Several Yemeni men belonging to al Qaeda took part in the terrorist attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi last September, according to several sources who have spoken with CNN.
One senior U.S. law enforcement official told CNN that "three or four members of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula," or AQAP, took part in the attack.
Another source briefed on the Benghazi investigation said Western intelligence services suspect the men may have been sent by the group specifically to carry out the attack. But it's not been ruled out that they were already in the city and participated as the opportunity arose.
The attack on the compound and subsequently on a "safe-house" to which Americans had been evacuated left four U.S. citizens dead, including the ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens.
If the AQAP members were dispatched to Benghazi, it would be further evidence of a new level of co-operation among jihadist groups throughout the Middle East and North Africa, counterterrorism analysts say.
According to one source, counterterrorism officials learned the identity of the men and established they had spent two nights in Benghazi after the attack. Western intelligence agencies began trying to track the men in the aftermath of the terrorist attack, but were always behind in their manhunt.
They were later traced to northern Mali, where they are believed to have connected with a fighting group commanded by Moktar Belmoktar, a prominent jihadist leader, according to a senior law enforcement source.
The trail appears to have then gone cold. In early 2013, jihadists were driven out of many areas of northern Mali in a French-led offensive.
#1
One senior U.S. law enforcement official told CNN that "three or four members of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula," or AQAP, took part in the attack.
I hope Victoria Toensing, her husband, and the SOF community keep the pressure on.
A Kenyan court has found two Iranian men guilty of plotting to attack Western targets inside Kenya.
Ahmed Mohammed and Sayed Mansour were caught with 15 kilos (33 pounds) of explosives in the capital, Nairobi, last June.
They are accused of belonging to a terror network planning to blow up British, US or Israeli targets in Nairobi and the port city of Mombasa.
Oddly unnamed, that terror network. Could it possibly be either Hizb'allah or elements of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard?
The pair, who deny all charges, face up to 15 years in prison.
Judges ruled that both men had been proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt of all terror-related charges.
Prosecutors said the suspects had explosives "in circumstances that indicated they were armed with the intent to commit a felony, namely, acts intended to cause grievous harm".
Swift action by the Kenyan police in apprehending the men had averted mayhem and a massive number of deaths, the court magistrate said.
The two Iranians arrived in Kenya on 12 June last year and travelled to Mombasa to pick up the powerful explosive RDX. They were arrested a week later in Nairobi. Officers discovered the explosives hidden at a golf course in Mombasa.
Another accomplice was still at large, police said.
Investigators believe the terror group has shipped more than 85 kilos of explosives into Kenya.
[An Nahar] Police in Sunni Mohammedan-ruled Bahrain fired tear gas on Wednesday to disperse demonstrators demanding the reinstatement of Shiites sacked from their jobs during pro-democracy protests two years ago, witnesses said.
Dozens of people came out onto the streets in Shiite villages around Manama on the occasion of May Day shouting: "We want those people sacked to be reinstated."
The Wednesday protests were organized by the radical February 14 Revolution Youth Commission through social networking sites.
Union sources said most of the people sacked during the Arab Spring-inspired movement that broke out in February 2011 had been reinstated, but 450 of them are still unemployed.
Shiite-majority Bahrain is ruled by a Sunni dynasty, and protests have been aimed at giving Shiites a greater say in the small Gulf kingdom's affairs.
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(Reuters) - A mess of rubble, ash and charred vehicles is all that's left at the desolate farmhouse where a Canadian Muslim convert died fighting his last battle alongside Islamist insurgents in the Russian region of Dagestan.
At the time, few people beyond local villagers noticed William Plotnikov's death in a region where skirmishes occur daily. But almost a year on, Plotnikov has emerged into the limelight following the Boston Marathon bombings.
The abrupt transformation of a Russian émigré into a die-hard rebel fighter draws eerie parallels with the life of Tamerlan Tsarnaev.
On July 14, 2012, Russian forces surrounded the rebels near Utamysh and pounded them with artillery. Part of the farm where Plotnikov and his fellow fighters were hiding was reduced to rubble. At least seven people including Plotnikov were killed.
Since last month's Boston bombings, attention has turned to others who may have followed similar lives to Tsarnaev. Russia's Novaya Gazeta newspaper and Canada's National Post have reported in detail on the last years of Plotnikov.
An ethnic Russian who emigrated to Toronto with his parents as a teenager in 2005, Plotnikov converted to Islam as a young man and flew to Dagestan to join the Islamist militants.
There is no evidence Plotnikov knew Tsarnaev but some similarities are striking. Both were young men when they plunged into Islam, possibly out of frustration with the challenges of their adopted home countries, and both were passionate boxers.
Plotnikov's bemused father, Vitaly, described how his son changed from a typical teenager who borrowed his father's credit card to go ski-ing to someone devoted to prayer. "Somebody changed his mind in Canada," he told CBC TV. He said he thought Tsarnaev had had the "same problem".
Both Plotnikov and Tsarnaev traveled to Dagestan in the first half of 2012 to explore their religion. They lived within 120 km (75 miles) of each other on the Caspian Sea coast.
Salaat, a local pensioner, said the fair-skinned ethnic Russian Canadian stood out immediately as soon as he came to the village, home to about 3,000 people.
"He came here after hooking up with some Utamysh youngsters in another village up north," she said. "He lived here for several months with them, then he disappeared into the forest."
Foreigners are rarely spotted fighting for rebels in the Caucasus, just as ethnic Russians rarely convert to Islam.
Yet, as conflicts continue in the Caucasus, nationalist claims to independence that dominated the 1990s have given way to calls for a pan-Caucasus Islamic state - including from people who went to fight in countries such Afghanistan and Syria, or those who simply view Russian rule as corrupt and oppressive.
No one knows for sure how many militants are out in the mountains but most are now believed to be based in Dagestan, particularly in the south where Utamysh is located.
For locals in Utamysh, last year's farmhouse battle was the closest the conflict had struck their homeland in many years after a period of relative peace.
Dzhalil Alatsiyev, deputy head of the local administration in charge of security, said the insurgents had been under surveillance by Russia's FSB security forces for several months.
"They never came to the village. They were hiding there," he said, pointing at the mountain range.
Describing the insurgents as Wahhabis - or adherents to one of the most austere forms of Islam, he added: "It's easy to tell them apart. They have long beards. They pray differently. We are all Muslim here. But these people are different."
The farmhouse is now deserted. Its owner has been jailed for helping the insurgents. One shed was flattened entirely by artillery fire. The main building was heavily damaged, its interior a mess of broken glass, metal and camouflage jackets.
WASHINGTON -- Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter may soon travel to North Korea as part of his efforts, not always fruitful, to broker the resumption of dialogue and win the release of a Korean-American man detained there, diplomatic sources said Wednesday.
Sure, but this time he has to stay there...
But the South Korean and U.S. governments apparently take a dim view of Carter's possible trip to North Korea out of concern that the communist nation may try to exploit it for propaganda purposes.
Like with Rodman, only more predictable...
Carter recently sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, calling for talks with North Korea and expressing his intent to visit Pyongyang again, a source said, requesting anonymity.
"North Korea appears to have invited him to visit," the source said.
If Carter makes a trip to Pyongyang, he is expected to use it as a chance to request the release of Kenneth Bae, a tour operator held in the North for nearly half a year, according to another source. Efforts to free him have taken further urgency following Pyongyang's announcement last week he would stand trial on unspecified charges of crimes against the state.
The State Department would not talk openly about Carter's possible visit to the North. Carter doesn't need to give prior notice to the U.S. government or get permission from it for any trip to North Korea, a department official pointed.
"You need to speak to President Carter's office about any questions regarding his alleged travel," the official said on background.
An email inquiry to Carter's press secretary, Deanna Congilio, led to an automatic reply, "I am out of the office on leave."
Officials at the South Korean Embassy in Washington said they have not heard about the issue. The official expressed doubt that Carter will bring Bae back home or produce any breakthrough in coaxing Pyongyang to return to the bargaining table.
"But we don't rule out the likelihood that former President Carter will visit North Korea as a private citizen since he is a member of The Elders," the official said. The Elders is an independent group of about 10 former heads of state.
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#6
Or maybe a periodic Nobel - say every 17 years.
Ooo, The Nobel Periodic Tables. Starts with the light but an ever longer half life personality and institutions to the heavier and denser ones with a much shorter half life.
President Park Geun-hye on Monday vowed the government will do its best to support the companies who have been forced to abandon the Kaesong Industrial Complex.
Speaking in a meeting with senior Cheong Wa Dae staff, Park said, "The whole world watched on TV as our workers left Kaesong with cars stuffed with their belongings. Who in this world would want to invest in North Korea now when they see mutual agreement burst like a bubble?"
Park also met with two U.S. Congressmen, Steve Chabot, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, and Eni Faleomavaega, a representative from American Samoa. She called North Korea "too unpredictable."
She asked how anyone can do business with a country that does not honor agreements and promises of stable conditions.
Well just as long as your country doesn't make this mistake again...
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An accused teenage rapper pleaded not guilty today to making a bomb threat on Facebook he warned would eclipse the horror of the Boston Marathon tragedy and make him famous.
Methuen High student Cameron DAmbrosio, 18, who calls his rapping alter ego Cammy Dee in crude, profane YouTube videos, was ordered held without bail by Lawrence District Court Judge Lynn Rooney pending a May 9 dangerousness hearing after waiving his right to a bail argument.
Im not in reality, So when u see me (expletive) go insane and make the news, the paper, and the (expletive) federal house of horror known as the white house, Dont (expletive) cry or be worried because all YOU people (expletive) caused this (expletive), read the social media posting that raised alarms with high school assistant Principal James Weymouth when another student called it to his attention.
The rant only got more disturbing from there as it continued, (Expletive) a boston bominb wait till u see the (expletive) I do, Ima be famous rapping, and beat every murder charge that comes across me!
Chained at the wrists and ankles and wearing a black T-shirt featuring the late hip-hop artist ODB, DAmbrosio sat in court with his head hung between his knees.
He faces up to 20 years in state prison if convicted on one count of making a bomb threat.
The reward for the capture and return of a fugitive member of a black militant group convicted of murdering a New Jersey state trooper was doubled to $2 million Thursday on the 40th anniversary of the bloody gun battle.
The FBI also announced it has made Joanne Chesimard, now living in Cuba as Assata Shakur, the first woman on its list of most wanted terrorists.
"She continues to flaunt her freedom in the face of this horrific crime," State Police Superintendent Col. Rick Fuentes said at a news conference Thursday. Fuentes called the case "an open wound" for troopers in New Jersey and around the country.
The Justice Dept. has maintained a $1 million reward for information leading to her capture. The additional money is being put up by the state of New Jersey through civil and criminal forfeiture funds and won't fall on taxpayers, state Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa said Thursday.
Chesimard, a member of the violent Black Liberation Army, was convicted of the 1973 murder of state trooper Werner Foerster during a traffic stop. The BLA was responsible for killing more than a dozen police officers in the 1970s and 80s, said Aaron Ford, special agent in charge of the FBI's Newark division.
[Pak Daily Times] Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... Chairman Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who ain't the brightest knife in the national drawer... has said that after coming into power his party would end military operations in Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... , Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... and other parts of the country, saying bullet is not the solution to any problem.
Speaking at a public rally here on Wednesday, he said that the PTI would transform the country into a welfare state where justice would be dispensed without any discrimination. He said local bodies' polls would be held in the country as soon as possible. "We would not allocate development funds to any MNA or MPA, but the problems would be resolved through local bodies," Imran added.
The PTI chief said that the biggest issue is terrorism, which would be dealt with mutual consultation. The PTI would implement same educational curriculum throughout the country. Imran said that the people would lay the foundation stone of "New Pakistain" on May 11. He urged the youth to come out of their homes on the election day and cast their votes.
Imran said PTI will focus on the resolution of the problems being faced by provinces and particular attention will be paid to resolution of the problems of the Baloch people. He said utmost efforts are being made to bring honest people to represent the masses in parliament. "We will introduce new local bodies system and pay special attention for the uplift of the education sector," he added. The education, water, transport and other basic needs would be met in the remote areas. The PTI chief said that May 11 will bring a new dawn in the country.
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[Pak Daily Times] There have been some developments during the past two weeks that reveal that in the coming election, elements of the Taliban and al Qaeda have been offered seats in the parliament, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) said on Wednesday.
In a statement, the commission said that before the developments, the security agencies with the help of right-wing parties had also allowed 53 sectarian candidates to contest the election without passing through the sword of articles 62 and 63 of the constitution, which debar any candidate known to be involved in cases of sectarian violence, hate campaigns or having been charged with murder and killings through sectarian violence.
It said that the military officials remained busy in Bajaur Agency, aka Turban Central ...Smallest of the agencies in FATA. The Agency administration is located in Khar. Bajaur is inhabited almost exclusively by Tarkani Pashtuns, which are divided into multiple bickering subtribes. Its 52 km border border with Afghanistan's Kunar Province makes it of strategic importance to Pakistain's strategic depth... , Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA), close to the Afghan border, to make a deal with the agents of al Qaeda for the coming election. During the time of filing the nomination papers, the military commander of Bajaur Agency, Brigadier Ghulam Haider, held a meeting with the local leadership of Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... (JI), who, in the past, had direct links with Islamic fascistiof al Qaeda. There are two National Assembly seats from Bajaur Agency, which were assured to the JI. In return, the JI and other jihadi organizations will provide logistic support to those who want to join jihad in Afghanistan from the Pak side and extend 'melmastia', the traditional tribal hospitality, to mujahideen coming back from Afghanistan. The commission said that other points of agreement are: the JI will not oppose any operation in Bajaur but rather support them; the JI will not oppose but rather help in constructing the road that connects Afghanistan with Pakistain; and the arrangement will remain intact between the two parties until a favourable government in Afghanistan is installed.
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[Pak Daily Times] The powerful army chief has suggested the military is unhappy with how authorities have treated former army chief and president Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... since his return from exile.
A Pak court on Tuesday imposed a lifetime ban on Musharraf from contesting elections, undermining his efforts to regain influence by winning a seat in parliament.
The former army chief returned in March after nearly four years of self-imposed exile to contest the May 11 general election, but election officers disqualified him because of court cases pending against him.
In what newspapers described as a veiled reference to Musharraf's legal troubles, Army Chief General Ashfaq Kayani ... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI... said: "In my opinion, it is not merely retribution, but awareness and participation of the masses that can truly end this game of hide and seek between democracy and dictatorship."
Kayani, arguably the most powerful figure in Pakistain, was delivering a Martyrs' Day speech at army headquarters. Newspapers carried his comments on front pages.
Current commanders have meddled less in politics, letting civilian governments take the heat for policy failures.
But Kayani has had an uneasy relationship with civilian leaders, as well as an increasingly interventionist Supreme Court, which has questioned the military's human rights When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much... record.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry was embroiled in a confrontation with Musharraf, who removed him from office in 2007 after he opposed plans to extend the general's stay in power.
Musharraf's has been embroiled in legal issues since his return.
He became the first former army chief to be tossed in the slammer Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! in Pakistain when police took him into custody at their headquarters last Friday, breaking an unwritten rule that the top ranks of the military are untouchable, even after they have retired.
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[Pak Daily Times] Three 'moderate' political parties on Wednesday have vowed to resist all conspiracies underway to restrain them from contesting polls and aimed at promoting fundamentalist parties in the May 11 general election. If you let the problem fester, why are you surprised when it bites you on the ass?
They continued reiterating their stance against 'conspiracies' through their joint appearances at different venues.
Leaders of the three parties gathered at residence of ANP's Senator Shahi Syed in the morning and later at the PPP's Secretariat in the evening. Late on Tuesday, they had also gathered at the MQM Headquarters, Nine-Zero.
The three 'enlightened' parties repeatedly accused the 'national and international establishments' for supporting the plan of blocking the way of three progressive parties in the forthcoming polls. They urged the people of the country foil the conspiracies by coming out on May 11 and casting votes in their favour. They also welcomed the statement of army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani ... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI... , saying that the three parties had been expressing the same opinion.
Senator Shahi Syed said that Death Eaters had hijacked the May 11 election and "it appears that they are conducting the polls, not the caretaker government". He said that the caretaker government and law enforcement agencies were not playing their roles. "It appears that elections are only being held in Punjab. It will be selection, not election," the ANP leader said. Shahi Syed also urged religious scholars of the country to give edict against the actions of the TTP in light of Islam. He warned that people would not accept election results if the three progressive parties had not been provided a level playing field.
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#1
I thought it was Reuters for a second, what with all the scare quotes.
[Pak Daily Times] More army troops have left for comparatively less sensitive areas of Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... on Wednesday to assist the civilian government in holding May 11 elections peacefully.
On the request of federal and provincial governments, the corps commander meeting chaired by Chief of Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani ... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI... approved to deployment of army in sensitive areas to ensure security to the voters and polling staff. Convoys left for the areas including Zhob, Shirani, Chaman Qila Abdullah, Harnai, Naseerabad, Jaffarbad, Jhal Magsi, Musa Khail, Dera Allah Yar, Ziarat, Bolan, Dera Murad Jamali, Dera Allah Yar, Kohlu and Dalbandin. Army troops would be deployed at polling stations to maintain peace and assist the civilian force in holding free, fair and transparent elections in a peaceful manner.
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[Pak Daily Times] Pakistain's two main parties may be tearing strips off each other in election campaign adverts, but in one district of the country's northwest, they are united in brotherly harmony.
In Lakki Marwat district, next to the Taliban-infested badlands bordering Afghanistan, the Saifullahs are tribal leaders and wealthy industrialists who have been in politics for four generations.
The vast majority of the 330,000 registered voters are members of the Marwat tribe and locals know the Saifullah brothers as their clan elders, not for their party affiliations.
Salim Saifullah Khan is running for the National Assembly for the Pakistain Mohammedan League-N (PML-N), while his brother Anwar is contesting two provincial seats for the Pakistain People's Party (PPP).
They share a campaign base, the family house in Ghazni Khel village, they appear on campaign posters together and the slogan "Saifullah brothers" is daubed on countless walls in the district.
In this deeply traditional land of dry earth and ragged, rocky hillsides, what counts in politics is not party or policies but service and tribal kinship, and the Saifullahs are tied to the people by ancient bonds of blood and loyalty.
For Abdul Hamid Khan, an elderly voter in the village of Shahbaz Khel, PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... and President Asif Ali Ten Percent Zardari ... husband of the late Benazir Bhutto, who has been singularly lacking in curiosity about who done her in ... of the PPP are unimportant.
"We don't know Nawaz, we don't know Zardari, we only know our Khans," he told AFP.
The family has a hugely successful group of companies and has ploughed some of its wealth back in to improving the district. A cement plant the family helped set up is the biggest single employer, providing jobs to 2,000 people.
"We are Marwat, they are our princes and we are their nation," said Mehmood Khan Haji, another voter.
But Salim, a former cabinet minister, has a tough fight on his hands as he seeks to take over his eldest brother Humayun's seat as he is retiring.
He is running against JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman, whose conservative message plays well in the deeply pious area, where women are rarely seen in public.
"We've worked here for the last 80 years, my grandfather first got elected in 1936 and we have been working ever since," Salim told AFP.
"I hope my constituents, who we have served for the last so many years, look at our services and look at his (Fazl's) services, which are negligible, and hopefully will vote for me."
Rural voters expect personal attention from their Khans, and Salim is pounding the trail for up to 15 hours every day to get his message across.
In Shahbaz Khel, a crucial battleground with a vote bank of around 4,500 where Salim admits he is neck and neck with Fazl, the 65-year-old is received by around 100 villagers -- all men.
An elder appointed as front man welcomes Salim and pledges the village's loyalty, but says the Saifullahs should do more for the people, give them more time and listen more to their grievances.
The family says the relationship with the people has changed since earlier generations. Voters' loyalty is no longer unquestioning and they expect more from the family.
For the Saifullahs, as for other wealthy dynasties that dominate rural Pakistain, hearing personal petitions is vital to maintaining political support.
"Every morning there are hundreds of people who would like to meet us -- they want jobs, they want transfers, other issues that they have, health issues, they want drinking water schemes for their area," explained Salim.
After reminding the people of Shahbaz Khel of his family's service and warning them of the dangers of electing an outsider like Fazl, Salim spends several hours patiently hearing the often-fervent pleas of dozens of villagers.
Employment is a big concern in an area with a young and rapidly growing population and a common request is for work at the Lucky Cement plant, which the Saifullahs helped found in the 1990s.
Saifullah Khan Mahsud, executive director of the FATA Research Centre think tank, said there was no question the family had helped the area, but he warned their western education and liberal lifestyle could work against them.
He said the fight between Salim and Fazlur Rehman was too close to call but the brothers would probably win at least one of the seats they are contesting.
Salim's goal before he retires is to see through a new dam on the Kurram River, which would generate 85MW electricity.
More importantly, in an area of dusty soil, thin crops and little drinking water, the dam would help irrigate more than 200,000 acres of farmland. "My one wish is Kurram Tangi. When I have done that, I can say to people: 'You have voted me and I have delivered'."
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[An Nahar] Iraqi Kurdish ministers and MPs will end boycotts of parliament and the cabinet begun in March, the prime minister of the autonomous Kurdistan region said on Wednesday.
A meeting that included Kurdish political parties "decided to return the Kurdish ministers and representatives to Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... ... and participate in sessions of the Iraqi cabinet and parliament," Nechirvan Barzani told a news conference in Arbil.
The boycotts began in March after Kurds objected that the new federal budget did not allocate enough money to pay foreign oil companies working in the region.
Kurdistan has signed oil contracts with various foreign firms without the approval of Storied Baghdad, and complains that the federal government has not paid money owed to them.
For its part, Storied Baghdad regards as illegal all contracts not made by the federal government.
Barzani's announcement came a day after he met with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in Storied Baghdad.
In addition to the oil deals, Kurdistan and Storied Baghdad are at odds over issues including a swathe of territory in northern Iraq that the region wants to incorporate over Storied Baghdad's strong objections, and power-sharing.
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Senior Fatah member Jabril Rajoub has suggested that Fatah seek closer ties with Iran, according to Irans IRNA news agency.
Rajoub made his statements in a meeting with Irans ambassador to Lebanon. He expressed hope that with Irans help, Arabs would succeed in freeing our land.
Also present was Ashraf Dabour, the PA ambassador to Lebanon.
The three spoke about the attempts at reconciliation within the PA. Fatah and the Hamas terrorist movement remain at odds despite repeated attempts to resume joint leadership of the PA, as they did prior to the Hamas takeover of Gaza in 2007.
Last week PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas announced that he would begin a round of talks with the goal of creating a new united PA government. Abbas called for all PA factions to take part in the talks.
The announcement sparked fresh tension with Hamas, which complained that its leaders had not been informed of Abbas plans. Hamas leaders in Gaza argued that the group would not be able to hold elections due to PA activity against Hamas in Judea and Samaria.
Abbas has given a similar explanation regarding his refusal to hold new PA elections for the past several years despite the expiration of his term.
Rajoub previously served as the head of the PAs Preventative Security Force. As a young man he spent 15 years in prison in Israel for terrorist activity, until he was freed in a hostage exchange.
In late 2012 he called for armed resistance against Israel. However, in February 2013 he told Israeli government radio that the PA will not initiate a new Intifada terror war.
[Al Ahram] Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday said the root of the conflict with the Paleostinians was not about territory but about their refusal to recognise Israel as the Jewish state.
"The root of the conflict is not territorial. It started a long time before 1967," Netanyahu said in a meeting with foreign ministry officials.
"The Paleostinians' lack of will to recognise the state of Israel as the national state of the Jewish people is the root of the conflict," he said.
His remarks, which were communicated by a senior government source, appeared to be a reference to moves by 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... to revive and modify its 2002 peace initiative.
The Saudi-led proposal, which offers full diplomatic ties with the Arab world in exchange for Israel's withdrawal from land occupied during the 1967 Six-Day War, now includes a reference to the principle of mutually agreed land swaps, in a move hailed by Washington as "a very big step forward."
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It is Islam which teaches its slaves to hate and kill Jews. It is Islam which encourages mothers to strap bombs on their children and send them out. Not 'an unwillingness to recognize Israel'.
It is evil which teaches its slaves to hate and kill children. It is evil which encourages mothers to snip the spinal cords of their newborn and dispose of their inconvenience.
The "unwillingness to recognize Israel" is simply another manifestation of evil.
#5
No intent to harsh your comment CF, but I fear it's quite beyond us by now. At a great and soon universal premium, modern man and medicine prolong the life of the elderly whilst preventing newborns. I'm certainly no anthropologist, but all in all it appears to be a recipe for cultural extinction.
#9
...someone has to keep their hands clean to allow the traitors of Western Civilization to continue to delude themselves in their destructive hate filled quest to end that which has provide more people opportunity, freedom and economic elevation in human history.
#10
It is Islam.
If the Two brothers (Sunni/Shia) can't get along without trying to kill each other, what hope is their for their cousin (Jew) or their half cousin (Christian).
And still Islam wants to govern in half these countries. It's just not logical.
The Pew Research Center's vast new study on the views and attitudes of global Muslim populations was bound to create controversy. Like the U.S. public knowledge polls that find that one-third of Americans can't name the vice president, Pew's report includes some less-than-flattering pieces of data. And while it's important not to generalize about entire populations or demographic groups based on one study, some of these numbers are difficult to ignore.
According to Pew's data, 78 percent of Afghan Muslims say they support laws condemning to death anyone who gives up Islam. In both Egypt and Pakistan, 64 percent report holding this view. This is also the majority view among Muslims in Malaysia, Jordan and the Palestinian territories.
It's also important to note that majorities of Muslims in the countries surveyed, sometimes vast majorities, said they support religious freedom. That includes, for example, more than 75 percent of Egyptians and more than 95 percent of Pakistanis. It might seem like a glaring contradiction. And it is a contradiction, but it might make a little more sense that so many people could hold seemingly mutually exclusive views -- religious freedom is good, but anyone who leaves Islam should be executed -- if one understands the particular history of apostasy in Islam.
As the White House mulls whether Syria has crossed President Obamas red line and used chemical weapons, the U.S. military and intelligence community are quietly acknowledging that the United States does not know where many of those weapons are located.
How comforting...
The judgment comes from top U.S. military commanders and is supported by recent intelligence community assessments, according to three U.S. officials who work closely on Syrian intelligence matters. At the heart of the concern is that the Syrian military has transferred more and more of its stock of sarin and mustard gas from storage sites to trucks where they are being moved around the country. While U.S. intelligence agencies first saw reports that Syria was moving the weapons last year, the process has accelerated since December, according to these officials. Also worrisome, said two of the officials, is intelligence from late last year that says the Syrian Scientific Research Centeran entity responsible for Syrias chemical-weapons stockpilehas begun to train irregular militias loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in how to use the chemical munitions.
The assessment that Syria is moving large amounts of its chemical weapons around the country on trucks means that if Obama wanted to send in U.S. soldiers to secure Syrias stockpiles, his top generals and intelligence analysts doubt such a mission would have much success, according to the three officials. Weve lost track of lots of this stuff, one U.S. official told The Daily Beast. We just dont know where a lot of it is.
The large-scale movement of weapons, if it is in fact occurring, would violate one of Obamas earliest declared red lines concerning Syria. Last August he said, We have been very clear to the Assad regime, but also to other players on the ground, that a red line for us is, we start seeing a whole bunch of weapons moving around or being utilized.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/02/2013 12:55 ||
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#2
.....the U.S. military and intelligence community are quietly acknowledging that the United States does not know where many of those weapons are located.
And our high-ranking defector program, how is it coming along ?
#5
Both sets now residing on some Russian ships, AlanC.
They didn't stop at Tartus for nothing.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
05/02/2013 16:43 Comments ||
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#6
Geez,
How much trouble would it have been for our chicken S*** administration to send one B-2 over and have made a smoking crater of the storage areas last year?
The horse is out of the barn now and we have no guarantees the stuff is not in a container in Newark or San Pedro.
Methinks he hopes for a catastrophic terrorist attack so he can declare martial law and appoint himself the ONE for life.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
05/02/2013 18:26 Comments ||
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[An Nahar] Syria's U.N. ambassador said Tuesday that the use of chemical weapons is not only "a red line" but "a blood line" that cannot be tolerated and again demanded a U.N. investigation of an alleged chemical weapons attack in Aleppo that it blames on rebels.
Bashar Ja'afari said at a news conference that his government has bodies and other proof that chemical weapons were used in Khan al-Assad in Aleppo on March 19 and it wants this incident investigated first. The rebels blame the government for the attack.
Ja'afari said Damascus ...The place where Pencilneck hangs his brass hat... is demanding details of another alleged chemical weapons attack that Britannia and La Belle France say was carried out by the government in Homs on Dec. 23 before it will even consider allowing U.N. experts to conduct an investigation in that city.
He disclosed that Qatar also sent a letter to the United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... "claiming the use of chemical weapons in other parts of Syria," without giving dates or locations.
Pressed by news hounds, Ja'afari declined to confirm that Syria has chemical weapons. "The Syrian government has always emphasized that the Syrian government will not use, if it possesses any, chemical weapons on its own people," he said.
He added, "The use of chemical weapons in Syria and elsewhere in the world is not only a red line, it's a purple line, it's a blood line, and nobody is tolerated or will be tolerated to use such horrific weapon of mass destruction."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/02/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Controversial Islamist holy man Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir on Wednesday returned to Leb after crossing into the war-torn Syrian area of Qusayr to "support the real heroes" of the armed Syrian opposition.
"My visit to Qusayr's countryside was in support of the true heroes and to coordinate with them and examine the situation," Asir said on the social networking website Twitter.
"But I refused to return before gaining the honor of firing on the criminals," he added. Hit anything, bub? I thought not.
On Monday, Asir called on "everyone who has said that the rebels in Qusayr don't need more fighters to go visit them and confirm that with them directly ... and let everyone stop the overbidding in this regard."
"My visit to Qusayr's countryside increased my certainty and insistence on the religious stance I have voiced in support of our people in Syria in general and in Qusayr in particular," Asir said on Wednesday. "I have farted in their general direction!"
Syria's main rebel Free Syrian Army has rejected calls for jihad (holy war) by Lebanese Islamist holy mans, saying "what we are missing in Syria is weapons, not men."
Asir's official Facebook page published pictures and a video showing the Islamist holy man carrying a machinegun alongside the rebels and opening fire from the rooftop of a building. Was anybody else shooting at the time? Was anybody shooting back? I thought not.
On Tuesday, Hizbullah Secretary-General His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb... declared that his party "will not hesitate" to help the Lebanese residents of Qusayr in their confrontation with Syrian rebels.
"30,000 Lebanese Moslems and Christians were targeted, torched and prevented from going to work" at the hands of Syrian rebels in Qusayr, Nasrallah said.
The opposition-affiliated Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has said elite fighters from Hizbullah are leading the fight against rebels in Qusayr.
Syrian regime forces have recently recaptured a string of strategic villages in the region, which is along the border with Leb.
That raised fears among rebels that the town of Qusayr itself, a stronghold of the uprising, could fall into government hands.
The area is of key strategic importance because it runs along the border with Leb and is near the route running from Damascus ...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world... to the coast.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/02/2013 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] Syria's opposition on Wednesday denounced what it called "threats" from the head of the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah, and warned against any intervention by the movement or by Iran in the Syrian conflict.
"The Syrians and the Lebanese hoped... that the Hezbollah leadership would stop their attacks on Homs and Damascus ...The place where Pencilneck hangs his brass hat... and take into account the gravity of the situation in the region," the Syrian National Coalition said in a statement.
"But they heard nothing but threats... and warnings against setting the region on fire and an admission of their interference in Syrian affairs," the key opposition grouping said.
On Tuesday evening, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah acknowledged that members of his group are fighting inside Syria and suggested Iran and other states could intervene to support the Syrian regime against rebel fighters.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Lord of the Baath... has "true friends in the region who will not allow Syria to fall into the hands of the United States, Israel and 'takfir ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who most be killed... i' groups," he said.
"If the situation gets more dangerous, states, resistance movements and other forces will be obliged to intervene effectively in the confrontation on the ground," he added.
"You will not be able to bring down the regime militarily," Nasrallah told Syria's rebel forces. "The battle is still long."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/02/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Former Prime Minister 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. slammed on Wednesday Hizbullah chief His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb... 's latest speech, saying that he has completely "written off the Lebanese state" and substituted it with the party.
He said in a statement: "The most dangerous remark by Nasrallah was not his position on the Syrian revolt or his undying defense of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Horror of Homs... , but his suicidal link of the fate of Leb to that of Syria."
"We do not want to argue with Nasrallah's positions because most of them are disconnected from reality and any sense of responsibility as he has maintained his denial of the existence of the Syrian popular revolution," he continued.
"Nasrallah has taken the final decision to stand with the ranks of the oppressors and announced his readiness to defend to the death Asssad's regime" at Iran's bidding, he said.
"The fate of the regime lies in the hands of the Syrian people who have taken the firm decision to topple it," Hariri stressed.
"Nasrallah announced that the Lebanese state does not exist and the Syrian regime's continued existence is more important that the existence of Leb," he added.
"Nasrallah has erased Leb off the political map," he declared.
"Hizbullah alone makes decisions for the Lebanese people and it alone orders that Leb be dragged into regional and civil wars," Hariri noted.
"Hizbullah alone has the right to issue fatwas to combat Syrians on their own soil and it alone has the right to direct insult after insult against the Lebanese state and army by repeatedly highlighting its inability to protect the Lebanese people," said the former premier.
"Nasrallah announced the formation of an army to defend Leb's Shiites in the region and the entire world in a manner that makes it seem that the sect belongs to the party and is an entity independent from the state," he continued.
"Based on this mentality, the party has given itself the right to expand its operations from southern Leb to include Syria's al-Qusyar region and Sayyeda Zainab shrine under the excuse of defending holy sites," he remarked.
"Nasrallah announced that the Lebanese state is Hizbullah's hostage and the Lebanese people, starting with the president, primer minister, and speaker, have to base their actions based on this reality," he noted.
"The state is Hizbullah's hostage along with all other groups and Lebanese sects," he lamented.
"Hizbullah is leading Leb, starting with the Shiite sect, towards destruction and strife and we warn the Lebanese against falling victim to them," he cautioned.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/02/2013 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] Syria's Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Lord of the Baath... made a rare public visit on Wednesday to an electrical plant in central Damascus ...Capital of the last remaining Baathist regime in the world... to mark Labour Day, the presidency's official Facebook page said.
"President Assad is now visiting the Umayyad electrical plant in Tishreen Garden in Damascus and congratulates its workers and Syria's workers on their holiday," the Facebook page said.
It published a picture of the president addressing a crowd of workers, some of them wearing or holding hard hats. His last reported public visit was to an educational centre in the capital on March 20, and he had not been seen publicly before that since January 24th, when he attended prayers at a mosque in a northern district of Damascus.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/02/2013 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] Syria peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi is on the verge of quitting amid growing frustration at deadlocked international efforts to end the worsening conflict, diplomats said Wednesday.
Brahimi is "itching to resign but being persuaded to hang on for a few more days," said one UN Security Council diplomat. "He has told everyone that he wants to leave, there is little hope that he will stay," an Arab diplomat at the United Nations ...an organization whose definition of human rights is interesting, to say the least... told AFP.
The 79-year-old former Algerian foreign minister was named in place of former UN leader Kofi Annan ...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo... as the UN-Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... envoy on August 17 last year. He recognized at the time that he faced an uphill battle.
Brahimi has been criticized by the Syrian opposition and Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Despoiler of Deraa... 's government said last week it would no longer cooperate with him.
Like Annan, before him Brahimi has been increasingly frustrated at the failure of the major powers to agree to a plan on ways to end the two-year-old conflict which has left more than 70,000 dead.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/02/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
So who's next? The Jerry Lewis guy? Mr. Potato Head?
A federal judge has agreed to release an Illinois teenager charged with trying to support a foreign terrorist organization.
U.S. Magistrate Daniel Martin ruled Thursday that 18-year-old Abdella Ahmad Tounisi could be released under home confinement. The Aurora man was friends with a man charged last year with trying to bomb a Chicago bar.
The FBI says Tounisi was trying to join a terrorist group in war-torn Syria when he was arrested at an airport. He was nabbed after contacting a sham website that the FBI set up purporting to hook up would-be fighters with terrorists.
The judge warned Tounisi at a hearing to take the allegations seriously.
Tounisi allegedly hoped to join an al-Qaida-affiliated group fighting Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime in a bloody civil war.
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.
A Kenyan court has found two Iranian men guilty of plotting to attack Western targets inside Kenya.
WASHINGTON -- Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter may soon travel to North Korea as part of his efforts, not always fruitful, to broker the resumption of dialogue and win the release of a Korean-American man detained there, diplomatic sources said Wednesday.
...Smallest of the agencies in FATA. The Agency administration is located in Khar. Bajaur is inhabited almost exclusively by Tarkani Pashtuns, which are divided into multiple bickering subtribes. Its 52 km border border with Afghanistan's Kunar Province makes it of strategic importance to Pakistain's strategic depth...
Pervez 
[Pak Daily Times] Three 'moderate' political parties on Wednesday have vowed to resist all conspiracies underway to restrain them from contesting polls and aimed at promoting fundamentalist parties in the May 11 general election.
Nawaz Sharif
President Asif Ali 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
