A shipment of teargas canisters from the United States arrived at the Egyptian Abadeya Port in Suez on Sunday, according to official documents obtained by the Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper.
Five containers carrying around 140,000 teargas canisters were apparently shipped to the Egyptian Interior Ministry by the Aramex International courier service.
The Egypt Independent reports that the shipping documents state that only the Egyptian government may use the canisters, and that they are forbidden to re-export the shipment or sell it to third parties.
The documents state that the shipment set sail from the port of Wilmington in Pennsylvania on 14 March on board the SS Jamestown. A letter of credit was forwarded without specifying the name of the bank. The Egyptian government paid the freight fees.
In February this year, Al-Masry Al-Youm reported that the Interior Ministry agreed to import teargas canisters for $2.46 million, to be shipped by an Egyptian military cargo plane.
Interior Ministry spokesperson Hani Abdel Latif said that the ministry imported the grenades in order to protect state facilities.
#4
The Egyptian government paid the freight fees.
And no doubt the Champ paid for the goods.
As the say in the back streets of Cairo "America's a voonderful country"
#5
Reads like someone leaked the cargo manifest. I'm sure Mo Public doesn't like english first aid instructions tattooed on their foreheads. An inquisitive reporter might even ponder whether arming morsi is counter to the arid spring movement, but, you know, with the sequester its hard to ask questions over the loud memphis soul music.
#6
This story is a follow-up to an earlier one, where the Interior Ministry had purchased the canisters from a U.S. source, but the freight forwarder was unable to arrange for air shipment aboard a commercial aircraft (Hence the intended shipment via Egyptian military aircraft.)
No doubt the purchase was legal and didn't require USG approval for miltary sales, since it's technically not 'arms'. But Dept. of Commerce can be a pain if the paperwork's not right.
Libyan weapons are spreading at "an alarming rate" to new territory in west Africa and the eastern Mediterranean including Syria and the Gaza Strip where they are fueling conflicts and increasing the arsenals of armed groups and terrorists, a U.N. panel said.
In a report to the U.N. Security Council circulated Tuesday, the panel said cases of illicit transfers from Libya in violation of a U.N. arms embargo that have been proven and are still under investigation involve more than 12 countries and include heavy and light weapons such as portable air defense systems, explosives, mines, and small arms and ammunition.
Since the uprising that ousted dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011, the panel said, "Libya has over the past two years become a significant and attractive source of weaponry in the region."
It said civilians and militias remain in control of most weapons in Libya, adding that "the lack of an effective security system remains one of the primary obstacles to securing military materiel and controlling the borders."
#10
If the Republican candidate in 2016 has any brains at all he or she will have that video all ready to play on TV stations across the land the day after the Democrat convention. Well, I can dream, can't I?
[AlJazeera] First batch of 100 soldiers departs as La Belle France prepares to hand over operations to a UN-mandated African force.
La Belle France has withdrawn its first batch of soldiers from Mali, as it begins to pull out troops sent to battle rebel fighters in the west African nation.
Gay Paree, which sent 4,000 troops to Mali in January to block a feared advance on the capital Bamako from the north, is preparing to hand over to a UN-mandated African force of 6,300 in the coming weeks.
It will gradually pull its soldiers out of the country, where its intervention has driven hard boyz from most of their northern strongholds, but plans to leave a permanent 1,000-strong force in the country.
The military's chief of staff said on Tuesday that around 100 soldiers had been withdrawn and sent to Paphos in Cyprus on Monday, where they will spend three days in a hotel before heading back to La Belle France.
They belonged to parachute units of the army that had been deployed in the Tessalit region of northeast Mali, where heavy fighting against Islamists took place, said Thierry Burkhard, the chief of staff's front man.
The withdrawal comes as a Pentagon brasshat warned that troops from the Economic Community of West African States deployed in Mali are "completely incapable" and are not "up to the task" of fighting rebels.
Michael Sheehan, the assistant secretary of defense for special operations, offered his harsh criticism of the West African forces at a congressional hearing in which he praised French troops for rolling back hard boyz in Mali.
"Right now, the ECOWAS force isn't capable at all. What you saw there, it is a completely incapable force. That has to change," Sheehan told a Senate armed services subcommittee.
Pockets of resistance
The Malian military - poorly paid, ill-equipped and badly organised - fell apart last year in the face of an uprising by ethnic Tuareg rebels who seized the vast arid north in chaos following a March coup, before losing control to well-armed Islamist fighters.
While French-led troops have inflicted severe losses on the rebels, soldiers are still battling significant pockets of resistance in Gao, as well as in the fabled desert city of Timbuktu.
La Belle France this weekend launched one of its largest actions since its intervention: an offensive that swept a valley thought to be a logistics base for al-Qaeda-linked Islamists near Gao.
In this region, the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), the most active Islamist rebel group on the ground, still has the support of some of the population.
But according to an intelligence expert, the Salafist tough guys' ability to inflict severe damage remains limited.
"In three months, the amount of terrorist activity has been very low, if nearly non-existent," said Eric Denece, head of the French Centre for Intelligence Studies.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/10/2013 00:08 ||
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#1
Four thousand troops doesn't sound like very many. Is that really all it takes to conquer a country like Mali? I never made a very thorough study of French colonization but if it only takes 4000 soldiers (uh, 4000 French soldiers) to take over an African country like that it seems like it may have been fairly easy for the French, Belgians, Dutch and the British to establish their empires.
#3
With the amount of time the bad guys had to dig in, I am glad the French did not walk into a trap and judging by some of the pics and videos, plus lack of coverage, it seems they acted decisively - well done.
#5
They were not French soldiers - my money says they were Foreign Legion. The French Government would never risk a citizen. Might be a couple of US ex-pats in the group.
CAIRO: Egyptian prosecutors are probing new complaints against popular satirist Bassem Youssef, this time for 'insulting Pakistan' and 'spreading atheism,' judicial sources told AFP on Tuesday.
The wildly popular Youssef -- whose weekly political satire programme Al-Bernameg (The Show) has spared few public figures of merciless critique -- is currently on bail pending investigation into charges of insulting President Mohamed Morsi and Islam.
The new lawsuits accuse Youssef of "insulting the state of Pakistan and causing tensions in its relations with Egypt." He is also accused of insulting religion and "spreading atheism."
In an episode after Morsi visited Pakistan in March, Youssef made fun of a hat worn by the president when he received an honorary doctorate from a university in Islamabad.
Insulting a funny hat is illegal?
It was probably that style that looks like a piece of prayer rug. We make fun of that one, too.
One lawsuit claimed that Youssef was attempting to "spread atheism" after he allegedly made fun of the prayer ritual which constitutes "questioning one of the five pillars of Islam."
Youssef confirmed he was being investigated again on his Twitter account. "A new investigation started against me accusing me of: insulting Islam (again), spreading atheism & insulting Pakistan #LOL."
Under Egypt's legal system, complaints made by holy men are filed to the public prosecutor who decides whether there is enough evidence to refer the case to trial. Suspects can be detained during this stage of investigation.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/10/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
I am of the opinion that the truth about Pakistanarchy is pretty insulting.
It is a collection of people and places no one wanted, even Ghandi at his most tolerant didn't want those clowns in his back yard.
Stir in a bunch of semi illiterate holy men and a failed education system and you have Pakistanarchy.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
04/10/2013 11:37 Comments ||
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#2
Boy I bet Obummer wishes he could jail people that insult HIM.
#3
Boy I bet Obummer wishes he could jail people that insult HIM
And increase the already overcrowded conditions in prison? that is positively inhumane!!!!
Opposition BNP on Tuesday threatened to intensify the ongoing movement further if the government does not withdraw the 'false' cases filed against its leaders and activists and release them immediately.
"We demand withdraw of all the false cases filed against BNP leaders and activists and their immediate and unconditional release. Otherwise, we'll intensify our movement with harsher programmes," said BNP chairperson's adviser Shamsuzzam Dudu. He was addressing a press briefing on the first-day of the 18-parety alliance's 36-hour hartal at BNP's Nayapaltan central office.
The first day of the shutdown was marked by the killing of a truck driver, vandalism and crude bomb blasts. The 18-party called the hartal soon after three Dhaka courts on Sunday sent 10 senior BNP leaders, including its acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, to jail in seven cases filed over March 1 violence.
The opposition alliance enforced the shutdown at 6am on Tuesday to realise its various demands, including the release of its arrested leaders and activists. The hartal will continue till 6 pm on Wednesday.
Reacting to the remarks of the ruling party leaders that the opposition is trying to create a volatile situation for the promulgation of state of emergency, Dudu said, "The opposition can't impose emergency it's the government that does it."
Asked whether the government is arresting the top opposition leaders for reaching a covert negotiation in jail, Dudu said there are many ideal places outside jail for dialogue if the government is sincere to resolve the political stalemate. "Nothing good will be achieved by resorting to respressive acts."
About the Finance Minister's remark that the political crisis will be over within a month, the BNP leader said his party will welcome it if the government restores stability in the country by arranging the next general election under a non-party caretaker government after quitting power.
In other words, if they give everything to the BNP and go off to slit their own throats...
Dudu harshly criticised the government for what he said arresting his party's top leaders in "false cases" and resorting to repressive acts against the opposition leaders and activists.
"It's now a matter of time to give a befitting reply to your waywardness. The time is very short; you even won't find the known lane to escape during public wraths," he said pointing at the current regime.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/10/2013 00:00 ||
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Finds it hard to hold political programmes as over 50 active central leaders in jail
The crackdown on main opposition BNP has plunged the party into a temporary leadership crisis, as more than its 50 central leaders, including the acting secretary general, are now in jail.
The situation has put the opposition in a quandary. Many of its activists are confused about the fate of the ongoing anti-government agitation, as almost all the leaders active on the street have been put behind bars in less than a month.
Against such backdrop, BNP has asked its young leaders to stay safe from arrests, said party's senior leader Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain yesterday. He said his party would step up the ongoing agitation and the legal battle to free their detained leaders.
And especially the hartals...
Talking to The Daily Star yesterday, some political analysts and opposition leaders observed that the crackdown would not yield positive result; rather deteriorate the situation further by closing the window for resolving the crisis through talks.
On Sunday, eight senior BNP leaders, including its acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir who had earlier been put behind bars twice in less than a year, were denied bail and sent to jail. They have been charged with torching vehicles and assaulting police during opposition's agitation. Chances of their coming out soon is lean, as a Dhaka court yesterday fixed April 21 to hear the bail petition filed by the defendants.
On March 11, a total of 148 BNP leaders, including opposition Chief Whip Zainul Abdin Farroque, joint secretary generals Rizvi Ahmed and Amanullah Aman, had been detained in two cases in connection with vandalising vehicles and assaulting police. They have also been denied bail twice.
On Sunday night, law enforcers detained another BNP Joint Secretary General Salahuddin Ahmed, who had been speaking against the government and announcing the party's agitation programmes in absence of Fakhrul.
"The party is facing a temporary leadership vacuum," said Khandaker Mosharraf, adding that the government had made the political situation worse by launching the crackdown.
Meanwhile, Home Minister Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir claimed that those who had been put behind bars were facing specific charges of arson, homemade bomb blasts and vandalism. State Minister for law Qamrul Islam, however, alleged the senior leaders of BNP of conspiring to destabilise the state organs.
They're both right...
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/10/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
DPRK = CHINA = proxy challenge to the World #1 USA's dominance, sphere in East Asia, espec WESTPAC + SOPAC all the way to CENTPAC vee "sharing the Pacific/Asia-Pacific".
CHINA SEES US = USDOD MILBASES CLOSE TO ITS SHORES, CHINA DOES N-O-T SEE CHINESE = PLA MILBASES CLOSE TO AMERICA'S SHORES.
You know - the MSM-Net, Pert-verified
"Weak/Declining USA".
[NOVEMBER 1950 + MACARTHUR'S FORCES AT YALU here].
Histoire' + "The Great Game" says New Powers or Ressurgent Powers want their perceived "Manifest Destinies" achieved ASAP AMAP ALAP, + NOT TO WAIT BECAUSE THEY DON'T WANT THE OPPOS CAMP(S) FEELINGS.
THE US-WEST MAY BE DEALING WID LOOMING DPRK STTAE COLLAPSE IN VERY NEAR FUTURE OCCURING AT THE SAME TIME AS RISING CHINA UNILATER DECIDING TO BE MILPOL "AGGRESSIVE" AS PER ACHIEVEING UNCHALLENGED "STRATEGIC ACCESS" INTO WESTPAC + SOPAC VEE THE "FIRST ISLAND CHAIN".
Via Drudge. 'Exclusive' to FP so just the key point here.
A top State Department official met with a top representative of the North Korean government in New York in March, The Cable has learned.
Clifford Hart, the State Department's special envoy to the now-defunct six-party talks, met North Korea's deputy ambassador to the United Nations Han Song-ryol in mid-March, just before North Korea began its latest string of provocative statements and actions, diplomatic sources said. The meeting was done through what's known in diplomatic circles as the "New York channel," the most common method of direct communication between Washington and Pyongyang.
No real progress was made during the meeting and no new offers were made by the U.S. officials present, the sources said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/10/2013 00:00 ||
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WASHINGTON -- In an effort to counter North Korea's military threats, South Korea should keep all options on the table, including withdrawal from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), a senior South Korean politician said Tuesday.
Oh that's going to make the Chinese very unhappy...
"Facing an extraordinary threat to national security, South Korea may exercise the right to withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty as stipulated in article 10 of the treaty," Rep. Chung Mong-joon, former leader of the ruling Saenuri Party, said, addressing the 2013 Carnegie International Nuclear Policy Conference. "South Korea would then match North Korea's nuclear progress step-by-step while committing to stop if North Korea stops."
I'd bet that the ROK could start a nuclear weapons program tomorrow and have a working device in a year, and have a device that would fit on an IRBM inside two years. In that same two years they could design and build the new missiles that could plant that device plus/minus ten meters on whatever spot in North Korea they wanted.
The two-day forum opened Monday to discuss nuclear nonproliferation, deterrence, disarmament and energy, drawing 800 experts and officials from more than 45 countries and international organizations, according to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
The seven-term lawmaker emphasized that Seoul should be given this leeway as a "law-abiding member of the global community who is threatened by a nuclear rogue state."
Some in South Korea even say, he noted, the only way to solve the North Korean nuclear problem is for the country to follow the India-Pakistan example, or the case of Israel.
It's a fair point: you can only tolerate for so long being threatened by crazy neighbors before concluding that you need to protect yourself.
The maverick politician, who apparently has presidential ambitions, likened the situation to a setback in a gun-control campaign.
"It is like a member of the gun-control lobby in good-standing whose neighborhood gangster just acquired assault rifles and threatens him," Chung said. "In order to buy a gun to protect himself and his family against the gangster, he now wishes to withdraw his membership temporarily."
South Korea acceded to the NPT in 1975. It has since operated nuclear reactors for non-military purposes.
He reiterated calls for the U.S. to redeploy tactical nuclear weapons in Korea in order to send a political message not only to Pyongyang but also to Beijing.
"North Korea, and for that matter China as well, should know that South Korea has this option if it persists in possessing nuclear weapons. Nuclear proliferation in East Asia will unfold at the invitation of North Korea endorsed by China," he said. "The question for China is 'Does it want South Korea to bring back U.S. tactical nuclear weapons or develop its own nuclear capability?"
The U.S. pulled all of its tactical nuclear weapons, which can be delivered by artillery or missile, out of South Korea in 1991 as part of President George H.W. Bush's Presidential Nuclear Initiative.
Chung said the international community needs to re-set its North Korea policy, adding that decades-long efforts to resolve the crisis have failed.
"The story of how the global community failed to prevent an isolated, failing state from acquiring the ultimate weapon will go down in the annals of diplomatic history as one of the most spectacular and consequential failures," he claimed.
Chung emphasized that it is more important to figure out North Korea's nuclear capabilities and take necessary precautions than trying to understand the intentions of its leadership.
Despite his political clout, Chung's suggestions do not seem to reflect mainstream views in the South Korean political circles, which still put more emphasis on the alliance with the U.S., trusting Washington's nuclear umbrella. His calls may sound more radical than realistic, as many express worries over adverse effects to the alliance, efforts for denuclearization talks with North Korea, and Seoul's status on the global stage.
Though if Pudgy continues Mr. Chung is going to sound more and more like the sweet voice of reason...
Amid North Korea's continued threats and provocations, however, a growing number of people in the South appear to be supportive of Chung's idea. Two-thirds of South Koreans polled shortly after North Korea's third nuclear test on Feb. 12 backed a "domestic nuclear weapons program," according to the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, a Seoul-based think tank patronized by Chung.
The U.S. government took a dim view of Chung's demand, saying Washington stays committed to the defense of South Korea.
"The ROK (South Korea) is a committed partner and global leader on strengthening and maintaining the integrity of the NPT and the global nonproliferation regime," a State Department official told Yonhap News Agency, asked about Washington's position on Chung's views.
The alliance between the two nations "is fully capable to deter, defend against, and respond to the threat posed to our allies by North Korea," the official added, requesting anonymity. "The United States remains steadfast in its commitment to the ROKs defense, including the extended deterrence provided by our conventional forces and nuclear umbrella."
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/10/2013 00:00 ||
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The problem is that the American response to 9/11 has raised reasonable doubt whether the so called 'umbrella' exists at all.
The Norks might not intend and might never have intended to attack the US. But if there was a WMD terrorist attack, sponsored and supported by a third party, the US might logically blame them and they'd become the target of overwhelming and devastating retaliation.
This should be an unacceptable risk even to the Norks unless they've come to the not unreasonable conclusion that America wouldn't retaliate under any circumstances, i.e. they've stopped believing in deterrence.
#3
SKor's SMS message system is the coolest on the planet. I has the concept of groups and the ability to have one 16bit integer worth of groups (64K groups) You can send SMS messages to say only folks that belong to a set of groups.
This allows one to ..say.. page all artillery Cols currently within 50KM of Seoul.
Really a useful tool when your enemy is so near.
Posted by: Water Modem ||
04/10/2013 9:56 Comments ||
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#4
Point a few of them at Peking while you're at it, Mr. Chung.
#5
If SKor goes, then the door is open for Japan and soon thereafter their OK and PI 'allies'. Eisenhower's containment of China will be in place again.
Pakistani authorities have dropped a plan to revive the 'Basant' festival and kite-flying in the central province of Punjab in the wake of a warning issued by Jamaat-ud-Dawa ...the front organization of Lashkar-e-Taiba... h, which has described the event as 'un-Islamic'.
The interim government of Punjab headed by caretaker Chief Minister Najam Sethi surrendered to detractors of the festival and dropped the proposal to revive Basant.
Sethi, a journalist by profession, had recently spoken about his desire to revive Basant, which he had described as an intrinsic part of Lahori culture.
During a high-level meeting held in Lahore on Monday, officials were warned by police about the possible negative fallout from the revival of Basant, which marks the onset of spring.
Police officials warned the government of possible protests and a fallout of a warning issued by the JuD, a source said. After the meeting, senior officials recommended Sethi to drop any plans to mark the festival, to which the CM acted.
After taking over as chief minister, Sethi had directed government departments, including the City District Government of Lahore, to devise a viable plan for Basant.
Senior government and CDGL officials initiated an extensive exercise and held discussions with stakeholders about reviving Basant.
The City District Government framed an action plan and recommended that festivities, including kite flying, could be held at Safari Park on Raiwind Road and Jallo Park along Canal Road on April 14 and 15.
The City District Government had discussed measures to revive Basant in December too. Even at that time, police officials said they could not guarantee that there would not be casualties during the event.
Criticising the decision to drop the plan to revive Basant, Lahore Conservation Society secretary Ajaz Anwar said the government should have revived the event for the sake of the people as there was no harm in celebrating the festival in its original form.
Posted by: john frum ||
04/10/2013 12:49 ||
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#1
For them, everything except banging your head on the ground 5 times a day, blowing up infidels and honor killing women is unislamic.
One policeman was killed and another injured by unknown gunmen while they were escorting a team of polio vaccinators in north-western Pakistan on Wednesday, police said.
The incident occurred in Par Hoti area of Mardan district, about 60 km north-east of Peshawar, capital of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
One policeman was killed and the other injured in the shooting, Nawab Gul, an officer at the district police control, said. The polio workers were unhurt in the attack. The policemen were protecting a three-member polio eradication team going from door to door to administer vaccine to children as part of a three-day local campaign that began on Tuesday.
No one took responsibility for the attack but Taliban militants, who consider anti-polio vaccination as un-Islamic, have threatened to attack in the past.
In December, shootings in Khyber-Pakhtunkwa and the southern port city of Karachi killed nine health workers and shut down the nation-wide program for many weeks.
Later, the Government decided to delegate the program to the control of local administrations.
Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria are the only nations in the world where polio remains prevalent.
Posted by: john frum ||
04/10/2013 12:48 ||
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A delegation from the Israeli government which planned to visit Turkey to discuss the issue of compensation for the bereaved families of Turkish citizens, has cancelled a visit to the country, Yeni Şafak newspaper said on Tuesday.
The visit was scheduled for April 11. According to the newspaper, it will now take place presumably after April 22.
The agreement on normalisation of relations between Turkey and Israel was reached last Friday after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a telephone conversation with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, apologised for violations committed during the maritime operation that resulted in the deaths of Turkish citizens. The government heads agreed to restore normal relations including the return of ambassadors and Turkey's refusal to legally prosecute Israeli servicemen.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/10/2013 00:00 ||
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"you'll get nothing and like it, Spaulding Yippy!"
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/10/2013 22:07 Comments ||
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That the fight in Syria is closer to home than many may think was underlined in a Virginia court on April 8 , when U.S. Army veteran Eric Harroun was charged with firing a rocket-propelled grenade as he fought alongside members of Jabhat al-Nusra. Harroun was a volunteer in Syria's insurgent forces, and even posted photographs of himself on Facebook in the fight.
Harroun has been remanded in official custody despite claims by his lawyer that this was the first time an American citizen has ever been prosecuted for fighting alongside a group actually aligned with U.S. interests. Harroun faces a possible death penalty.
The Obama administration's next step in aid to Syrian rebels is expected to be a broader package of nonlethal assistance, including body armor and night-vision goggles, as the U.S. grapples for ways to stem the bloodshed from Syria's civil war.
I think I see the problem right there. Why are we 'grappling' with this now? Perhaps at the very beginning it was useful to consider this rebels versus Pencilneck, and it was desirable for us to be on the side of the rebels. But Pencilneck includes Iran, and the rebels include al-Qaeda and the Salafists. Why not just sit back and (as bloodthirsty as this sounds) let them have at it? Perhaps we could let the Druze run the place when the two sides are done killing each other.
Administration officials say an announcement of the new aid is not imminent. But Secretary of State John Kerry says the administration had been holding intense talks on how to boost assistance to the rebels fighting forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad.
"Those efforts have been very much front and center in our discussions in the last week in Washington," Kerry said Tuesday, a day before meeting with Syrian opposition leaders in London. "I'm not sure what the schedule is, but I do believe that it's important for us to try to continue to put the pressure on President Assad and to try to change his calculation."
The United Nations estimates more than 70,000 people have been killed during more than two years of fighting between rebels and government forces.
Get the innocents out of the way and let the combatants go red on red. If we were going to do anything we'd help Jordan, Turkey and Iraq with the refugee camps (make sure those are disarmed) and put a big fence around the border.
Britain and France have already been shipping armor, night-vision goggles and other military-style equipment to the rebels.
Earlier this year, the U.S. announced a $60 million nonlethal assistance package for Syria that includes meals and medical supplies for the armed opposition. The aid package marked the first direct American assistance to the opposition forces trying to overthrow Assad.
But thus far, the U.S. has resisted providing lethal weapons to the rebels, in part out of fear that the arms could fall into the hands of jihadi groups that are designated as terrorist fronts linked to al-Qaida. However, the U.S. has said it would not stand in the way of other nations that decide to arm the rebels.
#1
The secretary also urged the opposition to organize itself better
Nothing like old fashioned Unity of Command huh Mr. Secretary? Oh well, stay the course man its now all about Unity of Vision. Who cares if youre funding Islamic thugs to do your dirty work? Besides, what could go wrong?
A senior Iranian regime official has threatened the countries in region particularly Lebanon , Jordan and Turkey with terrorism and export of fundamentalism as the overthrow of its main ally in the region, the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad is looming.
Hossein Sheikh al-Islam, Iranian regime's deputy foreign minister, told Iranian state-run TV that "we are not going to sit back with our hands tied ... We are a highly capable country.
Hossein Sheikh al-Islam said: "I can tell you definitely that they can not do a damn thing in Lebanon. Our friends are there. And they can not do a damn thing in Iraq.
"Although some neighboring states do some evil activities ... This is a very dangerous game for Turkey, because Turkey has a minority population of 20 million Alawits and 18 million Kurds.
"If trouble begins, then it will certainly affect Jordan. And we are not going to sit back with our hands tied and do what we are told. We are a highly capable country."
The mullahs ruling Iran have repeatedly acknowledged the strategic role of Bashar al-Assad in Syria and Nouri al-Maliki in Iraq are playing in the survival of their regime.
[Naharnet] The mainstream Syrian rebel command distanced itself from the jihadist al-Nusra Front on Tuesday after al-Qaeda in neighboring Iraq confirmed that it spawned and supervised the group.
The Free Syrian Army insisted that alliances it has struck with al-Nusra fighters on the ground were only tactical, local and time-limited, as al-Qaeda openly admitted the Iraq links of one of the spearheads of the armed uprising against the Damascus ...The place where Pencilneck hangs his brass hat... regime.
"We don't support the ideology of al-Nusra," FSA front man Louay Meqdad told Agence La Belle France Presse.
"There has never been and there will never be a decision at the command level to coordinate with al-Nusra. The situation on the ground is what has imposed this."
Washington already blacklisted al-Nusra as a terrorist organization earlier this year citing its close links to Al-Qaeda gunnies who led the insurgency against U.S. forces in Iraq before their withdrawal last year.
But the head of al-Qaeda's front group in Iraq, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, confirmed on Tuesday that al-Nusra was its creation and that its leader Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani was "one of our soldiers".
"It is time to declare to the Levant and to the world that the al-Nusra Front is simply a branch of the Islamic State of Iraq," Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... i said in an audio message posted on jihadist forums.
He said the groups would merge under the banner of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.
Some Syrian rebel commanders have acknowledged discomfort at al-Nusra's jihadist ideology, its resort to suicide kabooms against civilians and its use of foreign recruits.
But the group has also won respect as a disciplined and effective fighting force in the battle to overthrow Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad The Scourge of Hama... 's regime, winning key territory from his troops.
"Al-Nusra exists, it is financed and it is armed. That's why certain brigades of the FSA cooperate with them on certain operations on the ground," the mainstream rebel front man said.
"It's a tactical and time-limited cooperation... Al-Nusra is not attached to the FSA," Meqdad added.
Al-Nusra has said it is seeking an Islamic state in Syria after Assad's overthrow, but Meqdad insisted: "No one has the right to impose on Syrians what shape their state will take.
"Syrians will go to the polls to choose their leaders," he said. "Our goal is clear -- to bring down the regime and establish a democratic state."
Iran said on Tuesday it had started production at two uranium mines and a yellow cake plant, declaring that Western opposition would not slow its nuclear program days after talks between Tehran and world powers failed to reach an accord.
The country opened the Saghand 1 and 2 uranium mines in the central city of Yazd, which will extract uranium from a depth of 350 meters, and the Shahid Rezaeinejad yellow cake plant at Ardakan to mark Iran's National Nuclear Technology Day, state news agency IRNA said.
The Ardakan plant is capable of producing 60 tonnes of yellow cake - raw uranium - annually, IRNA said.
"They (world powers) tried their utmost to prevent Iran from going nuclear, but Iran has gone nuclear," Iranian President Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad said in a speech at Iran's Atomic Energy Organization on Tuesday. "This nuclear technology and power and science has been institutionalized ... All the stages are in our control and every day that we go forward a new horizon opens up before the Iranian nation."
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Is this what caused the earthquake or was it a Division of Haliburton?
Intelligence officials in the West have concluded that forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad used chemical weapons in their war against rebels. The information relates to two incidents in the Damascus area on March 19. However, various intelligence agencies, first and foremost the Americans, have not concluded whether the material used was a toxic chemical or a material that paralyzes only and does not kill.
Whew! I thought for a moment we were crossing a red line...
A senior security official in Israel told Haaretz that Syrian President Bashar Assads regime is still cautious about resorting to chemical weapons although it is using every other means at its disposal from fuel-air bombs to Scud missiles, which have been fired at areas under rebel control. From Assads point of view, this is a war of life and death, the senior official said.
Washington has reiterated that the use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime would constitute an unequivocal red line, which if crossed is liable to spur American involvement in the crisis.
We will not tolerate the use of chemical weapons against the Syrian people, U.S. President Barack Obama said in his address last month at the Jerusalem International Convention Center, two days after the use of chemical weapons was first reported. The world is watching, and we will hold you accountable.
On March 19 accusations were exchanged between the Assad regime and the rebels regarding the use of chemical weapons in two areas in Syria near Halab and in the area of Damascus. At the end of March there were reports that western intelligence agencies believed that it was actually the rebels who had used chemical weapons, having succeeded, by an undetermined method, to fire chlorine gas at a Syrian army checkpoint at Khan al-Assal, a village near Halab. According to these reports, 26 people were killed in that attack and dozens were injured.
In the attack near Damascus, the rebels reported that an unknown number of people were suffering breathing problems as a result of the use of chemical weapons by Assads forces.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Monday in The Hague that the United Nations is preparing to send a chemical weapons investigation team within 24 hours to check the allegations of chemical weapons strikes. According to Ban, an advance team is waiting in Cyprus while the UN negotiates with Assads regime over the delegations mandate. Ban said that all reports of the use of chemical weapons should be examined without delay, without conditions and without exceptions.
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And when the NORK's decide to use it, what then ?
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast has criticized Iraq for inspecting an Iranian plane taking humanitarian aid to Syria, Press TV reported.
Mehmanparast made the remarks on Tuesday, saying that the move is a violation of international law.
However, he noted that the inspection of Iranian planes has disproved the claim that Iran is sending arms to Syria.
This time...
Mehmanparast said Iran will continue relief operations in Syria despite the inspections.
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DAMASCUS -- Al Qaeda in Iraq confirmed on Tuesday long-held suspicions that Al Nusra Front, a militant group fighting in Syria, is part of its network, an admission likely to sharpen debate on arming rebels.
"It is time to declare to the Levant and to the world that the Al Nusra Front is simply a branch of the Islamic State of Iraq", ISI's chief Abu Bakr al Baghdadi said in an audio message posted on the Internet, adding that it is fighting for an Islamic state in Syria.
The groups would be combined and called the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, Baghdadi said, describing Al Nusra front leader Abu Mohammed Al Jawlani as "one of our soldiers".
"We chose Al Jawlani... as well as other fighters to go from Iraq to Syria... We prepared plans and work policies. We gave them money and personnel support," said Baghdadi.
The groups would be combined and called the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, Baghdadi said.
His declaration came after Al Qaeda's global chief, Ayman Al Zawahiri, urged rebels to fight to establish an Islamic state in Syria, in a recording posted online on Sunday.
Al Nusra Front is among the most prominent organisations involved in Syria's conflict, which erupted in March 2011 with peaceful protests against President Bashar Al Assad's regime but has evolved into a war that has killed tens of thousands.
The militant group has gained notoriety for its suicide bombings but also won admiration among some insurgents over its reputation as a formidable fighting force leading attacks on Syrian battlefronts. The West has been wary, and in December the United States announced it was labelling Al Nusra Front a "terrorist" organisation because of suspected ties to ISI.
At the time, the US State Department said the creation of Al Nusra was "an attempt by AQI to hijack the struggles of the Syrian people for its own malign purposes".
According to the US, the head of Al Qaeda in Iraq "is in control of both AQI and Al Nusra" and reports on Internet forums used by jihadists indicate hundreds of militants have made the trip from Iraq into Syria to fight Assad's regime. Al Nusra, which announced its creation in a January 2012 video, is a magnet for foreign fighters seeking to take part in the uprising against the Syrian regime.
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They're tolerant, as long as you agree with them...
AMHERST, Mass. (WGGB) -- Causing a stir on the UMass Amherst campus Republican Strategist, Karl Rove was barley able to get a word in while giving a speech at the Student Union tonight.
About 15 protesters were removed from inside the event and a number of others gathered outside.
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.
Libyan weapons are spreading at "an alarming rate" to new territory in west Africa and the eastern Mediterranean including Syria and the Gaza Strip where they are fueling conflicts and increasing the arsenals of armed groups and terrorists, a U.N. panel said.
Opposition BNP on Tuesday threatened to intensify the ongoing movement further if the government does not withdraw the 'false' cases filed against its leaders and activists and release them immediately.
The Obama administration's next step in aid to Syrian rebels is expected to be a broader package of nonlethal assistance, including body armor and night-vision goggles, as the U.S. grapples for ways to stem the bloodshed from Syria's civil war.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Intelligence officials in the West have concluded that forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad used chemical weapons in their war against rebels. The information relates to two incidents in the Damascus area on March 19. However, various intelligence agencies, first and foremost the Americans, have not concluded whether the material used was a toxic chemical or a material that paralyzes only and does not kill. 
