Missle Sys is so improbable as to be considered "miraculous".
CHINA's LRBMS, OTOH,, have been well-tested - iff Guam is indeed hit, I'm inclined first to believe its by a PLA 2nd Arty LRBM disguised wid DPRK markings, + fired by the Chinese commander of the DPRK's strategic rocket forces.
#2
Unfortunately China has a history of sending them back to Kimland, although its not clear iff China will do so again this time given the current crisis.
#3
Bill needs a potential sanctuary. The Pay-to-Play graft scandal effecting his governing in New Mexico in which his name came up frequently only ended because The One relieved the Fed AG who was running the corruption investigation. Strange coincidence that and Bill's support of the The One in 2008. /sarc off
#7
9/11 elicited a military response, but it wasn't a suicidal move for Afghanistan, the Pashtuns or the Taliban.
North Korea might be tempted to emulate Afghanistan.
If they sponsor a massive terror attack on the continental US they will receive danegeld and ideological submission.
The post Iraq war consensus mandates that even after a terror attack the US must make every effort to give the open and declared enemy every benefit of every doubt (however unreasonable) to justify inaction.
After the attack the Norks could gloat and praise the attack to their heart's content without running the risk of a military conflict. And soon after they'd reap the political and material benefits from a cowed, paralysed and demoralized America.
Posted by: Bill Richardson ||
04/05/2013 12:01 Comments ||
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The NORKs believe if we kick the crap out of them, we'd give them a Marshall plan to rebuild the place.
Correct me if I am wrong but the Norks would be better off cutting a deal with Exxon for their oil shale and Monsanto for their rare earth deposits...prosperity for everyone but it would not be congruent with Kimmie or Pudgies ideology.
Such a mess, someone should have done something ages ago.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
04/05/2013 12:27 Comments ||
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#10
Well the jury has come in on the judgement of Clinton's foreign policy and it seems it was a failure everywhere. He punted and the future gets stuck with a worse problem. Say what you want about W he confronted the problem rather than punting.
ACTIVIST hackers appear to have infiltrated North Korea's official news website and its accompanying Twitter and Flickr feeds, posting unflattering images of leader Kim Jong-Un.
Adorable image can be seen at the link.
The China-based website of Uriminzokkiri, which distributes news and propaganda from the North's state media, was inaccessible and its companion feeds attacked and defaced.
On Twitter, the Uriminzokkiri account's profile photo was changed to one of a couple dancing the Tango, and a series of tweets read "Hacked" and "Tango Down".
The male dancer was wearing a Guy Fawkes mask -- a trademark of the "Anonymous" hacktivist group.
The website's Flickr page showed a number of images, including one which simply read "We Are Anonymous" and a mock-up "Wanted" poster featuring Kim with a pig's nose and ears and a Mickey Mouse tattoo on his chest. The poster claimed the UN had offered a $1 million reward for Kim's capture due to his "threatening world peace" and wasting money while people starve to death".
Uriminzokkiri is best known for posting propaganda videos excoriating the United States and including images like the White House framed in the crosshairs of a sniper's rifle sight.
The attack came amid soaring military tensions on the Korean peninsula with Pyongyang, Seoul and Washington engaged in a bout of high-stakes brinkmanship.
#1
The White House condemned the attack and promised to bring the perpetrators to justice. A spokesman quoted the President: "The future must not belong to those who slander Korea's Dearest Leader!"
</sarc>
#3
The poster claimed the UN had offered a $1 million reward for Kim's capture due to his "threatening world peace" and wasting money while people starve to death".
And then they had to go and blow it all with something so obviously bogus!
An Ontario who converted to Islam and traveled to Africa has been detained for eight months in Mauritania's capital, on suspicions that he is associated with radicals, according to a local weekly.
Aaron Yoon, of London, Ont., is a former high-school friend of two Canadians who died in January's terrorist strike in Algeria.
A July 29, 2012, article by the Mauritanian periodical Al Houriya says Mr. Yoon was held at the central prison in Nouakchott, the Mauritanian capital. The article said Mr. Yoon was held on suspicion he is a jihadi with the hardline Salafist movement.
It said he suffered from a urinary infection but couldn't get medical treatment so inmates dropped him near the prison gate and left him there unconscious.
See? SEE? Praying for sepsis does work!
Mr. Yoon's family say he is free and traveling in Africa but a staffer at the Mauritanian mission at the United Nations, handles diplomatic matters with Canada, also said he is in custody.
Asked specifically if a Canadian citizen was held in Mauritania, a Foreign Affairs official in Ottawa would only say that "we are aware of a Canadian who has been detained abroad."
Mr. Yoon's two dead friends, Ali Medlej and Xristos Katsiroubas, were checked by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, starting in 2007. But sources say that the RCMP joined the probe in 2010, suggesting law-enforcement authorities were increasingly concerned about their potential crimes.
Officials have rejected nomination papers for Pakistan's ex-military ruler Pervez Musharraf to stand as a candidate in forthcoming polls.
An official in eastern Kasur district made the decision after objections were filed, including charges of violating the constitution and his oath as army chief.
Gen Musharraf has the right to appeal and has also filed nomination papers in three other constituencies. But this may affect those decisions.
Six objections were brought against Gen Musharraf by a local lawyer in Kasur. Election tribunals will begin to hear appeals next week.
In a parallel development, the PML-N party of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif - ousted by Gen Musharraf when he took power in a coup in 1999 - has challenged Mr Musharraf's eligibility to contest elections.
Now if only Perv will challenge Nawaz' petitions all would be perfect...
[Dawn] During Thursday's hearing of the 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... law and order case, the Supreme Court ordered for all 'no-go' areas in the city to be eliminated within a week, DawnNews reported.
A five-judge larger bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, was hearing the case pertaining to implementation of its 2011 order in a suo motu ...a legal term, from the Latin. Roughly translated it means I saw what you did, you bastard... notice over unrest in Karachi.
The bench ordered for a judicial tribunal to be set up within three days over the land grabbing issue in Karachi.
The court also rejected police reports regarding 'no-go areas in Karachi' saying they were identical in content.
The bench observed that it appeared that the reports were authored by one person and ordered reports from all 112 cop shoppes in the city to be submitted within 30 minutes' time.
Moreover Lyari's SSP police was ordered to submit a report from four cop shoppes within his jurisdiction.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry remarked during the hearing that in the caretaker setup the government had only changed the faces but the policies remained the same.
The bench also rejected a report submitted by Ranger officials over the law and order situation in the city over the grounds that the report did not exhibit seriousness over the issue.
Justice Iftikhar further remarked that despite the presence of 11,500 Rangers personnel, certain areas in Karachi like Lyari ...one of the eighteen constituent towns of the city of Karachi. It is the smallest town by area in the city but also the most densely populated. Lyari has few schools, substandard hospitals, a poor water system, limited infrastructure, and broken roads. It is a stronghold of ruling Pakistan Peoples Party. Ubiquitous gang activity and a thriving narcotics industry make Lyari one of the most disturbed places in Karachi, which is really saying a lot.... could not be cleared even after operations were conducted in the 'no-go' areas.
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04/05/2013 00:00 ||
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A UN agency has said it will soon be unable to provide "life-saving" aid to Syrian refugees in Jordan and other countries due to funds running out.
"The needs are rising exponentially and we are broke," said Marixie Mercado, a spokeswoman for children's charity Unicef.
Some 1.2 million Syrians have fled since the uprising began in March 2011.
Around 385,500 have escaped to Jordan, with figures set to triple by the end of the year, Ms Mercado said.
This would bring the number of Syrian refugees there close to 1.2 million - the equivalent of one-fifth of Jordan's total population.
"Since the beginning of year, more than 2000 refugees have streamed across the border [into Jordan] every day," Ms Mercado told reporters at a UN news conference in the Swiss city of Geneva on Friday.
"We expect these numbers to more than double by July and triple by December."
Many of the refugees are children, the spokeswoman added.
#1
Sometimes it is necessary to restrain people in hospitals if they look like they could do harm to others or to themselves. I once saw a drunk in an emergency room who didn't even know what day it was with soft, velcro straps that attached one hand at the top of the gurney and the other hand down near the middle. Even though the restraints were not handcuffs the drunk was effectively restrained. It was for his own good. Myself, I would have taken him outside and handcuffed him to a fire hydrant instead of letting him have a bed in a crowded ER.
[Al Ahram] The Paleostinian movement Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, which rules Gazoo has enjugged Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! two hardline Islamists in connection with rocket attacks on Israel, sources close to a Salafist group said Thursday.
The Hamas interior ministry, however, denied any arrests had been made for "resistance against the occupation."
Hamas's "internal security apparatus in the last two days arrested two mujahedeen. One was released after several hours. The other is still tossed in the slammer Please don't kill me! ," a Salafist source told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The source said it was part of a "campaign to pursue Salafists ...Salafists are ostentatiously devout Moslems who figure the ostentation of their piety gives them the right to tell others how to do it and to kill those who don't listen to them... after the targeting of Israel with rockets."
A Gazoo-based Salafist group claimed firing rockets at Israel on Tuesday and Wednesday that landed in open fields, causing no damage or casualties. In response, Israel carried out two air strikes, also without causing harm.
The Mujahedeen Shura Council said the rocket attacks were a response to the death of a Paleostinian prisoner detained by Israel who died of cancer while serving a life sentence.
Interior ministry front man Islam Shahwan denied there had been any "arrests for resistance to the enemy (Israel)," saying such action would "not help national consensus (unity)."
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04/05/2013 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] Palestinian president Abbas decides to suspend all unilateral measures through UN agencies and refrain from taking a case against Israel to the ICC to 'give a sufficient chance for Kerry's peace talks efforts to succeed'
Posted by: Fred ||
04/05/2013 00:00 ||
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Don't know why they are fighting. All they've got to do is get to Australia and the "humanitarian and compassionate" country will spend at least $1 million on each one and also members of their famiies they bring out later, Australia is a wonderful country.
In a severely overcrowded Indonesian detention center, a brawl broke out today between Muslims and Buddhists that left eight of the latter group dead.
Indonesia, an archipelago that straddles the equator, has long been a way-station for people fleeing troubles in their homelands. For decades, boats with Afghans or Iraqis hoping to make it to Australia have washed up on its shores and their occupants have ended up spending months, and sometimes years, in detention here.
In this case, there's trouble much closer to home. In Myanmar (Burma), months of mostly Buddhist-instigated violence against the Rohingya Muslim minority have left tens of thousands homeless and hundreds dead. The country is in the middle of a transition process from a long military dictatorship to something resembling civilian rule, but that has meant more trouble, not less, for the Rohingyas. Ethnic-Burmese champions of the long struggle against military rule there, chief among them Aung San Suu Kyi, have largely avoided speaking out over the targeting of the Muslim minority, creating fears that recent spasms are just the beginning.
#1
Is there a muslim country totally at peace with their neighbors? Is there a muslim country that gives other religions reasonable freedoms? Just asking, but I suspect I see a trend.
#2
The important point is that while Budhists are capable of horrible violence, they do it in spite of their religion and not because their "religion" demands it. A point unmentioned by the media.
Posted by: Sgt. D. T. ||
04/05/2013 23:43 Comments ||
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U.S. President Barack Obama will meet soon with Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani of Qatar, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Jordanian King Abdullah II to discuss the Syrian conflict and other regional issues, the White House announced Friday.
The Qatari leader plans to visit the White House in April 23, and the Jordanian King three days later.
The talks with the king, to be held April 26, will focus on "Jordan's political and economic reforms, the humanitarian crisis in Syria, and additional regional issues of mutual concern," the statement said.
Obama will then host Erdogan in Washington May 16. "The United States and Turkey are partners in addressing a range of critical global and regional issues," it said in a statement, adding that the leaders will discuss "Syria, trade and economic cooperation, and countering terrorism."
Turkey, Jordan and Qatar are key supporters of the Syrian opposition.
Syrian state media Thursday criticized Jordan for allegedly hosting U.S. training exercises for Syrian rebels in the country.
#1
The empty suit will deliver an after dinner stand up comedy routine (since he doesn't know squat about what is really going on and if he wasn't POTUS they wouldn't let him in the country)
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04/05/2013 13:25 Comments ||
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Both an Iranian warship's passage through the Suez Canal and into the Mediterranean on 22 February 2011 and Iranian warships paying port calls in the Sudan a year later have reinforced the fact that the Iranian Navy has expanded its operational reach. The push into the Pacific comes less than three months after Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei declared that the Iranian Navy's new emphasis should be expanding its reach beyond the Persian Gulf.
The Iranian flotilla, comprising a destroyer
more likely a frigate or even a corvette...
and a helicopter carrier,
'helicopter' carrier means a ship carrying exactly one chopper, I think...
may symbolically demonstrate Iran's naval resurgence, but logistical constraints--fueling and resupply--should keep the Iranian vessels close to shore. As such, however, Tehran's dispatch of its navy into the Pacific might be considered a diplomatic shot across the bow. Beyond pulling into Zhangjiagang, a port just north of Shanghai, the flotilla is also expected to pay a port call in Sri Lanka on its way home.
Whether or not the Iranian vessels are resupplied at sea might shed light on Iran's logistical capabilities, and where else Iranian military vessels pull into port--perhaps in Pakistan and Burma (Myanmar)--might also shed light on Iranian efforts to develop military ties with Asia. The implication of any Iranian military vessels continuing on to North Korea is alarming. While Tehran and Pyongyang cooperate commercially and, according to Western press reports, in the covert exchange of nuclear technology as well, overt military cooperation would suggest confidence and augmentation of ties which might challenge the West.
As said before, its no longer the US-vs-China in Asia-Pacific, but the US-VS-CHINA-VS-NUCLEAR-ISLAM - ITS ONLY A MAHA-RUSHIAN QUESTIONNE'IFF THE SOON-TO-BE-NUKULAAR HARD/BURQUA BOYZ WILL ATTACK THE ONE BEFORE ATTACKING THE OTHER IN JIHAD.
At last check, PAKISTAN is allowing Iran's Navy to setup at Gwadar along wid CHINA - Gwadar on one flank of South Asia = India, + likely Hainan on the other flank in SE Asia.
* See WIRED NEWS > IRAN "PIVOTS" TO ASIA: IRAN NAVY TO STRENGTHEN TIES WID NORTH KOREA.
and
* TOPIX > ISLAM'S "STRATEGIC PIVOT" TO ASIA.
* PRESS TV > SEVENTEEN (17) CAUCASUS CITIES SEE ANNEXATION TO IRAN: [Majlis]LAWMAKER.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A man, who is reportedly an Iranian officer in the custody of the rebel Free Syrian Army, spoke to Al Arabiya Thursday and said he used to train snipers for the regime of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Supressor of the Damascenes... He said that he used to train the men in the western province of Idlib, in which -- he added -- he stayed for months.
"My name is Hamid Wothouq, amd I'm from Shiraz city. I stayed in al-Fouaa and Kafriya for five month to work with snipers. In Iran, I worked for the Basij [Iranian paramilitary organization]. I want help from the Islamic republic," he told Al Arabiya's cameras.
Wothouq allegedly entered Syria from Turkey and said there were Iranian soldiers spread in the country to help the Assad regime in fighting rebels.
"In al-Fouaa and Kafriya, Bousra, Tartous and Damascus ...Home to a staggering array of terrorist organizations... , there are Iranian soldiers fighting alongside the Assad army."
Rebel Free Syrian Army leaders described Wothouq's capture as a "precious find" and formidable proof against the Syrian regime's claim that no Iranian soldiers or members of Leb's Shiite movement, Hezbollah, were present in the country.
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04/05/2013 00:00 ||
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah "has become a dangerous militia, threatening the region's security as well as civil peace," Sunni holy man Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir told Al Arabiya TV, in comments to be broadcast Friday on the weekly program "Point of Order."
Acting as "Iran's party," Hezbollah "assaults all the Lebanese, even free-thinking Shiites," added Assir, who is the imam of Belal bin Rabah mosque in Sidon, southern Leb.
Many politicians, including Hezbollah, deal with Sunnis as if they are a "defeated sect in Leb," by appointing and removing the Sunni prime minister at will, said the holy man.
He described "Iranian hegemony on all Lebanese" as more dangerous than the Israeli occupation.
However, by candlelight every wench is handsome... he said he does not support the Israelis or favor an attack by them against Iran, and is not calling for the disarming of a resistance.
"We want a defense strategy. Hezbollah was the party of the resistance, but it changed its principles when it used its weapons internally in Leb and in Syria," said Assir.
The door is open to dialogue with Hezbollah, he added, lamenting that "arms control political life in Leb."
Assir accused Sunni politicians of using extremism as a scarecrow to frighten others and present themselves as a moderate substitute.
"I'm with empowering the legal government and giving it full control over weapons, along with a defense strategy," he said.
"I want to live in peace with all other religious sects. We don't have any negative position towards any sect. Our problem is only with the Iranian project."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/05/2013 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] The Syrian government is sending members of its irregular militias for guerrilla combat training at a secret base in Iran, in a move to bolster its armed forces drained by two years of fighting and defections, fighters and activists said.
The discreet programme has been described as an open secret in some areas loyal to Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad The Scourge of Hama... , who is trying to crush a revolt against his family's four-decade hold on power.
Rooters interviewed four fighters who said they were taken on the combat course in Iran, as well as opposition sources who said they had also been documenting such cases.
Israel's intelligence chief and a Western diplomat have said Iran, Assad's main backer, is helping to train at least 50,000 beturbanned goons and aims to increase the force to 100,000 - though they did not say where the training occurred.
No one at Iran's foreign ministry was available for comment, but Iranian officials have repeatedly denied military involvement in the Syrian conflict, saying they have only provided humanitarian aid and political support for Assad.
A Syrian government security source, who declined to be named, denied that Syria was sending fighters to Iran. "We train our own special forces for this type of combat," he said. "Since 2006 we have had units trained in guerrilla warfare, why would we need to send people to Iran?"
Posted by: Fred ||
04/05/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Pick one, you have a minimum of a one in twenty chance of being correct.
1) Imam Ali Training Garrison, Tajrish Square, Tehran,
2) Bahonar Garrison, Chalous Street, close to the dam of Karaj,
3) Qom’s Ali-Abad Garrison, Tehran-Qom highway,
4) Mostafa Khomeini Garrison, Eshrat-Abad district, Tehran,
5) Crate Camp Garrison, 40 kilometres from the Ahwaz-Mahshar highway,
6) Fateh Qani-Hosseini Garrison, between Tehran and Qom
7) Qayour Asli Garrison, 30 kilometres from Ahwaz-Khorramshahr highway,
8) Abouzar Garrison, Qaleh-Shahin district, Ahwaz, Khuzestan province
9) Hezbollah Garrison, Varamin, east of Tehran
10) Eezeh Training Garrison
11) Amir-ol-Momenin Garrison, Ban-Roushan, Ilam province
12) Kothar Training Garrison, Dezful Street, Shoushtar, Khuzestan province
13) Imam Sadeq Garrison, Qom
14) Lavizan Training Centre, north-east Tehran
15) Abyek Training Centre, west of Tehran
16) Dervish Training Centre, 18 kilometres from the Ahwaz-Mahshar highway,
17) Qazanchi Training Centre, Ravansar-Kermanshah-Kamyaran tri-junction,
18) Beit-ol-Moqaddas University, Qom
19) Navab Safavi School, Ahwaz
20) Nahavand Training Centre, 45 kilometres from Nahavand, western Iran
[An Nahar] Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Wally Jumblat ... Druze politician, head of the Progressive Socialist Party, who's been on every side in Leb at least four times. He'll sell you his friends for a dollar, but family comes higher because of shipping and handling... announced on Thursday his support for nominating Beirut MP Tammam Salam for premiership, stating that he will not take part in any one-sided government.
"I have picked Mr. Tammam Salam and I have contacted him," Jumblat said in an interview on LBCI television.
He added: "He is the son of a historic, moderate family and I hope he will be positively received by everyone".
Jumblat remarked: "I don't want to say that (al-Mustaqbal ... the Future Movement, political party led by Saad Hariri... Movement head MP) Saad Hariri Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's assassination. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too. was dismayed when I proposed Salam, but his response was tepid, and when I contacted Hizbullah, they had the same response".
He elaborated that he was asked by Hizbullah whether he had another candidate: "I said no, because he hails from a moderate family and he has never said a single bad word against the Resistance That'd be the Hezbullies, natch... "I'm still a centrist and when I allowed myself to name Tammam Salam, I named the historically centrist political dynasty," Jumblat stated.
"There is an MP who maybe liked my centrist position and he might be among our ranks during consultations tomorrow and I'm not talking about (Democratic Party leader MP) Prince Talal (Arslan)".
He revealed Hariri's pick for premiership, however, was former Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi.
"I told Hariri that Rifi is a confrontational candidate".
MP Salam is most likely to become the head of the next cabinet, after the March 14 forces announced earlier on Thursday that they have chosen him as their nominee for premiership.
"The politicians of the alliance and of Jamaa Islamiya will officially inform President Michel Suleiman ...before assuming office as President, he held the position of commander of the Leb Armed Forces. That was after the previous commander, the loathesome Emile Lahoud, took office as president in November of 1998. Likely the next president of Leb will be whoever's commander of the armed forces, too... about their candidate during Friday's parliamentary consultations," said al-Mustaqbal bloc head MP Fouad Saniora after a March 14 broad meeting at the Center House which was exclusively dedicated to discussing this issue.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/05/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Syrian state media have sharply criticized Jordan for hosting U.S.-backed training of Syrian rebels seeking to topple Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Leveler of Latakia... , warning that Amman risks falling into the "volcanic crater" of Syria's conflict.
The stern warning issued Thursday by state radio and in a front-page editorial in the daily al-Thawra, the mouthpiece of the Syrian government, will likely aggravate Jordan's security fears over the civil war in its northern neighbor.
Jordan worries that Syria could use chemical weapons against it, or that secret operatives linked to the Assad regime could carry out deadly attacks in the U.S.-allied kingdom.
U.S. and other Western and Arab officials say Jordan is hosting training camps for Syrian rebels.
Amman has publicly denied it is hosting such training efforts.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/05/2013 00:00 ||
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Light of the Alawites... has lashed out at 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... and its decision to hand Syria's seat to the opposition, saying the body "lacks legitimacy," according to comments published on Thursday.
"The Arab League lacks legitimacy. It's a League that represents the Arab states, not the Arab people, so it can't grant or retract legitimacy," Assad said in extracts from an interview with Turkish media published on the presidency's Facebook page.
The Arab League last month granted the opposition rebel Syrian National Coalition grouping Syria's seat at the beginning during a session in Qatar attended by key rebel official and former Coalition chief Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib.
"Real legitimacy is not accorded by organizations or foreign officials or other country... legitimacy is that which is granted by the people," Assad said.
"All these theatrics have no value in our eyes," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/05/2013 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] Lebanese politician Tammam Salam, a former minister from a prominent Sunni Moslem political dynasty, emerged as a potential new prime minister on Thursday when he was endorsed by the country's pro-Western March 14 coalition.
Leb faces a parliamentary election in June but was plunged into uncertainty two weeks ago by the resignation of Prime Minister Najib Mikati, after a dispute over the electoral law and an extension to the term of a top security official.
Mikati, who had called for a "national salvation" government to ensure stability in a country shaken by the conflict in neighbouring Syria, said on Thursday he would not put his name forward again because he could not win consensus backing.
Salam - a Sunni Moslem as all prime ministers must be under Leb's confessional distribution of power - is the son of a former prime minister. His grandfather served under the Ottoman Empire and the French colonial mandate.
He won endorsement from March 14, which has 60 seats in the 128-seat parliament, at a meeting of the political alliance in central Beirut after a lightning trip to Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in their national face... for talks with March 14's leader, former prime minister Saad al-Hariri.
March 14 groups mainly Sunni and Christian parties which pushed, with U.S. and European support, for Syria to end nearly three decades of military presence in Leb in 2005.
Salam was also expected to win the support of Druze leader Walid Wally Jumblat ... Druze politician, head of the Progressive Socialist Party, who's been on every side in Leb at least four times. He'll sell you his friends for a dollar, but family comes higher because of shipping and handling... , whose seven seats hold the balance of power.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/05/2013 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Al Ahram] Egypt's Grand Mufti Shawky Ibrahim Abdel-Karim Allam said on Thursday any attack on the Al-Azhar Institution or its head, Grand Imam Sheikh Ahmed El-Tayeb, "undermines Egypt's security."
Khaleda Zia
SEOUL -- North Korea has loaded two intermediate-range missiles onto mobile launchers and hidden them in an unidentified facility near the east coast, Seoul military sources said Friday, triggering speculation that the North is ready for an abrupt missile launch.
North Korea
Officials have rejected nomination papers for Pakistan's ex-military ruler Pervez Musharraf to stand as a candidate in forthcoming polls.
A UN agency has said it will soon be unable to provide "life-saving" aid to Syrian refugees in Jordan and other countries due to funds running out.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Druze politician, head of the Progressive Socialist Party, who's been on every side in Leb at least four times. He'll sell you his friends for a dollar, but family comes higher because of shipping and handling...
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
